Chapter 11: Humbled Hermione
Author's Note: Again, sorry for the infrequent updates. I do have another chapter or two written already. I'll try to post them tomorrow (05/29/04) evening after I revise them. I say try, The Sister is graduating tomorrow and it promises to be pretty busy. Also I apologize for the lack of action; I wanted to set way more up for this story then the scope really allows. Shorter chapters and more frequent updates is what I'm going for.
If anyone knows the proper method of making cupric sulphate let me know. I try to research these things better, but that's the most I've found. Don't try the procedure in here; I took a lot of artistic license on what Gene does to produce it.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley walked down the hall towards their next class. How they had let Hermione talk them into taking the advanced potions class was beyond them. As sixth years they pretty much got to choose which classes they did and didn't want to take, and anything with Snape's name on it was definitely something they didn't want to take. Yet here they were taking yet another one of his miserable classes, a class which they were both quite bad at. Well, they weren't bad really, after all four years of his classes, and one year taught by a real alchemist the year prior made them at least fairly adept at potion making.
They arrived in the class room, and Hermione was already sitting in her seat somewhere near the back of the room. Professor Snape glared at the two of them as they sat down. This class was particularly hard as a good number of the potions were some that Snape himself had come up with and were not in any published book. He called it "Improvised Potion Making" which really meant it was ten times harder for any student to pass. There was no help on how to brew the potions, only ingredient lists, and what the final product was supposed to do. Mercifully he gave them what the potion was supposed to do this semester, next semester he would only give them ingredients, and half way through that they'd only be receiving what the potion was supposed to do and no ingredient list. Difficult only just began to describe it.
Professor Snape prattled off a list of ingredients that they were furiously copying down. They had a good system. Hermione copied down all the ingredients, and Harry and Ron copied off her instead of trying to hear everything Snape had to say. There'd be no hanging on to the hem of her robe after that though; she was having just as hard a time as they were.
Today's potion was supposed to be some sort of mixture that when poured on something or in a mold and the right secondary potion added it turned to bronze. Snape called it his "No Heat Bronze Sculpting" potion. The only problem, besides the uncreative name, was that none of the ingredients were bronze. Only a few herbal concoctions, some basic potions they'd learned as first years, a bluish mixture, and a few scraps of tin.
Hermione stared blankly at the ingredients to the potion. It made no sense to her at all, herbs, first year potions, blue stuff and what appeared to be old tin solder. She reached for one of the ingredients then pulled her hand back. A small puff of heat from close by indicated another student had blown his potion up. She turned her head and looked across the room, Malfoy who was usually good with potions was even having difficulty. He had at least managed to get two ingredients together though. Something she hadn't even attempted yet.
"What's the matter?" whispered Ron.
"It doesn't make sense," Hermione snapped, "None of this stuff put together makes bronze."
"Is the infallible Miss Granger having difficulty?" a deep voice from behind Hermione asked.
Hermione looked around her shoulder to see Professor Snape looming over her with a self satisfied smirk on his face. She straightened up and looked the Professor in the eye for a moment before saying, "This is impossible, there's no way this makes a transfiguration potion!"
Snape raised an eyebrow, "Are you calling me a liar, Miss Granger? Are you saying that I would give an impossible assignment?"
"Yes," Hermione said, "This can't be done."
Snape glared at her and silently went to the front of the class. He deftly began to pour ingredients into two separate vials. He then dropped the pieces of tin into one of them, which were quickly dissolved. With a sneer in Hermione's direction he poured a thick liquid into what looked like a plaster block. He then placed a few drops of a thinner liquid from another vial in the same mold. A slight hissing sound was heard and a strong sulfuric odor permeated the room then quickly dissipated.
The professor then took a small lead mallet and tapped the plaster block gently. A few cracked formed in the plaster. Snape easily brushed the mold away to reveal a rough sculpture of a coiled bronze snake. With a small amount of filing and a few stray pieces snipped off the Potions Master held up a nearly perfect model of a snake.
"Perhaps Miss Granger needs to study more about potions," he said walking up towards her. He placed the snake on top of a piece of parchment she had taken notes on and then leaned in close to her, "Perhaps this will remind you to think about what you say, and how you say it before insulting me," he said smoothly before turning around and moving towards the front of the classroom.
Hermione sunk down in her seat. This was probably the worst humiliation she'd ever experienced, and in front the two people who depended on her the most. For the rest of the day Hermione hid in the library obsessing over the potion and trying to find some scrap of information. She had no success, and she wasn't surprised. The potion was one of Snape's own and probably not published anywhere but his own notes.
The day passed slowly for Samuel. He canceled most of his after class appointments in anticipation of his father and cousin's arrival. For a while he tried to look up names of wizard assassins but he was always distracted by the sound of what he thought was his father's footsteps in the hall. It always turned out to be one of the older professors he wasn't acquainted with. Finally he moved to a completely different section of the school and left instructions with James to come get him the minute they showed up.
Samuel's anticipation was finally given some relief when just before dinner time James ran in to get him. Gene and Elanus arrived at Hogwarts with no further incident and little discomfort. Each was given their own private quarters which were quickly put in order by the house elves. They quickly cleaned up before supper time, as they'd cut it a little close.
Elanus informed Samuel that he'd be staying at the school for at least this semester because of some of his suspicions. Fortunately there was an extra guest quarters, and he could easily Apparate to the Ministry from Hogsmeade if needed.
There was an understandable air of excitement in the Great Hall now that Gene Evans and Elanus Green were back at the school. The first years at every table, including Slytherin, craned their next to see the "Heroes of Hogwarts" and many of the students that had returned greeted the two with enthusiasm. Gene, Samuel and Maria sat down at the Gryffindor table. After greeting a few familiar faces Elanus slapped Gene and Samuel on the back and said, "I think I'll go sit with my old house of you guys don't mind?"
"No go ahead," Samuel said.
"What house were you in?" asked Ginny Weasley.
"Hufflepuff," Elanus said with a grin before making his way across the hall to sit with Hufflepuff house, almost all of whom were quite surprised. Meanwhile Gene was greeting all the new first years in Gryffindor and trying to remember all the familiar names and faces.
"Pavarti right?" Gene asked.
"Yes, sir," Pavarti giggled.
"The Terrible Trio is missing one," Gene said.
"You're right," Samuel said, taking a quick survey of the table, "Where's Hermione?"
Harry looked around and shrugged, "She's probably still in the library trying to figure out Snape's Bronze Potion."
"She gets obsessed over that sort of thing," Ron sighed, "Drives her to tears. She hasn't ever missed a meal because she's researching though."
"Bronze potion you say?" Gene asked, apparently quite intrigued.
"Yeah you pour this goo into a mold or on something and then add the second part and it turns to bronze," Harry replied, "I don't know why she's taking it so hard. No one else figured it out either."
"Has she done this before?" Gene asked.
"Once in our first year," Ron said, "I uh, said something I didn't intend for her to hear. She hid in the lavatory, and was nearly killed by a troll."
Gene nodded, "Troll you say? Well, I think perhaps I'll go talk to her then."
"Are you sure?" Maria asked, "You just got back. I can go talk to her."
"I'm a teacher here, I've raised three boys, and you," Gene said, "I think I might know a little about what's going on. Besides, I might be able to help her with her potion."
Samuel nodded, "Good luck, I guess we'll talk later?"
"Sure thing," Gene said, slapping his son on the back, "We were planning on meeting after curfew."
Gene found his way to the library after asking one of the ghosts for directions. The library and the hospital wing had sustained surprisingly little damage from last year's incident, though there was quite a bit of clean up still being done to the stonework. The library itself was a far cry from the modern libraries Gene was used to. One major difference was there were no little paper tags on the backs of the books with the Dewey decimal numbers on them. The books were categorized by contents and then placed in alphabetical order. Another difference was the lack of a big card file system to help find books. Gene assumed there must be some sort of magic at work to help people find the books they need, or at least a master librarian. To be safe though, he kept his hands in his pockets and looked around inside the library for Hermione.
After several minutes of looking and forcing his eyes away from books that caught his eye, he found Hermione sitting in a back corner of the library that looked like it hadn't been visited much in centuries. That she was a mess only began to describe the shape she was in. Papers and scrolls lay strewn out on the small table she sat at, ink stains covered her hands, and her face was puffy from crying. The quill in her hand was worn down to nearly nothing and it was obvious she'd tried to sharpen it with a dull knife.
Gene quietly walked over to her and knelt down quietly. "Hello Hermione," Gene said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two small foil wrapped packets he'd saved from a convenience store. Hermione saw Gene and abruptly turned her face away from him, "Go away."
"Are you alright? They missed you at supper," Gene said, placing the packets on the table.
"Leave me alone, I don't feel like talking right now," Hermione said.
"Well alright, but at least let me sharpen your folding knife and make you a new quill," Gene said. Hermione straightened up and turned around slightly and slid the knife over to Gene. As she did Gene placed one of the foil packets in her hand. Hermione looked at it, tore it open and pulled out a damp napkin and carefully cleaned her face and then her hands.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're quite welcome," Gene said, handing her the other packet. He then pulled a small flat stone from his pants pocket and touched it to his tongue. Gene unfolded Hermione's knife, and carefully looked it over before stroking the blade over the stone. He smiled at the familiar feel of the steel, "This is german steel is it not? Surgical steel I'd wager."
"Yes, my parents bought it during a dental convention in Berlin, how do you know?" asked Hermione.
"I've been working with steel since before your parents were born I imagine," Gene said, "German steel has a feel to it that you just don't get anywhere else. I bet it took a long time to wear it down this dull."
Hermione nodded, "I've had it since my first year here, and it's only been sharpened once. I did it with magic."
"I see, well this is a good pen knife, and quite old," Gene said as he finished sharpening the blade. He took one of Hermione's quills and carefully sliced the tip and an angle and gently split the end. Carefully he shaped the nub and then cleaned the feather. "There you go," Gene said, handing the quill, the knife, and the stone to Hermione.
"Thank you," she said, "but I don't know how to use this stone."
"Hang on to it, I'll show you how," Gene said.
"How did you learn to make quill pens?" Hermioned asked, "This is perfect."
"Elanus spent the better part of his young life at my home, and all his summer homework had to be done with a quill pen. I had to learn so he could be kept in steady supply, especially so far from a wizard shop," Gene said.
"I see, thank you," Hermione said.
"I heard about the incident in your potions class today," Gene said.
"I don't really want to talk about that," Hermione said.
"Well, maybe if you tell me about it, I can help you figure out the problem," Gene said.
Hermione raised her eyebrow at Gene, "How could you help me figure out how to make a two part potion that turns to bronze when mixed?"
"Well, for one, I am a metallurgist. Two, I know to practically every common alloy known to man, and quite a few that aren't so common. Three, sometimes just talking about the problem can help you figure it out," Gene said.
"You aren't a wizard though," Hermione said.
"I raised one of the best though, or at least so I'm told," Gene said, "And maybe you don't need a wizard's perspective on this. It's not in any of these scrolls and books, obviously. Maybe Snape learned how to do it elsewhere?"
"I don't know," Hermione said.
"What's it going to hurt?" asked Gene.
"Alright, where do I start?"
"Tell me the ingredients," Gene replied.
"Well, there are two basic potion bases. I won't go into what's in those because I already know how to make those. Three herbal potions commonly used for scenting potions so they can be identified easier. Sage, garlic, and apple vinegar extracts are really what they are. Two other basic potions used for transfigurations, which I think are mixed together to get the right reaction. Also some bits of tin, and some kind of blue liquid that I haven't seen before," Hermione said.
"Ok, well did he demonstrate the potion for you?" Gene asked.
"Yes, he mixed it all very quickly, I didn't see what went where though," Hermione sighed.
"Well you have two potion bases right? I assume those are mostly inert, like saltwater?"
"Yes, I think one potion goes in one, and the other potion goes in the other base," Hermione replied.
"So what is really throwing you off is the blue liquid and the tin right?" asked Gene.
"Yes, I don't know what it is, and I can't find any references to it anywhere," Hermione sighed.
"Well, it just so happens I know what it is," Gene said, "Why don't we clean up here, and then you can follow me to my classroom and I'll put it to the test for the first time."
Hermione nodded and gathered all her papers up and carefully stacked the books and scroll tubes on the table for the librarian to take care of. She followed Gene out of the library and down several hallways and into a classroom that as far as she knew hadn't been used until now. Inside were work benches, metal working tools of all sorts, a large strange looking mechanical apparatus, and surprisingly several glass and metal items that would not have looked out of place in a potions or alchemy classroom.
Gene looked the room over approvingly and walked over to a small closet and removed two heavy cotton aprons and two pare of goggles. He handed an apron and a pair of goggles to Hermione, and then put his apron and goggles on.
"Do you have the other potion ingredients?" Gene asked.
"I have all the things I need to make them in my pack," Hermione replied.
"Can you make them here?" asked Gene.
"Yes," she said and started unloading her pack on to one of the work benches.
"There should be burners in that cabinet over there," Gene said pointing to a large metal storage cabinet on the other side of the class room, "I'm sorry there's nothing fancier then propane though."
Hermione retrieved one of the portable burners from a cabinet and set it up on the workbench, "How do I light it?"
"There's a valve on the canister, you open that, then hit the ignition button on the burner itself. The flame can be adjusted on the burner as well," Gene replied as he pulled a large bottle full of liquid out of an overhead cabinet. He retrieved a long copper rod as well as a short tin rod from a bin conveniently placed at the front of the classroom. Gene cut the copper rod into small pieces and then made filings from the pieces, which he collected in a large glass beaker. He poured some of the liquid from the bottle into another glass beaker and then slowly poured the copper shavings into the liquid. The liquid dissolved the copper shavings quickly and began turning a blue color. Her placed the beaker over a burner and heated it up slowly, watching it carefully. Finally when all the copper was dissolved he cut the tin rod into small pieces and placed them in another glass beaker.
"Is this the blue liquid?" Gene asked.
Hermione looked at the liquid and her eyes widened, "Yes it is, how did you know?"
"I told you, I'm a metallurgist," Gene said, "This is copper sulfate, well it will be. It needs to be crystallized and then dissolved in water to get any remaining acid out."
"I can do that," Hermione said, taking the flask from Gene. A quick wave of the wand and all the liquid evaporated from the beaker and all that was left was a bluish powder on the sides of the beaker. Gene took the beaker and dissolved the powder in hot water and poured it into a flask. After placing a stopper in the flask he watched Hermione work with great interest. It took her about an hour to prepare all the potions necessary.
"Now what?" Hermione asked.
"Well, as you may or may not know, bronze is simply an alloy of copper and tin," Gene said.
"I didn't know that," Hermione said, "So one potion has to be able to dissolve the tin. And I add the blue stuff to the other. When mixed it's supposed to make bronze."
"Which potion will dissolve the tin?" asked Gene.
Hermione shrugged and stared at the potions hard for a few minutes. She took a small scrap of tin and dropped it in one of the potions. The tin sank to the bottom of the vial with no reaction. Carefully she fished the tin out of the potion and dropped it in the other. The tin dissolved almost as quickly as it hit the liquid. As she added the rest of the tin, Gene prepared the copper sulfate. Hermione added the blue liquid to the other potion and looked up.
"I don't have anything to pour it in to test it," Hermione said.
"Just pour it in this bowl," Gene said, handing Hermione a large glass bowl, "I'll show you how to engrave it in my class." Hermione shrugged and poured the first potion in and then held her breath as she poured the second potion in. For the first few moments nothing seemed to happen. Then slowly the murky green liquid in the bowl started crystallizing from the center out. Bronze and black colored tendrils snaked out from the middle of the bowl and started to knit themselves together. Soon the inside of the bowl was solid bronze. Hermione carefully turned the bowl upside down and a lump of solid bronze clanged on the table.
"You did it," Gene said, looking the lump over, "It's a rather poor grade bronze though. The ratio of copper to tin is off somewhat, still it'll engrave well enough."
"Thank you Mr. Evans," Hermione said, hugging the old man.
"You're quite welcome," Gene said, "I hope Professor Snape finds it satisfactory."
"I'm sure he will," and old sounding voice said from behind Gene.
"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said as Gene turned around to see the Headmaster, "Is everything alright?"
"I'm afraid not, Madam Pomfrey has requested your presence in the hospital wing, there's been an accident," Dumbledore replied.
"I'm afraid healing is a far cry from my area of expertise," Gene said, "What doe she need me for?"
"There's no time to explain, I'm not sure I even can," Dumbledore replied, "You'll see when you get there."
"Alright, you wouldn't mind helping Hermione here with her bronze?" Gene asked.
"Not at all, please hurry," Dumbledore answered.
Gene ran out the door and down the halls to the hospital wing. The entire school seemed to have shut down. Whatever had happened, the students were sent to their dormitories early. On the way he passed Professor McGonagall, who after seeing Gene in such a hurry began to quickly follow after him.
When they arrived in the hospital wing the problem was quite obvious. Three students, first years by the look of it had been injured. They each had vicious wounds on their bodies which Madam Pomfrey and one of the school's professors were tending to. One of the students, a Hufflepuff, was missing his left arm.
