The Curse of Time (Harry Potter Fanfic)

A few weeks later, I went to see Professor Snape with some advanced questions about potions. He told me that I should wait until my senior years before asking questions of that level, so I decided to move on to my other set of questions.

I showed him some hypotheses about altering ingredients in certain potions to see if, by following what I had outlined, I could still produce the desired potion.

I was met with a lot of insults for some of the changes that weren’t very smart, but since it was extra work, he didn’t deduct any house points. What he did next was even better—he gave me ideas of his own. He would reject my proposals outright if they were bad or guide me if the basic idea was good but poorly executed.

When I told him I would come back to him with more ideas, he warned me that my potion scores must not decrease, or he would no longer respond.

"Wanting to learn more is good, but seeking more when you don’t have the basics is bad. I also won’t tolerate you bothering me with your questions if your grades in my class don’t reflect improvement."

After that, I went to eat with Marie, who was waiting for me.

A few days later, as usual, I was wandering through the castle looking for secret passages when I came upon a gargoyle.

"Sugar Quills."

The gargoyle statue had just said the name of a sweet.

"Why did it say Sugar Quills?" Marie asked aloud.

As soon as she did, the gargoyle behind her moved, and a spiral staircase appeared in the newly opened space.

Our curiosity led us to climb up the staircase. We didn’t know what lay behind this passage, as we already knew the locations of the four common rooms.

After climbing the stairs, we arrived at a door. We decided to knock in case we might disturb someone, but since there was no answer, we entered.

The room was quite odd, but what was most striking were all the portraits of former Hogwarts headmasters.

"Fuck, we’re in Dumbledore’s office."

Marie paled at my words and quickly we decided to retrace our steps, but a bird with red-orange feathers caught my attention.

"A phoenix."

Our eyes, and Mary’s too, shone with awe. We had just found one of the most mystical creatures in both the wizarding world and the Muggle world.

They were so beautiful and majestic, and they looked at us with curiosity.

I gently extended my hand, hoping to pet the phoenix, and it, too, moved its head toward my hand. The touch gave off a warm, comforting feeling.

"It’s a beautiful creature, isn’t it?"

We immediately turned toward the voice of the headmaster, who had appeared without us noticing.

"We’re sorry, we just wanted to explore the castle a bit more—we didn’t expect to end up in your office."

Marie was panicking, thinking she might get expelled.

"Don’t worry, curiosity is an essential trait for a student. There was no indication that you were going to my office."

Realizing we wouldn’t be punished, I asked him a few questions about the phoenix, and I learned that its name was Fawkes.

"Can you tell me about the rebirth of a phoenix?"

This is one of the things I would love to witness because when a phoenix nears death, it ignites and rises from its ashes. Watching this phenomenon is like seeing someone defy death itself.

"No worries, but I have a question about what we discussed during our first meeting."

"Are you referring to becoming a teacher?"

"Yes, I would like you to offer support classes for your classmates or students in difficulty during your time here. Of course, you will be compensated for this, and I would even grant you access to the books in the Restricted Section. So, what do you think?"

These were the most wonderful words I had ever heard, as it meant I could access very advanced knowledge for free.

"I will accept."

And that’s how I became a support class teacher for more students than I had ever imagined.