Problems With Potions

During Matthew’s first week of lessons at Hogwarts, he had experienced the most known subjects commonly discussed throughout the school; he saw magical plant life, cast his first ever spell, and even learned a bit about turning creatures into inanimate objects, just to name a few things. But one subject he hadn’t taken part in yet was one that he was NOT looking forward to based on his mother’s opinions on it — Potions.

Amongst the chattering of the students standing around in the dungeons, just outside the Potions classroom, was Matthew and Lanya, who he had gained a healthy friendship with throughout that week.

“I’m pretty nervous about this class, Lanya,” he expressed his concerns.

“Why are you so worried about this one? I don’t think it’ll be THAT bad!”

“Cuz of the teacher,” the wolf answered. “Professor Snape. My mum talked about how nasty he was to all the students in her class.”

The Shurian looked at him with confusion on her face, unsure of what he was talking about.

“Matthew, Snape doesn’t teach here anymore,” she informed him. “He died a long time ago, during the Battle of Hogwarts. Plus I’m sure he had a reason to be agitated with some kids who weren’t doing as they were told.”

“Huh,” was all that came out of his mouth.

“It wasn’t SOME students,” Lee tuned in, “it was EVERYONE. But he did have a bias towards Slytherins.”

“Well, hopefully not this one,” said Matthew.

Shortly after, the door to the Potions classroom creaked open, and out came the head of an elderly man.

“Come in!” The gentleman permitted.

One-by-one, the group of children outside stepped foot into the classroom.

“Welcome, welcome! Everybody gather around the tables and we’ll get things started.”

The room was a lot more cramped compared to the other classes he had been in, yet still spacious; the ceiling was dome-shaped and had some sort of ancient runes across the windows’ arches, long rows of shelves all around the room were stocked full of different kinds of ingredients that would be used in potion-making, and the tables were scattered around with several cauldrons placed on each of them.

All the students split apart and took any spot they could find — Matthew standing next to Lanya — while the teacher stood in the centre of room, smiling at whoever he saw. Another student stood to Matthew’s left at the same table was a red bat from Hufflepuff, who had pink hair and wore rectangular-framed glasses.

“Hi, I’m Lucy!” Greeted the bat.

“Hello! I’m Matthew, pleasure to meet you.”

“Ah — perfect! Welcome, first years! My name is Professor Slughorn, and I will be your Potions teacher throughout your time here at Hogwarts. In this class, you will learn to brew the most effective potions to help aid you and others in everyday life.”

Professor Slughorn was, ironically, a slug, who was head of Slytherin house. He had some weight on his body and wore a fancy, orange robe with brown accents that complimented his greenish skin, along with a traditional blazer and bow tie underneath. He had a rather soft voice as he spoke to the class around him.

“Now — Potions is one of the most challenging and hazardous subjects taught here at this school. So when brewing, you must do so very carefully, and you must pay attention to everything you are doing at ALL times. With that said, today we’ll be making the cure for boils — one of the most basic concoctions, which can be found on page three in your books.”

In response, all the students went into their bags and brought out their copies of Magical Draughts and Potions, placing them on the tables once turned to page three.

“On this page you’ll see all the instructions require to make this potion. All the ingredients you’ll need are out in front of you in jars. Now I’m not expecting you all to be achieving Outstanding-level grades for your first time, so there is no need to worry about making any mistakes here and there. If you require any assistance, just give me a call and I’ll be right over. So, with that said, let the brewing commence!”

Upon turning to page three, Matthew was greeted with the following instructions:

Part 1

1. Add 6 snake fangs to the mortar.

2. Crush into a fine powder using the pestle.

4. Add 4 measures of the crushed fangs to your cauldron.

5. Heat the mixture to 250 for 10 seconds.

6. Wave your wand over the cauldron.

7. Leave to brew and return in 33-45 minutes.

Part 2

1. Add 4 horned slugs to your cauldron.

2. Take the cauldron off the fire before adding the next ingredient.

4. Add 2 porcupine quills to your cauldron.

5. Stir 5 times, clockwise.

6. Wave your wand over the cauldron to complete the potion.

“Remember to use a strong, even motion when crushing your ingredients in the mortar, everyone!” Advised professor Slughorn.

After glancing over the instructions for a few moments to get a good idea of how to properly do it, he looked over to his right to see that Lanya was already measuring the powder. How was she already doing that? The lesson had barely just started, and to him it felt like she was miles ahead. He knew he couldn’t let his mind wander and spend too much time going over the instructions constantly — he did NOT want to be the last one Professor Slughorn was waiting on.

A lot of the stuff contained in the jars in front of him looked completely foreign to him, so he had a rough time at first trying to figure out which ingredients were which; however, he soon found the snake fangs in a small jar with a sticker of them slapped on the front.

He made sure to collect six and add them to the mortar before crushing them into powder with the pestle. Afterwards, he took four measures of the powder and added them to the cauldron in front of him, then he made sure to adjust the heat to exactly 250, and left it got ten seconds before pulling out his wand to wave it over the cauldron.

Upon waving, a stream of bluish-purple light lingered behind his wand and settled onto the cauldron as the concoction started to bubble inside. He had no idea what he had just done, but seeing that light come out of his wand sent waves of excitement through his body from just doing a little bit of magic. Once he set the timer for thirty-five minutes, now all that was left was to wait.

Roughly thirty-five minutes later, the timer got Matthew’s attention and brought him back to the cauldron to continue making the potion.

To refresh his memory, he briefly looked over the instructions once again to see what was next, finding out he had to add four horned slugs.

The wolf looked through most of the jars in front of him, but struggled to find anything that resembled a horned slug at first glance. He kept looking until finally coming across a tall jar with a sticker of what he thought looked close enough to a horned slug, but wasn’t entirely sure whether that was the right thing.

He looked over to Lanya to ask just in case, but saw she was busy with her own potion; the same could be said for Lucy on his left. Slughorn was chatting with students on the other side of the classroom, and Matthew didn’t want to be rude and interrupt. All he could think of to do was go for it. What could possibly go wrong?

The lupine opened the jar and stuck his hand in to grab what was inside, only to feel a slimy, gooey substance in his palm. It seemed like he was right — it very much looked like a slug to him, so it HAD to be it.

Once he got a good grip of the slug, he brought his hand over the cauldron and—

“Matthew, that’s not—!”

*BOOM*

It was too late. The concoction inside Matthew’s cauldron exploded with some of it spilling over, and released an acid-green smoke into the air, which had a horrid odour to it. The poor wolf’s face and robes were covered in soot and his body had frozen in place due to shock. The majority of the class, especially the more vocal Slytherins and Gryffindors at the back, were laughing at the sight. Even Lucy was cackling right next to him, but Slughorn certainly wasn’t. Matthew had the most petrified look on his face as he saw the professor make his way over to their table, thinking he was about to get the biggest telling-off of his life.

“Oh dear — are you alright, m’boy?” He asked Matthew.

“Y-yeah, I think so…”

“What did you put in the potion last?”

“Slugs, sir,” Lanya interfered, “he put regular slugs in there instead of the horned ones.”

“I-I couldn’t find the horned slugs anywhere and thought those were the right ones…”

“Oh, well, you should’ve just called me over if you didn’t know.”

“I know, I’m sorry…I was nervous…”

“Oh, not to worry, dear boy — there’s no need to be afraid of me!” Slughorn reassured. “Well, now you know from now on to ask before proceeding with further instructions if unsure.”

With a wave of his wand, the green smoke had cleared and the bits of the potion that leaked had reversed their way back into the cauldron.

“Now now, class — there’s nothing more to see here! Pay attention to your brewing!”

Well, that wasn’t so bad. Despite the welcoming introduction he gave to the class when they all came in, Matthew thought that all would’ve changed if someone messed up their potion. He thought Slughorn was going to be similar to Snape, but thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case whatsoever.

“Sorry, Matt, but that WAS kinda funny,” Lucy apologised.

“Are you okay? Gave me quite a scare there,” asked Lanya.

“Yeah, I’m good; I am now at least.”

Once class was over, all students headed out of the classroom and to their next lessons. Matthew however had to clean himself up and put on a new pair of robes before attending the next lesson, otherwise he would’ve gotten questionable looks from every person he walked past down the halls throughout the rest of the day. As they exited the class, Lanya searched through her bag to pull out the timetable she had so she could check the next lesson.

“Okay, what’s next…Oooo — Muggle Studies! It's not everyday I get to learn about muggles!”

“Oh? Well, that shouldn't be too bad then, considering my stepdad's one,” Matthew smiled softly.

“Mhmm! Should be fun. But you might wanna get changed before that starts, though.”

“Way ahead of ya. I’ll see you there, Lanya!” The wolf called out as he ran down the dungeons’ halls.

While changing into new robes in the Ravenclaw common room, his mind began to reflect on the events that had occurred within the past hour; even though Snape wasn’t teaching at the school anymore, he was worried that every Potions teacher before him were just as mean and nasty as he was, and that Slughorn was going to be the same. Fortunately, he was just as nice as all the other professors at Hogwarts, which was a delightful surprise to find out. Despite the anxious moment from when Matthew messed up his brew, he no longer felt afraid of him after he was assured by Slughorn that there was no need to be. He was welcoming from start-to-finish, and he couldn’t have been more thankful.

Although he ultimately failed his first Potions lesson, it wasn’t a very big deal; he would be able to earn a better grade for that particular brew at another point in the year. However, he still DID learn a valuable lesson: always make sure you know what ingredients you’re looking at before putting it into a potion, or else getting a bad grade could be the least of your worries.

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Aaaaand, that's my first story of 2023! This one was posted in celebration of the new video game release, Hogwarts Legacy.

As you all know, I'm a MASSIVE Harry Potter fan. I've been invested in this game ever since it was originally leaked back in 2018. This game has come a long way, and I'm SO happy to finally have it in my hands. By the time I'm posting this, I've played roughly about 7 hours of it, and I gotta say: words cannot describe how much I love this game. To say that I'm mind-blown would be a complete understatement.I've played for a fair amount of time already, and it feels like I've barely just started. Hell, I haven't even left Hogwarts yet besides going to Hogsmede nearby! Can't wait to start flying around on my broom <3

Art – Jailbird

Lanya belongs to Drayk on FA

Lucy belongs to a friend of mine irl

New stories coming soon!!!