An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Aug 13, 2019 19:58:07 GMT 10
Ryan made it to the dungeons first, but kept his distance from the office until Grace and Gerald had caught up. He didn't want to go in there on his own or leave anyone behind.
He felt a bit better about being there now, knowing he wouldn't have to hold any live spiders this time around. Maybe even the dark and creepy castle dungeons were a place he could get used to over time? To pass time while waiting, and ease some of his anxiety, Ryan stood by torchlight and checked his ingredients. He re-counted them and made sure none were damaged.
'Ready?' he asked, once his friends were with him. Ryan didn't take the first step though, letting either Grace or Gerald to do the knocking. He wasn't ready for that kind of bravery yet.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 13, 2019 23:44:20 GMT 10
Grace caught up with Ryan and waited for Gerald. "What are we waiting for? We have to knock." she said in a hushed voice. She waited for Gerald to arrive, and then she knocked on the door. She felt like she was in a horror game, just a little. Like they'd collected all the ingredients they needed to sacrifice to the monster. She hoped that Professor Snape would be proud of them for collecting everything.
He caught up, his shoes squeaking. This felt like torture, Wet socks. At least they had their ingredients? Gerald had everything he needed, for sure, though, so that was something they had going for them.
Being the last to arrive, he stood behind Grace. "Thanks for knocking"
'Enter,' Professor Snape said. He placed a book in a desk drawer, then glanced at the three first years when they entered his office. He'd hoped it would take them longer, but stood to inspect their ingredients once they showed him. He deliberately took his time, though almost seemed suspicious of the fact the Ravenclaw boys managed to get crittail shells.
'Very well.' Snape summoned glass items, hovering them to the front of his desk for them to retrieve. Each student got an empty jar and vial, which was the only indication he gave them that they'd been successful in their task.
'Follow me.' He left the office, leading the trio of first years to the Potions classroom. He indicated to a bench of mucky pewter cauldrons. 'You'll each require a spare cauldron to work with. If you're willing to clean it, without magic, you may take ownership of one of these. No assistance.' Snape gave them each a stern look, then wandered to inspect some nearby jars.
It was a test to ensure they were serious about wanting to use the student laboratory in their free time. Though he peered at jars, there was no mistaking that he was still heavily supervising their task. They had to clean out a cauldron each, without magic, and only then would he seriously consider their request. Snape's expression was unreadable, but they'd made it this far...
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 14, 2019 13:10:07 GMT 10
Grace wondered what the shells that the boys had were. She didn't really know how they got them, but they had them. Professor Snape seemed interested in them, though, and she wondered if that was good. Grace gratefully grasped the glass objects, and tucked them into her bag, assuming that they were for her to keep. She followed Professor Snape.
The classrooms were familiar, if only vaguely so. She'd been to classes, but it was still early in the year. She looked at the pewter cauldrons, and then thought about cleaning them without magic. Well, that was how she usually did things and she didn't really know any cleaning spells. She looked for cleaning supplies. Grace could already imagine making cool potions.
"Wonder how these cauldrons get so gross." she said to the boys, beginning to think about how she would go about cleaning. Probably water first, then soap and some extra hard scrubbing. She hoped they weren't going to have any reactions to whatever had been in the cauldron.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Aug 14, 2019 16:56:16 GMT 10
Ryan held his breath while Snape inspected their ingredients. He seemed interested in the shells, but Ryan wasn't sure if that was a good or thing or bad. Either way, they'd passed the test! He grinned in accomplishment, then remembered where he was and who was still yet to grant them the permission to use the labs.
He followed the others to the classroom, hoping they weren't about to be asked to make a potion now or write an essay or something. Ryan was confident he could do the essay, but wasn't so sure of his overall potion ability yet. Thankfully, it turned out to involve cleaning the Muggle way - something he was quite used to. Well, nothing as filthy as those cauldrons...
'Probably someone didn't brew a potion right and it exploded?' Ryan suggested, peering carefully at the cauldron he'd picked. It really was gross, but all they had to do was clean it so he was fine with that. Ryan added some water and soap, following Grace's lead. The scrubbing brush felt awkward in his hand, likely intended for someone older to use. But he set the cauldron on the floor and got to work on scrubbing it with all his might. It was exhausting and soon rather dull, but he kept at it.
'Done.' Ryan carefully checked his cauldron. His arms ached and knees felt numb - that had taken a lot of work, but now it was over. Surely they had to be given access to the lab now, right? He shuddered in memory of the stern look Snape had given them earlier, and bit back his instinctual offer to help Gerald or Grace with theirs if they weren't done. It's something they had to do on their own, to prove themselves to Snape.
Ryan grunted in effort as he picked the cauldron up, still holding onto the scrubbing brush, and placed it back on the desk. It was his now, but he didn't want anyone tripping over it. Mostly likely him.
Post by Grace Babineaux on Aug 16, 2019 13:20:34 GMT 10
"Haha, gross. But then why would you use an exploded cauldron again?" she wondered. Probably just Professor Snape being cruel. Grace knew he had a reputation, but she hadn't expected this much work just to use the student lab. Then again, she guessed that he would have had previous students that didn't follow precautions and this was a way to see who could follow directions. Grace was good at that, to a point. She didn't follow anything she didn't see any sense in.
The scrubbing was boring, but not much worse than scrubbing at a particularly bad burned on spot after a great attempt to make a dinner for your parents' anniversary. Grace chuckled a little, then sighed. She wondered if she should be doing this with her brother and sister, instead of these boys she'd barely talked to. But she was here now, and she didn't really regret anything. Well, maybe she regretted not putting her socks on. She thought she might be developing a blister.
"I think I'm done, too." she set her cauldron and inspected it, though she was grinning. She was having quite the afternoon.
As the other two talked, he had begun scrubbing at his cauldron. He was used to it, as his Family did get pretty messy. It wasn't any easier though, and his body ached as he finally finished.
"Um, maybe there's a shortage? Like how you use the same pan over and over to make pancakes" He turned his cauldron to face the others, even though all sides were the same. "I'm done too, guys. I think this was a productive day"
It was tiring work, especially for a first year. Their arms ached and hands felt numb, and it wasn't clear how long they spent scrubbing. Professor Snape rejoined them and carefully inspected each of their cauldrons with a critical eye, yet each shone and he could find nothing to fault then with. They'd done as he asked, so Snape said they could keep their cauldron as a spare - to be used in their own time.
'You are each permitted to use the Student Laboratory at will,' he said, though gave them a rather stern look each. 'Do so responsibility, and clean up after yourselves, or else such privileges shall be rightfully revoked. If I ever catch you there at curfew...' He let his sentence trail off so their imagination could decide how bad things would be for them.
He had nothing else to say. They were finished there and the students succeeded in their task. Professor Snape returned to his office in search of another book. With great reluctance and dread, he left his office door unlocked - should anyone else need to intrude upon his peace again this afternoon.
Walking down the hall in the direction of Snape's office, Elara tried to focus on the task she'd set for herself and avoid her mind from second guessing. She was a hard-worker, some might mistakenly call her and over achiever and by definition she guessed they'd be right, but she resented those that tried to say that was a bad thing. Potions wasn't one of her best subjects, she knew she could do better in it and wanted to improve and the only way she knew how to do that was to practice. The only downside to that, she had to ask permission from Snape before she could use the student laboratory.
Elara wasn't the biggest fan of Snape, she thought he was needlessly harsh- bordering on cruel to some of his students, favoured Slytherin's unfairly and if truth be told... She honestly thought he was a bit of a bully. Still, he was her teacher and she granted him a level of respect she gave all Hogwarts staff- and... He had made the effort to eat one of Hanna's cupcakes that afternoon when most of the other staff members had seemed unwilling to do so, he'd earned points for that.
Nearing the office door, Elara took a deep breath and prepared herself for Snape's scornful glare and possibly a detention and loss of points for disturbing whatever it was he did when he was in his office. Then, reaching out a hand, she knocked three hard times against the wooden door, her knuckles stinging each time they hit the surface as she awaited his answer.
No sooner had Professor Snape sat back down at his desk, there was a knock at his office door. He pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then settled himself back to his task of retrieving a book to flip through, from a small stack on his desk.
There were titles such as Unbinding Binding Curses, An Intricate Comparison of Werewolves and Wuffsnouts, and The Most Advanced Study of Counter-Poisons.
Not bothering to reply, Snape waved his wand and the door swung open - yet was magically prevented from banging against the wall. The doorway clear, Snape awaited his company to make an entrance and explain why his peace was being intruded upon yet again. He didn't look up though, busy flipping through a his leather-bound book with divided yet intent focus.
The moment the door swung open, Elara couldn't stifle the small gasp of surprise that escaped her and took a moment to regain her composure. There was another moments pause whilst she gathered her courage before striding confidently into the office.
Professor Snape was sat at his desk, apparently searching for a book to read from a small stack that lay upon his desk. It didn't look like he was in a particularly good mood, but that wouldn't discourage her from her task- after all, Snape was never really in a good mood.
"Professor" she greeted as she came to a halt in front of the desk, hands clasped in front of her to stop herself from fidgeting under his glare. "I'd like to put more work towards improving my potions grade and I feel like the only way I'm going to be able to do that is by dedicating time out of class to practicing my potion making" she explained, hoping the teacher would get the point she was trying to make.
"I was hoping to get your permission to use the student laboratory?" leaning back on her heels, she attempted to smile but that really wasn't the easiest thing to do when she was in the presence of such a strict professor. "I fear that if I don't have the opportunity to further my studies then my grades might slip and neither of us wants that to happen" it'd be a sad day indeed when she didn't get the grade she expected of herself (especially for those who had to put up with her afterwards).
Professor Snape glanced up just long enough to see who'd intruded on his peace. Well, at least Miss King wasn't one of the most irritating ones. He resumed flipping through his book while she talked, though there was no doubt he was listening carefully to every syllable.
'If you can prove you're willing to dedicate yourself to the task, I shall consider your request,' Snape said without looking up from his current page. He levitated a scroll to the front of his desk for her to grab, which contained a list of ingredients and where around Hogwarts to find them.
His finger trailed a line of text in his book, distracting him for a moment. 'Bring me five ingredients you've collected yourself, if you wish to earn the right to use the student laboratory during your free time,' Snape said, giving her a stern look.
He considered saying something else, but he was tired with the company of students so often nowadays. She had the information she needed, so surely King could figure out what to do next. If she didn't, well at least she'd still be gone from his office. However temporarily.
Post by Ryan Barrow on Aug 19, 2019 0:56:43 GMT 10
Ryan hadn't said much while Grace and Gerald finished cleaning their cauldrons, too aware of Snape nearby and busy admiring his own work. Once he got to keep the cauldron, Ryan almost gave Snape a smile before remembering it was Professor Snape and that was probably not a good idea.
Grace left soon after, and he waved her off. She was very brave and liked weird things, like catching live spiders, but Ryan thought she was nice. He had a lot more friends than he'd expected, yet Gerald's company didn't feel as exhausting as others.
'I'm...' Ryan fidgeted, hugging his cauldron as he considered how to word it. He didn't want to just brush Gerald off, but he really needed a break from social things and running around Hogwarts. 'I think I'm going to put this cauldron away and then do some reading. We've still got plenty of time before dinner and I want to, well I need a bit of time for myself to just...' He shrugged, having no idea how to explain it.
Gerald could probably guess though, as he'd known Ryan long enough to realise he wasn't especially keen on being social for long periods of time.
'How about we meet up in the main courtyard later, if there's still time before dinner?' Ryan offered his friend a genuine smile. 'I'll see you then or at dinner either way. Thanks for hanging out with me today.' Ryan hurried out of the dungeons after that, determined to hide away in the common room or his dorm for a while.
Even if it meant climbing all of those torturous stairs yet again.
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