Newfound Bliss
********
"To another year of wonderful learning and new adventures." Albus Dumbledore said standing at the head table. He raised his class and drank to his traditional beginning of the year declaration. He sat down and began chatting avidly with professor McGonagall about the new first years and how time seems to fly by. On Dumbledore's other side, sat Snape, looking happier than he ever had at the start of year feast.
"Wow, look who got some over the summer." Ron remarked grinning widely. Harry laughed immediately and Hermione tried to suppress a grin.
"I've never seen him look so happy. He looks like a starry-eyed school-boy." Hermione said.
"I wouldn't say school boy. More like a grinning vampire." Harry replied. Ron chuckled.
"Right you are Harry!" Ron said.
"What are you guys on about?" Seamus said in his thick Welsh accent.
"Look at Snape." Ron replied simply. Seamus turned his head in Snape's direction and immediately burst out laughing. He finally stopped wiped the tears from his eyes.
"What...on...earth...is...he," was all Seamus was able articulate through his laughter.
"Oh come on, I think it's nice that he's finally happy. It must be something really great, I mean that's the happiest I've ever seen him before." Hermione said, scowling at first.
They were interrupted by a man, looking slightly out of sorts, entering the Great Hall, soaked to the bone with what seemed to be buckets of water flowing off of him with every stride he took. "Ah! Students, I have an announcement to make!" Dumbledore bellowed. The man walked up to Dumbledore and they spoke for a few moments before Dumbledore continued, "This is Alton Vaughan," he paused for effect, "Your new Potions professor." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye and with a wide grin at everyone's shocked faces. He'd never seen so many open mouths and wide eyes gawking at one man before. "Professor Snape will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year and hopefully for many years after that."
"What?!" Ron cried. Harry just stared opened mouths as the news permeated into his brain. The concept that his favourite part of Hogwarts was about to be flushed violently down life's shite-hole was rather hard to accept. There were many other students who seemed to be as upset as Harry. Most, though, were intrigued by the new professor, who was quite an interesting looking man. He was quite tall, but appeared to be fairly well built. He had short, yet shaggy black hair and an uncanny resemblance to Harry. This did not go unnoticed by Harry's peers, or his enemies.
"Look Potter! It's your dad!" Malfoy bellowed for everyone to hear. The Slytherins seemed to be impressed with this, they were all doubled-over laughing.
"I hope you choke." Ginny replied.
"Having your girlfriend defend you again Potter?" Malfoy rebounded.
"Thanks Ginny but it's okay." Harry said calmly to Ginny. He decided it would be best to just leave. He didn't want to cause any trouble. Harry arose from his chair and started for the door.
"Oh, poor wittle Potter. Did I hurt ickle's feelings?" Malfoy said childishly.
"Now, now! Students, students calm down. We have a new professor, let us welcome him properly!" Dumbledore said, slightly embarrassed but not surprised by the reaction from the student body. Everyone began clapping and cheering for Professor Vaughn. Some students seemed to be impressed with the idea of not having Snape for potions anymore. Even if he was going to be teaching DADA, potions was one of the most difficult subjects because everything needed to be just so and some people were not able to be precise in their actions. One perfect example was poor Neville. Only he didn't look poor now, in fact he was so happy for this change that he looked like a jittery dog that was going to wet itself from excitement. He was clapping zealously, cheering and everyone felt that he deserved to have this moment.
After a few moments, everyone settled down, somewhat. Professor Vaughn began introducing himself to the staff and was attempting to familiarize himself with them as best as possible. He began by apologizing for his tardiness. "I had trouble because of the tremendous storm. And you wouldn't believe how severely terrified I am of storms. It's rather childish of me, but I've had a fear of them since I can remember." He said with an English accent. He had a smooth and silky voice and smiled as he recalled his childhood. His flawless smile seemed to regale a lot of looks from the female portion of the staff and the male portion enjoyed his quick wit and roguish manner. It appeared as if he was going to be immediately accepted and befriended by many of the staff. Except perhaps, Professor Severus Snape. Snape had not liked him the moment he had heard his name from Dumbledore. There was a connection there that he wasn't certain of. All he knew, was that it was suspicious and suspicion meant trouble. There was also of course, the fact that nobody could EVER live up to Snape as the potion's master. At least, that's how Snape saw it.
"So Severus, I guess I'm quite a God-send for you." Vaughn said with a wide grin. He had heard of Snape's long yearning for the DADA position and his long reign as potion's master.
"I think I'll decide what are...and who sent you." Snape replied icily. Vaughn laughed haughtily.
"You're almost as funny as I am." Vaughn said. "I'm joking, you daft old bat!" He laughed enthusiastically at his own joke and was accompanied by the surrounding staff members. A bystander might have assumed that Snape had eaten something absolutely rotten, for Snape looked completely disgusted.
He, like Harry, decided it would be better if he just left. He tucked his chair in as he began to leave. Dumbledore spotted him trying to escape without notice and said, "Severus, where do you think your going! "
"I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me." He lied smoothly.
"I see, well I hope you'll be well enough to teach tomorrow." Dumbledore said as he winked at the professor. Dumbledore knew very well what was going on. This was clearly a territorial issue of some kind. Even though Snape didn't want to still be potion's master, the position was his. This man had not been here for more than an hour and he had already gained a higher position with everyone than Snape probably ever could. It was understandable that Snape be a little petulant.
********
The next morning rolled around quickly for everyone. The students were all anxious about having the new Professor potions and having Snape for DADA.
"Look at that! We have potions first with that Vaughn chap." Ron said chipperly as he looked over his timetable. Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating their breakfast rather tensely. They hadn't been talking that much all morning.
"After that we have Transfiguration then Herbology and...then Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry replied thoughtfully. There was something about this whole situation with Snape that was bugging him. Harry just attested it to the fact that Professor Vaughn was almost the spitting image of his father.
"I wonder what it's going to be like." Hermione said. There was need to explain herself. They all knew she was referring to the unconventional change. They were so accustomed to things the way they were, that it was a little disconcerting to have it be changed in such a way as this.
"It's going be a lot different this year, that's for sure." Harry said.
"I guess this explains why we saw Snape in Diagon Alley that day." Hermione replied.
"Yeah, I guess your right." Ron said.
They finished eating and headed for towards the dungeons.
********
Snape was more than nervous for his first class. This meant everything to him. If he managed to ruin this chance for himself his entire being would be shattered. It felt strange that he wanted this so much, and yet he was slightly upset about losing his potions position. He enjoyed potion making intensely. "Life is change," he thought to himself.
He had Hufflepuffs first and the class went extraordinarily well. They seemed to adhere to his teaching methods quite well. For some reason, he was not as tempted to be so short-tempered and negative for this class. He genuinely cared whether they understood what he was teaching them, and he wanted to help them the best he could. Needless to say, the Hufflepuff's (who weren't first-years) were shocked, to say the least, at his behavior.
The day seemed to breeze by for him and he wondered whether professor Vaughn was having as easy-going of a day as he was. He mind flashed to an image of Neville and Snape immediately began to laugh. He felt sorry for the poor man.
********
Professor Vaughn welcomed his first class warmly into the dungeons. He had lit a fire so it was not so chilled and it seemed to change the entire atmosphere of the classroom. It was lit differently some how not so dank and depressing as when Snape had occupied it.
He let the class settle before he began, "Good-morning class! I am Professor Vaughn for those of you who don't remember. I hope to learn all of your names as soon as I can. I won't mind if you correct me, and I may ask you if I forget. Now, I understand that a lot of you are used to Professor Snape's methods and I apologize for this abrupt change. I don't think you'll find things too different, but first of all, I'd like to discuss some safety precautions that you may not be familiar with." He said smiling.
"Wow, this guy's really nice. I think this year's going to great." Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione.
"Now, you Mr..." Professor Vaughn said looking at Ron.
"Weasley." Ron said.
"Right, Mr. Weasley. That's the first. I want you to be silent when I am giving instructions because you could easily cause harm from not paying attention and making an error. As you all know, potion making is a very particular art." Ron rolled his eyes at this statement.
Professor Vaughn explained the rest of the precautions, which were fairly basic but still very important. Afterwards, he let the class formulate a mild paralysis vile. He then informed the class that they would be having pop-quizzes every now and then, so they should review their notes often.
As the class began to clear out of the dungeons, Hermione said, "What a great teacher. He really knows his stuff. I mean when he used the potion on himself and then created the antidote in 12 seconds! That was great."
Harry chuckled and said, "I think Hermione's got a thing for Professor Vaughn."
Ron laughed and said gleefully to Harry and Hermione, "Merlin! That was brilliant. I can't wait until potions tomorrow."
"I think Ron's the one who has a thing for Professor Vaughn." Hermione said smiling.
Neville came out after them with a look of pure bliss on his face. They all broke out into fits of laughter. Looks like the day was going be better than they thought.
********
Transfigurations promised to be even more challenging this year, which the trio did not mind one bit. They were in all in such good moods from there first class that nothing seemed like it could dampen their spirits. Herbology was as it always had been. Harry, Ron and Hermione had fun getting caught up with Hagrid and the class was as entertaining as it always was with Hagrid teaching.
At last, their final period came around. The class sat waiting expectantly for Snape to arrive, when finally he waltzed in the door. He was positively glowing. He looked at peace with everything. Nobody knew what to do or say so the class sat in silence and gaped at him.
"Good-afternoon." Snape said. His voice was not different, it was the tone in which he spoke that had changed. He no longer sounded annoyed or bored with them. He sounded as if he really meant what he had said. This was not anything close to what they had expected. This was how all the other classes had reacted, so Snape just continued. "We are going to start by reviewing what you have already learned. In some cases, we may have to go over things for the first time, but I intend for you to be caught up so we can begin new lessons immediately."
********
The classes went well, the day went well. Nothing could make this day any better. It was the best school year of his life, even since he attended school here himself. Snape decided that he would go see Dumbledore to personally thank him for what he had given to him. Snape had never felt like this before. He hoped tomorrow would be as good. Merlin! He was actually looking forward to seeing all of his students. He was eager to teach and learn in turn. A searing pain on his forearm interrupted his thoughts. The dark mark was beckoning him to Voldemort.
********
A/N: Incase anybody's wondering, I based the rules thing that Vaughn is talking about on something I remember from science class. Anyways, please R/R! Oh and I can't get it to upload without double spaces after periods, any advice?
********
"To another year of wonderful learning and new adventures." Albus Dumbledore said standing at the head table. He raised his class and drank to his traditional beginning of the year declaration. He sat down and began chatting avidly with professor McGonagall about the new first years and how time seems to fly by. On Dumbledore's other side, sat Snape, looking happier than he ever had at the start of year feast.
"Wow, look who got some over the summer." Ron remarked grinning widely. Harry laughed immediately and Hermione tried to suppress a grin.
"I've never seen him look so happy. He looks like a starry-eyed school-boy." Hermione said.
"I wouldn't say school boy. More like a grinning vampire." Harry replied. Ron chuckled.
"Right you are Harry!" Ron said.
"What are you guys on about?" Seamus said in his thick Welsh accent.
"Look at Snape." Ron replied simply. Seamus turned his head in Snape's direction and immediately burst out laughing. He finally stopped wiped the tears from his eyes.
"What...on...earth...is...he," was all Seamus was able articulate through his laughter.
"Oh come on, I think it's nice that he's finally happy. It must be something really great, I mean that's the happiest I've ever seen him before." Hermione said, scowling at first.
They were interrupted by a man, looking slightly out of sorts, entering the Great Hall, soaked to the bone with what seemed to be buckets of water flowing off of him with every stride he took. "Ah! Students, I have an announcement to make!" Dumbledore bellowed. The man walked up to Dumbledore and they spoke for a few moments before Dumbledore continued, "This is Alton Vaughan," he paused for effect, "Your new Potions professor." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye and with a wide grin at everyone's shocked faces. He'd never seen so many open mouths and wide eyes gawking at one man before. "Professor Snape will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year and hopefully for many years after that."
"What?!" Ron cried. Harry just stared opened mouths as the news permeated into his brain. The concept that his favourite part of Hogwarts was about to be flushed violently down life's shite-hole was rather hard to accept. There were many other students who seemed to be as upset as Harry. Most, though, were intrigued by the new professor, who was quite an interesting looking man. He was quite tall, but appeared to be fairly well built. He had short, yet shaggy black hair and an uncanny resemblance to Harry. This did not go unnoticed by Harry's peers, or his enemies.
"Look Potter! It's your dad!" Malfoy bellowed for everyone to hear. The Slytherins seemed to be impressed with this, they were all doubled-over laughing.
"I hope you choke." Ginny replied.
"Having your girlfriend defend you again Potter?" Malfoy rebounded.
"Thanks Ginny but it's okay." Harry said calmly to Ginny. He decided it would be best to just leave. He didn't want to cause any trouble. Harry arose from his chair and started for the door.
"Oh, poor wittle Potter. Did I hurt ickle's feelings?" Malfoy said childishly.
"Now, now! Students, students calm down. We have a new professor, let us welcome him properly!" Dumbledore said, slightly embarrassed but not surprised by the reaction from the student body. Everyone began clapping and cheering for Professor Vaughn. Some students seemed to be impressed with the idea of not having Snape for potions anymore. Even if he was going to be teaching DADA, potions was one of the most difficult subjects because everything needed to be just so and some people were not able to be precise in their actions. One perfect example was poor Neville. Only he didn't look poor now, in fact he was so happy for this change that he looked like a jittery dog that was going to wet itself from excitement. He was clapping zealously, cheering and everyone felt that he deserved to have this moment.
After a few moments, everyone settled down, somewhat. Professor Vaughn began introducing himself to the staff and was attempting to familiarize himself with them as best as possible. He began by apologizing for his tardiness. "I had trouble because of the tremendous storm. And you wouldn't believe how severely terrified I am of storms. It's rather childish of me, but I've had a fear of them since I can remember." He said with an English accent. He had a smooth and silky voice and smiled as he recalled his childhood. His flawless smile seemed to regale a lot of looks from the female portion of the staff and the male portion enjoyed his quick wit and roguish manner. It appeared as if he was going to be immediately accepted and befriended by many of the staff. Except perhaps, Professor Severus Snape. Snape had not liked him the moment he had heard his name from Dumbledore. There was a connection there that he wasn't certain of. All he knew, was that it was suspicious and suspicion meant trouble. There was also of course, the fact that nobody could EVER live up to Snape as the potion's master. At least, that's how Snape saw it.
"So Severus, I guess I'm quite a God-send for you." Vaughn said with a wide grin. He had heard of Snape's long yearning for the DADA position and his long reign as potion's master.
"I think I'll decide what are...and who sent you." Snape replied icily. Vaughn laughed haughtily.
"You're almost as funny as I am." Vaughn said. "I'm joking, you daft old bat!" He laughed enthusiastically at his own joke and was accompanied by the surrounding staff members. A bystander might have assumed that Snape had eaten something absolutely rotten, for Snape looked completely disgusted.
He, like Harry, decided it would be better if he just left. He tucked his chair in as he began to leave. Dumbledore spotted him trying to escape without notice and said, "Severus, where do you think your going! "
"I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me." He lied smoothly.
"I see, well I hope you'll be well enough to teach tomorrow." Dumbledore said as he winked at the professor. Dumbledore knew very well what was going on. This was clearly a territorial issue of some kind. Even though Snape didn't want to still be potion's master, the position was his. This man had not been here for more than an hour and he had already gained a higher position with everyone than Snape probably ever could. It was understandable that Snape be a little petulant.
********
The next morning rolled around quickly for everyone. The students were all anxious about having the new Professor potions and having Snape for DADA.
"Look at that! We have potions first with that Vaughn chap." Ron said chipperly as he looked over his timetable. Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating their breakfast rather tensely. They hadn't been talking that much all morning.
"After that we have Transfiguration then Herbology and...then Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry replied thoughtfully. There was something about this whole situation with Snape that was bugging him. Harry just attested it to the fact that Professor Vaughn was almost the spitting image of his father.
"I wonder what it's going to be like." Hermione said. There was need to explain herself. They all knew she was referring to the unconventional change. They were so accustomed to things the way they were, that it was a little disconcerting to have it be changed in such a way as this.
"It's going be a lot different this year, that's for sure." Harry said.
"I guess this explains why we saw Snape in Diagon Alley that day." Hermione replied.
"Yeah, I guess your right." Ron said.
They finished eating and headed for towards the dungeons.
********
Snape was more than nervous for his first class. This meant everything to him. If he managed to ruin this chance for himself his entire being would be shattered. It felt strange that he wanted this so much, and yet he was slightly upset about losing his potions position. He enjoyed potion making intensely. "Life is change," he thought to himself.
He had Hufflepuffs first and the class went extraordinarily well. They seemed to adhere to his teaching methods quite well. For some reason, he was not as tempted to be so short-tempered and negative for this class. He genuinely cared whether they understood what he was teaching them, and he wanted to help them the best he could. Needless to say, the Hufflepuff's (who weren't first-years) were shocked, to say the least, at his behavior.
The day seemed to breeze by for him and he wondered whether professor Vaughn was having as easy-going of a day as he was. He mind flashed to an image of Neville and Snape immediately began to laugh. He felt sorry for the poor man.
********
Professor Vaughn welcomed his first class warmly into the dungeons. He had lit a fire so it was not so chilled and it seemed to change the entire atmosphere of the classroom. It was lit differently some how not so dank and depressing as when Snape had occupied it.
He let the class settle before he began, "Good-morning class! I am Professor Vaughn for those of you who don't remember. I hope to learn all of your names as soon as I can. I won't mind if you correct me, and I may ask you if I forget. Now, I understand that a lot of you are used to Professor Snape's methods and I apologize for this abrupt change. I don't think you'll find things too different, but first of all, I'd like to discuss some safety precautions that you may not be familiar with." He said smiling.
"Wow, this guy's really nice. I think this year's going to great." Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione.
"Now, you Mr..." Professor Vaughn said looking at Ron.
"Weasley." Ron said.
"Right, Mr. Weasley. That's the first. I want you to be silent when I am giving instructions because you could easily cause harm from not paying attention and making an error. As you all know, potion making is a very particular art." Ron rolled his eyes at this statement.
Professor Vaughn explained the rest of the precautions, which were fairly basic but still very important. Afterwards, he let the class formulate a mild paralysis vile. He then informed the class that they would be having pop-quizzes every now and then, so they should review their notes often.
As the class began to clear out of the dungeons, Hermione said, "What a great teacher. He really knows his stuff. I mean when he used the potion on himself and then created the antidote in 12 seconds! That was great."
Harry chuckled and said, "I think Hermione's got a thing for Professor Vaughn."
Ron laughed and said gleefully to Harry and Hermione, "Merlin! That was brilliant. I can't wait until potions tomorrow."
"I think Ron's the one who has a thing for Professor Vaughn." Hermione said smiling.
Neville came out after them with a look of pure bliss on his face. They all broke out into fits of laughter. Looks like the day was going be better than they thought.
********
Transfigurations promised to be even more challenging this year, which the trio did not mind one bit. They were in all in such good moods from there first class that nothing seemed like it could dampen their spirits. Herbology was as it always had been. Harry, Ron and Hermione had fun getting caught up with Hagrid and the class was as entertaining as it always was with Hagrid teaching.
At last, their final period came around. The class sat waiting expectantly for Snape to arrive, when finally he waltzed in the door. He was positively glowing. He looked at peace with everything. Nobody knew what to do or say so the class sat in silence and gaped at him.
"Good-afternoon." Snape said. His voice was not different, it was the tone in which he spoke that had changed. He no longer sounded annoyed or bored with them. He sounded as if he really meant what he had said. This was not anything close to what they had expected. This was how all the other classes had reacted, so Snape just continued. "We are going to start by reviewing what you have already learned. In some cases, we may have to go over things for the first time, but I intend for you to be caught up so we can begin new lessons immediately."
********
The classes went well, the day went well. Nothing could make this day any better. It was the best school year of his life, even since he attended school here himself. Snape decided that he would go see Dumbledore to personally thank him for what he had given to him. Snape had never felt like this before. He hoped tomorrow would be as good. Merlin! He was actually looking forward to seeing all of his students. He was eager to teach and learn in turn. A searing pain on his forearm interrupted his thoughts. The dark mark was beckoning him to Voldemort.
********
A/N: Incase anybody's wondering, I based the rules thing that Vaughn is talking about on something I remember from science class. Anyways, please R/R! Oh and I can't get it to upload without double spaces after periods, any advice?