"I need to talk to you." I said anxiously to Trent as he walked up the dormitory stairs. He lugged his trunk in front of him and groaned, "I always over pack for these trips. I swear I can never figure out just how many pairs of pants I need compared to how many shirts." he heaved his trunk to the foot of his bed and flopped down on the mattress, "What has you troubled, mate?"
"I have some really big news," my eyes brightened as I sat down across from him on my own bed
"Spill."
"Professor Snape told me I was accepted into Masters Potions!" I shrieked with excitement
"Congratulations, Oliver!" Trent responded happily, kicking his feet up over the edge of his bed, "When do you start?"
I rocked back and forth with glee "This week. I'm real nervous, though. I'm the only fifth year that's in the class. Everyone else probably knows a lot more than I do."
"Just go in with an open mind." he stretched his arms "What made him change his mind, then?". I paused for a moment, feeling my face grow warmer. "I'm, erm, not sure. We did some private lessons during the winter holiday, maybe he just saw how hard I was working?"
Trent propped his head up on his hand, leaning on his elbow "You seem a little frazzled."
"No, I'm okay." I replied shakily
"Don't lie to me, Oliver." Trent sat up and looked me up and down "Somethings up. Why won't you tell me?"
I rubbed my hands together, "I..." I took a deep breath, "I think I fancy somebody."
Trent's eyebrows perked up "Oh really now? Who?"
"That I'm not going to say." I laughed, standing up and started heading to the top of the stairway "Look, I learned a lot of really important stuff while you were gone. Come with me, I want to show you some things."
We both left the common room, exited the dungeons and walked out onto the school grounds. The snow crunched underneath our feet as we walked down the steep incline to the forbidden forest. The sun was just beginning to set as we found a secluded spot just outside the entrance to the forest. "Do we really need to be this far out?" Trent asked with concern in his voice. "Yes. We can't be practising this type of magic where others may get hurt. Or where we'd be seen by anyone, really. Don't worry, we aren't going to be using anything on each other today." I reassured him, pulling my wand out of my jacket pocket
I stood next to him as we both extended our wands out to the side "Okay, this first one is a really good shield spell." I swung my arm forward and yelled "Protego!" out into the clearing. A flash of yellow light expanded over the grass and all the way to the treeline of the forest. I put my wand down, and looked at Trent, "Do you think you can do that?"
He nodded and took a sturdy stance, flicking his wrist forward, "Pah-tego!" he shouted. His wand sparked at the end, but quickly went out. I patted his shoulder, "It's okay. You just need to pronounce it a little more clearly." he exhaled and took a starting position again, "Protego!". Immediately, his wand shot out a yellow light that covered the clearing. He grinned, looking to me for encouragement.
"See!" I clapped "Way to go. Let's keep practising that one for awhile before we try anything else."
As the sun continued to set, we stayed out on the grounds and trained ourselves in defensive magic. Once Trent was able to successfully cast Protego and Fumos, we decided to call it a night. We were already out past curfew and now had to figure out how to sneak back inside without being caught.
"Thanks for showing me some of the things you learned," Trent said, pushing his hair back "Did Snape teach you anything more on the aggressive side?"
"No. He wanted me to learn how to defend, not attack. I'm sure if I asked him, though he may be willing to show me something. I can always wait for Defense Against the Dark Arts, too. Someone mentioned to me that professor Leighton does show you both sides."
"I'm just about ready to get that class done and over with. I honestly don't see why we have classes right now when we need to be studying for our OWLs. Should just dedicate the rest of the year for me to sit and study."
"Wow, Trent. I've never heard you so serious about something school related." I said as we finished walking up the hill
"I mean, Mallory sort of talked to me about how important these tests are. She put it into perspective, I don't want to be working a fool's job because I decided to goof off."
"She's really getting you to go the right direction," I said laughing
"You wouldn't believe the time we had back home. We went to so many places that had sort of lost their magic for me; it felt like I was visiting the lake or the stables for the first time again."
"That's wonderful, mate." I said as we finally reached the school's entrance. We quietly opened the tall, wooden door into the far east side of the castle; it creaked loudly as it slowly swung open to a silent corridor. We eased ourselves through the small crack of the door and made our way out to the main halls. We were just feet from the turn to the dungeons when we heard someone behind us.
"Locomotor Mortis!" a girl's voice came from the darkness. A quick burst of light flew through the air towards us, hitting Trent. He fell to the ground, his legs locked together. I spun around to see a shadow run off into the darkness. I helped Trent back to his feet, his legs still shaking from the spell.
"This is getting a little ridiculous," he said brushing off the fronts of his pants.
"You're telling me!" I narrowed my eyes, trying to make out who had cast the spell on him unsuccessfully. We continued to make our way through the hallways, keeping a close lookout for anyone else wandering outside their houses. As we were walking down the main hall in the direction of the dungeons, I heard a voice call out for me.
"Evans! I have a bone to pick with you!"
Trent and I turned around to see Felicity standing at the end of the hallway, hands on her hips. "I know you can hear me, you little bastard!" she quickly walked up to us and huffed "You ruined the most important evening of my entire life! What do you have to say for yourself?"
I shrugged "Honestly, Felicity, I don't really give a damn."
She scrunched her face and threw her hands angrily in the air "Hogwarts didn't win the competition because of you. I lost respect from my family because of you. You let the entire school down with your childish act."
"Last time I checked, I was being rewarded for saving someone's life. So, I'll have to take your notes on my performance with a grain of salt." I said coolly
"Just you wait. When I finally get my hands on that book, you're finished, Evans. Hear that? Finished!" she stormed away, her robes flowing behind her as she walked. Trent looked over at me, "Book? What is she talking about?"
"Who knows?" I said "She's mad I tell you."
The following afternoon was much busier than usual. I had to get all the way from the quidditch pitch, to the dungeons in just a few minutes to avoid being late for my first Master Potions class. I pushed my way through students heading to their own classes, finally making it to the dungeons. The potions door was propped open; I saw five students standing inside in a circle. I let myself into the classroom, the group of students looked over at me as I entered.
"Haven't seen you here before." an older male student said to me. "What do they call you?"
"My name is Oliver Evans. This is my first time here." I said confidently
The older boy nodded and extended his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Blake Jorgin. Seventh year, Ravenclaw, class leader." he firmly shook my hand. I looked around at the other students. They were all wearing their black robes, and had different coloured sashes tied around their waists. Each sash was the colour of the student's house. "What house are you in?" he asked, letting go of my hand
"Slytherin." I responded
"Ah, another Slytherin," Blake said, nodding his head over to a girl in the circle "You must know Sabrina, then. She's a seventh year in your house." I looked to see a very small girl gently waving at me; her wavy blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. He then went around and introduced everyone else, "We have our two Hufflepuffs, Brenden and Maxwell. I'm, like I said in Ravenclaw along with James here. And you already know Sabrina from your house."
"It's great to meet you all," I shook each of their hands. Brenden tilted his head at me "What year are you in?" he asked curiously
"I'm in fifth year, soon to be sixth." I said. He seemed to be impressed with that response. Before he could say another word, Snape entered the classroom and shut the door behind him.
"I can see you have already met our newest student. We can skip the introductions then and get straight to work." he went to his blackboard "Felix Felicis. Liquid luck. In some cases completely forbidden to use. We will be crafting my own adjusted version of Quick Brew Liquid Luck, and the normal potion takes six months to brew. You will make this and follow my directions exactly." we all quickly retrieved our parchment and quills, and began to write down his notes.
"One Ashwinder egg," I said to myself, jotting down everything Snape was writing on the board. I watched as he put a cauldron out onto the workstation in front of him, "Evans, grab the tincture of thyme from the top shelf." he said to me, pointing to the herb shelf closest to the door. I went over and began to search for the tincture; Snape was giving out further directions to the rest of the group. As I returned, Snape looked up from his cauldron "I want you to work with Mr. Jorgin today, Evans."
Blake was seated at a small station near the window. He had all the ingredients sprawled out on the table in front of him, checking their quality as I went over. "Suppose it's a good thing to pair up with someone for this potion, eh?" I said to Blake
"Yes. Something this advanced can have disastrous consequences if not made correctly." he crushed squill bulbs with his pestle and groaned "I really do not like working with these things."
I chuckled, pulling a stool up to the table and sitting down "Mind if I...?"
"Oh, sure." Blake passed me the mortar and pestle. I started pressing away at the squill bulbs, attempting to juice them properly "Did you already add the horseradish?" I asked
"Yeah, I just did before you came over. Should be about time to add what you have there". I poured my squill bulb juice into the cauldron. The liquid began to bubble, a green smoke stirred up from the bottom.
We worked together to finish crafting the potion. After Blake had me stir the mixture vigorously, he took out his wand and held it over the top of the cauldron. "Felixempra." he waved his wand in a figure-eight motion. The potion stopped bubbling, and turned into a golden liquid.
"Well done!" I said to Blake who rolled his sleeves up, pulling a tiny vial out of his pocket, "Mind putting this in this bottle for me? I will be right back." he handed me the vial, and I began to look for a ladle to pour the potion with. Professor Snape walked over to our station and looked our potion over. He raised an eyebrow as I poured the mixture into the bottle. "Taking some for later, Evans?"
"No, sir." I said "Blake asked me to bottle a little up for him."
"Interesting." he said in a very monotone voice. He set his hand on my shoulder, leaning down to whisper in my ear "Make sure to take some for yourself. You never know when you'll need a bit of...luck." he let go of my shoulder and went on to the next table. Blake returned a few minutes later, right before the end of the class session. Snape stood at the front of the room and held his hands together. "This week, you will be studying the effects of Felix Felicis. I expect a full report from each of you by this day next week. Each of you is allowed to bring a small amount of the potion with you to study. You are not to take this before any classes."
The students who hadn't already started grabbing vials from the shelves, and filled them up to take with them. During the commotion, Snape tipped his head up at me "And Evans, you are staying after class."
I nodded nervously, "Yes, professor Snape."
Once he dismissed the class, and everyone took their leave, I got up and stood by my work station. Snape came next to me, gently taking my hand in his. He looked into my eyes, "I need to know that you won't use this potion for your upcoming OWLs. Promise me that you won't."
"I promise, professor." I said in a whisper
"I am sure you will exceed the current standard score to be accepted into sixth year potions. However, if you are somehow unable to continue on under my instruction, you will still be welcome in the Masters Potions class next year."
I beamed up at him, "Thank you, professor. I won't let you down."
"I know you won't." he said nodding to the door, "You are dismissed."