Chapter 9 – The Potions Class

Damien woke the next morning, earlier than yesterday, and went downstairs to find not many people up yet. He exited the common room to have an early breakfast. He saw that the girl, Hermione, was there already eating and doing some work.

"I see you work a lot," Damien said to her. She turned crimson.

"I guess I do," she said.

"But why?" Damien said. Her shade turned back to regular and she turned up to look at him.

"Why what?"

"Why do you work so much?" Hermione thought about it for a moment. She had never given much thought to why she did so much work.

"I guess it's just what I do," she said, smiling. Damien smiled back at her and took up a piece of bacon into his mouth. "Harry and Ron don't understand that well."

"Personally, I don't understand it either." Hermione looked up at him, not sure how to look. "But I guess I respect it." She then turned crimson again.

"Thank you." He grinned at her. "No Problem."

As the Great Hall started to fill the chatter greatened. By the time everyone had finished breakfast, it was almost time for their first period of the day, Herbology. As the students flooded into the room, Damien and Neville took their seats near the front of the room. Professor Sprout, a brownish-grey-haired witch, entered the room almost near the end of the students coming in.

"Welcome to another year of Herbology. As you know, I am Professor Sprout. Now let's start. Today we will learn to care for Hydroclemius Deromitus, commonly known as Water Weeds. These Water Weeds are important for most internal injuries. They aren't commonly cared for, which gives their rarity a factor. Can anyone tell me the reason for this?" Hermione's hand immediately shot up. "Ms. Granger?"

"Because they squirt venomous liquids at all that come near them," Hermione said clearly.

"Very good, Ms. Granger. Take 10 points." Hermione beamed. "Now can anyone tell me how you extract the venomous liquid?" Hermione again shot her hand up. "Ms. Granger?"

"I think you pull one of its leaves and it will come out of the bottom?" Hermione said in an unsure tone. Sprout sighed.

"Very good, Ms. Granger, but not entirely correct. Take 5 points though." Hermione shrugged and but still looked up. "You do pull one of its leaves, but not just any leaf. The purple leaf is the one you pull, and the venomous liquid will pour out from that leaf. It is important not to forget that. If the wrong leaf is pulled it could result in the plant shooting that liquid all across the room and damaging everything in its path.

"Now could all of you please move into groups of three to the many tables already situated. Put on the protective wear waiting for you at the tables. We don't want these plants causing an epidemic. Harry, Ron and Hermione paired off for one table. Damien, Neville, and Dean Thomas went for another. In a few minutes, the tables were set and everyone had their protective gear on. When Professor Sprout saw this, she told everyone to begin.

Damien was closest to the purple leaf at his table. He slowly pulled it down, leaving Dean to steady the plant and Neville to hold out a cup for the liquid. When Damien had finished, an orange liquid oozed down the purple leaf of the plant. Neville quivered impatiently, but he got it all.

Once the liquid was taken up and given to Professor Sprout, she told them to fertilize and water the plant. Dean quickly got some plant food and a pitcher of water. Neville took some of the fertilizer and threw a pinch into the spout of the large bulb-like part of the plant. The plant's purple leaf quickly came back upward. It moved around for a moment then settled down. Damien poured a little water on the bulb of the plant. The plant made a gargling type sound then ruffled it's leaves.

Suddenly, the class broke out in screams as one of the Water Weeds started to spray the liquid it contained all over the classroom. Professor Sprout immediately went over to the plant and curled up one of its leaves, making the plant calm. Sprout looked down at the three people at the station.

"Finnigan, Finch-Fletchey, Brown," Sprout said, looking at the two boys and a girl standing by the table. All of their protective gear had been splotched with the liquid. Sprout sighed. "Go get yourselves cleaned up. And please try to do it well the second time." All three of them moved quickly and back to their station. Through the end of the class, they didn't mess up once.

At the end of class, everyone left the Herbology greenhouse, heading their separate ways. Damien and Neville both headed back into the castle, up a few staircases and downa few hallways to the Charms classroom.

*****

Harry, Ron, and Hermione now headed for the Charms classroom, where the class was filling up. They were pretty shaken up from last period's "accident" but prepared to work. They sat near the back of the room, almost as Professor Flitwick started.

"Welcome, class, welcome. I am Professor Flitwick. Now let us begin. Today we will focus on the spell of confusion, Confoundus. It is used many times on Muggles for short times to redo their memories if any come in contact with the wizarding world. It is a simple yet hard spell to do." Ron looked over to Hermione as she brushed her hair back. It probably wasn't going to be a problem for her. She always knew what she was doing. Or so she acted like it.

"Now I'd like you to pick a partner to practice Confoundus and don't worry, it wares off in a few minutes at your power." With that, people started picking partners. Ron looked over at Damien and Neville who immediately picked each other to practice it on. Maybe Harry was right about them. They did seem to become fast friends. Maybe even faster than Harry and he. But that wasn't what he should have been thinking about now. He and Harry quickly paired up and tried out the Confoundus spell.

The first time Harry had tried it on Ron, Ron lost complete train of thought as couldn't think straight, as if he were suddenly just turned dumb and sleepy. After a minute or two, Ron returned to normal. Then it was Harry's turn to get "Confounded." Ron casted the spell at Harry, who stood waiting for it. Ron watched as Harry swayed around as if drunk for a moment. Ron chuckled at the sight of him. Harry woke from his "trance" only seeing Ron laughing away to which he rolled his eyes.

They practiced the spell until the end of class. Ron figured that he had had more laughs than Harry but wouldn't admit it. All of them, refueled at lunch with some tasty sandwiches and such. They would need it when they got to their next class, Potions.

*****

They walked down the crowded hallway and finally got to the entrance to the Dungeons. As Damien and Neville were about to enter someone pushed them out of their way.

"Move it," said Draco as he pushed past them. Damien took him by his collar and pulled him back. "Exactly who do you think you are handling me like that?"

"Who do you think? You don't push past people, Darco. It's rude," Damien said to his face. Draco looked infuriated.

"You'll pay soon enough, you yank," Draco said with vigor. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to Potions class." Draco put up his chin and stomped down the stairs. That Darco Malfoy made him so mad that he wouldn't mind changing his head into a toad or something of the sort. And what did he mean by soon enough. Something didn't sound right.

"Malfoy always means what he says," Neville said weakly. Damien didn't even flinch.

"That Darco doesn't scare me." Neville looked at Damien in a strange way but Damien calmed down.

When Damien finally collected himself, he went down the stairs with Neville. They went down the long hallway and up to the Potions class door. They entered to be stared at by half the class. The man in dark robes at the front with the crooked nose came up to them with a stern look on his face.

"You're late," he said to them in a low tone. Damien looked surprised.

"The bell hasn't rang yet, we're not late," Damien said to him. Just then, the bell rang.

"Now you are. 5 house points from Gryffindor for being tardy." Damien looked really surprised, but just then two kids came in behind them. He noticed them as the two goons that followed Draco. Snape nodded at them and they took their seats. "Now please take your seats."

"Aren't you going to take house points from them? They came in after us." Snape only looked at him.

"Please take your seats!" Snape repeated. Damien was about to argue more but Neville tapped him on his shoulder and shook his head. Damien closed his mouth but glared at Snape. He was just plain mean, unless you happened to be a Slytherin. As they took their seats up front, he could hear muffled chuckles from a few people down. No one other than Darco Malfoy. Now Damien had a real hatred of Malfoy.

"Unless I will be interrupted further, I will begin. I am Professor Snape, your Potions teacher. You should already know enough about this class, so we will begin immediately with conjuring the Temperbreath Potion. Your materials are on the tables in front of you. I expect you to be finished in half an hour. Begin." With that, all of the cauldrons started moving around. In a few minutes, everyone had started on their potions.

"You don't want to go getting on Snape's bad side," Neville whispered. "He's a really mean guy. Won't let up on me."

"I guess I sort off got us into this. Sorry," Damien said and turned back to the potion at hand.

"Sorry in advance if we fail this potion. I'm not too keen on this class," Neville said with a shrug.

"Don't worry, I'm not too good either, so it will be both our faults if we fail it," Damien said with a chuckle. Snape's eyes turned to him immediately.

"Quiet Finch! Others are working," Snape said quickly. Damien glared back at him.

"I don't think I'm gonna pass this class," Damien whispered. "I'm gonna be too involved in taking Snape's head and turning it into a chipmunk. Neville made a muffled laugh. After that, they worked harder and harder on their Temperbreath Potion. To his surprise, Damien remembered most of the directions to making it, although near the end he was stumped.

"What was it again? Do you grind the beetle eyes or throw them straight into the potion?" Damien asked Neville. Neville shrugged.

"I don't know, just do what comes to mind first. And Snape's really strict so go with what really comes to mind first." Damien sighed. He'd never been good at Potions and to have such a strict teacher just made it worse. Well, he'd gotten through much of his Potions classes before on luck, maybe this one would work. When they finally finished neither of them wanted to test it to see how good it was. Damien then saw a rat pass their table and he picked it up. It squirmed in his hand and he put it on the desk. He made sure Snape wasn't looking and got a spoon. He took a bit of the potion into it and fed it to the rat.

Immediately, the rat ran off the desk. Then, all of the sudden it started to walk in circles, then it jumped around, as if in a fit. Both Neville and Damien looked surprised. Their potion was actually correct. With both of them not being too keen on the subject, they did a pretty good job. Then it was time that Snape came around. He went from cauldron to cauldron checking the color and texture of the potion, saying how good or bad it was, good for Slytherins, bad for Gryffindors. When he got to their cauldron, he cast a smirk at it.

"Ah, Mr. Longbottom, what have we here. Another great potion, I presume. And I hope Ms. Granger has stayed in her place," he said, casting a glare over at Hermione. She sulked in her chair. Snape looked into the potion, but the smirk half-way faded from his face. "I do hope that you grinded the beetle eyes into the potion and not just tossed them in." Snape's smirk returned and Neville cowered a bit. Damien didn't flinch, but just looked up at Snape. "Oh, and Mr. Finch. A bit cocky I see, although your record does stand…under par." Damien only flinched a bit but still sat firm. "Well, let us see how good you were."

Firstly, Snape put a finger into the potion and brought it back out. He rubbed it around with his thumb, looking as if expecting it to blow up. When it did not, he took a breath. Then, he took some into his hand. The minute he did, his fingers started to jerk around, to his obvious surprise. Damien almost smirked at the look of him.

"One last thing, I will taste the potion, though it will probably turn me to by death bed." Damien did smirk when Snape did sound defeated. Someone else also noticed this. At that, someone said in a low murmur "Aretrius Flamero." Damien looked as his potion started to bubble up. More and more it did. Snape took a spoon and dipped it in. He took some out and brought it up to his lips. He glanced at both Damien and Neville for a moment. Then, the potion exploded.

It went everywhere covering everything with its bluish green color. Once the explosion halted, their cauldron was empty but everything was covered its contents. Snape was covered the most. He was head to toe covered in the potion. The anger in his eyes was so great that even Damien cowered in his chair.

"Is this some type of joke? Have you been planning this, Longbottom? Or do you just want to see me ENRAGED?" Now Damien was actually afraid of him. He normally was afraid of almost nothing, but this man took the top. "50 points from Gryffindor!"

"But…" Damien tried to say.

"60!" Snape said. "And detention for a month!" Damien shut up quickly. This teacher was crazy. But he didn't want him going too crazy on him. "Class Dismissed!"

With that the whole drenched classroom left the room. It was early to leave but nobody wanted to question him. As Damien and Neville were about to leave the room, Snape stopped them both. "No, you two are going to clean up this mess! Now! Without magic!" Damien's mouth dropped open but he didn't argue. He had already done enough damage. Damien and Neville both took a rag from the front of the room and started to wipe off every single spot in the room.

*****

Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Potions class, with splotches of bluish-green on them. Ron tried to wipe some of it off, but it only smudged.

"Why would that American do such a thing?" Ron said when they left the dungeons.

"I don't think it's entirely his fault," Hermione said seeing Draco and his friends laughing their heads off on their way to the Slytherin Tower.

"That bastard," Harry said, "I wonder what his problem is with the American?"

"I have no idea," Hermione said. "And don't call him 'The American' like you don't know his name. It's Damien." Both Ron and Harry looked at her.

"What are you being so defensive for?" Ron asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You guys are so annoying," Hermione said.

"You've got a crush on him, don't ya?" Harry said. Hermione quickly made for his shin. Harry dodged but was hit with a book to the back of the head.

"I do not. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to change into something clean." Hermione turned on her heel and walked toward Gryffindor Tower.

"Will we ever figure out Hermione?" Harry asked Ron. He sighed.

"Hermione's a labyrinth with a wrong turn each way." Harry nodded.

"Agreed. Or it could be the Temperbreath Potion all over her." They both chuckled and  with that, they headed towards Gryffindor Tower themselves. They did need to change and they had a little while to do it.

*****

After 20 minutes of scrubbing, they had finished cleaning the room. It wasn't perfect, but it was clean of the potion, that's for sure. They turned to Snape, who had been watching their every move. He didn't look satisfied.

"Well, I guess that's all you can do for now. Tonight come to my office to receive your detentions." Both of them sulked out of the room and out of the Dungeons.

"I told you that Snape's not one to play with, and neither is Malfoy." Damien looked over at Neville.

"I see your point, now." Both of them sighed. "Well we've got to get out of these robes." Neville looked at a clock on the wall for a minute.

"No time, we've got to get to Care of Magical Creatures." Damien sulked more but followed Neville around some hallways and out one of the doors to the school.

*****

Harry sat in the classroom by Hagrid's hut next to Ron in some clean robes. Hagrid sat waiting for a moment, then he started.

"Hullo and welcom' to Care of Magical Creatures. I'm - er - Professor Hagrid." Harry muffled a chuckle, as it looked like Hagrid was still getting used to teaching. "Let's get right into workin', shall we?" Just the, Damien and Nevill came rushing in. The whole class turned to see them. They both were coverd in muck and potion. "What's the meanin' of this?" Damien looked up, almost horried at the sight of Hagrid.

"I'm sorry, Snape just kept up late after – "

"No need in all that. No harm done. Just take yer seats." Damien looked relieved at Hagrid's level-headedness and both him and Neville sat quietly. "Now then, today we're gonna start up workin' with Kelpies. Now they're shy creatures, so don' rush up to them too fast. They are wonderful to use when domesticated. Very loyal, indeed.

"Now, I got a wild one from the forest right in the back. If ev'ryone, could please follow me." The whole class got up and exited the backdoor of the classroom. When came out of the class, he saw the Kelpie grazing in the far side of the penned in space.

"I've named this  'ne Silverwind," Hargid said, smiling. Although Hagrid had called this animal "Silverwind", there was no trace of Silver on her. She was purple all around with a long tail. She was made like a horse but her mane seem to blow in the wind, even if there was  no wind like a flickering fire. When she grazed, she showed not teeth like a regular horse but razor sharp ones that looked to rip and tear anyone that got near it. Harry truly seemed terrified as others were as they marvelled at it.

Malfoy couldn't stop boasting that he had way better things to care for at home. Malfoy always seemed to think of himself as the paragon of the school, though many thought otherwise. "You really have swans in a set off pond," said a Slytherin Girl, as if she had never heard before.

"Yes. Mother suggested it to get more in tune with my… feminine side," Malfoy quickly said, and faked a blush. A few Slytherin girls giggled, but one Slytherin girl that had asked the question wasn't. She didn't even seem to e listening. She was looking towards him. No, not him. Past him. And when Harry turned he saw…

Damien? It was no one other than Damien Finch, the American boy. He chuckled a bit then turned back to the front.

"Ev'ry one, turn this way. You girls o'er there, this way," Hagrid said bringing the class to order. "Now that yeh've seen him, I'm gonna pick a few of yeh to feed him and ride him. It'll add to your grade a lot, it will." Damien raised his hand immediately.

*****

"Mr. Finch, I see yeh have raised yer hand."

"I'd like to go first, - er – Professor," Damien said, not knowing what to call him. He didn't know why he wanted to but he just did. Hagrid nodded.

"Come o'er here and get some food to feed her with." Damien nodded and went over to him. He took some of the oats/pieces of meat into his hand and took a deep breath. He wasn't all too scared of it, he'd seen scarier things back at Aviar, but the way it looked at you with its leering red eyes just had to make you shiver a bit.

Damien slowly walked over to the Kelpie, which didn't seem to notice him at first, although its eyes kept peeking at him. Once Damien got close enough, the Kelpie stopped grazing and looked up at him, fierceness in her eyes. Damien slowly held out his hand with the food in it, as if daring himself to put his head in a lion's mouth at the circus. The Kelpie looked down at the food then back up at him. Damien tried not to show fear in his face, but not cockiness either. The fierceness in the Kelpie's eyes greatened, but Damien stood his ground. Then the Kelpie bent her head out towards his hand. Damien took a deep breath looking at the sharp teeth in it's mouth but still stood his ground. Then, the Kelpie started to eat the bits of food from his hand. Damien exhaled, relieved that she didn't try to bite his hand off.

"Very good, Mr. Finch," Hagrid said, smiling, "Now, let's see if you can ride her." Damien brushed off his hand on his robed and took a short breath. Almost as soon as he did the Kelpie turned to her side, as if waiting for him to get on her. She was about a little higher than his chest in height, but she still could be gotten on. Damien mounted her, with little difficulty,  and soon she was galloping around joyfully. After a minute of riding, the Kelpie stopped and let Damien off. There was something about her that really appealed to him, but he didn't know what.

*****

"Great Job, Mr. Finch. Take 15 points," Hagrid said. Damien smirked and rejoined the group. Ron marveled at his handling of the fierce looking Kelpie.

"He's good, don't ya think?" Ron said.

"Yeah," Harry said, still sounding suspicious. He really didn't know why Harry was so suspicious of him. He didn't seem all that bad. Did seem a little weird, though. Maybe it was just because he was a yank. He didn't know. Malfoy threw his hand up, wanting to feed and ride the Kelpie.

"Uh,oh," both Ron and Harry said. They both vividly remembered the rendevous of 2 years past with the hippogriff named Buckbeak. Malfoy had taunted him and in a flash of claws, he was in a bloody mess and Hagrid was neck-deep in trouble, although it was Malfoy's fault. If Harry and Hermione hadn't saved Buckbeak, along with Sirius, he would have been executed.

"Are yeh sure yeh know what –"

"Yes, I know, now give me some of that retched food," Malfoy said, glaring. The stubborn git looked as if it was a piece of cake. "If that yank can do this, I know I can do it 10 times better. At least better than Potter," he mumbled audibly. He snatched the food out of Hagrid's hand, when over to the Kelpie and shoved the food in it's face saying, "Here." The Kelpie looked at him in rage. The Kelpie promptly turned around, its butt in Malfoy's face.

At first, Malfoy looked mad at the Kelpie. Then, he looked at it slyly. "So, you want me to ride you early, eh?" He turned back to the crowd behind him and smirked, as if he were better than Damien now. If he hadn't turned around, he might have seen the Kelpie raise it's hind legs. When Malfoy turned back to the Kelpie – OUCH!

Malfoy was kicked in the chest by the Kelpie and was flung about a foot backward, landing flat on his back on the grass. Some people snickered, others (the Slytherins) went over to him in concern. Malfoy had definitely gotten the wind knocked out of him, though the Kelpie seemed to trot around, satisfied. Hagrid also went over to Malfoy, though not as concerned as the others were.

"I though yeh knew what you were – "

"My father…will hear…of this!" Malfoy wheezed out finally. Hagrid seemed to roll his eyes.

"With yer father's reputation, I would be surprised if he did anythin'. And yeh aren't even hurt," Hagrid added in. "So get up and stop being a dern baby." Malfoy looked at him in awe, but Ron and Harry snickered along with a few other Gryffindors. When malfoy finally got up, he glared at Hagrid but went over to where the Slytherins were to be cared for and 'nurtured' by some of the Slytherin girls. "Okay, now, who's next?"

*****

After some vigorous notes on Kelpies and an assignment of 3 rolls of parchment ("Three rolls? But my notes aren't even that long?" Ron complained) the class ended and they were off for dinner in the Great Hall. It was scrumptious and Harry would have to see Dobby once to compliment their good work in the kitchens. Once the trio had eaten all they could, Ron suggested they go to the common room.

"I'll be there in a bit, I have to get started on my homework. I'll be in the Library," Hermione said getting up from the table and leaving the Great Hall.

"That Hermione and her bookwork," Ron said. "Who needs it?" Harry chuckled, getting up from the table and following Ron back to the common room. "Hmm…what could we do?"

"I'm guessing one thing…" Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Chess!" Ron and Harry both said chuckling. Both of them went up to their dormitories and got out their pieces.

*****

"Bishop to C7," Damien said, triumphantly. His only bishop moved diagonally to C7. "And I believe that's Checkmate." Neville sat, amazed at the workings of the chessboard. They finished dinner early and went to the common room for a game of chess. In only 10 minutes, Damien had won the game.

"Wow, you're as good as Ron, maybe better," Neville said enthusiastically.

"Ron's good at Chess?" Damien asked. He had never seen Ron play. Neville then told him about his first year at Hogwarts and how Ron beat McGonagall's giant chessboard. "Cool." Damien though about it and though that he might have been able to beat that chessboard too. "Well, want another game?"

"I've got to get to my homework," Neville said. "Talk later?" Damien nodded and Neville went over to a empty small table in the common room.

*****

Harry sat in his four-poster, just thinking. It was his second day at school and everything seemed to be coming out at him. He might as well do his homework. He pulled out one of his books, opened it and pulled out a piece of parchment. Then something hit him, out of nowhere. Maybe it was just him, but it was about the sorting. Damien had been first been sorted into Grizzelwood. He still wondered what Grizzelwood was. Was it a secret house or something? Harry sighed and got it loose from his thoughts as he worked the numbers for his Arithmancy homework.