Chapter 3:

Author's Note: I have unashamedly 'borrowed' parts of this chapter from 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince'. these phrases have been highlighted in bold letters. I apologize to everyone in advance if I have inadvertently ruffled some feathers the wrong way.

The students of Hogwarts slowly settled into the daily routine of classes, homework and a little bit of fun. Harry held to his commitment of increased training and preparedness spending most of his free time in the library and arranged with professors Flitwick and McGonagall to learn new ways for effective dueling and increased fitness.

All the teachers were stressing the importance of the upcoming NEWTs. for their future and so the curriculum was intense. For a change due to his refined study habits, Harry found his classes easy and was able to match Hermione most of the time. Surprisingly, Snape turned out to be an excellent teacher for DADA. Based on the O.W.L score where most of the students scored either 'O' or 'E', thanks to Harry's efforts in the D.A, Snape introduced the students to Wordless spells and wandless magic which could be a huge advantage in battles. Since he got his wish of being a DADA instructor his demeanor was far from the 'greasy git' they were used to. Harry was as usual the first to master most of the new instruction where he was by far the acknowledged leader by the students.


The arrival of Monday heralded the first potions class for the new school year. Harry was unusually excited "I hope that I will be able to learn something in potions, now that the overgrown bat is not there".

"Harry language" admonished Hermione on the way to the dungeons. But even her remarks did not dampen his spirits.

Arriving at the dungeons, they spotted only a handful of people, including Malfoy and three other Slytherins, waiting to get into the class. May be due to the absence of his lackeys Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy was for once silent when he spotted the Gryffindor trio. Before anyone could open their mouths, the door was thrown open and were greeted by the portly Slughorn and ushered inside. In front of the class were multiple cauldrons with bubbling potions. Harry along with Ron and Hermione shared a table near a gold cauldron which they sniffed interestedly and Harry was assaulted by a smell that reminded him of treacle tart, woody smell of a broomstick handle and a powerful flowery aroma which immediately reminded him of Hermione. He felt great contentment which eluded him for a long time, a feeling which he often felt in the presence of the bushy haired witch.

Breaking away from these thoughts, Harry saw Professor Slughorn lumbering up to the table and his portly figure was wavering eerily through the vapours being emitted from the cauldrons on the table. "Now then, everyone, Scales and potion kits out. Don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making. . . ."

"Sir?" Harry interrupted the lecture, raising his hand.

"Harry, my boy?" a jovial Slughorn responded much to the Harry's chagrin, 'except for the one meeting, the man does not know me and now he is acting as if he is my best friend' Harry thought viciously.

"I did not purchase my copy of the book as I did not expect to get into the class sir. Professor McGonagall said that I could borrow a copy from the school stock till I get my own copy."

"Ah! Yes, I was told to expect this for you and Mr. Weasley here. Not to worry you can use the ingredients from the store cupboard and we have got a small stock of old books here. Go ahead and get them so that we can start".

While Slughorn was rooting around the cupboard for a text, Ron went ahead first and grabbed a relatively new copy of the text almost pushing the portly man away, while Slughorn handed Harry a fairly battered copy of the text. Even though the copy was old it showed much use rather than abuse. The pages were filled with comments and modifications to the typed instructions for potion brewing, in a neat hand, decidedly feminine. It looked as if the previous owner was not happy with some of the steps and added their own modifications. He looked for a name but found out that the first page was torn away leaving him without a clue to the previous owner.

"Instead of starting off and make a potion, I want to test your knowledge first then we will see about your brewing skills, a pop quiz." Gleefully rubbing his hands together, Slughorn gestured at the cauldrons in which the potions were merrily bubbling away, "you may not have brewed these before but by now you should be able to identify them. By the end of this year you will be brewing them too if you are competent enough. Now, can anyone tell me what this is?"

He indicated the cauldron that was the first in line. Unable to judge properly, Harry lifted himself off his seat and walked up to the cauldron to have a clear view. He should have guessed that Hermione would have no such problems as her hand was stretched to its maximum reminiscent of her enthusiasm during their very first potions class with Snape. Getting the go ahead from the professor she identified it as the truth potion, Veritaserum.

"Five points to Gryffindor my dear, now who can tell me what this is? I believe some of you may have heard about it a couple of years ago" he questioned pointing to the second cauldron.

Hermione's hand was fastest once more. This time Harry too raised his hand as he recognized the slow-bubbling mud like concoction. Before he could answer though "lt's Polyjuice Potion, sir," she said, but he did not resent Hermione getting the credit for answering the question; she, after all, was the one who had succeeded in making it, back in their second year.

Ignoring most of the students now, Slughorn merely signaled Hermione for the answer to the third potion on the table and she did not disappoint him.

"It's Amortentia!" gushed Hermione.

"Indeed. Is it wrong for me to guess that you know what it does?" said Slughorn, who was looking mightily impressed.

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world! Though it is illegal to administer to underage people, it has been used to create strong feelings of lust or infatuation" said Hermione.

"Yes, quite right therefore it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room….."

Tuning out the droning voice of Slughorn while he was lecturing about the properties of the potion, Harry turned to his book looking for the particular subject. Under the heading he noticed the phrase written by the previous owner proclaiming, 'love by potion; poison to the heart'. He could not suppress a chuckle admitting to the truth of the phrase, earning a dig in his ribs from Hermione. He compared the colour of the potion which was described as 'distinctive mother-of pearl sheen' and the characteristic spiraling steam rising from the surface of the brewing potion. He continued to read about the potion absently noting that it really does not create love, nothing could after all, just causes an obsession and can also be specifically targeted to a particular person by including the hairs of the subject just like in polyjuice potion.

He briefly wondered if a potion is what it will take for Hermione to get Ron interested in her. He ruthlessly squashed the revolting idea as he wistfully hoped that Hermione would notice that, he, her other friend was also a boy and was deeply in love with her.

Hermione's thoughts were more pleasantly engaged, 'I can smell freshly mown grass, parchment and something different. Something that I have encountered before, I would have thought that I would smell something that reminds me of Ron. This is different, definitely not belonging to Ron. But what and where did I smell it before …..' her musings were cut short by Slughorn asking, "May I ask your name, my dear?"

Trying to hide the blush that threatened to be seen, she replied "Hermione Granger, sir"

"Oho! 'One of my best friends is Muggle-born, and she's the best in our year!' I'm assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"

"Yes, sir," said Harry.

"Well, well, take twenty well-earned points for Gryffindor, Miss Granger," said Slughorn genially.

Hermione turned to Harry with a radiant expression and whispered, "Did you really tell him I'm the best in the year? Oh, Harry!"

"Well, what's so impressive about that?" whispered Ron, who for some reason looked annoyed. "You are the best in the year – I would have told him so if he'd asked me!"

Harry rolled his eyes at the immaturity of Ron, he was always making fun of and bickered with her over her study habits, even calling her an 'annoying know-it-all' and here he was trying to gain brownie points. 'Oh! The irony of it all' bemoaned Harry. Luckily his actions were not spotted by either of his two friends. Their attention was immediately focused on Slughorn who announced that the students should start brewing today's potion.

Before they could even know what was to be brewed, Ernie Macmillan a Ravenclaw, who reminded Harry of pompous Percy Weasley, asked the question that may have been on the tongues of most of the students.

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in this one," said Ernie Macmillan, pointing at a small black cauldron standing on Slughorn's desk. The potion within was splashing about merrily; it was the color of molten gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above the surface, though not a particle had spilled.

"Oho," said Slughorn again. Harry was sure that Slughorn had not forgotten the potion at all, but had waited to be asked for dramatic effect.

"Yes. That. Well, that one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. I take it," he turned, smiling, to look at Hermione, who had let out an audible gasp, "that you know what Felix Felicis does, Miss Granger?"

"It's liquid luck," said Hermione excitedly. "It makes you lucky!"

The whole class seemed to sit up a little straighter. Now all Harry could see Malfoy was the back of his sleek blond head, because he was at last giving Slughorn his full and undivided attention.

"And that," said Slughorn, "is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson", taking a minuscule glass bottle with a cork in it out of his pocket and showing it to them all. "Enough for twelve hours' luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt."

The task set before them was to brew the draught of living death, which usually takes about an hour to brew. Everyone scrambled to get to a table for their cauldrons and potion making kits. Harry found that the previous owner of the book made some valuable suggestions regarding the quality of the ingredients to be used in the potion. Harry was vaguely reminded of Aunt Petunia's comment, 'a rotten egg does not make a good omelet ….or something to that effect'. This was good advice considering his considerable skill in the kitchen, earned the hard way under her tutelage. Therefore, he took extra care to select only the best looking of the ingredients, which resulted in a raised eyebrow and a look of contemplation from Hermione.

Harry never understood the reasons for the location of the potions lab in the dungeons. One of the drawbacks of having the potions class in the dungeons was the clear lack of adequate ventilation. This was quickly evident with the whole place filled with bluish steam emanating from the brewing potions. As usual Hermione was the quickest and judging by the "smooth, black currant" colour of her potion Harry correctly assumed that she was nearing halfway through the process.

Having finished chopping his roots, Harry bent low over his book again. It was really very irritating, having to try and decipher the directions under all the stupid scribbles of the previous owner, who for some reason had taken issue with the order to cut up the sopophorous bean and had written in the alternative instruction: Crush with flat side of silver dagger, releases juice better than cutting.

'What is it with girls and their scribbling' he thought annoyed, but the sopophorous bean was proving very difficult to cut up. Harry gave up the effort and decided to follow the new instruction; after all it's just a matter of getting the required juice. To his astonishment, it immediately exuded so much juice he was amazed the shriveled bean could have held it all. Hastily scooping it all into the cauldron he saw, to his surprise, that the potion immediately turned exactly the shade of lilac described by the textbook.

His annoyance with the previous owner vanishing on the spot, Harry now squinted at the next line of instructions. Quickly deciding to follow the few simple changes that have been made to the text by the previous owner, Harry bent down to his work with renewed enthusiasm. He saw that Hermione was checking up on his work and was scowling at him whenever he deviated from the printed instructions. He shrugged his shoulders at the blatant display of reproof from Hermione and continued his potion making, getting a perfect potion as described by the book.

Coming to the end of his potion making he heard Ron's fluent cursing and hazarding a look into his cauldron saw something which was definitely not the required potion. Apart from Hermione's potion which was nearly the same as his, except for an unnoticeable difference in the colour, none of the others managed to brew a passable potion.

After the allotted time, the professor moved around the tables commenting about the potions or rather failure to make the potion. Making occasional notes in his register, he approached the table that Harry was sharing with Ron and Hermione.

Ruefully shaking his head at Ron's attempt he said, "Mr. Weasley your grade in the O.W.L was just enough to get you into my class. If you do not make giant strides during the year, I am afraid you will not be able to pass your NEWTs."

Taking the ladle and stirring Hermione's potion he gave her an approving nod and marked something which suspiciously looked like a 'O' against her name. Checking Harry's cauldron he had a beaming smile on his genial face, "My word Harry! I have not seen a better potion making ability like this in many years. I was told by Professor Snape that you have two left hands when it comes to potion making. I can see that he was wrong. You have definitely inherited your mother's skill; she was also a genius at potions and took great pleasure in improving them. Excellent, here, you are the winner" handing him the bottle of Felix Felicis, Slughorn moved back to his table giving them the dismissal.

Harry was feeling happy that for once he could brew a potion without any mistakes and without the interference of Snape or the Slytherins. He also acknowledged the validity of the modifications made by the unknown author; he treated them as shortcuts rather than changes to the brewing process, shortcuts which certainly made his life easy. He was hoping that Hermione would be happy with his accomplishment; he could always rely on her to praise his new and improved performance in the classes.

He was however taken aback by the expression of anger on her face. He honestly could not understand the reason for her anger. Was it because of his using the written instructions instead of the typed text? Or was it because he upstaged her for the first time and she did not like it? Hermione was a girl who always prided herself in her thirst for knowledge and here was knowledge, albeit unknown to most, which helped him gaining the prize. 'Knowledge is knowledge regardless of its source, right?' he thought rhetorically. One look at Hermione's anger however and he knew that she did not feel the same. With a sigh he pocketed the vial and followed a still fuming Hermione and a downtrodden Ron out of the dungeons.

The moment they stepped away from prying eyes Hermione rounded off on Harry. Red faced she exclaimed "Harry! How could you do that? You did not follow the written instructions and did a dangerous thing by following untried and hand written instructions. Can't you see it is this attitude of yours to go halfcocked on a spur of the moment decision that leads us into trouble?"

"Hermione, Yes I know that the instructions were different from that of the given text. But even you cannot deny that progress cannot be made until new discoveries are made. The owner of the text has definitely tried the modifications and achieved the desired results. Otherwise why would they be written down in a textbook? You have seen the result Hermione can you deny it?" Harry tried to placate Hermione.

Hermione was beyond angry now "if the modifications were really effective, why were they not made available to all? The book is clearly old, it means that the information was present for a lot of time now. Rules and clear instructions are there for a reason. You do not deserve to get the potion you did not even understand what the instructions are for and what the combination of the ingredients do."

"I suppose you think I cheated? Rules are not everything Hermione", the moment Harry made that comment he instinctively knew that he made a big mistake. He knew she was a stickler to rules and authority. His comment did not sit well with her and she immediately turned her back on him and rushed off to the library.

"Sorry mate, you know what she thinks about breaking rules" commented Ron before he sauntered away. Harry could see that Ron was jealous of him for winning the prize and was trying hard to hide it from Harry. He could sense a smug grin on Ron's face after Hermione berated him and shaking his head at Ron's jealousy headed to the library to get some studying done before dinner.

Harry was not sorry though. 'Did I do it only to get the liquid luck? No, I tried the instructions in the book and when it did not work, I tried a modification. I did nothing wrong.' He refused to feel guilty. He believed that the modifications were made by someone who knew the subject. He however agreed with Hermione on one thing. He really did not know what the modifications really did to the potion, and what the roles of the ingredients are in the potion. However, it was not his fault if Snape did not take the time to teach the basic things to the students. 'I need to know what the different stirring motions do to the potion. If I do not know the reason for the ingredients to be used in the potion then it definitely is cheating. Sigh! One more subject to research in the library and increase my efforts in'. With that Harry resolved to increase his understanding the 'subtle art of potion making' as Snape put it in his first year.


Harry tried to placate Hermione and tried to show her the book. He wanted her to understand that the modifications made to the brewing instructions were nothing major and definitely nothing dangerous. He had a nagging suspicion that she was making a conscious effort to avoid him. He was not sure if that was just due to her penchant for sticking to the rules or something else. Harry was disheartened by Hermione's behavior but resolved to settle his differences with her as far as he can.

That night Harry cornered her in the common room before going up to bed. But Hermione was adamant and told him in no uncertain terms that she would not be reasoned with and would only talk to him on that matter if he gives up following the modifications. This was a point on which Harry was not ready to compromise; the short amount of time that he spent in the library has shown him that the characteristics of the potion do change even with changes in the direction of the stirring motion. He was determined to study the text fully and make an informed decision on it before giving it up. Therefore, it was two disgruntled friends that went to bed that night.