The Dungeon Corridor was particularly damp and gloomy. There were no windows here, the only light sources were the torches hanging from the walls. No wonder that most of the Slytherins are so grumpy all of the time. I can’t seem to imagine a person who would love spending their time here. I guess I’ll have to deal with it since I’ll have to attend all of my Potions classes down here.

As I was approaching the Classroom, I noticed Rowan talking to one of the Slytherin students. I couldn’t quite see them from afar. The place was awfully dark… Once I got close enough, I could hear their conversation.

“Admit it!” I heard the Slytherin student yelling at my friend. She had a short, dark brown hair which was rather messy. One area of her hair was of orange color, which gave her quite a distinct look. Her violet eyes were glaring angrily at my friend.

“I can’t!” Rowan replied. He seemed both serious and frightened at the same time.

“Say I’m the most powerful witch at Hogwarts!” She continued pushing my friend.

“It’s logically impossible! I’ve made numerous lists of the most powerful witches at Hogwarts based on multiple factors,” he started explaining. “You’re less powerful than Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, every single seventh-year… You’re just a first-year like me!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. At least she was lucky enough not to mention anything related to history.

“I’m nothing like you,” she replied, clearly frustrated by Rowan’s logical response.

I’m not going to just stand idle and let her insult my friend. He stood up for me back in the Common Room, it’s my turn now.

“Get away from him,” I interfered, determined to stand up for Rowan.

“Who do you think you are?” She turned her attention to me.

“Dylan is the one who should be claiming to be the best wizard,” Rowan replied. “Professor Flitwick said he cast the best Wand-Lighting Charm of any first-year.”

“Dylan? Now I know exactly who you are…”A slight grin went through her face as she recognized my name. “You’re Dylan Edwards. Your brother lost his mind, disgraced his house, got expelled from school, and was never heard from again. You belong in Gryffindor.”

Her voice was filled with disappointment as if she was trying to put me down for being who I am. I could also sense a bit of insecurity in her tone, I am not quite sure, but I felt like something was upsetting her… I just couldn’t figure out what it was…

“Who are you?” I asked, curious to find out more about this Slytherin girl.

“Merula Snyde. First-year Slytherin. The best witch at Hogwarts,” she proudly answered. “I overheard the professors whispering about you at the Feast. I suppose you think you’re better than me.”

Once again, I could notice she quivered slightly as she was saying those words. It looks like she is bothered by my presence, but I don’t understand why… I guess I should try to reason with her, after all, the last thing I need is making enemies…

“We can talk this out,” I replied. “We can be friends.”

“You think you’re good enough to be friends with me? You really are as mad as your brother,” she said, once again with a same tone as before.

Before I could say anything, a tall figure appeared in front of us.

I heard a calm, slightly intimidating tone addressing me. “Edwards. I knew you would be trouble.”

“Professor Snape!” She said, surprised at his sudden appearance.

“Merula was bullying my friend, Professor,” I tried to explain the situation to him.

“Get to the Potions Class. Be thankful you aren’t headed to detention,” he calmly said, clearly uninterested in our squabble.

I didn’t need him to tell me twice. Arguing with another student is one thing, but angering one of the Professors on my first day is the last thing I want… While we were making our way to the classroom, Rowan smiled at me and whispered, “Thanks for standing up for me, Dylan. I’ve never been very strong. Or very good at making friends. I’m glad that you and I are both in Gryffindor.”

I kindly smiled back at him. He really seems like a trustworthy fellow. Hopefully, I’ll meet more people like him…

Open this in UX Builder to add and edit content

The Potions Class took place in a dungeon that was nothing like the Charms Classroom. The room was very dark and gloomy, and it gave me quite the chills. Also, there were a lot of shelves along each of the walls. Various different jars were placed there, containing all sorts of ingredients needed for brewing the potions. I sat next to Rowan, but much to my surprise, Merula decided to sit right next to me. I’m wondering why she decided to do that, but before I could give it more thought, the Professor addressed the class.

“This is your first Potions Class, and based on the bewildered look in your eyes, this could very well be your last,” he said with a calm and stern voice. “Unlike your other classes, this is not a place for foolish wand-waving, and intolerable screeching of mispronounced incantations. Today you will produce a simple Cure for Boils Potion. Know that I expect perfection. And know that there will be severe consequences for failing to meet my expectations. Let us begin.”

I understand now why most of the students are frightened by Professor Snape. Just listening to his introductory speech gave me creeps. Hopefully, I’ll be able to create a decent enough potion to meet his expectations.

“You think you’re so special, but you’re already guaranteed to fail, Edwards,” Merula’s voice suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts.

She was grinning at me, as if she had something wicked in her mind, something that I am unaware of…

“What’s that suppose to mean?” I asked her, curious to know what she had in mind.

“You’ll see…” She replied.

“Ignore her, Dylan,” Rowan interfered. “After getting reprimanded by Snape, we need to brew this potion perfectly.”

To be fair, he had a point. I don’t want to risk angering the Professor. I guess I will try my best not to fail here.

“The lesson starts,” the Professor said. “To begin to brew Cure for Boils, your technique must be perfect. Watch me.”

All the students approached the Professor and watched as he started demonstrating the proper way to brew the potion. Each of his instructions was exact, precise and to the point. I wrote it all down, careful not to miss anything.

Once the demonstration was over, we went back to our tables and started preparing our potions. I followed the instructions provided by the Professor and tried to get everything in order, careful not to make any mistake along the way. Thankfully, all of the ingredients were clearly labeled and well organized, so it wasn’t hard for me to find everything I needed.

It took me a while to properly brew the potion. Often I had to wait for my turn to take some ingredients from the shelves, but in the end, I managed to get everything in order.

“It worked! I brewed my first potion!” I told Rowan as I finally finished everything.

“Congratulations, Dylan!” He replied. “In all my research, hardly anyone ever brews this potion correctly on their first try.”

Suddenly, my cauldron started shaking uncontrollably.

“Wait… What’s happening?” I panicked. Is it supposed to be like this? Did I put some wrong ingredients in there? I was careful to do everything correctly…

“Did you add Bulbadox Powder?” Rowan asked. “From my studies, this looks like the beginning of the explosive reaction caused by adding Bulbadox powder…”

“Explosive?!”

Shortly after, my cauldron exploded with a loud sound. The entirety of its contents spilled over the table and the floor and it made quite the mess.

“Congratulations. You have cured the table of boils,” Merula commented. I could notice a slight grin on her face. Did she have something to do with this?

“You should have never been allowed inside of my classroom, Edwards,” the Potions Master said with quite an angry tone. “You are somehow even worse than your brother. Ten points from Gryffindor!”

Ten House Points?! But I… I did everything as instructed, I am almost certain of it. Why would my cauldron suddenly explode if everything was in order? Did Merula do something to sabotage me? I… I am not really sure… I didn’t see her do anything, but still…

“What do you have to say for yourself?” The Professor’s angry voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I’m sorry, Professor Snape. I didn’t mean to let you down,” I apologized.

As soon as the Professor left our table, Merula turned to me.

“It’s only going to get worse, Edwards. You should have known that coating your cauldron with Bulbadox Powder would make your potion explode. I certainly did,” she said while cracking a wicked grin across her face. “Now there’s no doubt that I’m the most important first-year, and you’re nothing but a disgrace just like your brother.”

So she was, in fact, responsible for this. But why would she do this? Does she hate me so much? I guess I should be more careful around her in the future.

Suddenly, the Potions Master noticed us talking. “Dismissed. I’ve had enough of all of you for one day.”

Gryffindor lost ten House Points because of me. Well, truthfully, it was because of Merula’s sabotage, but ultimately I got blamed for it. What will I do now? I’ll have to notify my Prefect of this.

* * *

As I approached the Common Room, I couldn’t stop thinking about the entire situation. Just why did she do that? I certainly didn’t do anything to provoke her. The only thing that comes to mind is that for some reason, she dislikes me for being Jacob’s brother. But that’s quite absurd… She doesn’t even know him, why would she concern herself over…

“You’re Dylan Edwards, right?” An unknown voice interrupted my thoughts.

I turned around and saw a first-year Gryffindor student behind me. He had a blond, neatly combed hair and brown eyes. His voice gave me the impression he’s afraid of something… or someone.

“…Yes. Who are you?” I asked politely.

“Ben Copper. I’m a first-year Gryffindor like you. I just wanted to say thank you for standing up to Merula Snyde,” he replied, with a frightened tone.

“Who told you I did that?” I wondered since I don’t recall seeing him in the dungeons.

“I was watching from the end of the corridor,” he answered. “I’ve been following her so she can’t sneak up on me, and if she sees me, I’ll at least have a chance to run away. She tormented me the entire way here on the Hogwarts Express. She kept threatening me, and calling me a Mudblood.”

It looks like she is a bully who likes picking on others. It makes sense now… Mum warned me I might come across some of those, but I never imagined it’d be so soon…

“I’m sorry, Ben. That’s terrible,” I replied. This poor guy doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment. In fact… no one does…

“Merula is obsessed with being the best witch in our year, and she thinks she has to impose her will on us to prove it,” he continued. “I’m just glad someone was brave enough to stand up to her. I’m certainly not. It’s a joke that I got put in Gryffindor.”

“Everyone is afraid of something, Ben,” I kindly tried to soothe him.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid of everything. I come from a Muggle family, so all of this is new and scary to me,” he replied.

“I know how you feel. I come from a wizard family, and this is hard for me too. I’ll try to help you however I can, Ben,” I reassured him. I definitely have to do something about that girl. She can’t just run around and torment anyone she deems “entertaining” enough.

“Thanks, Dylan. I’ll see you around,” he smiled before we parted ways.

At least I got him to forget his worries for a bit. Now it’s my time to face the consequences and notify my Prefect about the recent events. I can’t help but wonder, why would anyone enjoy bullying others so much? I know there are some really bad people out there, but for the first-year to be that cruel… I can’t imagine what her childhood was like if she turned out that way… I feel there is something more to it, something I’ve yet to find out…

Those thoughts occupied my mind as I was nearing my destination. Then I slowly entered the Common Room, ready to face the inevitable…

Previous Part

Next Part

Open this in UX Builder to add and edit content