Chapter Sixteen: Fireworks in Snape's class.
"Right, well I've just graded the half year exams, and I have to say I'm quite disappointed about the low grades." Professor Binns said. "Only one student remembered the five main causes of the civil war between the elves and wizards in 1616 despite the fact that I read the entire thing out in the first class! And only one student remembered that it was the giant Godric the Ginormous who caused the earthquake in San Francisco at the start of the nineteen hundreds." He shook his head. "Jennifer Weasley scored a perfect 100. Congratulations, and fifteen points to Gryffindoor for this achievement. As for the rest of you if you want to make up for your dismal exam results, perhaps you might want to get a good mark on this next assignment. I want, in no less than two pieces of parchment, an informative piece on the wizard you consider to be the most influential ever."
A funny look crossed Jenny's face and her hand shot up. "Yes?" Binns asked her.
"Professor, I was wondering whether-seeing as how you're so smart when it comes to these things-do you know much about Merlin?" She asked.
Professor Binns frowned slightly, and it looked almost as though he was struggling over something. "Yes I know a little about Merlin. I met him once just after he returned from America. Merlin was an intensely private person, a lot of the work he has done has been published under a different name. I suppose with all the stories about Merlin the magician, he thought nobody would ever take Merlin the wizard seriously? He was very interested in the dark arts, in fact that is what he studied over in America. But after he came back from America he was different. It wasn't soon after that he virtually disappeared from public life..In fact his death only raised a few comments in the community because he had been a recluse for so many years."
Martin and I exchanged glances.
"So has anyone ever wrote anything on him? Like a biography or something?" Jenny asked.
"No. And nobody ever will. Merlin cast a spell, a curse, for whoever would write about him. Therefore nobody's game to do it." Professor Binns concluded.
"Wow!" Martin whispered as we left the classroom a little while later. "A curse! No wonder we can't find anything!"
"I wonder why he'd do that." Jenny said. "If he was as smart as everyone seems to think isn't it strange that he didn't want anyone writing about him? Maybe I should do my essay on him..."
"You can't!" Henry said overhearing this last bit. "You'll be cursed."
"Ridiculous." Jenny scoffed, but she didn't sound completely convinced.
"Henry's right." Alana said. "Don't write on him please Jenny."
"Well I was thinking of writing on Dumbledore anyway." Jenny admitted, as we reached the DADA classroom. "Or maybe I could write on Voldemort. I know he was bad and all, but bad can still be influential."
Alforth and the Slytherins were already in the classroom. "What were you saying about Voldemort?" Alforth demanded of Jenny. His bruise was almost gone now.
"None of your business big nose." Martin snapped, but Alforth ignored him, and stared at Jenny, who relented.
"We've been given an essay to write for History of Magic about who we consider to be the most influential wizard ever." She explained.
Alforth snorted. "And how about you Potter? Going to write about Daddy, famous Harry Potter, the boy who lived and all that crap?" He asked sarcastically.
"I don't think so." I said, frowning. "I was thinking-"
"-YOU were thinking and Miss Weasley didn't even interrupt?" Snape asked, a smile on his lips.
I frowned again, wanting to tell him that no, Jenny hadn't, but he had, however I didn't say anything.
"Okay class, I believe we have a test to get on with." Snape said.
I glanced at Martin out of the corner of my eye, but he was staring ahead with no real expression on his face. Despite his comments the day before I wondered whether or not he would really be going through with his dare to interrupt the class. As Snape was handing out the tests, with an evil look on his face, there was a knock on the door.
"YES?" Snape barked, clearly annoyed at the interruption.
A girl I recognised as a fourth year Ravenclaw stuck her head into the room. "Professor Snape, the headmistress would like to see you right now. It's very important."
Snape frowned, and then nodded. "Class get on with this test while I'm gone."
After he left the room I turned to Martin. "That was it?" I asked softly, annoyed. "I thought you said-"
"-That wasn't it Sam!" He said, looking a bit annoyed himself. "In fact that actually kind of ruins things."
"Ruins things how?" I asked, still in a low tone.
"Do you two mind?" Alforth asked. "Some of us are trying to do our tests here."
We both snorted, and then put our heads down. Snape certainly hadn't made the test easy. Question one: What important event happened in 1079? I skipped that one and went onto Question two, which asked who was born in 1446? I skipped that one also, and went onto Question three which demanded to know who started the famous vampire colony of London? I sighed, and wished I'd actually paid attention in some of these classes, as these questions were way too hard for me.
Suddenly there was a noise in the front of the room, and then a blast of pink and green fireworks blasted off. And then all of a sudden fireworks were going off all over the room. The class was in shock, and then we all got under our desks to avoid being hit by the showering sparks. The room was like a rainbow, with fireworks going off everywhere and all the students asking each other what was going on. But I didn't have to ask: what had Martin said? There would be fireworks in the class. At the time I hadn't taken him literally, but it was obvious I should have.
"Fizzleblasters." Martin said to me loudly over the noise of students and fireworks going off. "You know the worms who when they die shoot off into fireworks? They live for exactly 67 days before they die, and I just happened to know someone who's been breeding them for 67 days."
I didn't need to ask. I remembered seeing Greg lovingly looking after some plain, green worms awhile back.
"WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING IN HERE?" Snape's furious voice roared. "CLASS GET UP NOW!"
Slowly we all emerged from under our desks. Snape stormed into the classroom, his robe swishing behind him, and he picked up a burnt out worm from on his desk. "Fizzleblasters." He said coldly, as what appeared to be the last one went off. "I don't know who is responsible for this, but rest assured when I catch the culprit they will wish they'd never been born."
I couldn't help but shiver at the complete malice in his voice, and I glanced at Martin, who seemed completely unconcerned by the comment.
"Now I think we better get-" Snape began, but he was interrupted by another Fizzleblaster going off right near him, and he jumped a mile, causing us all to cover our mouths with our hands so he wouldn't see us smiling. Henry was having the most trouble with this; he was almost bright red from trying not to laugh, and sooner or later I knew a laugh would escape him.
"Henry," I hissed. "Think unfunny thoughts. Think about the exam and how hard it's going to be, think about-"
But Henry couldn't help it, he burst into laughter, even some of the Slytherins, and the rest of the class couldn't contain themselves seeing Henry's obvious mirth, as he beat his hands on the table trying to stop himself from laughing.
"RIGHT!" Snape yelled. "Ten points from Gryffindoor for this commotion. And also Longbottom you'll report to me tonight for detention. And so will you Potter. I saw you whispering to Longbottom before he started laughing so hard."
"But I was only-" I began, but Snape didn't care about what I was "only" doing.
"That is enough from all of you. And whoever thought they could plant this diversion from the test is very mistaken. I'll be writing out another one for the next class, and let me assure you it will be harder than this one!" Snape said coldly.
I saw the rest of the Gryffindoors frown. They knew whose fault this was.
*****
When we us Gryffindoors were alone later Katy said, "Thanks for nothing Sam. Now I'm going to have to study for the next day to make sure I pass Snape's test!"
I went red. I hadn't realised that this prank would end the way it had.
"But you have to admit, it was pretty funny. Especially when that one exploded right near Snape and scared him witless." Alex said, grinning.
Katy had to laugh, and soon we were all laughing again, except Henry, who was looking miserable.
"Henry are you alright?" I asked him.
"Detention with Snape!" Henry reminded me. "Of course I'm not alright!"
I sighed, remembering it. "Yeah, well at least we'll be there together. I'm not scared of Snape, and trust me, I won't let him do anything to you." I said, sounding a lot braver than I felt.
But it was enough for Henry whose face lit up with a smile. "Thanks Sam." He said.
"Right, well I've just graded the half year exams, and I have to say I'm quite disappointed about the low grades." Professor Binns said. "Only one student remembered the five main causes of the civil war between the elves and wizards in 1616 despite the fact that I read the entire thing out in the first class! And only one student remembered that it was the giant Godric the Ginormous who caused the earthquake in San Francisco at the start of the nineteen hundreds." He shook his head. "Jennifer Weasley scored a perfect 100. Congratulations, and fifteen points to Gryffindoor for this achievement. As for the rest of you if you want to make up for your dismal exam results, perhaps you might want to get a good mark on this next assignment. I want, in no less than two pieces of parchment, an informative piece on the wizard you consider to be the most influential ever."
A funny look crossed Jenny's face and her hand shot up. "Yes?" Binns asked her.
"Professor, I was wondering whether-seeing as how you're so smart when it comes to these things-do you know much about Merlin?" She asked.
Professor Binns frowned slightly, and it looked almost as though he was struggling over something. "Yes I know a little about Merlin. I met him once just after he returned from America. Merlin was an intensely private person, a lot of the work he has done has been published under a different name. I suppose with all the stories about Merlin the magician, he thought nobody would ever take Merlin the wizard seriously? He was very interested in the dark arts, in fact that is what he studied over in America. But after he came back from America he was different. It wasn't soon after that he virtually disappeared from public life..In fact his death only raised a few comments in the community because he had been a recluse for so many years."
Martin and I exchanged glances.
"So has anyone ever wrote anything on him? Like a biography or something?" Jenny asked.
"No. And nobody ever will. Merlin cast a spell, a curse, for whoever would write about him. Therefore nobody's game to do it." Professor Binns concluded.
"Wow!" Martin whispered as we left the classroom a little while later. "A curse! No wonder we can't find anything!"
"I wonder why he'd do that." Jenny said. "If he was as smart as everyone seems to think isn't it strange that he didn't want anyone writing about him? Maybe I should do my essay on him..."
"You can't!" Henry said overhearing this last bit. "You'll be cursed."
"Ridiculous." Jenny scoffed, but she didn't sound completely convinced.
"Henry's right." Alana said. "Don't write on him please Jenny."
"Well I was thinking of writing on Dumbledore anyway." Jenny admitted, as we reached the DADA classroom. "Or maybe I could write on Voldemort. I know he was bad and all, but bad can still be influential."
Alforth and the Slytherins were already in the classroom. "What were you saying about Voldemort?" Alforth demanded of Jenny. His bruise was almost gone now.
"None of your business big nose." Martin snapped, but Alforth ignored him, and stared at Jenny, who relented.
"We've been given an essay to write for History of Magic about who we consider to be the most influential wizard ever." She explained.
Alforth snorted. "And how about you Potter? Going to write about Daddy, famous Harry Potter, the boy who lived and all that crap?" He asked sarcastically.
"I don't think so." I said, frowning. "I was thinking-"
"-YOU were thinking and Miss Weasley didn't even interrupt?" Snape asked, a smile on his lips.
I frowned again, wanting to tell him that no, Jenny hadn't, but he had, however I didn't say anything.
"Okay class, I believe we have a test to get on with." Snape said.
I glanced at Martin out of the corner of my eye, but he was staring ahead with no real expression on his face. Despite his comments the day before I wondered whether or not he would really be going through with his dare to interrupt the class. As Snape was handing out the tests, with an evil look on his face, there was a knock on the door.
"YES?" Snape barked, clearly annoyed at the interruption.
A girl I recognised as a fourth year Ravenclaw stuck her head into the room. "Professor Snape, the headmistress would like to see you right now. It's very important."
Snape frowned, and then nodded. "Class get on with this test while I'm gone."
After he left the room I turned to Martin. "That was it?" I asked softly, annoyed. "I thought you said-"
"-That wasn't it Sam!" He said, looking a bit annoyed himself. "In fact that actually kind of ruins things."
"Ruins things how?" I asked, still in a low tone.
"Do you two mind?" Alforth asked. "Some of us are trying to do our tests here."
We both snorted, and then put our heads down. Snape certainly hadn't made the test easy. Question one: What important event happened in 1079? I skipped that one and went onto Question two, which asked who was born in 1446? I skipped that one also, and went onto Question three which demanded to know who started the famous vampire colony of London? I sighed, and wished I'd actually paid attention in some of these classes, as these questions were way too hard for me.
Suddenly there was a noise in the front of the room, and then a blast of pink and green fireworks blasted off. And then all of a sudden fireworks were going off all over the room. The class was in shock, and then we all got under our desks to avoid being hit by the showering sparks. The room was like a rainbow, with fireworks going off everywhere and all the students asking each other what was going on. But I didn't have to ask: what had Martin said? There would be fireworks in the class. At the time I hadn't taken him literally, but it was obvious I should have.
"Fizzleblasters." Martin said to me loudly over the noise of students and fireworks going off. "You know the worms who when they die shoot off into fireworks? They live for exactly 67 days before they die, and I just happened to know someone who's been breeding them for 67 days."
I didn't need to ask. I remembered seeing Greg lovingly looking after some plain, green worms awhile back.
"WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING IN HERE?" Snape's furious voice roared. "CLASS GET UP NOW!"
Slowly we all emerged from under our desks. Snape stormed into the classroom, his robe swishing behind him, and he picked up a burnt out worm from on his desk. "Fizzleblasters." He said coldly, as what appeared to be the last one went off. "I don't know who is responsible for this, but rest assured when I catch the culprit they will wish they'd never been born."
I couldn't help but shiver at the complete malice in his voice, and I glanced at Martin, who seemed completely unconcerned by the comment.
"Now I think we better get-" Snape began, but he was interrupted by another Fizzleblaster going off right near him, and he jumped a mile, causing us all to cover our mouths with our hands so he wouldn't see us smiling. Henry was having the most trouble with this; he was almost bright red from trying not to laugh, and sooner or later I knew a laugh would escape him.
"Henry," I hissed. "Think unfunny thoughts. Think about the exam and how hard it's going to be, think about-"
But Henry couldn't help it, he burst into laughter, even some of the Slytherins, and the rest of the class couldn't contain themselves seeing Henry's obvious mirth, as he beat his hands on the table trying to stop himself from laughing.
"RIGHT!" Snape yelled. "Ten points from Gryffindoor for this commotion. And also Longbottom you'll report to me tonight for detention. And so will you Potter. I saw you whispering to Longbottom before he started laughing so hard."
"But I was only-" I began, but Snape didn't care about what I was "only" doing.
"That is enough from all of you. And whoever thought they could plant this diversion from the test is very mistaken. I'll be writing out another one for the next class, and let me assure you it will be harder than this one!" Snape said coldly.
I saw the rest of the Gryffindoors frown. They knew whose fault this was.
*****
When we us Gryffindoors were alone later Katy said, "Thanks for nothing Sam. Now I'm going to have to study for the next day to make sure I pass Snape's test!"
I went red. I hadn't realised that this prank would end the way it had.
"But you have to admit, it was pretty funny. Especially when that one exploded right near Snape and scared him witless." Alex said, grinning.
Katy had to laugh, and soon we were all laughing again, except Henry, who was looking miserable.
"Henry are you alright?" I asked him.
"Detention with Snape!" Henry reminded me. "Of course I'm not alright!"
I sighed, remembering it. "Yeah, well at least we'll be there together. I'm not scared of Snape, and trust me, I won't let him do anything to you." I said, sounding a lot braver than I felt.
But it was enough for Henry whose face lit up with a smile. "Thanks Sam." He said.
