Hi everybody and welcome to Ch.17, which I have finally gotten around to writing. Sorry for the long delay, I've been insanely busy. But I've already started on Ch. 18 and that should be out in the next couple of days. Thanks to Sailor J-chan, frizz, No Name LOL, emmasnape99( no, I don't think I got the idea from the Green Flame torch rumors, but perhaps subconsciously…) and discordchick( no, Ron's not going to realize that Koraleigh's not like her father quite yet, though eventually it will make its way through his thick skull). If you also are reading Emmilen, I'm going to try to attempt to update that one as well, but as it seems I've lost my writers, I'm going to have to write it myself, which involves rereading and stuff. If anyone is interested in helping me, email me or leave it in a review. Thanks!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Koraleigh woke up refreshed and ready to start the new day. She quickly got dressed, and met Henny and Gretchen in the common room to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"We have Herbology first today." said Henny, studying her schedule.

Koraleigh looked at hers more closely. "I don't." she said, a bit curiously. "My schedule says to report to Professor Dumbledore's office."

Gretchen pulled hers out too. "Nope, I've got Herbology too. I don't know what your deal is, Koraleigh. Maybe they just don't want you to go to classes."

Koraleigh shrugged helplessly. "I'm beginning to think you're right, Gretchen." she said faintly. "What do you have after that? I have Potions."

"So do I." said Henny.

"Me too." confirmed Gretchen.

Koraleigh's stomach gave a small lurch at that thought. Her father's class. Koraleigh had always known she'd have to have her dad as a teacher one day, but hearing all the rumors floating around had made her more then a little wary of the class.

After eating a quick breakfast, Koraleigh said goodbye to her friends and went quickly out of the Great Hall to Dumbledore's office, which she managed to find easily, due to the close proximity. She walked up to the gargoyle, and stood there, a bit nervously, looking for a way in.

"Ah, Miss Snape." said a voice behind her.

Koraleigh spun around quickly, unsettled by the sudden noise. She was confronted with the smiling face of Professor Dumbledore. "Sugar Quill" he said to the gargoyle, which began to slide open, revealing a staircase. "After you, my dear." he said, gesturing up the stairs. Koraleigh nervously walked up, followed by the headmaster. She couldn't figure out for the life of her what this was all about. She entered a nicely furnished office and carefully sat in one of the chairs, feeling very self-conscious.

"Now, Miss Snape." began Dumbledore, resting his chin on the tips of his fingers delicately. "You are most likely not aware of this, but each student, while Sorted, is also tested for a few things that could possibly hinder his or her magical education. These tests brought up a slight concern for myself. It appears that you are significantly allergic to several of the more common plants studied in Herbology."

Koraleigh wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I am? I've never been allergic to anything before."

"Well, be that as it may, I cannot in good conscience let you attend Herbology lessons., as there is no known cure for your type of allergy."

"Well, how am I going to get my Herbology OWL?" asked Koraleigh, slightly upset at this news.

Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about something as tedious as OWLs already? In any case, you can learn some aspects of Herbology from books. And there will be some portions of practical Herbology that you can also learn, once we pinpoint the substances you are actually allergic to. All this, I'm sure your father would be more then happy enough to tutor you in, possibly during the summer months. But for the time being, you seem to have a free period…"

"Is this going to affect Potions?" Koraleigh cut in worriedly. She didn't want to disappoint her father, after all, and she was frantically hoping not to lose any of her other classes..

Dumbledore shook his head. "It shouldn't. The Sorting Hat only foretold problems in Herbology, therefore I'm under the assumption that you will not have problems where the two areas overlap."

Koraleigh nodded a bit unhappily. "All right."

Professor Dumbledore gave her a smile. "There is still the matter of your free period. Now, I think it best if we start you in one of the third year electives. I have heard great things about your intellectual capabilities, and feel quite sure you can handle the material. However, the only classes available during the time period are Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures. Is there one you think you would prefer over the other, or would you rather have the remainder of the day to decide?"

Koraleigh only had to consider a moment. "Well, my best friend is a Muggle, and I know quite a bit about them, so I think I'd rather take Care of Magical Creatures."

"Wonderful!" beamed Dumbledore. "I shall be informing Professor Hagrid that you will be joining them for the next class."

"All right." replied Koraleigh. "So, should I just go back to Gryffindor Tower, or… There's still an hour until I have Potions."

"Ah, Potions. A fascinating subject. I daresay you are looking forward to the class. Do whatever you wish, Miss Snape, with your free time today. Good day."

"You too, sir." said Koraleigh softly, slipping out of the chair and out the door. She decided that it was probably a good idea to start heading toward the dungeons instead of back up to Gryffindor Tower. She wasn't sure of the way, and this way, she would most definitely make it on time.

Harry groaned to himself as his potion, which was supposed to be light blue and bubbling slightly, shot off yet another bright pink spark toward the ceiling. The last thing he needed was…

"Potter, what is that?" called Malfoy from across the room, smirking. "I thought you had to have skill to be in this class. Obviously, you're in the wrong room. Potions for dummies is next."

"It doesn't matter, Harry." muttered Hermione from beside him. "Besides, he doesn't look so brave without his cronies next to him. But you really do need to study more to be in this class."

Harry gritted his teeth to the comments around him and searched through his Potions textbook frantically, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Potter, I suggest you check page 462. Clearly, you have put the boomslang skin in before the shredded beetle eyes. I trust it will not happen again. 5 points from Gryffindor and I expect an essay on the results of mixing the two ingredients by the beginning of next class."

"Yes sir," said Harry through clenched teeth. He had been hoping that this year might be different, with Koraleigh here and all, but clearly, Harry wasn't on Snape's good side by a long shot.

With a lazy wave of his wand, Snape cleared the sparkling contents of Harry's cauldron. "There are 45 minutes remaining in the period, Mr. Potter. I suggest you try again."

Harry groaned quietly and set to work. Maybe being an Auror wasn't for him after all.

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