Potions ((Open for everyone))

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape leaned his chin on the fingers of his left hand as his right one lay on the table, his fingers slowly moving in an almost hypnotizing rhythm as he observed the classroom. Most students were hunched over their cauldrons attempting to finish their pathethic attempts on potions. And a look silenced everyone who as much as attempted to open their mouths to ask for whispered directions or just talk to friends. As all the older years had came to his table and everyone had had enough time to finish their potions Snape pushed his chair back quite loudly to notify everyone that he was going to start circling the classroom now. First that Gryffindor. Snape frowned as he saw her daydreaming away and his fingers rapped loudly against the side of the girls cauldron. “Whitaker! Your prince won’t find you any more attractive after you have spent a week cleaning the potions warerooms. You have until I’ve graded everyone else to finish the potion.”

Turning with a flourish of his cloak Snape continued further grading some potions on the way until reaching one of the last benches. An interesting pair sitting there Snape noticed. A seventh year form his own house who seemed to have taken the young Ravenclaw under his wing. Knowing Maydell had always been good at potions Snape wasn’t surprised to find a perfect potion, but it still felt satisfying. “A perfect potion, Maydell, as always. Five points to Slytherin.” Snape gave a thin-lipped smile to Maydell before turning towards the Ravenclaw. Most beginners potions were dreadful so Snape wasn’t xpecting much as he leaned closer and first stirred, then lifted some of the potion out of the cauldron. It was quite a pleasant surprise however. “A bit too weak. Too little ground nettle-leaves by the looks of it,” Snape stated quite indifferently, even if he felt quite happy inside. So few students understood and accepted the glory and importance of potions and if this wasn’t beginners luck or Maydell’s helping hand he might have just gained one more talented student. And those were rare to come by. Dropping the ladle back into the potion Snape gave a sharp nod at the girl he knew to be a sister of a 5th year from SLytherin: “Acceptable. Three points to Ravenclaw. I’m sure mr.Hollows will be glad to know his sister isn’t a complete imbecile in the more sophisticated subjects such as potions.”

Turning Snape carried on glancing only briefly at mrs.Grass’s potion before turning away in disgust. “Is that supposed to be a potion, mrs. Graas? Out of humanity I sincerely wish no one will ever have to drink any potions you may brew,” Snape snapped with a sneer already heading towards the next desk. The humming Gryffindor had managed to brew an acceptable potion as well as Snape had to grudgingly agree. “2 points to Gryffindor,” Snape merely said before stepping to the huflepuff behind mr. Fletcher. She wasn’t a bad potions-brewer on the whole. “Bad posture, ms. Langres. And clear this clutter from your desk. Though some people might like your sketches, this is not the palce or time to do them. A point from Hufflepuff,” Snape snapped as he glanced at the picture she had been drawing. As the girl straightened herself Snape turned his attention to her potion. It was quite well done. Also one of the best among fourth and fifth years. “3 points to Hufflepuff.”

And then miss Coran was left. With a menacing flourish of his robes Snape stalked towards the table of the Ravenclaw prefect with a sneer appearing on his face. "Miss Coran, more of an auburn than a dark red, wouldn't you agree? Three points to Ravenclaw for a half-decent potion. Though I must admit I'm impressed with your restraint as you have finally managed to behave with some decency in front of me." Snape sneered derisively, plainly showing his disbelief in his next words. "Maybe you finally discovered something the rest of us like to call dignity?"

[Dana Coran]

((*blows a kiss at Sevvy* That was awesome. Big thanks to Izy who worded Dana's retort. And I'll get to work on the post we have agreed to have as a follow-up for this one. See you there. Professor.))

Dana felt quite pleasantly satisfied with her potion as she sat back observing it. It seemed to calm down a bit so it wasn’t spitting bubbles up at her too wildly, but it was bubbling and most definitely had a red hue was visible under the foam. What do you know. She had even managed to brew up a correct potion. Dana smiled and mentally patted herself for a job well done. And then Snape’s chair was moved and the Potions master stood and started walking around grading the potions. Dana’s blueish-greyish – she never could decide the exact tone her eyes were – followed Snape around the classroom quite calmly as she waited for him to reach her. But other people came first. Gaenor as always received only praise and Dana gave him a mildly annoyed glance before smiling widely at Lita. Perhaps the first year wouldn’t know it just yet but Snape telling someone wasn’t an imbecile in potions – why, it was the highest praise form him anyone out of Slytherin could hope for! Good, knowing Lita’s quite wild temper Dana had been afraid she might not receive the best reaction from Snape. Deciding against giving Lita thumbs up as Snape would surely give some nasty comment Dana merely smiled widely before sending a wicked and almost gloating glance over her shoulder to Cleo as Snape graded her potion. But then Snape turned away and Dana swallowed a sigh as she still had to wait some more before hearing her own grade.

But then Snape finally turned her way. With a small proud grin dancing in the corners of her lips Dana watched patiently how Snape observed her potion. More auburn than red? Eh, not in Dana’s opinion, but she wisely kept her mouth shut and merely nodded in acceptance of the words. But then Snape went that far. Decency? Yes, well, Dana had had some dares that had something to with Snape. But when had she ever crossed the border to make things personal? When had she attempted to take Snape as a peer, not as a professor? Powerlines had always been firmly set and Dana had never even toed them. Dignity? Dana was the offspring of a well-known and respected pureblood family that kept their tears and worries to themselves, showing only the good to the world. Her grandfather had been elected the Minister of Magic in France twice, so of course Dana had received the best schooling possible from the social aspect of life as well. And now here was Snape trying to question all the morals and ethic she had been taught all her life?

Dana sprang up from her seat as it poked with a needle, tilting her head back slightly to be able to watch Snape straight into his eyes, as he was still taller than Dana, even with her wearing high heels. Dana’s hand out flew out connecting loudly and harshly with Snape’s cheek the sound echoing through the now deadly-quiet classroom as Dana’s hand left a reddish print on the pale skin there. “This should be dignified enough for you then,” Dana snapped into Snape’s face as she snatched her wand and hurled a hex at the potion master before turning on her heel – not caring if the ends of her hair also slapped Snape or not – and stormed out of the classroom, her cloak flaring behind her almost as menacingly as Snape’s did behind him.

[Nadine Whitaker]

Nadine unconsciously started humming the same tune Darien had hummed before, using the steady rhythm to focus her mind as she puzzled out the components of the new oil that had been floating around in her head for days, waiting until she had time to figure out how the mixture would smell and how attractive it would be to her most regular customers. Besides, it wasn't like she had anything important to do at the moment. Finally, long after the simmering time for her potion had passed, the idea clicked in her mind and the pieces all fell into place in her mind. The exotic smell of the Sandalwood would be too much of a contrast with the soothing Lavender, so if she switched the Lavender with Geranium, the two should balance each other out without the contrast that would undoubtedly make everyone nauseous.

Before she could bring her mind completely back to reality, Snape rapped on her cauldron sharply, startling her enough to make her fall out of her chair and land on the floor. "Oh, so not fair," Nadine grumbled under her breath, careful to be quiet enough that Snape couldn't hear her. If he heard all the insults she was gifting him with, Nadine would end up with more than a weeks detention. There was not nearly enough time to make the potion all over again but her first attempt was ruined and she was a Gryffindor - even more stubborn than most Gryffindors actually - so Nadine picked herself up from the floor, threw one last glare in Snapes direction and started to remake her potion, her blush starting to disappear. "If I have a prince then he found an actual princess to love," Nadine mumbled quietly, feeling both embarrassed and humiliated. What right had Snape to make her feel like that?

Before she even reached the first simmering stage, Nadines patience ran out and she threw the ladle into to the potion disgustedly. Better a week-long detention, which she would receive anyway, than to humiliate herself like that in front of the class. Besides which, Nadine noted with no small amount of satisfaction, Snape had his own problems to sort through. It was almost too tempting to stand up and applaud the girl, so Nadine busied herself with writing down the new scent she had half-figured out, contenting herself with a vengeful glare at the bottles of pickled...things placed around the room. She wasn't sure what was in those jars, but instinct told her that she really didn't want to know.