Amortentia

Hermione had first learned about the potion during her endless sessions of summer reading. Reading was an enjoyable way to pass the days, a pleasant little habit that she had picked up before she started primary school. She preferred to tackling her reading thematically, picking one subject at a time and working her way through as many volumes as she could get her hands on. Once the bookseller around the corner, the local library, and her bookshelves all failed to provide additional reading material, Hermione would move onto another subject, working in a similar fashion. Things didn't change when she received her Hogwarts letter, only now, she had a far wider swath of subjects to choose from, and she approached magical texts in the exact same exacting manner.

Hermione decided to start her studies with modern magical history. It seemed like the best way to get a basic understanding of the world she was about to enter. Her parents couldn't really help her adjust, having no knowledge of the wizarding world themselves, but she had been quite used to researching on her own even at the age of eleven. Even with all of her preparation and research, she still found Hogwarts to be much stranger than she expected. It certainly didn't help that she had problems making friends, but she had grown used to being alone by now; Muggle primary school had produced no close friends or acquaintances.

The summer before second year, she had decided to focus on Potions. When her parents pressed her about her change in reading habits, from history to potions, Hermione merely replied that her Potions professor had sparked her interest. In reality, she was determined to prove to Professor Snape that she was not a dunderhead. She started by reviewing 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi, although it was hardly worth the time. She had read it through so many times that she could practically recite it by heart. Next, she perused Creative Potion Making: Common Substitution Solutions. By the time she completed her forth book on Potions (Eluding Explosions: Quick Fixes for Common Potion Errors), she decided that a theoretical approach wasn't enough; she needed to have a way to brew potions at home.

Unfortunately, this didn't last long. Her mother wasn't particularly happy with the smells her potions-making left behind in the kitchen, and the Bunsen burner in her bedroom would set off the smoke alarm on a frequent basis. A family meeting was held after the neighbours called the local Fire Department. Instead of brewing potions in her room, her parents suggested that she might pour her interests into another subject for the time being. Hermione tried everything: earnestly explaining the benefits of practical potions study during the summer, warning her parents that lack of study during the summer would result in a lower Potions mark the following year, even indulging in a bit of door-slamming much to her own chagrin, but it failed to produce the desired results. In the end, Hermione agreed to cease her potion making for the summer and returned back to her books. As a consolation, her parents agreed to add to her library considerably, and included copies of books normally reserved for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. level students.

Happy with her new collection, Hermione set about reading each and every page. It was in Appendix C of Intermediate Potions that she found the list of potions forbidden to students at Hogwarts. Amortentia topped the list, thanks to its position in the alphabet, but she strongly believed the effects alone should have put it as one of the most dangerous potions a student could get their hands on. She read over the description very carefully, knowing that the knowledge would someday prove to be useful. Even if she never encountered the potion personally, she hoped that might be able to earn a few extra points for Gryffindor at the very least, if Professor Snape finally played fair.

Amortentia is a very unique and unusual love potion. Unmatched by any other potion, it will discharge a different scent to each individual according to what attracts them. Upon brewing, the potion will present spiral wisps of steam and a mother-of-pearl sheen.

As she read about the potion, Hermione wondered what scents she would enjoy. She had always enjoyed the smell of new school supplies, paper and ink, the smell of old books, musty and dusty, and the somewhat sterile smell of a classroom, but she would have been surprised if those were the fragrances that she would detect if she were to be near a vial of Amortentia. Shrugging slightly at the thought, she proceeded on down the list, knowing that she would be unlikely to encounter these potions, but she remained fascinated all the same.

Hermione was quite surprised and delighted to be faced with Amortentia in Professor Slughorn's first Potions lesson, and was even more delighted for a chance to earn those extra points. Delight was quickly placed by embarrassment as she rattled off the fragrances she smelled. Fortunately, she had stopped herself before she had given too much away. Freshly mown grass was understandable. Quite a few girls liked the smells of the outdoors, and the scent that tickled her nose reminded her of home and when her father would work in their garden. She didn't think that anyone was surprised, except maybe herself, by her attraction to the smell of new parchment. She loved receiving new rolls of parchment by owl order every month, having gone through her supply at approximately five times the speed as Harry and Ron. Ron would often laugh at her sniffing the package deeply, but she just couldn't help herself. It was the third scent that really troubled her. She couldn't quite identify it, but it seemed so familiar, so comfortable, but she knew its origin.

As a result of her slip, she was irritable when the bell rang, and annoyed at Harry that he bested her using that dubious book. She snuck off to the library, hoping for an answer to the third scent that she had detected. And why would that fragrance drive her to keep scratching and rubbing at her nose every few minutes? It didn't make sense to Hermione, though she was determined to find the answer.

The heady note of the scent was a little bit easier to detect: it took Hermione not quite two hours of research to discover its source. Hogwarts' Library was obliging as ever. Dye lore was a much a part of wizard's lives as that of Muggles' lives, and all of the evidence indicated that it was Indian Madder. As easy as that answer came, she couldn't grasp why she kept scratching at her nose for the rest of the evening.

The answer came later on that night, the scent catching her nose while she was working on her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. She heard a soft thump and her nostrils were treated to the scent. There it was, both heady and fuzzy, tickling her nose. Ron was nearby. She looked up to find him plopped down in the chair next to her and realised with a start that he had kicked the table she had been using. Her bottle of ink smashed to the floor, and drenched her bag in black ink. Hermione took a deep breath; he had done this at least once a week for the past six years. She opened her mouth for her usual retort and noticed something. He was wearing his hand-knitted maroon jumper against the chill of the evening. Hermione's cheeks blushed suddenly, making the connection between the scent that reminded her of Ron and her itchy nose. Fortunately, the spilled ink had given her an excuse to bend out of sight effectively hiding her pink cheeks. After all, it wouldn't do any good to have him know that it was indeed his maroon wool jumper what the third scent she smelled earlier that day.