Disclaimer: I quite infortunately do not own any of the Harry Potter chaaracters, settings, or related coolnesses. It all belongs to JK Rowling, along with my life.
Best Class Never
I stood outside the door, my ear pressed against it. There was a class on the other side, a real class- and I was going to teach them. Me, alone, by myself, with absolutely no experience. I was now waiting for Slughorn to calmly open the door and show me into this amazing little class of first-years... I was becoming less and less comfortable with the idea by every second, the closer and closer I got to the point where I actually had to teach them something. Which I doubted I would succeed to! And this was all because of a stupid challenge...
* * *
Here I was, standing at the door of a first year potions class. I backed away quickly as I heard the door click; Slughorn opened, walking out of the class and with a quite evidently forced smile, gestured me into the room. I took a deep breath; where my shoelaces tied? My shirt properly placed? Had I doublechecked my appearance before coming, had I even taken my right mind with me? ''I think not'' I told myself, sighing as I stepped into the class. My face went red as soon as I stepped in, I just knew it. And they weren't even looking at me, the little tykes. I had to clear my throat loudly a few times to get them to notice I was there.
'Erm...' I started awkwardly, 'Well I'm Lily Evans, and I'm going to be teaching you today-'
'Lily Evans?' shouted one boy, who looked as annoying as he sounded, 'the one Potter asks out all the time but you keep rejecting?'
A few of his friends laughed- they had those ugly silver and emerald badges on their robes. 'Why me?' I thought, as I shot the guy a furious look, but ignored the comment and went on.
'Well, I'll be starting the class by handing you out these potions' I said, gesturing behind me. 'You'll then proceed to identifying the potion. Professor Slughorn told me you'd studied it sometime last week... this should judge whether you listened or not.'
I waved my wand, sending flasks of potions to every desk in the class. They all clasped it curiously, examining the green, bubbling liquid inside.
'Do not touch it, simply look at it. You can smell it, but be very careful' I said. 'So, er... anyone know what that is?'
No one answered. At least, no one who truly knew the answer replied. After a few moments, someone shrieked, and all heads turned. A girl with over-large frames and short hair was curled up in her chair, sobbing, as the skin on her left cheek started hanging lower and lower, stretching out like the floor was a magnet. A girl with brown curly pigtails timidly raised her hand. 'A... a Skin Pull Potion, miss?'
I nodded furiously, and the girl's face went pink and some laughed. Others were gasping and shrieking.
'Everyone calm down!' I shouted. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this class. 'Come on' I said to the girl, who didn't dare touch her cheek even though it was nearly reaching the floor. 'Erm... can someone take her to the hospital wing?'
The same girl with pigtails that had risked answering my question raised her hand. I nodded and she ran off with the short-haired one.
'Alright!' I said loudly, my voice shaking. 'Well, this is not a good start, but perhaps I can make it a little better now that everything's settled... So everyone take out your books!'
'I don't have my book with me!' said one student, standing up so fast his chair fell over.
'And why is that?' I was starting to get a bit stressed out.
'I was duelling with this kid' he pointed at a smirking boy at the other end of the classroom 'and he burnt my things.'
'Then sit next to your friend there, whatever! Just make sure you follow' I said impatiently, my voice shaking, only looking forward to finishing this class and getting out. 'Now will everyone please shut up?'
One kid stood up, the one who had apparently burned that boy's Potions book. He was trying not to laugh, it seemed.
'Don't tell us to shut up, that's rude. You could get fired- wait, I mean, expelled.'
The whole class laughed. And it wasn't even funny! I simply proceeded to ignoring him, hoping his smile would fade at my resistance. I continued, bending down to grasp the top of a cage. I brought it up and set it on the table, pulling the cover off. Some students gasped at the creatures inside, which were round and green, with no legs or arms, simply having eyes and tube-like things sticking out of their bodies.
'What is that bloody thing?'
'That' I replied, satisfied at having caught their attention, 'is a Trumpertroll.'
'A what?'
'Trumpertroll! They're not really useful or imporant, only they produce a substance from their, er... tubes- if you poke a certain point hard enough. The Trumpertroll juice is used to heal certain potions, like Colouring, Hair-frizzing or Spit-bubbling Potions. Wands away everyone!'
'It's actually kind of cute!' squeaked one girl, her friend giggling.
'Cute? Are you kidding me? It's gross!' shouted the book-burning boy, and looking at his desk partner's moving lips I knew what was going to happen before it did.
'NO!'
But before I was able to stop him from saying 'Alohomora', the Trumpertroll cage burst open and they all flew out, bouncing and rolling at every corner I could see. It was definitely a disaster.
'Everyone calm down!' I yelled, but nobody seemed to hear me. They were running all over the place, screaming and curling up in corners as Trumpertroll juice splattered everywhere. 'Erm... 50- 50 points from Slytherin...' I said, but not loudly, because I knew there was no hope.
'Ugh,' I sighed, but something else caught my attention- another disaster-to-be. 'STOP!' I yelled at a first-year girl, who was running very close to the shelves. But it was too late- she knocked over a flask, which exploded as it hit the floor and sprayed her with potion. 'And there goes the Colouring Potion' I grunted. 'Oh, where's my wand?'
The girl was changing colors really quickly, her skin going from peach to blue and green, her robes constantly going through the different shades of the rainbow. Then, her sticky pack of friends decided to go see if she was alright. Needless to say, they all stepped in the potion and their feet started changing colors before their shrieks. This was really a disaster.
'Just... calm down! I just need to stop this madness...'
And then I saw it. A Trumpertroll was bouncing around, my wand sticking out of one of the tubes, covered in slimy pink substance. My luck! Determined to get it back, I ran across the class, reaching out for the creature. But it dropped my wand on a shelf, so high I had to climb. Which I did. Pushing myself up with my hands and feet, I got higher and higher, finally reaching the highest point I could. I stretched out my hand, and grasped the end of my wand. 'Yes!' I thought out loud.
I jumped down from the structure, and saw what I feared the most- the Trumpertrolls were bouncing and sliding and flying towards the door, which had been left open by the girl with the hanging skin. They would get out at any moment, exposing my horrible student-teaching madness... I had to act now.
I tried to remember the spell... something that had to do with 'trumper'... I'd last heard it in my third year. It couldn't be that far! And then, it came to me.
'Trumpadikulus!' I tried, waving my wand madly. No effect. I was probably confusing it with Ridikulus... 'Trumpadikulum!'
This time it worked. All the Trumpertrolls froze in mid-air or on the ground, wherever they were, and exploded, sending Trumpertroll juice everywhere on people and furniture, walls and floors. But at least it was over.
Slughorn suddenly burst into the room, and with a hopeful smile of sympathy waved me out of the room so he could take over. One kid was still running all over the place, yelling for his life.
'I'm sorry sir, you've just lost your entire stock of Trumpertrolls...' I said, grinning as I walked out of class, happy it was finally done.
* * *
Now I was sitting in my chair, my very clean chair in the clean Potions classroom, at the front of which Slughorn was standing, talking about the day's events. I was slumped down in my chair, my face nearly level with the the desk because I was so humiliated with my lack of success. I looked and felt exhausted, my hair was everywhere, but I didn't bother fixing it. I was surprised to hear what Slughorn said next:
'Now, no one today succeeded at making a perfect student-teach, but I'm sure you all had fun!' several students grunted. 'Some got better grades than others, yes, but that's not what judges the winner today. The one student that stood out the most today, the winner of this challenge, is... Lily Evans!'
It took me a while to take in those words. I nearly started clapping for whoever the winner was, but realized everyone had turned to stare at me and was now clapping and cheering loudly... for me. I was so shocked, I nearly felt like telling him there must have been a mistake. But it was too true, this chance was too good... so I stood up, still dizzy with surprise, and walked up to the front of the class. I felt like vomiting. Slughorn shook my hand and smiled at me, beaming, apparently pleased with the success of the task.
'Are you kidding?' I snorted, amazed by the situation.
'Of course not!' he chuckled.
'But... why? The class was a disaster. I wasted your stock of Trumpertrolls...'
'We can get more-'
'Made a girl's skin hang-'
'That wasn't your fault-'
'Messed up the whole room-'
'That can be cleaned in seconds-'
'Oh, come on! I made a pack of girls go colorful, honestly-'
'Oh, Lily will you just give it up? They loved it!' said Slughorn.
'No joke?'
'Absolutely not. They actually did learn something, and besides... it was quite original. Either way, you don't win this challenge in function of your grades. The students loved you- they said it was the best class ever.'
Finally, I was quite proud, starting to see some good in this day. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and faced the class, beaming.
La fin!
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I'm not particularly proud of this one, but if you are or are not, no matter, please leave feedback. Thanks to all if you voted, or simply read!
-WW-