Acrasia [t.r]

𝐈𝐕. 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋

2nd September, 1952.

That next day they did indeed all have Defence Against the Dark Arts first period with Professor Riddle. Alice was starting to realise the type of authority he had around here—any type of low-level chatter there had been before the lesson started ceased the moment he walked in the room.

Wasting no time, he briskly began by asking who could tell him anything about Chameleon Ghouls. Alice, having never even heard of the creature before, kept silent.

"Oh no," Grace whispered as Edward's hand shot up along with a  couple others. "This was part of the summer homework that I only did half of."

"Well at least you've done half! I'm walking into this entirely ignorant."

"You're smart, you'll manage."

Professor Riddle glanced around the room, scouring the class for an unwilling victim to pick on, rather than one of the students with their hands up. He must've overheard her clipped conversation with Grace as she was exactly who he decided to choose to answer the question.

"Umm, well a Ghoul is like a weird slimy thing that often sticks around in people's houses, right?" Grace floundered.

"To put it simply, yes." Riddle grimaced impatiently. He gestured for her to continue.

"So would a Chameleon Ghoul just be like a camouflage version of one of those?" It was clear Grace was just taking a stab in the dark, reasoned off the name of the creature alone but as it turned out it wasn't a bad guess.

"Not exactly. Edward?"

"A Chameleon Ghoul is a breed of ghoul with the ability to disguise itself as an everyday object to avoid detection."

"Thank you, Edward." Riddle gave a pointed glare at Grace as he responded to Edward's text-book-perfect answer, as if to say 'It's pretty obvious which one of you did the summer reading, and if you need a hint it's not you Grace.'

"Chameleon Ghouls—they're more pesky than actually dangerous, there is nothing quite like when an unassuming object suddenly turns into a ghoul on you, however with the right kind of spells they are simple to defeat."

For the next hour he gave a lecture about the all-fascinating topic of Chameleon Ghouls and the most effective defensive spells to use if you ever happened to come across one. The lesson was a little dull, nevertheless Alice studiously listened and took her notes. She supposed it was perhaps just because it was their first lesson back.

The rest of the day passed similarly. Alice was starting to feel the pressure. Even the particularly stupid kids seemed to know more than she did. Edward helpfully opted to be her partner in Potions so she could spend the time taking notes while he got on with the brewing.

It was exhausting. She was just about ready to fall asleep at the table when it finally got to dinner time. She'd been playing catch-up all day and it'd left her drained.

"So," Grace opened. "First day at Hogwarts Alice, how'd you find it?"

"Hard. Really hard. I know the subjects I'm taking are supposed to be similar but believe me, barely any content lines up."

"If you need help with anything just let me know, I'd be more than happy." Edward offered, a little too enthusiastically.

Alice gave a weak smile. "Thanks Edward."

***

That Saturday morning, Alice had been called in for a 'review' with Professor Dumbledore. She wasn't quite sure what it entailed but she guessed it had something to do with how impossible it was for her to keep up with her schoolwork.