"That's the second time you've come here in a week!" Madame Pomfrey scolded Jazlyn as soon as she had regained consciousness.
Jazlyn sighed at her fate. Thankfully it was only a broken ankle and Madame Pomfrey had fixed it right up. She did however insist that the girl stay in the hospital wing for a few hours since she had passed out. Harry sat in a chair next to her looking far too pleased for someone whose cousin was in the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey gave him a disapproving look as she walked away. On Jazlyn's other side was Neville, who kept apologizing profusely until Jazlyn finally told him to shut up and that it wasn't his fault.
"And why do you look so happy, Potter?" Jazlyn glared. "I am literally on the verge of expulsion."
"You might be," he smirked. "But you're also looking at the youngest seeker at Hogwarts in a century."
She sat up quickly.
"YOU'RE WHAT?" She exclaimed. Madame Pomfrey was quite to shush her.
He explained all about how he had gotten caught by McGonagall catching Neville's remembrall from a near fifty foot dive on a school broom. McGonagall has apparently been so impressed she made Harry the new Gryffindor seeker.
Jazlyn huffed in annoyance when he was done with his tale. She took the pillow from behind her and whacked him with it. He just laughed in response.
"I catch a human and all I get is a broken bone and detention and you catch a ball and get to be on the Quidditch team!?" She smacked him again. "How is that fair!?"
"Maybe because I didn't fall off the broom?" He suggested teasingly.
He earned another hit with the pillow for that. Madame Pomfrey stormed over and took the pillow out of her hand.
"Alright, fine. The hospital wing is no place for pillow fights! If you have that much energy I might as well discharge you!" She scolded Jazlyn. "Go on, get out."
She watched as the young Black girl hopped out of bed and left laughing with the young Potter and Longbottom boys. She couldn't help but think of another Potter and Black pair and their friends who visited her hospital wing much too often.
—
The next morning the Gryffindor first years were met with a strange sight. Harry Potter and Jazlyn Black sat together glumly all throughout breakfast ignoring their own friends, Ron and Hermione, who were absolutely confused by their behavior. The two dreaded their schedule today knowing that it could only end in disaster.
Jazlyn was still not convinced that Hogwarts was as great as her mother and Uncle Remus had said it would be. But her Mother had written to her and insisted that it was only the first week and things would get better. And while her Mother may be right, she knew that today would not be the day. Sure She had made a friend of Hermione and now that Sally-Ann Perks was no longer in their dormitory, the other girls had also made it clear they did not care who her father was. And sure she still had Harry and Neville. And yes the Weasley twins would somehow miraculously appear when someone tried to give her too much trouble.
But today they had Potions for the first time with none other than Professor Severus Snape. Jazlyn and Harry had heard enough about him from Uncle Remus. He had warned them that Snape had gone to school with their parents and had a very strong dislike of them.
"Perhaps he's matured and won't take it out on them," Jazlyn's mother had said.
"As hopeful and wonderful as that sounds Jane, this is Snivellus you're talking about," Uncle Remus had replied.
They trudged down to the potions classroom together. It was all the way in the dudgeons. It was cold, dark, and creepy. They waited until the last possible second before slipping into the classroom and claiming the very back row. To make matters worse, they discovered that they would be having it with the Slytherins.
Snape, like most Professors, started class with a role call. Jazlyn unfortunately was one of the very first names called
"Black," he spat out with pure venom. It caused the entire class to jump.
"It's just Jazlyn," she said as confidentially as she could. She met his eye when he immediately picked her out of the class.
Snape stood slowly and approached their table and slammed his hands down. Harry flinched but Jazlyn kept her cool. She forced herself not to break eye contact and give him the satisfaction of intimidating her. She was getting really tired of that. So her piercing grey eyes met Snape's cold black ones determinedly.
"You think you're so special that you deserve such special treatment Black," Snape sneered slowly at her. "Just because of who your dear father is. But that is not how this classroom works."
On the side of the room Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson let out a laugh. Jazlyn glowered at him and opened her mouth to retort but Snape had caught sight of Harry next to her. His eyes flashed over to the scar on Harry's forehead.
"Ah yes—Potter," he said, "Our new celebrity. It appears Black seems to want to share the fame."
He swished around suddenly with his cloak like an overgrown bat before either cousin could say anything. Jazlyn glared hard at his back as he marched back to the front of the room and finished his roll call.
He began the class with a speech. Most of it was threatening them to not mess around. When he was done he turned back to look at Jazlyn and Harry.
"Potter!" Snape snapped. "Tell me what I would get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry looked at Jazlyn confused. He hadn't studied before coming to class. But he knew that Jazlyn had taken an early fascination to potions when they were younger. Jazlyn did know the answer but with Snape staring at them she had no way to tell him. In front of them Hermione raised her hand.
"I don't know, sir," he said through gritted teeth.
"Tut, tut, tut. Fame clearly isn't everything." Snape sneered mockingly. "Black, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
He turned towards Jazlyn and spat out her name distastefully. But Jazlyn merely grinned back.
"It would make the Draught of Living Death, the most powerful sleeping potion in the world." She said confidently. "Also the name is Jazlyn."
"Correct," Snape glared at her. He ignored the last part of what she said and turned his attention back to Harry, clearly noting that he would be the one of the two children less likely to know the answers to his question. "Let's try again, Potter. Tell me where would you look if I told you to get me a bezoar."
A what? Harry couldn't help but think. Perhaps he should have listened to Jazlyn's rants in the Cameliard library about the potions books she had found. In front of them Hermione had raised her hand again.
"I don't know, sir," Harry said. Jazlyn thought that he was being far too polite to the man who had targeted them simply for being the children of his old school boy enemies.
"Black," he snapped.
"Down a goat's throat," she replied without hesitation. Her smirk grew as his eyes darkened more in anger.
"At least one of you seems to know how to read," he sneered at her. Which, of course, only caused Jazlyn to smirk wider. She enjoyed the satisfaction she got that Snape had yet to stump her.
"Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Wolfsbane. Harry knew that one. But monkshood he didn't know. He couldn't let Snape hold this over him. He internally whacked his brain. He looked over at Jazlyn. She met his eyes and looked down. Harry's eyes followed hers. Two lines were drawn on her piece of parchment. One on top of the other, like an equal sign in mathematics. What was that supposed to mean? He looked back up at Jazlyn and raised a questioning eyebrow at her. She wanted to smack him for it.
"We don't have all day, Potter," Snape snapped.
"Er I don't know, Wolfsbane is used in the wolfsbane potion," he suggested with a shrug. Then it clicked. "There is no difference between wolfsbane and monkshood."
"5 points will be taken from each of you Black and Potter. There will be no cheating in my class." Snape scowled. He snatched up Jazlyn's parchment but she didn't flinch. He crumpled it with his hand and with a wave his wand burned it to ash.
"That was a waste of parchment," she muttered to Harry.
"You know, sir," Harry started. "That as much as we appreciate the private lesson, we aren't the only two in this class."
The Gryffindor first years snickered. Snape silences them with a look.
"You should've all been writing those answers down," he snapped at them and stormed back to the front of the classroom. "Oh and Potter, 10 points will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek. And Black, since you seem to know so much, why don't you tell the rest of the class what other name does monkshood and wolfsbane go by?"
"Aconite," she said again without hesitation. She had a mischievous look in her eye and Harry had a bad feeling about it. "By the way, most of those questions are about NEWT level potions. You know that, don't you, Professor Snivellus?"
"Jazzy!" Harry exhaled sharply.
His eyes widened. Although he wasn't sure why he was so surprised. He should have expected it the way her eyes narrowed and her lips curled each time Snape addressed her by her surname. He should've known the girl was bound to snap eventually. The first years burst into laughter. Hermione in front of them looked outraged that her new friend would disrespect a teacher. But none of that was compared to Snape's reaction.
In an instant he was in front of Harry and Jazlyn's table. Harry flinched back and Jazlyn's eyes flashed but somehow she managed to keep her body from otherwise reacting.
"50 points from Gryffindor, Black!" He snarled. "And a week's detention. Starting tonight during dinner. Now get out of my sight!"
The Gryffindors all gasped. 50 points!? They glared over at Jazlyn. But by this point she was used to the glares and she found that she wasn't as bothered by them knowing that she deserved it. She stood up defiantly. And glared back at Snape.
"What? You don't want to be called by a name you don't like?" She said, "Hmm, I can't possibly imagine what that feels like."
"That's another 20 points you've lost and another week of detention," Snape said. "You may see yourself to the headmaster's office immediately."
She stood up in anger and opened her mouth in protest but Harry gripped her sleeve and shook his head at her. As much as Harry would love to see Jazlyn cursing Snape (with her words or her wand), he knew that Jazlyn was pushing her luck far too much. She had already lost 70 points in less than 5 minutes. He wasn't completely oblivious to the stares and whispers of the other students. He knew that losing so many points would not help her case.
She scowled as she gathered her things and threw her bag over her shoulder. She stomped out of the classroom. She slammed the door roughly and effectively caused the shelves next to it to rattle.
She did not make her way to the headmasters office. Instead she stormed past the older students towards the owlery. She did not know where the headmasters office was nor did she care at that moment for another lecture. She did, however, know where the owlery was and had found refuge there many times during the week. She was sure her mother was sick of her letters but she always responded as quickly as possible regardless. So she sat herself on the window sill and wrote two letters, one to her mother complaining about Snape and the other to Uncle Remus cursing the professor out.
They had the afternoon off so she spent most of her day sulking in the owlery. She didn't speak to anyone when they came in and only glared back at people who glared at her for losing so many points in a day. To be honest, she actually preferred being glared at for something she did rather than for who her father was. She was sure Harry was probably looking for her. Or maybe Hermione. She was grateful that Hermione wanted to be her friend, but she knew she would be hearing an earful from her for calling a professor names. Harry, on the other hand, would be trying to get her to tell him why she had been in such a foul mood since coming to Hogwarts even though she was sure he already knew.
She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep in the owlery until a 5th year Hufflepuff Prefect gently shook her awake. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from swearing when they told her what time it was. She rushed out the door and ran down to the dungeons all the way from the west tower where the owlery was. She pushed passed students on her way down including Harry and Ron as they were making their way to dinner.
"Where have you—?" Harry started to say when he saw his second cousin running full speed in his direction.
"Sorry, I can't talk! Late for detention!" She shouted over her shoulder as she shoved him out of his way.
When she got to the Potions classroom she didn't pause to catch her breath. Instead she slammed the door open without breaking momentum.
"I'm here! Professor—" she paused when she finally caught sight of the extra visitor. "MOM!?"
She stared back and forth between her Mother and Snape. What on earth was she doing here? Was it about the letters that she had sent that morning? Already? She didn't think her mother would show up at the school to talk to him. If she had known that her mother would do that she
Most certainly would not have sent it. She took notice of what her mother was wearing. Nice dark dusty blue velvet robes. Her Mother often wore those to the ministry. So she must have come straight from some kind of important meeting there.
"What are you doing here?" Mother and daughter asked together.
"I go to school," Jazlyn scoffed and folded her arms.
"I thought classes were over," Jane said. She squinted her eyes at Jazlyn suspiciously. Jane wondered, Had she heard anything they were talking about?
"I have detention," the young girl shrugged carelessly. She didn't even look sorry for it.
"As I said," Snape muttered. "Just as insufferable as her father."
Jazlyn glared but held her tongue in the presence of her mother. Jane on the other hand privately agreed. Not the insufferable part. But just that in that moment she looked just like her father each time he had gotten a detention, almost as if she were proud of the fact.
"I answered your question, Mother," Jazlyn said. "It's your turn."
"Ministry Business," Jane said simply. And in a tone that Jazlyn knew meant she was not to push for more information. But it made sense given the type of robes her mother wore.
"Miss Black," Snape said. Jane winced knowing that Jazlyn did not like that. She glanced over to see her daughter silently seething. "Thanks to your mother's interruption you'll serve double detention tomorrow. And you'll add another detention in addition to the two weeks you already have."
It was hardly the first week and Jazlyn already had two weeks of detention from Snape? She hadn't heard of a first year getting that many. Of course, she knew that James and Sirius once had a competition of who could get the most detentions in the first week but they had not been first years at the time.
"What!?" Jazlyn exclaimed. "It's not my fault she's here! I didn't ask her to come!"
Jane reached towards her daughter to try and calm her but Jazlyn stepped away.
"The headmaster informed me that you did not see him this afternoon," Snape said, glaring at the young girl. "Not to mention you are late."
"Yeah, late for a detention that you ended up canceling. And besides, I couldn't find it," she said with a shrug. "I got bored and gave up."
"Just like your father," he sneered.
"That's enough, Severus," Jane interrupted. She could see Jazlyn was seconds away from cursing her professor and she wasn't about to let her daughter get expelled.
"Besides, as much as I would love to spend my Saturday in your company," Jazlyn said. "I can't."
"This isn't something you have a choice on, Black," Snape said.
"I also have detention with Madame Hooch tomorrow." Jazlyn said. "So I really can't."
Jane gapped at her daughter. Exactly how many detentions had she gotten?
"Fine you'll do a double at the end." He said.
Jazlyn huffed but didn't argue this time.
"I'll leave you two to your...'ministry business' then." She said, "Mother, see you at Christmas."
"Jazlyn, Wait!" Jane called out to her.
She took in her daughter's haphazard appearance and wondered again if perhaps she should tell her daughter about what was really going on. Jazlyn looked at her mother curiously and impatiently. Jane put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Jane asked. She whispered quietly to keep the conversation private.
"I'm fine, Mom," she whispered, exasperated. "And if anyone asks, you never saw me."
Jane laughed. "Alright. Things will be better soon. I promise. And in the meantime, at least try to behave."
"Mom!" Jazlyn exclaimed. "Next time keep it in a letter."
Not wanting to stay in the Potions classroom any longer, she booked it out of the room. Stopping before she shut the door to look back, wink at her mother, and give her a two finger salute. Jane figured her daughter would be fine and that Remus was right, telling her now would probably make things worse.
"She doesn't know what you're doing, does she?" Snape taunted as soon as the younger girl was gone. "Perhaps even you know how impossible it is for that brainless imbecile to be innocent."
