Harry Potter and the Power of Two

Here's chapter six. Sorry it took so long to put out. But I was working on my other fic. I don't think there's many people reading this anyway. Well, on with the chapter…

Snape's Change of Heart

Harry silently closed the classroom door. He turned around and saw that his entire class was staring at him. He stammered off his apology. "Sorry I'm late, Professor. I…"

"Sit down Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said. "Ms. Granger has already explained the situation to me."

Harry quickly made his way to the back of the room where he took his seat between Hermione and Ron.

"Hey Harry. What's going on?" Ron whispered.

"Mr. Weasley! If you wouldn't mind," McGonagall said.

"I'll tell you later," Harry mouthed.

"As I was saying," McGonagall continued, "during your fifth year we will begin to examine human transfiguration. Working with human subjects is extremely dangerous, therefore you will only attempt magic after I am one hundred percent with your written work. And while we are doing practical work, there will be no fooling around or I will be forced to take points from Gryffindor. Now, take out a sheet of parchment and begin copying these notes."

There was a brief rustling as the students reached into their bags for supplies. Then the class quieted down and there was little noise besides the scrape of quills on parchment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How long do I have to stay here?" Holly asked the Hogwarts matron.

Madam Pomfrey stopped and examined her patient. "You appear to doing okay. I suppose you'll be well enough to attend your next class."

Holly sighed. She had been awake for almost half an hour now. She leaned back against the headboard and stared at the disgustingly clean room. Her first day of school and already she had made a scene in front of her housemates. It was so embarrassing. And to make things worse, it was right in front of Harry Potter. She doubted if he would ever look at her again without a look of pity as if she was some kind of nutcase.

"Here you are, dear." Madam Pomfrey had just come back in and had handed Holly her schedule.

Holly glanced at it. She had just missed Transfiguration. That's not bad, she thought. She wasn't too fond of it as it was far from being her best subject. So her next class was Potions, which happened to be one of her best subjects. There was something about the slow, methodical, exactness that just appealed to her.

She wondered what the Potions master at Hogwarts was like. She'd heard just a little about him. At her old school, Holly had simply adored her Potions teacher. He was such a nice guy.

Holly looked up at the clock on the wall. It was just about time for her next lesson. She figured she should leave now to give herself a chance to find the class.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking down the hall on the way to Potions. Harry had just finished telling his friends about what had happened with Holly and Dumbledore.

Ron stared down at his timetable glumly again. "I can't believe we still have Potions with the Slytherins," he said. "I mean you'd think they'd give us a break after five years."

"Oh give it up, Ron," Hermione said. "You constantly complaining about it won't change anything. Besides, it's giving me a headache."

Harry remained silent while his best friends argued back and forth. He was quite used to it by now.

The three friends finally reached the dungeon where the Potions lessons were held. Waiting by the door was a group of Slytherins huddled together with Malfoy in the middle. Harry wasn't sure what they were whispering about, but he was sure it wasn't anything pleasant.

Then he noticed someone else standing to one side. It was Holly. She was leaning against the wall, holding her Potions supplies. She was staring down at her feet, not paying attention to anything else going on.

Harry couldn't bring himself to face her, so he turned his back on her, pretending he hadn't noticed.

Eventually the door to the classroom opened. Everyone took their seats. As Harry was siting down, he turned to find Malfoy sneering at him. Harry just sighed and turned to face the front of the class where Snape was giving out instructions, but Harry wasn't listening. He didn't mind. He could always get them from Hermione later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Holly paid close attention as Professor Snape was giving out instructions for the potion. She wanted to make a good impression. Today it was a cure for chicken pox.

She couldn't help but stare at Snape. She was in awe. Holly could tell from just a few minutes of talking that he really knew his stuff. She couldn't understand why the other kids didn't like him. She had a feeling that she was going to like this class.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The whole class was working silently, trying hard to concentrate on their potions. Snape was stalking around the class as usual, glaring over the students' shoulders at their work. This being such a complicated potion, it was hard to concentrate with Snape breathing down your neck.

Harry was busy grinding up his chicken feathers when he heard something that no body had ever heard before.

"Good work, Ms Par," Snape said. The whole class froze. Harry looked up and saw Snape examining Holly's potion. Malfoy just about dropped his Mamara root into his cauldron in shock. Snape had just complimented a student who wasn't in Slytherin. Harry looked at Holly who was positively beaming at Snape.

Suddenly, Snape rounded on the rest of the class who were still staring at him. He glared at them fiercely and they went back to work quickly. They worked silently for the rest of the class.

As they were going off to lunch, the students were still in shock. "Well that was interesting," Hermione said.

"Next thing we know, Snape'll be handing over the house cup on a silver platter," Ron said. "What do you think, Harry?"

Harry had a far off look on his face. "I'm hungry," he said.

Ron and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks. Hermione shrugged and they continued towards the Great Hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Well I know not much happened so I 'm going to try and put more action into the coming chapters. Also I'm going to try and get as much done as possible before Order of the Phoenix comes out. And thanks to my new beta-reader, shamika speight.

Kero.