“This is the worst outcome that could have happened. Why didn’t he ask Remus or Evans? Even Snape was a better choice!” Surprisingly, the one whining was Potter. Ever since he eavesdropped during dinner, he went on and on about the unfair lives of Gryffindors.
“Professor Slughorn asked Rabastan Lestrange because he’s older than us and probably very experienced. I’m sure it’s for your good.” Remus tried to ease the suspicion but it wasn’t exactly assuring.
“He looks even tighter up than Professor Spinnard and that can be an achievement.” Cissney mumbled, staring at the Slytherin table without even trying to hide it.
Rabastan Lestrange was one of the faces you wouldn’t notice at a first glance, which was the reason many Gryffindors didn’t even know Rabastan existed. Everyone turned to watch what that mysterious character was doing, expecting him to scowl at everything and eat in a corner.
“He’s laughing. Isn’t that a strange sight?” Potter asked, completely poker faced.
“He’s a normal boy, having a normal dinner with his normal friends.” Remus added, seeing how there was nothing suspicious about the Slytherin.
“He looked scarier when professor Slughorn introduced us. He was there but at the same time, his mind was wandering elsewhere.” Ophelia explained, turning back to the table and grabbing a cherry tart. “But he does look very elegant compared to other students.” She added, not really thinking in depth of her answer.
Potter and Black scoffed loudly and narrowed their eyes at her.
“Is that supposed to be an insult, Molley? Are you insulting us, your house mates, your partners in good and bad?” Sirius asked, Potter having a more offended look than his best friend.
“I’m offended. Aren’t you, Sirius?” Potter started, wrapping one hand around his friend.
“I’m offended. We are offended. All of us, right?” Black asked, mainly looking for an answer from Remus and Pettigrew.
No one answered him; Remus decided to grab a tart and stuff his face so he wouldn’t have to respond while Pettigrew nodded vigorously.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter now, does it? It’s not us that have to spend two hours with him but Pheli. Moreover, I think he’s looking this way.” Lily told everyone, making the whole group turn towards the dark haired student.
Indeed, just like Lily said, Rabastan was staring at Ophelia in particular, making her shudder under his intense dark eyes. It was strange how she has never heard of that boy, especially with Snape looking them up just in case he needed the information later on.
Just after dinner, Ophelia decided she should retreat into the library for at least an hour of studying. She was walking through the shelves, searching for the answer to Spinnard’s latest assignment: thestrals. She was confused why she had to write an essay about something that didn’t seem useful in Defense against the Dark Arts.752Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6ruoGilhI
752Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gH1aPxmVw
“Knowledge is salvation of one’s life.” She quoted Spinnard as she searched for a particular book about magical creatures. “If only he wouldn’t be such an arse, he’d actually make a good professor.” She whispered, feeling like he was going to appear from around the corner if she were to say something else.
Surprisingly, someone did hurry over, scaring her when they almost collided. She didn’t drop anything but he did, her sharp eye catching the title before he took it and hid the title with his hand.
“Ahem, what are you doing here so late?” Severus asked, trying to sound less suspicious than he seemed already.
“Studying thestrals, and you? Sneaking in the Restricted Section?”
Those elongated eyes looked extremely innocent. If Severus didn’t know better, he would have believed her but he spent quite a lot of time with her, trying to improve her skills in potions.
“Hey, Sev, do you know Rabastan Lestrange?” She asked out of nowhere.
Severus’ eyes widened to the point he almost resembled an owl before he grabbed her arm and pushed her towards one of the furthest tables in the library, right across the window. It was a place not many would stop to study in because it was supposed to be cursed by one of the former students, who also left a mark on the desk.
“The Lestrange family has a bad reputation altogether. For centuries they have been known for practicing dark magic and even support Grindelwald’s ideas that wizards should dominate muggles and not live in fear, hidden in between bricks. I’m not sure how far their support went but they are dangerous and uncontrollable.” Severus explained in a voice that was not yet a whisper but not loud either. "Why do you think Professor Slughorn asked a Lestrange to tutor you?" Severus asked, leaning over the table with his eyes narrowed at his friend.
"He said that Rabastan was most pleased which means he wanted to and Slughorn didn't have to pester him at all."
"Why does Slughorn care so much that he would help you? You're only a first year. He doesn't even know your potential."
Actually, that was indeed suspicious. Slughorn and Spinnard were giving her supplementary lessons because Dumbledore asked, because Dumbledore knew something that she didn't. But what could that be and for what reason exactly was he taking care she wouldn't fail her exams was still unknown; there were many questions and Ophelia spent the rest of the days asking herself over and over just what was she missing?
That was how winter passed and spring came around with a new source of excitement. The Scavenger Hunt was going to take place in April during the Easter break and they were going to partner up in groups of four before actually hunting. They had one week to complete the schedule and although Ophelia originally thought it would be easy, it wasn't.
It was also very strange how each house became incredibly united as if it was Quidditch not just a random way to get students to enjoy studying. Even before the week started, students from Ravenclaw were trying to plan every task while Slytherins had one main rule and that was cross anything and anyone just to take the points. Probably Hufflepuffs were the ones that were going to have fun because they looked like they were not going to think about it until they had to.752Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuQQv4ZDMe
Gryffindors were a mix of Ravenclaws and Slytherins but they were trying to keep up the appearances that it didn't matter if they won or not.
"The sight is pretty large. We have to search for silver eggs all the way from the Great Hall to our edge of the Forest. The castle alone will be a lot of work and there will be a lot of people fighting over an egg." Lily laid out the conclusions, making everyone feel discouraged.
"Maybe we should attack from the shadow. Slytherins won't be easy to pass and Ravenclaws have been planning their schemes for weeks. We need to attack before others do it." Cissney started, her eyes focused on the map laid on her bed. "We need those points for the house."
"Right you are Littlewood. We need those points worse than a change of DADA teachers." Sirius Black pitched in, his wide smile suspiciously laid back.
"But we need to know the tasks before we actually form a plan." Lily combated before Potter could say something annoying.
The glasses boy actually seemed deep in thought. He was one of the most competitive people Ophelia has ever seen and he was very persistent. The brunette was sure Potter could come up with a strange plan and everyone would conform to it one way or another because they were desperate.
"Maybe we should use some of us to spy on competition. Only one glance should be enough, don't you think so too Molley?"
Ophelia raised an eyebrow skeptically at the dark haired boy, appalled that he would even think of cheating.
"I believe in loyalty. I'm not going to ask anyone about anything related to the hunt." She retorted narrowing her eyes at him.
Black chuckled darkly but his eyes were sending subtle death threats and curses at the girl. Sje had some incredible courage to say that when she was hanging around Slytherins more than her own house mates.
"What if someone decides to sell us to the competition?" Black insisted, his attention still focused on the green eyed witch. "Someone who treasures her Slytherin friend more than us."
Potter's eyes widened, remembering a certain detail that Sirius forgot.
"Mate," He tried to stop his friend but Sirius was turned against Molley.
"Your friendship is ruining Remus' school life, do you know that? He's been bullied more than you and has come with a lot of scratches and bandages because of a certain little girl." Sirius added, leaning in while glaring at her.
Lily was already fed up with those accusations. She scoffed and left the table angrily, leaving Potter in a sour mood. Remus was also surprised and worried because the bullying was not the problem in his case. Mulciber was more excited to mess with other students from Ravenclaw lately and he could even walk in the dungeons for Potions without having anything thrown at him.
"You should stop now, Sirius. It's not her fault." Remus tried to mend it but Black couldn't see anything but red in front of his eyes, or in that case, green.
Those green eyes were looking at him without empathy and without the slightest gram of remorse. She was so blunt all the time and so blank as if she wasn't truly living. That kind of person wasn't adding any joy to the house and worst of all, she was reminding him of his family.
"You should have been a Slytherin." He mumbled loud enough for everyone close to hear, which meant Potter and Ophelia.
"Mate, let's go for a bit of fresh air. I need to practice for next years' tryouts anyway." Potter grumbled before dragging Sirius out of the common room.
Ophelia stayed back with half of her classmates around, watching silently as if it was a free show.
"Why is he so pissed off? Does he have anything against you, Pheli? Did you two fight?" Alice asked.
That never happened. Ophelia and Sirius weren't talking much and he seemed to remind her of her life in the orphanage: angry and insignificant. That was probably why she avoided him for the rest of the week.
April came sooner than the professors wanted and the Scavenger Hunt was the most talked about subject between students.
"We should come up with a strategy. Maybe if we split then we have more coverage." Potter whispered to Longbottom.
Frank Longbottom was quite good at strategies, surprising everyone with his ideas. The boy nodded and wrote something down before showing it to his colleague.
Before Potter could read it, Professor Spinnard covered it with his hand and took it away.
"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Longbottom? I'm sure we can stop the lesson for such an important matter." Spinnard's cold tone sent a shiver down Frank's spine.
Potter on the other hand kept his eyes on the piece of parchment. If only he could levitate it out of Spinnard's pocket by the end of the lesson, then their strategies were safe.
"I would focus more on your assignment than my robes, Potter. I'm sure you think you are talented but you're not. Pay attention."
Potter's eyes rose to meet the steel blue orbs of his professor and chuckled.
"Good eye, professor."
Spinnard rolled his eyes, deciding to disregard Potter altogether than run out of patience.
In the end, Spinnard's grasp on the paper remained strong and no matter how much Potter and Black tried to take it back during the rest of the lesson, they couldn't.
"It's like he could read our minds. Each time he passed by, I'd try to get it but he always knew beforehand." Potter complained after class.
"Maybe it's because you were using the same levitation spell. We're first years, it's not like we know advanced charms." Alice reasoned, making Sirius scoff.
"I tried three different charms and none worked."
Three wasn't a big number. Ophelia and Remus glanced at each other and silently agreed they shouldn't interfere with this new mission. They had three more days until the Hunt and they had to study in order to actually win.
Entering the Great Hall for dinner, a tall intimidating blonde girl walked towards the group, stopping in front of Ophelia.
"Rabastan is waiting in the library. You shouldn't make him wait. He hates mudbloods more than anything." She announced before leaving with a sneer.
"Then why did he agree then?!" Cissney screamed after the Slytherin.
"I didn't know you're a mud- I mean a muggle born." Potter spoke when they finally chose a spot to seat on at the table.
Ophelia glanced at her roommates before her eyes fell on the boys.
"I'm not. My mum was a witch but she died when I was 7. I don't really know my father." She answered, her eyes lingering on Black, searching for a reaction.
He had none. He couldn't care less actually and he made it clear by not even looking at her.
"Does every Slytherin believe you're a muggle born?" Remus asked curiously.
"Yes. I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion but they all believe that." She answered as if wasn't a problem.
"Maybe you should tell Lestrange that you're not, just in case he starts bullying you too." Remus added, frowning at the thought.
"Maybe."
ns 15.158.61.54da2
