The most epic of beginnings -- Fall 1971

I was literally the first one to potions class.  I waited in the corridor for the Potions master to let me into the classroom.  I was at least waiting for other students to join me while we waited.  Peter, I was sure of it, got lost on the way to class from the loo.  That was when I heard others coming down the corridor and Professor Slughorn hustling from the other end.  Well, it was only a minute until class began so it was about time.

I had quickly befriended Sirius Black and we were nearly late to class... like the rest of the student body except for that really nerdy kid from our dorm.  Slughorn opened up the classroom and we all piled into the room.  It was me, Sirius, the nerd, and another quiet boy from the dorm -- Peter I think his name was -- at one table together.  This could get interesting.

I had almost been late for one of the first classes of term.  We had just gotten done covering the basics of potions in general and it was time to actually start brewing things.  I let the class in and rubbed my hands together.  "Settle down, students, settle down," I said to the class.  There were a few potions in front of me while I looked upon the class.  "I have a few different potions here," I continued, "and they range from ones that you will be making this year to some that you won't be making unless you are able to enter NEWT level classes."  I pointed to the first one.  "This one here is the Forgetfulness Potion; the next is a Shrinking Solution that you'll get to around third year; lastly, we have the Unforgiveable Draught -- which is technically a poison.  Now, it's rather advanced and isn't typically taught in schools... but here's a question for 25 points to whoever's House gets the question right:  What is the active ingredient in the potion?"