Chapter 3
Trotting after my new head of house, a rather strict looking women, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, I realised that Halloween decorations were being put up in the classrooms, which I found very strange until I remembered that Professor Dumbledore had told me it was October and not February anymore. February 25th was my last day in 1943, so I've travelled 54? No 53 years and… 8 months and.. some number of days, I guess around 20, into the future.
Almost a whole lifetime and yet the Halloween decorations are the only thing indicating that something happened. The school uniforms were almost the same, the cloaks the teachers were wearing looked exactly as they used to and Hogwarts hadn't changed one bit.
She led me up the stairwell to the Gryffindor tower and told me the password was „Familiar". Ironic, I thought.
We stepped into the common room and it was absolutely packed. Just what I needed an audience to announce that I couldn't even handle a time turner. Ok, maybe I was overreacting, considering how delicate a time turner is, but still. It would have been much easier getting to know people in smaller groups.
„Everybody listen up!" McGonagall exclaims and the chatter that had been getting increasingly louder, ever since I had stepped into the room, slowly died down. „This is Maraya Thompson. She is your new class- and housemate. I expect that you make her feel at home. Miss Granger?"
„Yes, professor?" A girl around my age with the curliest hair I had ever seen answers.
„Miss Thompson is in your year, would you be kind enough to show her her bed?"
„Of course," she smiled and came over to us.
McGonagall turned back to me. „This is Hermione Granger, she is one of the Gryffindor prefects."
Hermione stretched out her hand to me and squeezed it lightly as she shook it.
„Come on, let's get you settled," she said with another smile and I followed her up the staircase to the girls' dorm.
After Hermione had shown me around and told me the names of the other girls in our dorm, which I promptly forgot, she told me dinner was about to start and invited me to sit with her friends, but I declined, saying I wasn't hungry and laid down on my bed. Yesterday, mine was the one across from me with a little window and I even though I knew this was by far not my biggest problem now, I still wished that I would have gotten it again. As I laid down I heard a paper crunching up, I pulled it out from under me and looked at my timetable for this semester. It was almost.. no, it was exactly the same as it had been yesterday. I laughed, I guess someone heard my wish on not wanting change. I wondered if the curriculum changed at all, or if I was going to have to do half of the year again.
My question was answered the next morning in potions, I walked in and almost stopped dead in my tracks, it was still Professor Slughorn. I couldn't believe it, I mean sure he looked a little older and rounder, but it was so nice to see a familiar face, other than Dumbledore, I guess.
„Professor Slughorn," I approached him. „Remember me?" I asked.
„My god… So, it is true, what Professor Dumbledore said. Maraya, it is such a pleasure to see you again. It's been a very long time," he said with tears in his eyes.
I smile for the first time in what feels like ages. „Well, for me it has been exactly one day, but it's still so good to see a familiar face."
He smiled at me and turned around to begin the class. While trying to find a free cauldron, I saw Hermione waving at me, pointing to the cauldron next to her. I set down my bag. „Thanks."
„Of course," she smiles.
„Well everybody, it seems the past has brought you some competition, you see Maraya here was my best student, her potions were, well are, immaculate!" Slughorn started the class.
Second best, I mentally corrected him. The best was Tom, but it was a lot like Slughorn to overpraise.
He started writing on the board. „Today we are going to make the antidote to Veritaserum! The instructions are in your book on page 187. You may start immediately."
Of course. Of course, the first potion I had to make was that particular antidote. The one where I actually had been the best of my class and the potion that was the reason for Tom talking to me that day. The reason we became friends and then more… The reason for the ba… I couldn't finish that thought.
I wondered if he did it on purpose. If he remembered that I had excelled in this particular potion and wanted me to have a successful first day. Or if fate is really playing me this way and put me in this particular place of the curriculum. Now that I think about it, this moment had a lot of emotional ties between me and Tom to it, and considering that he was the one who destroyed the time turner…
„Are you all right?" Hermione asked me giving me a concerned look.
„Yes, sorry, just spaced out for a bit."
„No worries, I just wanted to introduce you to my friends. This is Harry." I look up and a boy with very messy black hair gives me a friendly grin. „And this is Ron." The boy next to him, with flaming red hair waves at me.
„Nice to meet you guys, I'm Maraya, well, I guess you already knew that…" Great job, Maraya. Good first impression. Luckily, they didn't seem to mind my stumbling and we all started brewing the potion.
I almost didn't need the recipe, considering how long Tom and I had talked about this particular potion. At the end of the lesson, I managed to make it even better than last time. It almost looked clearer than water. Slughorn seemed to agree with me because when he walked by my cauldron, he almost shrieked, that's how excited he was.
„Oh my! Miss Thompson! This might be better than my own!" He exclaimed gleefully and kept talking about how well done it was for a couple of minutes. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was excited too, but after a while, it did get a bit uncomfortable, I kept glancing at Hermione, whose expression kept turning more and more sour, the longer he went on, and I really didn't want to lose the first friend I had made here.
I almost audibly exhaled when he finally moved on, but the tension was back as soon as I realised he went on to criticise Hermione's antidote, which honestly looked more than fine.
When he finally left our table, I turned to her. „I did have an unfair advantage, I have done this potion before and I talked a lot about it with a friend, which is why I knew how to perfect it. If we're going to do another potion I've already done before, I could give you some tips?"
Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say to her.
„I can make my potions on my own, without help, thanks," she said and turned away. If I hadn't seen Harry and Ron snickering at her comment, I would have probably started to cry. Freaking hormones.
Harry leaned over to me. „She'll calm down, she's just not used to being the best," he told me with apologetic eyes.
I give him a thankful smile.