"They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential."
For the first time in a very long while, Astoria had a good night's sleep, one that wasn't riddled with nightmares that awoke her in the middle of the night, for once Astoria was awoken by the sunlight streaming in through the dormitory window.
Within a few short minutes, Astoria was up, dressed, and in the common room. "Good morning, Daphne!" She exclaimed with a smile.
"How are you so cheery at this time of day?" She heard Pansy call from the corner of the room with a yawn.
"I had a good night's sleep," Daphne took her hand and squeezed it briefly. "My first one in almost a year. Nothing can bring me down today!"
"If I don't get some breakfast, everything will be bringing me down." Daphne sighed. "Astoria, Pansy, you ready to go?"
"I'll skip this one," Pansy said quietly, "I need another hour at least." She dropped her head onto the signature green sofa and closed her eyes, dozing off almost instantly.
"Just us two then," Daphne smiled at her sister as they made their way towards the door.
"Wait for us!" The Greengrass sisters turned to see Theo, Blaise and Draco all rushing out of their dormitory. "We can't exactly be Quidditch ready if we miss breakfast."
"I can't do anything until I've eaten," Theo added.
"Let's get to breakfast then." Daphne led the group to their usual Slytherin table in the Great Hall. In a few short moments, the group had piled their plates high with food, Astoria sticking to her usual toast whilst Theo, Blaise and Draco took more than their fair share of everything being offered.
Although the Great Hall was almost empty, Astoria could feel the presence of all those around her. She felt their eyes glaring at the back of her head, sizing up each returning Slytherin student and like judging them. Astoria knew she was to expect judgement, but she had only been at Hogwarts a few hours and already felt discomfort. Her home now felt more like a house than a home.
Astoria took a bite of her toast. "When will they stop looking at us?" She spoke through gritted teeth."
"It's only day one, they should stop eventually." Daphne attempted to reassure her.
"Doubt it," Draco added, "It was like this for me for years, you'll get used to it eventually Astoria, all Slytherins have to."
"I never had to!" Protested Theo with his mouth filled to the brim.
"Well, you were never observant enough to realise they've been looking at us Slytherins for years like this. At least they aren't talking about us yet," said Blaise.
"That we know of," Daphne corrected him. "I am almost certain they have had at least a few gossiping sessions about us, especially after McGonagall's speech last night."
"Well I'll give them something to talk about-" Theo reached to the bottom of his sleeve, his fingers grasping the end. Before he even had a chance to lift it an inch, Draco clasped his hand against his.
"Don't."
"Theo, they don't exactly need another reason to hate us, they have enough," Blaise added.
Astoria ate the rest of her breakfast in silence, nobody on the Slytherin table saying another word until they had all finally finished. "See you all at Quidditch try-outs," Astoria muttered as she left her seat.
"Why are you going to Quidditch try-outs? You don't play Astoria!" Daphne exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and leaving the Great Hall alongside her sister and Blaise, with Draco trailing behind them in silence.
"Well, we have to show support for anyone trying out, and we haven't exactly got anything else to do, have we?"
"Astoria, I will appreciate your support. We are going to destroy Gryffindor this year, I can't let Slytherin lose the house cup in my final year!" Blaise added, already becoming riled up at the thought of a match against their Gryffindor rivals.
"Don't let McGonagall hear you say that I think she expects Slytherins and Gryffindors to be skipping in a field of meadows," warned Astoria.
"House unity and all that you know?"
The trio piled into the Potions classroom, taking their usual seats, with Draco following in a few moments later. Astoria had barely been in the Potions classroom for a minute before she began to shiver, "I forgot how cold it was in here," she exclaimed.
Whilst Astoria did her best to warm herself up, students began to pile into the classroom, nowhere near as many as she expected considering two years had been merged, but enough the make the classroom feel alive again. Noticeably, Astoria spotted Hermione entering the classroom alongside Ginny, the pair smiled over at the Slytherin table but their attempt at friendship seemed futile, with not a single student returning the smile.
"Good morning students!" Professor Slughorn beamed at the students once he appeared at the front of the class. "I am very glad that you have decided to join me this year for NEWT level Potions! Now I understand that some students will be on different levels academically due to our new merged class, however, we will begin from the end of sixth-year content to ensure everyone is caught up." As he spoke, a floating quill behind him began to inscribe his words on the blackboard positioned at the front of the room.
"So, today we will begin with a quick revision of the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, now can anyone tell me the side effects of this potion?" Slughorn asked the class, glancing around at the students.
Before Slughorn had even been able to finish asking his question, Hermione Granger shot her hand sharply up.
"Yes, Granger?"
"Well Professor," Hermione began, "There are only two notable side effects of this Elixir, excessive singing and nose-tweaking, neither of which are particularly harmful, but well I assume it would be rather embarrassing."
"Excellent Granger, 10 points to Gryffindor. Now, I'm sure everyone heard Headmistress McGonagall talking about forgiveness and house unity at the Welcome Feast..." He began, earning a few murmurs from the students. "And because of this, I have decided that this first potion shall be completed with a partner and not one of your choosing. Now find the recipe in your books, find your partner on the board and begin your potion." Slughorn commanded as he waved his wand, opening up the store cupboard instantly.
Astoria rose from her seat, glancing up at the blackboard and scanning it for her name. Before she had a chance to find it, she heard a voice from behind her. "Hey." She turned to see Ginny Weasley stood behind her, "I'll get the ingredients and you get the equipment?" She suggested, but before Astoria had a chance to respond, Ginny was off.
Astoria flipped open her textbook to the correct page and scanned the equipment list. "Cauldron, phials, knife, brass scales..." She muttered to herself as she made her way towards the cupboard.
"Who are you with?" She heard Daphne call from behind her.
"Ginny Weasley, you?"
Daphne grunted, "Lucky, I have Hannah Abbott, I forgot she even went to Hogwarts!"
"Daphne you can't say that! Astoria began piling up her belongings inside the cauldron, shocked but unsurprised by her sister's behaviour.
"Well, wish me luck," and with that Daphne shuffled hesitantly towards Hannah.
Astoria carried her equipment over towards where she had previously been seated at the beginning of the lesson. Where Daphne and Draco had previously been sat, Hermione now sat looking rather frustrated beside Blaise.
"So" Astoria began uncomfortably, glancing at her textbook.
"Well I never made this potion before, so I guess you'll have to take the lead," Ginny said with a smile.
"Oh." Astoria had assumed that Ginny would be on the same level as her academically, but then, considering the year they had just had, it wasn't the largest surprise to her. "Well you read out the instructions, and I'll start mixing."
"Okay," Ginny opened up her own textbook to the correct page and began reading. "Right so first we need to add the Shrivelfig to the cauldron." She picked up the purple fruit and handed it to Astoria.
Astoria took the fruit in her hands and placed it on the chopping board before her. "The recipe doesn't say so, but it's best to cut open the Shrivelfig and pour the juice into the cauldron." As she spoke, she saw Ginny making notes in the margins of her textbook which filled her with an unusual sense of pride.
"You can do it," Astoria smiled, handing Ginny the knife and watching her as she cut open the Shrivelfig to release its interior juices. Ginny lifted up the Shrivelfig and poured its juice into the cauldron
"Right, I'll do the porcupine quills, and you then need to stir it four times anti-clockwise." Said Astoria clearly as she added the collection of porcupine into their potion, triggering a burst of steam to rise off of the top.
Astoria sat back and observed whilst Ginny stirred the potion, glancing around the room at all of the pairs of students working with increasing frustration as the minutes passed. Her sister's partner Hannah Abbot seemed to be bearing the majority of the stress from their pairing but that seemed to be how it most often was whenever Daphne was involved. On the other side of the spectrum, Astoria spotted Blaise just opposite her, working with just as much frustration as his partner, Hermione whose hair had already begun to dishevel.
"Okay I stirred it clockwise," Ginny said, drawing Astoria's attention back to their potion which seemed to be bubbling away with fury. "Now it says we add peppermint, but how do we know how much?"
"The peppermint is just to counteract side effects, but it also adds a nice smell so there is no way to overdo it." She smiled at the Weasley girl, handing her a particularly large sprig of peppermint. "I prefer it to be extra minty, makes it smell clean and fresh, and there's no harm in that."
The pair added Sopophorous beans in silence, but it seemed that the moment the beans hit the steaming pot, everything began to go wrong. Steaming hot liquid began to climb out of the side of the cauldron, earning a loud shriek from both girls.
"What do I do?" Ginny shouted.
"I don't know!"
"It's about to explode!"
"Girls not to worry! I am on my way!" Called out Professor Slughorn as he began to hurry towards their table.
But before Professor Slughorn could make his way over, the potion went bang. All of the liquid that had once been peacefully bubbling within the cauldron was now splattered not only across the classroom but also across the two girls.
Pain hit Astoria almost immediately, it crawled up her arms with an unpleasant warmth, picking away at her. Astoria didn't like to admit when she was in pain, but at that moment she would have done anything for a moment of relief. Astoria couldn't stop the cries leaving her mouth and without a second thought, she pulled up her sleeves.
Astoria barely even noticed what she had done until she heard the gasps from the students stood around her. Her scar was burning a bright red, a stark contrast to her whitewashed skin, something which did not go unnoticed by those around her.
"What is that?" She heard.
"When did that happen?"
But before anyone had the chance to answer those questions, Daphne rushed over to her side, pulling a sheet of fabric out of thin air and laying down on her forearm. "It's okay Astoria," Daphne whispered into her ear. "It doesn't matter that they saw."
But Astoria could barely stop the tears from running down her reddening face. "It's not okay."
"Miss Greengrass, Miss Weasley, what on earth has happened?" Inquired Professor Slughorn who Astoria had barely seen appear beside her.
Astoria thought back, what had happened? As she recalled back on the lesson, she remembered exactly what it was. Ginny. "It was Ginny."
"What? I only did what you asked!" Ginny seemed shocked at the accusation.
"I asked you to stir it anti-clockwise, and you told me explicitly you had done quite the opposite!" Astoria could feel the rage boiling within her, the pain she was feeling was nothing like the anger she currently felt at the red-haired girl.
"No-I.." Ginny stuttered, seemingly at a loss for words.
"Well, not to worry." Professor Slughorn smiled at the pair in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "Now, you ought to get to the Hospital Wing Miss Greengrass, you too Miss Weasley."
"I'm fine," Ginny showed her partially burnt robes to her professor, lifting them up to reveal her arms without a single burn.
"Alright, well somebody should accompany Miss Greengrass up to the Hospital Wing..."
"I will," Daphne offered up.
"No." Astoria was abrupt. "I can go alone." It was always easier that way.