Susan's Story – Chapter 4

Susan and Hannah cautiously descended the flight of stone steps leading down into the dungeons. Lunch was now over, and it was time for their first Potions lesson. As they continued down the dank stone corridor, Susan's tension mounted. Rumors about Snape had been flying at lunch, and after what she'd heard, Susan was relatively sure she didn't want to be in any class taught by Severus Snape. In fact, what she really wanted to do was run screaming in terror in the other direction. Not that she actually had a choice.

By the time they entered the dungeon classroom she was beyond nervous. She was downright terrified. The girls took seats near the center of the room, behind some Ravenclaw girls. Glancing around the room, Susan decided it didn't look all that terrifying. Torches on the walls provided most of the dim lighting, along with light filtering in through the high, barred windows. Cabinets containing Potion ingredients lined the wall to her right, and a large blackboard was at the front of the room.

Just as she began to wonder where Snape was, she heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. The door to the classroom flew open and Snape came in. He was wearing black robes which billowed behind him as he walked, and black boots which echoed on the stone floor as he made his way to the front of the room.

"This is first year Potions. I am hear to teach you the subtle art of potion making. No foolishness or horseplay will be permitted. Anyone misbehaving will be punished severely. You will address me as Professor Snape or sir. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," the class echoed faintly.

"I said, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," was the loud reply.

"Good. Everyone get out parchment and quills and copy this down."

He waved his wand and notes in neat, meticulous handwriting appeared on the board. The class took notes quietly. Many, like Susan, were terrified of making Snape angry.

"Alright, listen closely. You will split into pairs of two. You and your partner will make today's potion, which is extremely simplistic, using the notes on the board. You must be finished at the end of class, at which time you will put a sample of your potion into a flask with both your names on it and place it on my desk. You may not leave until you have cleaned your cauldron and put away your supplies. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a chorus of "yes". Snape nodded and gave them permission to split into groups. Susan and Hannah paired off together and began work on the potion. Even though it was fairly simple, neither were familiar with potions making and they had a little trouble.
Snape walked around the room as they worked supervising and critiquing their potions. Susan happened to glance up and saw Snape standing at the front of the room. He was staring right at her, a peculiar look on his face. When he noticed Susan had noticed this, he quickly turned away.

"Alright, class is over. Everyone who is not finished must stop now. Bottle your samples and clean your workstations," he ordered.

Luckily, Susan and Hannah just made the deadline. Susan was fairly confident that their finished product was correct, and she quickly bottled some in a flask and place it on Snape's desk. The girls quickly cleaned their area and put their stuff away.

Susan was immensely glad when they were back out in the corridor, making their way back up to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Hannah, did you see Snape staring at me? He had this really weird look on his face."

"Maybe he was just spacing out," Hannah suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," said Susan doubtfully. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But maybe it was something more. . .

Author's Note: I updated! Finally! Actually this chapter was supposed to be up a couple of days ago, but when I opened the document to put in my review responses before I uploaded Microsoft Word said something like it didn't have the program to properly display it or something. And then it came up in weird symbol things. Weird. Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed:

Jennifer – I just realized I switched from first to third person. Oops. Mrs. Dillman would be ashamed, lol. Anyway, thank you so much for pointing that out. I think I'll stick with third person.

--- - No, your right. Madam Bones is her aunt. Her grandmother is someone different. If I didn't mention it before, this story is not going to place a lot of emphasis on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I didn't mention him in the sorting because everyone knows the story and it has already been written so many times. So, anyway, this story is going to talk more about some of the characters who aren't mentioned a lot in the books (mostly the Hufflepuffs). However, my story The Innocent Death Eater is going to talk a lot more about Harry (if I ever get around to updating it(). Thank you so much for reviewing!