– Slughorn POV –
Due to the recent changes at Hogwarts I was over the moon. So much potential, such diversity and inspiration. It was paradise on earth, enough students finding their talents, unlocking their latent potential so much sooner. I could see, feel and hear it. A whole wave of new masteries in so many different fields! This would be grandios! And while most of magical Britain ignore and even scorned Hogwarts due to the ministries propaganda, I was one of the earliest people to find these people, having the possibility to sponsor some, to teach others, to make deals with some more and make even more connections.
The mind arts course was so much more than that. It motivated the whole pupilation to study, learn, innovate and strive toward improvement, as marginal as it sometimes was. All headed by Clara Ali Ollivander, that weird girl who did not get enough credit for all she does for this school. She even fixed a huge part of the wards, though that was not public knowledge. Her most redeeming trait though, that she does not want to stand in the limelight. She avoids it like the pest, silently studying, preparing for whatever she sees coming over the horizon.
And her performance in my fast track class. Not just her but all the other people who got either the talent, determination or grit are on an express lane to mastery if not even more! They were faster, better and more focused, concentrated than any of my apprentices before them, clearing my challenges in record time, not even breaking a sweat, shrugging of my harsh regimen and most even practicing as long and as frequently as possible aside from the classes, with so much vigor that reminded me of my early days. And it rubs off, reigniting my long lost passion for potions, which was suffocated by the needed politicking to not be drowned in Britain's cesspool.
Do not misinterpret, I came to love politicking, forging connections, scheming and all that it entails, but I could not, would not let it overshadow my passion for potions any longer. So I started getting all those rusty skills out of their previous impervious resting place, polishing them up to what they once there, some refining even further than I had ever before, no longer shackled by myself.
Then it happened, while I explained my fast track class a relatively hard simmering technique. I do not know what exactly, but it felt like I had reached enlightenment!
–– Clara POV ––
The potion class on the 14.11.1993 was different. Slughorn had explained a very complicated simmering technique to us. Instead of using high temperatures like normal, it was also the first introduction to cold brewing. Normally you needed heat to bring something to boil, but some ingredients or mixes would just explode violently that was. And some of those needed low or no heat, others needed cold, triggering specific energies to use their latent energies to slowly spark the reaction. This was also the first time, where we needed to use magic while brewing, keeping the cauldron at a constant temperature of negative hundred degree celsius.
He explained, that using ice to practice casting while brewing was easier due to its less volatile nature. The following practical portion was gruesome. Prepping ingredients, stirring, casting magic and listening to a Slughorn on steroids, who explained the process of our brewing more detailed and in-depth than ever before. It felt like he was a different person than just yesterday, so much more inspiration, elan and drive.
After the practical portion was finished, he explained a revised lesson plan for the next few weeks, even more packed than before. Right before it finished, I felt it. This was only the third time, but it would probably not be the last either. Lagern would be furious to visit Hogwarts again so soon, they are just like fire and ice. After he dismissed us and everyone left, I approached Slughorn, with a hopefully mysterious grin and said: „Congratulations, may I know what your aspect is? You do not need to answer if you do not want too. There will someone to explain it very soon, though he will probably be a bit irritated."
He looked perplexed, before he cheerfully answered: „Ascended potions, connected politics and inspired teaching, potions being the first one if that is of any importance." „Not for me, but for you it will be. If you have any questions after today, I will be glad to answer them.", I offered, before promptly leaving the room, as Lagern should do the usual introduction. Though Lagern did not show it, he was impressively intelligent, his position underlining that, so he would certainly try to recruit Slughorn, though he was bound to fail. Slughorn will probably refuse to leave Hogwarts anytime soon and was on his way to be a powerhouse in a few hundred or thousand years.
And as I predicted, the next morning the headmaster announced, that Slughorn had decided to prolong his tenure indefinitely, both looking supremely pleased at that prospect, most of the students applauded appreciatively for Slughorn who was so much better than Snape in any way and form apparently.
The following days were filled with rumors about Slughorns change of heart, only two people and a wolf knowing the full picture.
The lessons of Slughorn improved drastically even though he was in no way a bad teacher before. It felt more like Slughorn himself improved, which he also did in a rasant fashion. Not even two weeks later, he had internationally published twenty-five new potions with the express purpose to teach aspiring potioneers. And guess who was allowed to test most of them? The fast track class, most stumping even the best in our class for now.
Important to understand is, that new potions normally needed multiple months or years, depending on the materials, to be published, not to mention getting international recognition for it. This just showed, that everything Slughorn got, he earned with tireless effort.
And some idiot sent an assassin after Slughorn, who was atomized by Hogwarts wards, not even coming one meter deep into the wards. Scary. Was just annoying, that we could not question him about his contractors. The next intruder would promptly be sent into the renovated dungeons, curtesy of the headmaster and Hogwarts collaboration.
Luna was absent most of the time, doing little more than the bare minimum for the classes. On inquiry she said, grinning from ear to ear, obviously enjoying herself more than normal: „My new cultivation technique. While I am not as megalomanic as you, I still try to build upon the meditation method which was gifted to me by Meyers. I am already at common peak and near a breakthrough." She did not let me look at the cultivation technique sadly, but it apparently was one of the core secrets from the church of myths, as it was capable of a clear path to at least common changing if not even breathing, given out without any secrecy contract or vow, which was baffling and painted a huge target on Luna's back, if anyone more than the current five persons got wind of it. I am not talking about some gangster, though those would surely try to somehow get their hands on it too. I am talking about powerhouses, which could destroy Britain or even more with a flick of their fingers.
I worried, while Luna either did not understand the threat, which I doubted, just did not care or was so good natured and due to that just hoped for the best. I wasted whole counseling sessions with Henry, just venting over that fact, though trying not to get into too much specifics.
It made me paranoid for two weeks, before I could finally ignore it just enough, to not hex anyone coming around corners or through doors to oblivion. It kept me on my toes, twitchy and so much more, that my occlumency was extremely unstable, though my mindscape actually prevented the worst from happening, which would have been a total collapse of my defenses.
My cultivation was also halted at common entry, barely reaching the requirement before my mood was so effected, that even normal meditation was no longer possible. Henry was hustling overtime these two weeks.
I could only infer, that her cultivation technique had something to do with animals, as Hagrid had complained in a staff meeting, that every animal seemed to like Luna more than him since a week ago, though he was mostly concerned about her well being, but to embarrassed to show it, our gentle half giant.
But after these two weeks, the potions fast track had finally reached a point, where Slughorn allowed us to try to modify a cure for boil in any way we like, without instructions. While I would not say that it was disastrous, there were multiple explosions and flooding, knocking all overconfidence out of us. Safety measures were naturally implemented beforehand, way better than with Snape, who just did not care to do such a thing.
The potions classroom itself changed since Snapes time, no longer being in the cellar, now a huge hall having high windows and skylights, new and better equipment as money was no longer a problem. This meant, that students no longer needed to buy their own cauldrons for the OWLs, though Slughorn insisted on own equipment for both his NEWT and fast track class.
Fast track classes were also renamed to mastery classes, as too many people - staff - complained about the terminology.
Back to potions. Cure for boils, one of the most rudimentary and easy potion to make, generally the first practical one for first years. There were multiple possible altercations to be made. Strength, color, odor, taste, consistency and even the effect itself, though we should not do that yet. While unlikely for such an easy potions, we were also allowed to improve the recipe of it, though I highly doubt that someone will manage that anytime soon.
I myself went in without a goal, which was probably weird but I just started mix matching, going by my gut and only exploded seventeen cauldrons over five hours. The others averaged twenty-six in the same timeframe. In the end, most only had a minor deviation from the original, most being color or consistency. I finished three potions, one altered for consistency and strength through adding an ingredient in the end, after it had cooled down, before starting to freeze it, to spark the final reaction. It was nearly a failure, but Slughorn could stop it in the last second with a well placed stasis charm. Another one was just a slightly different color, having changed the stirring pattern, only needing five tries to figure it out, while the last one was a solid black very pungent pill, all the liquid condensed into a solid form, which still worked, as a lab rat test showed. Those poor rats were tortured today though, as others, my second one too, did not work as intended
The alterations were neither that useful nor economically viable though, but it was a good learning experience. The best of the class was Harry Potter, who could have guessed. It is, as Slughorn liked to praise, inscribed into his genes, having only exploded one cauldron due to a lapse in concentration due to another exploding cauldron. His variations on the first look were a bit less impressive, as his whole fifteen potions were just an altercation of the color, which just got redder and redder, though he somehow managed to remove the normal pink smoke puff at the end of brewing in the end. It was only a slight improvement in the recipe, enhancing the effect by a mere one percent, but it was impressive nonetheless.
The secret to his success were five gram of deep green chives. I did not even know we had those stocked here, neither any recipe where they get used. And apparently it was not available here as I found out a second later, though that would change before tomorrow morning comes around. He brought it with his personal potions kit, which was a state of the art piece, special privilege of the mastery class.
The kit itself was small enough to fit into my delicate hands, heavily enchanted and warded for easy access, stasis storage space and a separate storage space for any tools you might need. It had in no way endless space, but we all probably would not fill it to the brim anytime soon.
That reminds me, that Luna decided to join the church of myths. Lagern, more his lawyers, had apparently bled them near dry. She was no longer apprenticed to Meyer, but the core apprentice of the whole faction, getting guidance from anyone who is available. She was also allowed to pick two items of her stage from their treasury. One was a thestral dragon egg, likely her familiar, and a habitat space pocket anchored to a beautiful purple necklace. The contract itself was stringent, forcing everyone from the faction to sign, stating that they would not harm her in any way, yada, yada, yada. Secrecy clauses, benefit clauses, duty clauses and so much more. Airtight if I have ever seen one, thousands of pages long.
Luna herself also knew, why the faction wanted here so badly, but was not allowed to share that fact sadly. She would still finish her time at Hogwarts though and would for ten years after that have no obligations to the church, before she slowly got a few none threatening ones, mainly teaching apparently as she specifically requested such a position at some point, as long as she is qualified enough naturally.
Back to brewing, the next few mastery classes and were still about the cure of boils, but with a more methodical approach. There were hundreds of just slightly different public recipes for the potion, with even more potions, who had the same or similar effect, some even only as side effect. We were now required to write an essay, comparing all the recipes we could get our hands on and detailing each step, which results they brought, how it affected the rest of the brewing process and so forth.
His explanation upon a series of complaints - more than normal that is - from some of the less studious and more practical aligned part of the class was: „What we did in that one session, is not the normal work of a potioneer. We do not just throw ingredients together and hope for the best. We memorize, analyze, compare and then start experimenting. I had that lesson to show the dangers of an experiment going wrong, to eradicate any overconfidence on your part, which apparently failed and most of all!", he got loud at that point: „Because it is a valuable learning experience. To realize that ANYTHING", he empathized: „you change can have devastating outcomes. Some are bad smell, others destroy your cauldron or body and the last, most dangerous one is a changed effect, potentially killing the recipient of the potion you made. That is negligence and I won't have that here. So, should that attitude still persist, you can leave the mastery class at any time, though I will warn all of you, that anyone who takes that path won't be coming back. And if any of you decide to ignore any one of the moral codes of the international potioneer guild, I will kick you out myself and will ensure, that you are blacklisted in any and all potion guilds, stores, markets and blackmarkets on this world. Dismissed!", he huffed, returning to his personal room, slamming the door shut.
I understood him. It was his, reignited it may be, passion and he probably thought, that most persons in this class already understood, that for anything you botch or fail, you will be hold liable, together with your teacher or mentor and potentially even anyone who associates with you.
Potioneers and alchemists for that matter are notoriously unforgiving to such persons, they killed for less.
Slughorn had already devoted a whole five hour lesson for that topic, put multiple people were asleep that day, so it seems.