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∞ Chapter Five ∞

The first class that Kat had was Potions with Professor Snape and it was a Gryffindor/Slytherin class. Hermione was up early, getting her things ready and revising her potions book already before they had even started learning anything. Just showed how dedicated she was. Nobody else had even woken up yet. Katherine sat up in her bed and admired the drapes that were surrounding her four-poster bed. She had all the drapes drawn except the one adjacent to Hermione’s bed, that was only half drawn. Hermione already knew about Salazar from their talking last night, and was amazed that he was so tame considering what he must have gone through with Kat’s father being a Death Eater and being locked away in the vault for so long. Hermione swore to keep Salazar a secret, but she wouldn’t help hide him and Kat understood why. She didn’t want to be expelled or get into trouble.

“You’re awake already.” Kat whispered hoarsely, rolling over.

“Of course I am, I’m reading my textbooks.” Hermione replied, flipping a page in the potions book she had her face buried in.

“Well, potions first with Slytherin should be eventful, considering Malfoy’s little spiel yesterday.” Katherine replied, lifting herself from the warmth of her covers. She began to pull out her trunk and get dressed when Salazar popped his head up.

“Oh yes. I’ve heard about his family. Not a very nice bunch are they Kat?” Hermione asked, putting her book away and following suit, getting dressed.

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve only ever met Malfoy twice. I think I met his dad too.”

“What happened?”

“Oh nothing really. I was at the broomstick shop and there was a crowd of kids around the new racing broom. I tried getting around the other side and bumped into him and we both fell over. I helped him up and apologised and then someone who I think was his dad turned and told him off. He apologised but he wasn’t paying attention so I snapped at him and left.”

“He probably didn’t like that, judging by how he took Ron’s little snickering. Have you met Professor Snape before?”

“Yeah, he’s nice to me. I think he’s fond of me because I show the same passion for the fine art of potion making, unlike the majority of his students. He tells me that his students don’t understand how the smallest of mistakes can drastically effect the results of the potion brew. But he’s Slytherin head, and he doesn’t really like the other houses. He can be very stubborn and a bit mean to students as well. Some people have told me how mean he is to them and how bias he is towards Slytherin.” Kat responded, packing her messenger bag with her textbooks for her classes. Salazar was playing around on the bed, pouncing and diving into the still warm covers.

“I saw his face when you got sorted into Gryffindor, it dropped. He looked incredibly disappointed and disgusted, then he turned away from you and didn’t look back at you for the rest of the night.” Hermione said quietly trailing off at the end, stopping what she was doing. Kat looked up and met her eyes, confused.

“Did he really look disappointed at me?” She asked, not wanting to know the answer. She knew deep down it would happen; Snape was too proud to show care towards someone from any other house. She doubted whether the fact that he had taken fondness towards her in the earlier years would make any difference.

Hermione nodded her head in answer. Kat sighed, her head dropping and her messy bed hair covering her eyes. Hot tears welled up in her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. Salazar dove under the bed as the other girls in the dorm awoke and began getting themselves ready for their classes.

Potions was down in one of the dungeons, some of the coldest rooms in the castle, and Snape liked to have animals preserved in strange liquids lining his classroom walls. Most of the students were walking in tight groups, scared of what awaited them, when they weren’t trying to get a good eyeful of Harry. It bothered him, but he tried to ignore it as best he could. They all made it without getting lost and took seats at the work stations in front of an impatient Professor Snape. He began, like all teachers, by taking the roll and stopped at Harry’s name.

“Ah yes, Harry Potter … our new celebrity …” He said, eyes locking with Harry’s own, before continuing down the roll. He skipped Katherine’s name, looking up and marking her down as present. Professor Snape then continued teaching the class, starting off with his spiel about how stupid the students he usually teaches is and how they would never understand how potions is using magic. He then rounded on Harry, making him the target for the lesson.

“Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Hermione’s hand shot up in the air, but Kat kept hers by her side.

“I don’t know sir.” Harry replied quietly.

“Tut tut, fame clearly isn’t everything.” Snape sneered.

This is how the first lesson continued, Professor Snape condescending the Gryffindor students and favouring the Slytherins. He avoided Katherine all together. By the end of the lesson, Neville, the boy with the missing toad, was covered head to toe in painful boils and was heading to the hospital wing, and Harry had lost Gryffindor two house points by Snape’s spitefulness. Hermione was disappointed that Snape didn’t pick her to answer questions, and Draco, Goyle and Crab were snickering away in their corner whilst Snape showered them in praise. Katherine had to fight back the urge to stand up to Professor Snape. She needed to be a good, model student. They wouldn’t accept any misbehaving from her because she had been living at Hogwarts her entire life, so she knew what was expected. Misbehaving and defying teachers was not an option, no matter how wrong they were treating others. She had to stay silent or she’d be kicked out from the school and she couldn’t afford that. The other classes went by like a breeze, Katherine trying not to show off even though the teachers would often call her out to demonstrate or answer questions, Hermione begging to prove herself, and Harry and Ron trying to understand what they’re being shown. Kat was thoroughly enjoying herself, not having to stay out of the way and watch. She could actually participate.

After a week, everybody was becoming accustomed to the daily lessons and routines. During breakfast the owls would bring mail for the students from all angles, the food magically appearing and then disappearing, the staircases changing, the paintings moving throughout the castle walls and following students, Peeves puling pranks. Kat was finally feeling like she had friends. Real friends. Not just wispy little animals she could magically sustain. Living breathing friends. People that actively participated in conversations, and would actually come up and start conversations with her. Even though most of the students feared her or were wary as they had heard the rumours, she still had managed to make friends within her first week at school!

Hermione was a bit of a pain sometimes, constantly complaining about Salazar and how Kat was breaking the rules and shouldn’t be and going on and on about it. She could be a bit up herself too, always sounding like she knew everything whenever she spoke. But she was still nice, and was an excellent conversation partner about academic topics and sharing knowledge. Katherine often wondered why she wasn’t a Ravenclaw.

Neville, the bow with the toad, was incredibly shy and was proving to be very accident prone. He would always go beet red when Kat tried talking to him, but he would continue the conversation and eventually be a little less embarrassed. He was a kind boy, always thinking of others before himself, even when he really needed to focus on not losing his possessions.

Ron was funny but he could be a little insensitive every now and then. He usually felt like he’s being overshadowed by his siblings and he felt like he needed to prove himself. But he was always trying to understand the content being taught to him and make new friends within Gryffindor mainly.

Seamus was hilarious during practical lessons. He always managed to blow something up. He even blew up his water at lunch by trying to turn it into rum using a silly rhyme. He’s a proud Gryffindor who is becoming a frequent in the hospital wing.

Fred and George were inseparable but that was the way Kat liked it. One without the other was always never the same and usually something was wrong. Together they were a formidable team, especially on the Quidditch Pitch. They were often referred to as the “Human Bludgers” as they were the Gryffindor Beaters. They were the official pranksters of the school and Peeves took a liking to the boys. Peeves was incredibly fond of them and never played tricks on them. But they weren’t all about causing mayhem. They did have a softer side, much more caring than one would think for a pair of ratbags.

Oliver Wood was friendly enough to Kat. He was always harping on about Quidditch though. But he was a sweet boy and a wonderful teacher. He was teaching Kat how to play Quidditch and how to ride a broomstick more skilfully. They had known each other before Kat became an official Hogwarts student, likewise with the Twins.

Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived”. A boy who was struggling to survive in a world where everybody knew his past better than he did. He was a celebrity, famous, known world-wide throughout the Wizarding Community. But he never wanted any of it. He just wanted to fit in and be accepted. Have someone care about him, truly. Not just pretending to care because they might become famous if they were his friend. Really care about Harry Potter, not “The Boy Who Lived”. She didn’t immediately recognise him and beg for his attention like she had seen others do later on. She patiently waited for him to talk to her in his own time, and took the time to get to know him and be his friend. She didn’t even know who he was or why he was famous and she had lived at Hogwarts! She was cast aside by majority of the students in their year after her show at the Black Lake, and as Harry opened up to her more, she realised that they shared a similar tale. They were both somewhat rejects, trying to find a place. Kat was determined to make Harry feel accepted and that he was wanted, that he was valued, and that he had someone caring about him.

And then there was Draco Malfoy. Kat didn’t know what to make of him. She had asked people about his family and had learned that they were on Voldemort’s side during the war. They were a strict pure-blood family determined to keep it that way. All of them coming from the snake house and having a gut instinct to hate all other houses and blood statuses. “Mudbloods”, “Half-Bloods”, and “Blood-Traitors”. The Malfoys considered themselves to be higher in society status than the rest of the Wizarding population, and that was clearly evident in the way that they conducted themselves. Despite the little accident where Draco’s father had told the boy to be a gentleman, he still had his nose upturned and was cold and uncaring. And it could be seen that Draco was going to be one of them, already taking to Harry to try be his “friend” because he was famous. Already belittling Ron for being a Weasley with his handed down robes and wand. He was sorted into Slytherin and expected nothing less. He already was acting as if he owned the school and that he was above everything. He hated the students from the other houses, insulting them with a venom that only the Malfoys owned.

But there was something different. Something off about him. Kat could sense it, and could often see the minute changes of expression he showed her. At their first encounter, after Kat had snapped at him, Draco had rounded on her to attack with the Malfoy Venom, but had fallen short. When he realised that Kat was standing next to Ron and Harry and defending them, his had fallen short again too, but this time it was barely noticeable. But Kat saw it. During their briefest of encounters throughout the week it had been present too. He would walk by and sometimes they’d catch each other’s eyes, and there would be the faintest hint of … Something. Kat couldn’t place it, but it was there. Even during Potions class where Snape practically denied her existence, she would sit with Ron and Harry. Draco and his gooney friends from Slytherin would pull all ends causing trouble for the Gryffindors, particularly Harry and Ron. But whenever Draco was laughing or silently mocking them from behind Snape’s cloaked back, Kat would catch his eyes and there it was. The silent flick of something stirring from within. Sometimes he’d falter and stop for a second, but quickly recover and shift his focus away from her, ignoring her. Kat tried to engage in conversations with him, but every time Draco or one of the Slytherins that flanked his side would shoot her down.

“Hey, are you alright?” Harry asked from beside Kat, startling her. She didn’t realise that she hadn’t touched her food because she was so lost in thought. Raising her eyes to meet Harry’s green orbs she nodded.

“Yeah, I was just thinking.” An owl screeched from above and flew down to land beside Katherine. It was her owl, Barney. She decided to name him Barney because he was a barn owl and a beautiful rich brown in colour. Barney sat patiently before butting his head against Katherine’s arm. She raised her hand and scratched the owl gently, receiving faint hoots of appreciation. Kat picked up some of her toast and held it out for Barney, who gratefully accepted, before flying away again in the flurry of owls above. Returning her gaze back to her friend beside her she could tell that he didn’t believe her very much.

“Harry I’m fine trust me, I was just thinking about how wonderful my first week as a real student has been.”

“Okay Kat.” He responded, believing. He then picked up his timetable and spoke again, “Hey Kat, we’re starting Flying lessons this week!” Kat knew that this was the one lesson Harry had been looking forward to the most.

“Yeah, but it’s with Slytherins.” Ron glumly pointed out, looking up from the mountain of food he was destroying. They all turned their attention to the page and gave it a closer look and found Ron was right.

“Great, just what I need. Make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy and his lot.” Harry said, upset.

“Don’t worry Harry, you’re not going to make a fool out of yourself. We won’t be jumping head-first into flying yet anyway.” Kat responded to her friend.

“Yeah, and besides, I recon all that boasting from Malfoy is just talk.” Ron pointed out before returning to demolishing the food. Harry looked at both of his friends and smiled, glad that they were with him.