Chapter 3

"It's a sunny, warm afternoon, and look where we are. Stuck in the dungeons in the hardest class this establishment offers. Tell me again, why did we willingly enlist in this torture?"

"Because, Mr. Creevey, we are the best of the best. If we don't, who will? And besides, at least we have it easier than those before us," Chloe said, walking down the steps two at a time.

"She's got a point," Ginny agreed. "Remember the millions of essays we had to write? I remember when we were in the library in fourth year, watching the older students cram for their tests and try to get one more inch of information into their essays?"

"Okay so it could be worse. But still. I can't believe we're sitting through this again. You'd think we'd have learned our lesson from these past six years," Chloe mumbled as Colin reached for the heavy dungeon door.

The next morning, timetables were handed out and the seventh years were reminded that they were actually expected to work in the coming months.

Jackie sighed, looking at her schedule. "As if I needed to be reminded of the classes I signed up for."

"What do you have today," Kevin asked.

"Ancient Runes, Potions, and Arithmancy. What about you two?"

"Defense, Potions, and Arithmancy," Lia replied.

"Defense, Potions, and Herbology," Kevin said.

"NEWT… I'm beginning to really hate those letters. Only nine months of this stuff. Oh joy," Lia groaned.

"Hmm I wonder if there's just has just NEWT level Potions class this year," Jackie thought out loud.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Don't you remember at the end of last year, if you failed you were out."

"Yeah, do you really think that everyone in those classes passed? Although if we did, who knows who couldn't."

"Actually," Jackie began, "I ran into Meghan, the Hufflepuff that was in our class and she dropped it. And there is no way that Kerensky, that clumsy Slytherins, passed with the way his scores were at the end of the term." The three friends knew that they were part of a handful of students who had decided to take the class again. They were with the elite, and that was that.

For the rest of breakfast the friends made casual conversation between themselves and those around them talking about everything from their schedules and upcoming classes to the new Quidditch season and who had the best chance of winning the House Championship at the end of the year, seven months away. Soon everyone drifted back to their dorms to retrieve their books for the day.

"Come on Kev, we've got to run if we want to make it to Defense on time. See ya at lunch Jack!" They went their separate ways, already falling in to a familiar routine.

"Today's assignment is relativly simple, just to get you back in the hang of things. You are to make a standard batch of the Vedidinus balm on page 247 of your textbook. The ingredients required are on the back counter. Now I expect a full container from each of you at the end of class."

The student silently filed past the back table, gathering what they would need to complete the potion. For most of the period, Slughorn walked around the class, obsearving, and ready to prevent any explosive mistakes.

While Ginny had been skeptical about the rumor of Slughorn's new assistant the day before, Professor or rather, Headmistress McGonagall had confirmed it the previous evening before the Welcoming Feast. Malfoy had yet to make an appearance in the day's classes, accoring to the gossip going around at lunch. There hadn't been a sign of him until several things smashed in the back storeroom. Slughorn frowned as he walked over and opened the the storeroom door. There was Draco Malfoy, covered in green goo, and dripping all over the stone floor. Slughorned whispered a few words to him before summoning some fluffy towels and a bucket. Slughorn closed the door, leaving the young man to clean up the mess. "Back to work class."

Shelly Benson, one of the two Hufflepuffs that managed to pass the previous year of Potions, wasn't able to completely conceal a giggle.

"Everyone, back to work, that concotion I'm seeing in some of your cauldrons is in desperate need of attention."

Just a few minutes later Ginny Colin and Chloe were taking note of the homework and bringing their finished assignments up to the front of the class.

"Day one is officially over," Chloe said as they emerged from the dungeons. "Did you two see Malfoy dripping with that bogey colored goo?"

"The highlight of my day. Maybe even the year. You do realize that he was covered in Vedidinus, right? I'd bet that he'll be numb for a few hours," Colin laughed.

"That'll put a nice dent in his reputation. Of course its still far from humbling," Chloe giggled as they dropped their things off in their dorms before heading out onto the grounds to enjoy the afternoon.

Dusk was falling and Lia was sitting by herself at a table in the library, moving through her homework. Kevin and Jackie were taking a break from homework and going on a run before dinner, promising they would finish up later. Their first day back had been pretty uneventful. Defense had been easy, Professor Gabriel hadn't assigned much for their first day back. Same with Arithmancy. Of course, Potions was a different story. Besides the homework they were assigned, it was the one class of the day when Andrea and Marsden were in the same room. So far, nothing had happened, they hadn't set fire or exploded anything, but Jackie insisted it was 'just a matter of time'.

Andrea was clearing the table of her Arithmancy things and was reaching to put them in her bag when she saw the slip of paper at the bottom, as if it had fallen from between the pages of one of her books. It was folded several times, but it just looked like a normal bit of parchment. In standard black ink, it read:

"I do I know not what and fear to find
Mine eye too great a flatterer for my mind.
Fate, show thy force. Ourselves we do not owe.
What is decreed must be, and be this so."

Lia read it over, not recognizing the quote. There was no signature, no words on parchment but the quote. Andrea puzzled over the note for a few minutes before trying several spells to trace its origin. When she could discover nothing, she put her things in her book bag, pocketed the note, and headed back to Ravenclaw tower to wait for her friends.

On the way to dinner, Lia debated about telling her friends about the note she found in her bag. By the time they arrived at the Great Hall, she had decided not to say anything. After all, it was just a note with a quote on it. Where was the significance?

Saturday afternoon found many students in the Hogwarts library, working on their ever-increasing homework load.

"Explain the significance and importance of the Telefaus root in the Peretious Potion. Do either of you have anything worthwhile yet?"

"Nope."

"Not me."

"Someone please just put me out of my misery right now," Chloe said, head in hands. "Either of you want to take a break? Take a walk far from homework?"

Ginny sighed. "If I don't get this done today, I'll just keep putting it off."

"Well I say a walk sounds good Chloe," Colin said, closing his Potions text. "You sure Gin?"

"Go on you two. If I find anything good I'll let you know." Chloe and Colin grabbed their books and left the library. Ginny laughed quietly to herself when they were gone. They were so oblivious of each other.

Through their letters, Ginny had come to know more about her friend Colin much more than she had known before. In one of the letters to Ginny, Colin told her that he missed Chloe and Ginny had teased him about having a crush on their friend. Now that she thought about it, Ginny realized that her friend never denied the fact, he just sort of skipped over it. Like he hoped I would forget about it, Ginny realized. So much for just teasing. And while Chloe could hide things pretty well, she was piss poor at hiding things from someone who had known her as long as Ginny had. It looked like the year wouldn't be full of just classes, and that thought made Ginny smile.