Sirius Begins Hogwarts

Making Enemies

Today would be their first day of classes at Hogwarts. As Sirius and his friends looked through their schedules over breakfast, James said, "Ugh. We have Defense Against Dark Arts and Potions with the Slytherins."

"Yeah," said Peter, "and we have our weekly flying lessons with them, too."

"At least flying lessons are on Friday, when we don't have Potions," Remus said, "so we won't have to be with the Slytherins three times in one day."

"I'd say twice in one day is pretty bad," Sirius said, "and I was really looking forward to Defense Against Dark Arts."

"Me too," James said glumly. "Let's just hope they don't manage to ruin flying for us." And with that the four of them set off for Defense Against Dark Arts, their first class of the day.

* * *

All the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins were seated, but the Defense Against Dark Arts professor had yet to arrive. A scrawny Slytherin boy said, "It's so idiotic that they only teach us 'Defense' instead of actual Dark Arts."

Along with the rest of the class, Sirius focused his attention on this sallow-skinned boy. Sirius noticed that James was looking at the boy with particular dislike. The boy had black hair like James and Sirius, but it was neither tousled like James's nor sleek like Sirius's; it was lank and greasy. James said, "Dark Arts are for the scum of the wizarding world, no decent wizard would touch them."

The greasy boy snickered and said, "Oh decent, is that what you call your Muggle-loving blood traitor family, Potter?"

James rushed at the boy only to be knocked flat on his back by an "Impedimenta!" For a moment the entire class was completely stunned. How had this Slytherin first-year who hadn't even taken a single class at Hogwarts managed to perform a full-strength Impedimenta Curse? Before anyone could say or do anything a voice asked, "Gentlemen, is there a problem?" Everyone turned. A wiry, fine-boned woman had just entered the classroom.

"No, nothing," James and the Slytherin both muttered.

"Good," said the woman. Her tone was that of detached pleasantness. "I'm Professor Dorcas Meadowes; why don't I start off with attendance, that'll help me learn your names better." As Meadowes took attendance, the greasy Slytherin boy responded to the name "Severus Snape."

Once she had finished taking attendance, Meadowes said, "Before we begin anything in this class, we must have a working definition of what the Dark Arts actually are. So I want you to all copy down in your notebooks this definition," and she tapped the blackboard with her wand. On the blackboard appeared:

Dark Arts: Magic with the intent to do harm to another.

"Today I'll be giving you an overview of what hexes, jinxes and curses are. I'm afraid much of your first year in the class will be devoted to general overview and book learning. However, all magical knowledge, including combat magic, must be built on a foundation of basics. So stick with me, especially if you want to understand the complex and fascinating magic we'll be covering later on."

Years later, when he learned of Meadowes's death at the hands of Voldemort, Sirius would remember his very first Defense Against Dark Arts class at Hogwarts and how he and his friends had been so young and innocent then, never imagining they would be forced to battle with the most terrible Dark Wizard of all time. They couldn't possibly have foreseen that this clever new teacher of theirs would one day become one of their martyred comrades in the Order of the Phoenix. Nor would she be the only one...

* * *

Lunch was over. With much trepidation, Sirius and his three friends went off to their first Potions class of the year. A tall and thin man in his sixties, Professor Carbidow still retained some of the haughty seigneurial handsomeness of his youth. As he took attendance, his hooded gray-blue eyes surveyed the class in a manner that suggested that he could care less if all of his students were absent. "Potions," he began in a dry, disdainful voice, "has always been the domain of the elite. Few are the wizards with the discipline and subtlety of mind to master this most complex form of magic. The rest might as well give up, and eventually they all do. However, the school insists that all students study Potions up through their fifth year, whether they have the necessary aptitude or not." Along with everyone else in the class, Sirius was already feeling quite nervous. He hoped to the high heavens that he had "the necessary aptitude"; wouldn't that show this gaseous old snob.

Carbidow continued, "For today's class I want each of you to brew a boil cure potion. You will follow the instructions on the board and will under no circumstances speak or work with anyone else. Do I make myself clear?" That he most definitely did.

Sirius set to work on his potion and found to his relief that everything went smoothly. To his right worked Remus and to Remus's right worked James. Sirius had just finished his potion when he heard James whisper, "Remus, don't put the porcupine quill in before you take the cauldron off the fire!" Sirius turned to his right and saw that Remus had been about to put the quill into a cauldron that was still on the fire. Luckily he stopped at the last second.

"Thanks, James," Remus whispered back.

"Professor!" Snape called out, gaining the attention of not only Carbidow but the entire class as well. "Potter was helping Lupin with his potion."

"Potter," said Carbidow, his lofty tone having just slightly more malice than before, "did you help Lupin with his potion?"

"Yes, sir," James said in the bravest voice he could muster. Sirius could see that his friend realized that there was no use in denying what he'd done; James could hardly expect to escape punishment but he could at least maintain his dignity by refusing to cringe and cower before the Head of Slytherin.

"And you did this despite my having expressly told the entire class that everyone was to remain silent and work alone?"

"Yes, sir," James answered simply.

"Well in that case I'm afraid that I'll have to give both you and Lupin zeroes for today and take five points from Gryffindor for each of you."

It was bad enough losing ten points from Gryffindor on their very first day, but Sirius couldn't stand to see Remus punished for something that wasn't even his fault. "But Remus didn't do anything!" Sirius blurted out. "I was right here, he didn't ask James anything; you can't give him a zero and take away points just because James tried to help him."

Carbidow's eyes narrowed above his hollow cheeks. "I most certainly can punish Lupin for cheating on a classroom assignment, Black," he said as fixed his reptilian glower on Sirius, "and I can also take away another five points from Gryffindor for your appalling rudeness." Sirius's fury at the injustice of this whole situation was further compounded when he saw the smirk on Snape's sallow face. So the git's a sneak too, he thought to himself.

* * *

Sirius was quite pleased that on their second day they had flying lessons and no Potions. He enjoyed all of his other classes, especially Transfiguration, despite McGonagall's strictness, and Defense Against Dark Arts, despite the presence of the Slytherins. Professor Meadowes's tranquil dark eyes hid great reserves of strength in their liquid depths, and despite her pleasant and soft-spoken manner none of the students even thought of misbehaving in her class. Sirius noticed that Snape took copious notes during Meadowes's lecture, even though it was only the second day of school.

Now for their first flying lesson. There were twenty school brooms for each of the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Everyone listened as the instructor, a woman named Madam Hooch, explained how to fly. Like James, Sirius had done some flying before, so he wasn't too nervous. Once everyone was holding their broomsticks correctly, Hooch shouted "Up!" Sirius made his broom rise several inches so that his feet were no longer touching the ground. Looking around, Sirius saw that all of the students had more or less managed to get off the ground--all of them except one. Snape's broomstick was bucking like a wild hippogriff, causing the Slytherin girl next to him to giggle. Sirius glanced at James and they shared a smile over their enemy's troubles. "Stop panicking boy, in order to control the broomstick your mind must be clear and focused!" Hooch instructed Snape. Somewhat to Sirius's surprise, Snape eventually managed to get his broomstick to hold fairly steady above the ground. And with that, Hooch yelled, "Kick off!"

Sirius flew through the air, going fairly slowly and flying low to begin with, then gradually going faster, soaring higher, and doing a few steep swoops. Most of the class was flying pretty steadily, but James was doing incredibly. He soared higher than anyone, flew circles around Sirius, spiraled around Remus, and even flew upside down. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius was pleased to note that Snape's broom was still wobbling very strongly even though he was flying quite slowly and low to the ground.

The class had been flying for about twenty minutes when a loud Thud was heard from the ground below. "DESCEND!" yelled Hooch, and as Sirius flew downwards he saw that Snape had fallen off of his broomstick onto the ground. "It's a compound fracture," Hooch said as Snape grimaced and whimpered. Sirius could tell that he was trying to keep himself from crying. "Since we only have five minutes of class left," Hooch said, "the rest of you can all go back to your dorms while I take Snape to the Hospital Wing." No one looked too upset about Snape's injury, even the other Slytherins.

"Snape's not smirking now, is he?" Sirius said to his friends as they walked back to their dorm.

"No, indeed," said James. "Sniveling like a little baby--why don't we call him Snivellus? It'd be an improvement over that stupid name he has now--I mean, Severus, for Merlin's sake--he has the nerve to insult my family when his parents gave him a name like that." Sirius, Remus and Peter all laughed at that.

"Well I'd be sniveling too if I fell off a broomstick and broke my leg," said the auburn-haired girl named Lily Evans, "and I bet you'd be too."

"How do you know what I'd do?" James turned to the girl. He seemed particularly annoyed that anyone would imagine him sniveling from an injury. "I know I'd never fall off my broomstick while flying as slowly as Snape was. I guess he's so greasy that the broom just slid out of his hands."

"It's not very decent of you to say things like that," the girl said, "especially about someone who's hurt."

"Oh don't be so soft," James said. "Serves him right for being a sneak. I mean, even the other Slytherins don't like him, which is really saying something."

"If you hate Slytherin so much, why would you want to go along with what they do?" Lily asked.

"I'm not going along with the Slytherins," James said, "they're going along with me."

"And why would you want them to go along with you?"

"I don't," James snapped, "it's just a coincidence. I don't give a damn whether the Slytherins like Snape or not. I hate him. And what are you doing defending him anyway? You know he hates Muggle-borns."

Lily shrugged. "Whatever." She walked away, leaving a rather annoyed James with his friends.

"Girls," James said, "they just don't get it." Sirius and Peter nodded their heads in agreement. How could anyone possibly feel sorry for Snape, Sirius wondered to himself, let alone a Muggle-born Gryffindor?

* * *

The third day of the school year was a Saturday, so of course there were no classes. Sirius was eating a leisurely breakfast in the Great Hall with his three new friends. As he was chewing his onion and cheddar omelet, an owl swooped down and dropped a red envelope in front of Sirius. Sirius recognized the owl. It was his mother's.

"It's a Howler.," James said, his voice hushed with dread.

I should've known the old hag would do something like this, Sirius thought to himself furiously. Just when he'd thought he was safe from his parents...

"Open it," Remus said urgently, "or it'll explode and everyone will hear it anyway."

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut and tore open the envelope.

"UNGRATEFUL BRAT OF A BLOOD TRAITOR!" Hera Black's signature screech filled the entire Great Hall. "HOW DARE YOU BRING SUCH SHAME ON US! YOU'VE DISGRACED THE ENTIRE FAMILY WITH THIS STUNT OF YOURS, JOINING THAT FILTHY HOUSE OF MUDBLOODS AND MUGGLE-LOVERS! A BLACK IN GRYFFINDOR! YOU DEFILE THE NOBLE NAME YOU BEAR, YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF THE VERY BLOOD IN YOUR VEINS!"

While his friends sat dumbstruck with horrified sympathy, Sirius could see that the entire Great Hall was staring at him. Amidst the whirl of whispers and sniggers Sirius could hear quite clearly the sound of one very ostentatious laugh. Snape's hysterical cackle was as conspicuous as a Howler itself.

"That's it," Sirius said. As he stalked over to the table where Snape was sitting alone, he was followed by James, Remus and Peter.

"Glad to see you've cheered up, Snape," James said. "Yesterday when you fell off your broomstick I thought you'd never stop crying."

An ugly flush suffused Snape's sallow face. "I was not crying."

"No," Sirius said, "you were sniveling. In fact, I think we'll call you Snivellus from now on--it suits you so much better than the stupid name your parents gave you."

"My parents gave me a proper wizard's name," said Snape. "But as your mother kindly pointed out to all of us, you're a Muggle-loving blood traitor, so I doubt that you'd appreciate that."

"You know, Snape," Sirius said, "maybe you should worry less about blood and more about grease."

"Is fat what little baby Seeweus finks?" said an awful mock-baby voice. Sirius and his friends whipped around to see a tall seventeen year-old girl sneering at them.

"Excuse my cousin," Sirius said to his friends, "she's got a speech impediment--comes from inbreeding, you know."

"Be careful, cousin," the girl said, abandoning the baby voice. "You'll come to regret the day you stained the Black family honor."

"How can I stain something that's black?" Sirius asked.

"You think you're so clever," she hissed. "Well, we'll see about that." Turning to Snape she said, "Well, it's a relief to know that there are some first-years who cherish the purity of their wizarding lineage. I'm Bellatrix Black, and you are--"

"Severus Snape."

"Severus," Bellatrix gave a wide, slow smile. "Why don't you come sit at my table and I'll introduce you to some people."

"I'd like that." Snape directed a parting smirk at Sirius and James and then headed off with Bellatrix.

* * *

Snape could scarcely believe his ears. One minute he was being taunted by those two blood-traitor Gryffindors and the next minute a Slytherin seventh-year was inviting him to sit at her table. He followed her to a table at the other end of the Great Hall, where three boys and one girl were sitting. After Bellatrix had introduced him to the others, she said, "This is my fiancé, Rodolphus Lestrange," gesturing towards a heavyset, impassive-looking boy her own age. Wanting to seem sophisticated, Snape tried not to look too surprised to hear that Bellatrix and Rodolphus were already engaged to each other.

Evan Rosier was a fourth-year whose sleek dark brown hair effortlessly framed his handsome face. A second fourth-year boy, Todd Avery, was small with shrewd, calculating eyes and an ingratiating smile. The girl was a brunette third-year named Justine Wilkes, and her blue eyes were so wide-spaced that Snape wondered to himself how she could see what was in front of her. Except for the olive-skinned Bellatrix, everyone at the table looked as if they had made it their life's goal to be as pale as a bone--admittedly not hard to do in Britain.

"Tell me, Severus," Bellatrix said, "is it true what I heard, that you performed a full-strength Impediment Curse on Potter during your first day of class?"

"Yes," answered Snape, delighted to see how impressed Bellatrix and everyone else at the table looked upon hearing this bit of information.

"Finally," Bellatrix said, "a Slytherin who actually cares about magic."

"What do you mean?" Snape was confused.

"Let me explain our little group to you," Bellatrix said to Snape. "You know that Slytherin only allows Purebloods in, right? Well, being a Pureblood isn't about having a pile of gold and big manor with a house-elf. Put it this way: what is it that makes wizards superior to Muggles?"

"We can do magic and they can't," Snape answered, wondering why Bellatrix had asked him such an obvious question.

"We have the power to bend the universe to our will," Bellatrix said. "It is an innate gift that we are born with, that is carried in our blood. We are a master race, and that is why we must never allow anyone tainted with weak, worthless Muggle blood to interbreed with us."

"Since existence belongs only to those with the power to bend it to their will," Rosier said, "it is up to us to exercise this power by any means possible, to master all known magics and even discover and create new ones. That is the path of a true Pureblood and a true Slytherin." Wilkes gazed at Rosier as he said this, her wide-spaced eyes filled with adulation.

"Unfortunately," Bellatrix said, "far too many in our House are more interested in living in luxury and flying around on a bundle of twigs. Lucius Malfoy, for one. Quidditch is a waste of time that should be spent pursuing real magic, and what makes a truly great Pureblood family isn't how much gold they have but how devoted they are to their heritage."

Snape knew that the Blacks did indeed have a great deal of gold. But here was Bellatrix saying that gold wasn't important. So she wouldn't care that his old Pureblood family had barely a knut to their name. Or that he couldn't fly...

"The Potters have lots of gold," Snape said, "and they're some of the worst blood-traitors around."

"Exactly," Bellatrix said. "Besides, a true Pureblood and Slytherin fears no hardship. Our ambition is not wealth or comfort, it is power."

"So, Bella," Rodolphus focused his eyes on Snape, "before we start, why don't we find out how much he already knows?"

Bellatrix gave her slow, wide smile. "I think that's a very good idea."

* * *

Glad to be rid of Snape and Bellatrix, Sirius and his friends went back to their table and sat down. "Looks like Snivellus found himself a girlfriend," James snickered.

"And just when I thought my family could sink no lower," Sirius said.

"How dare you disgrace the name of the House of Black!" James mimicked Hera Black's screech, causing them all to laugh.

"Really," Remus said in a more serious voice, "is everyone in your family--well--"

"Evil?" Sirius finished. "Except for Andromeda and my Uncle Alphard, yeah, pretty much. And Bellatrix is one of the worst. Ever since I can remember she's been going on about blood purity and all the curses she's knows--"

"Speaking of curses," James said, "remember what happened Thursday before Meadowes's class?"

"You mean when Snape put that Impediment Curse on you?" Peter asked.

"I salute you, Captain Obvious," James said, annoyed to be reminded of how he had been bested by Snape. "How the bloody hell was he able to pull that one off? We hadn't had a single class at Hogwarts yet!"

"The Impediment Curse is supposed to be quite difficult, too," Remus added, "you need a lot of study and practice to do it successfully."

"So how much d'you think Snape's learned already?" Peter asked.

"Where'd he learn it from?" James asked.

"A lot of the old Pureblood families have spellbooks of Dark Arts," Sirius said.

"Isn't that against the law?" Peter asked.

Sirius gave a short, bark-like laugh. "Who do you think makes the law? Gives lots of gold to the Ministry? Is the Ministry? Those same old Pureblood families, that's who."

"So Snape probably knows even more Dark Arts," James said, "not just the Impediment Curse."

"Wouldn't surprise me in the least," said Sirius.