8

The Potions Master

"Look it's her."

"Do you think she's evil?"

"She's in Slytherin."

"Is that her next to that blond boy?"

"Does she have a scar?"

"She doesn't look evil."

From the moment Emily left the dungeons people seemed to be trying to get a better look at her. Their whispers followed her everywhere she went. People would turn around to pass her a second time in the halls and shove others out of their way if it meant they could get a good look at her. She wished they wouldn't and itched to try out a few of the hexes she had read about but restrained herself, or at least Draco did. Her newest friend had gone so far as to hide her wand in his robes while they were walking in the hallways the first few days to avoid any 'accidents'. Apparently, he didn't think it was a good idea for her to practice spells for the first time on other students.

Whenever Emily passed her twin in the halls, she noticed Harry was having a similar problem to her. She never could get close to him though as he always had Ron Weasley close by or a large group was blocking her way.She hoped he was handling the reaction of the students better than she was.

While it was difficult, Emily attempted to ignore the attention in favor of finding her way to classes.Draco and Emily had taken to trying to find different paths to avoid the masses which wasn't an easy task. Hogwarts was a massive castle with a hundred and forty-two staircases, some of the staircases changed directions while you were on them, others led to a different corridor on a specific day, and some had vanishing steps that you had to remember to skip or you would be stuck until someone happened upon you to help.

The magic that surrounded Emily in those first few days was both thrilling and maddening. The moving stairs Emily found fascinating, but the suits of armor were another story, she swore they were more than mere metal suits. There was even a time she felt as if one had been following her but every time she turned to check on it she couldn't tell if it had moved or if that was merely another suit of armor she had neglected to notice in her hurry to get back to where Draco had been waiting for her to return from the restroom.

If they did move, the young witch guessed she shouldn't worry so much, everything in the castle seemed to move around a lot so why not the suits of armor as well. There were doors that would be there one day to be gone the next or the various paintings that all interacted with the students as they mulled through the halls. It all only made Emily's belief stronger that Hogwarts was alive with the magic that hummed through her.

Emily heard many of the students complain about Peeves the Poltergeist in her first few days in the castle. He did appear to be worth a fake door and a trick step or two if you met him and were late for your class but he thoroughly amused Emily. She enjoyed a good prank and he seemed rather harmless. He would throw water balloons, he sang songs loudly following people around and sometimes dropped baskets on people's heads but she had yet to see him hurt anyone, embarrass yes but hurt no.

Emily's favorite joke was when he would sneak up behind someone grabbing their nose and yell, "GOT YOUR CONK!"She had no idea where Peeves might have picked up the idea but it sure did well to distract a crowd.

The thing that was least liked and annoyed people more than Peeves in the castle, was its caretaker Argus Filch. The feeling Emily got around him was unsettling. He seemed to truly loath the students and when she was around him she didn't feel a magical signature. Draco told her he was probably a squib, who she learned was a person born to a magical family but had no powers themselves.

If the man was bad, his companion was worse. Filch had a cat named Mrs. Norris that most of the student body would have taken pleasure in giving a swift kick to. She prowled the halls at night away from Filch looking for rule breakers. When caught by Mrs. Norris a wheezing Filch was never far behind.

Of course, besides the quirks of the castle there were the classes themselves. On Wednesday nights all the first years gathered at midnight to study the stars and planets in the night sky through their telescopes. In Herbology they worked in the green houses with a witch named Professor Sprout. Three times a week they would study the plants and fungi found in the large greenhouses. Emily had never heard of most of the plants except for in her books and was quite thrilled to learn about them. Draco didn't understand her enthusiasm for the class until she explained that the information was useful if she wanted to grow her own ingredients for potions when she was older.

The only class Emily found utterly boring was her History of magic class, for some reason her professor was a rather dull ghost who lacked the 'life', for lack of a better term, that the other ghosts in the castle seemed to exhibit.The rumor was that Professor Binns had died in the staffroom while napping in one of the large armchairs. He had apparently woken to teach his class and did not realized he left his physical body behind him as he made his was to his classroom. There were people who said he still didn't know he was dead but the thought of him not knowing by now was a bit unbelievable to Emily. She couldn't imagine his first class teaching as a ghost had gone all that smoothly, surely a student would have said something when he came floating in instead of walking into the room.

Having a ghost for a teacher wouldn't be so bad if Emily found the class interesting but all they seemed to do was take mindless notes as Professor Binns went on and on about Emeric the Evil and Wendell the Weird. If she wanted to learn anything about History of Magic she was going to have to do some extra reading outside of the class.

Charms was easily a favorite of Emily's. The teacher, Professor Flitwick, was a tiny wizard that Emily supposed had a little bit of goblin blood in him. He had a pile of books on which he stood to see the class over his desk. The first time he took roll and called Emily and Harry's names he had squeaked which had offset his balance enough that he tumbled out of their sight. Other than that, the man seemed like a fair and knowledgeable teacher and Emily was excited at the prospect of what she would be learning in his class.

Another teacher Emily found herself coming to respect was Professor McGonagall. She was a strong and strict woman who was not to be trifled with. At the beginning of her first lesson she had quickly informed the class of the dangers of improperly practicing Transfiguration. It was a complex subject and she refused to allow student to remain in her class that chose to mess around and waste her time.To demonstrate what you could accomplish Professor McGonagall had turned her desk into a pig and then back again. Emily was impressed and a bit disappointed to know that it would be awhile before they would actually start transfiguring large objects into animals. The Professor had given each student a match to turn into a needle after her lecture was over. Emily had been able to change her match easily into a needle on her second try. After McGonagall had awarded her points and shown the class how she had a perfect needle, Emily helped Draco to change his match. By the end of the lesson they had been the only two people to accomplish the task.

Unfortunately, Professor Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a rather big let down. Everyone, not just Emily, had been disappointed after leaving their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. For starters the classroom reeked of garlic, which was supposedly because of the Professor's fear of a vampire he had run into while traveling in Romania and was sure would be coming back for him. Emily rolled her eyes at the thought, if anyone had read the chapter on vampires they would know garlic didn't ward them off. Of course since the students were curious, Professor Quirrell was asked to explain his odd headwear, his turban had been a gift from an African Prince to thank him for eliminating a zombie that had been terrorizing his people. Emily wasn't sure she believed the story, the man supposedly was afraid of his own shadow and feared a vampire so much he was even using muggle methods in an attempt to protect himself. If that alone was strange, another item that didn't quite add up was that Emily also felt two magical signatures coming from Quirrell and his stutter appeared forced at times. And finally, her scar curiously seemed to burn when she was in his presence. It was a rather distracting side effect to the class.

Once Friday came Emily and Draco couldn't contain their joy at their latest feat. They had, for the first time, been able to make it to the Great Hall without getting slowed down by student who wanted to get a better look at the 'Slytherin Potter'. It meant that they had plenty of time to enjoy their breakfast before their classes started for the day.

"We have Double Potions today," Emily told Draco. "I have been waiting for this class all week!"

"Me too, but we have it with the Gryffindors. Why they put two known rival Houses in a volatile class together is beyond me." Emily had to agree with him, she had heard from the upper years that the reason Professor Snape was so harsh was because people try to sabotage other people's potions and that is extremely dangerous.When brewing you needed to be vigilant and add exactly what the ingredients call for and no more.One wrong ingredient or a little too much and the entire potion would be useless or worse could explode.

The reminder of who the Slytherins were having class with put a slight damper on the morning. The witch had been excited earlier in the week when the two Houses had shared Charms class but much to her surprise Harry had ignored her.

Emily looked up briefly as she noticed the mail was being delivered. It had been quite the sight the first day when a hundred owls came swooping into the hall and began looking for their intended recipients to deliver packages and letters to. Apollo had been barrowed by Draco and Blaise the first day to send letters to their parents. He had come back with a care package from Draco's mom who had even added a few things for Emily. According to Draco he had mentioned to his parents that Emily wasn't close to her relatives and his mom being the woman she was, didn't want the young witch to feel left out.

This morning was a bit different though as Apollo fluttered down next to Emily's juice and presented her with a note in his beak. Emily opened the letter at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:

Dear Emily, I know you have a free afternoon and was wondering if you would like to have tea with me. I want to hear how you are liking Hogwarts. Send a reply with Apollo.

Hagrid

Emily reached in her bag and pulled out a quill to write a reply.

"Who is it from?" Draco asked leaning in to read over her shoulder.

"Hagrid, he invited me for tea this afternoon."

Emily quickly wrote back to the giant:

I would love to have tea with you. See you this afternoon!

on the back of Hagrid's note and sent Apollo off again. She jumped up collecting her books and grabbing a few pieces of toast. At Draco's raised eyebrow she explained, "Blaise slept in again, he needs to eat."

"What a good mum."

Emily hit him on the arm as they left the Great Hall, "Well if you want to listen to him whine about missing breakfast, be my guest."

Potions lessons took place down in the dungeons close to Professor Snape's office. It was colder of course and people found it to be quite creepy because of all the jarred animals that lined the shelves on the walls.

Professor Snape began class like most teachers, by taking roll. He had briefly paused at Emily and Harry's names to recognize the 'new celebrities' as he called them. Theo and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands at this but a sharp glare from Emily quickly quieted the three. When Professor Snape finished calling roll he looked to the class. His eyes appeared to be empty tunnels of black and gave away no emotion.

"The art of potion making is a subtle science that few can truly appreciate," he began. He spoke softly enticing and drawing the class in. His very presence demanded your attention. It took him a mere word for the class to fall silent and focus completely on him which could not be said for other professors.

"I will not tolerate foolish wand waving or incantations in my class. I don't expect many to grasp the beauty of a softly simmering cauldron or appreciate the delicate power of the liquids that are created here. Potions can bewitch the mind or ensnare your senses. To those who possess the predisposition of this art… I can teach you how to bottle renown, brew splendor and even put a stopper in death, – as long as you are not the dunderheads I am used to teaching."

Emily looked over to Harry who was exchanging questioning looks with Ron. The bushy-haired girl, named Hermione Granger, was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to prove that she wasn't one of the dunderheads Professor Snape spoke of.

"Let's see if anyone has prepared, shall we?" Professor Snape announced as he looked around the room. "Mr. Potter, what have I created if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Granger's hand was in the air before Professor Snape had even finished his question. Emily watched the professor sneer as Harry informed him that he didn't know the answer.

"Let's try again, Mr. Potter. If I asked you to bring me a bezoar where would you go to find me one?" Hermione seemed to be stretching her arm as high as she could without leaving her chair which appeared to be on the verge of falling over if she were to stand.

Emily wished she could help but she knew better than to say anything without being called on first. To be honest she wasn't even sure if Harry would have accepted her help anyway with his attitude this last week. He was starting to feel like a stranger to her after 11 years of only having each other. She watched again as her brother told the professor he did not know the answer.

"Were you too busy to open a book before coming to my class, Mr. Potter?" Professor Snape continued to ignore Hermione's hand as she had begun to wave it around frantically in an attempt to catch his attention. "Why don't we try an easy question, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Hermione finally stood up knocking her chair to the floor in her exuberance. Emily rolled her eyes as her brother again said he did not have the answer but to try asking Hermione who seemed to know.

The few who laughed were quickly quieted by one glance from Professor Snape. "You, sit down," he snapped at Hermione finally recognizing the girl. "Miss Potter would you like to enlighten us on the questions I just asked your brother?"

"Asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone that can be found in the stomach of a goat and it can save you from most poisons. There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane, it also goes by the name of aconite." Emily never took her eyes off of Professor Snape but she could feel the glare from her brother on the back of her head. She knew he was upset at her for knowing the answers but she refused to be mediocre any longer. For years she had been forced to do Dudley's homework and make sure her marks never were higher than his. Now that she was able to be herself she would not hide her knowledge.

"Very good, it seems you have inherited your mother's intellect Miss Potter." Professor Snape looked around at the class and sneered, "Well why is no one writing down the answers?"

Everyone began rummaging for their quills and parchment to take notes.

Over the noise Professor Snape added, "Ten points to Slytherin for Miss Potter's knowledge and a point from Gryffindor for your cheek Mr. Potter."

Professor Snape proceeded with class and paired them off before instructing them to brew a simple potion for curing boils. He swept around in his flowing black cloak, watching and criticizing almost everyone except Draco and Emily, who had been paired together much to their pleasure.

The Professor was telling everyone to look at the perfect way Emily and Draco had stewed their horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke began to fill the potions lab. Looking around Emily noticed Longbottom had somehow managed to melt the cauldron he was using into a twisted molten blob. The boy's potion was oozing off the table and onto the stone floor, burning holes in the shoes of those who were close by. Within seconds, the whole class had taken to standing on their stools while Longbottom who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron melted looked to be in pain as boils began appearing all over his skin.

Longbottom cringed even more as Snape snapped at him calling him an idiot. It seemed Longbottom had added the porcupine quills before removing his cauldron from the flames.

It was obvious Longbottom had not read the instructions carefully and had just taken to putting the ingredients in the cauldron. Emily didn't blame Professor Snape for his anger, Longbottom was lucky the potion wasn't doing worse than causing boils. In his anger though Professor Snape rounded on Harry blaming him for not monitoring Longbottom and his partner in an attempt to make himself look good. Emily thought that went a bit far but there was nothing she could say. Emily watched as Harry went to retort only to stop after Ron kicked him in the shin.

As Emily and Draco left the dungeons to go to lunch Emily had mixed feelings. She already loved potions but she was sure her brother's opinion of Slytherins had become even worse and he was angry at her for knowing the answers to Professor Snape's questions.

"Cheer up," Draco said sensing where Emily's thoughts were. He knew that the separation from her brother was hurting her. She had finally confessed to him the night before that she had never been without Harry and that they had even shared a room up until coming to Hogwarts. She had left out the part of the room being a cupboard under the stairs for most of their lives though, she wasn't ready to share that much with anyone just yet.

"You are going to tea with the gamekeeper correct?" At Emily's nod he continued, "Why don't I join you. I can meet him and then we can play some exploding snap and eat a bunch of the sweets my mum sent."

"Sure," Emily agreed as the pair made their way back to the common room. She knew her friend was merely trying to be polite and that he probably could care less about tea with Hagrid but she appreciated the small gesture. "Thanks Dray."

"Anytime."

At five to three Emily and Draco could be found sitting and enjoying tea with Hagrid in his hut. Hagrid lived by the edge of the forbidden forest and had a small pumpkin patch to the right of his home. Inside there was only one room that held a large bed in the corner, a fireplace and a table with large chairs around it for people to sit at. There was a knock at the door and Hagrid rose from the table attempting to pull Fang back. Fang was a large dog who though looking fierce was a big softy and would much rather slobber you to death than bite you.

Hagrid was able to move Fang away from the door long enough to open it to whoever was on the other side.

"One moment," Hagrid called to the person, "Fang stay back!"

Hagrid let the person in which turned out to be two people, Harry and his friend Ron Weasley. Harry seemed to slowly be taking in his surroundings until he finally noticed her and Draco. But as soon as their eyes connected he turned to Hagrid as if he hadn't seen her and introduced him to Ron. Hagrid went about pouring two more cups of tea and inviting them to join them at the table.

"You must be another Weasley then?" Hagrid said, pointing at Ron's freckles and red hair. "I spend a lot of me time chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest. They are sneaky, almost slipped by me a few times but they haven't succeeded yet."

Hagrid passed around what he called rock cakes, the name seemed appropriate since they were hard as a rock and impossible to chew but they all pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid about their first week at Hogwarts. Weasley though, seemed to make it a point to pretend that Emily and Draco weren't in the room, going as far as to cut them off when they were talking as if he had no idea they were in the middle of explaining something.

Emily and Draco were amused to find that Hagrid disliked the caretaker Filch as well. It turns out every time Hagrid enters the castle he is followed by Mrs. Norris most likely on Filch's orders. He seemed to think that Fang would scare the cat if introduced but Emily wasn't so sure as she looked at the dog happily having his ear scratched by Harry and drooling all over the place.

Harry mainly complained about the potion lesson they had that day and was upset that Professor Snape seemed to dislike him. Hagrid tried to calm him saying Professor Snape liked very few people in general. "But he likes her," Harry interrupted pointing in Emily's direction but refusing to look at her or acknowledge her by name.

"Of course he likes her. She's a Slytherin. Everyone knows he favors them." Weasley spat.

"How is winning points for answering questions correctly favoritism?" Emily retorted.

"He only asked you to show Harry up! I bet he told you the answers before so you were prepared. Slimy snakes."

Hagrid trying to stop a fight before it broke out decided to intercede. "How's yer brother Charlie doin' down on the reserve?" It obviously worked because Weasley immediately launched into a discussion about Charlie's work with dragons in Romania and ignored the witch who was glaring daggers at him.

Emily was about to suggest that she and Draco take their leave when she saw a newspaper clipping lying on the table by the tea pot. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet on the Gringotts break in. It stated that it happened on the thirty-first of July and announced that the vault broken into had been emptied not long before the attempt that same day. She remembered Draco mentioning the break in on the train but she hadn't actually read the article on it.

"Hagrid, the break in at Gringotts happened on our birthday. Do you think we were in the bank when the person who broke in was there?"

Hagrid refused to meet Emily's eyes as Harry grabbed for the clipping to read it himself.

"The vault had been emptied earlier that day," Harry read aloud. "Didn't you empty the vault we went to?"

Hagrid grunted and offered them all more rock cakes. Hagrid's reluctance to comment gave Emily a funny feeling that whatever package Hagrid had retrieved had been what the thieves were looking for. Her mind went to the out-of-bounds corridor in the school, could that have anything to do with it? Hadn't Hagrid said he was collecting the item for Dumbledore, stressing it was for Hogwarts?

It was as if Hagrid could see the wheels turning in Emily's head and was quick to shoo the first years all back up to the castle. Emily noticed Weasley was trying to make Harry walk faster so they weren't next to her and Draco which only seemed to fuel her earlier annoyance with the boy.

"Harry!" Emily called, she had enough and it was time she finally spoke to her twin. "Harry will you look at me please?!"

"Emily we're trying to get to dinner, can this wait?"

"You have been avoiding me all week."

Harry shrugged in response, "It's not like we are in the same House."

"So you won't talk to me because I'm in Slytherin? Gryffindors are too good to speak to the snakes in the dungeons even if they are their own sister?"

"Have you not heard what people say about Slytherins?"

"So you would believe rumors you've heard from people you don't know over me, your sister, who you have known your whole life," she dropped her voice low enough that Draco nor Weasley could hear her next words, "Who slept in a cupboard with you for ten years."

Harry looked at her, for a moment Emily swore Harry was about to agree that he was being an idiot but he looked back at Weasley who was impatiently waiting for him and shook his head, "I just don't know what to believe. How can I trust you after you obviously couldn't be bothered to help me today in potions?" With that Harry turned his back on her and caught up to Weasley so the pair could head to dinner.

Draco came up to Emily and hooked his arm with hers. "Come on, we can skip dinner. Let's go play exploding snap and eat a bunch of candy."

Emily who was forcing herself not to allow the tears welling in her eyes to fall, knowing they still had to pass everyone before they got to their dorms, agreed. She doubted she could even eat dinner right know anyway.

Later that evening, Emily was feeling extremely lucky she had made such a great friend. She and Draco stayed up late into the night eating their way through all the sweets Draco's mom had sent, talking, joking and playing exploding snap until they both passed out from exhaustion.