A/N: The opening of this story is copied verbatim from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling, pp150-151 (Bloomsbury "Adult" Edition), and is shown in italics. When the italics end, my work begins. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
Oh Snap(e)!
"Pathetic, Weasley," said Snape, after a while. "Here — let me show you —"
He turned his wand on Harry so fast that Harry reacted instinctively; all thought of nonverbal spells forgotten, he yelled, "Protego!"
His Shield Charm was so strong Snape was knocked off-balance and hit a desk. The whole class had looked around and now watched as Snape righted himself, scowling.
"Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry stiffly.
"Yes, sir."
"There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor."
The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying. Several people gasped, including Hermione. Behind Snape, however, Ron, Dean, and Seamus grinned appreciatively.
"
Detention, Saturday night, my office," said Snape. "I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter … not even 'the Chosen One.' "
"No."
The finality of the statement sucked the air out of the room, and the temperature palpably dropped as Snape visibly fumed. "What. Did. You. Say?" The words came out one at a time through clenched teeth, the Defense Professor barely controlling his anger.
"I said, 'No.' Period. Full stop. End of sentence." Those who didn't know Harry beyond being classmates marveled at his chutzpah, while his closer friends cringed at his words. Snape might be angry, by Harry was furious.
"I don't know what makes you think you can speak to me like that, but you will now serve detention every night for a week. And if you say one word about it I'll make it a month." Snape gave a satisfied sneer, expecting that would be the end of that, before turning and stalking away.
"One. Word," said Harry, glaring at Snape with a look that made it perfectly clear he was challenging him to do it.
Snape paused, almost not believing what he'd heard, before spinning back to Harry and declaring, "To the Headmaster's office Potter, now!" He then turned the rest of the class and said, "You will continue to practice until either I return or class time is over. Turning back to Harry he scowled at the fact that the boy hadn't moved. "I said, go to the Headmaster's office!"
"No, I don't think I will," Harry replied, continuing to stare holes in Snape. "You just told a bunch of sixth years to practice casting spells at each other, unsupervised. Something that is explicitly forbidden under normal circumstances. Not to mention the fact that we're the same people you've spent the past five years calling 'dunderheads' and taking points for 'breathing too loud.' Either you're an even worse teacher than I thought, or you're just plain incompetent."
Snape's wand twitched and it was as if time stopped, Harry holding his at the ready prepared to counter whatever came at him, be it words or spells. Then Snape stalked to the classroom door, stuck his wand out, and cast something under his breath. He turned back to Harry who had turned to keep facing his professor, but otherwise hadn't moved. "I daresay the Headmaster will be here shortly. Whether or not you remain here much after that remains to be seen.
The rest of the class had remained mostly quiet during this whole exchange, other than a few gasps of shock, but now Hermione couldn't contain herself any longer. "Harry!" she whispered, "what -"
She didn't finish he question, as two things happened at once; Harry held up his empty hand to stop her, and the classroom door opened to admit the Headmaster, followed closely by Professor McGonagall. "Severus, what is going on?" asked Dumbledore, quickly surveying the room and spotting Harry's tense posture.
"Mister Potter is being disrespectful and refusing to follow instructions, most recently the instruction to proceed to your office for further discipline," said Snape. "He also refused Detention for his behavior."
The Headmaster looked at Harry questioningly. "Is this true, Harry?"
Harry flicked his eyes over to Snape for a second, who looked as though he was daring him to refute his statement. "No, yes, and yes, in that order," replied Harry, looking back at the Headmaster. "I submit that I gave Professor Snape the proper amount of respect, based on his treatment of me."
"Harry," said Dumbledore in a disappointed tone, "Professor Snape is your teacher and deserves to be treated with the respect that position deserves. I'm -"
"With all due respect, Headmaster," interrupted Harry, "even IF Professor Snape had actually been a good teacher, -" Harry held up a hand to forestall the Headmaster's interruption, and pushed through. "His treatment of me personally over the past five years has earned him the level of respect that I showed him. And I never said he wasn't a great Potions Master, just that he was a lousy teacher." The last was said with a look that screamed, "See, I can be respectful when it's appropriate. Now tell me I'm wrong."
"Why you -" began Snape, but Dumbledore held up a hand and cut him off.
"Be that as it may, Harry, Professor Snape IS your teacher, and you will treat him with the respect he is due."
"Why?" retorted Harry.
"As I said," replied the Headmaster, "he is your teacher -"
"Why?" repeated Harry. "Why is he our teacher? He clearly hates teaching, hates students, hates having to deal with us. Why? Why isn't he off somewhere brewing potions by himself, something he clearly enjoys and is very good at." The last was said staring at Snape doubling down on the look he had previously given the Headmaster.
"Professor Snape is here because you need a Defense teacher and because he has my complete trust."
Harry gave Dumbledore a look and then asked again, "Why?"
"Harry, you know we've discussed this before. I trust him, and that is all you need to know. You need to trust me on that."
Harry sighed, clearly expecting that answer and not liking it. Seeing Hermione nodding out of the corner of his eye, he looked at her, then back at the Headmaster before shaking his head slowly. "That's not how it works, sir. There is no transitive trust. I know you trust him, but even if I trusted you completely, that doesn't mean I trust him completely. Maybe if I'd never met him and only know of him from you and your trust, but you know that's not the case. His own actions tell me that the only thing I can trust is that he hates me with every fiber of his being for the simple fact that I'm the son of James Potter."
Dumbledore had looked pained when Harry had said "if I trusted you", and it only got worse when Harry's father was mentioned. But before he could say anything, Snape reacted.
"Why you!" shouted Snape raising his wand. But that was all he got out as Harry's reflexes were faster.
"Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous! Stupify! Bom-" The last was cut off as he stopped an lowered his wand, surveying the results of his spellwork while everyone else gaped. Snape had been totally unprepared for Harry's lightning response, and the initial spell had disarmed him and thrown him backwards into the classroom wall. He had then been petrified, wrapped in ropes, and finally stunned in quick succession.
A second after he stopped his wand was pulled from his hand by an Expelliarmus from Dumbledore, but the damage was already done.
"What on earth was that for, Mister Potter!" shouted his Head of House, shaking off her shock at his attacking a Professor.
"I too would like to know, Harry," inquired the Headmaster, albeit a bit more calmly.
Harry looked down at his now empty hand, back at Snape, and then turned to Dumbledore. "I was defending myself," said Harry, as though it was the most plain thing in the world. At the Headmaster's look of, "go on," he added, "Snape was about to attack me, so I responded the way I would if any Death Eater pointed their wand at me in anger. I didn't do any permanent damage."
Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed. Opening them again, he asked, "and that last spell? That could have done serious damage if you'd actually cast it."
"But I didn't, did I?" asked Harry defiantly.
"No, but you were going to," replied Dumbledore. After a moment he added, "Can I ask why?"
"I honestly wasn't expecting my first spell to hit, let alone all of them," said Harry. "And I knew if I didn't take him down quickly, things were going to escalate. Chances are, if I'd had to finish casting that spell Snape would either have already been casting something stronger to justify me casting it, or I would have needed it to take down his shield."
Dumbledore looked like he was getting a headache, and McGonagall couldn't decide whether she wanted to kill Potter or give him a medal for teaching Snape a lesson. After a moment the Headmaster took a deep breath and addressed Harry. "This is going to make future classes with Professor Snape very difficult, but I hope you'll be able to put aside your differences to -"
"No." This was beginning to become a habit, mused Harry to himself.
"I beg your pardon?" asked McGonagall, as the Headmaster just raised an eyebrow in agreement.
"No, I'm not going to put aside my differences with Snape just so he can keep abusing me," expanded Harry.
"Professor Snape is your Defense teacher, you're going to have to find a way to get along," said the Headmaster, giving Harry a disapproving look.
"Not anymore," replied Harry. "Once I walk out that door," pointing at the classroom door, "I will never willingly be in the same room as Severus Snape again. I will not be in his class, I will not serve detentions with him, I will not eat in the Great Hall if he is present. If I see him in the hallway, I will turn around and go the other way. If he enters one of my other classes, I will get up and leave. And if he raises his wand to me again, I will react the same way I did today and render him no longer a threat to my person." The last was said in a way that made it clear there would be no further discussion on the topic.
Dumbledore rubbed his nose under his glasses before asking in a pained tone of voice, "Harry, how did things get this bad that you can't find it in your heart to forgive?"
Harry snorted and began to gather his things. "I never said I wouldn't forgive, Headmaster. But forgiveness is for the person who was wronged, not the person who committed the wrong. One of these days I'll get to the point where I'm no longer upset about my treatment, or maybe even I just don't want to think about it anymore, and I'll forgive him so I can move on with my life. If he ever decided to apologize to me, and I mean a real, sincere apology – not just saying 'I'm sorry' to get it over with – that might speed up the process. But I'm not going to hold my breath.
"Now, since my reason for refusing to go to your office earlier is no longer valid, I'll be on my way. After all, I'm supposed to follow my teachers' instructions unless I have a very good reason not to, right?" Harry picked up his bag, stepped around the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, and walked out the door before anyone could say anything. As the door closed behind him he thought he heard his Head of House say something in Scots Gaelic, but he didn't know if she was swearing at him or the Headmaster.
FIN