Ariana was still counting on staying in touch with Draco after she dropped out, hoping to borrow some of the Malfoy family's Dark Magic books to continue improving her magic.
Naturally, she wouldn't reject a small request like this from Draco.
Just to be safe, she leaned in and promised quietly, "I'll make sure to learn a few really powerful offensive spells this weekend. We'll guarantee absolute victory."
Draco knew Ariana had originally planned to stop practicing spells and just focus on reading from this weekend onward. Hearing that she was willing to change her plan for him made him feel a bit smug.
Maybe it was because of their previous argument, or maybe because they were both Slytherins, but Professor Snape turned a blind eye to their whispered conversations.
Of course, it could also be that he was just too busy deducting points from Gryffindor to bother with anyone else.
"Potter, you stirred in the wrong order. Minus one point," Snape's cold voice rang out.
"Potter, you're using too much magic power. Minus one point."
Ariana glanced over at the Gryffindors and curiously asked Draco, "Does Professor Snape have a grudge against Potter's parents?"
Draco raised an eyebrow and asked in return, "Why do you think that?"
Ariana was simply following the clues she had observed.
"Potter's our age, right? I heard he grew up in a Muggle neighborhood, so there's no way he knew Professor Snape before Hogwarts. But just look at the way the professor's practically grinding his teeth it's obvious he absolutely hates him."
Draco genuinely didn't know, so he offered his usual solution. "I could write to my father and ask?"
"It's just a passing curiosity, no need to trouble your family over it," Ariana shook her head.
They both continued making their potion as they chatted. Snape went on deducting points from the Gryffindors, but soon, he focused his attention entirely on Potter, which only reinforced Ariana's theory.
"How old is Professor Snape? I remember reading in the modern history section that Potter's parents got married three years after graduating Hogwarts and had him a year later. They would've been about twenty when they got married, which means they'd be thirty-two now."
Snape was Draco's godfather, though Snape had strictly told him not to mention their relationship at school. Still, Draco knew all about Snape's background.
"He's thirty-two this year."
Ariana's expression immediately shifted to one of realization.
"So they were classmates. Potter's parents were in Gryffindor, and Snape was in Slytherin. Looks like this is a grudge that's been simmering for years."
Though they kept chatting, their hands never stopped working. Ariana had no prior experience brewing potions, but with Draco's guidance, she made no mistakes.
Before they even turned in their potion, Snape walked over to their station and praised them. "Excellent. Malfoy and Collin's Cure-All Potion is absolutely perfect. Ten points to Slytherin."
It was the first time since their argument that Snape had spoken to Ariana.
But before Ariana and Draco could politely thank him, a pungent smell suddenly filled the classroom.
"Shield Charm!"
Ariana reacted instantly, drawing her wand and casting a Shield Charm over herself and Draco.
At the same time, Snape also cast the same protective spell around himself.
Neville's cauldron had exploded.
Except for the three of them who were protected by Shield Charms, everyone else in the room got caught in the blast.
Shards of the cauldron flew in all directions, and potion splashed everywhere, releasing an even more overpowering stench.
"You idiot! You obviously didn't follow my instructions on when to add the porcupine quills!" Snape stormed over to Neville, glaring at him furiously.
He cast several healing spells, but the force of the explosion combined with the corrosive properties of the failed potion left his spells largely ineffective. Neville was still wailing uncontrollably.
Snape berated him a few more times, but seeing that Neville wouldn't stop crying, he turned his anger on Harry Potter instead.
"Potter! You were sitting right next to him. Why didn't you remind him that the fire had to be extinguished before adding the porcupine quills? Are you happy now that so many of your classmates are injured? Maybe you think this way no one will notice how stupid you really are?"
There was no way Harry would accept that accusation. Ever since entering the wizarding world, he'd been treated like a hero, and his temper had grown quite a bit since his days with the Dursleys.
Snape had been mocking him nonstop since the start of class, and Harry had been holding in his anger all this time. Now he finally exploded.
"I wasn't even watching what he was doing! And no, I'm not happy my classmates got hurt!" Harry shouted back furiously.
"Very well. Talking back to a professor five points from Gryffindor," Snape said coldly, his eyes blazing with anger.
Snape's obvious bullying wasn't just something Harry couldn't tolerate Ariana wasn't having it either. She had never been the type to swallow her grievances, so she immediately spoke up.
"Why is it when I talked back to you, I lost fifty points, but Potter only loses five?" Ariana called out loudly.
Snape already had his issues with Harry, but he was just as annoyed with Ariana. Hearing her challenge him in front of the entire class, he immediately turned his glare on her.
"Collin, I don't want to argue with you. Keep your mouth shut, now!"
Ariana was about to fire back again, but Draco quickly tugged on her sleeve.
He whispered, "Professor Snape would never deduct points from a Slytherin. He was just trying to scare you that time."
Ariana snorted. "His teaching style is honestly terrible. I bet there aren't many students at Hogwarts who can actually master Potions."
Snape was Draco's godfather, after all, and Draco naturally wanted to defend him.
"Smart people will manage to learn it like us."
Ariana wasn't having that. She laid out her argument for him.
"Didn't you say on the first day that all the fools and dunces end up in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff? Well, most of the new students went to those two houses. That pretty much proves that there aren't many clever people in the wizarding world and even in Slytherin, not everyone's smart."
Draco wanted to argue, but Ariana pointed right at Goyle and Crabbe, and he was instantly speechless.
"Fine, they're exceptions," he sighed.
Ariana grinned and added, "You sure it's just those two? I heard Marcus Flint is repeating a year."
Repeating a year at Hogwarts was practically unheard of. Flint having to repeat was such a big deal that even someone as focused on her magical studies as Ariana had heard the gossip.
"He's an exception too," Draco muttered, having run out of excuses.
After tending to the injured students, Snape returned to Ariana and Draco's station, cutting off their private conversation.
"Miss Collin, please explain where you learned the Shield Charm in just your first week of school," he asked, his tone grave as he studied her face, trying to catch her in a lie.
Ariana didn't hesitate in the slightest. "There are plenty of explanations for the Shield Charm in the library. But actually, I didn't learn it from those. I bought a secondhand book in Diagon Alley it had very detailed casting instructions."
In truth, Ariana hadn't learned the spell before arriving at Hogwarts. She'd only read about it. The reason she could cast it so proficiently now was because she had spent the past week repeatedly practicing it on practice dummies while testing the power of the Disarming Charm.
Her expression was so calm that Snape couldn't tell whether she was lying.
"Then tell me, aside from the Shield Charm, what other spells have you learned?" Snape pressed, his tone growing sharper.
Ariana immediately understood what he was really asking. He wanted to know if she had practiced any of the three Unforgivable Curses.
She looked at him, a hint of challenge in her eyes. "You can just ask me directly have I practiced the Imperius Curse?"
Snape didn't bother to deny it. "Very well. Then answer me honestly. Have you?"
Over the past week, several professors had spoken to Snape about Ariana, calling her a once-in-a-generation magical prodigy who could master spells almost immediately.
Even with incorrect wand movements and mispronunciations, she could already perform simple spells without incantations.
At the Welcome Feast, she had openly declared her desire to learn the Imperius Curse. Afterwards, Snape had discreetly confirmed the details with other students sitting near her.
They told him that Ariana had claimed to own a copy of Occlumency, which contained a detailed explanation of the Imperius Curse.
Given her exceptional talent, if Ariana had truly set her mind to learning the curse, Snape was certain that one week would've been more than enough time for her to master it.
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