Aiden carefully added the spider venom to their cauldron while Chelsea stirred vigorously. Chelsea kept stirring, peering into the cauldron to see if their potion had turned scarlet. She frowned and stirred harder. Looking in again, she looked up innocently at Aiden.

"The potion turned yellow instead of red. What did you do to it?"

Professor Herring glanced around the room. "Let's see...you two only put two drops of venom in yours, that's why it's yellow. Add another, and then do the 3 drops of unicorn water," she instructed Aiden and Chelsea. (Aiden avoided looking at Chelsea - he would have scowled at her if he did. She had kept distracting him.)

"Now Carmondy and..." Herring looked at the first year boy questioningly.

"Aaron."

She smiled, "Yes. Aaron. You two have an extra drop of venom," she shook her head. "Add another drop of unicorn water - which, Carmondy, you can get at just about any potion supply store, but generally only in small quantities." Herring carefully ignored the conspiratorial grin exchanged between the three girls. It was best not to know. "Your potion won't be as good with the extra bit. You'll have some spelling errors maybe, or sloppier writing on your notes. But it's better than boiling green goo that would result in you continuing the potion as it is."

Herring walked on to the next group and looked at their brick colored potion. "You didn't stir with the rosemary for the full three minutes. It'll still work alright, but will smell strongly of sulfur by the end." She wrinkled her nose.

Cecelia returned to the front of the class, "I hope everyone sees why it is so extremely important to follow directions very carefully. And also how important it is to make sure I know if your potion isn't right." She glanced at Carmondy, "We might have ended up with huge blisters with green fluid that last a full month before they stop throbbing, literally - they shrink and grow, you can actually watch them pulsate. Kinda entertaining if you're not squeamish."

"Now then, if everyone has added the 3 drops of venom, with the potion red, AND THEN the 3 drops of unicorn water, when the potion turns silvery white, I'll continue." She watched with satisfaction as each cauldron reflected slightly different shades of silver-white.

"Well done," she smiled. "Now, return the venom to the case - but keep the unicorn water at your desk for now - and while you're up there, get a scoop of sulfur from this," she help up a wooden box and indicated the stack of scoops. "Then measure 3 teaspoons into the potion and return the excess to the box and put the scoop back. Once you've mixed in the sulfur, it should turn a really sickly shade of yellow, and become rather thicker in consistency."

Herring spooned three teaspoons of sulfur into Severus' cauldron and watched, beaming, as he painstakingly stirred it until it was a downright yucky shade of yellow.

LDSPrincess924
Supreme ruler of my own little world...