Corruption
A/N: Given has recently cleaned out many fics with smut I have decided I will remove all the smut from any FF posted chapters.
Smut will remain in the specified chapters along with any smut centered stories on PT. Thus all FF stories will have any explicit parts removed going forwards.
Act 1: The Raven Queen of Slytherin
Chapter 5: Classes
Lilith once again awoke early as normal, making her way out of her trunk she looked to the Lestrange twins' beds and saw they had pushed them together and Ares and Delphine were curled up embracing each other, she could see a few new bruises visible where the blanket was half thrown off of Delphine's body. All the while Ares was holding her protectively. It would seem that Delphine's training didn't stop even as a first-year student on her first day.
Coming out of her dorm room and into the common room she was surprised to see a few students, mainly upper years, awake already and some of them were just talking quietly. Lilith paid them no mind and swiftly left the common room and instead headed towards an empty classroom with a view of the black lake, Hela flying next to her as they found a place where they could bask in the darkness. As had become the norm, the shadows danced around her, shifting and forming into unnatural masses around her. Of course, the shadows died down at the approaching footsteps and entry of a familiar presence.
"Professor," Lilith greeted without opening her eyes.
"Miss Potter, would you mind if I joined you?" His cool voice asked.
"I do not mind at all," she replied, continuing her breathing exercises, the shadows notably still but ready to be wielded should she need them.
They remained like this for an hour before Professor Slytherin coughed and Lilith opened an eye slightly annoyed at him, his response was simply a smirk before he gestured to a watch on his left wrist.
"It's about time we headed to the great hall for breakfast Miss Potter." The only acknowledgement he received was a slight inclination of her head before he left her to continue with his daily Hogwarts routine.
She was one of the first down to breakfast even with Professor Slytherin's notice, she sat where she was before and began to pile her food up on her place for an even breakfast, forgoing the heavier meats, pastries and cheeses and opting for more fruits, eggs and bread. Pumpkin juice was not something she liked either and instead she opted for some english breakfast tea with a dash of milk and a spoon of honey.
She was soon joined by the rest of her year-mates, stumbling to their seats still half asleep yet looking much more put together than the Gryffindor's who were loud, unkept and groaning. Once majority of the students were in the great hall, the heads of houses started handing out the student timetables for classes.
First Year Timetable - Slytherin
Monday -
8am - 9:30am - Breakfast. Great Hall.
10am - 11am - Charms. Teacher: Professor Flitwick
11am - 12pm - Transfiguration. Teacher: Professor McGonagall.
12pm - 1pm - Lunch. Great Hall.
1pm - 2pm - Free Period.
2pm - 3pm - Herbology. Teacher: Professor Sprout.
3pm - End of day Teaching Period
7pm - 9pm - Dinner. Great Hal.
9:30pm-10:30pm - Astronomy. Teacher: Professor Sinestra
Tuesday -
8am - 9am - Breakfast. Great Hall
9:30am - 12pm - Double Potions. Teacher: Professor Snape
12pm - 1pm - Lunch. Great Hall
1pm - 2pm - History of Magic. Teacher: Professor Bins
2pm - 3pm - Free Period
3pm - End of Day Teaching Period
7pm - 9pm. Dinner. Great Hall.
10:30pm - Curfew. House Common room.
Wednesday -
8am - 9:30 am - Breakfast. Great Hall.
10am - 12pm - Double Defence Against the Dark Arts. Teacher: Professor Slytherin.
12pm - 1pm. Lunch. Great Hall.
1pm - 3pm. Club Activities / Free Periods.
3pm - End of Day Teaching Period
7pm - 9pm. Dinner. Great Hall.
9:30pm - 10:30pm - Astronomy. Teacher: Professor Sinestra
Thursday -
8am - 9:30am - Breakfast. Great Hall.
10am - 11am - Transfiguration. Teacher: Professor McGonagall.
11am - 12pm - Herbology. Teacher: Professor Sprout
12pm - 1pm - Lunch. Great Hall.
1pm - 2pm - Free Period
2pm - 4pm - Double Charms. Teacher: Professor Flitwick.
4pm - End of day Teaching Period
7pm - 9pm - Dinner. Great Hall.
10:30pm - Curfew. House Common Room.
Friday -
8am - 9:30am. Breakfast. Great Hall.
10am - 12pm - Double Potions. Teacher: Professor Snape.
12pm - 1pm - Lunch. Great Hall.
1pm - 3pm - Double Defence Against the Dark Arts. Teacher: Professor Slytherin.
3pm - 4pm - History of Magic. Teacher: Professor Bins
4pm - End of Day Teaching Period
7pm- 9pm - Dinner. Great Hall.
9:30pm-10:30pm. Astronomy. Teacher: Professor Sinestra.
Saturday -
8am - 10:30am - Breakfast. Great Hall.
1pm - 3pm - Lunch. Great Hall.
3pm - 5pm - Club Activities
7pm - 9pm - Dinner. Great Hall.
11:30pm. Curfew. Common Room.
Sunday -
8am - 10:30am - Breakfast. Great Hall.
1pm - 3pm- Lunch. Great Hall.
3pm - 5pm - Club Activities.
7pm - 9pm - Dinner. Great Hall.
10:30pm - Curfew. Common Room.
Please note - First Year Students will meet with their Head of House one on one, once a week for the first month to review how you're settling into classes and determine if additional tutoring is required.
Lilith didn't mind the timetable, it seemed fairly balanced for classes but was curious as to why there weren't any introductory classes for muggle-raised or born students to learn about the intricacies of the Wizarding society. If it weren't for Vrask explaining and telling her the books to look at she would have been a bit more clueless despite her mothers' guidance.
Lilith arrived at her Charms class early, having taken the time to grab her required books for the class as well as the required books for their first transfiguration class. She had already read ahead in the books and was intrigued to see just what the teachers would be covering and how they went about their teaching, Hela sat on her shoulder and glared at the gathering students.
The door swung open, and the students flooded in, all of them were the first years from all four houses. Only about 25 of them all up which wasn't too bad for a class size. Professor Flitwick was a half-goblin man, standing atop a stack of books surveying the room with a calculating yet, neutral expression. Once everyone was seated with their stack of books out, he spoke.
"Welcome to your first Hogwarts class, I'm Professor Flitwick and I'll be your charms teacher for your years at Hogwarts. As you can see, I am half-goblin myself so I will have you know any prejudice towards another student for any reason will be met with severe punishment. Am I understood?" He said, and after receiving nods from everyone in the room he continued.
"Charms is both one of the simplest, most common as well as being most complex forms of magic within our world. The reason your first class is Charms is because of the nuances that come with using them, the preciseness of wand movements as well as pronunciation of the spell. For first year students we will be working with charms that when incorrectly spoken or cast, don't cause any permanent harm to the castor. But before we get into the first spell, we will have a brief overview of what you can expect for the coming year of Charms classes, I will outline when all major assignments are due as well as the scheduled exams, both written and practical. For the first few weeks you won't have too much homework, however, after the first month of classes you will expect to be doing your homework by its due date." And so, Lilith's first charms class began. For their first year they would be covering the Colour changing charm 'Colovaria' first, and then moving onto other simple charms with the first assignment being a writeup of the 10 most common charms in a wizarding household, then it's onto the levitation charm with 'Wingardium Leviosa' and its historical variations such as 'Levioso' with the second assignment being about the levitation charm and how it's changed over time. Their third assignment was on the animation charm 'annimatus' which was used to animate inanimate objects for a short period of time. For their exams they have a written and a practical test, the practical test will be a demonstration of all charms learned in class with a requirement for making a pineapple dance across a desk.
The first half of the class was going through the magical theory of what a charm was and how it originated, as well as a brief overview of what it is known as now. Lilith was diligently writing her notes, as were her friends, the Ravenclaw's and half of the Hufflepuff's, it would seem only the know-it all from Gryffindor was taking notes from what Professor Flitwick was saying while the rest somewhat paid attention. Lilith noticed the red-haired boy, Roland Weasley? Whatever his name was, glaring at her from his seat between a dark-skinned boy and a light skinned boy with slightly mouse-like features.
"Excellent, now that we've covered the basic history of charms. We'll now move into the first charm you're going to learn, it's bot overtly useful but it is a good way to learn about pronunciation as well as wand movement. The charm's incantation is Colovaria, said as Co-lo-vare-e-ah. And as we covered just before its purpose is to change an objects colour. Now I'm going to hand you each a piece of parchment paper. Your goal will be to change the piece of parchment from its usual colour to the primary colour of your house. Red for Gryffindor, Blue for Ravenclaw, Yellow of Hufflepuff and Green for Slytherin. The want movement is a simple semi-circle going counterclockwise with your wand tip starting at 3 O'Clock and ending at 6 O'clock," Professor Flitwick explained, followed by a wave of his wand and pieces of white parchment shot from one of his books and settled in front of each student until every student had one.
"Remember the intent, Lilith, allow your magic to flow freely like I've taught you," Hela's voice resonated in her mind, Lilith smirked.
She waited a bit while other students around her just jumped straight into it, practicing the wand movements a few times before "Colovaria," she intoned, making sure the pronunciation was as instructed and picturing her parchment turning a beautiful shade of emerald with the Slytherin symbol on it, seeing as she was working with colour changing after all.
Her parchment not only changed colour with the symbol she desired but it also seemed to glisten and shine, a side effect of the amount of magic she used in the charm.
"Well done Miss Potter!" Flitwick's impressed voice silenced the rooms attempts.
"10 points to Slytherin for a successful attempted, and a further 20 points for the intricacies of your design," Professor Flitwick announced, Lilith blushed at all the attention on her. Across the room she could see the bushy haired girl glaring at her before returning to her own attempts.
By the end of class only one third of the students had managed to complete the task, with only Lilith's being as intricate. The Granger girl was a close second, she managed to get a golden Lion to appear on her red parchment. Then it was Delphini, Ares, Parvati Patil, Susan Bones, Draco and Daphne. A few others had managed to just change the parchment to the colour and then people like Crabbe, Goyle and the Weasley kid didn't manage to change the parchment at all. However, one Gryffindor, someone-Finnegan managed to cause an explosion, Lilith had no idea how that happened.
"Miss Potter, would you mind staying behind for a few moments? I'll send you with a note to Professor McGonagall explaining why," Professor Flitwick asked at the end of class.
"Of course, sir, should I request my head of house?" She asked, he frowned but shook his head.
"That won't be necessary, I merely wish to ask about your process when doing the task today," he said.
"Oh, of course sir. What would you like to know?"
"I'd heard that you were raised in an orphanage, I would like to know how you managed such a complex colovaria charm," he simply asked.
"Well, Sir. From the day I went shopping in Diagon Alley, I was suggested a bunch of books to catch me up on the wizarding world as I am an heiress after all. So, I bought and read through everything recommended. One of those books was titled 'The Fundamentals of Magic Theory' by Alistair Scoresby, published in the late 1700's. In one of his opening chapters, he speaks about the intent and will behind one's magic as the key to using magic," Lilith explains.
"I see, that's quite a complex read. Very well, for the next classes I would like for you to attempt at changing the colours of larger more complex items if you do not mind?"
"Of course, Professor, I look forward to the challenge."
"Excellent! You would have done well in Ravenclaw, Miss Potter, now here's that note. Don't want you to be too late to class," he said merrily handing her a signed note and sending her off.
Lilith arrived at Transfiguration just as the students were getting out their books in preparation, the cat on the desk jumped off and shifted into the form of Professor McGonagall, she looked at Lilith who arrived last almost.
"Sorry for being late Minnie, but I have a note from Professor Flitwick, he kept me back to ask a few questions," Lilith said holding out the note, she attempted not to smirk at the twitch of Professor McGonagall's left eye as she called her 'Minnie'.
"While in class Miss Potter it's Professor McGonagall. And very well, I will accept this note from Filius. Go and take your seat, we are about to begin," she said sternly, Lilith gave her a beaming smile before heading over to where Draco had saved her a seat next to him.
"Welcome to your first transfiguration class, transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous of magics you will learn at Hogwarts. It leads to academic paths such as conjuration, animation and vanishment as well as delving into the more complex forms of transfiguration. As for careers, transfiguration is involved in many different career paths, education, construction, and of course the Auror path," she paused as running could be heard as Roland or whatever his name was along with a dark-skinned Gryffindor, someone Thomas? Lilith barely paid attention to names.
"Finally!" The red head said exasperated.
"Would either of you care to explain why you were late?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"We got lost Professor! We wanted to speak with Potter but couldn't find her."
"You will see that Miss Potter is here in class, as you should have been. That will be 20 points each, from Gryffindor for your punctuation. Now take your seats," she said sternly and raised an eyebrow when it looked like they were going to argue.
"As I was saying, Transfiguration is one of the most complex and deadly forms of magic. You will learn to use it as well as the theory behind it during your time at Hogwarts, should you show any particular aptitude in Transfiguration, Headmaster Dumbledore or I may offer you an ongoing apprenticeship in the subject. However, that usually occurs post NEWTs if at all. I warn you now, this is not a subject to play around with, failure to adhere to the rules of this classroom or subject your classmates to any malicious intent will see you removed from the course and unable to return, am I understood?" A series of nods was her response.
"Excellent, now as you would have found with your charms classes as you will with every other class you take. The first class will give a brief overview of what you can expect for the year along with the due dates of all of your major assignments. We will also go through the list of spells you will be learning throughout the year."
Classes remained the same for the rest of the day, Lilith took her notes and wrote down everything she thought was relevant for the assignments that would be coming up. Herbology wasn't as interesting, but it was still good to know the different types of magical plants and how to harvest and use them as well as how much they're worth.
Astronomy… well, that was a subject she could do without but that being said Hela did advise her that the stars alignments can greatly affect a ritual as well as her own Shadowmancy powers are dependent upon the amount of darkness created by the absence of light.
The next day saw a similar morning; however, potions was an interesting topic for Lilith, one she had read through earnestly in the weeks prior to coming to Hogwarts. She even had her own potions lab in her trunk and had spent a great deal of time and money organising it to include some of the best equipment and storage facilities money could buy, after all she had plenty of money from the Potter trust and Black vaults. She and the other Slytherin's paired off and were sitting diligently behind their stations, books out and parchment ready.
Professor Snape's entrance was dramatic, his robes flowing behind him as if a phantom gust of wind was going by, he commanded the room with loud strides and when he reached the front, he stopped to address the room.
"There will be no mindless wand waving in this class. You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach. We'll start with an overview of what you can expect from classes, along with the extensive list of ingredients we'll be working with. The list provided has their market value attached so you know just how much money you waste when you fail a potion for any reason. Successful brews that hold up to my standards will be given to Madam Pomfrey and the infirmary for their use," he paused before surveying the room, cold eyes pausing on Lilith's own emerald ones.
"Miss Potter, I was informed that your familiar would be in attendance with you as she wishes. Am I to believe that it will not interfere with your work?" He asked sharply.
"Of course, Professor, she is perfectly capable of listening to my directions," Lilith replied.
"We shall see… Weasley! Tell me what you get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" The Weasley boy looked alarmed, going red faced as he was called upon.
"I don't know."
"Tell me, where would I find a Bezoar if I required one?"
"At the shops?"
"Smart answers will not do you any good, Mr. Weasley. Now let's try this one, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"I don't bloody know! Perhaps you should ask Hermione she seems to have the answer!" He snapped, gesturing to the bushy haired girl who was desperately waving her hand.
"30 points from Gryffindor, for your cheek. It seems you would do well to open a book," Professor Snape sneered before turning to the Slytherin students.
"Miss Potter, same questions," he barked.
"Powdered root of asphodel into an infusion of wormwood, stirred five times clockwise, then four-times counter-clockwise and then a half stir clockwise again. Creates the Draught of Living Death, you can find a Bezoar in the stomach of a goat, however, most medical kits will contain a standard amount of 10. Lastly, Monkshood and Wolfsbane are the same plant known as Aconite, Professor," Lilith replied flawlessly, Professor Snape seemed taken aback as he approached, how had she known the exact number of stirs and what types were needed to finish the potion?
"It would seem that not everyone is as ill prepared as you, Mr. Weasley. Very well answered Miss Potter, take 40 points for Slytherin for your answers, 10 for each question and an additional 10 for knowing the correct number of strokes."
"Now, for this lesson we will go over the curriculum and the different techniques that will be prioritised, if you intend to continue potions for your N.E. you will be required to get an Outstanding on your O.W.L.S in your fifth year and the foundation for that begins now in your first year as you begin to learn the craft."
"Now for the next few weeks you will work with a few different partners, by the end of the month you'll know who you want to work with. Partners after this first month will remain for the rest of the year, for the moment your partner will be your current seat mate," Professor Snape intoned.
Lilith was sitting with Delphini Lestrange, Draco with Ares, Tracey and Daphne, Millicent and Pansy, Theo and Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle, so they weren't too bad pair wise. She surveyed the room and saw that most of the other students in her year level were also paired up by house, with the exception of the bushy-haired Granger girl who was sharing with Parvati Patil of Ravenclaw.
For the rest of the lesson, they learned about the different cutting techniques and methods, the different knives used and how to make the most of the ingredients they would be interacting with on the regular. All of it culminating in each pair being given a single ingredient to work on together along with a specific cutting style. If Lilith didn't know any better the room would look like a culinary school class, silence and chopping along with small conversation being the only sounds.
History of magic was… underwhelming and sorely something that Lilith found herself disappointed by to the point of meriting whether or not she should dismiss the subject entirely as far as Hogwarts classes were concerned. Professor Bins was a ghost and one that seemed to only want to talk about King Ranrok's Goblin rebellion centuries prior… something that had almost no relevance aside from highlighting one of the many issues the goblin nation had with the wizarding world. There was no introduction, no outlining of the syllabus they would be learning. Just going on to explain the start of the goblin rebellion and then just… talk. Lilith almost destroyed her quill and had half a mind to ask her mother just why the hell this ghost was still around.
Her anger was further increased when she was confronted by the Weasel boy and his two goons, she had been coming back from the library where she had been looking a few things up when they 'cornered' her.
Lilith closed up her books, notebook and shoved them back into her satchel before delicately packing away her quill and ink into it. Having finished off her transfiguration and charms homework to a satisfactory degree she was now intending to head back to the dorms for some private time before dinner. Lost in her own thoughts she walked the usual path back towards the Slytherin common room she didn't notice the trio of Gryffindor's that were following her until she had been unceremoniously grabbed by them and pushed into an unused classroom, perhaps this is why Slytherin's were supposed to travel in pairs at least?
"Finally, we have you Potter," the voice of Ronald Weasley sneered, with him was a dark-skinned boy and a short, pudgy looking boy, the one who managed to make his feather explode.
"Can I help you?" Lilith asked, mentally cursing her distracted thoughts that she didn't notice her stalkers, mother was going to be very upset with her. She intuitively reached out for the shadows around her, readying them if they were needed to protect her.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing? Walking around with the Slytherin's like you are!" He bellowed.
"I'm not sure what you mean, I am a Slytherin, and they are my house mates," Lilith replied.
"No, they shouldn't be! Slytherin's are evil! You are supposed to be with us in Gryffindor, Dumbledore told me you'd be there and that I was to be your best friend!"
"I highly doubt we'd be best friends even if I were a Lion, you're much too… gaudy for me to be around."
"Did she just insult you mate?" The dark-skinned boy asked slightly confused.
"Shut up Dean! Now, Dumbledore tasked me with making sure you didn't stray from the light. So, we're going to set you straight."
"Oh? And I suppose you're going to show me? With that impressive magic I've seen the collective three of you do over the past two days of class?"
Ron's face went beet red as he pulled his wand out, a spell on his lips before a red light shot out of the doorway and his wand went flying into the hands of someone tall. Professor Riddle was stood there, his wand out and a scowl on his face, the three boys looked shocked and then fearful as he stepped into the room.
"What… is the meaning of this," his voice drawled out slowly, eyeing each boy with crimson irises.
"We were just- "
"Dumbledore told me to- "
"Detention, for the next two weeks. And a hundred points from Gryffindor, each. For cornering and bullying a fellow student," he cut them off, eyebrow twitching at the mention of Dumbledore.
"But we weren't doing anything wrong! Headmaster Dumbledore told me to speak and help Potter see the error of her ways!" Ron protested, red faced.
"What error would that be? Mr. Weasley?"
"Being s limy snake! Slytherin's are evil! The lot of them. Lilith Potter cannot be one of them or she'll be the next Dark Lady!"
Lilith's eye twitched in amusement, an astute thought and perhaps one that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. But right now, she needed to just… learn, to absorb all the magic and knowledge around her and grow stronger, to master her unique gifts and abilities. Professor Riddle's expression became angrier than it was before.
"There is no light and dark, Mr. Weasley, there is only the intent behind the magic itself as you will learn through my classes. For now, run along Mr. Weasley, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnegan. I will expect you to report to me for detention this evening. Leave," he demanded, the three boys scurried out of the room and Professor Riddle sighed before pocketing Weasley's wand, he would give it to McGonagall for her to deal with.
"What is the number one rule we have in Slytherin? Miss Potter," his eyes turned to her with disappointment.
"Always travel in pairs."
"Indeed, as you have just experienced, not every house approved of us. They ridicule, judge, and can be quite vindictive if given the chance. For that reason, Slytherin's must always travel in pairs at least. Let this be a lesson for you to always have someone with you."
"I was just heading back to the common room."
"Regardless, you got cornered and that will not be a situation you wish to be in again. I just happened to be on my way back to my office when I heard the Weasley boy and came to investigate. Do not be caught alone again, Miss Potter. Now off you go," he said, she nodded and straightened herself before leaving the unused classroom and scurrying to a nearby group of older Slytherin's who were on their way back to the common room themselves.
A/N: As Always, Pat. r30N is a fair few chapters ahead. I will be uploading chapters on fanfiction as I upload a new chapter on Pat. This way I continue to cycle new chapters through and as noted on "This is War" my best writing method is to write multiple stories at the same time so hopefully you enjoy all of them! If you do wish to follow Pat. it's /zyrakenzi