September 1993, 3rd year

The mood had improved only slightly over night, the aftermath of the Dementors still looming over them, but as Professor Snape handed out their timetables it got noticeably better.

"New subjects first thing in the morning," Lynea said. "That's great."

"Arithmancy," Draco said and looked at Harry. "What about you?"

"Free period," Harry said, scanning his own timetable. His eyes lit up. "We have Care of Magical Creatures after lunch, brilliant."

Draco sighed dramatically.

"With the Gryffindors," Lynea said displeased. "He put us with the Gryffindors."

Draco's eyes widened and he looked over his timetable again. "Oh, no. He did! What was he thinking – oh, shush, Harry – it's bad enough that we have to share Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes with them."

"Technically, those are shared with all houses and I don't think we will have to put up with more than one or two Gryffindors, they're not that smart." Lynea turned to Harry. "Who do you have Divination with?"

"Ravenclaw," Gregory answered and Harry nodded.

"There are Ravenclaws that chose Divination?" Draco asked in astonishment.

"Probably not many," Pansy said. "I believe Hufflepuff and Gryffindor have their own class each. Professor Trelawney likes to keep her classes small, adds to the mysterious effects."

"And how do you know that?" Draco asked.

Pansy grinned and then shrugged. "Some upper year told me. Now, come on, we should get going."

The Arithmancy group bid goodbye to the others and made their way through the castle to a part they had never had classes in before. They met Hermione, waiting in front of the classroom with several other Ravenclaws and were soon joined by two Hufflepuffs and one sole Gryffindor, whose name Lynea neither knew nor cared about.

Their first lesson was mostly an introduction to the course, explaining the finer details of numerology and where predicting the future with numbers differed from the art of divination. It was a great lesson nonetheless.

They reunited with their housemates for Herbology and told them about Arithmancy, the only new subject the Slytherins had had so far. Blaise and Daphne waved them off to Care of Magical Creatures after lunch and Lynea thought it was nice to spend half of their first day of school outside on the grounds, especially since they had such fine weather today. Her mood soured considerably when the Gryffindors joined them next to Hagrid's hut. Honestly, had that man not thought this through at all?

Weasley and his posse narrowed their eyes at the Slytherins, but the girls, at least, didn't seem to mind them so much. Neville gave them a weak smile and a small wave, but wasn't brave enough to come over.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" Hagrid called.

Lynea sighed. She had been looking forward to this class, but there was no helping it now.

The rather big man led them around the edge of the Forbidden Forest to a seemingly empty paddock. Lynea wondered whether there were some invisible creatures they would be learning about, but that didn't seem very exciting.

"– make sure everyone can see," Hagrid was saying. "Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books –"

"How?" Draco asked loudly.

"Eh?" Hagrid asked.

"How do we open our books?" Draco asked and took out his book, which he had bound with a rope.

Lynea didn't bother taking out her book, because she hadn't brought it with her, but she watched the other students do so. They had all found different ways to keep the beastly things shut and prevent nasty bites.

"Hasn' – hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid said, looking crestfallen.

There was a general shaking of heads.

"Yeh've got to stroke 'em," Hagrid said. "Look …"

He grabbed Harry's book, took off the belt and then ran a finger down its spine. The book shivered and then fell open, suddenly appearing to be a perfectly normal book.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

Harry's mouth twitched downwards.

"I … I thought they were funny," Hagrid said and for a grown man, he looked remarkably close to breaking out in tears.

"Oh, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try to rip our hands off!"

"Draco," Harry said in a warning tone that made Draco shut his mouth and huff indignantly.

Hagrid mumbled some incoherent words and went off to get 'the Magical Creatures', while Harry and Draco got into a nonverbal fight, glaring daggers at each other. Lynea wondered whether she should play peace-maker, but she didn't really feel like it, so she left them to it.

"Oooooh!" one of the Gryffindor girls squealed, pointing at something on the other side of the paddock, making Harry and Draco break eye contact.

A dozen or so Hippogriffs, creatures that were half horse and half eagle, were trotting towards them. Lynea had read about them, but never actually seen one in real life. They were majestic creatures, with mighty talons and sharp beaks. She wondered how easy it would be for them to kill a grown man.

Hagrid waved them closer and started explaining how proud Hippogriffs were and how one should approach them with a bow.

"Right," he said, "who wants ter go first?"

Lynea took a step back. And she was not the only one.

"No one?" Hagrid asked.

"I'll do it," Harry said.

They all watched with bated breath as Harry made his way across the grass towards the grey Hippogriff Hagrid had freed from its chains and then bowed. For a moment the Hippogriff just looked at Harry, then it bent its front knees and returned the gesture.

"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid said. "Right – yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

"Do Hippogriffs even have tactile sense in their beaks?" Lynea asked quietly.

"Maybe," Theodore replied. "I know that some birds do."

There was a small round of applause for Harry successfully petting the Hippogriff and then Hagrid had the brilliant idea to let Harry fly on the creature.

"He's going to get himself killed," Draco said with narrowed eyes and took a step towards the paddock. "There's nothing to hold on to and if he hurts the beast's pride by pulling out a feather or hurting it otherwise, it's over."

"Luckily for us, we have healing magic," Lynea said. "And as little as my faith in Hagrid is, I do believe he wouldn't want Harry to get hurt, either."

"Are you telling me to trust that great oaf?" Draco hissed.

Lynea shrugged. "Too late now, anyway."

Hagrid had slapped the Hippogriff – Lynea wondered why the creature didn't perceive that as disrespectful – and it had leapt into the air, Harry desperately clinging to its neck. They flew around the paddock once and then landed, Harry nearly slipping off.

Lynea sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Draco said.

The other students all cheered and Hagrid beckoned them to enter the paddock. Draco eyed the Hippogriffs warily and didn't move until Pansy slapped him on the shoulder and called him a 'chicken'.

The Hippogriffs were somewhat intimidating, but overall quite fascinating once you managed to properly greet one. They spent the rest of the lesson at the paddock, petting the Hippogriffs and listening to Hagrid explaining their habits and quirks. Lynea found she didn't mind him so much as a professor, after all. If she ignored the thing with the book.

Harry, certainly, was thrilled. He nearly made them late for their next class, because he wanted to congratulate Hagrid after that first lesson. Draco made sure to complain extra loudly about that.

All their classes went rather well. Until potions came around and Lynea realized she had neglected to prepare Neville adequately. He had managed quite well in their last year, not needing as much help as he had before, so it had simply slipped her mind. Unfortunately, even thorough understanding of their subject didn't help against Neville's forgetfulness and sheer clumsiness, heightened by his fear of their potions professor.

Lynea winced as Professor Snape berated Neville for his orange Shrinking Solution, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green by now. Professor Snape did tell him where he had erred. But Neville didn't even notice, trembling in fear and embarrassment.

"Looks like Longbottom's going to cry," Draco whispered gleefully.

Lynea shushed him.

"Longbottom," Snape said maliciously, "at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Neville froze, his eyes wide.

"We have to help him," Harry whispered.

"Why?" Draco asked, grinning deviously. "I think it will be quite fun to watch."

"Draco!", Harry hissed and Draco raised his hands placatingly. "It's not Neville's fault. What if Trevor dies? We need to do something!"

Theodore glanced between them and then at Lynea, who sighed.

"Professor Snape would not take kindly to us interfering," she said.

"I know that," Harry replied. "But this is just not fair."

Lynea raised an eyebrow. "Do you know how to save his potion?"

Harry paused and then shook his head. "Do you?"

"I don't need to."

She had already finished adding all the ingredients and left the potion to simmer, so she gathered up her all her tools and went to clean them at the washbasin, deliberately passing Neville on her way. She briefly put a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. Neville relaxed and gave her a weak smile and a nod in response. He knew what to do. One of the first things Lynea had taught him was how to save ruined potions. As long as Neville had listened to Professor Snape and knew where his mistakes lay, he should be fine.

By the time she returned to the table she shared with Draco, Harry and Theodore, Professor Snape was calling an end to the lesson and told the other students to clear away their tools.

"What did you do?" Harry asked as he passed her. "Did you help?"

Lynea smiled. "I only gave him back his courage."

She stoppered a sample of her potion and waited for the rest of the class to finish, watching Neville mutter under his breath as he stirred, checked his potion and then added another stir counter-clockwise. His potion slowly turned green. It also did not poison his toad and instead turned Trevor into a tadpole.

Harry furrowed his brows. "Why is it called a 'Shrinking Solution' when it doesn't shrink things?"

"Confusing naming conventions," Theodore said.

"I will explain that potion in our next study session," Lynea said. "There's more to it than turning frogs into tadpoles. Its effects are actually rather complicated."

"Miss Fawley," Professor Snape drawled.

"Uh-oh," Draco said gleefully, "someone's in trouble."

Lynea shot him an annoyed look, before approaching Professor Snape's desk. "Sir?"

Her Head of House looked at her with piercing eyes for a moment, then he sighed. "Did or did you not help Longbottom with his potion?"

"I didn't," Lynea answered truthfully. "I have, however, been tutoring him in potions since first year, because his mishaps were rather painful to watch."

"And it appears you did more than merely teach him how to brew potions."

Lynea nodded. "Mistakes happen. I thought it would be more useful for Neville to learn how to correct mistakes and prevent a potion from turning dangerous."

Professor Snape stayed silent for a while. Then, "Very well. Take five points to Slytherin. For thinking ahead." He paused. "And another five points for doing extracurricular research."

"Thank you, Professor," Lynea said in surprise and Snape waved her away.

Draco and Harry were waiting for her outside the classroom and so was Neville.

"What did he want?" Draco asked immediately.

"He gave me ten points for tutoring Neville," Lynea said, still baffled.

Draco nodded. "Of course he did."

Harry raised his eyebrows at him. "Didn't you just laugh at her for getting into trouble?"

"Nonsense," Draco said dismissively.

Lynea chuckled, but didn't comment.

Neville ducked his head and mumbled a "Thank you".

"You did this yourself, Neville," Harry said. "Be proud of your achievements."

"But I couldn't have done it without you guys!" Neville exclaimed. "Even Snape acknowledged your help."

Lynea shook her head. "Professor Snape would have given those points to you instead, where he less biased. Are you free on Saturday, by the way? I want to go over today's lesson with our study group –" She caught Draco's look and corrected herself. "– or study groups, rather."

Neville nodded and then took his leave.

Harry sighed. "So much excitement for one simple lesson."

"Oh?" Draco asked with an arched eyebrow. "Has your hatred for potions subsided, then?"

"It was never about potions," Harry said. "It was about Snape absolutely loathing me. Which he doesn't, anymore … I think? He pretty much ignored me today."

Lynea frowned. "Wasn't that problem already resolved? I thought your relationship changed after we forced you to talk to him about the Dursleys."

Harry shrugged helplessly. "It did. But he still didn't like me. But today … I don't know, he didn't even acknowledge me, as if I wasn't there in the first place. And I didn't feel an animosity from his side." He shrugged again. "I don't know how to describe it."

"If you say so," Lynea said. "But I suppose that is between you and Professor Snape."

"I guess."

"Come on," Draco said. "Let's go to lunch already, I'm starving."

They had Charms that afternoon and then Lynea went to Study of Ancient Runes with Draco and some of the others, while Harry, Tracey, Vincent and Gregory headed to their first Divination lesson. Only Pansy was left behind in the common room for a free period.

Study of Ancient Runes was absolutely fascinating. Lynea had already learned a lot about runes from her grand-aunt, but those were rather special runes and very peculiar in their applications. As with Arithmancy, this one was more of an introduction, but it was still highly interesting.

Divination seemed to have been interesting in its own way, too, it seemed. Harry looked rather bewildered, when he joined them for dinner, Vincent and Gregory in tow. Tracey looked positively delighted.

"Seems like I am going to die," Harry said out of nowhere. "She saw the Grim in my tea leaves, which is apparently an omen of death."

Lynea brightened. "The Grim? Really? That's interesting. I wonder what it'll mean – Oh, don't look at me like that, Harry, you're not going to die. Death likes you."

Harry blinked. "Sorry, what?"

Lynea made a dismissive gesture. "Never mind that. Did Professor Trelawney give you the impression that she was a true Seer?"

"I don't even know what a true Seer is," Harry said.

"Someone with the Sight," Theodore said, as if that would explain things.

From the look of confusion on Harry's face, it did not.

"Trelawney is a fraud," Pansy interjected. "I heard she predicts the death of a student every year, likes scaring her new classes like that. None of them have died so far."

"Although she has the art of fooling students mastered down to the last detail," Tracey said. "It is truly impressive."

"See?" Lynea said, nodding. "You won't die, yet."

"Yet," Harry replied dryly.

Lynea smiled and shrugged. "Everyone has to die eventually."

"Lynea," Draco said in an annoyed tone, "some of us are trying to enjoy their dinner."

"Alright," she said placatingly, "alright. We have had quite an exciting first week so far, didn't we? I wonder what tomorrow has in store for us."

"Defence," Harry said, an exciting gleam entering his eyes. "We have our first Defence lesson with Professor Lupin tomorrow. I think it's going to be great."

"Do you?" Draco asked sceptically and looked over to the teacher's table, where Professor Lupin sat. "His appearance leaves much to be desired."

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Lynea said.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. "And you said he chased away the Dementor, didn't you? Can't imagine someone like Lockhart pulling that off."

Draco sighed. "Let's hope you are right, Harry."

"I am right," Harry insisted. "I can feel it."

Draco did not look like he believed him, but Lynea was inclined to agree with Harry. And it wasn't like it could get much worse with Quirrel and Lockhart as Professor Lupin's predecessors …