Two Souls

Chapter Forty Six

The next morning, I wake up early and head to the Great Hall. The Slytherin table is rather empty, but the Gryffindor table is crowded with lots of familiar faces. I excitedly walk up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, taking the empty seat next to Harry.

"Good morning! How have you all been?" I ask them cheerfully. Hermione is reading The Daily Prophet, something she has done since last year in order to be updated on what 'the enemy' says.

Harry shrugs. "I could be better," He says. "I got into a fight with Seamus last night about his mum," He tells me.

"But it wasn't Harry's fault," Ron says quickly. "Seamus' mum believes all the rubbish that the Daily Prophet writes about him," He gestures to the newspaper Hermione is reading.

Professor McGonagall was now handing out schedules. I'm surprised that she hands a copy of my schedule to me. "I knew you'd be here," She tells me, with a pleasant smile, before continuing to hand out the rest of the schedules.

"Look at today!" Ron groans. "History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts! Binns, Snape Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish Fred and George'd hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted . . ."

"Do mine ears deceive me?" George asks, sliding next to Harry while Fred sits next to me. "Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive off lessons?"

Hermione eyes the twins. "You can't advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notice board," She says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Says who?" Fred asks, looking astonished.

"Says me and Ron."

"Leave me out of it," Ron says hastily.

The conversation continues before the twins promptly exit. Ron's brow furrows. "You know, they bought me a new set of dress robes this Summer and I couldn't understand where they got the Galleons . . .," Ron says.

I eye Harry suspiciously. He hasn't told Ron or Hermione about giving the twins his fortune?

"Do you reckon this year will be really tough? Because of the exams?" I ask Ron and Hermione, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh yes, it's really important," Hermione says knowingly. "It affects the jobs you apply for and everything," She tells us.

"Do you know what you want to be after Hogwarts?" Harry asks us all.

"It'd be cool to be an Auror," Ron says sheepishly. "They're really elite, though. You've got to be really good," He tells us.

"I'd like to do something worthwhile. Perhaps I could take SPEW further . . .," Hermione says trailing off with excited thought.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione head off to History of Magic shortly after. I don't have a morning class but I assure them I'll join them for Potions the next class period. After taking a nap in the dormitory, I quickly head to the dungeons where Potions is.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: The Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing. The ingredients are on the blackboard. You have an hour and a half . . . start," He orders.

The potion Snape had assigned us was as difficult as it sounds. The ingredients have to be added in precisely the right order and quantity, stirred the correct amount of times, first clockwise and then counterclockwise.