A/N: I would like to take the time to thank those who took the time to review. Reviews really motivate me to write and without these people I would have much less incentive to continue updating this fast. So I want to thank Cat Beats, Robert77833, Lightsbane1905, Slytherin66, exillion, JPElles, HaywireEagle, AmericanMuggleborn and jayley.
I would also like to remind you all that I've had a poll up for a while now about the length of chapters. The choice was between a 3K chapter every ~3 weeks or a 6K chapter every ~6 weeks.
I've opted for the longer chapters, which means I'll take longer to update but there will be more to read. Interludes from the point of view of other characters are the exception and will remain at a length of about 3K.
So chapter 39 will be out in six weeks and will be twice the length my chapters have been until now.
Happy reading!
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Chapter Thirty-eight
All students from Beauxbâtons and Durmstrang were to follow classes with the Hogwarts students. Harry shared all his classes Ron Weasley, and had some in common with Sally-Anne Perks and Hermione Granger. Alexandre had the exact same schedule as Harry. Fleur, being older than Harry, was in a class for older students.
The staff had made the decisions concerning what classes the foreign students should have, and had given them those that the students would have the least trouble following.
The school system was a bit difficult to adjust to. Students at Hogwarts started from age eleven, while in Beauxbâtons it was at age eight. Harry was a seventh year student at Beauxbâtons, but in Hogwarts he'd been demoted to fourth year.
A system was also put in place to punish misbehaving students. Every time a student misbehaved, a teacher could give them one point. Once the student had received three points from one teacher, they had to serve detention supervised by the teacher in question.
During that first week in Great Britain, Harry went to class at Hogwarts and was fascinated with the differences compared to his own school. In France there were a lot of different classes, while in Hogwarts there was less variety, as several subjects were assembled in one class. There were taught about Law and Economy in history class (on top of being taught History itself, of course), and they were also taught some Latin and Greek in classes requiring spellcasting, such as Charms and Transfiguration.
Harry was content with how things were going, until Friday came.
On Friday he had Potions. Back in France, it had always been a subject he was average at, getting good grades but nothing particularly outstanding. He hadn't been expecting anything from that class, but it seemed that it had a surprise in store for him.
That day, Harry sat down next to Alexandre, his usual partner in Potions back in France. The teacher, a certain Professor Snape, glared the class into silence before beginning a roll-call.
When it was Harry's turn, the professor paused.
"… Harry Potter," said the man, an inexplicable reluctance in his tone.
"Present," said Harry.
Harry expected Professor Snape to continue calling out the names of the next students, but it didn't happen.
"The stolen 'hero' has returned home at last," murmured the man. In the silence, his words were deafening.
Harry looked at Alexandre in confusion, but Alexandre seemed just as lost as he was.
"I'm sorry?" Harry asked politely, quite puzzled by the man's comment. He had no idea what the professor was talking about.
"I certainly hope you are," said Professor Snape. "You must have liked the attention you received from Britain after you left. I can say I am glad that even the ego of France isn't large enough to risk… international repercussions by keeping you in Beauxbâtons during the year of the Triwizard Tournament. "
Alexandre inhaled sharply, shocked at the teacher's tone.
"Attention?" asked Harry. "What attention?"
Was the man referring to the fact that Minister Fudge came in person to France when Harry was eight years old in order to convince him to go back to Britain? Professor Snape had said Harry had received 'attention from Britain'. What had he meant by that?
Professor Snape smiled. It was not a nice smile. It felt cold and mocking.
"Only a Potter," spat Professor Snape, "could be self-centred enough to ignore the fact that he nearly destroyed the Franco-British Accords and annihilated centuries of peace by going to the wrong school."
Harry clenched his jaw, beyond mad that a man who didn't know him would make such false allegations. Alexandre put a hand on Harry's shoulder, pushing him downwards. He was warning him not to react.
Alexandre spoke instead. "Many foreign students go to Beauxbâtons. I am Russian, and yet my attending Beauxbâtons hasn't 'destroyed' any international treaties." He spoke politely and respectfully, as all Beauxbâtons students were taught to speak when addressing a teacher, but his words made it clear that he was mocking the man.
"And," added Harry, "if those 'centuries of peace' can be broken just by a British student going to a French school, then that peace must have been quite flimsy to begin with." His tone was full of scorn. The man was abusing his status as a figure of authority by insulting students, which Harry found inacceptable. Harry also didn't believe a word of what the professor had said. If the relation between Britain and France was really that bad, then the Triwizard Tournament would not have been possible. After all, the tournament itself was proof that France and Britain were on good terms with one another.
"One point, Potter," said Professor Snape. He waved his wand, and a piece of chalk flew up to the blackboard and wrote Harry's full name, followed by the Roman number one, which was a short, vertical line.
Harry gritted his teeth, furious that the man would give him a penalty point for defending himself.
"You aren't an ordinary student, Potter," continued Professor Snape. "You're considered a national icon. Perhaps in time you will learn that your actions do not only affect yourself."
The Potions class only worsened as time went on.
Apparently the class had been working on antidotes for a while now, and that day they were starting on a potion that countered the effects of a deadly powder made from the leaves of the Drowning Vine. The powder made from that magical plant could be slipped into drinks and had a very faint, easily disguised smell that made it perfect for assassinations. It caused its victim to suffer from lung failure and drown in their own blood.
"You have the entire two periods to brew the potion," said Professor Snape. "It usually takes thirty-five minutes to prepare, so with the ninety minutes I am giving you, you will have more than enough time to try several times if you fail on the first try." He was looking at a slightly pudgy boy as he said that last part. The boy in question blanched, cowering in his seat. "When your antidote is done, raise your hand and your work will be tested." You may begin now."
Ron, who was sitting behind Harry and Alexandre, leaned forward. "When he says it'll be tested at the end of class, he really means it. He'll poison us so we can use our antidotes on ourselves and see if they work."
"I beg your pardon?" exclaimed Alexandre in shock.
He'd been a little too loud, apparently, because Professor Snape said, "The work must be done in silence."
Harry looked down at the textbook he had been provided for the class. The potion they'd been asked to brew was familiar to him. Last year he'd had to work on a six months long project on the different kinds of Drowning Vine. The project was what was called a 'Projet de maturité', a 'maturity project'. Every two years starting from age thirteen, students had to complete a long maturity project in pairs and the subject of Harry's project last year had been the Drowning Vine. He was familiar with the antidote and had brewed it once or twice.
Harry had done the project with Quentin Schneider, his roommate. Part of the project had been them interviewing researchers who were looking for ways to improve antidotes. Harry could remember that one of the researchers had told them of an alternate version of the antidote which could be brewed faster but could not be made public because it was too costly compared to the cheaper, standard one.
All you had to do was let the potion simmer ten minutes less and then add a certain quantity of ground fireworms to balance the potion. Fireworms were very expensive, which was why the potion never made it on the shelves. The modified potion turned light red instead of the pink colour the standard antidote was meant to be, but it had the exact same effect.
Harry knew how to brew the antidote faster than the thirty-five minutes the standard version took. He'd only ever brewed the normal version, but the idea of him brewing the antidote in less time than the others felt vindicating after the way the teacher had treated him. He could already imagine the look on Professor Snape's face.
He just needed to see if there were any fireworms among the potion ingredients the students had access to.
He looked at Alexandre and whispered, "Tu m'aides avec les ingrédients?" Will you help me with the ingredients?
Alexandre nodded.
It turned out that there were fireworms available, though a very small quantity. Luckily, there were enough for what harry had in mind. He picked some up, which made Alexandre look at him with surprise.
"We have no need for fireworms," the teenager pointed out.
"J'ai fait mon projet de matu' de l'année passée là-dessus. Je connais un moyen de préparer cette potion plus rapidement." I did last year's matu' project on this subject. I know how to brew this potion faster.
Alexandre sighed. "This is because of Professor Snape's defamatory comments, is it not? Are you hoping to annoy him by showing off? I would rather just brew this potion the way the textbook says it must be done."
"Please, Alexandre? He acted like a real git."
Alexandre didn't seem inclined to agree, but Harry's pleading expression made him give in.
"I hope you know what you're doing," grumbled the teen as Harry brought them back to their seats.
"Trust me," was all Harry said.
And that was exactly what Alexandre did.
They worked together in amiable silence. Harry gave the instructions and took charge when they had to veer off the standard recipe to brew the alternative antidote. They managed to finish their potion without any mistakes and were done in twenty minutes, which was fifteen minutes faster than the official version.
Harry raised his hand, feeling proud, while Alexandre put a cork on a vial filled with a small amount of the antidote they'd brewed.
When Professor Snape noticed Harry's raised hand, he just said, "Put your hand down. You can't have finished the potion that fast, and judging by the colour," – He sneered at the contents of their vial, which were darker than the potion they were supposed to brew – "your work is an utter failure."
Harry opened his mouth to explain, but the professor cut him off.
"Back. To. Work," said the man.
After discussing it with Alexandre, Harry decided to wait fifteen minutes, which was the amount of time they had gained by brewing an alternative version of the potion.
Fifteen minutes later, Hermione Granger and some other students Harry didn't know raised their hands. Harry raised his as well, still holding the vial Alexandre had prepared. Professor Snape's gaze swept over the raised hands of a small portion of his class, and stopped on Harry who was still holding the vial filled with the potion the teacher had deemed a failure.
"Very well," said the professor. "Since you seem incapable of understanding simple instructions, Mister Potter, you will be the first to test your antidote."
Harry and Alexandre did not do anything, waiting for further instructions.
"Well?" said the man. "I don't have all day. Come here and bring your partner with you."
Harry straightened his back and walked over to the teacher, Alexandre following one step behind.
Professor Snape brought out a cup and a glass bottle filled with water. He poured the water in the bottle and then added the Drowning Vine powder.
"You may drink, then immediately ingest the antidote. The poison needs two minutes to act. If you are fine after five minutes, you will have succeeded."
Nervous, Harry picked up the cup and drank it. He uncorked the vial and poured the antidote in his mouth. Then, he waited, hoping that his maturity project had come in use and his plan would work.
Five minutes later, Harry was completely fine, and Professor Snape's hatred was cemented.
-x-x-x-
Madame Maxime was pacing in Headmaster Dumbledore's office, looking absolutely incensed.
"Zhis eez an outrage! A complete outrage! I demand retribution on my student's be'alf!"
Headmaster Dumbledore had his hands raised in a conciliatory gesture. "Madame Maxime, I have the outmost faith in Professor Snape's capacities as a teacher. Why, back when I was a student, common punishments were caning or whipping. When I became headmaster, I worked hard to make Hogwarts a gentler place. Professor Snape is a fine teacher, if a little stern."
Harry wasn't surprised that Hogwarts had once had such punishments. Beauxbâtons used pain spells to punish students.
Headmistress Maxime was shaking her head, disagreeing with Headmaster Dumbledore. "You are leaving zhe subject, Dumbly-dorr! I am talking about your teacher's lack of respect towards my student. I do not care about your stories of corporal punishments because zhey are not a relevant subject of conversation right now. Zhe rude be'aviour of zhis Professor Snip is complètement inacceptable, especially since eet was unprovoked."
"Professor Snape," Headmaster Dumbledore gently corrected.
"Plaît-il?" I beg your pardon?
"His surname is Snape, not Snip."
Madame Maxime stopped pacing and threw her arms up in annoyance. "I do not care! I just want you to do somezhing about zhis situation!"
Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head. "Severus Snape did not break any law or rule. He is entitled to teach his student however he sees fit as long as he follows the law of this establishment and this country. If I help you now and investigate a situation where no rule was broken, then every time a student receives a detention or a bad grade, or feels the teacher didn't act as he should, then they'll complain to me. I will be forced to investigate their cases too in order to make it fair as I would have investigated yours. I would have to treat every one that way. I do not have the time to investigate every case where no crime was committed. That is why I only punish when it is clear a rule has been broken."
"He punished me," said Harry. The two adults looked at him. "He gave me one penalty point for defending myself against his accusations, then another one for cheek, and the last one for brewing the wrong potion. My antidote worked perfectly, and none of the penalty points are deserved."
Headmaster Dumbledore pushed up his half-moon glasses and looked at Harry. "I wasn't there so I cannot judge the situation accurately, however, Severus did tell me that even if your potion worked, it wasn't the one he had asked his students to brew."
Harry thrust his chin up in defiance. "He never specified that we had to brew the one in our textbooks so technically, I did not disobey him."
"Still," said the old man, "brewing an unknown potion without your teacher's permission is not exactly a good thing to do. If the potion had exploded or splattered on someone, then our school nurse would have a hard time counteracting the effects of an unknown potion."
"I see," said Madame Maxime quietly, "zhat your rules concerning zhe be'aviour of your teachers are more lax zhan mine." She looked at the headmaster with narrowed eyes and put a hand on her hip. "Very well. If you will not take action, zhen let me explain zhe situation differently: 'Arry Potter eez 'ere for a competition. Zhis competition 'as diplomatic goals. 'Arry Potter essentially represents his school and all of France. 'E eez, for all intents and purposes, a Mediator."
'Mediator', Harry knew, was the magical equivalent of what Muggles called a 'diplomat'.
"What zhis Professor Snip did," continued the headmistress, deliberately butchering the man's name out of vindictive feminine fury, "was insult and bully a Mediator. How do you think Minister Castellane will react when I tell him that you are not willing to make reparations for such an insult?"
There was a short silence as Headmaster Dumbledore digested that new perspective.
"… I understand the point you are trying to make," he finally said after a few seconds of silence. "I will ensure that the detention is retracted, and that Severus makes an apology to Harry."
"Thank you," said Madame Maxime, glowing with satisfaction.
-x-x-x-
"That was wicked!" Ron exclaimed, looking at Harry with admiration.
It was dinner time and all the students were eating except for Harry, who was waiting for Fleur to arrive before digging in.
"Honestly, I never thought the day would come that Snape would apologize, especially in front of everyone!"
"Yeah, well," grumbled Harry, staring at his plate of food hungrily, "it's the least I deserve after how he treated me. I can't believe a teacher would be that rude. In France, he would have been fired immediately." He was beginning to think he might just forego politeness and start eating before Fleur. He was so hungry that his stomach had begun communicating with him in groans and rumbles.
"Everyone hates him, 'cept the Slytherins because he favours them," said Ron through a mouthful of food.
Harry grimaced. "Excuse-me, Ron, but could you please not talk with your mouth full?"
Ron swallowed his food and said, "Sorry."
"No problem. I just don't really like seeing half-chewed food."
Ron grinned sheepishly. "I forget, sometimes, that I'm not at home anymore. Back at home the whole family gathers 'round the table during meal-time and if you don't eat fast enough, then when you want second helpings all the best food will have been eaten already. Competing with five brothers over a plate of sweet potatoes doesn't really teach you manners."
"It must be nice to have so many siblings," said Harry wistfully.
"Bloody annoying, is what it is," muttered Ron.
At that moment, Fleur came through the doors of the Great Hall, a ponytail of silvery-blonde hair swishing behind her with every step she took.
Ron stopped eating in favour of gaping at the beautiful girl. The poor boy was unusually sensitive to her veela aura and tended to be struck dumb whenever she was near.
When she noticed Harry, she walked over to his spot at the table.
"Bonsoir," she said when she came close. She gave Harry three kisses on the cheeks and sent a polite wave Ron's way.
Ron shook his head, looking like he was desperately trying to ignore Fleur's powerful aura.
"What were you speaking about?" asked the young woman curiously.
"Ron was proclaiming his eternal love to me," said Harry seriously.
"I was not!" squawked the red-haired boy indignantly, the comment bringing him out of his hypnotized state.
Sally-Anne Perks, who was seating nearby and had been eating her dinner quietly, snorted. "I was listening very closely, and I can say it was quite the love confession."
Fleur rolled her eyes, finally realizing it was a joke. "Vairy funny," she stated, sitting down next to Harry.
"Hilarious, you mean," said Harry, waggling his eyebrows at her.
She smiled. Then, growing serious, she said, "I heard about what happened with zhat Potions teacher. I am glad Madame Maxime made him apologize."
"It was strange, though," said Ron. "I've never seen Snape act like that with a student. He's a right git, but with you he was the worst I've ever seen him, and he hasn't even met you before."
"In France, such be'aviour from a teacher would nevair be tolerated. Britain's school system eez outdated."
Sally-Anne frowned, looking insulted. "Well, France is hardly any better. My dad says it's a dictatorship that pretends its citizens have free will, that everyone is under surveillance and that people who complain about the government are never heard of again or lose their job and all chance of employment until they have to leave the country to find work elsewhere. Exile in all but words. And apparently homeless people are abducted and used as experiments—"
"Zhat is not true! How dare you insult someone else's country like zhat! Espèce de petite conne, you know nothing! How can you judge a place if you 'ave nevair been zhere?! And we certainly do not experiment on zhe homeless people!" Her voice rose at the end, causing quite a few nearby people to turn to see what was going on.
Sally-Anne held her hands open as if to push Fleur back, despite them being separated by a table. "Sorry, it's just what my dad says."
Fleur calmed down a little, but still seemed angry. "It eez impolite to insult places. France is a wonderful place and would never do zhose things."
"I'm sorry."
Fleur exhaled slowly, regaining control over her temper. "I am sorry too. I should not have reacted so rudely. But you must understand, zhat if someone insults my home and makes such baseless accusations, I will defend it."
An awkward silence settled in. No one seemed to know what to say.
Finally, Ron cleared his throat, and all the attention went to him. He reddened.
"Uh, Harry, how's the planning going for the first task?"
"I haven't really planned anything yet," answered Harry. "It's still very early and I have no idea what the task will be like, so all I've been doing is brushing up on some offensive and defensive spells in case I have to fight."
Ron coughed, looking uncomfortable at having Fleur listening to him. "Well, I know you're not the Hogwarts champion, but you're still British and it was amazing to see Snape say sorry to you, so I figure I can give you a hint as a way to thank you for annoying that greasy, dumb—"
"Ron," said Sally-Anne pointedly.
"Oh yeah. So I wanted to give you something as thanks for doing what all the other students have wanted to do for a while."
Harry inclined his head to the side curiously. "What did you want to give me?"
Ron looked nervously at all the students around him, chatting and eating, and he leaned forward. Harry did the same, and Ron whispered:
"Information about the first task."
"What is it?" Harry whispered back, excited.
"Hagrid's been contacting people about getting a sphinx and a three-headed dog to Hogwarts. They're going to be in the first task, though there might be more creatures."
"What are you two whispering about?" asked Sally-Anne loudly.
Both boys straightened up.
"Nothing!" they said together.
Harry caught Ron's eyes and gave him a smile and a "Thanks."
Ron nodded back. "Anything for the one who made Snape apologize."