Flora And Fawna [HARRY POTTER]

26

Hogwarts is just as it has always been, and just as it always would be; the sight of the enchanted castle took Rosie's breath away. Rosie and Penny had both done a lot over the summer and they had mostly gone their separate ways. Now they were ready to start fresh, inseparable during the next school year.

Rosie had always found the unearthly horses that pulled the carriages to be a little unnerving, though they had learned about them in school. Their skeletal appearance and their sharp teeth put her off. It was because of this that Rosie always left the carriage as soon as she could and made her way into the castle.

The welcoming feasts for Hogwarts first years was infamous, as were all the feasts. That year was no exception and it seemed that the house elves must have gone even further to ensure that the food was even more spectacular than normal. Rosie filled her plate, something she hadn't been able to do all summer with Walburga carefully monitoring her portion sizes, with beef wellington, glazed carrots, and several types of fruit cobbler. The food was there so she planned to eat it.

Penny, in contrast, had started a diet sometime over the summer; Rosie suspected it was because of the handsome lad she worked next to in her culinary course. And because of Penny's new outlook on the things she put into her body she was rather sensable with the food on her plate. All the portions were perfectly served and half the plate was even left empty.

There was nothing wrong wrong with that, Hogwarts was known for their large plates, but Rosie mentally told herself to keep an eye out just in case.

As dinner progressed and Rosie and Penny caught up, Rosie had the nagging feeling that someone was staring at her. She had already taken several looks around the room to see if it was student, and hadn't caught anyone's gaze. That only left the teacher's table and Rosie was doing all that she could to avoid it. With her luck it would be Professor Slughorn waiting to invite her to another one of his awful slug parties.

Finally, Rosie gave in and looked up, right to where Professor Slughorn had sat for the last two years. Only it wasn't Professor Slughorn's eyes she met, it was a different man's. At first, Rosie assumed she had simply caught her first glimpse of the new Dark Arts teacher. In the two years that Rosie had already gone to Hogwarts there had been a different one each year. Some even said that the position was cursed.

But no, as Rosie tore her eyes away from the dark, brooding stranger's, she caught sight of another new face. And didn't see one old one. Professor Slughorn was nowhere in sight. Which meant one of the new faces at the table had to be the professor taking his place.

Rosie's eyes inadvertently went back to the dark man, only to see he was still looking at her. There was something dark in his eyes as he gazed upon her that almost made Rosie shudder. She hadn't had someone glare at her like that since the first time she stepped into Regulus' house. Like hate, but stronger. Loathing would be a better word for it.

Rosie looked away quickly.

*******

Dearest Professor,

Rosie began her letter.

I've just come to hear of your retirement and my heart weeps at the loss of Hogwarts' most cherished potions master.

She supposed she was laying it on a little thick, but she didn't suppose Professor Slughorn would notice. The new Professor, the one to fill in for Professor Slughorn after the elderly Wizard's hasty retirement, was a man by the name if Severus Snape. A man who had been a friend of Lily's when she went to Hogwarts. Rosie reckoned that made the man about twenty-one years old, young for a potions master, so she wished to see what Slughorn thought of him.

I'm sure you've already been made aware but your replacement is a wizard named Severus Snape, a peculiar looking man dressed in all black. I am writing with two intentions. My first and foremost intention is to properly thank you for inviting me to your Slugclub party last year, it was an honor and a joy especially seeing as how there will be no more Slug parties from here on out. My second reason for writing is to ask for a little more information on our new potions master. As I recall he was in my sister's year in school and that does seem awfully young. I'm sure if anyone can judge his character and abilities it would be you. Please write back to me at your earliest convenience, as I am anxiously awaiting your reply.

Rosie signed her letter with a flourish and tucked her letter into the beak of a dormmate's owl. It had been decided that if Rosie was to return home every weekend for her muggle education, she would have no need for an owl. It made sending letters like the one to Slughorn a little difficult but it was a sound decision. Hera had been given to Mrs. Figg so she could write to her family.

Rosie was desperately hoping that Professor Slughorn would be able to shed a little light on their new potions master. All throughout dinner he hadn't stopped staring at Rosie and it actually had made her quite uncomfortable. Slughorn was a known gossip and hopefully he wouldn't let her down.

In the meantime, Rosie would have to grin and bear it because she and Penny had double potions the next day, and something in Rosie's gut told her potions wasn't going to be much better than dinner was.

*******

Rosie was actually very good at potions, even if this was the one class Penny shined in. She knew what every ingredient did and how it was used in each potion. She even knew that some potions worked better if one strayed from the directions slightly.

Unfortunately the new potions professor had no way of knowing that with how Rosie performed on her first day in his class.

Just as Rosie predicted, Professor Snape's eyes felt like bullets drilling into the back of her head. For the first few minutes of class, she would glance up to catch his eye. They would look at each other for a minute, then Rosie would look away. Never, Rosie would wager, did his eyes leave her for even a second during the entire potions class. And Rosie's work was affected.

Thankfully, Professor Snape hadn't assigned any partner work for the first day of class, presumably because he wished to see each student's own abilities without the help of another. At least Rosie's nerves didn't doom Penny's work as well.

The class could not end soon enough for Rosie, but just as she was about to escape to freedom, Professor Snape called out to her. The new potions master had a serious look about him. He had a hooked nose that was rather large on his face, his eyes were dark and his hair was darker. Countless hours spent over a cauldron had turned the man's hair long and lanky. He certainly made an intimidating figure.

"Miss. Evans, I would have a word with you," The potions master called her back into his room. "I would like to discuss your performance in my class today."

Rosie would have winced, if she didn't think it would get her into even more trouble. She was sure that she was overreacting believing that professor Snape only had eyes for her. She was sure he had to have been watching the other students as well, because nothing had blown up. She was not going to be the one to tell her professor that her horrible performance was because he made her uncomfortable. So instead, she shrugged.

"Professor Slughorn, my predecessor, couldn't say enough kind things about you. He seemed to believe that you were every bit as talented a witch as your sister was." Professor Snape took a pause for effect. "Unfortunately all of your so called talent had alluded you today and I have held you back to tell you slacking will not be tolerated in my class. Please be aware of that in the future."

It was only the first day and prospects for Rosie's weekend trips seemed to be growing dim. Rosie said nothing in her defense, just nodded her head, and left with her shoulders slumped when she was dismissed. Clear to say she felt properly scolded.