Gryffindor Scum, Slytherin Slime by Rei-chan
If you want a disclaimer, see the previous chapters because to be quite honest, I can't be bothered to put it on each time.
NB: If you have difficulty understanding Professor Revees, try swapping the 'Ws' in his words for 'Rs' (Not that I'm suggesting you're stupid, or anything but you never know…)
Chapter 4: Laughter and Tears: Lessons start for Anthony and Lauren, and they meet Professor Snape, Revees and Flitwick. They each discover which teachers they are keen on and where their talents lie.
Dawn's first rays of sunshine peeked through the curtains and drew lines on Lauren's face. She was awake, and had been for the past few hours. She knew that she would probably be nodding off all throughout her first classes, but she couldn't help it. Lauren had had a very rough night. She fell forward into her pillow, which was now streaked with dried tears and snot. She felt so tired, she screwed up her eyes and tried to snooze for at least of few minutes, but had little success. Donna was still snoring away like an engine, and Lauren was ready to strangle her.
She had never felt so depressed in her entire life. Back in the days of Muggle School, her only worries were forgetting her PE kit or having to stay in at lunchtime to clean the white board. She never imagined that one day she would be under great stress because she might be a Dark Wizard.
Yawning loudly, she slid off the end of her bed and threw on her robes. Seeing that her first lesson was Potions slightly raised her spirits; she now had something to look forward to. She made her way to the hall, clutching her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions under her arm.
The Great Hall was almost completely deserted, all except for a few Quidditch players getting ready for an early practice session. Lauren had no interest in Quidditch whatsoever. She had little talent in Muggle sports, so she would probably fail at wizarding ones as well. She fetched herself a bowl of Corn Flakes and munched her way through it slowly, as she was one of those few people who liked it better when the milk makes the cereal all soggy.
Quite a while later, the hall began to fill up with people. Lauren was engulfed in her book, so she didn't notice until Anthony tapped her on the back.
"Hey, stop swotting up for the first lesson! How long have you been up?" he asked, removing the book from her hands.
"Longer than you'd imagine," she replied irritably, wrenching the book out of his grasp. He shrugged and went to sit at the Gryffindor table. Lauren then noticed there was suddenly a lot of commotion coming from his direction. Apparently, Anthony had flicked his cauldron-stirrer at Andy Finnigan, and Vincent took a seat next to Lauren, laughing hard.
"You should have seen that! Andrew ducked just before it hit him and it landed right in our House Master's bowl of cereal! Hilarious!" he whooped, doubling up with laughter. "It's a good thing Snape didn't see who did it; they'd be dead by now! There's milk all over his robes!" Lauren wasn't really bothered if Anthony got in trouble or not. Right then, she didn't care much about anything. Vincent remarked on the book she was reading.
"Yep, and we've got Potions with Snape next." He said, calming down a little. "What a treat." Lauren couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, so she asked him to explain. "Haven't you heard? Snape's supposed to be the meanest teacher in the school, and with cereal thing he'll be extra-sour this morning. He might even pick on us Slytherins." Lauren didn't reply. She simply carried on reading until it was time to go for lessons.
"It's awfully dark down here."
"What's the matter? Scared?"
"Oh shut up, and keep walking or we'll be late." Anthony and Lauren walked into the cold, dank dungeon, prepared for their first Potions lesson. The dungeon had a strangely familiar damp, musty smell to it. It was dimly lit by a few candles fixed to walls, and there was a pleasant sound of trickling water from a stone basin at the back. There were several shelves occupied by curious and creepy looking things in jars.
"Come in, come in!" spoke a brusque voice that Lauren had heard before. They looked towards the speaker, and Lauren couldn't help grinning. The handsome stranger in the alley was her Potions Master? It's a small world, she thought.
"Hello Lauren. Are you alright now?" he asked while frowning at Anthony out of the corner of his eye. Lauren looked blank. She wasn't quite sure of what he meant, or how he knew her name but she decided to be polite.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Snape opened his mouth to say something else to her but stopped when his dark eyes fell on Anthony.
"I don't believe that this conversation includes you, so I suggest you take a seat. Now!" Anthony edged towards his Gryffindor pals at the back of the classroom but Snape was too quick for him. He directed Anthony to a table that was conveniently just in front of his own desk. Lauren wanted to sit with Vincent, but at the same time she didn't want Anthony to be on his own. She sank into the seat next to Anthony and watched in disgust as Donna Malfoy filled the empty one next to Vincent.
Snape launched the lesson by taking the register. His beetle-black eyes darted quickly down the list of names as he called them out. It seemed that the incident at breakfast did have an effect on him, as several unlucky students found Snape adding his own little comment after calling their name, which were not always very complementing. For example, when he got down to Vincent Divos, he informed the class that he taught another boy also by the name of Vincent.
"I do hope that you have a little more sense than he does." He began, glaring at Vince, his hands resting firmly on his desk. "He gives me the impression that all people named Vincent are imbeciles. And just by looking at you, I am beginning to think there might be a grain of truth in that statement." He smiled mercilessly as he watched Vincent clench his fists in anger.
A little further down the register came another student that raised his interest. "Belladonna Malfoy? Might I say, what a charming name," he said silkily, making it blatantly obvious that he was being sarcastic. He continued, his voice becoming more spiteful with every word. "Oh joy. I get to teach two Malfoys in one day. Aren't I the lucky one? And if you are anything like your brother, you will probably see him in detention. We could have a little Malfoy family reunion. Now wouldn't that be grand?" Donna's face grew redder and redder. She had to be restrained by Vince to stop her from smacking Snape right in his mocking face. Several people began to laugh, until Snape added, "If anyone would like to laugh at Miss Malfoy, I would be more than happy to let you do so in detention. In silence." Nobody was making a sound now. They had all got the message that Professor Snape wasn't a man to cross. He was definitely not the kindest teacher of the lot, and certainly wasn't afraid to issue detentions. The only noise in the dungeon now was Donna Malfoy furiously whispering very unflattering comments about Snape into Vincent's ear.
Soon he came across the Sinclair's names. He spat out Anthony's name as if it was some horrible poison on the end of his tongue. Fortunately, he didn't make a comment on Anthony, he just gave him a piercing look as if to say, "you'll have to do a lot to impress me, worm breath." It appeared that Snape had a profound dislike for Anthony, most likely because he was a Gryffindor. However, the Professor's penetrating glare softened as he read the next name. "Ah yes, Lauren. It's very interesting that you ended up in Slytherin," he said, sounding rather distant, "very interesting indeed." The penny had finally dropped and Lauren felt the truth hit her like a ton of bricks. All the pieces fell together like a jigsaw in her mind. Professor Snape was the one who rescued her from the mad witch! It all seemed so obvious now.
As the lesson progressed, Professor Snape became an idol in her eyes. As well as the newfound respect she held for him since he was the one who had rescued her, she adored him for other reasons. Lauren was fond of him as one is fond of an older brother, or a favourite uncle. He never ceased to impress her. She didn't know anyone else who had such a natural flair for insulting people. She loved his wry sense of humour, and the fact that he was unafraid to bully his students. Snape had a habit of winding a pupil up to provoke them into something he could punish them really harshly for.
Snape stalked the dungeon as if it was his hunting grounds and the students were his prey. He introduced the lesson in a low voice. "For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of meeting me before, I am Professor Snape, the Potions Master. This is your first Potions lesson; here I can teach you the simple but fascinating art of brewing magical liquids that can heal the sick, or even kill the hated... So watch your step if you know what's good for you." Lauren was on the edge of her seat, hanging onto every word as if it was a passage from the Bible. He continued, his voice growing icy. "Of course, you could be a bunch lack-brained twits like most of the classes I have to teach."
The Potions Master swept back to the front of the dungeon and took his seat. "However," he continued, "I would be much happier if Dumbledore gave the position of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to someone closer to home, as once again, he has scraped bottom to fill the vacancy. This school has had its share of unpleasant teachers who haven't lasted more than a year." He folded his arms and scowled. A shy voice from the left hand side of the classroom questioned what was wrong with them. Surprisingly, Snape didn't bite their head off for speaking without putting their hand in the air. He simply answered the question. "Well, Hogwarts have experienced teachers who have turned out to be an impostor, a Werewolf, an incompetent fool who had no experience in the Dark Arts and--" he purposely left a small dramatic pause, "Lord Voldemort himself." He watched practically the entire class flinch at the mention of the name with great pleasure. "Nasty thought, is it not? But I digress. I have wasted too much time talking about this when we should be doing work. If you want to know anything else about previous teachers, read Hogwarts: A Revised History, or speak with Professor Binns."
Within a few minutes, everyone had set up his or her cauldron. Anthony had found an interesting shiny substance on the desk and dropped it into his cauldron, to add a little decoration to it. Snape observed him doing this, his thin lips curling into a twisted smile. "Those of you putting glitter into your cauldrons will have a little surprise. Today, we are drinking our potions." Apparently, the glitter was there because of a prank played on Snape by a couple of jokester twins. They had bewitched the desks to periodically spew glitter into the air. Lauren found this rather amusing. If it were Lauren, she would have made it spew up horse dung or something revolting like that. "Blasted stuff!" Snape growled, "If I wanted my desks to look like kindergarten artwork, I would have made them that way!" He angrily brushed some blue sparkles out of his greasy hair and destroyed them with his wand. Lauren now understood why they had chosen glitter. What a great idea!
The agenda for the lesson was to make a Poliwango Potion. No one knew what Poliwango meant, but they did think it was a funny word. Professor Snape tutted and informed them that they were all very immature. "The Poliwango Potion is a simple happiness Potion and we will all be testing them to see if they work." Lauren thought this was a good idea. Maybe she could get a decent night's sleep if she drank a gallon of it.
Professor Snape handed a jar of yellow powder to Lauren and passed a few others around the room. "Can anyone tell me what this is?" he asked, although not expecting much response. Lauren shot her hand up in the air and he looked relieved. "It's good to see that someone has a brain in here. What is it then?"
"Um, powdered Lemon Grass, I think." She replied, feeling a little nervous. He either didn't realise or just ignored the fact that the jar was labelled with the name of the substance.
"Very good. A point to Slytherin for your knowledge of ingredients, Lauren." Lauren smiled proudly at Anthony and he muttered, "Bloody cheat," under his breath.
Snape chose Lauren's cauldron to demonstrate how much of each ingredient to put in the mixture. He gently tipped a few lumps of yellow and green powder into her cauldron and instructed the others to do the same in theirs.
"Once you have added all the ingredients, stir it well with a cauldron- stirrer." Snape's eyes instinctively fell on Anthony, as if having a sixth- sense for mischief. "Does anyone not have a cauldron-stirrer?" Anthony nodded guiltily. Snape handed him one, which was, not surprisingly, the one, which was in his cereal that morning. It smelt faintly of milk.
The class brewed their potions carefully, making sure that the precise amounts of ingredients went in. Lauren couldn't help noticing Snape shooting very condescending looks at Anthony. The potions were bright green in colour and fizzed violently. When the Potions were properly stirred, Snape swept around the dungeon sampling a few and usually criticising them. The class didn't find it surprising that no matter how many pupils' potions he drank, his mood did not improve at all. It would take a pretty strong dose to wipe the frown from Snape's face! Anthony secretly cursed himself for not slipping poison into his concoction as Snape took a swig from his cauldron. Anthony waited impatiently for his verdict.
"Good." he said, obviously disappointed that he couldn't tell Anthony off for doing it wrong, but soon added, "If I were teaching a Muggle." Anthony mumbled something insulting and dipped a finger into his potion, then stuck it in his mouth. It had a sharp flavour and made him rock back and forth on his chair, giggling insanely. "That's enough of that!" snapped Professor Snape. He knocked Anthony on the head with his wand, much harder than necessary and removed the effects of the potion. He then sipped some of Lauren's. "Hmm, very good, but a little on the weak side." He poured a drop more of oil of Lima Weed into the bubbling cauldron and tried it again. "Better," he said, "why don't you try it?" Lauren looked at the murky green, viscous liquid and shook her head.
"Err, no thanks." She replied, almost choking from the smell of if it.
"Go on, have some." He said persuasively, holding the ladle towards her.
"No, no. I really don't want…"
"DRINK IT!" he snarled, forcing the ladle into her hands, his black eyes glaring icily into hers. Lauren blinked. She never imagined that he could be this scary. Nervously, she took a deep breath and held the ladle up her lips. The potion tickled her throat as it went down. In her opinion, it was quite the opposite of weak. It was so strong she had to cough. She soon felt the effects of the Poliwango kicking in. She no longer felt upset about being a Slytherin; in fact, she liked it. The thought about her being a Dark Wizard was now laughable. She felt happy, not enough to giggle like a small child, just content. Snape shot her a quick smile before returning to his desk.
"Right," he said, unrolling a parchment, "Homework." The dungeon echoed with a collective groan. "I want you to find the following ingredients for next lesson: Danos leaves, Blast-ended Skrewt blood, Twine weed -why aren't you copying this down? - And smoothed Willow berries." A few people scrabbled about for some parchment, and soon there was the familiar scritch- scratch sound as they scribbled down his words with their quills. Anthony grinned at his writing, as it read: "I want you to find the following ingredients for next lesson danos leaves blast ended skrewt blood twine weed why aren't you copying this down and smoothed willow berries." Fortunately, Snape didn't spot this little joke. Snape dismissed the class quickly and fell back into his chair, shunning the thought of his next class.
Lauren walked briskly towards her next lesson. She liked the sound of Defence Against the Dark Arts, as she would soon be learning how to do such curses as the full-body bind. She sniggered to herself as she imagined Anthony writhing helplessly on the common room floor, unable to fight back.
"Gosh, wasn't Snape in a rotten mood this morning?" Lauren heard Vincent ask from behind her.
"Yeah, even picking on us Slytherins! Now that's just not right!" moaned Donna, obviously still unhappy about Snape mocking the Malfoys.
"Lauren!" Anthony hollered to her over the crowds of people swarming the corridor. "Over here!" She decided to catch up with Vincent later and elbowed her way over to Anthony to find that he was ready to explode with rage. "That Snape is such a pain! Who does he think he is, giving us truckload of homework on the first day?" Lauren put her face on autopilot while her mind ran off somewhere else. "And what has he got against me? Why does Snape hate me so much?" An older lad with untidy black hair and emerald-green eyes shining from behind round glasses smiled at them as he passed.
"Did he have a grudge against your father and now he's taking it out on you? He's notorious for that, you know, but don't let him get to you." The boy smiled before catching up with another boy about his age with flaming red hair. Anthony and Lauren shrugged their shoulders and continued in their own direction.
"I don't know what your problem is with him, Anthony, I think he's really nice." Lauren said, watching Anthony get more and more annoyed.
"Maybe to you, 'cos you're a stupid Slytherin!" Anthony went ahead in a huff and left Lauren to her own devices. Did Snape treat her better than Anthony just because she was a Slytherin? If that were so, why did he snipe at the other Slytherins that morning? It was all too confusing, so she filled her head with thoughts of Defence Against the Dark Arts and entered the classroom.
The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was a sight for sore eyes after the long gloomy hour spent in the cold dungeons. The class were greeted by Professor Revees, a round-faced character dressed in sunshine yellow robes. He had blonde-brown hair that stuck up in short spikes like the end of a broom. The pupils seated themselves around the room and as Lauren joined Anthony at the front of the of the class she noticed a large poster stapled above Revees' desk. It showed a brightly coloured rainbow, complete with the words, "Be happy." The Professor clasped his hands together and gave them a warm, friendly smile that spread across his face for about a mile.
"Good mowning class, I am Professow Wevees." He had a rather amusing speech impediment, not much different to the one Elmer Fudd is famous for. All his 'Rs' sounded like 'Ws,' and more often than not it was almost impossible to comprehend what he was saying. His voice echoed his appearance perfectly, and the only word that Lauren could think of to describe them both was, 'cute.'
After some muffled laughter and private jokes, the class chimed their rather unenthusiastic response.
"Good morning, Professor Wevees." This made Revees shake his head and snigger some.
"No, no, no. It's Professow W-w-we-vees." He made an effort to form his words differently but the just came out the same.
"Good morning, Professor Wevees." The children replied, sounding very sarcastic. This cycle continued for a few minutes, much to the pupil's enjoyment, but Revees just became more flustered the longer it went on. Not a good start for his first day, thought Lauren. The poor fellow was trying tremendously hard to make a good impression, but it was hard for the class to not laugh at him. He finally managed to get the children to pronounce his name correctly when he chalked it onto the board in six-inch high lettering.
"R-E-V-E-E-S. Wevees," he stated clearly, although he made the first 'R' sound like it had a 'w' on the end. The class let out a collective "ohhhh" and satisfied him by greeting him properly. "Now you all know my name," Revees continued, "let's find out youws." He returned to his desk and began taking the register. Unlike Snape, he didn't make any cynical comments about anyone whatsoever.
As Revees began his introduction to the lesson, it was hard to believe that it was the same friendly little man who had spoken to them a few moments ago. His face had lost the cheery smile; it was now much more focused. "As you know, I am hewe to teach you Defence Against the Dawk Awts." His voice was very firm and serious, and the class fell silent at once. "The Dawk Awts can be vewy scawy, but I can teach you to ovewcome youw feaws. I can teach you how to blast a Bogawt, destwoy a Dementow or pawalyse a Pixie." The class were on the edge of their seats, enthralled by his every word. After finishing this small introduction, Revees' voice slipped back to its usual squeak. "On the subject of feaw, next lesson we awe going to do something wather fwightening, so come pwepared. But wight now I am going to teach you an extwemly useful jinx that can get you out of the tightest spots." He paced over to the blackboard, swishing his robes as he went. Grabbing some chalk, he printed the word "FLIPENDO" in large white letters. He turned back to the class and wiped his chalky fingers on his robes, leaving white smudges down them. "Flipendo is a knockback Jinx that has sevewal uses. Can anyone name me any?" A show of hands shot into the air, indicating that this was common knowledge, or the whole class had already read the textbook. It turned out that the Flipendo was quite a versatile spell, as Revees had a rather long list of uses on the board at the end of the discussion. He read the completed list out for the class. "Kills small pests, fow example: Gnomes, Fiwe Snails--"
"And younger sisters!" Anthony called out, provoking Lauren to prod him hard in the chest with her wand.
"That's enough, you two," Revees chuckled, "let us continue. Moves objects and switches, bweaks objects open, fow example boxes." The children scribbled down the information on the board as he read out the last of it. Revees drew his wand from his robes and gestured the class to do the same. "The spell has a vewy simple wand motion, I think all of you will be able to pwefowm it." He raised his wand above his shoulder and pointed it behind him. The tip of his wand began glowing a pinkish-white as he thrust it in front of him, chanting, "Flipendo!" A few pupils cried out as a large sparkling ball of red energy whizzed just above their heads and narrowly missed singeing their hair. It collided with the back wall of the classroom with a flash of light and a crashing sound.
The whole room burst into applause and Revees turned as pink as his knockback Jinx. "Now you twy it," he instructed, "and make the 'flip' pawt nice and long." The students poised their wands and Revees realised his mistake a little too late. Before he knew it, twenty-five knockback Jinxes were hurtling towards him. He quickly ducked and swayed to dodge them, but one was too fast for him and caught his knee. Revees grasped his leg with both hands, whimpering a little as he began to hop on the spot, like a great yellow rabbit.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Professor!" Lauren apologised, as it was her Flipendo that had come into contact with his leg. Revees smiled reassuringly.
"Don't wowwy about it, I'm okay."
The lesson came to an end all too soon. Revees' students enjoyed making fun of him, but deep down, they all liked him a lot; he was so nice to everyone. He gave the whole class a point to their respective houses for working hard in the lesson. Much to their relief, he didn't give them any homework.
"I don't want to be unfaiw and give you wowk on the fiwst day," he explained. The class were grateful, as the work set by Snape would take painfully long to complete. As Revees dismissed the class, he refused Anthony and Lauren's offer to take him to the Hospital Wing.
The next lesson was Charms, and the class were bubbling over with excitement as they filed into the room. They couldn't wait to learn all the different Charms, today's in particular. The students hushed themselves abruptly as the Charms teacher hobbled into the classroom. Anthony was not exaggerating when he said that he was small; Professor Flitwick was a tiny little wizard with some white hair and a beard. He mounted a pile of thick books that were set before the class so he could now at least see over their desks.
"Hello, I am Professor Flitwick, and I will be teaching you Charms throughout your seven year course at Hogwarts." Professor Flitwick had a rather common voice that sounded similar to Revees', but it was quite a deal easier to understand. "Wingardium Leviosa, the Levitating Charm, is this lesson's topic," he went on to say, adding that it was a very easy Charm with a simple 'swish and flick' motion. He demonstrated the spell on a feather that was set down in front of Anthony. The Charms teacher purposely showed the wand motions a lot slower and exaggerated than they would usually be preformed. He raised his wand parallel to his face and as he spoke the correct words, he swished it down in an arc shape, so it was parallel with the other side of his face. He finished the job with a gentle flick of his wand. Instantly, the feather shot into the air and the pupils gave him some hearty applause. The feather moved in unison with his wand as Flitwick impressed them further with a few tricks, including a thrilling corkscrew and a loop de loop. Whatever his wand did, the feather obediently followed, like a well-trained dog.
After his little demonstration had finished, he let the class try the spell for themselves. Anthony let everyone know that he had a natural flair for Charms. He artistically swished his wand and sounded the incantation perfectly, resulting in the feather fluidly rising into the air. The Professor clapped him on the back. "Oh well done, Mr. Sinclair, very good work indeed. I will award five points to Gryffindor for that performance." Lauren watched Anthony enviously, as he controlled his feather almost effortlessly. For some reason, she lacked the talent for Charms that Anthony had, as she found this simple spell most challenging. She tried to swish and flick her wand, but it jerked out at awkward angles. She concentrated hard, but she just couldn't seem to mentally picture the feather rising into the air. The more she tried, the cloudier her mind became.
"Stupid feather!" she exclaimed, violently swooping her wand from side to side, focusing hard to make the feather move. However, the feather remained steadfast and wouldn't move even a millimetre. Professor Flitwick did his best to help Lauren, but she was just utterly hopeless, and the fact that she wasn't interested in Charms didn't help at all.
"Miss Sinclair, please calm down. I'm sure you will get it soon," Flitwick said, although looking uncertain. "You should make your wand movements a little more gentle, like your brother's are." He gestured towards Anthony who was flying his feather around the room like a Muggle child playing with their remote control aeroplane. Lauren felt a pang of envy, as she returned to working on her own feather. Lauren must have tried a hundred times to get the feather into the air, but to no prevail.
"Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!" she yelled, madly waving her wand about. She stopped suddenly as she saw the feather move over slightly, but realised it was just being blown by the breeze that her robes were creating as she flapped her arm about. Lauren became more and more agitated to the point of her throwing the feather out of the window. "Now it's floating!" she screamed, glaring at Flitwick, "you happy now?"
Lauren stormed out off the classroom slamming the door behind her and charged down to her common room. Leaping into an armchair, she buried her head in her arms and was ready for a good long howl.
"Is that crumpled heap hiding in an armchair Lauren?" asked a familiar voice from nearby. She lifted her head to see Professor Snape gazing down at her. "What are you doing out of lessons?" he continued, "I do hope that you are not playing truant." He then noticed that she looked very hot and bothered and was on the verge of tears. "Is there something the matter?"
"I feel like such an idiot, Professor," she sobbed, her voice cracking. "Everyone in my class can do Wingardium Leviosa except for me!" She collapsed back into the armchair in a fit of angry sobs.
"You shouldn't get so worked up over something as minor as that, Lauren," he replied, attempting some comforting words, "It's not that difficult, is it? I don't think you are trying hard enough."
"It's no use!" she howled, tears rolling down her cheeks, "I tried and tried and tried but the feather didn't even move an inch." She sniffed hard, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Maybe I just can't do Charms, and I'll fail and fail and they'll send me back to Muggle school, because I'm such a pathetic excuse for a witch," she continued, a hint of paranoia in her voice.
"Oh come, come. Don't be so ridiculous." Professor Snape snapped, "If it is any consolation for you, when I went to school, Charms was not my forte. However, I did not spend my days weeping about it, I simply studied hard and worked to the best of my ability and had no problems." The conversation was now beginning to sound awfully like a parental lecture. Before leaving the room, Professor Snape added, "Now run along before I am forced to take a point from Slytherin," then leaned forward and ruffled her hair. Lauren watched him leave the common room and smiled. For some reason unknown to her, she had a feeling of deja-vu. She felt as if she had a connection with Professor Snape, as if she had met him a long, long time ago.
Sorry if Snape seems a little OOC, but it's the best I could do. I'm no Rowling, you know! I'll try and have chap. 5 up soon, but I'm still working on it.
~Rei
If you want a disclaimer, see the previous chapters because to be quite honest, I can't be bothered to put it on each time.
NB: If you have difficulty understanding Professor Revees, try swapping the 'Ws' in his words for 'Rs' (Not that I'm suggesting you're stupid, or anything but you never know…)
Chapter 4: Laughter and Tears: Lessons start for Anthony and Lauren, and they meet Professor Snape, Revees and Flitwick. They each discover which teachers they are keen on and where their talents lie.
Dawn's first rays of sunshine peeked through the curtains and drew lines on Lauren's face. She was awake, and had been for the past few hours. She knew that she would probably be nodding off all throughout her first classes, but she couldn't help it. Lauren had had a very rough night. She fell forward into her pillow, which was now streaked with dried tears and snot. She felt so tired, she screwed up her eyes and tried to snooze for at least of few minutes, but had little success. Donna was still snoring away like an engine, and Lauren was ready to strangle her.
She had never felt so depressed in her entire life. Back in the days of Muggle School, her only worries were forgetting her PE kit or having to stay in at lunchtime to clean the white board. She never imagined that one day she would be under great stress because she might be a Dark Wizard.
Yawning loudly, she slid off the end of her bed and threw on her robes. Seeing that her first lesson was Potions slightly raised her spirits; she now had something to look forward to. She made her way to the hall, clutching her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions under her arm.
The Great Hall was almost completely deserted, all except for a few Quidditch players getting ready for an early practice session. Lauren had no interest in Quidditch whatsoever. She had little talent in Muggle sports, so she would probably fail at wizarding ones as well. She fetched herself a bowl of Corn Flakes and munched her way through it slowly, as she was one of those few people who liked it better when the milk makes the cereal all soggy.
Quite a while later, the hall began to fill up with people. Lauren was engulfed in her book, so she didn't notice until Anthony tapped her on the back.
"Hey, stop swotting up for the first lesson! How long have you been up?" he asked, removing the book from her hands.
"Longer than you'd imagine," she replied irritably, wrenching the book out of his grasp. He shrugged and went to sit at the Gryffindor table. Lauren then noticed there was suddenly a lot of commotion coming from his direction. Apparently, Anthony had flicked his cauldron-stirrer at Andy Finnigan, and Vincent took a seat next to Lauren, laughing hard.
"You should have seen that! Andrew ducked just before it hit him and it landed right in our House Master's bowl of cereal! Hilarious!" he whooped, doubling up with laughter. "It's a good thing Snape didn't see who did it; they'd be dead by now! There's milk all over his robes!" Lauren wasn't really bothered if Anthony got in trouble or not. Right then, she didn't care much about anything. Vincent remarked on the book she was reading.
"Yep, and we've got Potions with Snape next." He said, calming down a little. "What a treat." Lauren couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, so she asked him to explain. "Haven't you heard? Snape's supposed to be the meanest teacher in the school, and with cereal thing he'll be extra-sour this morning. He might even pick on us Slytherins." Lauren didn't reply. She simply carried on reading until it was time to go for lessons.
"It's awfully dark down here."
"What's the matter? Scared?"
"Oh shut up, and keep walking or we'll be late." Anthony and Lauren walked into the cold, dank dungeon, prepared for their first Potions lesson. The dungeon had a strangely familiar damp, musty smell to it. It was dimly lit by a few candles fixed to walls, and there was a pleasant sound of trickling water from a stone basin at the back. There were several shelves occupied by curious and creepy looking things in jars.
"Come in, come in!" spoke a brusque voice that Lauren had heard before. They looked towards the speaker, and Lauren couldn't help grinning. The handsome stranger in the alley was her Potions Master? It's a small world, she thought.
"Hello Lauren. Are you alright now?" he asked while frowning at Anthony out of the corner of his eye. Lauren looked blank. She wasn't quite sure of what he meant, or how he knew her name but she decided to be polite.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Snape opened his mouth to say something else to her but stopped when his dark eyes fell on Anthony.
"I don't believe that this conversation includes you, so I suggest you take a seat. Now!" Anthony edged towards his Gryffindor pals at the back of the classroom but Snape was too quick for him. He directed Anthony to a table that was conveniently just in front of his own desk. Lauren wanted to sit with Vincent, but at the same time she didn't want Anthony to be on his own. She sank into the seat next to Anthony and watched in disgust as Donna Malfoy filled the empty one next to Vincent.
Snape launched the lesson by taking the register. His beetle-black eyes darted quickly down the list of names as he called them out. It seemed that the incident at breakfast did have an effect on him, as several unlucky students found Snape adding his own little comment after calling their name, which were not always very complementing. For example, when he got down to Vincent Divos, he informed the class that he taught another boy also by the name of Vincent.
"I do hope that you have a little more sense than he does." He began, glaring at Vince, his hands resting firmly on his desk. "He gives me the impression that all people named Vincent are imbeciles. And just by looking at you, I am beginning to think there might be a grain of truth in that statement." He smiled mercilessly as he watched Vincent clench his fists in anger.
A little further down the register came another student that raised his interest. "Belladonna Malfoy? Might I say, what a charming name," he said silkily, making it blatantly obvious that he was being sarcastic. He continued, his voice becoming more spiteful with every word. "Oh joy. I get to teach two Malfoys in one day. Aren't I the lucky one? And if you are anything like your brother, you will probably see him in detention. We could have a little Malfoy family reunion. Now wouldn't that be grand?" Donna's face grew redder and redder. She had to be restrained by Vince to stop her from smacking Snape right in his mocking face. Several people began to laugh, until Snape added, "If anyone would like to laugh at Miss Malfoy, I would be more than happy to let you do so in detention. In silence." Nobody was making a sound now. They had all got the message that Professor Snape wasn't a man to cross. He was definitely not the kindest teacher of the lot, and certainly wasn't afraid to issue detentions. The only noise in the dungeon now was Donna Malfoy furiously whispering very unflattering comments about Snape into Vincent's ear.
Soon he came across the Sinclair's names. He spat out Anthony's name as if it was some horrible poison on the end of his tongue. Fortunately, he didn't make a comment on Anthony, he just gave him a piercing look as if to say, "you'll have to do a lot to impress me, worm breath." It appeared that Snape had a profound dislike for Anthony, most likely because he was a Gryffindor. However, the Professor's penetrating glare softened as he read the next name. "Ah yes, Lauren. It's very interesting that you ended up in Slytherin," he said, sounding rather distant, "very interesting indeed." The penny had finally dropped and Lauren felt the truth hit her like a ton of bricks. All the pieces fell together like a jigsaw in her mind. Professor Snape was the one who rescued her from the mad witch! It all seemed so obvious now.
As the lesson progressed, Professor Snape became an idol in her eyes. As well as the newfound respect she held for him since he was the one who had rescued her, she adored him for other reasons. Lauren was fond of him as one is fond of an older brother, or a favourite uncle. He never ceased to impress her. She didn't know anyone else who had such a natural flair for insulting people. She loved his wry sense of humour, and the fact that he was unafraid to bully his students. Snape had a habit of winding a pupil up to provoke them into something he could punish them really harshly for.
Snape stalked the dungeon as if it was his hunting grounds and the students were his prey. He introduced the lesson in a low voice. "For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of meeting me before, I am Professor Snape, the Potions Master. This is your first Potions lesson; here I can teach you the simple but fascinating art of brewing magical liquids that can heal the sick, or even kill the hated... So watch your step if you know what's good for you." Lauren was on the edge of her seat, hanging onto every word as if it was a passage from the Bible. He continued, his voice growing icy. "Of course, you could be a bunch lack-brained twits like most of the classes I have to teach."
The Potions Master swept back to the front of the dungeon and took his seat. "However," he continued, "I would be much happier if Dumbledore gave the position of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to someone closer to home, as once again, he has scraped bottom to fill the vacancy. This school has had its share of unpleasant teachers who haven't lasted more than a year." He folded his arms and scowled. A shy voice from the left hand side of the classroom questioned what was wrong with them. Surprisingly, Snape didn't bite their head off for speaking without putting their hand in the air. He simply answered the question. "Well, Hogwarts have experienced teachers who have turned out to be an impostor, a Werewolf, an incompetent fool who had no experience in the Dark Arts and--" he purposely left a small dramatic pause, "Lord Voldemort himself." He watched practically the entire class flinch at the mention of the name with great pleasure. "Nasty thought, is it not? But I digress. I have wasted too much time talking about this when we should be doing work. If you want to know anything else about previous teachers, read Hogwarts: A Revised History, or speak with Professor Binns."
Within a few minutes, everyone had set up his or her cauldron. Anthony had found an interesting shiny substance on the desk and dropped it into his cauldron, to add a little decoration to it. Snape observed him doing this, his thin lips curling into a twisted smile. "Those of you putting glitter into your cauldrons will have a little surprise. Today, we are drinking our potions." Apparently, the glitter was there because of a prank played on Snape by a couple of jokester twins. They had bewitched the desks to periodically spew glitter into the air. Lauren found this rather amusing. If it were Lauren, she would have made it spew up horse dung or something revolting like that. "Blasted stuff!" Snape growled, "If I wanted my desks to look like kindergarten artwork, I would have made them that way!" He angrily brushed some blue sparkles out of his greasy hair and destroyed them with his wand. Lauren now understood why they had chosen glitter. What a great idea!
The agenda for the lesson was to make a Poliwango Potion. No one knew what Poliwango meant, but they did think it was a funny word. Professor Snape tutted and informed them that they were all very immature. "The Poliwango Potion is a simple happiness Potion and we will all be testing them to see if they work." Lauren thought this was a good idea. Maybe she could get a decent night's sleep if she drank a gallon of it.
Professor Snape handed a jar of yellow powder to Lauren and passed a few others around the room. "Can anyone tell me what this is?" he asked, although not expecting much response. Lauren shot her hand up in the air and he looked relieved. "It's good to see that someone has a brain in here. What is it then?"
"Um, powdered Lemon Grass, I think." She replied, feeling a little nervous. He either didn't realise or just ignored the fact that the jar was labelled with the name of the substance.
"Very good. A point to Slytherin for your knowledge of ingredients, Lauren." Lauren smiled proudly at Anthony and he muttered, "Bloody cheat," under his breath.
Snape chose Lauren's cauldron to demonstrate how much of each ingredient to put in the mixture. He gently tipped a few lumps of yellow and green powder into her cauldron and instructed the others to do the same in theirs.
"Once you have added all the ingredients, stir it well with a cauldron- stirrer." Snape's eyes instinctively fell on Anthony, as if having a sixth- sense for mischief. "Does anyone not have a cauldron-stirrer?" Anthony nodded guiltily. Snape handed him one, which was, not surprisingly, the one, which was in his cereal that morning. It smelt faintly of milk.
The class brewed their potions carefully, making sure that the precise amounts of ingredients went in. Lauren couldn't help noticing Snape shooting very condescending looks at Anthony. The potions were bright green in colour and fizzed violently. When the Potions were properly stirred, Snape swept around the dungeon sampling a few and usually criticising them. The class didn't find it surprising that no matter how many pupils' potions he drank, his mood did not improve at all. It would take a pretty strong dose to wipe the frown from Snape's face! Anthony secretly cursed himself for not slipping poison into his concoction as Snape took a swig from his cauldron. Anthony waited impatiently for his verdict.
"Good." he said, obviously disappointed that he couldn't tell Anthony off for doing it wrong, but soon added, "If I were teaching a Muggle." Anthony mumbled something insulting and dipped a finger into his potion, then stuck it in his mouth. It had a sharp flavour and made him rock back and forth on his chair, giggling insanely. "That's enough of that!" snapped Professor Snape. He knocked Anthony on the head with his wand, much harder than necessary and removed the effects of the potion. He then sipped some of Lauren's. "Hmm, very good, but a little on the weak side." He poured a drop more of oil of Lima Weed into the bubbling cauldron and tried it again. "Better," he said, "why don't you try it?" Lauren looked at the murky green, viscous liquid and shook her head.
"Err, no thanks." She replied, almost choking from the smell of if it.
"Go on, have some." He said persuasively, holding the ladle towards her.
"No, no. I really don't want…"
"DRINK IT!" he snarled, forcing the ladle into her hands, his black eyes glaring icily into hers. Lauren blinked. She never imagined that he could be this scary. Nervously, she took a deep breath and held the ladle up her lips. The potion tickled her throat as it went down. In her opinion, it was quite the opposite of weak. It was so strong she had to cough. She soon felt the effects of the Poliwango kicking in. She no longer felt upset about being a Slytherin; in fact, she liked it. The thought about her being a Dark Wizard was now laughable. She felt happy, not enough to giggle like a small child, just content. Snape shot her a quick smile before returning to his desk.
"Right," he said, unrolling a parchment, "Homework." The dungeon echoed with a collective groan. "I want you to find the following ingredients for next lesson: Danos leaves, Blast-ended Skrewt blood, Twine weed -why aren't you copying this down? - And smoothed Willow berries." A few people scrabbled about for some parchment, and soon there was the familiar scritch- scratch sound as they scribbled down his words with their quills. Anthony grinned at his writing, as it read: "I want you to find the following ingredients for next lesson danos leaves blast ended skrewt blood twine weed why aren't you copying this down and smoothed willow berries." Fortunately, Snape didn't spot this little joke. Snape dismissed the class quickly and fell back into his chair, shunning the thought of his next class.
Lauren walked briskly towards her next lesson. She liked the sound of Defence Against the Dark Arts, as she would soon be learning how to do such curses as the full-body bind. She sniggered to herself as she imagined Anthony writhing helplessly on the common room floor, unable to fight back.
"Gosh, wasn't Snape in a rotten mood this morning?" Lauren heard Vincent ask from behind her.
"Yeah, even picking on us Slytherins! Now that's just not right!" moaned Donna, obviously still unhappy about Snape mocking the Malfoys.
"Lauren!" Anthony hollered to her over the crowds of people swarming the corridor. "Over here!" She decided to catch up with Vincent later and elbowed her way over to Anthony to find that he was ready to explode with rage. "That Snape is such a pain! Who does he think he is, giving us truckload of homework on the first day?" Lauren put her face on autopilot while her mind ran off somewhere else. "And what has he got against me? Why does Snape hate me so much?" An older lad with untidy black hair and emerald-green eyes shining from behind round glasses smiled at them as he passed.
"Did he have a grudge against your father and now he's taking it out on you? He's notorious for that, you know, but don't let him get to you." The boy smiled before catching up with another boy about his age with flaming red hair. Anthony and Lauren shrugged their shoulders and continued in their own direction.
"I don't know what your problem is with him, Anthony, I think he's really nice." Lauren said, watching Anthony get more and more annoyed.
"Maybe to you, 'cos you're a stupid Slytherin!" Anthony went ahead in a huff and left Lauren to her own devices. Did Snape treat her better than Anthony just because she was a Slytherin? If that were so, why did he snipe at the other Slytherins that morning? It was all too confusing, so she filled her head with thoughts of Defence Against the Dark Arts and entered the classroom.
The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was a sight for sore eyes after the long gloomy hour spent in the cold dungeons. The class were greeted by Professor Revees, a round-faced character dressed in sunshine yellow robes. He had blonde-brown hair that stuck up in short spikes like the end of a broom. The pupils seated themselves around the room and as Lauren joined Anthony at the front of the of the class she noticed a large poster stapled above Revees' desk. It showed a brightly coloured rainbow, complete with the words, "Be happy." The Professor clasped his hands together and gave them a warm, friendly smile that spread across his face for about a mile.
"Good mowning class, I am Professow Wevees." He had a rather amusing speech impediment, not much different to the one Elmer Fudd is famous for. All his 'Rs' sounded like 'Ws,' and more often than not it was almost impossible to comprehend what he was saying. His voice echoed his appearance perfectly, and the only word that Lauren could think of to describe them both was, 'cute.'
After some muffled laughter and private jokes, the class chimed their rather unenthusiastic response.
"Good morning, Professor Wevees." This made Revees shake his head and snigger some.
"No, no, no. It's Professow W-w-we-vees." He made an effort to form his words differently but the just came out the same.
"Good morning, Professor Wevees." The children replied, sounding very sarcastic. This cycle continued for a few minutes, much to the pupil's enjoyment, but Revees just became more flustered the longer it went on. Not a good start for his first day, thought Lauren. The poor fellow was trying tremendously hard to make a good impression, but it was hard for the class to not laugh at him. He finally managed to get the children to pronounce his name correctly when he chalked it onto the board in six-inch high lettering.
"R-E-V-E-E-S. Wevees," he stated clearly, although he made the first 'R' sound like it had a 'w' on the end. The class let out a collective "ohhhh" and satisfied him by greeting him properly. "Now you all know my name," Revees continued, "let's find out youws." He returned to his desk and began taking the register. Unlike Snape, he didn't make any cynical comments about anyone whatsoever.
As Revees began his introduction to the lesson, it was hard to believe that it was the same friendly little man who had spoken to them a few moments ago. His face had lost the cheery smile; it was now much more focused. "As you know, I am hewe to teach you Defence Against the Dawk Awts." His voice was very firm and serious, and the class fell silent at once. "The Dawk Awts can be vewy scawy, but I can teach you to ovewcome youw feaws. I can teach you how to blast a Bogawt, destwoy a Dementow or pawalyse a Pixie." The class were on the edge of their seats, enthralled by his every word. After finishing this small introduction, Revees' voice slipped back to its usual squeak. "On the subject of feaw, next lesson we awe going to do something wather fwightening, so come pwepared. But wight now I am going to teach you an extwemly useful jinx that can get you out of the tightest spots." He paced over to the blackboard, swishing his robes as he went. Grabbing some chalk, he printed the word "FLIPENDO" in large white letters. He turned back to the class and wiped his chalky fingers on his robes, leaving white smudges down them. "Flipendo is a knockback Jinx that has sevewal uses. Can anyone name me any?" A show of hands shot into the air, indicating that this was common knowledge, or the whole class had already read the textbook. It turned out that the Flipendo was quite a versatile spell, as Revees had a rather long list of uses on the board at the end of the discussion. He read the completed list out for the class. "Kills small pests, fow example: Gnomes, Fiwe Snails--"
"And younger sisters!" Anthony called out, provoking Lauren to prod him hard in the chest with her wand.
"That's enough, you two," Revees chuckled, "let us continue. Moves objects and switches, bweaks objects open, fow example boxes." The children scribbled down the information on the board as he read out the last of it. Revees drew his wand from his robes and gestured the class to do the same. "The spell has a vewy simple wand motion, I think all of you will be able to pwefowm it." He raised his wand above his shoulder and pointed it behind him. The tip of his wand began glowing a pinkish-white as he thrust it in front of him, chanting, "Flipendo!" A few pupils cried out as a large sparkling ball of red energy whizzed just above their heads and narrowly missed singeing their hair. It collided with the back wall of the classroom with a flash of light and a crashing sound.
The whole room burst into applause and Revees turned as pink as his knockback Jinx. "Now you twy it," he instructed, "and make the 'flip' pawt nice and long." The students poised their wands and Revees realised his mistake a little too late. Before he knew it, twenty-five knockback Jinxes were hurtling towards him. He quickly ducked and swayed to dodge them, but one was too fast for him and caught his knee. Revees grasped his leg with both hands, whimpering a little as he began to hop on the spot, like a great yellow rabbit.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Professor!" Lauren apologised, as it was her Flipendo that had come into contact with his leg. Revees smiled reassuringly.
"Don't wowwy about it, I'm okay."
The lesson came to an end all too soon. Revees' students enjoyed making fun of him, but deep down, they all liked him a lot; he was so nice to everyone. He gave the whole class a point to their respective houses for working hard in the lesson. Much to their relief, he didn't give them any homework.
"I don't want to be unfaiw and give you wowk on the fiwst day," he explained. The class were grateful, as the work set by Snape would take painfully long to complete. As Revees dismissed the class, he refused Anthony and Lauren's offer to take him to the Hospital Wing.
The next lesson was Charms, and the class were bubbling over with excitement as they filed into the room. They couldn't wait to learn all the different Charms, today's in particular. The students hushed themselves abruptly as the Charms teacher hobbled into the classroom. Anthony was not exaggerating when he said that he was small; Professor Flitwick was a tiny little wizard with some white hair and a beard. He mounted a pile of thick books that were set before the class so he could now at least see over their desks.
"Hello, I am Professor Flitwick, and I will be teaching you Charms throughout your seven year course at Hogwarts." Professor Flitwick had a rather common voice that sounded similar to Revees', but it was quite a deal easier to understand. "Wingardium Leviosa, the Levitating Charm, is this lesson's topic," he went on to say, adding that it was a very easy Charm with a simple 'swish and flick' motion. He demonstrated the spell on a feather that was set down in front of Anthony. The Charms teacher purposely showed the wand motions a lot slower and exaggerated than they would usually be preformed. He raised his wand parallel to his face and as he spoke the correct words, he swished it down in an arc shape, so it was parallel with the other side of his face. He finished the job with a gentle flick of his wand. Instantly, the feather shot into the air and the pupils gave him some hearty applause. The feather moved in unison with his wand as Flitwick impressed them further with a few tricks, including a thrilling corkscrew and a loop de loop. Whatever his wand did, the feather obediently followed, like a well-trained dog.
After his little demonstration had finished, he let the class try the spell for themselves. Anthony let everyone know that he had a natural flair for Charms. He artistically swished his wand and sounded the incantation perfectly, resulting in the feather fluidly rising into the air. The Professor clapped him on the back. "Oh well done, Mr. Sinclair, very good work indeed. I will award five points to Gryffindor for that performance." Lauren watched Anthony enviously, as he controlled his feather almost effortlessly. For some reason, she lacked the talent for Charms that Anthony had, as she found this simple spell most challenging. She tried to swish and flick her wand, but it jerked out at awkward angles. She concentrated hard, but she just couldn't seem to mentally picture the feather rising into the air. The more she tried, the cloudier her mind became.
"Stupid feather!" she exclaimed, violently swooping her wand from side to side, focusing hard to make the feather move. However, the feather remained steadfast and wouldn't move even a millimetre. Professor Flitwick did his best to help Lauren, but she was just utterly hopeless, and the fact that she wasn't interested in Charms didn't help at all.
"Miss Sinclair, please calm down. I'm sure you will get it soon," Flitwick said, although looking uncertain. "You should make your wand movements a little more gentle, like your brother's are." He gestured towards Anthony who was flying his feather around the room like a Muggle child playing with their remote control aeroplane. Lauren felt a pang of envy, as she returned to working on her own feather. Lauren must have tried a hundred times to get the feather into the air, but to no prevail.
"Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!" she yelled, madly waving her wand about. She stopped suddenly as she saw the feather move over slightly, but realised it was just being blown by the breeze that her robes were creating as she flapped her arm about. Lauren became more and more agitated to the point of her throwing the feather out of the window. "Now it's floating!" she screamed, glaring at Flitwick, "you happy now?"
Lauren stormed out off the classroom slamming the door behind her and charged down to her common room. Leaping into an armchair, she buried her head in her arms and was ready for a good long howl.
"Is that crumpled heap hiding in an armchair Lauren?" asked a familiar voice from nearby. She lifted her head to see Professor Snape gazing down at her. "What are you doing out of lessons?" he continued, "I do hope that you are not playing truant." He then noticed that she looked very hot and bothered and was on the verge of tears. "Is there something the matter?"
"I feel like such an idiot, Professor," she sobbed, her voice cracking. "Everyone in my class can do Wingardium Leviosa except for me!" She collapsed back into the armchair in a fit of angry sobs.
"You shouldn't get so worked up over something as minor as that, Lauren," he replied, attempting some comforting words, "It's not that difficult, is it? I don't think you are trying hard enough."
"It's no use!" she howled, tears rolling down her cheeks, "I tried and tried and tried but the feather didn't even move an inch." She sniffed hard, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Maybe I just can't do Charms, and I'll fail and fail and they'll send me back to Muggle school, because I'm such a pathetic excuse for a witch," she continued, a hint of paranoia in her voice.
"Oh come, come. Don't be so ridiculous." Professor Snape snapped, "If it is any consolation for you, when I went to school, Charms was not my forte. However, I did not spend my days weeping about it, I simply studied hard and worked to the best of my ability and had no problems." The conversation was now beginning to sound awfully like a parental lecture. Before leaving the room, Professor Snape added, "Now run along before I am forced to take a point from Slytherin," then leaned forward and ruffled her hair. Lauren watched him leave the common room and smiled. For some reason unknown to her, she had a feeling of deja-vu. She felt as if she had a connection with Professor Snape, as if she had met him a long, long time ago.
Sorry if Snape seems a little OOC, but it's the best I could do. I'm no Rowling, you know! I'll try and have chap. 5 up soon, but I'm still working on it.
~Rei