PRINCESS ➳ harry potter, draco malfoy (NEW VERSION)

06 || Cure for Boils

Katie quickly learned that she was rather good at Herbology. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Transfiguration. She left Professor McGonagall's class feeling quite disheartened—she had made no progress in her attempt to turn a match into a needle. But she reminded herself that Transfiguration was known for being extremely complex magic. Nobody else in the class had managed to turn their matches into needles either.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom smelled strongly of garlic, and the scent wafted from Professor Quirrell himself too. He wore a purple turban, and Katie thought the odour might have been coming from that. She had heard the Professor had found himself in a rather nasty encounter with a vampire he'd met in Romania. Supposedly, that was the reason why he seemed to constantly be on edge. Katie thought that would also explain the stench of garlic.

As the week progressed, Katie had come to realise that, so far, she had no classes with the Gryffindors. She had Herbology with the Ravenclaws and History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs. Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Charms she had only with her fellow Slytherins. By the end of the day, Katie had learned that she had all but one class with the Gryffindors, and that was Potions.

On Friday morning, Katie made her way from the Great Hall down to Professor Snape's dungeon, where the Potions classes were held. She was accompanied by Theodore Nott, a boy she had spoken to briefly in Charms class one day and had taken to sitting with at mealtimes. Throughout the week, Katie had made several attempts to speak with Harry and Ron, but she was always disrupted by a teacher or by Harry and Ron themselves, who miraculously seemed to suddenly walk faster in the opposite direction whenever they caught sight of her. Katie was determined to seize the Double Potions lesson as a chance to speak with them.

When she arrived at Snape's classroom, however, she found that the seats surrounding Harry and Ron had already been filled. Masking her disappointment, Katie gestured for Theo to follow her, and they slipped into empty seats on the opposite side of the classroom from Harry and Ron.

Katie allowed her eyes to scan the cold stone walls of the dungeon, drinking in the eerie sight of pickled animals floating in glass jars filled with greenish liquid all around the walls. Katie's stomach twisted into knots, and she wondered if it would be able to handle Potions class at all.

Sat at his desk at the front of the classroom, Professor Snape began taking the register. He had a drawling sort of voice that Katie thought quite suited his brooding demeanour. As Snape was noting attendance, he paused at Harry's name and looked up slowly, black eyes glittering like vicious beetles.

"Ah, yes," he said softly. "Harry Potter. Our new celebrity."

On the bench next to Katie's, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind their hands. Professor Snape appeared not to notice this, and he dipped his head once more, continuing to call the register. Once he had finished, he got swiftly to his feet, and his eyes swept the room. Much like Professor McGonagall, Snape seemed to have the gift of maintaining silence in a classroom with tremendous ease.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," Snape began. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses . . . I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

"Very encouraging," Katie mumbled sarcastically under her breath.

Unpredictably, Snape whipped around. "Potter!" he said. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"