Lesson 1 - N.E.W.T. Level

The potions classroom filled quickly, making the room echo with voices and conversations between students that had shared the same academic path for several years now. Although Amelia was able to effectively block out most of that sensory input and continue reading, it was a different type of sense – smell, to be exact – that made her look up briefly from her book. It was a specific cologne that she had always attributed to a certain individual, who as she looked up was taking a seat next to a different redheaded girl that Amelia did not recognize.

The Ravenclaw girl thought for a moment about calling Elijah over, but thought better of it as she saw his interaction with his current tablemate. He pursed his lips and blew air that raised a few pieces of the girls hair, the same hair that he tugged on a few seconds later. He was being playful with her, affectionate even, and by the girl’s response, this was not an unwelcome advance.

Forget it, Amelia’s mind commanded at the first hint of that twinge-y emotion of jealousy that Amelia had only recently identified in herself and already hated.

In fact, you’d do well to forget him altogether… her subconscious commented as she averted her eyes from Elijah and his first choice of seat partner, The last thing you need this year is a distraction, and if I ever met anyone that qualified for that role, it was Elijah Krum.

Resolving herself to follow this advice – at least for now, while she was some distance away from him and had other things to focus on – Amelia turned back to her book and continued reading, at least until the professor spoke up to begin the class. The headmaster had an interesting way of greeting them as students, and had an even greater knack for identifying just who he was dealing with. His description of the student body as a whole was not far off, and although his descriptions of her classmates seemed harsh, she had to admit – he was right. The only reason it was surprising was because she had never heard a professor be so outright in his thoughts on his students. In fact, Amelia was quite enjoying seeing how her own observations measured up to that of Professor Doyle, at least until he turned his attention on her and she found herself frozen, unable to look away from him as he scrutinized her from the front of the room.

“It’s a ‘y’,” Amelia responded meekly, not having failed to notice that his comment on her had been distinctly different than that of her classmates. Of course, with him being head of Ravenclaw, he was bound to have heard about her, but Amelia was far more accustomed to knowing things about people she had never met than encountering people who knew something of her before she had met them. She couldn’t say who could have told the headmaster about her liking for chess, but whomever it had been, Amelia distinctly wished they hadn’t, for without that bit of information perhaps he would have passed over her altogether, rather like he had the other Ravenclaw girl in the room.

As Amelia’s blush was beginning the recede, the professor pressed on with the lesson and description of the class, quick to the punch with asking the first question. Once again, the headmaster’s eyes flickered over to her, sending a specific message to Amelia, who tried not to let her embarrassment at this show, but blush was hard to control. Apparently, this headmaster knew more about her than even he had let on originally, which was both concerning and confusing to Amelia, who had thought she was rather adept at keeping a low profile.

But however he had found these things out, Amelia took the hint he had given and allowed her classmates to provide their own answers to his question. Jack, as she had in another class already today, gave a cheeky answer; Amelia had gotten this vibe from her this summer, but it was still surprising nonetheless to hear such a bold answer on the first day of class with the headmaster.

Elijah’s response, however, was not made in reaction to the question he had asked, but rather to the comment Professor Doyle had made about him earlier. Amelia chose not to look at Elijah while he spoke, trying not to let her past – or at least she hoped they were – feelings about him interrupt the concentration she wanted to have in this class. When the professor began levitating chairs, however, Amelia reacted on the compulsion to turn and look at just what he was doing, and did so in time to see Elijah hovering over the rest of the class and then settling into a corner seat, the furthest back one could go while still remaining in the room. Without her mind’s permission, Amelia felt a feeling of smugness at the thought that Elijah would no longer be able to flirt with the redheaded Hufflepuff he had previously been sitting next to, but a moment later she was turned back around to face the front and mentally chastising herself for feeling that at all. If she was supposed not to care what Elijah did and not to pay him any mind, then why was she so pleased to find him alone instead of with another girl?

Stupid, stupid, stupid… Amelia’s mind was repeating as she closed her eyes, trying to bury thoughts and feelings like that one that threatened to derail her plans to distance herself emotionally from Elijah, who had somehow broken through several of her defenses in the past year, leaving her vulnerable to thoughts – such as the one she had just experienced – that she knew for certain would never have crossed her mind only a few months ago.

Chase gasped slightly when he was levitated across the room. That wasn't fair! He hadn't done anything wrong being next to her! In fact, he'd probably work BETTER next to her, instead of in the corner, where, when Chase turned to look back at him, he was drawing on the wall with bright white chalk. She felt a snort of laughter escape her lips, and she quickly turned to the front, her eyes on her book again. She half wished she could just get up and move back there with him, but she had a bad feeling this teacher wouldn't be so willing to handle much more from the class, and she tended to stay the good kid for the first week or so, show them that she was good, and you can get away with anything the rest of the year!

Chase glanced back at Elijah every so often, trying to discern what he was writing on the wall. Some type of picture that was sure, but at the moment she couldn't tell what it was, until the face started to get drawn, and Chase had to hide her laughter in a huge cough, that had her bending down beneath her desk. "Sorry..." She whispered when she came back up after the 'cough' attack, and looked back at her book, her eyes averted from everyone else's in the room.

She wished she could sit next to Eli, it would at least help her concentrate on what she was doing, but now she kept flickering her eyes to the back of the room, seeing what he was doing. Her attention would wander so much this class now. It wasn't that she liked him or anything, but he was her one best friend in the school, and he helped her more by just being there next to her then anyone else could with words. She let her gaze flicker around the room and caught the eye of one of the Ravenclaw's in the room. She flickered a smile, and lifted her head out of her book to look at the professor, wondering what he thought about all of this.

''Oh, cut the crap you two... go bang yourselves in the bathroom and come in my class normal, I don't want you flirting in my classroom'', Doyle commented and then scanned the classroom once more, stopping for a second at Amelia, then continuing. He took his cane once more and pointed it at Elijah's desk. He pulled it back, letting his feet fall down, and then pushing it rapidly at him, stopping just before his stomach. ''Next time, I shall be more precise'', he commented and pointed his cane at the wall. ''You seem to attract the attention of more than one person in this class...'', he commented, referring to his analysis.

He then flicked his cane and made Elijah's wall picture disappear and with another flick, made the chalk he was drawing with into a sea urchin. ''Now, to settle a few things here, for you as for your defense attorney at law... I am boss here... whatever I say, stay and whatever I do, stays... if you have any problems with me, go complain to the Headmaster... oh no, wait... I am the Headmaster... how convenient. Next time you try to be so smart and pull such a thing off... you'll be cleaning the drawing with your own toothbrush and then washing your teeth in front of me with that same toothbrush... trust me, I can do that... and you do remember what happened to your snake last term?'', he reminded him of what Wilson did. He had overheard that story from Wilson, while he was 'praising' Elijah in front of McCoy.

''Now, as for you Pneumonia girl... yes, we are going to learn about that.... but now, since all of you are either numb idiots or you're to afraid to show you're ass kissers, which most of you are, could Miss Y please stand up and tell us some more examples?'', he asked, pointing to Amelia. ''Oh, yes... have any of you read Oscar Wilde's 'Picture of Dorian Gray'?'', he asked.

(Sorry Elijah, couldn't avoid the reference XD)

In an effort to distract herself from what she considered to be unnecessary thought processes, Amelia had taken her quill and ink back out of her bag and was now writing notes on a roll of parchment. The problem was that the professor didn’t really seem to have reached the heart of the lesson just yet, and as such, most of Amelia’s ‘notes’ were merely transcripts of his different insults for her classmates. The Ravenclaw girl felt compelled to cringe at the description of the flirtation between Elijah and the other girl, but she suppressed the urge and instead wrote with more force on her parchment, causing a tiny rip. Frustrated even more now by her inability to separate her feelings from her thoughts, Amelia pulled out her wand and tapped the parchment to repair it, wishing in passing that there was an equally easy repair for what seemed to be wrong with her mind today.

Putting her quill back to the parchment, Amelia was just finishing writing the phrase ‘numb idiots’ when once again, she heard reference made to her. Although she was not looking at the headmaster to see him looking in her direction, there was no doubt that the Miss Y he was requesting an answer from and she were one in the same person. Amelia felt the room quiet at his request and she had to swallow hard and take a deep breath before she could look up from her writing, just in time to hear another peculiar question from the man at the front of the classroom.

“Yes?” Amelia answered, her response sounding more like a question than an answer because of how taken aback she had been by the question in the first place. Where had that question had come from, and why did it feel as though he was asking it to put even more attention on her?

“Though when I read it, it was under the title A Portrait of Dorian Gray,” Amelia added, trying to sound more intelligible than her previous one word answer, though after she had spoken she questioned whether this tiny wording difference would make her feel the crack of the headmaster’s wit; if she had been in his position, she likely would have rolled her eyes at the detail, though in actuality, hers was the more popular translation of the title.

Uncomfortable now with her answer to the professor’s second, less standard question – not to mention the attention of her classmates boring through her skin from multiple angles – Amelia immediately began to process the first of his questions, breaking it down into manageable pieces and working to formulate a coherent, yet succinct answer. The last thing she needed was to make a fool of herself under all the expectations and hype of the new headmaster; she could only imagine his quip if she got the question wrong and the snickers from her classmates, only too happy to see her fail.

“If I am correct in my assumptions,” Amelia began, careful to assert that she did not assume herself to be without mistake, “we will likely be covering several different types of potions, including elixirs and draughts. You have already mentioned love potions, in which I would guess you would also categorize potions such as amortentia. I would also expect to see poisons and their antidotes on the lesson plan, as well as some of the more complex potions – wolfsbane, veritaserum, and Felix Felicis,” Amelia finished, rattling off the last of the potions she would have expected to encounter in a N.E.W.T. level course.

Passingly, Amelia though to herself that if she had taken Felix Felicis this morning she would not have had to face the scrutiny of the headmaster and her classmates simultaneously, and certainly would not have been put on such a high pedestal from which it was possible to fall. But allowing her thoughts to wander at this point would not be helpful in maintaining her focus, and thus Amelia pushed such wishful thinking out of her mind and awaited the professor’s decision to move on from her and, in doing so, remove the crushing weight she felt whenever a large amount of attention as put on her.

''Yes... that is correct. Ten points for Ravenclaw. It does seem that someone is interested in what I shall teach you. The classes with Veritaserum and Felix Felicis will be extremely interesting, the latter for the winner, the other for the loser'', he commented.

''Now, I shall have one final test for you before I dismiss you all to your Dormitories. I have here here five liquids which you can only see through these five flasks. Your task is to guess which one of these is a Potion, which is a poison and which is something else. Each time you succeed, your House will gain 15 points and for the ultimate winner, if there will be such a person, I shall give a special prize. Before making your... opinion, so to say, you can pose one question about any of the five and I shall answer it. The question can be in any form except 'Is that...' or 'Does this one contain...' or 'This one isn't...', those who aren't idiots will get the point. Now... Flask number One contains a medium dose of liquid whose color resembles gold, but it could also be water, couldn't it? The second flask contains a dark, muddy liquid which you will need to identify. The third one smells like books? Doesn't it? The fourth one, an orange-gold liquid with white foam... shouldn't be a tough one... and the fifth one is a colorless liquid... but what is it?'', he asked.

''Yes, a very interesting book. How looks can trick a person, even someone highly intelligent and sensible...'', he said referring to Amelia, whose ''paper war'' he had seen, ''... but it can also destroy ones personality and lead him on the wrong track, meaning... well, you all know what I mean. But all in all, quite a fascinating book... Wilde did have a brilliant writing technique'', he commented.

As her answer to the professor’s question was validated, Amelia let out the breath of air she had been holding. She could feel the eyes of the other students drifting away from her and back onto the professor, who was now describing the final test of the day. It seemed this introductory lesson would be a short one, about which Amelia was not displeased. The lesson already seemed to have gone on for a long time, though that might have been a result of her feeling as though the headmaster was inspecting her personally, for reasons she still had no inkling of.

She listened with rapt attention, though, as the headmaster explained the task at hand, revealing five flasks on his desk. Immediately, Amelia’s mind began categorizing the visible traits of the potions, and she followed the progress of the professor’s speech as he described the contents of each. Some she was able to identify quickly, and she guessed that others in the class felt similarly. She thought for sure she saw Polyjuice Potion in the second flask, judging by the consistency and color, and the fifth one was likely to contain either water or veritaserum, but it was impossible to tell without asking specifically about the effect it might have on the drinker.

Not wanting to wile her question away without thought, Amelia leaned further forward in her desk, sinking down so her face was level with the flasks in order to get a better look. In doing so, however, she was drawn back to the professor’s words earlier about the third flask smelling like books. Although Amelia could smell books, there were two other, more overwhelming smells that caught her attention when she turned directly to the third flask. The first was easily identifiable, though she put it immediately out of her mind, but the second brought back memories that made the scent undeniable. It smelled overwhelmingly of peppermint.

“Does the third flask contain a love potion?” Amelia asked before she knew she had, for her mind had been quicker than her intentions to stay quiet for the rest of the lesson. Now that she had started, though, there was really no way to take her words back, and thus she pressed forward. At least her speaking up would bring the lesson to a quicker end, and perhaps earn back some of the points her housemates had lost in being late to other classes.

“Because if so, I believe it to be Amortentia,” she finished, quite certain of her answer, though she was not going to say so. The Ravenclaw knew of no other potion in the world which smelled differently to every individual, and to her, Amortentia had always smelled of peppermint and books. It had only recently started to contain hints of a new scent, but once again, Amelia brushed those thoughts from her mind.

Focus…

Jack perked at the thought of an intellectual challenge. This was more of her thing, rather than the usual question and answer lessons that only humored the know-it-alls and the suck-ups. This was real logic, real intelligence. She would be fine with lessons like this.

Her eye was caught by the third flask, and she was about to ask the professor if he found books appealing, to confirm her thoughts that it was Amortentia. However, Amelia Lyons beat her to it. That was why Jack could respect the girl. She may be a know-it-all sometimes, but at least she was intelligent.

Jack said, "Does the third one need a genetic component to function correctly? Because I'm fairly sure that it is Polyjuice Potion." She recognized the murky, muddy substance. She looked to the last flask. "Is the potion in flask five oderless and tasteless?" She had a hunch that it was Veritaserum.

''You believe correctly, Y. Flask number three does contain Amortentia, a very strong love potion that smells differently to each of you. I smell books and for those of you wondering, yes, I have a fetish on books... I can't have sex without having open books around... But we shall be studying that Potion later on. Now, 1 Point for Amelia and 15 points for Ravenclaw.'', he said.

He then turned to Jack. ''I am sure you meant flask number two, Red, and yes... it is Polyjuice Potion. Also, 1 point for Red and 15 points for Gryffindor. We have a tie currently. The fifth flask does contain an odorless and tasteless liquid. Also, each of you can have one more guess... meaning that both Ameila and Red are liable for guessing, but Red can't pose any more questions about flask number five, a very interesting one, because she filled her quota. Ameila and the rest of you, on the other hand, can. Now, next one? We have three flasks left?'', he asked.

At the professor's mention about his small book fetish, Jack raised her eyebrows in surprise at him saying that so bluntly in the middle of class. "Good to know," she said, in a taken aback voice that made it clear that that was probably a little too much information for students to know.

She stared at the fifth flask, knowing she was out of guesses. If it was indeed a potion, she was sure that it had to be Veritaserum, but she knew that this professor was a shrewd one. It could very well be water. That would be sort of the trick he would pull, she was sure. She leaned back in her chair, staring at it thoughtfully.

Brienne stared at potion number five, could it be Veritaserum? It could also be water. She raised her hand. "Does the potion in flask five act as a truth serum of sorts?" She knew that at any moment, the Professor could try and throw her off, but she wanted to try to guess anyway. She took a glance at the other potions, number one may be Felix Felicis, but number four was kinda tough to figure out. She was stumped for the moment.

"If I could I'd also like to take a guess at number one as well", Brienne said, raising her hand once more. She felt very confident that she had the answers in the bag.