"No," Harry said, wincing at the half wrapped bar of chocolate. "I don't think I'll be able to eat chocolate again for a long time. Thanks though." His stomach was roiling just looking at it and the scent of the old toad brains was stuck in his nose. "Put it away before I lose my dinner," Harry begged, and Ron wrapped the foil around the chocolate bar again and stuck it in his pocket.

"Kind of rotten making you do these detentions when you did us all a favor," Ron said in a low tone, aware that Umbridge or other staff could come down either corridor bordering Harry's quarters at any moment. Ron technically wasn't supposed to be there hanging out with Harry. Harry wouldn't be able to really hang out with his friends again until Monday unless it was at meal times.

Ron had one more corridor to get down on his way back to Gryffindor tower before he could end his patrol for the night, and Harry had homework he had to finish before bed, so they said goodnight and Harry went into his quarters, still feeling sick to his stomach.

The day after he'd broken the quill, all of the Gryffindor Prefects had come down Gryffindor table to sit with him to ask if he'd accomplished his task, and he'd recounted all of the details for them, including how Umbridge had refused to answer questions about why the quill was so special or had so many protective charms surrounding it. Harry assumed the other Gryffindor Prefects had spread the word to Prefects in other houses, because none of them had been giving Harry looks anymore as if they were asking him to hurry up and complete his task.

Despite what McGonagall had said about other students not knowing why Harry had sent a spit wad at Umbridge, and him setting a bad example, by the end of the week when Harry was finally done with all of his detentions, every student seemed to know, from first year Slytherins all the way up to seventh year Ravenclaws. According to Ron, Harry was a legend for sacrificing his hand and his time for eleven detentions to save other students the pain and suffering of the blood quill.

"It had to be done," Harry told him in the Saturday potions lab before Snape came in. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It is, you just don't realize it," Ron told him. Others who had come in for the potions lab seemed to have been listening, and as Harry looked around, he received nods from several of them, including some of the Hufflepuffs who had previously given him a hard time.

Snape came into the room with a stack of parchments, probably student essays that had been turned in Friday that needed to be graded. "Harry," he said, and pointed to a desk in the corner away from where Ron and Neville were setting up for the lab.

"Sir, can't Harry sit here to help us?" Ron tried.

"Mr. Potter is still in trouble until Monday," Snape said in a stern tone to Ron.

Harry moved his things to the workbench in the corner, but as he went, back to Snape and his friends, he smiled. Master Snape had used his first name again.

* * *

Sunday evening there was a knock on the door to his room and Harry jumped up, excited and hoping it was Ron or Neville coming to see him despite that he was still not supposed to hang out with friends until the next day. When he opened the door he was surprised to find Snape.

"May I come in?" he asked, and Harry nodded and stepped back to give him entrance. Snape shut the door and Harry stuck his hands in his pockets, not sure if he should invite the man to sit by the fire or not. Snape didn't ask and went to sit by the fire on the couch anyway, leaving the squashy arm chair for Harry.

"As of tomorrow at breakfast, you may spend your free time where you will," Severus told him. He pulled a book out from an inner pocket of his robes and opened it up to a page near the end. "If you pull another reckless stunt, there will be more severe consequences than merely scrubbing floors and taking care of old potions ingredients."

Harry rubbed his hands nervously on the legs of his pants. What did that mean? The only thing more severe Harry could really think of was to be punished like his relatives would do. His mind flickered briefly to the potions supply cupboard and images of himself being locked in there for days on end played before his eyes, but he came back to himself rather quickly. Snape was staring at him.

"Where did you go just now?" Severus asked.

"Sir?"

"Your eyes glazed over. I assume you were no longer in this room."

Harry looked away towards the fire, feeling embarrassed.

"I cannot help you if you do not speak to me about the issues you are facing."

"It's not an issue," Harry said, clearing his throat.

"Then surely it will not be difficult for you to tell me where you went in your mind just now."

Harry's eyes came back around to meet Snape's again. "I was just wondering what kind of punishment you were talking about."

"Are you planning on putting yourself in a reckless and dangerous situation again?"

Harry shook his head.

Severus sighed and said, "I will come up with more creative detentions for you to serve. I will never put you into danger or cause you harm. Embarrassment perhaps," he threatened, and Harry wondered just what he had in mind. Instead of elaborating he indicated the book and said, "OWLs are still many months away, however it would be prudent for me to test you now and see where you are at. This is an OWL study book for potions and it has practice tests inside."

Harry relaxed a little. The man hadn't come to chastise him again, just to test him and help him get ready for his OWLs. It had been a while since they'd done anything potions related together aside from Harry going to classes and occasionally the Saturday Potions lab.

"Name the 12 classes of healing potions," Severus read from the book, and Harry began listing them off, going through each class in his mind and making sure he hadn't missed any. It appeared he'd got them all right because Severus moved on to the next question. "What are the five steps in preserving grade one potions ingredients?"

They went on this way for almost an hour before they made it through the end of the practice test.

"How are you doing with the list of OWL potions?"

"I can brew them all from memory except for the last ten on the list which we haven't covered in class yet."

Severus gave him a serious look. "Do you believe you could brew those without practice if given the recipe and ingredients?"

Harry shrugged. "I think so." He hadn't had trouble with any of the potions so far that year when he was asked to brew them as the rest of the class had to. It was only when he had to brew the potions with the wrong ingredients that he struggled, but even then he was getting better at finding the right ratios more quickly.

"I would like for you to try the last ten potions this week in class. There is no reason for you to stay back while the rest of the class struggles if you are capable of moving ahead with the material."

"Ok," Harry said. Hermione was always ahead in their classes, and Harry felt proud to finally be ahead in something himself.

"If you are able to brew the remaining ten potions this week, I will allow you to do something else for most of your remaining potions class periods this year."

"Different potions you mean?" Harry asked.

Severus gave him a serious look and said, "It appears you made quite an impression on two of the apprentices at the Christmas Eve gathering. Both of them have asked their masters if you can come and help them with their personal projects."

"Really? And I'd get to do that when I'm supposed to be in Potions class?"

"As it is double potions followed by lunch, that would give you three full hours to be away from the castle. You would be able to use the floo in the Headmaster's office to get to and from where you need to be."

"Who asked about me?" He'd spoken to a lot of people but wanted to confirm that it was the two people he thought it was.

"Mairi Macleod and her master Hunter Macleod. They said you had expressed an interest in the dragons being raised at East and West Ire. Isaac Wood also inquired about you, and his master Ida Eadmond has agreed to teach you several of the techniques from France that Isaac has been learning this year."

Severus leaned forward from his spot on the couch and said, "You must be on your best behavior when you are away from the castle. Master Eadmond is very strict and will not hesitate to report back to me any misbehavior or poor direction following. She is also on the Council of Potions Mastery, so I suggest you do not tell her of any..." he trailed off for a moment, looking for the right words. Trying again he said, "She would be very displeased to find that you do not want to be a potions apprentice. That would not go well for either of us."

Harry held his gaze and gave a solemn nod. "I'll be careful sir."

"See that you are. If there is any misbehavior here at Hogwarts, or if your other grades are dropping, I will rescind the privilege of getting to leave during the day time and you will be required to return to my class and follow along with your peers. All of this hinges on your ability to show me you can brew the last ten potions of the year correctly this week."

"I can do it," Harry said with confidence. He didn't know if he wanted to work with Isaac and his master, but he definitely wanted to visit Mairi and her uncle to work with dragons. His mind flickered back to the novels in the bookstore on Camden Alley for a moment. He'd avoided the apprenticeship novels about potions apprentices, thinking they'd be boring. Now he wasn't so sure they would be. He'd never imagined that potions masters and their apprentices gathered at bonfires on Christmas Eve, traveled to collect ingredients, or worked with dragons. It was far more exciting than he had previously thought.

* * *

"Harry," Ron greeted him the next morning at breakfast. He'd risen early as it was his morning to supervise the Great Hall for early risers, and he was surprised to find Harry there by himself at Gryffindor table with their potions textbook open in front of him.

"Sorry," Harry said, not looking up. "I can't stay."

"But-" Ron sat down, confused. "It's an hour til breakfast still. You don't have early detention or anything do you?"

"I have to go to the potions lab and try to brew this potion."

Ron looked at the page and said, "We're not supposed to brew that til' next week."

"I'm brewing it today. I'm brewing all the rest of the potions in the text book this week. I want to try it this morning before class and it only takes twenty minutes to brew. If I hurry I can brew it four times before breakfast is over."

"Whoa, wait, why do you have to do all the potions ahead of time?"

Harry stood up, bag over his shoulder and book in hand. "Sorry," he said, "I'll tell you later," he called over his shoulder, leaving Ron there looking perplexed. Ron might have gone with him if he hadn't needed to stay in the Great Hall.

Later that day after Harry left Defense (where Umbridge spent the entire class writing down notes in her notebook every time she looked at Harry), he hurried down to the dungeons and began setting up his cauldron before Snape or the rest of the class arrived. He was already brewing when Ron and Hermione came in a few minutes later.

"What are you brewing so early?" Hermione asked.

"Don't ask," Ron advised her.

"Well it's not something dangerous is it?" she asked, coming over to look, but Harry held his hand up to stop her.

Because Harry was at a difficult part of the potion he couldn't focus on answering her questions. Instead Ron answered for him, "It's next week's potion. He's going to brew all the rest of the potions for the year this week. He hasn't said why yet."

"But we haven't even gone over those yet."

Harry threw a pinch of black powder into the cauldron just as Snape came into the room, and there was a flash of light and sound as Harry's potion burned off completely, leaving in its place a puddle of black sludge in the bottom of the cauldron.

Hermione winced, thinking it was ruined, but Harry was looking proudly down into the cauldron. Master Snape came over to look too.

"Good," he said. "Move on to the next one on the list."

"You mean that's what it's supposed to look like?" Ron leaned in to Harry and whispered.

"Yup. Messed it up twice this morning before I figured out you really have to throw the powder in to get it to ignite."

Master Snape called the class to order and set them to work trying to master the potion they'd spent the last two weeks on. Only a few people in class had mastered it so far, and for the ones who had they were practicing doing it again.

Harry began to clear his workspace and clean up his knife and cauldron. He wanted to see if he could get all the way through the next potion on the list by the end of class.

* * *

"West Ire," Ron said later that evening at dinner, "I've heard of that. Some kind of coven isn't it?" Harry was shoveling food off of his plate and into his mouth. He was headed back to the dungeons after dinner. He hadn't mastered the second potion on his list yet and if he didn't do it today, he wouldn't get through all ten that week. Master Snape had agreed to let him work in his private potions lab until curfew as he had brewing he had to do himself that evening as well.

"That's the name of the school," Harry said. "The girl's school. I guess the boys go to school on another island called East Ire. I don't know what the coven is called. Do covens have names?" Harry asked.

"There are a few around the country," Hermione said. "I read a little about them but I'll have to look up the one on Skaw."

"Sometimes when mum gets mad at dad she threatens to take all of us and move us to a coven," Ron said, mouth full of potatoes. "I didn't realize covens had schools of their own. I thought all the kids just went to Hogwarts."

"What exactly is a coven?" Harry asked.

Ron and Harry both looked at Hermione, but apparently the little reading she had done on the subject was just that, a little. She didn't know. Ron answered instead. "It's a group of people that don't approve of the Ministry of Magic and that don't want to follow Ministry laws. I mean, they have to, because they live in the country, but inside the coven they have their own laws. Each coven has different laws to follow I guess."

Harry glanced up at the Head table where Umbridge was sitting and writing in the notebook she always had with her now. "A coven doesn't sound too bad right about now," Harry said. "I bet they don't have the Ministry forcing people like Umbridge on them."

"You could ask Professor Snape about it," Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "Maybe I will tonight."

He finished his dinner quickly and said goodbye to his friends, and then headed to the dungeons. Snape hadn't been at dinner that night, and Harry wondered if it was because he'd taken dinner in his quarters.

As Harry worked on the second potion on his list that evening, and master Snape worked on some sort of caustic potion on a different workbench in his private lab, Harry asked him what kinds of laws were different in covens.

"It depends on the coven," he said. "There are covens where only women are allowed to live, and covens only for men. The coven on Skaw has people of both genders. When one moves into a coven they must agree to follow all coven laws before they are accepted. This one in particular believes the Ministry of Magic frequently oversteps its bounds and they do not agree on Ministry laws regarding magical creatures, or witches and wizards afflicted with lycanthropy or vampirism. Because the Ministry deals with covens differently than regular citizens, they are allowed to have their own laws. As an example, you or I would never be allowed to own a dragon or to raise one. On Skaw, coven students are all assigned a dragon to raise as soon as they are old enough to start school at the age of eleven."

"That's so cool," Harry said.

"There are two all female covens, both strictly against men. All of the women that live there are single, and if they have male children, the male children must leave by the time they are seventeen. Male children, brothers, uncles, and fathers may only visit the women in the coven twice a year, and only for two hours at a time, unless the visit takes place outside of the coven. Otherwise both of those covens follow all ministry laws."

"Why would they want to live without men?" Harry asked. He couldn't imagine living without his friends, or without Ginny or Hermione.

"Some men are not very nice to their wives or families. Many women take their children and leave abusive husbands and seek refuge in those two covens. The covens have powerful wards around them and powerful witches that live there. They are more than able to protect themselves and their residents. That is not the case of all residents of those two covens however. Some simply enjoy the peace and solitude of the type of lifestyle a coven offers."

"What do you mean?"

"They grow and forage for their own food, live in a society that is strictly against violence against its members, and don't often interact with the outside world. Covens are tight knit communities of like minded individuals. Some covens have more contact with the outside world than others. The one on Skaw for instance does not isolate themselves, which is the only reason you will be allowed to visit, if you stop talking and focus on mastering that potion."

Harry grinned and said, "I'm done. I moved on to the third one ten minutes ago."

Master Snape turned and saw a bottled blue potion on the workbench in the center of the room. He turned back to his own potion and let the corners of his lips turn up into a small smile. A year ago, or even at the start of the previous summer, he wouldn't have thought Potter could move through the material he'd been given so fast. Out of the many students he'd seen pass through Hogwarts in his time as a teacher, Harry was one of only a handful of prospects he would have considered a natural. He snorted, causing Harry to turn and look at him for a moment, but Severus didn't see. Until the last few months, he never would have believed the child was a natural at brewing potions if he hadn't seen it for his own eyes. Apparently all the boy had needed was time and attention, which is what an apprenticeship was for.

* * *

The Headmaster was happy to see Harry at the door to his office a week later, and greeted him warmly. "Harry my boy, how have you been doing? Well it seems, given that Severus has agreed to let you out of his class for this wonderful opportunity!"

"Yeah," Harry said with a grin. He was wearing his hoodie and warm winter cloak, dragonhide gloves in his hands. He'd just gotten out of Defense, where Umbridge had tried to keep him as late as she could knowing he was due to leave via the Headmaster's floo at exactly ten am.

The Headmaster held out a jar of Floo Powder to Harry and said, "When you return, you must have the address and the password. You must say, ‘Office of Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Lemon Ginger Tea.'"

Harry repeated it twice, and when Albus was satisfied he gave a nod to Harry and Harry stepped into the grate and threw the floo powder at his feet, calling out exactly as master Snape had instructed him, "Hunter's Haven, Skaw." He disappeared in a flash of green and after a dizzying journey past dozens of fireplaces, he came out of a small fireplace and into a little home with wood floors and white wood walls. Mairi was at a little wooden kitchen table waiting for him, and greeted him with a smile.

"There you are! You took your time."

"Sorry," Harry said. "I was getting instructions on coming back."

"C'mon, I was given special permission to leave school to greet you. We've got to get back or uncle Hunter will come looking for us, which means leaving his class."

Harry followed her out of the house and onto a little dirt lane. Fresh sea air swept past his face and he took in a deep breath. There was snow here, as there was at Hogwarts, but not as much. There was so much wind coming up off the sea and across the cliffs it seemed it had blown most of the snow away.

"This way," she said, leading him off down the lane. There were white houses and stone homes all the way down the lane on both sides. Children ran ahead of them and then disappeared between two houses, and Mairi was greeted by several adults as they passed.

"I know he's your uncle," Harry said, "but aren't you supposed to call him master?"

"Only when we're outside the coven, because that's what the Ministry expects," she said. "You can call him uncle too if you want."

"Erm-" Harry said, feeling uncertain.

"You'll see," she said.

After a brisk walk they left the little village and followed the lane up a hill and onto a grassy area. On three sides of them there were cliffs leading down to the sea, and ahead of them they could see the little school. The school buildings were white wood with stone bases just like the ones in the little village.

"That one's the stable," she said. "That's where we're going after we check in with uncle Hunter. From now on you'll come through the Floo on your own and come here. I can't keep skipping class."

"I'll be allowed? I mean, cuz I'll be inside the coven by myself?"

"Well it's not like you're here without permission. We're not shut-ins you know. We get visitors often. Besides, uncle Hunter vouched for you, and it's his Floo you're using."

She led him to one of the white school buildings and opened the door. When they got inside Harry's face turned red. It looked like they'd interrupted a class. Five younger girls around twelve years old were inside brewing a potion that looked like pepperup, and a man with dark brown hair was standing at the front writing something on a chalkboard.

"Mairi," he greeted her. "And you must be Harry. You and I didn't get a chance to speak at the gathering on Christmas Eve, but Mairi told me all about you." He came across the room and shook Harry's hand, which was icy.

"Put those gloves on," he advised. "They'll keep you warm."

Harry did as he was told and tried to ignore the class of girls that were watching him with curiosity.

"When Mairi told me you had an interest in what she was doing with dragons, I asked your master if you could come spend some time here. I'm glad he agreed. Why don't the two of you head out to the stables and get started. Harry, you'll need to watch the time and head back to my house to use the floo at least fifteen minutes before you're supposed to be back."

"Yes sir, I will. Thank you master Macleod."

He laughed then and so did the classroom full of little girls. "None of that," he said. "If we're outside of the coven it's master Hunter. Inside you can call me Hunter if you like."

"I told him to call you uncle," Mairi said, smirking.

"That works too, just don't forget to call me master Hunter when you're outside the coven. Don't want the potions mastery board getting their knickers in a twist. That'd work out poorly for you and me both, but you'd be in more trouble than me."

"Yes sir."

Mairi led him back outside, closing the door in a hurry to keep the wind and cold out of the classroom, and led him across the grassy grounds to the largest building, a tall two story stable. It was the only building not painted white. It was large and rectangular and open on both ends, though as soon as they got inside, Harry's skin was washed in warmth.

"Whoa, it's warm," Harry said, pleased.

"It's the dragons. If we don't leave the ends of the stable open all the heat would sit here and the stable would catch fire. Keep your gloves on though."

Harry gave a nod just as a girl flopped down from an upper part of the stable, hanging upside down as she looked at them, her long hair hanging below her. "Is that him Mairi?" she asked. "The boy from the bonfire?"

"Hi," Harry said.

"I'm Maven." She held out her hand to shake and Harry had to reach up to shake her hand. She pulled herself back up to the upper platform, and disappeared from sight.

"That's all you're gonna get from her," Mairi said, and moved off as if nothing had happened at all. Harry followed as she began pointing things out and giving him a tour.

"Each dragon gets their own stall. Pink puffs over there," she pointed, and Harry peered into a stall where a fat pink dragon about the size of Harry was sleeping. It was the color of pink cotton candy and despite that it had little wings, it looked far too rotund to fly.

"Cornish redflames are on this side," she said, and Harry went across the little center aisle and looked into another stall full of hay. There was a sleek black and red dragon staring up at him and every time it breathed, little orange flames shot out of his nose.

"How come the hay doesn't catch on fire?"

"It's all spelled not to."

She led him to a wooden ladder that led to the upper platforms and Harry went up and was surprised to see almost a dozen little green dragons the size of dogs clinging to the walls or ceiling. Little pink tongues flickered in and out of their mouths like serpents.

"And here are the green spikes," Mairi told him. "These one's don't breathe fire, but they've got a nasty bite so watch out. Don't touch the green spikes without your gloves on, and if one of the little ones tries to climb up your shirt it's best not to fight them."

"What do I do if one of them does try it?" Harry asked.

"Giggle a lot," the girl that had dropped in to say hello minutes before said. She was behind them sitting in the hay covered with several of the green dragons. "It tickles when they lick your skin."

"Are they poisonous? Why do I have to wear gloves when I touch them?" Harry asked.

Mairi held out her hand for one of Harry's gloves and he gave it to her. As soon as she had it on she stuck her finger out to the nearest green spike hanging on the wall and it sank its teeth into her finger and then let go, hissing and tongue flickering in and out. She took the glove off and handed it back to Harry.

"The pink puffs and Cornish red flames aren't much into biting because they have flames to fight people with. You really don't have to worry about the redflames much. It's the pink puffs that are stubborn and will fight you if you try to move them to another stall or something."

"They're like pigs," Maven said.

"Pigs?"

"Oink oink," Maven said, and rolled her eyes and turned away from Harry, apparently done trying to educate him. Mairi laughed and led Harry back down the ladder.

"All the students have a designated class time to be out here. The younger students all come out in the morning with uncle Hunter for class," she said. "Kids 15-17 come out here during their creatures class period by themselves to take care of their dragons. I get two class periods a day out here because I spend my potions class here too gathering useful ingredients. That's what we're going to do when you come to visit."

She led Harry into the stall of a sleeping pink puff and began pulling the deep piles of hay aside until she got down to the dirt floor of the stall. "Pull the hay back and kind of shake it out as you go, and you should find dragon scales." She rooted around in the hay for another moment and came up with a pink pink puff scale almost the size of a bronze knut. "Here we go." She dropped it into Harry's hand so he could examine it.

"Do you know what that's used for?"

He shook his head.

"Pink puff scales are used in strengthening potions. We grind them up into powder. You've learned about the different types of strengthening potions already haven't you?"

Harry nodded. There were ones fit for human consumption that gave temporary strength, and other potions that items could be coated with or infused with. He wondered briefly if the blood quill had been dipped in a strengthening potion.

"We're the only ones that have a consistent supply of them," she said, "so we make decent money selling them or the powder. Uncle Hunter said you can keep half of what you find while you're here."

"Thanks," Harry said.

She pointed to a tin cup hanging on a nail high up in the stall and said, "Put the scales and any claws or teeth you find in there." There was a tin cup painted white next to it on another nail and she said, "Any dragon fur you find goes in there. We can't use the fur in potions, but two ladies in town run a business sewing dragon fur into expensive gloves and other items of clothing."

They spent the rest of the time Harry had that day checking all of the pink puff stalls and sorting out what they found into the tin cups in each stall. When they were done Mairi pulled out a pouch and into it she put four pink puff scales. "These are yours. That's my pouch, bring it back when you come again in a couple days."

Harry took the little leather pouch and thanked her for it. "I have permission to walk you back today, but next time you come you'll walk on your own."

Harry got back to the castle just in time to finish the last ten minutes of lunch. His friends were all interested to hear about what West Ire was like and what Harry had done that day, though he couldn't tell them all of it because he was trying hard to scarf down a sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice before his next class.

"Hagrid would love it there," Harry told them on their way to class. "I didn't get to work with the other dragons, but the pink puffs were pretty cool. They mostly slept and ignored me. Mairi said the pink puffs are nocturnal and are usually awake in the evening and at night. She said last week two of them escaped their stalls and went on an adventure into the village late at night and knocked over a bunch of garbage bins and spread the trash around. Maven said they're like pigs."

"Maven?"

"I don't know anything about her," Harry said. "She was there in the stable up in the loft while I was downstairs with Mairi."

"What was it like being there with only girls though?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "Aside from stepping into a potions class with five girls for a minute, I really only saw Mairi and Maven."

"I wonder why they separate them out like that," Ron said. "Then they have to have teachers for two different schools. I didn't think the coven was that big."

"I think about 30 families live there. Mairi said her uncle teaches potions and creatures class at both schools. I guess the teachers travel back and forth. The boy's school is just on the next little island. There's a bridge from the island the village is on across a little strip of water and rocks to the island the boys school is on." Harry didn't think he'd get to visit the boy's school, but had gotten a glimpse of it off in the distance on his way back to the village with Mairi.

He wished he was going back the next day, but he was only allowed to go on days when he had Potions class, which was every other day. On Wednesday he used the Headmaster's floo to go back to the coven on Skaw, and helped Mairi gather a few scales from the cornish redflames for an hour, which didn't drop scales as often as the pink puffs. After an hour, master Hunter came into the stable to collect them, and led them into the potions classroom, which was now empty.

"I know you haven't had a chance to gather anything from the green spikes yet," he told Harry as he led him to a workbench, "but I wanted to go over how we process the ingredients we gather in the stables. The next time you come we'll be brewing some potions as well."

They spent almost two hours grinding pink puff scales, preserving some pink puff scales whole, soaking cornish redflame scales in a potion to soften them, and talking about how to preserve dragon teeth and claws of any kind. Before Harry left master Hunter handed him a little book and said, "That's for you. That's the textbook used here for raising the three types of dragons we work with. What I want you to read up on for the next time you come back is the last few chapters. They cover potions and other magical uses of the ingredients you've been gathering. I won't give you a written test or anything, but I need you to know what's in there before we do any brewing."

"I will test you on it," Mairi told him, and Harry gave a nod and thanked them. When he got back to the castle, he didn't have time for lunch, but was thankful that Ron had snagged an apple for him from the Great Hall.

* * *

Harry had been back to Skaw six more times, and had been through the three chapters at the end of the dragon care book more times than he could remember. Mairi had been serious about testing him on what was there, and every time he got a question wrong, she demanded he go back and read whatever chapter that information had been in again. Despite that this book was only about three dragons and the potions their scales, claws, teeth, and poop could be used in, there was a lot of information to take in. The last chapter of the textbook had recipes for every potion known that used ingredients from these dragons, including ones far far beyond Harry's skill level. He had asked master Snape about some of them, and was informed that while he could brew them all, he had no desire to brew most of them.

"There are others that specialize in these types of potions, master Hunter and Mairi being two of those people. A certain amount of care must be taken in not only gathering those particular ingredients, but also in brewing the potions." Snape pointed down at the last potion in the book and said, "This one takes two full years to brew and also requires dragon heartstring from a dragon that is willing to give its life for the drinker of the potion."

"Yeah, that could be a real problem," Harry said.

"Dragon blood, scales, claws, and other ingredients are almost never sold at an apothecary, not only because the price is so high for these items, but because most potions masters do not have the desire to brew these types of potions."

"Where does Soren sell the ingredients he gets from dragons then?" Harry asked.

"Most likely to master Hunter or other potions masters that do brew these potions."

Harry nodded. He'd once thought Snape could brew any potion. While he guessed that Snape could, he'd been interested to learn just how specialized each potions master was within their field of study.

"On Monday you won't be returning to Skaw," Severus said. "You'll be going to Alyth to work with master Eadmond and Isaac."

Harry fidgeted for a moment. He'd been nervous about having to work with them. He supposed he liked Isaac all right, but Isaac had said master Eadmond was strict, and master Snape had indicated that he had to be on his toes and not say the wrong thing around her.

"You have nothing to be worried about."

Harry looked up at master Snape. He must have been watching him. "I'm not," he said, though it was a lie.

"You do not have to go," Snape said, surprising him a moment later. "However, it would be in your best interest to do so. The techniques you could learn from her would serve you well in your second two years or last two years of your apprenticeship. Those techniques take discipline, so she will expect you to pay attention and follow directions exactly. That discipline would also serve you well during your first set of apprentice exams."

"I'm going," Harry said.

Snape murmured in satisfaction and turned back to the potion he was brewing at his own workbench. They had been working all morning in his private potions lab since it was Sunday. While Snape brewed Harry had been asking him questions, and preparing the freshest batch of his mushrooms to be stored. He'd offered to do it with Neville, but Neville had no interest in doing anything with the mushrooms after they'd been grown. His primary focus was growing the most perfect mushrooms he could and then passing them off to Harry to prepare and use in potions. Neville had begun growing several different varieties of his own on the workbench he'd been given next to Harry's.

As Harry set to drying out a huge box of mushrooms, laying them out in lines on a drying rack over a small flame across his workbench, he bit his lip and fretted over a question he'd been wanting to ask master Snape for the last two weeks. He was sure the man would say no, but he really wanted him to say yes. He'd gone over at least five different ways to ask him in his head, but wasn't sure which, if any, would get the answer he wanted.

"Sir?"

"Hm," Snape murmured to indicate he was listening.

"I told Mairi about my mushroom project. Since they've had me there for a couple weeks already, we were wondering if she could come here... just for a day I mean, to see what I've been working on."

"Has her master agreed to this?"

"He said she hasn't had a chance to explore any other specialities in potions yet and thought it would be a good idea, if it's ok with you I mean."

"I will have to get it approved by the Headmaster." Harry smiled to himself. He didn't think it would be that easy to get master Snape to say yes. His smile faltered a little when Snape said, "However-" and paused for long moments. "As impressive as your personal project in the greenhouse is, it would not be a real look into mushroom gathering if she does not also learn to prepare and store the ingredients, or to forage for them herself. It would be better if she came on weekends so we could go and forage and then prepare ingredients."

"Really?" Harry asked excitedly.

"There are a wide variety of mushrooms in the Forbidden Forest that I have not had a chance to go out and search for this year. If I get approval from the Headmaster, I will speak to master Hunter to see what he has to say on the matter."

Like on Christmas when he learned that he'd be spending Christmas with the Weasleys, Harry was overwhelmed briefly with the urge to hug Snape again. As the man still had his back to him and was adding ingredients into the potion he was brewing, Harry didn't think he'd appreciate a hug just then, or ever.

He turned back to his mushrooms and smiled to himself again. This conversation had gone far better than he had expected it to.

* * *

As nervous as he was to go to Alyth to work with master Eadmond and Isaac, Harry was glad he had decided to go. He used the floo from the Headmaster's office again and appeared in a large house on a farm in Alyth. Master Eadmond and Isaac were sitting in the living room having tea while they waited for him.

"Erm, I hope I'm not late," Harry said, feeling anxiety creep over him as he stared at these two people he didn't really know at all.

"Not at all," master Eadmond said. "Have a seat Mr. Potter. It wouldn't be proper to have you without lunch first. We cannot brew on an empty stomach."

Harry looked to Isaac to see what he thought about this, and noted that Isaac didn't have his hair down in his face today. He was dressed as proper as master Eadmond was, and though Harry was in his school uniform, he felt completely underdressed for the situation.

"Ok, thank you," he said. He took a seat next to Isaac as Master Eadmond poured him a cup of tea. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun, tighter perhaps than professor McGonagall's usually was, which Harry hadn't realized was possible. He accepted the cup of tea from her and then a sandwich from Isaac.

"In order to focus on brewing, it's important that all of your needs are met before you begin to brew," she said. "Food, sleep, use of the lavatory. If your basic needs aren't met first, you won't be able to focus on the precise steps we'll be following. Tell me Mr. Potter, did you get a good night's sleep?"

Harry swallowed the bite of his sandwich and said, "Yes maam."

"The other boys in your dormitory did not keep you up late?" she asked.

"I have apprentice quarters," he said.

"And no roommates at all?"

"I- didn't realize I could have roommates in apprentice quarters."

"You could if there were other male apprentices in your house," Isaac said. The way he spoke was so proper compared to how he'd talked at the bonfire on Christmas Eve that Harry turned and stared at him for a moment before closing his mouth and turning back to master Eadmond.

"I don't have any roommates," he told her.

"Very well."

She asked him a few other polite questions as they ate, such as how he was liking his apprenticeship, what he'd been doing with master Hunter on Skaw, and if he had any inclination yet as to what kind of speciality he wanted to pursue.

"I like foraging for ingredients," Harry said. He didn't really think that was a speciality, but he wished it were. He told her and Isaac briefly of his mushroom project now located in the greenhouses, and what all that had entailed when master Eadmond asked him questions about it. She seemed neither impressed or unimpressed, and when he was done telling them about it, she stood up and told Harry and Isaac to follow her into the lab.

She led them through the house and into a room that was well lit with large windows overlooking the foggy fields the house sat in. It was bigger than Snape's private lab but not by too much. There were workbenches set up along three walls, and the wall with the door had floor to ceiling apothecary shelves filled with ingredients, tools, and books.

Isaac handed Harry a white work apron that went over his head and covered his clothes, and then told Harry to roll up his sleeves. Harry wasn't used to wearing an apron, but Isaac and master Eadmond were both wearing them so he didn't complain.

"Has Severus gone over the Mélange Triplet technique with you?"

"No maam."

"There are a great many potions that require you to stir constantly and consistently for up to an hour. This is not only tedious but time consuming. Some of the more advanced potions that require this will also require you, or an assistant, to add ingredients in while you continue stirring, making it difficult for a potioneer to make these potions by his or herself. The Mélange Triplet stirring method will satisfy the potion's need to be constantly stirred without you having to stir for the duration of the brewing."

She filled a cauldron with water and beckoned Harry over as she pulled out a silver stirring rod. "This is how one would stir consistently, in say, a Felix Felicis potion." She demonstrated constant stirring at a steady pace. "And this," she said, "is how one would use Mélange Triplet. Three quick stirs with a hard swish at the end of each, and then a break of exactly three seconds before starting again." She demonstrated, bringing the stirring rod around in a circle, finishing the circle at the bottom with a quick hard motion, and then doing so again two more times, counting to three, and then doing it all over again. "If your potion requires one hour of constant stirring, you would do this for twenty minutes. Whatever amount of time the potion requires constant stirring, you do this for a third of that amount of time. This leaves the latter two thirds of your brewing time open to preparing ingredients that must be added later, or for you to start other batches of the same potion."

Harry stared into the cauldron of water, unsure how this worked. The reason you had to stir consistently in some potions for the full duration of the brewing was because the potion would gel or burn if you didn't.

"Ask your questions," she said. "I would much rather you come to a full understanding of the technique before you attempt to brew a potion with this technique."

"How does it work?" Harry asked. "Won't the potion still congeal or burn in the second two thirds of the brewing because it's not being stirred?"

"You didn't see the real technique because she showed you in a cauldron of water," Isaac said. "Once an actual potion is over an open flame the technique causes the potion to continue to stir itself for the remainder of the brewing time. It's like doing a spell without a wand. Because you're putting so much concentration into how you stir when using the Mélange Triplet, you're subconsciously casting a spell on the air in and above the liquid that makes it continue to stir itself."

"That is correct," master Eadmond said. "And because the spell is being cast on the air, it will not interfere with the potion." She handed the stirring rod to Harry and indicated the cauldron of water. "Attempt the Mélange Triplet now on the water. When you have it down we will try to brew a potion."

Harry tried to replicate what she had showed him, but it was harder than it looked. Apparently the timing had to be exact, the swish had to be hard enough to really send the liquid into a spin around the cauldron, and you had to fall into a rhythm. This technique required Harry to hold the stirring rod a different way than he was used to as well, and it was a full hour of Isaac correcting him before master Eadmond thought he was ready to attempt the technique on a potion.

"Instead of brewing a potion that takes a full hour, brewing a potion that only takes ten minutes would be a better use of your time. If you fail to perform the technique correctly, we can simply start again."

She set him to brewing a cold draught that Harry hadn't brewed yet, though the instructions were simple enough. A second or third year probably could have done it. They set a timer for 3.3 minutes, and Harry set to stirring using the new technique. He did well for the first two minutes, but messed up, and the potion had to be vanished and started again. He tried three more times before he was able to make it all the way through the 3.3 minutes of stirring. When the timer went off he pulled his stirring rod out of the potion and watched with curiosity as it continued to stir itself, not in a set of three stirs with a pause at the end, but in a constant stirring motion just as the original recipe called for.

"Good," master Eadmond said. "While this is brewing for the next 6.6 minutes, start another cauldron and do it again. When you can get five cauldrons brewing at once without a mistake, we will call the technique mastered and move on to the next."

Harry didn't get through five cauldrons by the time he had to take the floo back to the Headmaster's office, but master Eadmond didn't seem disappointed in him. It would take Harry another four trips to Alyth before he had it mastered, and while it wasn't the same as visiting Mairi at West Ire, he couldn't say he hadn't enjoyed it. These trips got him out of the castle, and he found almost everything he learned interesting.

* * *

Harry was surprised to find that master Snape hadn't just invited Mairi, but also Isaac to the castle to see Harry's mushroom project, followed by an hour in Snape's private lab preparing mushrooms from the greenhouse.

Master Hunter had apparated Mairi directly to the edge of school grounds at the gates, and Isaac had floo'd into Hogsmead and walked up the drive to the Hogwarts gates, where he met Harry and Mairi. Harry had been given permission to meet them and walk them back up to the castle through the chilly fog one Saturday morning.

"Are we working with Master Snape today?" Mairi asked as they walked up to the castle.

"Yeah, but not until later. He's supervising Saturday potions lab right now."

"You have school on Saturdays?" she asked.

"No, but the upper years can attend an optional potions lab for two hours on Saturdays to practice potions they've been having trouble with or need to work on for OWLs. Do people at your school take OWLs and NEWTs?"

"We do," she said.

Isaac was quiet as they walked.

"Are we going to work inside the castle at all?" Mairi asked.

"We'll be in the greenhouses outside first, and then in the dungeons in master Snape's private lab. We have permission to eat lunch in the Great Hall later too. I'd show you around, but I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Isaac asked. He didn't need showing around since he'd graduated Hogwarts, but he was curious.

"There's this new Professor... actually she's from the Ministry. She's not very happy that the Headmaster gave us permission to have you two today. She's always trying to get me into trouble." Harry wasn't so worried about getting in trouble as much as he was about Umbridge being rude to their guests.

He led them to the greenhouses which weren't far from the castle, and explained each of the greenhouses and what they were for, before taking them into greenhouse five. "This one's off limits to most students," he said, "because it has teacher projects in it."

It was only a moment before Neville popped his head out from around a huge shelf covered in sprawling viny plants though.

"This is a professor?" Mairi asked.

"This is my friend Neville," Harry said with a laugh. "He's one of the four students allowed to be in here."

"Hi," Neville said, holding his hand out to Mairi and then to Isaac to shake. "Harry said he was bringing you down to harvest mushrooms so I figured I'd be here since you'll be harvesting some of mine too."

"Neville, this is Mairi and Isaac. Mairi is 17, Isaac is 19. She's a third year apprentice and he's a second year apprentice."

Harry and Neville led them down the side of the greenhouse to their workbenches. Neville had found or built shelves on top of and under his workbench, and now had almost a dozen varieties of common mushrooms he'd found on the grounds growing on the shelves. Harry's workbench looked much the same as his mushroom den had, with stations set up to grow shaggy inkcap, red elf cap and wood ear.

"Neville doesn't want any of the mushrooms from his station that we're harvesting today, so you'll each get to keep half of today's harvest, and the same from my workstation. Master Snape has a workbench in the back of the greenhouse," Harry indicated towards the back of the large warm greenhouse, "and he gave us permission to harvest a few of his mushrooms as well."

Harry quickly explained how to harvest each mushroom, and then went over the few types on his workbench and what each were used for. Neville went over the many mushrooms he was growing as well as his attempts to hybridize several, though he didn't know what potions they were used in, so Harry went over that.

As Mairi and Isaac harvested, clipping mushroom fruits off of the bunch at the base, Harry supervised and asked them each questions about what they were harvesting, trying to help them retain the information like Soren and Rand had once done for him while harvesting aconitum.

They kept the harvested mushrooms separated in different collecting baskets, and in the case of the shaggy inkcap, in a large jar so that when it liquified it wouldn't make a mess. It was a full hour before they moved to the back of the greenhouse to the large section Snape was using to grow a wide variety of ingredients. Master Snape had brought Harry out here the evening before to show him what he was growing and which mushrooms he wanted Harry to harvest.

"Are you an apprentice too?" Mairi asked Neville as he sat on a stool at Snape's workstation and watched them harvest.

"Me? Oh no," Neville said with a laugh. "Harry's been trying to convince me but I prefer to work in a greenhouse. I'm going to have a farm one day and grow all sorts of ingredients. Maybe Harry and I can start our own business. I'll grow things and he can brew with them."

"Actually," Harry said, "I kind of like the growing and harvesting part myself. If we start a business Neville we'll need to get Ron in and have him run the shopfront of an apothecary, that way we can stay on the farm." He laughed, but he didn't really find the thought funny. It was an appealing idea, being able to have a plot of land somewhere with a big greenhouse just like this one, a patch of woods to forage in, and maybe a potions lab.

"And Ginny too?" Neville asked with a grin, but Harry ignored him.

"Mr. Weasley would need a mastery to run an apothecary," came master Snape's voice from behind them. They stopped what they were doing and Harry looked up, feeling guilty though he didn't know why.

"This is master Snape," Harry said to introduce he and Mairi. "Are we running late?"

"The Saturday lab has just finished. Continue with the harvest."

Master Snape shook Isaac's hand, and then Mairi's. He asked how Isaac was liking his first two years of apprenticeship and if he was ready for the apprentice exams that were coming up in just a few months. Because Isaac was in his second year, he was facing his first set of exams soon. Harry was glad he still had another year to go before he took his.

"I'm ready," Isaac said.

As they finished up their work, the standard questions seemed to go around, and Harry was pleased that for once he wasn't on the receiving end of them. Snape asked Mairi and Isaac both if they had figured out what they wanted to specialize in yet, if they were planing on sticking with their current masters or changing to new ones after their exams, and other questions that Harry had been asked whenever he met new potions masters.

Isaac it turned out, wanted to go into a more dangerous line of potions like Soren, and was looking to change to a new potions master after his exams, though he was quick to say that he was glad he'd done his first two years with master Eadmond. Mairi, unsurprisingly, was going to stick with her uncle. She was finishing up her last year of school at West Ire and was looking forward to being able to travel more and do more things like visiting other potions masters to learn what they had to teach.

When they were done harvesting mushrooms in the greenhouse, and were walking back to the castle Harry was surprised when master Snape invited Neville to come to his private lab to see what was being done with his mushrooms.

Harry had a feeling Neville would have declined, but because Mairi and Isaac were there and it wasn't just going to be Snape and Harry, Neville accepted.

Harry set them all up drying mushrooms, crushing others into a paste, and processing the shaggy inkcap, and once everyone (including Neville) was working, Snape began to ask questions about what potions each of the mushrooms were used in.

Mairi and Isaac took turns answering, and twice when they couldn't remember the answers, Neville spoke up and answered for them. "Don't give me that look," Neville whispered to Harry when he caught his friend grinning at him. "I spent enough time in the mushroom den listening to you go on about potions that I had time to memorize the list."

"Ya know, if you got an apprenticeship of some kind before we graduated, you and I could be roomates in the apprentice quarters."

"What?"

"Yeah, I didn't know that either. I guess there's one room next to each house."

"There are two," master Snape said, leaning back against the workbench next to them. Harry and Neville had finished what they were doing and were watching Mairi and Isaac talk as they worked next to each other across the little lab at their own workbench.

"Sir?" Harry asked.

"There are two apprentice rooms near each house, one for boys, another for girls. If there are only two boy apprentices, or only two girl apprentices, they can each have their own quarters, though some choose to room together. It has been a long time since there have been enough apprentices attending school at once to warrant roommates. It was more common fifty years ago than it is today. Even so, there are enough apprentice rooms spread throughout the castle that even if Gryffindor had several apprentices, they could all have their own rooms if they wanted to."

"I didn't realize," Harry said.

"Apprentices were once the only Prefects. As apprentices became fewer, Prefect positions began going to regular students who had shown merit."

"Did that mean apprentices were Head Boy and Head Girl then?" Harry asked. "I thought they couldn't be if they became Prefects by being an apprentice."

"The rules changed as fewer apprentices were attending Hogwarts. As the Head Boy and Head Girl have extra duties, it became less common to award those positions to apprentices, as apprentices have extra studying and tasks they must complete on top of their own schoolwork. The last Head Boy that was an apprentice was the Headmaster."

"Professor Dumbledore was an apprentice?" Neville asked.

"He was," Severus said. "There was a mage teaching Transfiguration during his time at school. He did a four year apprenticeship to him for magery... wandless magic," he clarified after a moment.

By the time they were done, Mairi and Isaac both had almost a dozen jars of ingredients to take home with them, and Snape had also given them both a copy of the little fungus guidebook he'd once given to Harry to memorize. "In the spring we will meet again to gather mushrooms together off of school grounds. I advise you to memorize this guidebook before that time." He didn't give a copy to Neville, and Neville looked sad.

"You can look at my copy," Harry said. "You won't be able to come out with us though since you're not an apprentice."

"I don't need to be," Neville said brightly, though for the first time since Harry had brought it up earlier that school year, he thought Neville looked like he might want to be one.