"You, my dear, seem to have a knack at Potions."
Aria's eyes widened at her head of house's statement. Professor Snape stood next to the Herbology professor and Professor McGonagall stood on her other side. Why Aria needed an entire audience for ju...
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~*~
The first week of school went by quicker than you could say Quidditch. Aria loved each and every one of her classes that she had had so far. She had learned so many new things in charms, and was already quite ahead. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Applewater had said she was exemplary at naming a lot of creatures that most could not. Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration, and though it wasn't her best subject, Aria was still able to perform the tasks well. Now, it was already Friday, and the last class of the day was Potions.
Aria had heard lots of things about potions from Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, and even Thomas (who had of course heard it from his brothers). According to them, Severus Snape was the worst teacher of all time. He hated most children except for the Slytherins, and even then he wasn't kind to them. He hated Hufflepuffs most of all, she had heard, because they were kind, and Snape couldn't handle any kind of kindness (or so Fred had told her). Aria wasn't too worried however. If anything, she was quite excited. Her mother had been quite good at potions when she was younger. From what she knew, Miranda was top of her class in Potions. And Aria wasn't too bad herself.
That's why, when she went into the Potions classroom that Friday afternoon, she came in with a smile. Thomas almost looked quite grumpy and not sure what to do with himself as he slammed his bag on his desk. The pair had chosen two desks near the middle of the room, just as they had in all of their other classes. Aria liked the front and Thomas liked the back, so they compromised with one another and sat in almost the exact middle. When Aria went to sit down, she was bumped into by the crabby girl from the very first day at Hogwarts.
Aria hadn't talked to Corryn Evergreen hardly at all. It was mostly because Corryn liked to keep to herself. The poor girl had no friends and seemed to want to keep it that way. She always glared at Aria, always went to bed early, and never ate meals in the Great Hall. Aria felt bad for her, and would have liked to become the girl's friend if she had the chance. She was a pretty girl with blonde hair cut short like a boy's. She had pretty blue eyes, and Aria was sure that, if the girl would smile, that would be lovely as well. Still, the girl grumbled a small sorry as she passed, and sat near the back of the room.
The dungeon doors slammed open and a tall man that Aria recognized from the Start of Term feast strode in, his cloak swishing behind him. He scowled at all of his students, wriggling his long, crooked nose, and opened his mouth to speak.
"Don't get too comfortable in your seats," he said, his voice drawling out and sounding almost cruel. "I'm going to give you seating arrangements. If you argue, you may earn yourself a week's worth of detentions. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Professor Snape," the students said in unison.
