Amsterdam was beautiful. Over 800 years old, the city was filled with old castles, lovely museums, cobbled streets, and charming secret courtyards just waiting to be explored.

Aria had made a list of places she wanted to see like the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, the Royal Palace, and the Rijksmuseum, and Professor Snape had promised that they would spend one day exploring Amsterdam's magical and Muggle sides before they returned to England.

For now, though, they were in a wizarding space area of Beurs van Berlage where over 200 young Europeans were gathered together to listen to potions masters and mistresses from around the globe discuss a wide variety of topics within the field of potions making. Aria had also seen others masters from other fields such as herbology, magical creatures, and runes. Who would have thought you could use runes for potions?

Professor Snape told her that runes and potions were not covered at Hogwarts until NEWTS.

It was clear as the Young European Potioneers Symposium went on, that Aria was one of the youngest in attendance, if not the youngest. She had a little over a week before she turned fourteen on July 27 and most of the people, she had met had been between the ages of 17-21, many of whom were just starting out on their apprenticeship journeys.

Still, it was fascinating to sit in on lectures. She had listened to a potions mistress from America discuss indigenous ingredients in potions making and the ongoing work to integrate Native American potion techniques into the mainstream. Aria caught part of a lecture from one man from Greece who was giving a presentation on one particular ingredient and its uses in nerve potions which went over her head, but Professor Snape had wanted to attend that lecture, so she had gone before dipping out to go explore the expedition floor.

She also attended Professor Snape's lecture which was only a little bit less over her head. His presentation was one taking existing potions and improving them, especially potions that were "common" like the Pain Relief Potion, the Pepper-Up Potion, and many others. He gave examples such as squishing a bean instead of cutting it because a potioneer could get a better flow of juice from the bean. Or by cutting a plant instead of crushing it the properties changed and therefore could lend improvement to a potion.

Her favorite part though was going to the exhibition floor and seeing all the exhibits that apprentices and other students had put together. There were several students from the French school Beauxbatons who were going to be seventh years and had done a project on the Dragon Pox vaccine. They had a nice board set up with pictures and carefully written notes. It reminded Aria of the science fair she had had to do her last year of primary.

Most of the exhibitions were done by people in their first years of apprenticeships. Many masters, apparently, required their apprentices to present at a symposium at least once to get them use to presenting and public speaking so that they had some experience by the time they went before the European Guild to gain their Cauldrons and, hopefully, their Masters status.

On the second day of the symposium, Aria was browsing an area of the exhibition floor called Merchant's Row where people were selling a plethora of potion related items. Aria could see sellers of cauldrons, of stirrers, and knife sets. She could see vendors selling protective gear such as gloves, aprons, and goggles. She even saw vendors selling items such as potion journals, quills that would hover and write what you said out loud, even a vendor selling bags to help with foraging for potion ingredients!

She was examining a pair of dragon-hide gloves when some stepped up to her side.

"You're a bit young for the YEP Symposium, aren't you?" the thick accented voice startled Aria and she nearly dropped the gloves on the floor. The boy caught the gloves, grinning at her as he set them back on the display table.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine," Aria said. "What was your question?"

"I vas just commenting that you're a bit young for the symposium, no? It is invitation only."

Aria wondered if the boy had a problem with her because of how young she was or if he was just genuinely curious.

"I got an invitation, if that's what you're wondering," she told him. "I've come with Professor – I mean – Potion Master Snape."

The boy's eyes widened.

"Master Snape?" he cried. "You must attend Hogwarts then."

"I do." She held out her hand. "Aria Bourne." The boy shook her hand.

"Nikola Petrov," he said. "I'm a student at Durmstrang. If you do not mind me asking, did Master Snape get you an invitation?"

"I don't think so. He seemed as surprised as I was that I got an invitation. The only thing he's done for me recently is written letters of introduction to Masters Belby and Babic for me."

Nikola whistled.

"That vould get you here," he agreed. "Master Snape is known for not taking apprentices. People have tried!"

Aria thought Snape could probably use an apprentice or two, just to help him teach.

"He must think very highly of your skills," Nikola continued.

"I'm top in my year," Aria answered proudly. "Got the results just before I got here. Number two overall and number one in potions."

"Congratulations, Aria. I too am number one in potions for my year." He turned to the table and gestured to the gloves. "Vill you need dragon-hide gloves this year?"

"Maybe. Professor Snape said we don't use them until our NEWTs, but I've got a project in mind that may require them. None of these are my size though."

Nikola glanced over the gloves.

"You could alvays get them tailored made," he suggested.

Aria had thought about that. Her dad had helped her budget for the trip and while she could afford it, the price still made her balk. Plus, she would need to get growth charms on the gloves, and dragon hide, according to the vendor, did not always take charms well as the hide itself was natural resistant to a lot of magic.

"I'd be having to buy a new pair every year," Aria answered, "it seems like a waste of dragon hide." Nikola shrugged and they moved to the next vendor who was selling other types of protective gear. Aria settled on a pair of goggles, Professor Snape had already told her that if she ever wanted to start experimenting, he would not let her do so at Hogwarts without a pair, and a nice apron that could be manually adjusted to become smaller or larger. It reminded her of Muggle aprons.

"Vhy not just put growth charms on it?" Nikola asked the vendor as the woman wrapped up Aria's purchases. "It is synthetic dragon hide, so it can take charms, no?"

"It can," the woman answered, "but synthetic dragon hide will last longer the less magic applied to it. I took inspiration from my grandmother's aprons. Muggle aprons adjust in a similar fashion."

Aria watched as Nikola took in that information. His face was suspiciously blank after the mention of Muggles.

"Muggles . . . that is very . . . how do you say? Ingenious."

"Muggles have to be," the woman said, handing Aria her package. "They don't have magic to rely on."

Aria and Nikola wandered away from the vendor towards a row of vendors selling potions ingredients. Aria wondered if she would need to find a way to ditch the guy if he started spouting off anti-Muggle nonsense.

"Hogvarts has Muggleborns, no?" Nikola asked suddenly.

"It does," Aria answered. "There are several in my year. Very smart. The top spot of the year is taken by a Muggleborn. She's been at the top since first year."

"Really? Do they not struggle?"

"Wouldn't you struggle being tossed into the Muggle world at eleven without knowing that it existed until then?" Nikola nodded.

"That is a fair point," he said. "I only ask because Durmstrang does not admit Muggleborns. It never has. They all have to attend Beauxbatons or Koldovstoretz vhich is in Russia."

Something must have shown on Aria's face because Nikola raised an eyebrow and continued,

"You disagree vith this policy?"

Aria quickly thought about her answer. If this boy attended Durmstrang which did not admit Muggleborns, then that meant there was a very good chance that he did not like Muggleborns, like many of her Slytherin housemates. While they were in a very public place and he seemed smart enough not to make a scene, she also did not want to chance anything. She was in a foreign country surrounded by foreign wizards, and Professor Snape was not with her.

"I do," she said. "My best friend, Hermione, is Muggleborn. She is the witch at the top of our year. There's also Justin. He was going to go to Eton, which is a very prestigious Muggle school. Charms come really easy for him. Then last year's Head Girl was a Muggleborn, Penelope. She graduated second in her year." Percy had taken the top spot. "They're very curious and really eager to learn."

Nikola hummed, as if surprised.

"They do not struggle from a lack of magical skill?" he questioned.

"Not any more than others," Aria told him, thinking Crabbe and Goyle who were at the very bottom of the year. They did not try hard in their classes, bullied the younger years, and really struggled to produce any results in their practical wand work. Millicent had struggled at the beginning too, but she and Pansy had really started to settle down and study and work at school and were now comfortably in the middle of their year's standings.

"Interesting," Nikola murmured. They paused in front of a vendor, Blackwitch's Sons and Daughters, which was an actual potions ingredients company that acted as a middleman in selling rare ingredients. Aria noticed a shelf full of basilisk items and noted that a shimmering shield was hovering around the shelf. A lot of items had the shimmering shield.

"What is the shimmering things over the ingredients?" she asked the man. He raised an eyebrow.

"You can see the wards?" he asked. Aria blinked.

"Can you not?" she asked.

"I put the wards up myself," the man answered. "I know they're there, but wards are invisible to most wixen."

"Oh." Aria internally sighed as she realized she had discovered a new skill. "Well, I can see them. Are the wards there to protect the ingredients from something?"

"Thieves," a woman answered, coming up behind the man. "You've got quite the developing talent, young lady."

"Vhere did you get basilisk parts?" Nikola asked.

"A British witch killed one two years ago," the man answered. "We're the official sellers. We work closely with Gringotts. They release to us a certain amount each year and we get the pleasure of selling it and splitting the profit."

It was nice to see all her work being displayed. Aria watched a Nikola eyed several items. Most of the items were venom and bone and scales.

"Who was the witch?" he asked. Aria suddenly froze, terror filling her. She had not thought about it, but had she discussed with Gringotts about her name? Did people outside of Hogwarts know she had been the one to kill the basilisk?

"Anonymous," the woman answered. "Gringotts was very clear that their client wished to be anonymous. I would too. Rumor has it that the kill was less about the hunting of potions ingredients and more about being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Yeah, the library corridor certainly counted as the wrong place at the wrong time, Aria thought.

Nikola asked after the prices, and even though the man and woman looked credulous at a teen asking for basilisk prices, they told him. Nikola hummed thoughtfully and said he might have to come back.

"Can you really afford basilisk?" Aria asked as they walked further down the aisle, not caring that the question was probably very rude. Nikola shrugged.

"I can afford a lot of things," he answered.

Great, Aria thought, a rich pureblood who may or may not be a pureblood supremist.

"I'm hungry," Nikola suddenly said.

Trotting along behind Nikola, Aria watched as he greeted a few people as they made their way to the food court. Nikola purchased himself bitterballen and appeltaart while Aria decided to get an appeltaart and oliebollen sprinkled with powdered sugary and drizzled in syrup. They both grabbed a butterbeer to go with it, and it was interesting to see how butterbeer seemed to be the universal soft drink in the wizarding world the same way Coca-Cola was in the Muggle world.

A few Durmstrang alumni stopped by while they ate to chat briefly with Nikola. Aria discovered that Nikola and a few were Bulgarians and that Durmstrang was located somewhere, mysteriously, in Bulgaria. Apparently, wizarding schools closely guarded where their schools were located, which Aria thought was strange since for Hogwarts all one had to do was locate Hogsmeade and there Hogwarts would be located.

After lunch Aria and Nikola part ways although Aria does not get very far before Professor Snape descends upon her.

"I have someone I want you to meet," he says and immediately marches off in the direction of an area of the symposium that is off limits to everyone except the lecturers. The security guards do not bat an eyelash when Aria follows Snape into a cozy looking parlor room where wizards and witches are spread out drinking tea and chatting quietly with each other. Several people eye her with interest as she follows Snape across the room to a man sitting in the corner, a tea service on the table in front of him.

Tall and stocky, Novak Babic turned bright blue eyes towards them as they approached. He had a thick head of dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard that made his face look very pointy at the chin. He nodded at Snape before rising to bow at Aria.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bourne," the man said. Aria stuck her hand out in greeting, and he shook it. He offered her a chair and she settled, Snape across from her.

"Master Snape tells me you wish to find a cure for lycanthropy," Babic said. "We have heard . . . bit of the fiasco . . . surrounding your Defense professor."

"You heard about that?" Aria cried.

"Ah, we Europeans make it our business to know what happens in Britain," Babic said. "If only to make ourselves feel better about what happens in our own countries."

He chuckled.

"Professor Lupin is a close family friend," Aria told Babic. "Finding out he was a werewolf has not changed that.

"I am glad to see not all Brits are as prejudice against werewolves as your ministry," Babic said. "Of course, Belby and I have worked together before. Sharing notes, information we find, the like. But he was quite put upon by others in Britain for his goals."

"He managed to do what he set out to do," Aria said.

"And will you?"

"Yes."

Babic threw his head back and laughed.

"You've chosen well, Severus," Babic said after a moment. "I can see why you gave her a letter of introduction. She is quite confident in herself."

"As she ought to be," Snape answered. "If it's one thing we at Hogwarts have been learning, it's not to underestimate Aria Bourne."

Pleasant warmth filled Aria's belly and traveled up her chest as Snape's praise. She grinned at him.

Babic poured Aria tea.

"Tell me what you have discovered so far about lycanthropy," Babic instructed. "Where exactly have you started your research?"

Aria eagerly launched into what had she currently been looking at, the history of lycanthropy research and any major innovations in the field. Babic seemed impressed at the rudimentary work she had already done.

At the end of an hour, Babic gave her a list of books that she could access in English and an invitation to write to him directly.

"You've chosen your apprentice well," Babic told Snape. "I look forward to seeing where she goes."

Aria hurried after Snape as he swept from the room.

"Am I your apprentice?" she asked. They had not talked about that!

"Unofficially," Snape answered. "British law, indeed, most country laws, say you cannot take on an apprenticeship until you've finished your OWLs or equivalent exams, however, unofficial apprenticeships are quite common. I offered letters of introductions, so it was not a far-reaching step for people to assume you'd taken on that role."

"And have I? I mean . . . you're not just saying that?"

Snape sighed almost long-sufferingly.

"Should you obtain your OWL in Potions, I will . . . happily . . . take you on as my official potion apprentice."

"Happily?"

Snape glared at her, causing a few passersby to run off in fear. Aria vibrated with excitement, barely containing an excited squeal.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

Aria grinned.