Chapter five - Letters from London and reprimands

Gina found Jonne at the Gryffindor table in the great Hall Monday morning, head on his arms, mumbling something about a small party last night.

'Too bad, I had been looking for you last night,' Gina whispered in his ear. 'I was looking for someone to woo me. You know, set fire to my loins.'

He groaned. 'Is that English flirting? That's awful. And why would you tell me that now that you came to my room? That's just tarkoittaa.'

'Olen pahoillani,' she said, grinning. I am sorry.

'You are lying to me, aren't you?'

She winked and started eating her toast.

'Morning all. There will be an announcement later today, after dinner,' said Bill, the Gryffindor boy with the red ponytail, leaning towards them. 'About the first task.'

'Excellent,' said Gabriela, who just sat down.

'Éxcèllentè,' said Gina and Jonne together, thickening Gabriela's accent to the point of it becoming almost unintelligible. Gabriela shot them a filthy look.

At dinner that evening, Gina and Jonne played guess their nickname in Spanish, which was quite amusing. It wasn't until Jonne said in a rather hoarse voice that he hoped a girl with a particular large cleavage was called puta de Hogwarts (whore of Hogwarts) that professor Dumbledore stood up.

'Good evening everyone. I hope you all had a informative day, and that you are not to sleepy to listen to my wheezing waffle. It will only take a few minutes.'

Gina smiled. She started to like Dumbledore and his silliness. Señor Gonzalez looked extra strict next to him.

'I know you all are very excited to know, and you will be happy to hear you will only have to wait six more days, as this Sunday, we will present the nature of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament to you.'

Gabriela sat up more straight. Gina supposed this was out of excitement. Or it might just be señor Gonzalez who just shot her a look not to slouch. Honestly that man...

'It will be a thrilling start of the competition,' Dumbledore continued. 'Testing your adaptiveness and speed in the face of an unpredictable opponent. That is it for now. A good evening and chop chop.'

The students erupted in loud chatter when Dumbledore sat down and engaged in conversation with professor McGonagall, who was sitting next to him. Gina only listened half heartedly to the wild ideas the students around her voiced about the first task. She would meet it when it came. She wasn't looking forward to the Triwizard Tournament too much, but knew she was competitive enough to become engaged when it would all start.

It was late when Gina entered the carriage that evening. She had been on a long walk on the grounds after dinner and had made a trip to the library after that.

'There was an owl for you,' said Jonne, when she entered the joined sitting room. 'The owl looked very... British, if I remember correctly.' He smirked and handed her the letter. Than he kissed her on the cheek. 'Good night, querida.'

'Night Joni,' Gina said.

She opened the letter while she slowly walked to her room, reading it. It was a letter from Sirius, the guy she had spend a big part of the summer with in London. He asked how she was doing at Hogwarts and he jokily said he missed having her as a guest because she cooked so well.

She frowned when she got to the next part of his letter, sitting down on her sunny orange bedspread. He wrote that there had been more indications the Death Eaters were getting more active again, and that developments were going in the wrong direction. Gina felt worried. She leaned back into the cushions and thought back to the warm summers evening when she had heard about the Death Eaters for the first time.

Gina was lying in bed with Sirius, eating the last slice of a Hawaiian pizza. Gina licked her fingers.

'So I left my parents house when I was sixteen,' Sirius said, stretching and looking at the ceiling of the tiny studio he rented in the south of London. His long wavy brown hair fell to his shoulders and his striking grey eyes lingered on the dusty oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. 'I couldn't take their pure blood mania anymore. I had enough.'

Gina looked at the slightly haughty look his handsome face, with it's high cheekbones and straight nose.

'I can relate,' Gina said quietly. 'I was twelve when I started realising some of the views my family have are really messed up. I got a muggle friend who lived down the street and coming over at her house and meeting her family made me realise everything my parents had told me about muggles was a lie. My parents forbade me to meet with her after they found out about our friendship.'

'But your family weren't supportive of the Dark Arts, were they? My parents were greatly in favour of Voldermort raising to power and taking over. My brother Regulus actually joined the Death Eaters.'

'What are Death Eaters?' Gina asked, frowning at the name.

'You've heard of them, haven't you?' Sirius asked surprised. 'The war is only three years ago, you must have heard things about it, and about Voldermorts followers.'

'Yes, of course I've heard and read many things about the war,' Gina said. She sat up. 'So his followers were called Death Eaters? In Spain they are called Seguidores de Sabes Yuién, followers of You-Know-Who.'

'Yes, they are called Death Eaters.' Sirius' hands balled into fists. 'Voldemort disappeared three years ago, but his supporters are convinced that he will return.' He spoke with a fierce voice. 'Many are still at large. And they are all just as bad and cruel as Voldemort was.' He fell silent.

'And what do you think?' Gina asked.

Sirius looked at her for a moment, than smiled mischievously. 'I'd rather enjoy today than worry about tomorrow,' he said, before shoving her shirt up over her breasts.

Next morning Gina descended the stairs down to the cold dungeons. Professor Snape stood by the door of the Potions classroom, watching silently as the students entered. She nodded curtly to him and tried to ignore the sharp feeling of being struck by lightning while she sat her bag at the table with Jonathan and two blond girls. Her reaction to Snape made her feel uneasy. It was overwhelming. She wasn't at all used to being impressed by... well, anyone.

'Hello, I'm Gina,' she said to the girls, trying to be friendly.

The girls did not respond, but looked behind her. It took Gina a few seconds to catch on and look around.

'I asked, miss Aldaya, if you had your homework for me.'

Snape had walked over to her.

'Oh,' she said, feeling flustered but making sure she didn't show this. Being trained how to behave in public appearances had its benefits. 'Sure. I didn't hear you. There you go.'

She took the essay from her bag and wanted to hand it to him. Instead of taking it, he flicked his wand, eyebrows raised, and the roll of parchment flew to his desk, where eleven others were already lying. Gina kept her face straight. A feeling of recklessness came over her. She had been on the verge of sitting down, but instead she kept standing, looked him full in the face and after a moment said:

'Is there anything else I can help you with?'

She could hear one of the girls gasp for breath. The classroom had become very silent. For a second, Snape seemed stunned, but than his eyebrows rose even higher.

'Yes, now you mention it, miss Aldaya. You could start by telling me the correct use of Foxgloves for antidotes,' he said in a menacing voice while walking to the front of the class.

His answer seemed to surprise the class. Jonathan looked at her in awe. Gina, in turn, was looking at Snape.

'If Foxgloves is Digitalis, than it is only applicable in antidotes in miniscule quantities, as it is highly poisonous. Unless you only use fresh petals, but apart from making the antidote taste better it doesn't really do anything. Dried petals could be used if the poison was mild. If Foxgloves is Digitalis purpurea specifically you should be extra careful, as it is the most poisonous variation. Unless you had a bezoar at hand, I would use the largest amounts of Echinacea you can get your hands on. Porcupine quills can be used to lessen the poisonous properties of Di- Foxgloves, but it's tricky and if you do it wrongly the potion will be lethal. Gina frowned at a smudge on her desk. Of course Salamander blood is also an option when you don't have any Echinacea to dilute the serum with, but with the combination of Foxgloves and Salamander blood the chances of hysteria are rather-'

'That's enough.' Snape spoke in his soft, curt voice. Gina fell silent.

He looked calculatingly at her.

'What continent does Foxgloves come from, miss Aldaya?

'I... have no idea,' Gina said honestly.

Snape smirked a little, which Gina thought was very unfair.

'Is it expensive?'

How would she know? She never bought anything in her life. Gina refused to admit she had no idea. Well, it shouldn't be, she said slowly. I know it grows outside near the forest edge for one. You basically have to cut a way through it if you want to-' she stopped when she saw his face. '-go for a walk,' she added in a tiny voice.

'What would you do if someone drank a drink poisoned with Cowbane?'

Snape looked like he would be very much capable of poisoning her drink.

'I-' She looked in his dark eyes, and didn't speak.

Snape looked irritated. 'Cicuta virosa, miss Aldaya.'

'Really?' Gina said surprised. 'Surely no one would be that stupid.'

Silence fell again. Nobody dared move. Gina kept her face straight, but felt like she was going to burst out in nervous laughter soon. She wasn't going to handle lessons like this two to three times a week for the rest of the school year. Maybe señor Gonzalez would allow her to drop one subject...

'Why would no one be that.. stupid?' Snape asked quietly. Gina hadn't heard him raise his voice once in class yet. He seemed to keep control effortlessly with his whisper, all the students being obviously terrified of him.

'Because Cicuta virosa leaves a visible film on the surface when diluted with anything more watery than its own thickness. You can use it in foods, on surfaces people would touch, but not in drinks. Or you could, but no one in their right mind would drink it. Unless you would want to poison a baby or something, Gina added, suddenly thinking of this. You could put it in a sippy cup.' She noticed two Hufflepuff girls stare at her in horror and had to suppress a smile.

'So what would you use?' Snape's eyes bore into hers. 'That is, if you wish to poison an adult.'

'That was a very interesting lesson,' Jonathan Belby said enthusiastically when the bell rang. Tarjei Boot nodded vigorously.

'You know a lot about antidotes Gina,' Tarjei said. 'I didn't know you can use a dried shrivelfig to prevent a hangover. Or ahh- dilute water based poisons, he added quickly, seeing Snape watch him. Much more important of couse.'

'Hm,' mumbled Gina. She felt drained. Snape had questioned her a long time, asking her more and more difficult questions. She wondered if it was problematic that she basically told the Hogwarts Potion master and eleven students the content of The Royal House Poison and Antidote Protocol. She wanted to blend in with the rest of the students and get just òne little compliment from Snape instead of him calling out her mistakes, but that did not seem likely anymore. She did not seem to have her usual self-control during his lessons. Her spirits didn't lift when professor Snape called out from his desk in front of the class.

'Stay behind, Aldaya. I want a word.'

Gina slowly packed up her things while the rest of the class left. Jonathan shot her a look that only too clearly said I did warn you not to provoke him.

When everyone was gone, Snape came over to her desk and dropped something on the table. It was her essay.

'I expect a rewrite next lesson.'

Gina stared at him. 'Why-'

'You will never learn if you don't start. I will not grade anything with so much as a Latin pronounce in it. You will not have much trouble with the coursework, based on your work in class, as long if you do not start bluffing when you haven't got the faintest clue...'

His lips curled into a sneering smile.

'But if you want to pass the written part of the N.E.W.T., you will have to start using the correct language. Now.' His voice had become a low growl. He put his hands on the desk, looking closely at her. Gina willed herself to stare back without blushing. She felt light-headed.

'From now on, you will call me sir or professor, or I will not be grading anything you write, as you won't be in my class. Did I make myself clear?'

Gina nodded.

After class, Severus sat down at his desk again. Miss Aldaya had not looked impressed by his reprimand to call him sir or professor. She had just nodded and left. He wanted to know what was needed to make her lose her composure. Grilling her had only slightly tired her out. Being extremely observant, he had noticed her slight delay in answering and the fraction slower movements by the end of the class. She knew exceptionally much about poisons and antidotes, and he knew why too. He had heard Minerva and professor Sprout discuss miss Aldaya in the staff room yesterday. She was a Spanish royal for Merlins sake... This actually explained quite a lot. Why she was so mature for her age. Why she was so composed and stately, and why she mastered every form or human Transfiguration that was in the N.E.W.T curriculum to perfection, which had amazed Minerva. Why she got so much official looking letters every morning, which she just put in her bag without opening them. She must have had private training in a lot of areas in addition to her school education. Minerva had already altered the coursework she gave her, just like Severus had. Severus did not make her brew antidotes anymore. He had concluded she could do that in her sleep.

He closed his eyes for a moment and her face swam into focus. Her every so slightly pink cheekbones. Her full lips... Her hazel eyes that had looked at him without any fear, but curious. And, if he hadn't been mistaken, with something else, something that had looked like admiration. To his amazement, and that was all he was feeling, he had told himself sternly, she had not looked frowning or disapproving at him once yet. Severus knew he was an unpopular teacher. He was probably the most hated teacher of the school, except among the students of his own house, Slytherin, to which he was Head of House. He was mean, sarcastic and impatient, rarely gave compliments and rather enjoyed it when students were terrified of him, especially when their fear of him made them too scared to talk when he was in the room. It was one of the small pleasures he got from teaching a bunch of untalented and often unmotivated dunderheads.

But miss Aldaya did not seemed to care he treated students like dirt under his shoes. Perhaps she took it for granted that he was unpleasant because she could learn from him. She seemed very interested in potion making, and had seemed to enjoy his more complicated lectures.

Pushing the thought of miss Aldaya to the back his mind, he stood up, rubbing his aching forearm. The presence of miss Aldaya at Hogwarts wasn't the only thing that made him feel restless. He needed to talk to Dumbledore again soon.