Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl. Chapter 31: First Potion Class
DISCLAIMER: Daria is the creation of Glen Eichler and is the property of MTV Viacom. Harry Potter is the creation of JK Rowling and is the property of JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I owne neither franchise. I neither seek nor deserve any sort of financial compensation for this work of fiction. I am writing solely for my own amusement.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*
One class had Daria worried: Potions. Potions had acquired the reputation as being one of the toughest classes at Hogwarts: the professor wasn't just strict, but also extremely sarcastic and demanding and was reputed to favor Slytherin, the House he headed. He was said to insult his pupils and took off points at the drop of a hat. Moreover, Potions wasn't just one period, but a grueling two-period class. Thursday was her first double-potions class.
Daria knew she was coming in better-prepared than most Muggle-born students. She'd already put in over half a year of potions class with Mrs. Ocampo and had already brewed over two dozen potions herself. Still, she knew that despite her experience, she was still a beginner—a beginner who would be facing an unfamiliar, demanding, and strict instructor.
Still, she tried to prepare. She'd read her old potions book cover to cover back in Highland and had read Snape's Potions textbook almost from when she bought it in London. She'd supplemented her reading with stuff from US Center for Disease Control concerning poisons l and a Wizarding pamphlet she'd found and stolen from one of Preacher Babcock's book-burning ceremonies.
She'd also asked questions about the class itself. Jane Prince, a third-year Ravenclaw, told her that students usually brewed potions in pairs and not by themselves. That was reassuring and dismaying at the same time. On the one hand, she wouldn't have to do it alone; on the other, she didn't know her dorm-mates' talent or expertise. Several of her dorm mates had already decided to pair off even before the start of class: Chang with Edgecombe, Anahita with Dahlia, Armitage with Farmer, and Wolfe either with Majda or with Tabitha. She didn't have a partner yet.
Daria's foreboding increased as she descended the stairs to the lower levels of the castle. Potion-making class was held down in one of the Castle's dungeons. It was not only colder than the main part of the castle, but also darker and damper. When she finally found the classroom she found herself instantly creeped out. It wasn't so much the darkness as the poor lighting, what she thought was the poor arrangement of the laboratory (In her opinion, Mrs. Ochoa's lab was much nicer), as some of the other stuff she saw in the classroom. The pickled critters sitting on the shelves really creeped her out.
As she expected, she and her fellow Ravenclaws would be sharing their class with students from another house. Looking them over, she quickly recognized familiar faces from Flying Lessons and realized that she'd be sharing her class with Slytherins again.
Crap.
What bugged her about the arrangement wasn't that the students were from the House of the Serpents. A couple of the guys and girls she'd met in other classes were at least tolerable. What bothered her was that she'd be sharing her class with her dear distant English cousins, the Le Noir bimbo, and other Pure Blood snobs who hated the fact that she and other Muggle-born students not only were there at Hogwarts, but probably resented the fact that they breathed the same air as they did. Well, nothing for it, she thought grimly. She set her cauldron and her tools on one of the lab tables, then returned to her seat to wait for Professor Snape.
The door flung open and Professor Snape strode into the classroom in a swirl of black robes and cloak. His complexion was pale, his hair was shoulder-length, and he had a large nose. Daria smirked to herself, giving Professor Snape credit for a grand entrance and trying to imagine the effect he'd have if he'd been a substitute teacher at James Ferguson Elementary School back in Highland. Her fellow students would have been frightened out of their wits before he even called roll. As it was, she felt uneasy herself.
A stray thought flitted in the back of her mind: what did he look like when he was a kid? She let it flitter away without noticing it.
Professor Snape walked around behind the teacher's desk and let his gaze pass slowly over the first-years. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he said in a low, threatening monotone. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, snaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you weren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
Daria smirked. Professor Snape might be a potions-master, but he'd never dealt with the sheer quantity of dunderheads she'd gotten used to at Pa Ferguson Elementary School back in Highland.
He then began taking roll. Daria watched his facial expression and listened to his tone of voice as he called out the names to see if she could tell what he thought of his likely pupils. To her surprise he played it straight when he read the roll. If he was biased towards Slytherin, he wasn't showing it, at least not yet. He read her name without comment, unless raising his eyebrow meant something when she said "Here, Sir" meant something.
After reading roll, Professor Snape let his gaze roam around the classroom. He did not look impressed with his pupils. Daria briefly wondered what sort of pupils would impress him, then set that thought aside when she realized that she probably wouldn't be one of them.
"So," he said. "Let me ascertain which of you dunderheads has bothered to do the readings for this class?"
His eyes ranged over the jittering first-years, then his hand extended and pointed.
"You, Darling," he said, speaking the girl's name in a sarcastic tone of voice. Daria turned her head in Darling's direction and saw a very nervous Slytherin girl. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"I don't know, Sir," said Darling.
"Too bad, Darling," said Professor Snape. "Clearly celebrity isn't everything."
Geez, thought Daria, what did she do to honk him off?
His head towards another member of the class. "You, Sanderson," he said. "Perhaps you know?"
"I don't know, Sir," said Sanderson. Daria had mixed feelings about Professor Snape giving Sanderson grief. On the one hand, she thought he was bullying him. On the other, Sanderson was a jerk who had it coming.
Several students had had their hands in the air. Snape's finger extended and he said "Perhaps you do?"
Daria looked over and saw that Dahlia was in the hot seat.
"Yes, Sir," said Dahlia. "Asphodel and wormwood make a potion so powerful that it's called the Draught of Living Death."
Yes, thought Daria. You go, girl!
Daria noticed that her loathsome cousins and their sidekick had decided to gossip instead of pay attention. So did Professor Snape. "Le Noir," he said. "What is the difference between wolfsbane and monkswood?"
Le Noir looked terrified. Daria decided that she didn't want to be in her position after class.
"I don't know, Sir," she said.
That'll teach you to leave the heavy lifting to menials, thought Daria.
Professor Snape's finger pointed again, this time at young Coombs.
"Perhaps you know, Mr. Coombs," he said with a hint of exasperation.
"There is no difference, Sir," said young Coombs. "They're the same thing."
Professor Snape made a satisfied half-smile. Somebody was at least trying to meet minimal standards for his class.
"Bennett," he said, pointing to another Slytherin. "What is another name for wolfsbane?"
"Aconite," Bennet promptly replied.
Oho, thought Daria. Another whiz kid.
Professor Snape gave a slight nod, then looked down at his seating chart. He looked up and pointed his finger at Daria.
"You, Morgendorffer," he said.
Eeep, Daria said to herself.
"Where would you look to find a bezoar?"
That one she knew. "Inside a goat," she replied. "Bezoars are stones from a goat's stomach."
There were titters at Daria's answer, less because of its tone than because of Daria's Texas accent. She'd pronounced it bee-zore, the way she'd heard her neighbors used.
"Bezoar," Professor Snape corrected, accenting the first syllable.
"Shit," thought Daria. "He IS a hard case."
"And what are they used for?" asked Professor Snape.
"Bezoars, properly treated, are an antidote to most magical poisons," said Daria.
"Well," said Professor Snape, surveying his class, "it seems like you might show some promise after all." He sounded doubtful. "For your information, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the draught of living death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. Monkswood and wolfsbane are the same thing—aconite."
His eye drifted over to the Slytherin side of the classroom. "Miss Barksdale," he said, frowning. "Why aren't you paying attention? Three points and detention."
Oh, my, thought Daria, my hoity-toity relatives are in the soup.
Professor Snape then drew his wand, walked over to the chalk-board, and waved his wand at it. Words and instructions then appeared on what had been a blank blackboard.
"For this first class, you will be making a simple potion to treat boils," he said. "You will work in pairs. If you have not already chosen a partner, I will assign you one. You will gather your supplies and prepare your work areas starting—now!"
There was a rush of activity as Daria's classmates turned and chose lab partners. Daria was an odd girl out. She briefly wondered if she'd have to work with a Slytherin or one of the guys, then noticed that Tabitha Rolle also stood alone and bewildered.
"Hey, Tabitha," said Daria. "Do you want to work with me?"
"Sure thing," the Bahamian girl replied, trying to show more confidence than she felt.
"Let's do this," said Daria. Together, the two girls walked towards the ingredients cabinet, grabbed containers, and started gathering ingredients.
Daria glanced at the blackboard and frowned. Professor Snape's arrangement was asking for trouble. If she'd been allowed to organize this class, everybody would have been made to write down the ingredients, quantities, and directions on paper before they started, and only then set to work gathering the ingredients and preparing them for the potion.
It took them a while to get their ingredients: Daria and Tabitha were at the rear of the line. Still, Daria was relieved to see that there were still enough ingredients left to match the instructions on the board. They then walked to the area where Daria had dropped her cauldron and other potion-making gear before class started.
"How much experience do you have?" Daria asked Tabitha.
"Not that much," Tabitha replied. "My grandmother let me help make a couple of potions at home but she usually just let me do a little chopping and weighing. She didn't let me do the mixing and the stirring. And you?"
"I took a beginning potion-making class before I came here," Daria replied. "My mother insisted."
"But Marietta say your family was Muggle," Tabitha replied.
"Marietta never dealt with my mother," Daria replied. "That wouldn't stop her."
Marietta smiled.
"So we'll chop and weigh. Then I'll add the ingredients, you stir, and I'll time," Daria added decisively.
They set to work. In about twenty minutes, they had most of the ingredients chopped, measured, and set to various spots in their work area.
Professor Snape drifted over while Tabitha was crushing the snake fangs, telling her that the fangs needed to be crushed more finely. Daria didn't like the way he said it. Couldn't he have been a little gentler about it, she wondered. Tabitha looked rattled and Daria had to reassure her that she was doing fine. And she wasn't bad. Tabitha wasn't as good as the Aldrete sisters had been back in Highland, but then again, neither was she.
The spring water they'd poured in the cauldron reached a rolling boil. Oops, thought Daria. She turned down the burner. She briefly wondered if the Ph affected potion quality—Highland's tap-water was alkaline and mineral-laden, even excluding the traces of uranium that had made it into the town's water supply.
Before long they'd come to the point where they had to start mixing. Daria had been at a disastrous lab session where Joe Don Bollard had tossed porcupine quills into a cauldron while the heat was on, causing the cauldron to overflow and spill potion in all directions. Fortunately, it was one of those dry-run exercises her teachers in Highland had staged to remind their students that failing to follow instructions properly could be hazardous. No permanent harm was done, but it left an impression. Daria learned to be careful. When it came time to mix in the porcupine quills, she took the cauldron off the burner, then reminded Tabitha to mix the quills not all at once, but slowly. She gave a sigh of relief when that step was done. Tabitha stirred counterclockwise one more time than necessary, then she and Daria waited fifteen minutes until it was time to add the nettles.
They made their last stir about thirteen minutes before the end of class, then took the potion contents off the burner to cool. A couple of the other kids had already handed in their potion samples for grading. They were supposed to let it set for ten minutes and Daria worried that it would be too hot to take samples. Ten minutes later it was time to take samples. Daria and Tabitha used the time to mark phial labels and start clean-up. At the end of that time, Daria took a small potion-maker's ladle to dollop samples into two phials and together she and Tabitha walked to Professor Snape's desk with their work. Professor Snape took their phials, examined them visually, then marked something down on his parchment. From her side of his desk it looked like an "A." He then picked up his wand, pointed it at the cauldron's contents, and said "Evascio!" without comment.
Daria clenched her teeth. All that work for so little praise. She felt a wave of resentment as she and Tabitha turned away. She thought they'd done at least an adequate job and probably deserved more. In fact, she was hoping for some positive feedback but it looked like she and Tabitha were doomed to disappointment. Instead, Professor Snape gestured for them to move along, followed by a "Next" for the next pair of students.
She went back to her work station and began putting her gear away.
Crap, she thought, then silently said several curse-words to herself.
Tabitha didn't look so good either and Daria realized that she needed to do something.
"Rolle," she said.
"What?" Rolle replied irritably. Daria had been short with her several times.
"If I snapped at you a couple of times, I apologize," said Daria. "You did good."
Tabitha looked at Daria, making up her mind.
"Thanks," she said.
Daria gathered up her gear and staggered out of the classroom, feeling very much the worse for wear.
A Hufflepuff girl wearing a Prefect's badge was standing looking relaxed at the stair-case's first landing. Daria thought she remembered her name as Tonkawa, but she was sure that wasn't quite right.
"Hallo, you look like you had a rough morning," she said.
"Yeah," said Daria. "My first potions class with Professor Snape."
"You had a rough morning, luv," said the prefect.
"So how did you do?" asked the girl.
"I think we got an "A,"" said Daria. "We didn't mess up or burn down the lab."
"I think I would have heard of that if you had," said the Prefect. "Still, an A isn't bad for a firstie, especially if it's your first class."
