11 The Lions Den

After the flying lesson, we had a defence against the dark arts with Professor Quirrell. Quirrell was the professor of muggle studies until his trip to Romania. After that, he donned a turban and asked to be the DADA teacher. Said vampires attacked him and were lucky to get away; that's why he smelled of garlic for protection. The truth was he went to Albania and was attacked and possessed by the wraith of Voldemort. The garlic smell came from a potion he had to drink to keep Voldemort attached. Eventually, this potion will start to lose effect, and he will have to turn to unicorn blood. Quirrell had a stutter that was fake to sell the whole traumatised persona. But the class wasn't very interesting watching a man with the most vile being sharing his body pretend to be frightened of everything, including his own shadow. Plus, the subject was mostly garden-variety dark creatures, pests more than threats; they didn't need a spell to get rid of them. You could pick them up and toss them out of your garden. The disarming charm and stunning spell would be taught later in the year, but I had already gotten the hang of them. All in all, the Ravenclaws and Slytherins thought Quirrell a bit of a joke. 

"you guys sure you want to follow me?" I said to Grant and Tim as we stood outside the great hall. "if you do this, there's no going back." 

"Mate, there was no going back when we were placed in Slytherin", Grant said.

"You guys are my only friends here, and I doubt I will make friends with our housemates", Tim stated. 

I patted them on the shoulders. "thanks", I said, turning to the entrance. "okay, into the lion's den." we walked into the great hall, not towards the Slytherin table but towards the Gryffindors. Stopping near the first years, I greeted them. "g'day, Gryffindors", I said cheerily. "Mind if we have a seat." they looked at me stunned. "excellent." I nodded to my mates, and we sat down. "I'm Eddie by the by, that's Grant, and the shy guy is Tim."

"Why are you here, Slythrines," Ron said, acting tough.

"Oh, come now, Mr. Weasley. Just because a talking hat named us snakes does not mean we are bad people, " I told him. "But we are here for three reasons." 

"they are?" Harry said, interested.

"Well, first, we are kind of the black sheep of Slytherin's house, it seems," I told them. "Most of them hate us for 'Spoiling their great house.'" I made bunny ears with my hands as I said the last. Ron and Harry looked a bit shocked at that. "Secondly, to make some new friends." I looked at the Gryffindors. "And lastly, to warn you and Ron, Harry," I said, looking at him. "Draco won't be there tonight. I heard him laughing about it on the way here." 

"what you on about?" Ron said with shifty eyes.

"I don't know what you guys had planned, but I heard Draco saying that he had tipped off Filch about Potter and Weasley, and he couldn't wait to see them in detention." I explained. "ohh, chicken." grabbing a leg. 

"uh, well, thanks, I guess," Harry said, starting his mean. What followed next was some tense small talk about classes and castle life. "oh, I forgot to say, congratulations Harry," I suddenly said. "Quidditch looks like a fun sport. I would have loved to play as well, but I have little talent with a broom. Almost fell off twice; even Tim's better than me." 

"yeah, thanks", harry said, a little pink.

"you know you really do have your mother's eyes," I told him.

"you knew my mother?" Harry asked.

"no, I'm sorry I didn't have the pleasure," I said, "but my foster parents did; I live in the town your mother grew up in." 

"Really," he asked, and I nodded as I ate another chicken leg. "Wait, foster parents, that means."

"orphan, raised by muggles like you, know Idea who my parents are." I said, "But my foster family is nice. They have a picture from a picnic with your mother in it, your grandparents, and your aunt." 

"Why?" Harry said.

"oh, it was a work thing; my foster father and your grandfather both worked at the mill in cokeworth before it shut down. They weren't close or anything, just colleagues," I explained.

"umm, you don't think you could get me a copy of that picture?" Harry asked.

 "Oh, sure, I'm going back for Christmas. I'll get it copied and sent to you," I said.

"thanks", harry said.

The rest of dinner was much friendlier after that. We bid the Gryffindors farewell and headed to the dungeons. "Eddie, a word," Snape said in the hallways.

"Sure, professor", nodding to Grant and Tim to hang around. I walked over to Snape. "anything the matter, professor?" 

"I couldn't help but notice you were sitting with the Gryffindors tonight at dinner?" he said.

"Ah, yes, the Slytherins haven't been the most welcoming to the three of us. " I trailed off. "we haven't broken any rules, sir, well, at least not any written ones." 

"I am aware of that, Eddie, but it's a dangerous game you are playing." snape warned."But that is not why I am talking to you. I saw you talking to Potter. I just wanted to clarify that my business is my business, and I do not want it shared with outside parties, especially Potter" he looked down at me.

"Honestly, sir, the only time your name was brought up was when we were ranking teachers", I smirked. "you came last, professor," 

"good", he said, proud of that fact.

"uh, but sir, I did talk to Harry about his mother; no details, just that I have an old picture of her from a work picnic." I said, "I was thinking of asking my neighbours to see if they had any more that I could send him at Christmas." 

Snape ignored that fact. "also, our Friday night class will be in classrooms 1-15; some of the other teachers want to come for the first lesson, including the headmaster."

"wow, no pressure then", I joked, pulling at my collar.

"now, run along potions tomorrow morning. You will want to be fresh for class," Snape dismissed me.