A/N;
Being ill is a pain in more ways than one. Poor Musey is feeling off-colour and it's hard to get her to write.
I did have more written but the parts weren't gelling. So I split and the next chapter shouldn't take as long to finish. In the meantime, enjoy this one. Tom is getting annoyed with both Buffy and Caradoc and young Dark Lords can turn into a handful. Isn't he lucky to have Buffy? :-D
thank you so much those who took the time to leave a comment on the last chapter. For those reading, the comment section is at the bottom of the page. You can sign in as a guest.
Hocus Potions
"Please turn to page 103 in Magical Draughts and Potions," Slughorn began. "Today we will be brewing..." He flicked his wand towards the board as he crossed over to his cauldron, the words 'The Draught of Befuddlement' appearing on the board.
As Buffy noted down the title the air stirred behind her – without bothering to look up – she shot out a hand and caught the charmed note mid-air.
"Whoa! Good catch!" Roz congratulated. Her eyes shone as she took in the butterfly note Buffy held.
From Buffy's other side, Travers was not impressed. "You're an idiot," he muttered. "You should know better than to risk exposing your abilities like that."
"How did you know it was there?" Roz continued, not having heard Travers. "You didn't even look up, and you were so fast."
Travers groaned softly.
Buffy gave him a side glance and then smirked at Roz. "It's magic."
Roz Moody huffed and scowled. The same expression Buffy had seen on Alastor's face. "Go on. Spoil me. Tell me something I don't know."
Buffy's grin got just a little bit wider.
"Was it a Super Sensory Charm?" Roz pressed, not letting her get away with it. "Alastor uses them. He doesn't like them. He says he prefers using his senses. If you cast a Super-Sensory at the time you need it, it's often too late. Or, if you cast beforehand, the enhancement interrupts with your own senses and you risk over-compensating and firing off spells here there and everywhere. Did you cast before class? Did you know they were going to send you notes? You must have cast before class. I'd have noticed otherwise."
"Huh-huh," replied Buffy when she could get a word in. "It was done earlier. Much earlier." She didn't add right at the dawn of Slayer history.
Roz opened her mouth to ask another question, but was interrupted by Slughorn. The professor had swung around, his eyes moving straight to Buffy's table. Buffy only just had time to cover the note with her hand and shove it under the table. There it fluttered against her sweater, desperate to be let out and read.
"Miss Summers?" Slughorn called over. "Would you care to reveal the interesting observation you've just made to the rest of the class?"
Buffy shook her head. "No, sir. No observations to be made at this time."
That didn't satisfy the potions professor, who took a few steps towards her. Buffy gripped the note harder, trying not to crush it. Even though she knew it wasn't alive, she always tried to respect them as if they were.
"Hmm. I must say that's rather odd from you." Slughorn went on, obviously in a bad mood. "Ever since you joined my class, you've made various claims... from nargles stealing your homework to wrackspurts attacking your brain."
Around her, students tittered, and Buffy glared at Slughorn. She'd never said the wrackspurts attacked her brain – she always wafted them away before they got too close. Next to her, Travers prodded her hip beneath the table; warning her to not draw attention to herself.
Annoyed at how she'd glared at him, Slughorn continued, "Very well. Since you prefer whispering to friends rather than listening. Name an alternate ingredient to lovage." He stood with his fingers laced into his waistcoat, rocking back on his heels and waiting for an answer.
"Um..." Buffy's eyes scanned the writing on the board, then dropped down to where Magical Draughts and Potions lay open on her desk. Where was the alternate ingredients list? Why couldn't she see one? Had he just given the answer and she'd missed it?
"'Um' is not the answer I am looking for," Slughorn pointed out without amusement.
How was she supposed to know this? Why hadn't he asked his potion prodigy, Tom Riddle, like he normally did? Buffy glimpsed Tom, his arm raised and eager to answer the question. She glanced over her shoulder. There was a bored expression on his face, as if this was the easiest question in the world to answer! Did he think she'd fail? Damn-it! She was not letting Riddle beat her!
"Lovage..." she began, feeling her way into the answer and throwing out all she knew – which wasn't much. "Lovage is one of the plants that are ruled by the sun and as such are best harvested when the sun is at its zenith." She gave a little nod. "That's like, midday or afternoon to most people." She went on. "Medicinally, it is noted highly for its use in the purification of toxins from the human body."
This she knew from her time in the infirmary, not Herbology. "Nurse Bones told me that lovage was one of the most active ingredients in the potions she used to treat my snake bite. She said it's a life-saver."
Tom's arm dropped, and Buffy went on, "But it not only counteracts venoms and poisons. It also brings back clarity of thought and strength of willpower for the body's fight against toxins."
Slughorn had started rubbing his hands together – a sure sign of being pleased with her reasoning.
Encouraged, she went on. "The other main ingredients in Befuddlement Draught are sneezewort and scurvy grass. Together they interact on a chemical level and change the properties of lovage. In effect, instead of clear reasoning and a sensation of well-being, they cause a bout of ill humour and clouding of judgement. Hence the name of the potion, Befuddlement."
Slughorn smiled. "Good, good. Now, knowing that,Miss Summers, what alternative to lovage would you use?"
Aware the whole class was watching her, including Tom, Buffy took a moment before answering. Herbology was not a favourite subject. It wasn't that it was boring – not with plants trying to attack you from all sides of the greenhouse – it just didn't appeal to her darker, slaying side. The same with Potions, it simply didn't gel with her staking nature. Still, she was no longer Buffy Summers of Sunnydale, California – a girl who was desperately trying to balance slaying with schoolwork. Here at Hogwarts, she wasn't expected to go out and save the world every night, here she had a lot more time to spend expanding her brain cells. And the more time she spent studying, the easier the work became. Secretly she was impressed and proud of herself. But was that intelligence because she was applying herself more? Or was it due to different genes?The Lovegoods were an intelligent, if eccentric, family and then there was her father... She'd heard he'd gotten expelled from school at sixteen, but it hadn't been for failing his exams – or burning down the school gym.
"Buffy?"
"King's clover," Buffy answered, remembering her Uncle Peregrine discussing the plant with a visiting apothecary over the summer. "You find it growing around the same time of year but it's a lot less potent than lovage. You'd need to use a whole lot more when adding to a potion or, better still, use it in a concentrated form."
She bit her lip, thinking about the Befuddlement potion and how it was created. "If I was brewing it, I'd distil the king's clover for twice as long and then, maybe, stir in three drops of camomile to give it an extra," she waved a hand with a flourish, "...oomph. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and follow the instructions from there."
Slughorn's round face had creased with delight. "Oh my word, Miss Summers, you really have progressed by leaps and bounds. A very well thought out answer." He sucked at his teeth, mulling over her answer. "The only criticism I might make is that the addition of camomile could cause sleepiness in the recipient. We are just looking for befuddlement. However, five points to Slytherin for your answer and another two for showing your thought processes to the rest of the class." He gave her a congratulatory wink, then turned away to begin questioning another student he'd caught slacking.
Now his attention was on the opposite side of the classroom, Buffy surreptitiously brought out the note. Her name was scrawled across one of the wings in Abraxas Malfoy's handwriting. What now? She sensedAvery, Malfoy and Riddle watching... and waiting. Her nose wrinkled. This note might have been quilled by Malfoy, but it was likely they'd all had a hand in it. They were the knights of Walpurgis after all. And in that case... Buffy gave the butterfly a tap with her wand and whispered the incantation used to reveal hidden jinxes, only opening the note when it came out clear.
'We saw you with Dearborn. What were you doing with that Gryff?'
Buffy felt like tearing it up and stamping on it. Every time she spoke to a boy, Tom's gang found a reason not to like him. Why did the boys in her House think they had a say in her life?!
Roz took a peak at the note and chuckled. "They aren't the only ones wanting to know what you were doing with him. I'd like to know too." And she wiggled her eyebrows – suggestively.
Buffy grinned back at her, an idea forming in her head. She'd give them something to think about! Jotting down a reply, she tossed the charmed butterfly behind her. It floated down and landed on Malfoy's desk.
Malfoy unfurled the note. "Smoochies?! Smoochies!? What in Merlin's name are smoochies?"
"Shh," whispered Avery. "Not so loud."
"She meansss... she sssnogged him," Riddle hissed. His slight speech impediment had become stronger with his disgust and anger.
Buffy easily sensed his magic. It radiated from him like a cloud of thick, black smoke and the slayer part of her tensed – unsure if he was going to throw a hex at her – while her magic fizzed and danced a little jig. Next to her, Roz was giggling.
"I didn't really," Buffy whispered into her ear. "No smoochies or snogging. He only hugged me."
But if she wanted to, why shouldn't she? Caradoc was lip-smacking gorgeous and she could do with a little boy-fun in her life. And it wasn't as if anyone else had asked her out. Okay, Rory had proposed marriage, but he was a member of the Fae and felt obliged to after she'd beaten him. She'd done some reading and found that the Fae had an odd sense of morals and honour. There was also Rigel, who she didn't count since he was only twelve.
Caradoc had said he liked her. Unless he's lying? Why would he lie? He liked hanging out with her, he'd told her that. But why? Because she was pretty and had a nice personality? Because she was different to other girls? He didn't need an ulterior motive for being nice. But that didn't mean he didn't have one...
She gave a little mental shake of her head. She'd been in Slytherin for too long. This was the way they thought, not her. If the hat had put her in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff she wouldn't question a boy liking her. Nope, she was being overly suspicious. If Caradoc said he liked her, he meant it.
A warm tingle grew in the pit of her stomach, giving her that heady 'a cute boy likes me!' feeling. Caradoc was nice all over. He didn't make her feel like she was weird or out of place. He had a nice smile, and she bet he was a good kisser. She was so busy daydreaming of Caradoc (and his lip action) that she didn't realise the butterfly note had returned until Roz nudged her.
' That had better be a joke, Summers. Gryffindors hate the Slytherins and they always will. This is a plot of Dearborn's to lure you into making a fool of yourself. Don't let our House down by being stupid enough to fall for it!'
She scowled, scratching off a two-word answer. 'Jealous, much?'
Malfoy's reply came back slanted and spikey with annoyance. 'Ha! Me, jealous? Who of? You or Caradoc? I don't fancy you. Remember that, Summers.'
She was on the right track. Malfoy was losing it, he'd reverted to calling her Summers again. Buffy dashed off another note. 'Good. You have no chance of getting a date with me. Caradoc has asked me to go on a date to Hogsmeade with him. Suck that up, Snowflake.'
"I thought we were going to Hogsmeade together?" Roz had read the note and sounded hurt.
"I didn't say I'd accepted him," Buffy whispered back, feeling guilty. She'd agreed to go with Roz and even bullied Lovell into going with them.
Roz sighed. "Go with Caradoc. We can meet up at the Three Broomsticks later."
Buffy chewed at her bottom lip, wondering what to do. What if Caradoc was right? What if Von Kendrick or his minions were waiting for her to leave Hogwarts to attack her? The last thing she wanted to do was put her friends in danger. Or was she worrying for no reason? Von Kendrick might not be that interested in her now she wasn't a Squib. Plus he was a wanted man and the Ministry was out there, actively hunting him. Even Dumbledore and her mom didn't think he was the danger. They thought her danger came from her father.
A loud splutter of indignation signified Malfoy had read her note and she heard Victor Avery huffing.
"She intends to go on a date with him?" snapped Victor. "We can't allow that, can we Tom?"
Tom made a very low hiss, so low that normal ears wouldn't be able to pick up. Buffy translated as 'this won't end well'.
That was the last straw! She'd had enough of them discussing (or hissing about) her love life. With a quick check to see where Professor Slughorn was – in his stockroom, presumably to look for king's clover – she swung around and faced the Slytherins behind her. Three stern faces looked back sullenly and she had the urge to make a quick quip at their expense. Something stopped her. Darker thoughts telling her to use her magic to exact her revenge. Her fingertips tingled as magic gathered into her hands, power just waiting for her to vocalise her intent.
She breathed in, then out. Pushing back on the magic. She was not falling to the Dark Side! A flash memory of Xander talking about the Force and Darth Vader came into her head causing a bubble of laughter to almost erupt. She forced it back – she didn't want to appear totally crazy – and gave the watching boys a bright smile instead.
"I just realised something. You three remind me of famous movie stars. Have any of you three boys ever been to Hollywood?"
The three boys eyed each other, thrown by the non sequitur.
Victor asked cautiously, "What are you talking about, Summers? I've never been to Holly Wood."
"I don't know what a move star is," Abraxas replied, confused. "Is it something nice?"
"That's such a shame." Buffy smiled. "Because Avery reminds me of a guy called Curly, Abraxas you're Larry and..." Her smile became brighter as Tom's pale complexion grew darker – he knew where she was going with this, even if he refused to admit it. "... Tom, you just have to be Moe."
Tom's nostrils flared. His eyes were dark pools in his face, threatening to drown the unwary. Buffy held his gaze and then her amusement left her.
Buffy's expression turned almost feral. "You three stooges keep out of my business. I don't care about your petty House rivalry, your Pureblood politics or whatever else you come up with. Keep your noses out!"
With that, she turned around and spent the rest of the lesson ignoring the icy silence behind her.
….
