Apart from disgusted looks, nothing happened to us in the Slytherin common room. Which we could deal with. I spent some time practising the maintenance spells; the guitar was now much cleaner and had a polished shine.
We had breakfast with Hufflepuff, then headed to potions. Practicals were done in pairs, and seeing we were with the Gryffindors, I decided to pair up with Hermione, Grant, and Tim stuck together.
"You have two hours to make the cure for boils potion, which is located on page 9 of your books." Snape said, "I must remind you that even the simplest potion can go horribly wrong if you do not follow the instructions."
"Hermione, want to know a secret?" I whispered to her as we were laying out the ingredients.
"Hmm?" She looked at me, puzzled
"Look at the board," I said, nodding to the blackboard. The instructions to create the cure for boils were written on the blackboard.
"Yeah, it's the instructions," Hermione said.
"But compare them to the book," I said with a smile. She looked up and down at the book and board.
"They are different in some ways." She said, "And the board instructions are clearer."
"Exactly," I whispered, "Snape told me the board instructions are his recipes; they are more refined and better quality."
"Really?" She whispered back. I nodded.
"It's a trap," I told her. "You can either follow the board or the book, but if you follow both."
There was a puff, and Snape started going off at some poor Gryffindors.
"Disaster" she whispered in reply.
"So which do we follow." She asked.
"Snapes", I said, "it's easier and has the best results." We got to work with a smile. About halfway through the class. I stopped and looked at Neville. "Watch it Neville heat off first then the quills" I called out to him. I spooked him
"Ah, right, thanks, Eddie", Neville called back.
"Good catch mister Carter, 5 points for Slytherin" snape said he had been watching but planned to let Neville fail. "A point off, Gryffindor. Pay attention, Mr Longbottom and Mr Finnigan."
They still managed to set fire to the potion by the end of class, but Neville didn't need to go to the hospital wing for a second time this week. Out of the class, only three groups accomplished a usable potion. Grant and Tim, Draco and Pansy, and Hermione and I, ours were the best; it might be because our three groups knew the trap. I had told Tim and Grant before, and Draco, being Snape's godson, probably was told too.
"For those who completed a potion, a point each for your houses," Snape said with a smile. I don't think he realised that he had given Gryffindor a point.
"Ah, sir, can we take some vials of our potion?" I asked Snape.
"Yes, you may. I only need a vial for marking the dosage is in the books", he said.
"Split them with you?"I asked Hermione.
"Ah, I mean, sure" she answered.
We spent a few minutes bottling the potions. A dozen in total, 2 went to the professor with our names on them for marling. And we took five each. "By the way, I would suggest selling or giving them to the older girls or someone with bad acne," I told her.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because it makes your skin smoother and free of blemish," I said, "Girls are more worried about that, especially older girls."
"Is that what you going to do?" She asked.
"Ah, no, I'm keeping these for personal use." I winked. "I want to stay this handsome."
She laughed, and we left the potions classroom.
"So you fancy her?" Grant asked, coming up behind me.
"What, no, just being friendly", I answered. "Though she is cute."
"Kind of like a rabbit with those front teeth," Tim smirked.
"I'm sure she'll sort that out later." I said, "Plus, we're 11. Now is not the time to be chasing girls."
"So yup, now the Time for lunch", Grant said, looking at me. "Where are we going to sit this time?"
"Haven't been with the Ravenclaws yet; they seem like a fun bunch", Tim said.
"Eagles it is then", I laughed, and we headed off.
Ravenclaws turned out to be a fun bunch; as Tim had stated, apart from a bit of tension at the start, they welcomed us and played a game of riddles with us. Each tried to stump the other with riddles; Grant and I were pretty good at it, and Tim was hopeless.
In the afternoon, we had a history of magic class. Another long, boring class, where I studied 52 easy spells for work. Flipping through it, I found one that I wanted to learn.
"With the lions again for dinner?" Grant asked as we headed to the great hall.
"Yes I want to know if harry and ron took my advice" I told them.
We sat down with the Gryffindors again for dinner. Saying hello, Tim started to talk to Neville while Grant chatted with Dean. "Ron Harry, how was your night?" I asked, putting a steak on my plate.
"Almost got caught by filch; you were right he didn't show," Ron said.
"Thought so." I sighed. I was starting to think I couldn't change the canon too much. "So, how are you all enjoying classes," I asked them.
"It's all brilliant apart from potions. I got so confused," Harry said. "Plus, snape hates me."
"I'll tell you a secret, Harry. It's why only three groups passed today." I whispered to him.
"What?" He said
I explained the two recipes to him and where the rest of the class went wrong.
"But that's unfair," Harry said. "Why would Snape set a trap like that?"
"Professor Snape knows the danger of potion making, and he warned us in our First class details matter in potions; the wrong thing at the wrong time can be disastrous", I answered, "he doesn't suffer foolishness if people don't listen or pay attention, they will fail, he won't hold our hands."
"You seem like you like Snape", harry said with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course, he's my head of house, plus once you understand the man, he isn't bad," I said.
"But why does he hate me?" Harry asked.
"Ah, I'm afraid I can't answer that," I told him. "Just don't get tunnel vision, Harry; keep your eyes and mind open", I told him, finishing my dinner. "anyway, got astronomy tonight, should be fun; it's a long walk to the tower, better be off," I said goodbye to the rest of the lions.
I didn't make it to the astronomy tower. I had just turned the corner of a hallway and was hit by a spell. I woke up in the hospital wing the following day.