The Phoenix and the Serpent

Chapter Five - The Potions Master

Tom and Jennifer left the Great Hall to head to their first class of the day as soon as they had finished eating; Mum and Dad had both warned Tom that he was almost certain to get lost on the way to class the first few days, and Tom and Jennifer were both determined to be on time.

"I don't understand, though," Jennifer said, frowning. "Why can't we just ask someone for directions?"

"Everything moves around," Tom explained. "The staircases, the doors, and even the hallways."

"You're joking!" Jennifer said, staring around her. "Wow. How can anyone find their way around, then?"

"I think there's a sort of pattern to the way things move around... and besides, most of the actual rooms don't move, so once you figure out where everything is, you can just head in the general direction." Tom shrugged. "I'm not completely sure; I've read Hogwarts, a History, but the section on the layout of Hogwarts didn't really focus on actually finding your way around - it mostly just talked about how it all works, and the different people who came up with the spells...."

"I really wanted to read that book," Jennifer said wistfully. "I saw it in the bookstore when we went to get our school books. But Mum refused to start buying us extra books; she said we'd have to look for them in the Hogwarts library. Both copies are checked out, though; I suppose I'll just have to wait."

"My aunt sent me the latest edition when I got my Hogwarts letter. If you want, you can borrow it."

"Thanks!" Jennifer said.

Twice, Tom and Jennifer got completely lost, but both times there was a portrait nearby that was more than willing to help out. Jennifer found the paintings fascinating.

"How can the people in the portraits just... move around like that?" she asked. "Aren't they painted on?"

"You mean the portraits in the Muggle world don't move at all?" Tom said, astonished. "Don't the people in them get bored?"

Jennifer laughed. "Muggle portraits are just canvas and paint; they don't have personalities!"

Their first class of the day was History of Magic. Fred and George had warned Tom about Professor Binns, but Tom had thought they were exaggerating; now he knew better. Paying attention to Binns took a colossal effort, and it didn't help that the rest of the students - except Jennifer - spent most of the period whispering to each other and passing notes. The boredom was relieved only once, when halfway through the class Daniel came running breathlessly in together with Brian, apologizing for being late and explaining that they'd gotten lost. Brian, it turned out, was a sturdily-built, cheerful looking boy, and unlike Daniel, he didn't seem to be at all out of breath. Professor Binns just wheezed at the two of them to sit down, and they did, right near Tom. As soon as Binns had begun droning on again, Brian and Daniel began whispering to each other; Brian made several attempts to include Tom in the conversation, completely unfazed by the fact that Tom was ignoring him in an attempt to pay attention to what Professor Binns was saying. By the time the class was over, Tom was highly frustrated.

"It isn't fair!" Tom said indignantly to Jennifer as they headed to their next class. "History is really interesting; why'd they have to ruin it by giving us Binns?"

"It's almost worth it," Jennifer said, grinning, "being able to write home that I have a Professor who's a ghost. Mum will never believe me."

"It's not funny!" Tom said. "The fact that he's a ghost just makes it worse; he's been teaching here for ages, and definitely isn't planning on leaving any time soon. We'll be stuck with him for as long as we have to take History of Magic!"

"We only have the class twice a week, though," Jennifer pointed out. "We'll manage - and I'm sure our other Professors will be fine."

"I hope so.... What do we have next?"

"Transfiguration with Hufflepuff," Jennifer said, quickening her pace so that Tom had to hurry to keep up. "I hope I have time to talk to Adam before class begins. We've always spent loads of time together, and I haven't seen him since the Sorting!"

When Tom and Jennifer arrived at the classroom, Adam was already there, talking animatedly to two other Hufflepuffs. Adam noticed them immediately and hurried over, grinning broadly. "Isn't this place brilliant?" he said. "We had charms first - I can't believe I've actually made something fly!"

"Lucky you," Jennifer said, smiling in return. "We haven't done any magic yet. What's it like in Hufflepuff?"

"Hufflepuff is great - everyone is amazingly friendly," Adam said enthusiastically. "The older students are really nice, too; they've been showing us all around, explaining everything, offering to help us if we need it.... What about you two? What's it like in Slytherin?"

Tom and Jennifer exchanged glances.

"Exactly the opposite of Hufflepuff," Jennifer said wryly.

"Really?" Adam said anxiously. "I've been hearing horror stories all day about Slytherins, but I wasn't sure if I should believe them.... Are the Slytherins really as bad as the Hufflepuffs claim?"

"Some of them are pretty bad," Jennifer admitted.

Adam looked horrified.

"Not everyone," Jennifer said quickly, and then glanced over at Tom and grinned. "Tom is fairly decent, I'd say."

"Only fairly decent?" Tom said, mock-indignantly.

"Be serious!" Adam protested. "Really, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jennifer said firmly. "I'm not in any real danger; the most I'll have to suffer is a couple of insults."

"You make that sound like it's nothing!" Adam objected. "And according to the Hufflepuffs you'll have to deal with a lot worse: hexes, nasty pranks...." He turned to Tom, his normally cheerful look replaced by utter seriousness. "Keep an eye out for Jennifer, okay? You're not a Muggle-born; you'll know if anyone's trying to trick her, and if the other Slytherins know that she isn't on her own, she won't be bothered as much."

"Hey!" Jennifer protested, looking indignant. "Since when do I need to be protected? If I remember correctly, it was you who -" Her voice was muffled and then cut off as Adam clamped his hand over her mouth, a red tinge creeping up his cheeks.

"That's not the point," he said quickly. "I'm in Hufflepuff. You're the one who's the Muggle-born in Slytherin."

Jennifer yanked Adam's hand away from her face and glared at him. "Stop acting like you're my older brother! I'm older than you, if you'll remember."

"Don't worry, Jennifer," Tom said hastily, trying to diffuse the tension, "I won't suddenly start trailing you around the school. If anyone gives you trouble, I'll definitely help out, but I'd do that for anyone. Besides, I'm probably in for a harder time than you are; there are loads of Slytherins whose families really hate my father. We'll just have to stick together and show the rest of the Slytherins that we can stand up for ourselves."

"Exactly!" Adam said hastily. "That's all I meant - that you and Tom should look out for each other."

"I can figure that out for myself, thank you," Jennifer said, still looking annoyed.

"I'm allowed to worry about you!" Adam said, looking angry now. "You're my sister! My twin sister! Or have you forgotten that? Just because we're in separate Houses, we have to pretend we aren't related? Is that what you want?"

"No, of course not," Jennifer said, looking slightly apologetic. "But that doesn't mean that I need you looking out for me; I can do that myself, and you wouldn't be able to do much anyway, not as a Hufflepuff. If I ever do need your help, I promise I'll let you know, okay?" She gave Adam a half-smile and dropped her books onto the desk she was standing beside.

"I don't suppose I have much of a choice," Adam said, somewhat reluctantly. "Just... be careful, okay? Both of you."

The bell rang, long and loud.

"I will," Jennifer promised, raising her voice to maker herself heard over the clanging.

"We'll watch out for each other," Tom added, meeting Adam's eyes. Not breaking his gaze, he silently added, I'll make sure your sister doesn't get hurt.

It seemed as though Adam understood; he smiled at Tom, his look of anxiety fading somewhat. "Good luck, then, you two," Adam said, and hurried back to his seat.

As the last echoes of the bell faded, the classroom door swung open again and their Transfiguration Professor, a short, stern-looking woman, entered the room. She closed the door firmly and turned to survey the class, which immediately quieted down.

"Good morning," the woman said briskly. "For those of you who do not know, my name is Professor Reid. I see that not all of you have your parchment and quills out; please remedy that at once."

Tom hurriedly took out his parchment, quill, and inkwell, and carefully dipped his quill into the ink, and the rest of the class did the same.

Professor Reid waited for the class to quiet down again, and then she surveyed the class again. "Transfiguration is a complex magic and can be highly dangerous," she warned. "Fooling around will not be tolerated."

Kenneth, who had been whispering to Julian, ignored Professor Reid completely. Tom caught a snatch of the conversation: "... a Muggle-born Professor! Father says it's a disgrace; Transfiguration is really important!"

"Indeed, Mr. Viridian, Transfiguration is exceedingly important."

Kenneth turned, looking alarmed; Professor Reid was standing just beside his desk, her mouth a thin line.

"In fact," she added coldly, "in as much as you think so highly of the subject, I am sure you will not mind assisting me in a small demonstration."

Professor Reid drew her wand, and in a flash of red light, Kenneth was transfigured into a small, bewildered looking monkey. There was a shocked silence, then the Hufflepuffs - and a number of the Slytherins, including Tom, Jennifer, and Daniel - burst into applause.

Professor Reid swiftly returned Kenneth to his proper form. Kenneth, looking highly embarrassed, slouched down in his seat and kept quiet as Professor Reid launched into a lecture on Transfiguration theory.

At last they were each given a match to try to turn into a needle, and Tom set to work eagerly. He'd always been fascinated by Transfiguration, but he'd never gotten a chance to try it.

To Tom's disappointment and frustration, he found the task extremely difficult. Despite all his concentration and effort, it was at least fifteen minutes before the match was affected at all, and even then the change wasn't complete; the match was silvery, but it was still definitely a match. Fiercely determined to do the transfiguration properly, Tom concentrated even more intensely than before, and at long last, completely worn out, he succeeded.

Tom looked up from his needle to find Professor Reid standing just beside his desk, staring at him in shock.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked, alarmed. Belatedly, he noticed that the rest of the class was staring at him as well, and that his was the only needle present in the room; none of the others had managed to have any effect on their matches.

Professor Reid found her voice at last. "Nothing is wrong," she said, smiling for the first time since she'd walked into the room. "I was just surprised. You're the first student I've ever had who was able to fully Transfigure a match to a needle on their first lesson. You must have an extraordinary talent for Transfiguration, and you clearly were paying attention and trying your hardest. Excellent work, and ten points to Slytherin." She turned to the rest of the class. "Well?" she said sharply. "Get back to work, the rest of you."

Uncomfortably aware that most of the class were still sneaking glances at him and his needle - and hearing whispers of "His father's Harry Potter, what did you expect?" - Tom was relieved when the bell rang at last.

The next class, the class that Tom had really been looking forward to, was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Longbottom didn't disappoint him.

"The curriculum for first-year students is mostly just theory," Professor Longbottom explained as soon as he had finished taking the roll-call. The class groaned, and Professor Longbottom smiled. "It's not as bad as it sounds. We will be learning how to use some of the more basic defensive spells, and I will do my best to demonstrate every spell that we discuss. This class may not be as exciting as your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in future years, but most of my previous students have enjoyed this class as well." Professor Longbottom smiled again. "It may help that I often add in stories relating to the spells - and I have quite a few stories, as nearly every spell I will be teaching you has saved my life or the life of a friend at some point or another."

Tom glanced around the room. Nearly all the students paying rapt attention to Professor Longbottom, looking eager to start; it was common knowledge that Professor Longbottom had taken part in the fight against Voldemort, and his stories would be fascinating. Tom had heard some of the stories from his father, but not many; Dad hated talking about Voldemort.

Professor Longbottom had paused to survey the class as well, but after a moment he went on. "Aside from the spells and spell theory that we will be learning, we'll also be discussing the more recent history of Dark Arts, as there is much to be gained from analyzing past events. I'd rather not have you dozing off in class, though - " Professor Longbottom grinned - "and so, for the past few years, I have been doing something rather unique in regards to these history lessons. Does anyone here know what a Pensieve is?"

Tom raised his hand, and so did Jennifer and Adam; they were the only three students to do so.

"Yes, Miss Sutherland?"

"It stores memories," Jennifer explained. "And since it's outside the person's mind, other people can also watch the memories."

"Yes, exactly. A point to Slytherin. Can anyone guess why I might have a use for a Pensieve?

Jennifer's hand shot up again, but so did several others, and this time Professor Longbottom nodded to one of the Hufflepuff boys. "Yes, Mr. Bidwell?"

"You're... going to let us watch memories?" he guessed. "The memories of people who lived through important parts of history?"

"Exactly," Professor Longbottom said, beaming at him. "Of course, this will only work for events in the past hundred years or so, because I have no way of retrieving memories from dead people, but I do have quite an assortment to share with you." He suddenly looked sober. "Of course, there are many memories that you will not be viewing until fifth year, or perhaps later - war and its accompanying violence are not to be viewed lightly - but there is much that I will show you. In addition, you will listen to speeches given by important officials at the Ministry, speeches given by Dumbledore - and I will even show you Voldemort himself."

The class gasped - whether at the name or the idea, Tom wasn't sure - and Professor Longbottom looked suddenly stern.

"Now is as good a time as any to bring this up," he said, surveying the classroom. "I know that all your parents - " his gaze flicked over to Tom and he amended his words. "Well, nearly all your parents - will not say Voldemort's name. I was once just as frightened of the name as any, and I understand their fear. None of you, however, have their excuse - that of living during Voldemort's years in power - and there is no reason why you should be afraid of something as innocuous as a name, especially since Voldemort himself is gone forever. I understand that you have learned to fear the name through your parents, but you are all old enough to overcome this fear. I will be using Voldemort's name often, and I will be encouraging you to do the same. By the end of this year, I expect you all to be able to say the name without hesitation."

Professor Longbottom stern look gave way to a smile. "But enough of such serious discussion; it is time we began our first lesson. Who can tell me what the two most basic defensive spells are?"

Tom raised his hand, and Professor Longbottom nodded to him. "Yes?"

"Expelliarmus and Stupefy."

"Excellent," Professor Longbottom said, smiling. "The disarming spell and the stunning spell. A point to Slytherin. Who can tell me why these two spells are basic defensive spells?"

Tom and Jennifer raised their hands, but so did Adam and several of other students. Professor Longbottom nodded to a hesitant-looking Hufflepuff. "Yes, Miss Drisdale?"

"Because they don't do any damage?" the girl guessed. "They just stop the other person from hurting you."

"Well put," Professor Longbottom said, smiling again. "A point to Hufflepuff. The disarming spell does no direct harm, but it can be very useful in a battle. In fact, Expelliarmus once saved Harry Potter's life in a battle against Voldemort. "

Several of the others turned around to look at Tom at this mention of his father; uncomfortable, Tom tried to avoid their glances by looking down at his parchment.

Professor Longbottom turned to face the class again. "We will spend our period today discussing the both the Disarming spell and the Stunning spell," he explained. "If you listen well and learn the information, then by next week I can begin teaching you how to perform these spells yourself."

Professor Longbottom's explanation of the origins and workings of the two spells was fascinating, and he answered questions clearly and patiently. Tom was sure that Professor Longbottom was going to be one of his favorite teachers, and looking around the class, it seemed as though the same would be true for most of the others.

Class was over all too soon, and Tom's spirits plummeted as he remembered that Potions was next. Facing Snape was not something he was looking forward to - at least not if there was any truth to Mum and Dad's stories, and neither of them had ever lied to him.

Potions class took place down in one of the dungeons, in a drafty, cavernous room with pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. The class was a double one - Slytherin and Gryffindor - but the students were completely silent as they waited for Professor Snape to appear; even the first-years had heard of Snape's reputation.

Professor Snape swept into the classroom just as the bell rang, and immediately began taking attendance. When he reached Tom's name he paused for a moment to pin him with a look of cold scrutiny, but to Tom's relief, he made no comment.

When Snape was finished calling the names, he looked up at the class. His eyes were black - cold and empty - and Tom was strongly reminded of his father's descriptions of Dementors.

"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 they caught every word - Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little 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 have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Most of the class looked suitably apprehensive, but Jennifer, Tom saw, was leaning back in her chair with her hands loosely clasped as she watched Professor Snape, clearly neither impressed nor intimidated.

Professor Snape's glance fell on her, and his expression turned to a glare.

"Sutherland!" he said. "Is Potions beneath your notice? Name two ingredients that can be found in a Shrinking Potion."

"Chopped daisy roots and skinned shrivelfig," Jennifer said straight away, still leaning back in her chair. "Also, sliced caterpillar, one rat spleen, and a dash of leech juice."

"I said two ingredients," Professor Snape snapped, then swung around to face the class.

"Well?" he said. "Sutherland here seems to have memorized the Potions textbook, but the rest of you are less fortunate. Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchments. Over the noise, Snape added somewhat grudgingly, "Despite your attitude, your answer was correct, Sutherland; take five points for Slytherin."

"Well, that's one good thing about being in Slytherin," Tom whispered to Jennifer as soon as Snape turned away from them. "If you'd been in Gryffindor, you definitely would have gotten a detention, and points off as well. Aren't you scared of him at all?"

"No," Jennifer whispered back firmly. "It's like you said - he doesn't want to take off points from his own house unless he has to - and after all, I really did memorize the Potions textbook." She grinned. "I want the Professors to like me - it's much easier to get things done that way, and I'd like to be Head Girl eventually - but Snape's not worth it. I've seen the way he treats the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs; some of the more timid ones are absolutely terrified of him - and he's prejudiced against Muggle-borns."

"Have you really memorized the Potions textbook?" Tom grinned. "Wow. My father will never believe that there's someone at Hogwarts who's worse than I am about books; even I haven't memorized any textbooks! Well, not on purpose, at least."

"Quiet, Miss Sutherland!" Professor Snape glared at Jennifer from across the room. "You've just gotten yourself a detention; see me after class."

Tom sent Jennifer an apologetic glance for getting her into trouble and then turned back to his note-taking, but he was utterly mystified; why hadn't Professor Snape given him a detention as well? They'd both been talking, after all, and didn't Snape hate Dad? All through the rest of the lecture, Tom watched Professor Snape, and his bewilderment grew. Tom was sitting directly in the center of the classroom, but Professor Snape did not look at him even once throughout the lesson. His eyes slid right past him, almost as if Tom was wearing an invisibility cloak.

At last Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion, and as they'd been sitting side by side, Tom and Jennifer were together. They didn't dare talk at first, but they finished their potion long before anyone else, and Professor Snape came around to inspect it, he found nothing at all to criticize. Scowling, he told Jennifer where to meet him for her detention, and he dismissed the two of them early.

"Snape is acting really weird," Tom said, frowning, as the two of them made their way through the maze of dungeons towards Slytherin House. "Dismissing us early? And he was ignoring me all through class, and I still can't figure out why he gave you detention and not me."

"He's probably just annoyed that there's a Muggleborn in Slytherin who knows more than most of the purebloods," Jennifer said, shrugging. "Compared to me, you're probably just not that big a deal."

"No," Tom said, still frowning, "Snape really hated my father. Loathed him, in fact. And he only hated my father because he hated my grandfather, so it makes perfect sense that he would hate me, too. I think he's deliberately ignoring me; when I was watching him before, he didn't look in my direction once. But why on earth would he be ignoring me?"

"It's not worth getting so worked up about," Jennifer advised. "You're probably just imagining things. Give it a week, at least, before you start worrying." She grinned. "You're definitely the only student in the history of Hogwarts to worry about Snape not giving them a detention!"

"When you put it that way...." Tom said, smiling, and he changed the subject. Still, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something really strange going on.

That night, Tom sat on his bed with Medusa curled around his shoulders, writing and re-writing his letter back to Mum and Dad as he tried to find the best way to ask his questions so that they'd get answered. At last he finished, and read it over one last time.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Hogwarts is just as amazing as you said it would be! Being in Slytherin isn't too bad, because there are two Muggle-borns who were also Sorted into Slytherin. One of them is the twin sister of the boy I sat with on the train, who was sorted into Hufflepuff. Jennifer has it much worse than I do; there are only three other girls in her dormitory, and two of them are purebloods. There are two Pure-bloods in my dorm too, but I'm not a Muggle-born, and only one of them is nasty. The other one won't talk to Daniel (my Muggle-born roommate) but he wasn't mean about it, he actually seemed uncomfortable - it was just because his parents had told him he wasn't allowed to speak to Muggle-borns. And he just... well, he gives off the impression that he's a fairly decent sort.

What do you think, Dad? Should I try to "reform" him? Wasn't Sirius from a Dark family, too? You're always telling us that no matter what kind of background a person comes from, there's always a chance for them. I know you told me to stay away from those kinds of Pure-bloods, but then the only boy in our dormitory for him to be friends with is Kenneth, and if Kenneth rubs off on him, he'll be ruined forever....

The older students aren't bothering me at all so far. Maybe they're scared of you, Dad? Maybe their parents didn't want them starting up with our family.... Definitely good thinking on their part!

When my roommates first met Medusa, it was a bit of a shock for them, but by now I think they're over it - well, except for Kenneth, the nasty Pure-blood I told you about. There's nothing that he can complain about, though, so I'm not worried.

So far, Snape hasn't bothered me at all. Actually, he's been acting really weird; he hasn't been looking at me, and when I was whispering to someone during class, Snape gave the other kid detention and not me! I'm not complaining, or anything, but I thought that was weird, if he hates you so much....

Has there been a lot of Dark activity lately? When Professor McGonagall opened that letter you sent to her, she looked really anxious. Is it a secret? Can you tell me? I've been trying to imagine what could make Professor McGonagall look so worried, and I'm starting to scare myself.

I miss you, everyone!

Love,

Tom

Tom sealed the letter and sent if off with one of the school owls, and then, to distract himself from worrying, he started on his homework. He'd need top grades if he wanted to be Minister of Magic one day, or even an Auror. And as Aunt Hermione always said, it was never too early to begin studying.