A/N: Yes, I know, this is *really* late, but my life's been kind of hectic lately. I've had most of this chapter written since I posted the last non-flashback chapter but I haven't been able to come up with a decent ending for it until now. Well, anyway, I hope it's decent…you'll tell me, won't you, dear reviewers? I don't even know how to describe this chapter…not really integral to the plot, but kind of funny. To those of you wondering when Germanus and Severus are actually going to talk...it's not this chapter. I'm evil and catching yet another cold *grumbles*. I'll try to do email notifications but I'm not sure if it will work or not, as Hotmail has been seriously messing with me lately, and Fanfiction.net is even worse. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 9: On the Warpath
"Seneschal, you must realize that we can't possibly allow you to do this. The potions ingredients used in this lesson are far too volatile for you to be near them," one of Germanus' guards said as he read through Severus' lesson plan for the day. The fact that Severus had the entirety of his year's lessons already planned out was going to make it very easy to teach the class – if he could get it 'approved' by his bodyguards.
"Not in the portions they're using. They'd have to dump in at least three times the required amount of most of the ingredients and about five times as much of some of the others for it to be dangerous, and anyone who would be stupid enough to do that would be dead by his fifth year at Hogwarts."
Of course, Germanus didn't mention that their might very well be someone in the class foolish enough to do just that and who had, incredibly, survived up to this point. Severus had left a note within his lesson plan warning substitute teachers of a boy named Longbottom in his fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class. Apparently the boy had, as Severus called it, "a remarkable propensity for making even the most benign of ingredients into lethal weapons" and made a comment about how well he'd do in the Ministry. Germanus had chuckled at that, but the reminder of Severus' wit – indeed, any reminder of Severus – ended up quickly sinking him into depression.
"Perhaps…if we were permitted to measure out the ingredients for the students and make sure that they don't put too much in…" the guard said.
"Excellent. The class is in two hours, so you have plenty of time to gather up the rest of your squad and tell them what to do," Germanus said.
"If you will come as well, Seneschal. I cannot leave you here alone."
Germanus sighed. "Never a moment's peace. Very well, I suppose there's nothing more to do for now." He left the classroom – soon to be his classroom – nervously anticipating his first lesson.
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Germanus stood at the door and took a deep breath. All the students would be in the classroom by now, and his guards were already inside assisting them with their ingredients. He opened the door and walked straight to his desk, along with two of his guards.
He turned towards the children with a swish of his cloak. They were all staring at his quietly. Germanus was quite pleased at this; if he could keep them this quiet for the rest of the class, they would get along just fine. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "I am Seneschal Snape – Professor Snape to you, if you please, and –"
"You're not Professor Snape!" shouted a little blonde boy at the back.
"No, I'm his brother, and if you talk out of turn again you'll get detention," Germanus stated sternly. The class looked at him in surprise, which surprised Germanus at least as much. They certainly weren't acting as if they were well-disciplined. Surely Severus wasn't soft on them? "If you're quite finished, I'd like to take roll."
He called their names out one by one, and discovered that the blonde brat who'd yelled at him was named Malfoy. He also met the esteemed Mr. Longbottom, a chubby boy who looked like he was going to wet himself. Germanus didn't see what possible harm he could cause.
When he was finished, a hand shot up out of the crowd. "Yes, Miss…?"
"Granger. Are you really a Seneschal, and if so, could you perhaps tell us a little about your work, as so many of us here are ignorant of the true workings of the international sector of wizarding government?"
Germanus gritted his teeth. "Yes, I am a Seneschal. No, I'm not going to tell you about the inner workings of the ICW because this is a potions classroom and you are here to learn potions."
"But sir, I know all about potions, I could brew this one now if you wish, it's really quite simple-"
"Sit down. I've got better things to do with my time then talk to you." She sat down, her eyes tearing up a bit. He was quite satisfied to have shut up the little know-it-all. "Now, if I may finally begin-"
Apparently he could not, as at that moment the door opened and someone walked inside. Germanus sighed. "Seneschal Ravenspoon, is there any particular reason for your presence here?"
Anna smirked. "Oh, nothing in particular, except that I wouldn't miss this for the world." She sat down in an unoccupied desk at the back, her guards standing by her. "Carry on, forget I'm even here."
"It's getting awfully crowded in here," Germanus heard a red-headed boy whisper to the boy beside him. Germanus couldn't agree more.
"Yeah, but they chopped up our ingredients for us, so I'm not complaining," the boy – Porter or something – said in reply.
"This lesson will be a practical one," he began, "as I believe all your lessons are, according to the lesson plan left by your professor." Germanus turned to the blackboard and cast a spell that caused the chalk to start writing the formula on the blackboard. "Write down the formula, make the potion, and don't forget to write a short, two-foot long essay tonight on your observations." The class groaned.
"None of that. Why, in my day-"
"Germanus, you don't want to betray your age, do you?" Anna asked from the back. The children snickered.
"Thank you, Seneschal, for the advice, but perhaps silent witnesses ought to stay silent, hmm? Especially those who know nothing about potions."
She just smiled, and the class started their lesson. Germanus sat down at his desk feeling quite satisfied. If this was all there was to teaching, then he could see why Severus liked it so much. Filling young minds with new information was more gratifying then he thought it would be.
Such were his thoughts when the first cauldron spilled. It fell right off the student's desk and fell onto the floor, creating a mess that alerted his guards and caused them to go immediately into action, cleaning up the spill in no time. The student was Longbottom, and he looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. When Germanus was through with him, maybe he would.
He walked up to the boy and leaned over him. "Can you not follow simple instructions, boy? Can you not even put your ingredients in the cauldron at the right times? The recipe clearly states to put in the crushed spider's legs after the cauldron has started to boil. Can't you read?"
The boy gulped, his knees shaking. "I'm very sorry, s-sir, it was an a-accident," he stuttered.
"Sorry? Sorry isn't good enough, boy. Twenty points from…what is your house?" he growled.
"G-G-Gryffindor."
"Twenty points from Gryffindor. You will start the potion again, and you will keep starting over until you get it right. I will take fifty points off your house every time you make an error. Is that clear?"
"That's not fair!" shouted the little know-it-all girl. "Neville didn't mean to, and you're just making him more nervous!"
"Congratulations, you've just earned yourself detention and ten more points off your precious Gryffindor," he sneered. "I will not tolerate disobedience. In my day –"
"Oh boy," Anna sighed.
"In my day," he continued, "children did not question their elders. And you," he said, pointing to the blonde boy in the back who had yelled at him earlier, "twenty points from Gryffindor for your actions as well."
"But he's not even in Gryffindor!" the red-haired boy cried.
"What did I just say about questioning your elders?" he growled. The red-head looked like he would say something more, but in the end just sat down and pouted.
"Honestly, Germanus!" Anna said. "You're being a little cranky."
"Don't be a backseat teacher, Seneschal." Then, speaking to the students, he said "I see that Severus has been too easy on you lot. Don't expect the same from me just because I'm related to him. Get back to work!"
"Easy?" the red-head gaped. "Are you bonkers?" The boy and girl sitting next to him signaled to be quiet, but it was too late.
"What's your name, boy?" Germanus asked.
"Weasley. Ron Weasley," he said, puffing out his chest and looking at Germanus in a way that could only be called defiant.
"Weasley, hmm? Well, Weasley, you have detention for the rest of the week, and I'm sending a letter to your parents about your bad behavior."
The rest of the class was relatively uneventful, aside from Longbottom spilling his cauldron once again, for which Germanus exacted his promise to take another fifty points from Gryffindor. None of the students were unhappy to leave.
"Germanus, that was pathetic," Anna said after the last student had walked out the door.
"It was your idea, as I recall," he pointed out with no little amount of pleasure.
"You could have tried a little harder to be nice to them. I talked to a few of them while you were 'teaching'. Apparently Severus isn't too much better at teaching than you, only he takes points from the proper Houses. Generally Gryffindor, I believe. That blonde-haired kid said he'd never been scolded in this class before. You gave him quite a shock."
"My heart bleeds."
"What heart?"
"Now you're catching on."
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As it turned out, the fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class was the worst of the lot. The others were much easier to control, though he was still heavy-handed with them in Anna's opinion. He smiled whenever he heard a student saying how much they wished the old Snape was back. It was so nice to see students devoted to his Severus.
Germanus spent most of his time out of class with Severus. It made Germanus sick to see him, but the pain was the only way he was able to clear his conscience enough to get up every day. At least, until he could pry out exactly what had happened to Severus and who was to blame so he could destroy said persons in the most painful way possible. When the doctors were busy treating Severus, he amused himself by researching what forms of torture would be the most agonizing.
"Germanus, you're obsessing," Anna said to him one day.
"And rightfully so."
"At least three-quarters of your ideas have been far from legal," she pointed out.
"And I care because…?"
"Oh well, I guess he deserves it, for all the pain he's caused people himself," Anna said.
Germanus stood up and glared at her. "How dare you say that about Severus!"
"I wasn't talking about Severus!" she cried. "I would never say that about him and you know it. Just because you think it is no reason to-"
"I have never blamed him for any of this!"
"Not even for your eye?"
"No! Not even for that! Especially not for that! I deserved it! And…" he paused for a moment. "Wait a minute. Who were you talking about then?" he asked suspiciously.
"Um…" she blushed. "Nobody?"
"Wrong answer," he growled. "Tell me."
"No."
"Yes."
"No. You'll go crazy."
"Crazy?" he asked.
"Yes, crazy."
"When have I ever gone crazy?"
She sighed. "I know you too well. You'll most definitely go crazy, and blame all the wrong people – or maybe all the right people, but that's even worse –"
"You're rambling, Anna."
"I know. I don't want you hurt. He's hurt you enough."
"Who? Severus?"
She took a deep breath. "No. Not Severus. Him."
Oh. Him.
Him?
"No. You can't be serious. Not him…?"
"I wasn't supposed to tell you. I was sworn to secrecy. They thought you'd go crazy, too."
Him. Tom Riddle. Voldemort.
Germanus didn't know how it was that Riddle could possibly be alive, but it didn't really matter, because he was going to kill him. He told Anna so before walking out the door.
"Germanus, no! That's why I wasn't supposed to tell you!" she cried as she went after him. "I knew you'd want to go after him, and you have every right to, but I don't want you hurt! He's too powerful for you and you know it!"
"Wait," he said, stopping. Anna, who had been running after him, couldn't stop so quickly and ended up slamming into his back and falling to the floor. "I'll kill Dumbledore first. He's closer, and he let this happen."
"This is just what I was afraid of…"
He ignored her and walked towards the Headmaster's office. Two of his guards tried to flank him but he blasted them to the floor and was able to avoid the others. He didn't even bother with guessing the sweets-related password to Dumbledore's office – he just blew off the door.
"DUMBLEDORE! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"
To be continued…
