Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
"Look!" Will grabbed my arm and tugged me over to the notice board. "Quidditch tryouts are this Saturday!" He jabbed at a piece of parchment pinned to the board, underneath an informational flyer about the Gobstones Club.
"Good luck," I said, running my eyes over it before landing on another piece of paper tacked to the board. "Hey, the first Hogsmeade visit is next weekend!"
"Excellent!" Josephine, a fifth year, leaned around me to peer at the notice. "I need to visit Zonkos. I'm nearly out of Dungbombs."
"It's only the beginning of the second week. What happened to all of them?" I asked, puzzled. Jo was a known prankster, and last Tuesday she had shown me her huge collection of everything from Dungbombs to trick wands. I had been on the receiving side of her pranks a few years previous before she decided that she respected me.
Jo shrugged. "I'm not sure. They went missing. I did hear that someone set off a hoard of them in Carpe's office, though." Her eyes twinkled mischieviously, and I had an inkling of who was the culprit behind it.
I let out a laugh, shaking my head slightly. "You know that Carpe is just looking for a chance to get Dippet to expel you."
She snorted. "That caretaker is a hundred years, give or take a few years. He won't be able to catch me." Jo tucked a lock of her unruly brown hair behind her ears. "Anyway, off to breakfast. See you around, Ella."
"Speaking of breakfast…" Will looked at me hopefully.
I sighed. "Let me go wake up Margaret first. She should eat something."
"Mother hen," Will grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms, annoyed that breakfast would have to wait.
By the time I had coaxed Margaret out of bed and into her clothes for the day, Will was pacing the floor. "About bloody time!" he growled when he saw the two of us before making a beeline for the portrait hole. "I'm starving."
"You hear that?" Margaret muttered as we exited the common room, walking towards the Great Hall. "He's starving."
I elbowed her. "Be nice."
When we reached the Great Hall, we found Will deep in conversation with the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Cora Russell. I had only spoken to the seventh year a handful of times, and found her to be likeable but intense. She was as passionate about Quidditch as Will was, and from what Will had told me, she was a very good Captain. She played as a Chaser on the team.
"He'll be there forever," Margaret muttered, sweeping past him and collapsing on the bench. Her eyes were still bleary with sleep. "Why did you wake me up so early again?"
"So you can eat breakfast." My eyes swept over the Great Hall. The Hall was filling rapidly as more and more students began to awaken and come downstairs to eat. My eyes landed on Abraxas Malfoy, who had adopted a sour visage. He was stabbing moodily at his porridge. What got his knickers in a twist? My eyes strayed to the other Slytherins surrounding them. I only recognized Goyle, Nott, and Avery. Nott and Avery were in sixth year as well.
I felt a prickling sensation, as if someone was watching me. Frowning, I looked around for the source, but was unable to find it. Shaking it off as nothing, I returned to my table and breakfast, only to find that Margaret had fallen asleep. Her head rested on her arm, and her sleeve was in a pile of ketchup. I removed the offending condiment and roused my friend from her slumber.
"What do you have first?" Margaret asked, yawning as she reached for the platter of eggs.
"Herbology." I watched as she scooped a generous portion on her plate, then winced as she poured ketchup over it. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Margaret glanced up, confused.
I shook my head. "Nevermind."
"Good morning," Elizabeth greeted us as she and Lydia sat down.
"Nott is staring at you," Lydia said softly to me. I jerked my head up to the Slytherin table to see Nott hastily turn his head and enter in a whispered conversation with Avery. Abraxas Malfoy turned his head to listen in before lifting his head to stare at me, a cold look on his face.
"They look like they're plotting to murder you," Margaret said, becoming more awake at this new development.
"Who's going to murder who?" Jasper and Austin appeared at the table. Austin mumbled a greeting before plopping down on the bench and grabbing a piece of toast.
"Slytherins are itching for a fight with Ella," Elizabeth explained, waving her fork in the air. "They'd better not do it in front of me. I'd give them all detentions and take points off of Slytherin."
"They're too smart for that," Lydia reminded her friend.
"Unfortunately," Austin muttered, yawning.
"Shouldn't we be more concerned about this?" Margaret asked, staring around at our friends.
Jasper snorted. "You've seen Ella in DADA, right? She'll be fine. Besides, from what I heard about what happened at the carriages, it's the Slytherins that need to worry."
"I'm right here," I mumbled into my pumpkin juice.
"We know," Jazz assured me, reaching for the jam.
Will plopped down next to Austin, released from his impromptu Quidditch meeting with Cora. "Another Monday has come again." His face turned sour.
"You finished your Charms homework, right?" Margaret watched in glee as Will's face slowly turned horrified. "You have," she checked her watch, "fifteen minutes before class starts."
"I have Herbology first." His face brightened. "I can skip Herbology, and fini-"
"No." I pointed my jam-covered knife at him. "No skipping classes, especially on the second week."
Will slunk lower in his seat, his face sour. "Fine."
"Well, don't procrastinate, and you won't have this problem!" Elizabeth's cheerful complexion didn't match the foul mood surrounding the sixth year.
I rolled my eyes, pushing my empty plate away from me. "I'll see you in Herbology." Grabbing my bookbag, I slung it over my shoulder and exited the Great Hall, shaking my head slightly at my friend's actions. Never a dull moment, I suppose. Exiting the school, I began down the path. Glancing at my watch, I saw I had about ten minutes before I had to be in the greenhouses.
I changed my route and walked down to the edge of the lake. The water was still this morning, and the squid was nowhere to be found. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the crisp morning air. Mornings have always been my favorite time of day. Everything is so still and peaceful. I smiled fondly when I thought of my old friend, Clara Martin. She was the one who got me to get up early every morning to appreciate them. I don't remember how long ago that was. I wonder what happened to her. Is she still alive, and if so, does she still get up early every morning to see the sun rise?
"No friends to hide behind, huh, Linden!" I groaned internally when I heard the jeering tone behind me. My hand strayed to my pocket where my wand was safely stowed as I turned around to meet my antagonist.
Goyle, Malfoy, and Nott all stood there, their wands out and ready for use. "Is there something I can do for you three?" I asked guardedly, my hand gripping the hilt of my wand.
"No," Goyle said, his troll-like face smirking. "We're going to get you back for the pumpkin."
"I didn't realize that it took the three of you against a simple girl like me." I took a careful step backward, my eyes quickly scanning the area for any help. My heart began sinking when I realized that none was available.
"We're just here to watch," Malfoy told me, a smug look on his pointed face.
Goyle raised his wand, his lips pulling back, and I whipped my wand out, ready to deflect whatever curse he shot at me…
"Good morning," a pleasant voice said.
Our heads snapped up to see Professor Dumbledore standing there, a serene smile on his face, as if he wasn't about to witness a duel. The three Slytherins immediately lowered their wands and took a couple steps back, not about to pick a fight in front of the Transfiguration teacher. I slowly lowered my wand, making sure that the danger had passed.
"Shouldn't you three be in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Dumbledore inquired of the three boys across from me.
"Yes, sir," Malfoy muttered. They turned around and started walking up towards the castle, Goyle shooting a venomous look at me. I let out a sigh of relief as I watched them walk away before turning my attention to the teacher in front of me.
"I do love morning strolls," Dumbledore said offhandedly, coming to stand next to me and stare out across the lake. "They're peaceful and quiet." His piercing blue eyes flashed to me.
A strange urge to laugh bubbled inside me. "Yes, sir. I agree."
I had always liked the Transfiguration teacher. He always had an amiable smile on his face, though his work was usually difficult. I had always nonetheless liked his class and the teacher, finding him easy to talk to. I watched as he brought out a pocket watch and flipping the cover open. "A strange thing, time," he said musingly.
I froze, my eyes widening slightly. Does he know? How…?
"I remember you saying that you wanted to become a magizoologist. Is that still your wish?" Dumbledore regarded me with curious eyes.
My mind flashed to an image of Newt Scamander. Newt grinned at me broadly before answering my question about how his career-advice meeting went. "I told them I wanted to ride a dragon off into the sunset. I got detention, naturally."
He did eventually become a magizoologist… "Yes, sir."
"Good, good. I wish you luck in your classes and I hope that you reach your goal." He peered at me shrewdly and I scuffed my foot in the ground awkwardly.
"Thank you, sir. I will try." To my relief, the bell rang.
"Off you go to class." He watched as I began walking up the hill towards the greenhouses, my head whirling. It's not that I don't like Dumbledore; I do, a lot. It's just that I don't want anyone finding out my secret about the curse. I feel like he knows that something is up.
"Where were you?" Will asked as I entered the greenhouse and took my place beside him. "We couldn't find you."
"Lydia saw that three of the Slytherins left after you did," Elizabeth added from the other side of Will. "We thought that something had gone wrong."
"Well, they almost attacked me." Austin, Elizabeth, Will, Lydia, and Jasper all looked at me with disbelief. Even Richard, the Gryffindor's sixth year prefect, glanced at me in surprise, hearing my last comment. "Dumbledore turned up before they could. They ran off rather quickly after that."
"Good ol' Dumbledore," Jasper voiced, pumping his fist in the air.
"Ella could have fought them off," Elizabeth said firmly. "She's really good at dueling."
"Three against one?" Will questioned.
"I have no idea if I could have managed to fight them off, but I guess now we won't find out, huh?" I shook my head slightly, pulling on my dragon-hide gloves.
"I should have gone with you." Will sighed, crestfallen. "Maybe next time…"
"Stop hanging around Peter!" Elizabeth and I said at the same time, while Lydia rolled her eyes at how pugnacious Will was. Before Will could object, Professor Beery entered and began the lesson. Today we were learning about the Snargaluff plant, and how to extract the pods inside of it. Beery went on to explain about the pods' uses in medicine, and what we would be doing with them this year. He concluded the lesson with words of caution as to how dangerous the plant could be, and to tread with caution.
Will turned to me, his eyes glowing. "Let's do this!" He strode over towards our designated Snargaluff plant, which resembled a gnarled, dead stump. I grabbed him by the back of his robes and tugged him back towards the table. "What?" he whined.
"Put on your dragon-hide gloves," I told him, pushing them into his hands. "You'll regret it if you don't."
"Alright, alright," Will said impatiently, snapping the gloves on. "Let's go!" He eagerly rushed over to the plant, ready to do battle with it. Rolling my eyes, I followed more slowly. All around the greenhouse, Snargaluff plants were springing to life and attacking the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. I caught sight of Rose gripping onto a pulsating, green pod while Charles Baker beat the vines back. Next to us, the three other Gryffindor boys were bravely combating their plant until Richard stuck his hand inside the curtain of vines to withdraw a pod.
As I turned back to our plant, alarm coursed through me. Will had already made it spring to life, and he was tussling with the vines bravely, ignoring the fact that one of them had wrapped around his ankle. "You idiot!" I yelled, leaping forward, just as the vines around his ankle snapped upwards. Will let out a yell as he dangled upside down for a moment before it dropped him to the ground.
The vines turned on me next. The prickly vines scratched my face as it whipped by me, and I beat them away with a pair of secateurs. Will was slowly sitting up, his lip bleeding, before jumping to his feet to assist me. Together we fought off the vines before I was able to grab one of the pods. Instantly, the vines withdrew into the stump, leaving the two of us panting and scratched up.
I glared at Will, who looked sheepish. "Idiot! Why didn't you wait for me?" His lip was bleeding rather badly, and he was trying to keep weight off of his ankle. He mumbled something under his breath that I didn't quite catch, and didn't care enough to ask him to repeat himself. Turning, I opened the pod and extracted the green tubers inside, dumping them into a bowl.
Beery walked over to inspect us, his eyebrow raising as he took in the state of our clothes and minor injuries. "Being careless, I see?" His eyes strayed to Will's ankle just as the bell rang. "Miss Linden, would you help Mr. Harrison to the Hospital Wing, please? I believe that Madam Walsh should attend to his ankle."
"Yes, sir," I replied, taking hold of Will's arm and tugging him towards where we stowed our bookbags.
"I can get there by myself," Will mumbled obstinately as I collected our bags.
"Yeah, sure." I grasped his arm and led him out of the greenhouse. He protested at first, but then grudgingly accepted that a little bit of support was needed to walk. We went up the path and into the Entrance Hall.
Elizabeth was hovering there with Lydia. "I'll tell Slughorn that you're going to be a little late," she told me, her eyes shining with amusement as she glanced at Will. "It doesn't hurt too much, does it, Will?"
Will straightened up as best as he could. "It doesn't hurt one bit!" He winced as he put a little bit too much weight on it.
Elizabeth laughed and Lydia smirked. "Oh, Will." She waved at me. "See you in Potions, Ella!"
After a while, I finally managed to drop Will off in the Hospital Wing, where Madam Walsh mended his ankle in an instant. Will said a hasty goodbye before speeding off towards Gryffindor Tower to grab his broom and practice in his free period. I walked back down towards the Entrance Hall before descending into the Dungeons.
I paused outside the Potions classroom, realizing that my robes were torn and dirty, and I could feel scratches on my cheek stinging slightly. I took a second to repair my robes and get rid of the dirt before entering the classroom. There was chatter from the other students as they brewed a potion with their partners.
"Ah, Miss Linden!" Slughorn appeared out of nowhere. "Miss Moore told me about you escorting Mr. Harrison to the Hospital Wing."
"Yes, sir. Sorry I'm late."
He waved it away. "Don't worry about it. We're busy brewing a Girding Potion, which gives the brewer extra endurance. I believe Mr. Riddle has already started." He walked towards his desk, and with a sinking heart, I walked towards mine.
Riddle was indeed in the middle of creating the potion. He regarded me out of the corner of his eye as he poked at the fire underneath the cauldron. As I took out my copy of Advanced Potion-Making, I watched as the potion began to turn blue. Shuffling the book open to the right page, I examined the list of steps until I found where he was.
7. Add the toasted dragonfly thoraxes until the potion turns silver.
I pulled the correct amount of dragonfly thoraxes towards me and toasted them quickly with my wand. Once I was sure that the potion was blue enough, I dropped them in, one at a time, until the potion turned a bright silver color.
I prodded the fire with my wand, heating up the potion so it'd turn a red. I felt the Slytherin prefect look over at me. "Did you have fun fighting the Snargaluff plants in Herbology?" Riddle smirked as he eyed my scratched cheek.
"Pass the doxy eggs," I said, ignoring his comment. Instead of acknowledging my request, Riddle measured out and added three measures of doxy eggs to the potion himself. I added the dragonfly thoraxes, and Riddle heated the potion. As much as I disliked the Slytherin, I couldn't help but admit that I liked the fact that I had a Potions partner who knew what they were doing. I was used to doing everything for Margaret, who was hopeless at Potions.
"Are there no changes to be made to the potion?" Riddle's sarcasm was veiled with deliberate innocence.
Once again, I ignored his comment as I added the final ingredient: three flying seahorses. As Riddle heated the potion for the last time, I couldn't help but frown. I remember it being gold last time I brewed it… Or was that another potion? I don't remember… I don't think there is anything that needs to be added.
"Your potions should be almost finished by this time," Slughorn called from the front of the room. Our potion was now a brilliant emerald, yet a foul odor emanated from it. I do remember that it has a foul smell, but what was it about turning gold? My eyes fell on the list of ingredients that needed to be added. Fairy wings… Doxy eggs… Dragonfly thoraxes… Flying seahorses… My eyes widened. Yes, this is the correct way to brew the potion, but didn't adding salamander's blood help strengthen it?
I jumped out of my seat and hurried towards the cabinet, grabbing a vial of salamander's blood before going back to the desk. Riddle watched, an unreadable expression on his face, as I uncorked the vial of salamander's blood. Before I could add it, Slughorn appeared. "Ah! Miss Linden, Mr. Riddle, what do you have for me today?" He paused, staring at the vial in my hand, which hovered over the cauldron.
Suddenly, he let out a bout of laughter, grabbing the vial out of my hand. "Five points to Gryffindor! Salamander's blood does have rejuvenating properties, and in collaboration with the other ingredients in the potion, would work splendidly! Let's see." He tipped the vial over, letting the liquid spill into the cauldron. The potion let off a hiss of steam before turning a deep gold. The odor was slightly less foul than it was.
Slughorn boomed with laughter again. "Perfect! Another five points to Gryffindor for a very well-made potion. Oh, yes, and five points to Slytherin!" With another chuckle, he moved on to another student's potions. Sneaking a glance at Jasper and Austin's potion at the table to the left, I winced sympathetically when I saw that their potion was more of an acid green and was hissing.
"Tell me, Miss Linden," Riddle said, drawing my gaze to him, "where did you learn so much about Potions?" His question seemed innocent enough, but I couldn't help but feel like he had an ulterior motive. "I'm sure that one of your parents must have excelled at Potions while they were in school."
"I read," I said simply, closing my textbook and placing it back inside my bag, ignoring the latter half of the question.
Of course Riddle noticed. He seemed to notice everything. A slight smirk played across the edges of his face. "I'm curious; what are-"
Before he could finish his question, the bell rang. I quickly grabbed my bag and made my way out of the classroom, hurrying towards the Great Hall for lunch. To my relief, Riddle didn't pursue his questioning, and I was able to enjoy the walk in peace.
A/N
Hello, everyone! I apologize for the wait. Life was hectic for a while, and will continue to be hectic for the next couple of weeks. Between jazz festivals, more homework, and starting an online class for creative writing, my hands are full. I'm so glad that you all are liking this story. Every review makes me smile.
I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon. Please review!