The Hidden Message

You didn’t hear back from Daphne Greengrass about your plant investigation and Professor Snape’s hidden message until Thursday. You were in the Great Hall for breakfast and were shaking off the effects from the late-night Astronomy lesson the night before. The Thursday before you hadn’t even bothered going to breakfast and used the fact that you didn’t have classes until the afternoon to sleep until lunch. Most of the Slytherin first years had done the same.

The difference between that Thursday and the current one… Flying Lessons.

The notice had been posted in the common room at the beginning of the week. The Slytherin first years were to have Flying Lessons on Thursday at three-thirty with the Gryffindors. Your excitement to finally fly had built up over the course of the week to the point where you couldn’t even hope to sleep late that morning once the green-tinted light had started to shine through your underwater bedroom window.

Draco Malfoy seemed to be even more excited about flying than you were. He was using the upcoming Flying Lessons as an opportunity to restore his standing in Slytherin. He’d spent all week boasting to anyone who would listen about his flying exploits when he was younger. One rather tall tale involved him being chased by muggle hellycopters.

“It’s a travesty that first years aren’t allowed to bring their own brooms,” Malfoy complained. “Another one of Dumbledore’s many failings. I tried to smuggle my broom in… but mother caught me. She never lets me have any fun. Fortunately, I was able to blame it on my House Elf.”

You remembered the Nimbus 2000 that you’d impulsively purchased back in Diagon Alley in the hopes that you’d be good at flying. It hadn’t been cheap and you really hoped that you ended up being a good flier so the purchase wouldn’t go to waste. You’d gotten hooked on Quidditch and really hoped to play it yourself. The broom was still waiting on standby to be delivered at your request. Like Draco, you hoped to find some excuse bend the first year rule and have the broom delivered to Hogwarts for you.

You noticed that Draco’s tall tales weren’t doing Millicent any favors. The large girl seemed to be getting more and more nervous as the week progressed.

“You alright, Millie?” you asked with concern. She was pale and she wasn’t eating her breakfast.

“Do I look alright!?” she snapped shortly. “Do I look like the kind of girl who enjoys the idea of hurtling through the air supported by nothing but a flimsy piece of wood between my legs?”

“Come to think of it…” Blaise mused, “My mother’s fourth husband died in a broom accident. The charms wore off mid-flight and he crashed through the roof of a muggle barn…”

Millicent paled even further.

“That’s not helping!” you scolded your morbid friend. “Millie, no one’s asking you to do the flips or tricks that Draco’s been talking about all week. Look at the size of Marcus Flint. He’s eighteen and he’s already the size of a large fully-grown man. He’s likely the biggest student in Hogwarts. And I hear he plays Quidditch like its a full-contact sport. If a broom can support him while he’s doing all that roughhousing… I’m positive that you’ll be fine.”

Millicent looked a little better but still seemed nervous. “And the worst part is that our lessons are with the Gryffindors. They’re the last people I want to embarrass myself in front of.”

“Millie, other than Draco, none of us have flown before. But you’ve at least seen people fly so that’s an advantage. It’s a small one but it’s something. The Gryffindors have two muggleborns, Potter - who has never even touched a broomstick, and Longbottom - the walking calamity. There’s no way you’ll be the worst flyer out there.”

Blaise smirked, “Speaking of the walking calamity, I bet you Longbottom falls and hurts himself.”

“First of all, that’s a sucker bet,” you pointed out. “Second, I don’t like to make bets about people hurting themselves. It makes me feel like I’m reveling in their suffering and I already know that I don’t want to that type of wizard.”

Blaise shrugged and Millicent looked like she was back to normal. You suspected that her mood would deteriorate again once the lesson got closer.

You were drawn out of your thoughts when a grape bounced off your temple. You looked in the direction that it had come from and spotted Tracey Davis ‘innocently’ drumming her fingers on the table while Daphne Greengrass sat beside her and rolled her eyes. An assortment of red, purple and green grapes was on a tray in front of them. They were sitting further down the table since the Great Hall had started to empty as students left for class.

“In the future, a simple ‘Marvolo, could I talk to you for a moment’, would work as well,” you informed the grinning half-blood as you sat down across from them.

“Daphne said to get your attention,” Tracey replied with a not-so-innocent smile. “I saw it as an excuse to throw something at you.”

“Yeah, but throwing food makes you seem uncivilised,” you informed her. “What can I do for you two?”

Daphne waved a slip of parchment. “I heard back from my father about your plants. Do you still want to know about their meaning?”

“Oh, I didn’t see your owl come in,” you remarked. Malfoy’s eagle owl had arrived during breakfast to deliver yet another ‘care package’ full of sweets from his parents. He’d been getting them all week and took every chance he could get to gloat over it. Daphne had a somewhat distinct gray owl but you hadn’t seen it arrive.

“I heard back from father a couple days ago,” Daphne admitted. “We wanted to figure out the message ourselves before we shared it with you.”

“I warned you that Daphne had a thing for mysteries,” Tracey whispered. “She couldn’t resist.”

Daphne’s cheeks went pink and she cast an annoyed glance at her best friend then looked down and locked her eyes on the parchment slip. “Anyway, wormwood means absence… and it symbolizes bitter sorrow. So that alone could mean he’s sad about someone’s absence.”

“Potter’s mother,” you quickly realised.

Daphne and Tracey both blinked in surprise. “How did you know? I didn’t even tell you about asphodel."

“It’s fairly obvious,” you replied. “Potter’s an orphan. So the ‘absence’ would naturally be about his dead parents. Professor Snape seems to be the right age to have gone to school with Lily and James Potter. But since he practically spits whenever he says the name ‘Potter’ - sort of like how Malfoy does - I’d wager that the message is about Potter’s mother. Also, during my detention last week, Professor Snape made a comment while he was grading Potter’s potion. He said it was clear that he hadn’t inherited any of his mother’s talent. You’re lucky you didn’t see the glare he sent my way when I pointed out that she was muggleborn.”

“Well…” Greengrass looked miffed at how quickly you solved the mystery. “We figured that out too. Asphodel is a lily and it means ‘my regrets follow you to the grave’. So if you put wormwood and asphodel together… it could translate to ‘I bitterly regret Lily’s ****’.”

You motioned for Daphne’s parchment and the dark-haired girl handed it over. She’d neatly written out both flower meanings as well as her interpretation.

“So… what do you think we should do with this information?” Tracey asked.

You glanced over your shoulder and across the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table and spotted Harry sitting with Ron and Neville Longbottom.

“I think we should give it to Potter,” you decided.

“Won’t Snape be mad?” Tracey asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” you admitted, “Hopefully not. The message was meant for Potter. We’d be ensuring that he receives it.”

“You do it then,” Daphne instructed. “I don’t want to be involved beyond the translation.”

You eyed the parchment and thought about how you’d get Professor Snape’s secret message to its intended recipient without drawing attention. You glanced to the side in time to see Malfoy get up from the table.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea,” you announced. “You two keep an eye on Potter. Let me know how he reacts when he reads it.” You folded up Daphne’s parchment and slipped it up your sleeve then stood up and called out to Draco. “Oi! Draco! Are you going to bother the Gryffindors? Toss me a Chocolate Frog and I’ll come along as backup.”

Draco seemed surprised by your offer but eventually nodded. “Alright, Gaunt. Catch.” You caught the Chocolate Frog that he threw your way and followed after him.

You opened your Chocolate Frog package and grinned when you saw the card that was inside. ‘Cornelius Agrippa’. You made it to the Gryffindor table and Draco snatched a glass ball filled with red smoke out of Neville Longbottom’s hand. “What’s this then?”

Harry and Ron immediately jumped up. Apparently, they were eager for an excuse to fight your obnoxious housemate. The look in Ron’s eye told you that your presence made for an even better excuse. Draco leered at Harry and Ron and actually seemed pleased to have you standing beside him.

“That’s a Remembrall,” you said as you slid the folded parchment that you’d hidden up your sleeve into the Chocolate Frog box. “I’ve always found those things useless.”

“What’s going on?”

Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash to break up the ‘potential fight’.

“Malfoy’s got my Remembrall, professor.”

Malfoy scowled and dropped the glass ball back on the table. “Just looking.”

“Actually, professor, maybe you could help me with something,” you quickly chimed in. “What’s the point of a Remembrall? Sure, they tell you when you’ve forgotten to do something but if it doesn’t tell you what you’ve forgotten… then how are you supposed to remember it?”

“Perhaps your line of inquiry would be better suited for Professor Flitwick, Mr. Gaunt,” the Transfiguration professor crisply informed you.

“Of course, professor, we’ll be going,” you agreed, “By the way, Weasley… I wanted to show you the Chocolate Frog card I just got. It’s Agrippa. You’ve been after this one for ages, right?” Ron’s jaw dropped and his face went red and as you showed off the rare card. You smiled and tossed the box with the frog and hidden note inside to Harry. “Here, Potter, you can have this. The look on Weasley’s face is treat enough for me.”

“That’s quite enough, Mr. Gaunt,” Professor McGonagall imperiously informed you. “I believe it’s high time you and your friend, Mr. Malfoy, returned to the Slytherin table.”

You looked over at Draco skeptically and silently mouthed the word ‘friend’. Then realised what Professor McGonagall said had been a command, not a request. “Right, of course, by your leave, professor. Shall we, Draco?”

The two of you slipped off and you grinned in knowing that you’d come off as the winner in the short exchange. Your ‘friend’ had gone quiet once Professor McGonagall had shown up which was good because he hadn’t said anything stupid to get you in trouble.

“That look on Weasley’s face was priceless, Marvolo,” Malfoy remarked as you headed back to the Slytherin table. “But how the bloody hell did you get a Cornelius Agrippa card? That’s one of the rarest Chocolate Frog cards there is!”

“I guess I’ve got the magic touch,” you replied. “But I don’t actually collect Chocolate Frog cards, though. I just keep the ones that are interesting, like the Salazar Slytherin card I got on the Hogwarts Express. Do you want this one?” You handed Draco the card which he stared at with something akin to awe. “See what happens when you share your sweets?”

“Maybe I’ll test your so-called ‘magic touch’ the next time mother and father send me Chocolate Frogs,” Malfoy mused.

You made it back to the table and parted ways. Draco went back to his seat near Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and Nott while you sat down across from Daphne and Tracey. They were seated together on the same side of the table which gave them both a view of the Gryffindor table. “So? How did he react?”

“It took us a couple seconds to realise that you put the note in the Chocolate Frog box,” Tracey admitted.

“I think Weasley told Potter to throw it away,” Daphne reported. “And it seemed like he was going to until he noticed the note you slipped in there. He pulled it out, unfolded it and read it and was watching you as you walked back to the table.”

“Now he’s looking at Snape,” Tracey added. “Wait… Snape caught him looking… Now he’s looking back over here.”

You looked back over your shoulder and stared across the Great Hall at a pair of confused green eyes. You gave a casual shrug and looked away. “He has the information. What he does with it now is entirely up to him. Thanks for your help, ladies.”

Breakfast ended and you returned to the common room. Crabbe and Goyle went off to take a post-breakfast nap before lunch while the rest of you claimed seats by the fire. Draco talked Blaise into playing a game of Wizard Chess with him which left you studying with Theodore and the four girls. Although, Pansy seemed to be more focused on cheering for Draco in the chess game than the book she was ‘reading’.

You had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell after lunch so you were studying in preparation for that class. You were still disappointed that the nervous Defense professor wasn’t teaching any actual spells yet. Kingsley Shacklebolt had once told you that the Knockback Jinx was a useful basic spell so you looked it up in The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and tried to learn it yourself over the weekend. But you had thus far been unable to cast it. That led you to believe that perhaps there was more to Professor Quirrell’s talk of theory than you previously thought and was why you’d taken to carefully studying the Defense text when you had free time.

Sometime later, the common room doorway opened and a group of Slytherin fifth-years entered with prefects Gemma Farley and Damian Perriss at the front. Most of the older students moved on and headed for their dorm rooms but Gemma stopped next to your group of first years.

“What are you cute little firsties doing in here?” the prefect inquired. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“We had Astronomy last night so we’re off until after lunch,” you were quick to explain.

“So you’re using the free time to study,” she noted as he cast a pointed glance in Draco and Blaise’s direction. “Good idea. It always pays to be prepared. Carry on, firsties.”

You turned your attention back to your book intent on doing just that when you had an idea. “WAIT! Prefect Farley!” You sprang off of the couch and darted after her.

The auburn-haired fifth year stopped in the hallway leading to the girls’ rooms and looked back at you. “What do you want, Gaunt?”

“Er… I was wondering if you could help me with a spell that’s giving me trouble,” you asked. “I’m doing some self-study for Defense Against the Dark Arts and I can’t seem to get the Knockback Jinx right.”

Gemma turned to face you and you could see a calculating gleam in her sapphire blue eyes as she looked you up and down. “Alright, Gaunt. I’ll give you a hand. But when anyone asks you’ve gotta tell them that I helped you learn it, got it?”

It seemed like she wanted the credit for teaching you the Knockback Jinx. Well… if she actually helped you learned the spell that was giving you so much trouble then she deserved it.

“You’ve got a deal,” you agreed.

“Come with me,” Prefect Farley instructed as she grabbed you by the wrist and led you down the girls’ hallway to her room. Her name was the only one printed on the door as she opened it. “You get your own room when you make prefect.”

You followed her inside and saw that her room was bigger than the one you shared with Draco. Her four-poster bed seemed to be a size larger than yours and was situated against one wall while her desk was against the opposite one. Also, her underwater window seemed larger.

Gemma took your book and set it on her desk with her school bag then turned to face you. “Alright, Gaunt, what’s your problem?”

You pulled out your wand and performed the double swish motion and called out the incantation. “Flipendo!” The tip of your wand briefly glowed blue but nothing happened.

Gemma rolled her eyes. “That’s an amateur mistake. You need to read the theory about jinxes more thoroughly. The key for them is eye contact. Or at the very least you need to be looking at your target.” She grabbed the chair from her desk and dragged it into the middle of the room. “Try casting on this…”

Double swish. “Flipendo!” A blue light flew from your wand and hit the chair. It rocked backward but didn’t fall over.

“You’ve got to push your magic into the spell,” the prefect advised as she came over and stepped up behind you. She grabbed your shoulders and turned you so you were standing sideways. “This jinx is best used in a duel. So you want to get into the habit of standing like this when you cast it… that way when you have an opponent you give them less of a target.”

You felt your face heat up as the swell of the seventeen-year-old girl’s bust pressed into the back of your head while she grabbed your wrist. You couldn’t help thinking to yourself, “The first year girls don’t have those.”

“The most important part of this spell is the first swish,” Gemma explained as she grabbed your wrist and guided your hand through the proper wand motion. “Be sure to get the V-shape right and match it with the ‘Flip’ part of the incantation. That’s when you channel your magic into it. Let’s try it again… eyes on the chair...”

You stared at the chair and Gemma’s hand guided yours through the double swish as you called out, “Flipendo!” There was a bang as a blue light flew from your wand. It struck the chair and knocked it over. You’d finally got it! You let out a cheer. “YEAH!”

“Atta boy,” the older girl praised you as she ruffled your hair. She went and fixed the chair then stepped back out of the way. “Now try it again without me.”

Double swish. “Flipendo!” Bang! The blue light knocked the chair over again.

“Gemma? Everything okay in there?” The noise from your wand had drawn some attention. Gemma went to the door and pulled it open. One of the fifth year girls who had entered the common room with her peered into the room. The tall, dark-haired girl grinned when she spotted you. “A thirteen-year-old. Isn’t he a bit young for you, Gemma?”

“Prefect Farley just taught me the Knockback Jinx,” you dutifully reported.

“He’s got the basics down,” Gemma informed her fellow fifth year. “Now I’m going to teach him to use the spell properly. Spread the word and ignore any other loud bangs you hear coming from this room.”

“Riiight… ” the girl drawled as she left. “Have fun.” Gemma shut the door and turned to you.

“What did you mean by ‘use the spell properly’?” you asked.

“If you’re going to be telling people that I taught you that spell then I want your casting to be perfect,” the fifth year prefect explained. “I don’t want anyone to think that I did a shoddy job of teaching you. So I’m going to show you a trick that you usually learn in second year.”

“You mean you’re going to show me a more advanced version of the spell?” you questioned.

“Yup,” Gemma confirmed. She once again righted the chair then came up behind you. Again, you felt the generous swell of her seventeen-year-old bust press into your head as she reached down to grab your wrist. “Remember when I told you that the first swish was the most important part? That’s the key to the trick. If you draw out the ‘Flip’ part of the incantation and exaggerate the V-shape of the first swish like this…” She guided your hand through a bigger swish. “You can charge up the spell and make it more powerful. You’ll know it worked if the light goes from blue to purple. Purple shows a charged Knockback Jinx. But don’t let the light turn red. Because that means the jinx is overcharged and then you’ll be the one knocked backward. Ready to try it?”

Your head rubbed against the older girl’s bust as you nodded. “Yeah.” You stared at the chair as Gemma guided your hand through the exaggerated swish. You drew out the incantation and watched as the light at the tip of your wand went from blue to purple as you pushed more magic into the spell. “Fliiipendo!” BANG! The purple light struck the chair and blew it into the wall where it smashed to pieces.

“Now that’s a Knockback Jinx to be proud of,” Gemma remarked as she drew her own wand. “Reparo!” The chair reassembled itself.

“Er… sorry about the chair…” you apologized. “But thanks for the help, Prefect Farley.”

“You can call me, Gemma,” the older girl informed you. She grinned and motioned to her chest. “I’d say you were close enough to my girls for us to be on a first-name basis.”

“R-right, thanks, Gemma,” you felt your face burn and Gemma smirked at your blush.

“Let’s try it one more time… but on a proper target,” Gemma prompted. She dragged her chair over to the foot of her bed then pushed the curtains open before she climbed onto the chair. “Stand by the closet and cast it on me.”

“Are you sure about this?” you asked. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Casting it on a person is a lot different than casting it on a chair,” the fifth year pointed out. “My bed should cushion my fall so go ahead. But remember that if you don’t get it right I’ll be very disappointed in you.” Well… you didn’t want that...

“Okay,” you agreed as you made your way over to the closet. You turned sideways and pointed your wand at her from across the room. You kept your eyes locked on Gemma and swished your wand and watched the light go from blue to purple as you called out the incantation for a final time. “Fliiipendo!” BANG!

The purple light struck Gemma and blew her backward off the chair she’d been standing on. Time seemed to slow down as her heels clipped her bed and caused her legs to flip up while the rest of her continued to fly backward. Your eyes went wide when you were granted a brief split-second look between her splayed legs and up her skirt at her skimpy black knickers.

“OOF!” Gemma grunted as she dropped down on her bed.

“AR-are you okay?” your voice cracked as you rushed over to see if your ‘tutor’ was alright.

“Uhh… I feel like I was punched in the tit…” she groaned as she sat up and looked over at you. “Why’s your face so red?”

You couldn’t bring yourself to answer. Nor could you stop yourself from picturing the skimpy black knickers and the upskirt shot that would forever be seared into your mind.

The fifth year followed your lowered gaze to her skirt and suddenly she was off the bed holding you by the chin. The much taller girl glared down at you and nearly hissed. “You saw nothing. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” you were quick to agree.

“Then let’s recap,” Gemma prompted, “Who taught you the Knockback Jinx?”

“You did.”

“And what did you see?”

“Nothing.”

“Good boy,” she responded. She smiled and patted your cheek. “Now get out of here, you little scamp.” You turned to leave but jumped when you felt a swat on your rear. “Don’t forget your book.”

You ran to retrieve your book from her desk then bolted out of the room, darted down the girls’ hallway, and rushed back to the common room.

“Marvolo... why are you blushing?” Millicent asked.

“Oh, did something happen while you were off alone with Prefect Farley?” Daphne inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“I think he’s got a crush on her!” Pansy squealed which caused the girls to burst out in a round of giggles that made you uncomfortable.

You immediately changed your mind about returning to the common room and ran right past the first years to the safety of your room. “She taught me the Knockback Jinx. I saw nothing!”

The door slammed shut behind you and you slumped against it as you attempted to make sense of your strange thoughts and feelings.

You were thirteen. Were you even supposed to be interested in girls yet? But you felt your cheeks heat up when you thought back to the feeling of Gemma's breasts rubbing on the back of your head. You felt warm inside when you pictured the brief glimpse you’d gotten up her skirt. Remembering how the older girl had ruffled your hair, playfully swatted your rear, and held your wrist as she guided your hand through the proper wand motion made your stomach do a funny flip. It seemed like the incident with Gemma Farley had awoken something inside of you.

But now you had more pressing issues to worry about. Pansy Parkinson was a shrewd harpy and she wasn’t likely to drop the embarrassing subject of your ‘crush’ anytime soon. Your standing among the Slytherin first years needed to be restored. You felt even more pressure mounting to perform well in that afternoon’s Flying Lessons.