Potions class was in the morning, and once it ended, the week's classes were officially over.
Ariana planned to find Professor McGonagall after lunch, though she was still curious why McGonagall hadn't come to speak with her all week.
She and Draco, both Slytherins and now sharing a secret base, had practically been inseparable over the past week.
Naturally, when something puzzled her, she went straight to her best friend.
"Do you think Professor McGonagall is deliberately avoiding me? When we spoke last time, I could clearly tell she didn't want me to drop out," Ariana asked Draco, confused.
Of course, Draco had no idea. But after a week of hanging out, he was definitely reluctant to see Ariana leave Hogwarts.
"You made two pretty big requests. They're not easy to solve. Maybe Professor McGonagall is still discussing them with Dumbledore it could take weeks," he said, giving a casual but reasonable answer.
"If they're so hard to solve, why not just approve my withdrawal right away?" Ariana shot back.
"Come on, just look at how many points you've earned for Slytherin this week. It's not just McGonagall who doesn't want you to leave even Professor Snape probably regrets arguing with you," Draco said, exasperated.
This week, Ariana had been the center of attention in every class. Without even trying very hard, she managed to earn five points for Slytherin in almost every lesson.
In Draco's eyes, she was far more impressive than that insufferable show-off Granger.
"Still, they can't just ignore my application like this, right? It's not like nothing happened," Ariana frowned.
Draco had initially made up the excuse to brush her off, but now that he'd said it out loud, he actually felt it made sense.
"I told you they're probably still discussing it."
Ariana had already made up her mind to leave Hogwarts. There was no way she'd let McGonagall brush her off like this, especially since it now involved her pride.
"We don't have class this afternoon. I'm going to find McGonagall and get an answer. I need to know am I leaving or not?" she said firmly.
"I've seen how much you're enjoying learning Dark Magic in the Room of Requirement. You've still got loads you haven't learned yet maybe you should just wait a bit longer?" Draco tried to persuade her.
Ariana shot him a glare. "I never said I was leaving next week. My ideal plan is to leave after the Christmas holidays."
"Starting this weekend, I'll stop practicing magic and just focus on reading. I want to memorize as many of the books in the Room of Requirement as possible. Once I'm back home, I'll build a similar room and keep practicing there."
Their school year had started in September, and Christmas was in December. That meant Ariana only planned to stay at Hogwarts for three months.
"You're seriously planning to read all the books in that room before Christmas? That's insane. Why not just wait until the end of the school year?" Draco suggested.
Ariana gave him a curious look. This was the second time he'd tried to talk her out of leaving.
"Don't tell me you actually don't want me to go?" she teased, her lips curling into a sly smile.
The truth was, Draco didn't want her to leave. He thought Ariana was smart, ridiculously talented in magic, and most importantly they really got along well.
He'd known all the other first-year Slytherins before coming to Hogwarts. None of them could hold a candle to her.
But admitting that outright wasn't his style.
"We still haven't tested whether Potter really deserves his 'Chosen One' title. I haven't challenged him to a duel yet," Draco said, using the excuse he'd been saving.
It was a pretty solid reason. Draco gave himself an internal thumbs-up.
"You've been provoking him all week. I bet he'll agree to a duel if you ask next week. I'm not leaving until Christmas we've got plenty of time to find out if he's the real deal," Ariana said lightly.
Draco opened his mouth but couldn't think of any other excuse. Ariana burst out laughing.
"Come on, just admit you'll miss me what's so hard about that?"
"Fine, I'll admit it. I'll miss you. Out of all the Slytherin first-years, none of them really get me," Draco finally confessed with a sigh.
Hearing this, Ariana grew a little curious. "Not even Nott?"
Draco had originally considered recruiting Theodore Nott for their club, but after a week of observing him, Ariana realized Nott was extremely cold and rarely spoke. Draco, on the other hand, was talkative and clearly wouldn't get along with someone like that.
Just as she expected, Draco immediately grumbled, "Spending time with him is like hanging out with a piece of wood."
Draco was, after all, her closest friend at Hogwarts. Ariana couldn't bear to be too heartless.
"Well, looks like I'm the most interesting person in our year. But just because I leave Hogwarts doesn't mean we can't stay in touch. Didn't you say your dad was interested in buying my villa? You can come visit during the holidays and see for yourself."
Three days ago, Draco had already been hounded by Ariana about the villa, so he'd lied, claiming that his father was interested in the expensive property but would wait until the holidays to avoid dealing with Muggles directly.
Ariana had been at Hogwarts for a week and knew how pure-blood families like the Malfoys thought. She didn't doubt his story.
Draco was eager to drop the subject. "We'd better head to the classroom. Professor Snape is really strict we can't be late."
Ariana hadn't run into Snape all week. She'd heard from other students how terrifying he was, but she hadn't experienced it for herself.
Even if she had, she probably wouldn't have been scared.
"We've got half an hour. The Potions classroom is in the dungeons it won't even take us ten minutes to get there," Ariana said casually.
"That's easy for you to say since you're planning to drop out. I'm not, so I want to be early," Draco shot back.
"Fine, but seriously as a professor, no matter how strict he is, it's not like he can cast spells on students. I don't get why everyone's so scared of him."
Draco snorted at that.
"Who says he can't use magic on students? My father told me Snape was obsessed with Dark Magic when he was in school. Who knows he might curse us."
"We've already learned some curse magic ourselves you can usually tell if you've been cursed. Plus, the Room of Requirement has tons of Dark Magic books. If something happens, we can just find a counter-curse," Ariana said, still not seeing what Draco was so afraid of.
"We're almost there stop talking about Dark Magic," Draco said, exasperated.
Sometimes, he seriously wondered who was really raised in the magical world. Ariana acted more like a pure-blood heir than he did.
Perhaps it was Snape's intimidating reputation, but not only did the Slytherins show up early for Potions class surprisingly, even the usually carefree Gryffindors weren't late.
This was their very first Potions lesson, and as expected, Snape began by taking attendance.
When he called Harry Potter's name, his tone dripped with mockery. He fired off three challenging questions that Harry, predictably, couldn't answer.
Snape's words grew sharper, his tone more venomous. "So it seems fame means nothing. I hear our so-called Chosen One performs just as poorly in other classes. Not only does he lack magical talent, he can't even be bothered to prepare for class. Truly disappointing."
After a week of shared lessons, Ariana had already figured Harry Potter out. He was, in every way, an ordinary boy.
He didn't pay much attention in class, he was careless when practicing spells, and his magical ability was strictly average.
He wasn't even in the same league as Ariana. Compared to top students like Hermione and Draco, he couldn't even keep up.
Watching Harry's flushed, embarrassed face, Draco started doubting his own decision.
"We've been in so many classes together, and honestly, I haven't seen any trace of the so-called Chosen One's potential. Should I still challenge him to a duel?" Draco asked, hesitant.
"Sure, why not? What if he's just playing dumb?" Ariana wasn't entirely sure either but practice was the only way to test a theory.
Draco figured she had a point.
"Alright, I'll go provoke him again later. I'll challenge him to a duel next week you'll be my second, right?"
As much as Draco was sometimes frustrated by how Ariana crushed his confidence in magic, he couldn't deny that her magical skill was already on par with upper-year students.
If Harry Potter was really pretending to be weak, having Ariana at his side would ensure Draco wouldn't lose.