Severus Snape banished young Glaucus Webb's potion from his desk and marked an E in his grade book, then turned his attention to Veronica Stuart's bottle. It was very nearly perfect. His quill hovered over the grade book. The potion was deserving of an E. Snape shook his head. No. She could have chopped her caterpillars a bit finer. She needed to be pushed if she were to do her best on the O.W.L.s. Decisively, he added another A to her column. He glanced up as Alton Crenshaw hastily placed his finished potion bottle on the desk as the other students began to file out the door. "Miss Stuart, a word, if you please."
Snape pulled half a dozen fliers from a drawer and fanned them on the desk. He surveyed the moving photographs of happy teenaged witches and wizards with distaste. Unforeseen complications. "The Social-Witch and I agreed that a summer camp would be the best place for you to spend the holidays." He gestured for Veronica to take the brochures.
"Won't that be expensive, sir ?"
"That is no concern of yours, Miss Stuart." Although what, exactly, the sum of that "hefty fine" was going to be had begun to nag at the back of his mind as the expenses of being the child's legal guardian continued to mount. More unforeseen complications. "Make your decision quickly," he commanded her. "The best camps will have already filled to capacity."
She smiled as she flicked through the titles. "I already know, sir. Glaucus attended this one last year, it's supposed to be very good. Thank you very much, Professor," she added as he took her selection from her hand.
Snape's lip curled as he perused the brochure. At least this one offered a strong academic program. It was a shame that all the camps seemed to be co-educational. He ran down the list of recreational activities. Quidditch, swimming, boating, horse-back riding. Merlin's beard ! Horse-back riding, he thought with disgust. No doubt another shopping excursion to Diagon Alley would be required before the end of term.
"Um, Professor ? I'd like you to take a look at this, please."
Bemused, he took the sheet of parchment from her and scanned it. Snape suppressed a smile as he read. She'd written an essay on the life of Tantalus MacTattersal, the Scottish potions master whose most notable achievement was discovering how to safely extract exploding oil from the horns of erumpents. In sixteen forty-eight. "If you were expecting extra credit, Miss Stuart, I'm afraid you will be disappointed," he said sternly.
"Oh, no, Professor. I've given up on expecting any credit from you." Her voice was bitter. Snape followed her eyes; she'd been reading his grade book upside-down across the desk. "I see you gave Gemma another O," Veronica went on in a rush. This wouldn't get her anywhere, she knew, but she just couldn't seem to help herself. "You do realize she would barely be able to scrape an A herself if Harita weren't her lab partner ? She isn't even planning to continue taking Potions next year."
"I am perfectly aware of who is deserving of an A in my classroom, Miss Stuart," Snape said coldly, fingering the parchment in his hand. He glared, waiting for her to back down. Veronica glared right back, filled with righteous anger. A long minute passed before she finally dropped her gaze.
"I apologize, sir," Veronica said stiffly.
Mentally, Snape drew a deep breath. She could be very... disconcerting at times, with those ancient eyes. "Very well. You are dismissed."
She reached for the essay. "If you're not going to accept that-"
He twitched the parchment away from her hand. "No. I think I'll keep this." She blinked at him. "In thirty long years, Miss Stuart, Hermione Granger was the only other pupil to ever discover the significance of the year 1648." The potions master managed to keep his own smile hidden as her face lit up. She literally skipped out of the room. Well, a little bit of encouragement couldn't hurt too much, he thought as her footsteps receded up the stairs.