Potions ((O.W.L.s 4th-5th years))

[Professor Severus Snape]

It was only the first week after coming back from the holiday break, and Snape felt the cheerful attitudes of the students wearing on his nerves. They always came back so happy and rejuvenated after having a good time either with their families or just from getting some free time away from their school work. Snape knew though that he was quite capable of turning their holiday cheer into miserable fear. Though, it wasn't necessarily his goal to make students afraid of him, he did enjoy the fact that most students were less likely to misbehave since he had the necessary reputation to keep them on their toes. Most of all, Snape found it amusing to see the students fear his strict style of teaching, though there were quite a few times that he was genuinely annoyed by them and responded to show his annoyance.

Today, he was preparing for his O.W.L. class. They would be working to make Wit-Sharpening Potion, but Snape was highly skeptical that they would be capable of making it well enough to actually help their wits improve. Sort of a catch-22, they would need decent wits to brew the potion in the first place. Lazily, he flicked his wand so that the directions appeared on the front board.

Wit-Sharpening Potion

Students began to file in, and as usual, Snape didn't take time to bother saying much. He despised actually asking questions, especially since he hated it when students tried to pretend as they knew more than what the really did. It seemed that there were so many that were confident in their skills whenever anybody could easily brew a potions from step by step directions. Rarely did he find those who would actually try their own techniques. Of course, that always had its downfall as it could produce undesirable results. Potions was an art though, and it took trial and error to perfect any potion. However, having a general understanding of the ingredients was always helpful and how Snape had acquired much of his skills. The students normally didn't do the assigned reading though, and if they weren't going to put effort into learning, Snape wasn't going to waste his time teaching them what they could easily learn on their own. Thus, many students slid by in Potions if they were capable of putting up with his bitter persona. It had been a while since Snape had found a true potion master, but perhaps today would prove different... then again, perhaps he was more likely to become the favourite teacher at Hogwarts.

"The directions are on the board," he said in his normally bored voice. "Do clean up after yourselves when you are done. I'm tired of finding puddles of spilled potion and crushed ingredients on the floor. "All potions must be brought up to my desk when you are done. I will then grade them and we will save them for your next exam at which each of you will be given the potion you had brewed if you so desire to use it. Though, I doubt it would do as much good as guzzling a glass of water for most of you." He gave the class a degrading grin before returning to a stack of homework that needed grading. Eventually, students were gathering the needed ingredients and beginning their potions.

((Please finish your potion in one post. Instead of doing part of the potion and then posting at a later time with the rest of the steps, just finish it all in one fell swoop. At the end, plese roleplay your student bringing Snape the potion. I will then reply with a grade, at which point you may reply with a response and also include your student leaving the classroom as all students would be allowed to leave once they were done. Any questions, please PM them to Kennedy's account since I check it most frequently. )

[Esmeralda Mendez]

Ezzie sighed as she looked at her reflection in the mirror of the Gryffindor common room. Classes had been officially in motion for about two days now, and for Ezzie’s first lesson of the new term, she would have to endure another one of Snape’s boring old Potions lessons. Snape liked to make a point of dampening any happiness that entered his room and making already miserable students more miserable than they already were. Ezzie could tell she wasn’t going to get any special treatment from Snape today, or ever for that matter. He had never really liked Ezzie to begin with. Ezzie was a fair enough student. Last year, she excelled in everything she did, but as the year progressed, Ezzie found that her grades were suffering as she advanced in her singing career. Ezzie was sure, if not positive that Professor Snape was one of the professors that had divulged Ezzie’s grades to Rita Skeeter and Holly Sinclair. Both sleezy reporters kept talking about how Ezzie’s grades had dropped considerably since she started singing, and she was sure Snape was the evil soul that had told them such lies. Sure, Ezzie wasn’t the amazing student she originally was these past few years, but she wasn’t a failing student either. She was average now. She received grades like ‘acceptable’ and average, even from Snape. Although, if her grades were dropping before, Ezzie would hate to see them now that Ethan wasn’t here to brighten her day.

Ethan’s death. Everyone had been talking about it since they got back. Ezzie received stares and even dirty looks and glares from many of the students around her. She couldn’t believe people actually thought Ezzie was capable of doing something as horrible as to kill Ethan. Ezzie would never even think of doing such a thing. Ezzie tied her hair up into a loose messy bun, eyeing the black nail polish that was now painted on her fingernails. Her makeup was considerably darker as well, and her eyeliner stick was almost finished because of the vast amount of eye makeup she had applied that morning. Ezzie blew some loose strands out of her face and grabbed her book bag as she walked out the door alone.

Ezzie didn’t know where Casey had run off to, but she assumed Casey was in the Great Hall having lunch with Carson. Casey had asked Ezzie to come with her, but Ezzie refused saying she’d eat later. Ezzie had been avoiding the mere sight of food ever since Ethan’s death. Before Ethan, Ezzie was perfectly fine eating food. She’d just throw it up later. Now, just the mere smell of food made Ezzie want to throw up. It was just repulsive to her now. It was almost like poison, infecting her body with monsters and demons. There were three monsters that Ezzie feared most, and these were the Calories, the Sugars, and the Carb monsters. Those scared Ezzie the most. But she knew she had to eat sometime. People were starting to get suspicious. Various professors and concerned older students had approached Ezzie, concerned for her health. But Ezzie kept telling them she was perfectly fine as it was, and she didn’t need their help. No, Ezzie didn’t need anyone’s help. She had herself, and that was all she needed to get through each day. She didn’t need ‘concerned’ professors, (who would probably spill their guts to a Sinclair if given the chance) she didn’t need worried older classmates, and she didn’t need that stupid sorry excuse for a physiatrist either.

Ezzie’s face fell as she realized she was one of the first ones to arrive. She took a seat near the back, careful to save a seat for Casey. She looked at the board up front and immediately began working on her potion. It was the first Potions lesson of the semester, and Snape was already packing on some serious work. Ezzie worked quickly and swiftly, making sure to read all the directions first, and then beginning to read each step carefully so she wouldn’t mess the potion up. It was like walking through a mine field. Ezzie had to be careful to say and do all the right things to avoid problems. Now if only Ezzie could keep this effort up for the rest of the year.

She retrieved all her ingredients swiftly and quickly, dying to get out of Snape’s class as quickly as possible. But she didn’t rush. No, rushing always led to disastrous results. Ezzie measured out exactly five milliliters of armadillo bile, crouching low so she could see the container at eye level. She listened to the crunch of the beetles sourly and placed them on the side. Ezzie always found it easiest to stick as close to the directions as possible, so as not to mess the potion up. Ezzie stripped the piper root of its outer layer and cut it up into pieces, exactly like the directions stated to. She placed the roots gingerly into a pot of simmering water and waited for the water to turn pale yellow. It didn’t take very long, and even though she didn’t show it, Ezzie felt immense relief when the potion turned the color the directions had asked. She then started with the bile.

At times, Ezzie feared her drops might have been too big as her hands were shaking so much in nervousness, but her potion looked exactly like the directions described, so she figured she was okay. Ezzie sighed. All she needed was some hard work to take her mind off things. Ezzie was so concentrated on her potion that she barely paid attention to all the stares and dirty looked she received from her classmates. Wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead, Ezzie proceeded to the next step. Once the potion stopped boiling, she placed her crushed beetle into the potion. She then continued to drop the rest of the potion in one drop at a time, stirring the potion until it thickened. Finally happy with her potion, Ezzie walked up to Professor Snape’s desk with her finished product, trying to avoid his gaze. She walked back to her desk and started cleaning up for the day. So the potions lesson hadn’t gone as terribly as she thought. But that wasn’t to say the rest were going to go as well as she had hoped.

((I know it’s incredibly long, but I had a lot to write about. ))

[Dylan Caoimhe]

"Ah, the Wit Sharpening Potion," Dylan quietly said to himself after Professor Snape gave his usual instructions and insults, while placing his school bag beside his desk on the floor where he sat alone. He gathered his materials and immediately set to work on his Potion. Dylan was very proficient with Potion making, so he knew he could probably hurry as quickly through his classwork as possible. Winter Break was over, and everyone was back. Theo, Mary, Wynd, and, blue eyes. The only person he really wanted to see again. Ever since this morning he'd been paying more attention in the corridors, but he still hadn't seen him yet.

Using his wand, he filled his small cauldron with water, and got a fire going under it. He measured out five milliliters of Armadillo Bile, and poured the rest back into the container. But of course he should be here in class, Dylan thought while grinding his Scarab Beetles. After all, this is an O.W.L class right? He grabbed the Piper Root and cut three palm length pieces, and peeled off the outer layer. Just stop thinking about it, he thought. Focus on your potion. The last thing he wanted was to screw up on his potion and have to deal with Snape. Maybe he should sneak a little and take it. Maybe he'd know how to handle the situation better.

He placed the Piper Roots into the boiling water, and watched and waited anxiously for it to turn a pale yellow. In what felt like hours, it did, and Dylan immediately started adding the Armadillo Bile, one drop at a time, until the contents of his cauldron stopped boiling. He grabbed the crushed Scarab Beetles and hurriedly poured them in while stirring with his other hand. Once the potion finally turned orange, he quickly grabbed the measuring cup with the remainder of the Armadillo Bile, and added them to his cauldron. Once his potion achieved a slight thickness, he hastily grabbed a vile, and filled it with a sample of his potion. He corked it, and hastily walked up to Snape and handed it to him with his usual small grin intact on his face whenever he handed in work to Snape.

He walked quickly back to his desk and cleaned up, vanishing the remainder of his potion, while tempted to pocket some, and cleaned up his materials. For one moment he thought about looking around the room, but decided against it. He was being silly. He was doing entirely too much. Just chill out, he thought. You'll see him when you see him.

[August Reid R7]

August wandered into the dungeons shortly before the bell rang but it was still before the bell. He looked around and saw Ezzie sitting in the back but he was sure that Ezzie would be saving the seat next to her for some close friend. He hadn't said anything to Ezzie since he saw her and Ethan on the Express that day. August still couldn't believe that Ethan was gone. What he found even worse was that some people would believe that Ezzie had killed Ethan or that she was somehow responsible for the whole thing. Hah! If only they could have seen how Ezzie and Ethan had interacted on the train. It was almost like they were children the way they talked and laughed with one another. August would never nor could he ever believe that Ezzie would intentionally hurt Ethan. Anything that had happened would have been purely by accident.

The other person that caught his eye was the mysterious stranger that he had bumped into before the holidays. August decided on a seat that was on the other room as the stranger but parallel to him. August wanted to look at him but didn't want to be obvious about it either. It was strange. They had only met once but August couldn't stop thinking about him. Something about the look that he had given August. Something in those eyes just would not let go of August. So while Professor Snape started in on his instructions (he sounded bored to death by teaching students) August kept looking at the stranger out of the corner of his eye. August wondered if the stranger was thinking about him at all. Probably not. He probably forgot all about August over the holidays. He probably went home to a lovely family feast and forgot all about school.

August finally had to give up though when the Professor Snape stopped speaking and expected the students to do their work. August squinted at the directions and began his work. He was not the best Potions student but he did a fair job. He was a Ravenclaw after all. They were just naturally good at academics. August measured out his five ml of armadillo bile, ground his beetles, and cut the ginger roots to palm length while the water in his cauldron was brought slowly to a shimmer. He added the ginger roots to the water and watched as they made the water turn a pale yellow colour. Using an eye drop, August added the bile one drop at a time secretly hating Professor Snape for making them do this tedious task. The water stopped boiling but August wasn't sure whether he was supposed to keep the heat on or not. He looked around and none of the other students had turned down the heat so he didn't either. With his left hand stirring he added the crushed beetles hoping that the potion would turn orange. It did. Continuing to stir with his left hand he added the rest of the armadillo bile and was amazed when it became slightly harder to stir with his left hand. He extinguished the flame and corked some potion in a vile. He brought this up to Professor Snape's desk and returned to his station to clean up. The stranger still had not glanced his way so August thought that he must not have been thinking of him. Having finished cleaning, August sighed heavily as he sat down to wait for Professor Snape.

[Theo Darke]

Theo was prompt to his Potions class. One would do well to avoid incurring Professor Snape’s wrath before the class was even underway, and the worst possible step forward was to be late. Theo didn’t think he had ever been late for any of his lessons, especially Potions, and he wanted to maintain such an unblemished record. Lori beside him, the two of them hurried towards the dungeons, which was Theo’s least favourite part of the castle. It was dark and dreary, and didn’t help his spirits if he was feeling low; coupled with the ominous presence of Professor Snape, Theo knew many of the little first years dreaded their Potions lessons. So did many of his current classmates, Theo smiled wryly to himself. It was fortunate he could stand Professor Snape, and enjoyed Potions; otherwise he was sure the classes would be just as horrible for him. Checking his watch to make sure they weren’t late, Theo noted that they were at least five minutes early upon reaching the door of the classroom. Relieved, he sent Lori a glad smile, and they entered.

As usual they were one of the first few students there, only preceded by Esmeralda Mendez, who Theo recognised from the recent newspapers. Theo didn’t know much about the fourth year Gryffindor, and although read the papers did not pay much attention to the gossip columns. He felt a little sorry for her, her life exposed to the point of no privacy. Theo had attended the funeral of one of her friends, Ethan Jacobs, who had been in Theo’s year but in Gryffindor. Ethan had never been an acquaintance of Theo, as their personalities were dissimilar, but Theo had never held anything against the equally popular boy. Right now, Theo guessed Esmeralda wasn’t having the best of times. She looked somewhat forlorn, sitting alone at the back of the classroom, but Lori ushered him into some seats around the middle before he could utter any words of greeting to her in a friendly manner. Theo had never liked seeing people alone and sad; he always felt propelled to rectify it if he saw it. However, Theo then noticed Professor Snape waiting silently at the top of the room, and he seated himself just as quietly beside Lori.

They began unpacking their materials, Theo alerting Lori to the instructions already written on the board. Although the class had not started yet, the two of them prepared accordingly, retrieving the right ingredients from their bags. Whilst they did this, more students started to file in quietly; everyone knew not to get on Professor Snape’s nerves, which were usually short, especially after a long holiday. Theo caught sight of Dylan arriving and nodded at him; a while later he saw August Reid, a Ravenclaw in the year below him who he had befriended at the dining table the other day. Theo sent him a small smile, before Snape grabbed their attentions. Everyone had arrived, it seemed, and he gave his usual introduction to the lesson. Once dismissed to start the potion of the day, Theo began to carry out the instructions he had already read a few times on the board. It was a simple construction for Theo, to be honest, as his hands skimmed over the ingredients already on the table; scarab beetles, ginger root and armadillo bile made up the short list of necessities to create the Wit-Sharpening Potion. Theo wondered vaguely if Professor Snape was hinting at anything.

Theo kept an eye on Lori’s actions, but generally his concentration was unwavering upon his own work, as per usual. Theo always tried one hundred percent, and gave everything his all. It was his work ethos. Following the instructions carefully, Theo began to measure out five millimetres of the armadillo bile, which wasn’t necessarily a pleasant ingredient to work with (then again, neither were scarab beetles). Once he had the exact amount (Theo knew that well precision was everything in Potions), he chose two of the beetles and ground it, making sure the poor insect was reduced to thin flakes. Next, Theo picked up the ginger root and striped the root of the outer layer, proceeding then to cut them into palm lengths. He popped them into the cauldron to boil and simmer, watching carefully for the foretold colour change. Eventually the liquid did start to become pale yellow, which Theo took for a good sign. So far, so good.

Theo took up the armadillo bile and began to pour slow drops of it in carefully, waiting for the boiling to stop. Eventually it did, and Theo put down the glass to retrieve the ground beetle. He added it to the concoction, and gave a full smile when it turned a deep orange – almost ochre in colour. Extremely pleased with himself, Theo picked up the armadillo bile for the last time and emptied its contents. His wand taken out of his pocket with his other hand, Theo stirred it as he emptied the glass. Still stirring slowly, he watched the potion with an intent gaze until it appeared to thicken to what Theo deemed to be the right extent. Immediately he stopped his ministrations and grabbed an empty flask. With cautious movements, Theo managed to obtain a good amount of his Wit-Sharpening Potion in his bottle and corked it. Before tidying up his materials he approached Professor Snape’s desk to deposit his day’s work. Theo was not the first to finish as his flask lined beside other completed ones, but his potion was definitely looking better than some on the table; one was a bright shade of orange. Feeling happy with his successful results, Theo returned to his table to tidy away his organised table. Even when working he was neat.

Theo’s desktop was clear in a few minutes and he sat down to await the end of the lesson. Lori too had completed hers, though slower than Theo as usual; she had always been more careful with her work, but just as successful. Theo was glad of their natural affinity for Potions. Had he been a failure at the subject, he was sure Professor Snape would have given him a hard five years. It was a subject Theo pondered about taking further in the future for his NEWTs, but that depended on how he did on his OWLs too. Theo was sure about Charms, which was his favourite subject, and Ancient Runes seemed likely too. Defence Against The Dark Arts didn’t really suit Theo’s tastes, considering how passive he was, but the work they did in those lessons were fun. He supposed he would also have to base his selections on what he wanted to become after Hogwarts, but even Theo had not planned that far yet. He was thinking of healing, possibly, because he loved to help people… teachers had mentioned that he suited the career. This meant Herbology and Potions would be necessary. Although his future was definitely something Theo was more often being pressurised into thinking about, he was adamant he wouldn’t worry too much over it. After all, he always took life as it came with a determined, positive outlook.

[Sophia Hallington H7]

Sophia lookeed at her timetable, only to be greeted by disappointment. Potions. The one subject she really could not stand any element of. Snape was the most evil person she'd ever encountered, the course was hard, near enough impossible, yet Snape only let students who got an O in the OWL do the NEWT. At least she only had the rest of this year to cope with, and although she'd like good results in everything, she'd given in to the fact that there was no way she'd pass potions however hard she tried. Perhaps she'd get a high fail, a P, but nothing better. The only other subject she would definitely not pass was DADA, but at least the professor was more sympathetic about that-he understood that Sophia was, quite frankly, rubbish at his subject, yet tried to make her at least enjoy the lessons, which she often did.

Sophia picked up her bag and made her way down to the dungeons for the lesson. THat was another thing she hated-lessons in dungeons. They were cold, uncomfortable, and just generally unpleasent. With the exception of Herbology and COMC, both of which she loved, all her lessons were in proper classrooms, that were warm, and somewhat cosy, depending on which lesson it was. SHe pushed open the door to the dungeon to find that she was quite early. There were only 4 students there-Ezzie Mendez, a Gryffindor from the year below that she barely knew, Dylan, a Slytherin in her year, August, a Ravenclaw in ther year below again and Theo, a popular Ravenclaw from her year.

She sat alone, and before she got her books out of her bag, she noticed the board. In somewhat illegible writing were the instructions for today. Wit-Sharoening potion apparently...at least there were only 3 ingrediants, but hey. She went to the front of the room to pick up the equipment. She carefully measured out 5 millilitres of the armadillo bile, which was one of the most unpleasent things she'd ever had to work with. Leaving that to one side, she crushed the scarab beetles into small pieces-she hoped they'd be small enough, and then proceeded to. The instructions said to cut 3 palm-lengths of the root, so she measured that-or a bit more, seeing as she had small hands, and then peeled off the outer layer, which was rather tricky.

She set up her cauldron, and simmered some water. and added the ginger root. It took quite a while for her potion to go yellow, but by the time she got round to addind the armodillo bile the water was more than pale yellow-it was around a lemon colour, which was darker than was intended, she expected. Nevertheless, she added the armodilly beetle one drop at a time, but the potion hadn't quite stopped boiling, though it wasn't as violent as it had been, so she deemed it safe to add the beetles. It immediately flared up, and some splashed out ont her desk, but after a few seconds it calmed down, so she stirred it until it was orange, however when it was a mid orange the colour didn't change any more, which was worrying.

The instructions told them to add the rest of the bile, but she had none left. So she went to collect a bit more, 1 or 2 millilitres which Snape didnt seem to approve of-she was basically tellling him it was going to go wrong, and that it had already. She added this, and stirred it, and the potion thickened so it was very gloopy, like cough sirop. She waited for it to cool, and poured a good amount of the potion into a bottle, and corked it. She took it over to the front desk, where she noticed that it was both paler and thicker than all of the others. She quickly went back to her place, cleaned up the spilt potion, and sat down, ready for the grades. She had a feeling she was going to fail, but she was beyond being surprised about that.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape's eyes went back and forth from the homework that sat in front of him and the students working at their stations. He watched as many of them made juvenile mistakes, failing to read the directions properly. There were some students who did fairly well though, despite their lack of an understanding that reached beyond the simple following of step by step instructions. Soon, the first wave of students to finish had brought their potions up to his desk. Among them were a Gryffindor, a Slytherin, a Hufflepuff, and of course two Ravenclaws. It only figured that there would be twice the Ravenclaws than that of any other house. Of those who turned their potions in, most of them were acceptable, only one seemed to possibly lack the proper desirability for when it would be used.

Snape examined each vile of Potion closely before taking them back to their respective owners and dismissing each of them to leave. "Ten points apiece to Gryffindor and Slytherin," he said, a bit disappointed to have to give Gryffindor the same amount as his own house. "Acceptable potions Mendez and Caoimhe, though next time perhaps you'll both put a bit more concentration into it. A wondering mind won't help you be any more successful Caoimhe. As for Ravenclaw," he handed back Theo and August's potions. "Twenty points total, ten apiece for Darke and Reid, though perhaps next time you'll do a bit more research and see that the step by step instructions will only get you what can be considered acceptable. If you want to be the best as your house so arrogantly thinks that they are when it comes to schoolwork, then I suggest you start showing that you deserve the ridiculous stereotype." Snape turned to the last of the first few to finish. "As for you, Hallington, perhaps next time you'll be a bit more careful in your approach. Whoever takes this potion would likely become more dull than anything. "No points for Hufflepuff.

"Each of you may leave. Do study though if you all wish to pass the exam next class. I highly doubt any of your potions will be able to do much to even come close to helping you. Sometimes even the most help is useless." Snape smirked again to himself as he took a seat, waiting for more students to finish.

[Wynd Lehane]

Potions had always been Wynd's favourite class. He adored Professor Snape even though he was unclear whether the professor favoured him or not. Regardless, Professor Snape's attitude is what made the class so fun. His blunt comments and no nonsense teaching style was exactly what Wynd wanted. He hated going to Charms and Transfiguration where the professors did not take charge. Granted, the students paid attention, but it was because the material was fascinating, not the professor. Unlike Potions where the material and the professor were interesting. Many students would very passionately disagree with Wynd but he didn't care. Professor Snape was the greatest. End of story.

While Ruby had always excelled in Charms and Transfiguration, Wynd was the master Potions student. He breathed Potions like one breathes oxygen. Everything about Potions interested him. Such as a potion could be one way if you stirred 207 times clockwise but something completely different if you stirred 207 times counter-clockwise. He was very excited that this was his O.W.L. year and that they were going to be learning more advanced and complicated potions. Wynd listened intently to Professor Snape's words. A jolt of excitement coursed through him when the professor told them that they make drink their concoction on the day of their exam. A Wit-Sharpening potion on the day of the exam? Why, it was almost cheating. For Wynd anyway. Many of the other students would most likely make the potion wrong and therefore it would be worthless.

Wynd gathered his materials before the rest of the class. They seemed to sit in shocked silence after Professor Snape had spoken. He measured out exactly five millilitres of armadillo bile and vaguely wondered why it was armadillo bile and not some other animals. He made a mental note to try this potion with another animal's bile. He quickly pushed aside the thought however as he knew that absolute concentration was necessary to complete a potion. He used very meticulous strokes to ground his beetle. Striping the ginger root of its outer layer he cut them to be used in his potion. He then added them to his simmering water and watched as the water turned a pale yellow. One drop at a time he added the bile until his potion stopped boiling. Picking up a stirring rod he stirred in the crushed beetle. The brew turned a deep shade of orange and Wynd smiled to himself. All was going according to plan. He added the rest of the bile and waited for the potion to thicken. Once it had done so he put some into a vile and corked it. He then brought it up to Professor Snape's desk trying his best not to look smug as he knew that Professor Snape looked down upon arrogance. He returned to his station and cleaned up waiting for Professor Snape to grade his work.

[Ruby Lehane]

Ruby moved through the halls quickly her feet falling across the cold, dreary dungeon floor. How much she loved this place. Her hair lifted from her back as she moved, her eyes roaming over the cold stone walls as she traveled through the corridors of the dark dungeons…it was her home. The place she loved to be. It was one of the reasons Slytherin had been the perfect house for her…that and other reasons. Today she was headed to charms with Professor Snape. She wasn’t the best potions master around, but she wasn’t horrible either. Wynd had a knack for it…he had more than a knack actually. Wynd excelled in potions. Anytime Ruby had a question her brother was the quick one to answer it. He knew everything about the subject and she loved that. While she was great in Charms and Transfiguration, Wynd took the cake in Potions and because of that Ruby was getting better each day. So when she moved through the door to the classroom before class started she smirked at her brother who was already sitting in his seat, cauldron ready. She moved quickly and took the seat next to him, smiling at him. Their relationship had been a little strained of late with the whole Valmer situation, but she was really hoping they were moving past that.

Ruby waited for Professor Snape to finish what he had to say and then she began to move through the ingredients she had, pulling out the necessary items quickly. She needed to have a head start if she was planning on getting a decent mark on the project. It wasn’t like she sucked at Potions she just wasn’t very good at following the directions to the exact tee. She sat two scarab beetles to her left, the cut up ginger root to her right, and the armadillo bile was in front of her. Looking up at the directions again she quickly measured out exactly 5 millimeters of the bile, a smile across her face as she grounded two scarab beetles. The list continued on and Ruby followed the directions as best she could. It was usually the boiling part that got her off, but as she sat there, she found her mind easily going through the directions. It was not such a bad potion to make. She stirred every ingredient into the cauldron with at least 100 stirs, knowing that her brother was always going on about having to stir it a certain number of times each time you added something. The potion seemed to be rather interesting though and when she felt it was finished, well until her arm got tired and the potion was thicker than it was she bottled it and moved to Professor Snape, holding the potion out for him to grade, before cleaning up her area.

[rex]

First of all, classes were dumb. Period. Classes were dumb. There was no point in taking them. If you wanted to learn it, then you would learn it on your own. If you didn't want to learn about it, then you wouldn't. No amount of prodding and poking from pesky professors would make you learn material that you didn't care about. That was Rex's belief and he would stick by it. They were many subjects that didn't interest Rex, in fact most of them, but he passed. Rex wasn't dumb. He just didn't care. There was a difference. At least at Hogwarts he was away from his father. He was away from home. Home was where all the bad memories of his past were re-surface. Memories that Rex didn't want. The saying went that "You can't run from the past." At least at Hogwarts, Rex could hide from it.

Rex rarely skipped class. All right, skipped sometimes, but not always. He was in trouble a lot more than he was willing to admit and so he did not want the school to have another reason to be mad at him, like skipping class. He waltzed in the dungeons with a smile on his face. He hated having Snape as a professor and even more than that he hated having to come into Slytherin territory to take the dumb class. But he refused to give Snape the satisfaction of knowing that. He tried to keep a dumb smile on his face the entire time just to annoying Snape. Snape was almost always scowling and if he wasn't doing that then he was sneering but he wasn't a very happy person. Who could blame him having to be in the dreary dungeons day after day, night after night?

After Snape gave his instructions, Rex began work on his potion. Rex wasn't that good at Potions but that was because he didn't care about Potions. What was the point of learning to make a potion? If you were in a duel, the other person would not give you time to make a potion. They would hit you with a charm or hex before you even brought out your cauldron. But Rex was forced to take this subject. He boiled his water and crushed his beetles and cut his ginger root. He threw the root into the boiling water and watched the water turn pale yellow. The next step was to slowly add your bile, one drop at a time. But Rex wasn't that patient. He added all his bile at once. The potion seemed to react violently but then it stopped boiling. He stirred in the crushed beetles but the potion didn't turn an orange colour. "Oh well," Rex said under his breath. There was no more bile to add so he put some of his potion in a vile. corked it, and brought it to Snape's desk making sure to smile and nod at the professor hoping that it would irk him. Rex then returned to his station and cleaned up waiting for Snape's report.

[Professor Severus Snape]

"Ah, the Lehanes," Snape said with a bemused smile. Wynd was one of the better Potions students to come through in his year. He had a lot to learn, but Snape sensed quite the potential in him. His sister on the other hand, she was not quite so promising. Snape could tell that the only reason she did well was because Wynd seemed to guide her, whether with hints or from her simply observing him as he worked. "Acceptable," Snape said, sure to refrain from showing too much favouritism. "Ten points apiece for Slytherin. And, Ruby, If I were you, I'd work a bit harder to learn what you can from your brother. You can only slip through so far." He gave her a glaring smirk as the twins left the classroom.

The next person to finish was a student that Snape had grown to dislike very much. He was a typical hotheaded Gryffindor who seemed to care little about the actual work itself and more about sliding through. "Rex Carter," Snape jeered. He snatched the bottle from his hand, looking with an amused glance at the sad excuse for a potion. Better than usual, which is still considerably less than what is expected. Get out before I decide to take points away for your pathetic attempt.

The desks were clear by this time, and all of the students had finished. Snape glared as he saw that everybody hadn't cleaned up like he demanded. With an irritated flick of his wand, the chairs were all pushed in and the loose ingredients returned to their places in the storage cupboard. Snape made a note of which students it was that had left their places a mess. He would reprimand them during the next lesson. Then, he levitated the viles of potions to an empty cupboard in the back of the room. Though less than half of them were likely usable, he'd save them for the students' upcoming exam as he had said he would. Though, like any other time he offered the students the chance to test their own potions, he naturally go through ahead of time and replace the ones he knew were dangerous to consume with a liquid that was both harmless and had no effect. It was amusing for him to watch as some of the students whose potions he replaced drank them and expected some sort of effect. What was even funnier was when they really thought that something did happen. Magically erasing the instructions from the board, Snape retreated to his office where he began to write the test for their next lesson.

((This class is officially over. If you are in 4th or 5th year and you would like a copy of the exam PMed to you so that you can attempt to complete it for house points, please send a PM to me and I will then forward you a PM of the exam. This offer is only good until February 5th, which gives you a week to request a copy of the exam. Then, you have until February 12th to complete the exam.))