Hogwarts Stranger Secrets Year 1
Chapter 4 of my crossover story, enjoy.
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Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, things will get interesting then.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Stranger Things or their characters.
Chapter 4
The following day saw them off to a remarkable start. After the feast they had been taken by their House Prefects to their Common Rooms and shown around in the process, after sleeping for the night in their dorms they quickly got dressed in the morning and headed down to Breakfast, being shown there again by their Prefects. After breakfast and getting the owl post, Will notably getting a letter from his mom who congratulated him on his Sorting, Mike by comparison got a letter from his father who simply told him that it was good he had been Sorted right, now he needed to sort out his associations and get with the right people, a 'subtle' hint to end his friendship with Will, but Mike was not going to do that. He shook his head and discarded the letter before getting ready to join his housemastes as it was time to go to their lessons. A tricky feat mainly due to the fact that the castle was not only large, but also some rooms tended to change, even staircases seemed to lead elsewhere on some days. However there was a menace in the school, a bane to any student who crossed his path and that was Peeves, the Poltergeist, although worse still in some students eyes, was Argus Filch, the Caretaker and his cat, Mrs. Norris, while Peeves thrived on chaos, Filch and Mrs. Norris sought students breaking rules with a view to terrorising and punishing them.
Then came the lessons themselves. First Years had Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, Defence Against The Dark Arts and Astronomy, the core subjects they would be learning through at least their first five years of magical education. It was clear that just as the subjects differed so too did the professors, in both their mannerisms and their teaching methods. Astronomy for instance was taught by Professor Sinistra, at night time on Wednesdays, atop the Astronomy Tower, the only class that took place at such a time. Through her they learned about the planets and stars and their movements, with Professor Sinistra able to talk at length about her subject with great enthusiasm which was somewhat infectious. Another jovial and fun teacher was Jamie's head of House, Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology, a squat cheerful witch whose knowledge of magical plants and their properties seemed boundless. She was also ready with a kind word for anyone who needed it. Charms was taught by the diminutive Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw and another friendly teacher who did his best to encourage those who were struggling, often his idea of homework was practising the spell you were struggling with.
History of Magic was another story entirely, taught by the ghost Professor Binns, it was nothing more than Binns monotonously droning on and on from his lecture notes while the class dozed off, fooled around, or outright fell asleep. Another class that did not exactly live up to expectations was Defense Against the Dark Arts, as it was seemly focused solely on theory, at least the Professor made it clear that this was only for the first term, then they'd start practical work. But the class that made them all nervous, as it wasn't going to be held until Friday, was Potions. Mike mainly was worried about the Professor, he'd seen the man at the staff table, Professor Severus Snape, head of Slytherin House, he had heard rumours of the man, especially of him hating Gryffindor House and favouring his own house. He had been telling the other boys about his concerns, but suddenly a commotion got their attention. They hurried towards it only to freeze as they saw what looked like an older student, having backed Jane up against the wall, wand out and was clearly threatening her for some reason.
"Hey!"
Then, shocking everyone, Ilya Bonderenko showed up, wand out at his side, but glaring at the boy.
"What's your problem, threatening her like that?" He snapped.
The older boy scoffed. "This is none of your business, little firstie, run along."
With that he attempted to fire a spell at Ilya who shocking dodged and fired back with a Flipendo spell, a spell they hadn't been taught yet. The older boy was indeed hit and staggered back, before Flitwick arrived and intervened, sending the boys off and making sure Jane was alright before taking the older student to task, Ilya did lose some House Points for fighting but they could have sworn then heard Flitwick commending him on his knowledge of spells, a result from being taught at home.
It soon became clear to Mike that all the stories he'd heard about Professor Snape and his apparent hatred for Gryffindor house, were woefully lacking. He was much worse it seemed. He sat at one of the desks in the Potions classroom down in the dungeon. Having removed his robe, like everyone else, all due to safety, he fidgeted with his red and gold tie. He was seated with two of his fellow Gryffindor boys and a boy from Slytherin. Looking around, Mike felt creeped out by the room, it was colder than the rest of the castle but around the whole room were shelves that had jars and such on the with pickled animals floating inside them. To take his mind off it he tried to look around for any familiar faces, people he had spoken to, the class was made up of Gryffindors and Slytherins and from Slytherin he saw the familiar face of Jane Hopper who was seated at a desk next to Maxine Mayfield from his own house. He heard whispers and snickering and rolled his eyes are he glanced over his shoulder at the desk behind him where, with another Slytherin girl, Troy, James and Angela sat. That was when the door to the classroom opened and Professor Snape swept in in his billowing black robes, his cold dark eyes sweeping around the room once he reached the front and turned to face the class.
Such was the effect of Professor Snape that the whole class went quiet without him even saying anything. At least at first, but then he finally spoke. His voice was low and he drew his words out with deliberation, making sure they heard every word.
"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 stopper death…" He paused before he glared, eyes boring holes in the person he saw. "Provided you are capable of PAYING ATTENTION."
There were snickers from some of the Slytherins, mainly Troy, James and Angela, as all eyes followed Snape's and Mike bit his lip to see Maxine was the one Snape was referring to. Hearing the last two words as if they had some power, Maxine looked up and blushed, biting her lip as Snape observed her, his lip twisting in a sneer.
"Miss Mayfield...You seem quite confident in your knowledge of Potions, why else would you not pay attention to me." He drawled.
Sitting next to Maxine, Jane looked anxious, worried. Mike had a nasty feeling Snape was about to use Maxine as an example.
It turned out he did indeed intend to do that.
"So Miss Mayfield, we'll ask you first." He said. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Silence followed as Maxine stared back at Snape with a deer in headlights expression. Hoping to salvage the situation, especially as he knew the answer, Mike hesitantly raised his hand while James, Troy and Angela continued to snicker. Snape ignored him however and remained with his gaze fixed on Maxine until she finally spoke up.
"I don't know, sir."
Snape sneered again. "What a pity. Let's try again, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Again silence, this time it was actually Jane who raised her hand, drawing glares from Angela surprisingly. But again Snape ignored the raised hand.
Maxine finally spoke up. "I don't know sir."
"Last chance. What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape said sharply.
"I don't know." Maxine admitted.
"So, you didn't know anything, didn't even bother to open your book, I'll wager." Snape drawled. "That's five points you've cost Gryffindor for not paying attention and being unprepared."
Maxine went red faced and looked like she was about to say something, but Jane nudged her and she caught the subtle shake of Jane's head and let it go, much to the disappointment and anger from Angela.
Snape walked away from the front until he stood before Maxine at her desk, looming over her as he spoke.
"For your information...and all of you as well. Mixing Asphodel and Wormwood is the first step in making a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a calcified stone taken from the stomach of a goat that will save you from most poisons. Monkshood and wolfsbane meanwhile are different names for the same plant which is from a flowering plant in the acontine family...you should be copying that down." He said, addressing the whole class with the last part.
They hurried to do just that as Snape returned to the front and used his wand on the board to make instructions appear.
"Now, ready your cauldrons and get the necessary ingredients. You will begin with a simple Potion to Cure Boils. Follow the recipe exactly." He instructed.
There was a flurry as finally the class was prepared and they were ready to begin brewing. Mike just hoped there would be no more disasters for Gryffindor. Things seemed to go well as they worked hard, focused on making their potions while Snape swept around the room, watching with narrowed eyes and some subdued compliments for the Slytherin's but saying nothing to the Gryffindors except to mock some of the failures. But luckily Mike's was perfect as he finished and prepared a flask for grading. Snape watched him with narrowed eyes before a loud noise drew their attention, causing all eyes to once more turn to Maxine who was staring in shock at her cauldron which seemed to have exploded.
Snape stalked over at once and used his wand before shaking his head and glaring at Maxine.
"Bulbadox Powder, blowing up your own cauldron, how careless of you, Miss Mayfield." He remarked blandly.
Maxine spoke up. "I didn't, I..."
Snape raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to believe it just appeared on your cauldron."
"I-" She tried to complain.
Angela snickered and sent a malevolent look at Maxine. But then something unexpected happened.
"It w-w-wasn't Max, P-p-professor S-Snape."
Snape turned to Jane in shock. "Miss Hopper?"
The Slytherin girl bit her lip, Angela glaring at her again.
"I-I-I was here the whole T-t-t-t-time and saw w-what happened, I t-t-tried to warn Max b-b-but it was too l-l-late." Jane explained. "It was A-A-Angela who coated the c-c-cauldron in Bulbadox Powder w-when Max went to g-g-get supplies from the s-s-store cupboard."
"That's a lie, you-you traitor!" Angela cried out. "You're one of us, you shouldn't-"
"Enough." Snape said firmly. "Are you absolutely sure that's what happened, Miss Hopper."
As he said this he fixed Jane with a hard gaze. Jane met his gaze and nodded.
"Yes sir, I s-s-saw it." She replied.
That was enough for Snape it seemed as he nodded.
"Very well...Miss Mayfield, as you have no potion to turn in, prepare an essay on the ingredients involved in this potion and how they react to each other to be handed in for the next lesson. Miss Orkin, detention with me after dinner at seven."
"But-"
"That will be all, class dismissed."
With that everyone hurried to pack up and leave.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.