Disclaimer: The characters in this story and the universe in which they exist is the sole property of J. K. Rowling. The author receives no profit from this story's creation or publication.
Chapter 2 - Points and Potions
The next morning at breakfast Julius sat with his Gryffindor friends as Professor McGonagall passed out class schedules. It turned out that both he and Hermione shared many of the same interests and had several classes together. In fact, for their first class, N.E.W.T. level Potions, they decided they would sit together as lab partners. All four houses participated in the same sixth-year class instead of just two, as Professor Snape only excepted those who received 'Outstanding' on their Potions O.W.L. and there weren't many of those.
"Can't tell you how glad I am that I don't have to spend another year with that git," Ron added, buttering another piece of toast. "Now if only I didn't have to run into him in the hallway, my life would be perfect."
"I definitely won't miss Snape," Harry joined in, looking a bit forlorn, "but according to McGonagall during our career advice session last year, I need to study Potions if I want to become an Auror. I only scraped 'Acceptable', not good enough to continue in Snape's class. I need to get at least 'Exceeds Expectations' for N.E.W.T. What am I going to do?"
Ron shrugged, giving Harry a sympathetic look. "Find another career?"
Harry, Hermione and Julius stared at Ron in exasperation
"What?" Ron queried, his brow furrowed.
Julius thought quietly to himself for a moment, and brightened. "Well, Hermione and I are taking Potions; why don't we tutor you ourselves."
"That's a great idea, Julius," Hermione replied, smiling, looking from the Ravenclaw to Harry. "Perhaps Professor McGonagall will allow us to use her classroom."
"She did say she would do anything to help me become an Auror," Harry answered, hope stirring within him before his next thought deflated it. "Of course, that was in front of that Umbridge woman."
"We could talk to her after Transfiguration," Hermione replied, ignoring his last comment. "The worst she can say is no, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." Harry shrugged. Glancing towards the clock at the end of the expansive hall, he announced, "Guess we better get to class. Ready Ron?" Harry and Ron both had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid for first period and were looking forward to seeing their oversized friend, though neither seemed enthusiastic to find out what the newest dangerous critter he would have them study was. As both rose from the table to begin their trek down to Hagrid's hut, Harry called back, "see you in Transfiguration, Hermione. Good luck today, Julius."
"Yeah, good luck," Ron added before stepping out the door. "You're gonna need it with Snape."
"I keep hearing the worst stories about Professor Snape," Julius remarked as he got up from the table, and walked to the door with Hermione. "Is he really as bad as they say? Giving out detentions at the drop of a hat and such?"
Hermione opened her mouth to say something diplomatic, but quickly closed it again when she couldn't come up with anything nice to say. "Maybe not quite that bad," she tried, not sounding completely confident in her reply.
They made their way down several flights of cold stone stairs to the dimly lit dungeon halls below. A cue had already formed outside of the locked classroom, and judging by those already present, Hermione was going to be the only Gryffindor in the class. Malfoy was there, of course, standing along side of Pansy Parkinson who was apparently laughing at a comment Draco made just seconds earlier. Like Harry and Ron, Malfoy's two toadies, Crabbe and Goyle apparently didn't make the grades to continue. Within a few moments, the door to the dank and dingy Potions room opened of its own accord and the students filed in to take their seats. Julius and Hermione claimed the table right in front of Snape's desk and prepared their cauldrons.
The door slammed behind them (making several students jump) as Professor Snape strode boldly into the classroom from the hallway, black robes billowing behind him, his deep nebulous eyes taking in the dozen students seated before him. An impish smirk creeped along his thin pale lips as he rounded towards his desk, seeing that at last his dream had come true. No Potter. But the smirk was short-lived as his swarthy gaze settled for the briefest of moments upon Julius. He recovered quickly, however, extracting his wand from a pocket and pointing it towards the board, whispering, "Escribus Mandatum." A list of ingredients and instructions appeared on the black surface written in spidery handwriting.
"On the board are the instructions for preparing a Mental Agility potion. As you have all obviously obtained the necessary requirement to be in this class," he muttered darkly, glancing at each of them in turn, "I assume I will not need to baby-sit your progress. You have thirty minutes." Finished speaking, he turned and strode around his desk, sinking onto his chair, his attention applied to several essays scattered upon the surface.
"What's the matter, Mudblood," whispered a voice from across the room a few minutes later, loud enough for the first two rows to hear, "couldn't find anyone of your own house to play with? Not good enough for you, are they?" The group of Slytherins chuckled at Malfoy's comments, encouraging him. "Oh, that's right, they're Gryffindors, all bravery and no brains."
Hermione reddened in the face, but kept her mouth closed, knowing better than to retort in the Slytherin House Head's classroom. Julius, on the other hand, did not yet know how things worked in Snape's class, and before Hermione could stop him, he blurted out, "shut your mouth, Malfoy. She has more brains in her little finger than you have--."
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Mr. DeVere," Snape growled, "for disrupting this class. I trust I will not have to remind you to keep your own mouth shut in the future," he added silkily.
"But sir--" the new student, continued, shocked, about to gesture towards Malfoy.
"That's another ten points, Mr. DeVere, and if I hear another peep out of you it will be detention!" Snape bellowed. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir, " Julius muttered through clenched teeth, his own face turning red, and moved his attention to his Runespoor eggs, mincing them with gusto.
Hermione met up with Harry and Ron the next period for Transfiguration. Taking the seat between the two, she allowed her book bag to slump under her chair. She was still pink in the face, infuriated with Malfoy and her Potions professor.
"So how did it go?" Ron asked curiously.
"Oh Ron, it was positively awful. I felt so bad…" Hermione whispered as Professor McGonagall passed out guinea pigs to her students. "Professor Snape took off twenty points from Ravenclaw within the first twenty minutes. All because Julius stood up for me."
"Against who?" Harry asked, petting his guinea pig, half watching and listening to McGonagall showing them how to transfigure the guinea pig into a working table lamp.
Hermione tilted her head to the side, giving him a knowing look. "Who do you think?"
"Malfoy," Harry and Ron answered in unison.
"And then to make things worse, Snape makes some snide remarks about our potion." Hermione cast looks at both of her friends in turn. "Of course there was nothing wrong with it. It was perfect actually, and a hell of a lot better than what Malfoy came up with. But I could tell it made Julius uncomfortable."
Transfiguration went fairly well, with Hermione the first (as always) to correctly transfigure her guinea pig into a rather fine, antique, brass lamp with golden coloured beads around the shade. Harry came quite close, though his lamp tried to scamper off the desk, and he had to catch it before it fell onto the floor. Ron on the other hand seemed to be having some problems, as his guinea pig merely flickered as if it had eaten a strobe light, and was assigned extra homework to practice for next time. As class came to an end and the students made their way back out into the halls, Hermione and Harry approached Professor McGonagall as she put the last of the guinea pigs into their cages.
"Professor McGonagall," Hermione began. "I was… that is… we…"
"Out with it, Miss Granger," interrupted the Gryffindor Head with a slight smile.
"We were wondering if we could borrow your classroom… to tutor Harry in Potions," blurted Hermione, "since he can't take Professor Snape's class."
McGonagall arched a brow at her student as she moved behind her desk and sat down, "and who would be doing the tutoring?"
"Julius DeVere and myself," Hermione answered, her soft brown eyes pleading.
Professor McGonagall thought a moment to herself, allowing her gaze to drift over towards Harry and meeting his eyes. She answered, "well, we always encourage students to take extra interest in their studies, but I'm afraid that Potions should be done in the Potions classroom, which is better equipped to handle any… potential disasters."
At those words, both Harry and Hermione looked at each other knowing they couldn't go to Snape to ask for use of his classroom because of his obvious hatred of Harry. Their expression did not go unnoticed by Professor McGonagall, and the teacher added, "I will speak to Professor Snape to see if arrangements can be made for you to use the room, but I cannot make any promises, Potter."
"Oh thank you, Professor," Hermione beamed.
"Yes, thank you," Harry added.
After dinner that night, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Julius met in the courtyard to go over the days events and discuss future plans. They were not unnoticed however, for a pair of shadowy eyes watched them silently from a window above the square, remarking on how this group reminded him of one from his own youth: James, Lily, Remus… and Sirius.
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews I have received, they mean a lot! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the other, but I wanted to get something else out there. I hope to update at least once a week.
Chapter 2 - Points and Potions
The next morning at breakfast Julius sat with his Gryffindor friends as Professor McGonagall passed out class schedules. It turned out that both he and Hermione shared many of the same interests and had several classes together. In fact, for their first class, N.E.W.T. level Potions, they decided they would sit together as lab partners. All four houses participated in the same sixth-year class instead of just two, as Professor Snape only excepted those who received 'Outstanding' on their Potions O.W.L. and there weren't many of those.
"Can't tell you how glad I am that I don't have to spend another year with that git," Ron added, buttering another piece of toast. "Now if only I didn't have to run into him in the hallway, my life would be perfect."
"I definitely won't miss Snape," Harry joined in, looking a bit forlorn, "but according to McGonagall during our career advice session last year, I need to study Potions if I want to become an Auror. I only scraped 'Acceptable', not good enough to continue in Snape's class. I need to get at least 'Exceeds Expectations' for N.E.W.T. What am I going to do?"
Ron shrugged, giving Harry a sympathetic look. "Find another career?"
Harry, Hermione and Julius stared at Ron in exasperation
"What?" Ron queried, his brow furrowed.
Julius thought quietly to himself for a moment, and brightened. "Well, Hermione and I are taking Potions; why don't we tutor you ourselves."
"That's a great idea, Julius," Hermione replied, smiling, looking from the Ravenclaw to Harry. "Perhaps Professor McGonagall will allow us to use her classroom."
"She did say she would do anything to help me become an Auror," Harry answered, hope stirring within him before his next thought deflated it. "Of course, that was in front of that Umbridge woman."
"We could talk to her after Transfiguration," Hermione replied, ignoring his last comment. "The worst she can say is no, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." Harry shrugged. Glancing towards the clock at the end of the expansive hall, he announced, "Guess we better get to class. Ready Ron?" Harry and Ron both had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid for first period and were looking forward to seeing their oversized friend, though neither seemed enthusiastic to find out what the newest dangerous critter he would have them study was. As both rose from the table to begin their trek down to Hagrid's hut, Harry called back, "see you in Transfiguration, Hermione. Good luck today, Julius."
"Yeah, good luck," Ron added before stepping out the door. "You're gonna need it with Snape."
"I keep hearing the worst stories about Professor Snape," Julius remarked as he got up from the table, and walked to the door with Hermione. "Is he really as bad as they say? Giving out detentions at the drop of a hat and such?"
Hermione opened her mouth to say something diplomatic, but quickly closed it again when she couldn't come up with anything nice to say. "Maybe not quite that bad," she tried, not sounding completely confident in her reply.
They made their way down several flights of cold stone stairs to the dimly lit dungeon halls below. A cue had already formed outside of the locked classroom, and judging by those already present, Hermione was going to be the only Gryffindor in the class. Malfoy was there, of course, standing along side of Pansy Parkinson who was apparently laughing at a comment Draco made just seconds earlier. Like Harry and Ron, Malfoy's two toadies, Crabbe and Goyle apparently didn't make the grades to continue. Within a few moments, the door to the dank and dingy Potions room opened of its own accord and the students filed in to take their seats. Julius and Hermione claimed the table right in front of Snape's desk and prepared their cauldrons.
The door slammed behind them (making several students jump) as Professor Snape strode boldly into the classroom from the hallway, black robes billowing behind him, his deep nebulous eyes taking in the dozen students seated before him. An impish smirk creeped along his thin pale lips as he rounded towards his desk, seeing that at last his dream had come true. No Potter. But the smirk was short-lived as his swarthy gaze settled for the briefest of moments upon Julius. He recovered quickly, however, extracting his wand from a pocket and pointing it towards the board, whispering, "Escribus Mandatum." A list of ingredients and instructions appeared on the black surface written in spidery handwriting.
"On the board are the instructions for preparing a Mental Agility potion. As you have all obviously obtained the necessary requirement to be in this class," he muttered darkly, glancing at each of them in turn, "I assume I will not need to baby-sit your progress. You have thirty minutes." Finished speaking, he turned and strode around his desk, sinking onto his chair, his attention applied to several essays scattered upon the surface.
"What's the matter, Mudblood," whispered a voice from across the room a few minutes later, loud enough for the first two rows to hear, "couldn't find anyone of your own house to play with? Not good enough for you, are they?" The group of Slytherins chuckled at Malfoy's comments, encouraging him. "Oh, that's right, they're Gryffindors, all bravery and no brains."
Hermione reddened in the face, but kept her mouth closed, knowing better than to retort in the Slytherin House Head's classroom. Julius, on the other hand, did not yet know how things worked in Snape's class, and before Hermione could stop him, he blurted out, "shut your mouth, Malfoy. She has more brains in her little finger than you have--."
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Mr. DeVere," Snape growled, "for disrupting this class. I trust I will not have to remind you to keep your own mouth shut in the future," he added silkily.
"But sir--" the new student, continued, shocked, about to gesture towards Malfoy.
"That's another ten points, Mr. DeVere, and if I hear another peep out of you it will be detention!" Snape bellowed. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir, " Julius muttered through clenched teeth, his own face turning red, and moved his attention to his Runespoor eggs, mincing them with gusto.
Hermione met up with Harry and Ron the next period for Transfiguration. Taking the seat between the two, she allowed her book bag to slump under her chair. She was still pink in the face, infuriated with Malfoy and her Potions professor.
"So how did it go?" Ron asked curiously.
"Oh Ron, it was positively awful. I felt so bad…" Hermione whispered as Professor McGonagall passed out guinea pigs to her students. "Professor Snape took off twenty points from Ravenclaw within the first twenty minutes. All because Julius stood up for me."
"Against who?" Harry asked, petting his guinea pig, half watching and listening to McGonagall showing them how to transfigure the guinea pig into a working table lamp.
Hermione tilted her head to the side, giving him a knowing look. "Who do you think?"
"Malfoy," Harry and Ron answered in unison.
"And then to make things worse, Snape makes some snide remarks about our potion." Hermione cast looks at both of her friends in turn. "Of course there was nothing wrong with it. It was perfect actually, and a hell of a lot better than what Malfoy came up with. But I could tell it made Julius uncomfortable."
Transfiguration went fairly well, with Hermione the first (as always) to correctly transfigure her guinea pig into a rather fine, antique, brass lamp with golden coloured beads around the shade. Harry came quite close, though his lamp tried to scamper off the desk, and he had to catch it before it fell onto the floor. Ron on the other hand seemed to be having some problems, as his guinea pig merely flickered as if it had eaten a strobe light, and was assigned extra homework to practice for next time. As class came to an end and the students made their way back out into the halls, Hermione and Harry approached Professor McGonagall as she put the last of the guinea pigs into their cages.
"Professor McGonagall," Hermione began. "I was… that is… we…"
"Out with it, Miss Granger," interrupted the Gryffindor Head with a slight smile.
"We were wondering if we could borrow your classroom… to tutor Harry in Potions," blurted Hermione, "since he can't take Professor Snape's class."
McGonagall arched a brow at her student as she moved behind her desk and sat down, "and who would be doing the tutoring?"
"Julius DeVere and myself," Hermione answered, her soft brown eyes pleading.
Professor McGonagall thought a moment to herself, allowing her gaze to drift over towards Harry and meeting his eyes. She answered, "well, we always encourage students to take extra interest in their studies, but I'm afraid that Potions should be done in the Potions classroom, which is better equipped to handle any… potential disasters."
At those words, both Harry and Hermione looked at each other knowing they couldn't go to Snape to ask for use of his classroom because of his obvious hatred of Harry. Their expression did not go unnoticed by Professor McGonagall, and the teacher added, "I will speak to Professor Snape to see if arrangements can be made for you to use the room, but I cannot make any promises, Potter."
"Oh thank you, Professor," Hermione beamed.
"Yes, thank you," Harry added.
After dinner that night, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Julius met in the courtyard to go over the days events and discuss future plans. They were not unnoticed however, for a pair of shadowy eyes watched them silently from a window above the square, remarking on how this group reminded him of one from his own youth: James, Lily, Remus… and Sirius.
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews I have received, they mean a lot! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the other, but I wanted to get something else out there. I hope to update at least once a week.