Instructive Potions
Draco Malfoy's withering stare was the first thing they met when they entered the dungeon on Monday afternoon. Parvati returned it provocatively, while Lavender sat down on her chair without looking at him. She was afraid of Malfoy, especially since the clash in the Three Broomsticks. Trying to hex a Full Body-Bind curse onto somebody was no chicken feed. Who knows what else he is capable of …
Lavender was trembling, but even more with excitement about the upcoming lesson than with fear. At least I didn't forget my tights this time!
Finally, Severus came into the room with his typical sour expression, his gaze resting on Lavender in disbelief, "What are you still doing here?", before sprinkling the blackboard with a plethora of words.
"You think he'll say anything else about Saturday?" murmured Parvati beside her.
"Hmm," Lavender made, just realizing with slight panic that everything was getting too much for her again. I'll never make it! she thought with resignation, and even as she thought that, she missed the last sentence Severus said. And it's always like that with me, she realised. My mind wanders off without me really noticing, and suddenly I realise that I haven't caught anything. How embarrassing will it be if he picks me now?
She was already sweating blood again, but fortunately Snape did without a summary of hers today.
After the preliminary discussion, the students were allowed to get up and gather the ingredients from the shelves.
"Oh, Miss Brown? Miss Patil?" they heard Snape's voice behind them. The girls stopped with their heads down and slowly turned to face their teacher, who was sitting at the desk with a book in his hand, scowling at them. Those five unkind words had been enough to send a shiver down Lavender's spine.
"Yes, sir?" the two asked in one voice.
"Please come and see me after class. Both of you. I think you know what it's about!" He turned his gaze back to the book and dismissed them with a small wave of his hand.
"There you have your answer," Lavender said, giggling nervously. "That's gonna be a nasty detention for being sooo mean to poor little Draceybabe!"
"I thought you were so crazy about that," Parvati growled and made her way to the shelf.
Lavender followed her and said teasingly, "Oh yes, I am!" But as daredevil as she acted, inside she was terrified. Oh God, he must be so pissed off! I can't do anything wrong now or I'll be all washed up!
As they walked back to their table, Lavender was already so jittery that she dropped her asphodel root on the way, which rolled away quite maliciously.
Lavender looked frantically in all directions until a strangely familiar voice caught her attention. "Looking for something?" asked Padma, smirking and pointing under the chair she was sitting on.
Yeah, give it to me!, Lavender thought as she squatted down next to Padma with little grace and with pointed fingers picked up her asphodel root, which was full of dirt and fluffy stuff. "Thank you very much," she said in disgust.
"You're welcome! And good luck with your potion!" chirped Padma.
Great day! Really great! Lavender thought angrily as she returned to her seat. Why didn't I actually get a new one from the shelf instead of sliding on my knees in front of Padma?
Bad-tempered, she dumped her ingredients onto the table. "Really lovely, your sister!" she grumbled.
"Lavender, today you really need to concentrate," Parvati replied in a warning voice. "You know exactly what depends on this for you! We'll just do step by step together, okay?" She drew her wand and lit the fire under her cauldron.
Lavender stood by with her mouth open—Parvati had not said a word in response to her remark!—but then she pulled herself together and swallowed her anger. Severus is more important than that arrogant Ravenclaw cow!
She glanced briefly at her teacher, who was still reading his book. Although she knew that he always had his eyes and ears on his students' experiments, he made a very absorbed impression. She could see his eyes following the lines under lowered lids; the long lashes stood out darkly against the pale skin of his cheekbones. Lavender was crazy about those cheekbones, and in her dreams she had traced their outline with her finger countless times.
As Severus turned a page, a few strands of his long black hair fell in his face, and her stomach tightened at the idea of what it might feel like to brush them back …
"Lavender! Now get started!" Parvati's voice jolted her out of her daydreams.
Lavender winced and finally lit her fire; even she had mastered such simple tricks by now without setting her exercise books or classmates on fire at the same time.
"Okay, first we have to make the wormwood brew," Parvati whispered, "that serves as a solvent for all the other ingredients … which are not interesting for today", she added reassuringly. She glanced at her notebook, in which she had already copied down the recipe along with Snape's notes. "We will now heat the cauldron to seventy degrees, only then will we add the cup of water plus thirteen drops of spectacled cobra venom …"
Parvati lifted a dark brown, slim vial printed with a skull and crossbones label. Then she checked the temperature of the cauldron with the help of her wand. "And you have to stir all the time," she continued, "otherwise the gloop will jump out of the cauldron …"
How does Parvati always manage to get it straight, Lavender thought enviously. Everything had been clear to her yesterday during the preparation as well, but when it came to putting such a wealth of information into practice, her brain shut down completely.
Parvati's cauldron had reached the desired temperature and she poured the measured water into it and added the first drop of snake venom. From then on, she looked intently at her watch as she stirred steadily in a clockwise direction. "The drops have to be added one by one at intervals of thirteen seconds," she said when she noticed Lavender's questioning look.
"It's not in the book!"
"But Snape told us so," Parvati muttered. "Now!" The next drop ended up in the cauldron. "Don't forget your cauldron!"
Lavender winced and checked her cauldron temperature, not a second too soon. She poured her water in, pipetted the first drop of the snake venom and began stirring frantically, staring at her wristwatch with widened eyes. She hated having to concentrate like that, especially with the Slytherins around who could interrupt at any time. Some of her failed potions in the past had clearly been Malfoy's fault, to say the least. And that mustn't happen today!, she thought.
Silence reigned throughout the room for a few minutes, most people now busy counting the seconds. Parvati and Lavender pushed the vial back and forth between them, and Lavender tried to keep her trembling hand under control. But finally it was done, and she stirred with relief her pale yellow, slightly viscous liquid in the cauldron, which looked exactly like Parvati's. "And now?" she asked proudly.
"It has to be brought to the boil, but before that …"
"But before that, I'm afraid, I must interrupt your coffee party and ask Miss Brown to move!" they heard Severus Snape's voice behind them at that moment.
Both girls wheeled around. "Why?" asked Lavender in a high-pitched voice.
"Because I want you to brew your potion without anyone else's help," Severus said, and it sounded almost gentle. Lavender got goosebumps again, but at the same time her stomach cramped with fear: Without Parvati, I'm done!
"That shouldn't really cause you any problems," Severus said at the sight of her wide eyes. "If you have the audacity to still come in and out of my class after all we've discussed, you will also, for once, have the courage to do your tasks without Miss Patil. Whether you can, of course, is an entirely other matter …"
Ohh! He's picking on all my weak spots again! Just you wait! Lavender straightened to her full height and jutted her chin, trying to keep stirring as best she could. "Fine!" she said, looking him boldly in the eye. "Where would you like me to sit, Professor Snape?"
"Over there, if you please!" Severus turned and pointed to a lone desk to the right of the blackboard, aligned across from the others.
Lavender's heart sank, Parvati also swallowed. Right in front of Malfoy and Zabini! Then they can really stare at my fingers from the side and I'll mess everything up again! Is that supposed to be the punishment for Saturday?
"And how do I get my cauldron there?" she asked meekly.
"Once your brew is boiled, we can transport it without it affecting the quality of the potion," Snape explained. "Until then, I will wait here!"
Because then I can concentrate so well, Lavender thought, and despite the cool temperature in the dungeon she began to sweat. Thank you, Severus!
Staring tensely into her cauldron, she continued to stir the solution, all too aware of her teacher's presence. He was standing to her right, and her skin seemed to feel warmer on that side and even tingle a little. Unfortunately, her damned fingers and thumbs were also starting to shake again, and this was really getting to her. The first tears announced themselves in her throat.
At that moment, Parvati's solution boiled up foaming, whereupon she began to give it a good stir in the opposite direction and blew into it vigorously. After that, Parvati turned the flame smaller and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Apparently there was nothing to do for a while and Lavender was very relieved that the next steps were so easy.
When her solution had also boiled up, its colour then turning a rich orange, Snape took her cauldron without saying a word and carried it over to the side table next to the blackboard, where he hung it over the hearth. One last desperate look at Parvati, then Lavender grabbed her book and her meagre notes and followed her teacher with soft knees.
"Now, who can this be?" she immediately heard Draco's scornful voice. "She-Who-Consorts-with-the-Mudblood!"
Of course! Lavender wished she could use her long hair as a curtain, but she wore it tied back because anything else was too dangerous in this class. She didn't want to see or hear that bastard!
With a red head, she lit a fire under her cauldron and immersed herself in her recipe. She simply had to make it, even without Parvati and other additional information. If she had understood everything correctly, the solution had to be kept at a constant hundred degrees for a while anyway, and the built-in automatic system in the cauldron was now enough to stir it. She now had to chop and squeeze the asphodel root, the juice of which would later be added to the brew. She set to work, she and Parvati constantly casting long glances at each other.
And Draco did not rest, though he limited himself to flicking some childish paper balls at Lavender's head together with Blaise Zabini and making nasty remarks. Gritting her teeth, she carried on, Parvati also kept quiet. He just wasn't worth putting everything at stake …
Lavender breathed a sigh of relief when most of them rose—among them the Slytherins—to go with their solutions to the neighbouring lab where the centrifuges were. She was, as always, one of the last, and no sooner had the room emptied than her hands stopped shaking. Calmly, she put the measured half-fluid ounce of wormwood and the juice of the asphodel root into the cauldron and stirred for the specified five minutes until the solution turned a soft lime green. Then she tipped everything into a large screw-top bottle and followed the others. After centrifuging, the supernatant was poured into a clean glass bottle and labelled.
Lavender could hardly believe her luck when she saw her bottle standing among those of all the Outstanding students. It had all gone well!
I can't do it, my arse, she thought as she, with a satisfied face and her friend looking a lot more unhappy, waited for Severus Snape to tell her off. At least, now he has no reason to kick me out!
He came to them as soon as he had locked the lab behind Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott, who had taken the longest to do everything.
"It's about the Three Broomsticks incident, among other things," Snape began straightforwardly, glaring at Parvati. "Mister Malfoy told me how you shot at him with the Full Body-Bind curse!"
Parvati gasped for breath. "He shot at me—"
Snape didn't let her finish at all. "Mister Crabbe is in the Hospital Wing with a concussion! What do you have to say about that?"
"Oh … I'm really very sorry, sir," Parvati said, lowering her head. Lavender saw clearly that she was on the verge of giggling. "But I didn't—"
"Miss Patil, how old are you?"
Parvati raised her head. "Sixteen, sir. Soon seventeen."
"Of age, then," Snape said in a lurking tone, giving her a deprecating look from under half-closed eyelids. "At least on paper. But you still don't realise how dangerous it is to be shooting off curses in crowded rooms like this! After all the time you've been here at Hogwarts!"
"But Malfoy shot at me!" shouted Parvati quickly, before Snape could interrupt her a third time.
"Mister Malfoy," Snape improved her sharply. "And sir. If you please!"
"Mister Malfoy shot at me, sir," Parvati repeated grudgingly.
"That's right!" cried Lavender. "Sir. And he called her the worst names …"
Snape turned to her, his dark eyes narrowed ominously. "You will speak when you are asked! Besides, it's all your fault anyway! If you can't refrain from ramming your pointy elbow into Mister Malfoy's kidneys, you don't have to wonder about the consequences!"
Now Lavender gasped. "But that wasn't on—"
"Silence!" Snape ordered her, and Lavender fell silent, intimidated. An argument with Severus was the last thing she needed right now.
"By the way, I had no intention of letting this degenerate into a debate!" he hissed, visibly irritated. "I would just strongly advise you to stop provoking Mister Malfoy. It has not been the first time he has complained about you!"
Parvati opened her mouth, but shut it again shortly afterwards. Lavender knew what she was thinking—there was simply no point in telling Severus Snape about the real Draco Malfoy.
"Sometimes I really wonder if you're asking for it," he continued now, his voice lowered to that quiet murmur that always made Lavender's imagination run wild. He glanced first at Parvati and then at her meaningfully. "You ought to know by now how dangerous it can be to tease young men his age. And if you were too naive for that until now, you should have realised it after this incident at the latest!"
The girls looked up at him without saying a word, but Parvati clearly looked indignant. Lavender, on the other hand, felt all warm inside. He thinks of our safety and warns us?, she thought incredulously; and once again she sank into the blackness of his eyes. But this time he had other things on his mind than returning her gaze.
"Good. I will refrain from detention for this time," Snape said; he had returned to his usual sarcastic tone. "I've clearly been seeing too much of you for my liking lately anyway!" At that, he gave Parvati a long look that Lavender couldn't explain; her friend, however, blanched.
That's really the best way to get closer to him!, Lavender thought in frustration. After just one week, he's so fed up with us that he can't stand the sight of us any more!
"Instead, I will deduct house points from you," Snape announced. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for bullying a classmate and recklessly using curses on other people followed by fleeing the scene of an accident! For each of you!"
Parvati and Lavender gave each other a horrified look. Forty points in all, Lavender groaned inwardly. That's the best way to make friends in your own house … I would have liked a hefty detention ten times better!
"Let's move on to the next point, Miss Patil," Snape let himself be heard again, and Parvati's dark eyes widened in shock. "If you thought I hadn't seen you and Mister Potter behind the statue at ten o'clock on Friday night—I'm afraid I'm going to have to prove you wrong!"
Lavender stared open-mouthed at Parvati, who had turned bright red and was suddenly taking a keen interest in the tips of her shoes. The laughter had finally passed her.
"Another ten points deducted from Gryffindor for that," Snape continued ruthlessly. "Ten for you, ten for Mister Potter—for leaving your common room outside the permitted hours. Feel free to tell him, I don't feel like telling him in person!"
Sixty points!
"Good. That will be all," Snape said in conclusion, brushing his hair out of his forehead with an annoyed movement. "If you please …"
He seriously lost his cool, Lavender thought, as she and Parvati walked out of the classroom with their heads hanging down in front of Snape. He's really irritable … is it just us?
Snape locked the room behind them and disappeared into his office without another word, not without slamming the door loudly behind him.
Lavender turned to her friend, stunned. "So, Miss Patil! You were with Harry—behind a statue? And Severus caught you? I can't believe this!"
Parvati slowly turned her head to Lavender. "What you can't believe?" she asked in a drawling voice.
"What were you doing there?"
"Snogging," Parvati said briefly and began to climb the dungeon stairs. But the next moment she turned to Lavender, who had stopped stock-still at the bottom. "Okay, joking. We were hiding because we saw Snape. He looked our way once, but I'd never thought he saw us. It was far too dark, that's what Harry thought, too …"
"That is really very strange," Lavender said disgruntled. She found it simply incredible that Parvati had kept this incident from her, but then she couldn't help feeling a certain fascination. "But maybe …" she began thoughtfully, "you know, I think, Severus sees more than others. Not with his eyes, but … maybe he sensed you somehow!" she whispered. "Or saw your aura …"
"Aura!" Parvati's lips twisted into a mocking grin. "You know how I feel about that?"
"Yes, I know that," Lavender said, offended. "And shall I tell you how I feel about hearing such actions from Severus instead of you? Why didn't you tell me?"
Parvati shrugged her shoulders unenthusiastically. "It just didn't work out that way. Besides—did I sign some kind of contract that I have to tell you everything?"
She turned abruptly and stomped up the stairs. Lavender followed her confusedly and murmured softly: "No, of course you didn't … but I happen to be your friend!"
Units of measurement:
1 (imperial) cup = 285 ml
1 (imperial) fluid ounce = appr. 28 ml
Since JKR uses the units that used to be common in UK, I decided to do it this way, too. They sound a bit more mysterious than the sober metric system :)
Regarding the temperature, I found that Celsius and Fahrenheit are both used in HP, and apparently, in reality, Fahrenheit is still used now and then in UK. I went for Celsius here, but if you think, Fahrenheit is more typical for UK or especially the HP-world, please let me know. I can still change this here.