Term 6, Lesson 1, Year 5

Lucia walked into the classroom, ready to start off a new year. Her second year as a teacher of Potions. She really loved this job, as much had been proven lat year with her students. Now she would be teaching the fifth years their first potion of the term. She was a bit anxious to start the first lesson with this, as some might find it very boring, but she felt that they needed to know. After the attack in the middle of London, she felt as though something was changing, and this was a class that would graduate in no more than three years. They needed to be ready for the world, whatever it might look like in three years time. She waved her wand and the chalk wrote one word on the blackboard.

Blackboard:

She sat down behind her desk, looking at the word, wondering where to start. Maybe she'd need them to start for her. She hoped they'd be able to keep their attention up, and she was going to help them in that matter as much as she could. After all, she had an ace in the hole that she'd pull if she saw them getting tired. She waited for the students to assemble then.

After last year, Aylee realized that Potions wasn't her best subject. She tried hard to improve, though, and read her Potions textbooks cover to cover. A few times, she tried helping her mother with cooking (although she doubted that it'd help her in Potions) and ended up accidentally cutting her fingers a few times. So she gave up and then hoped that the worst didn't happen. When the bell rang, signalling for the next lesson, she practically speed-walked to class. The dungeons still creeped her out- the darkness and the scary feeling that someone was watching her. In a few minutes, Aylee entered the classroom and sat down at the back like she always did. Some things never changed about her.

Sneaking a quick glance at the board, Aylee's eyes lit up. Veritaserum! she thought. She had read up on the potion a few times, even before her fifth year. It was a potion which caused the drinker to tell the truth. She had always wondered if she could get her hands on that potion, although it was a daydream since it wasn't normal to find it in a local supermarket. Her face held a tiny grin as she took out her Potions book. But then, they'd be the ones making the Potion, right? Oh god, help me, Aylee thought.

Then she looked at Professor Henley, and waited for the lesson to start.

Auden walked into the potions classroom. She liked the class but unfortunately, wasn't very good at it. Auden looked around the empty classroom trying to spot someone. Then she saw Aylee. She walked towards Aylee and sat down. "Hey." Auden said with a smile.

Lucia smiled as miss Walters and miss Mayer found their seats and she straightened up as the clock struck. "Welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts," she said with a smile. She was really looking forward to seeing through this year for these students. It was a very interesting year, the fifth year. This due to: "This is your fifth year at Hogwarts, which means one thing in particular: OWLs. I will do my best to get you guys ready for this, but it also depends a lot upon you. Homework is essential, and so is reading instructions thoroughly."

At that, she looked to the blackboard. "As you can see, we will be learning about Veritaserum in this class, however, whether or not you're actually going to get to brew it, will be up to you and how much you know about this potion."

"Now, which one of you can tell me what the effects of this potion is?" she asked, looking at her two students.

Auden's hand shot up due to her intense studying and prepping for this year. "Professor, veritaserum makes the person who ingested it tell the truth." Auden replied with a smile. The term has started well for her.

Well, he was late. That much he knew. Still, he ran past the many students in an attempt to get to class a little earlier, if onlynbyba millisecond. Ryland bumped into some people he knew, but had never really talked to in an actual conversation, and he couldn't help but feel bad for running in the hallways. Nevertheless, he finally made it as soon as Professor Henley was beginning the lesson. He took a seat in the far back, trying to disturb as little as possible, though he really wanted to sit next to Aylee.

He soon realized that he was only a few seats away from her, and he thought about switching seats but quickly decided against it. He stayed where he was and gave Professor Henley a smile without saying anything due to Auden talking and answering the question.

Auden's voice caused Aylee to jump a bit, but she naturally greeted her friend with a smile. "Hi!" she told Auden in her most cheerful voice possible. Then, without knowing what she was doing, she looked around- trying to see if she could spot someone else. She felt a tiny bit disappointment as Professor Henley started the lesson, so she had to look back to the front. Then the Professor mentioned the most thing she dreaded. OWLs. It was a lucky thing that she managed to keep herself from groaning. Apparently, OWLs were even more important than normal exams. Not to mention, they also had Career Advice this year, too. Fifth year was so important for your future, wasn't it?

Wait, how did she end up thinking of that? Aylee shook her head just as she heard Professor Henley say something about Veritaserum and ask a question. She didn't exactly feel like answering, especially now that Auden spoke up first. Instead, she looked around again. She hadn't noticed Ryland slipping into the classroom. Quickly, she flashed him a smile and then looked back at Professor Henley in case she got caught not paying attention.

Aylee had smiled at him. Again. Like she often did. I hate girls. Ryland thought as he paid close attention to Professor Henley. Because he had missed the beginning speech, he had no idea what the lesson was about until Auden's voice finished answering the question. Ryland frowned a little, already knowing that it would be hard for him to brew a potion like that. Why can't we just make them appear out of nowhere?

Raising his hand, he asked, "I'm sorry Professor, but will this one count for a grade?" He could already see Gryffindor losing as many points as possible due to his inability to brew liquid magic. Last time, their potions had not been graded, technically. And he was secretly hoping for that kind of luck to happen again.

Lucia looked up as miss Mayer answered the question and mister Malfoy walked in too late. She smiled at the Ravenclaw and gave a small nod. "Indeed, five points for Ravenclaw. But please refrain from being late in my class, mr. Malfoy," she said softly, but moved on quickly, so there would be no time to dwell on it.

"Veritaserum is indeed a potion that makes you tell the truth," she said and was about to continue when mr. Malfoy raised his hand. She gave him permission to speak and he asked if the potion was going to affect their grade. She smiled kindly at him. "Your knowledge of this potion will be a part of your grade, yes, but no one in their right mind would expect fifth years to be able to brew it. You're not going to brew the potion in this class, it is much too advanced. Not only is it too advanced, it takes 28 days to brew it," she said with a big grin.

"No, this class will be about your knowledge of the potion. So, who can tell me how the name came to be Veritaserum?" she asked, looking over the class.

Auden smiled in response to getting the answer right. I guess the tons of time studying and prepping in the library paid off... Auden thought to herself. Auden then listened to the rest of the Professor's talk and was disappointed to learn that they weren't actually going to be brewing the potion.

Ryland smiled in relief at not having to brew such a difficult potion. 28 days to brew it! He couldn't be happier to see a chance in his future of actually getting a good grade in this class. However, he was a little bit upset about having lost points for being late to class, so he decided to answer Professor Henley's question shortly after she had finished. His hand went up in the air quickly, "Professor, I believe it comes from the Latin words Veritas, and Serum. And...If I remember correctly, veritas means truth and serum means liquid or something like that." He waited for the professor's response, hoping his answer had been right. Though he hated his lack of luck in the class, he still had to read the textbook.

Lucia gave a nod to the reply she got. "Quite right, mr. Malfoy, five points to Gryffindor. The serum basically means liquid truth, and is not to be messed with. Used wrongly, it could be a poison in and of itself, and it is also prohibited on the use of students or anyone else without a significant reason. And can anyone tell me why this is?" she asked them.

Auden raised her hand. "Is it because it is easily abused because someone could just ask the person something like where's your valuables so they can steal them or something." Auden said.

Without even thinking about it, he spoke up instantly after Auden was finished. "Wouldn't that be a violation of one's privacy?" He wanted to know how far and dangerous the potion could be, mostly to keep in mind the next time he lied to a professor. "For example, if you were to use it on me, would I just spill out random secrets? Or just answer to what you asked?"

Lucia nodded at what Ms. Mayer said and was about to comment when Mr. Malfoy took the word. She nodded at what he said as well. She then firstly looked at Ms. Mayer. "That is quite true, Ms. Mayer, however, is a person wants to know where the valuables of another person is, I am sure they wouldn't care about the illegality of using Veritaserum, considering the fact that they were willing to steal from another human being," she said softly, "Nonetheless, five points to Ravenclaw."

She then looked at Mr. Malfoy. "Those are good questions, Mr. Malfoy, and they are also right. It would be a violation of privacy. And you won't ramble about everything that is true about you, but if I were to ask you what your deadliest weakness was, you'd have no choice but to tell me. Which would put you in a tight spot," she said calmly, "Five points to Gryffindor."

"Now, even though it might be a drastic example - the deadliest weakness part, I mean - as a witch or wizard, there are a lot of threats out there. Anyway, do any of you know if there's a way to stop the potion from working? Or is there a wizard or witch powerful enough to resist the influence of this potion?" she asked them.