"The reason, Professor," Aisha explained, "that I enjoy your Potions class so much, is that it is the closest thing I can get to a muggle chemistry lab during my yearly stays at Hogwarts. I harbor nothing I would regard as 'genuine interest'; a more appropriate term, perhaps, would be 'convenient substitute'."

Despite Snape's mouth forming a rather nasty snarl, the words that came out of it weren't quite as unpleasant, though the bite was certainly there "And why, pray tell, would that be, Miss Farabi?"

She sighed, choosing to ignore the animosity in her professor's words "Because, Professor, generally speaking, there are two types of muggles. The first largely appreciate and embrace that which they do not understand, or understand poorly but believe to understand and as such seek no more than the most basic of explanations. The second cannot merely accept something that merely 'is'. They must seek out deep, carefully thought out and experimented theories before settling on the one, or in some cases few, which serve as the most logical. I, as you may have already guessed, am the second type. Not understanding something in its most thorough form causes me distress. I am not able to apply the laws of physics, mathematics, and logic—which should be universal and absolute—to magic. Magic, in its very essence, proves everything I've ever learned or been taught false; causing me to question everything I know or, at least, thought I once knew. I am one of the first to admit that observation does not necessarily mean truth. Studying both philosophy and psychology for years have taught me that, but whether or not this is real, I crave an explanation for these happenings. If I truly am living in a world of 'magic', how is this possible? What force allows this to be? How is magic not subject to the conventional laws of physics? This is a matter that both confounds and fascinates me. And, in all honesty, Professor, 'learning' magic is rather easy. It is, for the most part, a combination of study, practice, and occasionally observation. Something that I, frankly, would likely be able to accomplish by taking about three hours of my time each day doing; which would likely explain why I ran out of curriculum in my fourth year classes so early in the year. What I would really prefer doing, however, is the actual study of magic. I wish to find if magic has its own laws of physics, for lack of a better term, and how it manages to thwart thousands of years of logical studies and experiments and findings by muggles…. And if I am able to write at least one volume based on my studies, no matter how thin it may be, I will die content."

Snape was silent for a moment to assure that Aisha had finished "That's quite a spiel, Miss Farabi. Have you ever considered lecturing at a University?"

"I have, actually. However, I don't believe a fifteen year-old Arabic girl giving lectures at Universities would go over very well with most," Aisha disregarded Snape's snarky tone with her own quip.

The corners of his mouth turned up, forming what could be described as something of a ghost of a smile. "Well, I believe we have both learned from experience that 'most' are rather foolish indeed."

She smiled in return. "I don't think I can argue with you there, professor. Perhaps our corporeal suffering is to be surrounded by those we view as fools."

"In that case, I do believe we have found common ground, Miss Farabi."

"In that case, professor, I am glad that my detention with you has not been a waste of my time; and I certainly hope it wasn't one of yours."

"On the contrary, you provide conversation more stimulating than most adults well over twice your age."

"Honestly, I would much rather converse with you than my peers. They tend to lack…abstract thought and, to be frank, common sense. None of them seem to have the capacity to have an intelligent conversation, and lack the ability to differentiate between fact and opinion." She scrunched her nose in disgust at the thought of having to discuss intellectual matters with members of her own age group.

Snape nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I believe you should have been placed in Ravenclaw, Miss Farabi."

Aisha put a hand over her chest, pretending to be hurt by his comment, "Professor, are you saying that Slytherin is an unsuitable house for me?"

Snape uttered a barely audible chuckle. "Certainly not, merely that Ravenclaw likely would have placed you with marginally more intelligent students of your age."

Aisha scoffed, "Unlikely. Hardly any of them can even brew a proper Felix Felicis potion. I had to instruct seventh-years on what they were doing wrong. I ended up making up a short list of what they were doing right!"

"Regardless of their stupidity, you are rather…talented," he ground the word out of his mouth as if it damaged his soul to pay a compliment, "in Potions, and a fifteen year old shouldn't be able to make a potion quite as advanced as Felix Felicis; particularly not a student who only recently reached fifteen."

Aisha nodded her head solemnly. "I suppose I take it for granted sometimes. It tends to come rather naturally. It's difficult to understand why others seem to have such difficulty."

Snape nodded in what could best be described as understanding; he too had been that way when he was about her age. Before he could respond, the sound of a clock chimed; though Aisha could not spot one anywhere in the office. "It seems as if your detention for this evening has ended, Miss Farabi. I shall see you this Thursday following your last class of the day." With a flick of his wand, the door to his office flew open for Aisha.

Before leaving Aisha bowed politely to the Potions master, "Thank you for your valuable time Professor. Though I am sure detention is not supposed to be enjoyable, this detention has proven itself to be very much so."

Snape nodded curtly, which served as her signal to leave. Gingerly she shut the door behind her, and Snape resumed grading papers.