A/N; Happy Father's Day! How are you celebrating? I've been taking advantage of my summer vacation to get a lot of writing done. So far I've written through chapter twelve of year three. This year is going to be by far the longest year so far.
The next day, I have my first Potions class, and my first class with the Slytherins. I haven't been looking forward to this class, not just because of Professor Snape and his favoritism, but because of the other students. Specifically, Merula Snyde.
As soon as I enter the classroom, I look for her, so I can sit as far away from her as possible. To my relief, she's deep in conversation with a couple of other Slytherins, and doesn't notice me.
I follow Rowan over to the other side of the room, where we join Tulip at her table. She's sitting alone, watching Merula with a look of sadness on her face. Tulip and Merula became friends last year, I remember, but it seems that friendship was short-lived. What happened to drive them apart?
Tulip doesn't say a word to us, but she looks away from Merula, opening her textbook. I look at the board. Today we're brewing the Wideye Potion.
We're early, so I start finding the ingredients I need. As soon as I lay out the wolfsbane sprigs, Alana skids into the classroom, clutching her cauldron. She looks around for us and drops into the empty seat moments before Professor Snape enters the classroom. He raises an eyebrow at her panting but doesn't say anything. At least, not to her.
"Today you will be brewing a Wideye Potion. The instructions are on the board," he says. Lines of white writing appear on the board when he waves his wand. He's never demonstrated anything for us. He lets us learn by doing everything ourselves. This might be a decent teaching method, except he can't tolerate mistakes, and mistakes are inevitable.
I add a mixture of snake fangs and the dried herbs that comprise the Standard Ingredient to the mortar. Oddly, I'm not supposed to crush these ingredients just yet. Instead, I have to let them sit while I proceed to the next step.
I count out six dried Billywig stings and add them to my cauldron. Next, I heat them before returning to my mortar. I grind together the fangs and herbs. I've always enjoyed the rhythm of using a mortar. It's one of my favorite parts of brewing potions.
I lift the pestle and eye the powder that remains. I don't see any chunks, so I dump it in the cauldron along with the Billywig stings.
I stir the potion to dissolve the snake fangs and then wave my wand over the mixture. It has to sit for twenty-three hours, so I'll finish it tomorrow.
I breathe a sigh of relief and start my homework. I enjoy brewing potions, but Professor Snape's presence makes me uneasy.
I work on my homework for the rest of the class, an essay about the uses of Billywig stings. They can make people levitate, and there's a popular theory that they're used in Fizzing Whizbees. I wonder if Professor Snape ever eats sweets. Perhaps a treat or two would sweeten his disposition.
When class ends, I gather my things. I take a while to organize all of my papers, so the others leave without me.
I jam my textbook into my bag and stand to leave. Unfortunately, my way is blocked by three other students- Merula and her friends.
Barnaby and Ismelda. They sat together in Divination, I remember. I don't know much about Ismelda, but Barnaby's thicker than a troll. He always accepts bets from his fellow Slytherins to drink his potions, which are usually botched. "What do you want, Merula?"
"How did it feel to be publicly humiliated by Dumbledore at the Welcoming Feast?" she sneers.
"Can we not start our third year in another argument?" I sigh in exasperation. She ignored me for most of our second year, and it was working so well…
"Of course." Merula smirks. "And don't worry about Dumbledore and the Cursed Vaults. I'll find them all before you have a chance to."
I roll my eyes. "Right. Just like you found the first vault before me and my friends."
"I would have found it eventually!" Merula whines. "And with the help of my new associates, Barnaby and Ismelda, all the power and treasure in the vaults will be mine!"
Why did she feel the need to say their names? They're standing right behind her; I can clearly see who they are.
"What do you think is in the vaults?" Barnaby asks, scrunching his forehead up as he thinks.
"Maybe it's something that can bring back the Dark Lord," Ismelda says, but there's no real excitement in her voice. She's not a creep, then. Just a wannabe creep.
"Maybe it's something that can bring back Serantos' brother," Merula speculates. She opens her mouth, probably to insult me, but then closes it. She has a thoughtful expression on her face. "How about we make a deal, Serantos?" she offers. "You stay out of my way, and if I find anything that can help your brother, I'll tell you."
"First, he's my brother," I say, "so I'll find him myself. Second, you're the one who keeps getting in my way. And third, I can find the vaults much faster than you."
"Let's go," Merula huffs, not taking her eyes off of me. "This loser isn't worth our time."
You were the loser when we dueled, I think. The memory helps me withstand her insults. It gives me pride, and helps me remember that I'm better than her.
Ismelda follows Merula out of the empty room, but Barnaby lingers. He's standing in front of the door.
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Would you mind moving? I need to go somewhere."
"If you mess with Merula, I'll vanish all the bones in your body," he threatens.
There's no chance he can actually carry out his threat. We won't even start learning about human Transfiguration until seventh year. The most he could realistically do is vanish my clothes, and while that would be embarrassing, it wouldn't be painful.
"You can try," I say, crossing my arms and staring at him.
He looks annoyed. "Merula said that would scare you off."
"Why are you friends with her?" I ask, because he's blocking the only way out and I have nothing better to do.
"If whatever is in the vaults can make me stronger, I want it," he says. "Merula is the most cunning witch in our year. The only way I'll get inside the vaults is to do what she says."
"Did she tell you that, too?" I ask.
"Yes," he admits. He looks puzzled.
I spell out the problem for him. "She's lying to manipulate you."
Barnaby considers this for a moment. He screws up his face into one of frustration. "Don't try to make me think, Serantos," he finally says. He turns and leaves.
I watch him walk away, back toward the Slytherin common room. When he disappears around a corner, I start walking to my own common room.
What an odd boy…
That afternoon, I have my first Care of Magical Creatures- with, of course, the Slytherins. I suppress a sigh when I spot Merula in the crowd.
With my eyes on Merula, I accidentally bump into another student- Liz Tuttle. She's in several of my classes, but I've never spoken to her.
"Billywig, Bowtruckle, or Bundimun?" she asks.
"What?" I'm caught off guard by the strange question.
"Billywig, Bowtruckle, or Bundimun?" Liz repeats, a hint of impatience entering her voice.
"Bowtruckle?" I finally say. It's more a question than an answer. Bowtruckles are the only one of those creatures that I have experience with. There are a lot of them on Rowan's farm.
"So you're a nature lover, like me," Liz says definitively. "Maybe you'll live in a tree one day. I tried it for a bit..."
"All I did was say Bowtruckle…" I'm having some very strange conversations with Slytherins today. Why does she ask about magical creatures? Why those three specifically? What can it possibly tell her?
"I feel like we know so much about each other already," Liz says, even though we know nothing at all. All I have is my first impression, which is that she's quite strange, although that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"A lot of people make fun of me for asking that question. Sometimes, I hit them with the Bat-Bogey Hex," Liz continues, one hand dropping to her wand.
"Why do you ask it?" I'm genuinely curious. What's the purpose of such an odd question?
"It helps me figure out personalities," Liz explains. "See, if you pick Bowtruckle, you love nature, like you and me. Billywig means you have a prickly personality. I don't like Bundimuns. They spit acid. My aunt's house was infested with them a few years ago. I had to help her get rid of them."
I nod, still wondering what answering Bundimun indicates about your personality. Before I can ask her, Rowan appears and tugs me away. "Come on, Celena. Class is starting."
Liz follows us to where Professor Kettleburn is waiting. I've seen him before, but only from a distance. I take the chance to look at him properly. A life spent handling magical creatures has not been kind to him. A strip of white fabric covers one eye, blending in with his hair. One hand has been replaced with a wooden claw, with four pieces that open and close like fingers. Not even his legs have been spared. One of them is gone, replaced by a wooden foot.
"Welcome to the first Care of Magical Creatures class of the year! I am, of course, Professor Kettleburn," Professor Kettleburn says. "But enough about me. Let's talk about fire crabs."
He steps aside, revealing a creature that resembles a black tortoise with six legs. It's back is covered in large orange, pink, and red spikes. The spikes reflect the sunlight and are very beautiful.
"Watch out for it's posterior," Professor Kettleburn warns. "It shoots flames capable of scorching your skin off."
As if to demonstrate, the fire crab lowers its head and raises its rear end. A jet of bright blue flames shoots out high into the air. A few students gasp.
"Aren't magical creatures fascinating?" Professor Kettleburn says. "Later, we'll learn more about fire crabs. For now, watch closely as I demonstrate the proper way to not die in this class."
Professor Kettleburn has a very odd sense of humor, I think. At least, I hope it's just his sense of humor…
I watch intently as Professor Kettleburn works with the fire crab. He takes a small bag of treats and tosses them into the air one at a time. The fire crab stretches its neck and snaps them up hungrily.
"Who would like to give it a try?" Professor Kettleburn asks. "Miss Tuttle?"
Liz walks forward and takes a treat. She tosses it up for the fire crab. It catches it easily, just like it caught Professor Kettleburn's treats.
"Ten points to Slytherin," Professor Kettleburn says. He points to four more fire crabs, which I hadn't noticed. "Split into groups and feed your fire crabs. Do it carefully. I prefer to make it at least until the second class before I have to send a student to the Hospital Wing."
Liz joins Rowan, Alana, and I in a group. She must not have any friends. I make a note to be nicer to her from now on. Many of my friends are odd, but we've all found people we belong with. We pass a bag of treats around, taking turns throwing treats for the fire crab to catch. I rub one of the treats between my fingers, wondering what it's made of. It feels tough, like some sort of jerky. Are fire crabs carnivores?
Rowan doesn't have the best aim. One of her treats misses the fire crab's mouth and hits in on the center of its leathery forehead. "Oops," she giggles. The fire crab looks around for a moment before lowering its head and eating the fallen morsel.
When our crab's stomach is full, we take the remaining treats back to Professor Kettleburn. He places the bags in a pile. The first fire crab is still following him around, like a dog hoping for another treat.
"As you can see, the fire crab's shell is made from precious gems." Professor Kettleburn indicates the shining protrusions on the creature's back. "Many wizards and witches hunted them for their shells, so they developed the ability to shoot flames as a defense mechanism. They do this by-" He stops in the middle of his sentence and checks the watch on his wrist. "Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? Homework; a foot on fire crabs, due by next class."
I follow Rowan and Alana back to the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, throwing another glance at Liz when I pass her. She's nice, if a little odd. I hope she finds a friend soon.