~A lonely flame~ HOGWARTS X READER

~3~

Breakfast was subdued. Hermione chattered happily and Ginny had gone to sit with some of the kids in her year. Ron was shovelling sausages into his mouth while Harry sat reading over his schedule. I sat, pushing the hashbrowns across my plate with my head in the clouds. The twins had built me a breakfast plate before I had even arrived.

"Lots of maple syrup 'cause you're CANADIAN!"

George said enthusiastically once I saw the plate that was drowning in the golden sauce. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the 'Aunt Jemima's' syrup wasn't actually maple syrup. Or that I don't even like the real stuff. Luckily they had spared the small side plate piled with fruit which was all that I had eaten. My schedule was full of different classes that I didn't even remember choosing. I guess I was placed in compulsory classes, considering I don't even know magic.

I sighed at my schedule. I was wasting my time with muggle studies. Still, it would be an easy mark I thought absentmindedly. I was only brought back to reality when the back of my schedule was hit with a squirt of sausage juices.

"Ron! Ewwww!"

I laughed, wiping the back of my, now greasy schedule. Hermione reached for my schedule along with Ron's and Harry's.

"Y/N, you have potions with Harry, Muggle studies with the twins, divination with Ron, Harry and I, and we all have DADA together. And you and I have charms together!"

I smiled at her, grateful to have classes with people I know. I was put in the higher year's muggle studies because I was so well versed in their society. Hopefully, I could pass relatively quickly and move onto a new subject.

Harry and I walked to potions together. We were joking around the whole walk there, even shoving each other playfully. That quickly subsided when we came in view of Snape's classroom door.

"Remember. Snape HATES Gryffindors, so try not to upset him..."

Harry said carefully, hiking up the large textbook under his arm and blowing a piece of hair out of his face. I sighed before pushing open the large, wooden door. The room was mostly empty, apart from a few Slytherins that sat chatting to one another. Snape was nowhere to be seen. Harry looked at me and shrugged. He led me to a table a couple of rows from the front. As we pulled out our books, Harry cracked a couple of quiet jokes about Snape as more people entered the classroom. After a few moments, Snape came I with a flourish and swish of his robes. I checked my phone and saw it was 9 on the dot. I made a mental note about his punctuality. He wordlessly faced the class. His face was emotionless yet held a sense of disgust that I couldn't quite explain.

"New year... you best not disappoint me as much as you did last year."

He spoke quickly and through gritted teeth. He then reached onto his desk to pick up a pile of parchments that he then began to hand out quickly.

"Don't get too comfortable in these seats. I will be assigning seats tomorrow which you will hold till the end of the year."

A series of groans filled the room which quickly quieted once Snape gave the students a glare. On the parchment placed in front of me was a series of potions related questions. I gulped and looked around the room at the students who were quickly filling in the answers. The questions on the parchment looked like they came straight out of Macbeth's potion scenes. I quietly pulled out my pencil case. The quiet classroom was filled with the sounds of the unzipping of the bag. I got a series of annoyed looks, mostly from Slytherins and curious ones from Gryffindors. My face heated as I pulled out my favourite pen and neatly wrote my name at the top of the page, awkwardly looking over the questions. My page was then covered in shadow as I felt a presence behind me.

"What is that, Ms. Y/N?"

Snape asked with an annoyed tone while gesturing to the ballpoint pen in my hand.

"U-uh a pen?"

I said timidly before I looked at my classmates who I noticed were all using long feathers to write.

"A muggle device?"

He asked, grabbing the attention of almost all of my classmates. My face was hot with blood rushing to my face and I weakly nodded.

"As long as you get your work done to my satisfaction you may use whatever you need, as long as it doesn't serve as a distraction, that is."

I nodded again, bending my head with embarrassment as he referenced the loud zipping of my pencil case. After 5 minutes, he collected the papers. I had only answered 1 of the 5 questions on the sheet. 'What is a potion?' He then instructed us to read from our textbooks and I noticed his perplexed and annoyed expression when he picked up mine. His eyes met mine, raising his eyebrows up slightly and scribbling something down on the sheet. The rest of the class went by in a blur, the only exciting thing being Snape describing the potions we'll learn this year, one of them being amortentia. Harry quickly described the potion to me. Before class ended Snape handed us back our questionnaire. Scribbled under my name was a small note.

See me after class.

I sighed and as the bell rang and everyone stood to leave, I walked to his desk; asking Harry to wait for me just outside.

"Ms. Y/L/N, I know you're new to the wizarding world but I expect great things from you. If you're unable to keep up, I will have to suggest to Dumbledore that he move you down to the year one class."

I gulped, pushing a strand of loose hair behind my ear.

"I'm going to try my hardest. Would it be possible for me to get some extra help if I need?"

I asked, straightening my posture and hugging the potions book to my chest. Snape raised an eyebrow before nodding and returning to looking at the parchment on his desk. I took that as my cue to leave and quickly shuffed out of the classroom.