THE FOLLY OF YOUTH
by ardavenport
The sad reality of the future straggled into Snape's classroom soon after the bell ending the last class period. They all looked guilty.
Snape was quite certain that they had reason to be. Today they would finally complete the Rejuvenation Potion and their meager discipline to prepare the required ingredient would be tested. No doubt with predictable failure for many.
"Now," he began after the bell rang. "We shall see if you are capable–"
Justin Finch-Fletchley hurried in late to a seat in the back of the room.
"Of successfully mixing the Rejuvenation Potion." Snape strolled down the aside. "You have all had more than enough time to complete all the ingredients." Snape could have completed them in half the time he had allowed these youths. The eyes of the whole class followed him, for once attentive.
Whack!
Finch-Fletchley cringed as Snape's wand rapped him smartly on his head. Snape turned around and stared them all down.
"Five points from Hufflepuff," he said to the tardy boy. "Thirty points off from the house of anyone who needs to ask for any replacement ingredients because they did not properly complete their homework." He began strolling forward again. Snape thought that this was generous enough for their pathetic skills. He should deny them any replacements and fail them entirely. How difficult was it to leave moonstones out on the roof under the full moon, or collect dew from the right plants in the morning?
"I can assure you that the examiners for the OWLs will not be as forgiving as I. This potion represents exactly the sort of care and attention to detail that you will have been expected to master."
Whack!
His wand came down on a note flying between rows. It squirmed under the tip of his wand; the intended recipient shrank back on her bench. Snape picked it up and opened it.
"Hmmm," he said, bored. "It appears you have a date tonight, Miss Turpin." Laughter tittered through the rest of the class. It took so little to entertain the young. "Five points from Ravenclaw. And I trust you can tear your mind away sufficiently from your hormonal pursuits to complete today's lesson?"
Turpin gulped and nodded.
"Open your books to page 173," he announced, returning to the front of the room. Snape reviewed the essential steps and pointed out the most problematical parts while he distributed the remaining essential ingredients to them. After that they all began.
They were all old enough now not to have the typical problems of first-years getting their caldrons properly lit. But somehow Neville Longbottom managed it anyway. Snape got it started for him and de-merited Gryffindor ten points.
The class settled into the usual movements and smells. Halfway through class they reached the intermediate phase of the potion when they added silverleaf to their caldrons. The liquid should be clear with only a minimal silver sheen coating the inside of the caldron. As Snape walked up and down the rows, he saw a variety of tints, but nothing was solidified. Even Longbottom's potion was only a little milky.
Hermione Granger's potion was perfect as usual. She was a girl far too smart for her own good and wasted his time by trying to draw his attention to it, but she did do her lessons properly. Snape scowled at the pinkish hue in Draco Malfoy's caldron. A little white, purple, blue or green, might have still left the potion potent enough to pass. But pink was a very bad sign. It had no chance of working and he would need to be careful to counteract anything that might come of it.
Snape said nothing to Malfoy. The boy needed to learn his lesson the hard way about getting out of bed to do his homework when he was supposed to. And not disgracing Slytherin House by failing anything in potions class.
Snape frowned down at the crystal clear liquid and silvery sheen in Harry Potter's caldron. The boy scowled a challenge up at him. Snape said nothing but he did not move on until Potter looked away first. Even after all these years Snape still pushed back the thought of looking away. The cruel placement of Lily's eyes on James Potter's face always repelled him.
The blue tint in the caldron of Potter's partner meant that Ron Weasley's potion at least wouldn't do anything dangerous, if it did anything at all.
After reviewing all the students' work, Snape went to his desk and began arranging the test articles. Each potion would be applied to a withered item. If it worked, then that item, whatever it was, would be restored. Before that, if the students wished, they could apply a small amount of potion to themselves to test it. If it had been properly concocted then there should be no effect at all, since fifteen year-olds were already rejuvenated.
As soon at the students raised their hands to signal that they were ready, Snape began his rounds through the room. Of course, Hermine Granger was first. The dead twig from his box sprouted new leaves and budded.
"Pass." he said. But he ignored her glare. She hardly merited extra points for her house for merely meeting her usual standard.
The desiccated hummingbird egg twitched and actually hatched after he applied Longbottom's potion to it. But a mouse came out of it. He vanished the creature to the bird cage anyway. "Pass," he declared with a sneer.
While he was busy with the other students, Draco Malfoy tried to redeem his poor performance by showing some initiative. Unfortunately, the idiot boy was clumsy, possibly from the growth on his hand where he had obviously tested his own potion. He tried to switch his caldron for Hermione Granger's. But she was quick with her wand and stung him on his marred hand. Snape ignored the activity and went on to the next nervous student. He had no patience for failure.
The dead bee that he applied Weasley's potion to actually twitched and flapped it's tiny wings.
"Pass," he admitted. He would not have expected any potion that color to do anything at all.
He next applied some of Harry Potter's potion to a slice of moldy bread. The hairy blue-green patches shrank and vanished. The crust shed a few flakes and Snape could smell an aroma from it as if it had been freshly baked.
"Pass," he pronounced. Potter glared angrily, but Snape had already been generous with Potter's friends, Longbottom and Weasley. He had no obligation to do more. Snape moved on.
Bending over to inspect the next caldron, Snape caught a glimpse of motion behind him. He whirled about in time to catch a splash of potion in the chest. For a moment he stared at Harry Potter's equally wide-eyed expression. Draco Malfoy, his arm and wand outstretched, was right behind him.
That moment of surprise cost him. He was too slow to get his wand up to counter the potion. He grimaced and bent forward as it acted on his body. Fortunately, it was quick. But when he straightened again, he and Potter were the same height.
Rage filled him as he saw the suppressed smirk on Potter and Weasleys' faces.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for that, Potter!" he yelled. His voice cracked. His adult sized robes now dragged on the floor off the frame of a teenager. If he took a step, his shoes would come off.
Snape whirled at the sound of a giggle, but the culprit was hidden among the averted eyes of the rest of the class.
"I didn't! –"
Snape whirled on Potter again.
"Don't make excuses Potter!" His voice cracked again. Snape's outrage had no words. At least none that could be spoken with his now immature voice without opening himself up to more ridicule.
Why did Dumbledore and the others think this clownish, self-important boy was their best hope in the expected fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named???
Potter now glared at him with a ferocity that even Snape's own punishments had failed to tame. He doubted that the upcoming detention would make an impact on Potter, but Snape vowed to at least take satisfaction in trying.
"Class dismissed!" he shouted.
=== END ===
first posted on JelloAnarchy: 2006? and tf.n: 18-Aug-2008
Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to JKR; I'm just playing in her sandbox.