The Prince's Secret

Suspicious Snape

When Leilla woke up the next day, she was still clutching the red wand under her pillow. Despite Daphne's suggestion, she hadn't written to Aunt Isabel. Firstly, because she wasn't her mother, of course, and secondly, because the red wand had been very well-hidden in her aunt's bedroom, and was certainly not there for Leilla to find.

Leilla peered through the window and watched the early rays of February sun glisten on the surface of the lake. For a while she watched the Giant Squid (a mysterious resident of the Black Lake) swim around lazily in its murky waters.

Last night she nearly told Blaise and Daphne about her parents. When they suggested that the red wand was her grandmother's, she was moments away from telling them the truth. Of course, she wouldn't have mentioned Snape. She would've simply told them that she was taken in by an older married couple after her parents died.

In the end, she chose not to do it. She knew Snape would not be happy if she let someone in on their secret. It hurt, not being able to tell her friends what her life was really like. Even though she'd only known Blaise and Daphne for a couple of months, it felt like she'd never been closer to anyone else before.

Since it was a Friday and they had Potions after lunch, Leilla made sure to leave the red wand well-hidden in her trunk. She didn't want to risk Snape seeing it. She knew she shouldn't have taken it from Aunt Isabel's bedroom, and was sure Snape would notice it immediately.

Blaise had disappeared after that morning's Herbology and didn't return until the very end of lunch. When he joined them at the Slytherin table he had a very mysterious look on his face. He packed a few odd bits of food onto his plate and glanced over at Theodore, Draco and Pansy, who were busy gossiping a few feet to the right. Then, he said in a hushed voice, 'I was thinking about your wand last night, Leilla.'

Leilla choked on her pancake. 'Yeah?'

'I went to the library after Herbology,' he went on, 'and asked Madam Pince if there was a book about wand-making there. She said there wasn't any, but I don't believe her. I bet there's something in the restricted section.'

Daphne looked at him excitedly.

'We should go and have a look!'

'Honestly, there's no need...' Leilla muttered. The three of them risking detention by entering the restricted section didn't seem like a good idea.

'Oh, come on, Leilla!' Daphne was on the edge of her seat. 'It'll be exciting!'

'We can't just go there,' she protested. 'We would need permission from a teacher. Besides – why would a book about wands be in the restricted section?'

Daphne ignored her remark and said, 'We could ask Gemma or some other older student. They're allowed in there.'

Leilla finally managed to convince them that it was a bad idea, and they headed off to Potions. For some reason, Snape was in a particularly vicious mood that day.

'Flip your textbooks to page sixty-seven,' he barked as soon as they entered the classroom. Leilla opened Magical Drafts and Potions on the required page and saw a particularly complicated twelve-step recipe for the Forgetfulness Potion. She didn't have too much trouble completing it, and neither did Blaise, but Daphne kept glancing over at their workstation enviously. Her Potions partner, Pansy, mistook Valerian springs for mistletoe berries, and their cauldron hissed dangerously as she stirred it, hoping for the best.

It seemed like everyone was doing rather well. That was until Harry Potter waved his wand over his cauldron in a backward motion, and its contents erupted like a volcano, spilling all over the floor. The bell sounded minutes later, and everyone quickly gathered their belongings, careful not to step into the sticky mixture free-flowing all over the floor. Meanwhile, Harry was kneeling down on the hard stone, mopping up the liquid with an old rag Snape had thrown at him, much to Draco and Theodore's amusement.