Hi guys! This is my first ever fanfic, so please tell me what you think. Especially the present tense... is it okay?
This is just a teaser, I'll put up much longer chapters in the future.
**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, and a big thanks to J.K. Rowling for letting us play with her characters! Oh, and I'm not plagiarizing- I want to acknowledge that Snape's speech is a passage from the book. Too good not to use, though, so it's sort of my writing prompt.
Professor Snape is standing in front of a chalkboard as the class files in. He's younger than the other professors, he couldn't have been teaching for much more than a handful of years. Greasy, limp hair falls just above his shoulders, a forgettable black that continues down through his wardrobe to the line where his robes hit the greyed stone floor. The monochrome frames an angular, emotionless face and a large hooked nose. The professor's intent gaze flicks across the room as the door closes behind the last student.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking." he begins. It's barely above a whisper but it carries to the back of each row, the students reluctant to disrupt the silence.
"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death-if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."