Advance Arrangement
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.


When they climbed the stairs up to the Transfiguration classroom, Daphne addressed the twins. "I believe that the thirteen of us will be quite ahead of everyone, so maybe each of us should be pair up with one of the Gryffindors.

Draco let out a snort. "Wishful thinking, Daphne. I'm not going to separate from my friends."

"We're not going…"

"… to sit separately either." The twins stared at Daphne, wide-eyed.

"All right. It was just an idea." The girl shrugged.

"Excuse me," the bushy-haired girl, who had lectured them about the ceiling in the Great Hall the previous evening, addressed Daphne. "Why do you believe that you and your friends know so much more than everyone else? I am Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger."

By now, they had reached the Transfiguration classroom, and Daphne motioned Dudley and Hermione to sit together with her in the second row.

"Because we all attended primary school together, all of us except for Dudley here. His magic only manifested eight months ago."

Hermione smiled. "Oh, that's good then. I've only known that I'm a witch almost a year ago. Why could the rest of you attend primary school together? Was it a magical school?"

Daphne nodded. "Yes. Our parents are all magical."

The twins sat in the first row together with Blub, knowing that the yeti was very shy and intending to keep an eye on him and prevent him from making himself invisible if he felt insecure.

Engrossed in listening to the conversation between Daphne and Hermione, Harry and Bobby only realised too late that their familiars had not obediently lain down under their desk as usual but were trying to jump up at the teacher's desk, where their Aunt Minerva was perched in her feline Animagus form.

"Paws and Claws…"

"… come here..."

"…Now!"

"Doggies, don't start a fight with that cat now. McGonagall can be here any minute now," Ronald addressed the canines.

Using the distraction, the cat jumped down from her desk and transformed into her human form. "Thank you for your assessment, Mr. Weasley. Now, Paws and Claws, go and sit down if you wish to remain in my classroom."

After quickly licking the professor's hand in silent promise, the canines lay down on the twins' feet cuddled against each other.

HP

The twins noticed soon that they were indeed ahead of Dudley and the Gryffindors, as each of the Slytherins except for their cousin managed the transfiguration of a match into a shiny needle right away. By the end of the class, Slytherin had gained twenty points more than Gryffindor, where Hermione Granger was the only one who succeeded with the task.

"If you're so much ahead in any subject, Gryffindor won't have a chance," the muggleborn complained on their way to the dungeons for their second morning class.

"Don't worry…"

"… We won't be ahead in everything," the twins informed her in soothing voices.

The girl cast them a weak smile that did not reach her eyes. "I hope so."

HP

Harry and Bobby observed in amazement how their Uncle Severus all but swept into the classroom with his dark green robes with silver lining impressively billowing behind him.

'We must ask him to teach us how to do that,' Harry thought to Bobby, who replied, affirmatively.

The professor held a long monologue about the fine art of brewing potions, before he made them brew an easy potion, which the twins recognised as the basis for various healing potions. Their mother had made them brew concoctions with said potion as base in class multiple times.

At the end of the second period, Slytherin had earned fifty points, while Gryffindor had lost twenty.

"Did you have Potions classes in your primary school?" the professor addressed the twins, while the students cleared their work spaces.

"Yes sir."

Severus nodded in understanding. "Do I understand it correctly that Unspeakable Fluffy taught you?"

"Yes sir."

The professor thoughtfully let his hand wander over his hair, pushing an errand strand of hair out of his face, before he made a decision.

"It would be a waste of time to teach you first-year potions…"

'That's true,' Harry thought to Bobby.

'Absolutely. Even Angelica and Violet would be able to brew this,' his twin thought back.

"… We shall separate this class. I shall speak with Professor McGonagall and have your time-tables adjusted accordingly. Mr. Dursley, whilst being in Slytherin, you will attend the Potions class together with the Gryffindors."

"Yes sir," Dudley replied in understanding. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn how to brew from scratch."

A small smirk played on the professor's lips, as he dismissed them.

HP

Their afternoon classes passed similarly, and by the end of the day, Slytherin was one hundred points in the lead against the other houses, much to the twins' and their friends' delight.

During dinner, their head of house handed out the adjusted timetables. When Draco asked why not much had changed, as they had expected to have free periods during the Gryffindors' Potions classes, Severus smirked. "Your Potions classes have not changed. Only the Gryffindors' Potions classes have been moved to the time between the last afternoon class and dinner, as Messrs. Fred and George Weasley are going to teach the first-year classes.

"My brothers?" Ronald spoke up in apparent surprise. "Are they that good?"

The professor smirked and over the collective laughter around them replied, "They are my student assists. Do you believe that I'd employ them if they weren't more than adequate?"

"Ronald…"

"… just shut up."

Everyone laughed even more noticing that two identical redheads glared at their friend from the other side of the table.

tbc...

Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.