Joy to all of my reviewers from chapter 17. I again apologize for the shortness as of late. Those last couple of chapters were just kind of necessary to have the story make sense, and to get Ron and the Weasleys in there again. Maybe this one will be longer, ey?
Thanks to Atari420, Jliles, Xirleb70- good luck with that door!, Elfmoon87, Calani, enahma- thanks a bunch!, ShanniC, Kitala, Creamy Mimi, Lei Dumbledore, Seth, candledot, Piggie, fnxmoon, demonic angel, Charma1219, Iniysa, Lady Lightning, and kateydidnt- you're absolutely right. Snape doesn't know Harry at all. He's been too preoccupied with his hatred of James to even realize that Harry is not James Potter- not at all. They both have a lot to discover about the other.
Potions time!
~~~***~~~
Harry woke up at four the next morning, ready to start his potions. It had been decided the night before that Professor McGonagall would be assisting Harry with his work.
After dressing and waiting in the dungeons for half an hour, in which time Minerva should have been down to meet him, Harry walked quickly to his professor's chambers and rapped on the door.
Harry lifted an eyebrow at the still half-asleep woman who had apparently just gotten up. Her hair was ruffled and let out from its usual tight bun, and she was wearing a long gray nightgown.
"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry!" she yawned.
Harry's eyebrow lifted further and he said, "I'm going back down to the dungeons to set up. I shall see you there shortly?"
"Yes, Harry, of course. I'll be right down."
Harry turned and left his professor. He wasn't really that frustrated with her; he just felt an urgency to start working right away. He had actually made it through the night with only one attack that left him trembling and bleeding for a while until Poppy and found another post-Cruciatus potion. Apparently, Snape had hidden them in a locked drawer in his desk, and it had taken Dumbledore and Pomfrey nearly three-quarters of an hour to find a way to open the drawer. Bloody Snape- why couldn't he be normal and just put the potion somewhere useful?
Ah, but Potter, it wouldn't be any fun if I had done that.
How noble of you, Professor. And get out of my head. I have work to do.
What could you possibly doing at this hour of the morning?
Starting my potions. I thought I'd start early, since the invisibility potion takes forever to make.
You didn't get enough sleep to work for so long.
How would you know?
I got hit in the middle of the night with the curse. I know that you did, too.
Finally, you learn.
And with all of your complaining about the lock on my drawer and how long it took them to open it, I figure that you were in for a long night.
You passed out right after the curse began.
Yes. I'm not strong enough to stay awake and watch myself scream.
You don't have my pity.
I don't want your pity. I hate pity.
So do I.
Good. I'm leaving now.
Goodbye.
By this time, Harry had reached the dungeons and now proceeded to set up four cauldrons. He had put out all of his ingredients and started a flame for each before McGonagall arrived.
"Hello, Harry."
"Hi."
There was an awkward silence for a moment as Harry thought about what to say. Apparently, working on potions made him non-conversational. No wonder Snape didn't like anyone to be around.
"I'd like to apologize for my behavior out there. You're my professor and I shouldn't have been so rude. I don't know what got into me." Harry blushed.
"That's quite alright, Harry. Shall we begin? You need to explain these things to me."
"Ah, okay. This first cauldron," he motioned to a small silver cauldron on his right, "is for the invisibility potion. I'll handle this one, I think. I find it interesting. The next one is for the anti-metal potion, as is the one behind that. The last one, in the big black cauldron, is the anti-pain potion. The way I figure it, each of us is in charge of two potions. I'' take the invisibility and one of the metal potions, and you take the anti-pain and the other metal potion. Is that okay?"
"Yes, sir!" teased McGonagall.
Harry laughed. "Alright, now, I put the instructions for each potion by the cauldron alongside all of the ingredients. Do you know what everything is?"
McGonagall looked at all of her ingredients and pointed to one that was unfamiliar, a quizzical look on her face.
"That's gillyweed. Allows its user to breathe underwater. Apparently, it's also very useful as an anti-pain ingredient. Who knew?" said Harry.
McGonagall smiled at Harry. The boy was hilarious, so in his element. And he didn't have any idea. In fact, his potions grades had always been terribly low..
"Harry?"
"Yes, Professor?"
"How in the world have you managed to do so poorly in potions year after year? You seem to be incredibly capable of brewing these things."
"Well, part of it is the fact that Draco continually drops extra ingredients in my cauldrons that make things explode. Also, Snape is a very hard grader, and his annoying tendency of taking points off Gryffindor is rather distracting. But I'm not blaming them entirely. I admit that I have been a bit clumsy in the past," Harry said.
"Ah."
"Well, shall we begin?"
"Yes, of course. Let's start."
Harry stood in front of his two cauldrons and started adding ingredients. He was curious about a lot of the things he was adding to the potion. He had general ideas about what each ingredient did, but wanted to know more.
God, he couldn't believe that he was actually enjoying potions.
~~~****~~~~
Eight hours later, around noon, Harry was sweating furiously and concentrating hard as he attempted to finish his first potion, the anti-metal potion. This particular potion was highly acidic, and it simply had to be applied to a metal object and it would eat the metal away. The other one actually made the metal disappear for a brief period of time before recreating it.
The trick to Harry's potion was finishing it. He had barely had any downtime as he raced from one cauldron to the other, but once this was done, things would go much better.
Sweat stung Harry's eyes as he desperately tried to push back his hair. Minerva was in about the same condition next to him, though she seemed slightly more panicked. Throughout the last eight hours, Harry had maintained an incredibly odd sense of calm. Though he was working hard, he wasn't completely freaking out. And it helped that Snape wasn't chattering away in his head, though Harry had a feeling that he was there, watching. It seemed like something Snape would do.
Finally, with one last flourish of a spoon and a pinch of robin's tongue, the potion was finished. Harry quickly but carefully filled twelve small vials full of the potion and set them up on a rack.
Next to him, McGonagall was just finishing up her first potion, as well. Though she wouldn't admit to it, she was very skilled. She had only asked Harry about a dozen questions the entire time they had been there, and she was quiet.
Harry was very grateful for her silence.
The teenager sat down, breathing a sigh of relief. One down, and the other potion was simmering for a moment, a blessed moment in which he could relax.
Excellent work, Potter.
Harry snapped up at the compliment. Was that what it was? A compliment? From.. Snape? And he wasn't imagining things?
Er.. thank you, sir.
You need to eat, as does Minerva, or you'll lose your strength. Go grab some food from the Great Hall. Your potion will be fine for a minute.
Minerva had finished her first potion and was now slumped in a chair, breathing a well-deserved sigh of relief. Harry went to inspect her potion, which was perfect.
"Good work, Professor," he said with a weary smile.
"Thank you, Harry. My other potion will be done in two hours."
"That's good. The invisibility potion is simmering for a few minutes. I'm going to run up to the Great Hall and get us some food, okay?"
"Food sounds delightful. Thank you!"
Harry grinned and strode out of the small workroom. He was exhausted, but he knew that he had to keep going.
Harry found himself with a new respect for Snape. He couldn't imagine doing this all the time.
The doors to the Great Hall opened with a BANG as Harry used wandless magic to yank them apart. Dumbledore, Lupin, and Sprout were all sitting up at the teacher's table, all three smiling at him happily.
"Harry! How's it going?" asked Remus.
Harry mustered up a small smile. "Actually, quite well. Both McGonagall and I just finished our first potions-"
"Your FIRST potions? After eight hours?" yelled Remus.
Harry nodded.
"I suddenly have a newfound appreciation for Snape," Remus murmured absently.
Harry chuckled. "As do I. Now, McGonagall and I could really use some lunch. Do you guys serve 'to go?'"
"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. He said a few words and two plated were piled with food. "Here you go. Good luck!"
Harry levitated the two plated and cups with a wave of his hand, and they followed him as he walked out of the room.
