Chapter 65: Ancient Magic (4)

The next week arrived, following a rather hectic weekend during which Catherine was recovering from a mild food poisoning, caused by her faith in Hagrid's cooking skills. The Treacle tart, prepared by the Keeper of the Keys, looked fine on the outside, and the taste was more or less agreeable, unlike the consequences of the pastry's consumption. 

The school was buzzing with Halloween preparations. Professor Flitwick enchanted the numerous suits of armour, spread around Hogwarts' corridors to laugh menacingly when students passed by. Hagrid had once again cultivated a remarkable pumpkin crop, which Catherine started to suspect was not solely a result of his gardening skills. Even Peeves, the poltergeist, was in a celebratory mood, though in his case, it resulted in balancing buckets filled with potato peels and other garbage on the upper frames of various doors. The unfortunate student who happened to open the door first found themselves covered in stinky trash while Peeves was hovering around, giggling. 

The teachers also appeared infected by the holiday spirit. On Wednesday morning, Professor McGonagall taught the third-years how to turn a cat into a pumpkin, and in the afternoon Professor Thorne decided to darken the DADA classroom and organised a field exercise during which students were expected to stun some Red Caps hiding in various places. 

Peter Pettigrew found little joy in the themed lessons. To him, the new tasks felt like additional obstacles on the already challenging path of wizarding education. The idea of working with cats during Transfiguration was particularly loathsome; the stubborn creature refused to stay still, hissing, and protesting his every move. Because of this, the anxious Gryffindor rushed the spell and his pumpkin ended up with cat ears and whiskers. While James found that hilarious, Professor McGonagall didn't share his amusement and assigned Peter extra homework. 

In the afternoon, the young wizard was completely confused in the dark DADA classroom. Seizing the opportunity, a malicious Red Cap took advantage of his disorientation, striking him on the knee with its club. Peter cried out in pain, tumbling to the ground, and scratching his hand in the process. The Red Cap, sensing human blood, shrieked in excitement.

"Aureo Silens!" – Catherine shouted, and the aggressive creature stood still for a few seconds before turning around and darting behind one of the bookshelves. 

"Thanks, Flame!" – said Peter, standing up and attempting to hide his bleeding hand.

"No problem, just be careful! They're attracted by human blood, so they are going to come towards you now." – explained the young witch, tossing her classmate a handkerchief he could use to bandage his wound.

"Oh, no!" – the boy panicked, noticing two other Red Caps approaching him from the left – "What am I going to do!"

"You can use various spells, but you would need to be precise with them because the Red Caps do move quickly. Try a Freezing Charm; it has a wider range of effect." – advised the black-haired girl.

"Glacius!" – Peter chanted, and the two creatures froze in their tracks. 

"Well done, Mister Pettigrew!" – Thorne praised him as he noticed the spell, walking among the student – "Five points to Gryffindor."

Peter beamed and smiled gratefully at Catherine. It was such a rare opportunity for him to earn house points, that he treasured every single one of them. The black-haired witch smiled back. She didn't feel bad that Thorne didn't reward her any points for the Freezing Charm idea. After all, she was seldom given any praise during DADA classes.

'In fact, I'm perfectly fine with him not paying me any attention. Who would have thought studying dark, dangerous creatures could be so relaxing.' – thought the girl as she walked towards the Great Hall for dinner.

The next day, however, was far from relaxing. For Catherine's utter dissatisfaction, their double Potions class was once again shared with Slytherins, meaning she was gently encouraged by Slughorn to work on the same table as Lily and Snape. While the black-haired Gryffindor was more or less used to Snape's proximity, sharing a desk with him during Ancient Runes, Potions was a completely different ordeal. The rivalry between her and the Slytherin had intensified even further. 

Grinding her teeth, the young witch worked tirelessly to prepare all the necessary ingredients for a simple Doxycide. She was throwing wary glances at Snape on the other side of the table, and he somehow remained ahead of her despite Catherine's best efforts. After adding a dash of hemlock essence, the Gryffindor girl bent over her cauldron to slowly increase the heat of the fire, following Slughorn's instructions. 

"Being ahead as always, eh Severus, my boy!" – laughed Slughorn somewhere above Catherine's head. The young witch hissed angrily, and the flame under her cauldron turned bright red, causing the potion to start boiling immediately and changed its colour to green.

'Damn it!' – swore the girl in her mind as she stared at the liquid in front of her with confusion. She sighed and added the cowbane essence and the tormentil tincture, uncertain about what she could do at this point. After stirring the potion seven times, to her surprise, it did turn black, signalling its final stage; however, the steam above the cauldron was not black but rather silver.

"I think you messed it up." – Snape said with a crooked smile.

"Don't you have your own potion to worry about?" – asked Catherine, while filling in a vial with her Doxycide.

"I don't need to worry about it. My potion is perfectly done, unlike yours." – he said in such a manner, Catherine felt the overwhelming desire to test the potion on the Slytherin rather than on the Doxies held in a cage on the Potions Master's desk. 

The girl bent over the cauldron in an attempt to determine whether the Doxycide was irreparably ruined. It emitted a peculiar scent, yet, on the other hand, it resembled Snape's potion - thick and with a glossy, reflective black surface.

"Catherine, my girl, don't stay so close to the steam, you're going to get dizzy and pass out!" – shouted Slughorn and grabbed the Gryffindor girl by the back of her robe, pulling her back up.

"I'm fine, Sir!" – protested the young witch – "I made some modifications, and while I'm not certain if my potion is successful, it doesn't make me dizzy at all."

Slughorn carefully inspected Catherine's cauldron. Taking the vial, she had prepared earlier, he brought it to his desk. The Professor selected a Doxy, releasing it from the cage. The small creature attempted to attack him, but he swiftly spilled some Doxycide in its face. It worked perfectly. The Doxy fell onto the desk, paralysed. 

"This is truly remarkable!" – Slughorn exclaimed – "Side effects to humans have always been a concern for using Doxycide, and you managed to eliminate them! What a talent! Twenty points to Gryffindor!"

Catherine smiled humbly, rejoicing inwardly. She cast Snape a triumphant, arrogant smile and relished in seeing him look as if he had been poisoned. 

"Apparently, your performance improved significantly since you were moved to our table." – Lily teased her friend after the class had ended, and they were gathering their belongings. 

"It seems so." – Catherine laughed, glancing at Snape, who was carefully arranging his old shabby schoolbag, his uneven teeth clearly clenched behind his thin lips.

"Ah, my best students!" – Professor Slughorn exclaimed happily, approaching the third-years – "I wanted to invite all of you to a small party for Halloween. It's going to take place from 9 to 11 in the Dungeons. I've arranged extended curfew, of course!"

"Sounds great, Sir!" – Lily smiled at her teacher.

"Wonderful!" – the Potions Master grinned – "Looking forward to it! Naturally, in the spirit of the holiday, it's a costume party!"

"Brilliant!" – Lily giggled after the teacher left, her green eyes sparkling with excitement – "I haven't been to a costume party since I was a little kid at the Muggle school! Do you remember, Severus?"

"How could anyone forget those heartwarming times." – came the sarcastic response.

"Say whatever you want, but I had fun!" – Lily tossed back her red hair – "I think I would like to wear a beautiful dress and attach fairy or butterfly wings. I think I can enchant them to sparkle! What do you think, Daisy?"

"I think you would look lovely!" – Catherine smiled back at her friend, trying to hide her own excitement. Growing up in a house renowned for its parties but having never attended one, the black-haired girl was thrilled to finally be part of the festivities. She vividly recalled a costume party her mother hosted a few years ago. The entire garden was transformed into a fairy forest, and Catherine spent long hours silently watching from the window of her room, imagining how she would dress if she were to attend such an enchanting event.

"Have you thought about an outfit for yourself? – asked Lily.

"Some white makeup and letting your hair down will turn you into a very convincing Banshee." – Snape causally suggested.

"Thank you, and you can accompany me as a vampire, although a short one. You won't need any makeup at all." – Catherine responded light-heartedly, but with a sharp, metallic sting in her voice. 

"Enough!" – Lily clapped her hands – "Severus, be civil!"

Snape murmured something under his breath, undoubtedly expressing his warm feelings towards the black-haired Gryffindor. 

"I think I will dress as Christine Daaé, from the Phantom of the Opera." – said Catherine contemplatively. 

"But would people know who she is?" – asked Lily surprised – "I mean, isn't the Phantom of the Opera a Muggle book?"

"It's based on a true story documented back in the beginning of the century. The impact was so grand that the Ministry of Magic couldn't cover the incident completely. Therefore, they disguised it as a fictional story." – the Slytherin clarified immediately.

"Thank you, Professor Snape!" – Catherine mocked him – "Essentially what he said, but also, Christine was a witch, renowned for being able to use magic through her songs without a wand. It's a very rare ability, stemming from the powers of Sirens. I read everything about it in the Library, and I think I'm going to enjoy pretending I was Christine for the evening."

"Minus the fact she was described as having honey-blond hair and blue eyes." – Snape scoffed at the black-haired girl.

"I'm a witch, I can change my appearance!" – insisted Catherine, her face turning red.

"Yeah, right! This is transfiguration suitable for NEWTs level, but YOU are going to make it work with your mediocre abilities." – the Slytherin smirked arrogantly. 

"Pretty cocky, coming from the Potions 'genius' that I have just bested under his very own disproportionally large nose!" – the young witch snapped.

"You seem you know a lot about the Phantom of the Opera, Sev?" – said Lily in an attempt to defuse the situation. 

"My mom likes this story a lot. One is bound to learn things about it even without conscious efforts." – the boy mumbled sulkily, grabbed his schoolbag, and left the dungeon.

"I know you'll be a splendid Christine!" – the red-headed witch, hugged her friend across the shoulders.

"I'll do my best, but unfortunately, I would really need to think how to make myself looking more like her physically." – said Catherine mostly to herself as they closed the door of the Potions classroom behind them.