"he keeps his word"
Astoria spent the rest of the afternoon being escorted around the castle, until she was finally dropped off in the Dungeons for her last lesson of the day: Potions. Alongside Blaise and Draco, she made her way into the classroom and took her usual seat at the back of the classroom.
"Now students," Professor Slughorn entered a few moments later, "I know many of you may have been affected by the earlier news, but alas we must continue learning in order to be ready for your NEWT exams. However, we will go at a slower pace, out or respect for those who may be struggling." He pulled out his blackboard, "today we will be learning about a Wolfsbane Potion. Now I assume you have learnt about lycanthropy in earlier years, what is such condition?"
Ginny Weasley raised her hand, "lycanthropy is a condition which causes the sufferer to turn into a lycanthrope, or werewolf upon the full moon."
"Excellent Miss Weasley," he nodded at her, "and what would the purpose of this potion be?"
"To relieve the symptoms."
He scribbled on the blackboard, "absolutely! And is anyone aware of when one must take the potion?"
This time, Hermione answered, "it must be taken for the entire week prior to the full moon, even one dose being missed would render it useless."
"Wonderful Miss Granger," beamed Slughorn. "Excellent answers everyone," he said, looking at the two Gryffindor students who had answered him.
"Everyone?" Blaise whispered to Draco and Astoria, "I think he means his favourite house."
"Honestly." Astoria rolled her eyes, as much as Slughorn was one of the few Professors to be more lenient with the Slytherin students, he still had preference for other house, a preference he failed to hide.
"Now, the way in which such potion works, is by easing the condition's psychological symptoms, allowing one to hold on to their mental faculties after transformation and thus retain their human consciousness whilst in animalistic physical form, rendering the otherwise dangerous beast into an ordinary, sleepy wolf." He waved his wand over the blackboard, his words writing themselves behind him as he spoke. "Once taken, it can allow wolves to sleep through the transformation and prevent harm-"
"Why doesn't everyone take it then?"
"Excellent question Miss Reynolds," he nodded at the quiet brunette, "the Wolfsbane potion is incredibly expensive to procure! Each ingredient is rather expensive and the potion itself is difficult to make, it will be quite a challenge for us to do next week but I have hopes for you all!" He grinned at the students.
"Didn't Harry Pot-"
This time, Slughorn cut her off, "he did indeed Miss Reynolds! Excellent knowledge - ten points to Ravenclaw!"
Astoria, Blaise and Draco glanced at each other, wide eyed.
"For those who are not aware, Miss Reynolds is referring to Mr Potters efforts to procure free Wolfsbane Potion free for any werewolf who so desires it. He is working with the Ministry I believe in an outreach programme...." Slughorns eyes lit up as he spoke about Harry, as though he was speaking of his own achievements.
Hermione spoke up, "why would someone not want to take it?"
"Some individuals, Miss Granger, believe themselves to be restricted by the potion-"
"Well yes, restricted to not cause harm," she said matter of factly.
"Whilst it might be that way, some lycanthropes feel held back, or as though they are masking who they are when they take the potion. I believe they would much rather roam freely as a wolf, rather than sleep through the transformation. They are very fascinating creatures, might I add, I would love to study one one day." He paused for a moment, "simply fascinating."
"And what do you think?" Astoria found herself asking him, her voice wavering, barely audible in the classroom.
"Who said that?" He peered over the heads of the students until he found Astoria raising her hand, "ah Miss Greengrass..."
"Yes Professor, I was just wondering what you think?"
"Well, it's a fascinating question. I believe, that as long as the werewolf is safe, and does not cause harm to any living thing, they may make whichever decision they wish." He crossed his arms, "does that answer satisfy you?"
She nodded.
"Now, I would like everyone to open up their copy of Advanced Potion-Making and read the chapter on the Wolfsbane Potion. Please make any notes you require as we are unable to make the potion itself, instead you must simply learn the theory." He scrawled his instructions on the remaining space on the blackboard before sitting himself at his desk and opening up the Daily Prophet.
"Astoria," Draco said, shocked, "didn't know you had a voice in Potions class..."
"I like to hear his opinions, some of us enjoy learning and expanding our world view," she replied.
"Not me." He scrunched up his nose, opening up his copy of the textbook.
"Just because you think you're always right," she teased him, getting out her parchment from her pocket and beginning to make notes.
Blaise cut in "he doesn't think it - he knows it."
"Oh he does, does he?" Draco looked up at the pair of them.
"Yes. Famous Draco Malfoy has never," Astoria shook her head dramatically, "ever been wrong."
"Of course." He flashed her a winning smile.
"Slytherins don't do being wrong, that's a Gryffindor trait," Blaise agreed.
For the rest of the lesson, the trio spoke back and forth, barely writing a single note on the Wolfsbane Potion.
"Before we finish up, I would like two sides of parchment on the specific effects of the Wolfsbane Potion in two days!" He called out, earning several groans from the students. "Now , let me escort you all back to the Great Hall now, and I will see you soon!" Slughorn announced from the front of the classroom, "come on everyone." He led them out of the dungeons and on the short walk back to the Great Hall, which had now been set up with a sleeping area.
"Merlin this is strange!" Astoria exclaimed once she saw the set up. It was half usual, desks running across the width of the hall, and half covered with sleeping bags, organised into four distinct groups - likely one for each house.
"Let's snag a desk!" Blaise said, rushing over to a desk at the back of the hall, "this is now the Slytherin table," he exclaimed loudly, making sure the other students could hear him.
Draco and Astoria joined him, "we should probably actually make notes on the Wolfsbane Potion, considering how little we got done."
"Buzzkill." Blaise pinched him, but still pulled his textbook, opening it to the right page.
"Make notes, then we can start on the stupid essay," growled Draco.
Slowly, they read through the chapter, only just finishing their notes hours later when the rest of their friends joined them at the table.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" Theo grinned as he sat down, "I am absolutely going to fail my NEWT exams."
He seemed surprisingly happy, "and you're happy about that why?"
"No point being sad."
He had a point.
"I need to do my Transfiguration essay, catch up on Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts!" Daphne complained, throwing her books into a pile on the desk, "anyone care to help?"
"No can do," Theo shook his head, "I still have Herbology work to do!"
Pansy shook her head too, "I simply don't want to do them."
"Fair enough," she looked at her sister, "Astoria?"
Astoria bit her lip, "we have a two-page essay on Wolfsbane Potion effects due in two days."
"Shit," Daphne growled, "right, no one talk to me until we have to sleep, if I don't get this done, I might as well drop out now."
"Right," Blaise turned his attention to Astoria and Draco, "what do we put in this bloody essay?" He looked more so at Astoria, "any ideas?"
"Parchment would help first," Draco took his own parchment in his hands, "Gemino." He watched as it duplicated, handing the spare to Blaise.
"Cheers."
"Now that you actually have parchment, we need effects of the Potion." Astoria searched back through her mind, "what did Slughorn say I can barely even remember..."
"Something about psychological symptoms, they still have a human mind, don't they?" Draco scrunched up his face as he scrawled messily onto the page, "so if they have a human mind, it helps them keep their humanity." It came out as more of a question than a statement.
"Yes," Astoria nodded, that sounded about right. "There's something about sugar in the textbook, doesn't it stop the Potion from working?"
Blaise opened up his textbook to the right page, his eyes desperately searching for the right section. "Blah blah blah... the Wolfsbane Potion could have disastrous side-effects if the recipe was tampered." He read aloud, "well, it would be nice to know what those bloody effects are."
"If it makes them sleepy normally, probably they don't get sleepy?" Draco offered, "that sounds right."
"Nice one Merlin..."
"At least I have something to add!" He proclaimed.
"We need more than that for two pages," Astoria thought aloud, "let me just list some things. So, drowsiness, maybe moving slower, but still with human emotions. It's like it takes all their energy, maybe their primal instinct is removed?"
"Keep going!"
"So they're probably less aggressive, less impulsive maybe. The main thing has to be the sleeping, surely, we can fluff that up..." She scribbled some notes on her parchment, "it almost acts as a muggle sedative, is that what they're called?"
"I wouldn't bloody know!" Draco shook his head.
Blaise kept writing on his parchment, "got it all!"
"Now we just have to turn that into two sides of parchment, that Slughorn will actually like."
"Write a Gryffindor name on it," he nodded at her, "then you'll get a pass even if it's shit."
Nonetheless, Blaise, Draco and Astoria all spent well into the evening writing their essays, eventually finishing with exactly two sides of parchment. Once all of the students had finished their work, they ate their dinner in peace, finally planting themselves in bed after a long day.