"There, look!"
"A member of the Ars Goetia! I can't believe it!"
"Next to that Weasley?!"
"Did you see his bodyguard! He's huge!"
Whispers followed Seren, his friends, and his bodyguards over the rest of the week as they all met up with one another and went to classes together. They followed Vortex as he led the way to the Great Hall for breakfast, ignoring all the distractions around them so they wouldn't get lost. For a few days, Ron had avoiding even looking at his brothers and hadn't even sent a letter home. Eventually, he did talk to his brothers and he was relieved that his brothers didn't reject him for not being a Gryffindor. They were disappointed and weren't sure how to react to their youngest brother being a Hufflepuff of all things, especially since the twins remembered all the comments they made about Puffs being full of duffers. Ron still hadn't managed to find the courage to send a letter home just yet, but knew he had to write one before the weekend ended. The four friends had managed to have all their classes together, thankfully. Their Astronomy class had all houses together and Seren was praised as a prodigy by the professor, much to his pleasure. Of course he was good with the constellations and stars, it was his father's duty for the Ars Goetia and Stolas had loved sharing his knowledge with his children. Herbology with Professor Sprout went quite well and she praised Seren for his skills in her class, making Seren thankful for his father teaching him so much about different magical plants from both the living world and the many rings of Hell. He hadn't really been looking forward to the History of Magic class, but he hadn't realized a ghost, Professor Binns, would make the course even more boring than he'd thought possible and absolutely ridiculous.
Seren turned towards Vortex in disbelief, "Emeric the Evil and Uris the Oddball?"
Vortex just shook his head with a sigh, "Just don't think about it, it isn't worth it. I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind you ignoring this class."
The Charms class was a bit more interesting, not by much since it was just the basics so far, and Professor Flitwick was a very kind wizard. Transfiguration was also looking to be an interesting subject further in the future, but Professor McGonagall was a rather stiff and strict woman. She seemed wary and distrustful of both Seren and Vortex, avoiding them whenever she could as she supervised the students attempts to change a match into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Seren had managed to succeed. Hermione had been the only other student to make any changes to their match, making it completely silver in color and pointed. Seren was a bit angered at the fact that McGonagall had ignored his success yet gave Hermione a rare, soft smile at her attempt. Hermione, while initially pleased by the unspoken praise, frowned in displeasure at the fact that their professor had completely ignored Seren and his success. Her opinion of the woman took a bit of a downward turn due to this and she made a point to loudly ask Seren if he had any tips for her as they left the classroom. The class most of the students had been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but the class was a major disappointment. Their professor, a timid man named Quirrell, wore a strange-smelling turban and stuttered constantly as he introduced himself. His classroom smelt strongly of garlic, apparently to ward off a vampire he's met in Romania he feared would come back to get him one day. He told the class that he received his turban from an African prince as a thank you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but no one believed him. When one student asked him how he fought off a zombie, the man went pink and changed the subject.
"What do we have today?" Seren asked his friends as they sat down at the Hufflepuff table.
They changed where they sat every so often since the friends were sorted into different houses.
"Double Potions with Hufflepuff." Hermione replied.
"Snape's Head of Slytherin house. They say he hates every house except his own, we'll be able to see if it's true." Ron said as he piled food onto his plate.
Neville frowned, "None of the other professors seem to be so biased. That doesn't seem fair."
Before anyone could reply, hundreds of owls suddenly streamed into the Great Hall with letters and packages. They circled the tables until spotting their owners before dropping whatever they were carrying into their owners laps. They quickly finished their breakfast and went down to the dungeons for Potions class. Neville looked unsettled at the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls of the classroom alongside the colder temperature surrounding them. Snape took roll and quickly began the lesson.
"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, ensuring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fair, brew glory, even stopper death… if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Snape told the class, his voice barely raising above a whisper.
The class remained silent as he spoke with a majority of the Ravenclaws at the edge of their seats, eager to prove they weren't dunderheads.
"Now, let's test how far you've read your assigned textbooks. What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Several hands rose in the air, including Seren's. Seren noticed none of the Hufflepuffs had raised their hands, but everyone had out some parchment out to take notes.
"Your highness, you may answer the question."
"Asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion called the Draught of Living Death."
"Correct." Snape said with a small smile before becoming serious once more, " Next question, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
This time, he asked Hermione to answer the question.
"A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons, sir."
"Correct." Snape told her before turning his attention back to the rest of the class, "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
This time, Neville raised his hands alongside the Ravenclaws. Snape appeared surprised by his raised hand and called on Neville to answer the question.
"They're the same plant and also go by the name aconite." Neville told him softly, doing his best to push past his nervousness.
"Correct." Snape said, giving him a small nod of reluctant approval.
Snape continued quizzing the students for a bit more before beginning their potions lesson. He put them into pairs, one Ravenclaw and one Hufflepuff, and had them make a rather simple potion to cure boils. He stalked through the rows of students, his long black cloak swirling behind him as he watched them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs. He criticized any small mistake a student made, but seemed pleased with how many students were actually doing well. Seren and Neville were paired together, a fact that Seren was glad for. Especially when he managed to stop Neville from adding one of their ingredients too early just in time, barely avoiding a disaster our explosion. Class finished on a good note and they left the class in high spirits.
"I don't know what Fred and George were talking about, they were warning me about Snape since I started talking to them again. They're probably just sour since Snape's always taking points off whenever they have class with him." Ron told them.
AN: Sorry for the delay in posting. My sister just had a baby and I've been busy with my new baby nephew! He's adorable! Of course, I'm not biased at all.
