Rainbows (A Hogwarts Mystery Story)

Chapter 14

"Ten points from Gryffindor. Tardiness is unacceptable in this class, Lin."

The dungeon door swung shut with a clang as I faced Professor Snape, everyone else turning back to look at me. I wouldn't deny being completely flustered and maybe a little out of breath, but what could I expect when Madam Rakepick kept me behind after Transfiguration to ask me how everything was going? I would say I was remotely surprised to see her express some sort of concern for me, though. Even after she taught me Protego and helped me through the basics of the Patronus Charm, I sometimes couldn't help but think that she thought I was a threat.

"Sorry, Professor." I gave a short bow as I went over to sit with Rowan, relieved to see that the stool beside her was not occupied. She only had time to give me a shifty smile before Snape cleared his throat, and we had no choice but to listen to his droning voice.

Sometimes I thought Professor Snape was worse than Professor Binns.

"Today, we will be learning to brew a Calming Draught," Snape simply said. "It's difficult to deal with you lot acting so agitated all the time, so I suppose this would be the perfect remedy. Quills out."

I couldn't focus, though. The words on the page soon became blurry, and my thoughts wandered not to the ingredients in my hands, but the conversation I had with Madam Rakepick. As far as I'm concerned, neither of us were making progress toward finding the location of the Cursed Vault, though I already knew that it was located in the Forbidden Forest thanks to the map in the last vault. Madam Rakepick told me that she was tracking down the possibility of a Cursed Vault in Hogsmeade, though I wasn't sure how that could be possible. Jacob's research made it clear that the Cursed Vaults were somewhere on the school grounds. I didn't want to get Rowan involved with the conversation this time since she still thought Madam Rakepick was a threat. Come to think of it, a lot of my friends had mixed feelings about Madam Rakepick when I asked them.

I remembered Ben saying that we couldn't trust her. But Bill actually seemed to like her, and he was getting some lessons from her on how to be a successful Curse Breaker. Tonks also admired her for her rebellious personality, but Tulip had her doubts, just like Ben. Rowan didn't like her, and Penny was on the so-so side. As for me, I wasn't sure how I felt about her. It was harder even to figure out how she felt about me.

"You're starting to sweat, Lin," Merula mocked me from across the table, a knowing smirk on her face. "Thinking about Barnaby lately?"

At least she knew how to snap me out of her reverie. I glanced down at my cauldron, still bubbling steadily with the mix of ingredients carelessly added--it seemed far too thick.

"You wish, Merula," I snapped back, not bothering to keep my voice down. "How's it going with the Dementors? Figured out how to bully them the same way you always do with me and my friends?"

"Shut up, Lin," Merula growled. "I swear, one of these days..."

"Less talking, more doing, Ms. Snyde," Snape simply said as he passed by our table, glancing down to see the disaster of Merula's potion which bubbled in neon purple.

By the time class was over, I went up to Professor Snape to deliver my potion. I suspected I'd deserve a 'T' for this, but I had a couple questions to clear with him. I knew Andre eavesdropped on a conversation between him and Rakepick a couple days ago, and he told me what went down. I just didn't think too much about it until Rakepick stopped me after my last class.

"Excuse me, Professor Snape?" I cleared my throat and glanced back over my shoulder--everyone had just about left for lunch. "I just wanted to ask you a couple questions..."

"About your performance in class?" Professor Snape simply sneered at the thought. "You truly seem to care more about the Vaults instead of class...especially with your tardiness."