14 Chapter Thirteen: Plants, Potions and Peculiar Predicaments.

START OF PART TWO: OF SHADOW AND ICE.

It had been a week since Cordelia and Tom's duel, and the duo had avoided each other like the plague. While Riddle was busying himself with his Knights of Walpurgis and evil schemes to take over the Wizarding World, the Black-McMillan heir chose instead drown herself in her studies and the preparations for the final two tests for the sixth-year Slytherins.

Defence Against the Dark Arts had evidently proven to be the toughest thus far, a series of magical creatures evidently being the most threatening appearance over the past two weeks. However, if Cordelia had to choose, she would quite clearly state that the Charms test which had occurred two days ago.

The test involved a modified version of their fifth-year OWLS exam where each student was supposed to come up to the front of the room and choose a fruit of their liking, they were then required to make the fruit dance and sing along to an original tune for at least a minute. Once they were done, the student was required to leave the room so no one would have a chance to cheat by borrowing spells from one another.

Needless to say, Cordelia pulled off the test but barely so as her pineapple began to slow down and slur its words ten seconds short of a whole minute, thankfully, her spell held long enough for the fruit to remain moving and singing for one minute and seven seconds: long enough for her to have passed the test. Nevertheless, the brunette pureblood witch felt disappointed as she remembered Tom's perfectly performed spell that lasted for one and a half minute, a solid twenty-three seconds more than hers.

Good riddance, Cordelia, calm yourself!

It was true the witch was being too hard on herself, but she didn't have any other mistakes to contemplate when the other three tests (DADA, Transfiguration, and a quick Astronomy test respectively) went flawlessly.

Transfiguration and DADA were never particularly difficult for Cordelia due to her theory lessons in the subjects every summer and winter holidays. Melania McMillan had ensured that her oldest child, Cordelia, would never fall short in regards to those two subjects since Black woman were known for their impeccable Transfiguration and Potion skills (among other things, of course), and Melania wanted to uphold that tradition by ensuring Cordelia would always be on top of her class.

But, while the extra lessons proved to help her quite a bit, the blue-eyed brunette still remained in a tie with Tom Riddle in regards to most of their subjects. All except Transfiguration, in which Cordelia had a better prowess than Riddle simply due to Dumbledore's favouritism.

She didn't mind, after all, if Slughorn could purposely cater to Tom more than Lia, then it was fair that Dumbledore chose to do the opposite. However, this also placed a ton of expectations onto Cordelia's shoulders as everyone. Whether it be her fellow snakes who expected her to always perform flawless Transfigurations or her professors who kept tabs on all of her lessons, Cordelia was always faced with a certain amount of pressure.

And this pressure led her to her current predicament, where the brunette pureblood was seated in a secluded area of the Restricted Section with her head buried in an ancient tome regarding the darkest, most complex potions and their recipes. After all, if she wanted to make sure her overall score was better than Riddle's, Cordelia would have to perfect her Herbology and Potions tests.

Thankfully, Riddle seemed preoccupied with late-night meetings amongst his friend group and several hours of physical practices of magic, which allowed Cordelia a lead in their studies. While this wasn't evident during their day-to-day lessons, it was quite clear during their last test, Astronomy, where Tom had forgotten to chart one of the stars for the 'Draco' constellation.

The thought brought a smile onto Cordelia's lips as she hummed a pleasant tune while finishing off her extra credit essay for Herbology. She didn't know what was causing Riddle to suddenly assign so many meetings between his little group, but Lia wasn't interested enough to find out. After all, what could be so important that he chose to halt his prowess for the Triwizard Tournament just to get that particular thing done?

I don't care, but I love that thing!

With her mood better than before, the witch glanced at the wall clock and let out a hum at the time, realizing she had half-an-hour to kill before she had to head over to the next task for the Triwizard Tournament Slytherin Selections.

A pale palm fiddled with the strap to her black, leather school bag before Cordelia yanked the clasp open and allowed her left palm to sift through the contents, her digits seeking out the tiny, corked bottle hidden behind the Transfiguration textbook.

Finally!

The witch let out a sigh as she looked at the familiar purple liquid, a bittersweet smile stretching across her face as she read the minuscule label covered with black ink.

Calming Draught.

Two words seemed to switch her mood as she recalled her reasons for taking the draught in the first place. If Cordelia Lucretia Black was anything, it was competitive, and that meant if she could get rid of a particular obstacle by a peculiar method, she would do so. That included the bundle of nerves her stomach had tied itself into.

A perfectly manicured thumb raised and popped the cork open, the wooden object bouncing onto the desk before coming to a stop right beside her raven-feathered quill (a gift from Rodolphus, that symbolised his family's emblem). Lightly painted lips parted to accommodate the potion, its bitter flavour and slimy texture going unnoticed by the pureblood witch as she simply swallowed it in one go before muttering about getting a new batch from Madame Pomphrey.

With her vial empty and Herbology essay complete, Cordelia packed up her belongings and sneaked two books off of the Restricted Section's shelves and into her bag before the witch headed out into the library and past its grand doors.

Black heels clicked against the tiled floors as Cordelia progressed down the third floor, her head held high and body vacant of any school bag or supplies as she previously hid her belongings behind a Slytherin tapestry near the start of the hallway. On either side of her the corridor remained empty, her 'late yet early' situation evident as her eyes finally landed on a mob of Slytherin students near the end of the passage.

"Lia, finally! We got so worried!"

The brunette rolled her eyes at Aurora's exclamation, joining her friends in the middle of the line as she was pestered with more remarks and questions.

"Don't roll your eyes, missy, where have you been?!"

The blonde's shrilly question was punctuated with a quick tug that positioned Cordelia in front of Aurora, her light blue, oceanic eyes meeting Rora's deep sky-blue pools.

"I got caught up in the library. Plus, it's not like I'm late, you guys were just overly early."

The queue of Slytherins chuckled at this, aware of how they had, in fact, departed from the common room ten minutes earlier than the required time. It was a familiar pattern that each of the pureblood children had been following ever since they were toddlers, each of their families implementing the rule to always be on time. Or fashionably late depending on the occasion. This was to ensure that no pureblood snake would appear late, (well more late than necessary) and the tactic was quite effective.

"Honestly, Lia, your books are one day going to get you in terrible trouble."

The brunette in question rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time at Phyllis's statement, her carefree demeanour kept up as Cordelia leaned against the wall behind her as she spoke.

"That is, of course, if I get caught reading them."

At this several Slytherins burst out into snickers and giggles, each of them aware of the contents of the dark grimoires and spell books Cordelia would borrow. After all, she was a Black lady first and a Slytherin second, and these two titles ensured her curiosity for the dark arts not only piqued, but her knowledge exceeded anyone else's.

"What do you reckon today's will be?"

Crabbe's question drew everyone's gaze away from Cordelia as the fifteen snakes contemplated the test awaiting them, each student wondering which subject would they be tested for.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?"

Once again, the purebloods' gazes drew to Cordelia as she spoke.

"The first test not only evaluated our DADA skills but also our Care of Magical Creatures knowledge. The second and third, Transfiguration and Charms respectively, focused on their own subjects but also threw in our knowledge of common spells. Finally, the previous task was related to Astrology but also had a bit of Divination since we were asked what each constellation symbolised."

She cleared her throat before continuing smugly, aware most of her peers hadn't thought of it that way.

"So that leaves Potions and Herbology. Now we might either get a mixed-up test regarding both of them today, or we'll have them separately. But since today was the last date on the schedule Slughorn gave us, I presume it's the former."

The statement made half of the snakes feel daft and ignoramus for not realizing it sooner, while the other half busied themselves with a recollection series. However, no one had enough time to respond as their pot-bellied Potions Master beat them to it.

"Bravo, bravo. Ten points to Slytherin for Cordelia's intelligence and fast thinking."

Several of the snakes jumped up and straightened their postures while the others smirked at the excuse to have more house points, some going as far as to pat Cordelia's shoulder or send her a grin.

"Now that we have that out of the way, shall we proceed into the room?"

The snakes nodded towards their professor, each of them anticipating the worst as several pairs of eyes turned towards the familiar dark brown door with the black knocker. It seemed that the simple slab of wood symbolised a certain amount of trepidation regarding the Tournament, making each person realize that getting into the Triwizard Tournament would be much harder than simply placing their name in the Goblet and leaving everything to chance.

"Hurry up now, we haven't got all day!"

With that exclamation, the Slytherin at the front of the queue pushed the door open with a light mutter of good luck before they filed into the room.

It was quite queer, really, how a room so significant to them happened to be ever-changing. The first time they visited it the chamber it was a peculiar mix of a room and a thin, round passage that encompassed the room. The second and third time it mirrored one of their classrooms, the Transfiguration and Charms replicas seeming almost the same as their original versions a floor below them.

However, this time seemed to be a queer mix of the two. While the majority of the room mirrored their potion's classroom, rather than a mixing and crushing area they were faced with three columns with five rows of long, dark brown desks. Each of the desks held a mortar and pestle, a cauldron, and several ingredients.

Towards the back of the room, a small desk was occupied by Professor Daisy Rivers, the Herbology teacher, and towards the front of the room a pristine, large desk was coated with series of parchment papers that dubbed it as Slughorn's desk.

"Come along, now. Yes, be seated please, each to one desk. I believe your names are on the desks."

The Slytherins glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, all of them contemplating Cordelia's words. It seemed the Black-McMillan heir had been right, and they were in fact doing the Potions and Herbology tests together. A few of the snakes sent Cordelia smiles or grimaces while others simply grumbled about how she should've said something sooner.

Not affected by any of the reactions, the brunette simply chose to wander down the columns before pausing at the last row's right desk. She was met with the familiar name 'Cordelia Lucretia Black' written onto a bronze plaque with silver writing, her nose crinkling as she took her seat and noticed Slughorn had purposely placed everyone away from their usual friend group.

This led her to casually glance at the desk beside and in front of her, the names 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' and 'Aldrich Avery' being placed similarly to her own.

For Salazar's sake did he have to place Tom beside me?!

As luck would have it, Avery happened to be in the hospital wing that afternoon due to a horrible Quidditch injury, which ensured Tom and Cordelia would be the only ones in that particular corner of the room, their desks separate from the others due to a huge vine crawling across the ceiling and draping leaves and stems as it moved. It was almost parallel to a snake, except more...leafy.

Cordelia's attention drew away from the plant as the initial centre of her thoughts finally decided to take his seat beside her, his eyes barely sparing her a glance as Tom stared dead forward.

"You know, I don't think the Venomous Tantuala appreciates you glaring at it."

It was true, the sixteen-year-old aspiring Dark Lord had been constantly averting his gaze towards the plant pot seated right beside Slughorn's desk, his glare so prominent Cordelia was afraid the plant might just try to eat him because of it.

"So, you're an ambassador for plants now? How fascinating."

As Tom finally settled his gaze onto Cordelia, her eyes widened for a moment as she noticed a bruise near the nape of his neck. The boy followed her line of sight and subtly nudged his tie higher before raising his eyebrows at her.

"I just thought it'd be quite unfortunate for you to pass away due to a carnivorous plant."

Her emphasis on the potted plant's diet made Tom smirk and roll his eyes, his demeanour almost playful as he completely turned his body towards Cordelia.

"How sweet, you're worried for me. Are you growing soft, Black?"

The taunt made Lia sneer and flip her brown locks over her shoulder, her retort already formed before he even completed his statement.

"I presumed our duel a week ago made my emotions very clear."

At this Tom laughed, the tinkering sound obviously fake yet drawing the attention of quite a few female snakes in the room. Rolling her eyes at his antics, the blue-eyed Black raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at Slytherin's golden boy and awaited his response.

"The Crucio didn't seem to be enough for you, apparently."

His voice had noticeably dulled down to a whisper, the taunt being loud enough to reach Cordelia's ears yet quiet enough to evade their eavesdroppers.

"I don't think you seem to remember, Riddle, but I won that duel."

Not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, the female mirrored his movements and lowered her voice, achieving a cold glare from Tom as he finally dropped the façade.

"You won because I let my guard down."

He moved his right hand to fiddle with his brown tresses before continuing, a frown plastered across his face.

"Nonetheless, congratulations."

Cordelia opened her mouth before closing it, her voice lost into stunned silence. Was Tom Marvolo Riddle, the notorious snake who had mastered the three Unforgivable curses when he was fifteen, congratulating her for beating him in a duel? The thought seemed as absurd as Crabbe scoring straight O's for that year's final exams.

"Thanks."

Not quite understanding the situation, Cordelia chose to end the conversation and turn towards the front, watching as Slughorn waved his wand and moved the chalk across the blackboard at the front of the room.

The Draught of Peace.

The words were enough to make the students quiet down, their gazes solely stuck onto the board. Everyone knew the Draught was infamous for the risks possible by a single mistake when brewed, thus brewing such a potion for the task seemed near impossible.

"Now, now. Do not fret Slytherins! For that is not all. While you will be required to brew this potion, you will also be provided with parchment and a quill. On this parchment, you will write down the recipe for this potion as well as the usage and definition for each of the herbs. The latter task, as predicted by Cordelia, will be a Herbology based task."

Each of the pupils nodded, none of them bothering to question their head of house as Professor Rivers walked away from her desk and charmed parchment, quills and ink onto each desk.

"While all the required ingredients are placed onto your desks, some of the ingredients aren't needed for the potion, thus choose wisely and trust your memory. Off you go!"

Slughorn's prompt led everyone to shuffle around and reach for their quills, most of the Slytherins anxiously gazing onto the parchment.

Come on Cordelia, you can do this!

With the encouraging thought, Lia picked up her quill and began writing. She was aware of the recipe since she had mulled over and created the potion a mere week ago. A grateful sigh escaped her mouth as she thanked her instincts for making the potion a few days prior to the actual task.

Cordelia was certain not many of her peers had thought of that tactic, thus her mind entered a state of calm as she began jotting down the recipe. The first few steps were easy enough, and the blue-eyed witch hadn't paused until she finally reached the fifth or sixth step.

When she was done jotting down the list, the Black-McMillan heir sent a quick prayer up to Merlin and started on the potion.

Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns green, then stir until the potion turns blue.

Her left palm reached towards the side of her desk, skimming over the ingredients before her fingers wrapped around a black china bowl with the required moonstone. Rather than going according to the usual tactic, Cordelia added half of the moonstone and stirred it for a few seconds before adding the other half, this allowed a bit of balance and the pause made the moonstone absorb faster.

When the cauldron's substance had finally turned into a deep midnight blue, Cordelia halted her stirs and tapped the big spoon onto the brim of the cauldron, making sure none of the potions escaped its pot.

Add more powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple, allow to simmer until the potion has changed into a pale pink.

While most students wouldn't have focused on the shade of pink, Lia paid attention to the hue due to her extended knowledge and tests with the Draught. If the potion was a dark pink, the moonstone wouldn't simmer properly, however, if it was too light then the moonstone would've dissolved too much.

Add syrup of hellebore until the potion turns a turquoise. Simmer until the potion is purple.

Cordelia's right hand instinctively reached for the familiar dropper and bottle filled with the light mustard substance, her instincts kicking in as she dropped in the required amount and placed the bottle back on the desk. Finally, her hand halted and she reached for her wand, making a revolving movement as the potion slowly but surely turned purple.

Shake powdered porcupine quills vigorously until they are ready, then add to the potion for it to turn red.

Her hand reached for the powdered quills, using her wand to vigorously shake the jar before picking it up and adding the ingredient into the potion, the substance turning a deep red. Cordelia stirred it until it was orange, added a few porcupine quills to turn it into a beautiful turquoise and finally let it simmer to a deep purple.

What is it with all the colours?

The witch sighed and let out a giggle before turning back to her potion, adding a bit of powdered unicorn horn to turn it into a light pink. She then stirred it to a bright red and made it simmer to an orchid hue.

The next steps were a bit tricky as they once again required the powdered moonstone and with it a bunch of precision. A dash of the powdered moonstone was thrown into the potion as Cordelia increased the heat, making the potion turn grey.

When she was sure the powdered substance had dissolved, Lia simmered the potion to a vivid orange and added a few powdered porcupine quills, stirring it three times clockwise and once anti-clockwise until the potion was a blaring white.

Seven drops of hellebore dripped across the surface of the potion, making Cordelia smile and retract the dropper before lowering the heat.

When the potion was finally complete, she abandoned the cauldron to fetch a vial and drop bits of the draught into it. A labelling spell was muttered and Cordelia twirled the vial in her palm, walking forward to present her potion to Slughorn.

"Miss Black seems to have finished the first! And as always, Tom's right on her tail! Brilliant, twenty points to Slytherin for superior potioneer skills."

Lia laughed and handed over her vial, waiting for Riddle to do the same before she retreated to her desk and fetched her parchment, ensuring the ink was dry while she handed it to Professor Rivers. The older, red-headed woman smiled, looking over the parchment while Cordelia walked away and arranged her desk, making sure everything was tidy before vacating the room with a wink towards Druella's annoyed face.

"Honestly, I don't know how you do it!"

Cordelia laughed at Aurora's claim, her eyes turning to meet Rora's light blue hues before once again glancing at the dungeon's corridor.

"Practice, a lot of practice."

The Fawley heir groaned at the reply, vocalizing how not everyone had enough time to dedicate hours to potions alone.

While her friend was true, Cordelia knew that if someone really wished to be on top of the class, they could dedicate the time and effort required. However, some pureblood children didn't have as many expectations as others. In fact, with Aurora being the younger in a family of males (her mother had passed when she was nine) the only expectation for the blonde was t get married to Ignatius, not create a fuss, and birth an heir.

Cordelia, on the other hand, had several expectations weighing her down due to her position as the oldest Black-McMillan heir. Her grim thoughts, however, were pushed aside as they passed by the Potions classroom and Lia overheard a certain Riddle talking to Slughorn.

"Hey Rora I forgot my book at the library, I'll meet you in the common room, okay?"

Oblivious to the scene unfolding around her, the Fawley heir simply nodded and flipped her blonde hair, continuing down the corridor and not noticing her friend's still body.

What are you up to Riddle?

The dark-haired witch placed her ear onto the light brown door, listening in on the conversation.

"You see professor, you're the only one I can trust with this matter."

Cordelia now pressed her whole body against the door, her curiosity evidently piqued.

"Well, of course, Tom my boy, what seems to be the issue?"

"I was reading a particularly interesting grimoire the other day, and I came across this term, but I didn't quite understand the concept."

Riddle paused, and for a moment Lia freaked out and whipped her wand out of its holster, muttering a delusion charm and a 'Muffiliato'. However, it wasn't needed as the brunette boy continued.

"It was a word, you see, and I'm sure if I talked to any other professor thy might misunderstand my curiosity."

Kiss ass.

"Well, what was it, Tom?"

Finally, Slughorn asked the question Cordelia had been contemplating for quite some time.

"Horcrux. I read that it allows one to split their soul, sir. But I don't understand how."

"Those are dark-"

Cordelia moved away from the door, a horrified expression on her face as she walked backwards and closer to the common room. She knew the type of person Tom Riddle was, and even though she was constantly amused by their little banters, Lia was aware of his future plans.

The Black witch wasn't daft and had caught onto his plans the minute he involved Orion, but nevertheless, she kept her lips sealed due to her similar ideologies as the Riddle boy.

Some would have sent her horrified gazes at that thought, their distress rightfully placed. But Cordelia didn't care, she was raised with the lesson 'magic is might' and she refused to betray her parents due to a mud-blood's opinion.

That being said, she wasn't keen on letting Riddle make himself immortal and rid the world of muggles and mud-bloods. There was a fine line between hating a particular set of people and killing the aforementioned people, however, Tom didn't seem to care.

How did he find out?

But the answer had come to her before she questioned his knowledge, Cordelia's mind whizzing to their time together in the Restricted Section a few months ago. The book Riddle had briefly mentioned Horcruxes, but there was only one book in the library that actually talked about the topic.

I guess I'll just have to get it before he does.