dragons » d.m [1]

iv

CHAPTER FOUR
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P R O D I G Y

SHE FOUND HERSELF STARING AT THE WOODEN ceiling as she listened to Hagrid snore loudly through the other room. She guessed it wasn't time to wake up, however the sunset was already visible outside. Wrapping a robe around her fragile body, she silently tiptoed towards the exit and walked through Hagrid's crops, exploring the rare plants.

She kept following a small path that lead to the back of the hut, and towards the corner of her eye she saw a white figure swaying in harmony with the zephyr.

A tree. Its wood was as pale as a skeleton, while its leafs were red. As she got closer, she noticed there was a face carved. Bringing her hand up, she slowly caressed the face.

Suddenly, the tree's scarlet sap started to come out its eyes, making it look as though it was weeping blood.

"What the..?"

She backed away, slowly, watching the substance drip out of the trunk.

"Girl! Breakfast is ready!" She heard Hagrid yell from inside, making her look towards the window, where she could see him waving a tissue to get her attention.

When she turned her head to look at the tree again, it wasn't there anymore, so she just made her way back to the hut.

Strange.

"How's the food?" He asked, munching on a sausage.

"It's really good!" she replied, staring at the window still looking for the tree.

Hagrid stopped chewing as he saw me gazing outside, "Is there something wrong?"

"No," she lied. "I should go to my lesson. I cannot wait to start," smiling, she straightened her uniform and grabbed her cauldron from her room, since she had Potions first.

"Good luck, girl!" Hagrid chuckled, as she ran out the door to the green fields that surrounded the castle.

Not looking where she was going, her body hit somebody else, making her drop her cauldron. Mumbling an apology, she looked up to see who it was. It was the headmaster from the boys' school Hagrid told her about yesterday at night. He gave her a dirty look, and walked away.

What was up with him?

She followed a group of students with a similar uniform when she got inside the castle and ended up in a gloomy dungeon, where students started to scatter around to sit where they belong.

She firmly walked to the front and sat down, placing her supplies on a wooden table.

The chatter died when someone entered the room. He moved quickly like the wind, his black robes flew behind him, his face scrunched in disgust.

"Open your books on page 342, Chapter 45: The uses of Acromantula Venom. You have two hours," he hissed.

The girl opened her book, panicked, sweat running through her back as she read the bizarre ingredients. She tried to ask the person next to her, but she was too scared Snape would do something. She kept reading the ingredients and procedures over and over again until she came to a point where she partially memorised it. She intently looked at the gooey eyeballs, intestines, dead insects, chopped roots... she had on her table, feeling the dread fill her body when she found out they weren't labelled.

The hourglass floating around the room made it even worse. She saw in slow motion how every speck fell, making her think about the precious time she was wasting.

"There will be a detention for those who do not brew it properly," he added, looking down at her.

Forty five minutes have already passed. She had to do something, since it was better than nothing. Taking an ingredient out of its recipient, she tried to use her sense of smell to try and guess what it was. The girl scrunched her face in disgust when the pest of eyeballs flooded her nostrils. After adding all the ingredients, she carefully stirred the blue liquid. Gazing up, she saw the the time was up.

"Time's up."

Apparently this potion was really hard to brew, since Hermione and a couple of other students were the only ones that were able to do it...

Snape stopped in front of her. He added three small leaves of lemongrass, making her potion turn purple. Clutching her robes, she hoped for the worst.

"Well done, miss..." He stopped, not knowing her name, yet he wasn't interested in knowing it either, "I'm impressed. Although I do not accept lazy people that waste time in my lessons, next time there'll be consequences."

"Yes, ser," she replied, earning a confused look from him.

"You are dismissed," he finally said, making her breath out relieved the lesson was over. She took all of her things and headed towards the door...

When suddenly, she heard someone snickering behind her back.