The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

100. Sharpened Wits

"Thea, what are you doing tomorrow?" Ron asked the moment she sat down at breakfast the first morning of March.

With a puzzled smile, she replied, "I assume going to Hogsmeade with you three? Why?"

"Sirius wrote back," Harry explained, tossing the letter to her, narrowly missing the toast she had just covered in apple butter.

Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can. Althea can show you where to go if I don't make it in time. She knows the way.
                                  Sirius

"Sounds good," Althea said when she had finished, handing the letter back.

It was a dull day for the four of them as they went through their classes, but as they came to their last lesson of the day, Potions, Althea could not help but feel a sense of dread rising up within her. This dread was only worsened as she saw Malfoy standing in a corner with Pansy Parkinson and several other Slytherins.

"There they are, there they are!" Pansy giggled the moment she caught sight of them." Louder, she added, "You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!"

Hermione only just caught the magazine Pansy threw at her at the very same moment the Potions classroom opened. They ushered silently into the class, Athea taking her usual seat by Neville as the other three sat behind her.

Deciding she didn't much care what the magazine said, Althea quickly got out the ingredients she needed for their Wit-Sharpening Potion, talking softly with Neville, a gentle smile on her lips. They worked in near-silence on their potions together with only the occasional correction from Althea. It was peaceful, in a way, to brew potions, even if Snape made the class hell at times.

She had just finished her potion - she had been working at an extraordinarily fast rate compared to the other students - when Snape's voice suddenly cut through the air like a knife just a few feet behind her as he snapped, "Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger, I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Althea and Neville shared sympathetic looks but didn't dare look back at their friends.

As if it wasn't already bad enough, Snape mused, "Ah...reading magazines under the table as well? A further ten points from Gryffindor...oh, but of course...Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings..."

Then, to Althea's horror, he began to read the article, which ran as follows.

           A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought that he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.
          Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last Quidditch World Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to stay with him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."
           However, it may not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate young boys' interests.
           "She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well-up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."
             Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate.

Althea's cheeks were flushed with anger and embarrassment on Hermione's behalf by the time Snape had finished the article.

Unable to restrain herself, she remarked, "At risk of having a repeat of last term, may I inquire what a gossip sheet has to do with Potions, Professor Snape? I never took you as one who had the time to much care about the supposed love lives of your students. It appears, however, that I was wrong."

Althea felt a kind of vindictive pleasure as she saw Snape's upper lip twitch angrily as his glittering eyes focused on her.

"Here's my completed potion, Professor," she added, holding up a vial of it with an innocent smile on her face.

Quicker than a whip, he snatched the vial from her, snapping, "Get out."

Surprised, but too relieved at his lack of punishment to disobey, Althea cleaned up her area and left the room without a word of protest.

As the door shut behind her, Hermione, Ron, and Harry shared surprised looks.

"What with her today?" Ron muttered.

Harry shook his head.