TPS Part 16: Susan's Luck

The train ride back to Hogwarts was a quiet affair. Neville, Susan and Abbott sat on one side with Moon, Onyx and Nott on the other. They had all kept up with each other during the break so there were only calm conversations. It got interesting at one point when they asked Onyx about the lawsuit, but he kept quiet and just said "They may have a lot of money but that probably felt quite a bit. they had to sell a couple of businesses!"

Then he added "Hope I can get that pompous git thrown out early next year when he's forgotten about this warning." Small chuckles spread through the compartment and the topic was forgotten.

The first few weeks back went as expected. No real trouble in any classes. Onyx began tearing himself away from the snakes a bit more than before, only exceptions being Moon and Nott. The three studied with a variety of other students but never other Slytherins.

Onyx often got invited to join various study sessions by, among others, Dunbar, Neville, Susan and Granger. The rumour of his talent for teaching others had spread and he rarely got to study on his own anymore.

He did eventually get to use the spell Jasper had taught him. Onyx had bribed the Weasley twins to feed Malfoy some laxatives and then he went to action. As soon as he noticed that Malfoy had trouble keeping it in, he cast the spell at him under the table. Onyx wasn't that proficient with the spell so he had to mumble "Ignis Draconis" and then the gasses coming from the boy not only caught fire but the flames intensified to astounding levels.

Draco Malfoy ran out of the great hall with a flaming hole in the back of his robes, leaving a burnt mark on the place he sat on the bench behind. Since then Malfoy barely even looked in Onyx's direction. His grip on the other students seemed to have weakened with that and the public apology. The Slytherin first years were a mess currently due to lack of leadership.

Slytherins may be ambitious but most aren't very hard working and instead wish to piggyback on someone else's success. This caused a clear hierarchy to form in each year of the house with one or two leaders coming out on top. Malfoy had been a clear choice for the class of 91 but he had been thrown off his throne. Now, since the one who did the throwing hadn't taken his spot, it was empty.

None of the guys could pick up where he left. Crabbe and Goyle can barely even think for themselves, let alone talk. Zabini had been quiet and shut in since the incident, Nott could never really speak up for himself and that only left Draco Malfoy and Onyx Grey.

Malfoy was in turmoil currently and Onyx barely had anything to do with Slytherin house. Among the girls, it was a rivalry between Greengrass And Parkinson. Parkinson had been riding on Malfoy's back so now Greengrass seemed to take the top spot. She came from an old family with plenty of money, a fair amount of influence on the market and even a vote on the Wizengamot. Her spot could be sealed within a year.

Speaking of Greengrass, she had repeatedly tried taking in Zabini into her circle and often tried to get Onyx to come to a study session with her. It wasn't working. Onyx was fine with the people he had around him, he was growing closer to them by the day. Sadly Nott wasn't an easy case but Moon was easy enough to handle any day.

This was how it went for almost the entire term until he got a letter from Jasper to spice things up a bit, if only for a day.

---

Dear Onyx,

My dear young boy has finally come home! (Yes I know your grandfather isn't exactly young but to me he always will be)

Of course, it wasn't just to acquaint himself with the newest generation, it's because I've started a research centre in your name. Now he has the facilities to conduct any research he wants on home ground! I know you haven't really met him in all these years, he's a peculiar fellow, but I hope you'll visit him some time during the summer.

Oh, and I have a mission for you. With this come a few papers to hand out to any who took a NEWT in arithmancy. We're currently hiring apprentices and I hope you'll spread the good word.

This is truly a momentous occasion! Can't wait to see what they can come up with in there in due time, we have to fill up the Family Grimoire somehow after all.

Good luck!

See you soon!

Your grades better reflect positively on your reputation.

Love,

Jasper

---

Grandpa and grandma were finally returning to Britain. Onyx was most of all surprised at those news. They had both been travelling the world since he was a baby and never sent any hello or updates to the family.

The research centre on the other hand had been in the planning stage for years and his parents used the ball to market that a lot to some of the older crowd at the party.

Research centres weren't actually that common anymore. The wizarding world had stood still for a very long time. The lack of progress could be attributed to laziness and lack of opportunities for the creative. If they can make researching a profitable job to have and one with status once more, they could bring some movement into the stagnant society.

This was however not something for Onyx to really think about, as his only task for now was to hand out flyers. He had a couple of things to discuss with the arithmancy teacher and runes teacher anyway. He was planning on taking the third year exams this year as well. It would be a waste of time to take them later as he already had everything shoved into his head by a passionate Jimmy Kiddell.

He checked the schedule for when the seventh years had arithmancy and showed up just when the class ended. When they all rose from their seats, Onyx cleared his throat rather loudly to get their attention. He started speaking with a slight boom to his voice. Onyx just winged the speech as he didn't feel the need for precision here.

"The house of Grey have started a research facility in the London area and are looking for apprentices. We don't care about blood or magical power. We honestly barely care about your grade here as long as it's acceptable. We want intelligent and creative minds to bring a stagnant society back into flow. If you're interested, grab a flyer and read up on the interviewing process."

Most raised their eyebrows and looked at each other. A few looked very sceptical but eventually almost everyone grabbed a flyer as it was a job opportunity after all and a rather special one. Onyx hadn't mentioned which masters they would be apprentices of.

After they had all left, Onyx came to an agreement with the Arithmancy teacher to just exam this course without actually following along during the school years. This would free up his schedule as long as he promised Professor Vector to keep up with his studies during the summer.

After explaining his apprenticeship, she understood fully and so did Professor Babbling when he proposed the same thing for Runes. They were apparently in the same social circles as Jimmy Kiddell and were well aware of his attitude.

After his little speech, mainly due to the fact that he hadn't hesitated or fumbled over his words in front of seventh years, he got a bit of respect once he got back to the common room to meet up with Moon.

The few who were in the classroom when he handed out flyers now gave him small nods as greetings and word seemed to have spread quickly. Malfoy was glaring daggers at him, despite not daring to move from his chair in the opposite side of the room.

Onyx thought it was a nice turn of events but it didn't matter as much to him as it probably should have as he just came and got a few things before leaving again to meet up with Susan. She had started asking for study sessions with just the two of them and Onyx had complied as he knew Neville could use some alone time with Abbott.

The two spent many evenings in the library together just studying for the upcoming exams. When they got to the final day before exams started, she thought he could use some good luck. As they had picked up all their things and was about to walk their separate ways back to their common rooms, she walked up close to him instead.

Susan leaned in to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good Luck Onyx.." and then she ran away, seemingly in a hurry to get back to her common room. Onyx could only smile as he remained in place with one hand on the kissed cheek "You too Susan, you too."