Chapter 16: Potions Partner
Charles Gaunt POV
The school week went by quickly for Charles. He would wake up early each morning to shower, a newfound favourite pastime of his, and read through his notes as he waited for his roommates to get up. He was happy with this routine and the extra hour or so of study helped in remembering the less interesting aspects of his lessons.
Hogwarts was even more magical than he had anticipated. The first few days were filled with countless surprises, like staircases that looked like they led one way that ended up taking you another or there being a giant squid swimming outside their common room window, making sure there was hardly ever being a dull moment on your way to classes.
The classes themselves, disregarding their content, weren't too dissimilar to what Charles was used. They asked for hard work and focus, something that came easier for him than others. There wasn't a subject he struggled in, though he found transfiguration the most challenging, and Charles found himself falling back into the comfortable and familiar position of being on top. He was often the first to answer questions which resulted in him hoarding most of the points given out by the teacher, something Theo loved to taunt the Ravenclaws about.
If there was one bad thing he had to say about the week, it would be Professor Quirrell. The man was a pathetic mess in Charles' eyes and despite his supposed accolades, Charles refused to give the cowardly, pale and turban wearing man even an ounce of respect. Professor Quirrell had in his mind ruined what he had expected to be his favourite lesson, D.A.D.A, and he struggled to hide his irritation when he heard the man stuttering away. Fortunately, as all the students felt the same, the Professor hadn't seemed to notice and even called Charles after class to praise him.
"Stop scowling and tell us what it says," came a cool voice from across the table. Taken away from his thoughts, Charles looked up at Daphne. She had her blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail and she stared curiously at a newspaper in his hands. Charles noticed his other friends were also giving him odd looks as well.
"You've been staring at that for minutes now," Blaise told him.
"We should have just read it ourselves before giving it to you," Tracy sighed lightly. "Well, what's it about?"
"Sorry I was thinking about something," Charles said, scratching the back of his head. None of them looked surprised, 'Guess they're getting used to it.' "It's just more of the same really, how I'm the next dark lord and all that gibberish. You know, the usual."
Because of students writing letters and owling them to their parents, newspapers had gotten wind of him and had therefore started writing articles about him a few days ago. They mostly regurgitated the same nonsense about his being a dark wizard in the making, often mentioning his relative's imprisonment in Azkaban. It was through these that Charles learned of who Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt were, as well as another interesting detail. But that could wait. He hadn't the means to test it yet, and so he held his excitement back.
"Hmm? Well at least you got it better than Potter," Theo mused, slightly disinterested now having found out the article was nothing new. But he was right, Harry had been the main focus of all the newspapers, his name almost always appearing in bold on the front-page headline. The stories about Charles on the other hand were smaller and hidden further within the paper.
It was a strange feeling to have so many people's eyes on you, but he did his best to pay it little attention, as he knew obsessing over these articles wouldn't do him any good. It was better to focus on more important things. For now the most important thing was breakfast.
-
After finishing their morning meal, they all made their way towards the dungeons. Today was Friday and they had double Potions with Gryffindor and as Snape was their Head of House, none of them wanted to make a bad impression by being late. Upon arriving, Charles felt a little grateful for the lower temperature of his House's common room and he wondered if the Gryffindors would have trouble with the cold.
Charles and the lot were early but fortunately Snape was already within the classroom and allowed them to take a seat inside. The Potions room was large, and the walls were lined with pickled animals stuffed inside glass jars. At the front of the classroom was blackboard with a half rubbed off recipe written on it, likely from one of the above year classes Charles guessed as he couldn't recognise many of the ingredients.
They sat down at the back of the room. Charles looked around and saw that a few others were already there, mostly Slytherins – likely having the same idea as them. The only Gryffindor already there was Hermione Granger. She was sat quietly at one of the front desks, her hands wrapped up in her sleeves. She smiled and waved at Charles when she saw him. Like his other Gryffindor friends, Charles hadn't talked to her since the train.
'I suppose I've been ignoring anyone who wasn't Slytherin recently.' It wasn't something he was doing on purpose; he was simply more preoccupied with solidifying his place in his own House. Everyone outside of that had been put on the back burner. 'Maybe I should go say hello, she is friend two after all.'
Before Charles could wave back at her, Malfoy spoke out. "Hasn't got any friends in her own House, yet thinks she can wave her hands at us," he sneered, making many of the Slytherins laugh. Malfoy's sneer became closer to a smile when he noticed Blaise and Theo laughing also.
'She hasn't got any friends?' Charles really hadn't paid her enough attention to notice. 'Looking around it doesn't seem like the best idea to talk to her right now. I'll say hello another time.' Charles went back to talking with his friends as they waited for the lesson to start.
Snape started off the class by taking the register. Something about the he stood and looked over them demanded silence when he spoke. He called out each of their names in alphabetical order, moving onto the next once each student announced they were present. "Ah yes," Snape paused.
"Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity." It didn't seem like he liked Harry and Charles felt grateful for not getting the same treatment.
Once he was done calling their names, Snape scanned over his new students harshly with his dark eyes. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he whispered. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the minds, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
His drawling voice managed to make everyone nervous. Snape had told them earlier in the week that he expected excellence from them, but it was only now, within his lesson and under the pressure of his gaze, that they truly got the message. Charles wasn't worried, however. Excellence was what he strived for from the beginning, and he would achieve it.
"Potter!" Snape called suddenly. Harry flung his head up in response. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" he questioned the boy.
Charles knew the answer. 'A sleeping potion so powerful, it's known as the Draught of Living Death. Its mentioned in the introduction of Magical Drafts and Potions – this classes coursebook.' Not many details were given about it, other than the two ingredients Snape had said, as it was no doubt unsuitable and much too dangerous for children their age to brew. The book does have the recipe for the Sleeping Draught however, a less harmful and shorter lasting potion of similar effect.
Whilst Charles recalled as many details as he could, Harry on the other hand, was completely stumped. It was clear he didn't no the answer before even replied, but his next words left no doubt.
"I don't know, sir," he said.
"Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything," Snape proclaimed with a sneer. Any previous doubt he had was gone, Snape definitely didn't like Harry. Though he was curious why, Charles was still more grateful he wasn't getting the same treatment. He was likely the most famous following Harry.
Snape continued to hound on Harry, testing him more on things he obviously didn't know. In the end Harry tried to throw off a question to Hermione, who's hand had been stuck in the air for minutes now, which Snape saw as good enough reason to take a House point away from Gryffindor.
With that over with, the lesson continued, and Snape sorted them all into pairs – each house being separated of course. Charles was paired up with a girl whose name he couldn't fully remember. He had seen her walking around enough times to recognise her face but had never bothered to do any more than that. 'Something Moon… I think. Whatever, I'll find out later.'
She had white shoulder length hair that parted to the left, over her silvery coloured eyes and despite clearly being in the right place, she had constant look of being lost upon her soft and delicate features.
"You'll be brewing a cure for boils, a simple potion," Snape started. "As long as you can follow basic instructions this should not prove difficult and you should use this task to familiarise yourself with the equipment used. Still, as I aspect even this to be too complicated for some of you, I will be watching attentively, ready to correct each mistake made. Professor Snape clapped his hands, "You may begin."
Charles stood next to his partner awkwardly, unsure what to say. He didn't want to ask her name as then she would know he hadn't bothered to remember it, but if he didn't, then communicating with her would be harder – as he would constantly have to actively avoid referring to her by name.
He had an idea. Charles reached out his hand, something he had been doing more often recently.
"I'm Charles," he said simply.
The girl looked him up and down before tilting her head. "I know," she said distantly. She had sudden look of realisation a moment later and smiled, before shaking his outstretched palm. Seemingly pleased with herself she went back to reading the potion steps.
"I'll go get the snake fangs," Charles told her hurriedly, a little embarrassed. He had introduced himself obviously thinking she would do the same, yet her only response was that she already knew his name, and in doing so ruined his plan. Had she seen through it? Looking at her carefree smile he doubted it. 'She's weird…' he decided. His new plan was to talk to her as little as possible before their break and ask his friends her name then.
He returned to their shared table with six snake fangs and a pestle and mortar for each of them. The instructions said they had to grind the fangs into a fine powder before adding a measured amount into the cauldron. Then they would have to heat it up for about ten seconds, wait for Snape to show them the correct way to wave their wand, before leaving it to brew for up to forty-five minutes. Charles agreed with his Professor about this being a simple process.
Crushing the fangs proved to be an easy but tedious task, and with the room being filled with heated up cauldrons, Charles soon found himself to have worked up a little sweat. Quickly he added four measures of his powder to his cauldron and heated it with Snape's help. The Professor then showed him the correct wand movement, which Charles quickly memorised, and walked off to oversee a different student.
When the time was right, Charles waved his wand and as expected, the mixture changed colour, from orange to brown. Now all he had to do was wait and watch until the solution colour changed back to orange. When it did, he would be able to move onto part two.
With nothing else to do he allowed his gaze to wonder the room. He spotted Theo and Blaise laughing together as they grinded their snake fangs. Unlike Charles, who had been paired with a stranger, they had been lucky enough to be paired together and were working at a slower pace as they messed around.
Feeling a little jealous, he directed his eyes elsewhere, towards a familiar head of long ginger hair, just in time to see her clumsily drop her pestle. Quickly, Emily picked it up off the floor and swung her head around hurriedly, hoping no one had noticed. Charles laughed a little before Emily's eyes made contact with his own. A brief look of surprise flashed across her face before looking away.
'What's that about?'
Another girl stepped in front of Emily, smiling widely at Charles. 'I've seen her with Emily at the Great Hall,' he remembered. 'Guess she's Emily's Potions partner.'
Charles was brought out of his thought by a sudden but light pat on the shoulder, which made his heart jump, and he quickly turned to see it was his partner standing there with an aloof smile.
"Can you help me with the wand technique, the Professor's busy," she asked, looking to the side. Charles followed her gaze and saw Snape demonstrating the movement to a student and noticed a lot of other students between them were doing the same. If each of them needed his help, then it would take a while for him to get here.
"Okay," Charles said, pulling out his wand. "Watch carefully." He performed each motion perfectly until it looked like she had it remembered.
"Thank you," she said softly. "You have a pretty wand."
Charles smirked proudly, his opinion of her shooting up immediately as it was clear she had good taste. He gave his thanks quickly and watched as she successfully changed her mixtures colour. He let out a sigh of relief, glad to find his help hadn't somehow ruined her potion. Not that he expected to of course.
Charles sat down in his seat and found that his partner had done the same. He noticed she was looking at him and soon began to feel a bit uncomfortable, he wasn't used to people looking into his eyes so intently. Even Theo and Blaise made as little eye contact as possible. He kept quiet, hoping she would stop staring and do something else, but a minute passed, and she was still looking at his face.
"What is it?" Charles asked, unable to take it anymore.
"Aren't you going to ask?" she returned quickly.
"Ask what?"
She grinned slightly, "My name."
Charles's face fell a little. 'She knew?' he wondered when she realised. Was it when he introduced himself? after that? before that?
"Well?" the girl giggled lightly, amused by his panicking. "I won't tell you unless you ask."
Charles sighed, feeling like he'd lost somehow. "I'm Charles," he told her. "What's your – "
"Lily," she interrupted. "Lily Moon." She then turned her head away and started humming a gentle tune. She had a sweet voice which was pleasant to the ear and the sound of it had caught the attention of some of the nearby students. But Lily just kept singing to herself quietly, unbothered by their stares.
Charles earlier suspicions were confirmed. 'She's definitely weird.'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
LordDamnSteel
LordDamnSteel Chapter 16 here
Lily Moon is not an OC btw, she's not mentioned much in the books so I'm not sure how many people know about her
Hope you enjoy :)
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