Chapter 6: The Potions Master
I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter
The next morning, Daisuke was down in the common room sitting with Hermione on one of the sofas by the fireplace. Demi-Veemon was sitting in her lap snoozing softly while Salem curled up beside her on the sofa.
Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs she turned and saw Harry and Ron walking down together, already dressed for the day, though both did look incredibly tired still.
"Good morning, Harry, did you sleep alright?" she asked, noticing the boy rubbing the sleep from his eyes while Ron yawned into his hand.
"Yeah…I think so." He answered with a small smile. "You guys waited for us?"
"Well of course we did." Daisuke answered. "Can't have my friends getting lost on their first day walking down to breakfast. Come on." She pulled him by the hand towards the portrait hole, Ron and Hermione following them.
"Are you sure bringing Demi-Veemon down to breakfast is a good idea?" Ron asked her, looking at the blue dragon on Daisuke's head who was still fast asleep.
"Of course. He's hungry and needs to eat something." She answered. "Once we finish eating, I'll bring him back to the common room since we'll need to grab our stuff for our lessons anyway." She then reasoned.
"Makes sense." Ron replied, shrugging his shoulders as the four walked down another flight of stairs. Ahead of them, they saw Neville on his own, the poor boy looking lost and close to a panic attack until he laid eyes on his housemates, a small, relieved smile coming to his face.
"Everything alright Neville?" Harry asked the boy with a shy smile, he spotted Trevor the toad poking his head out of Neville's pocket before the boy pushed him back down gently to stop him escaping.
"No, I'm lost. The stairs keep changing on me, sometimes I go up then down or wind up stuck with a door that's a wall pretending to be a door." The boy groaned.
"Stick with us then, it's our first day; we're bound to get flustered and overwhelmed by everything." Daisuke reassured him, the boy smiled at her, and they headed off down the stairs together.
Ron and Harry almost wandered down the wrong flight of stairs at one point, but Daisuke grabbed them by their robes and pulled them back onto the right path, and good thing too as they saw Mr Filch and Mrs Norris walk out of the door the two boys almost walked towards, the door which led to the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side.
Eventually, the children had made it to the Great Hall. They all took a sigh of relief as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table and began eating some breakfast. Daisuke looked around at the other tables seeing the students piling in, some sat alone, and others sat in small groups. She spotted Jun sitting further down the table beside Fred, George and Percy Weasley, her cousin laughing into her goblet of orange juice from a joke the twins had just told her.
"I wonder what lessons we'll have today." Hermione wondered as she buttered some toast. "I've read our textbooks cover to cover ever since I got them in Diagon Alley, so I should be ready for any questions the teachers have for us."
Ron and Harry shared a look as they ate their breakfast quietly. "I'm sure you will be Hermione, but I think this week will just be the teachers going over what we will learn this year." Daisuke told her.
Professor McGonagall began walking down the long Gryffindor table, handing each student their timetable and she soon reached them. "Here are your timetables, be sure to not lose them. I trust you all know being late to your classes will not be tolerated for long." She told them with a stern expression.
Ron and Harry nodded quickly as she held her eyes on the two of them for a moment longer before she nodded and continued handing the timetables to the other students at the table. They then began looking at their timetables and saw that they had Transfiguration first up that day, followed by History of Magic and then a double lesson of Charms. After lunch they had the rest of the day off to do their homework or to relax.
"Not a bad first day, kind of figured they wouldn't stack the whole day with lessons to give us a chance to take it all in." Daisuke muttered, Demi-Veemon nodded in agreement while Harry gulped audibly, his hand trembling as he looked at the timetable over and over.
He then jumped slightly as someone tapped his shoulder, he turned and saw Daisuke smiling at him reassuringly. "Don't worry, just do your best okay?"
He nodded and gave her a small smile. After finishing her breakfast, Daisuke picked up Demi-Veemon and smiled at the others. "See you guys back at the common room. Try not to stay here for too long, I don't think our teachers will appreciate us being late on the first day."
She then left the Great Hall, heading back up to Gryffindor Tower, as she walked up the flights of stairs, she spotted Professor Quirrell walking down the same stairs as her. "Good morning, Professor Quirrell." She greeted with a smile.
"Oh yes, good morning. Good morning." He stuttered, nervously tugging at his robes as he walked past of her. "Sorry, don't have time to chat, best be going."
Daisuke nodded and continued her way up to her house, Demi-Veemon holding onto her head as he looked down at her. "Are you sure I can't come with you to lessons?"
"Don't worry Vee, I won't be gone all day. I can still come up to visit you during lunch. Then after lessons are done for the day, I'll come straight back to tell you all about it." She reassured him.
"Promise?" he asked cutely, she giggled and nodded.
"I promise." She soon entered the common room and after checking on Salem and leaving Demi-Veemon on her bed with a few snacks for him and Salem to share, she grabbed the books she would need and hurried down the stairs, almost crashing into Ron and Harry.
"Watch it." The redheaded boy yelped, almost falling over if not for Harry catching him.
"Sorry." She said with an apologetic smile, stepping to the side she watched as her friends rushed up to their dorm room to grab their books as well and soon the three were off together.
"Transfiguration first yeah?" Ron asked, Harry nodded as he held up his timetable to the boy.
"Stick close to me guys, Jun told me where all the classrooms are during the holidays. I should know where to go." Daisuke told them as she led the duo out of the common room and after navigating the winding corridors of the castle, they had arrived at their first class.
They entered the Transfiguration classroom and saw that they were the first ones to arrive. "Seems we're too early, even Professor McGonagall isn't here." Ron muttered, sitting down at a desk with a bored huff. Daisuke sat beside him while Harry noticed the mangy old tabby cat sitting on the teacher's desk, he tilted his head and walked over to it.
"Kitty." He said, petting the cat's ears earning a few soft purrs from the creature as the other Gryffindor first years entered the classroom and took their seats. Daisuke giggled into her hand as Harry continued petting the cat before she coughed into her hand.
"Harry, you had better take your seat, we wouldn't want Professor McGonagall to walk in and see that you weren't seated." Harry looked at her and nodded before he sat down next to Hermione, the cat sitting on the teacher's desk looked at the class before jumping off and to the amazement of the class, turned into Professor McGonagall earning a few surprised gasps.
"That was bloody brilliant." Ron blurted out.
"Thank you for that assessment, Mr Weasley." The elderly witch said, her gaze then shifting to Harry who flushed and looked down at the desk avoiding her eyes. "Now then, Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." She lectured the students.
The lesson continued, the students finding out that Transfiguration was harder than they realised, Professor McGonagall had them all copy down the writing and formulas on the blackboard beside her desk. Once they had finished it, she took out her wand and demonstrated exactly what Transfiguration could do by turning her desk into a pig and then turning it back into a desk.
She then gave each student a matchstick, instructing them to try and turn it into a needle for the remainder of the lesson.
The first years took out their wands and began waving them around trying to turn the matchstick into a needle. Ron jabbed his wand against the match a few times, but nothing happened, a sharp crack and puff of smoke made everyone turn to see Seamus' face covered in soot and his matchstick on fire.
A few of the students giggled before Professor McGonagall gave them all a stern glare. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione and Daisuke had managed a slight change to their matchsticks earning them both a point for Gryffindor.
The next class the first year Gryffindor students had was History of Magic, as they sat down in the classroom, they all let out a surprised shout when a ghost floated through the blackboard. "Welcome…I am Professor Binns, your History of Magic teacher. Open your textbooks, we shall be going over Emeric the Evil today."
The class did as the professor instructed and soon the ghostly man floated up and down the classroom, droning on and on about the subject. Most of the Gryffindor first years were struggling to stay awake, Harry had already nodded off, resting his head on Daisuke's shoulder while Ron was using his books as a pillow. "It's almost as if he's reading it from the textbook." Daisuke thought, writing down a few notes to make it look like she was doing something.
Mercifully, the lesson soon ended. The students gathered their things and left the classroom as Binns floated back through the wall to do who knows what.
"That was so boring." Ron groaned as he walked with Daisuke and Harry to their next class.
"Agreed, I found myself struggling to remain awake by the end of the lesson. But on the bright side we now have Charms class." Daisuke chirped.
Harry and Ron nodded, the first years walked off down to the Charms classroom, once they had arrived the students all took their seats and noticed the teacher's desk had a large stack of books behind it. "Our professor must like reading." Harry mumbled, resting his head against Daisuke, the young boy still sleepy from Professor Binns' class.
The door to the teacher's office opened, the class then saw a diminutive professor walking out and he climbed onto the stack of books so he could look over his desk at the students. "Good afternoon class, welcome to your first Charms lesson. I am Professor Flitwick." He spoke in a polite yet squeaky voice.
"Good afternoon, Professor." The class responded. Professor Flitwick smiled and he picked up the class register and began listing off the names, when he came to Harry's name, he let out a squeak and fell backwards off the books causing a few students to giggle while Harry's ears began to burn red, he then tried to hide his face in embarrassment.
Once Professor Flitwick composed himself, he pulled himself back onto the books and began the lesson. He gave them a detailed description of Charms and the purpose of the class; he even gave a demonstration of a basic charm he called the Wand Lighting Charm. He flicked his wand and the shutters closed over the windows cloaking the room in darkness.
"Lumos." He whispered, slowly the tip of his wand lit up with a ball of light.
"Whoa…" the students gasped. Professor Flitwick then whispered something under his breath and the light from his wand flickered out, the shutters opened with another flick of his wand.
"Now then let us go over the basics of charm casting. Perhaps by the end of the lesson we'll see how well you do in casting the spell I just demonstrated." He told the class who were all excited to begin the lesson, they grabbed their textbooks and took notes as the professor went over the basics of casting charms.
Soon the two-hour lesson was coming to an end. "Now then, who here would like to give the wand lightning charm a try?" Professor Flitwick asked the class of first year Gryffindors with a smile. "Come now don't be shy."
Daisuke raised her hand, making the professor smile. "Ah, Miss Ainsworth, why don't you go first?" he asked the young witch.
"Yes Professor." Daisuke said, she took out her wand and took a calming breath before waving her wand. "Lumos." She whispered, the tip of her wand lighting up with a soft white light.
"Oh well done. Well done indeed Miss Ainsworth, two points to Gryffindor." Professor Flitwick said and the girl smiled brightly as Harry and Ron gave her a smile as well. "Now our next lesson will be this Wednesday afternoon, I hope to see you all there ready to continue your education." He then said and the class left the room and walked off.
"So, we don't have any more lessons today?" Harry asked softly, looking at his timetable he pulled out of his robes.
"That's right. Now let's grab some lunch in the Great Hall before doing some of the Transfiguration homework in the study hall." Daisuke said and the three friends walked off together.
The next day, Daisuke, Harry and Ron along with the other first year Gryffindors had their first Herbology lesson in one of the large greenhouses behind the castle. There they met Professor Sprout, a plump and delightful elderly woman who had them all put on some coats and their dragon hide gloves and taught them how to care for some magical plants that were safe and easy to manage for first year students.
Afterwards, they had their first double lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Once they had entered the classroom, the pungent odour of garlic assaulted their senses. Professor Quirrell had told them it was to ward off a vampire he had dealt with in Romania that he thought would come back for him one day, the poor man jumped a foot in the air when Seamus asked him how he dealt with the vampire the first time.
The lesson was interesting, though Professor Quirrell's stuttering and fidgeting with his turban made taking notes difficult at first. Daisuke and Harry felt sorry for the poor man who feared his own shadow it seemed.
They also had Astronomy that Wednesday at midnight, Harry and Daisuke were walking down some corridors searching for the classroom when they came to a forked corridor that led three directions. "We're lost." Harry pointed out, holding Daisuke's sleeve shyly.
"I can see that." She said with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find our way in a moment. We just need to catch our bearings." She looked at the three corridors which all seemed the same, raising an eyebrow she tried to think of a way to go before she felt a faint tingle in her head, some sort of gut feeling telling her to walk down the left-hand corridor.
"Come on. This way." She said, gripping Harry's hand and the two walked off. A few moments later they caught sight of the rest of the first years following Professor Sinistra who noticed the two students.
"Miss Ainsworth, Mr Potter, keep up. You don't want to be wandering off in the castle at night." The dark-skinned witch told the two students with a kind smile who nodded and fell in line behind Ron and Neville.
Their astronomy lesson entailed them using their telescopes to chart the night skies and look at the planets and constellations. Harry yawned into his hand and felt himself nodding off, his head resting on Daisuke's shoulder making her smile gently.
Finally, it was Friday morning and a mentally and physically exhausted Harry trudged into the Great Hall, and he sat down at the Gryffindor table beside Ron and Daisuke. "Tired huh?" Daisuke asked with a kind smile.
"Hn." He huffed, resting his head on one hand before he buttered his toast and munched on it quietly.
"I wish we could sleep in, but we've got double potions with the Slytherins first thing. I heard Professor Snape favours his house a lot." Ron grumbled.
"I wish Professor McGonagall favoured us." Harry muttered, they had received a mountain of homework their previous Transfiguration lesson and they had yet to finish all of it.
"Now now, Jun told me that if you show competence and don't cause trouble, he'll be tolerable of you." Daisuke told them.
"We're doomed then." Ron huffed.
A hooting sound made the trio look up to see Hedwig flying through one of the holes in the ceiling that allowed the owls to enter and exit the Great Hall when delivering mail. The snowy white owl flew the length of the Gryffindor table before landing in front of Harry, hooting softly at the boy.
"Hey Hedwig." Harry said with a smile, handing the owl some bacon which she ate happily before preening against the boy's ear nipping it gently with her beak.
"She has a letter." Ron said, noticing the tied-up note to the owl's leg.
Harry removed the note from her leg and read it quickly and his expression brightened. "It's from Hagrid." He whispered.
"Really, what's it say?" Daisuke asked while Demi-Veemon, who was sitting in her lap, jumped onto the table and sniffed Hedwig, the white owl hooting at the Digimon softly.
"He's asking if I wanted to come down to his hut after class for some tea, he said I could bring a few friends if they wanted to come." Harry answered, looking at Daisuke and Ron with a hopeful expression.
"Sure thing, no harm in getting some fresh air." Daisuke said. "What do you think Ron?"
"Beats doing homework." Ron answered with a grin. Harry smiled and quickly wrote a reply on the back of the note before tying it to Hedwig's leg and the white owl flew off out of the Great Hall.
The Potions class was held in the dungeons of the castle, Harry felt a pit of dread forming in his stomach when he thought about how Professor Snape had been looking at him during the welcoming feast and how his scar had started hurting.
They entered the classroom to see the Slytherin students were already seated at a few of the tables in the classroom as well as some of the other Gryffindors. Draco Malfoy looked over at them with a haughty smirk as he sat beside Crabbe and Goyle, the two dunderheads cracking their knuckles trying to look scary.
Ron sat beside Seamus and Neville sat with Hermione, the bushy haired girl already with her Potions textbook out and her nose buried in the book. Daisuke and Harry sat down at the last available table which was at the front of the classroom.
"Don't worry Harry, just concentrate and don't let Professor Snape get to you." Daisuke told her friend softly while taking out her parchment, quill, and ink bottle.
"Right." He replied, opening his textbook, he skimmed through it until the door to the classroom swung open and Professor Snape walked in, his black cloak billowing out behind him, and the class fell silent.
Like Professor Flitwick had done before, Professor Snape paused when he came to Harry's name on the register. "Harry Potter…our new celebrity." He said softly, Harry looking down at his parchment avoiding the Professor's stare as he finished the register and stood in front of the class.
"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to understand the subtle science and exact art that is potion making, however for those select few who possess the predisposition." he said, his eyes drifting to Malfoy and then to Daisuke both students who glanced at one another for a moment before turning their full attention back to him. "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."
"Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry looked up from the notes he was taking and looked directly at the Professor. "Well?"
Harry racked his brain, trying to remember the answer, he knew he had seen it before in one of his textbooks but alas he sighed deeply. "I don't know sir."
"Clearly, fame isn't everything." Professor Snape said with a sneer before he turned his attention to Daisuke. "Ainsworth, where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" he asked the young girl.
"You would find it in the stomach of a goat sir." She answered.
"And what would you say it's properties are?" Professor Snape asked again.
"A bezoar can save you from most poisons." She answered with a small smile.
"At least one of you is prepared. A point to Gryffindor." The professor said with a reluctant tone, turning his back to the class as he walked to the blackboard, Harry quickly scribbled the notes down on his parchment as Professor Snape spoke again without facing the class. "Mr Malfoy, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"Nothing sir. They are the same plant." Draco answered with a smug smirk.
"Correct, five points to Slytherin." Professor Snape said. "As for my first question, combining the two ingredients would create a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living Death." He told the class. "Now open your textbooks, prepare to brew the Cure for Boils potion."
The students got to work and soon the classroom was filled with the sounds of bubbling cauldrons and ingredients being prepared. Daisuke weighed the dried nettles while Harry crushed the snake fangs with the mortar and pestle. Professor Snape walked around the classroom, examining each pair's potions. Some earned a light grunt before the Professor walked off, Crabbe and Goyle's potion made the professor mutter a light prayer under his breath before he came to Daisuke and Harry's potion.
Harry gulped softly before he looked up at the Professor who was observing the potion as it bubbled before he turned to stare directly at Harry making the boy look away. "Seems Miss Ainsworth shares her sister's potion skills. Another point to Gryffindor." He muttered.
By the end of the class, Daisuke and Harry were happy with how their potion had turned out before a hissing sound came from Ron and Seamus' cauldron which was belching acid green smoke, this was followed by a putrid smell that caused Harry's stomach to twist and turn.
Professor Snape strode over and with a flick of his wand dispelled the smoke and smell. He then noticed some of the potion had splashed onto Neville's arms causing nasty, red boils to sprout all over his arms making the pudgy boy whimper in pain. "Potter, escort Mr Longbottom to the hospital wing. Miss Ainsworth help Mr Weasley and Mr Finnigan clean up this mess. The rest of you, empty your cauldrons and get out!" he barked to the rest of the class.
Harry packed his things and nodded to Ron and Daisuke before helping Neville out of the classroom, Daisuke emptied her cauldron before packing her things and then she walked over to Ron and Seamus and began helping them clean.
"Stupid…" Ron grumbled, using a rag to clean the desk with Seamus while Daisuke handled the cauldron.
"It's alright. This was our first lesson; it will take time to get good at potions. I can help." Daisuke told her friend with a smile. "Plus, my sister tutors on Sundays for those who want help with potions. So, what do you say?"
"Maybe." Ron replied and soon they had finished cleaning up the mess and left the classroom and walked out of the dungeons heading up to the Common Room.
Along the way there, they bumped into Harry who had left Neville in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey. "Is Neville going to be okay?" Daisuke asked her friend.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey said he'll be fine soon. She just wants to keep an eye on him for a while." He answered. "So, are we going to Hagrid's now?"
"Of course, just let me fetch Demi-Veemon. I'm sure he'll love to be out of the Common Room for a while." Daisuke answered. Once they reached the common room, Daisuke walked in through the portrait hole and quickly returned with Demi-Veemon in her arms, the small dragon smiling at Harry and Ron. "Come on, to Hagrid's."
Her friends nodded and soon they were walking down to Hagrid's cabin, a small wooden house at the edge of the forest. They arrived and Harry knocked on the door a few times and jumped back at the sound of a loud dog barking. "Back Fang, get back!" they heard Hagrid's booming voice command the dog before the door slowly opened to show the gamekeeper holding the collar of a large black boarhound.
Harry, Ron, and Daisuke looked at the giant dog in worry before Hagrid smiled at them. "Don't mind him. Fang's harmless, see?" he let go of the dog's collar to prove his point. Fang then walked over to Daisuke and immediately began to lick her cheeks and face, despite her efforts to push the dog away and Demi-Veemon groaning as the dog managed to lick him as well.
Harry entered the cabin first and saw a large comfy bed in the corner with a squashed armchair beside the fireplace and several chairs around a small table. "Come in, come in. I just put on a pot of tea." Hagrid told them, whistling sharply causing Fang to follow him back inside.
"Blech…" Daisuke groaned, wiping herself clean of dog slobber with her sleeve ignoring Ron's chuckling as both sat down beside Harry at the table.
Hagrid handed them a plate of rock cakes and being polite they each took one. They instantly regretted it as Harry was the first to find out when he took a bite, he pulled back and rubbed his mouth and saw he had not been able to bite into the hard baked treat, looking to Daisuke and Ron he saw they also had similar luck with Demi-Veemon chomping on the rock cake in Daisuke's hand only to stop after a while and whine softly rubbing his cheeks in pain.
"So how has your first week of school been?" Hagrid asked them, pouring three large cups of tea which they took and slowly began to drink as the three told him about their first week.
"And Professor Snape seemed to really hate me." Harry said as he finished going over the lesson from the morning.
"Codswallop, now why would Professor Snape hate you, he's only known ya for about a week." Hagrid replied, shaking his head as he sat down in the armchair with his own cup of tea.
"He's got a point." Daisuke said softly. "Maybe with time Professor Snape will warm up to you Harry."
Harry nodded slightly as they stayed at Hagrid's cabin for a while, drinking their tea and chatting with the gamekeeper before they noticed the sun beginning to set through the window. "Blimey, you lot had better be getting back to the castle."
"Got it, thanks for the tea, Hagrid. We'll see you around." Harry said with a smile before the trio headed off back to the castle.
"That was nice, we should go back sometime." Daisuke told her friends with a smile.
"As long as he doesn't make any more of those rock cakes." Ron muttered. "My teeth are still sore." He grumbled, rubbing his jaw as Harry, Daisuke and Demi-Veemon giggled.
The end of the chapter
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