The Black Queen | F. Weasley

4. The birth of a legend

Salem was woken up by a girl called Macy Shacklebolt. She had beautiful blond hair, her nose was adorned with freckles and she owned a pair of kind green eyes.

"It's almost 7, if you want to have breakfast before our first lesson you should get up now," she said softly and a friendly grin decorated her face. Salem shot her a grateful smile and got out of her warm bed reluctantly.

She put on her robes, paid a quick visit to the bathroom and gathered her hair into a ponytail. She saw Macy sitting on her bed patiently and when she noticed Salem was finished they went down for breakfast together.

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Their first day started off horribly with Potions. Salem was actually quite looking forward to the class, but this positive attitude would sadly change within the first ten minutes of class.

Salem took a seat next to Macy and pulled her textbook and other equipment out of her school bag. She stalled them out on the table and then turned to her new friend.

"What do you think we're going to learn first?" Salem asked excitedly and Macy shrugged slightly.

"I have absolutely no idea, but I heard not so great things about professor Snape from my siblings, so I wouldn't have high hopes if I were you..."

Salem's shoulders sagged a bit in disappointment, still there was a sliver of hope noticeable in her eyes.

A loud bang from the door making contact with the wall quietened down the whole classroom. Snape walked in briskly and let his eyes wander over the nervous first years, halting for a few seconds at Salem before continuing his judging glare.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the minds, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." His voice was abnormally soft, but yet everyone heard the man very clearly in the dimly lit dungeon. Salem was slightly offended at the insult he threw in at the end of his speech and rolled her eyes.

"Why does his hair look like it hasn't been washed since his birth?" She whispered to Macy out of the corner of her mouth, making the girl snort loudly and covering up her laughter with fake coughing.

Snape's eyes snapped back to their table and he narrowed his eyes at them. "Sadly, I don't have much faith in certain people in this classroom to be less of a dunderhead than my other students... Miss Black, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

It was awfully quiet in the dungeon and if you listened closely you could hear the students' panic and despair at hearing the question, even if it wasn't meant for them.

Salem's blood boiled at the insinuation that she was one of the so called dunderheads in his class, he was going to get it... Snape was put off slightly when he noticed the smirk on the girl's face and he hated her even more than he already did.

"Why professor, I'm glad you asked! But I'm quite saddened to hear you needed help with answering that so obviously clear question, you would begin to wonder about who categorises as a 'dunderhead'."

Salem heard Macy, along with several others, gasp loudly at the clear insult she threw at their professor. She deliberately stayed quiet for a few seconds to let what she said really sink in before continuing.