Athena Lockhart is haunted by the disappearance of her brother Jacob. With everyone thinking she's cursed too and the foul Merula Snyde willing to make her life at Hogwarts a living hell, can she survive school, find the Cursed Vaults and uncover wh...
It's a snowy January in Hogwarts. All the towers are covered in glistening white powder, the mandrakes at the Greenhouses are wearing scarves and even the Whomping Willow has its wintery glory. I'm already wearing the sweater Grandma knitted for me, along with the blue beanie and Ravenclaw's scarf.
"Wow," Rowan says when she sees me. "You're in a true Ravenclaw spirit."
Our first Saturday back in the castle is nothing but studies, only we're not exactly studying for class. We're studying useful spells, important potions, anything that could help us with our quest. When I talk to Penny about the Sleeping Draught, I don't tell her our true motives, but she seems excited to brew it for us.
"My pleasure, Athena," she says. "People always come to me for gossip, so it's refreshing when someone recognizes my skills with potions."
Though I think it's a little unfair to keep her in the dark, I also think it's best if I leave her out of this. Though she said I could trust her, I don't want her to get in trouble too. She's very kind and even sent me a couple of letters during the holidays, but I haven't spent as much time with her as I've spent with Rowan.
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Penny asks me to meet her on Monday, in the Potions classroom. Apart from the both of us, the room is completely empty. Potions class has been cancelled, but we're not aware of Professor Snape's reasons.
"Hi, Penny," I say, walking to her, and realizing she's already brewing our potion. "Where's Professor Snape?"
"We lost our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Snape is campaigning with Dumbledore, even though the position clearly is cursed," she explains with a serene smile.
"Professor Shelley is gone?" I frown.
She nods. "Rumour is, he's not going to get it," she says, adding lavender sprigs to the boiling concoction.
"I feel like I didn't learn much from Professor Shelley," I tell her. "She always seemed so scared to be teaching us about Dark Arts."
"Probably because she knew she wouldn't last long," Penny says. "But you're about to learn something about Potions right now."
She flashes me a big smile and hands me her notebook where the recipe is written in a very pretty penmanship. Her writing is rounded and clear and there are even steps written with different colour inks. I begin helping her with the potion and we end up spending the hour brewing it together while talking about our teachers, friends and common rooms.
"Our common room is really beautiful," she tells me. "With a lot of plants everywhere, a lot of open spaces, furniture in earthly tones... Very cosy, really."
When the potion is finally done, she pours some in a few flasks and hand them to me. In case a need some extra, she tells me.
"I can't thank you enough, Penny," I smile. "I owe you one."
