Chapter 3: Of loyalty and spies
The first morning of the new year in the Hogwarts school was always marked by an event at the Slytherin table. A stupid event, completely unnecessary, but insisted upon by Arielle.
So, the four of us walked into the great hall, and headed for the Slytherin table. All four of us sat down, and I noticed that my housemates tensed at our appearance. The older years at least did, and with a brief look I noticed that the faces of the first years displayed an array of emotions, ranging from disgust to absolute rage.
Of course, the youngsters did not worry me, despite them being the main actors in the play that was surely about to take place.
Arielle helped herself to some eggs with a wide grin on her face. How I hated that expression of hers, it always meant trouble.
My sister looked rather calm, it seemed like she had grown used to it with time, but my worry was centred on my young Ravenclaw friend. She seemed pretty nervous, and I knew that it was because of the events of the previous day. She knew what kind of a danger lurked outside these walls and she knew that she had just walked in the snake's nest. Arielle, in all her good intentions, could be the cruellest of us, even if she did not know it.
I met Clo's eyes and tried my best to look reassuring. She gave me a feeble smile and I knew that I did not succeed. Out of all four of us, she was in the most danger, and she knew it.
But there would be no harm for her this morning. I calmly took my newspaper from the owl that landed gracefully beside me and placed a galleon in its pouch. The stories were all the same, I concluded, half-heartedly taking a bite of my toast. Full of propaganda for the fast-falling minster and ordinary stories. Too ordinary. No disappearances, no murders, no tortures. The Dark Lord was silent, which could only mean one thing. He was preparing an army.
My attention was captured by a voice, that spoke from my right, uttering the unavoidable. "A mudblood, halfbreed and a blood traitor at the table of Salazar Slytherin. Disgusting."
The entire table fell silent and all eyes turned on our group. It was a most dangerous time to defend muggleborns and all wondered if I would do it again, like I had the year before and the year before that.
To do so would lessen my authority in the house, question it. To not do so would mean losing a friend, and ultimately surrendering her to a fate worse than death. It was a difficult choice but one I had made a long time ago.
I raised my wand ever so slightly , placing it in such a manner that an onlooker from any other table, including the head table could not see it, but the little boy definitely could.
He paled ever so slightly upon feeling my wand the back of his neck and his terrified eyes focused on me.
"You do know who I am, correct?" I asked and as he tried to nod, I pressed my wand firmly against his neck, forcing him to voice his response.
"Yes." Breathed he.
"And you do, of course, know of my reputation." I stated and once more he breathed a yes in response.
"So… let me teach you something. These girls are my friends and my sister. I do think you realize that what you said just now was beyond foolish. A word of advice. Don't make me notice you, and by no means make an enemy out of me." I spoke, fully aware that the entire house was listening.
I removed my wand and just as he breathed a sigh of relief I continued "If I ever hear you say that again, I will teach you exactly what a Cruciatus curse feels like."
With that said, I resumed reading my newspaper, noting that the conversation picked up again, albeit in whispers.
"The same every year" smiled Arielle and I gave her a stern look.
"Yes, and you insist on the idiocy every year. This year, it was the last damn thing we needed." I replied, opting to say we instead of she and I caught a grateful look from Clo. She did not want to be considered weak. Which was understandable if I thought about it.
"It's not like one of them would actually dare and attack us in the middle of the great hall. Cowardly lot, you are." Spoke she and I set my paper down again, observing her as she happily ate her toast. "Besides, it's interesting to see which one would say it."
"Yes, fascinating." I snapped "And as "cowardly " as we may be, we are no fools. Unlike your lot, hot headed and stupidly impulsive housemates."
"That's enough Linds" spoke Melody, and as Arielle laughed, assuming I would be the only one told off, she continued. "You too Arielle, don't pick a fight with her, you know how she gets."
"Oh, she's my wittle ray of sunshine" spoke Arielle and pinched my cheek , laughing as a maniac as I hissed "Contralectus!" but got beaten by Clo who spoke "Protego Totalum!"
"No hexing" spoke Melody, taking my discarded newspaper and beginning to read.
"She deserved it" I hissed, glaring daggers at Arielle who was beginning to turn red.
"Behave" replied my sister with a smile of her own, making Arielle gasp for breath. She began choking on the bite of food she had taken, still laughing. Completely mental that one.
"Anapneo!" spoke Clo, clearing the stupid girl's airway.
"That was unnecessary." I muttered but took another bite of my toast as I noted that breakfast was coming to an end, and that we would soon receive our schedules.
"Ah, the impossible four" came a voice and I looked up, smiling slightly as I recognised it.
"Hello Daphne" greeted Arielle, with that annoying lopsided grin of hers.
"Morning" I greeted, moving to the side a little so my cousin could sit beside me.
"I heard you already talked with Tori" spoke she, taking a slice of toast and some jam along with it.
"I did, and I need to talk to you as well." I replied, waving my wand and having my newspapers fly from my sister's hands back to me.
"Hey!" exclaimed she and I raised my eyebrow at her.
"What is it?" I questioned. "These are mine, you know."
"Yes, yes" sighed she, turning to Daphne.
"Hello Daph" smiled she and engaged in a rather pointless conversation on Daphne's OWL exams, which I had no interest in, and therefore tuned out completely.
Once again, my reading was interrupted by a voice from across of us and I looked up to see the four heads of the houses had approached the table.
"Can't you three sit at your own tables?" spoke professor McGonagall, looking at each of us in turn and as she looked at me I noticed that there was anxiety in her eyes, some revulsion, and a hint of fear. It was clear that she forced her objectivity towards me, assuming she knew me and "my kind." Perhaps she did, and perhaps she knew nothing at all about me, or people like me.
"Sorry ma'am " replied Arielle with a grin and I rolled my eyes in annoyance as she continued "The snakes here are such fun. Especially when you get them to…" Thankfully, the idiot managed to stop before blabbering out every illicit activity she had ever committed.
"Do finish that sentence Miss Hayes" spoke professor Snape , looking down on us across that beak-like nose of his "Nothing would bring me more joy than giving you detention on your first day back."
"Sorry sir, not this year" smiled she, and with the amount of teeth she was showing, I could have sworn she would blind the man.
His upper lip curled in a sneer but other than that, he ignored the response he received, silently handing me my time table.
"Thank you sir" I spoke, tapping it with my wand, as the parchment was enchanted to open only with such an action, and glancing at the schedule. I had potions first that day and I concluded it could have been worse, DADA with dearest Dolores being one such example that came to mind.
As soon as Snape had gone further up the table, and out of ear shot, Melody spoke, clearly forgetting that three of the professors were still behind her.
"He's going to torture you this year" whispered she, and I could see that she genuinely feared the professor, as did a large portion of the student body.
"And I have him for seven periods this year" sighed Arielle, but quickly grinned. "It will be so much fun."
Her comment made me roll my eyes at her once more. She was the only one stupid enough to go and poke a sleeping dragon, well, save for my dearest cousin Bella. That one was purely mental, but the both of them enjoyed the same thing. The thrill of the chase.
"You brought this onto yourself" I spoke, sipping on my tea calmly, my eyes returning to the papers before me. My head of house had walked off, and the rest of the professors gathered in front of us held no interest for me at the moment. "Deal with it."
"Very compassionate of you Miss Kersey" spoke McGonagall, and I caught a disapproving frown as she glanced my way.
"Compassion was never one of my strong points" I smiled coldly, "but, unlike Miss Hayes here, I do possess a certain amount of self-preservation instinct."
"For yourself only, of course" replied the woman with an equally cold smile.
"Of course" I spoke, adding as a sort of an afterthought "professor."
She frowned down at me and I knew what her opinion of me was, even if she did not voice it. I was a future Death Eater, nothing more to her eyes. Why correct her?
"Try not to provoke Professor Snape miss Hayes" spoke she, her eyes reluctantly leaving mine, as if she thought that she was losing by looking away first.
"Will do ma'am" replied Arielle, obviously ignoring the tense atmosphere. "I can't promise you anything though."
Professor McGonagall allowed herself a small smile at these words, and after one more glance over the four of us, finishing with me, she walked away. For a woman that disliked my head of the house for his prejudice, she had a lot of her own mess to deal with.
"Here you go Miss Kersey" spoke professor Sprout, handing my sister her own time table with a smile "Glad to see you in Herbology this year." I noticed that she also seemed tense, her shoulders just a tad bit too stiff, but she showed no fear outwardly. Brave for a Hufflepuff, that I had to admit her. She smiled once more at my sister and the group of us, before turning and heading to finish her assignment over at the Hufflepuff table.
The last professor that had stayed was my favourite one out of the lot of them that had approached us. Don't get me wrong, professor Sprout was alright, never showing bias, even towards the Slytherin students as most professors did, but professor Flitwick had another trait that I admired. He was powerful.
"Here you go Miss Beck" squeaked he, levitating the time table to Clo. "Good luck."
He smiled at us and spoke again, just before he turned to leave "See you in class girls."
As he turned, he was stopped by our newest defence against the dark arts professor.
"Professor Flitwick?" called she, and smiled sweetly down at him as he turned towards her. "I was under the impression that you are the head of the Ravenclaw house." I, as the rest of my group, could see straight past that sweet smile to the arrogance the woman simply glowed with. She thought of herself as better than professor Flitwick, most likely because of his dubious parentage. To think that the frog could even imagine her superiority over a wizard such as Filius Flitwick amused me. She clearly needed to be shown where exactly it was that she belonged.
"Ah.. Good morning professor Umbridge" smiled the small wizard nervously "yes, yes I am."
"Then what" asked she, giving out a small little chuckle that was supposed to sound noble "forgive me for asking, are you doing at the Slytherin table?"
"I was giving my student her timetable." Spoke he, and hint of nervousness could be felt in his voice. He disliked the woman, that much was apparent, but he also knew that she is unpredictable. Just like her boss, and that unpredictability was the main reason she should be feared.
"I'm sorry" laughed she , that awful little cough of a laugh quickly grating on my every nerve. "I don't understand. What are you doing here?" the last part was spoken in a tone one usually used whilst speaking to a person of lesser intelligence. Careful Dolores.
Now, this situation was annoying me greatly, but the moment I noticed Arielle opening her mouth I knew that I would only get more annoyed.
"Professor Flitwick may be here , professor ,becauseone of his students is sitting here." Spoke she, displaying her lack of judgement.
I could see a flash of anger in Umbridge's eyes as she heard Arielle, but her smile was back in place after a second and she turned towards her, her eyes simply gleaming with malice.
"Did you say something dearie?" asked she, with that ever so sweet smile that almost begged to be hexed off.
"Yes ma'am" replied Arielle, raising her chin up, her mouth stretching in a defiant smile. Not a wise choice.
Dolores narrowed her eyes at Arielle, who seemed not to notice. I glanced at her shortly, only to find that she was daydreaming. What an idiot.
"Arielle" whispered my sister, effectively shaking her out of her daze. She blinked once and then looked up, smirking at her new professor.
"Sorry, I do that" smiled she, and I could read out that she was already planning a revenge on the blasted toad.
"Just make sure that you don't do that in class miss Hayes" smiled Umbridge, and I sat up straighter as I noticed real malice in her eyes, seconds before she spoke again, confirming my suspicion. "It would be unfortunate if you got into a detention on your first class."
This sentence was a mistake, and I would stay silent no more.
"Oh, I assure you professor" I spoke, and all eyes, including Flitwick turned on me, "Arielle meant no disrespect. You must forgive this little misunderstanding" and as I spoke I smiled, but at the last part my eyes turned hard. "You really must. It would be unfortunate if my friend here got accused of something she did not do."
I smirked once more as I finished my little message, as I could see that it was well received. Dolores grew pale at the implications, and as I finished she managed a small smile.
"Of course." Spoke she, before turning to the Gryffindor table and walking away. Flitwick gave us a nervous smile, before setting of in another direction.
"Don't get in her way" I spoke, addressing my friends and Daphne.
"Oh come on," smiled Arielle, "She is powerless."
"I know" I spoke my eyes following her retreat, "and that is precisely why she is dangerous. Don't underestimate the toad."
"We should go" spoke Clo, glancing at her watch. I did the same and I noticed that we were running short on time.
We quickly gathered our things and as Arielle and Clo walked ahead, my sister addressed me.
"That was dangerous." Spoke she, glancing my way.
"Not as dangerous as it would have been to stay silent." I responded, noting that she was worried.
"Please, promise me you won't get into trouble." spoke she, and I knew that she was right. Angering the toad would be a great tactical drawback.
"I promise" and as those words left my mouth, the both of us knew that I lied.
I walked into the potions classroom and quickly surveyed my surroundings. There were few of us, only the very best. It seemed only three other Slytherins had managed to get into the class and I walked up to them calmly, taking a seat on the right of a tall, dark skinned girl.
"Good morning" spoke she, and I looked up, only to see that she looked away as soon as she noticed that I was looking back at her.
"Good morning Rebecca" I responded and she seemed to relax a bit as I used her name.
"You didn't think I'd know you, did you?" I asked, reaching down and getting my potions book from my bag, placing it gently on the table.
"Well…." She started and as I looked up, she smiled nervously. "No, no I didn't."
I raised my eyebrow at that and she was quick to elaborate "Well… we never really talked and I didn't think that you'd know, sorry."
"That is alright" I spoke, dismissing her apology. "But I do know, Rebecca Blishwick, pureblood, sixth year, associated with Adelaide Murton, also sixth year and Daphne Greengrass, fifth year."
"Oh.." spoke she with a small smile. "Do you know such information on everyone in the Slytherin house?"
"Yes" I responded, deciding that was the most she had to know about my own knowledge of the Slytherin house. I, in truth, knew much more that I let on. I knew about the blood status, social status, attitude towards muggleborns, financial position and many more aspects of each Slytherin student. I made it my business to know.
"So..:" spoke she, and I could tell that she was nervous, judging by the way she wrung her hands and the occasional tap of her foot on the ground, "What do you think we'll do today?"
"I don't know." I spoke, but countered her question with a question of my own. "Why are you talking to me?"
"Ummm, well… you're a Slytherin as well, and I thought…:" she spoke and gave out a small nervous giggle "We could work together." Liar .
"Of course." I responded, keeping my guard up.
At that moment, professor Snape waltzed into the room, the doors shutting behind him with a loud bang, him waving his wand and lighting the candles that surrounded the room. Another wave and the curtains were shut, leaving the room bathed in the eerie light of the candles, bouncing off the old, cold, stone walls.
"You are here because you are the very best" droned he, and swiftly turned around, his cloak billowing between his feet. "I expect nothing but perfection from you." With that said, he stopped, and his eyes travelled the room, stopping on each and every individual, calm, cold… calculating.
His eyes lingered on mine a second longer than on those of my peers, because unlike most instances, this was a two-way process. He was assessing me, but I was, in the same time, assessing him.
Finally, his little staring tour ended and he continued on "Today, you will be making the Draught of living death. Who can tell me what the Draught of living death is used for?"
His eyes searched the room, and despite the raised hand of a Ravenclaw, he chose another student to answer, the one who feared him the most in the class.
"Umm.." the Ravenclaw girl stuttered and despite the fact that the entire room knew that she knew the answer, as she started to stutter out "It.. it's a potion" she got interrupted by a rather cruel sneer from Snape.
"Yes.. a potion. Five points from Ravenclaw miss Toray, for wasting my time." spoke he and I stared ahead impassively as the other three Slytherins laughed by my side. This was a distasteful joke, which, as entertaining as it would have been on any other day, did not sit well with me on that particular day. Because I knew another scared Ravenclaw girl, and she worried me greatly.
"Perhaps Mister McCuliber knows" spoke Snape, turning to the only Slytherin boy in the class.
"It is a potion that causes deep sleep, if used correctly it can cause an eternal sleep" Smirked he and I rolled my eyes at his childishness. Some people had bigger problems than gloating over the inventible downfall of any non-Slytherin in this class.
"Good. " smirked Snape, "Ten points to Slytherin. Now," spoke he, waving his wand and making the instructions appear on the blackboard behind him. "You have one and a half hour"
I stood up, walking to the cupboard with the ingredients, only to notice that Rebecca was following me. The girl acted oddly, and I knew that there had to be a hidden motive to her behaviour.
Some twenty minutes later, as the preparations for making the potion were well on the way, professor Snape decided to do his first round of the classroom. I noticed him from the corner of my eye and I briefly outlined my steps, checking for a mistake before he could point it out. I found none and I looked up as he approached our desk.
He glanced at Rebecca's potion, stirred it once and nodded before moving on to mine.
A quick look seemed to be enough, and I expected a comment on my potion as he spoke next. However, he seemed to be harbouring some illusions on my influence over my red headed friend.
"If you insist on being… friends…. With the Gryffindor Miss Kersey" spoke he, looking at me down his beak-like nose. "Do try and keep her on a leash. I fear that our snakes may get flees were she to be allowed to roam free."
I looked up at him, raising my eyebrow. "I have been… a reluctant acquaintance….. with Miss Hayes for six years now. I assure you professor, I tried, and I searched. But I have yet to find a leash big enough for her and her ego, yet strong enough to keep her grounded."
"Then, perhaps, you should try harder." Sneered he.
"Perhaps." I replied. "But perhaps I have no desire to take on such a laborious task."
With that said, and a final sneer, he turned away from me, swaggering off to his desk. Immature prick.
I noticed that Rebecca was glancing at me every now and again and fifteen minutes before the end of the class, I had had enough.
"Is there something on my face?" I asked, never taking my eyes off my potion, which I had been stirring at the moment.
"What?" Asked she, and as I briefly glanced up, with my eyebrow raised she spoke again. "No, it's nothing."
I waited for a couple of more seconds, before she spoke up again. "I was just wondering… what is your opinion on muggleborns?"
So that's it. A little spy.
I took out my wand and subtly pressed it against her side. She jumped a little at the contact but made no sound.
"Who wants to know?" I asked, pretending to be reading the instructions from the blackboard.
"I… I do" she stuttered and I pressed my wand harder against her side, making her squirm uncomfortably.
"Try again" I spoke through grit teeth.
"Please don't hurt me" whispered she, seemingly on the verge of tears. "He said that is was a…a … favour."
"Who?" I hissed at her, noticing that the class was coming to an end and that I was running out of time.
"Blaise Zabini." I clenched my fingers around my wand, quickly drawing it back in my sleeve, as to not hex to stupid girl.
I could see that she scooted as far away as she could from me on the chair and I quickly extracted a portion of my potion in a flask, marked it ,and gathered my things.
I stood up as soon as Snape demanded our potions, handed it to him and walked briskly out of the classroom, headed for the Slytherin common room. Someone had hell to pay.
This was crossing the line. I could tolerate his immature acts to a point, but this was too much. How dare he spy on me? I'd make him pay.
I hardly stopped as I reached the wall that hid the entrance to the Slytherin common room, clearly speaking "Meraculus Sanguis" a way off, so that the wall had some time to slide open. I strolled through them confidently, crossing the small hallway that led to the common room with brisk steps and entering the common room without breaking my stride once from the Potions Classroom
I found the boy sitting in one of the sofas by the fire, along with Nott and Malfoy. That did not matter to me all that much, because I was sure that I could take them all on at once in a duel and win without a problem.
The wretched brat was the first to notice me and his eyes took on that familiar gleam, one that usually annoyed me so.
"Hello Ro" he started and all boys present turned to me, only to focus on the wand that I had drawn in a second.
I aimed it at him as he was opening his mouth to greet me, and as those words left his mouth, I spoke simultaneously "Incarcerous!"
Ropes appeared from my wand, binding the brat and throwing him back in his seat. Malfoy and Nott jumped to their feet and I knew that the entire common room was observing the scene.
"Put your wands away Nott, Malfoy" I hissed at them, my eyes never leaving Zabini who was bound in his chair "I have nothing against you."
Malfoy glanced at Blaise and then reluctantly lowered his wand, stepping to the side. Nott, however did not.
"I warn you Nott, I have no patience for your stupidity " I hissed at him and noticed that Malfoy lowered his wand forcibly, physically pulling him back. I knew that Nott was not doing this to defend Zabini, instead he wished to take me on, to prove that he is stronger, a better wizard, to gain glory and respect. Fool.
Zabini had at first seemed surprised, but now he was smirking at me.
"Oh Rosey, you could have just said you wanted to play rough, I would have been glad to…. Satisfy you." Smirked he at me, obviously not realizing just in what sort of a danger he had found himself in.
"Contralectus!" I hissed, and Zabini got thrown from his seat, falling to the ground with a painful thud.
"Rough enough for you, you little worm?" I asked, calmly walking up to him, whilst he managed to turn so that he was now lying on his back.
"I think" spoke he, looking up at me "that you are upset."
"You think?" I questioned "Affligo!".
His head snapped to the side, as if he had been punched, and I could see that his lip was bleeding.
"Alright, you are upset" he spoke, turning to me and I walked up to him, kneeled beside him and took hold of his chin, getting into his face.
"Listen to me you little snot-nosed brat." I hissed, my eyes narrowed "there is no way in merlin's most potent hex that I would ever even consider associating myself with you. I would rather die that allow you to even breathe in the same room as me."
He seemed like he was about to speak, but I simply dug my nails into his skin, making him flinch in pain "This is the first time you have had someone spy on me" I hissed at him, my wand gently tracing his cheek, down his neck to his chest as I spoke "and the last. "
My wand settled over his heart and I spoke again, noticing that he was not smiling anymore "If I even think that you did something like that again, you dim-witted snot, I. Will. Kill. You."
With that said, I released his chin, allowing his head to fall back on the floor without a second thought and standing up. The entire common room was staring at me and I raised my eyebrow, making them all look away in fright.
I straightened my robes once and walked out of the common room, feeling much better. Now I could go and meet my sister and Clo, since I was sure that the stupid little worm would not dare even look my way again. I had no way of knowing that I was wrong. I would be seeing more of Blaise Zabini, and not in a way one would expect.