Methodless Madness Ch. 2 (Scientist!Harry.) (Patreon)

I've also considered naming this one "Harry Potter and the Methods of Irrationality" but I don't know if that's leaning too far into it. Either way, here's chapter 2.

...

Daphne sipped her tea at breakfast. She felt perfectly fine, only slightly affected by her late night expedition into Harry's trunk.

The boy in question couldn't say the same. Harry had his forehead directly planted on the table, snoozing away as his breakfast grew cold.

“Harry? Are you ok?” Susan muttered as she poked him lightly on the side. The boy shifted around but didn't lift his head. Daphne sighed as she poked his other side with considerably more force.

“Ah!” Harry jostled awake, his taped-together glasses having fallen halfway down his face. “It wasn't me, I swear!”

“Harry, it's breakfast.” Hannah said. “Its only our first day.”

Harry scratched his chin as he tried to blink away the sleep. “Right, right.”

“Maybe you should go to the hospital wing and get a pepper-up potion.” Susan suggested.

Harry made a face. “I heard those taste awful. In fact, write that down, Daphne, we're going to fix the taste of potions.”

Daphne sighed, but she had her notepad ready and jotted down ‘Potions with improved flavour’ either way.

The fluttering of wings filled the air as owls flew in from the rafters, carrying letters and newspapers by the dozens.

Daphne's gaze sharpened as she spotted it. Its feathers flecked with grey and sporting a severe brow, the Greengrass family owl landed beside her plate. Tied to its leg was a letter carrying the Greengrass seal.

Harry glanced at Daphne as she stared stone-faced at the letter. Hannah, Susan and Ernie had all received their own letters from home that took up their attention. None of them seemed as tense as Daphne as she tore the envelope open and pulled out the parchment inside.

Daphne's eyes scanned over the paper, her heart thumping with every word.

It could have been worse. Father was disappointed. She would need to attend the debutante ball this winter, something she had hoped to be able to avoid until her third year. It would be an uncomfortable night, but she hoped father would not be cruel enough to expect her to actually be courted. She was still only a first year, after all.

Daphne folded the letter back up and stuffed her concerns back into the bottom of her heart. She took a few steadying breaths, and then she caught Harry looking at her from the corner of her eye.

“What?” She snapped.

“You've got a smudge on your cheek.” Harry pointed at his own cheek.

Daphne's eyes widened, unable to believe she would commit such a faux pas. She touched her face out of reflex, and found that it was unblemished.

“There is no such thing.”

“Oh, sorry, I thought I saw something.”

“You need to get those glasses fixed.”

“I'm working on that thing you mentioned.” Harry said. “Though I think I'll keep my glasses afterwards, for the look.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow. “The look? The look is a disaster.”

At that moment, Professor Sprout passed by, handing out their schedules, and Daphne had completely forgotten about her father's letter.

“Here you go, dearies. There's a map of the castle on the back for you, but I suggest you travel as a group for the first week or so.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Susan said as she took her schedule. 

“Transfiguration with the Slytherins, History with the Hufflepuffs and double Defense with the Gryffindors after lunch.” Hannah read out.

“We're getting through every other house on day one.”

“We should get a move on then.” Ernie suggested. “We only have fifteen minutes to make it to our first class.”

“Fifteen minutes is a bunch of time.” Harry said as he took a look at the map of the school for the first time. His eyes widened considerably as he rotated the map every which way. “Where are we again?”

Daphne put her finger over his map. “The Great Hall is here.”

“Ok. So that means we just have to go up this way and then down this corridor and up these stairs and across this patio.”

Susan leaned over his shoulder. “Harry, the transfiguration classroom is over here.” She pointed at the opposite side of the map.

Daphne took Harry's schedule from his hands. “Just follow behind me.”

Harry grinned at her. “You're the best assistant ever.”

“Daphne's your assistant?” Susan asked as the first years collected their bags and began the trek to their first class, Daphne and Ernie leading the way.

“I'm not.” Daphne deadpanned without looking back. Harry just gave Susan a silent nod. “I saw that.” The blonde warned.

“No you didn't.”

The motley crew of fifteen year olds traveled as one, with Daphne keeping a confident, steady pace as if she already knew the map like the back of her hand. While the moving staircases and trick steps slowed them down, they managed to make it to class with five minutes to spare.

They spread out into the classroom, eying the cat sitting atop the professor's desk with curiosity. Harry and Daphne sat at one desk, with Susan and Hannah taking the one to their left and Ernie and another housemate sitting to their right.

“I wonder whose cat that is.” Susan asked.

“That's not a normal cat.” Harry said.

“What makes you say that?” Daphne asked as she pulled out her textbook and notebook.

Harry shrugged. “Normal cats hiss at me when they see me.” 

The girls shot him incredulous looks as their Slytherin classmates began to enter the classroom.

“Daphne.” Pansy said curtly as she and Millicent Bullstrode took their seats directly in front of them.

“Pansy.” Daphne responded cooly.

“Hufflepuff, huh? I would have never thought you'd end up in a house like that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Hannah asked defensively.

Pansy scoffed, and she looked ready to fire back with a scathing remark.

“You girls know each other?” Harry asked with interest.

Pansy looked at him suspiciously. “We do, since we were children.”

“That's great. You can hang out with us any time, both of you.” He looked over to Millicent. “You can never have enough guinea pi-friends. You can never have enough friends! How good is your pain tolerance, by the way?”

Pansy was left bewildered by Harry's line of questioning, but Millicent answered readily. “It's pretty high.”

“What's going on here?” Draco Malfoy arrived flanked by two large boys.

“Just making friends.” Harry said as he stood up and held his hand out to the Malfoy heir.

Draco's eyes drifted from Harry's frumpled robes to the pink tape holding up his glasses. “I reject your offer of friendship, Heir Potter.”

Everyone around them took in deep breaths at Draco's rash insult towards Harry's house and lineage. Hannah and Susan looked irate, and while Daphne kept her cool demeanor, under the table, her fists were clenched.

“Oh, ok. The offer's still there if you change your mind. What about you girls?” He asked Pansy and Millicent.

Daphne was shell shocked. It was as if Harry didn't care one bit. He took Draco's insult in stride and left the blonde stuttering to come up with a response.

“Sure, we'll consider it.” Millicent answered for Pansy and her.

“Alright, that's enough, children. Face forward.” 

At the front of the class, where there had once been a cat now stood the very serious and severe head of Gryffindor house.

“Told you.” Harry whispered as everyone straightened up and faced forward.

McGonagall launched into a short introduction, capped by transfiguring her desk into a pig and back, earning her ooos and aaaas from the students.

“Now, for our first class, we will be reviewing basic theory.” McGonagall allowed the expected groans of disappointment to ring out. “You've all had varying degrees of instruction, and experience has taught me that much of what you're taught in workshops is not retained, so the first few classes will rely heavily on review. Now, let us begin.”

The professor began a lecture on the basic principles of transfiguration. Her assessment was proven right by the way almost every quill in the room was scratching away, jotting down her every word.

Daphne glanced over at Susan and Hannah, who were hurriedly writing along with everyone else. She shook her head as she glanced down at her own, immaculately organized notes. For her, this was simply a review, a good mental refresher that would help her better retain the information.

Daphne felt a shift to her side but ignored it, figuring Harry was just fidgeting. But she couldn't ignore it when she heard the same soft breathing as during breakfast.

She turned her head as subtly as she could manage so as to not draw McGonagall's attention. Just as she dreaded, Harry had his head on the desk, mouth wide open as he snoozed away.

“Harry.” She grit her teeth as she poked him hard on the side once more. He woke with a start, and luckily for them, he didn't yell out this time, simply looking over to Daphne with bleary eyes.

The rest of the lecture continued in this manner, with Harry struggling to ward off sleep and Daphne doing her best to keep him awake. 

They'd just about managed to survive the entire lecture when McGonagall's voice snapped from across the classroom.

“Mr. Potter, Ms. Greengrass, what is so interesting that you cannot pay attention to my lecture?”

Daphne stiffened as Harry, who had been resting his face on his hand, spoke groggily. “We were paying attention, Professor.”

“Were you? Tell me, Mr. Potter, what principle of transfiguration was I explaining just now?”

Malfoy snickered as Daphne suppressed a sigh. Harry had just barely woken up mere moments earlier. She just hoped McGonagall only deducted points and didn't discipline them any further.

“You were explaining the first principal exception to Gamp's Law, which is that food cannot be conjured. I don't agree with that, though.”

The first years didn't know it, but they were witnessing a very rare sight indeed, the Deputy Headmistress, left completely flabbergasted. “You were… wait, what do you mean you disagree with the first exception, Mr. Potter?”

“I don't think it's right, Professor. You turned your desk into a pig. If we cooked that pig, it would be food, wouldn't it?”

McGonagall shook her head, though a smile had now formed on her face. “That is quite an astute observation, Mr. Potter, but it is not correct. When cooked, the meat of a conjured animal will taste bland and unappealing. This has been tested many times.”

Harry frowned. “But it still keeps you fed?”

“...Yes. but I doubt anyone would want to spend the rest of their lives consuming tasteless food.”

“What about seasoning?” Harry plowed on, looking fully awake for the first time all morning.

“Breaks down the meat very quickly. I would love to continue this discussion, Mr. Potter, but this is a bit outside the scope of this class. Have five points to Hufflepuff for your imagination.”

Class was out soon after, and the pack of Hufflepuffs now followed Ernie and Hannah's lead as they tried to pick their way to History of Magic.

“I still think it can be done.” Harry mumbled under his breath.

“How did you do it?” Daphne asked him.

“Do what?” Harry raised his head to see both Susan and Daphne looking at him expectantly.

“You were sleeping the entire time McGonagall brought up Gamp's Law, Harry. Are you able to shut down part of your brain while the rest remains alert?”

Harry laughed. “Oh no, though that would be really cool.” He reached down towards his satchel, where his notebook had already been hanging out, dangerously close to falling off. He opened the notebook and showed them row upon row of neat, mechanical writing.

“I dissected a few quick-quotes quills and managed to transfer the enchantment over onto this notebook.” Harry said proudly. “I just had to glance down at what was on the page and skip over the parts that were Daphne cursing me out.”

“Is it still going?” Susan asked as she noticed the notebook wriggling in Harry's hand.

Harry frowned as he flipped the pages, finding that the notebook was in fact still transcribing.

“Fuck, at this rate It'll run out by the end of next period.” He sighed. “Oh well, I'll figure it out next time.” He didn't break stride as he chucked the notebook into a nearby bin.

History of Magic was taught by the ghostly Professor Binns, who launched into a lecture without even bothering to introduce himself. Harry dozed off within a minute of the class starting, but he wasn't alone for long, as soon more than half the class was fast asleep. 

Daphne herself was struggling. She had long since given up on keeping notes, and her eyes were feeling quite heavy.

Harry leaned into her, and his head drooped, falling onto her shoulder, much to Daphne's chagrin. She pushed him off, but that only made Harry lean the other way. When his head fell onto Susan's shoulder, the redhead blushed, glancing around before she adjusted so that he would be more comfortable.

At lunch, Harry was scarfing down food like there was no tomorrow. He was full of vitality and had a smile on his face.

“I really needed that nap. Now I really feel like myself.”

“You still need to fix your sleep schedule. You can't just sleep through morning classes every day.” Daphne warned.

Harry smiled mysteriously. “Don't worry, Daph, we’ll work on that right after class.”

Daphne nodded, jotting something down on a small notepad. “Will an hour suffice? From six to seven?”

Harry pouted. “Wait, you're actually scheduling it?”

“What is it that you guys are going to do after class?” Susan asked with a slight frown as she glanced between them.

“I like to run experiments, and Daphne's my ass- she's helping me.” Harry said as he bisected a piece of broccoli straight down the middle and opened it up like a canoe.

“What kind of experiments?” Hannah asked.

Harry shrugged. “All kinds. You name it, I'll try it.”

“Isn't that kind of dangerous? We don't even know any magic.” Ernie said.

Harry shrugged. “I've been mostly fine so far. Just a few scrapes and burns.”

After lunch it was time to go to their initial Defense lesson with the Gryffindors. 

Upon entering the classroom, they were struck by the deep, pungent stench of garlic.

Professor Quirrell stood at the head of the class, fidgeting nervously and averting his gaze whenever a student looked his way.

“Hey there, Hermione!” Harry waved at the brown-haired girl who took a seat a few desks down. “Surprised you ended up in Gryffindor, I would have pegged you for a Ravenclaw.”

“Harry.” Hermione said curtly, though next to her, Parvati waved at them. “Hi Harry, Daphne.”

Everything stopped as Neville Longbottom made his grand entrance to the classroom. He walked with a regal demeanor, chin held high, acting as if the others were beneath his consideration. Professor Quirrell's eye twitched as Longbottom took a seat near the back, where the other Gryffindor boys quickly surrounded him.

“Stay away from him, Harry.” Daphne hissed under her breath.

“He's a bit of a prick.” Susan added. “Thinks he's the greatest thing since Sugar Quills.”

Harry glanced over at Quirrell, who had begun the class and was stuttering his way through a speech with his back turned away from them. “I'll just go and say hi real quick.”

Before they could stop him, Harry slinked off to the back of the classroom, where Longbottom and his group of Gryffindors eyed him suspiciously.

“Hey there.” Harry greeted Longbottom. Almost immediately, his eyes went to the boy's scar. He couldn't really see anything strange about it, no pulsating greenish glows, just a regular scar in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Longbottom sighed. “Yes, it's there, yes, You-Know-Who gave it to me. No, I can't remember how it happened.”

Harry nodded along, not once taking his eyes off the scar, which was pissing Ron Weasley off.

“Anyone ever told you not to stare, mate?”

“Does it ever hurt?” Harry asked, oblivious to the hostile glares around him. “Does it itch when there's rain or something?”

Longbottom looked taken aback by the question. “Actually, it did hurt a bit last night. First time that's ever happened. And it tweaked just a few moments ago.”

Harry grinned. “Awesome.”

“What's awesome about my scar hurting?”

“Would you be cool with me opening you up and having a look? I'll put you under a sleep spell of course.” Harry tacked on at the end.

That was a bridge too far. Weasley stood up to his full height, and the other two boys did the same. “Why don't you go back to your seat, mate?”

“Alright, alright. Talk to you later, Neville!”

Harry returned to his seat, a happy grin on his face. “That went well!”

…

Harry's trunk was a hotbed of activity. On one end, Harry sat in front of a desk, tinkering away on a pair of keeper helmets, which he'd torn apart and reassembled with random electronics and magical items. He had a book of basic runes open in front of him, and while he still didn't fully grasp it, it didn't stop him from applying some of the runes onto his newest creation.

Around him, Daphne and Susan had undertaken the daunting task of organizing Harry's trunk. Susan had been adamant that she wanted to help, and Harry had agreed, though he'd avoided calling her his assistant, as he sensed that that would upset Daphne somehow.

Daphne was wearing Harry's glasses while Susan had borrowed a spare pair of Ernie's. It wasn't perfect, her vision was still a little wobbly, but it would have to do until Harry either fixed the distortion or made her a spare pair.

“Where do you even get all this stuff from?” Susan asked as she threw several broken down VCRs onto a cart as Daphne cataloged them, wanting to keep a precise inventory of Harry's junk.

“you won't believe the type of stuff people just throw away. Especially my cousin, half of this stuff is his.” Harry stuck his tongue out as he drove a screw into the keeper helmet to attach a disk drive from a PS1 that Dudley had broken mere weeks after getting it.

Daphne wiped sweat from her brow as she let out a little huff. “I'd say we've made good progress.” 

A third of the trunk had been cleaned out and organized. The other two thirds were still a chaotic mess, but there was at least a nice, clean section. 

“This would be a nice place to hang out in. Maybe we could put a couch down here.” Susan suggested.

“This is a place of work.” Daphne deadpanned. 

“You girls do need a place to have a seat though.” Harry said. “Maybe I can-”

“Forget it. I'll have one of the Greengrass elves bring something in. Focus on what you're working on. Which is…”

Harry grinned as he put down his tools and held up both keeper helmets. “This, ladies, is the solution to all of my sleep problems.”

There was precious little of the helmet's original leather left. The crowns were now a hodgepodge of assorted bits of metal, with several runes shoddily carved onto their surface.

Daphne quirked an eyebrow. “And how exactly do those function?” 

“Easy, I put this one on-” Harry placed one on his head, fastening the straps under his chin. “Then you put the other one on. I activate the runes, and viola! Whenever you fall asleep, I'll fall asleep too!”

Daphne blinked. “And this is completely safe?”

Harry scratched his hair under the helmet. “There might be some side effects. We might share dreams, or our personalities might start melding together, but nothing too major. I'll know better once I get it to work, of course. It should only take me another hour or so.”

Both Daphne and Susan shared identical glances as the blonde marched over to Harry and began to remove his helmet.

“Hey, hey! What gives!”

“We can leave it like this for now.” Susan said as Daphne began to drag an unwilling Harry towards the exit.

“We should leave the rest of the cleaning for the weekend.” Daphne said.

“Wait, where are we going?” Harry asked as he was forced up the ladder out of his trunk.

“We're going to the Hospital Wing and asking for some dreamless sleep potion.”

“No, wait! Let's talk about it!” 

…

The first few days of classes passed by in a blur. Every single class seemed to stick to McGonagall's model of reviewing what they'd learned during workshops, meaning that for now, their wands were just burning a seven galleon hole in their pockets.

Harry had had a rough go of it, but he was finally adjusting to having to wake up at ‘normal’ hours. It felt inhuman to him to have to go to bed before midnight and wake up right as the sun came up, but his body had made the switch, though he'd felt quite happy last night when they'd had to stay up late for Astronomy.

He hadn't been able to go back into his trunk. Daphne had insisted he wait until they could properly organize the whole thing on Saturday. While this would have left Harry restless, he'd busied himself by working on a pair of lab glasses for Daphne and Susan, as well as a few spares in case anyone else chose to pay his lab a visit. 

He had also been working on the brainstorming phase of how exactly to permanently correct his eyesight. While Harry didn't care about fixing his eyesight per se, he did care about doing something no wizard had ever done before, and he also cared about what it implied. If he could fix his eyesight, it meant he could also go further beyond. Give himself super-vision, let himself see in the dark, see through clothing-

That last idea filled him with conflicting thoughts and stopped him in his tracks.

He was also kept distracted from his lab by another new development: he had friends.

He'd always been an odd boy. Even after he'd gone off to Stonewall High while his cousin went to Smeltings, no one in his new school had wanted to associate with the boy that played with dead frogs and carried random junk around. The pre-Hogwarts workshops were only three weekends a year. Dean and Justin just talked football every time and Hermione, while initially friendly, had grown a bit cold to him for what she called his ‘blatant disregard for rules and good decency.’

Now, though, he had Susan and Daphne and Hannah, who all still stuck around even when he expressed some of the strange thoughts that popped into his head. While not as close as the girls, Harry also considered Ernie a friend, and he tended to just snort in disbelief whenever Harry said something outlandish.

Outside of his house, Padma and Parvati were also friendly, and they had reiterated that they would be willing to let Harry experiment on them, which he said would likely occur later in the year when he was more settled.

Pansy and Millicent were a bit weird. The two of them were friendly, but they were also really mysterious about it for some reason, not wanting their housemates to see them interacting. Pansy in particular would scowl at him every time Harry waved at her, but he just found her scowling cute, encouraging him further. Millicent seemed to care much less about her housemate's opinions on the matter.

Then there were Longbottom and Malfoy. Draco still hadn't changed his mind about not wanting to be friends, which sucked because Susan had told him Draco's father had all kinds of dark artifacts hidden in his house, and Harry would love to have a look around at those. Neville just ignored him, and the two boys had begun a very loud, very public rivalry that pushed Harry to the backburner in both their minds.

“I swear, those two are fighting to see who's the biggest nonce in the castle.” Hannah complained as Longbottom and Malfoy both made grand, entourage-filled entrances to the Great Hall, acting as if they were prizefighters.

“I think it's kinda fun.” Harry said as he sipped his juice before making a face. “Daph, getting rid of pumpkin juice, put it on there.”

“I will not waste my ink on that.” Daphne said before turning to Hannah, “Honestly, things like this make me glad I was not sorted into Slytherin.”

“Be careful, Daphne, you're getting dangerously close to saying you're happy to be a Hufflepuff.” Susan said.

Daphne glared at the redhead but chose not to respond. Meanwhile, Hannah noticed how Harry was practically bouncing off his seat.

“What's got you so excited?”

Harry grinned. “We finally get to go down into the potions lab today.” 

“You're excited for potions? You really are barmy.” Ernie shook his head. “You know Snape is a prick to anyone that's not a Slytherin, right?”

Harry shrugged. Potions were the one element of magic he had been unable to play around with. Due to the safety hazard it presented, school cauldrons were spelled to only work within the confines of Hogwarts. Harry had tried only once to experiment with his own, homemade cauldron (basically just an old discarded oil drum) but after blowing up the entire second floor of the Dursley's home, some lady from the ministry had told him he'd be looking at a lengthy stay in Azkaban if that were to happen again.

 “I've been wanting to play around with potions for forever, I can't wait!”

…

“Needless to say, potions are not something one can play around with. Heed my words, one error in judgment is all it takes for you to find yourself with a missing limb, or worse. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Snape sneered at the class. “All that being said, I'm sure you dunderheads will prove to be as incompetent as the last batch I had to contend with… POTTER!”

Harry jumped. He'd been fidgeting excitedly while eying the vast store of potions supplies directly behind Professor Snape. “Yes, sir?” 

The greasy-haired man's beady eyes bored into Harry's. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Harry didn't hesitate to respond. “I have no idea, sir. Can we try it out right now?”

Snape glared at the boy as the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws snickered. “Silence! Five points from Hufflepuff for your cheek, Potter.”

“I was being cheeky?” Harry whispered to Daphne.

“You will be brewing a cure for boils. Instructions are on the board. Begin!” Snape snapped.

Daphne was honestly surprised at how well she and Harry worked together, once they worked out the initial kinks. The moment she saw the boy's sloppy knifework, Daphne took over all the ingredient prep while Harry directed their brewing and stirred the cauldron. 

Harry leaned into the concoction, which was currently a light green, smacking his lips as if he was tasting the air.

“Hold off on the lacewing flies, Daph.” 

Daphne shot him an incredulous look. “The book says we add those now.”

Harry shook his head as he took a big whiff. “No, no, let's try this first.” Harry reached out to the table and grabbed a handfull of porcupine quills, tossing them into the potion before Daphne could stop him.

The potion instantly turned an angry red, bubbling over dangerously as Daphne's eyes widened in horror and she reflexively brought her hands up to cover her face.

Harry hovered dangerously close to the burbling inferno. “Alright, now we do the lacewing flies.” Harry held his hand out, looking over at Daphne expectantly when the ingredients weren't immediately placed in his hands.

Daphne didn't know what came over her, but she actually trusted the idiot and handed him the flies instead of ducking for cover. Harry tossed the flies into the potion, and instantly, it calmed down, turning a gentle lilac as the bubbling settled into nothing.

“How…” Daphne glanced between the now lowly simmering potion and the Instructions on the book. “This looks like… we skipped like five steps.”

Harry turned his head and put his ear to the potion, listening to the crackling and popping of the bubbles. “I think we should add that frog spleen now, in fact, let's add like three.”

“I'll get them.” Daphne said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Ten minutes later, when everyone else was still only halfway done with their potion, Harry was giving Daphne a thumbs up as their potion glowed a beautiful pink.

“I can't believe it.” Daphne whispered, “We finished it in less than half the time.”

“It should be stronger, too.” Harry said. “Erm… do you remember how we made it? Could you write out the recipe?”

Daphne grabbed a quill and began writing, feigning irritation but holding back a smile. “You're telling me you cant recall how we made this potion?”

Harry scratched his head. “I mean, if we did it again I'd be able to do it, maybe not the same way though.”

Thankfully for him, Daphne had become quite practiced at noting things down, and her memory was sharp.

“What exactly are you two doing?” Snape hissed as he hovered over their work station. “You should be crushing sophorus beans, or have you simply chosen to give up, Potter?”

“Actually, we're finished, sir.” Harry gestured to their cauldron. Snape glanced over and his entire body tensed up, beady eyes narrowing into slits.

“what did you brats do? It is not possible for the potion to be finished already.”

“We did finish it, sir.” Daphne held up the parchment where she had just finished writing down their new instructions. “We came up with a quicker way of doing it.”

Padma and Su Li leaned over from their station to have a look, “Wow, it looks even better than the one up front.”

“Mind your cauldrons. Five points from Ravenclaw.” Snape sneered at the two girls before focusing his ire on Harry and Daphne.

“Professor, since we have so much time left, could I play ar- I mean, could I experiment a little bit with some of the ingredients? I want to get a feel for how things interact with each other and I-”

“Shut your mouth, Potter.” Snape snapped. Harry closed his mouth, looking to Daphne in confusion.

“You truly believe you could have brewed a cure for boils in under half the allotted time? What you have made is clearly nothing more than a sloppy mess, as I will demonstrate for the class. In fact-” Snape's lip curled upward into a malicious grin. “Seeing as your house is renown for its loyalty, which one of you Hufflepuffs will be brave enough to test out Potter and Greengrass’ potion?” 

“Can he do that?” Was murmured quietly as Snape looked expectantly at the Badgers. The Ravenclaws looked both sympathetic towards their brethren and relieved that they were being spared.

“I'll do it myself sir.” Harry chirped up. He was no stranger to self-experimentation.

Snape ignored him. “I see, no one tru-”

“I'll do it.” Susan raised her hand up bravely, gazing defiantly back at Snape.

“Very well. Step forward, girl.” 

Susan slid out from her desk. Students were watching with bated breath, which didn't bear good tidings for their own, still brewing, potions, but none of them cared.

Harry flashed Susan a thumbs up. Daphne's stomach was churning. The potion looked good, but would it actually work?

“Furnunculus”

A flash shot off from Snape's wand, and Susan flinched back as her face broke out into red, angry boils. 

“I want you all to witness what happens when someone disregards the rules and thinks themselves more clever than centuries of well established magical precedent.” He sneered down at Harry. “Do not fret, Potter, I have a fast acting antidote that will counteract whatever horrendous effects your potion causes on this girl.”

“Or maybe it'll work.” Harry suggested innocently.

Snape seethed silently as he ladled a small amount of their potion, holding it up to Susan's swollen lips. “Here, girl, savor the taste of your misplaced faith.”

Susan gulped, but she opened her mouth and drank down the potion.

The result was instant. The boils melted off her face. Susan reached up and began peeling off gunky layers of skin to reveal fresh, unblemished skin underneath.

“Wow.” She exclaimed as she touched her face. “It feels smooth, it feels… even better than before!”

“Your skin is practically glowing, Susan.” Hannah said, turning to Harry and Daphne's cauldron with awe. “Harry's potion gives you clear skin too!”

All the girls in the classroom were suddenly raring to give the potion a try, and even Daphne found herself reaching down with a spoon, wanting to test it out for herself.

Snape whipped his wand violently, emptying out their cauldron.

“Get back to work!” Snape snapped at the class, who scrambled back to their seats. “Potter, Greengrass, ten points from Hufflepuff each for not following instructions, and you will earn zero marks for your effort. Now sit at your desks and wait for the class to end!”

Snape's robe billowed as he swept away in a rage, leaving Harry and Daphne alone at their desk.

“Does that mean he won't let me use his potions ingredients?”

“No, Harry, he won't.”

Harry sighed. The rest of the class was spent in complete silence as Harry fidgeted around, unable to handle being forced to sit still.

…

Harry left the class with a frown on his face and his sleeve a frazzled mess due to him picking the hell out of every loose thread he could find.

“Can you believe that? Your potion was perfect, and he just vanishes it like that?” Hannah was among the many who were riled up as they made their way out of the dungeons.

“And he gives you no marks on it. We need to file a complaint or something.” Padma said.

Daphne was quite gutted about the failing mark. While her father did not expect her to excel, doing terribly would get her in trouble, and now it seemed that it would be an uphill battle just to barely pass the course.

“I don't care about the grade.” Harry said dejectedly. “I thought if I did well I'd be able to get into those potions supplies. Now there's no way he'll let me use them.”

“Wow, Susan, your skin's still looking immaculate.” Su Li commented as she reached out and touched Susan's cheek.

Daphne had a sudden bout of inspiration. She stuffed her hand in her bag and pulled out the neatly folded up piece of parchment that held their ‘new’ formula for the cure for boils.

“How much would you girls be willing to pay for this?”