Rating: G
Disclaimer: Same as before.
The next day, Snape eagerly waited
in his dungeon for his first class to show.
Today, it was his 7th year advanced class: mostly Ravenclaw
with six Slytherins,
five Gryffindors and two shy Hufflepuff girls. On any normal day this was his
favorite class to teach, but today was special. Today, he got to test out his new
plan for controlling Shadow. Dumbledore thought
of it last night. Perhaps thought
was the wrong word. Dumbledore had planned it probably
the day Shadow appeared
and had been anxiously waiting for the right moment to
share it with Snape. Still, it
was a good plan. Sometimes the simplest plans were
the best.
The students began to file in
chatting merrily about this and that. Probably mostly
about the Halloween banquet.> Snape considered. The banquet was only a week away
now. Snape didn't yell at them for their idle conversation. He afforded his advanced
class slightly more freedom than his other classes. By now, the students knew what was
expected of them.
The talking continued for another
minute before Snape said "Very well, let us begin."
That is how he started every advanced class. It
was their signal to quiet down and nothing
more was needed. All conversation ceased immediately.
"Before we start today's class,
I would like to address an issue that I'm sure is in all
your minds. I'm certain by now you've heard
about Shadow's destructive behavior in
class yesterday. " At the sound of her name,
Shadow stuck her head out from underneath
one of the tables. She had been looking for attention
and food from the students. A few
students laughed quietly. The entire school had
heard the horror stories about yesterday's
potions classes.
"Since this is the advanced class,
and we are working with much more complicated and
at times, dangerous potions, I assure you that those
things will not happen in this class."
A few of the students sighed in relief. Not only
did they not want their hard work destroyed,
but they also didn't feel much like seeing the effects
of their potions on a curious kitten;
especially right after breakfast.
"We are moving on to the water-based
potions unit today. These are potions that can be
diluted in water easily, without any ill effects. I know I said I would leave that unit until after
winter break, but you will understand my reasoning by
the end of class.
"Today we will be making a comprehension
potion. It allows the drinker to understand
a language that is foreign to them. The effects
are temporary and we will be testing them at
the end of class. The list of ingredients are on
the board, so get to work."
Their cauldron partners stayed
at the table and wrote down the list on the board.
As soon as students began to move, Shadow's eyes
lit up. She darted out from under her
table and began winding herself happily between the crush
of legs. Cries of protest could be
heard. "Hey! Watch it!"
"Out of the way, cat!"
"Oh no!" was all Martha
Macmillan, one of the quiet Hufflepuffs, could cry out before a
jar toppled out of her hand. A Slytherin boy by
the name of Cristophori Lear caught the
jar before it hit the ground.
Snape watched all of this without
seeming too concerned. "Shadow." His voice was
quiet, with just a hint of danger to it. Everyone
in the class, including the kitten frozen and
turned their attention to him. In his hand he was
holding a small brightly colored object.
All of the students who were raised by muggles knew instantly
what the object was, and
most of the other students recognized it after a moment.
Snape pulled the trigger of the
water gun and a stream of icy water shot out towards
the mischievous cat. Shadow screeched as the water
hit her. She jumped straight up into
the air and her fur stood on end. The entire class
burst into fits of delighted laughter as
she bolted to a dark corner of the room. She looked
at them all, hurtfully and then began
licking herself dry. One corner of Snape's mouth
twitched forming the slightest hint of a
smile. The expression was fleeting though. "Enough now. Get to work." His voice broke
through the laughter in the classroom and focused the
class back to the task at hand.
Of course, Shadow didn't stay
dissuaded for long. Snape had to use the water gun nine
more times during his advanced class. It became
obvious to everyone why they were working
on water based potions now. Several times, Shadow
would go poking around a cauldron
of boiling water mixed with more exotic ingredients. Snape had a good aim, but inevitably,
when he hit Shadow near a cauldron, stray drops of water
would find their way into it. This
was the safest unit to work on until Shadow learned to
behave herself.
At the end of class they all
took a sip of their potions. Most of the students were pleased
to find that the liquid tasted like hot cocoa, even though
it smelled like cough syrup.
"Alright, here is your homework
for next class." Snape said, and then proceeded to speak
very quickly in Italian. To his delight, everyone
is the class pulled out their quills and began to
scribble furiously as he gave the assignment.
