Disclaimer: We do not own the Harry Potter characters or world, but the over-active imaginations that produced this we will claim.
Rituals and Consequences
by mmagicwolf and WickerChair
Chapter Fifty-Three: Memories that Blind
Monday, June 24, 1991
Professor Severus Snape apparated to Diagon Alley at seven. He had finished the final inventory for the potions dungeon at Hogwarts the previous evening and had his list of requirements for the new year in hand. Mr Mulpepper's and Slug & Jiggers were acceptable sources for ingredients that were needed only in small amounts, such as student ingredient kits or experimental potions, but he needed supplies for not only the storeroom for class use, but also supplies for the Hogwarts Apothecary.
He had learned his lesson about relying on anyone else's inventory of the storerooms the first year after Professor Slughorn had retired. Slughorn had given him the inventory of the storerooms and said that it was accurate. Despite his misgivings, Snape had taken him at his word. The entry for bicorn horns had indicated that the storeroom contained fifteen pounds, however Snape's inventory after making a count of the doses of Pepper Up potion in the Apothecary indicated that only fifteen marks were present. All would have been well except for the combination of an unusually early cold snap and erratic weather during the first half of the fall term. The Apothecary had dispensed all of the doses of Pepper Up potion before the mid-term break and Snape had been required to order the additional bicorn horns for a galleon rather than the usual five sickles per mark. To add injury to the insult, he had been required to pay the difference from his personal stipend.
He was now in his tenth year of teaching and knew that the first three years of students invariably destroyed almost as many potions as they produced correctly. This led him to always double the amount of ingredients for those years. Such quantities required going to Corfe & Cooke. Continuously in operation since 543, Corfe & Cooke claimed to be 'The supplier for the best Apothecaries,' and Snape believed it. Their ingredients were always of the best quality and available in the amounts required to supply his needs.
Snape took a deep breath as he entered the door to Corfe & Cooke. The dried fluxweed smelled particularly strong this year; he must modify the proportions when he presented the recipe for the second year class. The musty scent of bowtruckles and the peculiarly acrid aroma of horned slugs permeated the storefront.
"Ah, Professor Snape, back from another years of teaching the next generation of potions masters?"
"Mr Corfe, if I have a handful of students who are at least competent, I am well pleased. This year I had the Weasley twins," he shuddered, "and two more reckless potioneers I have never seen. They did not melt any cauldrons, but not for lack of trying. I believe that I saw every color of smoke from their cauldron over the course of the fall term. They even managed striped smoke once. They joked that they had been trying for plaid."
Mr Corfe chuckled, "Better luck for the new year."
"Unlikely. Young Mr Potter will be starting in September. If he is anything like his father, I will be replacing cauldrons at least once per term." Snape scowled at a memory, then brightened, "I will also be getting young Malfoy, he has at least seen a cauldron."
"Good luck, Professor. What do you need this time?"
Snape handed over his list, a roll of parchment five feet long, and watched as Mr Corfe's eyes widened.
"Are you certain about these quantities? It's almost double what you ordered last year."
"Sixty students, Mr Corfe, sixty students. I also have an unusually large NEWT class this year. I expect that I shall have ten students studying for NEWTs."
"And with sixty new students, you expect a disproportionate amount of trouble?"
"Experience," sighed Snape, "just experience."
"It'll take me a few hours to gather all of this, do you wish to return?"
"Will you be able to have it ready by two? I have another order for myself," Snape handed over another, much shorter, list. "I will pay for that now, and pick it up with the rest. Send the bill to Gringotts, they will settle the bill."
Mr Corfe read over the shorter list and smiled, "Sixteen galleons for your lot, Professor. The other should be," he paused a moment, "about three hundred galleons, more or less."
"Agreed."
~O~
Snape left the shop and walked down four doors to Yaga's Vial Cauldrons. A distinct metallic tang filled the air and the distant sound of metal against metal greeted him as he entered.
The hag behind the counter eyed him hungrily. "Ah, Professor Snape. How many will you need this year?"
Snape sighed, "Madam Yaga, I am here each year; do you realize that you ask me the same question every year?"
"But, Professor, call it an old woman's curiosity. I anticipate the year that you either had no cauldrons destroyed or that you have fifty destroyed. The highest you have had to date is," she pulled a sheet of parchment from beneath the counter, "thirty-three."
Snape groaned. "Please, do not remind me. I need twenty-six pewter size 2. Four bronze size 5, two silver size 1, and sixteen iron size 8. Overall a bad year." He shrugged at her incredulous look, "The girls were remarkably silly when attempting love potions. I also need two gold size 0 cauldrons. My fault that one, I allowed a colleague to borrow one of mine. She melted it and then proceeded to destroy the other to demonstrate how she did it."
Madam Yaga smiled widely, showing every one of her sharp teeth, "Anything else?"
Snape reached into his pocket and handed over a list of vial sizes and materials with a quantity written next to each. "That is the requirement for Hogwarts. My personal needs," he scowled at her grin, "are these." A small scrap of parchment changed hands. "When can it be ready?"
"Maybe an hour or three? I presume you would like to carry them yourself?"
"Yes, Madam."
"Yours will be five galleons, four sickles, and sixteen knuts. The price on unbreakable flasks has gone up."
"Very well." Snape handed over the money and left before Madam Yaga could extract the rest of the horrors of the school year from him.
~O~
"Daily Prophet, sir?" asked a young boy outside the offices of the newspaper.
"Please," said Snape handing over the five knuts and read the headline.
HARRY POTTER TO START HOGWARTS IN SEPTEMBER
He winced at the reminder and started to read the accompanying article by Rita Skeeter.
Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, turns eleven this year and sources report that he will be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry beginning in the fall term. A courteous young man, Mr Potter consented to an interview about his schooling. "I've been looking forward to going to school for ages. I really hope that the teachers are as kind as they say. I know everyone will know who I am, but I hope that they will introduce themselves so that I can get to know them. I want to make lots of friends and be able to get through the year without too much fuss."
Asked if he had already gotten his schoolbooks, Mr Potter replied, "I've been working with my parents' textbooks, which are a bit out of date, but the theory seems simple enough. I've practiced a bit with potions as they don't require a wand. My guardian says I have an affinity for the topic."
With the rest of Wizarding Britain, this reporter can safely say that we wish Harry Potter the best of luck while at Hogwarts. His fans will just have to restrain themselves during the school year. I am, as always, Rita Skeeter reporting the facts.
Snape frowned furiously. Arrogant brat needed to learn that he would have to work when he came to Hogwarts. A change for the celebrity status he had always enjoyed.
Two witches walking along the street toward Snape saw his expression and ducked into a store front only to emerge mere seconds later looking rather flustered.
Snape was too involved with his contemplation of the likely behavior of Harry Potter once he arrived at Hogwarts to notice his effect on the passers-by and continued toward Diagon Alley and Flourish and Blotts. A quickly cast Tempus indicated that he had more than two hours until he was supposed to meet with André Durian at the Black Horse in Incident Alley. Plenty of time to look through the potions books and see if anything new was available.
