-1"I have tricks in my pocket - I have things up my sleeve - but I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." - "The Glass Menagerie", by Tennessee Williams
"Welcome to your sixth year of Potions class, and I say 'Potions class' in the loosest sense of the word, for a far more suitable opening would be, "Welcome to hell". I believe you will agree, quite readily, by the end of this week, should you survive it.
He was tired of writing opening speeches, though he had gotten rather good at them over the years, refusing to use the same one twice, but the underlying themes expressed were very similar; "be prepared to work your ass off."
Severus Snape, Potions Master extraordinaire, was tired of the persona he had built for himself over the years, he was tires of being an evil man to the students he taught. That alone would not spur him to action, besides, he did not deserve a fresh start, he was death eater scum and deserved to be hated, mocked, and disliked by the general populace, at least until he could atone for his past actions.
Truth be told, that after working so hard to set up his stone wall persona, he rarely had to try anymore, it did help that he resented the students. They were fresh and new, innocent, flesh un-marred. The real world would bite them in the ass soon enough, and though he sometimes wished he could be one of them again, starting life out for the first time, he would not, under any circumstance let them go out without a taste of the real world.
He was the sharp reality in the otherwise romanticized situation of Hogwarts, and while now he was to them, a thorn, he could not even begin to foreshadow the veracity of the world to come. As much as he endeavoured to.
"Now, Mister Longbottom…"