chapter 4 finally up!! yay!!
disclaimer: i wish i own it…
Chapter 4: Lessons
by zfirze
Sasuke stifled a yawn. Harry and Ron weren't lying - History of Magic was really boring. And to think he had actually looked forward to it, wanting to learn more about the wizarding world. But the way Binns taught it…let's just say he lost interest after the first ten minutes. He inwardly marveled at the fact that Hermione could stay awake and pay attention throughout the hour. Amazing.
"Wow, you were paying attention during History of Magic, weren't you," Naruto came up from behind and teased him.
"Hn," Sasuke replied, not rising to the bait.
They waited outside the dungeon door for their next lesson - Potions. Ron and Hermione were bickering about something stupid (and tactless) Ron had just done (again).
The door creaked open and they proceeded down. Naruto and Sasuke sat themselves in a table behind Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Settle down," The Potions teacher - Snape said coldly, before closing the door.
Sasuke adjusted his cauldron while Snape launched into a speech about the OWLs. The class was rather silent, either listening intently to him or just not wanting to incur his wrath. Sasuke had pretty much gotten the idea from Harry and Ron that Snape was rather intimidating. Sasuke personally thought they had over-exaggerated.
"…and since this year we have two new Gryffindors, who incidentally need not take OWLs, we should make them feel welcome," Snape's tone was by no way welcoming.
Snape spoke softly, "And I do hope you boys will not cause my students any distractions. They are already struggling through their potions-making as it is," He glanced pointedly at Neville, who gulped.
Sasuke stared at him coldly. That arrogant bastard.
"We won't!" Naruto answered cheerily, seemingly unaware of Snape's unfriendly disposition.
Harry and Ron groaned softly. Naruto must be out of his mind! Couldn't he tell Snape was being hostile to them? And they had even warned them earlier about Snape!
"And what is the cause for the noise, Potter, Weasley?" Snape smirked slightly, "Since the both of you are causing disruptions, I shall have to deduct five points for each of you,"
Harry opened his mouth to retort but Naruto kicked his chair from behind. Looked like Naruto wasn't as clueless as he let on.
Snape's ugly smile widened as he strode to the front, "We will be mixing the Draught of Peace today. Pay close attention to what you are doing or you may end up putting the drinker into a heavy and irreversible sleep. The instructions are on the board and you have an hour and a half. Start,"
They collected the ingredients they needed and started to work on their potions. Naruto frowned at the instructions - what the heck was powdered moonstone? He looked around, even Sasuke had started brewing. Shrugging, he looked at the ingredients he had and threw in something which looked powdered, so he assumed it was the moonstone. His potion turned dark green.
Sasuke sighed. This potion was extremely troublesome, having to stir in the correct direction and the right number of times. Maybe he should just use his Sharingan? He could copy Hermione who was having no problem at all (and seemed very enthusiastic for that matter). He glanced at Naruto, who was currently having trouble with his potion. Nah, if Naruto found out, he would be teased mercilessly.
Not to mention if some other people had noticed his Sharingan. That would be worse. He would have to attempt explaining why his eye suddenly turned red. Though he could always blame it on his potion, he guessed.
Snape walked past his cauldron and looked at it. Not commenting, he swept past. Sasuke took it as a good sign.
He stopped at Harry's cauldron, "Potter, what is this supposed to be?"
"The Draught of Peace,"
"Tell me, Pot-,"
Snape's insult was interrupted by a loud resounding explosion. Some students screamed and jumped onto their stool immediately as a dark purple potion spread on the floor. Sasuke managed to jump out of it in time. The one known as Goyle, however, was not so lucky. He jumped and missed his stool, landing on his bare knees into the solution and immediately collapsing over his own cauldron (which set his robes on fire).
"Evanesco," Snape Vanished the potion
He turned to Neville, guessing it was his. But Neville's cement-like potion was still in his cauldron. He turned his gaze to the one in front of Neville - Naruto. Naruto's cauldron was in pieces. His gaze fell to the ingredient Naruto had assumed was powdered moonstone.
"Do you know how to read, Uzumaki?" Snape said softly.
"Yes…"
"Then do you not know the difference between powdered moonstone and powdered cockroach droppings?" Snape had a very ugly smirk on his face.
"EWW!! That was cockroach droppings?!" Naruto pushed past Snape and flung open the dungeon doors
"INFECTION!! I need to disinfect myself!! EWW!!" Naruto's voice resounded from the corridor as he rushed for the nearest bathroom.
Snape wasn't pleased by Naruto's behaviour, "Inform Uzumaki this: he has just lost Gryffindor five points,"
"I don't see the need to deduct five points for someone who just has a fear of cockroaches," Sasuke told him coolly.
Ron frantically gestured behind Snape, wanting to warn Sasuke not to push his luck.
"A fifteen-year-old scared of cockroaches? Disgraceful," Snape paused, "And for talking back, another five points will be taken,"
Sasuke glared at him.
"Now, for the rest of you. Fill a flagon of your potion, label it with your name and bring it to my desk," Snape looked at Goyle, "And bring him up here as well, I'll give him a potion to wake him up,"
Crabbe struggled with supporting Goyle.
Sasuke filled his flagon and walked up to the table.
"Well, I hope you learnt your manners, new kid," Malfoy smirked at Sasuke when Sasuke passed him.
Glaring, Sasuke set the flagon on the desk. He glanced behind him. Snape was busy insulting Harry again and no one else was near the table. He raised his hands and formed a quick seal. Something useful he had adapted from Naruto's pranks. Pointing it at Malfoy's flagon, he turned the pinkish silver potion red.
'That will teach both of them,' Sasuke thought triumphantly, 'When Snape open the bottle, the potion will jet out and hit him in the face. And he will be covered in boils for at least a week. Serve him right!'
He went back and packed his and Naruto's stuff, feeling satisfied. It was a shame he would not be able to see Snape's face when he opened the flagon.
They left the dungeon and waited for Naruto outside the boys' bathroom. They could hear the loud sound of water rushing out and the sound of scrubbing. Ron and Hermione were abusing Snape (though Hermione spoke more matter-of-factly, instead of the biased version of Ron's), seemingly in an attempt to cheer Harry up and to lighten the mood.
Naruto came out of the bathroom, humming, "Oh hi guys! Didn't expect you guys to be here," He smiled widely.
Sasuke extended the hand holding onto Naruto's bag.
"Thanks, teme!" Naruto lightly pecked Sasuke's cheek.
Sasuke grunted, but looked faintly pleased.
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked away. Pretending they didn't see that, and perhaps giving them more privacy. Not to mention that they were slightly embarrassed.
The five of them turned and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. They chatted and made idle talk while eating their shepherd's pie. Sasuke could tell that the trio wanted to discuss something private regarding Snape when Hermione slipped and mentioned something about an Order.
Sasuke rolled his eye, out of sight of the three of them. Seriously, he was getting sick of this pretence they had to put up. They already knew about the Order of the Phoenix and that Snape was in it. The trio could have just discussed whatever they wanted in front of them, instead of giving each other meaningful glances. It looked extremely childish.
They left for Divination not too long after (Hermione for Arithmancy), and started on interpreting dreams. Sasuke personally felt that this old insect of a teacher (and the subject Divination as well) was a total fraud, and his expression clearly reflected that.
"If you totally don't believe in it, why did you even take it in the first place?" Ron asked.
Sasuke didn't reply, but Naruto helped him.
"Well, that's because I'm taking it," He grinned broadly.
"It's just because there aren't any other subjects to take," Sasuke contradicted him coolly.
"Well, there's always Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Man, I thought you would take the same subject as Hermione, you already look like you can give her a run for her money," Ron cut in.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows.
"That's true. Hermione is the best in our year - top in every subject," Harry paused, "And you did really well in potions-making earlier. Snape would usually criticise every Gryffindor,"
Their conversation immediately hushed when Professor Trelawney glided towards them.
"I dreamt about myself standing in front of a mirror, wearing a black and yellow hat, what'd you reckon that mean?" Naruto made up a dream to cover up for their sudden silence.
Trelawney swept past to the next table.
"Maybe you'll get stung by a bee," Ron suggested, snickering.
Naruto and Harry chortled. Sasuke smirked slightly. Ron could be pretty funny at times. They spent a while longer discussing made up dreams and having Ron interpreting them, nearly falling out of their pouffes laughing at the end of the lesson. Professor Trelawney was a little miffed by their antics and set the class a dream diary as homework.
"Man, you guys have it lucky - not needing to take OWLs," Ron commented as they left the North tower and headed for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"But we still have the same amount of homework," Naruto reasoned.
"Well, that seemed a little unfair. But hey, less pressure isn't it?"
"I guess…" Naruto looked thoughtful, "I mean, they can't expect us to suddenly sit for OWLs. Especially since we have a…different system back home,"
Ron agreed. Harry had noticed the hesitation on Naruto's part and he briefly wondered whether that was worth something worth pursuing.
They went into the classroom and Hermione was already there, waiting for them and looking at the front with a revolted look on her face. Harry turned to the front and understood why immediately.
Dolores Umbridge was wearing a pink cardigan and a black velvet bow on top of her head. She looked like a frog with a fly perched on it.
"Well, good afternoon!" She said when the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled their response.
"Tut, tut. That won't do now, will it? I would like you to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. Once more please. Good afternoon, class!"
The class chorused their reply. Naruto looked horrified at being addressed like a five-year-old. They were fifteen!
The rest of the lesson was thoroughly boring, having to put away their wands and read an utterly boring text. Naruto stared mutely at the first line of the chapter they were supposed to be reading.
Fifteen minutes later, he had made no progress. Instead, he chose to look at Hermione who had her hands raised resolutely.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" Umbridge asked Hermione.
"Not about the chapter, no,"
Naruto watched as Umbridge was assaulted by questions from the class. Your hand is not up! Seriously, what was her problem? Did she spend all her time caring for little children? She's so much worse than Iruka-sensei!
"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Naruto was snapped out of his reverie by Harry's comment.
The class took in a sharp intake of breath, waiting for Harry to continue.
Umbridge looked at Harry for a while, "Come here, Mr. Potter,"
Harry left for the front of the class where Umbridge passed him a pink-coloured note and sent him out.
"That foul Umbridge woman!" Ron abused her under his breath.
Hermione nodded fervently.
"That was really stupid of Harry," Sasuke said quietly to Naruto, out of earshot of the other two.
"I'll say," Naruto agreed and sent out his bugs to tail Harry, making sure that he would be safe.
They went back to reading the book and waited for the bell to ring. Naruto had confirmed that Harry was in Professor McGonagall's office and Sasuke relaxed slightly at that. No one would dare attack Harry if he was with McGonagall.
Naruto gave up on reading the book and turned his attention to collecting information. And just for fun, he even sent one down into the lake. The giant squid was so cool! He also made a mental note to explore the Forbidden Forest.
The bell rang and they left for dinner.
The school was whispering about Harry's shouting match with Umbridge. It was amazing how fast this information spread. Sasuke was genuinely impressed, though he thought that this skill could be put to better use than gossip.
Sasuke could see that Harry was beyond pissed by the other students' reaction and the five of them left the Great Hall before finishing dinner.
"Don't worry, they'll know it's the truth in the end," Naruto reassured him.
"So you guys believe us?" Harry asked.
"One hundred percent!" Naruto exclaimed, "Besides, it's always better to be prepared,"
Harry smiled appreciatively.
End of Chapter 4