Laugh.

"I do believe it's dinner time now, though."

"So it is. We'll be off, then."

"Do you mind if I walk down with you?"

"I don't."

Anathema shakes her head.

So Professor Reynolds heads down to the Great Hall with them, chatting lightly - clearly trying to draw Anathema out some, too - on the way, mostly about Hogwarts and the magical world. She splits off when they actually get to the hall, of course, heading up to the professors' table.

Ellie and Anathema can find seats at the Ravenclaw table.

The next few days go decently. Their teachers vary a bit in quality - and Composition seems to assume a lower literacy level than the muggleborn Ravenclaws all have, so it's fairly boring and easy - but they're overall pretty good. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration professor, even shows off the Animagus transformation (she's a tabby cat, with markings resembling glasses around her face), though she notes it's a more advanced transfiguration than most wizards ever manage.

Nine in the morning on Friday means Potions with Hufflepuff House, under Professor Snape. Potions is down on the second level of the dungeons, in a large room. It seems to be ventilated somehow, though Ellie can't feel the air moving, because it isn't too stuffy or damp, but it is chilly. There's a black board at the front of the room and a large desk, and the students' tables are arrayed on broad steps descending from the door down to the front of the room. There's fifteen tables - more than they need - with three to a row, each with a cauldron set down into it and two chairs. The blackboard says only 'two to a table.' (Doable, given their even numbers - eleven each of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.)

Professor Snape isn't in the room yet, it looks like.

"Want to work together?" she asks Anathema.

"Yeah! You're good at this stuff." (That Anathema's been having trouble getting along with other students goes unsaid, a bit - they seem to find her weird, especially the other muggleborns.)

Smile. (It's the other students' loss, so whatever.)

They can get a table in the rough middle of the room.

And, at nine on the dot, Professor Snape sweeps into the room from a barely visible side door, black robes billowing around him. He stops in front of his desk, glaring up at his students. "Put away your wands," he snaps.

"There will be no foolish wand waving here, and little even in your NEWT years - should a single one of you make it that far. Many students refuse to believe this is magic, because of that - but witchcraft is an older and more powerful tradition than mere wizardry. I doubt most of you will 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."

He clearly has a chip on his shoulder. Doesn't seem to enjoy his job, either.

He calls roll, after that - pausing on Ellie's name. "Ah, yes. Ellie Potter. Our new... Celebrity."

Both Houses go still and quiet, clearly uncomfortable.

Anathema scowls.

And a grudge against her in particular.

"Present. Sir." Her face is very still, tone perfectly even.

He goes through the rest of the names with no further comment. Still, his gaze is heavy, unpleasant, with no warmth in his dark eyes or stern expression.

Then, in the long silence after role call, which has many of the Ravenclaws shuffling in their seats, he suddenly snaps, "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

(It's in her Potions textbook - in the first fifth meant for first years, even, though pretty near the back of that.)

"Draught of Living Death. A sleeping potion. Professor."

Scowl. "And where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"The infirmary. Sir."

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane, Potter?"

"Whether one follows the Christian or the Greek tradition. Sir."

"One point from Ravenclaw House for cheek."

Someone sitting very close to Ellie might notice her hands are clenched to the edge of her seat, white-knuckled.

Anathema does. She's shaking, actually, eyes narrow, and her voice is hardly steady when she starts talking - "Cheek? She's right!"