Window into the Past

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"Harry! Ron! Hurry! We're going to be late!" I was sprinting towards Transfiguration with Harry and Ron running behind me. We made it in and I was panting and Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank God," Ron sighed. "Imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late."

The cat, who was perched on the desk, suddenly turned into Professor McGonagall and I froze. "That was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed.

"Why thank you for that assessment, Mr Weasley, perhaps I should turn yourself, Mr Potter and Miss Jones into a pocket watch, then you won't be late," Professor McGonagall said to us.

"We got lost," I murmured. "Then maybe a map? I'm sure you don't need one to find your seats."

I ducked in beside Hermione, a little embarrassed. Once Professor McGonagall gave us the work to do.

I pulled out a crumpled photograph from my book and it was a picture of my grandparents, my mother and my aunt. My mother's hair was an ash blonde, I was the spitting image of her, except my eyes were dark green, not blue. Tia had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair.

Alivia was my mother's name. It sounded beautiful.

She and Tia were raised in Inverness, Scotland. My grandparents died in the 70s and Mum died in 1981, when I was fifteen months old.

The first week was like clockwork. "Are you okay, Joy?" Ron saw me fiddling with the photograph again.

"Yeah, I'm alright, nothing new," I looked up and shoved the photo into my History of Magic textbook. Harry's owl, Hedwig, landed on the table and had a letter in her beak.

She gave Harry an affectionate nip with her beak as he read the letter. "Hagrid wants us to come down for tea this afternoon."

"First things first, Potions," I shuddered. "What's wrong with that?" Harry asked me. "Snape, meanest teacher of them all," I sighed. "Favours Slytherin house and docks points from Gryffindor for no reason, my mum went to school with him."

"Your poor mum," Ron laughed.

We walked to Potions and I sat next to Ron. Snape had extremely greasy hair. Has he never heard of shampoo?

"Ah, Harry Potter, our new celebrity," he sneered when taking the register. He faced us all. "There will be no foolish wand waving in this class, you are here to learn the art of Potion making. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death, if you aren't the usual bunch of dunderheads."

He looked at Harry. "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry looked terrified. "I..I don't know, sir."

Hermione's hand was up but Snape ignored her. "Where would you find a bezoar?" Snape tried again. "I don't know, sir," he murmured.

Hermione was leaping out of her seat. "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked him.

I put my hand up as I did know the answer to this. "I don't know sir, try Joy or Hermione, they know," Harry sassed him.

"Put your hand down," he snapped at Hermione then looked at me. "Jones, if you know the answer, then tell me."

"They're the same plant sir," I told him. "Another name for them is aconite."

"Why aren't you all copying that down?" Snape snapped at the class. "A point will be taken from Gryffindor house for Potter's cheek."

We were all split into pairs, brewing a cure for boils. I was with Hermione while Ron was with Harry, we all jumped once Neville's cauldron exploded.

"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled at him. "You added the porcupine quills first before taking it off the heat! Why didn't you tell him not to add them Potter?! Trying to look good after Jones answered the question? Another point from Gryffindor!"

Hermione's jaw and my jaw dropped. That is so unfair!

***

"He has something against me," Harry sighed. "Well, he's the head of Evil House," I chuckled. "And he took points away from us, just because you didn't know some stupid potion things, no one else in the room knew either."

"Apart from Granger," Ron said. "And you."

The three of us walked towards Hagrid's hut and he let us in. I heard a whine in the corner and I saw a very big dog. Nearly the size of me. "Whoa!" I exclaimed. "That's Fang. Don't worry, Joy, he's gentle," Hagrid reassured me. "How's the first week?"

"Professor Snape hates Harry," Ron told Hagrid. "Hates Harry?" Hagrid frowned at us. "He humiliated him in front of the entire class and took house points away because he didn't know the answers to some stupid questions," I added.

"I'm sure you're all overreacting," Hagrid brushed our theories aside. "We are not!" Ron and I both exclaimed simultaneously.

Harry hadn't spoken as he was distracted by some article in the Daily Prophet. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Oh..it's nothing," he muttered, looking up at Hagrid and back down at the newspaper.