Riddle And Grindelwald

32. Alchemy

Over the next couple of days, Genevieve questioned Gellert relentlessly about the Deathly Hallows. And eventually she came to the same conclusion that he had, which was that the Resurrection stone and the invisibility cloak were impossible to find.
On September the 1st Gellert escourted her to Platform 9 and 3/4, where she was reunited with Tom.
She wanted to tell Tom about the Deathly Hallows, but she knew that she couldn't, because he would want to track down the Elder wand, which would put Gellert in danger.
So she kept what she had learned about the Hallows, to herself, which was hard, as Tom wore his family ring everywhere he went, so Genevieve was constantly seeing the mark of the Deathly Hallows.

Genevieve was happy to be back at Hogwarts and to see her friends again.
But they all talked about such mundane things, which seemed like a waste of time to her.
While they discussed new fashion trends, and how exciting their holidays were, Genevieve thought about Horcruxes, Hallows and murder.
She had witnessed Tom murder three of this own family members, and it still played on her mind, that he was capable of such evil acts.

During their first breakfast back, Slughorn approached the 6th years, to talk to them about the subjects they wanted to continue or drop.
Normally Genevieve sat with her friends at breakfast, but since she hadn't wanted to be parted from Tom, they sat together, away from everyone else.
Slughorn went through everyone at the table individually, but when he got to Genevieve and Tom he didn't ask them to separate, for he could see that they wanted to stay together.
"Well, what can I say? You two made me proud by getting all Outstandings. Not many people could do what you did" smiled Slughorn.

"Thank you Professor. We wouldn't have done so well, if it weren't for you" said Tom, humbly.
"I'm sure you would have done, for you are both such amazing students, and a credit to my house. I know that all the other teachers are jealous that you're in Slytherin and not in one of their houses" admitted Slughorn.
"I'm glad that we made you proud" replied Genevieve.

"With such perfect results, I see no issues with you both continuing all of your subjects at NEWT level. And who knows, maybe you will achieve all Outstandings at the end of your 7th year as well" Slughorn said excitedly.
"I hope we continue to excell, here at Hogwarts. But our NEWT exams are quite a way off" reminded Tom.
"Even so, I can't see either of you struggling with your work load. Which is why I'm suprised that you both decided to drop Astronomy and History of Magic" admitted Slughorn.
"We felt that we could put our time to better use. Having free periods will allow us to focus on the subjects that we want to excell in. We will also be able to research other topics that interest us, which aren't covered in our NEWT classes" revealed Genevieve.

"That makes sense. You also showed interest in taking Alchemy, and even though you were the only two in your year to do so, Headmaster Dippet decided to run the classes for you anyway. So you will have one Alchemy class a week" informed Slughorn.
"We are so grateful to the Headmaster for allowing us to take the subject, when normally he doesn't run it unless a minimum of 6 students show an interest in it" admitted Tom.
"He could hardly say no, to two brilliant students like yourselves. You are both Prefects, who have never received a detention from any member of staff. Not to mention the fact that you uncovered the truth about the heir of Slytherin last year, and saved the school. You are the brightest students at Hogwarts, and no one wants to hold you back, especially not the headmaster" informed Slughorn.
"Thank you, Professor".

Slughorn rummaged around his pockets, before pulling out two identical pieces of parchment, and placing them on the table.
"It seems silly at this point, but I've written you a new permission slip as normal, so that you can enter the Restricted Section of the library this year" he said quietly.
Tom and Genevieve both pocketed the parchment with their name on.
"Thanks" they mumbled in unison.
Slughorn then handed them their new timetables for that year, which they immediately began looking at, to see what lessons they had that day.

"Excellent, we've got a free period now, followed by Potions" said Genevieve.
"I look forward to seeing you both back in my classes. We are going to be covering some new and dangerous potions this year" informed Slughorn.
"I can't wait" replied Tom.
"Good. Well, I'd better be off- Oh, that reminds me, I'm not holding a Slug Club meeting this weekend, as I want to get to know the first years a little better, before allowing any of them to join. So, I will have my first get together next week instead"
"We look forward to attending"
"I'm glad. Well, I'll see you in Potions".

"I can't believe he wanted us to continue with History of Magic" Genevieve said quietly, once Slughorn was out of earshot.
"Well, we did get an Outstanding in it" reminded Tom.
"Only because we taught each other the subject, in our free time. We didn't exactly learn anything from Professor Binns" admitted Genevieve.
"No, we didn't. We probably would have got an Outstanding in the NEWT, but why waste our time sitting in those dull lectures, when we could be doing something much more worthwhile with our time".

"Like doing more research into Horcruxes?" Questioned Genevieve.
"Exactly. History of Magic and Astronomy were two classes we didn't need to continue, for we could easily teach ourselves the subject, if we wanted to. Alchemy however, is a useful subject, which might help me on my quest to become the greatest sorcerer who ever lived" replied Tom.
"I'm looking forward to learning a new subject, but not meeting a new teacher" admitted Genevieve.
"We will charm this new teacher, just like we've done with all the others. Besides, they've probably already heard of our greatness, so will be dying to meet us"
"I hope you're right"
"I always am".