Simmering Cauldrons

[Severus Snape]

Severus entered his classroom and took a long look around. The events of the past few months had told on his frame and his mind as well. Yet as enevitable as death the term at Hogwarts would begin and there would be a seemingly endless sea of blank , mindless faces to be taught. One thing that pleased him was the seeming care Pandamonia and Callia had lavished upon the room. Every cupboard was straight and the cauldrons spotless and no evidence of anything amiss.

With a last glance the man in black set his own cauldron to bubbling and began to take a moment in peace to remove his silver knife from it's sheath and chop finely a very strange looking silvery substance. The students would begin to arrive soon.

[Ariake Long]

News had an almost scary way of travelling fast at Hogwarts.
As it was it didn't take all too long before the students were made aware of professor Snape's return and the time his class would start again.

After warning her brothers they'd better be on their best behaviour for their Head Of House's class, she'd herded them out of the common room and made her way to the Potions class.

She entered the room silently and made her way up to the front row.
Before taking her customary place at the desk in the left row, she made her usual small bow to the teacher in respectful greeting.

"Good morning, professor." she spoke in her soft voice, "It is good to see you again, sir"

Then she saved a place at her desk for Marlene and quietly took out her books and potions kit.

[Lei Long]

Lei and his twin arrived quietly behind their sister and followed suit to politely greet their Head Of House with a respectful small bow and a good morning, before setting up their work-station at the desk behind the one Ariake had chosen.

Once seated they eagerly watched the professor work on an unknown silvery substance.
After a silent debate as to what kind of ingredient it could possibly be, Hikaru finally resorted to take out one of their Potions books and together they poured over the book trying to find the answer while waiting for the class to start.

[Nancy Thorne ~Taking Over~]

Nancy Thorne entered the dungeons waiting to learn more about potions. When she saw the twins she smiled and sat next to them. She then turned to the professor and said, "Good morning professor. What shall we be learning about today, sir? It's good to see you have returned Professor." Nancy tried to make a good impression with the Potions Master. From what she had heard, it was very difficult for a Gryffindor to please him, but she'd give it her best shot. She then waited for her Professor's reply.

[Callia Ashburton]

Callia entered the dungeons classroom and nodded to the professor with a greeting, " Good morning Professor Snape."

She took a seat somewhere in the middle of the classroom and sat in anticipation waiting for the class to start. She had glanced at what the professor was chopping up and was beginning to get worried that she could not identify the substance. Seeing that the twins had taken out their Potions books, she proceeded to take out hers and started poring over it thoroughly.

[Tosya Roshenko]

Carefully Tosya peered though the door and then entered into the dungeon.

It was a bit tough to see, but it looked as though there were only two fellow Gryffindors in so far and the rest was Slytherin. So he walked in the direction of his housemates and with his eyes he gave them a short greeting; he didn't quite think the Potions Professor would approve of them talking.

He was quite sure he would end up under the heading of 'dunderhead'. But in an attempt to defy that fate he decided to take a seat close to the wall, took out his copy and kept himself busy cleaning his already clean cauldron with as little noise as possible.

[Pandamonia Maze]

Pandamonia entered her home away from home and took her seat at the back of the potions class. She smiled at Callia as she took her seat. She hadn't spoken with the Professor since the other night and was glad to see him looking well. That also meant there would be work ahead .

Filling her cauldron with pure spring water Panda lit the fire and waited as it began to simmer. Wheather or not they needed the cauldron for class she knew she would need it later. [/font]

[Severus Snape]

Severus was busily placing his ingriedients into the simmering cauldron as the rest of the students entered his classroom . The peace of his reverie broken by a high pitched voice running at the speed ot a harpy. One dark eye turned to the student and the urge to slowly dismember her crossed his mind. Instead he took a deep breath and rose from behind his desk .

" Miss Thorne , My personal life is just that. Personal. I would refrain from any further outbursts in my class if you wish to keep your house points in tact. Five points from Gryffindor as a reminder to you not to disrupt my class with needless chatter again. "

Ebony orbs washed over the rest of the faces inthe room.

" Miss Ashburton, your work with Miss Maze has earned you five points for Gryffindor. Too bad your classmate had to cancel them out .
Miss Maze you have done your usual job keeping things organized for me. Ten points to Slytherin for your good work. "

A whirl of black swept the potions master to the front of the classroom. And one long arm folded over the other as he took in the class.

" Your assignment for potions is to take no less than three and no more than six ingriedients from the cupboard . With those ingriedients you will brew a potion that will either be a pepper up or a sleeping draight. First years , you will begin by trying to brew a simple shrinking solution. I want to know the ingriedients used and the proper way to prepare the potion. Miss Maze and Miss Ashburton will the two of you come to my table. I require your assistance in the potion I am working on . "

The man in black then turned with a snap and headed back to his own table .He bent to retrieve several small boxes from the floor.

[Nancy Thorne ~Taking Over~]

Nancy waved to Tosya, but once she heard Professor Snape speak her name, she was crest-fallen. She made a note to herself saying, 'Never talk in Professor Snape's class.' She turned to Callia and sent a look meaning only, 'I'm sorry.' and hoped she'd understand.

Seeing that the others had already taken out their books, she decided to follow suit. She figured it would be best if she started with the simple shrinking potion, since there she actually knew what to do. Nancy wasn't bad at making potions, but was horrible at it when she was nervous. She waited for any further instructions from the Potion's Master to see what to do next.

[Callia Ashburton]

Her eyes lighted up when the professor awarded five points to Gryffindor for her work, although she knew it was cancelled out by the points they had just lost. She saw Nancy giving her an apologetic look and she gave the girl a smile, indicating that all was fine. The young Gryffindor still didn't understand the Professor's ways, and trying to please him with small talk was certainly not the way to go. She returned Panda's smile as the girl took her seat at the back of the room.

Callia proceeded to the front at the professor's request and awaited further instructions from him.

[dancebubble93]

Tallulah listened to the Professor give a briefing about the lesson and then opened up her potions book to the page that talked about shrinking solutions. She quickly read the ingredients and then walked over to the cupboard to get them. Chopped daisy roots, skinned shrivelfig, sliced caterpillar, one rat spleen, and a dash of leech juice. She carried the ingredients back to her desk and proceeded to chop up the daisy roots. She made sure they were chopped evenly. She then made sure she had the correct amounts of rat spleen and leech juice. If you were to mis-measure the amounts with these two particular items it is possible that your potion can turn orange instead of the green its supposed to. If this happens then your potion is poisonous. She then started preparing and putting all of the ingredients into the cauldron and making sure everything was perfect hoping to impress the Professor.


.................................



When the potion was complete Tallulah raised her hand and patiently waited for the Professor to come over and inspect her work.

[Tosya Roshenko]

Tosya wrote down in a neat script:


Shrinking Solution - by Tosya Roshenko

According to my idea of the recipe, the most important are evenly chopped daisy roots.
Also, one would need skinned shrivelfig, sliced caterpillar, one (and not more) rat spleen. One uses just a dash of leech juice, because overdoing it can cause danger.


He rolled up the parchment, sealed the scroll which flew gently towards the Professor's desk, and proceeded towards the cupboard to take out the necessary ingredients and try out his clean cauldron.

[Pandamonia Maze]

Panda nodded in gratitude as the Professor awarded Slytherin ten points. She knew he would have awarded Callia equal points had she been with her the whole time. One thing she had learned about this hard to understand man was his inate sense of right and wrong and fair. He would always favor his own house of course, but there wasn't a Slytherin that had not learned you got no free ride from the man.

She rose and carried her silver dagger and her bag with her to place it in the spot behind his table on the small cabinet. Panda then made her way to Callia and stood waiting for his instructions. Things must be getting critical if she and Callia would now be working not only after hours but during class as well. [/font]

[D.L.M.]

(Continued from Snape's Personal Chambers. And yes, still God-Moding...nyah!)

They sped through the chamber and down the hall, trying their best to trip the other.

Simultaneously, they burst through the classroom door…

Draco skidded down the aisle, Potter hot on his heels. He paused to let Potter catch up, only to trip him.

Harry regained his feet, cursed Malfoy and pushed aside.

Both ignored the fact that they were surrounded by students and acting like they should be one of them.

“Sir, you should see what Potter did to your room,” Draco cried, pointing at the green-eyed Gryffindor menace. “And he beat me,” he said, pointing to his no-longer bruised face. “But I got better.”

“Did not,” Harry muttered. He approached Snape, pushing Malfoy aside. “Sir, I just received an owl from the Ministry. We need to talk.”

“He did not, he’s lying. He’s a lying fool.” Malfoy was not acting very mature, but he wanted Potter to leave. He hated the idea that he could lose Snape to…no, he wasn’t going to lose Severus at all.

Harry turned around, noticing the full classroom and suddenly felt foolish. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t realize you had a lesson. I wouldn’t have…” he glared at Malfoy. “I was a bit provoked, sir.”

Malfoy only responded with a snort.

[Ariake Long]

For the duration of the entire scene and two very flabbergasted, awkward moments after, Ariake for the first time in her years at the castle, could do nothing else but stare.

At the desk behind her, the twins were in a similar condition, even gaping like two identical fish.
However, the next instant they broke the spell of the moment as they tried quite in vain to control their snickers.

The sound of her brothers losing their composure in immature laughter, at first softly, then louder, while they tried to hide behind their Potions book, snapped Ariake back to reality.

Their Head of House would not appreciate the continuation of this embarrassing scene in front of the class at all.
Both as an apprentice and prefect she had a duty now to assist their professors in keeping a bit of order regarding her fellow students.
With a sense of duty drilled into her from infancy, Ariake therefore instantly reacted accordingly.

She pulled her wand and waved it at the front of the class, concentrating on the silent incantation.
A privacy barrier, preventing sound to filter through to their side, as well as obscuring the view for the students, while those up front would still be able to see and hear them, separated the professor and his company from the students.

Then Ariake turned to her brothers.

"Hikaru-chan, Lei-chan! Control yourselves immediately!" She ordered the twins in Japanese.