She had done well enough to avoid being scolded by Snape personally, but Sheik had seen enough of Snape to confirm her opinion of him. Cruel, Callous, rude, and greasy, he hovered around the class, praising few and harassing those Gryffindors who dare screw up... or, in Hermione's case, dare to exceed and show off.
Sheik, although she had paid close attention to the instructions, had chosen to stay still and silent, outside of Snape's notice. She was honestly not exactly sure if her potion was acceptable or not, but at this point she cared very little. A little fresh air would do wonders.
"I suppose you inserted the porcupine quills before putting the cauldron on the fire?" Snape was shouting at poor clumsy Neville. He looked as if he was about to cry.
Before Sheik knew what she was doing, her hand was gripped around tightly around her wand. She quickly whipped it around, and jabbed it at the front of the room, were a green chemical was floating around in a large vial on Snape's desk.
"FLIPENDO!" She shouted. Before Snape could turn around, the Jinx had soared across the room, over three people's heads, right behind Snape's back before it made contact with the vial.
The knockback jinx had very little use besides pushing small objects, and this was no exception. The vial flew up and shattered against the wall.
"What!" Snape thundered, as he stood flabbergasted as he stared at the wall. "What..."
Smoke had begun to rise from the wall. Whatever it was, it appeared to be acidic... it was eating away at the stone in the wall.
"Everyone out!" Snape thundered. He drew his wand, and gave it a flick. Various chemicals and cleaning equipment soared into the room, apparently always kept nearby in case of accidents.
"Class is NOT dismissed!" Snape shrieked. "I will find whoever did this and make SURE they are expelled!"
The class hurried out, coughing and spluttering among the smoke, as Sheik wondered, oh, did she wonder... why Snape had such a dangerous material on hand in the first place.
And yet, a sudden feeling of dread began to well up inside of her. She was, after all, relying on Dumbledore to protect her. At the very least, she should be following his rules.
But Snape had violated that trust as well. She thought. He was not a good man, or a teacher. Yet still, he was still in a position of authority. Who were the staff as a whole going to believe: Him or her? Perhaps her Royal Uprbringing had rather spoiled her, after all.
No one seemed to be exactly sure where the spell had come from, and everyone was discussing the event at great length, trying to decide for themselves who the culprit was, who was going to be expelled.
Sheik nervously began to twirl her wand in between her fingers. She may have been a guest at the school, but that did not give her special priveliges. She was, to the teachers, just another student, albeit one very strangely dressedd. Only Dumbledore himself knew her true name, and what circumstances brought her here... but even he would have to punish her, if he saw reason enough to do so.
She began toying with the needles she had transfigured the other day. She was, oddly enough, very proud of her accomplishment. She was, apparently, extremely sentimental at times, and had kept them as a keepsake. She tried to take her mind off her worries by transfiguring the needle into a toothpick and back, toothpick and back. She did this many times, until the weight of her mistake began to press on her again. She threw threm away, unable to deal with handling them anymore.
It was another fifteen minutes until Professor Snape finally emerged.
"I will interrogate each of you on the subject of this matter." He said. He still looked rather livid, but had calmed down since the incident in question. "For those of you who are not being questioned, clean your stations."
They trooped back inside, and although the foul smell was in the air, the area was safe for work once again.
Sheik bent her head over her cauldron, anxiously scrubbing her cauldron clean, as students were one by one called up to the front. Everyone seemed a little terrified at the idea of being alone with Snape and his wrath, but no one protested. Finally, at long last, Sheik herself was called to the front.
"Sir." Sheik said, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice.
"And here I thought your kind were fearless." Snape said, snidely. "Wand."
With growing dread, Sheik reached into her pocket and drew her wand.
"Nine Inches. Made of Deku. Core of a Keaton's tail hairs." Sheik had absolutely no idea why she was telling him this, and apparently he didn't either.
"Very fascinating." He said, sarcasm dripping in every word. "Yet what I am most interested in is the kind of spell the wand last performed."
Sheik bit her lip. Maybe if she confessed now, she would be let off the hook...
Before she could come to a decision, however, Snape had brought down his wand with a flick.
An image, almost looking like smoke, was drawn out of Sheik's wand. The smoke slowly took shape... to reveal the clear image of a transfigured needle, now in the shape of a toothpick.
Snape said nothing as he motioned for her to go. She stepped away, hardly daring to believe her luck, as the next student was called forward.
Her station clean, Sheik watched Snape intently, in order to gauge who he thought was most likely to be the culprit.
He had very few left to speak with, now. One by one, people went up the front, only to be immediatlely dismissed by Snape. He was beginning to look rather frustrated.
"I trust you think this was amusing, eh, Potter?" He snarled, as Mr. Popular sauntered up to his desk.
"No, Sir." He said. He placed his wand on his desk, and Snape examined it carefully.
"Now what secrets does this wand hold...?" He mused. "Fame does not give us the right to violate the rules, Potter."
Sheik stiffened. She had been rather under the impression that if Snape could not find conclusive evidence for the crime, everyone would have been let of the hook. However, it seemed Snape had other plans. If he chose to pin the blame on someone else purely out of spite, Sheik did not think she would be able to bear it without having to confess.
"If I ever find a shred of evidence you did this Potter." Snape said slowly. "I will ensure that you are expelled."
...
"I cannot believe you did that!" Hermione said, wide eyed as they hiked down to Hagrid's hut by the side of the forest. "You could have gotten in so much trouble!"
"Yeah, well... You saw the way he was treating Neville!" Sheik argued. Now that the initial panic was over and done with, Sheik had decided her stance on the matter was purely Pro-Her. "I mean, come on, that was completely unneccessary!"
"You could have really hurt someone though!" Hermione shot back. "You didn't know what was in that container!"
""I can't believe you're defending him!"
"I'm defending a teacher, and he may not be very nice, but he's very good at what he does, and-"
They were still bickering when they reached the front door of the cabin. Sheik raised her hand as if to knock, but was surprised when the door opened of it's own accord.
"Oh... Hi, Hagrid!" Sheik said. "How are you?"
"Err... I'm very well, Sheik." Hagrid said, scratching his nose. "But yeh see... I already have guests..."
"Oh." Sheik's face fell slightly. "Right. Well..."
"Who is it Hagrid?"
Sheik craned her neck to see past Hagrid's stocky frame into the one room hut. There were guests, two youngs boys... both of whom she knew.
"You're all in the same house, then, eh?" Hagrid said.
"Yes." Sheik nodded. Hermione hung her out. She must have felt extremely left out, as one of the boys was one of her worst tormentors, Ron Weasley. "We'll come back later."
"How about Tomorrow?" Hagrid suggested. "Don't get meh wrong, Sheik... I'ld really like to hear about your first week."
"I understand." Sheik said. "I'll be back."
They said goodbye, and went their own seperate ways.
"That could have gone better." Sheik muttered.
"He does seem nice enough." Hermione admitted. "But why is he talking to Ron, of all people?"
We can ask him tomorrow."
...
A/N: I have no new statements to give.
In the Name of Harman...