Chapter 5

Hagrid and Lierin were waiting for Hagrid's class at the door of his hut. Hagrid was wearing his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels. Lierin was wearing a snow-white tunic with matching snow-white trousers. Her wizard's robes on the other hand were heavenly blue and so were her suede boots. Both Hagrid and Lierin were looking impatient to start.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called, as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow us!"

Hagrid and Lierin strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock with a very large something concealed with a large linen cloth. From the looks of it probably a terrarium.

"Everyone gather round the fence here!" he called. "That's it! Make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books."

"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. Lierin was really starting to get fed up with that stuck up kid.

"Eh?" said Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out, too; some, like Potter, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tights bags or clamped them together with bullclips.

"Hasn'- hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen.

The class all shook their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look..." He took the copy that the girl with Potter and Weasley offered him (Lierin soon learned that her name was Hermione Granger) and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quietly in his hand.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

Hagrid looked uncertainly at Lierin and Lierin, foreseeing a disaster, decided to take the matter in her own hands. Well, just for a short while until Hagrid felt he could take over again.

"Well, I can certainly see that the students aren't what they used to be!" said Lierin imitating the same mocking voice she had heard Snape use so often.

"We have used that same book when we were in second grade. But maybe Mistew Malfoy is a wittle bit scawed of a big mean biting book. Shall I get you a book that is more suitable for you Mr. Malfoy? I highly recommend Deborah Filltremor's Pre-school book for youngsters preparing themselves for first-grade Care of Magical Creatures Class. It has some lovely pictures of creatures in it that aren't too scary for the likes of you. You think you can handle Jigglypuffs? Those pink fluffy-looking furballs? For Merlin's sake, if you think you can't handle the mature stuff that is written in The Monster Book of Monsters than I highly suggest you start thinking about what, for heaven's sake, you think you are doing in the third year!" cried Lierin in mounting fury. Malfoy had gone even paler than usual but Potter and Granger were smiling broadly. Weasley however was looking as if he had just entered seventh heaven; a smile of pure delight was stuck on his face. Hagrid couldn't stifle a laugh as well and tried to take over his class, though he seemed to have lost his thread because every time he tried to speak he had to laugh as well.

"Right, haha-hum, so yeah've got yer books, hahaha an'....an' now yeh need. What was it you needed again? Jigglypuffs?" he said with a giggle.

By this time the Gryffindors couldn't repress their fun anymore and they burst out in a loud laughter. The Slytherins were awfully quiet though.

"Sorry, 'bout that. Let us move on to the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll just remove the cloth. Hang on...." Hagrid entered the paddock and pulled away the cloth, revealing some kind of large aquarium filled with...shells? Everybody looked at the shells with a questioning look in their eyes.

"Pearlypods!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. Most of the students still didn't understand the fuss about some stupid shells.

"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around. "If yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer...."

Potter, Weasley and the Granger girl were the first the approach the fence and so did the rest, how dangerous could shells be?

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Pearlypods is how to call 'em. Yeh have to hypnotize them with music from a magical flute. Professor Heartilly here kindly allowed me to use hers. Now, she only 'as one so yeh've to switch the flute amongst each other. Now, every Pearlypod has a differen' liking to music so even though yeh see 'ere twenty shells, when yeh play the flute only three might come out. If they like your music, they'll fly towards you and reward you with a pearly lookin' thingy. My guess is that if yeh manage to collect a few of them pearlies, at least Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout will be very grateful. They use them a lot but them pearlies are very rare. Are wanted often in potions too I think. Now, who wants ter go first?"

All students raised their hands and Granger was jumping up and down, waving her hand so Hagrid would choose her first. Hagrid was beaming around and Lierin felt happy she had been able to stop Hagrid from using the Hippogriffs.

"Alright then, Harry, let's see how yeh get on with them Pearlypods."

Lierin approached Harry with a golden box in her hands. She opened up the box and handed him the magical flute. He looked at her shyly.

"What do I do now?"

"Just play the flute and see what happens." Lierin replied in a cheerful manner.

"Just play the flute and see what happens." Harry muttered while he entered the paddock.

In the paddock he sat himself down on the damp grass and raised the flute to his mouth.

The first tones were false but in a short while he was getting the hang of it and the most bizarre tones emerged from the flute, sounding a bit like what an underwater organ might sound like.

Suddenly the water started to bubble and nine shells opened up, venting nine small creatures to the surface.

"Ooooooooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing towards the nine creatures. Flying towards him were the strangest creatures Harry had ever seen. They had the small bodies and heads of sea horses and were covered with bright blue scales that looked like they were made of mother-of-pearl.

Their wings were long and silvery looking, like the wings of a dragonfly and they had strange looking tails in the form of a fan and held every color of the rainbow.

Soon the first was hovering near him and produced a great, soft, pearly looking ball out of his snout and placed it in front of Harry. After doing so it retreated to his shell. After the rest of the Pearlypods had rewarded Harry with nine pearls, they flew back to their shells and Harry stopped playing the flute.

"Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right! Who wants ter go next?" Again all the students raised their hands and Harry collected his nine pearls with a large grin on his face.

Soon the tones of the magical flute filled the air as the flute was passed over and over to the students. Most students managed to get five to eight pearls from the Pearlypods. Granger managed to get a nice sum of fifteen.

Crabbe and Goyle got only one but that was one more than Malfoy, the shells just didn't open for him. Only one person managed to get a pearl from every Pearlypod. Neville Longbottom, who was beaming around, counted his twenty pearls over and over again, unable to believe his eyes, afraid that they might disappear if he didn't count them again and again and again.

"Well done Mr. Longbottom. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey, Professor Sprout or Professor Snape will be very pleased with them. Have you decided yet to whom you'll give the pearls?" said Lierin warmly.

"N-n-no, not yet Professor Heartilly. I was thinking.... maybe Professor Snape would approve of these pearls?" Longbottom said hesitatingly. Lierin smiled at him, she knew how afraid Longbottom was of Snape and obviously he desperately wanted to gain Snape's approval.

Like that was ever going to happen, she thought.

"I'm sure he'll be very pleased with them," said Lierin, though she highly doubted if Longbottom would get any praise from him, he only gave praise to his precious Slytherins.

"Now move along then. You don't want to be late for your next class!"

The broad grin quickly vanished from the poor boy's face as he realised in how much trouble he'd get if he were late for Potions. He muttered a small "goodbye" before he turned around and joined his friends. Lierin couldn't repress a smile when she saw Longbottom proudly showing his pearls to his friends - again.

Lierin's first week of teaching went by rather smoothly. She could tell that the children were interested in her classes and that made her very happy. The fact that her students really were interested was probably because she was a formidable teacher and her love for her job and the passion she felt towards 'tomb-raiding' rubbed off on the students. Only the Slytherins weren't really happy with her and Draco Malfoy hated her. Needless to say, that feeling was mutual and Lierin did nothing to hide her disgust for him. She often took him as an example for a new project and his careless ways always got him into trouble. Luckily the spellbreaker she had gotten from Hagrid prevented some real or permanent damage but you couldn't say the same of Malfoy's pride. Every time she humiliated him, it left a huge dent in his male pride and the Slytherins became more and more reluctant to attend her classes. Lierin shared the same sentiment about them and it was one evening when she was marking Slytherin essays that her left leg started to hurt like hell, indicating she had been straining herself again. She really had to learn to take it easy if she wanted to live with less pain. After a couple of hours of marking essays, rubbing her leg, marking more essays, endlessly massaging the muscles of her leg again, more essays, leg, essays, leg essays, she let out an annoyed groan and she got up to get a Pain-relieving Potion from Madam Pomfrey. Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey told her that she had ran through her supplies of Pain-relieving Potions and that she was still waiting for Severus to replenish her supplies. Would she mind terribly much to ask him if he...

"No, of course I don't mind. I'll just go and ask him then," replied Lierin, though she couldn't keep the disappointment from her voice.

With a heavy feeling in her stomach, Lierin descended the cold, stone stairs leading to the cold and eerie dungeons. She'd never felt at ease in the dungeons and Snape certainly didn't try to make it look comfy. As she entered the dungeons, she felt as if she were a young schoolgirl again on her way to Potions class and that feeling was quite disturbing since Snape had always done his very best to make her years at school as miserable as possible. Her emotions were really taking a spin with her the moment she actually entered Snape's classroom. For a short moment she actually thought she was about to have Potions lesson and in a flash she saw her best friend sitting at his desk, preparing ingredients for a creepy potion until it dawned on her that she was in fact seeing his siblings, Fred and George Weasley.

A quick smile at the boys and they relaxed again, they were obviously waiting for Snape to give them detention.

"Misters Weasley, tomorrow evening at eight o'clock sharp, I expect you to cut out a new stock of Fungulus rat livers for me. I expect double the amount of what you managed to ruin in my potions class today," sounded the icy cold voice of Snape, and Lierin thought she was about to have a heart attack. He had crept up behind her! Fred and George scowled at Snape as they left the dungeons, obviously not happy about their detention and Lierin could very well understand why. Back in her own days at school, if you had really crossed Snape, he would always let you cut a fresh stock of Fungulus rat livers for him. It really was the worst punishment he could give you, for cutting out those livers was something ghastly because the obnoxious looking nude rats with red beady eyes, spread an awful stench the moment you cut them open. The stench they spread was revolting and sickening; the stench drenched your clothes and it clogged every pore in your skin. Well, it probably was the best defence those rats had, because no creature would even consider trying to eat them.

Lierin watched the Weasley twins leave with a look of sympathy in her soft blue eyes, eyes that grew dark and cold the second she turned around to face Snape.

"Do I dare ask what crime those boys committed in your class to deserve a detention like that? Did they make to much of a noise in your class, like breathing?"

"Are you criticizing the way I teach my classes?" replied Snape in his soft silky voice, soft and silky usually meant danger but Lierin didn't care.

"Yes I am. As a teacher you have a lot of influence in a huge part of children's lives and I know that it must be very easy for you to bully your students around, except for your precious Slytherins of course, but that is so wrong! No wonder all the students hate and despise you! And it's because of the likes of you that children will always be afraid of a certain class while that shouldn't even be necessary! They are here to learn! You should fill their minds with knowledge for heaven's sake! But you fill their minds with terror instead!"

"And who are you to judge me? Don't tell me, you're a noble ex-Gryffindor student who finds it her duty to keep those other poor Gryffindors out of the clutches of the wicked Potions Master!"

"Well, yes. Something like that."

Snape looked down at her and a condescending smile formed on his lips. His eyes were burning with loathing as always, but there was also a hint of amusement in them, and Lierin knew he was going to humiliate her. She put up all of her defences, trying to prepare herself for anything he might throw at her.

"That is so typical of you Gryffindors. Blaming other people, throwing around all sorts of accusations and completely ignorant and oblivious of your own flaws. Here you are, accusing me of "bullying" students while you are, in fact, no different from me. You, noble as you are, are just like me."

Lierin arched an eyebrow and she mockingly smiled at Snape.

"Do you see me stalking down the corridors like an overgrown bat, scaring the wits out of students and threatening them with punishment for merely breathing? No. Do you see students trembling with fear at the very beginning of my class, or do you see their eyes widening in terror every time they hear my name? No. Do you see me generally favouring my students over others? Do you see me deducting house points for small offences of regulations? No. Do you see me tormenting students for my own sick, spiteful satisfaction? No. So you see, I can't be like you!"

"Lierin, Lierin, Lierin. Now do you see that Gryffindors are oblivious of their own flaws? You DO favour your students over others. You favour your students over MY students. My students DO tremble with fear hearing your name. My students ARE afraid of your lesson, afraid they might end up as a genie in a bottle like you did with Malfoy, or they might end up as mindless zombies under your complete control like you did with Malfoy, or they might be affected by a painful curse like you did with Malfoy. Do you want me to continue?"


Lierin said nothing, she couldn't. The only thing she could do was grit her teeth and clench her hands to fists, watching him with smouldering hate in her sapphire eyes, now darkened with anger.

"I am nothing like you and you know nothing about me!"

The wry smile that had played on Snape's lips, turned into a condescending sneer.

"Oh, but you are wrong, Lierin. I know you even better than you think. I know how much you hate me for injuring your leg beyond healing. I can sense the resentment you feel for me. Yes, I can almost touch it - taste it! You don't fool me; your eyes betray you! No, I don't see you stalking down the corridors like an 'overgrown bat', I see you limping along the corridors like a bloody idiot, trying to get staff and students on you hand by raising sympathy!"

"Shut up..." Lierin interrupted him, but Snape couldn't stop, not now, not now he was on a roll.

"You shut up! That foolish limping is just your pathetic little way of taking revenge, ignorant of the fact that it's to no avail and thus a waste of your precious time. And time IS precious for you. You'd do better to invest your time in actually teaching your students something instead of the hocus pocus you are filling their heads with instead. Teach them something useful! Or stop wasting the school funds and do everybody a favour and leave!"

SLAP!

Lierin was seething and she had taken Snape by surprise by slapping him hard in the face. Her face was flustered with anger and she was about to reprimand him for his insolent behaviour or maybe she was about to insult him as well. Either way, she was about to say something but the stern voice cutting through the air like a sharp knife sure as hell wasn't hers. Though she thoroughly wished it was because that would mean she wasn't there.

"Miss Heartilly!" sounded McGonagalls shrill voice which made Lierin feel like a schoolgirl again who was about to be reprimanded.

"Dear heavens, I can see you are still the same rash and impulsive girl you have always been! You never learn do you? If we are angry with someone, we try and talk it out; we DON'T SLAP EACH OTHER IN THE FACE! Even though some of us might deserve it sometimes." With those words Minerva casually glimpsed at Snape who was now wearing his usual stoic mask. He arched an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Lierin. I'm afraid I shall have to report this to the Headmaster. We really can't allow such behaviour. As a teacher you should always be in control of yourself, you should be a balanced person - a person students can look up to. You just showed that you are quite the opposite. I suggest you keep yourself in hand next time. We don't have room for teachers who don't pull their weight."

The threat was clear. One more mistake and she was out.

"That goes for you too Severus!" McGonagall shot a few last angry glares at both the teachers before she disappeared. Lierin could feel a lump in her throat. Minerva was right about one thing, she needed to have a talk with Dumbledore and be honest with him. She needed to tell him the real reason she was here and she couldn't allow Snape to ruin her mission. Lierin turned around to face Snape, who had just been standing a few feet away from her, to blame him for the entire situation, but he startled her by suddenly standing right behind her instead of just a few feet away.

"Oh Lierin, still so rash and impulsive. It's delicious to see that you still act before you think. You really should learn to listen more carefully, I could hear McGonagall from a few hallways away. She really has a distinctive walk you know."

His warm baritone voice was rich like velvet and sounded low and seductive. Snape gently cupped her face with his hand, softly stroking her lower lip with his thumb. Her lips were so full, so sensual, and so rosy. Begging to be kissed.

"Ah Lierin, as unpredictable as the wind or maybe just as predictable as the wind. Doesn't matter. So impulsive, naive, hotheaded, precipitous..."

He slowly dipped his head and the next words were barely a whisper and Lierin could feel her heart race in her throat. Was he really about to do what she was thinking he would do?

"...It almost tu..." With shock Snape snapped back to reality and he realised what he had almost done. Disgusted by himself he wheeled around and stalked off to his desk. When he spoke again, the warm seductive baritone voice was gone and he used his iciest of voices instead.

"But I don't think you came here to insult me. Well, maybe you did but I trust it wasn't your initial purpose. Prey tell me, was there a special reason that you'd honour me with your visit?"

Lierin could feel the colour drain away from her face. The Pain-relieving Potion! She had forgotten all about it! There wasn't even a snowball's chance in hell he'd give her that potion now! Yet she decided to take her chances but before she was able to talk she had to clear the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey sent me. She's completely out of Pain-relieving Potion and she wanted me to ask how you were getting along with it."

What Snape felt was far beyond annoyance. He hated to play the pharmacist for Madam Pomfrey and she knew there were regular days he made that potion. If she was through her stock before that...bad luck, he had better things to do now.

"You can tell Madam Pomfrey that she can return tomorrow. She knows very well that I only make that potion on Wednesday and Friday. Now get lost, I'm still preparing my lessons for tomorrow!"

Lierin only made a small sound of both pain and disappointment. Her left leg was killing her and she was afraid she was about to collapse to the ground right then and there. The sound she made was barely audible but Snape's hearing must have been supernatural for he looked up and noticed the look of pain on Lierin's face. A cruel smile appeared on his lips again and Lierin knew he understood completely and he probably enjoyed every second of her anguish.

"Ah, now I understand the true reason you're here. You need that potion yourself, don't you?

Well, you can come back again tomorrow. Maybe I'll have that potion ready by nine o'clock in the evening."

Lierin gritted her teeth. She knew what he was up to and his next words proved her right.

"But...maybe if you asked me very...nicely.... I just might make an exception and brew you the potion right after I finish this. Maybe if you'd ask me...nice...enough, I might get in the proper potion-brewing mood."

If he really thought that she was going to beg him, he was dead wrong! Lierin thought to herself, seething with anger. She'd rather rip her leg off, chew the flesh away and put the bone way up her...
"My, my. Don't we have a vivid imagination? A very sick, but vivid imagination. I never would have guessed you harboured such feelings!"

Too late Lierin discovered that she had spoken aloud. Her eyes were flashing with anger and Snape knew that all the presumptions about the devil were wrong. The devil wasn't male but female, for she was standing right in front of him, and Hell wasn't reigned with fire but with ice, because the cool stare in her now icy blue eyes could freeze Hell over in a split-second.

"You know what? Never mind that potion. I don't need it. I don't even want it anymore, not even if you'd present it to me in a golden goblet! I knew I shouldn't even have bothered. It's so typical of you, you know?

You enjoy other people's suffering way to much to help them out."

"Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't know your leg was hurting so much. My heart is bleeding for you!"

"Spare me your sympathy, I can do very well without it!"

"I didn't say you couldn't."

"Then don't say your heart is 'bleeding for me!'"

"I was merely being sarcastic. Dear Merlin, can't you even recognise a sarcastic remark if you hear one?"

"I know you were being sarcastic. Now I also know why you always stayed alone. I bet no one could put up with you longer than just a few days. I have always known no woman could ever fall in love with you but thank you for proving me right anyway."

Snape was white-hot with anger, she was really pushing it now!

"Really, no one could fall in love with me? I hate to burst your bubble silly girl, but women HAVE fallen in love with me! I just didn't fall in love with THEM! They are just a waste of my time anyway!"

"Yes well, do forgive me for not believing you. It's hard to imagine that someone would fall for your lovely manners and jolly moods."

"Are you sure you weren't bitten in your leg by one of your pets from hell?" asked Snape in a sarcastic manner.

"Yes, by a stupid mutt called Severus Snape! I really should put the creature out of its misery; it's to dumb to know when it's time for a good bath! By the way, I'd rather be with a three-legged man with pointy horns and a hairy tail before I'd even consider being with you!" With that Lierin wheeled around and left a furious Snape behind, rigid with anger and clenching his hand to his fist..

"We'll see about that, Miss Heartilly. We'll see about that!" he hissed.