The Girl Who Hid | ✓

|108| the Burial

Just before Ron and Hermione's Apparation Test, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I got a tear-stained letter from Hagrid about Aragog's, Hagrid's Acromantula friend, death. He wanted us to come to his burial after nightfall. The four of us did not want to go.

Being that Ron and Hermione had their Apparation test, Harry and I were stuck by ourselves to go to Potions. Potions class wasn't fun as there were only four people: me, Harry, Ernie, and Draco Malfoy.

"All too young to Apparate just yet?" said Slughorn genially. "Not turned seventeen yet?"

We shook our heads.

"Ah well," said Slughorn cheerily, "as we're so few, we'll do something fun. I want you all to brew me up something amusing!"

"That sounds good, sir," said Ernie sycophantically, rubbing his hands together. Malfoy, on the other hand, did not crack a smile.

"What do you mean, 'something amusing'?" he said irritably.

"Oh, surprise me," said Slughorn airily.

Malfoy opened his copy of Advanced Potion-Making with a sulky expression. It could not have been plainer that he thought this lesson was a waste of time.

"What're you going to do, Harry?" I whispered.

"One of Prince's versions of a Euphoria Elixir," he admitted. Unlike Hermione, I didn't mind Harry's unorthodox helper; as long as he stayed safe, I was fine with it.

"I'm going to do a Laughing Potion, yeah?" I smiled.

Harry nodded and continued to brew his own potion as I did mine. About an hour later, Harry looked over into my cauldron and said, "I looked it up, Prince reckons half a twig of Lavender."

"Are you sure?" I asked suspiciously.

"Do it," Harry said.

Following instructions, I finely chopped some Lavender and mixed it into my potion. The bright purple liquid quickly turned pink and the smell was beautiful.

"Well, now, this looks absolutely wonderful," said Slughorn a half later, clapping his hands together as he stared down into the sunshine yellow contents of Harry's cauldron. "Euphoria, I take it? And what's that I smell? Mmmm... you've added just a sprig of peppermint, haven't you? Unorthodox, but what a stroke of inspiration, Harry, of course, that would tend to counterbalance the occasional side effects of excessive singing and nose-tweaking. And let's see" he looked over at mine, "beautifully done Maisey! You two are just like your mother— perfect hand in Potions!"

Harry and I smiled brightly. Ernie was looking rather grumpy; determined to outshine Harry for once, he had most rashly invented his own potion, which had curdled and formed a kind of purple dumpling at the bottom of his cauldron. Malfoy was already packing up, sour-faced; Slughorn had pronounced his Hiccuping Solution merely "passable."

The bell rang and both Ernie and Malfoy left at once.

"Sir," Harry began, but Slughorn immediately glanced over his shoulder; when he saw that the room was empty but for himself, Harry, and I, he hurried away as fast as he could.

"Professor— Professor, don't you want to taste my po —?" called Harry desperately.

But Slughorn had gone. Disappointed, Harry and I emptied our cauldrons, packed up our things, left the dungeon, and walked slowly back upstairs to the common room.

Ron and Hermione returned in the late afternoon.

"Harry! Maisey!" cried Hermione as she climbed through the portrait hole. "I passed!"