Thick Smoke

At dinner, it was already a known fact that Malfoy got scratched by Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Eliza clearly heard him say the hippogriff was a beast and a danger for any student or anyone for that matter.

“He’s lying through his teeth. I’m sure no creature would harm someone innocent.” Eliza mumbled, hearing the blond whine to his friends and exaggerating his injury.

Dean glared at the blond over Eliza’s shoulder before he turned to her. “His father is definitely furious and won’t let things as they are now. He will probably get Hagrid fired.” The boy retorted, before pushing a paper in front of her. “You did it wrong.” He continued, making Eliza groan and lean her head on her hands.

“Why is this so hard? How should I know about muggles and their lives? Why am I taking that class anyway? ” She whined, getting a chuckle out of Dean.

“Your parents are purebloods, aren’t they?” He asked, curious yet shy since he didn’t want to pry much in her life.

Her shoulders fell in disappointment and nodded. “That has nothing to do with the way I have been raised. Before I came here I was actually homeschooled in magic and went to a normal school. I know how Muggles do things.” She grumbled feeling already tired.

Dean chuckled. Having homework from every teacher was harder than having homework from Remus.

“You know, Slytherins are usually pure blood wizards and look down on any muggle born or half blood. You should keep away from them if you can. They’re bad news, especially Malfoy and his lot.” The Gryffindor boy advised.

Eliza took a peek at the Slytherin table and saw one piggy faced girl simpering at Malfoy while two other Slytherins were stuffing their faces still.

“Rich kids are the same everywhere,” She muttered loud enough for Dean to catch on.

He laughed but didn’t say anything until he remembered their time table, “Tomorrow morning we have Potions. You should be careful around Professor Snape. He’s the Head of Slytherin House and he favors his students before anyone else. It’s good to be careful around him.”

“So he bullies everyone except Slytherins?” She repeated, her eyes wandering towards the professors table.

Dean leaned in a bit and whispered, “The one in all black and menacing- well, everything is menacing about him. Just beware Snape.”

Eliza nodded and took one last glance at Snape before giving a dramatic yawn.



Next day, Eliza found out on her own skin what wrath of Professor Snape was like.

As soon as she entered with Neville, the dark eyes of the Potions professor fell on her and she swore he sneered. They had to make a Shrinking Solution and while she was right next to Neville and tried to help him cut his ingredients, Snape saw her and glared at her.

“Each with their own cauldron Molley. I believe your former professor taught you as much,” He spoke curtly from the very first meeting.

What was indeed annoying for Snape was the way she seemed to absorb everything he was saying with great interest, making it hard for him to snap at her. She was neat and calculated and even Hermione was struck of the way she seemed to be so composed with all the glaring from both Slytherins and Snape.

“He may take points from you because you’re good,” Seamus whispered but quickly backed away when the greasy haired teacher turned to him.

“Is there something you want to share with the class, Finnigan?”

Seamus shook his head quickly and added another ingredient, the mushy stuff in his cauldron becoming even worse.

Without any help coming from either side, Neville’s potion had a very ugly orange color and from the smell, Eliza was sure it could kill someone. That was probably Snape’s opinion too because he strutted over with that menacing look and watched Neville try his hardest before snapping at him.

“Longbottom, 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 was barely standing on his feet while his face was one of utter terror. When Snape turned his back, Hermione quickly began muttering what was needed to save the potion, careful not to be seen. The green eyed witch watched bemused as what seemed like a know-it-all student (and she probably was) was helping her less fortunate classmate. Her eyes moved even further, on Harry’s table where it looked like Harry and Ron were having a hard time with Malfoy there.

By the end of the lesson, Neville survived the bullying and Malfoy walked out without a scar on his face, though Eliza was sure Ron might launch at him eventually.

The next class was Defense against the Dark Arts with professor Remus Lupin. She was way too excited and Dean was amused by how happy she was during lunch.

“I’m good at this.” She covered her act when he asked her the reason.

“You know, usually we’re only theoretically learning how to defend ourselves against dark powers.” He mumbled sarcastically as they entered the room.

Eliza decided to keep to herself that Lupin’s classes were usually very active and fun at home.

Once Lupin entered the classroom, he smiled at everyone, his eyes searching for his former pupil. She was there, between two guys and Remus couldn’t help but chuckle. She seemed content. However, they weren’t going to stay inside and write; professor Lupin ushered everyone outside before taking the lead to a staff room where he invested his entire attention on an old wardrobe.

The lesson was about a Boggart, a creature that like small dark places and was currently living in that wardrobe. It was a creature that transformed into the thing a person feared the most but couldn't concentrate on many at once. That was why everyone got lined up and with Neville being the first, they begun a very active lesson.

Everyone's biggest fears were shown in front of the class and no matter how excited were the Gryffindors, Eliza preferred to listen to Seamus and Lavender beam with delight than have a go.

When Harry's turn came up, Lupin quickly jumped in front of him and the Boggart shifted into a shining crystal ball that was actually looking a lot like a full moon. No one seemed to have noticed but after the lesson finished, Eliza heard Lavender.

"I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls."

"Maybe he's had a bad Divination class," Seamus mumbled in Eliza's ear making her chuckle.



Surprisingly, Hermione became nicer as time passed and even helped Eliza with Charms and Muggle Studies, which she was still confused about. However, it was weird, just like Ron said a few times already, how Hermione had a lot to study and she was appearing at the beginning of every lesson and fade away at the end.

“How do you do that?” Eliza cornered Hermione one day, curious what the bushy haired girl was up to. 

Hermione shifted around and even laughed it off but Eliza wasn’t stupid.

“What do you mean?” 

She was playing stupid and it only made Eliza chuckle. 

“Seriously, what do you mean?” Hermione repeated, sighing when her new classmate just shrugged.

Eliza stared at her newest friend for a few more minutes, while she opened a book about muggle history, before she decided to drop that subject since Hermione didn’t seem keen on sharing her secret method.

“Forget it. It’s probably nothing anyway.” She covered quickly.

They were supposed to study in the library since Eliza needed a tutor for different subjects that she never really cared about like history of the wizarding world. It wasn’t about years as it was about names; it was really hard for her to remember the names. 



It was later that night, in the Common Room, when Eliza sat on the couch, bringing her knees close to her chest while staring at the fireplace. She didn’t even feel when someone else sat next to her, a bit indignant for some reason.

“What happened?” Eliza asked, her head still facing the fireplace.

“Slyhtherins and their antics. Besides, an innocent animal will be killed because of the stupidity of a brat.” Hermione mumbled clearly mad about the recent events.

“You, Ron and Harry have been friends for a while, haven’t you?” Eliza suddenly asked, taking Hermione by surprise.

“I-I guess so. Why?”

Eliza turned her green eyes on the brunette, making her feel a bit uncomfortable since it seemed like the transferred girl was scanning her face. 

Truthfully, Eliza was just curious of the trio and especially, of Harry. She heard many stories from Remus but the outcome of the younger generation didn’t seem to take the same route.

“Do you think Sirius Black wants to kill Harry?” Eliza’s questions were more and more interesting.

Hermione seemed to think about the answer for a while before she answered, 

“I think Sirius Black is a dangerous person.”

That wasn’t a bad answer but it wasn’t one that Eliza enjoyed either. It seemed everyone had certain resumption for worst case scenarios which mostly contained Harry Potter and death together in the same sentence.



Later that night, precisely an hour after midnight, Eliza woke up from another dream that seemed to prolong her flashback in the forest. She tiptoed out of the room and walked into the Common Room, taking a seat on the couch across the fireplace.

Her thoughts were going back to her family. Her mother was a nice woman from what she could remember and her father, well she could hardly remember his clean face.

Willy was squirming in his cage because she had no one to receive letters from or send to and he was pretty violent, just like Hagrid and Remus told her. She tiptoed in her room and grabbed him, taking him downstairs. She stared at him for a few minutes, the owl staring right back at his owner.

“If I write a letter, will you be able to send it to him?” She asked, genuinely curious what the owl will respond. 

Surprisingly, Willy nodded.

Therefore, Eliza went right away to work. She wasn’t sure what to write so she started by being a bit vague, just in case someone else would get their hands on the letter.

Dear dad,

I know you probably don’t remember me or maybe you haven't even met me. My name is Eliza, in case you don’t know and I am Ophelia’s daughter. I’m not sure what to tell you or how to convey my thoughts to you but I want you to know that no matter what you have done or you will do, I’m not going to judge you. 

Maybe you want revenge for all these years of imprisonment but I’m sure you don’t want to harm anyone, especially Harry Potter. I want to believe that you have good in you since my mother chose you as her lover and the Potters chose you as Harry’s godfather.

Please, don’t prove me wrong.

E.B

Looking over it once again, it sounded quite rude but at the same time, it was exactly what she was worried about. She wrapped it up and let Willy free before she opened the window and gave Willy the letter. Surprisingly, the owl snatched it from her and flew out into the night.