Potions Lesson 2

Severus let his dark eyes glide over the classroom one more time before the lesson would start to check if everything was prepared for his class. He had set out cauldrons on each table and the storeroom was stacked with fresh ingredients that his students would have to use today.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache already building up at the thought of having a practical lesson today. But potions just was a subject that relied on practical skills more than knowledge of theory, so even if Severus detested it, he had to give his students the chance to brew potions on their own.

Maybe, today would not be a complete disaster. There had been some bright students in his class last week, so Severus could always hope. Even against all reason, he thought and snorted before flicking his wand to let the door fall open.

Today, the students would be working in pairs on their potions, so he would allow conversation in hushed tones. But they would better not try to use this as an excuse for mindless chatter or he would fail them straight away.

Mio had been standing in front of the classroom for a few minutes already and waited to be let in. In his head, he went through the instructions for todays potion one more time because his house truely could not afford to lose any more points and he wanted to do well in potions, too.
Finally, the door jumped open and Mio made his way inside, nodding to his father before sitting down in the second row.

Artemis groaned inwardly at the thought of going to potions but Ember had forced her to go. Entering the room, she saw Professor Snape rub his temples. Smirking, she walked over to his table and put down what looked like a sweet. ''It's what i use when i have a headache about to come. Also..Morning, Professor.'' She said, walking to the very back of the classroom with a smirk. Sitting down, she immediately pulled out her parchment to begin to doodle.

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Ember practically skipped into Potions Class, filled with energy and she grinned at Professor Snape. ''Good Morning Professor!'' She exclaimed, her excitement and happiness bouncing off the walls which received a groan from Artemis. Ember waved at her sister before sitting down at the front.

David was truly NOT looking forward to the Potions lesson, seeing as the last one Gryffindor had lost over 60 points in one lesson. He had to go though, so today he made a point of arriving ahead of time, giving a nod to Snape "Professor Snape" He said as he nodded. He then walked over and sat beside Mio "hey mate, ready for an awesome lesson today?" he greeted with a smirk

Mio looked up when David arrived to take the seat next to him and shot him a grin. At the other boy's remark, he rolled his eyes and motioned for his friend to shut up, knowing that his father would not hesitate to take points from Gryffindor at any opportunity that would arise. Mio had put it in his mind to earn points today, rather than lose them.

Rowan entered the potions classroom, running over the potion they were going to be making today over and over for perhaps the hundreth time. Nodding and offering a small smile to Professor Snape, she took an open table in the middle and said the recipe again, hoping that she had it right and that the lesson would start soon so they could get underway.

Malphas entered with his crew and sat beside them all, in the middle of course. Atticus and Kain strolled in afterwards, sitting in the table ahead of Malphas'. As customary, with the three of them, they all greeted professor Snape in a respectful way. He wasn't their head of house, however, he was the second most respected professor in the Slytherin house.

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Ricardo had been thinking about the potions lesson. And so had Adrastos. Why? Because Gryffindor had lost way too many points, and although in the CoMC class they had gained some, they were still far behind, and they wanted to get back on track. They both came in, and Ricardo spoke to the professor, "Morning professor," he said respectfully, however, Adrastos decided not to speak to the professor. Losing ten points had been enough.

Harry and Ron walked in after Ricardo and Adrastos and Harry couldn't want to be there less. Gryffindor had lost too many points in the other lesson and although he was only now getting used to his house pride, it was already hurt. They both sat next to the other gryffindors, waiting for Snape to begin.

Ian smiled as he entered the potions classroom, realizing that he was probably one of the only ones who was actually looking forward to this day's lesson. But he had come prepared so there really was no need to be nervous or even scared.
Maybe he could even earn some points for his house again, he thought and made his way to the front row. "Good morning, Professor." Ian greeted politely and sat down. When he turned, he realized that he sat right in front of Mio and David and shot them a short smile.

Neville looked around with a nervous expression on his face as he entered the potions classroom for his next lesson. This time Professor Snape was not standing next to the door and he felt a bit better for that. Still, his eyes travelled to the dark man again and again, as if to see if he had somehow snuck up on him. He looked around to find an empty seat, but all his housemates had already found a partner. Yet, there was an open seat next to a Ravenclaw girl and Neville walked over to her, taking care not to fall again.
He looked at her shyly, as he took the seat beside Rowan, hoping that she didn't mind if he joined her.

Severus stood at the front of the potions classroom as he waited for his students to enter, the impatient tapping of his foot the only movement of his otherwise motionless body. He sneered at the hordes of Gryffindors invading the room and prayed to Merlin that none of them would test his patience today. Last week had been bad enough and though he didn't mind taking points from the kittens, Severus would rather have a quiet lesson for a change.

When one of the Slytherins approached him and placed something on his desk, he raised his brow in question, but her following words made Severus smirk slightly and he nodded at the girl. Of course as a potions master, he had enough remedies for headaches, but the gesture still did not go unnoticed.

Finally, the last student entered the classroom and Severus waved his hand towards the door which fell shut, locking itself. This time, his lesson would not be interrupted by students who were of the opinion that tardiness could easily be excused. Then Severus turned to face his class.
"I expect that you all came prepared for today's lesson, otherwise, you can leave this room right now. I will not have you waste valuable ingredients only because you were incapable of remembering a few simple instructions." he stated coldly.

The Forgetfulness potion was one of the simplest concoctions and thus perfect for the first years to brew as a start. This was also the reason why Severus expected all of his students to be able to brew the potions without any problems. He pointed to the storeroom. "Now set up your cauldrons and gather the needed ingredients, so you can begin to brew. You have till the end of lesson to hand in a sample of your potion which will be graded by me. Obviously, you are going to work in pairs today, so you better make sure that your partner does not mess it up or I will fail you both."

Shooting an impatient glare at his students, Severus moved behind his desk and sat down to watch them at work.

Malphas nodded at his buds and told them to find partners for themselves. Lucius and Mulciber got together, and Archard went to meet his girl, Harper, a pretty little ravenclaw. Malphas touched Kain on the shoulder and nodded at him, and the Shadow quickly got up and joined him as his pair.

Ricardo and Adrastos didn't have a doubt that they'd be able to accomplish everything together so they joined 'forces' in going through Severus' second lesson.

Harry turned to Ron and smiled at him and he knew his best friend would wanna be his pair.

Atticus saw everyone pairing up, and it seemed he'd end up alone. He growled at the thought and then thought of Artemis. She would probably get with her sister, so he was alone. Celeste...I really need you at times like this... he muttered under his breath before he sighed and looked up. Finding a sole ravenclaw also without a partner, he walked to her, and held his head high, "Mind being my pair?" he asked bluntly.

Ian listened to his professor with a barely suppressed eagerness. He couldn't wait to get to brew his first potion and as soon as the teacher gave them the go, he got up from his seat and looked down at the student next to him. It was a Gryffindor girl and Ian smiled at her. "I'll get the ingredients for us, alright?" he said and walked over to the storeroom to gather everything they would need. Then he walked back and placed the Lethe River water, the Mistletoe berries and the valerian sprigs on the table. Next to them, he put a small bowl of standard ingredient. "Okay, I think that's all we need."

Ember listened to Professor Snape with perfect attention and looked around, almost nervously at the mention of partners. Hearing the person next to her speak, she did a double take unsure of the fact he was speaking to her. ''Oh..okay..'' She muttered and watched him walk away. Setting up the cauldron, she smiled at Ian. ''Thanks..I'm Ember by the way. Ember Shadow.'' She introduced before her smile turned into a grin. ''It's Lethe River water first...two drops.'' Ember informed, placing the exact amount into the cauldron before heating it for 20 seconds. ''What's next?'' She simply could not remember.

"I'm Ian Mortinson, nice to ...work with you." he said grinning at the Gryffindor and watched her carefully as she completed the first step. Nodding to himself, he recounted the following instruction. "The valerian sprigs are next." Ian picked up two and let them drop into the cauldron. "Now we need to stir the potion, three times and ...anti-clockwise?" he asked Ember. Although, he had been so sure that he had memorized the potion, he now could not remember which way to stir.

Ember smiled. ''Nice to..work with you too. Seems you know my sister.'' She points out before gasping as he says anti - clockwise. ''No, no no! Clockwise!'' She said, laughing lightly. Pulling out her wand, she waved it over the potion and sighed. ''Now we have to wait for 45-60 minutes.'' She said, watching everyone.

"Oh damn..." Ian cursed. He had almost messed up the potion and was glad that his partner seemed to have come prepared as well. Sitting back to wait till they could work, Ian smiled at Ember. "Yes, your sister is really cool! We've been hanging out a bit with a few guys from your house." he said grinning, but quickly hushed his voice not to draw the professor's attention to them.

Ember smiled and looked back at Artemis who seemed to be waiting as well. ''Yeah she is. I'm surprised she's even hung out with people from my house.'' She whispered back to Ian. ''She's got quite a mean streak and to see her with two lions and a badger is a strange thing. Then again...she's been with lots of snakes lately as well. It's like she's trying to become the queen of this place.'' She shook her head, biting back a laugh so no attention was drawn to them.

Ian bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud. He could easily imagine Artemis as a queen of the castle, though to be honest she seemed more like the dark knight. "Well I'm glad that some people are open to spend time with students from other houses. I think it's important to strenghten the interhouse relationship." he said thoughtfully, but equally was quietly as Ember.
Once more, Ian looked at the potion to see if it was still the correct colour and then turned back to the Gryffindor. "So are you two very much alike?" he asked her.

Ember smiled and nodded. ''As do I...I do not see any need for such a rivalry.'' She admitted before also checking the potion. Touching the other ingrediants to see if they were good, she heard Ian's question. Shaking her head almost sadly, she sighed. ''Nah...She's more fighting and blood. I'm just talking and peace but we are close at times. She prefers to be alone, you know. It's hard for her to be around people at times.'' She explained to Ian with a shrug.

David looked over at Mio and smirked "nah, I don't want you as a partner, you're hopeless" he then winked at him and got up "I shall grab the ingredients needed' he then got up and headed to the store, getting the Lethe River Water, Valarion sprigs, mistletoe berries and then the last ingredient.. the Standard ingredient. He then returned to the table and placed the ingredients on the table. "you start on the actual potion, I will work on the motar" he then leaned in and whispered "lets try not to lose Gryffindor any points eh? We only just got out of the negatives" he then smirked as leaned back and proceeded to start on the motar.. 2 measures of standard and 4 mistletoe berries and started to crush them.

Mio snorted and shook his head at his friend's remark. Sure, he wasn't the best at potions, but he was not hopeless either. If he was, his father would have probably given him up for adoption, he thought grinning. While David got up to get the ingredients, Mio set up the cauldron and started a small fire underneath it.
"First the two drops of Lethe River Water." he said and proceeded to drop it into the cauldron, then raised the fire for twenty seconds. "Kay...." he frowned thoughtfully to remember what was next, but in front of him he could see Ian use two valerian sprigs and so Mio took them as well to drop them into their brew, knowing that Ian would probably know what he was doing. "Now we only need to stir it and then we can wait." He said and stirred the potion three times clockwise.

Rowan looked up and smiled as Neville, the Gryffindor from last lesson that tripped and fell, sat next to her. She was just about to say hi when Professor Snape started the lesson and told them that they would be paired up for this one. In a way, that make Rowan a little more relaxed. Two minds bouncing ideas off one another was better then one sometimes. Looking up, she saw a flurry of activity as students all around her partnered up. Turning to Neville, she smiled and was going to ask if he wanted to be her partner when a blunt voice asked from behind her if she would be his pair. Turning to look, Rowan's brown eyes fell on Atticus Black. He wants to partner with me? Swallowing lightly she nodded, "Sure, alright. Want to work here or at your table?"

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Ron smiled as Harry didn't even need to ask about whether or not they were going to be partners. He was happy to have someone to work with! "I'll get our ingredients and you can get things set up. Alright?" Ron said happily, getting up and making his way to Professor Snape's store of ingredients. Picking up Lethe River water, Mistletoe Berries, and Valerian Sprigs, he returned to the table and set them out. "Ready, Harry?" he asked both excited and nervous at the same time.

Bill wasn't a huge fan of Potions, but he knew that he had to take it. He wanted to get the best education that he could, and most of the best jobs required a good NEWT in all of the core subjects. He wanted to delay his arrival at the lesson as best he could without being late. He had just slipped into a chair when the clock ticked over to the time that the lesson would begin. The boy listened carefully to Professor Snape's instructions, which told them that they would need to be brewing a potion in pairs. The last lesson they had been told to remember the method of how to make the Forgetfulness Potion. How ironic.

He looked around and wondered who he could partner with. When he noticed that Nevile Longbottom didn't seem to have a partner, the eldest Weasley headed toward him. "Hi Neville," he said, smiling, "Would you mind working with me?"

David nodded at Mio as he continued to crush the mixture into a fine,fine powder "i'm started to think you got the easy job" he smirked and then continue to mash things up in his motor, judging from what he had read, they had to wait a good hour for the potion to be ready for the mixture.. but he wanted it done so Mio and him could sit and chat as they waited.

Ian chuckled at Ember's description of her sister. It fit her quite well, but he himself was more talking and peace as well, instead of fighting and blood. "I'm glad that she hang out with us then, even more so if she's not usually the type to do that." he said truthfully. "I have a little brother, as well, but he's pretty much like me." he told Ember.