Date: 8 June 2005 Characters: Horace Slughorn, Remus Lupin Location: Remus's home then the school Status: Private Summary: Horace takes a look at the school potions department Completion: Complete
Severus was still out of the house, Remus assuming that he was still working down on the farm. Which was fine, as they had already discussed the impending meeting the night before.
This meeting, Remus was expecting and was passing by the door just as Horace knocked. He reached the door before his 'door greeter' could get there first. Opening the door, Remus stepped aside to let Horace come in. "Good of you to come and welcome."
Remus rubbed the back of his neck. How long had he been here? "To be honest, I don't quite remember," Remus said, somewhat embarrassed. "Roughly a year I'd say... if not a little longer. I was lucky to find a home that was in excellent condition when it had been abandoned."
"Well, you certainly seem to have landed on your feet," said Horace. "Now then... do you want to start with a visit to the school, or discuss some ideas first, then visit the school to see how practical they are?"
"It has been a long time in coming, but I suppose I have at long last," Remus said with a faint smile. "I can take you to the school first, that is no problem. I did warn the workers that I would be stopping in later today so they should be expecting us. I haven't checked if the Floo has been set up yet, I apologise. The location is north of town," Remus said, giving Horace the coordinates for the school. "I do warn you to watch your step when we get there. There are places... where I don't think there's floor down yet."
Horace wasn't wild about apparating somewhere he'd never been before, he was too old to enjoy being splinched, but the distance was trivial and the coordinates clear enough. He concentrated and vanished, reappearing intact just outside the school building. Remus appeared beside him.
"Well, that went reasonably well," said Horace, "all of my fingers and toes seem to have arrived intact. If you'd like to lead the way let's take a look around."
Remus re-appeared beside Horace not a few seconds later. He brushed non-existent dust from his trousers, lifting a hand to shield his eyes to look up at the building. Having not been near the school in a bit, he was more than impressed to see how it was coming along so well.
"All set?" Remus asked, lowering his hand. "I'll take you inside. As I said, just watch your step." Remus led Horace inside, hiding his shock at how things were coming. Hell seeing a floor down and looking up to see a ceiling was a vast improvement. "Stairs are this way," Remus said, leading Horace toward the stairwell and down towards the old science classrooms. "There were some on the first floor but the larger labs were in the basement, I'm guessing for the same reason you wanted the Potions classrooms down here. Don't ask me, neither science nor Potions were ever my strong suits." Remus opened the door to a dusty classroom with a line of windows along the ceiling at ground level. "And... here we are."
"Hmmmm..." said Horace. "Do you know, this might not be too bad. With a lot of work, of course, but the basics are here. They've even designed the room to be blacked out, I think." He cautiously turned a metal handle attached to a box running up the wall to the windows, and with a creak a dark fabric blind began to slide across the windows. "That's not too bad, but in the senior laboratories we'll need to replace them with something a good deal stronger for explosion resistance. One good blast and the blinds are ripped, sunlight comes in, all of the ingredients start to react, and where are you then? Sitting on a cloud strumming a harp
( ... )
For an intelligent man, Remus found himself staring nearly slack-jawed at Horace as he bustled his way around the room. Given that he was no potions master, nor did he really have any skills in potions period, Remus had never expected so much would need to go into the classroom
( ... )
"The bench tops and chimneys are the main thing," said Horace. "The windows... well, you could go on using the blinds as they are, but controlled lighting is essential, and any accident could be made worse if the blinds were damaged, especially for sixth form work. Oh, and of course you'd need proper wizarding lamps, but those are cheap enough. The ventilation - well, with the fume ducts and so forth you've got most of it already, you just need someone who knows electricity, and some proper chimneys. Pump air in throught the muggle pipes, and the fumes will go out up the chimneys. But you'll definitely need at least one hearth big enough for several students in each room
( ... )
This meeting, Remus was expecting and was passing by the door just as Horace knocked. He reached the door before his 'door greeter' could get there first. Opening the door, Remus stepped aside to let Horace come in. "Good of you to come and welcome."
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"Well, that went reasonably well," said Horace, "all of my fingers and toes seem to have arrived intact. If you'd like to lead the way let's take a look around."
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"All set?" Remus asked, lowering his hand. "I'll take you inside. As I said, just watch your step." Remus led Horace inside, hiding his shock at how things were coming. Hell seeing a floor down and looking up to see a ceiling was a vast improvement. "Stairs are this way," Remus said, leading Horace toward the stairwell and down towards the old science classrooms. "There were some on the first floor but the larger labs were in the basement, I'm guessing for the same reason you wanted the Potions classrooms down here. Don't ask me, neither science nor Potions were ever my strong suits." Remus opened the door to a dusty classroom with a line of windows along the ceiling at ground level. "And... here we are."
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