Chapter Three: First classes, and a Stubborn Match
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"Potions, sounds boring if you ask me." Sirius said as he glanced at the timetable.
"Oh, I dunno," Remus said. "Theyre very powerful and useful."
James rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Remus," He said. "Why are you such an optimist?"
Remus shrugged, and smiled. "I dunno, just me."
Sirius shivered. "its scary," he said. "I mean, seriously, POTIONS!" they came to a stop. "whats good about it??"
"UH, guys," James said. "I think we're lost…"
"Someone needs to make a map," Sirius muttered.
They heard a giggle behind them. "Hi guys!" Isabelle ran up to them. "Are you lost, too?" she asked.
"You couldn't tell?" Sirius said sarcastically. Remus shook his head.
"I got some help from a Slytherin fifth-year," she said. "Ummm, it's a few floors down."
She started off in the oppisite direction. The boys shrugged, and followed.
A few minutes later, They were at a dank and dreary dungeon.
"THIS is where we have potions??" James said in disbelief.
"Must be.." Sirius muttered.
Remus held his nose. "Man, that STINKS!" he said. "what do they do in there, dissect humans??"
"I cant smell anything," Isabelle said.
"you will soon," Remus warned. The doors opened, and the students entered.
They all gasped.
"Oh, ew!" Sirius said.
"That is just wrong!" James was horrified.
"I need some noseplugs," Isabelle said in disgust.
Remus just stayed quiet, and tried not to faint. The stench was overpowering. He looked at the top table, and nearly threw up.
The teacher had been dissecting. He couldn't tell what it was, but it was just wrong.
"Hello!" The teacher called. "Just dissecting goats." Does anyone know what I might find in this goats stomach?"
A Red haired girl in the front raised her hand. "A bezoar, Sir." She said.
"Excellent!" The teacher said. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"
The girl smiled. "Who is she," Remus asked Isabelle.
"That's Lily Evans," She said. "A right little madam too. No sense of humor."
Remus smiled, and Isabelle burst into a fit of the giggles.
"What?" Remus said. The purple haired girl merely pointed at james.
Remus bit his lip to keep from laughing. James was just staring at Lily Evans, and Remus could see drool forming at the corner of the boys mouth. He shook his head, and kicked him hard in the back of the leg to snap him out of it.
James jumped. "what was that for!?" he said accusingly. "I didn't do anything!"
Sirius pointed to the corner of his mouth, and James wiped it furiously, then stalked off. Laughing, Sirius followed, and Isabelle sat down next to Remus.
Sirius tuned out while the teacher was rambling on about potions, and Isabelle Idly doodled on her parchment.
A crash brought them all to a start, as a short blonde boy knocked over his cauldron.
Remus noticed that it was Peter Pettigrew, a boy in his year. he blushed, and picked it up. Disgusted, The teacher sighed, and waved his wand.
Directions appeared on the door, and the supply cupboard opened.
Remus sighed, and collected ingredients for them.
"Thanks!" Isabelle said. "Um, What was the teacher talking about before?" She said.
Remus raised one eyebrow. "you mean you didn't listen?"
Isabelle went a bit read. "well, not exactly, no."
Remus shook his head, smiling, and them started to dice his liver of wombat.
Isabelle stared at Remus for a couple of seconds, then shrugged and got to work.
"Im telling you, that class is a NIGHTMARE!!"
"You just cant handle the fact that that greasy git, Snape or whatever got a better mark than you."
"…"
"See, I told you!"
James and Sirius were chatting away as they made their way to the great hall for lunch.
"His names Severus," Remus said. "Severus Snape."
Sirius swore. "Damn, I thought he was familiar!" he said vehemently. "Bloody greasy b-"
"You know him?" Remus said mildly.
"Oh, yeah." He said testily. "we go WAY back."
"How far?" James said, interested.
"Lets just say by the age of three, I found out about his mortal fear of the color pink."
James snorted. "How did you find that out?" he said.
Sirius sat down at a table in the great hell, and helped himself to lasagna.
"Two words," he said shortly. "Mothers underwear."
James burst out laughing, and Remus gave one of his rare smiles.
"Okay, no more details." He said, shoveling the food in. "Its painful to remember."
Remus sighed. "Sirius, I worry about you."
"That's what my mother would sa-" Then he went green, and dropped his fork. Oh, crap. His mother was going to have something to say, alright.
"I-I gotta go." He said, dashing off to the owlery.
"Whats his problem," James said, His mouth full of Lasagna.
Remus frowned, gazing across the hall. The disdainful face of Narcissa Black glared at him from the slytherin Table.
"I don't know," He lied.
oOoOoOoO
"now, I want all of you to try and turn this matchstick into a pin." Professore McGonagall said severely to them all. Isabelle gulped, and stared at her matchstick.
"Listen," She said to the thin piece of wood. "Can you give me a break? Im new at this, and its hard, okay?"
Remus spluttered. "Isabelle," he said. "That's a match"
Isabelle was indignant. "So!?" she said.
He sighed. "Its an inanimate object."
Isabelle frowned. "A Wha now?"
He shook his head. "Its not living," he said.
Isabelle nodded. "Oh….. So??" She said, and rolled up her sleeves. "Im gonna get this."
She pointed her wand at the match, and concentrated.
BANG!!!
Everyone turned to see what the noise was.
Isabelles match had managed to explode.
"well, so it looks like talking to the match works, then." Remus commented dryly.
Isabelle Flushed bright red. "Oh, Shut up Remus." She said, While Sirius and James howled with laughter. "Id like to see you try."
Remus shrugged, and pointed his wand at the match. In seconds, there was a shiny pin where the bit of wood was.
You could practically see Isabelle deflate. "well, It was beginners luck!" She said haughtily, and tried the match again.
"Um, maybe Transfiguration just isn't your best," Remus said gently. "I mean noone else has gotten the match yet-"
"Professor, professor, I did it!" Sirius said ecstatically.
"you were saying?" Isabelle said. Remus blushed.
"Come on, Isasbelle, just try, and itll work."
Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right." She said.
"seriousy, I mean it."
The Girl smiled. "Yeah, okay," she said, and rolled up her sleeves.
In an hours time, it was still a match.
oOoOoOoO
"Seriously, Remus, Im hopeless at this!" Isabelle said furiously after Transfiguration. "I mean, look in potions!"
Remus smiled. "Yeah, well, um turquoise is close enough to purple..."
"Yeah, but did yours have sparks coming out of it?"
"well, I-"
"and look at trnsfiguration!" she wailed. "Im hopeless!"
"Well, the match was slightly pointy," Remus said, trying to be optimistic.
"I should be in Hufflepuff!" she said.
Remus walked in front of Isabelle, and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Listen to me," he said. "You're wound up far too tightly. You need to calm down, okay?"
Isabelle blushed at his hands on her shoulders. Remus drew them back.
"I-I guess," She said. "You know, the hat said I was dumb," she said, walking again.
Remus smiled. "Um, no offense, Isabelle, but you are… a bit."
She smiled back. "I know. My parents are scared ill mess up somehow, like I always do in everything."
The boy shrugged. "So are mine." He said.
Isabelle frowned. "but, you're so smart, and good at everything! How would you mes up?"
"I don't know," he lied. "But they're just scared."
Isabelle giggled. "They have nothing to be afraid of, then?" She said.
Remus shrugged. "I guess," he said doubtfully. "come on, we have History of magic now." He added, and ran of to the third floor.
Isabelle sighed, and followed.
OoOoOoOo
"where is he?" Sirius whispered. Remus shrugged. "I don't know," he said. Then he gasped.
A ghost floated through the blackboard. The eniter class was entranced.
"Good afternoon, class" The ghost droned. "MY name is Professor Binns, and I will be your history of magic teacher today…"
Isabelle tuned out after that, as Binns started to drone on about goblin wars. Sirius spent the houre and twenty minutes playing paper games and peaknuckle with Sirius, while Isabelle was daydreaming about her imaginary tropical Island. Remus kept shooting him filthy looks as he wrote down nearly everything binns said.
"and what if I don't lend you guys my notes?" He said, as he packed them into his bag.
"well sneak into your trunk in the middle of night, take them, and proceed to copy them out," Sirius said.
James stepped on Sirius's foot.
"Ow!" he said. "What was that for?" he said angrily to james.
"well, we cant do that now, can we?" he said dryly.
Sirius and james continued to bicker until remus stepped in.
"Oh, come on, guys," he said. "Ill give you damn notes."
"good," Sirius said, as they made their way to the portrait hole. "because we need that valuble time for something else."
"whats that?" remus said warily.
"well, we had a plan," James said.
"and that is?" He said.
"We wanna know why the forbidden forest is forbidden!" James said happily.
Remus sat a desk and put his head in his hands. "Guyyys," he said.
"well, are you coming?" James said.
Remus was about to say no, but something stopped him. Theyre you friends, he thought. You should go.
"Oh alright," Remus grumbled. "but first, we have to do this Potions homework."
"its madness, it is." James said. "assigning homework on the first day, I mean, REALLY!!"
He continued to rant this way for a few minutes, so Sirus and Remus just pulled out their books, and got to work.
oOoOoOoOo
"what do you think, Remus? This plan is fool proof!"
"I wish I didn't let myself get dragged into this," he said mournfully, as he stretched out on his bed.
If we get caught, he thought. Then its all over.
Remus was shaken awake by Sirius come on!" he said. "lets go!"
Grudgingly, Remus followed.
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