First Year Slytherin Time Table
1st period: 8:45 - 10:15
2nd period: 10:30 - 12:00
Lunch
3rd period: 1:00 - 2:30
4th period: 2:45 - 4:15
Defense: Monday and Wednesday 1st period (with Ravenclaws) - 3rd floor, classroom 3C
History of Magic: Monday and Wednesday 2nd period (with Hufflepuffs) 4th floor, classroom 4F
Herbology: Monday and Wednesday 3rd period (with Ravenclaws) - Greenhouses
Transfiguration: Tuesday and Thursday 1st and 2nd period (with Gryffindors) - 1st floor, classroom 1B
Charms: Tuesday and Thursday 3rd period (with Hufflepuffs) - 2nd floor, classroom 2B
Potions: Friday 1st and 2nd period (with Gryffindors) - 1st level dungeons classroom
Astronomy: Wednesday at Midnight - Astronomy Tower
Flying: Thursday 4th period (with Gryffindors) - Grounds (Starting September 26th)
Rachel kept her timetable out on her desk while she attempted to take notes. She was hoping to have her schedule memorized by the end of the day. It would help once she saw where all of her classes were.
Being at Hogwarts was challenging in ways she hadn't expected.
For one, there was no map of the school. The only reason they had made it to classes on time so far was because one of the prefects came for them and led them to their next class. It seemed like there were hundreds of rooms in the castle, and none of this was helped by the portraits and the staircases moving around. To make matters worse, Rachel was sure that students were staring at her as she moved through the halls, some of them even doubling back to get another look at her.
Using a quill and parchment was ridiculous. So far none of the notes Rachel had taken were actually legible. Smears and splashes of ink obscured any letters she managed to clumsily make. Supposedly Gemma was going to teach them the basics of using a quill on Wednesday afternoon, but Rachel had little hope that she was going to get the hang of it. Why couldn't they just use ball-point pens like muggles?
Looking through her books over the summer had not at all prepared her for the day to day realities of studying and living with magic. People used their wands for just about everything. Some of the plants in the greenhouse moved around. Professor McGonagall could turn into a cat. The diagram on the board at the front of the classroom looked like gibberish. Rachel felt like she didn't know what people were talking about half of the time. She felt more than a little lost.
They were halfway through their first Transfiguration class and Professor McGonagall was walking up and down the aisles and quizzing students on what they'd just learned.
"Miss Granger, describe one of the dangers of transfigurations," Professor McGonagall directed, stopping in front of a group of Gryffindors.
"A potential danger, especially in human transfiguration, is that the transfiguration may either become half-transfigured or permanently stuck in the state," the girl said. Rachel noticed that it was the same girl who had been looking for the toad on the train.
"Very good, two points to Gryffindor for a complete answer," Professor McGonagall said, moving on. She came to a stop in front of Rachel's desk. "Miss Snow, what are the four branches of transfiguration?"
This one was actually easy, the answer was written on the board.
"Miss Snow, please either answer the question or tell me that you don't know the answer," Professor McGonagall said after waiting a moment.
Rachel felt herself starting to blush and she looked down at her notes.
"Professor McGonagall. Rachel doesn't talk," Pansy said, raising her hand.
"Excuse me?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking between Pansy and Rachel.
"She doesn't talk. Like, at all," Pansy said, fidgeting under the professor's gaze.
"Well, Miss Snow, I'm afraid you'll have to talk here at Hogwarts. Now, can you answer my question, yes or no?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Rachel shook her head no, hating how she could feel her face burning.
"Five points from Slytherin. Please come to my class prepared to answer questions," Professor McGonagall said. "Mr. Malfoy, name the four branches of transfiguration."
"Transfiguration, untransfiguration, vanishment, and conjuration," Draco recited.
"Very good, two points to Slytherin," Professor McGonagall said, moving on to another group of students.
Rachel hunched over in her chair, her hair brushing against the desk and her notes. Back at her old school they'd just accepted that she wasn't going to talk. They had her meet with a special teacher for a little while, but after that she'd just been in normal classes. The teachers hadn't really cared that she didn't talk, just that she handed in her school work.
Maybe after a few weeks here people would get used to the fact that she didn't talk and stop asking her questions. She planned on going to the library soon to learn about non-verbal magic. Maybe if she could do the spell work the teachers wouldn't mind so much that she didn't say the spell.
"Alright, so here are some self-inking quills. You'll be using these until you can write legibly without smearing your words," Gemma said to the group of first year Slytherin students who were gathered around one of the common room tables. She started to pass around the quills.
"Excuse me, can those of us who already know how to write properly be excused from this little lesson?" Draco asked, sounding slightly put out.
Gemma sighed. "For those of you who think you can write well using a regular quill, write your name and a full sentence on one of these pieces of parchment. If I deem it legible you'll be excused from the lesson."
Draco, Blaise, Theodore, Pansy, and Daphne all immediately dug for their own quills in their bags.
Rachel picked up the self-inking quill that had been pushed in her direction. It looked just like her other quills except the thick part in the middle was black instead of white.
Gemma looked over the samples of writing she'd been given. "These all look fine, except don't use calligraphy in your essays. The professors will think you're wasting time and showing off. Keep your writing clear and simple, especially for Professor Snape. You five are excused."
Rachel caught a glimpse of Draco's parchment and mentally groaned at seeing the beautiful writing. She couldn't even write like that using a regular pen.
Her dismay must have shown because Gemma put the samples away and handed each of the remaining students a blank piece of parchment. "Don't worry. The only reason they're so good is because they had private tutors. You'll get there with practice. Now, these pens have an ever-sharp spell on them, so you don't have to worry about sharpening the tip. Once you show that you're ready with one of these quills I'll show you how to sharpen a quill and use an inkwell. Now go ahead and pick up your quill just like you would a muggle pen. Are you all right handed?"
"I'm left handed," Millie said. "I've used a quill before, I'm just not very good at it."
"That's okay, it takes practice. So Millie, you'll hold the nib of the quill to the right. The rest of you will hold the nib to the left. Now when you're holding the quill, have it tilt at about a 45 degree angle to the parchment. Go ahead and try to write your names," Gemma instructed.
Rachel clumsily wrote her name. It was a little better than with the regular quill. At least the ink wasn't smearing quite so much.
"Here," Gemma said, reaching for Rachel's hand.
Rachel dropped the quill and pulled her hand back.
Gemma froze, her hand halfway to Rachel's quill. "Oops," she said, seeming to brush the moment off and resting her hand back on the table.
Rachel hated that she could feel herself blushing and she picked up the quill again.
"Okay, scoot your fingers up from the nib, you're holding it a little too close, and then let the quill rest further back on your finger," Gemma explained. "Now press the nib gently against the parchment; it doesn't take much pressure to leave a mark."
Rachel tried writing her name again and while holding the quill that way was uncomfortable her writing looked better.
"Good. Now practice writing out a few sentences," Gemma said, then turning to Vince and Greg. "Okay, you're holding your quills too tightly. And your writing is going to need to be smaller for the professors to accept your essays. Let your quill rest against your finger instead of bunching your fingers up."
"That's better," Gemma said after a few minutes as she looked at Millie's writing. "Okay, so when you're done writing a letter or an essay, you want to use sand to dry up the excess ink. The easiest way is to cast Harenae, which you probably can't do quite yet, so just ask someone else in the House to do it for you. Otherwise you just need to let your parchment sit out to dry for a little while before you roll it up."
By the end of the lesson Rachel had managed a few sentences that were legible. She still didn't see why they couldn't just use regular pens.
"Rachel, could I talk to you for a minute?" Gemma asked as she gathered up the parchment they'd been using.
Rachel tucked away the self-inking quill and watched as Millie walked to the hallway that led to the girls dorms.
Once they were alone at the table Gemma sat down next to Rachel. "I've heard some of the other students say that you don't speak. Is that true?"
Rachel nodded as she looked down at her lap.
"Are you worried about what the other kids will think if you say something?" Gemma asked gently.
Rachel shook her head.
"I probably don't need to tell you this, but a lot of spells require you to speak in order to use them, especially when you're first starting out. Maybe you could speak just in class? Would that help?" Gemma asked.
Rachel shook her head again.
Gemma sighed. "I don't know what to tell you. The professors aren't just going to let you not talk."
Rachel shrugged. She couldn't see what the professors could possibly do about it. And maybe she could learn to do the spells without speaking. She hadn't had a chance to go to the library yet, but she'd caught a glimpse inside when Nathaniel had shown them where it was and it seemed like there were thousands of books in there. Surely something in there could help her.
"Alright, you're free until dinner. After dinner you've got a study group with Tilly to work on your first Defense essay," Gemma said.
Rachel nodded, grabbed her bag, and hurried away to the girls dorms. She wondered how many more times she was going to have to have that conversation.
Severus arrived at the staff meeting exactly on time, knowing full well that Albus would be a few minutes late. Most of the staff was already there, with the exception of Sybill, who rarely attended. Severus, like most of the staff, preferred it that way.
Sybill Trelawney had predicted his death precisely once. Severus' response had ensured she never predicted anything about him again.
He glanced at Quirrell as he passed, noting the way the man's fingers twitched nervously on the table. Among his many sundry tasks this year was keeping a close eye on Quirrell.
"Severus," Minerva said in greeting as he took the empty seat to her left side.
"Minerva," Severus replied, nodding back. "I trust Peaks and Mullins have desisted with their suggestive transfigurations after I spoke with them."
"At least inside my classroom, though I dare say they continue elsewhere," Minerva said, sounding a little peeved. "It's not appropriate for the younger students to see such things."
Severus prevented himself from rolling his eyes. In his experience even most of the younger students were familiar with basic anatomy. "They are aware that if I hear of any more such transfigurations on their parts that I will be doing more than simply assigning detention. I dare say they will not do so anywhere they would get caught." He had discovered over the years that non-specific threats worked better than specific threats. Few Slytherin students had dared to test him to see what lay beyond receiving detentions.
"Good," Minerva said, glancing up as Albus entered the room. "There's another matter I want to speak to you about. Rachel Snow."
It was the third day of the school year. What could she have possibly done in that amount of time? "What about her?" he asked, hoping that he wasn't about to hear that she was bullying other students.
"She doesn't talk. At all," Minerva said. "When I asked her a question she refused to respond, and then the Parkinson girl told me that Rachel Snow doesn't speak."
"Same in my class, Severus," Filius added from across the table. "All she'd do is shake her head. It was Malfoy who told me that she doesn't talk."
Severus sat back in his chair as he thought to the times he'd seen Snow in the Slytherin common room and in the Great Hall. He hadn't paid particular attention to her, but he didn't think he'd seen her speaking to anyone. "I see," he said.
"Hagrid said something similar to me," Albus said, standing at the head of the table. "He had thought she was perhaps shy or a little scared. Hagrid said she didn't speak one word to him the entire time he was with her. Any idea what the problem is, Severus?"
"No, this is the first I've heard of it," Severus said, a little annoyed that this information was only coming to him now. "I'll look into it."
"See that you do," Albus said. "It wouldn't do to have her falling behind in her classes from the start of the year. Now, let's proceed with the agenda, if we may."
Severus kept half an ear on conversations about potential revisions in OWL and NEWT standards coming from the Ministry while he thought about his new problem. It was one he hadn't the slightest idea how to solve.
He'd had plenty of shy and introverted students over the years - both Slytherin and Ravenclaw attracted their fair share - and several had been rather taciturn. For some of those students, they had talked and interacted more as they got comfortable at Hogwarts and got to know the students and the staff. Others remained more reserved, but generally had a friend or two within the school. Severus had never had a student that simply didn't speak, and he didn't recall hearing of any such thing while he was a student himself.
Maybe Snow was homesick or frightened. He knew that coming to a magical school could be overwhelming for children who grew up in the muggle world. Or maybe he was reading too much into it and Snow was an arrogant brat after all.
Severus would have to speak with her and see what he could find out.
It was just past nine o'clock when Severus found Gemma Farley waiting for him outside his office.
"I hope you weren't waiting long, I was at a staff meeting," Severus said, knowing that his implication that it was past curfew would get across.
"I know, it was on the schedule you gave us prefects, but I wanted to talk to you today, sir. It will just take a moment," Gemma said. "It's about one of the first years."
Severus had a strong suspicion that he knew which first year she was going to tell him about. "In my office," he said, opening the door and leading her inside. He took a seat behind his desk and gestured for Gemma to sit in one of the chairs nearby.
Gemma sat down, looking a little nervous. "Sir, it's about Rachel Snow."
"I've heard that she doesn't speak," Severus said.
Gemma nodded. "I've taken her to classes, sat near her at meals, and taught her how to use a quill, and she hasn't said a word. I even asked her if she speaks, and she just shook her head no. Maybe she's just really shy, but…"
"Thank you for letting me know, I'll look into it," Severus said.
"There's something else I should tell you," Gemma said. "When I was showing the first years how to use a quill, I reached for Rachel's hand to change how she was holding it and she jerked her hand back like she thought I was going to hit her. I felt so bad."
Severus felt his lips tighten into a frown. "I'm sure it's nothing you did, Miss Farley."
"No, I know. It's just, I know from personal experience what kids are like when they're being hurt," Gemma explained.
Severus raised an eyebrow. He hadn't suspected anything of the kind from Gemma Farley. Both she and her older brother had spoken positively of their parents to him.
"Not me, but my cousins," Gemma said quickly. "My uncle on my dad's side was beating them, until my mom threatened him and helped my aunt and cousins move away. But my cousins acted like that sometimes, if you'd reach for them too quickly."
"I see," Severus said, not letting on how much this information concerned him. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I promise I will check in with Miss Snow and do what I can to ensure her situation is safe."
"Thank you," Gemma said, smiling and standing up. "And thank you again for choosing me to be a prefect. I really like working with the younger students."
"The initiative you've shown with the younger students and the fact that you are consistently responsible are among the reasons I chose you to be a prefect," Severus said. That and she was the only girl in her year who remotely had the grades necessary for Severus to even consider making someone a prefect.
"I think I want to be a teacher after I graduate," Gemma said, looking at Severus hopefully.
"That's something to keep in mind when you're preparing for your OWLs, and we'll look at the possibility more closely toward the end of the year when we're picking what classes you'll continue with," Severus said. He could easily see Gemma as a tutor or a teacher.
"Thank you!" Gemma said again with enthusiasm.
"Goodnight Miss Farley," Severus said, hinting again that she should be in the common room.
"Goodnight Professor Snape," Gemma said, undeterred by the sternness in his tone.
She closed the door behind herself and Severus sighed as he got up and placed his hand on the section of the wall that connected his office to his quarters. After a moment the wall recognized him and allowed him to pass through.
Severus went to the liquor cabinet in his main room, poured himself two fingers of Nepalese Firewhiskey, and then sank into the armchair next to the fireplace. He considered what he had heard today and decided that he clearly had at least one problem.
The first problem, that Rachel Snow didn't speak, both concerned and irritated him. He didn't have the slightest idea how to make her talk, other than to wait her out. If she was as stubborn as Lily, that could take all year.
The second problem, that Rachel Snow's relatives might be abusing her, was something else altogether. He had known Petunia Evans and had found her to be a hateful and spiteful young woman. Severus had no difficulty imagining her striking a child. Even if they had evidence that Rachel Snow's relatives were abusing her, Severus didn't know if Albus would be convinced that moving her would be worth sacrificing the protection of the blood wards.
All in all he figured he was going to be in for a difficult year.
Rachel sat down next to Millie in the potions classroom and took out her book, her self-inking quill, and some parchment for notes. This was her first potions class and her first class with her Head of House as the teacher. She was hoping this would go a little better since as far as she could tell from reading through her potions book none of the potions required spells.
"I've heard that Professor Snape is a really tough teacher," Blaise said to Theodore.
"Only if you're not a Slytherin, and you are a Slytherin, aren't you?" Draco said from where he was sitting across the aisle.
Blaise rolled his eyes and ignored Draco.
Rachel glanced back at where the Gryffindors were now entering the classroom and wondered how that would work. Professor Snape couldn't be a tough teacher to just half the class, could he?
Professor Snape entered the classroom shortly after the Gryffindors had taken their seats and called roll. Rachel raised her hand when her name was called and received a brief but intense stare from Professor Snape.
After he finished calling roll he looked over the room. "Potions making is an exact and subtle art, one which is both powerful and dangerous. I will not tolerate foolish behavior and rivalries in my classroom. If you purposely sabotage your own or your classmates' cauldrons you will find yourself ejected from my class and you won't be coming back. I am willing to teach you, but you must be willing to put in the effort to learn," he said, his tone both commanding and a little frightening.
Rachel thought Blaise had the right of it - Professor Snape was going to be a tough teacher, no matter what House you were in.
"Miss Snow, tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Professor Snape asked, turning to look directly at Rachel.
Rachel shook her head - she had no idea. She'd looked through her book, but hadn't really understood a lot of what she'd read.
"Miss Snow, you may either say the answer or you may say "I don't know, sir"," Professor Snape said.
Rachel swallowed hard and looked away. So much for not needing to talk in Potions.
"Sir," Draco said, raising his hand. "Rachel Snow doesn't speak."
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy, I've determined that for myself," Professor Snape said. "Miss Snow, detention with me, tonight at seven. For all of your information, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion called Draught of Living Death. Now open your books to page eighteen and review the instructions on Cure for Boils, which you all will be attempting to brew today."
Rachel quickly opened her book and tried to focus on the instructions. She was distracted by wondering what detention was going to be like. She had served some after school detentions at her old school, mostly for when Dudley had destroyed or stolen her homework before she'd handed it in. Most of those times she'd just had to do the homework she was missing or write lines. Hopefully detention at Hogwarts would be the same.
After reading the instructions they began brewing in pairs. Rachel worked with Millie and between the two of them they managed to powder snake fangs, slice pungous onions, and scoop out drops of flobberworm mucus.
Rachel took the cauldron off the fire and Millie added two porcupine quills and began to stir in a clockwise motion.
Across the room a cloud of green smoke billowed out accompanied by a hissing sound as one of the Gryffindor boy's cauldron melted.
Rachel picked her bag up off the floor and pulled her feet up onto her stool, Millie copying her a moment later as the spilled potion began to spread.
Professor Snape performed a spell that cleared away both the potion and the melted cauldron and stormed over to where the Gryffindor boy was now moaning and his hands were covered in boils. "You added the porcupine quills before taking your cauldron off the fire. Five points from Gryffindor for failure to read the instructions. You," he said, pointing to the boy who had been sharing the cauldron. "Take him to the hospital wing."
The two boys left the classroom and Professor Snape returned to the front of the classroom. "Let that be an example of a mild accident that can happen if you fail to adequately prepare for this class. Your potions should be completed by this time. Each of you should fill a vial with your potion, mark your name on the label, and bring it to the front of the classroom to be graded," he instructed.
Rachel carefully filled two vials, one for herself and one for Millie, and they wrote their names on them. They walked up to the front of the classroom and handed Professor Snape the vials.
He examined the vials, holding them up to see through the clear glass. "Adequate. I will come and vanish the rest of your potion from your cauldron in a moment."
As Rachel went back to her seat she heard Professor Snape's evaluations of other students as they brought him their vials. Apparently from Professor Snape "adequate" meant pretty good, especially compared to the comments he was giving other students.
After Professor Snape had gone around and vanished the remainder of the potions and he assigned them an essay on the potion they'd just brewed, the Slytherin first years went back to their dormitories to put their potions equipment away and then up to the Great Hall for lunch.
An owl landed next to Rachel a few minutes after she sat down and offered her its leg.
Carefully Rachel untied the small rolled up note and read it. It was from Hagrid, inviting her to tea the next afternoon.
Rachel showed the note to Millie.
"I haven't met Hagrid yet. Do you want me to come with you?" Millie asked.
Rachel nodded.
"Okay, we'll go tomorrow," Millie said. She pulled a quill out of her pocket and handed it to Rachel.
Rachel carefully wrote on the back of Hagrid's note that she would be there at two and would be bringing Millie with her and then tied the note back onto the owl's leg. It flew away again. Rachel wasn't sure about how sanitary it was to be receiving mail by birds, especially since they flew over and landed on tables with their food, but they were really cute.
Severus glanced at the clock when he heard the knock on his classroom door. It was just before seven. He closed his office door as he exited into the classroom and strode over to open his classroom door. Rachel Snow stood outside, looking up at him with wide eyes.
"Come in," he said, stepping back to allow her inside.
Rachel did as instructed, coming to a stop a few feet away. She waited, watching him.
"Sit down," he said, pointing at a nearby table.
She went to the table he had indicated, set her bag on the floor, and sat on one of the stools.
Severus sat down on a stool across the aisle, close enough that he could see her well, but far enough away that he wasn't crowding her. She looked worried, but not frightened. "Miss Snow, how are you finding Hogwarts thus far?"
Rachel blinked at him.
Severus internally sighed. "Were you able to get to all of your classes alright?"
Rachel nodded once.
"And Miss Farley and Mr. Crue have been able to answer any questions you've had?" he asked.
Rachel hesitated but nodded again.
"Good. Do you get along well with your roommates?" Severus asked.
Rachel nodded once more.
"Some of the other teachers have spoken to me. They say that you don't answer questions or use incantations in their classes. Is that true?" Severus asked this only because he was used to getting biased reports about his Slytherins from the rest of the staff, though he did believe them this time.
She nodded, but looked away.
"Do you understand what they're asking you to do?" he asked.
Rachel nodded again, her gaze focused on the floor.
"Can you speak, Miss Snow?" Severus asked. He didn't believe Rachel was stupid, her potion had been adequate and he had seen that she was doing her fair share of the work.
She held still for a moment and then very slightly shook her head no.
"Have you spoken in the past? At any point in your life?" he asked. He didn't recall Lily or James mentioning there had been something wrong with Rachel while she was an infant, but then again Severus hadn't spent a lot of time socializing with the Order.
Rachel nodded.
So it wasn't a physical problem then. "It is important that you speak during your classes. You will need to speak in order to perform spells. Without speaking you will most certainly fail all practical parts of your Charms and Transfiguration classes," Severus explained. "Would it help for you to practice the spells on your own before you needed to perform them in class? I can ask Professors McGonagall and Flitwick to provide you with a list so you can prepare in advance."
Rachel shook her head no again.
"Could you write down for me why you don't want to speak?" Severus asked, reaching the end of his patience. He couldn't help a student if they wouldn't tell him what was wrong.
Another shake of her head.
Severus stood up, deciding that he would simply have to wear her down. He had endured torture by the Dark Lord; outwaiting a stubborn student was simple by comparison. "Perhaps you simply need sufficient motivation. You will have detention every night at seven o'clock with me, until you choose to either speak or write down for me why you won't speak. Understood?"
Rachel nodded once.
"Lines. You will write 'I will speak when asked a question or when asked to perform an incantation', I will let you know when you are finished," Severus instructed. Usually he had students prepare ingredients or clean, but since it was only the first week of term his classroom was in decent shape, and he didn't trust her skills enough yet to prepare ingredients. Besides, the best thing he could do for himself was to help first years have better handwriting, otherwise he was sentencing himself to seven years of trying to decipher their scribble.
Rachel pulled a quill and some parchment out of her bag and began working.
Severus went back into his office, leaving his door open so he could keep an eye on her, and continued to work on his lesson plans.
Rachel was a little annoyed that she had detention every night for something as simple as not talking but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Theoretically she could write down something for Professor Snape, but she didn't know what she would write. She just couldn't talk. Even when she knew the answer to the question or wanted to tell something to someone, the words just wouldn't come out. And then she'd blush and feel stupid.
A little before two o'clock on Sunday, Rachel and Millie put away their transfiguration homework and walked up through the dungeons, through the entrance hall, and out onto the school grounds.
"You know you don't have to wear your uniform on the weekends," Millie said as they followed the dirt path down a hill towards the small wooden house at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Rachel nodded. She did know, she just didn't have anything else to wear. She'd taken the clothes she'd worn at the Dursley's house with her, so Aunt Petunia wouldn't throw them away, but she'd left them in her trunk. They were from a secondhand shop and didn't fit her right, or had holes or stains, and just generally looked awful. Rachel could live with wearing her school uniform every day. At least it fit and was clean.
"How do you know Hagrid? I heard he's been the keeper of the grounds for ages. And," Millie looked around to see if anyone was near them. "I heard that he's part giant."
Giants were real? The next thing she knew people would be telling her that unicorns and fairies were real. Hagrid certainly seemed big enough to be part giant.
"Is he nice?" Millie asked a little bit warily as they approached the small house.
Rachel nodded and went up and knocked on Hagrid's door.
There was a loud barking sound from behind the door. "Hold on a minute," Hagrid's voice called out.
Rachel and Millie looked at each other and took a step back.
There was more barking and then the door opened and Hagrid appeared holding the collar of an enormous Great Dane. "This is Fang, he's a good dog, he's just happy to see you. Come on in," Hagrid said, pulling the dog further back so Rachel and Millie could go inside.
It was a one room house with a big fireplace on one wall and a huge bed covered in a patchwork quilt in the back corner. There was already a kettle over the fire and a wooden table with roughly hewn chairs gathered around it. Aunt Petunia would have hated it, so Rachel loved it immediately.
"I'm going to let him go now, though he's gonna give you a jump at first just push him down," Hagrid said, letting go of Fang's collar as the kettle started whistling.
Fang immediately bounded over to them, licking Millie's face and hands before jumping excitedly at Rachel and doing the same to her. Rachel happily pet Fang's head and sides. She had always wanted a pet, but Aunt Petunia hated having animals in her home and wouldn't have let Rachel have a pet anyway.
"Here we go, have a seat and we'll have tea," Hagrid said, coming over to the table with a teapot and a plate of rock cakes. "So you're Rachel's friend Millie?"
"Millicent Bulstrode," Millie said, sitting down and accepting a cup of tea from Hagrid. "You can call me Millie. Rachel and I are in the same dorm."
"Ah, that's nice that you're making friends already," Hagrid said, watching as Rachel sat down, still petting Fang. "And you, Rachel, are you speaking now?"
Rachel shook her head no, petting Fang's ears as he put his head on her lap.
"That's alright. Takes time," Hagrid said. "Fang sure has taken a liking to you. How's your first week been? Taking to your classes alright?"
Millie proceeded to tell Hagrid all about their classes while they had tea. Rachel eyed the plate of rock cakes but decided to pass as they looked like they had raisins in them. It was weird not eagerly accepting any bit of food offered to her, but they had three big meals a day in the Great Hall. It was nice not being hungry all the time.
"And then Professor Snape gave her detention," Millie said. "Just because she wouldn't answer a question."
"On your first week?" Hagrid asked.
"Yep," Millie said. Millie didn't know yet that Rachel had to go back for detention tonight.
"That seems a bit excessive, but I'm sure Professor Snape knows what he's doing," Hagrid said.
"At least he didn't take points like Professor McGonagall did," Millie said, giving part of her rock cake to Fang, who ate it greedily.
Rachel would rather Professor Snape just took points and be done with it.
"Ah, well, it will get sorted out in time," Hagrid said with a nod.
Rachel put her empty tea cup down and noticed a scrap of paper sticking out from under the coaster. She pulled it out and read the newspaper clipping, which detailed a break-in at Gringotts bank on July 31st, the same day she and Hagrid had gone to Diagon Alley. The part about the vault that was broken into being already emptied the same day stuck in her mind, as what Hagrid had done could technically be considered emptying a vault, and she held the newspaper clipping out to Hagrid in question.
"Oh, that's where that went," Hagrid said, taking the paper from her. "Don't you worry about that."
Rachel raised her eyebrows as she watched Hagrid.
"No, nothing at all for you to be worried about," Hagrid said again. "Now look at the time. You best be getting back up to the castle. You're welcome to come see me any time you'd like."
Rachel gave Fang one last pet and allowed herself to be ushered out, now more suspicious than ever.
"Well that was weird," Millie said as they walked back up to the castle. "Wasn't it?"
Rachel nodded.
"What was on that piece of paper?" Millie asked.
Rachel shrugged in response. Maybe she could find another copy of the Daily Prophet and show her the article, but even then she wouldn't be able to explain why it was important.
And it was important. If anything else, Hagrid's reaction confirmed that something was going on with that package he'd taken from vault 713.