Silvia and the Rising Moon [EDITING]

Gainer and Slughorn

"What you're telling me is that dark wizards stole a ghost's wooden leg, all to bring Hogwarts's guard down?" Sienna asked, following Silvia to their first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Yes, and I have to find it," Silvia responded, two steps ahead of her new friend.
"But, why you?"
Silvia shook her head. "I don't know," she lied. "Maybe, there's a student that I need to protect. Maybe they're a secret weapon or the chosen one or something?"
"Chosen one?" A voice called from behind them. The girls spun around to see James Potter, quickly following after Lily. "Well, I'd say I'm the chosen one for Evans."
"Excuse me, ladies," Lily said, quickly pushing past Sienna and Silvia. "Potter isn't special, not even his fowl-mouthed offspring can be a 'chosen one' of any sort." She stormed off.
"Our offspring," he called. "Hello, Sienna, and, uh, Remus's sister."
Silvia rolled her eyes and dragged Sienna into Professor Gainer's classroom. The two took their seats right next to each other. Sienna waved to a couple people who sat around her. Professor Dorene Gainer stood in front of the class. She wore unflattering grey robes. A large hat with various leaves and twigs sat upon her permed hair. Her mouth sagged into a permanent frown, and her skin hung above her ferret scarf. She called attention to the class with nostrils, flaring out from her round nose and wide, grey eyes. The classed turned to face her all at once. Her eyes and nostrils relaxed as she prepared to speak.
"Good morning, students," a couple students murmured greetings in return. "My name is Professor Gainer, as you should already be aware of. Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. In my class, you will learn all there is to know about dark creatures, dark magic, and how to defend yourself from them. During the first semester, you will learn about the dark arts, in the second semester, you will learn defense spells. Can someone raise their hand and name a dark creature?"
The class sat silently. Professor Gainer scanned the room. "Applegrass, do you know?"
"I do not, Professor," Lydia Applegrass responded from the back of the room.
"Lupin, I'm sure you know."
Silvia's heart pounded through her chest. Sienna stared at her before turning to Gainer and raising her hand.
"Ah, Rispoli, have at it," Professor Gainer encouraged.
"I once read about werewolves, Professor."
Silvia felt lightheaded. She stared down at the desk.
"Right you are, Rispoli, ten points to Gryffindor."
A couple of students praised Sienna before Gainer spoke once more. "Now, could somebody name a dark spell that one would have to defend themselves from?" She asked.
Once again, the room sat in silence. "Lovegood, do you have an answer?" She asked.
Xenophilius Lovegood shook his head, "No ma'am."
"You children have a lot to learn." She shook her head, obviously disappointed in the first years. "Black?"
"There are three unforgivable curses, Professor." Regulus Black responded confidently. Silvia had only then noticed him sitting at the table next to her with Thaddeus Kenra.
"Excellent, Black. Ten points to Slytherin," Gainer responded, clearly impressed by Regulus's knowledge. "Bonus points if you can name all three of them."
Regulus took a deep breath as he thought. "Well, Professor, there's the Killing Curse... the Cruciatus Curse, and, um... the Imperius Curse."
"Excellent, Black! Very impressive. Fifty points to Slytherin!" A group of Slytherins cheered and patted Regulus on the back.
Sienna huffed. "He gets sixty points in total for knowing that. I get ten for knowing what a werewolf is. How many people in this room read the werewolf section of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?" she muttered just loud enough for Silvia to hear.
"Finally, I ask you, any of you, to name one defense spell." Gainer asked.
Thaddeus Kenra raised his hand.
"Yes, Kenra?"
"There's a disarming spell, my mother taught me it."
Professor Gainer rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kenra, we all know that your mother has an important job in the ministry, you don't need to act like you're more privileged than the rest of us," she snapped.
"Professor, I'm not trying to act-"
"Ten points from Hufflepuff." She turned to see Sienna's waving hand. "What, Rispoli?" she asked with obvious annoyance.
"Ma'am, there is a spell to disarm your opponent, a curse to stun your opponent, charms to tickle your opponent, a full-body binding curse, a jinx to remove fingers, a curse that will turn your opponent's legs into sponges, and-"
"That's quite enough, Rispoli. Thank you. Ten points to Gryffindor," she said as her rubbed her temples. "That's enough teaching for today. Any questions?"
Silvia cautiously raised her hand.
"Yes, Lupin?"
"Professor Gainer, I hope you don't mind me asking, what's the Chamber of Secrets?" she asked softly. Her faced reddened as she spoke.
"Why the bloody hell do you care?" A couple of students snickered at her fowl language.
"Um, I heard a couple of older students talking about it on the train," she explained, reusing the false excuse she gave to Slughorn. "I was curious about what it is."
Gainer was obviously annoyed. "It's a fake chamber that allegedly has a monster in it. We've scanned the school several times, and it's nowhere to be found. Therefore, it's not real. I do not want to hear anymore stupid questions out of anyone. Ten points from Gryffindor. Now, sit quietly for the rest of class. Not a word." She sat at her desk.
Silvia was at the point of tears once more. She hardly sniffed, fearing that Gainer would reprimand her again. Sienna fumed internally for the rest of class until Gainer finally declared the class was dismissed.
The two were hardly out of the room when Sienna began to speak. "Regulus says something simple and he gets sixty points! I tell that fat old wench everything that I know, and I only get ten points! And can you believe how he treated Thaddeus?" She clenched her teeth. "She has no right to treat my cousin that way!"
Silvia's attention was suddenly caught. "I thought you were muggle-born. What do you mean Thaddeus is your cousin?"
"Oh," she huffed. "Thaddeus's dad and my dad are brothers, they're both muggles. His dad married Auror Kenra and took her last name. Imagine if one of the top wizards in the Ministry took the name of a muggle."
"I see."
"She was so rude to you for asking a simple question about something dark.... What was it that you asked about?" She looked to Silvia.
"I asked about the Chamber of Secrets. The Unknown Soldier had mentioned it being a place where the dark wizards could have possibly hidden his leg. I thought, just maybe, my knowledgeable teacher would know. Bonus points if she knows the location!" She said, obviously mocking Gainer. Sienna doubled over with laughter.
The two walked down endless flights of stairs into Professor Slughorn's classroom. "We have study hall after this," Sienna explained. "We can go to the library and find some books on the Chamber of Secrets."
"The Chamber of Secrets? Sounds spooky." Blaire appeared in the doorway, followed by Calypso Bombardier and Dixie O'Hara. The three strutted past, wearing new Ravenclaw robes, to find seats. Silvia watched as Blaire and Calypso sat together, forcing Dixie to sit with Lydia Applegrass. Dixie gave Lydia an annoyed smile.
"Hello, class. Hello, hello, quiet down now." Silvia turned to see the familiar face for a third time. "Yes, excellent. My name is Professor Slughorn. Welcome, everyone, to your first year in Potions class. I would like to congratulate everyone for a successful sorting! Go on, you can clap."
Students that had previously been in Gainer's class were still shell-shocked. They clapped carefully, looking around the room at other students as they did so. Suddenly, they realized that not all teachers were like her.
Professor Slughorn encouraged the applause. At one point, it died down. When it did, he finally spoke again. "Many of you, hopefully all of you, will find this class very enjoyable. In this class, you will learn the purposes, as well as the formulas, for many important potions. I am pleased to see that every one of you has brought all of the necessary materials." He smiled, scanning the room with his hand. "As you all know, this class is required until your fifth year. My goal as your Potions teacher is to make sure that you succeed in passing your O.W.L. exams. Possibly, I may induct you into the Slug Club, a club made by myself consisting of the top students that I teach. Any of you students could become a member."
Sienna smiled at Silvia, who grinned halfheartedly before turning back to Slughorn.
"On each of your desks, you will find a syllabus. Follow along as I read..."

When Slughorn had finished the syllabus, the class was dismissed. Silvia and Sienna hurried off to the library, on a search for information.
It took up most of their time to find anything that could be remotely helpful.
"Look, Sienna. I think I found something," Silvia said as she flipped through an old book.
Sienna appeared three shelves away. She hurried over. "What did you find?"
Silvia's finger hovered over a paragraph. "Right here. It says, 'After founding Hogwarts, the four could not agree on who would attend. Salazar Slytherin did not see it fit to allow muggle born students into the school. Despite his opinion, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor decided it was right to include all witches and wizards, regardless of blood status. Slytherin, deeply angered by their decision, built a hidden chamber within Hogwarts. This chamber is said to be home of a monster, who's goal is to purge the school of those with false wizard blood."
"It doesn't say where the chamber is," Sienna mentioned.
"No, it doesn't, but I'm sure someone knows. Maybe Dumbledore."
"We can't tell Dumbledore we're looking for the Chamber of Secrets! We'll be expelled immediately." Sienna crossed her arms. "How can we even be sure that the leg is there, anyway?"
Silvia closed the book. "Where else could it be? It's guarded by that monster. The staff couldn't find the Chamber, just like they couldn't find the leg. It has to be there!"
"Fine. I suppose we can search for it. However, don't think for one second that I'm going in there. I don't think the monster would like a muggle-born like me."
"Deal." Silvia looked up at the library's clock. "Sienna, the next class starts in three minutes. We have to hurry!"
She shoved the book back in its place before the two hurried to their next class.