This is JKR's sandbox – I'm just happily destroying castles and making a new one.

Pre-Emptive Strike

Severus Snape watches the newest group of Gryffindor and Slytherins from the office that connects to the Potions classroom. Some of the students he knows from reputation only, others he has tutored at one point or another two years prior to them receiving their letters from Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sighing inaudibly, he wonders why, even after all the changes the Board of Governors has made in regards to the running of Hogwarts that they insist on pairing the two houses for his first class of the new school year.

The students speak among themselves in low voices. Some are excited, like Draco Malfoy, while others are obviously nervous, like Neville Longbottom. Ronald Weasley spends the final moments before the start of the class by telling any of his fellow classmates that will listen, stories that he has heard from his brothers in regards to Professor Snape's teaching style. The voices wash over him and despite his initial reluctance to teach, Severus is glad he accepted the Board of Governors' offer almost six years prior.

During Professor Snape's tenure, the number and severity of accidents (such as exploding potions and melting cauldrons) had dropped dramatically. Part of the reason was because in addition to the required text for the class, he has also added a supplemental text for students to purchase. Another reason for the decrease in the number of accidents was his habit of assigning partners instead of allowing the students to choose for themselves. A pre-emptive strike, if you will, to prevent an entire school year of troublemakers attempting to sabotage each other's assignments.

A hush falls as Professor Snape makes his entrance into the classroom.

"Welcome to Potions. For the next five years, you will learn the subtle magic of potion making. Some of you will excel in this division of magical subjects. Some of you will not. What will determine your success in my classroom is individual ability, your willingness to work hard, paying attention to details and most importantly, listening to and following directions."

There is some snickering from the Gryffindor side of the classroom but it's quickly silence by a glare by the formidable potions professor.

"Why is it important to put the ingredients in exact order when first learning how to create a potion, Mr. Finnegan?"

"To umm . . . to make sure it is created correctly," the Gryffindor stammers.

"Can someone give me a more definitive answer," Professor Snape asks the classroom. A young girl with wild curly brown hair catches his attention and he signals to her to answer the question.

"Because the order one put ingredients can increase or decrease the volatility of the potion and can also increase or decrease the effectiveness of the potion."

"Correct, Miss . . .?"

"Granger, sir – My name is Hermione Granger."

"Ten points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger. Next question – why is it important to clean your tools between cutting, dicing, or slicing potion ingredients?"

Afraid of answering incorrectly, no one raises their hand, so the Professor Snape calls on his godson to answer the question.

"A clean tool ensures that the ingredients are not mixed prior to putting it in the potion, sir."

"Correct, Mr. Malfoy. Ten points to Slytherin for your answer. Last question, class – why is a good foundation in Herbology important?"

Timidly, and to his own surprise, Neville Longbottom raises his hand and Professor Snape acknowledges him.

"So you can be able to identify the ingredients without a label. Also, knowing the different properties of some ingredients allow you to be able to deviate from a standard recipe. By being able to deviate from a recipe you will be able to find a shortcut to completing a potion when a shorter brewing time is important." Upon completing his wordy explanation, Neville turns an interesting shade of red, but keeps the gaze of his professor.

"Twenty points to Gryffindor, Mr. Longbottom, for such a detailed answer."

Ignoring the stunned silence from the classroom, Professor Snape continues the First Years' potions lessons.

Later in Gryffindor Tower

While the rest of his housemates are down in the common room, Harry Potter writes a letter to his mom. His first potions lesson was the complete opposite from what he expected from the stories that his father and godfather had told him, and he had hoped that his mom had answers for him.

Mom –

Today we had our first potions lessons and it was, well, cool. Professor Snape (who is also the head of Slytherin House) started the lesson with a short speech and then he asked us some questions. Hermione Granger (who seems to be a bit of a know-it-all) and Neville answered two questions and between the two of them, earned Gryffindor thirty points. I was surprised by this – from what Dad and Padfoot has said about Professor Snape, I wasn't expecting him to award my house any points, let alone award thirty of them, twenty of them being earned by Neville.

I thought that the professor would come in, favor his House, not teach us the basics of potion-making or help us through the process of making our very first potion. However, he did the exact opposite – he treated both Houses fairly, gave us the basic rules of potion-making and walked through the classroom making sure we were doing well. He even averted a near disaster – Seamus Finnegan put in porcupine quills in the cauldron while it was still on the fire. Professor Snape, however, extinguished the flame quickly and put a freezing charm on the cauldron before anything bad could happen. I can't imagine what the consequences would have been if Professor Snape had not been paying attention. Seamus' Slytherin partner, Tracey Davis, started yelling at Seamus as she realized what could have happened. Come to find out, the mixture inside the cauldron would have exploded and anyone who had the incomplete and incorrect potion touch their skin would have broken out in painful boils. Which is ironic, as the potion is supposed to cure boils, not cause them. Professor Snape gave them both detention – Seamus for being so careless and Davis for not paying attention to her partner's actions.

Professor Snape is nothing like I thought he would be. Did you know him? Was he always smart in Potions? I overheard from one of the Slytherins that he's the youngest Potions Master in Great Britain in years! I think I'm going to like this class.

Harry