The Manner of the Muggle

Chapter 6: The Potions Incident

"Amelia! Amelia, over here!" Jane whispered as they waited outside the classroom. She gestured frantically, entirely defeating the purpose of whispering by drawing most attention to her.

As Amelia slid through the crowd, Jane grabbed onto her shoulders with a desperate look. "So you're like, super smart, right? You've gotta help me! I heard that this is like, 90% reading and following directions, and I totally stink at that! I won't understand a thing, and I don't want Professor Snape to already hate me on the first day!"

Amelia blinked at the rush of words. "Uh, isn't reading and directions what most classes are made of?"

"Well, yeah, but the rest of the teachers seem nice enough from what I've heard and they'll help me understand," Jane whines, shoulders slumping. "But I've heard nothing but bad about Snape! He only likes Slytherins, and even then he doesn't tolerate any questions he thinks are stupid! But how can I help it if the words just don't stay still on the page!"

"Don't stay...?" Amelia thinks she's heard about something like that, but she didn't really know many details. "Well, alright, I can sit next to you. Uh, but when I say duck you better duck, okay?"

"Deal!" Jane springs onto Amelia in a hug, twirling around. "Thank you thank you thank you! And not that I'm complaining, but why do we need to duck?"

"No reason..." She smiles mischievously, nodding her head to where the twins were checking over their supplies. "If the professor asks, we had nothing to do with an explosion in someone's cauldron."

Jane peers over her shoulder and spots the boys, a grin spreading across her face. "Oh, more than clear. My lips are sealed."

"If you would all finish your pointless chit chat," A soft voice spoke from the door, each syllable punctuated. "Class is beginning."

All but a handful of students who saw the door open jumped, quickly scampering inside the dark room and claiming their seats. Amelia slid beside Jane, the boys claiming the other two seats at the table. This time, they shared the class with Gryffindors. The two houses sat separate from each other, the only mixed table consisting of Keziah, Pierce Kings, Lee Jordan, and Adrian Pucey.

Any conversation was cut off when Professor Snape started to take attendance, waiting with baited breath as he set down his papers and turned to the first years.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic," He starts his introduction to the class, leering over the students with clear disdain. He focused his glare on the Gryffindors in particular, but it occasionally drifted over to the twins and, by extension, her.

Everytime he passed by their table, Jane tried her best to become one with her chair. Maybe it would've been better for her to sit elsewhere to avoid Snape's disdain by association, but it was too late to switch now.

"You will be making a simple Cure for Boils in pairs. The instructions are on the board, I advise you to follow them. That is, unless you'd like to suffer the unexpected consequences," Snape said with a cruel little grin, almost amused at the prospect.

Jane gave a little whimper at that, but Amelia just pulled out Magical Drafts and Potions and turned to the right section. "Here, it might be a bit easier for you if it's right in front of you, and... wait, that's weird."
She looked between the board and the book, noticing some differences between the two. "Huh, the recipes are different. You think he created his own?"

"Probably made it harder for us, if the horror stories are true..." Jane whined, slumping in her chair.

"Or maybe it's an improved version, yeah?" Amelia suggested. "I mean, why would he make it harder? Just makes it harder for him too, since he has to clean up after any mistakes."