Chapter 16 Flying and Potions
The one teaching the flying lesson was Professor Huo Qi, whom I met in the restaurant on the first day. She was a woman with short gray hair, strong facial lines, and looked very capable.
The number of students in outdoor classes is smaller than that in indoor classes. There are only two houses, Slytherin and Gryffindor. The school knows that it is not right but still puts these two houses together.
Madam Hooch looked at the two clearly divided rows of students with a headache. In the past, there were many half-bloods in Slytherin, so the relationship between the two sides was not so bad. However, this year, except for Riddle with a snake, all the other children in Slytherin were pure-bloods who believed in bloodline. This was really...
"Okay, now that you've all been given your brooms, let's get started."
Maggie finally gave up and got back on her. Della pinched his tail through his clothes to vent her dissatisfaction. After he rubbed her neck in a flattering way, she snorted slightly to indicate that she let him go.
The professor in front of her had already started giving instructions. Della, who was standing at the end of the Slytherin team, listened to Professor Hooch's words, gently placed the broom in her hand on the ground, then stood up, stretched out her hand towards the broom, and shouted:
"stand up!"
The broom flew into her hand all of a sudden, and it hurt the palm of her hand a little, but she was unexpectedly obedient.
Amid the shouts, Harry was the second one whose broom flew up. Nott beside him also got the broom after shouting a few more times. The more interesting one was Ron, as the broom actually hit him on the nose, which made people laugh. Of course, the one who laughed the most unbridled was Malfoy.
Except for Neville, everyone seemed to be calling for a broom. Just when Madam Hooch wanted to go over to give him some instructions, Neville's broom finally rose up, but the broom continued to rise after Neville held it in his hand. Everyone stared at Neville who kept rising and screaming.
By the time Madam Hooch reacted, Neville was already in the air on the broom. She could only yell at Neville to calm down while she got on the broom to pick up the poor student.
However, the broom in Neville's hand suddenly became violent. Neville, who was holding the broom, screamed and spun left and right in the air, and finally let go and fell down.
Although the robe was suspended by two horizontal flagpoles to cushion the fall, the poor boy still broke his wrist when Madam Hooch came to Neville.
After Madam Hooch told them not to ride their brooms by themselves, she hurriedly took Neville to the infirmary.
Not far from where Neville fell, there seemed to be something small that was shining with golden light under the sunlight. Della squinted her eyes and walked closer to the shining place. Suddenly, a hand stretched out and took away the transparent small ball in front of Della.
It's Malfoy again.
His light blond hair looked even more dazzling in the sunlight. He was looking at Della with a provocative look. He tossed the transparent ball in his hand and showed it to Goyle and Crabbe beside him.
"Look, this is the memory ball of that stupid Neville. Maybe we should hide it and let him find it himself. I don't think he will even remember it!"
As he spoke, the corners of his mouth raised up a familiar arc, and the two younger brothers beside him also laughed. At this time, Harry and Ron also came over.
"Malfoy, give Neville's memory ball back!"
After that, Della witnessed the quarrel between the two men. Malfoy was very malicious and rode on his flying broom and threw the memory ball far away. Harry could only chase it on his broom. Fortunately, both the man and the ball came back intact.
The class ended with Professor McGonagall calling Harry away and Malfoy and his group snickering.
Throughout the whole incident, the little lion of Gryffindor seemed indignant, and the group of Slytherins headed by Malfoy were all laughing, except for the dark-skinned Zabini who was watching a farce. Only Della and Nott were watching completely coldly. The two of them made eye contact for a while, then looked away expressionlessly and continued to do their own things.
After observing for these days, Della already knew the immaturity and arrogance of Malfoy and his group, and she also knew clearly that it would be difficult for her to get along well with them.
But not being able to make good friends in the same grade does not mean that she cannot get along well with seniors. Therefore, she can be friends with Gryffindor, but she cannot openly challenge other Slytherins for Gryffindor as a Slytherin. This is Della's current judgment.
Shrewd, ambitious, and self-protective, Della felt that this was what a Slytherin was like. The arrogant young master and his followers were probably the most suitable because of their bloodline.
Perhaps, there are also powerful ambitions that I cannot understand.
Della thought so and sneered in her heart.
At lunch, Maggie finally appeared on Della's shoulder again. Arrian, who had been looking forward to it for a long time, waved at her with the plate of cut beef the moment she saw Della appear. Della smiled and sat over.
Aryan first rubbed Maggie lovingly, and then when Maggie was eating, she complained pitifully to Della about the grievance that Maggie did not come to the Slytherin table yesterday. Finally, she took Della's hand seriously and told her to consider letting her take care of Maggie next time if she was busy.
Della was speechless, then smiled and agreed to the senior's request.
After dinner, Della took Maggie back to the dormitory. She needed to change the books for the afternoon Potions class, and obviously she needed to discuss Harry with Maggie.
"Hai-Sha (Why do you like Harry so much)?"
"Haisa-hi (that boy can also understand me)?"
"Ha-hee (Because of that)?"
"Hahi-ha-sha-hi (and my intuition is that getting along well with him will be helpful in the future)."
"Hahi-hasha-hi (What a weird intuition)."
Maggie didn't say anything else. After he turned around and circled Della's neck to please her, Della hummed and said that she let him go. Then she sat at the desk and began to preview the afternoon Potions textbook. Della remembered that the black semi-long-haired man who was said to be their dean looked very serious. Senior sister Aryan also complained to her a little during lunch.
Thinking of this, Della looked at the textbook more carefully.
With Maggie around, Della's sense of time suddenly improved. She leisurely hurried to the Potions classroom. As expected, the first row was already full, with the familiar golden head at the front. The leftmost seat in the second row was still empty, so Della walked over and sat down.
She had just opened the textbook and had not been reading for long when someone sat down next to her. It was Hermione with fluffy hair. The two smiled at each other and lowered their heads to continue reading the textbook. Della glanced at her and found that the other person's progress was a little faster than hers.
What a hardworking child! Della had a good impression of her. However, it seemed that the two of them had not had any formal communication since the sorting ceremony.
Della gently waved the quill in her hand, thinking with some regret.
Gradually, everyone arrived and the classroom became noisy. Then the sound of a door opening was heard. Della turned around and saw a man in a long robe rushing in, speaking in a low voice as he walked.
"This course doesn't require you to wave your wand around foolishly or chant spells."
As he said this, Professor Snape just stepped onto the podium. He turned around quickly, revealing a serious face with a frown. He stared at the students sitting in front of him with his slightly dull eyes. His brows were furrowed even tighter, and his face seemed to be tinged with a bit of disgust.
"And I don't expect most of you to appreciate the profound science and delicate craft of potion-making."
"However, for those very few," he paused, glanced downward, and then continued slowly, "for those who truly have that intention, I can teach you how to confuse your mind and how to confuse your five senses."
"I will teach you how to win fame, create glory, and even teach you how to live forever."
The person standing in front of her seemed to no longer be a professor of Potions, but a Slytherin senior. Della stared at Snape without blinking, with excitement surging in her heart.
Professor Snape's eyes suddenly narrowed, and his gaze, which was originally looking at the entire classroom, was focused on one place. Della was a little surprised, and followed the professor's line of sight. She saw Harry, who was concentrating on writing something.
"Then again, perhaps some of you already have extraordinary abilities when you come to Hogwarts, and are confident enough to think that you don't have to pay attention to my lectures."
Professor Snape's voice suddenly became low, but poor Harry hadn't put down his quill yet. It was not until the low voice of "Mr. Potter" came out of the professor's mouth that Harry suddenly came back to his senses, put down his quill and looked at Snape nervously.
"Our new spokesperson, tell me what would happen if I added powdered narcissus root to the wormwood infusion."
Snape continued to speak in his low voice. Hermione beside Della suddenly raised her hand and looked at the professor eagerly to answer the question. Harry looked at Hermione and then at Snape, and could only purse his lips and shake his head at Snape.
"Don't know? Then let me ask you something else. Mr. Potter, if I want a bezoar, do you know where to find it?"
Hermione raised her hand suddenly again, and her movement made both her and Della's table shake, but Snape did not pay her any attention and continued to look at Harry intently.
Only then did Della realize that there seemed to be something very different in Snape's eyes when he looked at Harry. The professor's harassment continued, and then he lifted his robe and walked down to communicate with Harry face to face.
Della no longer paid attention to Snape's words and Harry's retorts. In the dim Potions classroom, she and Maggie, with their heads buried in their necks, both looked at Snape as he stared into Harry's eyes.
When she picked up the quill, Della was still thinking about Professor Snape's eyes, which were overly focused when he saw Harry's green pupils.