Order of the Sphinx... Why should HP get to have all the fun?

Chapter 9: Potions

Chapter 9: Potions

No excuses or explanations would have soothed the hissing serpent that looked like he wanted to hex me until kingdom come. I couldn’t think of anything to say at any rate; my explanation was shit anyway so I really had nothing to hide behind. I opened my mouth to say something when Snape sneered and cut me off. “Let me guess. You got lost didn’t you.” His tone was so full of ice I knew I was going to get hypothermia. I hung my head and nodded, feeling like a trembling little kindergartner on her first day at school.

“Find a spare counter and open your book to 694.” He barked and I quickly rushed to the first unoccupied counter which caught my view. I flung my bag on the floor next to me and opened up the thick textbook to the right spot. I had clearly mixed an impressive lecture and how to make the spell because I was getting sympathetic looks from Hufflepuffs scattered around the room. I looked up and my eye’s found Jen and she grimaced at me and gave me a familiar pitying look. Both of us instinctively knew that I had got off way to easy and knew there was probably hell for me at my supposed tutoring session that afternoon.

Snape wasted no time. “Stop your gawking and get to work.” He snarled and everyone immediately dove into the potion, people fluttering around the classroom and gathering up various bits and pieces. I followed their lead and grabbed a handful of things from the neat piles placed on Snape’s desk at the front of the room. Mind you I had no bloody clue what they were.

I dropped them rather haphazardly on the countertop and looked over to see that my cauldron had mysteriously appeared on the countertop before me. Looking at it baffled I shrugged and looked down at the book. I hadn’t really had a chance to look at it earlier, and so it was only now that what we were supposed to be making jumped out at me.

"Powerful infatuations can be induced by the skilful potioneer, but never yet has anyone managed to create the truly unbreakable, eternal, unconditional attachment that alone can be called Love."

Oh hell. I was supposed to be making a love potion.

Perfect.

This was the best first day in the history of the world. How the hell was I supposed to do this, when I was still reading the first year text book? Bloody hell. I looked down, absolutely lost, the words forming lines of jabbering gibberish which made no sense no matter which direction I turned the book. I stared glumly at the little black cauldron which sat on a stand before me. There was a specific reason why I didn’t take Chemistry in my senior years at muggle High School; I absolutely sucked shit at Chem.

Half the ingredients on the list were foreign and what they actually looked like was an even greater mystery. Feeling rather distressed, I looked up, searching for Jen. She was flirting with a Gryffindor who had instantly fallen for her charm. He was happily helping her with hers, basically doing the entire thing for her.  She just giggled and batted her eyelids at him whenever he seemed unsure. Idiot. I could already tell she’d just found a way out of her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay.

Looking down once again, I held up the book, pressing it to my chest as I peered into the Cauldron. Well, were do I start? Wait… How did that song go? That one from the sound of music? Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. Okay. The beginning it was then. I figured that the most basic thing to do was to start the fire and get the thing warmed up. I pulled out my wand, looking from it, back to the cauldron. Hmm. Possibly not.

Putting it to the side, I thought of a much quicker way to start it. I glanced around the classroom conspiratally, knowing if I got caught, I would be more than likely on detention. Wriggling off my bracelet, I tried to ignore the suffocating pain. Glancing around once more, making sure Snape was truly insulting the Ravenclaw kid enough that he was thoroughly distracted, I bent down and blew on the bottom of the Cauldron, hoping my new found talent with fire would work. Sure enough, the flame caught, creating a fiery bulb around the bottom of the Cauldron. Turns out my fire was too hot, and I had to blow on the inferno, to take it down in temperature. I looked around at the kids at my bench. None had noticed.