Into The Light (Golden Trio Era) {2}

Lashing Out

Snape could hardly have set them a more difficult, fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities, the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in counterclockwise directions, the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added. "A light silver vapour should now be rising from your potion," Snape called with ten minutes left to go. Mikayla peered into her potion, satisfied with its colour. It was a light silver, matching the description exactly. Looking around her, it seemed that Ron and Harry were having a more difficult time. Harry, who was sweating profusely, had dark grey steam rising from his cauldron and Ron's potion was spitting green sparks. Hermione's potion was the same colour as Mikayla, though with a slightly thicker consistency. As Snape passed by the girls' concoctions, he merely glanced at them before walking away without a word; that meant that he had nothing to criticise.

At Harry's cauldron, however, Snape stopped, looking down at Harry with a horrible smirk on his face. "Potter, what is this supposed to be?" The Slytherins at the front of the class all looked up eagerly, they loved hearing Snape taunt Harry, or anyone for that matter, but especially Harry. "The Draught of Peace," Harry said tensely. "Tell me, Potter," Snape said softly, "can you read?" Draco laughed. "Yes, I can," Harry said through clenched teeth. "Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter." Harry looked up at the blackboard, squinting to read the instructions through the haze of multicoloured steam now filling the dungeon. "'Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore.'" Harry read aloud, a frown slowly settling on his face. "Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?" "No," Harry said very quietly. "I beg your pardon?" "No," Harry said more loudly. "I forgot the hellebore..." "I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesco." The contents of Harry's potion vanished; he was left standing beside an empty cauldron. "Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing," Snape called to the whole class. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday." While Mikayla filled her flagon with her potion, she watched from the corner of her eye as Harry put away his things with rough movements. Mikayla felt horrible for him, his potion was no worse than Ron's, which was now giving off a foul odour of bad eggs, or Neville's, which had achieved the consistency of just-mixed cement. Mikayla quickly handed Snape her potion sample with a sneer before heading back to clear up her things.

"That was really unfair." Hermione said as she sat down next to Ron at the Gryffindor table before helping herself to some shepherd's pie. "Your potion wasn't nearly as bad as Goyle's. When he put it in his flagon the whole thing shattered and set his robes on fire." "Yeah, well," Harry glowered at his plate, "since when has Snape ever been fair to me?" The others didn't answer him; all four of them knew that Snape and Harry's mutual enmity had been absolute from the moment Harry had set foot in Hogwarts. "I did think he might be a bit better this year," Hermione said in a disappointed voice. "I mean... you know..." She looked carefully around, there were half a dozen empty seats on either side of them and nobody was passing the table. "...Now he's in the Order and everything." Mikayla scoffed as Ron shook his head and said, "Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots." Harry nodded in agreement as he went on. "Anyway, I've always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where's the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?" "I think Dumbledore's probably got plenty of evidence, even if he doesn't share it with you, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Oh, shut up, the pair of you." Harry said heavily as Ron opened his mouth to argue. Hermione and Ron froze, looking angry and offended, as Mikayla glanced at Harry in shock. "Can't you give it a rest?" He went on. "You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad." With that he abandoned his shepherd's pie, swung his schoolbag over his shoulder, and left them, walking out of the Great Hall. Hermione and Ron looked after him, shock written plainly on their faces. "You know, he's kind of right." Mikayla spoke up, poking the pie on her plate with a fork. "You guys are always fighting lately." "That doesn't give him the right to take his temper out on us." Hermione replied indignantly. Ron nodded in agreement. "I don't think he can help it." Mikayla said thoughtfully. "He's having some trouble right now. I mean, look at all the crap he's getting, look at his nightmares..." "You're having nightmares too, Mikayla." Ron said. "And you don't have a raging temper." "Harry has always had a temper. Plus with the sleeping draught I've been having no dreams" Mikayla pointed out. "Voldemort-" Hermione and Ron flinched. "-being back is not helping. Anyway, can you guys just try to slow down the arguing, please?" Ron and Hermione agreed to try to stop their arguing, and after finishing her shepherd's pie, "'Mione, it's time for Arithmancy." Mikayla informed after looking at the watch on her wrist. The two girls stood up saying goodbye to Ron.

After Arithmancy, Hermione and Mikayla head to Defence Against the Dark Arts, talking casually about S.P.E.W, Mikayla rather liked hearing Hermione's thoughts on the whole House-elf occupation.

A/N
Tomorrow I will be uploading 9 more parts before taking a break from writing this story. I've suffer from some creative block and I don't want to half ass this book.