THE DOOR swung open as Jade reluctantly entered the Potions classroom. She hated Professor Snape, which she had gotten from her mother, who also despised the man. They weren't exactly the best friends when they were in Hogwarts together. Jade's mother had been a Slytherin two years below Snape, and though she understood why he was so grumpy all the time, that didn't stop her from hating him.

The class was composed of mainly Hufflepuff students, like Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. Jade was friends with approximately two people in the classroom, Parvati Patil, a Gryffindor, and Su Li. She walked over to them, clutching her Potions book tightly to her chest. Su gave her a small nod, acknowledging her existence. Parvati smiled at her, but the smile quickly disappeared from her face as Professor Snape strutted into the room, his long black cloak billowing behind him.

"Welcome to Potions, fifth year's." He mumbled, gazing at the students around the room. "I see that we have mainly Hufflepuff students in here. That's alright, you aren't exactly the most competitive of Houses."

Snape chuckled to himself, and Hannah Abbott rolled her eyes. Of course he would start the year mentioning his House's rivalries in Quidditch.

"Today, you will be learning how to brew a Calming Draught. You will find that it is not the most difficult potion in this class, but it is not one of the easiest." With a flick of his wand, the supply cabinet door flung open, revealing its contents. "At the end of this year, all of you will be taking a very important examination in which you will show how much you have learned from this class and how you choose to utilize it. I would pay attention during class this year."

Snape shot a glare at two Hufflepuffs, who smirked at each other.

"For this potion, you will need to flip to page 106 in your books."

Jade turned the pages rapidly, eventually landing on a picture of a poorly drawn cauldron with the words "CALMING DRAUGHT" scribbled above it.

"Use Alihotsy sparingly..." She mumbled, dragging her finger down the page as she read through the ingredients. "One Eye of Newt, Boom Berry juice, and a dash of Wormwood."

Parvati, Su, Jade, and Hannah took up one table, all stirring their potions intently. As Su looked down at her book, black smoke began to rise from her cauldron.

"Su, what did you put in there?" Jade asked, wiping sweat from her forehead. The room had grown hot since they began.

"I put Ginger Root in there." She stared at her cauldron, continuing to stir it.

"It doesn't say anything about ginger." Parvati rose one of her thin eyebrows, pointing at the ingredients list.

"What? I swear it did.." She trailed off, scanning the list of ingredients again. Professor Snape had finally seen the smoke rising and began to strut towards the table. "I put ginger in instead of Wormwood."

"What a pity." Snape sneered, pulling Su's now dissolved spoon out of the cauldron. "It appears you've made an entirely different potion, one that melts wood."

Su groaned, slamming her book shut and sitting down on a stool. The professor nodded at Jade's potion, which she hoped meant she had done it right.

As class ended, Professor Snape instructed the students to leave their cauldrons there and pick them up in the morning.

"I will be bottling up your Calming Draughts, as long as they are good. Madame Pomfrey could always use more."

Jade picked up her books and exited the classroom with Parvati, who shared the next class with her.

"Are you ready for Transfiguration? I'm excited to finally make mice disappear, I hate mice you know." Parvati droned on, complaining about her dislike for rodents.

Jade had learned how to drown out the Patil twins. Even though Padme was usually quiet, when you got her going, she never shut up, and Jade grew used to it. She just nodded and uttered a few "yeahs" every now and then, so Parvati didn't question if she was listening. As they walked, Jade felt something brush by her arm, like light fingers touching her sleeve. She looked up and turned around, confused.

In the crowd of students rushing to their next classes, Jade made contact with Luna's gorgeous gray eyes, and she smiled.