Brilliance is Corruptable

Chapter Nine

         “Ah, I’m sorry about the loss,” Briar mumbled over her steaming cauldron; it was a perfect shade of ivory and billowing soft, grey smoke.

“S’alright, as long as we beat Ravenclaw, we’ll be fine.” Fred told her, lifting the lid of his potion, coughing harshly as he received a face full of putrid, black smoke."Not likely, " Briar joked, as she waved away the smoke, peering into his cauldron. With a quick side-glance at a busied Snape, she dropped a hippogriff talon into Fred’s potion. As Fred stirred it, the smoke disappeared, and the brew became a clear ivory. Fred mouthed his thanks, nudging George to do the same.

“Miss. York.”

Briar froze, her back stiffening as she feared that they had been caught. “Yes, Professor?” Her eyes were wide, emitting an almost innocent face. He gazed down his nose at her, fixing his beady black eyes on her face.

“It seems that I’ve run sort of Hellebore, I want you to go to the Greenhouse and bring me back a plant.” Snape’s mouth curled up in something of a snarl, “You do know what plant that is, correct, Miss. York?”

Briar nodded, “Yes sir, shall I go now?”

His head jerked in a short nod, and he whisked away. Briar turned back to her potion, filling a vial full and handing it in before she forgot.

She mumbled a quiet goodbye to Fred and George, and whisked off to the Greenhouse.

Unluckily, Professor Sprout was nowhere near the Greenhouse, leaving Briar to search for the plant all by herself.

Hellebore was a large, flowery plant, its head consisted of four petals and was either white or a dull violet- the leaves of the Hellebore plant were clover-like, easy to spot among the others.

She found the plant in record time, she potted it and hurried out of the Greenhouse before the giant flytraps could make a feast of her.

The moment she made two steps from the Greenhouse, she stumbled. “Oh!” She gasped, tripping over a black matt of fur. It yelped, lunging for her and knocking her onto her back. Briar struggled for her wand, noting that the mutt had gone straight for it. They wrestled for a moment, her attempting to pull her wand from the mutt’s powerful jaws.

Finally, she gave in- desperately hoping that he didn’t run off, or snap it in two.

The mutt looked up at her with wide blue eyes, then bounding up at her, knocking her back and nudging her neck with it's wet nose. Briar gave a shout, pushing the dog off of her. It looked almost happy to see her.

She stared sternly down at the dog, “Drop my wand.” Obediently, the mutt set the wand down- and actually rolled it to her using its muzzle.

She rubbed her hand across her face, blinking in disbelief, “I’m dreaming, I swear I’m dreaming.”

The dog merely blinked up at her, giving her a look that clearly said, “No, you’re not.”

Indeed, when she picked up her wand it was wet with slobber- Briar wrinkled her nose, and wiped it on the end of her robe. She reached her hand forward and touched its matted hair- proving that the dog was in fact there and not an illusion.

“Well, there’s no way that you’re Hagrid’s dog.” She muttered, “Hagrid would never let an animal of his to get to that condition.”

She sighed, searching around his neck, “Not a collar on you either- I guess you’re a stray or something. Although, I’m not sure McGonagall would want you in the castle…”

Briar blinked, realising she was talking to a dog. “Bloody hell, I’ve gone mad- and damn it! I’ve got to get this plant to Snape…” she muttered, gazing hopelessly down at the mutt. Funnily enough, at the mention of Snape’s name, the dog’s nose wrinkled, almost as if he were to sneeze.

She chuckled, and patted his head, “Now what do I do with you? - I guess I’ll take you to Hagrid- HEY!”

She yelled after him as the mutt bounded off, easily blending in to the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Briar sighed, collecting her fallen plant.

I do hope he’s safe in there.

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By the time she made it to the Dungeons, class was long over. Briar pushed open the door to the Potions classroom, stopping at the doorway to see Snape handing Lupin a glass that emitted a faint indigo smoke.

Snape turned to her, his lips curling up into a snarl. “It’s about time you got back, Miss. York. Seven points from Ravenclaw for making me wait.”

“Sorry, sir.” She mumbled, placing the potted plant on Snape’s desk. She took a firm look at the potion, shaking her head. “That’s not brewed correctly, sir. It should be giving off a blue smoke, not indigo.”

Lupin looked down at his glass, “Oh you’re right Miss. York, ten points to Ravenclaw for your insightfulness.” Lupin turned back to his colleague, “Thank you Severus, but it seems you’ve given me the wrong potion.”

Snape’s lips curled, eyes sharp. “Yes, it seems so.” His eyes flashed to her, “You may leave now, York.”

As she turned to go, she caught Lupin’s eye at the last moment, concealing a grin as he winked.

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The next morning at breakfast, Dumbledore announced gravely that Sirius Black had managed to enter the castle yet again- and he had escaped as well.

Briar gazed down at her bowl, knitting her brows as she worked two and two together.

The first time Black got into the castle, I saw a large black dog- the second time Black got in, I was nearly slobbered over by an unfed stray. That means-

Before she could reach her conclusion, Briar was pulled to the side forcefully. She blinked up at the Weasley’s.

“We’ve got news about Black-“”-He was in the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory-“”-Ron reckons that Black had nearly cut him in two.”

Her brows knitted worriedly, “That’s twice now that he’s been at the Gryffindor Tower- you think he wants something from there?”

George gave a shrug, “He may be looking for something, but following Black’s record I’d say that he was probably going to murder someone.” Fred nodded solemnly, “it truly is a shame Ron woke up- OW!’

Fred yelped as Briar hit his shoulder, “That’s a terrible thing to say,” she scolded. She looked over to the Gryffindor table where the red-head in question was speaking enthusiastically to a few girls of his House. “Although he does seem to like the attention.”

Fred scowled at Ron over her head, “Think we should cut him down a few notches?” George shook his head, “Nah, let him have his fifteen minutes of fame, it’ll wear off.”

Briar snapped her fingers suddenly, “Speaking of family,” She turned to look at the twins, eyes pleading, “My dad sent a letter saying he wanted to meet you two. Can you come down to Hogsmeade with me on the first day of winter holidays?”

They grinned down at her, “Why certainly,” Fred locked his arm over her shoulder. “It’d be our pleasure,” said George, hooking his arm around her waist.

They ushered her from the Great Hall, “I can’t believe you’re letting us meet your father!” Fred cooed, “It’s like we’re married already.”

Briar gave a dry laugh, “Tell that to my dad and you won’t survive past fifteen.”

George shot her a look, “You’re not serious-“

“- I’m dead serious.” She replied, “The old man’s an Auror, he’d hunt you down and fry your eyebrows off.”

Fred shivered, “I have a feeling that he’s not the person you’d share a cup of tea with.”

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I do not own Harry Potter/characters/etc.

-AL