Myst at Hogwarts Part 9

“How did you sleep last night?” Nana asked as Myst walked into the living room from the shower room.

“Like a rock,” Myst replied, happy that the tent was soundproof so he didn’t have to listen to the snoring.

“Monster hunting is tiring work then?” she asked as she floated a mug of hot chocolate over to Myst.

Myst sighed slightly as he noticed her slightly smug look. “What gave me away?”

“I’m your house elf,” she replied. “Is there anything you need Petal and I to work on or should we keep working through Petal’s school work?”

Myst finished a third of his delicious hot chocolate as he considered what he wanted her and Petal to work on. “I need to send a secure letter to the goblins to see if they’re interested in harvesting the monster in the Chamber of Secrets and I need a couple ingredients from Diagon Alley so I can make a protective charm tonight but other than that, feel free to help Petal with her school work, work on your own projects or read some of the books in the library.”

“Leave the letter and list of ingredients on the table and I’ll take care of it,” Nana assured her master then shifted her feet a touch uncomfortably. “You realize the goblins are going to want to bargain for a large cut, right?”

“Probably less than the school and I’m not really in a position to harvest it myself considering how toxic and magic resistant the corpse is,” Myst admitted as he walked over to the desk. “See if you can bargain them down but let them take three fourths, besides the pieces I want.”

“Work?” Petal asked hopefully as she walked into the room wearing her freshly cleaned tie dyed pillowcase.

“Yep, math and science homework,” Myst replied with amusement, glad that he’d picked up some basic muggle school books for Petal as it helped give her context for dealing with the muggle world and kept her from going insane without anything to work on or at least that was the hope.

“Okay,” Petal agreed, a touch disappointed that there weren’t any messes to clean up.

Myst set his mug on the desk and picked up the scroll he’d gotten for defeating the basilisk.

“Anything interesting?” Petal asked excitedly as she hurried over to see what her Master had found last night.

“Not sure, give me a second to open it,” Myst teased as he carefully untied the black ribbon and unrolled the scroll. “Huh, Permanent Arcane Sight, that sounds useful,” he mused as he read through the directions and ingredients. “Nothing we can’t get in Diagon Alley and it doesn’t look too complicated.” While it was certainly more complicated than he wanted to attempt for a first potion it didn’t look any worse than the polyjuice potion and Hermione had managed to brew that particular potion in second year or at least she’d managed it in the books.

“Do you want me to pick up the ingredients?” Nana asked, not seeing a problem with picking up more ingredients as she was already going to the apothecary. 

Myst worked on finishing his hot chocolate as he considered what to do with the scroll, even knowing the recipe was legit, he wasn’t sure what a failed potion would do, which meant that he really needed to practice or get someone skilled to brew it. The problem was he only had a vague idea how to actually make complex potions and he doubted Hermione had the skills to help yet, which meant he’d need an adult’s help, preferably a potions master. “I might be able to follow the directions and brew it with a couple of months of practice, but I’d rather have an expert do it. The ingredients aren’t super expensive, but they’re also not so cheap I want to throw them away on a dozen attempts either.”

“Remus?” Nana asked.

Myst set his empty mug on the desk then grabbed his notebook and a pen. “He’s not a potions master but he should be decent enough to brew the potion and he did say to write if I needed help next summer so he might be up for it.” He paused as he realized he had a better and far more twisted idea. “On second thought, I know exactly who to talk to about the scroll, I just need a copy.”

“Just leave me the list of ingredients you want me to pick up,” Nana as she floated his mug over to the sink.

“No problem,” Myst replied as he worked on copying the potion recipe so he could show it to Dumbledore and Snape.

0o0o0

Myst resisted the urge to laugh as he noticed Ron’s less than subtle glare as the redhead sat down at breakfast. 

“Why didn’t you wait?” Ron asked as he started loading his plate up with food, still a bit annoyed that no one had waited for him before heading down to breakfast.

“Wait for what?” Myst asked as he grabbed a roll off the plate, they weren’t as good as the rolls his family made for holidays, but they were better than the crap you could get from the store.

Hermione shook her head slightly, fairly sure Harry was being intentionally dense.

“Me,” Ron grumbled.

“Do you remember yesterday when you yelled at me for waking you up?”

“That’s because it was barely light,” Ron grumbled.

“And yet, if you’d gotten up, you could have been showered and ready by the time the great hall opened for breakfast and walked down with us. You wanted to sleep, I wanted to eat breakfast without feeling rushed.”

“There’s still plenty of time until class,” Ron grumbled then took a bite of his eggs.

“Sure, but this way, I’ll have enough time to go to the library and check out a book I want and make sure that I’m not late for my first class,” Myst explained as he put butter on his roll.

“Why are you in a hurry?” Ron asked with his mouth half full of food.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full Ron,” Hermione complained.

“Yes Mum,” Ron replied sarcastically then swallowed his food.

“She has a point,” Lavender pointed out. “It’s rude and annoying.”

“And gross,” Fay added, glad that someone was finally calling Ron on his lack of table manners.

“So don’t look,” Ron muttered lamely and started to pay more attention to his manners.

Hermione ignored Ron’s idiotic reply as she finished the last of her apple juice.

Myst ignored the look Ron gave him as he ate his roll so he could leave. He knew that Ron would eventually grow out of some of his issues but he was rather annoying right now which he couldn’t even really blame on his parents as Fred and George were decent enough people and Percy was at least tolerable even if he’d be better if someone pulled the stick out of his ass. 

“First years,” McGonagall said as she walked up to the Gryffindor table. “Due to certain unfortunate events, an alternate potions teacher will be provided to any first year Gryffindors that would like to sign up.”

“Thank God,” Dean muttered, glad that he wouldn’t have to deal with Snape. Anyone that tossed up a chemistry recipe at his old school and expected a bunch of children to make it would have been fired or shot for gross incompetence.

“We don’t have to put up with Professor Snape?” Fay asked excitedly.

“Sweet Merlin!” Seamus agreed happily.

Myst hid his smirk at the look of surprise on McGonagall’s face as she saw the relief and glee on his classmate’s faces. “Where do we sign?” He quickly looked over the simple sign up sheet that McGonagall handed him to make sure it wasn’t a contract or anything then signed Harry Potter and handed it to Hermione.

“Not curious who the alternate teacher is?” McGonagall asked, slightly disturbed just how happy all of the students were about getting out of Snape’s class. She frowned slightly as she noticed the envious looks on most of the second and third years. ‘What the hell have you been doing Severus?’

“Are they a Death Eater or criminally insane?” Parvati asked.

“Of course not,” McGonagall replied stiffly.

“Considering Professor Snape, it’s a valid question,” one of the first year boys that didn’t share a dorm with Myst spoke up.

Myst shrugged. “Considering he basically told a bunch of eleven year olds here are some rather dangerous ingredients, there is a recipe on the board, follow it, his teaching methods are more than a bit suspect.”

“Fine, pretend to be a teacher for a second Mr. Potter, how would you have taught the first class?” McGonagall asked, expecting him to sputter and fail to come up with anything useful.

“First, I’d give a brief safety lecture about the most common mistakes students make and what to do when something goes wrong. Then I would have done a lesson on reagent prep and what the book means when they talk about the various instructions. I remember a couple of lessons on chemistry which is the closest muggles have but I’m not going to assume that everyone has had any experience with potions, chemistry, or even cooking which means I’m going to start with the basics and go from there.”

“You mean he didn’t give a basic safety lecture?”

“Nope, which is why I’m looking forward to a better potions instructor,” Myst replied, knowing that Snape was a lot like his first Spanish teacher in high school. She’d grown up speaking Spanish and hadn’t had a clue how difficult learning the language was for everyone else. As far as he was concerned Snape should have taught the advanced years or maybe Defense but inflicting him on children was cruel and unusual as far as he was concerned.

“That should be everyone,” Hermione said as she handed the professor the completed list.

McGonagall glanced at the list and frowned slightly as she realized that every single one of her first year students had signed the form to get a new teacher even without knowing who they were getting to cover the class. “In this case, you’ll be using the old potions lab on the second floor. Do try not to be late and thank the professor for taking the time to run the class.” She turned and walked off, knowing she was going to have to talk with Dumbledore about Snape’s teaching methods.

“This should be fun.” Myst turned to look at Hermione. “We should still have enough time to grab that book you wanted from the library before potions.”

“Sounds good,” Hermione agreed as she stood up, eagerly looking forward to having a proper potions class.

0o0o0

Albus frowned slightly as he reached out, grabbed the knob for the student potions lab and found it locked. “Curious.” He used a wandless unlocking charm and opened the door, rather surprised to see dust everywhere when he stepped inside. “Tispy.”

A house elf popped in. “Professor, how can Tispy help?”

“Is there a reason the student lab isn’t clean?” Albus asked, not wanting to offend the house elf but more than a little surprised that they’d let the lab get this dirty.

Tispy shook her head. “Begging your pardon Headmaster but you is getting forgetful, this isn’t the student lab, hasn’t been for near a decade.”

“Hmm, I was fairly sure this was the student potions lab,” Albus replied as he glanced at the empty shelves as he walked around the lab. “Remind me, where is the student lab?”

“The extra potions lab is in the dungeons near the Slytherin dorm, has been for the better part of a decade.”

“I see,” Albus muttered thoughtfully. “Is there any reason the room wasn’t cleaned with the rest of the unused classrooms?”

“We were told to seal it and leave it alone by Professor Snape after we moved everything to the new lab in the dungeons.”

“I’m going to need the room cleaned…” he trailed off with a smile as Tipsy snapped her fingers and summoned five house elves.

“We have work!” Tipsy said happily as she got to work cleaning the tables and old equipment.

Albus watched the elves for a couple seconds as they quickly vanished years of dust and grime, making the old equipment look new again. “Excellent work.”

Tispy smiled as she finished cleaning off the last table in the back that seemed a lot cleaner than the rest of the tables had been as the rest of the house elves went back to the kitchens. “Is there anything else you be needing?”

“I’m going to need some supplies from the student stores for a demonstration today,” he explained as he conjured a list of the supplies he’d need for his demonstration. “I’m also going to need the sign in sheet from last year.”

“Of course,” Tipsy replied as she took the list and popped to the student lab in the dungeons.

Albus smiled slightly as he pointed at the blackboard and ‘wrote’ the basic safety rules that everyone should know before they attempted their first potion.

0o0o0

Neville couldn’t help the smile on his face as Dumbledore dismissed the class. “That was amazing.”

“It certainly was,” Myst agreed with a smile, rather impressed with Dumbledore’s teaching style; just enough techniques and safety tips to make it worth it while mixing in enough amusing anecdotes to keep everything fun and memorable. “Nice change from Snape.”

“I wish he taught Defense,” Lavender said as she grabbed her bag and headed out of the classroom.

“It would certainly make it easier to understand,” Myst agreed as he pulled a copy of the Arcane Sight potion recipe out of his journal and walked over to Dumbledore’s desk.

“Is there something I can help you with Mr. Potter?” Dumbledore asked as he looked over the top of his glasses at Harry.

“While Snape managed to destroy my Mum’s potion journal with all the research supporting it, I had already copied out the recipe that the journal was about. I was planning on going over her research with the school’s potion master to verify it before I took it, just as a way of getting a bit closer to her, ya know. Anyway, I need someone to brew the potion. I wanted to make two doses, one for me and one for… Hermione.” Myst looked away, pretending to be a bit embarrassed as Hermione blushed. 

“Lily had already completed the potion in the journal?” Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling as he looked at the two first years and accepted the scroll. “This is… a masterpiece,” he said in wonder as he read it examining all the steps, a stunned look on his face. “Some of the steps in here are… I can see why she… Yes, that would work. Why would she… I see. Yes, I can quite understand why you were unwilling to let Professor Snape’s… behavior, pass without… recompense.”

“As I said, priceless and…” Myst trailed off with a sigh. “Not something I can reproduce.”

“I believe Professor Snape could make up for his actions in some small way, by recreating the research on her work and brewing it for you at his own cost, under my supervision,” Dumbledore offered, “if you’ll allow it.” 

“As long as Mum gets credit for it,” Myst quickly said, rather amused at Dumbledore’s addition of it being at Snape’s expense.

“Of course,” Dumbledore assured him. “Trust me, there will be no question of who created it. While he may have had… problems with your father, he would never claim credit for your mother’s work. It will take most of the term to research and test, but I do believe we could have two doses prepared by the leaving feast for your use.”

“Sounds reasonable and thank you, Sir,” Myst replied, happy to have someone competent test and research the potion before he used it. While he was pretty sure his power wouldn’t screw him, as ROBs were know to play fair with their gifts if nothing else, the research that went into the potion would be valuable all on its own.

“I’ll speak with him about it at lunch,” Dumbledore said, looking forward to learning something new, an event that was rather rare at his age. “Now, off you go.”

Hermione waited until they were alone in the hall to ask, “You were making a potion for me?”

“Yeah, a potion that would give us Mage Sight, a rare talent or one that takes decades of study to develop,” Myst explained.

“Mage Sight?” she asked curiously.

“It would basically let us see magic which would help us avoid cursed objects, traps, and potions. We should have it by the end of the school year if the Headmaster is correct.”

“That would be useful,” Hermione agreed. “Why? Why are you doing all these things for me?” she asked shyly, still finding it hard to believe that he chose to spend time with her when there were so many other people who would love to hang around him.

“Because you’re awesome,” Myst said firmly and started walking.

“I’m awesome?” she asked confused, having expected a somewhat different answer, one that possibly included romantic intentions, though she had to admit they were a bit young for that, but then again they were living in a medieval society...  

“If you want better answers, ask more specific questions,” Myst said not looking directly at her.

“Do you… like me?” she asked, forcing herself to get the question out.

“Yes,” Myst replied simply. “Do you want to work on our foci research or homework?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Research,” she said, grateful for the chance to talk about something else as she was sure she’d used up her supply of courage for the moment and would wait until it had refilled before she asked some very specific questions.

“Excellent,” Myst said, “because I had some ideas on what to put the foci in, since shape seems to be unimportant to several of them.”

“Really?” she asked curiously wondering what they could place foci in and if they needed to be outside the body at all to use.

The two continued on throwing ideas back and forth, unaware that Tracey Davis was walking behind them, having joined them when they’d left potions class and was taking notes. 

0o0o0

Myst looked up as Tracey Davis sat down across from him and Hermione. “Tracey.”

“I was waiting to ask what your potions class was like outside the classroom, but you were both a bit distracted,” she said. “So, I followed and took some notes and wrote down some ideas from listening to you.”

“Notes?! Ideas?!” Hermione squeaked.

“About foci,” Tracey said, not willing to touch the other subject with a ten foot staff, though she was so going to gossip about it later with Daphne.

“Ah right, that. That is actually a personal project. The class was mainly just Dumbledore telling us some interesting stories of lab mistakes and talking about how to avoid them while showing us the proper way to prepare various ingredients which should help us remember them. There are certain things that are a lot easier to pick up in person than reading a book and other things that aren’t covered at all.”

Tracey nodded. “Most of us have at least seen a potion being brewed before we get to Hogwarts, I don’t think the authors really understood how to teach muggleborns. Wait, you’re doing magical foci as a side project? Why would you use anything other than a wand?”

“Because specific foci are better for specific tasks,” Myst explained. “Well, that and Ollivander won’t teach me how to create wands until I have taken my newts.”

“You got Ollivander to agree to teach you?” Tracey asked in surprise.

“No, but he said he wouldn’t even consider it unless I had several newts in various subjects, but I’m sure I can wear him down with enough work.”

“I didn’t know you were interested in making wands,” Tracey said.

“I’m interested in a lot of things,” Myst replied with a shrug.

“Would you like some help?” Tracey asked, looking for a way to increase her social connections with the Potter heir.

Myst glanced at Hermione, to make sure she didn’t have any objections and the bushy haired girl nodded, looking forward to expanding their circle. “Sure, let me show you what we have,” he said as he pulled out his research folder for the shield foci they were working on. “Considering the allegiances in Slytherin, I’d appreciate it if this didn’t become general knowledge.”

“They won’t hear about it from me, I have no intention of helping Malfoy and his ilk,” Tracey promised.

“Excellent, this is what we have so far,” Myst said as he opened the folder and showed Tracey their notes. He wasn’t all that worried about sharing information about the shield foci because it was publically available. Besides, it gave him a chance to make friends in other houses.