Potions
After a surprisingly entertaining English lesson, the Gryffindor first years made their way to the dungeons for Potions. The air grew colder as they descended.
Sirius nudged James as they walked. "What do you reckon the Potions master is like? Evil? Deranged?"
James grinned. "Hopefully. That would make things interesting."
When they entered the Potions classroom, it was nothing like Sirius had expected. Instead of some dark, brooding figure lurking in the shadows, an oddly cheerful, rotund man in velvet robes stood at the front of the class, beaming at them.
"Welcome, welcome!" Professor Slughorn said, his voice rich and warm. "First-years! Ah, what a joy! I am Professor Slughorn, and Potions, my dear students, is not just a subject, it is art."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected this.
Slughorn continued, "Now, Potions requires precision, patience, and a bit of flair! I will be assigning you all into groups today so we can begin our first simple potion, a Cure for Boils."
James groaned. "Ugh. Not exactly exciting, is it?"
Remus, beside him, shrugged. "It’s our first lesson. They’re hardly going to have us brewing Polyjuice Potion"
Slughorn waved his wand, and pairs of names floated into the air. Sirius scanned for his name.
Sirius Black — Peter Pettigrew — Severus Snape.
Sirius frowned. Who the hell was Severus Snape?
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. A pale, greasy-haired boy with a hooked nose and a permanent scowl stalked over, looking as though he’d already decided he hated them both.
Peter shifted nervously. Sirius just smirked. He’d dealt with worse.
"Let’s get on with it," Snape muttered, barely looking at them as he started setting up the cauldron.
Peter grabbed the ingredients, but Snape snatched them from him. "You’ll mess it up."
Peter hesitated, looking unsure. Sirius narrowed his eyes. "He can handle it."
Snape sneered. "Doubt it."
Peter looked down, red creeping up his neck.
The potion required finely diced snake fangs, and Snape took over, chopping them methodically. Every time Peter tried to do something, Snape found a way to belittle him.
"You’re stirring it wrong," he snapped.
Peter’s grip on the spoon faltered.
"I... uh"
"Honestly, I should just do it myself," Snape muttered. "I knew I’d get paired with idiots."
Sirius had heard enough.
He shot Peter a quick look, then reached for the dried nettles, except instead of adding the correct amount, he dumped in twice as many.
Snape didn’t notice.
Then, ever so casually, he knocked over a vial of armadillo bile, one of the strongest reactive ingredients.
The potion fizzed violently, hissing as thick green smoke billowed up.
Snape jerked back, coughing. "What the...?"
Slughorn, who had been inspecting another group’s cauldron, spun around. "Merlin’s beard!" He hurried over, peering into their cauldron with a deep frown. "What happened here?"
Sirius widened his eyes innocently. "I don’t know, Professor! Snape was in charge of adding the ingredients."
Peter, catching on, nodded rapidly. "Yeah, he wouldn’t let us help!"
Slughorn turned his disappointed gaze to Snape, who was still coughing. "Mr. Snape, I expected better from you! I must say, this is most unfortunate. I think it best if you leave the classroom for now."
Snape’s face twisted with rage.
"But!"
"No buts, my boy!" Slughorn said. "Go on, out with you."
Seething, Snape grabbed his bag and stalked out of the classroom.
The moment the door shut, Peter turned to Sirius, eyes wide. "You did that on purpose."
Sirius grinned. "Obviously."
Peter blinked, then let out a wheezing laugh. "That was brilliant!"
Sirius shrugged, smirking. "No one bullies my friends and gets away with it."
Peter turned a little pink at that but grinned.
With Snape gone, making the potion was actually fun. Sirius let Peter do most of the work, guiding him when needed. Without Snape hovering over him, Peter was actually decent at Potions, nervous but careful.
By the time the lesson ended, their potion was bubbling exactly as it should, and Slughorn gave them a pleased nod.
"Well done, boys! I daresay a much better result than before."
Peter looked genuinely proud of himself.