𝐶𝑅𝑈𝐶𝐼𝑂

𝟬𝟬𝟳

Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.

-Franklin Roosevelt

~•~

Alexa's next week of classes went okay. She had astronomy on Wednesday at midnight, and they had to look at the night sky through telescopes. Three times a week she had herbology, with Professor Sprout.

The most boring class was History of Magic, but easily Alexa's favorite. It was taught by a gloomy ghost that droned on about history. Alexa stopped paying attention to his class after about ten minutes. Instead, she and Eloise chatted quietly to each other, and Alexa found she could do just about anything she wanted in the class.

Professor Mcgonagall made Alexa uneasy. She was strict, but she seemed to care about her students. Alexa knew it was irrational, but the professor reminded her of Olivia. Still, Alexa had to admit she was a good teacher. This was the only class that they had actually started practicing magic on the first day. They were to turn a matchstick into a needle. Alexa knew she could do it, but she didn't want to bring attention to herself so she opted to wandlessly transfigure random things around the classroom into tiny pink flamingos. NEEDLEss (sorry that was a terrible pun, but I noticed it when I was editing and I can't help myself) to say, by the end of the class only Hermione Granger had turned her matchstick into a needle and the professor was left wondering why there was a cult of flamingos wandering around her classroom.

Defense against the dark arts was a bit of a joke. Professor Quirrel's classroom smelled strongly of Garlic, and none of the students could tell what he was saying behind all of the stuttering. Alex was starting to believe that half the classes at Hogwarts were taught by unqualified teachers.

Friday came by, and Alexa and her friends were back at the dining hall. Thanks to Alexa, they were all able to get wherever they wanted on time, and not be lost 24/7. Over the week, Eloise had somehow managed to get Clarissa to be their friend and now they were all sitting at the Gryffindor table together.

"Ugh double potions with Slytherins." Sierra complained when she saw what class they had next.

Clarissa paled slightly, and in a split second decision, Alexa reached under the table to squeeze Clarissa's hand in a comforting manner. Clarissa shot a small smile at Alexa.

Just then, the mail arrived. Hundreds of owls streamed into the great hall, dropping letters and packages into the students' outstretched hands. Alexa paled slightly when she realized she didn't get a letter from Olivia. That was somehow worse than getting a letter, because it kept her in the dark about what Olivia did and didn't know. Sierra got a letter from her parents, and Eloise got a bar of chocolate along with a small note.

The potions lesson turned out worse than she originally expected. The class took place in the dungeons, which had an uncanny resemblance to her basement. Snape started the class by calling everyone's names, sneering at everyone's name who wasn't a Slytherin or Clarissa. He stopped at Harry's name.

"Ah yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new...celebrity."

Draco malfoy, and his friends - the term used quite lightly - Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Professor Snape finished calling their names, and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Clarissa's, but they held none of the warmth in Clarissa's eyes. His expression reminded her of the way Olivia often looked at her, and it made her want to throw up.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barley more than a whisper, and his voice sent shivers down Alexa's spine. "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-"