As predicted, Snape gave them so much homework that Teddie was sure he was doing it to punish them for failing in producing a Non-verbal jinx or shield.
"Why do you think he stopped you and Theo from participating?" Daphne asked Teddie. They all had a break now and were heading down to the Entrance Hall.
Teddie shrugged. "I think it has something to do with my shield," she said. "I used to have control over it, but since Avery's abduction at the end of fourth year, I haven't been able to do much with it. It's like it's got a mind of its own."
"Or it's Faye," said Blaise. "I did some research over the summer. And, apparently, when magic is suppressed it explodes out of the individual in dangerous ways. All those times when you were young and blacking out, and the weird stuff was happening to you? That was Faye. It's almost like when one identity is awake, the other is asleep. Both can't be awake at the same time."
Teddie looked thoughtful. It made sense, and the idea was partially confirmed in second year. When Teddie was asleep in bed, Faye was awake and in control of their shared body, it was how she was able to open the Chamber of Secrets and why Teddie was always so tired when she awoke the mornings after, neither her mind nor body had received any rest because of Faye's nightly escapades.
Break lasted roughly fifteen minutes, after which the friends split up and headed for their respective classrooms. Teddie made her way up to the Charms corridor and sat outside, while she waited for the rest of the class to arrive, she looked over Snape's homework, her stomach dropping significantly as she noticed how complexed it was compared to other years.
"I'm pretty sure he's trying to break us," Teddie muttered.
"Hi Teddie," said a small, quiet voice.
Teddie blinked and looked up. "Oh, hey Robin," she said, recognising the brunette standing over her. Robin Ronan was a sixth year Hufflepuff that Teddie had met last year during Dumbledore's Army, she was friends with Zacharias Smith, even though she was nothing like him.
"How was your summer?" Robin asked.
Teddie shrugged. "I know now what it feels like to be on House Arrest," she said. "Or, at least, what it's like living in a bubble."
Robin smiled. "Yeah. Mum and Dad wanted to put a bubble around our house," she said. "Grandma talked them out of it. But it was still tempting. How's your brother?"
"He's pretty good," said Teddie, shuffling her Defence papers back into a composed pile and stuffing them back into her backpack. She would attempt to complete the homework later when the others were present, at least then if she got stuck she could ask for help. "How's your sister? Wasn't she supposed to start this year?"
Robin nodded, a sad smile on her lips. "Mum and Dad were too nervous to send her," she admitted. "They're home-schooling her for the time being and looking into sending her to Beauxbatons or something. They wanted me to leave or transfer out, but I refused."
"That seems to be the consensus these days," said Teddie. "A lot of families want their kids as far away from Hogwarts as possible."
"I know a lot of families are doing it because of the news about you," said Robin. "I don't believe it for a second, though. I mean, you're too nice to be anything like them."
Teddie offered her a small smile. "Thanks, Robin, I appreciate the vote of confidence," she said.
"No problem. This is probably a stupid question, given you're sitting here, but you taking Charms this year?"
"Yep. You?"
Robin nodded. "I think we have Transfiguration, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures together, too," she said. She took out her timetable and consulted it.
Teddie did the same, and the pair poured over the two at the same time, joining up which lessons they would taking together for the remainder of their time at Hogwarts.
By the time they had finished, more students had arrived, and they had worked out that they had a total of five lessons together.
"Do you want to sit with me for Charms?" Robin asked.
"That'd be great," said Teddie.
Robin beamed and led the way into the classroom as it opened from the other side.
~X~
By the time lunch rolled around, Teddie's backpack was so heavy that she had to balance it out on both shoulders. She and Robin left the Charms classroom together and chatted as they made their way down to the Entrance Hall, only separating when they crossed the threshold into the Great Hall.
"See you later, Teddie," Robin called, making her way over to her friends at the Hufflepuff table.
Teddie waved and hurried along the Slytherin table, sliding into an empty space beside Marlene. A few minutes later, Daphne, Blaise, and Theo arrived, each of them looking as tired as she felt.
"Rough day?" Judy asked.
"I have so much homework," Daphne whined. "I don't see me going to bed early tonight. How about you lot?"
"Defence is going to accept so much of our time," said Teddie. "Have you had a chance to look at it? Snape is seriously evaluating us."
Blaise swallowed his orange juice. "I glimpsed it when I was waiting for History of Magic to start," he said. "I definitely think he's going to be the worst Defence teacher, in terms of Homework, at least."
"What did you do in today's Defence lesson?" Susan asked.
Judy nodded. "Yeah, there's gossip around the castle that Potter and Snape got into it," she said.
"We were supposed to be practising Non-verbal spells," said Teddie. "Harry reacted defensively and instinctively when Professor Snape took his partner's place. The force of his shield charm knocked Snape back, into a desk, and then he was sassy when Snape was scolding him."
"Oh, so a typical day for Potter, then?" Judy asked.
Teddie shrugged. "I can't say I blame him," she said. "I would've reacted on instinct if someone much stronger than me pointed their wand at me. Besides, we all know that Snape has it in for Harry."
"That's simply not true, Miss Green," drawled a voice from behind.
Teddie jumped and whipped around, finding Professor Snape standing directly behind her. "Merlin don't do that!" she said, pressing a hand to her chest. "Why are you creeping around anyway?"
"I have come to remind you that Jonathan Cruise and his team -"
"Are here for my protection, blah, blah, blah," said Teddie, miming a talking face with her hand. She also rolled her eyes for animation.
Snape scowled. "Yes," he sneered. "Cruise is right to report on your childishness."
"Hey!" Teddie protested, pointing her fork at him. "Did either you or Cruise stop to think that maybe my 'childishness' as you so politely put it, is a mask? I got a lot of my plate, you know."
"So, I see," said Snape, glancing down at her lunch plate which was piled high with food.
Teddie rolled her eyes. "Not literally," she said. "You know what? Never mind. I won't try and give Cruise the slip, not that I could with Melanie around, anyway," she added to her friends. "That woman has eyes like a hawk."
Her friends sniggered.
"Yes, well, see that you keep that promise," said Snape. "Oh, and one more thing."
"What now?" Teddie groaned.
"In regard to your Defence lessons," said Snape. He leaned closer, his lips deliberately close to Teddie's ear so that when he spoke his breath rippled across her skin, causing her to shiver. "You'll take advanced lessons with me when I see it wise. Starting tonight with Non-verbal spells."
Teddie whined and rubbed her ear as Snape straightened up and glided away. "I hate when he does that," she said.
"What did he say?" Judy asked.
"He wants to teach me advanced defence lessons," said Teddie. "Plus, I think he wants to teach me the spells I can't do in class, like today."
Theo looked curious. "Well, at least he would have an advantage over you and your shield," he said. "Something the rest of us don't have."
The others nodded.
"Mhm. Good point," said Teddie.
The group lapsed into silence as they finished their lunch.
~X~
Five minutes before the end of lunch, Daphne, Blaise, Theo, and Teddie scurried down to the Slytherin common room to deposit their homework in their dormitories and collect their Potion supplies. Teddie tossed her entire book bag onto the bed, grabbed a quill, a book of parchment, and an inkwell from inside and stored them inside her cauldron along with her Advanced Potions book, and then headed downstairs.
The walk to the dungeons wasn't long from the Slytherin common room, and the quartet arrived just as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. They were the first outside the Potions room and leaned against the wall, quietly talking about what Potions they would learn in the preparation for N. E. W. Ts.
"According to this book," said Blaise, opening to the contents page. "We're learning about things like Polyjuice, Veritaserum, and Amortenitia."
"Isn't that last one a Love Potion?" Daphne asked.
Blaise nodded, flipping to the chapter on Amortenitia. "Yeah, it's supposed to be the most dangerous love potion in the world," he said.
"Who would want a Love Potion anyway?" Teddie asked. "If you have to force someone to love you then it's not worth having."
Daphne nodded in agreement.
"I wonder if Slughorn will mention it in his welcome speech?" Theo asked.
Blaise shrugged and checked his watch. "We shouldn't have to wait much longer to find out," he said. "Class starts in ten."
The sound of footsteps and voices echoed from down the corridor as the rest of the class arrived from Lunch. Leading the throng was Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, the pair sneered at the quartet as they filed around them and accepted a spot nearest the door.
"Hey, Teddie," said Hermione, cheerfully.
Teddie pushed herself to her feet. "Hey, Hermione, how's your first day been?" she asked.
"Exciting. I saw you weren't in Ancient Runes this morning," said Hermione.
"Yeah. I'm just not cut out for it like you and Theo," Teddie admitted. "You two are the brainiacs when it comes to runes and hieroglyphs."
Theo and Hermione blushed under the praise.
"I thought you did really well last year, to be fair," said Hermione. "You shouldn't sell yourself short."
Teddie smiled. "Thanks, Hermione, but I'm happy with my current schedule," she said. "Did you drop any classes this year?"
"Only Care of Magical Creatures."
"Really?" Teddie asked, surprised. "I thought you liked Hagrid's lessons."
Hermione blushed. "Oh, they were interesting, don't get me wrong, but, if I'm honest, I only took the lesson because Hagrid is my friend," she admitted. "I don't know of anyone in our year that is continuing it for N. E. W. Ts."
Teddie looked around at her friends. "We are," she said.
"You are?" Harry asked. "Why?"
"Probably looking into new animals that her father can recruit to his cause," Ron muttered, loudly.
Teddie growled and opened her mouth to retort. She cut off as Snape's voice echoed in her head about picking her battles, and, with great difficultly, clamped her mouth shut and turned her back on the red head. "I'm continuing because I like the lesson," she said to Harry.
"Oh. Maybe you can explain to Hagrid for us why we aren't there?" Harry asked. "Just tell him something like your schedule was too full, or something?"
"Sorry, Harry, but if Hagrid is your friend then you shouldn't really be lying to him," said Teddie.
Harry sighed. "You're probably right," he agreed. "Thanks anyway."
Teddie smiled and patted his arm.
The door to the Potions classroom opened and the class started to file inside. The dungeon was, most unusual, already full of vapours and odd smells. In total, there were fifteen students in the classroom - four Ravenclaws, one Hufflepuff, three Gryffindor, and six Slytherin. Teddie and her friends shared one table, leaving Parkinson and Malfoy to sit alone, while the others seized their own tables, with Ernie McMillian joining Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Robin, being the odd one out, hesitated in the middle or the room.
"Hey, Robin, over here," Teddie called.
Robin made a beeline for the last chair around the table and sat down. She smiled gratefully at Teddie and started to unpack her cauldron. "Thanks," she said.
"We made a promise to sit with each other, remember?" Teddie asked. "That includes when I'm with these guys, too," she nodded at her friends. "You guys remember Robin, right?"
Daphne reached across the table and held out her hand, while Blaise and Theo nodded politely.
"Now then," said Slughorn, closing the door and striding toward his desk. "Scales and potion kits out, everyone, and don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making," he said.
"Sir?" Harry called, raising his hand.
"Harry, m'boy?"
"I haven't got a book or scales or anything - nor's Ron - we didn't realise we'd be able to do the N. E. W. T., you see -"
"Ah yes, Professor McGonagall did mention," said Slughorn, nodding. "Not to worry, my dear boy, not to worry at al.. You can use ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I'm sur ewe can lend you some scales, and we've got a small stock of old books here, they'll do until you can write to Flourish and Blotts."
Slughorn strode over to a corner cupboard. While he fussed about with Harry and Ron, Teddie turned to her own book and flipped through to the contents page.
"What you looking for?" Theo asked.
"Just reading ahead," said Teddie. "Umbridge tried to get me to take Veritaserum last year, I am curious to know more about it, now. See if I can avoid it in future, or if it leaves a distinct taste that I can identify if it's slipped into my drink."
"You're starting to sound paranoid," said Blaise.
Teddie looked up. "I've been outed as the Daughter of Darkness," she said. "People are turning on me because they're afraid. You have no idea what people can do to someone when they're scared, and I've had enough bad luck when it comes to abductions and stuff. You may see it as paranoia, but I see it as being cautious."
"Fair point," Blaise agreed.
"Now," said Slughorn. He had finished with Harry and Ron and was addressing the class again. "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your N. E. W. Ts. You ought to have heard of 'em even if you haven't made 'em yet. Anyone want to tell me what this one is?"
He pointed at the cauldron nearest Malfoy and Parkinson. It looked like colourless potion that was lightly bubbling away.
"It's Veritaserum," said Hermione, without missing a beat. "It's colourless, odourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."
"Very good, very good," said Slughorn.
Teddie raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Green," said Slughorn.
"Colourless, odourless, does that mean it's tasteless, too?" Teddie asked.
"It's not entirely tasteless," said Slughorn, shaking his head. "But it has been described as being indistinguishable to water."
Teddie pursed her lips and lowered her hand.
"Now," Slughorn continued, turning to the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table, "this one here is pretty well known. Featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately too… Who can -?"
Hermione's hand hit the air as did Daphne's.
"It's Polyjuice Potion," said Hermione, before even being called on.
The potion in the cauldron bubbled slowly and thickly. It reminded Teddie of the La Bria Tar Pits she had seen on TV.
"Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here… yes, my dear?" Slughorn asked, now looking slightly bemused, as Hermione's hand punched the air again.
"It's Amortentia!"
"It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask," said Slughorn, looking mightily impressed, "but I assume you know what it does?"
"It is the most powerful love potion in the world," said Hermione, echoing Blaise's sentiments.
"Quite right! You recognised it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"
"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," said Hermione. "It's also supposed to smell distinctively different to each of us, according to what attracts us. For example, I can smell freshly mown grass, new parchment, and -"
Hermione cut off, a dull blush tainting her cheeks as she fell silent.
Teddie bit back a smile as she shared a look with Daphne. Hermione's last smell was obviously in relation to someone sitting next to her, otherwise she would've continued her explanation and not trailed off. So, who did the amazing Hermione Granger love? Harry Potter or Ronald Weasley?
"My money's on Weasley," Daphne whispered.
"You think?" Teddie asked.
Daphne nodded. "What do you think you would smell in the cauldron?" she asked.
Teddie shrugged. "I don't know. Never really thought about that sort of stuff, to be honest. What about you? Maybe you'll smell the crispness of winter, you know, in association with that Durmstrang bloke."
"Shut up!" Daphne said, shoving Teddie playfully.
Teddie laughed quietly.
As Slughorn awarded Gryffindor twenty house points, he turned back to the rest of the class. "Yes, Miss Greengrass?" he asked, noticing Daphne's hand in the air.
"I just wanted to piggyback on Hermione's answer," said Daphne, "and let everyone know that Amortentia doesn't really create love. Love is a chemical balance in the brain, a love potion just creates the appearance of love - an infatuation or an obsession."
"Correct you are, Miss Greengrass," said Slughorn nodding. "And for that very reason, it is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this very room. Now, it is time for us to start work."
"Sir, you haven't told us what's in this one," said Ernie, pointing at a small black cauldron standing on Slughorn's desk. The potion within was splashing about merrily, like fish were jumping out of the surface and splashing back under for fun. It was molten gold in colour.
Slughorn turned, beamed, and turned back. It was almost like he had forgotten the potion deliberately so that someone would point it out. "Yes. That. Well, that one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. Does anyone know what that means?"
"Liquid Luck," Hermione and Daphne breathed.
Slughorn beamed at them both, and the rest of the class seemed to sit up a little straighter. "Quite right, each of you take ten points for your houses. Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed… at least until the effects wear off."
Teddie furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, miss Green, I mean that, say you were trying to sneak away from your protective detail, for example," said Slughorn, gesturing toward the classroom door where he knew Jonathan Cruise and part of his team were standing outside. "You would take a single drink of this, and nothing is in your way. Cruise and the others could be called away on another assignment, or something could happen that could draw their attention."
"But surely that's just… well… luck," said Teddie. "It could happen even without Liquid Luck."
Slughorn smiled at her. "You are thinking, am I correct, of the Muggle saying, 'Murphy's Luck'?" he asked.
"Murphy's law," said Teddie. "But that usually only applies to bad things happening - my dad lost his car keys once, and it was the day of a particular big meeting that he was having at work. He said it was Murphy's Law that he would lose them just hours before he was due to leave."
"If he had taken Liquid Luck, his keys would've all but appeared in his hand as soon as he thought of them," said Slughorn.
Teddie furrowed her brow. That still didn't make sense; but then, it was magic. Magic never made sense.
"Why don't people drink it all the time, Professor?" Terry Boot asked.
"Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence," said Slughorn. "Too much of a good thing, you know. It is also highly toxic in large quantities.."
"Have you ever taken it, sir?" asked Michael Corner.
"Twice in my life," said Slughorn. "Once when I was twenty-four, and once again when I was fifty-seven."
"I am guessing it is illegal to take before an exam?" asked Teddie.
"Right you are, Miss Green," said Slughorn. "If a student is caught under the influence of Liquid Luck before, during, or even after an exam is sat, they will be disqualified and unable to resist. Same goes for competitions, like Quidditch matches."
"How long does it last?" Theo asked.
"Twelve hours."
"How hard is it to make?" Malfoy asked.
Teddie raised an eyebrow at the side of his head. Why did he want to know that? Planned to make it without supervision, did he?
"We will learn all that when we get to it in a few weeks," said Slughorn. "In the meantime," he took an empty vial bottle, a small pipette, and sucked a small sample of Liquid luck into the syringe and eased it into the glass. "I am offering one tiny bottle of Felix Felicis to the person who manages to create a close enough likeness to the Draught of Living Death."
Scanning her contents page, Teddie flipped to page ten of her Advanced Potion-Making book and read the instructions that were set out before her. The Draught of Living Death was such a complex potion that her stomach dropped just looking at the instructions.
"I am not looking for perfection," said Slughorn.
There was a scraping of metal on wood as everyone drew their cauldrons toward them and sound loud clunks as people began adding weights to their scales.
Teddie turned to Theo. "Want to partner up?" she asked. "We can split them Felix Felicis."
Theo grinned and nodded. He already had an idea on how he planned to use the Lucky potion, and if he was honest with himself it included finding out how Teddie felt about him. Nothing should've got in his way if he used the Lucky potion, and hopefully she would be honest under its effects, too.
Within ten minutes the whole room was full of blush steam. It was obvious that some students were further ahead than others, but Hermione Granger seemed to the be the furthest of all.
As she finished chopping the roots up, Teddie added them to hers and Theo's cauldron, and then turned her attention back to her book: "Cut the up the sopophorous bean," she read, glancing at the man ingredients on the table. She checked the back of the book, dragging her finger down the key ingredients that included pictures, and then tapped the bean before looking for it on the table.
The sopophorous bean looked like the core of a pear, only it was a long longer and the hard back was stronger. Grabbing her chopping knife, Teddie placed the sharp side against the bean and pushed down, but the blade refused to go through; instead, the bean shot out from under Teddie's hand, colliding with Daphne's arm.
"Ouch!" Daphne yelped.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Sorry…" Teddie laughed.
"You're going to be," said Daphne.
Despite knowing better than to underestimate, Daphne, Teddie retrieved her bean and turned back to her potion. This time she held the bean at the base and tried to cut it again. Still, the blade refused to go through.
"Why would you cut!" Teddie grumbled, stabbing the tip of her blade into the bean. It simply made a small dent but didn't break the surface.
Theo raised an eyebrow, disappearing behind his potion book to see if there was a solution in its pages.
"Professor, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?" Malfoy said from the table ahead. He was grinning gleefully up at Slughorn, probably hoping to use his family's power, wealth, and name to coerce Slughorn to his side, like how he used to manipulate others, including Snape.
But Slughorn merely sniffed, inspected Malfoy's cauldron, and turned away. "Yes," he said, politely. "I was sorry to hear he had died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age." He shook his head and wandered away.
Teddie sniggered as Malfoy glowered at his potion. That didn't go his way. At this point, Teddie didn't care about winning the Lucky potion, her day had thoroughly been made just watching Malfoy get put in his place.
"Oh, look, Teddie," said Theo, his voice drawing her out of her thoughts. He had managed to press the blade of his knife into the sopophorous bean and drew out enough juice to turn the liquid in his cauldron blackcurrant in colour.
Teddie squeezed his arm. "Nice thinking," she said, releasing him.
Theo beamed.
"Now all we have to do is stir clockwise," said Teddie, drawing her finger across the book. "It should turn a pale pink when ready."
Theo nodded and started to stir.
"Time's up!" Slughorn suddenly called.
Teddie and Theo frowned at their potion. It was nowhere near the recommended colour they needed.
"I think it's safe to say we lost," Theo whispered.
Teddie rested her head on his shoulder. "At least we had fun making it," she replied. "Although, I think Daphne's going to murder me in my sleep for hitting her with the sopophorous bean."
"She wouldn't dare."
"Yes, I would," Daphne said, leaning over.
Teddie jumped around, backing up into Theo and smiling innocently at Daphne. "It was an accident, and I apologised," she defended.
"Yes, yes you did," said Daphne, nodding. "But you still laughed. That's grounds for revenge."
"Don't start something you can't finish, Daph," said Teddie. "I'll have you know that I've never lost a payback war."
"First time for everything," Daphne said, shrugging.
Teddie grinned, a feeling of mischief bubbling in her chest.
Blaise and Theo shared a look over the two girls' head.
"We're already heading for a war," said Blaise. "Do you two really want to start another one?"
"This one is harmless," said Teddie. "The only two getting hurt will be us… unless, of course, you two intend to join in?"
Theo and Blaise immediately shook their heads.
"This is between you pair," said Blaise. "Leave us out of it."
"Yeah. We're happy being spectators," said Theo.
"Babies," Daphne muttered.
Teddie laughed.
"We clearly have a winner," Slughorn called, interrupting the fun. He was standing beside the Gryffindor table, next to Harry's cauldron, to be exact, and clapping the boy in question on the shoulder. "Excellent, Harry! Very well done. Good lord, it's clear you've inherited your mother's talent. She was a dab hand at Potions. Here you are, then, here you are - one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and remember, use it well."
Harry slipped the bottle into his robe pocket.
"Class dismissed," Slughorn called.