Audacity. | Harry Potter

THIRTY EIGHT

THE USUAL ROUTINE of classes had begun for all Hogwarts students as fall had quickly arrived. Freya had completed her morning classes and only had one left that day, granted it wasn't her favorite, Potions. The blonde had a glimpse of hope however, as Harry told her there would be a new teacher this year. Professor Horace Slughorn would be taking over the position, rather than the past Severus Snape. Freya had felt odd ever since her and Harry's lessons with the teacher. Snape's demeanor certainly rubbed her the wrong way after his outburst with Harry.

Freya arrived to the class just on time, she noticed Ron and Harry's absence as she slumped into a seat next to Neville, who was flipping through his textbook.

"Alright, whats the sitch? Is he bonkers?" Freya whispered as she watched the old man towards the front of the room who was laying out three potions neatly on a table.

"Can't tell yet." Neville responded with a shrug, "We'll see soon I guess." He stopped talking as Slughorn turned to face the class.

"Good afternoon students," He began his maroon hat tilting on his head, "Welcome to Potions."

The man immediately struck Freya as very scatterbrained. His feet were always moving or shifting, and he never stayed standing in one place for too long. As the blonde surveyed this new professor she almost missed the two boys bursting into the room.

"Ah there you are my boy," Freya's eyes darted to the door to see Harry and Ron with sheepish expressions, "I was beginning to get worried."

Ron then introduced himself while Harry nodded along, hoping to avoid a detention, "Get your books out."

"Actually sir we don't have them." Harry admitted, really pushing the limits of this new teacher in Freya's opinion.

Slughorn waved them to the shelves in the back and continued his lesson, asking what the first vial of potion was, and getting an eager answer from Hermione Granger. Freya decided to watch the boys instead, she did her very best to suppress a laugh as they both fumbled with each other for a new book, Ron coming out victorious. Harry walked over to a desk with a slightly defeated expression when the scent of vanilla caramel practically smacked him in the face. His face scrunched slightly as he looked to see Freya across the room, which was surprising because it smelled as if she were standing right on top of him. He completely disregarded the words coming out of Hermione's mouth, as he not so discretely stared at the blonde, who was twirling a strand of now short blonde hair in her fingers.

"Draught of the living dead." Slughorn held up a small vial, "That's what you all will be brewing today, for this special prize, Liquid Luck. Get to work."

Freya didn't exactly have a talent for potions, her mind could never really focus on all the specific measurements and ingredients. She would much rather spent her time casting spells or dueling, a more physical and fun lesson . So she stared down at her book and tried her best to follow its instructions.

Add the infusion of wormwood. She read, looking over and grabbing the package. Her brows furrowed as she stirred clockwise, already steps behind everyone else. Apparently she wasn't the only one who was struggling, the aggravated grunts and sighs of Hermione Granger reached the blondes ears. It comforted her a little, knowing one of the most skilled potions students wasn't successful.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked Harry with a frazzled expression.

"You crush it, not cut it."

"No, the book specifically says to cut." The girl hissed back.

"Okay." Harry caught Freya's eye and shrugged with goofy smile as Hermione went back into her manic state. The small exchange made Freya lose count of her sopophorus beans and dropped an extra in, "Shit." She mumbled beginning to stir, but she figured her potion was already bad, it would be hard to make it much worse.

A few students around her had already finished and the blonde was close behind, dropping her materials in triumph as she officially gave up, "Good enough." The potion in her cauldron was a murky lilac color, if Freya wasn't mistaken it almost seemed close to what she was supposed to see, which was a big surprise.

"Miss Majors," Professor Slughorn looked between her and her cauldron, then dropped a leaf in. The small greenery turned brown and shriveled slightly, not exactly the ideal result, but rather good all things considered, "Very good, I see some potential in you."

Freya resisted the urge to scoff at his statement. She very well knew that she was subpar at best, the fact that she was in the NEWT class was a feat in itself. But instead she just nodded, and sat back down watching all the other potions. Her blue eyes lingered when Slughorn reached Harry's potion, who in the Professors opinion, "Could kill them all."

Harry ended up with the vial of liquid luck that was promised at the beginning of class and earned a, "Kiss arse." Comment from Freya as they exited as a group. Harry grinned as he dangled the vial, "You wish."