FHB: Chapter 5

After class was over, Lucius lingered outside the classroom waiting for Tanya. His gang insisted on staying with him, but he told them to go on without him. Yes, he did not want anyone to know what he knew. Lucius was a very self-preserving person and he didn’t want someone else reaping from his special privileges.

When Tanya finally exited the classroom, she did so with Professor Slughorn.

“What are you still doing here, Mr. Malfoy?” Slughorn asked.

“Oh, just waiting for Tanya. She’s new and I thought I should help her, lest she gets lost,” Lucius answered with a genuinely fake smile.

“Ah, how kind of you boy,” Slughorn said before he turned to Tanya, “Don’t forget our extra class on Friday. But before that, you should get some tips from Lucius. He’s my best student!”

“You think too highly of me, professor,” Lucius immediately said.

“I know talent when I see one,” Slughorn replied with a wink before he walked off.

The two of them watched him disappear down a hallway before Tanya turned to Lucius. But before she could speak or say something Lucius did not want to hear, he asked, “So, you’re having extra classes with Professor Slughorn?”

“Yup. Home schooling makes me a little behind, and I need to catch up,” Tanya answered.

A little behind is an understatement, Lucius thought to himself.

“You’re so kind to be waiting for me, Lucius, but we have different classes now and I know where it is,” Tanya added.

“Well, I thought I should inform you about the cure to mudblood-ism,” Lucius said. “But, if you want to head on to class first…”

“Oh yes, I almost forgot! What is it?” Tanya was eager to know.

Lucius pulled her to a corner, away from the crowd that was slowly dispersing to their classrooms.

“You need to get something from Professor Slughorn, but he must not know about it. It’s an ingredient list to a potion that can cure you,” Lucius said softly.

“A potion? Why can’t I just ask him for it?” Tanya replied.

Lucius quickly shook his head.

“You have to know something about Professor Slughorn. He doesn’t like mudbloods. If you tell him what you are, he won’t give you extra classes and you’ll eventually fail your OWLS,” Lucius explained so confidently, one would never be able to call it a bluff.

Tanya looked at Lucius with conflicted eyes. Lucius knew she was thinking really hard about it, and her goody-two-shoes values were kicking in.

“You can think about it, but don’t think for long. Imagine what would happen if you keep spreading your mudblood curse.”

Her eyes grew more worrisome and after a short moment of silence, Tanya nodded her head. “I’ll do it. What potion is this?”

“It’s the polyjuice potion,” Lucius immediately replied.

“But, isn’t a polyjuice potion for physical transformation?”

Lucius was not expecting that reply, especially when Tanya claimed to be behind in her studies.

“My grandfather said he used it once,” Tanya added.

“Er, well, it is for physical transformation but a little tweak in the ingredients would make it perfect for supernatural transformations.”

Lucius had to thank his quick thinking as Tanya bought his answer. This Ravenclaw was not as smart as she thought she was… especially when she’s so easily fooled.

“O.k. I’ll get it then.”

“You’ll have to get it by tonight, and you’ll have to give to me. Understand?”

“But why?” Tanya asked, as she slowly raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t delay any longer, Tanya. I’m afraid you might cause trouble to others. And I want to help you. After all, I’m the only one who knows how to tweak the ingredients.” Lucius’ answer immediately doused her suspicion

“O.k. Thank you, Lucius. I’ll get it before dinner,” Tanya said confidently.

“Good. And be careful,” Lucius replied.

Lucius had no idea how she was going to do it, and was a little afraid she might fail. If she did fail, he would have to send someone else and that would be a waste of time. Lucius had no choice but to have faith in a naive girl who might just find out he was lying from the very beginning. Those thoughts left him standing there until the hallway was almost quiet.

When he finally had enough of thinking in one position, Lucius turned towards the direction of his next class. That was when he spotted a small sized boy with black hair, standing not too far away from him. That boy was probably close enough to have heard what he told Tanya, but from the looks of it, that first year could not have known what they were talking about.

Lucius decided to play safe with this one and called out, “Hey, boy!”

The boy took one quick glance at him before he began to run. Lucius had barely caught his appearance as the boy took off at top speed.

Why did he run? Lucius wondered. It couldn’t be his sudden realization that he was late for class, could it?

Lucius was too suspicious now and he was tempted to chase after him.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Lucius should go after him or let him go!)

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FHB: Chapter 4

“Hey, why don’t we ditch the crowd and I’ll show you around?” Lucius suggested.

“I can’t do that!” Tanya answered with an expression of shock.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot you’re a mudblood,” Lucius replied, hoping it would change her mind.

“If a mudblood means doing the right thing, then I would rather be a mudblood,” Tanya stated, before she turned on her heels and went back to her duty.

Lucius was left standing with an eyebrow raised. He concluded that she was a goody two-shoes despite being almost completely ignorant. Lucius convinced himself that that little failed attempt was not entirely a failure as he had learned Tanya’s weakness. This made him rather sure that the next time he acted, it would not be a failure.

As he slumped onto the sofa in the Slytherin common room that night, he heard a couple of fellow 5th year Slytherins murmuring about a surprise potions test. Lucius had not heard of it, so he eavesdropped a little.

The test was supposedly happening within the next few classes and those 5th years were terrified. According to their source, which Lucius doubted was at all reliable, the test would determine if they were required to take extra classes. Well, that made Lucius shrug and turn his attention else where.

Lucius was rather good at potions and Professor Slughorn always complimented him. He had never failed a test, but that was because Slughorn often whispered tips in Lucius’ ear when other students weren’t around. That was a perk of being in the Slug Club and a teacher’s pet. The test would be a piece of cake, as long as he continued being Slughorn’s favourite.

The next morning, classes commenced. Slytherin and Ravenclaw had potions as their first class together, and Lucius was determined to hear a tip before the class ended. As he and his so called friends waited outside the classroom, Tanya came up to them with a wide smile.

“Good day!” Tanya greeted.

She was carrying a few thick books in her hand that were completely unrelated to their first subject.

“Ready for class? I’m so excited!” Tanya added.

“I’m always ready,” Lucius replied as he casually slid his hands into his pockets.

None of the other Slytherins said a word as they gave Tanya expressionless stares.

“Your friends are not very friendly are they?” Tanya leaned in and whispered.

“Where are YOUR friends?” Lucius asked in reply.

Lucius had noticed Tanya alone during breakfast and she was also alone now. Had she not made any friends yesterday?

“Friends? I’ll make friends today,” Tanya answered with a smile.

Tanya started looking around her, as though looking for someone to befriend, when she pointed at a Gryffindor girl standing alone.

“I could be her friend,” Tanya told herself out loud.

“Are you sure?” Lucius asked, as an ingenious idea came to mind.

“Yup, why not?” Tanya innocently asked.

“Are you sure you want to pass your mudblood curse to her?”

“Mudblood curse?” Tanya sounded confused.

“Yea. Whoever you talk to is at risk of getting it. It’s dangerous you know,” Lucius said seriously. This immediately caught the attention of his fellow Slytherins around him.

“But I’m talking to you!” Tanya gasped.

“Well…” Lucius had not thought of a reply for that. Thankfully, Tanya added, “You are such a good friend!”

“Er, yea, I am,” Lucius said with a shrug.

“And I don’t even know your name!” Tanya said in such an alarming tone that heads turned to their direction.

“It’s Lucius,” Lucius simply replied as he took a few steps away from her.

It did not help that all eyes were now on them and no matter how many steps he took backwards, she took the same number of steps forward.

“You are such a good friend Lucius! You said you knew a cure for mudbloods, would you help me?”

“Sure, after class,” Lucius quickly answered.

Professor Slughorn had just arrived and Lucius quickly hurried into class leaving Tanya behind.

Class went pretty well despite Tanya smiling at him every time he looked at her direction. Just as he had expected, Slughorn did spill the beans on the surprise test while everyone was gathering ingredients for the day’s potion. The test was unsurprisingly a polyjuice potion, which would only be taught in his 6th year. Professor Slughorn loved ‘challenging’ his students, or at least that was what he said.

Lucius knew it was not going to be an easy test, and it would take more than just showing up. He needed to get his hands on the instructions, not just any instruction but the one Slughorn wrote down himself. That was the only one that wouldn’t mess up, and he intended on memorizing it before an ugly cauldron is placed into his arms (Slughorn never allowed personal cauldrons during tests).

Now the tough question was, how was he going to get it? He was definitely not going to do the dirty work himself. Just then, Tanya walked past him and said, “Look! I’ve got porcupine quills!”

Lucius immediately knew it was either her or a scared first year.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment or vote on whether Lucius should get Tanya to do it, or find someone else more trustworthy!)