When the time was right, the students finally entered the darkly-lit Potions classroom. Draco and his small group of Gryffindor friends all stood next to each other, in the middle of the nervous-looking Gryffindor crowd. The Slytherins seemed much more relaxed, confident even, as they assumed that they would get preferential treatment in this class.
To Draco's surprise, his uncle disappeared. The blond boy chuckled to himself. He likes a dramatic entrance.
After a few moments, the door to the classroom opened once again, revealing the ominous form of the Potions Professor. He walked to the front of the classroom quickly, not looking at any of the students. His black robe made it seem as if he was flying.
I would be scared too, if I didn't know how nice he actually was.
The students properly intimidated, the Professor started his speech about the importance of Potions and the lack of intellect found in the classroom.
Draco didn't bother to listen to it attentively. He had already heard his uncle's rants many times before. With curious eyes, the blond boy scanned the crowd of students. Ron seemed very nervous, his hands were shaking slightly. Harry didn't look as nervous, merely interested. Hermione looked excited, like she wanted to prove herself to the scary Professor. Crabbe and Goyle were sleeping.
"...morons," Snape finished his speech. "Today, we will start by checking your ability to read and follow instructions. You will brew a simple potion, the Cure for Boils, working in pairs. Start now," he said and with a wave of his wand, the instructions appeared on the blackboard.
Draco smiled. He knew how to make this potion already. He glanced sideways, wanting to pair up with the Dark Lord, but to his surprise, Harry was already working with Weasley. He needed to be faster next time. He glanced in the other direction, only to find Hermione looking at him with a smile. He sighed, shrugged, and they got to work.
"Let's get the ingredients," he said and Hermione nodded. "To be honest, I already know how to brew this potion, and a few more," Draco said smugly.
Hermione chirped up at that revelation. "That's good, I also know the instructions by heart, so we should brew it correctly."
To Draco's pleasant surprise, they actually made a nice duo. Hermione prepared the ingredients and he added them at the right moment, and stirred the Potion with a confident hand.
In the middle of the class, Professor Snape began to walk around the classroom, inspecting every cauldron carefully. He made a few comments here and there, pointing out the mistakes of the students.
"I don't know what this is, but it surely isn't the Potion you were supposed to brew," he said, inspecting the cauldron of Draco's Slytherin spies.
"How do we make it better, Professor, sir?" Goyle asked.
This seemed to surprise Snape, as he raised his eyebrows. "Start over. And this time, you can't just read the instructions. You have to follow them," he added with a snark.
With this, the Professor walked away, heading toward the Gryffindors. He walked up to Harry's and Ron's cauldron, glancing inside and sniffing scrutinizingly.
Both Ron and the Dark Lord looked very nervous.
Snape began to open his mouth, but then, he glanced at Draco, who flashed him a hopeful smile. With a roll of his eyes, Snape walked away without saying anything.
A few moments later, the ominous Professor inspected Draco's and Hermione's cauldron. After a moment, he nodded his head slightly. "It is acceptable for now, be careful not to ruin it."
Draco smiled at Hermione. "We're doing well for now, we just need to add the porcupine quills and we're done," he said.
Hermione nodded happily. "That's right, don't forget to wave your wand over the cauldron to finish," she added, quoting straight from the Potions book.
After a few more minutes, they were finished.
Snape, noticing this, inspected their Potion one more time. "Good work," he said. "Five points to Gryffindor."
"Good job, we made it," Draco whispered to Hermione, as they observed the rest of the students still struggling with the Potion.
"Thank you, we make a good team!" she replied with a smile.
Draco glanced away just in time to notice a black mist escaping Harry's cauldron. This doesn't look good.
With an air of unearned confidence, Ron dropped something into the cauldron. After a second, their Potion exploded.
Draco tried to cover his face, but it proved unnecessary, as Snape cast a silent spell, vanishing the remnants of the cauldron before they could hurt any of the students.
Ron and Harry were both bright red with embarrassment as the Professor walked up to them swiftly.
"Incredible," he said. "To make a Potion this simple explode, you must've failed to follow the instructions so greatly… One point to Gryffindor. For… the sheer unprecedented magnitude of your failure."
Everyone looked dumbfounded at that, Harry and Ron most of all. After a moment, the Slytherin students started to protest loudly.
"Silence," Snape said sharply. "I'm not done yet. Minus one point to Gryffindor for you failure," he added. "And minus two points to Slytherin for being so loud and obnoxious."
Draco was impressed with his uncle. He managed to insult both Harry and Ron anyway, while still seemingly keeping his promise to Draco.
At the end of the class, their Potion was still the best one, even though a few more pairs managed to finish brewing semi-successfully.
Draco was left wondering about his friends' failed Potion. Why did the Dark Lord let Weasley do that to their Potion? Maybe he wanted an excuse to never work with the red-haired boy ever again? That might be it…
Still undecided, Draco left the classroom alongside his three friends, hoping to rest and eat a hot meal in the Great Hall. He needed a way to get closer to the Dark Lord somehow, to learn more about him. But how can I do that?