Fighting Fate // Mattheo Riddle ♣️

Chapter Sixteen - Slipping

ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ

The weekend was fast approaching and as we walked to our last class on the Friday afternoon, I could feel my stomach becoming tighter as the minutes ticked by.

Our last class of the week happened to be Potions. This helped calm my nerves. Snape's class was always one I enjoyed, and I was happy to have it before venturing to Malfoy Manor.

The class had started off normal, Snape sauntering into the room, his robe billowing behind him as he passed each desk.

He had taken his position by his desk before speaking. "You will notice," said Snape in his low, sneering voice, "that we have a guest with us today."

He gestured toward the dim corner of the dungeon, and I turned to find Professor Umbridge sat in a small chair, clipboard on her knee.

"Did you notice her there?" I asked Riddle, who was sat beside me.

He shook his head before replying. "She may be an irritating toad, but she's as quiet as a mouse, I'll give her that."

"We are continuing with our Strengthening Solutions today, you will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson, if correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend — instructions" — he waved his wand — "on the board. Carry on."

"I'll go get the cauldron," Mattheo told me, pecking my cheek lightly before standing up to cross the classroom.

I turned my head to the Professor sat in the corner of the room, except she wasn't sitting anymore. The moment Snape finished speaking, she had stood from her chair and began circling each table.

The clicking of her heels against the tiles of the dungeon classroom only worsened my nerves.

"Is she making you nervous?" my mother's voice approached my ear. "Is she scaring you with her pacing?"

I swallowed, the tone of her voice adding fuel to the bundle of nerves in my stomach.

"Are you trying to make her nervous?" Barty stood in front of me, hands on the desk. "Merlin's beard Estrella, it's like you're trying to scare the girl to death."

My mother appeared beside him, hands on her hips. "That woman is something to worry about and I was simply informing my daughter of this. What exactly is your problem?"

"Ella, if you wanted to tell her about that, there is a thing called words that don't scare the shit out of you," Crouch began to argue with her. "You were speaking to her like you were trying to kill her."

"Can you two shut up?" I whispered, averting my gaze from the two figures in front of me.

Riddle placed the cauldron onto the desk beside and I quickly turned my attention to him. He passed me a worried glance.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "Perfect." I stood up quickly, looking into the thickened potion we had made the last time we were in class. "Shall we continue?"

Professor Umbridge spent the first half hour of the lesson making notes as she made her way around the room.

"Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level," Umbridge commented as she approached my bench. She watched our work carefully. "Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus."

Snape straightened up slowly and turned to look at her. She moved away from me, approaching the Professor. "Now . . . how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" she asked, her quill poised over her clipboard.