Antidote

On the second Wednesday after Christmas, Harry soon had another Potions class taught by Horace Slughorn.

Harry was somewhat looking forward to it, because perhaps he would finally have another chance to bring up the matter of asking Horace Slughorn to give him private Occlumency lessons.

Perhaps he had discussed it with Tierra, or perhaps it was merely a whim or sudden idea of his own, but Horace Slughorn had decided to hold an in-class test after Christmas—

Last Wednesday, the first class after Christmas, Horace Slughorn had announced the news and said that they would have a small in-class test during this lesson.

The test had been waiting on their desks the moment everyone stepped into the classroom—

They were to work in pairs, and each group had a glass bottle filled with differently colored potions on their workbench.

Their task today was to brew, within a single class, an antidote that could neutralize the poison on their desk.

This bold, freewheeling, utterly unrestrained testing method troubled Harry greatly. He pulled the stopper from the bottle of poison on the workbench he shared with Ron. It was the color of a tacky pink fruit drink. He poured it into the cauldron and lit a fire beneath it.

He had no idea what to do next. He glanced at Ron, who was standing there copying everything Harry did, looking even more dim-witted.

"Are you sure Prince didn't leave any hints?" Ron whispered to Harry.

Harry took out his most trusted old copy of Advanced Potion Making and turned to the chapter on antidotes. It was all Gellert's third law, just as Hermione had memorized it. Prince had not written a single word to suggest that it should be interpreted any differently.

"Nothing," Harry said dejectedly.

Hermione was fervently casting Charms