Here's the second chapter for today. The next one will be posted next week :-)
Have fun!
Some notion of potions
"The great Harry Potter needs to learn how to properly do potions, or he will kill himself. And Dobby will not be able to save him, because he promised not to."
"Hu" Harry Potter brilliantly reacted to the elf.
He was walking alone in a corridor, sulking on his way back from detention with Umbridge. His hand hurt and bled, his head pounded, and he was hungry. Suddenly, the excitable little creature popped in front of him. His first week back at Hogwarts was going great, really. All he needed was a batty elf to top the jackpot.
"The great Harry Potter needs to follow me!" Dobby ears flopped around. They were producing a nice breeze, who eased Harry's headache. For this, if nothing else, he followed the elf to an abandoned classroom not too far away. Maybe his loss of blood had impaired his ability to think properly too, because, let's be honest, learning potions from a barmy elf hadn't been on his to do list today. Especially less than three minutes before curfew.
"First, a good potioneer needs steady hands. Take this." Dobby started as soon as Harry sat in front of a worktable furnished with a cauldron and everything necessary to make potions. Some ingredients were stacked on the left, and the utensils were on the right of the cauldron.
Harry took the cup Dobby gave him. Inside was some kind of paste.
"Put it on your hand." He commanded.
It was a testament to Harry's state, that he didn't even think of questioning it. He smeared some on his bleeding wound. The effects were quite spectacular and enjoyable: a nice cold sensation stopped the pain and the wound closed as the paste went from sick green to bright yellow.
"Putting blood in a potion when it is not required can be very dangerous. As any other substance. The first step is to properly clean your hands. Like this."
Harry's first potion remedial lesson lasted one hour, to the second. Dobby gave him a low-key pepper up potion to help him learn correctly, and to do his homework after.
When Harry came back to Gryffindor, Hermione had a hard time believing his story about making a fruit salad as his first potion remedial lesson from a free elf. He himself had a hard time believing he didn't hallucinate it the next morning. The cup on his side table, still half full with the disgusting but effective green paste was proof, though.
The perfectly diced salad fruit that appeared in his plate at breakfast was a nice surprise too.
Over the next lessons, where he forcibly brought Ron and Neville, they learned how to hash, dice, grate, cut, slice… and every other way to prepare ingredients. They ate very tasty breakfasts that month. Dobby had learned that way, after all. He had been there to help when Lucius Malfoy, and then his son, had private lessons at their manor. He had been ordered to learn, so he could redo all of their potions when they messed up. They weren't nearly as good as they thought.
Harry Potter was in bad health, and prone to accidents, according to Dobby. So, most of the potions they were learning were healing potions. The next year, when Harry, Hermione and Ron went on the run, he would thank the enterprising elf many times. It would well serve the rebelling students at Hogwarts too.
One day, after the winter holidays, but before Valentine's day, Ron would carelessly talk about one of Dobby's lessons in public. This sparked interest in some other unfortunate students who had to suffer through professor Snape poor teaching.
Thus, started the first unofficial remedial potions course offered by a free elf. Dobby only made them pay one Knut per lesson when they were using food, and the price of the ingredients plus one Knut when he had to buy ingredients. He had many clients, amongst those who weren't biased enough to accept to be taught by a servant.
It made him very rich. For an elf, that is.