The Healer – Chapter 4
Winter Holiday flew by fast as Rose soon found herself back in the amusing company of her ginger companions as they headed to the library for plans to prank none other than Professor Snape: the malevolent, dark Potions master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"No, that won't work," Rose said , shaking her head as Fred's smile faded quickly off his face," Snape would figure the whole thing out. We need something more inquisitive than funny…something he'd never expect to happen." Rose paced the length of the table that Fred and George were seated at. The windows were covered in snow and the atmosphere of the room was warm and toasty thanks to the roaring fire. Random bits of chattering were heard throughout the library and the book haven was incredibly quite until George shouted out, "POTIONS!"
"What?" Rose asked, confounded. "Snape is the potions master." George exclaimed. "Doesn't take a genius to figure that out, mate, I mean, we've only been in his class how long? Oh, yeah, four months." Fred replied snidely, his signature smirk painting itself on his freckled face. "No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. Since Snape is our potions master then the easiest thing- not to mention the funniest and the smartest thing to do- would be to prank him via potion! He'd be completely humiliated to be outsmarted by a couple of first-years!" George explained, an identical smirk appearing on his face.
"That's absolutely brilliant, George," Rose stated, smiling widely," I know exactly what we can do." The trio huddled up in the warmth of the library conducting, perfecting, and putting to action their plans to trick Snape.
It was the next day and Rose, Fred and George were busy pulling off their prank. It was right after breakfast when they had Potions (on a Thursday, of course) and the innovative trio was heading down to the classroom in the dungeon. Whilst waiting outside for Snape and reminding each other of the actions needed to be taken for the plan to be successful, George and Fred performed their "Weasley Handshake" ; it was something they had invented in their childhood and soon planned to teach Rose since she was like family to both of them.
Several minutes later, Snape entered the dark, grimy dungeon corridor and lead the students into the classroom. "Today's lesson, since I had some business to attend to, will consist of your performance of concocting the"Succulent Smell" potion," said Snape monotonously ," There will be no further discussion of the matter so get to work." Snape tapped his wand on the chalkboard and the instructions and ingredients of the potion appeared along with the pairs. Rose was paired with Fred for the class, but George was stuck with Marcus Flint, the revolting Slytherin who had a strong dislike for anyone that wasn't a pureblood or, therefore, a Slytherin; however, the trio would still be able to perform the plan because Rose was the ace potions maker of the group (she got all E's in Snape's class despite her disregard for some rules).
Rose and Fred got busy making the mandatory potion for the day; Snape was walking around inspecting student's cauldrons and they needed it to look like they were handing in the right potion. When Snape crept over to their station, his long, black cloak whirling behind him, he bent down , sniffed their potion, looked from Longbottom to Weasley, and nodded in satisfaction. Once he was at the next station, Fred and Rose exchanged expressions of glee and turned to see how George was. George gave them a 'thumbs-up' and continued his dreaded work with Flint.
Towards the end of class, Snape announced for everyone to place a labeled vile of their potion in the closet before the bell sounded. Rose slipped the "Succulent Smell" potion into her bag and George pulled out a potion from his bag and passed it to Rose. Rose quickly wrote hers and George's name on it, and placed the vile in the closet. Two minutes later, the bell sounded and Rose, George, and Fred strolled triumphantly out of the Dungeon and up to Charms Class; their plan was a success and they spent the rest of the day talking about it.
-Later that Day, After Dinner to be exact-
Snape was reviewing his first-years' work. "Do they even know how to read?" Snape muttered to himself, frustrated, as he scribbled at his parchment," D!" After going through several more batches of failed potions, Snape's long fingertips finally came across the vile labeled 'Rose Longbottom & Fred Weasley'. Snape took one sniff of the potion, expecting it to have a succulent smell (hence the name), but to his surprise had the potion explode in his face. A shout of anger and pain rebounded off the stone walls of his office as Snape exited the room furiously, his current course heading towards the Head Master's office.
Groups of students ranging from first-years to seventh-years were still hanging out in the hallway chatting away before they were forced to head back to their common rooms. For Snape, this was absolutely terrible since he had no idea that the exploding potion had dyed his hair a vibrant red and yellow and had also drawn the Gryffindor logo right across his cheeks. Laughter filled the corridors of Hogwarts that night, and, according to their plans, Snape marched up to Dumbledore's office only to find the mischievous trio already seated in front of Dumbledore's desk. All that came out of their mouths were shrieks of joy and an abundance of laughter; even Dumbledore smiled when Snape walked into the room.
"Headmaster, these three students have been giving me trouble since last term and now they have decided to take their insolent and childish behavior to the next level," Snape said, his voice very low and serious yet containing a hint of agitation," I want these students suspended!"
"Now, Severus that is too serious an action for a harmless prank performed by a lot of first-years," Dumbledore said, defending the Gryffindors valiantly, "I thought you would be congratulating them on their success in concocting such an extraordinary potion. It's quite unusual for a first-year to have such an advanced potion-making skill, especially considering that they've been in Hogwarts for only half a year." Snape was taken aback by Dumbledore's defense of the students; however, he kept in mind how much he wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts position and simply replied," Ms. Longbottom has an exceptional knack for Potions, just like her mother, however, the Weasley twins have had a consistent disreguard for every and all rules in my classroom and I believe that they deserve at least a month's detention. Ms. Longbottom would be joining them as well since it appears that she is the only brain of the group."
Fred and George passed Snape a look of disgust and disagreement- they also muttered several curses to themselves- and Rose's brows narrowed down closer to her eyes. "I think," Dumbledore interjected the silence," That a week's worth of detention will be sufficient, Severus." Even more taken aback than before, and also feeling defeated and undermined, Snape coldly replied," As you wish, Headmaster," and stormed out his Dumbledore's office, his black cloak chasing behind him.
The trio headed back to their common room and made further congratulations to each other and enjoyed the other students' rave about the prank. The clock soon struck eleven and students were retreating to their bedrooms; Rose, however, remained firmly planted on the sofa, contemplating what Snape meant by having an 'exceptional knack for potions like her mother'. "Are you going to bed, Rose?" George asked before following his brother's suit upstairs. "Not yet," she replied vaguely," I need time to…think things over." George gave her a small smile and headed towards the boys' dormitory while Rose's mind was at work trying to decipher Snape's message.