"Wake up, everyone." A female voice says from the door of the room I share with three other girls. I groan as I sit up, and look around, confused as to were I am.
"Well, come on, Salazar! It's time to get ready for classes." A girl says, looking at me with tired eyes.
"All right. I'm up." I mutter as I get to my feet, and walk drunkenly to my trunk. I open it, and grab one of my robes out. I get dressed, and head down to the common room. As I walk inside, I see a group of students standing in a group around the woman from yesterday.
"Now, a line, if you don't mind! A LINE!" The woman shouts. I flinch slightly at her raised voice. She sighs as she continues to hand out the sheets of paper. After the line had gone down to a few people, I slowly walk forward, and stand in line. "Why, if it isn't Salazar. Finally decided to wake up, huh?" She says with a soft smile on her face as I stand in front of her. She digs through the stack of papers and hands me one with my name on it.
"What is this?" I ask, looking at the paper.
"That.." She points toward the paper. "Is your class schedule. You are to be at my class at 9 o'clock this morning. Should you be late, you shall have to serve in detention with me." She says with a smile.
"Okay." I say as I look at the paper. "Um…." I whisper. She looks at me in confusion.
"What is it?" She asks. I look up at her.
"I can't read…" I say, looking at the ground. Her eyes widen.
"Is that so…" She says. I nod. "Well, that just won't do, will it?" She mutters, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. I look at her. "Come to my classroom during your free time." She says, turning to walk away.
"Yes, ma'am." I say as I walk up the steps to load everything I'd need for the day into the bag that the guy had given me. I throw the bag onto my shoulder, and walk out of the dormitories, heading toward the room on the other side of the building.
I walk into Professor McGonagall's classroom. Also known as Transfigurations. She looks at me before gesturing toward the desk in the left front side of the classroom. I sit down, and pull out my quill and ink, as well as my notebook and Transfiguration's textbook.
"Well, if you would all take your seats, I would like to start class now." McGonagall says, gesturing to the rest of the class as soon as the clock had chimed 9 o'clock. Everyone takes their seats with the girl called Hermione Granger sitting next to me.
"Hi. My name is Hermione." She says, offering her hand to me. I look at it for a moment before it registers exactly what I'm supposed to do.
"Sorry, my name is Salazar Anderson." I say with a smile. She looks at me in surprise. "Is there something….wrong?" I ask, sounding worried. She shakes her head.
"Nothing's wrong. It's just that this is the first time I've heard you talk." She says, blushing slightly. I smile.
"I'm not really that good at talking to others." I say, scratching the back of my head. She smiles.
"Neither am I." She says, smiling back. McGonagall looks at us.
"I am happy that you get along with your seat mate, but would you mind talking after class?" McGonagall says, looking at the two of us. We both shrink into our seats. "Well, the rest of you can turn to page 12 of your textbooks." She says, walking away from us. We both sigh as we sit back up in our seats, and open our textbooks.
The whole class period is filled with Professor McGonagall telling us the rules of her classroom, and the consequences of us going against those rules. Nearly everyone runs out the door as soon as they can after the bell chimes, except myself and Hermione.
"You can go if you want." I say, looking at Hermione with reassuring eyes. She merely shakes her head.
"I want to wait for you." She says, smiling. I smile back as I turn to walk up to McGonagall.
"Um…Professor…" I mutter, looking at McGonagall.
"What is it, Salazar? Is there something wrong?" McGonagall asks, looking at me with worry.
"No, nothing like that. I merely was wondering if there was an art to making yourself into an animal…" I ask, looking at the ground with embarrassment. McGonagall smiles.
"Yes. One can transform into an animal. You have to go through some major potions and such, but it is possible." McGonagall says, looking at me with interest. I smile.
"Thank you, Professor." I say as I collect my things, and place them carefully into my bag. McGonagall watches with interest.
"That's a magical bag, isn't it?" She asks. I look at her with surprise.
"Yeah. It used to belong to my mother." I say, grasping the bag to my chest.
"Is that so…" She mutters, looking at the bag and then at me with confused eyes. I nod as I walk up to Hermione. The two of us leave the classroom, and head off to Potions.
"Isn't this class taught by that teacher with the black hair that always sits at the end of the front table?" I wonder as we walk into the classroom. Hermione looks deep in thought for a moment.
"I believe so." She says as we walk into the room, and take our required seats. Unfortunately, I was placed with a strange boy next to me. He looks at me, and holds his hand out, only to have me scoot as far away from him as I can.
"What's your problem?" He demands. I ignore him as he continues to blab. The teacher walks into the room, and walks up to the front of the classroom.
"I can teach you to snare the senses. I can teach you to bottle fame and brew glamor. Of course, there may be those of you that think you don't need this skill, and find it interesting to not…pay….attention." Snape says, glaring at Harry. I look at the teacher as he also turns toward me. As soon as our eyes connect, I instantly look at the ground, unable to bring myself to look into the teacher's eyes. "Ah, Harry Potter. Our new celebrity." Snape says as he steps in front of Harry. He folds his hands expectantly. "Can you tell me what I would get if I mixed…" Snape goes on, but I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about. He looks at me and my far away look. "Miss Anderson. You will join me after class to discuss your general lack of care in this class." He says, turning away from me. My eyes widen in surprise.
"But Professor…" I mutter, standing up. Everyone turns to look at me in surprise as Snape turns back toward me.
"We will discuss this after class. For now, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't interrupt my classroom." Snape says, glaring at me. I sigh as I sit down in my chair.
The class passes without anything of interest happening, with yet another teacher going through rules and discipline. I go to walk out of the classroom after the clock had chimed, only to hear Snape's voice.
"Miss Anderson. I would appreciate it if you would come back here for a moment." Snape's irritated voice says from behind me. I turn to look at him.
"Sorry, Professor, but I have to go meet Professor McGonagall." I say, looking at the ground. He sneers.
"Come here!" He demands. I look at him with wide eyes as I walk toward him. "I truly do not care what Professor McGonagall has asked you to come for, but I wish to tell you that you need to pay more attention during my class." Snape says, looking at me with the same confused, intent look as he had the first time at the supper. I lower my head, covering my face with my bangs.
"I…um…do you think it could be possible for you to switch my partner? He won't let me concentrate during class. He keeps blabbing about something or another." I say, continuing to look at the ground. Snape's eyes widen as if he had just discovered something.
"I'll see what I can do." Snape says, looking at his books. He motions toward the door. "You may leave then." He says as he beings to dig through his papers. I walk out of the room, toward Professor McGonagall's classroom.
I knock on the door.
"Come in." I hear McGonagall's voice say from the other side of the door. I open it, and walk inside.
"You asked me to come, professor..?" I ask, looking at her in confusion. She nods.
"I wish for you to take lessons from me in the knowledge that you should have been taught when you were with your muggle father." McGonagall says, looking at me. I flinch at the mention of my father.
"Okay, Professor." I say after I've had a moment to regain my bearings. She smiles sadly.
"We shall start during your free period today then. Come back then." McGonagall says, motioning me out of the room. I nod as I walk out, shutting the door behind me. I head toward the Great Hall, and lunch. I walk inside the room, and walk over to the Gryffandor table. I sit down next to Hermione.
"What did Snape want?" Hermione asks, looking at me with worried eyes. I sigh.
"Something about that I should stay focused in his class. Something about I would be needing it." I say, shrugging as the food appears on the table. We eat before heading off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.