CHAPTER FOUR: Irritated and Shocked

The rest of the week went by smoothly. Each morning went the same for Arty and Imogen: Going to the Great Hall in the morning for breakfast, walking to lessons together, spending breaks and lunch together and doing homework in the library together. Arty's father had replied to her letter the following day and had flown in with the owls. A grey barn owl landed on the Slytherin table in front of Arty, beckoning her to untie the letter from its leg. Arty read over the letter and smiled at how her father had written that it didn't matter that she was in Slytherin.

At the weekend, Imogen had recieved her very own letter from her parents stating that her little sister had broken the mantelpiece somehow. Imogen was sure that her sister was a witch, too, and couldn't stop talking about it during Saturday morning in the Great Hall, as the weekend sun came through the large glass windows, making everything look like a warm orange colour. "Apparently, she flew onto the fan on the ceiling in our parents' room!" she said excitedly. "That's cool." Arty said, trying to feel as enthusiastic as Imogen, who immediately saw through her.
"Sorry," she said. "I'm just excited that she can do magic, too. So, what do you want to do today?" Arty thought through it. Although they couldn't go to every courtyard and a part of her wanted to, she felt like it'd be a waste of the day. "Maybe we should go on an adventure inside. We could go places we haven't been in the castle." Imogen's big brown eyes widened. "Yes!" she said.

The girls left the Hall and ran up the Grand Staircase in excitement. Imogen's foot got caught in the false step, and Arty had to pull her foot out, causing the two girls to fall back a couple of steps. Luckily, there wasn't anyone there to see- apart from Filch, who mumbled things under his breath. Arty and Imogen ran up to the third floor corridor, which Dumbledore had said was 'out of bounds'.
Arty was about to run through it before Imogen pulled her hoodie back. "What was that for?" Arty asked, fixing her green hoodie.
"Professor Dumbledore said we can't go in there! It's out of bounds. We could get a detention or something." Imogen informed her sounding panicky.
"Oh, come on, Imogen. Where's your sense of adventure? Aren't you even a little bit curious?" Arty asked. Imogen stared into the dark corridor and sighed, nodding with embarrassment. "Well, there you go. If we get in trouble, I'll say it was my fault and I'll get in trouble since almost everyone dislikes Slytherins."
"I don't hate Slytherins!" Imogen said defiantly.
"I know, that's why I said almost everyone. You're one of the good ones." Arty said. "Now, come on, and let's hope we don't get caught." Arty walked on quickly to make sure nobody saw her, whereas Imogen trod on the ground slowly, looking left and right constantly, afraid that somebody would see them.

They walked on in the darkness and stayed quiet. Imogen's heavy breathing was the only thing audible, and that seemed to be getting on Arty's nerves. "Sorry, Imogen, but can you breathe a little quieter? I know you're not too happy about being here, but-"
"Happy? No, no, I'm thrilled!" Imogen said loudly. "Absolutely thrilled, Arty!"
"You know, I think we should go back. You don't seem comfortable here. I'm sorry about this. Let's go back." Arty grabbed Imogen by her cardigan as she couldn't see exactly where she was standing and turned around.

In front of them was a tall, black-robed man who was holding a lit wand to his face, revealing his identity- Professor Snape. Arty could hear Imogen take in deep breaths and hyperventilate. "Oh, goodness, oh, goodness!" she hissed to herself.
"Miss Tenson, Miss Clarke, might I ask...what are you doing here on the third floor corridor, when the headmaster himself stated that it is...out of bounds?" he asked in an intimidating tone of voice.
"Er..." Arty began. "We...got lost."
"Lost, Miss Tenson? And I presume that would explain why your friend Miss Clarke is currently violently hyperventilating?" Snape said. Arty cast a sideways glance at Imogen, trying hard not to stop facing Snape. She saw that Imogen's face had gone pale, thanks to the light from Snape's wand. Imogen was taking in deep breaths quickly. "I suggest you take her to the Hospital Wing." Snape told Arty, who was beginning to sweat. Arty nodded and pulled Imogen with her, past Snape and back towards where they came in from. Just then, Snape turned and spoke again, his wand's light still on his face. "Oh, and Miss Tenson..." Arty turned round. "...don't go to the third floor corridor again."
Arty gulped and walked off towards the light again, Imogen starting to calm down beside her.

To calm her down a bit more, Arty decided the library would be the best to ease her emotions. Arty sat Imogen at a table and grabbed a random book from a nearby shelf, opened to a random page and stuck it in Imogen's face, forcing her to smell the book.
"Oh..." Imogen said as she calmed down.
"Thank goodness. Are you okay?" Arty asked, sitting opposite her.
"Um, I think so. Sorry I panicked so much. I guess it was too much for me." Imogen apologised, looking down at the wooden table she was sitting at.
"It's fine. It was my fault, I forced you to come with me." Arty replied, playing with her fingernails.
"No, it's okay. I need to do more things out of my comfort zone. I'm too...restricted." Imogen said.
"It was good, then?" Arty asked, surprised. "Can we do it again?"
"Yeah, sure!" Imogen exclaimed, just as the librarian walked past, whispering 'HUSH!' to them.

Sunday was more relaxed, the two girls were in the Great Hall and hung out in the Quad. They finished off their homework in the library in the afternoon and then went for dinner in the Great Hall, and went to bed. Then Monday came. Arty once again awoke to Pansy Parkinson talking behind her back, and also to her face. Arty had just gotten dressed after taking a shower and Pansy began to fire shots at her.
"You don't need to shower, it won't help you. You'll keep stinking like rotten eggs no matter what you do." Pansy said to her on Monday morning. Arty scoffed. "Pansy, you're confusing me with yourself." she retorted. Pansy's mouth opened wide in shock and she pulled out her wand from her robe pocket, pointing it at Arty who stepped back in surprise.
"Didn't expect that, did you, you stupid blood traitor?!" she exclaimed.
"You don't even know any combat spells!" Arty laughed. "All we've learnt so far is Wingardium Leviosa, which you can't do properly, and we've just done theory so far."
"So what?! I'm lethal, Tenson, and you know it." Pansy said, still pointing her wand in Arty's face. Arty pushed her hand away, picked up her bag and walked out of the girls' dormitory.

Potions was the first lesson, and the class was taught the different types of vials. Though Arty couldn't wait until they actually started to make potions, she found the theory lessons quite tedious. She and Imogen would give each other looks throughout the lesson whenever Goyle at the table on their right said something stupid, like 'Are lemons vegetables? They're yellow, so I guess so."
Snape had made them take notes throughout the lesson and gave them a homework due on Wednesday, the next lesson, about what certain vials are used for- six and a half inches.
Arty groaned, as she wanted to go to the Quidditch try-outs the next day instead of doing boring Potions homework the whole day in the library.

"I thought you didn't want to play Quidditch anymore?" Imogen asked her that morning break.
"I want to try it out again. I'm going to try out for Seeker." Arty told her whilst they walked around the Quad. "It's just that the Potions homework is getting in the way."
"Do it today, then." Imogen told her. "That way you can go to the pitch tomorrow and you won't have to do work. Besides, you can do the work after the try-outs, too. How long is it going to take?"
"I don't know, but I just want it to get out of the way." Arty said as the bell rang, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

That night, Arty sat in the Slytherin common room at the table behind the sofas and laid out her piece of parchment in front of her, with her ink and quill. She dipped her quill into the ink pot and began to write, just as Draco Malfoy sat next to her. "Evening," he said.
Arty irritatably looked up at him as he smudged her work. "Hi," was all she could muster from her annoyance.
"You doing the Potions work, eh?" he asked. "Yes." she said. It was obvious- she had just written 'Potions homework' at the top of the page. "The Quidditch try-outs are tomorrow." Draco said flatly.
"I'm aware of that." Arty replied, laying down her quill on the table. This was going to take some time.
"I was going to try out for Seeker, y'know. That Potter got into the team last week just because he's The Boy Who Lived."
"Wow."
"Yeah. At least Slytherin isn't putting anyone on the team just because they're famous. Everyone in the team has talent." Draco said.
"True, true."
"Are you thinking of trying out?" Draco caught her off guard.
"Er, maybe. Why?" she replied.
"We could go down to the pitch together."
"No, it's fine, I'm going with my friend." Arty told him.
"The Mudblood?" Draco asked disgustedly. Arty stared at him for a while.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, nothing. Have fun with your homework." Draco got up and went to the dormitory. Arty watched him go and thought about what he had said.