Hogwarts Mystery- The Beginning of Mystery

Chapter 10: Class Matters

The next day, Cyrene went to the Common Room from the Dormitory and found Jane waiting for her. She then realised she had forgotten that she had asked to meet her. Cyrene knew she was going to face the consequence for the House Points she lost for duelling.

'You wanted to see me?' Cyrene pretended to be confused.

'Please tell me you did not lose Hufflepuff another twenty House Points, Cyrene.' said Jane.

'I'll find a way to get our House Points back.' Cyrene answered immediately.

'You had better. Everyone in Hufflepuff is suffering for your poor decisions. You're ruining any chance we have of winning the House Cup.' Jane sounded more disappointed than angry. Cyrene felt even worse now. She would rather have Jane start yelling at her.

'What can I do to make it better?' asked Cyrene.

'Go to class. Focus on your schoolwork. Do everything in your power to earn House Points.' said Jane. 'And I know this is very difficult for you, but please, stay out of trouble.'

'I... will try.'

'Do better than try. You have Potions Class and Charms Class today. Get to your classes on time, and get Hufflepuff some House Points.'

As soon as Jane finished, Cyrene went to Charms Class without Rowan. It felt strange knowing that she was heading to class before Rowan did. She soon walked into the Charms Classroom when Cyrene was about to sit down. Professor Flitwick asked Cyrene to go over to the stack of books where he stood on.

'You are excused from today's lesson, Miss Lennox.' he said.

'Excused? Why?'

'Today's spell is the Knockback Jinx. It is sometimes used in duelling, and can be incredibly painful to its victim. Given your history, I think it's best not to teach you another duelling spell at this time.' said Professor Flitwick.

'Professor Snape already punished me by taking away House Points, Professor. I don't think it's fair to be punished twice.' said Cyrene, trying not to sound rude.

'You make a fair point. Please take your seat.' Cyrene's felt an enormous sense of relief. She rushed off to sit down.

'Today we will be learning the Knockback Jinx--- an excellent spell for pushing things out of the way!' Professor Flitwick began his lesson. 'Let's begin...'

Cyrene tried her best to earn more House Points by answering Professor Flitwick's questions and demonstrating the spell. In the end, she earned five House Points by being one of the only ones who casted the spell successfully, which she was quite proud of.

'Good work, everyone! Be careful when casting this spell, or you could be the one who gets knocked back!' Professor Flitwick announced when the class ended.

'Nice work, Cyrene!' said Rowan. 'Someday, they'll write a book about your expertise in Charms, and I will read that book so many times, the pages will disintegrate.' Cyrene felt a sudden appreciation for Rowan. 'In the meantime, Flipendo will help us escape the locked room if we have to. And it will help us defend ourselves if there's anything dangerous inside. We just need to keep working on our plan...' she whispered.

Later, Cyrene went down to the dungeons for the Potions Class she was dreading. She knew that no matter what she did in class, Snape will somehow find a way to deduct House Points from something irrelevant she did.

While trying to deal with Snape, she also had to deal with Merula taunting her again. Cyrene would not be surprised if she started developing anger issues because of her. 'I can't even keep track of how many House Points you've lost Hufflepuff. No wonder everyone hates you.' Merula whispered.

Cyrene decided to apologise to Snape again for duelling in school. She managed to earn House Points for doing so once, so she thought she could give it a try despite it being pointless. 'I just wanted to apologise again for duelling on school grounds, Professor Snape.' Cyrene said in her most convincing voice.

'The only thing I care less about you is your apology, Lennox. Sit down.' sneered Snape. Trying to stay calm, Cyrene walked back to her seat.

'Have you told anyone about Snape and Filch said in the corridor?' asked Merula.

'Yes, I told Rowan.' Cyrene thought she should tell the truth just to annoy Merula. She knew this wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

'You are such an idiot. Thankfully, your little friend is useless, and won't ruin my chances of getting inside of that room.'

'Why are you after the Cursed Vaults?' asked Cyrene.

'It's none of your business.'

'It is my business because my brother was searching for the Cursed Vaults.'

'And he failed because you come from a family of failures.' said Merula. Cyrene gripped her wand inside her pocket. Part of her wanted to challenge Merula to a duel. 'Now shut up, and pretend to study before Snape hears us talking about the vaults.' Merula finished.

An hour later, Cyrene looked over at Merula's potion. It looked different from what the instructions stated.

'You should stir it two more times.' she said helpfully.

'Excuse me?' Merula said loudly.

'Never mind. Forget I said anything.'

'Like I would remember something you said...'

Professor Snape walked over to their table and looked over at Merula's potion. 'You obviously need to stir it two more times, Miss Snyde.' he said. 'Shockingly, Lennox's potion appears to be passable. One point to Hufflepuff.'

'One point?' Cyrene whispered a little too loudly. Professor Snape glared at her silently. 'Thank you, Professor Snape.' Cyrene said in a false polite voice.

'Dismissed.' Snape announced.

Despite Cyrene being exhausted from trying to earn House Points for Hufflepuff, she stayed up all night making a plan to get into the guarded room. She was also occupied with thinking about the locked door in the corridor.

Why does Snape want to keep it secret, and whatdoes it have to do with me? she thought. In the end, she managed to form aplan that she was proud of, and decided to tell Rowan about it next morning.