Work of Karma || Cedric Diggory [2]

Chapter 4: The Potions Prodigy

It was only the first day of their sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everything felt like it had fallen into place already. The ceiling of the Great Hall was serene blue in color and streaked with wispy white clouds. The hall was noisy but calmer than the previous night as the students busied themselves with their breakfasts while the Heads of Houses passed out their timetables. But what really made Analeigh feel like nothing had changed since they left last term was Ron being excited to slack off, Hermione already pestering him to study, and Harry silently eating his food while his best friends bickered with each other.

"I love being a sixth year," Ron was saying. "And we're going to be getting free time this year. Whole periods when we can just sit up here and relax."

"We're going to need that time for studying, Ron!" Hermione said, nearly dropping a spoonful of her porridge when she tried pointing at Ron in a scolding manner.

While munching on some bacon, Analeigh multitasked as she read the contents of Cedric's letter that she received just that morning. It was mostly about wishing her luck and giving his so-called "survival tips" and comments on certain N.E.W.T. classes. She found herself smiling in amusement as this truly represented the perfect student Cedric had always been.

1. Transfiguration: practice a lot because wand movements are very precise
2. Charms: fairly easy compared to the others, but more spells to memorize
3. Potions: use mnemonics to recall the steps, take the essays seriously, and don't get even further on Snape's bad side
4. DADA: ...
5. Herbology: ...

Analeigh ended up not properly reading the rest of it after seeing the words Potions, Snape, and DADA so close together. Her mood dampened when she remembered that Snape was their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor now, and she had yet to tell Cedric of this drastic change.

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had transitioned into talking about Hagrid when they overheard some nearby students talking about how they decided not to take the class he taught anymore.

"I can't believe we all dropped the class this year, too," said Harry guiltily.

"But Hagrid can't really think we'd continue Care of Magical Creatures!" Hermione said. "I mean, when has any of us expressed... you know... any enthusiasm?"

"That's it, though, innit?" Ron piped up in the middle of swallowing an entire fried egg. "We were the ones who made the most effort in classes because we like Hagrid. But he thinks we liked the stupid subject. D'you reckon anyone's going to go on to N.E.W.T.?"

None of them answered because deep down, they knew that not many people in their year would want to continue taking Care of Magic Creatures.

It wasn't long after they had finished eating when Professor McGonagall was finally approaching them with their class schedules. She double-checked that their respective sets of classes matched up with the O.W.L.s they received, and then they were good to go.

The four Gryffindors had different schedules for their first period of the day, but an hour later, they were already reuniting as they would be having Defense Against the Dark Arts together for their second period. Full of hesitance and uncertainty, they made their way to the classroom on the third floor of the castle side-by-side.

The inside of the classroom already bore Snape's personality. Analeigh noted that the curtains had been drawn over the windows, leaving the only sources of light coming from lit candles. There were also new paintings and pictures hung on the walls that depicted people clearly in pain as they sported injuries or contorted body parts. Overall, it was gloomier — no, more depressing than usual.