New Students, Old Problems

Michael sighed as he sat at his desk. He had changed the office since the last teacher, bringing in bookshelves full of books and potion ingredients, a nice Walnut desk with a comfy chair, a fireplace, a couple of chairs, and a large cauldron, in the corner. He was reading his student lists for this year, and sighed. There was a two week notice for kids to send in applications to his class, and he received quite a few. Apparently, Headmistress Briony wanted to try something new this year, giving students a choice.

Shame.

He sighed at this one student he was reading over. Airen Auditoren, a Gryffindor first year interested in brewing a Felix Felicis? Michael chuckled at that. Those potions were heavily regulated for a reason. Still, this one should be fun. He wished he could thank the Headmistress for putting these requests into manilla folders and in dossier format. That made it a bit easier to read than the parchment scribble most other Professors preferred.

So, onto the next student. One Charlotte Smith, first year Slytherin interested in brewing... "Polyjuice Potions." He said. He raised an eyebrow. Interesting. He remembered the first time he brewed a Polyjuice Potion. It was funny, when he and Jake got to the Med Wing, the Nurse hadn't been able to tell which one was which or how bad their injuries were until he changed back. Those broken ribs were well worth it.

He dropped the folder and moved on to the next, taking a sip of his tea. Now this was interesting. Trize Genie Garcia, another Slytherin first year interested in brewing a Draught of Living Death. Now why, oh why, would she want to brew that, he wondered.

"Note to self, always carry Wiggenweld Potions on hand," He said to himself. He put that folder away in order to see the last one before he took a break. Ravenclaw Ryanna Luelana, first year, interested in brewing... Wolfsbane Potions. Surprising. Is she a werewolf, or no?

He shrugged, putting the file in the 'Done' pile. He stretched, yawning. He had a lot more to go, but he'd wait 'til later to sort them out.

Ryana was a nervous wreck as she approached Professor McBride's office. She didn't want anyone to find out about her and was worried that maybe he would tell someone. "I'm being ridiculous, he's a teacher." She thought as she came upon the door to his office. She had talked to the Headmisteress earlier today about possibly taking the Wolfsbane potion to curb her transformations and the Headmisteress had pointed her to Professor McBride's office. Ryana's nerves were wound tight as she lifted her hand and knocked.

Michael pulled out a stack of papers, orders for new potion ingredients from a guy he trusted. The school couldn't always get what he needed, so he made friends in both the law-abiding potion ingredient providers and the wizarding criminal underworld to get his ingredients.

At the knock, Michael dropped his pen and jumped up, reaching his hip for a pistol that wasn't there. This was all purely out of reflex. He sighed, and sat back down, picking up his pen. It was probably a student, he told himself. He took another deep breath and began signing the papers again with his SAS fountain pen.

"Enter," He yelled through the door. He went back to signing off the orders.

Ryana shook slightly as she pushed open the door to her Potion professor's office. She had heard from some of the other students on the train that Professor McBride was a war veteran and tended to become very jumpy if not approached in a certain way. She nervously walked toward the desk, her entire being shaking and her large brown eyes focused on the man sitting behind the desk. She cleared her throat nervously and spoke. "Excuse me, Professor McBride, my name is Ryana Luelana and I was wondering if you could help me with something?" She asked this all in a nervous and quivering voice as she thought 'Please God don't let him try to kill me'

"Excuse me, Professor McBride?" Michael looked up, and saw a student. She looked familiar... He picked up one of the files. "My name is Ryana Luelana and I was wondering if you could help me with something?" He compared the two, and raised an eyebrow, before folding his hands and leaning on his desk.

Then he stared at her.

He just kept staring, for five minutes straight. Then a small grin appeared on his face, before he slowly started breaking down into laughter. Soon he couldn't hold it anymore, and leaned back into his seat, laughing. He calmed down, then motioned to a seat.

"Yes, I know who you are. Wolfsbane, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You were interested in brewing Wolfsbane potions, which is quite unusual; and I'm getting the feeling that's why you're here." Michael waved his hand and closed the door behind her from where he sat. Wandless and wordless magic, oh how he loved using it.

Ryana stared at Professor McBride as he began laughing. 'Ok' she thought 'that's not strange in the slightest.' "Yes, I know who you are. Wolfsbane, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You were interested in brewing Wolfsbane potions, which is quite unusual; and I'm getting the feeling that's why you're here." This made her feel slightly uncomfortable but she sat down slowly into a chair and sighed. "Yes Sir" she began "I got bit a few months ago and I'm slowly starting to deal with it." Tears came to her eyes as her mind began trying to take her back to that night three months previous. She angrily shook her head and took a deep breathe to calm herself before speaking again. "I heard about the Wolfsbane Potion through a book I read on Wer..." her breath caught in her throat for a minute and she cleared her throat before speaking "Werewolves" she continued "It didn't tell me how or what I would need to brew the potion myself but it did mention that it allows the drinker to keep sane when they transform." She looked down "I don't want to be a monster, Sir" she said in a quiet voice "If there was a chance that I could get the potion I would be really grateful." Ryana's brown eyes raised up and she smiled lightly at her Professor. "Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated."

"Yes Sir. I got bit a few months ago and I'm slowly starting to deal with it." He saw the tears well up in her eyes and raised an eyebrow... Would it be too insensitive to ask for her to cry in a flask? Female werewolf tears were extremely rare, and it was always good to have it on hand. "I heard about the Wolfsbane Potion through a book I read on Wer... Werewolves. It didn't tell me how or what I would need to brew the potion myself but it did mention that it allows the drinker to keep sane when they transform."

Michael nodded his head. "Yes, it allows one to hold on to their mental faculties after transformation. But I doubt that you, a first year, would be able to even acquire the ingredients necessary, not to mention properly brewing it. Any deviation from the original recipe could lead to disaster." Michael leaned back. "And, seeing as you've yet to take an actual class of mine yet, I do believe that any formula you'd try would lead to disaster."

"I don't want to be a monster, Sir. If there was a chance that I could get the potion I would be really grateful. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated." Michael sighed.

"Ryana, no one wants to be a monster. But that doesn't change the fact that you are a monster," He sighed, opening a drawer. "However, it's a good thing that we have a preventive measure against the full moon being your worst enemy." He pulled out a thin vial full of grey liquid, and held it out for her. "This is what you want, and what you need. Down this vial now, and then come back tomorrow. I'll have a case for you that should last you the rest of the month. One vial is one dosage, and you only need one dose a day to keep the wolf away." Michael smiled.

"Now, you'll also want to monitor the lunar calender for full moons, and schedule days out of class for those nights. I suggest you go to the Room of Requirement, since it seems to have everything, so it'll have Were-Restraints," Michael leaned back.

"The Room of Requirement is a magical room in Hogwarts, up on the sixth floor. It'll appear when, in your mind, you ask for something of which the room contains. In this case, it'll be Werewolf Restraints," Michael smiled, picking up his pen.

"Hogwarts is both a magical and wondrous place," He leaned forward. "But Hogwarts is also very, very dangerous, when you aren't careful." Michael leaned back into his seat. "Tread carefully, Ryana Luelana, and you'll live through your seven years." Michael grinned. "Now, unless you want to help me order supplies from less-than-legal sources, than I suggest you skedaddle." Michael waved his hand again, the door opening, before he returned to his work.

Oh, how he hated requisition forms.

Ryana was surprised by her new professor's kindness toward her and smiled a bit while he was talking. Professor McBride made it clear that she should monitor the cycles of the moon and how the will coincide with classes. She knew she had another full moon coming in a few days and was grateful to Professor McBride when he stated that there were preventative measures a person could take at Hogwarts. Ryana watched as he began searching through draws and smiled bigger when he pulled out a vial of silver potion and handed it to her. McBride explained that she needed to take one vial, which equaled one dose, everyday to help with the transformations. She took the bottle from his hands and held it close to her. Ryana giggled a bit when he mentioned restraints. 'Where do I get those?' she thought and as though he could read her mind he told her to go to the Sixth Floor to a place called the Room of Requirements and ask to get werewolf restraints. 'That's a little odd' she thought to herself but chuckled when her potions teacher suggested helping him order ingredients by less-than leagal means. Ryana stood up and said a quick good night to McBride, who really wasn't paying attention as he had already gone back to working on his order foms. With that, Ryana left the office and made her way up to the sixth floor. It was time to get those restraints.

God, she hated being a werewolf!