Chapter 735 - Frost Moon Ⅱ

Not that Rowan would admit it to Dumbledore or anyone else, but the relaxing Mermish class was exactly what she had needed. Feeling refreshed, after their class, they went to perform their rounds before and after dinner. They only patrolled for an hour after dinner since it was Gryffindor's turn to be on patrol for the weekend. Remus and Lily both were rather grumpy during dinner and resorted to playing paper, rock, scissors to see who would patrol the halls and who would be stuck in the common room. Remus luckily won and took to patrolling the halls over manning the Gryffindor common room. There was little doubt in both Prefect's minds that it would be Lily, who would be at her wit's end by the end of the evening.

Since Rowan and Severus were free of patrolling that evening naturally, they spent their precious free time studying. They weren't the only ones as the fifth and seventh years in the common room intently worked on their essays and studies. Murmurs are heard in the common room as various questions and discussions occur regarding their studies. Soft munching and sipping sounds are heard from the fifth and seventh yeas snacking on tea and snacks provided by the snack table in the common room. It one of the Slytherin's well-kept secrets as none of the three other houses possessed such an amenity.

The younger students, who wanted to play games were permitted to take the wizarding chessboards and muggle games back to their dorm rooms under the condition that they are returned before they went off to bed. The same rule applied for snacks with Rowan at the end of the day counting and ensuring that the game boards were all properly returned with detention and loss of points assigned as punishment. With the increased popularity of muggle board games, she had introduced two more muggle board games, Dungeon, and 221 B Baker Street: The Master Detective Game.

Dungeon was an adventure board game that appeared as a map of a six-level dungeon with hallways, rooms, and chambers. The players must move around the board seeking to defeat monsters and claim treasures. The deeper the players dive into the dungeon the tougher the monster and the greater the treasures! The players can choose different character classes with the objective of being the first to return alive to the exit of the dungeon! The game greatly appealed to the Slytherins as they used every single means to trick their comrades and be the first to successfully return with their bounty.

And as for the second, 221B Baker Street: The Master Detective Game which allowed the players to solve cases using clues provided by vising various locations such as Scotland Yard, Apothecary, and Pawn Broker. The Slytherins were wildly intrigued by the game that felt rather like science-fiction to them as they lacked magic to solve the various crimes but permitted them to relate to the cases in question as it was set in a muggle Victorian-like era. Either way, both games gained a popular foothold within the Slytherin Common Room. Nor they were the only ones as the two games spread to the other three houses with Gryffindor preferring Dungeon and Ravenclaw preferring 221 B Baker Street, and Hufflepuff with no real preference.

That is not to say that Rowan did so necessarily out of the kindness of her heart, but rather to keep the younger years as much as she could out of her hair! Although mentors had done wonders to increase improvements, well, snakeling's were still snakelings. They wouldn't be Slytherins otherwise.

The hour was turning late and some of the 5th and 7th years began to retire from the common room. The common room would close in half, an hour leaving Rowan and Severus to shoo everyone out and perform a headcount to ensure everyone was properly in bed. It was probably the last action more than anything else is that ensured that the snakling's did not wander from their beds into places they had no place in being.

Seated in a corner of the common room are Terry, Bethanie, Sylvia, Tiffany, Severus, and Rowan. Scratching his chin with the edge of his feathered quill, Terry turns towards Severus with a gloomy expression. "Alright, mate, I need you to correct me here. My strengthening solution in Cousin Eponine's class was not clear turquoise nor was it in fact blue, but rather a shade of pink. I thought I did everything right, so where did I go astray?" That and he had to write an essay explaining what he did wrong on the subject.

Rowan dramatically shudders at the mere question and ducks behind her book to hide. There was a reason, she DISLIKED potions! And she wasn't about to go about delving back into it again! She couldn't be paid enough to do so! Except when it came to poisons, she apparently had a natural talent there...

Severus purposefully ponders with a slight smugness to the twitch of his lips. After a moment, he finally answers, "Did you use pomegranate juice instead of salamander's blood?"

Terry sighs and facepalms, before tiredly saying, "Thanks, mate," and hurriedly scribbling away the proper response.

"Of course," Severus smugly replied as he returned to his own studies causing Rowan to roll her eyes behind her book.

"I give up," Tiffany loudly exclaimed as she shut her book and slumped back into her seat. "I'll just finish writing the essay for Professor Sprout on Self-Fertilizing shrubs another day. I'm done!"

"Well, in that case since you have, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi open," Bethanie began to say as she looked from her own essay. "Tiffany, dear, then it is best to get started on essay for Professor Mortimer due on the uses of scurvy-grass, lovage, and sneezewort in potions."

Tiffany lets out a loud groan and slumps further into her seat. She thankfully is saved by the appearance of Alchemy, who happily climbs into her l.a.p to be adored. Tiffany triumphantly stares at Bethanie as if saying, "You wouldn't be so cruel as to ask me to shove poor, precious Alchemy off my l.a.p, now would you?"

Bethanie lets out a loud sigh of defeat as Tiffany happily pets the purring form of Alchemy snuggled in her l.a.p. Seeing Bethanie sighing Silvia stares up from her own essay and numbly says, "The answer to your question, Bethanie is that these plants are most are most efficacious in the inflaming of the braine, and are therefore much used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts, where the wizard is desirous of producing hot-headiness and recklessness…"

Rowan raises her gaze from behind her book and she is not the only one as everyone turns to stare at Sylvia for the textbook answer. "I think it's time for you to retire to bed, Sylvia," Rowan quietly said.

"Mm, her braine has finally overheated," Terry softly jested with a concerned expression on his face.

Sylvia wanly nodded in agreement as Tiffany passed the sulking form of Alchemy over to Terry. With the aid of Bethanie, Sylvia rose a bit unsteadily to her feet, while Rowan and Severus gathered Sylvia's things with a wave of their wands. With Sylvia's bag neatly packed, Tiffany slowly trotted after her two friends with Sylvia's schoolbag, her own, and that of Bethanie.

Seeing Tiffany crumbling under the weight of three heavy-laden school bags, Rowan casts a featherlight charm causing the schoolbags to become less heavy. "Thanks, Rowan," Tiffany called over her shoulder, before scrambling up the girl dorm staircase.

Glancing at the late hour, Rowan stifles a sleepy yawn. "Well, we best all pack up and head early to bed for the evening."

"I won't argue there," Terry tiredly said as he gathered his things. "I'll see you up in a bit mate," he added, before heading up the boy's staircase towards their dormitories.

Subtly taking their cue from Terry, the rest of the Slytherins still remaining in the common room begin to pack up as well. It was Friday, and the least they could do is sleep until late on the weekend. It wasn't much, but it was something at least.