Harry Potter and the Gemini Connection

Chapter Seven: Hostility and Serenity

The early morning sun, low in the sky, cast long dancing shadows across the Quidditch pitch. Birds of all types sung pretty but repetitive melodies. The bustle of Hogwarts life had not yet started and all was calm through the school.

The peace was broken by a sudden droning bass note, which was in turn interrupted by a thumping drum rhythm. A guitar began to wail out a complicated solo over the top of all the noise.

Harry woke instantly, and scrambled to pull his thick pillows over his head. It made very little difference. It sounded as though the phantom rock band were sitting on the end of his bed. He uncovered his head again, and looked around frantically for the source of the sound. Three other figures in the bedroom were wide awake, each with hands firmly pressed over their ears. Ron was nowhere to be seen.

Whilst Dean and Neville looked completely shocked by the rude wake-up call, Seamus was rooting around under his bed, trying to locate something. As he pulled his arm out, clutching something, the noise got even louder. A throaty male voice started to sing. Seamus began to fiddle with the object in his hands - some kind of box, with tiny knobs and levers on it. Suddenly the volume dropped dramatically. Now Harry could scarcely hear the music over the ringing in his ears. Three glaring pairs of eyes locked onto the Irish boy. Dean began to walk over to his friend menacingly.

'What the hell was that?' he demanded.

'My new Wizarding Wireless...' Seamus answered bashfully. 'Volume was set a bit high...'

'YOU THINK?' Dean boomed, sarcastically. 'What time is it?'

'I think I set it to half past seven. The controls are a bit fiddly.'

Dean seemed to be too annoyed to form words. Harry had seen Mrs. Weasley get like this, and thought that Seamus was brave to stand his ground.

The singer, completely oblivious to the chaos his band had caused, reached a chorus.

You can say I'm nothing special,

Try to cross me off your list,

But my Grandma was a Veela,

And you know you can't resist.

There was another guitar solo. Harry wondered where Ron had gone to. Usually the ginger-haired boy was the king of the lie-in, and yet with this, and the phoenix incident, Ron kept missing the early morning excitement. Harry thought about it more carefully. Since the beginning of the summer, he couldn't recall ever seeing Ron sleeping. Harry had had his own restless nights, but still, Ron had always been awake when he had opened his eyes. He asked the others in the room if they knew where his friend had gone.

'No,' the three responded one by one, all looking as surprised as Harry felt.

'Hell must have frozen over, if he's the first one up...' Seamus added unhelpfully.

'I don't think he's been sleeping well,' Harry explained, shortly. 'I wouldn't tease him about it, if I was you...'

'Oh,' Seamus replied, unusually serious. 'Sorry... Is there..? Do you think there's anything we can do?'

Harry was shocked. Seamus was nice enough, but he tended to be insensitive. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot that the boy could do. If the sleeplessness was stress about Ron's bizarre condition, then he wouldn't talk about it to anybody except Harry.

'Nah, it's alright, thanks. I'll chat to him about it. Find out what's up.'

At that moment, Ron came into the room. He was dripping wet, and wrapped in a towel. He didn't look any different to normal. The music went into a crescendo...

So don't try to deny it,

Leave your doubts, come out to play,

Cos' you don't know loving till you've seen it,

Done the Veela way!

The music faded out, to be interrupted by a well-known voice.

'That was Leviticus Flint there, with his soon-to-be-released single 'My Grandma was a Veela'.'

'Hey...' said Dean Thomas, voicing what they were all thinking. 'It's Lee Jordan!'

It was definitely the voice of the former school Quidditch commentator.

'I think we can safely assume,' Lee continued, 'that with Leviticus' face, there isn't really a drop of Veela blood inside him.'

Snickers from around the room followed.

'Still, he shouldn't have any problem attracting women - he's just signed a hundred thousand galleon record contract. Alright for some isn't it?' Lee paused for effect. 'The time is half past six, so here's Amy with the news and weather...'

'HALF PAST SIX?!' Dean bellowed. He seemed to have remembered his anger at Seamus.

Seamus quickly turned off the radio, cutting off the newsreaders voice.

'Leave off him Dean. It was a simple mistake,' snapped Ron.

'Shut up, Ron. It's none of your business.'

'Well, if you don't want to get up yet, go back to sleep. There's no need to be such a mourngy git.'

'That's rich, coming from you! You have to be the most hot-headed person I know...'

For a second, Harry thought that the argument was just going to fade out. Ron took a deep breath and turned away, mumbling something under his breath. But then...

'What was that?' demanded Dean.

Ron turned back to face the boy and locked eyes with him.

'I said, I can't believe that my sister has such bad taste!' Ron enunciated very clearly, as though talking to a baby.

'Say that again!'

'Wasn't twice enough? I didn't realise that you were that stupid...'

Dean snapped and barrelled into Ron, who collided heavily with Harry's bedpost and dropped to the floor, with a pained yelp. Seconds later however, the ginger boy stood, not looking even remotely hurt, but with a wild gleam in his eyes.

Harry saw the danger instantly, and snatched his wand from the bedside table. Sitting up, he cast an Impediment jinx at his friend, who froze instantly. Dean looked ready to take another swing at the immobilised Ron, so Harry froze him as well.

'For Merlin's sake,' cried Neville. 'Can't we go one year without this?'

'Neville's right,' Harry agreed. 'Every day we seem to get something new to worry about. I don't know about you, but I could do without this. Ron, I know you're upset about your sister dating, but it really isn't any of your business. Don't take it out on Dean - there are far worse people she could be seeing...'

He cast the counter-charm at Ron, who didn't throw himself at Dean, although he looked tempted.

'Dean,' Harry continued. 'Don't let Ron get to you. He's had a tough summer...'

Ron looked set to interrupt, but Harry shot him a glare.

'We've all had tough summers. We should be sticking together. Right?'

Ron nodded, as did Dean when Harry had released the jinx. They didn't look like they actually agreed, but Harry let it go. So long as they weren't brawling with each other, he could deal with it.

- HPHPHP -

The first lesson on Harry's timetable was also his least favourite - Potions. It was for this reason that he made his way out of breakfast with a sense of trepidation. If he could survive this first lesson, he told himself, the rest of the week might not be so bad.

The group walked down to the classroom together. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione from Gryffindor had chosen to take the subject to N.E.W.T. level, and as they approached the dungeon, they quickly scanned the crowd of students. The sixth and seventh year classes were not sorted into house groups, so there were a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws there, but the majority were Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle, unsurprisingly, were not present, although Malfoy was. Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were also there, as well as Pansy Parkinson and an attractive blonde girl that Harry couldn't remember the name of.

Draco gave a sneer as the trio approached, and began to talk very loudly to Pansy Parkinson.

'They really hand out Outstandings at O.W.L. level, don't they? I mean, Granger I can understand, she doesn't have a life. And Potter - well nobody dares to fail Dumbledore's favourite, I guess. But who do you reckon Weasley had to sleep with to get his results?'

Pansy cackled unflatteringly.

'I don't know... maybe Professor Tofty. He would probably be old enough and desperate enough...'

Ron stepped forwards. Hermione made a grab for his arm but missed.

'Don't mess with me,' he snarled menacingly. 'I've already been cheated out of one fight today.'

'Ron...' Hermione warned. 'You know what'll happen if Snape catches us arguing out here.'

'Malfoy started it...'

'Does that ever make any difference?'

'I'm not letting this... this ferret get away with insulting me. I'm not afraid of Professor Snape.'

'Maybe...' came the Potions Master's slimy voice, 'you should rethink your opinion. Fifteen points from Gryffindor.'

The man had opened the dungeon door whilst they weren't looking. Ron very wisely decided not to talk back.

'Enter the classroom, find seats and open your textbooks to chapter one.'

The group did as they were told, silently. Even the Slytherins knew that they shouldn't test Snape's patience whilst he was in a point-deducting mood. As they drew the course books out of their bags, Harry was glad to find that the Gryffindors' Potion manuals were the same as every other book in the room - Lupin had been right. Harry shuddered to imagine how Snape would have reacted if they had bought the wrong ones. Knowing him, the three of them could have been kicked off the course instantly.

The man in question was sweeping towards the front of the classroom now, his thick, dark cloak billowing out behind him. As usual, he didn't seem to think there was any need for pleasantries.

'N.E.W.T. level Potions is an intensive course, which as well as commitment, requires a certain innate talent for the subject.'

Snape glanced in Malfoy's direction, with a small smirk playing across his lips. He then turned his eyes towards the Gryffindors.

'Those of you who come into this class expecting more of the same will not last a week. The first term will be spent learning how to concoct some of the trickiest brews. After that, there will be no more instructions. You will be expected to concoct your own potions, to produce a specified effect. Mindlessly following my guidelines will not get you through this year...'

Snape locked eyes with Harry triumphantly.

'Now, I want you to read through the first chapter and then brew the preliminary stage of the Veritaserum potion. We will be working on this project for the next two weeks, so if you make a mistake now you will have to come back this evening to prepare it again.'

The Potions Master slid in behind his desk, and sat down.

'I will be preparing lessons for my first year classes, so I expect complete silence. Begin.'

Harry flicked quickly through the chapter, until he found the heading he was looking for: Veritaserum - The Elixir of Truth.

The potion looked like it would be a nightmare to make. The ingredient list was over a page long. He scanned the instructions quickly, looking for the end of the first stage. Two pages later, he located it - a tiny subheading which said 'Leave to settle for three days'. It was going to be difficult to reach that point in the allotted two hours.

Nobody else in the room seemed to have read ahead. They were all thumbing slowly through the chapter like Snape had told them to. Harry slid his book over quietly, so that it was between Ron and Hermione, and then ran a finger down the pages, showing his friends how much work they had to do. Hermione gasped quietly, and turned her own book to the right page. Ron gave the Professor an ugly look. Quickly working out which of the ingredients were needed for this first section, the three stood and walked to the front table, where countless vials and jars were laid out.

Snape looked up from his writing. He seemed deeply upset that the Gryffindors had been the ones to discover the problem they had been faced with.

'Ten points from each of you,' he hissed, 'for your inability to follow simple instructions...'

He paused.

'However, I suggest that the rest of you begin to brew your potions now. I might have underestimated the time it will take you.'

Harry nearly yelled at the unfairness of it all. If the Slytherins had started early, Snape wouldn't have warned the rest of the class. He would probably have given them extra house points for forward planning.

Snape lowered his head again, with a cruel smile, and returned his attention to lesson planning.

Without the Potions Master's interference, the brewing seemed to go fairly smoothly. Harry, fed up of being berated for making silly mistakes, read each line of the instructions twice, and was extra careful to follow every direction to the letter. In fact, at the end of the lesson, his potion looked almost identical to Hermione's, and her potions always worked. Ron's potion was a similar colour, but it was very sludgy, and Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Professor Snape wouldn't think it was good enough.

The greasy man stood, and began to walk around the class, leaning over the shoulders of the students to inspect the work. He started with the Slytherins, congratulating each one as he studied their brews, before moving on to the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. He was less vocal here, but he still accepted each potion in turn. Ron got paler as each potion was declared passable, and began to sweat, clearly anticipating being the only person returning in the evening.

Harry and Hermione's potions were studied next. Here Snape took longer, as though uncertain whether they were good enough. Harry fought down the urge to make a sarcastic comment. As well as looking identical to each other, the two potions looked exactly the same as Malfoy's, which Snape had praised enthusiastically - saying it was practically perfect.

Eventually, the potions had been given the all clear, and only Ron was left.

Snape had taken one quick look at it, and smiled nastily.

'This potion...' he began, 'will not only fail to produce the desired effect, it will probably kill the drinker...'

Then suddenly Snape's smile vanished, to be replaced by a tired grimace.

'Nevertheless, the idea of supervising you tonight, alone, does not fill me with joy. This potion can be rescued. Before Thursday's lesson, you will work out what your mistake was, and find a way to undo it.'

Ron smiled, clearly relieved.

'The rest of you...' Snape snarled, as he made his way back to the front of the class. 'The homework for tonight is to read chapter one of the textbooks. You are dismissed.'

Eager as Harry was to get out of the vindictive Slytherin's sight, he had just had a horrid idea. Because of Snape's preferential treatment, the Slytherins trusted him. Snape probably knew his students better than anybody else, and if Dumbledore really believed in the Potions Master's integrity, then it was probably safe...

He walked to the front desk, and waited for the other students to leave. Ron waited for Harry at the door, looking concerned for his sanity.

'Professor...' Harry began.

Snape looked up, and when he realised who it was, his jaw dropped briefly. Harry was pleased that he had unsettled the man.

'What is it?' he hissed, regaining his composure.

'I wondered if maybe... Well, I just thought...'

'Spit it out!'

'Could you tell me which Slytherins I can trust..? Only I thought I might invite some of them to the D.A...'

Snape's face was, for a moment, completely devoid of expression. It was deeply unsettling - Harry couldn't tell how the man was going to react. The moment passed, and the look of distaste returned.

'Weasley...' Snape shouted to Harry's friend. 'I've changed my mind. Your potion is simply not good enough to be saved. You will return at five o'clock this afternoon.'

Snape turned back to Harry.

'Now, isn't there a lesson you should be in?'

Fuming, but wise enough to bottle it up, Harry thundered out of the dungeon. Ron looked even angrier.

'Why did you have to wind him up?'

'I was just trying to...'

'I know what you were trying to do. I was there! But that has to be the stupidest thing you've ever tried. Like Snape would ever help you out with anything...'

'I thought he might, if it was important enough...'

'Well, you've somehow managed to land me in detention. As if I'm not busy enough already! It's a good job my Healer training doesn't start till Wednesday...'

'I'm sorry...'

'So you should be!'

But somehow, despite the words, Ron didn't seem all that annoyed with Harry. Just last year, something like this would have caused a major rift for a few months. Now Ron seemed merely exasperated. Harry quizzed his friend about it...

'Well, you didn't do it on purpose. Besides, after everything that's happened to us, an annoying teacher isn't something that should cause a fight.'

'No arguments here... Where did Hermione go?'

'She didn't want to be late for Charms, so she ran ahead. She'll probably make excuses for us...'

'I hope she does. We're going to miss Flitwick's 'welcome back' speech.'

'Not that it matters,' Ron cut in, not troubling to walk any faster. 'It's always the same.'

He adopted a squeaky voice, which sounded nothing like Professor Flitwick, although Harry got the point...

'Congratulations on your exam results, but this year is going to be even harder. Now, let me show you a difficult charm...'

Ron drew a very squiggly sign with his wand, which was far too complicated to be a real spell.

'Yeah,' Harry replied. 'That sounds about right, but if we miss the demonstration, then we don't stand a chance, and we'll get even more homework.'

Ron thought about that for a second, and then broke into a sudden sprint.

'You're right...' he shouted back.

'Aren't I always?' Harry joked, as he took off after the red head.

- HPHPHP -

When the boys burst through the classroom door two minutes later, it was to find Hermione standing at the front, with Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstein and the attractive blonde Slytherin from Potions. Professor Flitwick looked up as the door opened, and smiled.

'Aha! We have our final members... If you two could come over here please.'

Harry and Ron strode over to where Hermione was standing, trying to work out what was going on. As they passed the desks, Harry saw Neville, Dean and Seamus sitting together, but although Seamus and Neville made eye contact, Dean kept his eyes locked onto the blackboard.

'These six achieved Outstandings at O.W.L. level,' Professor Flitwick told the rest of the class brightly.

Harry blushed, but next to him he could tell that Ron was proud of the acknowledgement.

'So,' the tiny man continued, 'if you have any problems, instead of calling me, you could ask one of these students.'

Ron's smile vanished instantly.

'There is no reason why anybody in this room should be unable to achieve an Outstanding N.E.W.T. grade, but it will require an enormous degree of commitment. The charms in this course are increasingly complicated.'

The professor let that hang in the air for a second, before he directed the six students back to their seats.

'Actually... Miss. Davis - if you could stay up here please.'

The Slytherin girl stayed where she was. Harry's memory, triggered by Flitwick's words, didn't take long to come up with the girls full name: Tracey Davis.

The short professor drew his wand.

'Nervous?' he asked Tracey, with a little bit of a smile.

She nodded.

'Good! It will make this demonstration more effective. Everybody watch my wand movement very closely.'

Professor Flitwick showed the class a complicated spiral. He did it again. Then, he turned, and cast the spiral in Tracey's direction, whilst shouting a charm.

'Serenus!'

Tracey immediately lost all of the tension in her shoulders. Her face broke into a soft smile, and she actually let out a melodic trill of relieved laughter.

'The Serenity charm,' Flitwick clarified. 'Perfect for relieving nerves. Very useful if you have an exam coming up, or a big date...'

The class laughed.

'Similar in effect to the cheering charm, but it produces a less euphoric reaction. Unfortunately, it is also far more complicated. As this spell can have some adverse side-effects, I don't want you to practise it on each other. You will take it in turns to come up here, and test your spell-casting on me.'

The sudden tension in the classroom was oppressive. The only people who didn't look tense were Flitwick and Tracey.

'We might as well start with you,' the professor told her, 'as you seem the calmest.'

It only took her a few attempts, with Professor Flitwick offering corrections, to produce the charm. The small man allowed it to hit him, and gave a contented smile.

'Very good. As you can see, the lack of nerves is also quite helpful when you are trying to learn something new. Lets see how the rest of you do... Miss. Granger?'

Hermione stood up, and walked to the front. As she passed Tracey, the blonde whispered something, and Hermione gave her a puzzled look, followed by a smile.

Typically, Hermione's charm worked first time, although as it reached the professor he raised a quick shield. She looked worried that maybe she had cast it wrong, but he soothed her doubts quickly.

'Perfectly cast there, but I think I'm serene enough already.'

Hermione relaxed and made her way to sit between Ron and Harry again.

'Now, who next? Mr. Weasley?'

Ron swore under his breath, but stood and walked forwards slowly. Hearing muttering from the back of the room, Harry turned to see Draco Malfoy sitting there, accompanied by Pansy Parkinson, but still without Crabbe or Goyle. Typical, Harry thought, that Draco would choose the same subjects as him. At least he wouldn't be in Hagrid's 'Care of Magical Creatures' class. Malfoy hated Hagrid's idea of 'interesting animals'.

Ron was facing up to the professor, looking as though he'd rather be facing Aragog again.

The boy's first seven or eight attempts produced nothing at all. Harry, knowing Ron's tendency to get flustered, worried that his friend would start to over-think it. A quick Serenity charm in Ron's direction now would be beneficial. Harry was just about to suggest it to Hermione, when Ron's wand produced a violent cracking sound. The air in the classroom filled with electricity, and Flitwick's hastily cast shield charm buckled under the magical pressure.

The professor dropped to his knees with a foolish grin, and then toppled forwards.

There was a moment of shocked silence in the classroom, with Ron looking stupidly at his wand. Then about ten people, including Harry, raced towards Flitwick's prone figure.

Hermione was the first there, and she checked for a pulse.

'Has Weasley killed him?' Malfoy shouted joyfully, from his seat at the back.

'He's breathing, and he's got a pulse,' Hermione replied, irritated. 'So you can shut up...'

'Enervate!' yelled Tracey.

The professor opened his eyes, and looked at the crowd of people towering over him.

'Where is Mr. Weasley?' he said, calmly.

'Here professor...' came a tiny apologetic voice, which sounded nothing like Ron's.

'That Serenity charm,' Flitwick began, 'was excellent...'

'Huh?'

'With that amount of power behind the charm, a deep, peaceful sleep is a common side effect. I would have needed a stronger shield...'

'So I didn't do something wrong?' Ron checked, finding it hard to believe.

'The wand movement was a little sloppy, and you need to put more emphasis on the second syllable of Se-ren-us, but in terms of power, it was astonishing.'

Ron beamed, and Harry caught sight of Dean groaning, out of the corner of his eye.

'Of course, that wouldn't be much use in the real world. If you ever want to use that charm, you'll have to learn how to control it. Have you noticed an increase in power for your other spells recently?'

'Well I've only cast one other charm since the summer,' Ron glanced at Malfoy with a grin, 'and that didn't seem any different.'

'Maybe it was a fluke then,' Flitwick said, clearly deep in thought. 'However, I suggest that you perform a few tests, to see whether you can produce the same intensity with other spells.'

'Now, where were we..? Ah yes. Mr. Potter, could you stay up here please. The rest of you can return to your seats... I assure you, I'm fine.'

The crowd dispersed.

'Now, Harry, in your own time...'

- HPHPHP -

Harry, Ron and Hermione left the classroom together, and headed down to lunch. Most of the talk was about Ron's frighteningly powerful charm, although Harry found a chance to ask Hermione a question.

'What did Davis say to you, when you went to try the charm?'

'Oh, she wished me luck.'

Off their incredulous expressions, Hermione continued.

'I know! I was surprised too, but they can't all be bad.'

'I thought that too... In fact I thought I might invite some of them into the D.A. this year' Harry agreed.

Hermione looked impressed.

'Good! We shouldn't write all Slytherins off, just because some of them agree with Voldemort. How are you going to decide which ones to trust?'

Ron made a grunting sound.

'He asked Snape, after Potions.'

'Oh?' Hermione asked, surprised. 'And how did he react?'

'He gave me a detention!' snapped Ron.

'What? Why?'

'Since when does Snape need a reason to give us detentions?'

'Fair point...' Hermione conceded. 'So do you have any more cunning plans, Harry?'

'If he does, he can wait until I'm out of the firing line!' Ron cut in.

'No,' Harry replied, ignoring the interruption. 'I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm almost tempted to just guess which Slytherins are trustworthy, but I'd be putting the whole D.A. at risk.'

'I'll give it some thought...' Hermione said, but Harry didn't like that plan.

'Hermione! How much work are you already trying to do for me? You're trying to study six subjects! You surely can't research Grindelwald's assassins, and study prophecies, and try to bring down Lydia Tachbrook, and still find time to assess the Slytherins.'

'So you're just going to forget about this..?'

'No! I'm going to work it out on my own. It can't be that hard.'

But by that afternoon, when Ron had gone off to Herbology, and Hermione was in an Arithmancy lesson, Harry had begun to regret his confidence.

How was he supposed to work out which Slytherins were trustworthy? He made a list of options in his head. Without Snape's assistance, he could only think of three: Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion and Legilimency.

As Harry was currently making Veritaserum in Potions lessons, it would be easy enough to steal a little bit, but whilst it would force honest answers out of the Slytherins, they would remember it afterwards, so that wasn't a lot of good. Also, it was highly illegal to use it, without consulting the Ministry of Magic.

Polyjuice Potion took months to brew, and even once it had been brewed, Harry would still have to interview every Slytherin in turn, posing as one of their friends. A lot of hassle, for very unreliable results.

Legilimency would have been the perfect way to weed out the traitors. He could just look them in the eyes, and detect the evil thoughts. Unfortunately, Legilimency was not a skill that Harry possessed. He had never even managed to get the hang of Occlumency, which was supposed to be easier.

Surely there had to be other ways? What would Hermione do? Maybe she would come up with some kind of test...

He could tie up Colin Creevey in the dungeons, and see how the Slytherins reacted - if they helped him, then they were clearly good people. If they didn't help him - well, actually, Harry could understand that too - Colin was very annoying. But maybe some other small defenceless Gryffindor...

Harry stopped himself from thinking along those lines. Hermione's solution to the problem definitely wouldn't involve anybody getting tied up in the dungeons. It was very well trying to think like her, but he simply wasn't as clever...

Harry was just about to give up, and start to work on his reading for Potions, when the answer hit him like a tonne of bricks. Dumbledore!

The Slytherins didn't necessarily trust the Headmaster, but that didn't matter. Dumbledore could perform the Legilimency that Harry was incapable of. Dumbledore must know which Slytherins were trustworthy, and which were hoping to become Death Eaters.

Even better, with the private lessons that Harry had asked for, it should be easy enough to raise the subject. He would just wait until he was alone with the professor, and ask him for a list...

Convinced that he had solved his problem, Harry went to fetch his Potions textbook, feeling considerably happier. By the time he had returned to the common room though, he was worrying again. This time it was about Ron.

Whilst Hermione had been impressed by his display of power in Charms, she had admitted herself that it was very odd. If she had known about Ron's other strange symptoms, Harry had a feeling that she would be putting together all sorts of theories. Harry didn't have her wealth of knowledge, all he had was a hunch - a hunch that the powerful Serenity charm and the 'hand sparks' were connected.

Ron seemed less worried, but then that was understandable. Whatever was going on had just allowed him to perform an extraordinary piece of magic. Harry almost wished that he could be in Herbology with his friend, to see whether anything else unusual was going on.

Still, here he was, alone in the common room, and with work to do. He opened the Potions book to the first page.

Chapter One: The Use Of Dragon's Liver As A Mixing Agent

God, this was going to be unbearably dull...

- HPHPHP -

The afternoon dragged on endlessly. It took Harry over an hour to complete his reading, because the chapter was needlessly complicated. It introduced a whole host of new techniques for mixing, and more than ten different ways of cutting dragon's liver. He had barely finished by the time Neville returned from Herbology. His fingers were a little dirty, but he was nothing compared to Ron, who traipsed in behind him. He looked as though he'd been mud-wrestling a mountain troll.

'Ron! What happened?'

'We were in Greenhouse Six, and I was helping Neville to re-pot a Carnivorous Knotweed, when suddenly, this Devil's Snare grabs me from behind. I thought I was dead - couldn't get to my wand, and Madame Pomfrey was busy helping Hannah Abbot.'

'Knotweed tried to bite her hand off...' Neville clarified.

'Anyway... Neville reacted dead quick. Cast an Incendio charm, fast as anything. That stinking weed let go straight away.'

Ron paused, and grimaced.

'Of course, I'd have preferred it if you hadn't set me on fire...'

Sure enough, there were singe marks around the hem of Ron's robes.

'I couldn't remember the charm for the cool flames. I had to use the normal ones...' Neville protested. 'And I put you out quickly didn't I?'

'Yeah,' Ron accepted. 'I suppose it could have been worse...'

'At least Malfoy wasn't watching...' Neville agreed.

'True... Dean was though.'

'Oh for God's sake Ron,' Harry snapped. 'You need to get over this. You like Dean, remember? He's a nice guy.'

'He was a nice guy...' Ron corrected. 'Now he's dating my sister...'

'So...?'

'You wouldn't understand...' he said, cryptically. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower.'

Harry gave up trying to make Ron see reason, and let him leave. He was glad that he'd let his friend go, because Hermione returned from her Arithmancy lesson a second later. Ron wouldn't have wanted her to see him in his current condition.

'Good lesson?' Harry asked, fearing the worst.

'Yes, thank you. Pretty uneventful actually.'

Well, thought Harry, at least somebody had one uneventful lesson today.

'Learn anything exciting?' Harry prompted.

'I doubt that you'd think so...'

She was probably right. Arithmancy didn't exactly appeal to Harry. He hadn't done any proper maths since he was in Muggle school, and that was fine with him...

'Where's Ron?' Hermione asked, realising that he ought to have returned with Neville.

'Taking a shower. Do you want to go down for dinner?'

Hermione looked a little disappointed, but she answered cheerfully enough.

'Sure. Why not? You joining us Neville?'

'Go ahead. I'll catch you up,' Neville replied, flashing his filthy hands at Hermione. 'I think I need a wash...'

- HPHPHP -

Dinner was, as usual, absolutely delicious, although Ron never turned up to enjoy it. As the time passed five o'clock, Harry realised that his friend must have headed down to his detention with Professor Snape. It was a shame, because the chicken and mushroom pie was one of Ron's favourites.

After they had eaten, Hermione disappeared to the library. Harry felt like he ought to follow her, and help out with the research, which was mainly for his benefit. However he couldn't face it - not on his first evening back, so he made his excuses, and trailed back to the Gryffindor tower with Neville. He was surprised, when he opened the portrait hole, to find Ron already there, sitting in a comfy chair, reading the Potions textbook.

'Ron! What are you doing here? You didn't forget about your detention, did you?'

'Of course I didn't. And since when did you turn into Hermione?' asked Ron, annoyed by the interrogation.

'Sorry... So what happened?'

'Snape needs to make his mind up... Honestly, I think he's losing it. I turned up at five, like he said...'

Ron paused.

'And..?' Harry prompted.

'He seemed really annoyed. Well, of course, he's always annoyed to see us, so I didn't think anything of it. But then he breaks into this big speech, about how he has better things to do with his time.'

'So?'

'Well, it turned out that he'd already fixed my potion for me...'

'What?!'

'I know!'

'Did he tell you why?'

'No, but it can't have been his idea. Do you think that maybe Dumbledore spoke to him? Told him to give me a break?'

'I don't know...' Harry responded, uncertain. 'Dumbledore doesn't like to give anybody preferential treatment...'

'Anyway, he told me to go away, and work out how he had rescued my dire attempt. Then, just before I left, he gave me this, said it was for you...'

Ron fished a crumpled piece of parchment out of his pocket, and handed it over.

Harry unfolded it cautiously, half expecting a curse to shoot out of it. He rested it onto a small table, and ran his hands over it to flatten it out.

The blank parchment began to fizz slightly, and then ink lines began to creep across it, forming words in the Potions Master's spidery script.

Theodore Nott

Millicent Bulstrode

'He's actually done it!' Harry laughed. 'I don't believe it... He must have set up your whole detention, so that he could get this list of names to me.'

For a whole second, Harry felt grateful to the oily wizard. That weird sensation was cut off rather abruptly though, as the list was completed.

Vincent Crabbe

Gregory Goyle

Pansy Parkinson

And finally, the ultimate insult...

Draco Malfoy