Lesson 7 - N.E.W.T. Level

Amelia reached for her cauldron as it began to fall over, but Ariel got to it first, offering her an unexpected helping hand. She offered him a fleeting smile in thanks for his help, and then opened her kit as discreetly as possible while Ariel answered her question of what she had missed. There was a definite tone of bitterness in his voice, which probably meant that the headmaster had been running his mouth again. Ariel confirmed this with his ‘new material’ comment, and Amelia paused for a moment to roll her eyes and sigh subtly. For all the headmaster had preached to her about trying to get along with people and trying to step out of her protective shell of sarcasm and barbed comments, he certainly wasn’t setting a very good example.

When Ariel answered her question about the wolfsbane, however, Amelia knew it was time to get down to work. A few other students were already pulling out their ingredients, and Amelia didn’t want to be caught behind, so she started to gather a few things from her kit when Ariel suddenly spoke again, except this time, he wasn’t speaking to her. He was speaking to the professor, and his voice was loud enough to carry easily to every other student in the room.

I should have known better than to try to be invisible sitting next to Ariel… Amelia thought, dropping her eyes to the table and sinking lower in her chair. There was no way the professor was going to miss her lateness now. But then again, maybe Ariel’s verbal attack on him would distract him from doling out to her a punishment that was too harsh.

''No, Greyback, I am suggesting that my pet parrot Coco is a freak of nature'', Doyle replied ironically. ''If you do not know how, then you're also stupid in addition to being a freak of nature'', Doyle said. ''But then again, Krum is not also not the brightest example you'll meet in this school. How much is that, 20 points from Slytherin? Fine, as you wish. Twenty it is!'', Doyle said. ''Also, do be careful when you insult someone's irony... people might think you're an idiot who does not understand it... luckily, you're speaking to me'', he said.

He then turned to Ameila. Miss Lyons was late, which was very unusual for a student such as her. ''Yes, Lyons, we are brewing Greyback... sorry, Wolfsbane Potion. You tend to get confused, right Greyback? Please, do continue with your brewing, I doubt you'll get a passing grade at such speed. Also, Lyons... you'll stay after class... not for a game of chess, though'', he said, sitting on his desk.

Amelia wanted more than ever to disappear when the headmaster, as she had known he would, noticed she was late and turned his icy attention onto her after poking more fun at Ariel. She had always cringed when professors showed her with attention and compliments, but she had never experienced their ire. This was much, much worse.

“Yes sir,” Amelia replied after swallowing hard, already dreading the conversation she would have to have with Doyle about her tardiness. The problem with setting a consistent example of exemplary behavior meant that if you tripped up at all, the punishment was that much greater because no one expected it of you.

Hoping to impress him with her potion making and thus lessen the blow of their after class meeting, Amelia pulled herself upright in her chair and set quickly to work. Her potions kit was open now, and in about a minute she had her cauldron boiling a mixture of water and ethanol over an open flame of low intensity.

With her things reorganized on her desk – partially thanks to Ariel – and the potion at least started, Amelia was starting to fall into the calm that having a task gave her. From her potions kit, she pulled arnica montana leaves, bloodroot, and witch hazel, and set to mincing the leaves into extremely fine, evenly cut pieces.

Whoever invented Potions seriously needed a sitting down and a talking to about how it was murder on a girl’s hair. Athena didn’t know why she had to take such a stupid class but Apolline was instant. For some reason that was beyond Athena’s comprehension, her step-mother believed that Potions would help her in life – as if she expected Athena to go out and get a job like some sort of penniless Mudblood. Of all the things that Athena had considered, that was one thing that would never, ever happen. She didn’t care if the penniless Mudbloods needed her to set an example. She refused to sink to their level. It was a disgusting, unhygienic place to be – i.e. Azkaban. That was not going to be Athena’s home thank-you-very-much. That gobby, redheaded Mudblood from Gryffindor could take her place.

Still, a rather firm letter from her father and her mother told Athena that she either went to her classes or she wouldn’t be getting her monthly instalment of Galleons. That horrified the young witch and she soon bolted from the breakfast table and down to the dungeons. Of course, Athena took her time. When she first passed she could see no one in the class so she wandered back down to the Slytherin dungeons where she spent a bit of time tidying herself up and putting some spray into her bag so her hair would survive the onslaught of fumes. And so, she walked back down the hallway, spraying the rose-smelling liquid into her hair so it didn’t deflate or anything of the like.

Kicking open the door of the potions classroom with her pretty lace-up boots, Athena strode inside. She dropped the spray bottle into her bag and flicked her and at the door, forcing it to slam shut. She turned her attention to Doyle and smirked before wandering down the aisle in search of a seat. “Trust me, Doyle,” She spoke, chucking her bag underneath the table she’d picked to sit at, “I have better places to be – have no fear of that. But you’re so incredibly sexy with your rugged b!tchiness that I just had to attend this class. Plus I can’t wait to start brewing. It’s my favourite pastime you know.” And, with a roll of her eyes, Athena sat herself down.

''It does seem you Slytherin's breed idiots. Is that one of the requirements to enter your House?'', Doyle asked. ''Now, I do see you are... not brewing as you should. I do remind you that there isn't much time left. Miss Lyons, I do hope you haven't forgotten. This won't be long and exhausting, I promise'', he remarked.

''Also... I just remembered one of my former professors... Severus Snape, you might have heard of him during your History of Magic classes. Is Binns still alive and well, like always? He taught me how to deduce points from other Houses... so... that would be... 50 points from Slytherin... I would give Ravenclaw several points, but I shall wait until end of class. He was excellent in handing out punishments'', Doyle said and flicked his fingers. Suddenly, a large bucket of water appeared above Athena. He twisted them and the water came right at her.

(I did not god mod here, you continue as you wish, although it would be nice to make it realistic. Also, be careful if planning a come back with Doyle... I look forward to reading this)

Jack was late- deal with it. Her only excuse was a run in with Peeves- it seemed that all poltergeists like to mess with her- and she had been exacting her revenge. She came in, looking frazzled, the ends of her hair burnt from the struggle with him. She glanced at the professor. Sour- that was the only way to describe him that morning. "Peeves decided to give me a practical DADA lesson," she explained.

She looked around the room, quickly glancing around. Ariel was there; she was still unsure about how to go about school in regards to him. They were friends now, but she still did not want to incite more rumors. Pulling her eyes and thoughts from him, she looked to the front. She furrowed her brow. "We're doing wolfsbane today, huh?"

This would be fun.

She did not even have the choice of sitting with Ari- she might have, considering the lesson- but instead sat right there, in the front. It was the first time all year she had not taken a spot in the back and propped up her legs. She had an eerie feeling and she wanted to be in the middle of the action.

''Peeves is an idiot, he always was. But, you'll have to learn how to cope with it. Ask Wilson, he was one of the few people that actually managed to deal with him'', Doyle said. He then jumped down and started limping thorough the classroom, checking the progress of the students. After checking them all, he returned to his desk, jumped on it and looked at each and every one of them. ''Krum, it needs more aroma. Slytherin girl... more color. The same to the Ravenclaw boy. You, Lost One... you're totally off track. Lyons, good job, like Greyback, but you should be experienced with this. The two of you, Peeves' girl and the Idiot girl, do start... I don't have all day'', he commented.

Jack rolled her eyes- she knew that Doyle knew their names by the now, but he thought it fit his image better to act like he did not. There were only a few near and dear to his heart to actually call by name, and Jack noted she was not one of them. Surprising, since she was fairly sure he had yelled at him once, though she could be confusing him with another professor she had B**** at.

She pulled out everything she would need and pulled out the book, turning to the right page and peering at it. For once this year, she was actually going to try. She may be pursuing a career related to werewolves... Being able to brew wolfsbane would be essential, she knew it. She carefully and quietly went about her work... Wondering what the hell had come over her.

Why did it always seem that potions class was mostly just an opportunity for everyone to go to war with the headmaster? Amelia couldn't understand the constant challenges thrown his way, nor how little her peers seemed to think of blatantly causing disruptions, making callous remarks to the headmaster, and generally making themselves into idiots. It was actually rather astounding, and made Amelia's subtle - but still late - entrance into the potions dungeon look like the epitome of manners.

Between Athena's grand entrance and Jack's tardiness, the headmaster had his hands full long enough for Amelia to make decent headway in her potion before he looked to her desk again. The arnica montana leaves had been sliced, the bloodroot was peeled, pureed, and poured, and the witch hazel had been ground to a fine powder. All of these and several other ingredients had gone into her now boiling cauldron which was progressively turning to the correct color and texture.

Amelia was pleased when the headmaster deemed her potion suitable when he made his rounds through the classroom, and it served to calm her nerves slightly about the meeting she would still need to have with him after class. Amelia knew that even if she produced a perfect potion, the headmaster wasn't about to cancel that meeting. And she had been doing such a good job of avoiding him outside of class for the past few months...

"Don't look now, but I think Doyle just paid you a compliment," Amelia said wryly to Ariel, shooting him a quick glance to check that had heard her before looking back to her boiling cauldron and giving it a ninth stir in the clockwise direction.

"This shall be a day that will live in infamy," she added quietly with a small smirk.

The Headmaster had not impressed Athena what so ever. From the moment he’d took office she knew that he’d be more trouble than her father ever claimed Dumbledore to be. Doyle was an antagonist. If he wanted to push, Athena would quite happily push back – she had no qualms where that was concerned. So when the fifty points were deducted, Athena didn’t even blink. They were fifty points that she could afford to lose. Besides, it wasn’t as if that actually mattered. Vaguely, Athena thought she heard one of the Slytherins in the room groan. They’d need a talking to later, she decided. It was not their place to question her...authority. Well, here she had none. In this classroom she had about as much respect as a Mudblood and a Werewolf. Now Athena remembered why she preferred her mornings spent in the Common Room and not in this pig sty.

Of course punishment was going to come her way – Athena was no fool. What she hadn’t expected was for it to be so cold and so wet. When the water fell, Athena became unhinged. Her work hours before her dorm mates had risen had all gone to waste. Or at least it had, until she fetched her wand and cast a quick spell on herself. The water pooled on the floor as her robes squeezed out the liquid. They dried almost instantly and her hair grew in volume once more as it too lost the water that had clung to it. Her make-up soon fixed itself as well and just like that Athena was the picture of perfection again. She prepared for disasters like this but that didn’t mean she was any less upset. She threw herself from her chair and did all she could to stop herself from pointing her wand at the infuriating man.

“My father will see to it that you are fired!” She spat with all of the venom she could muster. She could feel the spell start to fail her around her legs and she pursed her lips before flicking her wand summoning her bag. She threw it over her shoulders and turned on her heel, striding towards the door. “Goodbye asshole!” She called before slipping out into the freezing hallway.