Disclaimer: Rowling owns the lot. If I was she, I wouldn't write all this fanfiction. Since, I am not, I must content myself with my imaginings.
The next day found Kitty try hard to concentrate on finding her way round the castle. To her annoyance however, Luna did not seem to have any problem at all, and merely turned up in the right classroom at the right time. Kitty simply decided to follow Luna from then onwards, which was easier said than done as Luna had a mysterious way of disappearing right in front of Kitty's eyes and turning up several yards away from where she had disappeared.
"Luna!" cried Kitty, struggling to catch up with her, "Luna, wait! What do we have now?"
"Transfiguration," came the reply, "You'd better hurry if you don't want to be kept in after class."
They reached the Transfiguration classroom and saw a tabby cat sitting on the desk. When all students were seated, the tabby cat transformed itself somehow into Professor Mcgonagall. Kitty realized that her mouth was open and quickly closed it. She vowed from then on, to carefully read the book Remus had bought her, How To Become an Animagus.
At the end of the transfiguration class, only Kitty and a mousy haired boy called Dennis Creevey had managed to transfigure their matches into needles. Kitty had succeeded at the third attempt. Both of them were awarded twenty points each by Mcgonagall.
In Kitty's opinion, Charms went as well as Transfiguration. Her wand seemed to work on its own when she succeeded in levitating her feather at the first attempt; a feat that earned her ten points for Ravenclaw.
Easily, the most boring lesson was History of Magic, taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. Kitty felt her attention drifting and she almost began nodding off. Even Luna looked dreamier in Binns' class.
In between classes, or whenever she met him, Kitty had to tolerate Malfoy's snide comments like, "How's your first day going, Potter. I heard you are a disaster on a broom."
This was true to some extent as Kitty had almost fallen off her broom in an attempt to soar higher, and crashed into one of the goalposts. It was clear that Katherine Lily Potter had not attained her father's talent of flying.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was no better, it seemed to Kitty as she failed in every attempt to disarm her opponent, Vandyll Zinpike, a Slytherin boy, who on the other hand had disarmed her on the first go. However, one good thing that came out of the DADA class was that Kitty and Vandyll were now fast friends.
They left together for the last class before break- double potions. This was the class Kitty had been dreading most of all. She took a seat between Luna and Vandyll, waited nervously for Professor Snape to enter.
Suddenly, the dungeon door slammed open, and the greasy' haired Potions Master entered, his black robes billowing behind him. "There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class," began Snape, enjoying the effect of his speech that he every year recited before the first years.
He caught sight of Kitty's intent face looking up at him, and for a second Kitty saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes, but then his lip curled into an unmistakable sneer. Kitty gulped. "Of course, Potter's sister is with us this year," he continued.
"Tell me, what would I get if I added a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood," he barked at poor Kitty. "You w-would get a p-powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living D-Death, sir," said Kitty. Snape was caught offguard, but immediately adjusted his expressions.
"Of course, I asked your fool of a brother that very same question, did I not," he sneered, "Let's try again, what, Ms. Potter is the last ingredient of the Poly juice Potion?" "A hair of the person, you are transforming into, or for that matter any part of the body of the person, like blood, saliva or skin tissue. But hair is preferred over the others as it affects the efficacy of the potion of a minimal degree, sir," said Kitty, "but we don't study Polyjuice Potion and its composition until sixth year, sir," she interjected.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw for questioning my methods of teaching and assessment," commented Snape with a satisfied expression. "Ten points from Ravenclaw because she knew the answer, that is a new low, even for you," said Vandyll scathingly. The other Slytherins stared disbelievingly at him.
"Mr. Zinpike, kindly do not intrude upon my teaching methods again, if I catch you doing it once more, I shall give you detention. Any other student in your place would have lost at least fifty points but I take the responsibility of teaching my Slytherin first years discipline and decorum, so this is the first and last time I am excusing you."
"I won't, said Vandyll, "let you catch me," he added under his breath.
Professor Snape told the students to brew a potion to cure boils in the remaining half of the lesson. Kitty not only completed first, but her potion was so good that Snape was compelled to give her full marks.
Dennis was adding porcupine quills to his tarlike potion, when his cauldron exploded, and drenched him in the potion. Red pus filled boils sprang up all over his body as Dennis moaned in pain.
"Idiot boy," said Snape as he scooped some of Kitty's newly made potion and gave it to Dennis to drink. "Who here can tell me why he went wrong, Ms. Potter?"
"Well he was brewing a potion to cure boils, not cause boils. But until the chicken blood is added to the potion, the boilcuring potion is actually a boilcausing one. The chicken blood neutralizes the effect of the boilcausing potion and turns it into a boilcuring one. I suppose the cauldron exploded because he added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire," said Kitty confidently, "But we do not study the effects of individual ingredients used in potions until seventh year, we only learn how to brew them," Kitty could not help adding.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, and stay back after class," said Snape, "And this stuff that you have concocted is an utter rubbish," said Snape turning to Dennis, who had turned purple.
"No it's not," said Kitty stepping forward to face Dennis's cauldron. "I beg your pardon?"said Snape in mock politeness. Kitty silently added four drops of chicken blood to Dennis's cauldron, instead of two and stirred counter-clockwise thrice and thrice clockwise, then added two more drops of chicken blood.
"There, that's good as new," said Kitty handing the cauldron to the surprised Potions Master, "I read in a book somewhere, to correct a 2nd degree potion, we just double the third ingredient, stir thrice counterclockwise, and thrice clockwise, then add the original amount of the third ingredient," she said happily to a dumbfounded Snape.
Once class was over, Luna, Dennis and Vandyll wished her good luck as all the students left the classroom for break. Snape surveyed Kitty for a long time and then said abruptly, "You may go Ms. Potter."
"Oh and twenty points to Ravenclaw, Lily," said Snape.