Here we go! Finally! Sorry, this is a shorter chapter, but I have had the worst time trying to write. I suffered writer's block for a week (THAT was really annoying), Schoolwork has been making it even harder, and now I'm on vacation in Oregon! I finally got it to a decent length, but I think writer's block is trying to settle in again, so sorry if it isn't longer! Review and give me your ideas! Might help me fend it off so I can actually make the next chapter longer...
Disclaimer: If you still think I own this, You. Are. An. Idiot.
Chapter 7: Potions and Dark Counsels
They were waiting for Snape to arrive. Everyone had a partner which they sat with; Harry with Veritas, Crabbe and Goyle. Being the odd man out, Blaise sat with Hermione, muttering under his breath about having to deal with another genius. All the students were whispering amongst themselves as the Professor had yet to arrive. It was odd. The clocks must be wrong, because they said that class had been started 5 minutes ago. Harry cast a quick Tempus charm. It really was five minutes late. That meant Snape was late.
Across the room, a certain red haired git was getting excited. "Maybe he got into an accident or a potion-!" A BANG resounded throughout the room as the doors burst open, slamming into the walls. Snape came in, a thunderstorm, robes billowing, glare at maximum output. Those not in Slytherin were withering as his gaze burned with fury that rivaled a volcano. And maybe the Apocalypse. Needless to say, he did not look like he was in a happy mood, and that made Ron very, very nervous.
"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making," He drawled, pivoting to glare at each Gryffindor in the room. "However, for those... select few... Who possess, the predisposition..." He said with a glance at various Slytherins, "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." He paused glaring at the lions, causing the nervous Neville to nearly start crying. Snape continued, sneering,"That is, if you aren't dunderheads like the ones I normally have to deal with."
He moved over to his desk sorting a couple papers; some people began whispering amongst themselves causing Harry to grin. Veritas gave him a puzzled look. Harry smiled wider and whispered, "The Professor had to deal with Mr Malfoy earlier and is clearly pissed off. It should be... Interesting to hear his reaction to "disrespectful" students." Blaise snickered behind them, having overheard his statement. Harry was right; this would prove to be entertaining and Merlin knows he needed something to take his mind off of Draco's problem.
"Weasley!" said Snape suddenly, to the loudly whispering redhead. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" "I don't know, sir," said Ron. Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Tut, tut- clearly your brothers aren't teaching you anything." He ignored Hermione's hand raised very promentatily in the air, Blaise snickering next to her. "Let's try again. Weasley, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
"I don't know, sir." "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Weasley?" Ron forced himself to keep looking into those cold eyes, shaking with barely contained rage. Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand. "What is the difference, Weasley, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" "I don't know," said Ron quietly, rage simmering, Dean casting nervous glances at his partner before timidly mentioning, "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
"Sit down," Snape snapped at Hermione. "And quiet Seamus. For your information, Weasley, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons, which wouldn't be bad for an idiot like you to have. Might save you a trip or five to Madame Pomfrey during my class. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Then he turned his enraged gaze at everyone else, "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
Harry and Veritas snickered, Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling, and Blaise was barely able to control his laughter. He took near sadistic pleasure in that redhead's misfortune. Veritas looked behind him as Hermione looked incredulously at the dark skinned boy next to her, "Why is that so funny?!" Blaise raised an eyebrow at her, "Why isn't it? That kid has less brain cells than a squid that's had its brain Banished. Everything he knows are hand me downs from his brothers- which, on a side note, isn't that much- like everything else he owns. Why shouldn't it be funny?" The gang was looking at Hermione and Blaise like it was a Quidittch match. Harry hated to admit it as it was a bit cruel, but it was all rather hilarious, and Hermione's face was turning a brilliant shade of red.
"I'll have you know-!" "Are you doing your work?" She gulped as Snape swooped in. Blaise smiled apologetically (faked of course), "I'm sorry Professor, but Hermione her felt the need to argue with me. I really should have not egged her on." Hermione sputtered indignantly as Snape sneered at the two students. Veritas nudged Harry, "I think Snape thinks it's funny. Look in his eyes." It was true; the Professor's eyes betrayed some amusement about the situation.
"Indeed you should be sorry Mr Zambini. 5 points from Gryffindor." Hermione was gaping, beet red from embarrassment and anger, as the gang laughed. Ron and his lackeys were glaring over at them but kept quiet. Hermione apparently hadn't learned from example Snape had made of Ron earlier. "HOW DARE YOU!" She yelled at Blaise as Snape walked away.
Said potions Peofessor rounded around with frightening speed, "How dare he? How dare you for interrupting my clss." He drawled, "If you do not stop causing a scene you will serve a detention with me and I have had to deal with multiple issues today and I'm NOT in a good mood! 5 more points from Gryffindor."
Lucius was fuming as he paced. How DARE Severus talk to him like that?! He had every right to disown his ex-son over this! HE was the bloody parent here not Severus! To think that the man would have the nerve to swoop in here, uninvited, and lecture him on what a terrible person he was! The Malfoy head knew for a fact that Sveerus had most of Hogwarts' students shaking in their magical shoes, and yet that greasy haired meddler still thought of himself as better than Lucius Malfoy!
And then Narcissa! She was absolutely livid with him! Honestly! She was probably just mad that they would have to sire another heir and she probably just didn't want to go through being pregnant again. His wife had absolutely loathed it the first time, and he assumed she wouldn't like it the second time anymore. And now, because of this, she was refusing to speak with him. What the bloody hell was up with everyone?!
The Malfoy Head feverishly ran a hand through his blond hair, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, he felt like his angry was out of control! He needed to calm down after working himself into such a rage! He sat down roughly on a seat and summoned a house elf to bring him some tea. With that, he laid back and tried to relax, sipping some tea. He really needed to take a vacation after so much had gone wrong. He sighed, reminiscing of a time when all was going right. He was one of the most powerful Death Eaters, the Dark Lord was on track to take over the world, his son was newly born, and all was going alright. God, Lucius wished it was the old days.
Pecking noises interrupted his blissful daydream. Irritatedly, the blond looked over at the window where an owl sat, waiting to deliver the message. Sighing, the man got up and opened the window letting the bird in. He took the message off of the bird and read it.
Lucius Malfoy,
I heard recently that the Boy-Who-Lived has resurfaced recently. Bloody hell, not this too, Lucius thought. He was apparently adopted- Adopted? - a few years back and his parent lives in Switzerland. He went to Hogwarts this year and apparently got sorted into Slytherin with his adoptive brother.- Hello, Hello, Hello, what have we here? A Potter in Slytherin? I don't know how this has happened- Join the club- but I heard his adoptive family are the Sharps. Ring any bells? That's all I have for you.
Bartemius Crouch Jr.
Lucius set down the parchment and contemplated, surprised by that name. He knew who the Sharps were, vaguely. They were an old family that had lived in Europe for centuries, and traced their ancestors farther back to places outside Europe. They were influential, on Switzerland's Education Council, and, not known to many, active supporters of the Dark. Perhaps that could be why the Potter boy was placed in Slytherin. He'd have to think on this; it could very well change the game for them. The Malfoy Head chuckled as he moved to his library, finally some good news today!
"That was bloody brilliant back there!" Said an enthusiastic boy, coming up to the gang. Harry's eyebrow raised a bit; he didn't remember seeing this kid. Wonder why not... "Hey, you're Theodore Nott, right?" asked Blaise. The hyper boy grinned, "Yep, sure am! Call me Theo though! Hey that ryhmes... Anyways, I just wanted to say that was brilliant back there with that know-it-all Griff! Anyways, see ya!"
Veritas held up a hand, "Wait, do you want to hang out with us? I mean, you're in Slytherin, right? We can be friends, no?" Veritas noticed how Theo suddenly seemed a bit more nervous, jumpy, eyes darting to look at him, a bit.. fearful? The boy shook his head quickly, shying away, "Nah, I got.. stuff to do, places to be, people to see! Bye!" The scrawny kid quickly scurried off, to who knows where, leaving Crabbe, and Goyle looking at each other confused. Blaise turned to them, "That was Theodore Nott. He's really quite clever, but is a complete loner. I've only see him at Draco's a couple times, and he's just as jumpy then."
Veritas shared a questioning glance at Harry. His little brother nodded slightly, signaling that he had noticed Theo's sudden change of behaviour. They would figure it out later. For now they were off to their next class, which was... History of Magic. Well fuck.
"Faster Peter! Your enemy won't be so forgiving as me!" Clangs rang out as their swords clashed, a flurry of metal, sparks flying. Circling each other were two young men. The older wore a sleeveless blank shirt, black cargo pants, black combat boots with gleaming buckles. His jet black hair was spiked slightly, still gelled up even after the sparring match they had been doing; much to the other's annoyance, he hadn't even really broken a sweat. He was muscular without being overly so, to put it simply, everything about him- appearance and mannerisms- screamed "badass". Something his sparring partner disagreed with, probably out of jealousy.
His sword crossed with the younger, Peter, who looked similar enough to be brothers. He wore a white t-shirt, darkened now, drenched in sweat. His black hair was matted against his head, a sweaty shine on it. Peter's breathing was harder than his brother's. Well, actually, his brother didn't breath at all, so that wasn't really a fair statement. Curse his brother's vampiric powers.
His distraction was proven to be a mistake- again. His older brother swung his sword, using it to disarm Peter and brought the point up to his younger brother's neck. "If this was a real fight, you'd be so dead, it wouldn't be funny. I would bring you back as a vampire just to beat sense into you. Focus! You manage it when you use a pistol, use that focus now!" It annoyed Nico that his little brother could absolutely focus when using modern weaponry that could run out of ammo, but not a decent sword
Peter rolled his eyes a bit, "Hey Nico, what did Mr. Sharp call about?" Nico inwardly sighed at his brother's obvious attempt to stall, but answered, "He was calling about the situation in Britain. The news about that Vampire attack broke this morning. He's already having difficulty doing damage control with this one. With so many wizard and muggle deaths, we're going to have a difficult time with this."
Nico sat down in his leather chair off to the side, grabbing his glass of wine. Peter followed and sat next to him in his own chair, fanning himself. They sat for a moment, in quiet contemplation of the task ahead. After a moment, Nico spoke again, "Alek is thinking of reinstating the Dark Council again." Peter was shocked, "W-wasn't th-th-the Dar-ark Counci-cil disba-ba-banded a hundred ye-years ago?!"
Nico smiled lightly; his brother's stutter was quite cute and endearing when it resurfaced. Peter had gotten past his speech impediment a few years after they had left Britain back in the late 19th century- about 1892- when Nico became Head of the European Vampiric Clans. It still came out sometimes when Peter was startled, confused, or afraid. Nico took a quick sip of his wine before readdressing his younger brother.
"Indeed it was. However, ever since then, the vampire and werewolf feuds are getting worse, Dark Lords have turned public opinion against Dark Magics and Creatures, and those who support any amount of Darkness are losing ground- Especially in Britain, understandably. This is the one of the worst times in history for Dark creatures and their associates. The time has arrived for us to take action, but without a third party like the Sharps, all hope for any unified action is futile. That is why we must organize now, back into the Dark Council."
Peter nodded absentmindedly, "Do you know who is going to be contacted Big Brother?" Nico nodded approvingly, "The werewolves are, the other vampire heads will be as well, as will the Dark Pheonixes. There might be some Banshees, a couple Hags, I think a Sphinx as well. In adittion, the Warlocks will be contacted. And, last but not least, some Dark Wizards will be brought. Namely, the Death Eaters will be invited as they are one of the main causes of the Council's reinstating. It will take place at the Sharp Manor over Christmas break so all of the Sharp Family can attend."
Sighing, Peter looked at his brother, "I assume we'll be using those blasted Thestrals you keep to get there, again?" Nico laughed, "But of course! After all, Portkeys make you sick, the Sharp Manor has more Anti-Appartation Wards than Hogwarts, and broomsticks are absolutely no fun. Plus, Thestrals are more effective than brooms in speed. Why don't you like them again?"
"Look bloody unnatural, that's why! Freak me out every time," Peter muttered to himself, as Nico smiled good naturedly. He stood up, pulling off an overly dramatic sigh, "Well, that's too bad. Guess I could knock you out so they don't make you piss your pants again." He laughed as Peter went beet red, sputtering, "That was one time! One bloody time! And I wasn't even aware they were behind me!"
Nico rolled his eyes and waved off Peter's protests, "Excuses, excuses," he said, clearly teasing his younger brother, merely causing said man to huff. "Come on. We do need to get to work to minimize the effect of Britain's new law. I have a feeling we'll be working overtime." Peter sighed, "Let me shower first."
So I hope you guys like it! I promise that next chapter will be longer! I am curious though on your opinions on Theodore. Do you like him, what should his role be, pairing, miscellaneous information? Let your opinions flow, and I will take them into consideration! Seeya next chapter!
~FS