Chapter 13. Private Lesson

The bell finally rang after I had read most of the book, making me feel confident that I might just skip this class in the future. “That teacher is scary.” Val seemed to agree with me, making me feel even more on edge whenever his gaze wandered over to me. I stood up from my seat to head back to the house, but a hand placed on my shoulder stopped me. I looked up to see the professor, giving his bumbling smile to Pansy and I. “D- Dumbledore wanted to see y- you after class.” I gulped while keeping my head down, avoiding making eye contact with him.

Pansy looked over at me, I was doing a good job of keeping my composure since she seemed to have no clue how on edge Professor Quirrell made me. “Would you like me to take your books again?” She asked, I nodded at her wanting to leave the conversation quickly. She took my books and headed to the door, the last of the class to eagerly leave.

Once she exited the door, I was left alone with Quirrell. “Shall I go?” I asked politely while starting to move towards the door. However the hand on my shoulder clamped down harder to keep me from moving. “You’re doing a very poor job of hiding your fear…” He spoke with a new seriousness that I had only caught a glimpse of before. His stutter was gone, allowing every word to flow eloquently, making me realize that he was faking his condition the entire time. “I don’t know what you are referring to.” I spoke back, keeping my eyes glued at the door.

Quirrell chuckled as his grip on me tightened even further, not allowing me to escape. “Good instincts, good liar for your age, and a Slytherin…” He mumbled before finally removing his hand from my shoulder, but making me face towards the front of the class, where I left the scorch mark. “I assume you don’t know many spells due to being deprived of such, leaving only those of first year spells… Morons, talent needs to be fostered.” The last of his words were mumbled with a smirk, however I heard him clearly.

Quirrell took a copy of the book, and flipped towards a page in the middle. “Show me the knockback jinx, Flipendo.” He spoke concisely, not allowing for any discourse, his hand pointing at the wall where I had damaged before. I was confused at this point, he was definitely the reason I was fearful, but he seemed to want to help me grow. My thoughts were in turmoil as I grabbed my wand from my waistband, the colors of the wood helping me focus on the task at hand.

I noticed Quirrell stared at my wand again, his eyes furrowed as he thought, but I wanted to do as he asked so I could leave. “Flipendo!” I yelled, feeling the power flow through my wand, magnifying it, and having the energy shoot off towards the wall. The few stones that I hit directly were pushed back a bit, showcasing a small dent in the stonework. I felt my stomach drop slightly, wondering how I might get in trouble for destroying the castle itself. I began whirling my wand in a clockwise manner, feeling the energy flow through my wand, I casted a spell I was very familiar with, but never used yet. “Reparo.”

With that, I watched the stone work slowly reverse back into its original form, however I couldn’t do anything about the scorch mark I had made earlier. “Oh, you know the mending charm?” He asked me while flipping through pages of the book haphazardly. “Yes, even though I just started, I had seen it being used by my father a multitude of times.”

Quirrell nodded slowly in understanding, before loudly closing the book with one hand, giving off a loud bang. “I’m sure you understand the importance of keeping certain things of yourself hidden from others.” He spoke while staring at the scorch mark, not sparing me a glance as he spoke. I nodded silently, already living my whole life with that knowledge. I felt like I could confide in him, but the same fear I felt my whole life, mixed with his dark piercing eyes kept me from doing so. I just held my tongue, knowing the less I said, the less I might get a negative response.

Quirrell sent me one frosty glance before talking. “Very good, I expect nothing in this room to leave this room.” I nodded silently at him as he continued. “Starting next week, come here for private tutoring, and homework. You have a good future ahead of you if you don’t waste it.” With that, the door was slammed open showcasing the empty hallway. The chill in the air had been warmed when Quirrell moved back to his private office in the room without a word.

Val finally moved around my arm as I left the room to head towards Dumbledore’s office. Obviously he, much like I, was too scared to move in the presence of Quirrell’s truer personality. “He is scary…” Val wrigged trying to calm himself under my robes. I nodded in understanding. “Yea… But I think I need to go without you.” Val wrapped around me tighter at that last statement. “Why!?” I sighed while keeping silent around passing students. “I don’t want him to notice you. I can handle it myself.” Val wriggled some more under my robes, unhappy with the idea.

I didn’t like the idea either, but I felt it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. Nor one that he would let me escape from. I felt as if I had no choice. “Pureblood.” I said with slight disdain in my voice, hardly noticeable as I walked into the house. I observed only a few students inside the lounging area, many of the others most likely in the great hall to study, or off the grounds to the older students. “Lucas.” However there was one person I instantly recognized. Pansy walked over to me after standing up from the leather couch she was lounging on.

I nodded at Pansy and headed to my room to drop off Val before heading to the headmaster’s office. I noticed Pansy follow me up to my door, and paused outside with a frown. “How was your meeting with the headmaster?” She finally asked after much deliberation. I looked at her for a bit, my mind churning with an idea of how to let Val into most of the classes with me, but not for my private lessons. “How do you feel about wizards that have close familial ties to muggles?”

Pansy was stunned from the out of left field question. She almost thought that Lucas was trying to avoid the discussion he had, but his bluish green eyes indicated it was a question he needed the answer to. Pansy, still confused, gave her answer slowly and concisely, wondering if there was a trick to his question. “Mudblood’s? Their blood is beneath ours…” She looked at Lucas’s lowered expression, almost asking for more of an answer, so she continued. “They are just beneath our pure bloodline, their blood is tainted.”

With that last description Pansy looked back down at Lucas to see if that was a satisfactory answer to him. She saw his snide smile greeting her. “Of course, just wondering how you might answer.” His gaze was colder than she had ever seen before. Pansy subconsciously gulped after Lucas’s gaze moved from her and towards his room. He walked inside leaving her stunned as she stared at his door. She was lost in her thoughts before Draco called out to her. “Pansy, you ok?” She looked over at Draco and his two friends. “Yes, of course, I was just lost in my thoughts.” She nodded, trying to regain her composure, but the door in front of her flung open, making her jump in surprise.

“Hey Lucas! How was the meeting with the Headmaster?” Draco asked, but what Pansy noticed was the cold eyes, and sneered expression Lucas continued to wear as he spoke to Draco. “No, I just had to drop my books off first.” Pansy furrowed her brows, she knew he was lying at that point, and had done so without so much as a twitch. He was a fantastical liar, and it seemed that this face was a mask he used to complete the image. ‘Why would he bring it out now?’ Was all Pansy could think. The idea of a Slytherin liking mudbloods was such an outrageous idea that it never crossed the young girl’s mind.

“If you’ll excuse me.” Lucas said with that cold gaze, hidden by a fake smile while he walked towards the entrance. Pansy kept looking at his back, confused over what she said that would make him act like that. She watched Draco and his friends leaving and was about to leave for her own room, but a strange hissing paused her movements. She looked at Lucas’s door, and gulped.