For the Greater Good || Tom Riddle ||

Chapter Nine: Prefect Duty

October was approaching. The days that passed continued to be stormy, blustery ones. The grounds of Hogwarts had taken up a new wardrobe of color; it was now the first day of autumn.

Many of the girls in the dormitory began to put thick wool blankets atop their beds. Even the most promiscuous ones had decided to trade in their scanty nightgowns for toastier and more sensible long underwear. Of course, Gwen had become accustomed to much colder weather at Durmstrang. She never really felt the cold that the other girls complained about. 

But she did have trouble falling asleep at night. Camila, a talkative red haired girl, and Ruth, a shrill-voiced muggle-born, enjoyed whispering to one another in the wee hours of the morning. After the third night of annoying chatter, Gwen was at her wits end. She broke down and placed a Silencing Charm around her canopy to cancel out the noise.

That morning, she was relieved when the light of dawn finally filtered through her window and brightened the room. She sauntered down to breakfast where she had a quick meal with Jane and Simon.

"Simon, how did you do on the Potions exam?" Jane asked. Her eyes were wide with disbelief as she stared down at her graded test.

"I did fairly well. I missed the one that asked about the common side effect of the Pepperup Potion, but that was it," he replied as he grabbed a piece of toast and smothered jam on it.

Jane let out a frustrated moan. "I knew I shouldn't have taken N.E.W.T. Level Potions!"

Gwen had overheard several other sixth year students complaining about the workload of N.E.W.T. Level classes in the corridors, but she didn't quite feel their pain. She was acing her courses. Compared to Durmstrang, the amount of homework that Hogwarts dealt out was a walk in the park.

"Jane," she began, "would you like for me to tutor you? I like Potions."

Simon scoffed, "She does not need tutoring, Gwen. She is whining about missing four questions on the exam. She is one of the top students in the eight o'clock class!"

Gwen gave the dark haired girl a wry look. "You're joking. Why are you making a fuss then?"

"You don't understand! If my parents were to find out, I'd be locked inside my house all summer. I can't lose my position as a prefect. Do you know how hard it was to get?" She lowered her voice. "If you haven't noticed, there aren't many muggle-born prefects."

Gwen had noticed, but decided against commenting on it. Simon took a bite of his toast which let out a crrrunch so loud that the two girls' heads turned on swivels to look at him. He blushed.

"Hey! Simon!" a boy called as he approached the table.

He was a fellow Ravenclaw that Gwen noticed was in a few of her classes. He had caramel colored skin, big brown eyes and a toothy grin to match, and splotches of freckles that covered his face. His name was Benedict Fawley, and he was one of many boys that Ruth and Camila loved to talk about.

"Did you hear that Professor Dumbledore has decided to teach Alchemy this year? Apparently, there was enough demand for it! I just wanted to let you know that I'll be taking it, and it seemed like something you'd be interested in too. There's a sign-up sheet going around the tables. You can drop an elective to take it!"

Simon wiped the crumbs from his mouth as he smiled. "Really? That's great! Count me in! Ladies, would any of you be interested in taking Alchemy with us?"

"As if," Jane sneered as she dramatically turned the page of her Potions textbook. "Do you not recall a word I just said? I need to pass all of my classes!"