(1) Lux Brumalis (R. Weasley)

Chapter Fourteen

The first class that the Slytherins and the Gryffindors share is defence against the dark arts with Professor Quirrell. But Pixie is left disappointed in a class she was looking forward to. Tatiana always goes on about how much she enjoyed her classes. Pixie wanted that experience too. But Quirrell is a joke. His classroom stinks of garlic, he is an incompetent teacher, mumbling and unsure of his answers.

"What a joke" Pixie complains as she and Pansy leave the classroom together.

"How are we supposed to learn anything from a guy who can barely string a sentence together?" Pansy complains in agreement.

"Wait for it" Pixie then whispers as Draco and his friends leave the classroom behind them. "My father will hear about this" She mocks under her breath, Pansy smirks.

"My father will hear about this" Draco states, Pixie and Pansy laugh, looping arms with one another as they walk away. With the disappointment of defence against the dark arts, it puts transfiguration at the top of the list as her favourite, though she expects that will change when she has potions.

.......

By the end of the week, everyone seems to have fallen into a routine, they have their friends and for the most part, their seats in class, the only class that Pixie has yet to have is potions and it is the only class she has on Fridays. That's where she sits now, at the end of the second row, her legs swinging through the legs of her stool, head resting in her hand as she watches the rest of the class who wait of Professor Snape to arrive. She scribbles in her notebook as she talks with Pansy sat at her side. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle walk to where they are sat and lingers next to her table. Pixie ignores them in favour of setting up her potions notebook. Pansy glances between her and Draco, waiting to see what is about to happen.

"You're in our seats, Stark" Draco starts, Pixie hums a little.

"No assigned seats" She counters, not really caring either way. She's sitting and she is not about to get up and move.

"Move" He adds, she scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Bite me, Viserys" She comments without looking up at him, Draco glares at the back of her head.

"I'm serious, Stark" Draco continues. "I want to sit there, so move..."

"Make me" She counters when she looks up at him. She raises an eyebrow at him, willing him, daring him to make her move. But he doesn't try. She knew he wouldn't. He really is all talk. "That's what I thought" She chuckles and shakes her head as he walks away with his friends, finding a seat at the back of the class. Hermione sits on the row behind them along with Harry, Ron, and then rest of the Gryffindors. Pixie's eyes flicker to Ron who sticks his tongue out as he tries to balance his quill by the tip. She smirks a little, because that's not going to work at all. She goes back to scribbling so she doesn't notice that Ron looks at her now. The feather of her quill brushing over her cheek as she writes. Harry glances at Ron and then follows his eyes to Pixie, he smirks a little and shakes his head. Pixie blows a strand of hair from her face and then looks down at her textbook, just then the classroom door opens with a slam against the wall, Snape's robes billowing behind him as he strides with purpose into the classroom.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class" Snape states, his deep voice, though quiet, fills the room with ease. "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few..." He glances at Pixie. "Who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even stopper death. Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to....not pay attention" Harry blinks and looks up, to find Snape staring at him. "Mr Potter. Our new....celebrity" Snape comments. "Tell me. What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry doesn't know. Hermione's hand shoots up though. Pixie even raises her hand a little, not as insistent as Hermione, but just letting it be known that she knows the answer too. "You don't know" Snape points out. "Well, let's try again. Where, Mr Potter, would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Hermione tries to make herself known, pushing herself higher in her seat. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle are struggling not to laugh as they watch all of this unfold.

"I don't know, sir" Harry admits.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape asks him, still ignoring Hermione and Pixie. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" At this, Hermione actually stands from her seat, Pixie gives her a weird look but smirks a little.

"I don't know" Harry answers. "I think Hermione and Pixie do, though, why don't you try them?" A few people laugh, however, Snape is not amused.

"Sit down" He snaps at Hermione. "Miss Stark, the answers, if you please?" He asks of her, Pixie lowers her hand and sits up taller.

"Asphodel and wormwood are used to make Draught of Living Death" She answers. "A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons." She lists off on her fingers. "As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Snape nods along with her answers and then glances around the rest of the class.

"Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" Everyone scrambles for their quills and begin writing down everything he's just told them. "And five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter" Snape glances at Pixie who dips her quill in her ink. "And five to Slytherin for Miss Stark's knowledge"