Chapter 11. Potions

I went back inside the castle, quickly finding my way to my next class as lunch was ending. “Potions was next…” I mumbled, remembering to bring a cauldron to class along with my textbook. I took my seat on the Slytherin side of class. I made sure to take an edge seat, so I wasn’t surrounded. I noticed Pansy took the spot beside me, and Malfoy beside her. “I didn’t think a walk would take most of lunch.” She said to me, only making glances while keeping her head forward, waiting for class to begin while remaining prim and proper.

I did the same, not wanting a friendship to be made. “This place is massive. Looking around takes a while.” I spoke concisely as the chamber door slammed opened, revealing Professor Snape, briskly walking towards the front of the class. The class froze like rabbits hearing a twig snap in the distance while Professor Snape spoke commandingly. “There will be no foolish wand waving, or silly incantations in this class.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this class would be one that I might fade into obscurity. Snape continued to speak while standing on his podium, looking around the class, seemingly judging each student in moments of time. “As such, I don’t expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making… However…” His gaze wandered to me as he spoke the last of his speech. “To those select few… Who poses the predisposition. I can teach you how to bewitch the mind, and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle in fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death…”

The first part of his promise to the ‘Select Few’ in the class as he stared at me didn’t interest me much. I was always more interested in Magical Creatures, so potions just as wizard history seemed bothersome, and unneeded. Even if beginner potions were the only books in the house. In my mind when I first got to class was that potions took too much time to use when investigating creatures. At least charms could help illuminate my way, keep dangerous monsters at bay, they were useful all the time if I had my wand. However, potions needed to be brewed beforehand, and I had little knowledge over how long they might preserve, or time it would take to make for each.

I didn’t care about bewitching people and especially creatures. I didn’t truly understand what ‘ensnaring the senses’ meant. I didn’t want fame nor fortune, making me lose further interest in the class. Until, the last words were uttered from Professor Snape’s lips. With those last few words, my eyes lit up slightly as he had gained my full attention. I knew that ‘stopper’ meant that reviving the dead was impossible, however, that meant that I could stop death's chilling touch on Valdemar, or Abarrane. I refused to let that image that still haunted the back of my mind to happen again.

The corner of Snape’s mouth moved ever so slightly up, before his resting scowl soon returned as his gaze shifted to another member of the class. “Then again… There may be some of you, who possess abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to ‘not’ ‘pay’ ‘attention!’” He enunciated the last few words to gather the person in question’s attention, making me turn my head to see who it was. Hermione shook Potter’s shoulder, making him drop his quill and look up to meet Snape’s judgmental gaze.

I heard Snape’s cape swish as he walked and talked. “Mr. Potter… Our new celebrity… Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel into a fusion of wormwood?” With that Hermione instantly raised her hand, begging to be called so she could say the answer Potter clearly didn’t know as she shrunk a bit into his seat. I had an idea for the answer, knowing that powdered root of asphodel changed the energy inside someone. “You don’t know?” He asked Potter, shaking his head, and quietly admitting Snape’s correct guess.

Snape then looked over to me surprisingly. “Mr. Peterson?” I looked at him a bit confused why he would call me instead of Hermione clearly begging to answer, but quickly shook my head, and thought of an answer. “I do not have enough information to make a completely accurate response. However I know that powdered root of asphodel can affect the drinker’s energy. It’s most likely Vitamix, however it may also be used to put the drinker into a terrifyingly deep sleep.”

That last bit was just conjecture, I understood the properties of the basics of potion making due to my father’s influence in my studies. Even if I wasn’t initially interested in Potion making, being the only thing to read, and study around the house had made certain portions of the information stick. I wasn’t lying about how scary the ladder of a potion might be. It fiddled with energy, if you combined that with an already potent sleeping potion, it made me shudder to imagine how long that person may sleep for.

My thoughts were broken from Snape’s singular clap. “A correct answer Mr. Peterson. 5 points to Slytherin.” Draco beside me smiled while giving my back a pat of comradery, and slight admiration as the rest of the Slytherin's gave their whispered compliments. Snape had moved back to Potter, clearly hoping to further humiliate him in front of the class. “Let’s... Try again Mr. Potter. Where would you look if I asked you to find me a Bezoar?” Potter shook his head silently while Hermione strained her hand even higher in the air. “Mr. Peterson?”

He asked me next, however this time I really did know the answer since it had to do with animals, and magical creatures, however disgusting it was. “The stomach of a goat.” Snape nodded, hardly giving me a glance. “Correct again Mr. Peterson. 5 more points to Slytherin.” The Gryffindor’s were clearly unamused of this clear bias, but Snape didn’t seem to mind, he seemed content with lowering Potter’s status. “Pity… Clearly, fame isn’t everything… Is it, Mr. Potter?”

Pansy kept glancing at the boy beside her, scribbling down notes of his potion book. After showcasing his superior knowledge that even she had little clue as to what potions could be made, Pansy wondered if there was anything that Lucas could do to lower his likability amongst the class. She saw as he seamlessly wormed himself into the trust of everyone in the dorm. ‘Perhaps he is together with Snape, asking such bizarre and obscure questions to raise his influence in the dorm.’ That idea had plenty of merit, and would also explain a lot. However Pansy knew that all her thoughts were only conjecture. Any of which could be true, false, or anything in between. ‘I have to investigate faster.’

After writing down plenty of distinctive information down, taking potions more seriously now knowing what could help save something precious in the future, class was dismissed. Snape was quiet, continuing to write in his parchment while everyone left. “Mr. Peterson, if you could stay for a moment?” Snape asked, his eyes still not leaving his own work. I froze, but left my things at my desk. “I can take those back to your room for you.” Pansy said, staying behind the rest of the class that was going back to the dorms to drop off their cauldrons they had barely used.

I pondered for a moment, but nodded at her, letting her take my things. ‘At the very least, I need fake friends in Slytherin.’ “Very well. Thank you.” I said dismissively while walking towards the desk Snape was scribbling on. He kept on scribbling after I had stood on the other side. I waited for him to finish his own thing, not wanting to disturb him in the middle of his work, manners I learned from Mother about etiquette.

Snape finally stopped, and rested his quill in his small bottle of ink, before looking directly at me. He was silent for a bit while eying me, but finally spoke. “Why are you most interested in stopping death, Mr. Peterson?” I was astonished how easily he saw through me, and wondered why he was curious about my desire. ‘Stopping death sounds like everyone’s desire.’ “I don’t want things important to me to die before their time.” Snape squinted at me, his gaze filled with hostility for a brief moment before returning back to his resting scowl. “Very well, you may leave now.”

I did as I was told, moving to my next class immediately. However, once I reached the doorway, I paused for a moment, my mouth moved faster than my head to ask a burning question I had to be sure of. “Can you really teach me to stave off death?” The room was silent, and I felt a chill in the air before Snape spoke up again. “I say nothing that isn’t truth. Now go.” Snape seemed more agitated, so I left without another word, but I felt something as I walked to my next class. I felt that I had to learn more about potions that I had written off. I had to protect Val or Abarrane from anything that might hurt them, even death itself.