56 Fourth Year Part 2

Tracey and Michael were already at the table, breaking their fast. And by the sound of it, having discussions about potions with our house mates.

"… It's apparently different this year. We won't be only processing potions, but also casting spells on them- Oh hey guys!" Michael stopped his lengthy explanation when he noticed us approaching.

"Good morning, sorry for being late." They saved us seats apparently.

"It's alright don't mention it." Michael waved it off.

"What's this you were saying about potions being different?" Terry Boot asked him again, seemingly annoyed at my interruption.

"Right, well as I said, we'll be casting spells on potions to remove certain runic sequences. Most advanced potions use this technique to isolate the effects." Michael resumed.

"Don't tell me we have to cast spells only from a set of runes! Isn't that super difficult to do?" Anthony Goldstein paled hearing the level of difficulty. To be fair, out of all Hogwarts' subjects, potions were the most difficult. And because of professor Snape's high standards, accepting only Outstandings for his NEWT class, only a select few make it, generally around ten students.

"No, that's NEWT level. We will be required to cast simpler spells with incantations though, but it's not very easy either. And he usually assigns the spell as homework." Tracey was also paying close attention to what he was saying. She has apparently decided to pursue potions in the future, hopefully becoming a potion mistress. The reason for this is very simple: it's the highest paying job there is. Enchanter might sound cool, but they are very common. Potion masters, on the other hand, are very rare. The nature of their job is also very dangerous, since the smallest mistakes can cost your life.

I sat down, and began buttering my toast. I took a bite, then a sip from my chocolate milk, before I noticed the weird looks I was receiving, again. What now?

"Wow. The world must be ending, or I must have gone blind." Terry remarked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing right.

"What?"

"You didn't cast your spells on your food." Anthony pointed out. Oh, so that's what this is about.

"Really? I must have forgot." I continued munching on my toast, enjoying the now suspicious glances.

"Who are you and what have you done to Kaiser!" Tracey and Michael asked simultaneously, but I just smirked. Should I tell them that I checked my food Wandlessly? Meh, let's see how long until they figure it out. Professor Flitwick soon started distributing our schedules.

"Great, we have potions first." Anthony groaned in annoyance; Potions was not his favorite subject. "Getting yelled at by Snape on the first day. What a great way to start the year."

I swear I saw Professor Snape's eye shift to our direction briefly, before he resumed his talks with Professor McGonagall. Was his hearing that good? I should be careful what I say in the Great Hall then. Who am I kidding? I never discuss anything important here anyway.

"Do your potions correctly, and you won't get yelled at." Terry shrugged.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Anthony just rolled his eyes at him. To be fair, professor Snape doesn't "yell". He speaks in the calmest way possible, so much that it chills you to the bones when you are the subject of his ire.

"We should get moving and clean our equipment first." Tracey said, after Daphne and I finished eating. There are two people professor Snape hates the most: those who are late, and those who do not take potions seriously. I understand why it would piss him off, the number of times he had to vanish a potion about to go kaboom was astronomical, and that's only for simple potions. It is an exceedingly dangerous and stressful for him, watching everyone closely for any signs of errors, while he can't afford to make any, because it would mean one of his students would lose his life.

Hannah and Susan noticed us getting up, and did the same with the other puffs. Daphne quickly whispered something to them, I guess she's informing them of our change of pairings. I took a station at the back of the class, and was shortly joined by Susan.

"Hello! Thank you for agreeing to this." She said to me with a smile, which I returned.

"Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for." She nodded, while her smile widened. "Let's clean the cauldron first."

"Allow me." She took her wand out, pointing it at the cauldron. "Aguamenti." A stream of water came out of it, and slowly filled half the cauldron. She then dumped a cleaning potion into the water. It was used to get rid of remnants of previous potions, and any other effects that could still be on the cauldron. Next, she waved her wand over the mixt, creating a vortex effect, covering every part of the cauldron.

"Evanesco." The water slowly disappeared leaving behind a silver interior with few taints. "Scourgify." The spell left behind shiny silver with no unwanted substances. It was a cleaning spell used to get rid of impurities, but it's not foolproof either. Unless you had an amazing control over the spell, it would leave behind some traces. After casting it a few times, she conjured water again, making it spin all over the cauldron, and vanishing it.

"Done." She pointed her wand, casting a few spells to verify the quality of her cleaning, while I did the same. The results were impressive enough. The cauldron was now ready for use.

"Impressive." I praised. Praises were free, and usually had a positive effect on people. I don't see why we shouldn't abuse this fact.

"Thank you." She beamed, as always.

"You did some reading about today's potion?" I asked. It's a good thing we already know the potion we would be making; professor Snape only gives surprises for evaluations.

"I did." She nodded. "We will be making a variant of the Calming Draught. I also researched the ingredients we will be using." She added. Good to know she's taking this seriously. She asked me a few questions about the ingredients, while I did the same. We discussed our findings, filling the blanks for each other, until we heard the professor's voice.

"Take your stations everyone."

When I first came to Hogwarts, I expected Snape to be nothing but a bitter man who takes joy in torturing his non-Slytherin students. One that gives Harry the hardest time because of a grudge against his father since his teenage years. I am glad I was proven wrong.

Professor Snape was a very strict teacher. He expects the best of his students, but helps them all the way. Most are intimidated by his demeanor, however. Professor Snape never smiles, always wearing the same cold indifferent mask, his tone almost monotone. The very air around him changes when dealing with problematic children, however, chilling you to the bones, which is why he is the most feared professor at Hogwarts.

I honestly respect him very much as a professor, because of how efficient he is. The nature of his job is very demanding, and he deals with it his own way, but it gives sufficient results. There hasn't been a single student of his who passed his NEWT class that didn't get an O, and was accepted shortly afterwards as an apprentice under a potion master. In fact, he helped most of them get their apprenticeships, for those who wanted to pursue potions at least.

He slowly walked through every station, examining the cauldrons with his eyes, the first thing he does every time. I wondered how he could judge the quality without using any spells but now, I have my answer. The rituals have enhanced my sensitivity to magic significantly, and whenever looked at a cauldron, I could feel a tiny wave of magic hit me. He was using wandless magic!

"Today, you'll be brewing a more advanced version of the Calming Draught. I want you to apply everything you have learned in my class so far. Instructions are on the board. Begin."

And begin we did. The first step would be to choose the correct ingredients. There are several criteria one has to follow when choosing, mainly taking into account the previous ingredients' properties, since they aren't all the same. A professional would use a few spells and trinkets to make sure he has everything right, but since we are not at that level, we use physical properties like size, color or patterns to choose the correct ingredients. Professor Snape watches the choices of everyone, making remarks whenever he thinks them necessary. I have no idea how he can follow everything that's happening, remembering the choices of everyone at the same time.

For my part, I let Susan choose every ingredient. She did a good job, which means that Herbology at least wasn't a problem for her. So, it most likely had to do with the brewing process, or maybe she was just distracted talking with Hannah all the time.