Love & Potions: A Tom Riddle X Reader Story. Part 2 (Fifth Year)

Chapter 33: The Centaur and the Saviour

Never in your life did you ever think you would ever be taught by a centaur.

But with Professor Trelawney being removed from her post by Umbridge, Professor Dumbledore had instated in her place a centaur by the name of Firenze. You'd all been asked to check the notice board in your common rooms for a note for fifth years and when you did so, you saw that your divination classes had now been moved to classroom eleven on the ground floor, instead of in their usual place in the north tower. It made sense, as there was no way a centaur would get up all the stairs required to reach the Divination Classroom at the top of the tower. Although you had to admit the image of him trying to climb the rope ladder up to the classroom would have been a hilarious sight you wish you could witness.

You and the other Slytherins trail behind the others in your year, heading your way through the corridors from the Great Hall towards your first divination class. You walk in a group with the other Slytherin girls that are your friends, chatting away. Behind you the boys were arguing about quidditch and then right at the back, Mattheo was trailing behind you all with his headphones in. Mattheo was still avoiding you somewhat after your argument in the potions classroom. You'd tried to smile at him but he seemed to really want space from you. You'd even seen him turn around and walk away when he'd seen Tom and his friends coming towards him. It was clear he still couldn't believe you two were dating and worse, he didn't want anything to do with either of you. He'd even glared at Tom when he'd tried to speak to him, glaring down at his hand that had grabbed his wrist as he'd tried to walk away until Tom realised that there was no talking to Mattheo when he was in such a mood and had let him go. The cold glare he'd thrown at you as he left the common room with a cigarette behind his ear had made you feel even worse. 

You were surprised that Mattheo was even attending this lesson. He hated Divination and usually only attended because he loved winding up Professor Trelawney. She got so uncomfortable around him, always peering at him anxiously through her milk-bottle thickly rimmed glasses. He always made sure to shout his answers at her too as he found it funny every time she would jump and clutch at her many necklaces. She could never maintain eye contact with him and would bump into things to avoid getting too close to him if she saw him.

As you're chatting to Pansy, you flick your eyes back to watch him, his bag on his shoulder and you realise the only reason he's probably come along is to gawk at the centaur teacher. One thing Mattheo did have a fear of was the fear of missing out on anything fun or cool. He hated it when people gossiped about something funny or interesting that happened and he hadn't been there to witness it.

"Are they even allowed to teach us? Can it even speak properly?" Draco sneers and it causes Crabbe and Goyle to snigger and you to roll your eyes and move further away closer to Daphne. Astoria had thrown a sharp look at Draco who seemed to take a slight moment to stop smirking as she silently admonished him but he seemed to enjoy his friends reactions to his cruel humour. 

In truth you were excited to be around a centaur for the first time but you had to keep your cool. You were a Slytherin after all and it wasn't the cool thing to like magical creatures. Whenever you heard anyone talk about the subject with any enthusiasm, they got picked on or laughed at. It was seen as a subject for idiots or Hufflepuffs, for people who cared too much and  looked down upon by most of the older Slytherin students and a lot of Slytherins skipped it entirely because the class was held outside most of the year round. 

"Did you not learn from your last encounter with a magical creature?" You hear Enzo say to Draco with a teasing smirk as he rolls his eyes at him as he bring up one of his most embarrassing moments. It always made you laugh how Enzo's sweet face was usually the one who could say some of the most taunting and funny things and he could get away with it. Draco makes a funny face at Enzo that told you he didn't find what he said funny and you all round the final corner towards classroom eleven.