JKR owns the people and places...I own Karista and the dream
Chapter 16: The Potions experiment
Karista awoke to find it cold. It had been at least two weeks since she had kissed Harry on the cheek. She couldn't help but think of him at the most awkward of moments, including since he was a babe, in her opinion.
"Potions today," Karista said, gingerly petting Petrey on the head, as he had just come down into the great hall to pay her a visit without a letter. "Any suggestions on how to tell the poor guy that I don't feel well?"
"What's wrong?" asked Lavender, who was still reading a note that Dean had sent her.
"Nothing. I just don't feel like slaving over another 'complex' potion like he always makes me do," she said, feeding Petrey a rind from her bacon. "Not only that, I don't want to catch Malfoy looking at me like a puppy dog that has been hit by someone."
"Don't worry about him," Harry muttered, losing sleep again because he had done his potions homework all night last night. "He just doesn't get things like normal people."
Hermione and Ron were still silently whispering. Every once in a while, Hermione would start giggling as Ron buried his head in her shoulder; they weren't much for conversation lately, including with holidays approaching rapidly.
"You know, I bet if we sang him another song-," Fred goggled.
"Yeah, a nice slow one-," George countered.
"Maybe even a blow-up doll to dance with-," Fred sniggered, glancing sideways at Snape at the staff table.
"Even Malfoy would do-," George chuckled, spooning more porridge in his mouth.
"Yeah, that would be brilliant," Jordan Lee said, his eyes glazing over as if he had another bright idea. "Stun Malfoy and put a wig on him, and doll him up a bit-."
"Jordan, I swear, you are smoking some bad stuff over there," Harry sniggered, chomping into his toast.
"No, think about it," Jordan said, laughing harder now. "Oh, it would be so cool!"
"I say we do it," Fred whispered, George and Jordan leaning in for more details. "The stupid git would pee his pants!"
"I say, we let them do whatever they want and grab our books," Karista murmured in Harry's ear while getting up from the table. "Happy planning, boys!"
Fred, George and Jordan gave them a mischievous grin and went back to planning. Ron and Hermione jumped up to follow them as they left for their common room.
***
"Today we will be working on a special transfiguration potion. All of you will be doing an animal transfiguration potion while Miss Flannigan will be doing the human transfiguration potion," Snape boomed through the dungeon, making the already freezing room become colder. "Get to work!"
Karista followed Snape into his private storage room to get the ingredients for her potion.
"I am extremely curious to find out how you got so good at potion making," Snape said, reaching up on a particularly high shelf to pull down a bottle of frog tongues.
"I like cooking if that helps," Karista muttered, looking around for the pickled lizard brains.
"Cooking doesn't mean anything when it comes to potions," Snape muttered, scooping a tongue onto a plate. "It is more complex."
"I think you would be surprised how much cooking is like making a potion. It's is almost like capturing someone's soul in food."
Snape turned to look at her. No one had said anything like that before to him. He studied her closely as she took a pair of tongs of the wall to snatch a fairly good-sized brain out of the jar of lizard brains.
"What do you mean by that?" Snape asked crudely.
"Well, think about it…I mean, you have to use fresh ingredients in order to get the best results in most recipes, the temperature does count for something. If it cooks too long, it becomes over prepared. To short, under prepaired. Color, presentation and smell are also big factors," She said, using one breath. She looked straight into his eyes as she said this. None of his students talked to him this way, even the Slytherins. They always looked down or away. They didn't even question him, most of the time.
"I guess you do have somewhat of a point there, Ms. Flannigan," Snape murmured, getting out powdered root cans.
"I wouldn't keep those in cans if I were you," Karista started, becoming reproachful at Snape's cold look.
"Why would that be?" He snapped, unhinging the tin and taking out a spoon.
"Oxidizes the roots quicker. They won't be fresh for very long," She murmured, hoping to not upset him.
"Well, then what would you suggest?" Snape said, becoming angry, or so she thought.
"Porcelain, ceramic, something like that," she said quickly, looking around for rat spleens.
"hmph," was all Snape said as they went back out into the classroom. She noticed Malfoy watching her carefully, a mysterious half smile on his face. It was for the first time that she noticed Pansy Parkinson was sneering at her, much like the same face Snape had given her when she commented on the type of canisters he used to house his potions.
"You may begin, Miss Flannigan," Snape snapped as he walked away. She slowly lit the fire under her cauldron and poured distilled water into the cauldron.
"Too bad she is too ugly to realize that she cannot do anything," Pansy was saying to her ugly group of Slytherin girls. They were laughing and giggling at Karista as she slowly dumped the plate of porcupine quills into the potion. "She isn't welcome at Hogwarts. Why can't she go back to New York to her daddy-kins."
Karista could feel herself going red. The anger was starting to build into her face, she could feel it.
"It's alright, Karista, ignore her," Lavender murmured over her cauldron. Parvati, Seamus and Hermione were casting worried glances at her while Harry and Ron were silently fuming.
"Pansy, relax," Malfoy drawled, sounding half-angry.
"Oh no…not now, not when it's just getting interesting. I heard her mother disowned her when she was born because she was hideous."
All the Gryffindors knew immediately that she had gone too far. Karista now stood straight as a board, her violet eyes now twinkling furiously. Hermione and Lavender took shelter behind their cauldron as Harry and Ron waited for the explosion, but it didn't come, or at least in the form that they expected.
"Your mama is so fat, I had to take a train and two busses just to get on her good side," Karista said, turning and smirking at Pansy. Immediately, the Gryffindor side of the room was rolling with laughter. Even some of the Slytherins were chuckling, including Malfoy. Pansy however, looked like she'd just been slapped.
"How…How…how dare you!" she stuttered, a horrified look in her eyes.
"Oh yeah?" karista said, ready for another strike. "Your mama is so fat, they had to grease a door frame and hold a Twinkie on the other side to get her through."
The Gryffindors were crying, trying not to laugh. Dean banged his head on the desk just as Harry fell to the floor with laughter. Ron was shaking violently with a bout of laughter.
"w-w-what?" Pansy was shaking. Everyone knew she was about to cry.
"Next time you choose to talk about someone else's mother, who just happened to die," Karista spoke clearly and coldly. "Think before you speak, or you might cut your own tongue."
Snape, who had heard the whole thing did nothing and shook his head. Karista was now regaining the color back to her face, and wore a weak yet peaceful smile. As soon as the bell rang for class to end, Snape held Karista back.
"I wish to speak to you about today's…er…incident," he said with a cold smirk on his face. "Come with me."
"He's worth two detentions for insulting a Slytherin, Karista," Harry said as he quietly left. "I'll wait for you outside."
"Okay," she said happily, putting all her books into her bag and approaching his desk. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. Why didn't you use magic to deal with Ms. Parkinson?" Snape asked, a shrewd look on his face. Was this a joke?
"I never use my wand unless I absolutely have to, and besides that, it would be a shame not to use my prized yo mama joke in this situation," she said, unable to control a fit of laughter coming on.
"I must say, no matter how much I may try and 'favor' the Slytherins, I am impressed by your control in such a situation. You may leave," Snape muttered, going back to reading the homework scrolls that he had collected that day.
"Thank you, professor," Karista said, walking swiftly out of the dungeon to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were waiting for her.
"THAT WAS EXCELLENT!" Ron shrieked as they climbed up the stairs towards transfiguration. "BRILLIANT!"
"How many detentions did he give you?" Harry asked, a smile on his face from ear to ear.
"None, just a commendation about my handling of the situation and an applause for my yo mama joke."
Hermione, Harry and Ron stood shocked in the corridor outside professor McGonagall's room.
"He didn't even yell at you?" Hermione asked quizzically as they sat down in the back of the classroom. "Not even a word of hate?"
"Nope. I think he has taken to 'befriending' me," she said, sitting at her desk amidst the applause of her fellow Gryffindors.
"What are you all clapping at?" Professor McGonagall stood sternly behind her desk, hands on her hips.
"She told of Pansy Parkinson in potions with a yo mama joke and Professor Snape didn't even take points off, let alone give her a detention," Seamus grinned, taking out his book.
"Impressive, Miss Flannigan. Few wizards know not how to use their mouths in a fight rather than fists or wands." Her eyes flashed over Harry and Ron who were blushing.
"Now, we are discussing Transfiguration of solid objects into pets. Might I introduce Quinton, Miss Flannigan's flawless transfiguration of her History of Magic book."
The whole class ooed and awed at a cute little kitten sat on the Professor's cat. Karista couldn't help but grin. The day was beautiful.
Chapter 16: The Potions experiment
Karista awoke to find it cold. It had been at least two weeks since she had kissed Harry on the cheek. She couldn't help but think of him at the most awkward of moments, including since he was a babe, in her opinion.
"Potions today," Karista said, gingerly petting Petrey on the head, as he had just come down into the great hall to pay her a visit without a letter. "Any suggestions on how to tell the poor guy that I don't feel well?"
"What's wrong?" asked Lavender, who was still reading a note that Dean had sent her.
"Nothing. I just don't feel like slaving over another 'complex' potion like he always makes me do," she said, feeding Petrey a rind from her bacon. "Not only that, I don't want to catch Malfoy looking at me like a puppy dog that has been hit by someone."
"Don't worry about him," Harry muttered, losing sleep again because he had done his potions homework all night last night. "He just doesn't get things like normal people."
Hermione and Ron were still silently whispering. Every once in a while, Hermione would start giggling as Ron buried his head in her shoulder; they weren't much for conversation lately, including with holidays approaching rapidly.
"You know, I bet if we sang him another song-," Fred goggled.
"Yeah, a nice slow one-," George countered.
"Maybe even a blow-up doll to dance with-," Fred sniggered, glancing sideways at Snape at the staff table.
"Even Malfoy would do-," George chuckled, spooning more porridge in his mouth.
"Yeah, that would be brilliant," Jordan Lee said, his eyes glazing over as if he had another bright idea. "Stun Malfoy and put a wig on him, and doll him up a bit-."
"Jordan, I swear, you are smoking some bad stuff over there," Harry sniggered, chomping into his toast.
"No, think about it," Jordan said, laughing harder now. "Oh, it would be so cool!"
"I say we do it," Fred whispered, George and Jordan leaning in for more details. "The stupid git would pee his pants!"
"I say, we let them do whatever they want and grab our books," Karista murmured in Harry's ear while getting up from the table. "Happy planning, boys!"
Fred, George and Jordan gave them a mischievous grin and went back to planning. Ron and Hermione jumped up to follow them as they left for their common room.
***
"Today we will be working on a special transfiguration potion. All of you will be doing an animal transfiguration potion while Miss Flannigan will be doing the human transfiguration potion," Snape boomed through the dungeon, making the already freezing room become colder. "Get to work!"
Karista followed Snape into his private storage room to get the ingredients for her potion.
"I am extremely curious to find out how you got so good at potion making," Snape said, reaching up on a particularly high shelf to pull down a bottle of frog tongues.
"I like cooking if that helps," Karista muttered, looking around for the pickled lizard brains.
"Cooking doesn't mean anything when it comes to potions," Snape muttered, scooping a tongue onto a plate. "It is more complex."
"I think you would be surprised how much cooking is like making a potion. It's is almost like capturing someone's soul in food."
Snape turned to look at her. No one had said anything like that before to him. He studied her closely as she took a pair of tongs of the wall to snatch a fairly good-sized brain out of the jar of lizard brains.
"What do you mean by that?" Snape asked crudely.
"Well, think about it…I mean, you have to use fresh ingredients in order to get the best results in most recipes, the temperature does count for something. If it cooks too long, it becomes over prepared. To short, under prepaired. Color, presentation and smell are also big factors," She said, using one breath. She looked straight into his eyes as she said this. None of his students talked to him this way, even the Slytherins. They always looked down or away. They didn't even question him, most of the time.
"I guess you do have somewhat of a point there, Ms. Flannigan," Snape murmured, getting out powdered root cans.
"I wouldn't keep those in cans if I were you," Karista started, becoming reproachful at Snape's cold look.
"Why would that be?" He snapped, unhinging the tin and taking out a spoon.
"Oxidizes the roots quicker. They won't be fresh for very long," She murmured, hoping to not upset him.
"Well, then what would you suggest?" Snape said, becoming angry, or so she thought.
"Porcelain, ceramic, something like that," she said quickly, looking around for rat spleens.
"hmph," was all Snape said as they went back out into the classroom. She noticed Malfoy watching her carefully, a mysterious half smile on his face. It was for the first time that she noticed Pansy Parkinson was sneering at her, much like the same face Snape had given her when she commented on the type of canisters he used to house his potions.
"You may begin, Miss Flannigan," Snape snapped as he walked away. She slowly lit the fire under her cauldron and poured distilled water into the cauldron.
"Too bad she is too ugly to realize that she cannot do anything," Pansy was saying to her ugly group of Slytherin girls. They were laughing and giggling at Karista as she slowly dumped the plate of porcupine quills into the potion. "She isn't welcome at Hogwarts. Why can't she go back to New York to her daddy-kins."
Karista could feel herself going red. The anger was starting to build into her face, she could feel it.
"It's alright, Karista, ignore her," Lavender murmured over her cauldron. Parvati, Seamus and Hermione were casting worried glances at her while Harry and Ron were silently fuming.
"Pansy, relax," Malfoy drawled, sounding half-angry.
"Oh no…not now, not when it's just getting interesting. I heard her mother disowned her when she was born because she was hideous."
All the Gryffindors knew immediately that she had gone too far. Karista now stood straight as a board, her violet eyes now twinkling furiously. Hermione and Lavender took shelter behind their cauldron as Harry and Ron waited for the explosion, but it didn't come, or at least in the form that they expected.
"Your mama is so fat, I had to take a train and two busses just to get on her good side," Karista said, turning and smirking at Pansy. Immediately, the Gryffindor side of the room was rolling with laughter. Even some of the Slytherins were chuckling, including Malfoy. Pansy however, looked like she'd just been slapped.
"How…How…how dare you!" she stuttered, a horrified look in her eyes.
"Oh yeah?" karista said, ready for another strike. "Your mama is so fat, they had to grease a door frame and hold a Twinkie on the other side to get her through."
The Gryffindors were crying, trying not to laugh. Dean banged his head on the desk just as Harry fell to the floor with laughter. Ron was shaking violently with a bout of laughter.
"w-w-what?" Pansy was shaking. Everyone knew she was about to cry.
"Next time you choose to talk about someone else's mother, who just happened to die," Karista spoke clearly and coldly. "Think before you speak, or you might cut your own tongue."
Snape, who had heard the whole thing did nothing and shook his head. Karista was now regaining the color back to her face, and wore a weak yet peaceful smile. As soon as the bell rang for class to end, Snape held Karista back.
"I wish to speak to you about today's…er…incident," he said with a cold smirk on his face. "Come with me."
"He's worth two detentions for insulting a Slytherin, Karista," Harry said as he quietly left. "I'll wait for you outside."
"Okay," she said happily, putting all her books into her bag and approaching his desk. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. Why didn't you use magic to deal with Ms. Parkinson?" Snape asked, a shrewd look on his face. Was this a joke?
"I never use my wand unless I absolutely have to, and besides that, it would be a shame not to use my prized yo mama joke in this situation," she said, unable to control a fit of laughter coming on.
"I must say, no matter how much I may try and 'favor' the Slytherins, I am impressed by your control in such a situation. You may leave," Snape muttered, going back to reading the homework scrolls that he had collected that day.
"Thank you, professor," Karista said, walking swiftly out of the dungeon to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were waiting for her.
"THAT WAS EXCELLENT!" Ron shrieked as they climbed up the stairs towards transfiguration. "BRILLIANT!"
"How many detentions did he give you?" Harry asked, a smile on his face from ear to ear.
"None, just a commendation about my handling of the situation and an applause for my yo mama joke."
Hermione, Harry and Ron stood shocked in the corridor outside professor McGonagall's room.
"He didn't even yell at you?" Hermione asked quizzically as they sat down in the back of the classroom. "Not even a word of hate?"
"Nope. I think he has taken to 'befriending' me," she said, sitting at her desk amidst the applause of her fellow Gryffindors.
"What are you all clapping at?" Professor McGonagall stood sternly behind her desk, hands on her hips.
"She told of Pansy Parkinson in potions with a yo mama joke and Professor Snape didn't even take points off, let alone give her a detention," Seamus grinned, taking out his book.
"Impressive, Miss Flannigan. Few wizards know not how to use their mouths in a fight rather than fists or wands." Her eyes flashed over Harry and Ron who were blushing.
"Now, we are discussing Transfiguration of solid objects into pets. Might I introduce Quinton, Miss Flannigan's flawless transfiguration of her History of Magic book."
The whole class ooed and awed at a cute little kitten sat on the Professor's cat. Karista couldn't help but grin. The day was beautiful.