Two Souls

Chapter Ninety Six

Francesca, Grayson, Pansy, and I all head to the dungeons for today's first Dark Arts lesson with the Gryffindors. Surprisingly enough, Pansy hasn't noticed anything different about us, which makes me question whether or not she had truly paid any attention to her friends in the first place.

"You will refer to me Professor Carrow. As most of you may know, my brother has been given the post to teach Muggle Studies. We will both be referred to as Professor Carrow," He says once the entire class is present. "Now I'm sure you've noticed a change in the curriculum — this year we will be focusing on the Dark Arts, not learning defense spells. Everyone understand?"

Nervous murmurs of agreement trail throughout the room. By now, I notice that the Slytherins outnumber the Gryffindors by quite a few. I mean, it's expected given that Slytherins have never had a muggleborn in their house.

"Open your textbooks to page one hundred twenty," He instructs. I breathe a sigh of relief once I realize that Daphne, Millicent, and Theodore already own textbooks for this year.

"Professor?" Dean Thomas asks bravely from the Gryffindor section. "Will we be performing any defensive magic this year?"

"Certainly not!" Carrow responds as if Dean had just told him he'd murdered someone. "But, you will be learning dark magic and jinxes."

Grayson and I exchange a wary look. Dark Magic has never been favorable, especially under the instruction of a Death Eater. This will surely not go well.

Luckily for today, we spend most of class going over the Unforgivable Curses. No one, not even Draco, has the guts to tell him that Professor Moody has already taught us about these during our fifth year. Instead, we blindly listen along.

"I expect to see all of you next lesson! Hopefully you'll learn a thing or two and use it on some Mudbloods!" Carrow shrieks, cackling at his own joke as we exit the classroom.

"That was awful," Grayson whispers to me, clutching his textbook closer to his chest. "Is Hogwarts always like this, Amelia?" He whispers.

I shake my head. "Don't let one class distort your entire perception of the school. Besides, Dumbledore as Headmaster was much better."

"I'm surprised you liked Dumbledore," Pansy struts in and joins the conversation. "Didn't he take points from Slytherin after you told him to wear some eyeshadow?"

Daphne did what now??

"Dumbledore was a bit of a fool, but having Snape as Headmaster feels a little odd. Perhaps because I'm not used to it," I lie to Pansy.

"Whatever. Daphne, I need your help. I was wondering if I could ask of you a favor."

I nod. "What is it, Pansy?"

"Could you talk to Draco and see how he feels about me? Now that Amelia's out of the picture, I'm sure he could use someone romantic in his life. Besides, I'm so much prettier and nicer than Amelia. To be frank, it'll be an upgrade," Pansy says.

"Er — alright," I say, blinking in disbelief. I knew that pretending to be Daphne would mean I'd have to do a lot of things, but I was not expecting this.

******

I have two more classes that day. Herbology and History of Magic, both of which occur pretty much identical to how it was last year. After school, the Slytherins head to the Common Room but I need to find a specific someone in the courtyard.

Neville Longbottom sits with Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood by the lake, their heads down and whispering amongst each other. They're so busy in their own thoughts that they don't even realize that I've approached them.