Chapter Three ~Patronus'~

If transfiguration had been Adelaide's best and favourite subject then potions was definitely the one she least enjoyed. "Correct, Miss Granger! It's Amortensia." The stout Professor Slughorn exclaimed in glee. The bushy-hair friend of Potter went on to astound the class and professor with her knowledge of potions. Amortensia, the love potion. Well, lust potion. To Adelaide it smelt like green apples and the smell of dust after rain. How strange. Briefly, Adelaide wondered if she would find her apple eating, dusty, wet man but quickly the thought passed when Slughorn dismissed the class to their benches to start on the potion.

Potions had not been easy for Adelaide, even with her eyes watching the moves of a competent Ravenclaw boy sharing her work bench. After dropping two fly wings and knocking over the half filled cauldron in the first five minutes she resigned herself to taking notes from the process the Ravenclaw was following. There was no chance she would be able to brew a potion good enough in the short time she had left to win the Felix Felisis on offer and so she may as well not waste further ingredients. Potter was first to finish and that was a bit of a blow to her but soon after came the Ravenclaw and, she noticed, Draco Malfoy, who seemed determined as ever. "He must really need some luck." She thought to herself before folding her note parchment in half. And storing it in her school bag at her feet. It was not at all a surprise that Potter won considering his early finish and the way the plump professor fussed over him.

Later in the Great Hall for lunch Adelaide spotted Mya and Stan sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table and went to join her friends. "You can't sit here." Said a girl to the right of Mya and Adelaide ask her why. "Because it's the Ravenclaw table." She stated pompously.

"Yes, I know. Thank you for that but why can't I sit here? Stan's a Hufflepuff and you seem to have no problem with him." Adelaide retorted. She just wanted some lunch and some time with her friends.

"Because you're a Slytherin." The girl said "Slytherin" in a half whisper as if it was a curse.

"Oh, shut it Anastasia! Nobody cares what house she is in." Mya defended and pulled Adelaide down on the side furthest away from Anastasia who looked on in mild disgust. It was apparent by the way the other students deliberately ignored her and spoke to her friends that Mya, for once had been wrong and people did care what house she was in. After watching this charade silently for over half the hour Adelaide could no longer take it. With a "humph" she lifter her bag to her shoulder, bid her friends farewell and flew from the hall as swiftly as she could without causing a scene.

Reaching the library, admittedly rather slowly due to the changing staircases and lack of an accurate map, Adelaide entered the comfortable solitude and perused the books. Books were one of Adelaide's favourite things, along with flying and drawing. Today she was in the mood for something she could escape in to improve her bad mood and headed straight for the Muggle section. Pulling down a thick, purple-covered book from the second from top shelf she spotted Draco Malfoy in the restricted section pulling out a tall, black book, flicking through it quickly, putting it back in its place and pulling out the next in the row and repeating his process. Holding her heavy book of fairytales to her chest she entered the gates that were usually locked. The loosely hanging chain rattled as she entered, alerting Draco to her presence. Looking up at her he nodded in greeting. "Hello," She said simply and quietly "Are you looking for something?" Draco had been the only person besides her friends and Harry Potter to offer her help at this strange new school and so she thought she might like to help him too, if he liked.

"Ah, yes... Well, no. Just something for that essay Snape gave us." Their crow-like Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had given them an assignment of the first day of class, due in two week's time. Two feet of parchment on a topic of choice relating to a defensive spell. "What spell have you chosen?" He asked, she assumed to distract her from noticing they were in a section that was strictly offensive. Too late, she had noticed but she didn't mind the light conversation.

"I'm leaning towards the Patronus." Adelaide told him. "It's always been a spell I have had trouble with and I thought the extra research might help. What about you? Have you decided yet?"

Draco turned to face her, "The Patronus as well actually, for the same reason. I can barely get a full form for a few seconds." He told her. He didn't know why he had revealed this weakness to someone he barely knew but he certainly wouldn't admit it to anyone he knew well. Besides, it may even help her trust him.

Adelaide was pleased of the easy chatter and continued it. "Only once I've succeeded in a full form and even then it was like you said: not more than a few seconds. It was in the shop with Mel, my boss. It knocked over half the shelves. I guess Mel assumed it would be something small like a cat or bird. It wasn't."

"What was it?" Draco asked, genuinely curious.

"It was a polar bear." Adelaide stated with a smile making Draco scoff and laugh. "Do you know what form yours has taken?" She asked him back, hoping she wasn't imposing.

"It was a fox." He said. "Well, at least it looked like one while it stayed intact. I just wish I had the ability to produce a fully formed Patronus." Another show of weakness. This had to stop.

"Well, did you find anything interesting?" Adelaide asked as she reached for the brown leather bound book in his hand. He snatched it away from her reach, sneering.

"Mind your business!" He snapped and stormed off, book under his left arm. Wasn't that odd? Trying not to be too offended by Draco's outburst she dismissed it as hormones and headed for a chair under the window. Still an hour before her next class, as she had a free period, Adelaide rested herself with the gold-edged pages of her fairytales.

Meeting Neville Longbottom in her herbology class had been a blessing. The boy was sweet, easy to talk to and wonderful at the subject. Her only hope was that he wouldn't change his mind on her as quickly as Draco had. Sitting on the dirty stool with her long, dark hair tied away from her face and the plants grasp, Adelaide carefully dug around the base of a stunned Venomous Tentacula in order to replant the violent thing while getting to know Neville. He was shy of her at first and she didn't know if that was because she was a Slytherin or because she was simply a girl but he soon warmed up and the conversation flowed freely.

"So you have been home schooled this whole time?" Neville quizzed.

"Yep."

"And McGonagall was your tutor?"

"Yes." They had decided that she should conveniently leave out the fact McGonagall was also her grandmother in case anyone cared to look into the disappearance of McGonagall's daughter.

"Blimey! She's as tough as Devils Snare!" Adelaide laughed at that and tried to remember to tell Gran Minerva later that Neville thought she was so tough.

Well, she hadn't believed it until she saw it. Her grandmother, who taught her how to make tea cosies, both in the magical and muggle way, had a strict hand with her class. Not a soul was stirring, all the attention of the class was either on their parchment or the chalk board they were copying the notes off. Still not believing it, Adelaide turned in her chair to look over the rest of her class (surely someone would be out of line). Utter silence.

"Miss Hart?" She had been caught. "Kindly see me after supper for not paying attention. May I remind you that you came to Hogwarts to learn and not to stare at your fellow classmates." A snicker shuffled through to all corners of the classroom. Adelaide was stunned. A detention, on the second night, with her own grandmother! That was until she caught the small smile on McGonagall's face before turning away from the class. "Oh, Miss Hart." She turned back. "I'll be leaving supper before the pudding and I expect you to be no later than I." Tonight would be a nice night, Adelaide now knew for sure. "Mr. Malfoy, I'd appreciate if you left other study for your spare time. Transfiguration lessons are for transfigurations work. Five points from Slytherin and see me after supper as well." Well, maybe not as nice as she thought, considering the reaction Draco had towards her earlier.