Chapter Text
It was late at night in the Hufflepuff dorm, and all of Bee’s roommates were fast asleep. She, on the other hand, was wide awake, having stayed up the past few hours drawing before finally remembering she wanted to write to her grandparents.
“Lumos,” she whispered, and the tip of her wand glowed as she pulled a blank sheet of parchment from her notebook. She reached over and took the quill from her bedside table, dipping it in ink before beginning to write.
“Dear Gramma and Grampa,” she wrote, “I had a good first day at Hogwarts. I made three new friends today! There’s Natty: she’s so cool and nice! And there’s Poppy too! She’s super sweet, and she knows a lot about magical beasts!”
Her quill briefly paused on the parchment before she continued, “I also made a guy friend…his name’s Sebastian. He’s pretty cute I think. Freckles, fluffy hair, big eyes…” She tints slightly pink upon realizing what she’s writing, but doesn’t have the patience to rewrite everything she’d already gotten down. She quickly adds, “He’s pretty cocky though, so I don’t really have a crush on him.” She bites her lip. She already knows that’s not going to fool them. Honestly, she can barely even fool herself. She shakes her head. Nevermind. Move on.
“I really enjoyed my first classes, too!” She wrote, “I had Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures! That one was definitely my favorite!” She smiles, recalling her earlier class she’d spent with Poppy. “I met a puffskien today! His name’s Gerald, and he’s sooo cute!! I got to feed, brush, and pet him!!”
“I also went to Hogsmeade: a wizarding village!” She thought back to her journey there. “I saw so many amazing things! There were lacewing flies, which are like dragonflies in the day. And there were honking daffodils and leaping toadstools too!” She paused, then added a few sketches of the plants.
“And– oh! I can’t believe I almost forgot! I saw thestrals and hippogriffs! The thestrals were pulling a carriage, and the hippogriffs flew overhead! They were even more majestic in person!!” She added the finishing touches to her doodles of the two animals, looking over them with a satisfied smile.
“Anyway….tomorrow, I have Potions, Herbology, and Flying.” She winces as she imagines herself immediately getting bucked off her broom. Or crashing. Or just falling in general. She was quite certain it would happen, and wasn’t very keen on the thought. “…I’m pretty nervous for the last one.”
She sighs and decides to change the subject, not wanting to delve into her anxiety right before bed. “How are things back home? I already feel homesick. Frog does too.” She glances up from her parchment and sees her cat sleeping on the edge of her bed, curled up in a tight ball, fast asleep. Her heart aches somewhat at the sight. Most might not be able to tell, but she’s lived with Frog her whole life. Her kitty is feeling down.
She won’t deny she feels the same.
“I already miss your honey cakes, Gramma. And Grampa, how are the plants doing? I imagine they’re faring much better now that I’m not in charge of watering them, haha. I hope you both are doing well. I love and miss you. Love, Bee.”
She sets her quill back into its inkpot and sits in silence for a few moments, her mind briefly going nowhere as she stares off into the darkness. She finally musters the energy to move her still somewhat-sore body out of the bed and to her new pet owl, Hoot. She quickly folds the letter into an envelope and seals it with a bit of magic before handing it out to the bird, who happily takes it.
“Thanks for doing this on such short notice, Hoot,” she says softly, gently running a hand through his feathers. The owl nuzzles into her palm affectionately and flies to the windowsill. She stands on her tiptoes and creaks the glass pane open, allowing the owl to fly out into the night sky, her letter in its beak.
She stares after it until the bird fades into the darkness, too far to see. She looks out into the night sky for a few moments, simply gazing out at the view. She then quietly closes the window and pads back to her bed. She crawls into the covers and melts into the mattress, the soreness of her muscles somewhat relaxing now that she’s supine.
She stares up at the ceiling. She lets out a long, deep sigh.
….So much has happened the past two days, she thinks to herself, her brows furrowing slightly. First the dragon attack….then the troll….and now Ranrok and Rookwood are after me. She swallows, a cold prickle going through her as each horrid memory replays in her mind in all-vivid detail. She blinks quickly, feeling tears beginning to pool in her eyes. She turns on her side, fixing her gaze on the mattress instead of the darkness above, which left too much to the imagination.
….It’s scary.
She sniffs, a hot, salty fluid escaping the corner of her eye. Suddenly, she felt something small and soft bump against her arm. And gasped softly and flinched, glancing down to see Frog there, evidently still awake, her yellow eyes blinking at her in the dark. Bee’s brief fear melts into fond affection, happy to see her friend there with her. “Aww…hi, Frog,” she whispers, sitting up slightly so she can pet the feline, “hi, girl….”
The black cat purrs under her touch, rubbing against her hand and arm with a comforting familiarity. Bee’s smile softens further, her previous anxiety beginning to melt away in the company of her familiar friend. She gently moves her arm and tugs Frog closer to her, bringing the cat to her chest, where she holds her close.
Frog easily settles in and gets comfortable. Cuddling was something they had done often when she was growing up. Bee’s blinks gradually grow heavier, her breaths growing slower as the seconds pass. Finally, her eyes slip shut and her hands relax as sleep begins to overtake her.
Thanks, Frog.
____________________________
Bee awoke to the sound of arguing. She groaned, blinking her eyes open against the thankfully gentle morning light seeping through the windows. She sat up, trying to see the source of the commotion, and noticed Frog was no longer by her side. Instead, the cat was currently being held by Poppy, who was bickering with Lydia.
“I told you already, I don’t want that cat near me!” Lila whined, glancing back at Frog every few seconds as though afraid she might pounce on her any moment. “Well then maybe next time you shouldn’t bring bacon into the dorm room,” Poppy sighed, trying to remain calm but sounding clearly irritated. “And why not?” Lila huffed, “it’s my dorm, I should be able to eat what I want in here without having to worry about getting attacked!”
“She wasn’t going to attack you,” Poppy says, voice rising in volume as she grows increasingly frustrated, “she was just drawn to the food!! Why are you so scared of her anyway, she’s a cat for Merlin’s sake!” Bee’s other roommate, whose name she was pretty sure was Adelaide, gently said, “Poppy, Lila, if you’re going to argue, can you please take it outside? You’ve woken Bee…”
The two girls glance over and see Bee is indeed sitting up, her hair messy and eyes still tired. “Sorry, Bee,” Poppy apologizes, “didn’t mean to wake you. It’s just this one here”– she shoos Lila an irritated glance– “is complaining about your cat again.”
“I wouldn’t be complaining if she didn’t come sprinting toward me like I was the fresh meat!” Lila snapped back, then turned on her heel. As she stormed off, she cried, “I can’t live like this!! I’m going to request for a new dorm!” After the door closes behind her, Poppy mutters, “thank goodness. I thought she’d never leave.”
“Poppy…” Adelaide begins, and Poppy shakes her head, “no, come on, Addie. Everyone can agree that Lila isn’t the most pleasant person to be around. I mean, the girl complains about everything.” Poppy shakes her head and slips on her socks. “Little hard to enjoy the company of someone who only wants to gripe about every little thing.”
Adelaide presses her lips together but doesn’t argue. Instead, she turns to Bee, offering a small smile. “How did you sleep?” Bee shrugs, offering a tired smile back. “Alright. I’m still a bit drained from yesterday, to be honest.”
“I imagine so,” Adelaide says, nodding slowly with a furrowed brow, “I would be too after battling a troll.” Bee winced, and Adelaide’s eyes widened before she apologized, “oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Bee shakes her head, slipping out of bed and beginning to sort through her closet for her uniform. “It’s okay. I’ll get over it. I already survived a dragon, after all.” She chuckles lightly at her weak attempt at a joke, which Adelaide thankfully laughs along to as well, avoiding any more awkwardness.
In all truthfulness, Bee most certainly wasn’t over everything that had happened yesterday and the day before. But she wasn’t going to think about that right now. She needed to get ready for her classes today.
She gave Frog a few last pets before bidding her cat goodbye as she set out for her first class of the day.
As she made her way out of the common room, she checked her schedule. Seems she has Herbology first. She followed the map Professor Weasley had given her until she arrived at the greenhouses. The pleasant scent of flora immediately hit her upon entering, and the greenery everywhere reminded her of how the Hufflepuff common room was decorated. She had remembered someone offhandedly mentioning the Herbology teacher, Professor Garlick, had decorated it this way.
She turned when she heard said name spoken in one of the greenhouses. She made her way inside, and immediately fell into awe upon seeing all the lovely plants in the area.
Her wide brown eyes traced over the flora growing along the windows and walls, delicate and pleasantly green. There were plants of all kinds up against the walls; spiky plants, bulbous plants, fuzzy plants, soft plants. Plants that widened and twisted, and others that splayed out like palms. Her gaze lingered on one plant in particular that vaguely reminded her of a venus flytrap. In front of it, a woman with pretty red hair in braids spoke with one of her classmates.
After the girl left, Bee hesitantly approached and said, “um….Professor Garlick?” The woman turned toward her with a smile, holding out a basket of ear plugs, when her eyes widened. “Ah, hello!” She greeted.
She shot Bee a warm smile before turning to the class and saying in her breezy voice, “Class, please welcome the newest rose in our garden.” Bee blushed slightly as the class’s attention suddenly turned to her. She offered a shy smile when she noticed Sebastian among the crowd of students.
‘Wait….is he….?’ He shot her a smirk, tilting his head slightly, clearly meaning to tease her. She blushed red. ‘Is he staring at me??!’
He clearly was, as his gaze remained entirely on her even as she made her way to the nearest empty seat, which was unfortunately next to his. As Professor Garlick began to address the class, Bee found herself unable to focus with his gaze still prickling on the back of her neck. She whirled around and whispered sharply, “stop staring at me!!”
His smirk widened further at her annoyance and he whispered back in a silky voice, “I’m not. I’m looking at the new rose.” She felt her cheeks heat up, completely and utterly fed up with his teasing already. “That- just- shut up!” She sputtered out, quickly turning away to try and refocus her attention back on her teacher, and decidedly ignoring his snickers behind her.
“The prudent Herbologist is no more afraid of the Venomous Tentacula than the Bouncing Bulb,” Professor Garlick continued, casually throwing a fig to the flytrap-like plant as she strolled to the back of the room where she stood behind her desk.
“Now then,” she said cheerily, “Today we will be acquainting ourselves with the mellifluous tuber known as the Mandrake Root.” Sebastian winced at the name as Professor Garlick summoned one to her desk. “Mandrake….oh perfect. What a way to start the year,” he sighed. “Mandrake? What’s that?” Bee whispered, and he shot her an unhappy glance. “You’ll see.”
“Mandrake root: very loud. Hurts ears. Can shatter glass. WEAR EAR PLUGS. Also very cute :)” Bee shut her notebook after writing her newest entry and groaned, rubbing her still-slightly-ringing-ears.
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected her first lesson in Herbology to be, but she certainly hadn’t thought it would nearly deafen her. On the upside, she was glad to know she had someone so upbeat as a professor. It made the headache-inducing lesson substantially more enjoyable.
“Miss Bluelake?” A pleasant voice made her turn and see Professor Garlick there. “Hello dear,” she greeted warmly, “Firstly, well done with your Mandrake. They can be rather difficult to – get a grasp of.”
To put it lightly, Bee thought amusedly. She smiled and said, “I actually… rather enjoyed the lesson. It hurt my head a little, but your enthusiasm was, um, pretty infectious. And getting them comfortable in the new soil was fun.”
“Ah, how kind of you,” Garlick smiled, “it seems you’re already taking to Herbology like a Mandrake to fresh soil.” Bee returned her smile and said, “I do have a bit of experience with gardening from back home. I’ve never worked with screaming plants before”- she giggled- “but I am familiar with plants. My Grampa is a gardener, see.”
Garlick’s eyes lit up and she said, “oh, how lovely! I’m sure you must know all about taking care of them, then!” Bee’s smile turns a bit more sheepish as she says, “well, yes, I do know the process. Just, um….a matter of remembering, sometimes.” Garlick laughs lightly and replies, “a problem many herbologists face, and that is easily solved, dear! There is a charm you can cast on your plants to ensure they water themselves! Mr. Wood often utilizes it, as he’s busy with schoolwork.”
Bee glances at the boy she gestured to, who was currently trying to throw popcorn to the venomous tentacula like a game of basketball, his friend laughing beside him as the plant snaps its jaws in the air, trying to catch the kernels. Schoolwork…right.
“Anyway, as I mentioned, next we will be planting Dittany. Let us find you some seeds,” Garlick said. “Actually, I already have some,” Bee says, pulling out the seeds she’d miraculously remembered to bring with her, “I bought some at Hogsmeade yesterday.”
“You visited the Magic Neep?” Garlick said, eyes widening in pleasant surprise, “Wonderful. A prepared student is bound to bloom. I’ve arranged for you to have your own potting table here in the classroom. Wasn’t easy to spare one on such late notice.” Garlick gestures to the empty pot on Bee’s desk and continues, “Plant the seeds there now and you can return to harvest them later. Even with soil, sunlight, and a bit of magic - they will take time to grow.”
Bee nods and digs a spot in the soil, gingerly placing her seeds in and re-covering them with dirt. She pats the top flat and searches for her water bottle. Uh oh. She forgot to bring it.
“Here,” a boy’s voice said, and she turned to see the redheaded boy Sebastian had been dueling yesterday standing beside her. He says, “Aguamenti”, and a stream of water spills on top of the soil patch, watering the yet-to grow plant. “Thank you,” Bee says with a smile, and Garlick claps.
“Well done! And thank you for you assistance, Mr. Prewett.” She turns toward Bee and says, “Mr. Prewett here has kindly offered to accompany you to your next assignment. The Chinese Chomping cabbage!”
“Chomping cabbage?” Bee repeats, not much liking the sound of that. Garlick giggles and says, “oh, yes! One of the many plants more useful outside of a cauldron! The cabbages do get testy without something to chew. Fortunately, I have a dummy for them to gnaw on. Be a dear and let them have a good chomping!”
Garlick shoots her a wink before heading off to help some other students. Bee thinks she was meant to feel reassured, but still isn’t too keen on the idea of getting her hands bitten off by murderous plants. Herbology seemed much less peaceful of a class than she thought it would be.
“Don’t worry, they only bite when you throw them,” the boy said, “well…most of the time”. He cleared his throat and said, “I’m Leander. Nice to meet you.” He held out a hand, and she took it, the two exchanging an awkwardly firm shake.
“Saw you on your way to Hogsmeade the other day,” he said, “Bee, right?” She nods, smiling politely, and replies, “yes. Nice to meet you too.” As if remembering the were still shaking hands he suddenly pulls his hand away and turns on his heel, exiting the room. “I’ll be showing you the Chinese Chomping cabbages,” he says as she catches up to him, “up these stairs’ll take us there.”
The two exited the room and walked through the greenhouse toward the room with the chomping cabbages. “Nice work in Defense Against the Dark Arts, by the way,” he said as they walked. She blinks in surprise. “Huh? Oh, um….thank you.”
“Your duel with Sebastian was fantastic!” Leander continued, “He’s good. Thinks he’s really good. But you outright slaughtered him.” He laughs. “It was brilliant.”
She smiles awkwardly, feeling a bit put off by the odd compliment. At least she thinks it was a compliment? It honestly sounded a bit more like a barb toward Sebastian. “Um….thank you?” She offers as a reply, unsure of how to respond to this. Unlike Leander, who seemed rather enthusiastic about her victory, she still found herself looking back on her outburst with embarrassment. She really hadn’t meant to lose her temper like that.
Leander didn’t seem to catch her awkward tone as he continued on, “I nearly put Sebastian in his place myself. I mean, I would’ve, if Hecat hadn’t stopped me.” Bee raised an eyebrow. She remembers that incident going very differently.
“Didn’t she stop that dragon skull from crushing you?” She says, keeping her voice careful but trying to fight back a giggle. “Pff. Typical Slytherin trick,” Leander grumbles, “dropping a dragon skull on someone during a fight. We Gryffindors fight with honor.”
Catching the pride seeping into his voice, he quickly adds, “and, uh, Hufflepuffs too!! At least you did.” Before she can think of a reply, they arrive at the next greenhouse. “Here we are, home of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage,” he says, leading her to a tray full of them.
“Awww, they look so cute,” Bee coos, reaching toward them to pet and forgetting they bite. He quickly pulls her hand back just as it snaps toward her finger. She lets out a shriek and he advises, “best to carry them with Levioso. They’re unpredictable when they’re hungry.”
She nods and levitates them. He walks over toward a dummy and says, “Now, see that dummy? Just toss the cabbages at it. They’ll do the rest.” She hesitates, unsure if this is a safe idea, before flicking her wand, her magic dissipating as the cabbages are flung toward the dummy.
They immediately latch onto the dummy and begin to mercilessly tear it to pieces, making her jump back in surprise. Those things are ruthless.
“Look at that,” Leander says in awe, as if watching a light show rather than a brutal plant attack on a helpless dummy, “they’ll chomp on anything they can get their– uh…mouths?– on.”
“You can say that again,” Bee says, wincing as one cabbage tears off a section of the dummy’s ‘face’.
Leander laughs and says, “Mum planted some in her garden last year to keep the gnomers out. Did save her the de-gnoming, but they left the Honking Daffodils in tatters.”
He tilts his head toward her and grins. “Vicious little bastards, aren’t they? My kind of plants – not like stupid bubotubers and bouncing bulbs. The kind of plants that’d have your back in a fight.” She glances back at the savage little cabbages and agrees, “I can imagine so…assuming they don’t attack you first.”
“Not saying you can’t go it alone,” he continues, “but, well– imagine that wasn’t a dummy.” She winces and laughs nervously as a cabbage bursts through the dummy’s chest, snarling and gnawing on cotton. “I’d rather not imagine that. I feel like casting a spell would be more merciful than throwing these things at anyone.”
Leander shrugs and hands her a few sedate ones, saying, “well, just consider it. They can be useful, especially if you want to fight from a distance. Or if your wand isn’t working. Or if you need a distraction. Merlin knows they’ll be a great distraction.” She glances back at the feral plants, still tearing apart the shreds that remained of the dummy.
“I guess that’s one way to put it.”
Bee returns to the first treehouse with Leander, where she’s surprised to see her seeds have already fully grown into dittany plants. She harvests a bit to use for her next class in potions needed, just as the bell rings. She should have a few minutes of free time before her next class begins.
She walks out of the classroom and pauses briefly. She stands in place, shutting her eyes and inhaling the sweet fragrance of all the different flowers and other flora. The air is fresh, sweet, and also a tad pungent of a plant she can’t identify. Foreign but also familiar. It reminds her of her Grampa’s garden back home.
She shakes her head, clearing her head of its wistful thoughts as she exits the greenhouse. She gets the feeling potions is going to be a hard class for her, and decides she’d better do something to practice. Perhaps she could borrow a potions book from the library?
She makes her way there, often glancing down at the map in her hands to make sure she’s going the right way (she still makes several wrong turns. She’s never been good with directions.)
She finally manages to locate the library, and opens the door only to nearly run face-first into another girl exiting the library.
“Ah!”
“Eep!”
“Sorry!” They both said at the same time. They exchanged a shy chuckle, before the tall hufflepuff girl went on her way.
Bee continued on into the library, tucking her map back into her satchel. She really needed to be more aware of her surroundings. She paused upon entering, being struck in awe by just how big it was. It was certainly a lot bigger than the one in her neighborhood back home.
She checked the library referendum and went into the section where potions was supposedly located.
….It was wrong, of course. Even when she followed instructions, she never could seem to find what she was looking for. She wasn’t sure if it was bad luck or if she just wasn’t reading them properly, but she instead found herself in the astronomy section.
“Looking for something?” A girl’s voice said. Bee turns to see a very pale girl with white hair and violet eyes looking up at her with an amused grin. Next to her, a blond Gryffindor girl sits with her, a book of her own in her lap.
Bee’s eyes widen in surprise. Wait…she knew them! The girls seemed to recognize her as well, as the blond girl– Lyra, she thinks it was?– says, “hey, wait…Aren’t you that girl in Hogsmeade yesterday? The one who was fighting the troll with Sebastian?” Bee nods, offering them a grateful smile. “Yes, that’s me. I’m Bee. You two are among those who helped us out yesterday! I wanted to thank you.”
“No problem,” the other girl said with a grin, “I’m Carina. And this is Lyra.” Bee and Lyra exchanged a shy wave before Lyra asked, “how did you end up fighting a troll anyway? Carina and I were just shopping for candy in Honeydukes when it showed up.”
Bee grew a bit nervous as the memory of her encounter with the troll and later Rookwood and Harlow resurfaced in her mind. She swallows and laughs nervously. “Ah…I’m not sure. One showed up before it actually, but a few townspeople led it away. When the second showed up, Sebastian and I just so happened to be unlucky enough for it to notice us and charge.” Bee shivers at the memory. “It nearly crushed us.”
“That’s awful,” Lyra says, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Carina, “I’d probably freeze if that happened to me.” “I almost did,” Bee says, voice wavering a little, “but I managed to duck away just in time.”
Carina’s brows furrow and she says, “I’m still wondering what a troll was doing in Hogsmeade in the first place. They normally stay pretty far off in the forests and near the lake. It’s rare for them to even get close to the countryside.”
“Yeah….strange….” Bee says, her voice trailing off. She knew why, of course. She had overheard Ranrok, Rookwood, and Harlow talking; she knew they had purposefully sent the troll there so they could….
Noticing Bee’s discomfort, Lyra decides to change the subject, and asks, “um, were you looking for something?” Bee blinks, snapping out of her thoughts. “Huh? Oh, yes. I’m trying to find a book on potions, but I ended up in the wrong section…”
“You can borrow mine,” Lyra says with a smile, holding out a book from her pile titled “Potion Ingredients and Their Properties: A Comprehensive Guide”. “Oh…uh, are you sure?” Bee asks, “I don’t want to take away something you might need.”
“I’ll be fine,” Lyra says, handing it to her, "I just wanted to look over it really quickly before class began. But you’ll need it more than I will.” Carina nods and says, “that’s right, you’re the new fifth year, aren’t you?”
Bee nods, gratefully accepting the book, and replies, “yeah, I am. I’m still trying to get used to the fact that everyone knows who I am, haha.”
“I’d be pretty put-off too,” Lyra agrees with a nod, “I’m so used to blending into the background, I’d be startled if people knew who I was before I introduced myself.” “Right? It’s so bizarre,” Bee giggles.
“You two are lucky,” Carina sighs, “I’ve been gawked at like that my whole life. What I wouldn’t give to have a bit of privacy sometimes.” She smiles and adds, “luckily, I’ve managed to find a quiet place here with Lyra. If you ever want to join us in the library sometime, feel free. We like to meet up here after school on Wednesdays and the weekends to read together. It gives a nice break from the world.”
Bee’s eyes widen in surprise. “You…want me to join you? Really? That- that would be okay?” Lyra nods and says, “of course. Only if you’d like to. It’s a nice, quiet spot though, so you can come here if you ever feel overwhelmed.”
Bee smiles, a warmth spreading through her at the kindness extended to her. “Well…alright. If you really don’t mind.” The bell rings, signaling to the students to start heading to their next class. The two girls rise and gather their things. “I guess we’ll see you later, then?” Carina asks with a grin. “Yeah….okay. I’ll meet you here,” Bee says with a smile. The three girls bid each other goodbye as they head off to their respective classes.
Bee holds the potions book against her chest, trying not to let herself get too excited. Five new friends….and it’s only her third day here! Even if she had her fair share of…um, trouble, recently….at least she was making friends, right?
Bee arrived at her next class in potions just in time, having only managed to go the wrong direction three times before she found her way here. She looked around and noticed most of the desks were full, and that the few people she recognized were already sitting at full tables. Their professor doesn’t seem to have arrived yet. She spots an empty table near the corner and decides to sit there.
She sits down at her chair and notices a corner of movement from her eye. Sebastian is waving at her from his table. He moves to sit up and walk over to her when Professor Sharp enters.
He’s a stern-looking man, with sharp eyes and a limp to his step. He speaks: “Potions is one of the most challenging and hazardous subjects taught at this school. As fifth-years, you will be required to teach new heights of both discipline”– He shoots a significant glance toward Garreth– “and intellect.”
He stops at the front of the room and says, “You will begin this term by brewing a Wiggenweld Potion.” His gaze flicks over the class before saying, “Mister Thakkar. Can you tell us why this particular potion might come in handy?”
Bee glances in that direction and sees a Ravenclaw boy answer, “Yes, Professor Sharp! The Wiggenweld Potion can be used to sterilize and even heal a variety of injuries.” Sharp nods and says, “It can heal some injuries, but not all. Points for Ravenclaw.”
He continues on, “Before today’s class is completed, each of you will have brewed a Wiggenweld Potion of your own…You never know when you might need it.” He sits down. “Please begin.”
Bee takes out the potions book Lyra lent her and flips open to the table of contents when the door suddenly bursts open, a familiar girl with wild red hair hurrying in. “Sorry, I’m late!” She says, trying to somewhat smooth her mussed hair with one hand as she balances a stack of school supplies with the others. Sharp lets out a long-wined sigh as she hands him a tardy slip.
“Late again, Miss Bell?” He says in exasperation, and she grins sheepishly. “Sorry, Professor. Was finishing up some extra practice on my broom.”
“Quidditch was canceled this year,” Sharp says flatly, pointing out her obvious lie as if her smeared lipstick wasn’t giveaway enough to her true activities.
He shakes his head and sighs again, waving her off. “Nevermind. But it is a detention next time.” “Thank you Professor,” she says, quickly nodding and beginning to head toward a seat near Garreth.
“Ah-ah. Not this year,” Sharp calls, “you two are far too much trouble sat together. You’ll sit at this table with Miss Bluelake.” He points to the table Bee is at and she freezes, glancing up from her potions book to see Jocie now looking at her. Jocie looked disappointed at being denied to sit where she’d wanted, but her green eyes widen slightly in interest when she sees Bee.
Jocie goes over and sits at another chair at the table as Sharp enchants the chalk to write the potion instructions on the chalkboard. The students go to the shelves to get the materials they will need for today’s lesson. Bee watches the other students to see what they get, unsure of what she should be collecting for her first class. After her classmates get their bowls, the remaining ones are left on a high shelf she finds herself unable to reach.
“Need some help, there?” A familiar teasing voice calls, and a hand reaches past her, plucking one of the bowls from the high shelf and handing it to her. “Thanks,” she says, and Sebastian grins. “Of course. Though I will warn you. It may be a little hard to focus on the lesson if you’re sitting with Jocie,” he chuckles. Before she can ask him to elaborate, he’s already heading back off to his own table.
She returns to her own and prepares her materials and ingredients, once again referring to her book. “Psst! Hey!” Bee glances up to see Jocie looking at her with a grin. “It’s Bee, right?” Jocie whispered loudly, “you’re the girl I saved yesterday!”
Bee smiles and whispers back, “yes, I am. Thank you for that by the way.” “No, problem!” Jocie says, then giggles and adds, “though maybe you should stop picking fights with creatures twice your size! First a dragon and now a troll…for someone who looks like she doesn’t want to be noticed, you sure draw a lot of attention to yourself!”
Bee flushes red and whispers back, “it’s not like I meant to get into either of those encounters. They just attacked me–“ She gets cut off as Sharp begins the instructions for the lesson. She quickly refocuses her attention to it and begins to crush her ingredients as Sharp instructs.
Jocie doesn’t seem finished talking as she continues, “how come, though? What exactly didja do to piss them off? I mean, you gotta be honest, a dragon attack and a troll in Hogsmeade aren’t exactly what we’d call common around here.”
Bee glances up anxiously, not wanting to discuss the subject matter at the moment while she is trying to focus on her class assignment.
“Please be meticulous when adding powder to your potion,” Sharp’s voice instructed, and Bee gingerly took some powder between her fingers, “One errant sneeze could be disastrous.”
“I’d rather not talk about it at the moment,” Bee whispers in response to Jocie, carefully adding no more than a pinch of dittany to her potion. Jocie nods and says, “oh, yeah, of course, of course. Sorry. Ravenclaw curiosity, y’know?” She laughs and Bee offers a smile as she adds two drops of horklump juice to her potion.
“Oh, you’ll wanna add five,” Jocie advises just as Bee moves to set the bottle down. Bee does as instructed, and the cauldron bubbles in approval. “Thanks.” She begins to stir, making small, circular motions, just as Sharp’s instructions say.
“No problem,” Jocie giggles, “anytime you need potion help, feel free to talk to me! I’m plenty experienced in them. That’s what happens when you’ve got Garreth for a cousin.” She leans in and whispers, “he causes a lot of potion explosions.”
“Mr. Pippin did seem awfully agitated when he saw him in his shop,” Bee says with a smile, and Jocie laughs, saying, “oh, yes, definitely! Poor Mr. Pippin’s been dealing with Garreth’s potion mishaps since first year! I personally think he himself has had to take quite a few calming droughts so he doesn’t blow up at Garreth!”
The two girls exchange a giggle as Sharp rises from his seat and begins to inspect everyone’s potions. Bee falls silent, a mild anxiety welling up within her as her professor approaches their table. After looking over Jocie and giving the okay, he looks over Bee’s brew as she waits in trepidation. Finally, he says, “Hmm…not an easy potion to brew. Well done, Miss Bluelake.” He hands her a flask, which she fills with her new potion. She tries not to look too pleased at her success.
“And from what I hear of your recent exploit in Hogsmeade, you’d also do well to practice brewing the defensive Edurus potion,” he says, “Professor Weasley had you acquire the recipe from J. Pippin’s, correct?”
She nods, “yes, Professor.”
“Good. For the moment you can find the materials you need in my office,” he says, “but in the future, you’ll be expected to provide your own ingredients. Come and see me when you’ve finished brewing, and we’ll see if it was skill or luck the first time.”
She nods, going toward his office, only to be stopped by Garreth. “Hello there! Bee, right? I’m Garreth Weasley,” He says, offering her a wide grin, “did I hear Professor Sharp say that you have permission to go into his office?”
She thinks back to what Jocie had said earlier about him causing a lot of explosions. “He did…” she says carefully, “why do you ask?” “Because you, my friend, have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity!” Garreth says, and Bee gets the feeling she already knows where this is going.
“He’s going to ask you to get ingredients from Sharp’s office,” someone says, and she turns to see Sebastian there, observing the exchange with an amused grin. “What? No, I-“ Garreth begins to defend himself, but then Amit adds, “he is. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Sharp will find out; he always does.”
Garreth sputters, clearly not very happy about the interruption, before returning his attention back to Bee, his smile a little more desperate now. “Listen, Bee! What I’m working on- it’s certain to be spectacular! Way better than any old Edurus potion! I only need a single fwooper feather! He won’t miss it, they aren’t that valuable!”
“Just go,” Sebastian tells her with a nod. She shoots Garreth an apologetic glance and goes into Sharp’s office. “Sorry….” “Wait, but–! Ohhh!” Garreth turns back to Sebastian and Amit, complaining about their intervention.
Bee checks her recipe for the Edurus potions and takes only the ingredients she needs. Her eyes briefly linger on the fwooper feather Garreth had asked her to get. She will admit, it is rather pretty.
She makes her way out of the room with her ingredients. She notices Jocie back over by the table where her cousin is at, taking something out of her bag and handing it to him with a mischievous grin. Seems he found an alternative ingredient, Bee thinks, shaking her head with a small smile.
She quickly brews the Edurus potion by following the instructions on her sheet. As she does so, she can’t help but overhear Garreth from his table.
“And now we add the Mallowsweet and – that’s odd. What’s happening?” Bee glances toward him and sees his cauldron bubbling dangerously. “Wait. It’s not supposed to–Augh!”
Before he can say more, the cauldron suddenly sparkles and fizzes, as fireworks shoot into the air.
“Garreth! Not again!” Amit hisses, irritably covering his own potion to prevent drops of the errant potion from falling into his brew. “Oh! The smell!” A girl complains. Sebastian quickly jumps away before a spark hits his robes. Jocie is laughing hysterically.
The potion finely begins to die down, the last remaining fireworks dissipating into the air. “Dragon dung! What happened?!” Garreth exclaimed, looking shocked at the catastrophic failure of a potion. “Heh. Well done, Garreth,” another girl drawls.
Professor Sharp only sighs, pinching his nose bridge. “What now, Mr. Weasley?”
“Sorry, Professor,” Garreth says, shooting his still-laughing cousin an annoyed glance.
“That’ll be points from Gryffindor – again.” Jocie laughs harder. Garreth elbows her, and she does the same back, earning a grunt from him.
Bee tries to suppress her own giggles as she makes her way toward Professor Sharp with her newly finished Edurus potion. “Professor, I’ve finished brewing my Edurus potion,” she says, handing it to him to evaluate.
He examines the flask before handing it back to her, nodding in approval. “Glad you managed to stay on task. Not every class is so eventful,” he says, “You’ve done well today. I confess I was skeptical given the advanced nature of this class, and the fact you’re a new student. Very well, then.” He announces, “class is dismissed!”
The students begin to file out, and she gives him one last grateful nod before she goes to join her classmates.
She still had one more class for today. Flying. She gulped, trying not to let her anxiety overwhelm her. She wondered if she might be able to use the Edurus potion in that class for the high probability that she would fall.