The Potions Master's Daughter (Book Five)

Chapter 13

We all went our separate ways for a few classes, before we met up for my last class of the day-Potions. I wasn't looking forward to class without my father, and with Professor Slughorn. The man had already rubbed me the wrong way in a single lunch, and from what Harry had told us, it seemed like he was always like that.

I walked down the familiar path to the dungeons with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. How Ron managed to get into this class was beyond me, maybe my tutoring finally paid off, but I was soon glad to have friends I knew. Even once it became obvious that everyone was there, there were still only roughly a dozen kids. There were 4 Slytherins, including Draco, 4 Ravenclaws, 3 Hufflepuffs, and then we were the only Gryffindors who had signed up for the course. I wondered briefly if more people were eligible to take it but didn't' because they assumed Severus would still be teaching it.

There were potions already on the front table that I immediately recognized as Amortentia. The other students seemed entranced by the smells coming from the cauldrons. I took note of the smell of pancakes, and the inside of Rina's Diner, a cologne that I recognized as Neville's, and the smell of cool wind rushing up my nose out on the Quidditch pitch. I blushed as I tried to block the smells from my head.

"Now let's get out your copies of Advanced Potion Making, and we can begin," Slughorn said as he came into the room.

Harry raised his voice timidly, "Ron and I haven't got books, or anything for this class. We hadn't realized we would be able to take this class and..."

Slughorn cut him off merrily, "Oh yes m'boy, Professor McGonagall mentioned that to me. You can use ingredients from the back, and you can borrow cauldrons for now until we can write to somewhere for you. There are old books in the back, that you can use until we can get you each your own copy as well."

He went to the back and came back with a couple books, which he handed to each of them, "Now that that's settled, as many of you have noticed I have put some potions up here in the front for us to look at today. Now who can tell me what this one at the end is?"

I peered up and saw a clear liquid in the far cauldron-Veritaserum, obviously.

Hermione's hand was in the air quickly, "It's Veritaserum," she answered, "It forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Very good. And this next one?"

There was a murky potion in the next cauldron, obviously the Polyjuice Potion.

With our familiarity with this potion from a few years ago I wasn't surprised when Harry was able to answer, "It's Polyjuice Potion sir."

"Now for the one that I'm sure you can all smell, who can tell me what this one is?"

Hermione was able to answer again, almost adoringly, "Amortentia! The most powerful love potion in the world."

"Yes. Now of course it doesn't actually create love, why that's impossible. Rather it just creates an infatuation for a person, and a compulsiveness to please and be with said person. Now that we have started with that refresher it is time to begin work I think."

Ernie Macmillan pointed to the small cauldron on the end, "You haven't said what's in that one though sir."

Slughorn smiled, "Don't fret, I haven't forgotten. This one here is Felix Felicis, or liquid luck. One dose of this and you'll be able to succeed more than ever before while under its effects. Makes for some perfect days. I have taken it myself twice, I shall tell those stories one day, but for now we can get to work. I think we could do with a little game to start. If you go to page ten, you will be brewing the Draught of Living Death today. Whoever brews the best potion will be given this dose of liquid luck, enough for 12 hours I'd guess."