Being Different Year 6

The first week appeared to fly by, on the Wednesday afternoon they had their first potions class with Professor Slughorn.

Anne had been looking forward to this class because she was curious how a teacher other than Snape was going to teach potions.

She lined up outside the classroom with the rest of the class, there were just over a dozen people in this class, a group of four Slytherins, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ernie, Irwin, Anthony, Mandy and Anne.

Professor Slughorn opened the door and Anne saw that there were three bubbling cauldrons on the different desks in the room. Slughorn seemed to have decided to push desks together for his NEWT class, which meant that there was three very large tables rather than the usual dozen or so smaller tables.

The Ravenclaws walked over to the table where there was a cauldron which was giving off a very pleasing aroma. To Anne it smelt like new books, freshly laundered bedsheets, chocolate, and strawberries.

“Good Afternoon class,” beamed Slughorn, “and welcome to your first potions class.”

Professor Slughorn asked around about the potions in the three cauldrons and Anne told him that the one in front of her was Amortentia which she could tell because it was giving off her favourite scents.

He then asked them to get out their books and equipment and prepare a draught of living death.

Anne got out her textbook and noticed how outdated the instructions were, these couldn’t be right, she thought as she reached halfway through the potion, you don’t cut the Sopophorus bean you crush it Professor Snape had taught her last year. She looked over to where Hermione was trying to get the juice out of her bean at the next table, unsurprisingly it wasn’t working.

Anne merely shrugged and tried crushing it like Professor Snape had taught her, it worked almost instantly, the juice came pouring out of her bean.

“What did you do,” muttered Mandy frantically who had just reached that point in the instructions.

“Crush it with a silver dagger,” said Anne nonchanantly.

“How do you know that,” muttered Mandy as she crushed hers.

“Snape told me,” she shrugged.

Anne then started to stir her potion clockwise, but it wasn’t turning the right colour. Back in her fourth year Snape had told her that sometimes you had to add a counterclockwise turn, she tried this, and it worked again.

At the end of the class only two potions were even close to the required consistency, Harry’s was pale pink but Anne’s was as clear as water.

“I think we have a clear winner!” said Slughorn looking at Anne’s potions, “you must have your mother’s clear genius for potions!”

Anne blushed slightly as he handed her a bottle of Felix Felicis. Harry was giving her the thumbs up from behind Slughorn as he Slughorn shoke her hand.

“Is there anything you’re not the best at freak,” glared Malfoy at the end of the lesson as they headed up to dinner.

“Leave her alone Malfoy,” said Irwin pulling his wand out.

“Now come on Scamander she is freak,” drawled Malfoy.

“Leave her alone!” Irwin shouted prodding Malfoy with his wand in the chest.

Anne held out her hand and both wands flew towards her.

“Stop!” she shouted.

They both turned to look at her.

“Irwin don’t be stupid,” she muttered.

Irwin looked slightly sheepish but stepped away from where he was about to hit Malfoy on the nose.

“Malfoy, I don’t know what you’ve got against me, but please just leave me alone,” she said passing Malfoy back his wand.

“Oh I don’t know,” said Malfoy looking as though he was trying to think for a moment, “maybe its because you’ve sent my father to Azkaban twice now?”

Anthony had to hold Irwin back from launching himself on Malfoy.

“Yeah well he deserved it! He set a werewolf on her in third year and last year he helped your aunt torture her!”

“Look Malfoy,” said Anne trying to keep calmly, “just leave us alone.”

Anne turned away before the fight got even worse, Anthony followed with a seething Irwin they were trying to keep calm.

As she walked away she blocked a curse that she was speeding towards her, she turned her head around and sent the stinging jinx straight back to Malfoy where it had come from.

“Cheating cowardly scum!” shouted Irwin trying to run back to Malfoy

“How did you even know that was coming?” asked Anthony as he struggled to pull Irwin from Malfoy.

“I guessed,” muttered Anne.

They eventually reached the Great Hall and sat as far away from Malfoy as possible.

Irwin ate at great speed, he was still furious at Malfoy, every few bites he would stop to glare at Draco.

“There something wrong Anne?” asked Mandy.

Anne had hardly touched her beef stew.

“Well its just Slughorns a rubbish teacher,” Anne admitted.

“You seemed to do alright,” pointed out Anthony.

“That’s only because when I got stuck, I trawled my memory for advice Professor Snape had given us over the years.”

“Oh,” said Mandy.

“So how did Harry do so well?”

“I have no idea,” she muttered going over to talk to him. Harry had always been ok at potions but never brilliant.

“Harry can I borrow your potions book?”

“What?” asked Harry deeply confused.

“Can I borrow your book?” she asked again holding out her hand.

Harry looked at her for a moment before reaching into his bag and passing her his second hand copy of Moste Impotonte Potiones he had got out of the supply closet.

Anne flicked the book open to the page for The Draught of Living Death.

She noticed that the book was covered in scrawls from a hand she knew very well.

“I need to borrow this,” she muttered leaving the Great Hall without having eaten a bite.

She walked back down to the dungeons and knocked on Professor Snapes office door.

“Enter,” called a tired voice.

“Excuse me sir,” said Anne coming into the office, “is this yours?” she asked holding up the battered potions book.

Snape looked at her in shock for a moment completely gobsmacked.

“Where did you find that?” he whispered.

Anne had never seen Snape look quite so terrifying and menacing as he did right now.

“Um Harry found it in the supply closet in the Potions classroom.”

“Has he used it?” asked Snape in a voice that could cut glass.

“Only in class sir,” Anne stuttered.

“How did you know it was mine?” he asked suspiciously.

“The handwriting. Also,” Anne stammered, “all the extra instructions are the exact same advice you’ve given me over the last five years.”

Snape seemed to smile slightly.

“Very well thought through Miss Potter,” said Snape, “you say Harry has only used it in class?”

“Yes sir,” nodded Anne.

“Not used any of the spells yet?”

“No sir,” Anne shook her head frantically.

“Good,” he muttered.

He took the book from her for her moment and seemed to be searching for a certain page, he took out his wand, and took the ink straight out of the page from one of his handwritten notes.

“This book should be safe to use now,” said Snape, “I hope he uses it well.”

“Sir,” asked Anne before she left.

Snape looked up again from where he had been getting out some papers to mark.

“Do you mind if I go through the book and add the extra instructions to my copy before I give it back to Harry?”

“Of course,” nodded Snape, “oh and by the way, thank you for bringing that book in, in the wrong hands it could have been very dangerous.”

Anne was slightly confused as she left the dungeons, how could a school potions book be dangerous? But then she had to remember that Snape had once been a deatheater.

Anne stayed up all night doing her homework and then transferring the notes from Snapes copy of the book into her own.

She had chuckled slightly when she passed his nickname, The Half Blood Prince, it was the sort of name that Harry would have tried to pick out for himself.

“Annie,” said Irwin yawning slightly as he came down the next morning, “you been up all night?”

“Yeah, I have to give Harry his book back, otherwise he would use this as an excuse not to do his homework.”

“You do realise,” said Irwin as he pulled her in close whilst Anne put the lid on her bottle of ink, “that even when you haven’t slept all night, you are the most beautiful girl in the world?”