Audrey's eyes widened. Blink, blink—so this was what it felt like to have a headmaster who was wildly biased toward his own house?
Since it was a review class, Snape didn't spend time demonstrating, and the students were instructed to brew the second potion:
Sleeping Draught.
A second-year potion.
Audrey, of course, brewed it perfectly.
"Miss Astley, once again the best. Slytherin gains ten points."
When Potions class ended, Audrey stepped out of the classroom.
Besides the ghosts who immediately swooped in to absorb magical energy, a group of fifth-years swarmed around her.
"Miss Astley, have you learned Potions before?"
"Do Muggles even have Potions?"
"Can you teach me? I want to be an Auror, and I have to excel in Potions! I'm too scared to ask Professor Snape myself!"
Before Audrey could answer, the students stepped aside.
The ghosts had arrived.
Close contact with ghosts? Anyone who's experienced it knows: it's freezing cold!
Seeing herself being surrounded yet again, Audrey sighed and headed back to the classroom.
"Professor Snape!"
Snape was organizing materials while soothing music floated through the room—a gentle piece titled Lilies at Night, a 1988 work by the Astley siblings.
Seeing Audrey, Snape immediately frowned and waved his wand, silencing the music.
"Miss Astley, why are you back? If it's because you forgot something, I'll have to question whether you're truly a clever Slytherin."
Audrey was surprised he listened to music, but she had bigger concerns than curiosity.
"Professor, I want to learn the spell you used to dispel the ghosts. These overly enthusiastic ghosts are following me—it's really a problem!"
Snape's expression remained unreadable. "That is a privilege granted to professors by Hogwarts, not a spell an ordinary student can learn. If you want that right, you must first become a professor."
He looked at her. "As a new student, you should focus on studying rather than coveting professor privileges."
"Also," he added, "have you studied Potions before?"
"Yes, Professor," Audrey answered succinctly. "During the two months before school started, Professor Dumbledore arranged a tutor for me to catch up on the first four years of knowledge."
Snape's expression darkened. "Oh? Which Potions master taught you?"
A bit of resentment—Dumbledore had let someone else teach Audrey Potions? Was it effective? Such a promising talent shouldn't be wasted!
"Um… Mr. Nick Lemay."
Snape fell silent. As a renowned alchemist, Nick Lemay's mastery of Potions was unquestionable—centuries of experience distilled into perfection.
What he couldn't have guessed: Audrey had actually self-studied much of her knowledge while pretending to be incompetent—just out of boredom.
"I see. Study well from now on, don't waste your Potions talent."
Snape gestured for her to leave.
"Yes, Professor!"
Unable to obtain the ghost-dispelling technique, Audrey left feeling dejected.
Ethellyn Windsor was waiting.
"Audrey, let's head to the Great Hall for meals!"
Though the friendship started because of a pair of small lobsters, it seemed Ethellyn genuinely considered Audrey a friend.
"Alright, Ethellyn!"
Audrey couldn't walk directly beside her, keeping about ten paces behind.
Looking at the army of ghosts surrounding her, Audrey sighed again.
…
Before Transfiguration class, Audrey led the fluttering ghosts into the classroom, startling Professor McGonagall.
The seasoned cat-woman waved her wand, turning the Transfiguration classroom into a ghost-free zone.
"Ah…"
With the ghosts forcibly expelled, Audrey exhaled. These ghosts were so annoying. The moment she returned to the Slytherin common room, they latched onto her again.
If this continued, her Hogwarts life would be a total mess.
Watching McGonagall banish the ghosts, Audrey grew envious of the professors' privileges.
So jealous!
During class, McGonagall didn't review like Snape. She knew Audrey's Transfiguration was exceptional, so there was no need to accommodate her.
Before school started, Dumbledore had briefed her, expecting this prodigy to enter Gryffindor. McGonagall had been delighted for days.
But Audrey ended up in Slytherin—alone, a bitter disappointment.
Yet her Transfiguration skills were impressive.
"Miss Astley, first to turn an owl into a telescope!"
"The patterns, the details…"
"Perfect Transfiguration! Slytherin gains five points!"
For someone capable of using Advanced Transfiguration in practice, showing off Intermediate Transfiguration was effortless.
The fifth-years couldn't help but doubt themselves.
She's really from the Muggle world?
Or perhaps a secret elite trained by some family?
Otherwise, wouldn't that make the rest of us utterly mediocre?
…
The first day of classes ended. Potions, being a review, only required failing students to submit a twenty-inch essay.
Transfiguration, however, was absurd: each student had to submit a forty-inch essay on "Turning Animals into Inanimate Objects."
Forty inches—that's 3.3 feet, about one meter long, and thirty centimeters wide.
How many words would that take? And Professor McGonagall wouldn't allow large fonts to cheat. Truly tough!
Hogwarts students were even harder-working than professional web novelists.
But assignments could wait until evening. After a day like this, Audrey decided to treat herself during dinner.
"Spicy chicken, stinky mandarin fish, boiled beef, braised duck!"
"Momo, just these for now!"
Audrey sent her order to the kitchen via the Slytherin long table, then sat patiently.
Ethellyn looked curiously at her. "Audrey, why aren't you eating?"
"I ordered; the food isn't ready yet!"
The little snakes all stared at Audrey. Yesterday's crayfish banquet had satisfied them.
Soon, the dishes appeared in front of Audrey: three spicy, one stinky.
But before she could take a bite, the ghosts surged forward.
"Ah! The smell is so strong!"
"Oh, I can taste it!"
"Not bad!"
Even the usually reserved Mrs. Gray floated down to sample the stinky mandarin fish's "aroma."
Audrey's mouth twitched; she gripped her chopsticks so hard they snapped in two!
Hot dishes instantly became cold thanks to the ghosts.
The little snakes who wanted a bite lost interest. Didn't you see? Miss Astley was nearly crying in frustration!
Poor Audrey finished her meal. Before reaching the common room, her stomach began to ache.
Her body, having rarely fallen ill in sixteen years, seemed to rebel.
No wonder—an entire day surrounded by icy ghosts, then cold, greasy, and spicy food? Even her magically nurtured digestive system couldn't handle it.
"Can you all leave? Do I have any privacy at all?"
The pearly ghost bodies peeking through the partition pushed her over the edge.
Though polite enough not to stick their heads in, the swarm around her made using the bathroom impossible.
She couldn't take it. On her very first day at Hogwarts, being tormented by ghosts to the brink of collapse—Audrey was unprecedented.
Determined, she clenched her teeth, cast a Disapparate spell on her stomach, and dashed out of the partition.
Whoosh!
She vanished, leaving the ghosts dumbfounded.
When she reappeared, she was in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore was reading a letter, smiling like a young man who had just received a love note from the school beauty.
"Ah, Audrey!"
He immediately set the letter aside. "Did you come to see me for something?"
Seeing her tearful, pitiful expression, his heart sank. "Child, what happened?"
Audrey looked more aggrieved than when the Gray family emptied the Lestrange mansion.
"Headmaster Dumbledore… I'm cold, and I'm hungry!"
"I just want a hot meal!"