What I'm Looking For...

“There, look.”

“Where?”

“Next to the tall kid with the red hair, and the blonde”

“Wearing the glasses?”

“Did you see his face?”

“Did you see his scare?”

Whispers followed us the second we left the common-room the next day. People queued outside classroom, standing on their tip toes to get a look at Harry, and took a double take of him in the corridors. We had a lot of trouble finding our classes; and I was the only one with common sense to ask directions. I stopped and asked the twins and were happy to show us where our classes were.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts; wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on Friday; some with a vanishing step that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn’t open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren’t really doors at all, just walls pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it always seemed to be changing. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, so they weren’t a good landmark to go by, and Harry told me that he swore the coats of armour could walk.

The ghosts didn’t help anymore than the stairs did. We always got a shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door we were about to go through. Nearly headless Nick was always happy to show us new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop waste-paper baskets on our heads, pull rugs out from under our feet, pelt us with bits of chalk or sneak up behind us, invisible and grab our nose and screech, “GOT YOUR CONK!”

Even worse than Peeves, if it was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry, Ron and I managed to get on the wrong side of him on our first day. Filch had found Ron and Harry trying to force their way through a door; which, unluckily, turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. I was just with them at the time. Filch wouldn’t believe we were lost, and was sure we were trying to break into the room on purpose and threatened to lock us in the dungeons, but we were rescued by Professor McGonagall, who was passing.

Filch owned a cat called Mrs Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch’s. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, step just one toe out of line, and she’d whisk off for Filch, who’d appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone, apart from the Weasley Twins, of course, and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. All the students hated him and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs Norris a good kick.
Once you actually managed to find the classrooms, there were the lessons themselves.

There was a lot more to magic, as me and Harry soon discovered, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. We had to study the night skies through our telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week we went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where we learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for.

There were plenty of other teachers too, but I would go into that right now. There were lots of people who had come from Muggle families and, like Harry and I, hadn’t had any idea they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn, that even people like Ron didn’t have much of a head start.

Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron, as it was their first day that they managed to get down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost. Not so much for me as I had already found my way down a couple of days earlier. They sat down next to me and Harry grabbed some porridge.

“What have we got today?” Harry asked me as he poured sugar on his breakfast.
“Double Potions with the Slytherins” I said sourly.

“Snape’s head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them – we’ll be able to see if it’s true” Said Ron.

“Wish Professor McGonagall favoured us” Said Harry. Professor McGonagall was Head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn’t stopped her giving us a huge pile of homework the day before. Just then, the post arrived. We were all use to it by now, but it had sort of scared me the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

I had gotten a letter from my parents on the second day, asking me if I’d arrived safely, what house I was in, and how I was liking Hogwarts so far. For the first time, Hedwig fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl, and dropped a note on to Harry’s plate; which he tore open at once.

I read the very untidy scrawl, over his shoulder:

‘Dear Harry, I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig. Hagrid’

Harry borrowed my quill and scribbles ‘Yes, please, see you then’ on the back of the note and sent Hedwig off again. We then headed off to Potions class. It was the worst thing that’s happened to us, yet.

At the start of the term banquet, I had gotten the idea that Snape didn’t like us Gryffindors, but I was wrong; he absolutely hated us. Well Harry, Ron and I anyway. Potions class took place in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Snape started the class by calling the register, and paused at Harry’s name.

“Ah, yes” He said softly, “Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity.”

Draco Malfoy and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid’s, but had none of Hagrid’s warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making” He began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but we caught each word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.

“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 – if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually teach”

More silence followed this little speech. I exchanged looks with the boys, with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn’t a dunderhead.

“Potter!” said Snape suddenly. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Harry looked at me and Ron, who must have looked as stumped as Harry did; Hermione’s hand had shot into the air.

“I don’t know, sir” Said Harry. Snape’s lips curled into a sneer.

“Tut, tut – fame clearly isn’t everything. Let’s try this again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry still had a dumbfound look on his face. I shot Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter, a piercing glare.

“I don’t know, sir” Harry said again.

“Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming, eh, Potter?” Snape continued to ignore Hermione’s quivering hand.

“What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching towards the dungeon ceiling.

“I don’t know” Said Harry quietly.

“I think Hermione does, why don’t you try her?” A few people laughed, and I caught Seamus’ eye, and he winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.

“Sit down” He snapped at Hermione. “For your information, Samuels and Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren’t you all copying that down?”

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said “And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Samuels.”

Things didn’t improve for us Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put us in pairs, I was with Hermione, and we had to mix up a simple potion to cure boils He swept around in his long black cloak, watching us weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, who he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus’ cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people’s shoes.

Within seconds, we were all standing on our stools, while Neville, who has been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

“Idiot boy!” snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. “I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?”

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

“Take him to the hospital wing” Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

“You – Potter – why didn’t you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he’d make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That’s a point you’ve lost for Gryffindor. If you and Samuels keep it up, there won’t be any more points left to lose”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but something stopped him. Why didn’t he say something? I opened my own mouth and started to stand up; outraged that Snape would make such an assumption. Ron gave me a glare that basically meant ‘Don’t push your luck.’ I shut my mouth and sat back down.

“Cheer up” Said Ron as we climbed the steps out of the dungeon. “Snape’s always taking points of Fred and George. Can I come see Hagrid with you?”

Harry nodded and looked at me “Do you want to come, too?”

“I’m okay, thanks; I think I’ll just go to the common-room.” I said. They left to go to Hagrid’s and I walked up the stairs, hoping I didn’t get lost. I found my why back to the common-room and sat in one of the many armchairs. No one was around; I guess they were all out with their friends from other houses.

I don’t know how long the boys would be so I decided to read one of my books I’d brought from home. I crossed my legs onto the chair and started reading. It was a really good book, and it didn’t take me long to get sucked into the pages.

“What you reading, bookworm?”

I looked up in shock to find Fred and George on either side of me, sitting on the arm rests. I hadn’t even heard them come in. I sighed and closed my book; half to show them the cover and title, but mainly knowing I wouldn’t be able to read anymore while they were around.

“Oh, very interesting, but why don’t you come with us, and we’ll give you a personal tour of the castle.” Said one of them.

“Okay, I’ll just go put this away” I said, before standing up and walking to my dormitories. I chucked the book onto my bed, and jogged back to the twins.

“So how was your day?” I asked them as we left the common-room.

“Eh, the usual.” Said Fred.

“Blew up a bathroom this morning” Said George.

“Thanks, Mum!” the chimed, “Yourself”

“Oh, you know, Potions with Snape, lost a house point or two...” I said sourly.

“You should try blowing up bathrooms” George said

“It’s much more entertaining” Fred said

“And if you don’t get caught –” George began

“You don’t lose house points!” Fred finished

“Oh, I’ll be sure to try it” I beamed at them.

“So, where do you want to go, Blondie?”

“What are the options?” I asked.

“Anywhere” They said in unison.

“Anywhere?” They nodded. “I’m your Queen, now. Bow down to me!” I demanded, walking ahead a bit to stand in front of them. They looked at each other before both falling onto one knee; head down.

“Your wish is our command” They said before standing back up

“Good” I said; still beaming. “Now, you have to show me the secret passageways”

I took both their arms and we headed down the corridor.