Kitty had never thought that she would voluntarily touch a slug. But by the end of the lesson, she had not only touched a slug, but she had touched mucus. Flobberworm mucus, to be exact.

"Ick," she muttered as she stirred the potion, wiping flobberworm mucus off her hands.

Jack, standing next to her, grinned and displayed his hands, which were dripping with slime. "Gross!" Kitty exclaimed, throwing a slug at him.

He was taken aback for a second but began to reach his slimy hands towards her arm. "Mr. DiGievo!"

Jack looked at Slughorn meekly. "Yes, sir?"

"Please clean your hands up and stop aggravating Miss Black. You have a potion to brew."

"Yes, sir," Jack said meekly. Kitty laughed to herself. She stirred her potion twice more, quickly flicked the flame off, and it was done.

It was precisely the shade of blue the textbook had described, and Kitty smiled with pride. She had a good chance of winning the Felix Felicis.

"Alright class, time is up. As it is your first time, you will not be graded on your potion; instead, you will be graded on your work ethic, effort, and efficiency. The Hufflepuffs have done well in those categories every year in the past. I expect you to do just as well."

Kitty stood still as Slughorn paraded around the room, examining potions. "What a beautiful blue colour, Silks." He said to a Ravenclaw boy. "But the texture is a bit off; I think you may want to reduce the heat a bit more next time."

Kitty glanced nervously at her own potion.

"Miss Li, what on earth happened? I believe your potion would have been nearly perfect otherwise." He told the girl who had blown up her cauldron. "And Miss Kites." He said to Tina. "Your potion is very well executed indeed! Just make sure you don't forget the basilisk powder stuck to the bowl; do tip it upside down. It will make your potion darker."

He smiled when he reached Kitty's potion. "Excellent, Miss Black! Probably one of the best attempts I've seen from a first year. See the way the light sparkles, class? Marvelous, marvelous."

Kitty glowed with pride, thinking she had won. But: "What's this?" Asked Slughorn, examining Jack's potion. "My dear boy, did you really just brew this up yourself? It's perfect! I couldn't do better myself! One jar of Felix Felicis for you, use it well!"

Kitty slumped down in her chair as Jack grinned and slipped it in his pocket. "I'm going to save it for something important," he said happily.

Kitty tried not to scowl, to look happy for him.

"Alright class, you may pack up now."

Kitty shook off her resentment. It wasn't Jack's fault that her potion hadn't been as good as his. "Where're we going next?"

"Well, we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts next, then lunch and a few period after, and then we've got History of Magic and Charms."

"Goodness. That's a lot."

He shrugged. "I mean it's our first day. How hard could the classes be?"

***

Thirty minutes later, they had their wands out and pointed at a four-legged beast with sharp fangs.

"This is a Nuroh!" Professor Merrythought announced to the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors. "It is not actually dangerous in the sense that it will not hurt you. It will only try to trick you. It will transform into someone you know- a friend, maybe, or a family member. Do not be tricked by it."

Kitty shrugged. "Now that we know it's fake, how is it supposed to trick us?" She whispered to Yemi and Tina.

"Oh, I forgot." Professor Merrythought said. "One of your, er, visions of a loved one will be real. Two mothers arrived at the school today and one of them agreed to participate. The other yelled at me in a most unbecoming manner. Please begin."

In a matter of seconds, everything was gone. The classroom seemed to be covered in smoke. She couldn't see Professor Merrythought, or the Nuroh.

Suddenly, Yemi became visible through the smoke. "Kitty!"

"Yemi!" Kitty exclaimed. "What's happening?"

"Didn't you hear Professor Merrythought? The objective is to get out of the room, and as far away from that beastly Nuroh as possible."

"I must not have been paying attention," Kitty told her. "But getting away from the Nuroh sounds like a good idea. This fog is so creepy!"

"Here, I found the door!" Yemi called, walking further away. "Come on!"

Kitty hurriedly scampered after her. "Oh no!" She exclaimed. "The hallway is covered in smoke too!"

"Let's keep walking," Yemi suggested. "The Nuroh can't cover the whole castle in smoke."

They walked for what seemed for forever, though Yemi assured her that it seemed longer when they couldn't see.

Suddenly, after Kitty had climbed what felt like fifteen flights of stairs, the fog evaporated.

She was alone.

"Yemi?" She called. "Yemi?"

"Can you stop your jabbering?" A man sitting in a portrait grumbled. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep?"

"Who are you?" Kitty asked her.

"I am Sir Cadogan of course. Guardian of the Tower."

"This is a tower? Which one?" Kitty asked her.

"Gryffindor, of course. Now, why are you up here?"

"I was escaping the Nuroh."

"Oh, you're from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Merrythought told us to send students back to her classroom."

"What about Yemi? I have to find her."

"I expect she's back in the classroom. Run along, now," the knight said firmly.

Sure enough, when Kitty arrived back at Defense Against the Dark Arts, Yemi was standing near the doorway.

"Why did you leave me?" They both asked.

"I didn't!" Kitty said.

"Huh?" Yemi asked.

"Take a seat, take a seat." Professor Merrythought called. "Now, the real person was the Minister of Magic herself, Edda Hale. Did you figure it out, Firyo?"

Firyo Hale, a lanky, tanned Gryffindor boy shook his head. "I didn't know what to think." He said, grinning at his mother, but looking a bit embarrassed."

"Thank you, minister, for joining us." Professor Merrythought said. "I understand you have business with the headmaster."

"Yes, I do." Minister Hale said. "If you would excuse me."

"Of course."

As the minister exited, Kitty and Yemi turned to each other. "So you weren't real?" Yemi whispered.

"I guess not," Kitty replied. "I thought you were real too!"

"Now," called Professor Merrythought. "When I call on each of you, please tell me where you ended up."

"I was next to the Whomping Willow!" Declared Jack, the first person to be called on. "I ran as fast as I could."

Professor Merrythought frowned. "I told Filch to lock the doors today. Idiot man-well, at least you aren't hurt. McGollen?"

Edwin McGollen proclaimed that he hadn't been tricked; he had stayed in the room. "Very good," Merrythought said. "Black?"

"I was outside of Gryffindor Tower," Kitty said.

"I'll bet all of those stairs were torture. Yasef?"

"I was somewhere in the dungeons."

"KiRyll?"

"I walked into transfiguration class." Emma KiRyll gasped. "I thought that Professor McGonagall was going to give me detention!"

"I'll explain it to her," Merrythought said. "Lumkins?"

"I was in the staff room." Fen Lumkins said. "I think I lost my Hufflepuff scarf in there."

"I'll fetch it for you. Next!"

"That was crazy!" Tina said on the way to lunch. "I had no idea that my brother was really a Nuroh."

"I know! I-" Kitty paused as one of the Ravenclaw Prefects walked up to them.

"Are you Katherine Black?"

"I am," Kitty told the girl.

"Alright, please report to Professor Dumbledore's office when you've finished your lunch."

"Why?" Kitty called before she could leave.

The prefect paused.

"Your mother's here."