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! chapter thirty !
─── ∙ ~ ✩ ~ ∙ ───
"TODAY WE WILL BE learning how to brew a memory potion," Professor Slughorn explained the next morning. The older man always seemed very nervous when he taught recently, and Haven knew exactly why. Her eyes drifted over to the Death Eater who was stood at the corner of the room, staring blankly at the students. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she turned her attention back to what the professor was saying. Haven would be lying if she said that she wasn't absolutely terrified of the Death Eaters. She'd seen what they'd done to a number of her peers. To Haven herself. What she was more scared about, however, was them figuring out that she was the one leading the rebellion.
"Normally," Slughorn went on. "This isn't a potion I'd force you students to make. But our...lovely headmaster has made it required due to recent circumstances. The recipe is on page fifteen of your books. Get started."
Haven shared a knowing look with Malory who was sat at the opposite side of the table. The memory potion surely sounded like one hell of a good way to turn students against each other. Haven was certain Snape was going to go snooping around eventually, and this seemed like the perfect way to start.
Haven dropped in some feathers, watching as they sunk into the water, which almost looked black because of the dark cauldron it was in. She quickly chopped off the petals of a flower she couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. And finally, she sprinkled in some powdered sage. The water began to turn to a goldish tint as she stirred it, and Slughorn appeared next to her.
"Very good, Miss Potter." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Normally, I'd give your house points but—"
"If you're going to speak, might as well speak to the entire class, don't you think, Horace?" Corban Yaxley, the Death Eater asked. He slowly made his way over to Haven, who tensed in her seat. "Would you like to share, Miss Potter?"
Haven glanced to Slughorn, who had gone white like a ghost, and she swallowed thickly before she turned her hard gaze onto Corban. "I don't think it's any of your business."
A bitter laugh escaped his lips as he stood up, and a few murmurs went around the classroom. He shot her a fake grin that made shivers go down her spine. "You see, I don't like secrets. They make me feel...left out. And when I feel left out, I began to suspect things. Things that no teenage girl like you could possibly be capable, correct?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she answered dryly, refusing to look away.
Corban let another fake chuckle escape his lips. "Of course you don't." Before Haven even had the chance to register what that meant, she was suddenly yanked out of her chair by the collar of her uniform, and shoved up against the wall. She gasped for air as Corban wrapped his hands around her throat. "I know what you're up to," he sneered, and she struggled against his grip.
