Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter, everything you recognize belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Everything that is underlined is taken directly from the book.
"talking"
'thought'
'written words'
Chapter 8
The Most Slytherin of Slytherins
Severus stared wide-eyed at his smallest Slytherin for a brief moment before turning back to the blackboard to finish writing the instructions. 'How could she possibly know any Occlumency?' Severus wondered as he wrote down the last line. 'She has been living with Muggles her whole life, and she could not have learnt Occlumency in a month at her age… I guess I have the answer to who's magic I felt… The question I should be asking is how…'
Deciding to ponder this new development when he was alone, Severus began to pace the classroom, watching the first years brew their first potions. It would not be acceptable for him to allow an accident to happen simply because one girl had done something out of the ordinary.
'Of course,' Severus sneered as he passed Neville Longbottom's off-coloured potion and Ronald Weasley's moulting one, 'these idiots could have read the instructions a thousand times and still messed it up.'
Severus finally found a decent potion when he got to his godson's table. Draco had been brewing potions for over a year now, with Severus himself as a tutor. Severus expected nothing less than the near perfect potion that Draco was concocting. He praised Draco's potion, trying subtly to get the other students to see how technique was everything to brewing potions. He may have been overdoing the praise just a bit, but he knew that Draco would be reporting back to his father so he had to make a good first impression as a teacher.
Severus was just in the middle of his explanation when Longbottom decided to melt his cauldron. He saw the smoke and knew immediately what the boy had done.
"Idiot boy!" Severus snarled. 'Can you not see how dangerous your mistake was? You were lucky the reaction was not explosive!' Severus thought viciously. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking your cauldron off the fire!"
There was more Severus wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. Too many of his Slytherin students in this year were sons or daughters of prominent Death Eaters. If he actually showed concern for the Gryffindors, or any student that wasn't a Slytherin, his position as a spy – and very likely his life – would be forfeit. His only method to try and teach the dunderheads of the class anything was through cruel methods. Not that his normal teaching style would have been much different, he hated idiots like Longbottom, but he would have been a tiny bit nicer to a first year student who had just melted a cauldron to the point where it was unrecognizable and injured himself in the process.
Longbottom's condition started to get worse. Boils were starting to appear all over his nose and the boy was whimpering. 'Surely it has been long enough,' Severus thought. Turning to Finnegan, who looked like his cauldron was going to be the next worse potion, Severus barked at him to take Longbottom to the hospital wing.
Out of the corner of his eye, Severus saw Potter closely examining his potion from his spot next to Longbottom's. Assuming the worse, as one does with a spawn of James Potter, Severus automatically assumed it was a set up.
"You Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point Gryffindor has lost." Severus said smoothly.
As soon as he said it, Severus knew he'd misjudged the situation. The look of pure shock and righteous indignation on Potter's face could not have been faked even by James Potter himself. Even though he felt slightly guilty, Severus knew he could not take it back. He turned away before the boy could argue, not wanting to have to dock further points just this once. He heard a minute thud and a whisper from Weasley, but decided to let it go for once. After all, Weasley spoke the truth, he could get a little nasty.
The rest of the class passed quickly. No one was keen to mess up after the episode with Longbottom, so most of the potions turned out rather well for first years. Severus refused to look at the youngest Potter's potion. She already looked so much like… her, he couldn't bear it if she had her talent or passion in potions as well. The one thing they had shared before he ruined everything…
Severus knew the girl was suspicious of something. He had felt her gaze on him occasionally. Her magic didn't connect with him again, and for that Severus was grateful. Severus wouldn't be able to bear staring into her face or her eyes again.
At the end of the class, all of the students placed their samples on the desk before filing out, one by one. Draco was the first to finish, followed by Lilith Moon. Following them was Granger and Daphne Greengrass. Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini finished several minutes after them and Severus stopped following who was handing in which potion after that. The first 5 or 6 to hand in the first potions were almost always the best potion brewers. The rest would likely never make it to NEWT level potions without lots of help.
Finally, the door slammed shut for a final time as the last two Gryffindors, Brown and Patil, walked out. Severus stalked over to his desk, wanting to review all of samples before heading to lunch. He had very little marking to do so Severus wanted to finish marking these potions quickly, enabling him to spend a rare weekend in peace.
As he suspected, the first 6 students who had handed in their potions had decent to amazing results. The only potion that was really amazing was Draco's, but that was to be expected. The colour was slightly off, it was a burgundy colour when it should have been a reddish-brown, and it was slightly more fluid than it should have been, but it was still excellent. The other five were all acceptable, even the know-it-all Granger's, but not quite O level just yet.
'I guess I know who I'm having in the advanced potions group this year,' Severus thought as he observed Blaise Zabini's potion. Every year, Severus held private potion-brewing sessions that Slytherin students from first and second year came to by invitation only. He only offered it to students he felt had a talent in potions and would take it in their NEWT level. They didn't learn that many advanced potions, he mostly just taught them the basics and advanced knowledge on different ingredients, cutting and stirring styles, and pretty much everything else that came to making a potion. He offered it again to fifth through seventh years, but on a much more advanced level with much more actual potions making. He knew that his snakes were often treated unfairly by the rest of the school, so he wanted to give them every advantage they could get.
Ignoring the hypocrisy of his thoughts, Severus began to look at the other dismal potions one by one. Most received a T or a P grade, but there were a few A's as well. Steadily, each potion began to get worse in quality. Severus refused to acknowledge the part inside of him that wished the youngest Potter could have her mother's talent at potions.
Severus paused when he came to another decent potion. The non-existent excitement he had felt died when he saw it was Harry Potter's, not Journey Potter's, potion. He gave it an 'A' absentmindedly since he knew that Potter's was better than Grangers and she got an 'A'. Severus did not feel like dealing with Minerva this early in the term. Moving on to the next potion, Severus nearly dropped it when he looked at the sample.
The potion was definitely not at the same level of Draco Malfoy's, but the potion was undeniably better than the rest of the potions on his desk (he refused to acknowledge the other Potter's potion being of only slightly less than the same calibre). Severus almost smiled when he realized that Journey had indeed inherited her mother's talent.
"What have you got there, Professor Snape?"
Severus looked up sharply, not having heard the door open. Leaning against the desks in the front row, stood a tall, well-built young man with dark brown hair and unnerving, aqua-blue eyes. His pale skin did not tint red, nor did his gaze falter under Severus' penetrating stare. In fact, he seemed amused by it.
Annoyed, Severus answered his question with a question. "What do you want, Selwyn?"
Jason Selwyn smirked back at him and said casually, "Just wondering if there was anything interesting about this batch of first years, that's all."
Severus raised an eyebrow at him. All of the Slytherins knew that this group of first years had a lot of potential and that 'interesting', hardly covered the topic. Almost every single child was a son or heir to a powerful family that had served under the Dark Lord, or were the scion of a family that had a lot of political clout but had remained neutral in the last war.
"I'm not sure how this concerns you, Selwyn," Severus said in a calculated voice.
Selwyn let out a small chuckle. "I'm just curious, that's all." With that, he pushed himself off the desk and looked closer at the potion in Severus' hand. "Normally when you're this far into marking potions, there aren't any good ones left."
Selwyn was not being subtle as he fished for information, but Severus was too interested with what Selwyn was going to do with the information Severus was going to give him. The Selwyn family were rumoured to be a branch of the Slytherin family, making them a very prominent family in Pureblood society. They largely remained neutral in all affairs but still had much political sway in almost every single area of the Wizarding world. The entire family was notorious for sticking to themselves and tended not to socialize with many people unless they felt you were worth their time, especially while they attended Hogwarts. 'Why is one of the Selwyn's suddenly showing interest,' Severus thought as he debated what to say.
With more reluctance than he actually felt, Severus answered the question Selwyn had first asked. "This potion was brewed by Miss Potter. She seems to have inherited her mother's talent in potions."
Selwyn looked contemplative as Severus watched him out of the corner of his eye while he marked the rest of the potions. There were no more surprises, so the rest of the marking went quickly for Severus.
"She's going to get eaten alive in Slytherin," Selwyn said suddenly.
Severus slowly arched an eyebrow. "Explain."
"Her brother is the Boy Who Lived, probable Gryffindor Golden boy and likely to be favoured by Dumbledore. Journey Potter has already been seen sitting with the Gryffindors for dinner, which hasn't made her very popular with those who saw it. Soon it will be common knowledge and if she does it very often, Slytherins will either ostracize her or try to 'fix' her to be a proper Slytherin…"
Selwyn trailed off and Severus was painfully reminded of his own years at Hogwarts. He had experienced both techniques for being friends with Lily. It was the reason he had snapped at Lily in the end. Severus could not deal with the constant harassing from the Marauders and the constant 'Slytherin' propaganda being forced at him, among other things the Slytherins of his day did to 'fix' him. The word he had sworn to never used had just slipped out in a moment of weakness, causing him to lose the one person in his life that meant the world to him.
"Indeed," Severus said quietly, his mind still lost as he tortured himself with thoughts of that fateful day.
"Something is off about her." Selwyn said quietly, "She's already avoided a few pranked food items. Deliberately. She also punched Draco Malfoy in the face with enough force to almost shatter his nose when we were on the train ride."
Severus' blank mask showed none of the shock he felt. 'It seems that the youngest Potter is similar to her mother not just in school…'
"Are you certain?" Severus asked, prodding for information.
The smirk on Selwyn's face showed Severus that Selwyn was much better at this game than Severus believed him to be.
"Of course," Selwyn drawled. He waited a few more moments, silently gloating in the fact that he knew something that the head of the house of cunning did not. "I was in the compartment when Draco burst in, nearly in tears, almost begging the oldest Nott to fix his nose. We had to drag the information out of him as to who actually did it. He's been avoiding the girl Potter since then."
Severus thought back over the first week of term while he put the marked potions in the cabinet labeled 'First Years'. He had noticed that Draco Malfoy had indeed taken the instruction of his father and 'befriended' the spawn of Crabbe and Goyle. He couldn't recall seeing the red-haired Potter anywhere near Lucius' son, but that could easily have been because he rarely, if ever, sought torture himself by looking at the girl who looked almost identical to her.
Severus turned back to Selwyn as something occurred to him. "I have indeed noticed something is, as you say, 'off' about Miss Potter. I believe she knows something of the mind arts. Why did you bring this to my attention?"
The smirk swiftly left Selwyn's face and changed into one of shock briefly before quickly fading to contemplation. It was a well-known fact among Slytherins that their Head of House was rather talented in various kinds of mental magic, especially Legimency. This fact alone would be enough for Selwyn to realize that Severus had likely skimmed her mind, but found some form of barriers or something of that nature, almost unheard of in first years. Severus could almost see the thoughts and ideas flying around in Selwyn's mind, though he couldn't distinguish what they were.
"She has so much potential," Selwyn whispered, so softly Severus had to strain his ears to catch the words. Then as quickly as it vanished, Selwyn's smirk reappeared. He gave a respectful nod to Severus while wishing farewell before turning on his heel and striding out of the room, leaving Severus feel as if he just missed something of great importance.
Not wanting the accompanying headache from trying to figure out why Selwyn was so strange, Severus followed the path out of the classroom that the fifth year Slytherin had just walked.
As Severus walked to the Great Hall to join the rest of Hogwarts for lunch, a thought occurred to him. 'The Potter brats are going to going to create more havoc and headaches than their swine of a father ever could…'
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Lunch had passed without any incident for Severus who felt it ended far too quickly for his liking. After lunch, Severus finished marking the remaining of the second years' summer assignments. They were largely inadequate, besides his Slytherins of course. His snakes knew better than to perform badly in his class.
Time flew by while Severus was marking assignments and before he knew it, it was time for dinner. Being the first Friday of the term, it also meant that it was the first of far too many (in Severus' opinion) staff meetings of the year.
'I just hope Irma(1) and Hagrid will be able to keep the students in line this year,' Severus thought as he made his way to the staff room, 'Merlin knows Argus will be no help.'
Severus made sure to arrive just before the meeting was about to start. He hated mindless chatter, yet his colleagues, especially his former professors, never lost an opportunity to try and drag him into their pointless conversations.
Sweeping quietly into the room, Severus strode confidently into the chair reserved for the Slytherin Head of House. It was next to Filius' and across from Minvera's, leaving Pomona to sit across from Filius. The Headmaster's chair was facing the long table between Filius and Pomona, leaving the rest of the teachers to fill out along the table down from Severus and Minerva. Not that many people would willingly sit next to Severus. The only person who would sit next to Severus was Septima Vector, the Arithmancy professor. She was a fiery young woman with black hair, violet eyes and a sharp tongue. She was unfazed by the remarks Severus sent her way, and often sent quite a few of her own in response.
"Septima," Severus said with a curt nod as he sat down.
"Severus." She returned in kind. They were not 'friends', but they did have respect for each other.
At that moment, Albus walked in and all conversation ceased. He was wearing ridiculous canary yellow robes that had purple stars on them with a matching Wizard's hat. The sight made a sneer form on Severus' face.
"Good evening everyone," Albus said jovially as he sat down. "How has the first week back been for everyone? I trust your summers were well?"
Murmurs were heard up and down the table along with a few 'yes's', but Severus remained silent. 'Can we just get on with it,' Severus thought tiredly only barely held himself back from saying his thoughts aloud. Severus wanted nothing more to get back to his chambers and maybe have some brandy while he read a book in front of his fireplace.
"Good, good," Albus said happily with a grandfatherly smile on his face. They talked for the next while about several different topics such as how many students were taking each elective in third year, the assignments that were handed in over the summer and how the promising and struggling upper years were doing. Severus contributed very little to the conversation, speaking only when he was asked a direct question. He didn't see the point for having these meaningless discussions, Albus and each Head of House had a copy of all the classlists and it was the Head of House's responsibility to look after their own students, not anyone else's.
"The first years are looking pretty promising this year," Minerva said almost smugly. Severus knew there had been a bet as to where many students would end up, including the Potter brat. Minerva had not partaken in any of the betting, but that did not mean she did not voice who she thought would end up in which house. Usually she was right, and Severus was sure she wanted to brag about how the boy ended up in your house.
"If you are talking about Potter," Severus drawled, bringing the entire table's attention to him, "you are mistaken. He could barely answer the question I asked at the beginning of class this morning. The rest of your Gryffindors were no better. Longbottom even melted his cauldron and nearly submerged himself in it. I had to send him to the hospital wing."
Minerva frowned. "I was not speaking about Mr. Potter when I said that there was potential in the first years, not that he was not included in that statement. And Severus really, every year you ask the first years questions they haven't even a hope of answering. If Potter actually managed to answer one of your questions, even barely as you say, I'd say that's pretty impressive. I heard about the incident with Mr. Longbottom and went to see him. He is fine now in case you were wondering."
Severus sneered. "A Muggleborn knew the answer to all of my questions, she was quite intent on showing me she that she was a know-it-all. The girl couldn't even sit in her seat to answer a question. Clearly Potter has no great skill if a Muggleborn could answer the question after knowing of the Wizarding World for only a month."
"If the Muggleborn was Miss Granger," Filius cut in happily, "then it is no surprise she knew the answer. She was the first, and sometimes the only, person to raise her hand in response to the questions I asked her class. She knew more than most of my Ravenclaws even!"
Pomona nodded. "Her knowledge extends to my subject as well. Her practical ability will always be limited, but there is no denying that she has quite the intellect. Now Mr. Longbottom on the other hand, he appears to have a true green thumb! I don't think I've ever seen a first year have such a natural talent for Herbology!"
Severus gave another sneer. 'It's hard to believe Longbottom could be good at anything,' Severus thought to himself. He refrained from voicing his thoughts aloud as Minerva had also chosen to comment on Granger's academic prowess.
"Miss Granger is also quite talented in my class. She knew all the theory needed for her lessons and even had knowledge on a few topics that won't be covered until next year. Her practical was above average as well, she made more changes to her needle than most first years make after a week of practice."
'Of course, Minerva is already picking out her favourites,' Severus thought angrily, 'and as always, she does not spare a second glance for my snakes.'
"Miss Granger's skill in Transfiguration is not the best in her year, however. In fact, I have to say the best student for Transfiguration is one of your students, Severus," Minerva gave a nod in Severus' direction to the shock of the entire table. "It seems that Miss Potter is even more talented than her father in his own field, and James Potter was one of the best I'd ever seen whenever he put his mind to his studies instead of his pranks. Her brother is not as talented but is probably more talented than Miss Granger as well. It was difficult to tell during the first class since Mr. Potter looked very distracted. I was going to call him out on his behaviour when I realized that he also looked very upset about something, which was likely causing his lack of attention."
Severus was about to comment when Albus surprisingly spoke up.
"Mr. Potter performed well magically?" Albus asked Minerva in an interested manner. Something about the way the headmaster spoke set Severus on edge. It didn't take Severus long to realize that it was because Albus had only comment on the Potter brat, having said barely anything about anything or anyone since the beginning of the meeting.
Minerva seemed to have caught on as well, which surprised Severus. Normally, the Head of Gryffindor went along with whatever the headmaster wanted, even if she didn't agree with it. Even rarer events were when the Scottish Witch realized Albus was up to his games and decided to go against them. Right now seemed to be one of those times.
"Yes, Mr. Potter performed well considering he looked quite upset," Minerva huffed, "His sister was also quite talented along with several other students in my class, one of them being Miss Granger."
Minerva looked like she was going to continue when Albus cut her off. "I had not meant to disregard the other students. I love hearing about how they are progressing, I just get to interact with them very little and as such, I do not have much to contribute to your conversations of the promising futures that lie ahead for many of our school. I must confess, I was worried for Mr. Potter's magical ability as no one has ever survived the Killing Curse and I was worried it might have affected his Magical Core."
Many of the professors were convinced by Albus' speech, but Severus was not among them. The response was much too elegant, too calculated. It was exactly the right response to say to Minerva's subtle accusations with just enough embellishment to add 'sincerity'. Severus had served under two different masters throughout his lifetime, one of whom was sitting just two seats away from him. Severus knew all of their tricks and while both fought on different sides of the war, none could deny that in some ways the leaders of light and dark had many similarities, such as their ability to sway a crowd.
Looking across the table, Severus realized from the purse of her lips and her narrowed eyes that Minerva was not fooled either, which surprised him. The look faded quickly, but not quickly enough to prevent Severus from looking at Minerva in a new light. 'I believe,' Severus said with a side glance at Albus who was oblivious to Minerva's displeasure, 'That Minerva is much more aware of Albus' schemes than she has ever admitted to anyone…herself included.'
The sigh from Filius and Pomona's fidgeting indicated that they too, knew what was going on and were not happy with it. Even though talk moved on from the Potters and onto other subjects, Severus knew something had been set in motion, something powerful. And it was all because of Journey Potter. No one would have spared a second glance if Albus had asked about Harry while they were talking about a Muggleborn, even if it was Granger. By asking about Potter's magic, especially after Minerva had been praising the other twin and had said the boy looked upset, he had accidentally shown (to those who understood such talks) that he cared more about the magical state of the Boy Who Lived than his emotional one, and that he favoured this one student above all others.
'If Albus has ever made a mistake,' Severus thought as the other professors nattered on about various subjects, 'it was this one. Their father would be so proud, they already have the attention of the entire school, staff included. Albus had better be careful, any more mistakes and this attention could shed light to the Wizarding World that he is not as 'pure' and 'benevolent' as they would like to believe…'
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Journey's head ached slightly as she walked down to Hagrid's hut with Harry and Ron. Her head had been hurting slightly since the beginning of Potions class, which was Journey's only indicator that she hadn't imagined the whole thing between her and Professor Snape. Journey had finished her potion fairly quickly, as had Harry, but they had agreed with a look to wait for Ron, who was struggling with the final steps, before they went to lunch since they had planned to head to Hagrid's after. It had been incredibly nerve racking for Journey to stay in the same room as Professor Snape, she was afraid that the professor might try that strange magic against her mind again. Journey had no idea what that magic was, or how she had been able to use it in the first place, and even though she would never admit it to anyone besides Harry, she was slightly scared.
The three first years finally arrive at Hagrid's hut. It was on the smaller side, made completely of wood and sat on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry knocked on the door and they heard a dog barking from within. They heard Hagrid trying to control the dog, apparently named 'Fang' and told the three of them to wait a few moments.
While she waited, Journey looked over at the Forbidden Forest. In the daylight it didn't look so bad, but Journey knew that it had to be forbidden for a reason. Journey was naturally very, very curious, and being told she couldn't do something or go somewhere always made her want it more. Harry always said that she was going to get hurt someday because of her curiosity, Journey always responded that while she may get hurt, at least she would have figured out why they weren't allowed in the first place.
At the Dursleys, Journey's curiosity wasn't all that dangerous depending on who she talked to. All she had ever wanted to know where things that most kids would want to know. Who were her parents? What were they like? Why did Dudley get better things than her and Harry? Why was she a freak? 'Okay,' Journey thought with a smirk, 'most kids would definitely not be asking those questions ever… but if they were in my shoes they definitely would be.' The only bad thing that came out of Journey's curiosity were extended trips to the cupboard, cutbacks on food for a while and extra chores. Nothing too bad.
At Hogwarts, Journey knew that her curiosity would get her into much more trouble that less food for a week. As the headmaster had so eloquently put it on her first night here, trying to sate her curiosity about certain things, such as the Forbidden Forest or the third floor corridor, could result in dying a painful death.
Thinking about her first night here made Journey think about who Professor Dumbledore had directed his words to when he spoke about the Forbidden Forest. 'Seems like I'll need to ask Ron about his brothers at some point…' Journey thought as Hagrid opened the door and let the three first years inside while holding back his huge black boarhound Fang.
The inside of the hut was uniquely Hagrid. There was only one room, housing a lit fireplace with a copper kettle boiling on it against one wall, and Hagrid's bed against another. Different types of meat and poultry were hanging from the ceiling and a large table took up the majority of the centre of the room.
"Make yerselves at home," Hagrid said as he let go of Fang. The dog bounded over to Journey and sniffed her hand. Journey smiled at the dog and gave him a scratch behind the ears, causing Fang to close his eyes happily and let his tongue roll out. After a few moments of giving Fang attention, Journey went to go sit down at the table and Fang bounded off towards Ron, much to the male redhead's dismay.
"This is Ron," Harry introduced as Hagrid started setting out tea and rock cakes. Getting a closer look at the cakes, Journey quickly recoiled. 'They look like real rocks,' Journey thought apprehensively. Journey quickly decided that she would politely decline eating any if offered.
"Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid asked, as he seemed to study Ron's face, mainly his freckles, "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
Journey smirked. 'Looks like my suspicions about the Weasley twins were right... now I just have to figure out how I'm going to convince them to tell me what's in the forest.'
Journey watched, amused, as Harry and Ron attempted to eat the rock cakes. When Hagrid had offered her some, Journey could see Harry out of the corner of her eye rubbing his jaw and sweetly told Hagrid that she was full from lunch.
The three first years told Hagrid all about their first week of classes. Fang had abandoned Ron and was no drooling all over Harry instead, making Journey giggle at the sight. All three were delighted to hear how Hagrid didn't like Mr. Filch or Mrs Norris.
Things go really interesting when Harry told Hagrid about Professor Snape and their first Potions class. Hagrid tried to brush off Harry's concerns, but Harry was persistant.
"But he seemed to really hate me." Harry said earnestly.
Hagrid denied Harry's claims, but both of the Potter twins noticed that Hagrid wouldn't meet Harry's eyes when he told Harry Snape didn't hate him.
Obviously wanting to change the subject, Hagrid quickly asked Ron about one of his older brothers, Charlie, who was apparently very good with animals. Journey listened earnestly when she learned the Charlie worked with dragons, real live, flying, fire-breathing dragons but was cut off when she felt Harry tugging at her sleeve holding a clipping from the Daily Prophet in his hand.
Journey quickly read the article, eyes widening when she realised that the supposedly 'impenetrable' Gringotts had been broken into. One line stuck out to Journey the most. The vault that was searched had been emptied the same day. It was too much of a coincidence that the vault that had the attempted robbery had been emptied that very same day. Obviously whatever was in that vault was extremely valuable, and probably dangerous.
"Hagrid" Harry said suddenly, "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"
Journey's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. 'How did I miss that?' Journey asked herself as she reread the article. Sure enough the first line stated that the break-in happened on the 31st of July, Harry's birthday and the same day she, Harry and Hagrid went Gringotts.
It all clicked for Journey the second Hagrid didn't meet Harry or Journey's eyes. 'We went with Hagrid who had 'Hogwarts business',' Journey thought as she shared a look with Harry, 'we stopped at… seven hundred and thirteen! Hagrid 'emptied' the vault… well it had been almost empty anyways. whatever was in that package must've been worth a fortune… I think this is what 'big things come in small packages' means…' Harry gave her a small nod and Journey knew he was thinking along the same lines as her.
Journey could tell that Ron was oblivious to the thoughts swirling around the Potter twins' brains as they walked back to the castle. A new curiosity had taken root within Journey: she wanted to know what was in that package from vault seven hundred and thirteen. From the distant look in Harry's eyes, Journey could see that Harry shared her curiosity for the mystery.
At that moment, Journey felt something begin to stir within her. A feeling, unique to anything she had ever felt before, was building within her chest. The feeling was so strong, Journey didn't know what to make of it. Emotions swirled within her, reacting to the feeling. Fear, excitement, absolute terror, confusion, and anger warred inside of Journey and they didn't make sense to her whatsoever. For a brief moment, Journey could not see the castle and its grounds around her. Instead Journey saw the scene from her dream earlier this week, fire surrounded her and she could barely hear an eerie, hi-pitched laugh above the roar of the flames. Journey froze in fear and confusion but as fast as it happened, the scene vanished and she was back on the Grounds.
"What's wrong Journey?" Harry asked when he had noticed she had stopped walking.
Journey knew that he had likely felt an echo of what she had been feeling, especially when she had seen the fire around her. Trying to shake it off, Journey gave Harry a smile and shook her head to say that it was alright. Harry nodded, but Journey knew that he could see the emotions still swirling around in Journey's eyes… especially the fear.
"It's nothing," Journey said softly, but deep down she knew, she knew, that that package was going to be dangerous to Harry and her, and she needed to know what it was before anything bad happened because of it…
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Later that evening, Journey found herself sitting with the rest of the Slytherins inside their Common Room. Journey stood with her group of friends near the back of the room since the upper years always got the better seats.
There were a lot of politics in Slytherin that Journey didn't really understand. It was like entering a game right in the middle when you didn't really know the rules to begin with. There were unwritten rules about where your place was in the Common Room or the table in the Great Hall. There were rules about speaking to your peers and different rules for speaking to upper years, and even people on the Quidditch team. There were even rules about who got to use the showers first in the morning and the evening if there were five people using four showers.
Every single person had their own 'rank', both within their year and in the Slytherin House as a whole. First years always started at the bottom with regards to house rank, with second years slightly above them but being under third years and so own. Depending on a person's rank within the house, they received certain privileges and could assign their own punishments to people who didn't respect them or their position enough. Ranks within years worked by a similar process but were less extreme in the case that no punishments other than embarrassment could be given to someone who challenges you for a year rank.
There were only two ways a person could change their rank other than moving up a year. The first way was to challenge someone for their rank. Sometimes, the challenges were obvious even to Journey like in the case of a duel. Other times, it was just an exchange of loaded words with multiple meanings and whoever won got the better rank. If the challenger lost, he could also be punished by the one he challenged since he or she was of higher rank. Usually, the punishment was just further embarrassment for losing, but some of the Slytherins could be really nasty to those who challenged them.
The other way a person could improve their rank, mostly just within their own year, was by doing really well academically. Academics couldn't raise your rank a whole lot, but it could improve your position at least a bit since Slytherin values ambition. The flip side to this method was to be really good at earning House points while having other Houses loose them. Both were way more subtle ways to gain rank, it took Journey the whole week to even recognize them.
By far, the easiest way to instantly gain rank was to join the Quidditch team. It helped if you were good, but even just being on the team instantly made you jump in House rankings. Even if you were only on the reserve team, Quidditch was so respected in Slytherin house that you'd instantly be the top rank in you year if no one else in your year was on the team. While this method to gain rank was the quickest, it was also the hardest since there were only seven players on the team plus a few reserves. It was also impossible for first years to join the team so Journey never really thought about Quidditch that much.
Journey had no idea what her rank was, within her year or as part of the House but she figured she was somewhere near the bottom by the looks the older Slytherins gave her. Journey tried to stay out of the way of the upper years and not eat any foods that she had a bad feeling about, but Journey also had a feeling that they would confront her eventually. Until that time, the most Journey could do was try and learn the rules of the game as fast as she could by observation without making a fool of herself.
The entire Slytherin House was sitting almost silently in the Common Room and seemed to be waiting for something, but Journey had no idea what it was. It took Journey a while to remember that Daphne had told her that there was going to be a mandatory house meeting today. Journey also remembered that she was an outsider in the Slytherin House, and straightened her back slightly so that she stood with a bit more sophistication. Out of the corner of her eye, Journey thought she saw a tall boy in a dark corner of the room nod at her approvingly, but she couldn't be sure.
At that moment, the door to the Common Room opened to reveal none other than Professor Snape, the Slytherin Head of House. All conversation amongst the Slytherins immediately ceased out of respect for their Head of House as Professor Snape strode confidently into the room with his black robes billowing out menacingly behind him.
All the other Houses thought that Professor Snape favoured his snakes, and he did… kinda. When in front of the school, Professor Snape always supported his House in accordance to one of the many unwritten rules of Slytherin: Slytherins stick together. In the privacy of the snake's nest however, Professor Snape could be even more ferocious to his own House than he was with the others if a student pissed him off enough. Such occurrences were rare since everyone knew by the end of the first day to never piss off Professor Snape unless you had a death wish.
Professor Snape reached the fireplace situated at the center of the largest wall before he slowly turned around to face his students. The flickering light of the flames behind him lit the professor's face in an eerie way by casting ever moving shadows onto his face where the light couldn't reach.
"Good evening," Professor Snape said in a slow, cool voice. "I hope everyone's first week back at Hogwarts has been… adequate."
A few of the upper years murmured their confirmations, but no student under third year dared utter a word in the presence of their professor.
After the muttering had stopped, Professor Snape continued speaking. "First years, I would like to formally welcome you to the Slytherin House where I am not only your teacher, but the man in charge of all of you until you graduate Hogwarts. If you ever need to speak with me, I am usually in my office when not running a class and I will be able to discuss any meaningful problem you may have. Do not come to me with trivialities, or I will be most… displeased."
Journey was properly intimidated after that introductory speech. Around her, most of the others looked intimidated as well but were hiding it to varying degrees of effectiveness. Realizing that Slytherins likely viewed emotion as a weakness, Journey fixed her face into a bored expression as best she could. Journey was used to changing her facial expression, but that was usually only to hide the laughter from her Aunt and Uncle when they accused her of doing a prank. Hiding her facial expression in this instance was much more difficult than anything Journey had ever attempted before, but after a few moments Journey felt her face relax and realized that she had at least been partially successful in her endeavour to appear nonchalant.
"First order of business," Professor Snape said quietly, "is Quidditch tryouts. The Quidditch Captain Marcus Flint will be posting the dates for tryouts some time before the end of next week on the board by the door so do not come asking me about them.
"Secondly, I would like to reveal who will be invited to the extra Potions class I will be running as I do every year. All students in N.E.W.T. Potions are welcome, along with those students in fifth year who wish to go into that level of Potions study. All students who took the class in first year last year will be invited back since all of you performed adequately on last year's exams."
At this point, several of the upper years suddenly lent forward, including the boy sitting in the corner. Journey had no idea why they were interested since their year had likely already been called, but decided not to focus on it since Professor Snape was still speaking.
"After marking the potions of the first year Slytherins today," Professor Snape said slowly, "I have decided to invite these students to the first year class. They have shown above average to exceptional skill in Potion making, and I intend to improve their skills even further so that the Slytherin House can continue to show Hogwarts that we are the best Potion makers." A slight cheer broke out amongst the upper years, but Professor Snape raised a hand to silence them. "The students that I will be inviting are: Draco Malfoy, Lilith Moon, Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and…
"…Journey Potter."
Journey was just as shocked as the rest of the Slytherins when Professor Snape announced her name amongst what were known to be the top students in Slytherin first years. Journey didn't think her Potion was anything special, the colour had been off a bit when she finished it, but apparently Professor Snape thought her Potion making skills were 'above average'. A couple of students turned slightly so that they could look at Journey subtly with a shocked expression, making Journey have to fight to keep a neutral face at their sudden scrutiny.
"Now," Professor Snape said sharply, bringing all of the attention back onto him. "It is time for the first years to formally introduce themselves to the house. I want all of the first years to make a line in front of the fire place alphabetically by last names, meaning Miss Bulstrode will go first."
For a moment, Journey just stood there with a stunned look on her face. 'No one told me about this,' Journey thought as she forced her expression to go blank while she walked to the front of the room. 'Which means they either forgot to tell me… or they are trying to test me somehow.'
Journey was thankful that she was near the end of the line since that meant she had time to think about what she was going to say. 'I've got to be really careful how I present myself,' Journey thought as she listened to Crabbe mumble his way through his speech. 'I have a really strong feeling that this introduction can completely make or break me as a Slytherin… but I think that there's something beyond just this introduction that is related to that. The introduction will just… lead to my way that will lead me to thriving as a Slytherin? Gah, these feelings make no sense!'
Knowing that her feelings weren't going to help her right now, Journey ignored them as she listened and observed how the other first years presented themselves. Most of the girls went for charming introductions, but Journey wouldn't know how to act charmingly even if her life depended on it at the moment, which it kind of did. The other option most Slytherins were going for was a slightly snobbish attitude while not being over the top, which was surprising to Journey since she thought Draco or Pansy didn't know how to be anything but snobbish.
There was one thing all of the first years had in common however: all of them mentioned their families. Journey didn't know if she should mention her family since pretty much all of her family that she knew of were Gryffindors, the self-proclaimed archenemies of the Slytherin House.
Before Journey realized it, Pansy stepped back and it was Journey's turn to introduce herself. Slowly taking a step forward, Journey took a moment to survey the collection of Slytherins before her as she tried to collect her nerves so that she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of her House. In the back corner of the room, Journey saw the boy sitting their nod either approvingly or encouragingly, Journey couldn't be sure from this far away. Nevertheless, Journey felt emboldened by the action and started her small speech.
"My name is Journey Potter," Journey said with only a slight shake to her voice. "My parents were James and Lilly Potter. They were considered to be some of the brightest students to ever attend Hogwarts and were Masters of the subjects they specialized in. My twin brother is Harry Potter, the only known survivor of the Killing Curse.
"Up until this year, my brother and I were hidden away from the Magical World for safety reasons, and only this summer were we formally introduced back into this world. We have been working very hard to make sure that we lived up not only to the public's expectations, but to our parents memory as we plan to be the next pair of students to be considered the brightest Witch and Wizard of our age."
Journey stepped back and released a breath she didn't know she was holding. She had no idea where some of those words, or the knowledge behind them, had come from, but Journey didn't care since she was just glad it was over. In the back of the room, the same boy who had nodded to her earlier stood up from his seat and ran a hand through his hair.
Journey wondered about that boy. 'I have a feeling that he is very important…' Journey thought as Blaise began his speech. 'I can't tell why, but I know that I need him to approve of me for some reason…'
Journey was pulled out of her confused thoughts by the sound of Professor Snape's cool voice.
"Thank you, Mr. Zabini," Professor Snape said smoothly. "I am sure that your fellow Slytherins are just as… delighted to have all of you as new additions to the noble house of Slytherin as I am. I have utmost confidence that all of you will uphold the pride of Slytherin house and remain true to the principles and values of what it means to be a Slytherin. Should any of you fall short of these standards, the consequences will be most… unpleasant."
Journey couldn't help but feel that at least part of that speech was either directed to her, or about her. Journey wasn't that great at picking up double meanings behind words, but even she could hear the warning directed to those who didn't follow the rules, official and unofficial, of being a Slytherin. Journey couldn't help but think of all the dark looks other Slytherins had been giving her for sitting at the Gryffindor table, and wondered if that was a rule as well.
'I don't care even if it is,' Journey thought defiantly as some of the older Slytherins gave her calculated looks. 'Family ties are more important than any stupid rule that some idiot made up hundreds of years ago.'
"I shall take my leave of you now," Professor Snape said quietly. "Curfew will soon be in effect and I do not want any from my house losing points for being out late so I expect all of you to be heading to your rooms soon. Good night."
After one last sweeping gaze of his black eyes, Professor Snape turned on his heel and walked out of the Slytherin Common Room with his robes billowing out behind him. Journey and the other first years were still facing the rest of the house, and Journey felt slightly nervous under the gaze of so many people.
For a long moment, no one moved. Then, unexpectedly, Draco turned to address Journey.
"Potter, how could you possibly be good enough to be in Professor Snape's private Potions class?" Draco asked with a baffled look on his face. "I could tell by the way you were working at your station that you'd never even seen a potion before, never mind actually brewed one. There was no way your potion could have been good enough to merit joining the advanced class."
The eyes of the entire Slytherin house were on Journey now as they waited for her to respond to Draco's question. Before Journey could answer, Pansy spoke up.
"And why are you sitting at the Gryffindor table?" Pansy said with a sneer. "Is the Slytherin House not good enough for you that you have to sit with those buffoons?"
"She was sitting with her brother," Blaise snapped, surprising Journey with his willingness to come to her defense. "It's something siblings tend to do. Theo sits with his brother occasionally as well so I don't see the problem with it."
Journey gently laid a hand on Blaise's arm from where he had stepped to be level with her. For a second, Blaise looked confused by the action before he nodded in understanding.
'While it's nice that at least one of my friends will defend me,' Journey thought as she turned to face Draco and Pansy fully, '…Some battles I need to fight on my own.'
"While Blaise is right," Journey said almost pleasantly to Pansy, "I do find that some of the company to be found in the Slytherin house to be… lacking." As Journey said this there were gasps and narrowed eyes all around the Slytherin house. "This factor of the Slytherin house is largely the minority, and the reason I choose not to sit with them is because they tend to have the intelligence level as a troll… and surprisingly enough they tend to look like trolls as well."
Smothered giggles from several girls were heard about the room as well as a few chuckles from some of the boys. Everyone knew who Journey was referring to and apparently they had thought similar thoughts in the past but had never mentioned it to those they were referring to.
While Pansy tried to figure out if Journey's insult was directed at her or not, Journey turned her attention to Draco.
"I don't know why I was chosen for the advanced Potions class," Journey said honestly. "To be completely honest I had never seen a potion before today. I've done a lot of preparing for that class, along with my other classes, so that's probably why my potion was deemed acceptable enough for me to be considered for the advanced class."
"Your potion couldn't have been good enough," Draco protested. "You didn't even look close to finishing when I left."
"Why don't you ask Professor Snape," a voice said from behind Journey. "He is a Potions Master and knows much more about the subject than you could ever dream of. As he is not here right now, however, I can tell you that I saw Miss Potter's potion and thought that it was likely to be one of the best in the class even though I had nothing to compare it to."
Journey whirled around. Standing there with a nonchalant air as he crossed his arms across his chest was none other than the boy who had been sitting in the corner of the room earlier. Now that he was up close, Journey could tell that the boy was very tall and had broad shoulders. The boy's dark brown hair had a sort of windswept look to it and contrasted sharply with his aqua-blue eyes that had an amused look to them despite his offhand attitude.
All around the room, whispers broke out. Those who weren't whispering stared in shocked awe at the boy standing in front of Journey or would alternate looking back and forth between Journey and the boy in bewilderment. The boy's crossed arms changed slightly from being nonchalant to smug, as did the smirk on his face, at the reaction his words – or maybe it was his presence? – had caused.
Journey turned back to say something to Draco, only to find that he too was gaping at the tall boy in a very fish-like impersonation.
"Miss Potter," the boy started speaking again, drawing Journey's attention back to him. "May I have a word with you… preferably in private?"
More gasps were heard around the room, and Journey could only nod her head slowly as she tried to understand just what she was missing that could cause such a reaction.
At her nod, the boy's smirk changed almost to a smile before he turned and walked confidently out of the Slytherin Common Room. Journey was a little bit hesitant to follow him, especially since Professor Snape told them curfew was so soon and that they shouldn't be out, but Blaise gave Journey a gentle nudge in the direction of the exit that was hard enough that Journey had to keep walking in order to keep her footing. Journey was dearly tempted to turn back and ask Blaise what the bloody hell was going on, but figured that such actions would be taken as 'weakness' so she reluctantly decided not to. Instead, Journey walked with her back straight and her head held high as she exited the Common Room.
The boy was waiting for Journey when the wall closed up behind her. Before Journey could open her mouth to ask just what was going on, the boy turned around and started walking down the hall. Journey was extremely confused and if weren't for the fact that she knew that following this boy could change her life for the better, Journey would have turned around and walked right back into the Common Room. Instead, Journey followed the strange boy out of the dungeons and to a different part of the castle.
After several minutes of travelling in silence, Journey decided to voice some of her thoughts. Journey was planning on asking an intelligent question so as not to sound like an idiot in front of the older Slytherin, but instead she blurted out, "Didn't Professor Snape say that it was curfew and that we were supposed to be heading to our rooms?"
Journey instantly flushed scarlet both from the boy's chuckle at her question, and for sounding like a whiny child in front of someone who was obviously an important member of the Slytherin House. 'Great,' Journey thought as she looked away from the boy's amused eyes. 'Not even five minutes with someone I know could completely change my life and he's already laughing at me.'
"You are truly different from any other Slytherin I've met," the boy said so softly, Journey thought she heard him wrong. Before Journey could ask what he meant, the boy continued to speak. "I wished to speak with you at length on several topics of varying importance. Others might have gotten the wrong idea if I talked to you about them alone in my room for an extended period of time."
"What ideas?" Journey asked before she could help herself. "What did you want to talk to me about? Why me? Who are you anyways? The entire common room was going nuts when you spoke up, so I have a feeling that you talking to me is a big deal, but I don't know why… and if you are talking to me for a long time outside of curfew, won't we get in trouble by Professor Snape? He clearly said that he expected all of us to be heading to our rooms since we can't be out after curfew."
Journey knew that her questions were all over the place, but she couldn't help it. When Journey's 'Ravenclaw side' (Harry's words not hers) took over, Journey would ask question after question in an attempt to learn everything that could be learnt, even if the questions made no logical order were slightly chaotic.
"I'll start with the easiest questions first," the boy said with chuckle, making Journey's blush return with a vengeance as she remembered that she was dealing with a Slytherin upper year and had likely embarrassed herself…again. "My name is Selwyn, Jason Selwyn. The reason everyone back in the Common Room 'went nuts' was because it is a big deal for me to speak with you. Being approached by anyone in the Selwyn family, especially in Hogwarts, is a very rare occurrence… for reasons that will become clear to you later. It's an even bigger deal since you're a first year and had yet to formally distinguish yourself from your classmates… until today that is.
"Why you? Well, there's a couple of reasons to that. Not all of them are entirely pure intentions but I'd ask that you listen to what I have to offer you before you turn me away."
"What do you mean, 'not entirely pure intentions'?" Journey asked suspiciously, instantly bringing her guard up.
Selwyn laughed. "Nothing too bad, I promise. I'll tell you what they are and what I wanted to talk to you about when we get to our destination. As to curfew, if you listened closely to what Professor Snape said, you would have realized that he said that he didn't want us to lose points for being out late, not that he didn't want us to not come out at all. Professor Snape gives us Slytherins a lot of freedom to do what we want if you listen to his instructions carefully enough, but you just have to make sure you don't get caught. Professor Snape hates when we lose points for Slytherin."
Journey nodded. It made sense for the head of Slytherin house to promote trying to be sneaky while not getting caught. Journey thought about all of Selwyn's answers when she realized something.
"You didn't tell me what people would get ideas about," Journey accused.
Selwyn flashed a smirk in Journey's direction. "You caught that, did ya? You'll figure it out when you're older."
Normally, Journey would have pressed Selwyn for answers but she didn't want to risk having him not tell her anything at all. For once in her life, Journey kept her mouth shut for once when knowledge was concerned. 'Plus', Journey thought to herself, 'I've already embarrassed myself a few times in front of Selwyn… I don't want to add another occurrence to the list if I can help it.'
They walked for what seemed like forever to Journey. They went up staircases, down others, through uncounted hallways and past hundreds of portraits. Journey's feet were beginning to feel sore when they went up yet another spiral staircase, but she said nothing.
Selwyn finally stopped at a statue of a Merman sitting on a rock. It was not anything like Journey expected a Merman to look like, besides the finned tail of course. Journey couldn't tell the actual colour of the creature, since the entire statue was made out of solid, dark gray stone, but she knew from the way the tail met the rest of the body that its entire body would be the same colour as the tail. The Merman's hair was incredibly long, and stringy, reminding Journey of seaweed as it tucked behind the Merman's slightly flat, pointed ears. Equally flat was the Merman's nose, drawing attention to the creature's overly large, circular eyes that seemed to follow Journey as she moved. The creature's thin lips were set in a permanent look of displeasure which, along with the spiny projections coming out of the back of its arms and its actual back, made Journey extremely apprehensive to approach even the statue of such a creature. The huge spear it was holding in its left hand may have also contributed to Journey's nervousness around the statue, just a bit.
Selwyn shared none of Journey's apprehension and confidently walked up to the statue. When he got close to the statue, Selwyn whipped out his wand and muttered, "Aguamenti."
Journey watched, amazed, as a stream of water suddenly rushed out of the tip of Selwyn's wand and poured onto the statue. To Journey's immense surprise, the statue's colour changed from gray to greenish-blue with the hair at the tips and eyes taking more of an orange colour. Journey was even more surprised when the statue suddenly started to move.
With a twirl of its menacing spear and a snarl building in his throat the Merman turned its head towards Selwyn, who had cancelled his spell the moment the statue started to move. When the Merman spotted Selwyn, it started to let our harsh screeching noises. Journey thought that the thing was trying to give away where they were, but was proven wrong when Selwyn responded with the same screech-like sounds.
'They're talking to each other,' Journey thought in wonderment, as the Merman started screeching again when Selwyn had pointed in her direction. 'That's so… wicked!'
Although Journey dearly wanted to, she did not say anything to Selwyn as he spoke to the Merman since even she knew it would be rude. After what seemed like forever, the Merman suddenly turned and struck the wall behind him with the tip of his spear. Journey jumped at the sudden action, causing Selwyn to laugh at her again.
"Let's go," Selwyn said as he started walking behind the Merman, who had turned back into a statue after hitting the wall.
Journey was confused why Selwyn would be walking behind a statue and was about to voice her thoughts when Journey noticed the outline of a door that had definitely not been there before. 'When did that get there?' Journey wondered.
Selwyn seemed oblivious to Journey's confusion as he opened the previously nonexistent door, allowing a little bit of light to pour from the opening into the dark hallway.
"You coming?" Selwyn asked when he noticed Journey wasn't following him.
Journey took a hesitant step forward, eyeing the statue to make sure that it wouldn't start moving again and attack her.
"Where did that door come from?" Journey asked suspiciously, still watching the statue for any sudden movements (that spear looked very sharp). "Where does it lead to? Why are we going there?"
"You're suspicious," Selwyn said in a strangely approving tone. "…Good. That means you don't blindly follow what others tell you. Jamarion – sorry the Merman – is the guardian of this door. It's a secret passed down by the Selwyn family, although a few others have discovered it throughout the years… mostly accidentally to be honest."
Journey stopped walking. "Won't your family be angry at you for showing me this? If it's a family secret, aren't you not allowed to tell me?"
"They won't be angry," Selwyn said with a smirk. "If everything works out how I want it to, they'll be so happy with me they won't care that I'm telling you about a hidden room in Hogwarts. Besides, it's not our room, it's just a room that we have discovered and kept to ourselves about through the generations. So are you coming or not?"
Not needing to be told a third time, Journey quickly scurried around the Merman statue and followed Selwyn through the open door. As soon as Journey caught sight of the entire room however, Journey stopped short.
The first thing Journey noticed was the bookcases. At least 20 bookcases lined two of the walls the same colour as the sky on a cloudless day. Where there were no bookcases, magnificent tapestries of magical creatures hung against the wall, along with the odd empty portrait frame. The wall opposite of the door had a massive window, currently only letting in the starlight, that went from floor to ceiling and which took up almost the entire wall horizontally except where it was broken up twice by swaths of dark blue curtains tied back by golden ropes. Against the wall on Journey's right was a giant stone fireplace which was already lit, casting a warm glow onto the three sea green couches and the oak table that sat between the couches as they faced the fire.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Journey was so distracted by the beauty of the room that she completely forgot that Selwyn was also in the room until he spoke up. Turning to where Selwyn was standing near the fireplace, Journey blushed when she realized the boy was smirking at her with his bright eyes alight in silent laughter. To hide her embarrassment, Journey swiftly looked away from Selwyn and walked over to sit on one of the couches.
Journey didn't know why she was feeling so nervous around Selwyn. Normally, Journey didn't really care what anyone else thought of her – a side effect of growing up with the Dursleys, she'd had been driven to depression years ago if she took every insult to heart – but for some strange reason, the boy was getting under Journey's skin and making her feel even childish despite the fact he was only a few years older than her. Journey didn't know if was because of the feeling she was getting about him that made her feel nervous, that he was really important to her future and she didn't want to anything screw up. Journey's felt her nervousness also could have been because of the fact that he was a Slytherin upper year and was actually being nice to her as opposed to always glaring at her that made her feel like she had to live up to whatever expectations he had.
No matter the reason, something about Selwyn made Journey feel like how a person with two left feet would feel as he tried to dance in a room full of ballerinas: extremely awkward and embarrassed as she tried to imitate what she had seen but never could and always seemed just to embarrass herself by trying to keep up with those way out of her league.
Selwyn sat down on the couch opposite to Journey but said nothing as he simply stared into the roaring fire. Journey fidgeted nervously for a bit as she waited for Selwyn to say something but as time passed and Selwyn still said nothing, Journey began to feel tiredness begin to creep into her system as the day caught up with her and the fidgeting slowly stopped.
Journey had only just closed her eyes for a moment when she felt a gentle 'brush' across her mind, similar to caress but not quite as gentle. Instantly, Journey's emerald eyes snapped open and were met with Selwyn's aqua-coloured eyes as he stared at her intently from where he was sitting on the couch.
"So it is true," Selwyn whispered quietly. "You do know some Occlumency. Such a rare talent, especially for one as young as yourself."
Journey blinked in confusion. "Occlu – what?"
"Don't try and lie to me," Selwyn said as he narrowed his eyes, all humour and thoughtfulness vanishing from his face as he spoke austerely to Journey. "Just now, you reacted when you felt a presence encounter your mind, even if you did not try to defend. I know you know at least some Occlumency, even if you are trying to pretend you don't."
Journey knew that she shouldn't talk back to an older Slytherin, but she was not one to take assumptions against her lightly. At the Dursleys, Journey was never able to do anything about it but now that she had the freedom to stand up for herself Journey was not going to let anyone walk over her.
"Listen," Journey said in a sharp tone, making Selwyn raise an eyebrow at her boldness, "I have no idea what this 'Occ-lo-mensy' stuff is, but I can tell you right now that I don't know one bit of it. All I know is that I felt something weird brush against my mind, so I opened my eyes to see what was going on since I'd felt something like it before and I wanted to know what it was."
"It's Occlumency," Selwyn said absently, his mind elsewhere. "And you're lucky that I am more lenient than others when it comes to following protocol and Slytherin politics. Most others might have taken that as a challenge to their intelligence. Not a battle you want to start when you just admitted that you don't know what you're talking about."
Journey nodded her head in acknowledgment but did not say anything in way of an apology since she wanted to make sure Selwyn knew that he was wrong in assuming she knew any Occlumency.
After a few moments of silence Selwyn suddenly started to laugh, shocking Journey.
"You've got fire," Selwyn said after his laughter had died down, "I'll give you that. Want to learn how to use it without getting burned?"
HPJPHPJPHPJPHPJPHPJP
amethystdreamstar: 12000 words! :D
Thanks so much to MarkerBarker78 and brickbusterx for their reviews. I'd also like to thank Nelson for reviewing every single chapter besides the last, you're totally awesome! It seems like you three are the only people who actually read this story since you are the only ones who review :P
Not to sound whiny or anything, but I'd really appreciate if more people would let me know what they think about this story. I cannot improve at all if no one tells me where I made mistakes or need improvement, and I feel that if no one reviews that they think this story is not even worth the time of a review. I really hope that that's not the case.
Onto other things.
What does Selwyn want with Journey?
Who will Journey meet in the next chapter?
Will Journey ever see the twins again?
Those are just some questions that I want you to wonder about and maybe even tell me your own ideas since I might be able to incorporate it into the story!
amethystdreamstar (or, Sapphire Fire Stone which was my old penname, may be changing to to a combination of the two soon)
June 8, 2012