AN: This tale came to me as I realized that, like many, I make Snape to be very smart, gifted in all meanings of the word. So, I decided that I needed to write him a tiny bit differently at least once.
This is not beta'ed, so if you see something that you really want corrected, just let me know via a pm.
Thanks, Ree
Hard Work
The journal was numbered one hundred and sixty-five and it was almost completely filled with cramped, almost illegible script. Checking to see how many pages were left in the book, Severus was glad that there were still three blank ones in his trunk. They should make him until the end of the school year.
Severus smoothed a crease that had formed in the back page. He had never been the brightest bulb out there, and that wasn't just what his Mum and Dad said to him when they were mad. He had noticed it his first year of Primary. His family didn't have the resources to give him all the extras that the others students had. Mum had taught him his letters and numbers, he knew his colours and other simple basics, but he didn't have the wealth of books available or the experiences outside his small section of town.
He had struggled through for half a year until his Dad handed him a small notebook and told him to write or draw out what made sense to him. That was the start of his journals. He listened, he asked questions -albeit alone with the teacher after school – and then he recorded the answers that made sense.
It was during his second year that he started writing the explanations that didn't make sense. Mum would help him understand them, or find the answer the best she could. Dad would even help when he was off. That was one of the few times his parents weren't having a go at each other.
As the years progressed, Severus regretted that he couldn't keep asking for their help. He soon immersed himself in books checked out from different libraries to help block out the sounds of the fighting. He still stayed after school, sometimes he walked to school early dependent on when the teacher could see him. Between the teachers' help and his own research, he was near the top of his classes, not because he was brilliant but because he worked. He worked as hard as his Dad and Mum did.
His first experience outside of his town was going to Diagon Alley with his Mum to get his Hogwarts school materials. Dad had huffed and growled about him going to a school that wouldn't prepare him for the real world. That had lead to a spectacular argument between his parents and he was glad when Dad headed out to work and Mum took him shopping.
The week before he headed out for the train, Dad had handed him a packet of blank journals and a small box of pencils.
When he came to Hogwarts, magic had been completely new to him. He had read his way through his book, noting what he had no clue on. Mum had explained parts of them to him, knowing he needed that little bit extra. Dad would not go near them when they were talking magic. Severus had learned very early that his Dad didn't like magic, right after he had performed accidental magic. He had worked hard to learn to control his bouts of magic. Mum and Dad didn't know just how many feats of magic he stopped from happening, or just how many occurred intentionally.
First year had been the worst. It was during the first weeks of his first year that Severus had realized he was going to need extra help. Not only had he no idea how to hold a wand, he had no clue what a cauldron was, much less how to chop up ingredients, and Latin words never came easy off his tongue, his accent saw to that. It had taken him two weeks to garner up the courage to approach Professor Flitwick about how to hold his wand correctly, and even longer to approach Slughorn about ingredient preparation. He never even thought about talking to the Head of Gryffindor for help, but he was known to spend long hours in the greenhouse with Professor Sprout learning about the multitude of magical plants, and even the non-magical ones.
This was when the journals started again - every hint, every clarifying explanation, every tiny epiphany was written down in them since then. Grateful for his Dad's present, Severus had applied the same work ethic that had seen him through primary and continued to do so for the last five years here at Hogwarts.
Closing the journal that held the last month's transfiguration notes, Severus sat his quill to the side and looked up to see that the entire common room was empty. Sighing, he picked up his reference books, his journal and headed to bed. The morning was coming soon and he needed to get as much rest as he could.
§§§
Severus held his wand loosely in his grip just the way Professor Flitwick had shown him and he faced the OWL examiner. A quick series of swishes and a mumbled incantation, and the forks began dancing across the table. He then waited on the next request. The Charms practical had to be harder than this.
"Well done, Mr. Snape. Now, summon the book on the far table. It is a potions book."
Just moving his wand, Severus cast a silent summoning. This was one of his best spells, one he had practised long and hard enough not to need words just will power to get to work. His accented Latin still caused issues on occasions. Catching the book in mid-air, he handed it to his examiner.
"Non-verbal? Excellent work! One last one and you will be done. Cast a Colour Change Charm on this doll. Make her blue."
Looking at the porcelain doll, Severus pictured the journal that had his hints for this particular charm and then drew in a slight breath before casting. When the doll changed to a cobalt blue, the examiner dismissed him.
Once he was out of the practical room, he headed out the main doors and found a quiet spot on the grounds. There he opened his potions journal and began studying for that practical. This was one he fiercely wanted to pass with an O.
§§§
"Mr. Snape, you cannot have all those extra things on your desk. This is NEWTs Potions and clutter is not permitted. Your text, quill, ink, a single scroll and of course your brewing materials are all you should require." Slughorn walked away from the greasy haired teen, not noticing the slight panicked look in those dark eyes.
Severus ignored the sniggering from the Gryffindor side of the room. He was just grateful that he didn't hear Lily joining in. Putting his notes journal and the reference book away, Severus vowed to fill the journal in when he returned to the common room. For now, his notes were scribbled onto a loose sheet of parchment.
It wasn't long before he learned record his notes and ideas on the margins of his book and to write over the potions that he felt needed corrections. He could not have his potions journal out so that was the only place he could reference his research. Slughorn never commented on the state of his text. Severus wasn't sure if the man ever noticed.
§§§
NEWT examines were supposed to be harsher than OWLs; therefore, Severus ran through all two hundred plus different journals, grateful that they responded to the shrinking charm they had learned so that he could bring them all with him this year. He also practised writing small but legibly, finding just the right point he needed on his quill and how much ink he could load on it, while writing a series of summarizing journals. He allowed himself only two journals per subject and he had to condense all seven years worth of information into them.
On his written exams, he filled ever nook and cranny of the parchment with tiny writing that explained in explicit detail the answer to the questions. He started the moment they were told to begin and did not set his quill down until they were told to stop.
His practicals were given the same attention. His spells were not flashy, but they were solid and good. His transfigurations were not flamboyant, but they were just as required or had a few subtle extras. Potions was the place where his methodical, exacting nature shone. Flamboyance and flashy were detrimental to the outcome of the brew, whereas exactitude gave perfection.
§§§
The Potions Master that accepted Severus as an apprentice was expecting a gifted and exceedingly talented individual based on his scores. The first day of lessons, ones that Severus took with four other new apprentices, showed that he was none of those things.
Severus wrote down the recipe that they were brewing and then had proceeded to work his way through it carefully following every step, noting in his journal – which he was thankful to be able to use – every reaction and change that occurred in the cauldron and to any unknown ingredient as it was prepared. The other four flew through the creation as if it was making tea, and two even tried to change it slightly.
The Potions Master mentally dismissed Severus, leaving him with one of his junior masters to handle. He also gave the two faster ones to a junior master while he worked with the two who were showing creativity and ingenuity.
This treatment didn't bother Severus that much, he bargained his apprenticeship fee down since he was not receiving the Senior Master's full attention, and then continued to do as he always had. He never learned what Junior Master Wright truly thought of him until much later, but the man had left him to his book or explained anything that he had questions on.
Quietly and methodically, Severus worked his way through the mastery curriculum, not making waves the way the Senior Master's favourites did, nor did he give in slipshod work that the other two did.
When it came time to receive their masteries and rank based on their abilities and understanding of their craft, Junior Master Wright had stood there with a smirk on his face. Severus had wondered what it was about, since the man had worked only with him for the last several years.
The representative of the Potions Guild called each one of them forward to award their mastery and rank. The two that the Senior Master worked with did quite well, nearly the highest rank a new master could obtain. The other two were low and mid ranked. When Severus was called up, the Senior Master had sighed and shook his head, obviously wondering why he had taken on this apprentice.
Wright didn't know where to look, so he angled himself to see both Severus' face and the Senior Master's. He knew what that young man was capable of. He position was rewarded as he got to see the glitter of happiness in his apprentice's dark eyes that he had only seen glimpses of when Severus' newest idea was right and the shock on the Senior Master's as well as on the other new masters', as Severus was given the highest rank that he could be and an automatic guild membership.
§§§
Standing before his first year class filled with Gryffindor and Slytherins, Severus wondered what Potter was writing and regretted that he could not look over the boy's shoulder to see. Instead, he had to scold all the while hoping that he was not hurting another that needed a journal to keep up.
Later that class period, when Longbottom blew up one of the easiest potions he was going to assign, he prayed that Potter would take up with the boy and teach him a few skills in hard work. He had noticed that the boy he was going to have to be cruel to was a lot like him, methodical and needed a steady pace to understand. Most importantly, though, he could tell that Potter knew it as well.
Hard work. Many in the world thought he was a talented Potions Master and formidable Defence Master, and that he obtained those titles because he was gifted in those fields. Very few knew of the hours of work, of studying, of looming failure that had pushed him to achieve those titles. It wasn't always the talented and the gifted that excelled. Sometimes it just took plain sweat, perseverance, and stubbornness to achieve.
Sending Longbottom to the Infirmary after ascertaining that the boy would make it there fine on his own, he looked over his class hunting for one who had what it took to make it no matter what. When his gaze landed on Potter, he prayed this boy was one of them.