The Potions Master's Daughter Part 2

CHAPTER 9 They all know

'Alice? Alice... Come on, wake up...'

Muffled voices were slowly beginning to reach Alice's ears. She could hear the sounds of chairs and tables scraping the wooden floor of the classroom. She lifted her heavy eyelids and blinked rapidly. Around her, students were scrambling out of the classroom, chattering excitedly. Suddenly, Alice jumped up in her seat seeing Theodore's face above her and feeling his hand clutching her arm. She realised she was slouched in her seat, half sitting-half lying by her desk.

'Come on Alice, class is over,' said Theodore. He had a worried expression on his face and kept looking over at Professor Moody who was busy wiping the blackboard. Alice quickly pulled herself together and gathered her things. As she stood up from her desk Blaise and Daphne caught up with her on their way out of the classroom.

'Were you snoozing?' Blaise giggled, poking her arm jokingly.

'We saw you taking a little nap at the end of the class,' Daphne sniggered. 'You missed the best part of the lesson, by the way!'

Alice muttered something incomprehensible and forced a smile. The three of them, joined by Theodore were already at the door when Alice heard the raspy voice of Professor Moody.

'Miss Pole, I'd like a word. The rest of you - outside!'

She ignored the terrified looks from her classmates and with her eyes fixed on the floor she walked obediently towards the teacher.

'I'm sorry, Professor, I–'

'Shush,' Moody waved his hand at her. He waited for the door to close behind the others and then said, 'Tell me, are you okay?'

Alice looked up at him in surprise. Both of his eyes were fixed at her; his blue glass eye was unmoving.

'Are you?'

'Yes, Professor.'

'Do you need to go to the hospital wing?'

'I'm okay, thank you.'

'Good.'

Moody surveyed her face a few seconds longer. 'It's hard, seeing this stuff for the first time. Dark magic and all. You get used to it with time. But you need to know. You need to see it. For your own sake. Got it?'

Alice nodded and fixed her eyes on the floor again.

'Right - dismissed. Now, I got to speak to Longbottom...'

Alice quickly left the classroom and found Blaise and Daphne waiting outside the door.

'What happened?' asked Daphne the moment Alice came up to them. 'Did he yell at you?'

'No, I...' Alice hesitated and looked at Daphne and Blaise's concerned faces. 'I think I fainted in there.'

'What - just now?'

'No, during class...'

'So you weren't asleep, you passed out?!' Daphne looked horrified. 'And we made fun of you!'

They both wrapped her in a tight embrace. 'We're so sorry, Alice!'

'It's okay, don't worry,' Alice smiled. She felt much better now. Telling her friends the truth was a huge relief. 'Come on, let's go. I don't want to bump into Moody again. He terrifies me.'

In the evening, Alice and other Slytherins sat together in the common room. Draco and Theodore were sitting together on the couch with Nigel and Christine from the fifth year who were helping them with their Transfiguration homework. Tracey and Milicent were playing wizard chess, while Pansy, Daphne, and Alice watched absent-mindedly. Blaise was sitting with the Quidditch team, questioning them about their favourite international teams and players.