A few weeks passed during which Catherine learned some very important things about life at Hogwarts and about herself in general. It turned out that using a wand was not the same as performing wandless magic. The young witch quickly realised that you don't waste your power as much when concentrating it in the wand. However, at the same time, it was quite challenging when she couldn't sense the stream of magic with her fingertips. This became evident during their first Transfiguration lesson when they were all tasked with turning a matchstick into a needle.
After ten minutes of fruitless attempts, Catherine picked up one of the matchsticks and held it in her palm. She concentrated and quietly muttered 'Ignucorpus Subtlea'. The witch left the perfectly transformed needle on the desk. However, she wasn't entirely satisfied, so she attempted to replicate her success several times, using only her wand. Finally, by the end of the class, there was some progress, and the second matchstick closely resembled a needle. It was just slightly too thick but still sharp and metallic. Despite Professor McGonagall's approval and her reward of ten house points to Gryffindor, Catherine remained gloomy for the rest of the afternoon.
The other classes were progressing smoothly, and the teachers were mostly competent and engaging. Catherine would have immediately dropped the History of Magic, but overall, she was enjoying her time learning.
In their Potions class, she, Lily, and Snape quickly rose to prominence as Professor Slughorn was not shy about pampering his favourites, who were becoming central figures in Hogwarts' social circles. Catherine had the vague impression that he genuinely enjoyed 'collecting' extraordinary students, and for the first time, she felt relieved that in his eyes, she was just a talented and sassy Muggle-born witch.
The girl immediately realised that despite Professor Slughorn's clear favouritism toward her, there were other students who were considered the stars of his collection. One of them was Lucius Malfoy, the handsome blond fifth-year Slytherin prefect who always sat in close proximity to the Potions Master and was introduced first to various important visitors to the school. Another standout was the Head girl, Antonia Thornebrook, a petite seven-year Ravenclaw who was regarded as the school's academic star, in addition to her aunt serving as the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. Consequently, Antonia received lavish praise and was presented to every young wizard of suitable age. Catherine was certain that Professor Slughorn would have relished telling the story of how he personally played matchmaker between the talented Ms. Thornebrook and her equally impressive future partner.
The secret pain of the Potion Master, however, remained the adamant refusal of Lord Gregory McMahon, the pure-blood aristocrat and the heir of the Hogwarts founders, to attend any event related to the so-called Slug Club. Catherine was still pondering whether she felt irritated by the extra attention, small gifts and countless compliments her brother was receiving from Slughorn or she pitied him trying his best to avoid the professor at all costs.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Professor Carter Thorne was thoroughly unimpressed by Catherine's performance during his classes. By the third week, she was confident that it was personal.
While testing the effectiveness of the Gryffindors' Jinxbane Charms, the wizard mainly used minor jinxes, such as the Nose-Tweaking Jinx. However, when it came to Catherine's turn…
"Furnunculus!" – the Professor said, pointing his wand towards the young witch.
"Avertus!" – Catherine shouted, but apparently, she hadn't put enough strength into the spell, as painful boils began to cover her body and neck.
Professor Thorne appeared highly dissatisfied. He swiftly applied the counter-jinx and deducted five points from Gryffindor, which was incredibly unfair. Sirius protested loudly, though his choice of words resulted in another five points being taken from their House.
This incident from the DADA class somehow became public knowledge, as evidenced the next day in Herbology when Slytherins were having a field day. Ophelia Carrow and Isolde Lestrange couldn't contain their giggles while frequently glancing at Catherine. Meanwhile, Severus Snape added to the spectacle by tossing some dittany her way, loudly proclaiming how effective it was for those dealing with stubborn boils.
True to her Slytherin heritage, the young witch took matters into her own hands. She found valuable allies in the face of James and Sirius. Together, they covertly entered the Potion classroom, where Slytherins were scheduled to have their class later. With Sirius on guard duty at the door, James and Catherine swiftly swapped the lunar lichen leaves that the first-years were intended to use that afternoon for brewing a Moonlight Elixir with silver fern fronds.
"They did look similar." – said James after the three of them left the dungeons.
"They are practically indistinguishable without using a spell." – smirked Catherine.
"Then what is going to happen when they put them into the Moonlight Elixir?" – asked Sirius.
"You'll see." – giggled the girl while they were entering the Charms classroom.
At dinner that evening, a commotion erupted as the faces of the first-year Slytherins were covered in bright red spots. Apparently, the Moonlight Elixir with the addition of the silver fern fronds caused an explosion which resulted in painful and nasty rash that neither the Potion Master nor the matron were so far able to cure.
The Potion class fiasco continued for nearly a week before Professor Slughorn finally identified the switched ingredient and devised a remedy. Slytherins blamed Gryffindors for the explosive elixir, but there was no concrete evidence, and despite suspicions, no punishments were imposed. This only fuelled the anger within the Slytherin house, leading to various incidents involving students from both houses for at least half a month.
Initially, Catherine felt she may have overreacted due to her anger and had not expected the rash to be so persistent. However, both Sirius and James considered it fair payback for the mockery Catherine endured due to the boils. Furthermore, shortly after, Draven Nott hexed Remus in the clock tower courtyard without any provocation. While Catherine did not hold anything against the House of Slytherin in principle, she couldn't deny that most of its current members were snarky, arrogant, and, to put it frankly, a bunch of morons. Therefore, she buried her guilt and embraced the persona of a 'top-class Gryffindor bitch'.
Surprisingly, an unexpected consequence of the ordeal was that the Gryffindors themselves took great pride in their first-years. It elevated Catherine, Sirius, and James to individuals recognised by everyone in the Common room, and their opinions on House matters carried significant weight. Catherine realised that, like any group, the House of Gryffindor had its own social structure with leaders and their followers, the former including the prefects, the Quidditch team, and students who were popular for various reasons. Naturally, Lord Gregory McMahon was considered an invaluable asset to Gryffindor. He was exceptionally intelligent, powerful, and the subject of countless rumours regarding his family and heritage. In addition, Greg was handsome, athletic, and friendly with everyone. His classmates adored him, as did many of the older students.
Despite her newfound fame, Catherine was not even close to the social status and respect Greg held, even among students from other Houses. At some point, she had to admit that she was genuinely jealous of her brother. This led her to put in extra effort to avoid him, which turned out to be convenient since he was clearly not thrilled with her involvement in the recent events.
Furthermore, the atmosphere in the first-year girls' dormitory had changed. Right after the incident, Lily followed Catherine upstairs and confronted her directly.
"Was it you who hurt the Slytherins?" – she asked quietly.
"What do you mean by hurt?" – retorted Catherine – "They are perfectly fine. The only thing that got hurt was their pride and big mouths."
"I expected as much from Potter and Black," – the other girl fumed – "but I can't believe you could be so vengeful just because of some nasty remarks. How could you hurt Severus? He's a friend, after all?"
"What friend? He's your friend. He has hated me from the moment he first laid eyes on me. And it's rather unfair to reprimand me while you keep excusing his awful behaviour. I've seen chimeras that are more pleasant to be around than him." – exclaimed Catherine angrily.
"I just wanted to warn you that if you keep enabling Potter and Black, you may end up in big trouble." – said Lily heatedly before leaving the dormitory.
After that conversation, Lily limited her interactions with Catherine to simple, necessary everyday conversations. Catherine felt this was quite unfair, so she didn't approach the other girl either. However, she couldn't help but be in a bad mood due to losing the support of the first person who had shown her friendliness. She genuinely missed Lily's light-hearted laughter and became extremely irritated every time she passed her and Snape chatting somewhere on the school grounds.
Two weeks later, towards the end of October, the Gryffindors were finally scheduled for their first flying lesson. This cheered up Catherine, who had been longing for the crisp, cold air and the sensation of the wind in her hair. Apart from needing to pretend she hadn't touched a broom before, she was looking forward to spending some time flying.
The weather was perfect—sunny and clear. Although the autumn chill was already noticeable, it didn't deter the excited group of first-years gathered at the Quidditch Pitch. Soon, the Slytherins joined them, urged by Madame Hooch to take their places beside the brooms neatly arranged in two rows.
"Now, students," – shouted the flying instructor – "some of you might be familiar with the process, but nonetheless, all of you, extend your right hand over the broomstick and shout 'Up!' loud and clear!"
Despite the booming choir of voices roaring 'Up!' simultaneously, only a few brooms actually flew into their masters' hands. Catherine's was one of those, but she noticed that Snape, who was standing across from her, wasn't having any success. She smirked as she mounted her broom and casually quipped:
"You know, I've heard that brooms are like horses, they can sense if you're afraid of them."
"Go to hell!" – said Snape angrily as he struggled to mount his broomstick, which was shaking dangerously.
"Even if I do," - she replied sarcastically - "it won't help you get your ass on the broom."
Snape's face turned red from the effort to stay on the bucking broomstick. He had truly not been looking forward to the flying lessons. He despised the feeling of not having control over his environment, and mounting a magical flying device felt precisely like that kind of situation. He didn't want to admit it, but perhaps there was some truth in what that disgusting Plantier girl had said. The broom kept throwing him off, and the laughter around him grew louder.
Suddenly, the broom tossed him again, and he painfully crashed face-first onto the ground. Snape lifted his head and saw Catherine right in front of him, laughing, her green eyes filled with thinly veiled superiority. That was the last straw. Snape reached for his wand, concealed beneath his robes.
"Flipendo!" – he shouted, knocking the witch from her broomstick, and sending her tumbling a few metres before she fell heavily onto the grass.
"Catherine!" – cried James, who was the closest, as he rushed to help his classmate, who barely managed to stand up.
A surge of magic emanated from the girl toward the Slytherin boy, causing screams to erupt throughout the Quidditch Pitch.
That evening, Catherine sat at dinner with a grim expression. In his attempts to cheer her up, Sirius managed to dye Peter Pettigrew's eyebrows a vivid shade of purple.
"Come on, it's not that bad!" – said James – "I mean, you lost 25 points, but Snape lost some too, so in the end, it's not that big of a deal."
"Is it true that you set Severus Snape's broom on fire?"- a voice from above their heads asked. Catherine looked up and saw Greg, looking down at her with clear disapproval.
"And his robes too!" – added Sirius, grinning – "It was a magnificent scene. She is quite something, our Catherine!"
"Do you think this is a proper way to behave?" – Greg said, completely disregarding Sirius.
"I was already punished." – answered the young witch grumpily.
"Jeez, descend from your high hippogriff, Greg McMahon!" – intervened James – "This has nothing to do with you. Or are you now some kind of a mediator and defending Snape? He hexed her pretty hard, you know? She had to go to Madam Pomfrey to fix her wrist."
Greg's ocean blue eyes widened with horror. He rushed towards his sister and grabbed her hand.
"Why didn't you tell me? Are you alright, Flame?"
"Not if you continue squeezing me." – said the witch – "What's gotten into you, McMahon?"
Greg finally regained his composure, released Catherine's hand, and cleared his throat, looking at the boys who were staring at him.
"I got a little carried away. It's really disturbing to think a fellow classmate could be hurt, especially one of our first-years. My apologies. Please continue your dinner." – he said and left in a hurry.
"What's wrong with him?" – asked James confused.
"Maybe he's fallen for you?"- Sirius suggested, glancing at Catherine, whose face was now turned as red as a beetroot.
"Nonsense!" – she mumbled.
"Why did he call you Flame?" – inquired Remus who had remained quiet during the whole exchange.
"Who knows," – the witch replied hastily – "he probably blurted out some jabber due to nervousness."
"I like it, though," – James laughed – "it suits you!"
"We should totally call you Flame from now on!" – Sirius chimed in.
"Please don't!" – moaned Catherine – "Remus, a little help?"
"I like it too." – Remus smiled.
"It's decided then, Flame!" – Sirius happily declared.
"Suits her fine indeed." – they heard from behind their backs where Snape stood accompanied by Tarquin Avery, Ethan Wilkies, and Cassius Mulciber, all of them smirking and sneering.
"What's with the traffic around the table this evening?" – Catherine said, desperately craving the silence of her dormitory.
"No worries, Flame, we're going to show them out." – said Sirius, looking at the Slytherins with disgust.
"We're not going to stay for long anyway." - Snape remarked sarcastically, glancing at his classmates - "The smell of Mudblood is way too strong here. I can teach you how to brew perfume potions if you ask nicely, Lame."
Slytherins burst into laughter, elbowing each other. James, Sirius, and Remus stood up and tried to shield Catherine. However, she pushed them aside and took a few steps towards Snape. The witch fearlessly locked eyes with him and grinned widely.
"This is a very kind offer, but I believe no matter how much perfume potion I use, my smell would never evade that enormous nose of yours. Ain't that right, Snivellus?"