Expensive to view…okay, don't know that…swallow not chew…well, you swallow liquid without chewing…complex and petit…yeah, don't know that either…the world's at my feet…what?…the cat wears a grin…that's easy, you look happy…it's easy to win…pretty self explanatory…"So what makes you happy, makes it easy to win and is liquid? I have no idea. What's expensive to view? Diamond? Gold? Gold!" Rose gasped in sudden understanding. "Complex and petit, you have to take small doses and the world will be at your feet. It's gold liquid, makes you look happy, and is presumably complex to make, and with small doses you will have lots of luck. The liquid luck potion, Felix Felicis!" Rose announced in triumph. The eagle knocker nodded and said, "Well done" before opening the door to Rose's common room.
Rose sighed and took a look around the blue circular room. She thought she'd be the only person up in the common room, however there were several people on the upper levels reading by candlelight. The candles in the room were floating, not unlike the candles in the Great Hall. The curtains were open and Rose had to gasp softly. The view from here was incredible. She could see mountains from one side of the tower, and the lake on the other. Rose smiled peacefully. She definitely was going to like it here.
Albus' eyes glazed over about fifteen minutes into the class. He knew he could just ask Rose for help when it came time for the exam, so he didn't worry about paying attention. There were only three people in the class who seemed to pay attention. George, Malfoy, and some kid named Roonil Wazlib. What kind of name is Roonil Wazlib? Honestly! Albus thought to himself as his eyes scanned the room. Jesse appeared to be putting up a valiant struggle to stay awake, probably because of the feeling that he was one step behind everybody. Like many a stronger willed person, Jesse was failing miserably. "Jesse, just stop paying attention mate. It's better for you and we could always ask Rose for help later." Albus whispered to the preteen beside him. The boy sighed and nodded, putting his head down on the desk.
About five minutes later something happened that caused the students to snap out of their Binn-induced haze. "Okay, I'm sorry, this may be mean, but what kind of name is Roonil Wazlib? Honestly! Roonil Wazlib? Are you sure that's not a joke?" Malfoy exclaimed in honest awe and exasperation. A jolt got sent through Albus. It was incredibly jarring to hear another person expressing his exact thoughts. The fact that said person was Malfoy, well, it was just downright creepy. Many of the Slytherin's chuckled, most knowing Malfoy meant no offence. However Gryffindor's, being Gryffindor's, took it personally, as though Malfoy had said Roonil Wazlib was the stupidest kid ever, rather than the stupidest name ever.
"Yeah, and what kind of name is 'Scorpius'?" one shouted angrily.
"I know, it's a Death Eater name!" another announced to the class. "Your dad still not showing his arms? He should be in Azkaban, where him and the rest of your scum family belong!" he shouted at Malfoy, whose eyes flashed with anger as he stood up to face the raging Gryffindor, wand pointed straight at him.
"My father is ten times the man you could ever be." Malfoy replied lowly, dangerously, an implied threat in his tone and stance.
"Come on Malfoy, you going to hex me? I dare you." the Gryffindor challenged, his friend standing up with him. Malfoy's friends, the other two boys in Albus' dorm, stood up beside Malfoy. George and another Slytherin girl also got up with their wands pointed at the two Gryffindors. Surprisingly, Albus found himself standing up with them. All feuds aside Malfoy and him were Slytherin's now. They were family. If they didn't stand up for each other, who would?
It never got to the point of throwing curses, seeing as there was a teacher in the room and the two Gryffindors were outnumbered. However, it was a bit of excitement that sure brightened Jesse Polkiss' day. George led the way to Slughorn's classroom with a noticeable bounce in his step. He was obviously excited to go to Potions. "I don't get it. Why are all the Slytherin's so excited to go to Potions? What's so special about it?" asked Jesse, voicing a thought that many a Gryffindor had had.
"Potions is a Slytherin subject. Most Slytherin's have a natural talent for it, much as Transfiguration and Gryffindor's, Charm's and Ravenclaw's, and Herbology and Hufflepuff's. Not to mention Salazar Slytherin taught Potions." George replied with a smile.
The trio got to the classroom and were the second ones there. Malfoy was already sitting in his desk when Albus, Jesse, and George walked in. Slughorn was also there, getting ready for his classes. "Oho! Albus Potter, is it? Well, come in, come in, don't dawdle by the door! I've a question to ask you Albus. Would you like to come to a dinner party next month? I assure you it will be fun!" Slughorn exclaimed.
"What about my friends?" Albus asked the Professor. Slughorn looked at the two boys, eyes lingering on George, slightly widening when they got there.
"You may bring one guest. Only one, choose wisely." Slughorn replied, eyes still focused on George.
"You must be Theodore Nott's boy." Slughorn said, shaking George's hand. The name rang a bell in Albus' head, but he couldn't figure out where he had heard the name. Thinking hard Albus sat down next to Jesse. They were in front of Malfoy, and they heard George say hello to him. Albus gasped, finally remembering.
"You're dad's a Death Eater!" Albus whispered, whipping around to face George and Malfoy.
"Congratulations for that stunning revelation Potter, I'm sure it's something he didn't know." Malfoy drawled at Albus. "Now you see why he wasn't invited into the 'Slug Club'. Pity, I'm sure it would have entertained him to no end." he continued, voice more rich with sarcasm than before. Malfoy reached out an arm and turned Albus around to face his own desk. Albus heard George chuckling behind him.
Albus didn't really pay attention for the rest of the class, thinking instead about George Nott. His father had been out of Azkaban for nearly George's whole life. Did that mean he was raised with the same values as him? If he was, then why was George so accepting of Jesse? Did George even accept Jesse? All Albus had heard George say about Jesse was he was almost certainly Muggle-born. At least he hadn't said Mudblood. Well, nobody who didn't want to get their face hexed off used Mudblood anymore. But still, he was raised by a Death Eater.
"So what's a Death Eater?" Jesse asked Albus once they were back in the dorm rooms. The day had been relatively boring. In Potions they had an essay on a non lethal laughing potion. Albus had no idea how a laughing potion could possibly be lethal, a thought that was echoed by Malfoy. Slughorn just gave an ominous look and wrote the name of the potion on the board. Tranfiguration was a bit better; Jesse was able to turn his matchstick to a toothpick on the first try, causing him to be so excited the toothpick caught on fire. Many of the Gryffindors snickered, and a few Slytherins made some derogatory remarks about Jesse's muggle heritage and his inability to control his magic properly. However it didn't seem Jesse minded. He sat there with a goofy grin on his face and exclaimed 'Cool!'. Albus thought that may have been the highlight of Jesse's day. Charms and Defence were boring.
"Death Eaters were followers of Lord Voldemort. They believed that Muggle-borns, or Mudbloods, were lower than pure-bloods. If you had muggle and wizard blood in you, or 'half-blood', you were one step above Muggle-borns, but still pretty bad. Voldemort and his followers wanted to kill all Muggles and Muggle-borns, leaving only pure-bloods. To be a pure-blood, you have to at least have all magical grandparents, so I would be considered a half-blood. Though most families that call themselves pure-blood don't think people with Muggle-born grandparents is 'pure' enough. The Weasley's are a pure-blood family, though my cousin isn't a pure-blood because her mum's a Muggle-born. Also, the Weasley's aren't considered pure-bloods, but blood-traitors because they really don't care about blood purity.
"Anyway, Death Eaters got a mark on their left forearms called the Dark Mark, which was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. Lord Voldemort was a Slytherin, and a lot of his followers were also Slytherin, so Slytherin has had a bad reputation for turning out Dark wizards and witches for a very long time. That's starting to go down a bit now, though." Albus explained, looking around the empty dorm room.
"So George's dad was one of these?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah, and my dad sent him to Azkaban, that's the wizard's prison, not too long ago." Albus replied.
"Wow, that sucks for him." Jesse stated. Albus nodded in agreement.
