Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Advanced Potion-Making …’
    ‘Sir?’ said Harry, raising his hand.
    ‘Harry, m’boy?’
    ‘I haven’t got a book or scales or anything – nor’s Ron – we didn’t realise we’d be able to do the N.E.W.T., you see –’
    ‘Ah yes, Professor McGonagall did mention … not to worry, my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I’m sure we can lend you some scales, and we’ve got a small stock of old books here, they’ll do until you can write to Flourish and Blotts …’
    Slughorn strode over to a corner cupboard and after a moment’s foraging emerged with two very battered-looking copies of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage, which he gave to Harry and Ron along with two sets of tarnished scales.
    ‘Now then,’ said Slughorn, returning to the front of the class and inflating his already bulging chest, so that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst off, ‘I’ve prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of ’em, even if you haven’t made ’em yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?’
    He indicated the cauldron nearest the Slytherin table. Harry raised himself slightly in his seat and saw what looked like plain water boiling away inside it.
    Hermione’s well-practised hand hit the air before anybody else’s; Slughorn pointed at her.
    ‘It’s Veritaserum, a colourless, odourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth,’ said Hermione.
    ‘Very good, very good!’ said Slughorn happily. ‘Now,’ he continued, pointing at the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table, ‘this one here is pretty well-known … featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately, too … who can –?’
    Hermione’s hand was fastest once more.
    ‘It’s Polyjuice Potion, sir,’ she said.
    Harry, too, had recognised the slow-bubbling, mudlike substance in the second cauldron, but did not resent Hermione getting the credit for answering the question; she, after all, was the one who had succeeded in making it, back in their second year.
    ‘Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here … yes, my dear?’ said Slughorn, now looking slightly bemused as Hermione’s hand punched the air again.
    ‘It’s Amortentia!’
    ‘It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask,’ said Slughorn, who was looking mightily impressed, ‘but I assume you know what it does?’
    ‘It’s the most powerful love potion in the world!’ said Hermione.
    ‘Quite right! You recognised it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?’
    ‘And the steam rising in characteristic spirals,’ said Hermione enthusiastically, ‘and it’s supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us, and I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and –’
    But she turned slightly pink and did not complete the sentence.
    ‘May I ask your name, my dear?’ said Slughorn, ignoring Hermione’s embarrassment.
    ‘Hermione Granger, sir.’
    ‘Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?’
    ‘No, I don’t think so, sir. I’m Muggle-born, you see.’
    Harry saw Malfoy lean close to Nott and whisper something; both of them sniggered, but Slughorn showed no dismay; on the contrary, he beamed and looked from Hermione to Harry, who was sitting next to her.
    ‘Oho! “One of my best friends is Muggle-born and she’s the best in our year!” I’m assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ said Harry.
    ‘Well, well, take twenty well-earned points for Gryffindor, Miss Granger,’ said Slughorn genially.
    Malfoy looked rather as he had done the time Hermione had punched him in the face. Hermione turned to Harry with a radiant expression and whispered, ‘Did you really tell him I’m the best in the year? Oh, Harry!’
    ‘Well, what’s so impressive about that?’ whispered Ron, who for some reason looked annoyed. ‘You are the best in the year – I’d’ve told him so if he’d asked me!’
    Hermione smiled but made a ‘shush’ing gesture, so that they could hear what Slughorn was saying. Ron looked slightly disgruntled.
    ‘Amortentia doesn’t really create love , of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or