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 Arthur Hocking on Oct 11, 2022 14:11:23 GMT 10
With more free time than expected, Arthur decided he would spend some of it being helpful. Having heard that Madam Pomfrey needed help with the Hospital Wing, he decided that would be the best way to do it. Besides, maybe it would impress Professor Snape just a little, and with the end of the year coming up, Arthur wanted to be on his best behavior.
By now, he knew the basics of interacting with Snape, including the knocking at the door. The dungeon was more familiar, and even though it was still vaguely uncomfortable for whatever reason, Arthur powered through.
With a swish of his wand, the door suddenly 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 glanced up just enough to see who it was, then resumed his task at hand.
Most notable was a decent stack of leather-bound books on one side of his desk. There were titles such as Unbinding Binding Curses, An Intricate Comparison of Werewolves and Wuffsnouts, The Most Advanced Study of Counter-Poisons, Lost and Forgotten Counter-Curses, and An Ancient Guide to Forbidden Magical Practices.
Amelia had left class and groaned at the idea of what she had to do next. She had been helping Professor Snape the morning prior with potions for the Hospital Wing... Then the rumor came out... Now, it was back to his office... The likelihood that this would be a good thing was slim to none, but she had to see this through.
She arrived shortly after the door opened, joining a Hufflepuff student who was standing there. She shouldered her bag and waited for the other student to enter first and then followed behind, respecting that he had been the first one to arrive.
She waited for Snape to acknowledge her first before she spoke. She was not going to cause more drama than needed.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Oct 11, 2022 23:54:47 GMT 10
Arthur did as instructed and entered, though he hesitated at the appearance of one of the Twiggs girls. Or at least, he thought it was one of them. They weren't in his year, and he was much more familiar with those Twiggs, even if he couldn't tell them apart. It was something he needed to work on.
"Good morning, sir." Arthur said, glancing at the books. He'd have thought Professor Snape would prefer reading about potions. Or maybe he just got bored of those books since he had to teach them.
"I heard that Madam Pomfrey needed some help restocking in the Hospital Wing, and I was wondering if I could help?" Arthur was sure that if it was about making potions or collecting ingredients, he would be suited to the task.
To say Professor Snape was displeased to see Amelia Twiggs at his door was an understatement. So much so, he promptly ignored her to focus on Arthur instead.
'Very well, follow me.' He rose from his desk, leaving the office -- and locking it behind him.
He shot Amelia a disdainful look, though titled his head just barely enough to imply she was to follow along as well. Snape led them both to one of the Potions classroom, quite familliar to both students as being one they'd sat in many times this year.
Arthur already had his Potions Kit, and the classroom was a decent area for them to work. Snape directed him to a counter off to the side.
'Retrieve and wash three pewter cauldrons, then fill each with water,' Professor Snape instructed the Hufflepuff, then left him to the task. He'd done it before, so surely he remembered not to use magic and to do a thorough job.
Had that lesson finally sunk in?
Regrettably, Snape glanced at Amelia. 'Twiggs,' he said, as if it was a word for something that got stuck under one's boot. 'Find and collect these three ingredients and their adequate quantities. Bring them to me. I trust this is a task you find yourself capable of completing?'
He wrote them down, and thrust the parchment in her face. Snape turned to supervise Arthur, and all things considered... the Gryffindor got off easy. It could have been so much worse, except Snape was in no mood to deal with her or those like her today.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Oct 22, 2022 3:51:40 GMT 10
Arthur was fantastically glad that he was not in the type of trouble the Gryffindor girl seemed to be in. He followed Snape's directions and ended up at the counter, recalling the many, many times that he had to wash cauldrons, both in the past and this year. He wouldn't mess this up, otherwise he doubted he would have much of a future in Potions at all, even if he did well on his exams.
Arthur imagined that Professor Snape would just demand that Arthur be removed from Potions class forever if he messed up much more, and he really, really didn't want anything like that to happen. Dutifully, he found three pewter cauldrons. It was best, Arthur decided, to know what he was working with before he started cleaning.
Under Snape's watchful eye, Arthur started cleaning the first cauldron, which was coated in some sort of green gunk. Gross, but not unmanageable. Arthur glanced up at Professor Snape before getting down to it, using the correct method this time. No magic or not working as hard as he could. In fact, since Snape was watching, Arthur was putting a little too much effort into it.
But at least he managed to clean the first of the three pewter cauldrons.
The next one was a little trickier, and Arthur picked it that way. There was no way that he wanted to save the worst cauldron for last, when he would already be tired from washing the other cauldrons. Really, he should've put it first, but then he thought seeing two cauldrons after putting so much effort into one would be demoralizing.
In other words, Arthur was overthinking, which was nice as it distracted a little from the grueling task of washing out the cauldron. Not enough to make Arthur sloppy, though. Professor Snape's gaze made sure of that.
When he finally got to the last cauldron, his hands were a little uncomfortable. At least this made washing dishes at home seem less tough. Arthur scrubbed away at pink goop and tried not to smell the disgusting scent that seemed to come loose when he scrubbed, and then made sure the cauldron was perfectly clean and odor-free when he was finished.
The last step, thankfully, was the easiest. Fill the cauldrons with water. Simple! Arthur did so, and turned to look at Snape when he was done.
Last Edit: Oct 23, 2022 10:58:26 GMT 10 by Arthur Hocking: added Arthur cleaning the other two cauldrons.
When her name was called, she moved toward and jumped back when the parchment was suddenly in her face. She went crossed eyed trying to focus on it, taking it and looking at the three ingredients. Was he so ill-prepared he didn't have these already? What was it with the head snake? If the Hospital wing was low on something, wasn't it his obligation to have stuff ready to help the Healer?
Amelia didn't ask, didn't really want to deal with the man... So, she took her leave without a word and once out the door, grumbled under her voice and headed out of the castle. Most of these stuff was out of the castle and she grumbled at the thought of one.
Higgus Spores was not on the grounds and he knew this... This was all a plot to get her hurt, wasn't it.
Professor Snape set about preparing each cauldron Arthur had cleaned and filled with water, as the Hufflepuff would be assisting him with brewing. Snape didn't speak unless to give him instructions, which meant he was particularly non-explanative about what exactly was being brewed. It certainly didn't seem like anything Arthur had covered in class. Not even close. None of the ingredients were familiar to him.
Snape worked quickly, yet with the precision and skill of a Potions Master. He made complex measurements and preparations look effortless, and Arthur knew for a fact they were not.
'Slice these finely, even length and width,' he said, placing an ingredient on a vacant workspace nearby where he'd be assisting. An apron and several tools were set out for him, though Arthur hadn't seem him retrieve or even conjure them.
'Once you have adequately prepared the ingredient, add it to the cauldron once it begins to boil,' Snape added in a bored tone, indicating to the first cauldron -- which contained a bubbling grey liquid that smelled of mud.
This is free-RP. For fun and creativity, you decide what the ingredient is. Please use descriptors not names; such as "root", "herb", or "lizard skin".
Post by Arthur Hocking on Oct 23, 2022 23:58:35 GMT 10
Arthur watched Professor Snape in amazement as the Potions Master worked. He doubted he could ever work like that, but he hoped he'd be close one day, which was part of why he'd asked to work on this. Even if Snape was harsh, not to mention a little bit scary, he was still talented and obviously the best person who could make Potions at Hogwarts.
Arthur put on the apron and took the ingredient, which he thought was some sort of tail, and attempted to follow Professor Snape's instructions to the best of his ability. This was something he had practice with from class, with different ingredients, of course, but that didn't mean it was as easy for Arthur as it seemed to be for Snape. He looked over his pieces, and decided they were fine enough.
He eyed the cauldron, waiting for it to boil. The scent wasn't too unpleasant, and it certainly wasn't as bad as the cauldron that Arthur had just cleaned. Once it started to boil, he added the tail-ingredient in.
Professor Snape observed Arthur's progress, silent and otherwise unreadable. But not angry, as far as the Hufflepuff could tell.
'Add a precisely levelled ladle of this, into the second cauldron,' he instructed, indicating to the middle cauldron with watery pink stuff. The ingredient to be ladled was a jar of... he dreaded to think, but it was slimy and gross.
Snape checked the third cauldron, which fumed on and off with purple smoke -- which didn't faze him in the slightest. The liquid inside was silvery and thick, smelling oddly of minty grape.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Oct 24, 2022 14:03:57 GMT 10
No point deductions or sneers of Arthur's incompetence was a good thing. It meant that he had not seriously messed up, or at least that Professor Snape was delaying his criticism until after Arthur had finished all of his mistakes. It was something of an honor to Arthur to be helping with the Hospital Wing.
Arthur picked up the ladle and dipped it into the jar of... whatever it was, holding back a gag as he did so. He tried to think of the potential of these potions. Maybe they reduced colds, or made headaches feel less painful. Somebody would be having a better day, and it would be because of Arthur! And Professor Snape. Actually, it was probably mostly Snape. Arthur wondered why he even needed to help Snape with this if the man was so competent on his own.
With the ladle precisely levelled, Arthur followed the instruction of adding it into the middle cauldron. Then, he eyed the third cauldron. Was there another task for Arthur to do with this one?
Professor Snape observed Arthur's efforts, and nodded in rare approval. The atmosphere was calmer now, as the Professor's strictness faded away a bit. Perhaps because it was nearing lunch and he would soon be freed from students during that time.
'Finely powder two roots,' he then said while turning off the heat of each cauldron. 'Slowly add the powder to the third potion. Be careful not to spill any of it. Allow it to cool -- then tap each cauldron with your wand to complete them.'
Waving instead of tapping worked too; it was all the same thing, so long as Arthur did it close to each cauldron individually as to not get them mixed up.
Post by Arthur Hocking on Oct 24, 2022 22:52:35 GMT 10
Arthur beamed at the idea that Professor Snape approved of something that he was doing. Then he got to powdering the two roots, making sure that they were fine, and not rough. No clumps here! Arthur was proud of himself now, so he was a little more confident doing the things that he had learned before.
He slowly added the powder to the third cauldron, taking care, as Professor Snape said, not to spill it. Then it was a waiting game while he waited for it to cool. Finally, Arthur pulled out his wand and tapped the first cauldron, then the second, and finally the third cauldron.
Professor Snape examined each of the cauldrons, making sure they were properly brewed. He then had Arthur ladle them into vials, and clean up the workspace. He'd done most of it during the process so it was a relatively quick / easy task for the Hufflepuff.
Lunch was due to begin any moment, so they had to get a move on.
'That will conclude things for today,' Snape said. 'If you wish to assist further, come find me at my office again during your free time and I shall set you another task.'
Snape checked things over in the classroom, then headed out into the corridor once Arthur had surely vacated it. He had no intention of leaving a student alone in such a place, even with his own desire to head to the Great Hall as quickly as possible.
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