"Mr. Longbottom," the professor barked, drawing West back to awareness. "With your noble family background you should have no trouble telling me the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood."
Neville's mouth moved soundlessly like a goldfish in a bowl as West and Hermione's hands shot up. Snape grinned with evil satisfaction before considering what to do next. "Miss Grange- no, Mr. Westinghouse."
West stood at attention and sang out, "SIR!"
The startled teacher stepped back. "Ah, can you answer the question?"
West launched into his spiel. "SIR! Monkshood and wolfsbane are both common names for the herb aconite, SIR! In Latin, Aconitum napellus of the family N.O. Ranunculaciae. Also called Blue Rocket, Friar's Cap, and Auld Wife's Huid..." Snape stared amazed as the boy continued with calm confidence as if reading from a book. "...The plant is a hardy perennial, with a fleshy spindle-shaped root..." In fact, as he went on Snape noticed his eyes moving back and forth as if reading from a page in front of him. "...It is used as an anodyne, a diuretic and a diaphoretic. The value of aconite as a medicine has been more fully realized in modern times, and it now ranks as one of the most useful..." After a few minutes, the professor held up his hand to signal stop. West, with no more passion than a light bulb, responded, "SIR!" and sat down.
Looking over the crop of Slytherins, he hoped one of them would answer the next question, giving him an excuse to award points to his old house. "Who can tell me what a bezoar is?"
Once more West and Hermione were the only ones with their hands up. Snape sighed inwardly and said, "Miss Granger?"
With a broad smile she said, "A bezoar is..." and she stopped looking as if she had caught herself committing an impropriety. She leapt to her feet and said, "SIR!" In much the same way West had. "A bezoar is a stone taken from a goat's stomach and is a sovereign remedy for most poisons, SIR!" She looked hesitant as if she would like to say more but was afraid to offend.
"Yes, I suppose that will do." She sat looking satisfied. "Now what would I get if I mixed powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood, Mr. Westinghouse?" he said with resignation apparently giving up the hope that anybody else had read the material.
Jumping to his feet again, West said, "SIR! The combination of asphodel and wormwood produces an extremely powerful sleeping potion, also known as the Draught of Living Death, so powerful..." Again his eyes darted back and forth as if reading from a page.
Trying to hide how impressed he was, Snape spat, "That will be five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Westinghouse. When I ask a question I want ONLY the answer, not an encyclopedia. Exactly WHO are you trying to impress?"
West answered in the most matter of fact way, "You, sir."
First class was the same in all classes with Hermione and West walking away with all the points. Professor Binns was particularly impressed as history, no matter what teachers say about cause and effect, human motivation and original thought, still comes down to memorizing names and date. The only class where their dominance was doubted was flying. Only so much can be learned from a book. After that you either have it or you don't. Hermione again was trying to cover up her nervousness by rattling off everything she'd read about brooms, flying, Quidditch and just about everything else. West hid behind silence and a calm smile.
Dinner that night saw West and Hermione as the center of attention for Gryffindor table and a point of interest for the other three. The Weasley brothers, even Percy, were dumbfounded. "It's all over the school. Snape actually seemed impressed by you two. Is it true you only lost five points the whole class?"
West paused modestly before making an apology for the demerits but he never had chance to speak it. Hermione dove in with, "He was just mad because West had all the answers and his precious Slytherins just sat there like a pack of mannequins."
"The lady is being modest to the point of inaccuracy. She answered as many questions, and all perfectly I might add." His smile seemed to say more than approval of her classroom performance. Her eyelids dropped as her head bowed and her cheeks tinged a pale pink. A passing man from Arcturas might mistake her modesty for the compliment in class performance, but the other Gryffindors knew it was more from West's attention.
Neville stammered out, "I, I'm glad you were there to draw his attention from the rest of us. He, he scares me."
West gave a perfect "Father-Knows-Best" smile and told him, "Don't let him rattle you, brother. Always remember, 'You can't conquer a free man, the worst you can do is kill him.'" The little fellow started to smile, but as the full statement soaked in, he became genuinely appalled.
As they filed into the common room, the older students headed straight up to the dorm, knowing from experience that the second day would likely be rougher than the first. The first years were about to do the same when Professor McGonagall called them to wait for an announcement. "I want you all to know that it has not escaped my attention that Miss Granger and Mr. Westinghouse made a strong impression on all the teachers you met with today. Even Professor Snape grudgingly admitted that he sees promise in the two of you. If you continue to excel like this you will bring home more academic points to Gryffindor than any student in living memory."
West and Hermione both smiled modestly and bowed their heads murmuring, "Thank you, Professor." He also touched the edge of his hat with his left index in salute.
After McGonagall left, the first years started wandering up to their dorms, all except the honored pair. They looked at each other with something like regret. The measly eight hours ahead of them seemed like a long time to be separated. West's eyebrows went up as if he'd had an inspiration. "Do you waltz?"
"Uh, I've had a few lessons."
West drew from an inner pocket a small rectangle of crystal, set it on a table and opened the lid. The immortal strains of Straus's "Blue Danube" filled the common room. "A personal gift from Professor Dumbledore. Muggle electronics like CD players get all, what's the word? Oh yeah, wonky."
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it against her back, then holding her left hand in his right glided her about the room. Her eyes sparkled brighter than they had ever since they'd met. He became oblivious to everything but her.
It seemed only moments later that Percy was tapping West on the shoulder. "No Mr. Weasley, you may NOT cut in," he said without taking his eyes of off his partner.
Percy heaved a great sigh. "I don't WANT to cut in. I want you two to go up to your dorms and get to bed. You're an hour past curfew."
Both first years looked disappointed. They released each other and West closed the crystal lid banishing the music. He bowed, and she curtsied. He took her hand and kissed it ever so gently. "It has been an honor, my lady."
"The honor is mine, sir," she answered with a curtsy.
As they headed for their respective staircases Percy reminded them, "I don't want to penalize you because you help us get points, but you simply MUST obey the rules."
West paused to say, "My apologies sir. I, lost track of time."
A/N: Info on aconite from encarta.msn.com