5 - Competition

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Harry and I went straight to the hospital wing. I splashed some water on my face in the sink while Madam Pomfrey gave Harry an ice pack and tissues for his still bleeding nose. "Ready?" Harry asked. "Sure," I sighed. We began to walk to the great hall. "Are you sure you're alright? You know I'll kill him for you if you want," Harry gave me a small smile. "I'm good, and thanks, it does mean a lot," I laughed.

We approached the table, people from different tables staring as we sat down with Hermione, Ron and Ginny. "Where've you two been? What happened to your face??" Hermione hissed. "Later, what'd we miss?" Harry asked. "Dumbledore's speech telling everyone to be brave and strong during these difficult times," Ron scoffed. "Easy for him to say," I grabbed a fork and a bowl of salad. "Oh here we go again," Ginny looked up to Dumbledore's podium.

"Very best of evenings to you all. First off, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our staff, Horace Slughorn, our new potions master," Dumbledore motioned to him. I looked over at Harry as claps came from the room. "Professor Snape will be taking the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," Dumbledore exclaimed. "Oh bloody hell," Ron scoffed.

"As you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival here tonight, and you have the right to know why. Once, there was a young man, who like you, sat in this very hall, walked the corridors, stayed under the castle's very roof. A student, just like yourselves. His name? Tom Riddle." Whispers filled the hall as Dumbledore spoke.

"Today of course, he is known all over the world by another name. Which is why, as I stand here in front of you all tonight, I am reminded by a sobering fact. Every day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate these castle walls. But at the end of the day, their greatest weapon, is you." I gave Draco the biggest death stare I could muster in that moment. He looked over to me, a sense of sadness washing over his senses.

"Just something to think about, now off to bed, pip pip," Dumbledore finished, stepping back to his chair. "That was cheerful," Ron mumbled. We walked back to the Gryffindor dormitories, our same rooms as last year greeting us. "You think that last bit was about Malfoy?" Ginny asked. "Sure sounded like it," I mumbled, getting into my pajamas. "What classes do you have tomorrow?" Hermione asked, holding up her schedule to compare it to mine. "Perfect, we have nearly every class together," I smiled.

The next morning, first period

"Ron and Harry are lucky they have a free first period," I mumbled, as Hermione and I walked to potions class. We entered with our books. Great, Draco's in this class. Hermione and I took a seat at a four person table on the left of the room, as far away from Draco as possible. I'd told her what he did last night, and she wasn't having any of it.


"Gather round, students," Slughorn said, waving at me as Hermione and I stood. I gave him a small smile as we all gathered around his desk. Draco kept staring at me, but I ignored his gaze. As he began to explain the lesson, Harry and Ron burst into the room. "Ah, Harry! You've brought a friend with you, I see," Slughorn smiled. "Ron Weasley sir, but I'm dead awful at potions so, I'll be going now," Ron smiled awkwardly, beginning to turn around.

"Nonsense, we'll sort you out! Any friend of Harry's is a friend of mine," he said. "Get your books out then join us for the lesson," he motioned. "Actually sir, we haven't got our books yet, do you have some we could borrow?" Harry asked. "Yes, there's two in the cupboard," he smiled, returning to the lesson. "As I was saying, I prepared some concoctions for you all this morning, does anyone perhaps know what they are?" he asked. Hermione's hand shot up in the air beside me.

"Yes Miss?" "Granger sir," she smiled, walking up to the potions. "That one there is veritaserum, a truth telling potion. Then this one is Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world," she exclaimed. "It's rumored to smell different to each person depending on what attracts them. For example, I smell, freshly mown grass, new parchment, and.. Spearmint.. Toothpaste," she walked quietly back to where I stood.

"Now amortentia doesn't create actual love, that would be impossible but it does create the most powerful infatuation or obsession, and for that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room," I rolled my eyes dramatically as all the girls began to gravitate the open potion, stepping back when he clasped the lid over it. I glanced over to see Draco smile a little at my reaction.

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in that one," Katie pointed to a small vial with yellow liquid inside. "This is Felix Felicis, more commonly known as liquid luck," he held it up. "Incredibly difficult to make, dangerous if you get it wrong, but one sip, and all of your endeavors are sure to succeed. At least until the effects wear off. Whoever can create the most powerful draught of living death potions during this class today will receive this small vial to use for their own doing," Slughorn smiled. I had this in the bag. My Dad had taught me how to perfect this one when I was younger.

"Now, go on, the ingredients are on on your tables. I motioned Harry and Ron to sit where we were. Harry opened his book to the page, seeming quite intrigued at his pages. "Caroline I'm gonna challenge you for this one," he smirked. "So you're suddenly a potions master?" I scoffed. "Just a little bit," he laughed, opening to the draught of living death page of his book. I shut mine closed, as he looked at me.

"You're on."

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 - 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 (𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟑)Where stories live. Discover now