"Where do you even put all of that? Merlins beard Alex you practically just ate your own body weight in food!" Mike said in horror after we started heading for potions.
"Can't help it, I need the calories." I said with a shrug.
"Are you absolutely sure theres nothing wrong? That sort of eating just isn't normal mate." Terry said worriedly.
"Yeah I'm sure theres nothing wrong. Thanks for the concern though." I said with a smile.
"You think Snape is going to give you trouble?" Mike asked and I shook my head.
"No. He might pay me a bit of extra attention to make sure I don't mess up the brewing process but otherwise no more than anyone else. Except Potter, I've heard about the "favor" he shows that one." I said and they grimaced.
"If we didn't know Potter had never met the man before it'd look like it was personal." Terry said with a nod.
"It could be a grudge from the previous generation. Maybe Snape had a problem with one or both of Potters parents before they died and he's taking it out on Potter now since his parents are obviously out of reach. " I said seriously.
"But that's so petty." Terry said with a frown.
"It is but we should stop talking about it." I said as I caught a rapidly approaching Snape with my haki.
"Why?" Mike asked confused but I just smiled and pointed at the corner right as Snape came around it.
"Good morning professor." I said calmly.
The man's glowering presence made my friends subconsciously flinch but I remained at ease.
"Mr. Drake. Have you prepared for the rigors of potioneering?" the man demanded with a fierce stare.
"I have reviewed every piece of knowledge I have on ingredients and the process of brewing them into various draught or elixirs." I said confidently.
"We shall see." he said firmly before striding past us towards the dungeons.
"Bloody hell, I don't think i've seen anyone other than the professors talk to him without flinching like that. How'd you do it?" Terry asked in awe.
"He's a tad intense i'll admit but it's not like he means me harm so why should I cower?" I asked rhetorically.
"You're a braver man than us then. Most others too." Mike said clapping me over the shoulder with a grin.
We walked towards the dungeon and I spotted a few bits I knew from the books that I made a mental note of for the future. The painting of a fruit basket that was the secret entrance to the kitchens, the wine barrels that hid the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, the many snake motifs that grew more and more common the closer to the dungeon we got. I noted a few of them even had slightly more magic than the normal amount flowing through the stones of the castle and made a note to check them out later.-
The difference in temperature and humidity was stark as we descended the stairs to the dungeon. The air became cooler and laden with extra moisture but that made sense given the dungeon was below the black lake itself. You could see faint signs of this moisture having lingered over the centuries in the form of water stains from it condensing on the ceiling and then failing to drop. If I had to guess the water drops were regularly cleared off to keep this indoor rain from actually happening but the stains remained.-
The place was eerie as well as even though the braziers and torches were just as dense as in other parts of the castle the place felt darker somehow. Shadows seemed longer and the sharp corners felt like danger waited behind each one faintly. I found the Slytherin common room easily with my haki even though it was cleverly hidden. There was a long serpent stretched out across the baseboard of a plain looking wall but my haki picked up the extra magic in the snake and hollowness behind the wall. It was pretty useless information to have since I couldn't imagine needing to go to the place but at least I knew now.-
Finally we made it to the potions classroom and I immediately went into merchant mode as I examined all the jars of ingredients lining the walls on shelves. I also noticed that the air was completely dry in this room though the temperature was just as cool as the rest of the dungeons. This was no doubt set up this way to help preserve the ingredients as humidity was the bane of preservation. Snape was standing outside the doorway and barely even twitched as we walked in.-
In the classroom there was a chalkboard at the far end near the desk Snape likely used for grading homework. On the board I spotted a recipe for the cure to boils that differed in small but important ways from the one in the book. A few of these changes were ones I already knew from the notes on my second hand copies but there were a few others as well. For example the snake fangs being finely ground rather than coarsely ground. I didn't hesitate to take out a quill and begin copying this formula.-
To little surprise Harry and his group were among the last in the classroom though they weren't late. All across the classroom were fire burners turned off and attached cutting boards and tables for ingredient preparation. Snape finally walked into the classroom and after passing a brief glance at my drying copy of the potion formula spoke.
"You will be brewing the cure for boils potion today from start to finish. I will deduct points for every mistake so I suggest you pay close attention to your cauldrons." he said before the class moved to collect ingredients and cauldrons.