Regulus Black, Potions Master

Chapter 34: Huffing and Puffing

By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term was canceled: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey.

Although it wasn't that bad, Professor Black did hand out Herbology Coloring books, free of charge, apparently being testing out this year at Hogwarts before being sold at book shops for use of the next coming year. That's what lead to the trio sitting next to the fire of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Wow, you are terrible at coloring Hermione," said Ron, staring at Hermione's coloring book with concern. Its pictures holding color outside of the lines and ruff pressed down streaks of color can be seen. Unlike Ron's which was lightly tapped with peaceful color.

"Shush Ronald, it's perfectly fine," Hermione retorted, grabbing a new green crayon.

"Um, Hermione, the stem should have yellow," Neville said adding to the conversation nervously, looking at Hermione's coloring book.

"No, it isn't, its green, it said so in the books," Hermione said holding up 'One Thousand Magical Fungi and Herbs'.

"Yes, but that is the South American variety that your coloring, not the European that's green. Look at the leaf shape." Neville explained which lead Hermione to drop her crayons down in fustration.

"Oh come on Hermione. No one else is having trouble at it, right Harry? Harry?" Ron said tapping Harrys shoulder to get his friends attention, but Harry was busy thinking of other things. Like explaining to Justin that Harry wasn't meaning any harm. It sure didn't help that Justin made himself scarce, in fact, many students have.

"For heaven's sake, Harry," said Hermione, exasperated, throwing a crayon right at Harrys forehead. "Go and find Justin if it's so important to you."

So Harry got up and left through the portrait hole, wondering where Justin might be.

The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime because of the thick, swirling gray snow at every window. Shivering, Harry walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger. Resisting the urge to take a look, Harry walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.

A group of the Hufflepuff who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn't seem to be working. Between the long lines of high bookshelves, Harry could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. He couldn't see whether Justin was among them. He was walking toward them when something of what they were saying met his ears, and he paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section.

"So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told him he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.

"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly, "he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."