Hi! Here's Chapter 6, which involves Molly's first few days at Hogwarts. Enjoy!
EDIT: Sorry I had to delete this and put it back up again! The timing was acting weird and it was making it so that nobody saw the chapter. Thanks!
(Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.)
Chapter 6:
A New Normal
"'What have we got today?' Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.
'Double Potions with the Slytherins,' said Ron. 'Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true.'
'Wish McGonagall favored us,' said Harry."
Molly woke up excited (tired, but excited) for the week ahead. It was time for her first class, double History of Magic, and she had always enjoyed learning new things.
Almost immediately, she realized that she was going to have to learn a lot.
First was the location of the classes. The rooms were hidden inside the castle, in the most awkward of spots. Doors turned out to not be doors at all, and staircases moved everywhere at random times. At one point, Molly heard Ava, who was passing by on the way to her first class, muttering about a murder mat - she must've been going crazy from the stress, Molly thought.
Second was the classes.
History of Magic - even for Molly - turned out to be a bit of a bore, with lots of events referred to as if the knowledge of them was commonplace. Harry and Ron, just down the table from where Molly was sitting, were furrowing their eyebrows the entire time, trying to make sense of Professor Binns's lecture.
After lunch, the ghost that Harry had been sitting across from at the Sorting - Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, although everyone called him Nearly Headless Nick because of the way he died - directed her to Charms class with Professor Flitwick. He was short and easily excitable - he fell off his podium when he saw Harry in his classroom.
Defense Against the Dark Arts had excited Molly, but it ended up not being worth the trouble. Professor Quirrell, who ran the class, was a very nervous man, his voice quivering whenever he spoke. The classroom smelled like an Italian restaurant Molly had been to back home - the stench of garlic hung in the air. There was another smell, though - Molly couldn't identify it, but it came from the turban that Quirrell wore everywhere. The smell was suspicious, especially when Molly could've sworn she heard the turban sneeze.
By that time, the day was practically done, and Molly was surprised at how few classes she'd had. Back at home, at the school she'd gone to with Caitlyn, they'd had at least five or six classes a day - and they learned normal things, like math and science and reading, not Charms and History of Magic.
The next day didn't have any double periods for the Gryffindors, so there were four classes instead of three. Today was Molly's first Herbology class, in which a kind woman named Professor Sprout taught them about all different sorts of magical plants outside the castle in a nearby greenhouse.
It was also Molly's first day of Transfiguration, with Professor McGonagall. This class was one she was really looking forward to - McGonagall seemed like a really cool person, and she was the Head of Gryffindor.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she began her first lecture. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Molly gulped - but then again, whenever the entire class had been warned about something at her old school, even if it didn't apply to her, she always gulped a bit.
Professor McGonagall took out her wand and pointed it at her desk. A small flick, and suddenly a pig was in its place.
"Whoa," Molly said. She jumped out of her seat to go and say hi to the pig, but another flick from the professor's wand and the pig was a desk again.
Molly's eyes darted to Professor McGonagall, who glared at her.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly as she slunk back to her seat. Mackenzie giggled, and Molly elbowed her.
The next day was Molly's first astronomy class, in which she studied the movement of stars and planets. It seemed more like astrology to her, however, as much of the class was focused on how the planets' movements related to the future. The professor explained that the class was an introduction to Divination, should a student choose to take it (Madison explained to Molly during a break that Divination was the art of telling the future).
Thursday included nothing new, but Friday morning, Mackenzie announced to the first years that it was time for their first Potions class. Molly was excited but also a little nervous - she'd heard good things about Snape from Jonah and Ava, but then again, they were in Slytherin, and Snape was their Head of House. Percy had said that Snape wasn't the best at the Feast on Day 1 - so which one was right?
"Where's the Potions classroom?" Molly asked Percy as the door opened to the rest of Hogwarts.
"Downstairs, in the dungeons," he said. "I have a free period - I'll show you."
"Thanks," Molly said as the two left the Common Room.
When she got to the dungeons, an intense wind blew over her. The dungeon that the class was in was dark, damp, and freezing cold. Zoë, who was in the class with her, was muttering about it being colder than a dementor in December. Molly didn't understand what that meant, but she didn't think it was a good thing.
In the front of the room stood the same tall man with a greasy head of black hair that Molly had seen at the Great Hall at the very beginning of the year - Professor Snape. He went through the roll call, and everyone seemed to be there. His stern face softened a bit at Molly's last name, but when he got to Harry's name, he paused and said, "Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."
He looked as if he wanted to say something a little more bitter than celebrity.
After he finished the roll call, he put down the piece of parchment he was holding and looked up at the class.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he said. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins. I can teach you how to bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses, bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death...at least, if you aren't the baffling dunderheads I always have to teach."
Molly raised her hand.
"No questions right now, please," Snape said. "Potter!"
Harry sat up as straightly as he could.
"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Hermione raised her hand rapidly, as well as Zoë, Ava, Jonah, and Mackenzie.
"I don't know, sir," Harry answered, his voice quivering.
Snape sneered.
"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything," he said. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?
The hands of the boy and girls reached even higher.
"I don't know, sir," Harry said again.
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
Molly was starting to really not like Snape.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Jonah, Mackenzie, Zoë, and Ava raised their hands even higher; Hermione stood up to stretch her hand even farther.
"I don't know," Harry said. "But I think there are plenty other kids in here who do."
Molly smiled at Harry's comeback, and she caught Seamus winking at him. Snape, however, was (surprise, surprise!) not happy.
"Sit down," he said, looking in Hermione's direction, and she sat down immediately.
"For your information, Potter," Snape said, hatred clouding his voice, "asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons."
Molly caught Jonah glancing at Ron with a foul look.
"And as for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." He paused and looked around the classroom. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
Molly groped for her quill pen and her ink jar, and she wrote down the information about monkshood, wolfsbane, aconite, bezoars, asphodel, and the crow from Sofia the First.
After the class was finished taking notes, Snape cleared his throat and said, "Today we will be learning a potion for curing boils. Please take out Magical Drafts and Potions and turn to page 25."
People rummaged for the book and took it out, opening it up to the correct page.
"Please follow the instructions in the book. You have two hours. Find a partner and begin." Snape spoke simply, using the bare minimum of words to get across his point without stumbling.
Hermione scanned the room, then saw Molly and rushed over. "Do you want to work together?" she asked.
"Sure!" Molly said.
Molly looked at Step 1 in the book: "Add six snake fangs to the mortar."
"Mortar…" Molly mumbled to herself. Suddenly, she remembered the shelf of mortars and pestles in the back of the room, and she, along with the other first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins, raced to the shelf. She grabbed a marble one and brought it back to her table, grabbing snake fangs from Professor Snape's desk.
The fangs went into the mortar, and Molly brought down the pestle, gently but firmly. After a bit of working, the fangs had been replaced by a white powder.
"Step 2," Hermione read out loud. "Crush into a...oh, already did that. Step 3: Add four measures of the crushed fangs to your cauldron."
Next to Molly's desk, the two girls lit a small fire and put their cauldron on top. One measure went in, then another, then another, then finally one more. Out of the corner of her eye, Molly noticed Snape walking around to each table, checking up on the students.
"Step 4: Heat the mixture to 250 for 10 seconds - oh, it's already been ten seconds," Molly said to herself and Hermione. "Step 5: Wave your wand."
She grabbed the short elm wand from her pocket and pointed it at the cauldron with a flourish. A white spark, almost like lightning, flew into the cauldron, and the dry mixture started to bubble, as if it was wet.
"Step 6," Hermione read. "Leave to brew and return in 33-45 minutes."
Okay, Molly thought. So what do I do for 33-45 minutes?
That was an easy question for Molly to answer for herself - sing. She took a deep breath, thinking about what song to sing.
Finally, Molly decided. She hummed the opening of the song and then started singing.
"Everything is great," she sang. "Everything is grand. I've got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand. Everything it's perfect - it's falling into place. I can't seem to wipe this smile of my face. Life's a happy song when there's someone by your side to sing along."
"Miss Evans!" Professor Snape called out.
"Yes, Professor?" she asked.
"Why are you singing?"
"Because I don't have anything to do for 33-45 minutes," she replied.
"Why don't you and Miss Granger help Mister Longbottom?" he said. "He seems to be having a bit of trouble."
He gestured to Neville, who was still trying to crush his snake fangs.
"Of course, sir," she said as she and Hermione skipped over to Neville's table.
"Need some help?" she said.
Neville sighed with relief. "Yes," he said simply.
"Here," Hermione said, holding the hand he was holding the pestle in. "Try doing it with a little more force."
"Imagine the fangs are Bellatrix!" Jonah called from across the room.
Neville cringed, but the look on his face was quickly replaced with one of determination. He brought down the pestle with the perfect amount of force, and after a few crushes, the fangs had been obliterated.
"Thanks," he said, breathing heavily.
"You're welcome," Molly said. "Now put it in the cauldron."
He measured out the snake fang dust (it almost smelled like Cheerio dust, Molly thought) and poured it into the cauldron, lighting a fire of his own for heating. After about ten seconds, he pointed his wand at the cauldron, and the spark from it flew into the cauldron.
She smiled. "Now we're in the same boat."
She wandered back to her desk, singing "If I had a boat, I'd row it 'cross the ocean, and if I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat." For a split second, she wondered who that Bellatrix person that Jonah had mentioned was, but she also knew that if she asked him, he'd probably tell her that she'd figure it out eventually, and she didn't want that to happen in front of Malfoy and Snape.
Time seemed to halt as Molly and Hermione waited, keeping their eyes firmly on the potion. Ten minutes passed in her head, then twenty, then thirty...Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, thirty-three minutes had passed. Molly looked back at the textbook.
"Step 7: Add four horned slugs to the cauldron."
She rushed to Professor Snape's desk and grabbed four slugs from it.
"Miss Evans, will you please stop yourself from running?" Snape called.
"Sorry!" she called back as she dropped the slugs in her cauldron before they slipped out of her hand. She looked back at the textbook.
"Step 8: Take the cauldron off of the fire," Hermione read.
Hermione poked the handle of the cauldron to see if it was cool. Thankfully for her finger, it was. Molly grabbed the handle and took the cauldron off the fire, making sure not to spill a drop of the mixture.
"Class?" Snape said. "Look over here."
The two girls looked in Snape's direction. He was standing next to Malfoy, who had a smug look on his face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neville shrug and grab some porcupine quills from Snape's desk.
"Would you please look at how exquisitely Mr. Malfoy has stewed his horned slugs? Just put them in and let them sit in the mixture -"
Snape was cut off by an deafening explosion that made Molly jump. When she turned her head, she saw Neville with what was left of his cauldron. The blue remains of his potion were pooling on the floor, and Molly jumped up to avoid getting touched by it. When she looked at Neville, he was covered in red boils from the potion drenching him.
"Idiot boy!" Snape said, waving his wand. Instantaneously, the pools of potion disappeared. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville didn't answer as Seamus, who was working nearby and whose cauldron had also been wrecked, brought Neville up to the hospital wing.
"You - Potter."
Snape turned to Harry.
"Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."
Harry opened his mouth, but something caused him to stop. After a few seconds, the class had diverted their attention back to their own potions. Molly went up to Snape's desk and grabbed two sharp, brown porcupine quills, plopping them into the potion.
The potion started to bubble, but it didn't explode, to Molly's relief. She looked back at the potion book.
"Step 10," she read out loud. "Stir five times, clockwise."
She grabbed a long, wooden spoon from her desk and placed it in the potion, around where the number twelve would be on a clock. Carefully, she created a circle in the cauldron, and another, and another, and two more. Hermione looked at the last step.
"Step 11: Wave your wand to complete the potion."
She grabbed her wand and did the same flourishing movement Molly had done earlier. Suddenly, a pink puff of smoke erupted from the cauldron. The liquid inside turned a pretty pale blue.
"Professor Snape?" Molly called. "We're done."
Thank you for reading this chapter! Here are Chapter 6's fun facts:
1) The murder mat is not a murder mat - it's Molly mishearing Ava wishing she had a copy of the Marauder's Map.
2) In my science class right now, we're learning about chemical reactions, and almost the entire time, I felt like I was in a Potions class. (So this chapter, which I wrote earlier, is very close to my heart right now.)
3) I adore to sing - the songs in this chapter that Molly sings are "Life's a Happy Song" from The Muppets (one of my favorite songs to sing whenever I'm about to do something really super cool) and "If I Had a Boat" by Lyle Lovett. (Man, my references can get obscure.)
4) The inspiration for Jonah let me know while I was in the process of writing this chapter that he wanted to absolutely hate Roonil Wazlib (sorry, Ron Weasley). Hence, Jonah looking at Ron "with a foul look" after Snape talks about a bezoar.
5) Another AVPM reference in the form of Molly thinking she heard Quirrell's turban sneeze.
6) I'd totally go to say hi to the pig.
Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!