What is he hiding? Blake was annoyed. Two weeks had passed, and he still didn't know what it was. It was fair enough that Zabini was hiding something, yes, but how had he not already found out about it? Was it even possible for him to find out about it? Was this some super selective, niche topic that was only made available to the purebloods? Did that mean he couldn't even ask anyone?
Slytherin and Gryffindor were both standing outside the castle, holding brooms, as Madam Hooch spoke to them, but Blake was only half listening. The boy's curiosity, especially about someone he literally shared a room with, was getting the better of him, but he couldn't come up with any reason as to why Zabini in particular would be getting targeted for being a halfblood.
"Get into pairs!" Speak of the devil.
Throughout the lesson, Blake quickly learnt that he sat somewhere between decent and good at flying on the broom, but Zabini was better - in fact, most of Slytherin were better, save for Crabbe and Goyle - even Malfoy was better, which infuriated Blake to no end, and the muggleborn swore to improve his flying for that reason alone.
Most surprisingly, however, was Harry. During one of Malfoy's antics, the Boy-Who-Lived had apparently had enough, and chose to give chase to the blonde boy, and for someone that, like Blake, had 0 prior experience on the broom, he was amazing. It was as though he'd been flying his whole life. Blake remembered Zabini's explanation of Quidditch right before this flying lesson.
"Harry would probably make a good Quidditch player, wouldn't he?"
"That's an understatement," Zabini responded drily, watching him fly.
After the lesson (in which Harry somehow caught Longbottom's belonging in mid air on his broom) finished, it was lunchtime, and Blake had made his decision. Right now, it's not that important to learn what Zabini's hiding - it's obvious that Malfoy and the other blood supremacists don't like him, and that's more than enough for me as of right now - I have 6 more years to find out anyway. That being said, it's not like I'd be opposed to finding out, so if the opportunity arises, I'm going for it.
The rest of the week passed by relatively quickly and without much drama. Of course, Malfoy continued to talk behind his back and never to his face, much to Blake's amusement. He wasn't worried - after all, half the school (probably more to be honest) saw him absolutely destroy Malfoy and his goons in a 3 versus 1 fight, so his credibility had tanked considerably.
In classes, Blake continued to get better and better every week, ensuring that he stayed on top of and beyond any work, just like he'd promised his mother, who sent him 3 letters by Sunday already, much to Tracey's amusement. However, the boy would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate it, and he wrote back every time, especially for the times when Connor would write in the letters too. Carol was particularly happy to hear that Blake had already found a group of people that he regularly hung around. "See! I told you that you'd make friends!" Blake wasn't sure if they were his friends just yet, but his mother's enthusiasm was impossible to douse, and she demanded details of anyone and everyone he had spoken to.
Speaking of people he had spoken to, Quirrell's odd behaviour towards Blake continued to weird out the Slytherin boy immensely. Who can I tell? If I tell McGongall, and even if they investigate, if there's nothing wrong and Quirrell finds out he'll definitely hate me, and McGongall might think I'm a liar and I'll lose credibility with her. Dumbledore? No, I don't have any evidence, I can't just go to him with a gut feeling! But how do I prove it? It's not like I can read minds, is it? Wait - is that possible with magic…?
Nothing seemed to be going right for Blake right now, as another annoying thing that he noted, as they exited their final lesson of their second week, was that he still hadn't performed better than Greengrass at a single spell in Charms yet. Yes, in all the other classes, their theory was roughly equal (apart from Potions and Herbology where Greengrass exceeded) and in practical use, Blake would even say that he was better than her in all the other subjects - especially Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, in which Blake had found he had a natural talent for - but in Charms, he just couldn't win, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.
What's worse is the look she has on her face afterwards, Blake thought to himself, dejected. She doesn't even seem like she tried.
That being said, the weekend was here, and Blake was glad. McGonagall had refused to take extra classes on Friday evenings or Sundays at all - only on Saturday mornings, so he was now free until Monday. That left him time to get ahead and practice his spells, for which Tracey and Zabini called him a nerd, but that wasn't his only goal.
"Tracey?"
"Have you done that Snape essay yet?"
The girl audibly groaned at his words.
"Why would you remind me about that? I've half a mind to not even do it at all!"
"I'll do it for you."
"W-What? You will?" Tracey looked at him, beaming with happiness and surprise, as Zabini and Charlotte looked at him weirdly.
"For a price."
"Oh." Tracey deflated as Charlotte and Zabini snorted. "Wait, how much?"
"Normally I'd say a Galleon, but for you, my fellow Slytherin, only 11 Sickles!"
Tracey glared at him, outraged. "A Galleon! For an essay? You must be crazy!"
"I can guarantee an Outstanding, or at the very least an Exceeding Expectations, for the price of a Knight Bus fare, and you're complaining? Forget it then," he said dismissively, turning back to his book.
"Wait, fine! Here," she said, annoyed, rummaging through her purse and handing him the coins.
"Pleasure doing business," he said, grinning, before turning to Zabini and Charlotte.
"What about you guys? I'm not limited to Potions!"
Zabini responded with merely a nasty look, whereas Charlotte handed him some silver coins.
"Transfiguration, but I want a guaranteed Outstanding."
"Done deal."
22 Sickles - 6 and a bit pounds. Not great, but it's a start. Two essays should be relatively easy even by hand, and especially if that plan works…
"Spread the word guys!" he said cheerfully. "1 Galleon for an Outstanding in any essay of your choosing apart from Potions or Herbology - even in those, minimum Exceeding Expectations!"
As they headed to dinner, Blake thought to himself - who else can I try to get as customers? Not Ravenclaw, that's for sure. Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I could probably take this opportunity to make some friends in Hufflepuff too, couldn't I? But how? Hmm…
As Blake scanned the Great Hall hoping for ideas, his eyes landed on a duo composed of a ginger haired boy and a brunette boy in his year, but his eyes were mainly on the ginger.
He smiled evilly.
Ron Weasley. You'll do just fine.
AN: If you would like to view up to 20 more bonus chapters on all my fics so far including this one, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The target is 50 POWER STONES for the next BONUS CHAPTER!