°°°
Amelia walked beside her fellow first years toward the Slytherin common room. With each step they took toward the dungeons, Amelia's heart sank. She had always dreamed about being in the Gryffindor tower where she would be hanging out with her brother or planning pranks with Fred and George. She didn't want to be in the dark gloomy dungeons. Amelia couldn't help but think the Sorting Hat had made a mistake.
I would have thrived in Gryffindor! What a stupid hat. Could have at least put me in Ravenclaw. I would at least be with Mandy there. Amelia thought as they walked down a long corridor.
" This way first Years!" Gemma Farley announce.
The students stood in front of a stretched, damp stone wall. Amelia watched as Gemma uttered the word "Salazar" then a concealed stone door slide opened leaving a rectangular hole that leads into the Slytherin common room.
" Watch your step!" Gemma announced as all the first years walked inside.
Upon entering the common room, first year's were immediately met with a dungeon-like room that had a green hue due to being located underneath the Black lake. It was decorated with black and dark green button-tufted couches, study tables with greenish lamps, an elegant fireplace, dark wood cupboards, and portraits of many medieval but famous Slytherin. Merlin's portrait was placed on the overhead near a couple of bookcases and Salazar Slytherin was placed above the fireplace.
Amelia shivered slightly due to the coldness of the common room.
Gemma directed the girl's toward a door that would lead them to their dormitory and the boys through another. Amelia followed a couple of first-year girls up a dark green marble staircase until they reached an empty dormitory with four empty beds.
The beds were covered in a green eiderdown with their school trunks placed at the foot of their bed. A dark maple nightstand sat beside the bed with a lamp on top. The walls and floors were made out of stone and the windows illuminated a green glow. The dresser had a perch engraved on the front and a wooden chair placed beside it.
" Can't believe a Weasley is in Slytherin." Daphne Greengrass said eyeing the redhead with disgust.
" Yeah, and of course, we get roomed with the blood traitor." Pansy spat. Amelia stood in the doorway awkwardly as Millicent Bulstrode laughed.
Amelia raised an eyebrow at the girl as she crossed her arms. " I wouldn't laugh Millicent. If blood status is what you care about then you should be quiet, Half-blood." Amelia told her.
The three girls glared at Amelia as she lay down on her bed. Her back turned to them.
" I would watch my mouth if I were you," said Daphne with a stern voice.
" Good thing you are not me."
Amelia sighed as she heard the three girls behind her mumble amongst themselves. She closed her eyes and tried to block their voices out and go to sleep. She was exhausted from the day and wanted to be to sleep her problems away. But her mind kept her awake as she wondered why she was sorted into Slytherin.
***
The first day of classes was hectic. Amelia woke up that morning feeling excited. But the moment she stepped into the common room she heard people around her whisper.
Many Slytherins looked at the girl weirdly including some upper classmates who knew the other Weasleys that were in Gryffindor. Word spread of her family being blood traitors and many of her housemates immediately despised her.
Amelia kept her head down in her classes not wanting to draw attention toward her. Her first class was History of Magic. The class was a bore since it was taught by Professor Binns. A ghost that didn't even acknowledge its death.
The professor spoke in a dull tone which put half the class to sleep. Amelia shared the glass with Ravenclaws and noticed Mandy sitting near her fellow housemates. Amelia wanted to set near her but didn't. Not wanting to bother her while her housemates ignored her.
Amelia found her Herbology class, with the Hufflepuffs, quite intriguing. She enjoyed Professors Sprout's enthusiasm for teaching as she explained bizarre-looking plants.
Justin Finch-Fletchley was in her class and he stood beside other first years Hufflepuffs in the greenhouse.
Flitwick's class wasn't as exciting as Amelia expected. They didn't cast any charms on the first day but did explain the type of magic they were going to learn. Amelia had the class with Ravenclaws once again and she started to sense a pattern where all the people she met on the train seemed to have accustomed to Hogwarts and were getting along well with their classmates.
Transfiguration so far seemed to be Amelia's favorite class. She admired Professor Mcgonagall's cleverness and her enthusiasm for the subject. The moment they sat down McGonagall began talking.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." She then pointed her wand toward her desk.
Amelia watched with amazement as Professor McGonagall turned her desk into a pig and then turned it back again. She then demanded them to take complicated notes and once they finished she handed them a match and instructed them to turn it into a needle.
Amelia focused all her attention on the match and stated the spell clearly. After a couple of failed attempts, she finally managed to turn the match into a needle. She was the only student among the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs that completed the spell which earned her house a couple of points and a rare grin from Professor McGonagall.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only class Amelia was looking forward to. She grew excited when she realized she finally had a class with the Gryffindors and tried to find her brother.
When she did she flashed Ron a smile only for him to glare at her and avoid eye contact. Her smile fell as she looked around the classroom to find a seat. She noticed Dean Thomas who already was sitting beside someone.
Amelia's heart fell when she realized she was once again alone in the class and decided to sit near the back.
Once Professor Quirrell started his lesson, Amelia realized how bad of a teacher he was. He stumbled against his words. He told them about the vampires he defeated in Romania and explained how his turban was given to him by an African prince for warding off zombies.
Amelia didn't believe his story as it sounded like a fabricated lie. Once a student asked how he fought against the zombies; his cheeks turned pink and quickly changed the subject.
Amelia raised her eyebrow at him while her mind wondered. Why is he wearing the turban? Bad hair day? Does he even have hair? Could it be for religious reasons? Amelia pondered.
Once the class ended Amelia tried to reach Ron but he quickly left the room with Harry Potter as they headed for their next class.
The rest of the week was the same. Going to classes, her housemates ignored her as they taunted her, and her brother ignored her as well.
On Friday when Amelia walked toward the Great Hall for breakfast she heard someone call out her name. When she turned around, she noticed Percy walking toward her with a stern look on his face that remained her of their mother.
" Percy! Oh, how hap-"
" Isn't amazing how one's true colors show." Said Percy as he eyed Amelia's Slytherin robes.
" I- What?" Amelia's face scrunched up in confusion as she stared at Percy.
He scoffed at her.
" I would have never thought that blood status meant so much to you!" Said Percy angrily. He couldn't believe his sister held prejudiced views.
" What are you on about?"
" Come off it Amelia! We all know now your true values."
Amelia's eyes widen in realization and quickly grew angry at her brother's accusations. She crossed her arms across her chest as her eyes narrowed down at him.
" I can not believe-"
" Save the excuses! I've already owled mum and dad. You should be expecting a letter soon." Percy walked past his sister and walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.
Amelia stood stunned. Her eyes slowly watered up and her lips trembled as she wrapped her arms around herself.
She walked past the Great Hall and made her way back toward the dungeons. She lost her appetite and figured to go back to her room.
Amelia kept her head down in an attempt to hide her crying face. Although it didn't work out well when she accidentally bumped into some.
" Oi! Watch where you're going!" The sound of Draco Malfoy's grating voice caused Amelia to sniff and roll her eyes at him.
" Shove off, Malfoy!" Said Amelia in a soft voice. She mentally cursed herself at how weak she sounded.
" What's wrong with you?" Draco asked noticing her puffy red eyes.
" Oh, as if you care." Amelia scoffed as she walked past him. She made her way back toward the common room and went straight to her dormitory.
She stayed in bed for a long while until she gloomily got up once again and made her way toward her next class, which was potions.
Amelia noticed her brother immediately once she walked in. Ron didn't glance up at her and kept his attention on Harry.
With a sigh, Amelia walked toward a random seat and sat down.
" You look ghastly."
Amelia rolled her eyes as she looked up and noticed Draco sitting beside her.
" Well, aren't you charming? " Amelia told him as she crossed her arms and glared at Draco.
" Just pointing out the obvious. " Draco said with a smirk on his face.
Their conversation got cut off once the potions Professor walked in, slamming the door behind him. He picked up the chalk and started writing on the board causing all the students to immediately pick up their quills.
"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few."
Snape paused and looked around the classroom as his eyes landed on Draco, "Who possesses the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death — if you aren't as big a bunch of
dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Snape announced as he continued to look around the room. The classroom fell silent after his speech. Amelia knew that Snape favored his house and at that moment, she was grateful.
" Potter!" Snape shouted suddenly.
"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Amelia glanced over at Potter and noted his blank face.
"I don't know, sir," said Harry.
"Tut, tut — fame clearly isn't everything," Snape said as he sneered at Harry.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Amelia noticed a busy-haired girl's hand raised high as she looked at Snape, eager to get called on.
Beside her, Draco and his friends ( Crabbe and Goyle) were shaking with laughter.
"I don't know, sir."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
Amelia looked at Harry and felt bad for him. She wouldn't want to be questioned about potions on her first day either.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Amelia noticed the busy hair girl's hand once again shooting up.
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
The class erupted into a laugh as a couple of Slytherins glared at him. Amelia had to bite back a laugh.
" Put your hand down!" Snape snapped at Hermione who looked frightened.
"For your information, Potter, asphodel, and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Snape paused as he once again looked around the room, " Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
Amelia wrote down all Snape said for the rest of the class to the point that her hand ached.
Once Snape finished the lesson he paired up students to make a potion that could cure boils.
Amelia was, to her dismay, paired with Malfoy.
" We need porcupine quills, dried nettles, horn slugs, and snake fangs," Malfoy said aloud. Amelia stood up and got the materials and started to work on the potion.
She started to crush up the snake fangs while Draco weighed the dried nettles.
The potion was brewing perfectly as Amelia added the right ingredients as Draco stirred. Both not talking to each other much.
" Good, Malfoy," Snape announced as he admired his, their, brew.
Soon enough a boy named Neville melted his cauldron causing the brew to spill across the floor.
Amelia jumped onto her still as did everyone else in the class as Snape started Yelling at the Gryffindor boy. Not before waving his wand and making the brew disappear.
" Bloody idiot," Draco mumbled under his breath as Seamus left taking Neville to the hospital wing once boils started to grow on his nose.
" It was an honest mistake. " Amelia defend as they returned to their potion.
" Defending Gryffindors are we now." Draco ridiculed her as he continued to stir.
" Shove off."
After an hour of potion-making and receiving praise from Snape, Amelia walked out of the dungeons and made her way toward the library.
Amelia didn't want to return to the common room knowing her housemates would start taunting her. She wanted to be alone and work on her homework that would help keep her mind off her brothers and whatever suspicion she felt toward her Defend Against the Darks art teacher.