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As Albus seemed to be finding out, his life, which had been very pleasant but hardly tumultuous before, was going to get simultaneously better and worse. Luckily, in moments where fate seemed to have a vengeance, his friends were always nearby. At the same time, however, the same fate seemed opposed to the idea of him leading a calmly pleasant life.

The first lesson the next day was Flying, with the Gryffindors. It was not surprising that he partly dreaded it, seeing as Rose would be there. Before, they had been teammates, a deadly youth duo lighting up the Quidditch fields nearby the Weasley Burrow. Now, of course, that would be no more.

So it was with a heart full of both trepidation and excitement that Albus walked with his friends from breakfast towards the Quidditch field.

"How is it?" asked Luca.

"What, flying?" replied Scorpius, who Albus had noticed seemed to share his own passion for anything aerial.

"Yeah."

"It's… brilliant. The feeling of control, the wind rushing through your hair, everything on the ground slowly reducing to tiny inconsequential dots on your vision… flying is the best!"

Albus nodded, as he completely agreed. "He's right! It's not as scary as you might think, just keep control and you'll get the movements quickly!"

Luca nodded before their attention was taken up by the hawkish Flying instructor in front of them. Albus knew her by name only.

"Good morning class, I am Rolanda Hooch, though most people know me as Madam Hooch. I will be your Flying Instructor this year. Those of you who enjoy your broomstick racing, please nip that excitement in the bud; those of you unfamiliar or uncertain in any way, I would like to emphasise that being slow is not shameful at all when your peers may have been on toy brooms since the age of five or so." Ken and Luca seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Right, when I count to three, I want you to stand straight over your broom and shout 'Up!'."

Albus was hardly surprised when he got it instantly. He was less pleased to find that, save for Scorpius, the Slytherin side seemed to be subpar in terms of their speed in gaining control of their brooms compared to the Gryffindors. Of course, he didn't fault any of them, especially not Luca and Ken, but even Garrett and Cassie were having prolonged difficulties- and Benjamin Bruegel and Corman Reddick really stood no chance at all by the looks of things.

-But of course, things could turn a lot worse.

"Hey Slythers! Can't even control a broom?"

"Shut it, Garland!"

"Did I ask you, Malfoy? I suppose it is too difficult for a snake to get on a broom without legs to grip, after all. Maybe if your dad could fly half as good as an average Quidditch player then he would look more graceful when he's running away from everything like a two-faced coward!"

When the nasty looking Gryffindors chortled- including some girls like Myra Fitzgerald- Albus looked worriedly towards Madam Hooch. Unfortunately for them, she was still attending to students on the other end of the pitch (the ones who had succeeded had been permitted to fly out and around a tiny bit).

Scorpius' knuckles were gripping on the wood so hard Albus could see the veins straining against pale skin.

"Take that back!"

"Okay, I will… I mean, that slime Malfoy probably isn't even your father anyway. It's more likely to be Voldemort who got with your useless mother."

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"-That is enough!" cried Madam Hooch, whistling angrily. "I didn't hear what happened, but you two had better separate!"

"You know what, snakes? I challenge you: First Years only Quidditch match! Professor, we're allowed, yes?"

"-That is correct, though you will need to use your own broom if you want to avoid the old Nimbus 2000's the school provides."

"YOU'RE ON, GARLAND! TWO WEEKS! NO PRIVATE BROOMS!"

"Sure, two weeks until I show you that your mum isn't the only crippled Slytherin out there!"

The Gryffindors who had sense pulled Terry back, though the latter didn't look like he cared, smirking arrogantly. The Slytherins had to work together extremely hard to pull Scorpius out of it, and Albus was sincerely glad that Ken had the sense to run over.

"LET ME GO KEN!"

"No! Don't retaliate that easily, Scorp!"

"SHUT UP! YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND HAVING SOMEONE INSULT YOUR MOTHER!"

"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT I WOULDN'T! I DON'T HAVE ONE!"

Albus saw the look of realisation on Scorpius' face briefly when Ken suddenly yelled at him, and reached an arm up instinctively to touch his shoulder. What he didn't expect, however, was for Scorpius to turn to him with angry tears in his eyes, and wordlessly lean in for an embrace, probably to cover his face.

Albus suddenly felt his temper flare uncontrollably. "Madam Hooch, you heard what Garland said! Why aren't you giving him a detention?!"

Said instructor looked like she had been more surprised at the relationship between Scorpius and himself, as if she were trying to find proof that rumours they were friends were true. She was broken out of her reverie.

"O-oh, yes… detention to Mr Garland! The match can still go on, however, should your opponents like it."

Terry glared mutinously. "Two weeks, snakes!"

"YOU'RE ON, GARLAND!" screamed Scorpius, who had pulled away from their hug wiping his eyes.

The Gryffindors stalked off to their next lesson. The Slytherins, who had Defense Against the Dark Arts fairly close to their section of the flying ground, deliberately slowed down. Albus kept rubbing weak circles awkwardly on Scorpius' back, not sure what else to do.

"I HATE IT!" All the Slytherins jumped as Scorpius screamed out loud suddenly.

"I CAN UNDERSTAND SOME PEOPLE HATING MY GRANDPARENTS, I CAN EVEN UNDERSTAND SOME PEOPLE HATING MY FATHER, BUT WHAT HAS MY MOTHER EVER DONE TO THEM? DO THEY HAVE TO MAKE FUN OF HER JUST BECAUSE SHE HAS A LIFE THREATENING ILLNESS?!"

Scorpius finished his yelling with heavy breaths, and Albus kept at his tentative massaging quietly.

"Who's going to play in the Quidditch match?" asked Luca, who seemed to have decided that switching the subject was the better idea. One tiny relaxing of the shoulders from Scorpius and Albus knew that it was the right idea.

"I have no idea, to be honest. Sorry guys for pulling that card… it's not looking good watching the number of capable flyers on Gryffindor to be honest." Albus, knowing that Scorpius had calmed down a bit, removed his hand from the latter's back, and got a very grateful look in reply.

"Well, we better try, don't we. That blond gorilla gets on my nerves!" huffed Cassie indignantly.

"T-they do?"

"Of course they do! We're all Slytherins together, you know! Stop acting like you're the only ones who can get offended just because you have some snotty rich famous British parents."

Scorpius laughed croakily, and then sighed. "We're still screwed for the Quidditch game, though."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes." offered Albus.

They all agreed to do just that, since they had little option to do else.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom didn't look anything special, Albus decided- and neither did the Professor. He reminded himself not to make judgements before hearing the man teach.

"Hello class, I am Professor Dennis Creevey, and I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. Of course, today's lesson will be an introductory one, but turn to your textbooks nevertheless, and we will talk through what this study is really about."

-The first thing Albus noticed, having attended the lesson for fifteen minutes now, was that Professor Creevey seemed to have a very strange obsession with the Battle of Hogwarts. He spoke extensively in his own role in a dramatic fashion, winning over a lot of the Hufflepuffs and even some of the Slytherins with flashy anecdotes punctuating his decent but average teaching: yet at the same time Albus wasn't sure he had done much, especially since he knew his father had not allowed underage wizards to fight (by his calculations, Dennis Creevey would have been in Fourth Year).

At the same time, however, Albus could not help but feel like something else was there whenever Professor Creevey talked about the events of the Battle. He saw a lingering sadness in the Professor's eye, and wondered if a tragedy had happened to him during the fight. Furthermore, Professor Creevey's eyes seemed to dart towards him every now and then- too many times for it to be coincidental.

It was at that moment that Professor Creevey reached the end of a long-winded explanation regarding the different categories of Defensive spells. Albus had heard nearly all of it from his dad, and did not want to hear the Harry Potter examples either, so he had tuned out the excited discussion early on. A question, however, interrupted his ruminations about the strange connection his Professor seemed to have to the Battle.

"Albus Potter! It is a delight to have you in my classroom, having been taught by your own father in Dumbledore's Army all those years ago!" Professor Creevey grinned jovially.

"O-oh, thank you sir…"

"So polite! Now, tell me, Albus, what do you think I mean when I refer to the 'Dark Arts'?"

Professor Creevey's gaze was disconcerting. It was not particularly intense, and neither was it unpleasant, but Albus decided there was something strangely directed about the scrutiny he was receiving, as if the man was looking for something beneath his smile.

"I suppose you mean any spells or creatures used with the intention of killing, harming or unlawfully controlling a person?"

"Hmm, that would be the natural answer, yes. But Expelliarmus is not seen as a Dark spell, yet your own father used it to kill You-Know-Who himself! You surely wouldn't call Harry Potter a Dark Wizard!" he laughed at the end, as if finding his joke funny, and many students joined in for some odd reason.

"I suppose then, that Dark Arts don't really exist. It is a bit like a 'knife is evil depending on who holds it' argument, right? You wouldn't expect a normal person to hold a knife around, nor know spells with such offensive capability, but at the same time the term is slightly useless. We call it Defense Against the Dark Arts really because we are assuming that someone using these spells on us is a Dark Wizard- a fair assumption, of course."

"Not bad, Albus. It is clear you have been taught well, and I am impressed with your intellectual flexibility! But the 'hand of the beholder' argument is a childish one, because it justifies some things which do not deserve to be justified, and ignores that some people are born evil."

There it is! Albus did not miss Professor Creevey's eyes flickering over right to the Slytherins, and narrowing at an oblivious Scorpius.

"What about a Dark Wizard, then, Albus? Is it more or less black and white?" Professor Creevey said, still beaming.

"Equally, sir?"

Professor Creevey's smile dropped instantly.

"...Equally?"

"My dad always said that, save for some completely crazy people like Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, the term Dark Wizard is thrown around too much and does not acknowledge that a person becomes evil sometimes as a result of their surroundings, not their genetics or natural character."

Professor Creevey paused. "It is very admirable how you tackle these difficult questions so bravely and in such a strong willed way. -It is very Gryffindor-like, if you don't mind me saying so myself."

Albus heard the sharp intakes of breath next to him, and was equally shocked. Since when had Houses got to the conversation- especially a House not even in the classroom?

"However, I would like to respectfully say that it seems likely you have misinterpreted your father's words. He has fought against so much, and it is unlikely he thinks that Dark Wizards are not culpable for their own actions. There is too much you can't ignore. For example, you cannot ignore that they use Killing and Torturing curses. You cannot ignore that they come from predominantly rich Pureblood families. You cannot ignore that nearly every single Dark Wizard has come from Slytherin."

So it was about Houses all along!

"Excuse me sir, but I don't think Slytherin has anything to do with it."

"You really don't?"

"No. Severus Snape was a Slytherin, one of my namesakes, and a war hero."

Professor Creevey's eyes narrowed for the first time. "That man is honoured too much considering his character, and no, Albus, I cannot ignore that the numbers point to the fact that a good wizard with such amazing parents as yours deserves to be in any House but Slytherin."

"Sir, why is this about Houses? I belong here, whether I or anyone else like it or not- and for your information, I have never cared as much as you do."

Professor Creevey's smile returned, as if he were selectively forgetting that Albus had challenged him directly, and were teaching a small child. "You have the strong will and stubbornness of a Gryffindor too! You would make a wonderful member of that House, for sure!"

Albus could not believe the audacity of his teacher to suggest such an idea to his face.

"Sir, I am a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor!"

"Albus Potter, your father is a symbol of hope and has been for a long time to both survivors of the war and young people who were able to live in a better world because of what he has done. They would be disappointed to see you reject the noble House of Gryffindor so, especially for Slytherin. You might think you belong where the Hat placed you, but you and your siblings ought to set an example to the Wizarding World and its students!" said Professor Creevey sternly.

"I am not rejecting Gryffindor sir, I am rejecting the criticism of Slytherin House."

"Examples are to be set, Albus, especially for children like you. You do not belong there, and if you insist you do you will disappoint many people who do not deserve to be disappointed."

Albus spluttered, and Professor Creevey moved on without a word. "-Right, class, let's move on from that discussion!"

And so the class churned on. The Slytherins were all feeling either angry or awkward from the very pointed dispute, and Albus did not speak again for the whole lesson, mainly fuming at the boldness of the words, but also deep down wondering if they contained any truth. The same thoughts and feelings remained with him as he silently left the classroom and ate his lunch alongside equally subdued Housemates.

Albus did not know what to feel after Herbology. There was an argument to be made that Herbology had been the lesson he was fearing the most- at least, before he got distracted by a rather shoddy morning- because his godfather would be there, the godfather who embodied Gryffindor just as much as Harry Potter himself, and who was its Head of House.

However, while he had been braced for any negative reactions, he could not say that Professor Longbottom had done anything extremely unordinary. That was what surprised him. There were no pointed glances, no pauses, but yet at the same time no attempt to ignore him either. There was certainly an air of uncertainty with the way Professor Longbottom conducted himself, but Albus could distinctively feel that it seemed more like said Professor attempting to give Albus some space, rather than needing some space of his own.

Overall, it was not a bad lesson- just strangely normal. Albus still wanted to speak to Professor Longbottom at some point, but he was somewhat glad that there had been no overly negative reaction at any point.

Now, it was time for Potions. Albus was both scared and excited for his first lesson with Professor Sevorian.

"Good afternoon, class. I am Professor Sevorian, Slytherin Head of House and your potions teacher. Potions is a very precise art, subtle yet powerful. It requires technique, and sharp intuition. However, it does not require immense power or imagination, so that is what distinguishes it from the rest of your lessons. You should be aware that almost nothing you have learnt in other lessons will be useful here, so I do not expect arrogance until you have proved that you have this very craft and can adapt to different situations." Sevorian said, scrutinising them with a severe gaze. He locked eyes with Albus and his friends, and gave a small smile, but it was mainly obscured by harsh lines on his face.

Albus was reminded very much of how Professor Lang had been.

"Right, I am a strong believer that people show their true colours where they are most unprepared. Therefore, we will be having a potion making competition today. I will be testing the intelligence of all you students, so try to use your brains as much as possible. Follow the instructions on the sheet please- especially the safety ones, to avoid any grave injuries."

The class gulped. "Sir, that's dangerous!" protested Terry Garland.

"Practically everything at Hogwarts is technically dangerous, Garland. Flying, spinning staircase, frightening Herbology plants… so long as you are not too stupid you'll keep your life- I can guarantee it."

Albus nearly laughed, but decided it would not suit the occasion. He actually had supreme confidence in his potion-making skills, which were excellent as he had nurtured a natural fascination for the subject from a young age.

"Groups of 3 or 4. Go!"

Albus, Scorpius, Luca and Ken all looked at each other, grinning like fools. Suddenly, Professor Sevorian swept his wand, and a large manuscript appeared on each of their desks.

"There are some missing ingredients! I have provided a large chart of many ingredients, within categories, so let's see if you can guess what is missing. When you do, just write the name in the gap, and the correct ingredient will appear at your table. Try to cover it from others if you get it first."

Forgar's Acid

Introduction: Forgar's acid, discovered in 1657 by famed potioneer Hebellius Forgar, is a well known acid which is used because it can be made quickly and in large qualities without any of the extremely expensive ingredients used in other more potent acids.

While Forgar's Acid is not as powerful as Lightning's Acid or Infernal Acid, it still will be severely painful if it touches your bare skin. Therefore, you should be careful to avoid splashing it while stirring.

Ingredients:

"Right, class. I'll give you some more time to read the introduction, and then I will give a countdown. When that countdown finishes, one of you must rush to the ingredients cupboard and take as much as you want. Some ingredients are abundant, others less so. If you are too slow, you might not get some of them. In that case, you will have to wait 10 minutes for them to replenish. With all this information, I'll leave it to you to strategise. The fastest team will be avoided 40 points, and the best student gets the reward." he said, brandishing an ugly looking rock. Albus was bewildered that anybody could call that a reward, but decided to beat the Gryffindors anyway just to prove himself to Sevorian.

"Guys, it's obvious that we will need to get the starting ingredients fastest, so we should mark them out now." said Scorpius.

"Sure. Leave the racing to me. I'll be able to reach the ingredients the fastest and carry the most." said Ken.

Luca nodded. "Well, it says here that the first ingredients we will need are ashwinder eggs, leeches and honey. So let's get those first. They should be quite common right?"

"Yeah, those ingredients are easy to come across, and if Ken gets there first we will be able to get it."

But Albus had just seen something whilst scanning the parchment.

You have just completed your base for the potion. Now we need to add the potency and acidity. We will use fluid of the Erumpent's Horn, and boil it to perfection so the potion can mature.

"Guys, guys, look!" he hissed, trying not to catch anyone else's attention. Luckily, no one looked their way.

"What?" asked Scorpius.

"Erumpent Fluid!" Albus pointed to the part on the parchment. His friends looked at him oddly.

"So?"

"Erumpent Fluid is a nightmare ingredient. It explodes all over the place and destroys cauldrons frequently. And we have to burn it! Even the tiniest issue with our flame or timing will blow a cauldron up. The hard part of the potion isn't the base, where we crush ingredients and do some fairly elementary stirs. It's the maturation!"

"But we still need to do the base first, no?" asked Luca.

Albus shook his head. "He didn't say that, did he? I'll wager the Erumpent Fluid is very low in amount, as it is much rarer than the other ingredients. That means that we should get a head start on a perfect boiled Erumpent Fluid mixture before everyone else, and the fact that they will probably fail as many times as we will, and have to wait for the replenishing, will give us a massive advantage. By the time we're done, all the easy ingredients won't be taken as everyone will have moved on to the hard part, and we'll have a simple window to make a trivial base and add them together!"

Scorpius wolf-whistled. "Very Slytherin, Albus Severus. Very Slytherin indeed."

The four of them laughed in glee, hoping no one else would think of it. Albus also reminded Ken of the other ingredients they would need to prepare the Erumpent Fluid mixture.

"Right, everyone. The rules are as follows. Take as much as you can, but any ingredients you drop you will have to wait for the replenishing to take again, so I wouldn't take too much if I were you. You will have to split ingredients as follows: the first team gets 25%, the second 20%, the third 15, the fourth 10, and the fifth 5. The rest can compete for a free for all. If you are the only ones there- for example if you have waited for replenishing- you can take as much as you want unless someone else arrives before you leave the circle."

Albus elbowed Ken. This meant that if he was fast he could take all the maturation ingredients and greatly delay the other teams.

Professor Sevorian raised his wand and the classroom expanded 50 metres or so, with the ingredients cupboard on the other end. He sneered.

"Why not add a bit of physicality to it? Let's see who can run the fastest."

Luca and Scorpius cheered drolly, and the rest of the class who saw they had Ken glared. There was a mysterious twinkle in Sevorian's eye.

"3. 2. 1. GO!"

And the scenes were chaotic. Students erupted from their desks to try and get the ingredients first. But, as expected, Ken was the fastest.

He reached the ingredients immediately, and stuffed the two vials of Erumpent Fluid into his robes, running as fast as he could back out the magically drawn circle.

Albus cheered. He had been right- there was only a tiny bit of Erumpent Fluid!

Ken arrived back in seconds, placing it down, before heading back to get the other maturation ingredients as directed. They had agreed that he should get back before someone realised what he was doing, and go back for the other more abundant maturation ingredients later. Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out for the ashwinder eggs.

"I got it first, Garland!"

"Shut up, Slyther!"

Albus and his friends guffawed at the comical scene of first years fighting over potion ingredients, augmented by the fact that they were the base ones and no one had thought to read as far as the Erumpent Fluid. Garrett, who was with Benjamin Bruegel, Corman Reddick and another girl he had not met, wrestled with Terry (who was with Rose and a few other Gryffindors) before they each ended up with a passable amount of eggs somehow. Ken came back with the burrowing crab shells and rose oil.

They heard a small chuckle and turned to see Professor Sevorian watching them, nodding his head approvingly. The swell of pride they felt was no small thing.

"Right, I guess we have two tries?"

"Yeah, let's go!" said Ken. "Oh- and… I think it is best if I don't handle those delicate things. I might explode half of Hogwarts."

The other three laughed and expressed their agreement, glad that they didn't have to hide that concern.

"Fine, Ken- crush the burrowing crab shells as finely as you can: so basically just brute power, and then add rose oil. Put it in the shallow dish."

Ken grinned and put his thumbs up. "Brute force I can do!"

Albus, Scorpius and Luca turned back to the ominous looking Erumpent Fluid.

"Alright, it says in the textbook that the explosion point of Erumpent Fluid tends to be around 35.5 celsius, but we need 35 flat for the potion! What the heck?" muttered Scorpius angrily while flipping through his textbook.

"Ken, on second thought, get a temperature measuring stone and Dragon Stove!" Luca told Ken, who complied immediately.

"Perhaps you could have thought of that sooner, instead of making your poor friend run twice." came a voice behind them. Sevorian had the hints of a smile on the corner of his lips.

"Now, how do you control the temperature? You played a very clever trick, and learnt how it is good to prepare ahead, but if you fail both tries you will actually be behind as you haven't started your base!"

Albus knew he was right, and felt a bit of sweat running down his neck. How would they control the heat? It would definitely require very slow heating of the flame with the precise but erratic Dragon Stoves, which gave measurements to the tenth of a degree (thank goodness), but had a tendency to jump up and down randomly.

"Right, good luck to you all. Careful of the fluid." said Sevorian, before sweeping his robes away to check another team.

"Right, how do we heat this again?" asked Luca.

"That's a good question. We have the Dragon Stoves now, so let's try those. They give measurements to 0.1 degrees, no?" asked Scorpius. Albus nodded, though he was fearing the worst.

-As it turned out, he had been right to be apprehensive. The temperature flickered uncontrollably. 34.3. 35.1. 34.1. 35.7. 33.9. 33.7. 35.8. Meanwhile, Albus saw Rose's team moving relentlessly on the base, nearly finished.

"There's no way we can do this! These Dragon Stoves are the ones where you have bounds like 10 degrees apart. They aren't the proper fixed ones." Albus groaned.

"-Wait, if we aren't supposed to use the stove, there must be some other way. He's probably testing us to prove ourselves!" Luca pointed out.

"A heating potion? No, I don't think there are any which are that accurate." Albus said, while flipping through his textbook. Ken had resumed his concentrated mashing of shells, which was going along nicely.

"Wait! I remember!" shouted Scorpius. They turned to him.

"What?" asked Ken.

"Heat stasis charm, from Flitwick's textbook! I saw it in the contents after finishing Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hardly believing their luck, they all brought out their charms textbooks simultaneously. Unfortunately, though, they quickly realised the spell was not simple.

"Wow, I can't even learn a spell in five hours! What are we going to do?" cried Ken melodramatically. They snickered.

"I've got it."

Albus was surprised by the determination on Scorpius' face. "Give me a bit of time, and I can learn this. You guys should start filling in the missing ingredients. We're behind on that."

Albus and Luca agreed, turning to Ken. "Don't worry guys, I've got the powder. It's nearly done." said Ken. They nodded gratefully, before turning to the parchment, looking into each others' eyes.

"I've got the top half." said Luca.

"-Bottom half." said Albus at the same time. They whipped out their books to begin work.

After you have your boiled Erumpent mixture, you will need to find a way to release the fumes into your base. Unfortunately, despite the volatility of the starting Erumpent Fluid, you will find that the mixture barely fizzes at all if it is done well. You can wait a few minutes, or you can speed this up with…

Albus knew it must be an effervescence agent, so…

Porcupine quills.

And as he wrote it, a bowl of spiky porcupine quills appeared on their desk. Albus pumped his fist silently, and turned to watch Scorpius. The blonde boy was testing his charm on the flame furthest away from the Erumpent Fluid, and there were numbers floating in the air. They were not fluctuating nearly as much as the Dragon Stove.

Careful not to disturb Luca, Albus scooted over.

"How are you doing?" asked Albus quietly. Scorpius nodded to show acknowledgement of his presence, though his face was screwed up painfully.

"It's stabilised, but it relies too much on my concentration. Apparently the final step is to fix the spell until I can act the counter-charm, but I haven't found out how to untether it from my mind yet."

Albus was very impressed that Scorpius could learn a charm so quickly. But his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a triumphant roar from Rose's table. The base was a perfect lemon yellow. Rose did her speed reading thing where her eyes flew at a mad pace, and she shouted something which Albus couldn't hear. Terry Garland ran to the ingredients, but his eyes bulged when he got there.

"What do you mean there is no Erumpent Fluid?" he heard Rose clearly this time, and they all sniggered.

"I'm afraid, Miss Granger-Weasley, that the Erumpent Fluid has been taken already. You'll have to wait 2 minutes 30 seconds for the second replenishing." drawled Professor Sevorian.

Rose seemed to realise something, and turned to glare at Albus. The latter shrugged mockingly.

"Sir, Albus has both of the vials!"

"Nothing against the rules, Miss Granger-Weasley. Perhaps if anyone had prepared ahead they would have stopped Mr Handa from exiting the circle." said Sevorian sarcastically, adjusting his tinted glasses. Rose huffed and sat down on the chair, seething.

"You'd think she'd have some sense to start thinking about how to boil the fluid and to get her gorillas to start mashing the powder." muttered Ken in a falsely pretentious voice, causing them to laugh once more. "And that, is the powder done!"

Albus peered at the bowl. It looked excellent.

"Eel blood: it's a thinning agent!" exclaimed Luca next to them. A fishy smelling liquid appeared on their table.

"-Finally! I think I've got it!" shouted Scorpius triumphantly. They watched him stand up tentatively, as if expecting something to break, and then slowly but surely a smile broke out on his face. The reading read 35.0 celsius.

"Let's go let's go!" said Ken excitedly.

"Wait! We need to keep the flame pure!" warned Albus, who had remembered just in time. Ken's grin faltered.

"...What does that even mean?"

"It means we can't have any surrounding gases interacting with it."

"Leave it to me!" Luca said, picking up a now empty bowl which had contained the dry burrowing crab shells. He performed a spell, and it elongated into a tube which looked like a long cup.

"Transfiguration! Brilliant!" Albus cried, actually excited now. They covered the charmed flame with the protective 'cylinder' so that the bottom which used to be the bottom of the bowl covered it, which blocked out everything.

"Now, add the erumpent flame to the cauldron!" Scorpius told Ken. The black-haired boy did just that, and for a moment, it smoked dangerously. They held their breaths.

And the smoking decreased.

"Powder!"

"Yes!"

Ken added the powder, and it went a magnificent sapphire. The friends jumped up and down and high-fived each other.

"We did it!"

"Now, the base!"

And with that, the hourglass expired, and the ingredients replenished. As Albus had calculated, there was no longer much need for the base ingredients, so it was trivial to retrieve them.

/-/

The base was done, bubbling a lovely pale yellow. Malcolm Bourghess shrieked on the other side of the classroom as the Erumpent Fluid splattered out for the fourth time at him and Terry Garland.

"Right, third replenishing now, 30 minutes have passed! There is now more equipment available, including the precise Dragon Stove!"

"FINALLY!" shrieked Rose. The class snickered at her messed up hair, which had occurred from furiously trying to wait for the right time to place the Erumpent Fluid, but to no avail. She seemed to think that she could wait for it to fluctuate to 35 degrees, and then put the cauldron on in a split second. It had taken them two tries to even realise they had to try and cover the flame from outside gases.

Albus realised what Sevorian was doing. The second replenishing, a cylinder not unlike the one Luca had quickly transfigured had found itself part of the equipment. It became easier with each replenishing, in other words. Other groups moved onto the Erumpent Fluid, while Scorpius and Luca waited with him for Ken to return.

"Got it! Cloud Puffing Instrument!"

"Yes! We're done, hopefully!"

Albus could only pray at this point, and thank the heavens that Sevorian hadn't made them find some way to transfer the fumes across by telekinesis or something.

"Right, bring the Erumpent mixture!" he said. Luca handled it carefully. Without any hesitation, Albus opened the lid and dunked the porcupine quills in before closing the lid straight away, and Ken connected the Cloud Puffer. Sapphire clouds billowed out, and into the base. They all looked at each other and closed their eyes in hope as they waited for the telltale sound that it was done. It must have been a minute or two before they heard anything.

*POP*

They opened their eyes now, hardly daring to hope.

-And it was a perfect acid green.

"YES!" Ken and Luca jumped up crazily, and Albus felt like joining in. Scorpius was grinning so hard it looked like his face would fall off.

Sevorian was over without a delay. Once he looked at it, he smiled far wider than Albus had seen so far.

"Unbelievable. Just unbelievable." he muttered to himself, shaking his head with a smile still plastered there. Students milled over, and gasped at the simmering apple green.

"We have a winner! Now that we have finished that, the final step is here. I expect you all to finish quickly."

He waved his hand, and the parchments changed. The whole section with the Erumpent mixture had been wiped out- almost fifteen lines, and in its place stood the words:

Add Saltpetre.

Now Albus finally laughed, unable to stop himself once he had started. Scorpius realised why, and joined in, to the bemusement of the class. Sevorian smirked too.

"What is so funny, Mister Potter?" he drawled sarcastically in an almost-passable deadpan voice barely showing his amusement.

"Why did you get us to use Erumpent Fluid instead of saltpetre? They both contain latent explosivity, but the fluid is so much more volatile, and so much more expensive! I mean, look at the mess!" Albus broke off in laughter again.

"What would be the fun of saltpetre? Erumpent Fluid is much more dangerous and difficult to use, so some students were bound to have accidents. I wanted to see which, and how."

And for once, it looked like Rose would be angry with a teacher.

"Right, everyone, return to your desks. I still expect a finished potion! You four, come up to my desk."

The students went back to work on their potions, the few who had done decently now "mumbling irately about the fact that they had to waste so much time on the Erumpent Fluid. Albus saw that Rose's team's base was still perfectly yellow (impressive, considering the amount of time it had been since they finished it), and they quickly started preparing the saltpeter. Unfortunately, Cassie and Garrett's potion was crimson red, which was definitely not a good sign.

Sevorian's desk was at the top of the classroom, fairly distanced from the bustling students. Albus was again greatly reminded of Professor Lang, who also was able to seamlessly switch between smiling and looking murderous without seeming out of character somehow. Whereas Professor Lang had shoulder-length hair, however, Professor Sevorian's hair was cut short. The Slytherin Head of House also wore his round-rimmed, dark-tinted spectacles, and had a thicker moustache and of course a paler complexion.

"I called you here to first of all congratulate you on an excellent achievement. Preparing the Erumpent Fluid is incredible with your limited time studying potions, and requires great resourcefulness in lieu of expertise. You have been absolutely superb on your first few days, and whether you feel you belong yet or not, this was a uniquely Slytherin display of your skill."

The four of them could only nod mutely.

"How did you do it?"

Albus blinked. "Sorry?"

"What was your solution to the precise heating problem?"

"Oh. We used a uhh... heat stasis charm?" said Ken.

"A heat stasis charm? Who did it, and where did you learn that?"

Scorpius flushed. "It was me sir."

Sevorian didn't even seem surprised. "And when did you learn it?"

"Just this lesson sir!" answered Luca for him. "It took him only about ten minutes."

"-W-well... it was in the first year charms textbook at the end so it wasn't too bad…" said Scorpius meekly.

"Not too bad?!" muttered Sevorian to himself, rubbing his temples. "Learning a new charm in ten minutes is extraordinary."

Scorpius looked distinctly pleased now, and Albus felt strangely proud of his friend.

"And how did you cover the flame?" Now it was Luca's turn to look embarrassed.

"E-elementary transfiguration, sir… I elongated the empty crab shell bowl to become a sort of ceramic tube. It was easier than the charm because I barely changed the structure of the object at all, except to change the length and width dimensions."

"Well, incredible spellwork, and incredible resourcefulness too, nevertheless. I thought you were quite fast: if Mr Malfoy took ten minutes to learn the spell then it hardly took you any time at all to come up with the Transfiguration idea. I expected your team to at least need the Protective Cylinders from the first replenishing, but you barely noticed it. The two of you have done very impressive work."

Scorpius and Luca thanked him enthusiastically.

"Sir, we were only able to do anything because of Albus. He came up with the idea of going for the Erumpent mixture first, and also some strange stuff like using part-honeywater instead of full honey and different stirring methods which I don't really understand…" said Ken, tapering off sheepishly at the end under the impassive stare of Sevorian.

Albus was surprised. "Well, we would have won anyway thanks to the spellwork of Luca and Scorpius, so I didn't do much…"

"Have you done any potions before coming to Hogwarts, Mister Potter?"

"Yes. My namesake is Severus Snape and though I have never met him my mother says the strange passion somehow passed through. It was a pastime I greatly enjoyed, and still do."

"Very good. So, who deserves the prize?"

"...What?"

"I said that the best student on the fastest team will get a prize. I cannot believe you all forgot about it. Trust me, this ugly rock is no small reward at all. You'll see soon enough. Now, who deserves it?"

The four students looked at each other, and answered at the same time.

"-Scorpius!" said Ken.

"-Albus!" said Luca.

"-Scorpius!" said Albus.

"-Albus!" said Scorpius.

Professor Sevorian actually let out a booming laugh, drawing half the heads of the students still working. "No arrogance at all… an admirable camaraderie. I am very surprised none of you picked yourselves, or that Ken and Luca don't care at all that they didn't get picked. It seems like you worked together without even thinking of the prize at all, which defeats the purpose of my experiment."

"-Well, I didn't do anything." said Ken.

"Neither did I." said Luca as well- although Ken turned to him, looking scandalised, as if what Luca said would make Ken's confession seem less truthful.

"-Anyway, all four of you will be getting the prize. I lied. There are four prizes available, but I would only give them all to a team where four people participated well. The voting was to test your reaction, is all. I already knew all of you deserved it."

"Sir, I did nothing!" insisted Ken. "I'm pretty poor academically so I needed them to cover for me, which they did. I'm just a lucky pickup."

Sevorian stared at him, and Albus joined Scorpius and Luca in doing the same. It was quite amusing, really, that they were all offended.

"Do you challenge my judgement, Mr Handa?"

Ken flinched. "N-no sir!"

Sevorian's glare softened, but Albus realised that there was a mischievous glint in his eye. "I was only joking, no need to be frightened. But all of you should know that it takes pragmatism and self-awareness to do what Mr Handa did. He knew he would not be able to help the team in the difficult potions, so he willingly took up the job of fetching items again and again, and spent all his energy crushing together some very fine powder. Do you know that your assiduity actually saved your team, Mr Handa?"

Ken blinked, probably unaware of what 'assiduity' meant. Albus didn't know either.

"-He means that the care you took on the powder saved us, apparently."

"-Really?!"

"Yes, really. Porcupine quills and Eel blood were not the correct ingredients, really, because they have chemical side-effects which should by all means have left you with a too-weak acid. The correct ingredients were bubotuber pus and dandelion root extract. I am unsurprised considering the excitement you must have felt that Mr Potter and Mr Miniati rushed it a bit, but their negligence should have been your downfall."

Albus smacked his forehead. Of course! Porcupine quills were alkaline, and eel blood tended to dilute a potion.

"However, I think, due to the fact that you crushed the shells so carefully, that your powder must have been finer than an average potioneer would do it, so it mitigated the effects as the surface area to volume ratio of your powder increased."

Ken's eye twitched. "So... the extra crushing was helpful?"

Sevorian looked amused. "Yes Mr Handa, very helpful. There are students who fall behind their peers and give up, choosing to laze around. There are students who fall behind and try to do too much in order to compensate for a self-concocted sense of embarrassment. But despite the fact that you may 'lack talent', you did exactly what was right for your team. That is why you deserve a prize too."

Albus grinned at the starstruck Ken, and so did his friends.

"Professor Sevorian, I'm done!" interrupted Rose.

"Right class, I will inspect your potions then." he said, replacing his faint smirk with a stony expression once more.

"Excellent, Miss Granger-Weasley and co. It seems a tad too thick though, and is not as potent as the winning team. Next time, try adding 25% honeywater instead of full honey." Rose nodded fervently and Albus was surprised to find that he was more annoyed than he would expect when she turned to glare at him.

-"Oh dear, too much time spent simmering the ashwinder eggs in honey, and I think too little stirs when adding saltpetre." Cassie and Garrett shrugged, clearly aware they had failed.

"This is a catastrophe. Follow instructions more carefully next time, and cut the leeches evenly, not like a caveman." Sevorian said, looking deeply unimpressed.

"Right, class. The winning team today comprised Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Luca Miniati, and Kenichi Handa. You can learn very many things about their approach. One, that you should check ahead, especially when competing against a rival. They went for the Erumpent Fluid first, which both made for a stronger acid as opposed to the easy saltpetre, and gave them a headstart in the competition. They were also resourceful, giving up the useless Dragon Stoves quickly to employ unorthodox spellwork. This is a key skill in potionery: adapting to your equipment. They will now receive their rewards." he said, motioning to four large rocks on the table.

"Take a vial each of your Forgar's Acid, and pour it on your rocks." he said. The class looked on curiously. Albus and his friends did just that.

The rocks immediately began to sizzle violently, melting until a protective magical membrane exposed itself. Albus saw a variety of items in there, and felt a rush of excitement.

"First, a Hyperswitchable." Sevorian said, pulling out a knife which looked like the ones in their bundles. "It is an excellent tool. As your magic power increases, you get more and more variations which you can unlock. The guide, boys, will show you how to use it. Let me know which type you get."

He brandished the knife, and it suddenly straightened and elongated into a magnificent sword. The class gasped. He swiped the now sword through the air, it became a needle. Then it became a huge meat cleaver. Then a cutlery knife.

"Merlin, that is cool!" shouted Garrett farcically. The class laughed, but he was thankfully safe from Sevorian's glare as the Potions Professor seemed to agree.

"Next, a manuscript of my own writing. It contains the instructions for a special spell, which I have been studying and developing with none other than your own Professor Lang! The manuscript is blank right now under the public eye, so the recipients can learn it secretly and use it when they see fit. It's quite useful!"

The class whispered excitedly again, and Albus could feel both sharp stares of envy poking through his head, and a giddy feeling of anticipation from himself. He saw his friends were just as excited.

"Finally, a Crosslingual. It can read out any text for you, and also translate to any language perfectly."

The class deflated a bit at the last one- apart from Ken, who looked strangely delighted. Sevorian looked like he expected it, however.

"Never underestimate the power of knowledge. If you get stuck chasing an enemy in another country, a Crosslingual will be an instant help. If you come across an ancient inscription, the Crosslingual will help. Apparently some people can even speak Parseltongue with it, though it is rumoured this requires a dormant penchant for the language. And of course, if you are too lazy to read a text, this will do it for you. You can even customise the reading voice, or change the font of a book if it is too hard to read!"

Perhaps it would be useful, after all. Albus didn't know, but Ken still looked elated for some reason.

There was a question to be asked, however. "Sir, why do you have so much access to these special gadgets and tools? Why would a teacher need to read ancient inscriptions and use a switchable knife?" asked Rose.

Sevorian nodded. "Good reading behind the lines, Granger-Weasley. I used to be… an auror, of sorts... That term is for the British government, however, and I worked internationally as part of an elite squadron whose job was to identify dangerous criminals and solve conflict without factoring politics into things. Professor Lang was also in my team, so perhaps you want to ask him about it too."

"But why start teaching if you were an elite international auror?" asked Cassie.

"Hmmm… a few things. First of all, both of us were injured trying to capture a very dangerous enigma who is yet to be caught. We were not fit for service for at least six months at that time anyway. Secondly, we felt that the level of magical education amongst the youth was too low, so we wanted to contribute to the defensive front by ensuring that youngsters could protect themselves. Mixing this with the fact that schools like Hogwarts have unbelievable stores of information which we need for important research, we decided to take a step back from active field work."

"Who in the world would believe that?!" declared Terry Garland, whom Albus was starting to believe had a death wish. "If you really were so good why are you teaching Potions and not DADA?"

Professor Sevorian hardly seemed fazed, although he did look at Garland as if he were a particularly repugnant mosquito.

"Not a bad question, Mr Garland. You see, I wanted to apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, but I was outvoted by the governors. Let's see… hmmm… they said something like… "A Slytherin cannot teach Defense against the Dark Arts, or parents will become concerned for their child's safety."

There were cries of indignation from the Slytherin side, and even some of the Gryffindors looked uneasy (though not all of them).

"Settle down, class. I don't actually mind these days. You see, I am well-trained in the art of Potions, it is an entertaining subject to teach, and it also actually gives me quite a lot of free time to pursue the research I need to do. I also was allowed to teach at Duelling Club alongside the excellent Neville Longbottom, and besides, it took years for Professor Lang to even get accepted here. He had to teach at home, where they didn't really need him due to advanced wandless magic training atmosphere, for many years. Compared to what he, one of the most powerful in the world, had to deal with… a bit of job shuffling because of stupid directors is fine with me. Right, move along now!"

Albus wanted something, so he took a long time to pack up deliberately. His friends stayed with him.

"Mr Potter? Did you have a question?"

"Yes- if you don't mind sir. Did you ever work with my father?"

Sevorian smiled gruffly. "Yes, a few times. Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange were the first ones we captured together. He deserves his reputation, that is clear. He even tried to secure me the Defense post, but it was considered meddling as he was not a governor. -I've also worked with your father, Mr Malfoy."

Scorpius looked surprised. "My dad?"

"Yes, Draco Malfoy. He is a very skilled wizard with Pureblood understanding after all… so we have collaborated."

Albus nodded with Scorpius. "That is all, sir. Thank you."

"No problem. I shall see you for our appointment soon then, Mr Potter."

Albus had not forgotten, so he agreed.

"Oh, and, Mr Handa: you shouldn't be afraid to tell them- that much should be clear to you by now."

Ken's eyes widened briefly, before he nodded slowly and they left.

Fat chapter! Fat chapter!

My problems: plot is progressing too slowly. I need to stop writing 5k words on one lesson period! Sevorian is very important, though, as you can see. Also, the tenets of Anti-Slytherin discrimination are clear by now.