Ch.2- Need help?
Harry was too tired to do this. Maybe he could have handled his friend's worried glances at him and their continual pestering of "Are you alright?" He was probably even prepared for dealing with Malfoy who was all too happy to inform Harry that he looked like shit (well you would too if you haven't had a decent night's sleep in almost over a week); but when you threw in double potions with Snape and the Slytherins, that was asking too much.
The moment Snape laid eyes on Harry he knew there was something wrong with the boy. So he did the most Snapeish thing he could think of; pop quiz! And being Snape it would end up being more like an exam than a quiz.
It seemed like Hermione and Draco were the only ones who didn't mind this new turn of events. Hermione because she seemed to know everything already and was always up for a challenge; Draco because he excelled at Potions and even if he didn't Snape would let him off easy since he was teacher's pet. As for the rest of the class, no one was prepared, but they didn't voice their objections too loudly.
As Harry had believed, Snape "quiz" would be most difficult. He would spend the first portion of the class, writing down questions. Everyone would answer them and after the given amount of time was up, Snape would randomly pick students to answer the questions. If you got your question wrong, you'd have to write a 10 inch essay on the topic of the question and why you were such an imbecile that you couldn't answer it write in the first place.
After that was done, each group of students (randomly paired) would get an assigned potion to brew. Once again, if you failed to do so correctly, you'd have to write another essay on the proper procedure and what you did wrong.
The class pulled out their parchment and got to work copying done the questions. For the first five minutes, Harry just stared at his paper; he could maybe guess about 5 of the 20 questions. Snape was sure to call on him for the hardest question there was and he'd be stuck with an essay to write.
"Need help with that?" A voice whispered in his right ear, causing Harry to jump.
"What?" Harry hissed.
"I'm pretty good at potions," bragged Tom.
"Is there a problem, Mister Potter?" Snape asked. He had noticed when Harry jumped three feet in the air. Now the boy was giving him the most peculiar look, and continuously glancing to his right.
"They can't see me, remember?" Tom said, as if to prove his point, he walked up to the professor and started waving his arms. Snape didn't even blink; his eyes were glued to Harry.
"N-no professor. I'm fine," Harry answered. Snape watched him for a moment before returning to his work. He figured, with a smile, that the questions were just to advanced for the boy's capabilities.
"So do you want some help?" Tom offered again. Harry bit his lip but nodded his head in agreement. Tom walked back over to Harry's side and looked down at the paper. He started dictating the answers, as Harry scribbled them down. Harry was a bit unsure if he could trust Tom, for all he knew the boy could be giving him the wrong answers and Harry would end up making a fool out of himself. But they sounded right enough, and Harry wouldn't honestly think of any better guesses for the ones he didn't know.
When the time was up and Snape called for the quills to be put down, Tom had helped Harry answer all his questions, and even corrected one that Harry had made a mistake on. Snape started calling on student to answer the questions. Hermione got her right of course, Ron and Seamus weren't so lucky. Dean had managed to get by okay but only because Snape had asked him to answer one of the questions that they had studied yesterday and it was still fresh in his mind. Crabbe and Goyle obviously got stuck with essays but the rest of the Slytherins seemed to do okay.
"Correct Mr. Malfoy, 10 points to Slytherin for answering a most difficult question."
Harry would almost hear Ron's mental grumbling of 'Difficult my arse. Even *I* knew that one!' and smiled to himself.
"Why is it imperative that Unicorn hair and snake venom never be mixed together until the crucial moment at the end of brewing a substance altering potion, Mister Potter?"
Harry bit his bottom lip again and glanced down at his paper. He located his (Tom's) answer and read it out loud. "If they're mixed together before the time that they have to be added into the potion, they'll effect each other. The snake venom will taint the unicorn hair, and the unicorn hair will absorb the magical properties of the snake venom. When added into the potion after this effect, it'll either cause for a massive explosion or it'll quickly solidify, depending on which you have more of."
When Harry glanced up, he noticed that most of the class was gapping at him, clearly not expecting him to have been able to answer that. He shot a worried glance at Snape and noticed the man glaring at him.
"Who helped you Mister Potter?" Snape accused.
"What?"
"May I see you paper?" Harry silently handed over his quiz. He couldn't know, could he? It's not like he could prove it. They may be at Hogwarts and in the magical world, but if Harry said that he had a new imaginary friend, he'd be laughed at.
"Miss Granger. you haven't be helping Mister Potter have you?" Snape asked, although his voice sounded neutral, his eyes were clouded in suspicion.
"Hermione didn't help me!" Harry quickly defended her.
"Then would you care to explain to me why you, a below average student in my class, manages to ace this quiz?" Snape asked.
"I studied," Harry shrugged, trying to sound normal.
"Tell him to ask you a question," Tom said. He placed his ghost like hand on Harry's shoulder and once again, Harry got that pins and needles feeling. "I can give you the answer."
"Perhaps professor, you'd like to ask me another question. one that wasn't on the quiz." Harry offered, trying to sound innocent. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have trusted Tom or tried to piss off Snape more than necessary. But he knew this was a rare chance to get one up on Snape and Tom hadn't seemed to let him down yet today.
Snape narrowed his eyes but growled out. "What is the key ingredient in Malamere's invisibility potion?" If Harry had actually paid attention in potions, he would have known that they hadn't yet studied that potion. In fact they weren't set to start it until after Christmas.
Harry tried to look like he was thinking the question over, trying to come up with an answer. Snape had just started to smirk his victory when Harry suddenly replied "Sunflower Seeds. Defiantly not a common ingredient for invisibility potions, or any potions at all, but Malamere discovered that when mixed with werewolf fur and batwings, you get the desired effect."
Harry heard Hermione gasp before the whole class grew silent, waiting to see what Snape would do. Harry could see that Snape's left eye was twitching, a fact he would have found amusing, he Snape didn't look ready to kill. But how could he accuse him of cheating? Sure Harry shouldn't have known about that potion unless he had been reading ahead. But there was absolute silence while Harry thought over his answer.
"Very well Potter, you've proved your point. Miss Brown! Next question." Snape turned away from Harry as Lavender read her answer. Of course Gryffindor didn't get any points for answering a "most difficult question".
Harry felt eyes on him and he turned to look at a pouting Malfoy. Harry allowed himself a smirk, and raised an eyebrow at the blond.
As revenge, when the time came to set the "randomly paired" couples out to work on the second part of the quiz, Harry was paired with Neville. Although Harry personally liked Neville, it was common knowledge that the boy couldn't brew one good potion. Of course it didn't matter today, because Harry had the instructions of Tom to follow. Just as the burner was turned off to let the perfect potion they made cool off, Tom said he had to leave.
"I'm getting weak again. I don't think I'll be able to hold on for much longer."
"OK, thanks a lot," Harry flashed him a bright smile which Tom returned.
"Umm Harry.?" Harry turned to look at Neville. "Why are you thanking me? YOU did all the work!"
^o^
OK, OK, I know Tom doesn't sound evil. But I'll get him there. At the current moment, he's weak and wants Harry to trust him. For all of you who want your evil Tom Riddle back, he's on the way in future chapters (well most likely).
And yes, if anyone noticed or is wondering, I did change my pen name. I like this one better.
Harry was too tired to do this. Maybe he could have handled his friend's worried glances at him and their continual pestering of "Are you alright?" He was probably even prepared for dealing with Malfoy who was all too happy to inform Harry that he looked like shit (well you would too if you haven't had a decent night's sleep in almost over a week); but when you threw in double potions with Snape and the Slytherins, that was asking too much.
The moment Snape laid eyes on Harry he knew there was something wrong with the boy. So he did the most Snapeish thing he could think of; pop quiz! And being Snape it would end up being more like an exam than a quiz.
It seemed like Hermione and Draco were the only ones who didn't mind this new turn of events. Hermione because she seemed to know everything already and was always up for a challenge; Draco because he excelled at Potions and even if he didn't Snape would let him off easy since he was teacher's pet. As for the rest of the class, no one was prepared, but they didn't voice their objections too loudly.
As Harry had believed, Snape "quiz" would be most difficult. He would spend the first portion of the class, writing down questions. Everyone would answer them and after the given amount of time was up, Snape would randomly pick students to answer the questions. If you got your question wrong, you'd have to write a 10 inch essay on the topic of the question and why you were such an imbecile that you couldn't answer it write in the first place.
After that was done, each group of students (randomly paired) would get an assigned potion to brew. Once again, if you failed to do so correctly, you'd have to write another essay on the proper procedure and what you did wrong.
The class pulled out their parchment and got to work copying done the questions. For the first five minutes, Harry just stared at his paper; he could maybe guess about 5 of the 20 questions. Snape was sure to call on him for the hardest question there was and he'd be stuck with an essay to write.
"Need help with that?" A voice whispered in his right ear, causing Harry to jump.
"What?" Harry hissed.
"I'm pretty good at potions," bragged Tom.
"Is there a problem, Mister Potter?" Snape asked. He had noticed when Harry jumped three feet in the air. Now the boy was giving him the most peculiar look, and continuously glancing to his right.
"They can't see me, remember?" Tom said, as if to prove his point, he walked up to the professor and started waving his arms. Snape didn't even blink; his eyes were glued to Harry.
"N-no professor. I'm fine," Harry answered. Snape watched him for a moment before returning to his work. He figured, with a smile, that the questions were just to advanced for the boy's capabilities.
"So do you want some help?" Tom offered again. Harry bit his lip but nodded his head in agreement. Tom walked back over to Harry's side and looked down at the paper. He started dictating the answers, as Harry scribbled them down. Harry was a bit unsure if he could trust Tom, for all he knew the boy could be giving him the wrong answers and Harry would end up making a fool out of himself. But they sounded right enough, and Harry wouldn't honestly think of any better guesses for the ones he didn't know.
When the time was up and Snape called for the quills to be put down, Tom had helped Harry answer all his questions, and even corrected one that Harry had made a mistake on. Snape started calling on student to answer the questions. Hermione got her right of course, Ron and Seamus weren't so lucky. Dean had managed to get by okay but only because Snape had asked him to answer one of the questions that they had studied yesterday and it was still fresh in his mind. Crabbe and Goyle obviously got stuck with essays but the rest of the Slytherins seemed to do okay.
"Correct Mr. Malfoy, 10 points to Slytherin for answering a most difficult question."
Harry would almost hear Ron's mental grumbling of 'Difficult my arse. Even *I* knew that one!' and smiled to himself.
"Why is it imperative that Unicorn hair and snake venom never be mixed together until the crucial moment at the end of brewing a substance altering potion, Mister Potter?"
Harry bit his bottom lip again and glanced down at his paper. He located his (Tom's) answer and read it out loud. "If they're mixed together before the time that they have to be added into the potion, they'll effect each other. The snake venom will taint the unicorn hair, and the unicorn hair will absorb the magical properties of the snake venom. When added into the potion after this effect, it'll either cause for a massive explosion or it'll quickly solidify, depending on which you have more of."
When Harry glanced up, he noticed that most of the class was gapping at him, clearly not expecting him to have been able to answer that. He shot a worried glance at Snape and noticed the man glaring at him.
"Who helped you Mister Potter?" Snape accused.
"What?"
"May I see you paper?" Harry silently handed over his quiz. He couldn't know, could he? It's not like he could prove it. They may be at Hogwarts and in the magical world, but if Harry said that he had a new imaginary friend, he'd be laughed at.
"Miss Granger. you haven't be helping Mister Potter have you?" Snape asked, although his voice sounded neutral, his eyes were clouded in suspicion.
"Hermione didn't help me!" Harry quickly defended her.
"Then would you care to explain to me why you, a below average student in my class, manages to ace this quiz?" Snape asked.
"I studied," Harry shrugged, trying to sound normal.
"Tell him to ask you a question," Tom said. He placed his ghost like hand on Harry's shoulder and once again, Harry got that pins and needles feeling. "I can give you the answer."
"Perhaps professor, you'd like to ask me another question. one that wasn't on the quiz." Harry offered, trying to sound innocent. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have trusted Tom or tried to piss off Snape more than necessary. But he knew this was a rare chance to get one up on Snape and Tom hadn't seemed to let him down yet today.
Snape narrowed his eyes but growled out. "What is the key ingredient in Malamere's invisibility potion?" If Harry had actually paid attention in potions, he would have known that they hadn't yet studied that potion. In fact they weren't set to start it until after Christmas.
Harry tried to look like he was thinking the question over, trying to come up with an answer. Snape had just started to smirk his victory when Harry suddenly replied "Sunflower Seeds. Defiantly not a common ingredient for invisibility potions, or any potions at all, but Malamere discovered that when mixed with werewolf fur and batwings, you get the desired effect."
Harry heard Hermione gasp before the whole class grew silent, waiting to see what Snape would do. Harry could see that Snape's left eye was twitching, a fact he would have found amusing, he Snape didn't look ready to kill. But how could he accuse him of cheating? Sure Harry shouldn't have known about that potion unless he had been reading ahead. But there was absolute silence while Harry thought over his answer.
"Very well Potter, you've proved your point. Miss Brown! Next question." Snape turned away from Harry as Lavender read her answer. Of course Gryffindor didn't get any points for answering a "most difficult question".
Harry felt eyes on him and he turned to look at a pouting Malfoy. Harry allowed himself a smirk, and raised an eyebrow at the blond.
As revenge, when the time came to set the "randomly paired" couples out to work on the second part of the quiz, Harry was paired with Neville. Although Harry personally liked Neville, it was common knowledge that the boy couldn't brew one good potion. Of course it didn't matter today, because Harry had the instructions of Tom to follow. Just as the burner was turned off to let the perfect potion they made cool off, Tom said he had to leave.
"I'm getting weak again. I don't think I'll be able to hold on for much longer."
"OK, thanks a lot," Harry flashed him a bright smile which Tom returned.
"Umm Harry.?" Harry turned to look at Neville. "Why are you thanking me? YOU did all the work!"
^o^
OK, OK, I know Tom doesn't sound evil. But I'll get him there. At the current moment, he's weak and wants Harry to trust him. For all of you who want your evil Tom Riddle back, he's on the way in future chapters (well most likely).
And yes, if anyone noticed or is wondering, I did change my pen name. I like this one better.