A week had passed since the start of term.
Apart from seeing John at the Sorting Ceremony, the students had not seen him again.
The new Professor Howlett was a wizard with a wealth of experience. Well, he did rather like smoking.
In his classes, you could watch practical demonstrations.
He would take off his coat and gesture with his wand at the magical creatures that had been captured, telling the students which spells to use and where to hit to make the creatures retreat in pain.
When he smiled, the students got the uncanny feeling that claws might spring out of his hands.
Lewis privately suspected that he was actually a werewolf.
This was hardly the first time Lewis had made such an irresponsible guess.
Last time, he had claimed that Snape had poisoned Professor Xavier, leaving him ill and still hospitalized at Silver Cross Hospital.
When the rumor reached Snape, he casually took twenty points from Gryffindor.
This made Lewis even more indignant. Stella was angry too. Taking points from Lewis was one thing, but why take hers as well?
She had no idea that it was because her dear uncles had always enjoyed opposing Snape.
And since her uncles had no children, Stella had become his target instead.
During Snape's Potions class, the two of them were called on constantly.
Every time they failed to answer, they lost points.
Getting a step wrong cost them points. Talking back cost them points too.
The gems in Gryffindor's hourglass dwindled rapidly.
After eating the lovingly prepared lunch Hannah had made him, Neville came over for a look and nearly thought he had eaten undercooked mushrooms. Gryffindor was in last place. Surely he was hallucinating?
But Snape showed no restraint whatsoever, leaving Neville with no choice but to seek out