Rendezvous ⤖ Draco Malfoy

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𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐙𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐒
↳SIX; DRAUGHT OF LIVING DEATH

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HOPE MARSHALL ONCE AGAIN SAT NEXT TO HERMIONE GRANGER, only this time it was in the potion's classroom. When she had appeared after her first Care of Magical Creature's lesson, she told Hermione all about the creature Hagrid had brought in.

A Demiguise.

It certainly made the lesson interesting. Only five of them had chosen to take the subject, which left Hagrid very disappointed. But he still put on a brave face and introduced the Demiguise.

The Demiguise kept trying to hide and run away, knowing the future of what would happen in the lesson. It didn't want to be anywhere near Hagrid. To say the least it was quite entertaining.

As she sat next to Hermione, waiting for professor Slughorn to arrive, she noticed that the same boy who had been staring at her in the Great Hall last night, kept sneaking glances at her.

Hope nudged Hermione with her elbow. "Who's that blonde? The one that keeps looking at me?"

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. A pompous git. Best to stay away from him, Hope. He's had it out for Harry since day one."

Hope's head tilted as she watched him. He couldn't be that bad, could he? He didn't look like he could harm a fly. He looked irritated and bored out of his mind. "Git? What's a git?" She asked, not understanding the term but was cut off.

"Good morning, class!" Professor Slughorn announced walking into the room. He stood at the front, where some potions were already concocted on the table. "Gather round, gather round. As you can see, I have prepared a few—"

Harry and Ron entered the classroom, loudly.

"Harry m'boy! I was beginning to worry! And I see we've brought someone with us..."

"Ron Weasley, sir. But I'm dead awful at potions, a menace actually, so I probably should just be going—" Ron went to turn to leave.

"Nonsense, we'll sort you out. Any friend of Harry's is a friend of mine. Right then, books out—"

"Um, sorry sir. But, I haven't got my book yet, nor's Ron. You see until this morning..." Harry said.

"Not to worry. You can get what you need from the cupboard." Slughorn pointed towards the cupboard and the two stragglers went towards it. "Now, as I was saying, I've prepared a few concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these might be? Yes, miss...?"

Hermione's hand had shot up immediately. "Granger, sir. That one there is Veritaserum. And that would be Polyjuice potion. And that is Amortentia! The most powerful love potion in the world." Hermione stepped forwards, gravitating towards the love potion. "It's rumoured to smell differently to each person, according to what attracts them. For example, I smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and spearmint toothpaste—"

Hope used her enhanced senses to take a quick sniff at the love potion, standing far back. She was struck with the strong scents of citrus, Firewhisky and vanilla.

"Now Amortentia doesn't create actual love, of course. That's impossible. But it does cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. For that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room." Slughorn put a lid on the potion, and the girls who had stepped forward in a daze from the potion were brought back to their senses.

Hope quietly laughed to herself, grateful that she wasn't one of them.

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in that one?" Ernie Macmillan asked, pointing at the small black cauldron.

"Ah yes." Slughorn picked up a ladle and poured some of the potion into a small vial. "What you see before you, ladies, and gentlemen, is a curious little potion known as Felix Felicis. But it is more commonly referred to as—"

"Liquid luck." Hermione finished for him.

"Yes, miss Granger. Desperately tricky to make. Disastrous should you get it wrong. But brewed correctly, as this has been, it has remarkable powers. One sip and you will find that all your endeavours succeed...at least until the effects wear off."

"But then why don't people drink it all the time?" Lavender Brown asked eagerly.

"Because taken in excess it causes giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence."

"Have you ever taken it, sir?" A Slytherin boy, Blaise questioned.

"Twice. Once when I was twenty-four. Once when I was fifty-seven. Two tablespoons taken at breakfast. Two perfect days. So, this is what I offer each of you today. One tiny vial of liquid luck...to the student who, in the hour that remains, manages to brew an acceptable Draught of Living Death, the recipe for which can be found on page ten of your textbook. You should know that in all the years of my previous tenure at Hogwarts, not once did a student brew a potion of sufficient quality to claim this prize. In any event- good luck!"

Without any more words needed, Hope rushed to her work bench and turned to page 10 in her book.

"Incendia." She muttered quietly and a fire started under her cauldron. Terra magic came in handy sometimes.

Hermione glanced at her, confused as to how she lit her cauldron so quickly without a wand.

Hope was working the fastest along with Hermione, having already cut up their valerian roots and their potions resembled the smooth black current coloured liquid. She read the next instruction.

Cut up one Sopophorous bean.

Hope grabbed her silver knife and set to work on trying to cut it open, only to fail. Everyone seemed to be having the same problem. Ron's bean shot across the room and bounced off Lavender's head. Getting annoyed, Hope muttered a Terra magic spell and the bean cracked open. Smiling she picked it up and squeezed the juice into the cauldron.

"How did you two do that?" Hermione asked, watching as Harry also crushed the juices into his cauldron.

"Crush it. Don't cut it." Harry answered.

"No. The instructions specifically say to cut."

"No really."

Hope nodded her head encouraging Hermione to do the same. The class was becoming competitive, looking over at each other to see where they were up to, how they were doing it. Hermione's hair had gotten bushier due to all the steam in the room.

She followed the next set of instructions, stir counterclockwise until the potion turned clear as water. After countless stirring Hope's potion had indeed not turned clear.

"And time's up! Stop stirring please!" Professor Slughorn called. He moved among the tables, peering into everyone's cauldrons. He didn't speak as he looked at them, occasionally he would give it a sniff or a stir.

He gave a nod to Hope, knowing that she hadn't been a previous Hogwarts student, she had done well considering.

Upon reaching Harry's cauldron he takes a leaf from his pocket and dropped it inside. The leaf immediately disintegrated. "Merlin's beard! But it's perfect. So perfect I daresay one sip would kill us all! Your mother was a dab hand at potions, but this... My, my, what can't you do, m'boy? Perhaps you will save us all in the end..."

Everyone's eyes turned towards Harry.

"Here you are then, as promised. One bottle of Felix Felicis. Use it well."

Harry pocketed the vial into his robes pocket, a happy smile on his face.