A Shallow Grave

Chapter 9

I hadn't slept in a week.

I was unable to shut my eyes for a second since reading that letter from Rookwood. I was unnerved not knowing how it had gotten into the castle to begin with. Perhaps there was a secret passageway underground the school that no one except Rookwood and his gang knew about. One of his associates could have snuck in and placed the letter in my dorm. But how would they know which bed was mine. They couldn't possibly have. The endless amount of possibilities kept me fully awake, refusing to let me sleep.

I tried to distract myself with my classes. I drowned myself in my studies to get my mind away from the never-ending thoughts of what would happen to the people around me, should I reject Rookwood's offer. Would he actually go as far as to kill children, my peers?

"Miss Stone? Care to answer?"

My thoughts had wandered away from my current class, something that kept happening in the recent days. Professor Sharp did not seem best pleased with my unfocused temperament as he called me out in the middle of Potions.

"Huh?" I replied, snapping out of my daydream instantly.

Sharp frowned and turned back towards the blackboard that had been covered with notes messily written in white chalk. He began to erase the writing on it.

"That will be another ten points from Slytherin, Miss Stone."

Groans and mumbles came from other Slytherins throughout the classroom. I didn't dare to look around, the feeling of angry eyes from every direction was heavily evident enough just from the tense atmosphere. I covered my face with my palms and sighed into them.

I'm a mess.

Sharp started to write even more notes on the freshly cleaned blackboard and I attempted to follow along, pushing the urge to fall asleep right to the back of my brain. I copied his notes into my own notebook, making sure to get every piece of information written.

'Polyjuice Potion Step-By-Step:

1. Add 3 measures of Fluxweed to the cauldron (must have been picked on a full moon).
2. Add 2 bundles of Knotgrass to the cauldron.
3. Stir 4 times, clockwise.
4. Wave wand then let potion brew for 80 minutes (for a Pewter Cauldron. A Brass Cauldron will only require 68, and a copper one only 60.)'

I was writing faster than I had anticipated. Maybe Sharp's harsh teaching methods of showing no sympathy was inspiring me to try and keep up.

'5. Add 4 leeches to the cauldron.
6. Add 2 scoops of Lacewing flies to the mortar, crush to a fine paste, then add 2 measures of the crushed Lacewings to the cauldron.
7. Heat for 30 seconds on a low heat.
8. Wave wand to complete this stage of the potion.'

"Tired today are we?"

Sebastian and I shared both a desk and a brewing station in Potions. This was the first thing that he had said to me in months. I was still incredibly angry at him for sneaking into my dorm and looking around in my stuff. I didn't know what he was trying to find, but he had stumbled upon and then had proceeded to open that damn letter. Whether I liked it or not, he was now directly involved in this very messy situation.

After I had left Fig's office that day, I had not returned to Herbology. There had only been about ten minutes of the lesson left and Garlick had already informed me of my Dittany assignment for the next class so I saw no reason in going back. Instead I had headed for the library. I knew that Ominis had a free period at that time and I wanted to know why he was the one to collect me from Garlicks' class. I found him, cowered in a chair towards the very back left corner of the library, quill in hand and hastily writing down lines for another class. We had spoken about what happened between Sebastian, Fig and myself and I asked Ominis about what he knew.