11 Potions

Today was Friday, and they had potions with Gryffindors.

Draco, Theodore, Pansy, and Daphne were having their breakfast when hundreds of owls flew in into the Great Hall. Owlbert dropped a package on Draco's lap and landed near the table. Draco didn't need to worry about Owlbert a lot since he was a great trained hunter even before Lucius bought him and didn't need to be fed by him all the time. Since Draco had let him out on the first day, he has been traveling back and forth from Hogwarts to his home.

Draco petted Owlbert first, then opened up his package. The package was filled with his favorite sweets and a letter from his mother telling him to eat properly and not worry about home. She even talked about Crabbe and Goyle, it seems their parents were very angry and next year they would return back home. Narcissa was hopeful that with Lucius influence both of them could go to Durmstang.

'No wonder, they always look lost.' Draco thought, even though he had not seen them too often, Draco could tell something was wrong with them. Draco wanted to go and console them but he knew he wasn't in a position to do so, as it was most likely his fault.

As he was reading the letter Theodore put his hands inside the package and picked out a few candies and pocketed them.

Draco glared at Theodore who was eating his breakfast as if nothing had happened. Draco rolled his eyes and didn't say anything.

"Draco, will you sit next to me in the potion class?" Daphne said suddenly,

Theodore expression didn't change but Pansy was glaring daggers at her.

"Oh! May I ask why?" Draco asked in a teasing tone.

"I am not really good at potions and I don't wanna mess it up." Daphne said innocently,

"Draco, you know I am not good at potions either." Pansy said giving Draco puppy eyes.

"Yeah! But last night you said that Draco taught you Potion for a month, didn't you?" Daphne said looking at Pansy "And I heard Theodore is also very talented in potions as well, so you can partner up with him."

Pansy was gritting her teeth looking at Daphe like a wildcat.

"Oh! you still haven't paid the debt, and you want me to teach you?" Draco said with a smirk.

Out of nowhere, Daphne who was beside Draco reached over and kissed his cheeks,

"Will you sit next to me in potion class now?" Daphne asked with a red face.

Draco who was stunned just nodded subconsciously.

Daphne smiled as she covered her face and ran away.

Suddenly there was a slam on the desk, Pansy picked up her book and started walking away.

"Didn't expect that she had it in her, did you?" Theodore asked and Draco nodded. "She is more shrewd and clever than you think."

"And now you made Pansy mad." Theodore said laughing, "Your charm still isn't enough to row two boats at the same time, thankfully your bossy muggle-born girlfriend isn't here."

Draco just sighed and didn't say anything. Draco didn't know why Pansy was so angry, it was just a kiss in cheek, but he was a little concerned about her since he really considered her a friend and he had never seen her angry with him before.

Theodore stood up and walked away, "Don't worry, I will talk to her."

Draco nodded, he wasn't really experienced in this kind of situation, so someone mediating the situation was useful. Draco sat there eating his meal alone when suddenly a loud thud came in front of him. Draco was a bit startled, he looked at Hermione who was in front of him.

She casually sat on the chair, like it was normal. Draco could feel the stares of some of the Slytherin student so he awkwardly chuckled, "You really aren't afraid are you?"

"Why would I be?" She replied.

"Can't you see the Snakes are glaring at you?" Draco said

"Oh aren't you a snake, yourself?" Hermione snickered "And besides I came to show you this."

Hermione took out a half golden and wooden needle.

"Oh, impressive." Draco said looking at the needle, "That's a lot of improvement."

"Well I studied all day after school in the library and soon I finally got some understanding of the words you said." Hermione said, "So I wanted to Thank you."

"Oh! but I don't need a Thank you." Draco said thinking for a while. "How about a favor?"

"What do you want?" Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"I want you to give me your history and astronomy notes for the whole year." Draco said smiling.

"What?" Hermione said, "No, I am not giving you my homework."

"Eh! But that's all I need." Draco said

"No! you should do your work yourself." Hermione then proceeded to give Draco a long lecture. "If you want then we can study together and I will help you out, but that's all."

Draco eye's lit up as he smiled, "Sure, then we can meet up in the library after school."

Hermione thought for a while and nodded.

"Also, I can give you my Potion and Herbology's note, since I am not as selfish as you."

"I don't need it." She said standing up and walking away.

Draco sighed, He then turned his eye's to the front.

'Oh! looks like he got hooked with the robbery at Gringotts.' Draco smiled looking at Harry who was reading a newspaper in his hand with a complicated expression, his plan was finally set into motion. After that Draco also walked away from the hall.

Draco met Pansy outside the potion class and it looked like she wasn't mad at him anymore, since she talked to him normally. Draco was glad as Pansy and Theodore were the first people who Draco really considered friends after he arrived in this world, so he didn't want to lose them.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and is quite creepy with the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Draco wasn't the one to complain since his lab was very similar.

Draco as discussed earlier sat next to Daphne who was still blushing about the kiss, seeing her face Draco couldn't help but tease her.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new -- celebrity."

Draco looked at Harry as Pansy and Theodore chuckled at the back. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. Snape's cold and empty eyes stared down at the students.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

(If you read this without Alan Rickman's voice in your head then something is really wrong with you.)

More silence followed this little speech. Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

'She is really too cute.' Thought Draco glancing at her.

This didn't escape Daphne as she started muttering things underneath her breath.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut -- fame clearly isn't everything."

He ignored Hermione's hand.

'Ah! poor Hermione.' Draco thought feeling bad for her. Looking at the girl who wants to prove herself so bad, Draco can't help but fall in love.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was...

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"

Draco could see Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?

Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

A few people laughed;Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "Mr. Malfoy, can you tell Mr. Potter here the answer."

'Why me? You are making me look like the bad guy, you know.' Draco reluctantly stood up as he answered, "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Draco answered all the question with additional information.

Most people weren't surprised since Draco was a well-known genius in the potion.

"Excellent, Mr. Malfoy." Snape said showing an ugly smile "10 points to Slytherin."

He then turned to look at everyone back with his grim face, "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils.

Looking at Gryffindors face even Draco felt bad, but he still felt a bit nice being favored. Theodore and Pansy were very satisfied too as they always felt that Harry was favored by other professor's a lot. As planned Draco and Daphne paired up together. Creating the potion wasn't hard as Draco was very familiar with it. Daphne just sat there and watched as Draco was explaining things to her while making the potion himself.

Soon the potion was finished, Draco had used some catalyst, that he had researched himself, which made the process faster. The process of making the potion was very easy.

1) Add crushed snake fangs to your cauldron and stir.

2) Slice your Pungous Onions finely and place in the cauldron, then heat the mixture.

3) Add dried nettles.

4) Add a dash of Flobberworm mucus and stir vigorously.

5) Add a sprinkle of powdered ginger root and stir vigorously again.

6) Add pickled Shrake spines.

7) Stir gently, so as not to overexcite the Shrake spines.

8) Add a glug of stewed horned slugs.

9) Add porcupine quills.

10) Finally, wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion.

Snape swept around in his long black cloak, as he came near Draco. Snape picked up the blue colored potion, Draco had made with a smile.

"Very Good, Mr. Malfoy." he said, "10 points to Slytherin."

Daphne looked very happy at the finished potion as she kept complementing Draco. Draco smiled awkwardly since he could feel Gryffindor's hateful gaze.

As they were chatting, clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing suddenly filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

'How could you fu*k up a potion, with the damn instruction right in front of you.' Draco was now a 100% sure that Neville had an IQ of a monkey, No, a monkey might be more intelligent.

This made Draco dislike Neville more, Neville who's parents were tortured by Death Eaters to the point where they don't even remember their own son, was a complete waste to his parent's sacrifice. Most people would want revenge or want to find a way to cure them but no he was too busy being dumb. No wonder his Grandmother keeps getting angry at him.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

"You -- Potter -- why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

Draco sighed not even pitying Harry this time, because Neville reminded him of Harry, Even with the whole Order of Pheonix guiding him throughout life, literally paving a path for him to be a Hero. Harry was still the same, even after finding out about his parent's murder and the killer was out there looking to kill him, Harry other than getting curious and nosy time and time again did nothing much to improve, instead he hid all his insecurities and put all his trust to best friend Ron and ran around being idiots.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From now on I will only post a chapter a day.