Chapter Sixteen: The Unfair Treatment

The next morning Jim hardly said anything to me. His mind was closed, but I had a feeling that he was more traumatized at being grabbed by the Potions teacher than he was angry with me. It had been the same last night ¨C Jim refused to tell me what had happened, but I felt that I could imagine it out myself. We had been walking a good distance behind the ghosts, and Snape had either been passing by and had seen us, or he had seen us a long time ago and had stealthily followed us to the moment I finally gave up the chase. Either way, Snape ended up clamping Jim in his tracks, and had spoken when I turned with my unfinished sentence.

¡°What are you two doing wandering the halls at night?¡±

Jim was having a near spasm attack. I made a move to bring him back to my side, but Snape said in his hollow voice, ¡°Come any closer and I¡¯ll bite.¡± Ooh, my mind went. Even in this situation I could still feel something towards Snape. There was something incredibly haunting in the way he was standing there in the light of our wands, dressed all in black and looking down at us with an expression that you normally saw on him in his classes. I¡¯d never thought of seeing that same disapproving face out in the hallways, and especially not at the hour before midnight.

¡°Uh, we were, um, we¡­couldn¡¯t sleep.¡± I felt pathetic. ¡°We thought maybe if we took a walk for a while¨C¡± ¡°Surely one of you couldn¡¯t know that the other couldn¡¯t sleep. I understand that students are to sleep in separate towers in the dormitory. The only way for you to have known is if you had been ¨C ¡± He narrowed his eyes, an all too familiar gesture, and said ¡° ¨C sleeping together?¡± He caught me by surprise. At first I thought, How could he have known? No one was there when Jim and I took Torque to the Owlery. Maybe he just had been there, and we hadn¡¯t seen him in the darkness. But then it came into my head that it could have been a coincidence, that he was just playing with me, abusing my close friendship with Jim. The terrible person was using it to his advantage. He knew very well that we were in trouble already and was making me panic by keeping me talking, bringing more lies up.

¡°I¡­went down to the common room and¡­he was there! And he told me that he couldn¡¯t sleep and ¨C¡± ¡°He told you? In case you are not aware, Ms Rastrick, Mr Rickman here does not possess the ability to speak.¡± Frustrated, I said, ¡°He wrote me a note saying that he couldn¡¯t sleep.¡± What are you going to do with us?

Snape acted to my thought, pushing Jim so that he flew at me from the force. ¡°Normally when I catch students after lights out I take them to the Head of their House to settle their punishment. But seeing as Professor McGonagall is away tonight I will take her position tonight. Twenty points each from Gryffindor, and your detentions are this tomorrow at eight o¡¯clock in the chamber behind the Great Hall. I will accompany you back to your dorm, and you¡¯d better make sure that this doesn¡¯t happen again.¡±

And he trailed us all the way up the stairs and through the corridors, and stood outside the Gryffindor corridor watching as we entered the dorm.

Back to that following morning. Jim spoke for the first time that day. Stupid Snape. We¡¯ve already got him for a double today. Who knows how long the detention¡¯s going to be? It¡¯ll be horror.

I was less affected by our ordeal. Instead I was preoccupied with the thought of where exactly the detention was going to be. I¡¯d never known that there was a chamber behind the Great Hall. It sure didn¡¯t look like it ¨C the wall behind the teachers¡¯ table was flat and doorless. The only thing that was beside the doors to the Great Hall had to be Filch¡¯s office, or a broom cupboard.

Honestly, how can you like a guy like him? For one thing he¡¯s a grown man, and you¡¯re only just twelve. For another, he¡¯s Snape, the horrible Potions teacher!

¡°Jim,¡± I said exasperatedly. ¡°Some people have different tastes to yours. I find him tough and strict and a bit stringy, but he¡¯s unique, and he¡¯s got a cool head and he¡¯s smart.¡±

Kora, the man doesn¡¯t wash his hair, Jim said wearily.

Snape passed by our table on the way to the exit. As a reminder to our detentions he looked down at us and gave a tiny curl of his lip. Although its intention was to spite me, all it did was make me sigh for him. Jim shook his head and muttered, My friend the teacher molester. ¡°Whatever, Jim. It¡¯s quite healthy to have a crush on someone, even if he was way older than you and was probably more dedicated to his work than the concept of a family.¡± Yeah, who wouldn¡¯t know why Snape never got married? Jim said sarcastically. Let¡¯s go. The sooner we get to class, the sooner we get to detention, and the sooner we can get it over with.

In Double Potions we spent the better part of two hours trying to put together a difficult potion for stopping a person bleeding, and for keeping open wounds closed. Snape¡¯s idea of a joke at the end was to ask for any volunteers. At least, I had hoped it was a joke. It turned out that he had been serious, because he chose me.

¡°Come on, Ms Rastrick, we don¡¯t have all day. Get up the front now!¡±

I was shaking. I didn¡¯t have any open wounds for him to fix. Even worse, he was going to use the potion that Frances had brewed up. The boy was smirking something horrible. Who knew if he had even done it the right way? There was a possibility, since he was pretty clever, but one mistake and I was going to have to panic.

I stepped up to the front of the class, and stopped a few feet from where he stood in front of his desk. He beckoned. ¡°Closer, will you, I need the table for this.¡± I moved up a bit more till I was facing him. He grabbed me just below the elbow (I felt Jim give a slight jolt) and he moved us sideways so that the whole class could see. Without a word he drew a thin blade out of his robes. There was stinging pain as he quickly sliced at my forearm.

The majority of the class gasped at the sudden action. I just stared as thin, red liquid slithered out of the long cut, dripping from the tips of my fingers as it progressed down my arm. I was aware that I was trying to pull away in my shock, but he was twisting my arm up now, and his grip was tightening. A tiny part of my mind thought, Whoever knew that those pale, fragile hands could be so powerful¡­

Another part thought more violently, How dare he! Physically injure a student like that, and me of all people in this class! This has to be student abuse, it has to be!

Snape was looking at me and muttering. ¡°If you struggle and I let go, you will lose more blood than necessary. Hold still.¡± And he tucked away the blade and reached for the potion that was sitting on the desk. He held it up to me expectantly ¨C I unstopped it for him with my free hand. He then poured the thick, gooey purple onto the length of my cut, and immediately the bleeding stopped in its course. Through the purple film on my skin I saw ¨C and felt ¨C the two sides of the wound join together and close up.

Snape nodded. ¡°Ten points to Slytherin for an impeccable potion on Non-Magical Maladies. Five points to Gryffindor for providing the test subject.¡± He let go at last, and instant numbness overcame my arm from his grip. The bell went, and we packed up in a rush to get out into the sunshine.

Jim was mad beyond belief. His anger pounded in my head like a constant headache as we walked through the courtyard towards the lake. He even refused to put up the wall between us, insisting that it was best that I heard him out. That idiot! Surely he couldn¡¯t be allowed! That was risking your life up there, in front of everybody in the class. I ¨C don¡¯t ¨C be-lieve him!! ¡°Jim,¡± I said gently, ¡°half the people in the class probably would¡¯ve wanted me dead anyway. Don¡¯t make such a fuss over something like this.¡± Kora! You understand that teachers can¡¯t just take students up and cut them open! I swear, we were probably supposed to learn this in our second year or something. Snape was bullying you, and that definitely is rule-breaching. ¡°He¡¯s already had his share of rule-breaching, Jim. He used to be friends with Voldemort.¡± Shhh!! Not out where everybody can hear you! ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with saying the guy¡¯s name out loud.¡± Yeah, apart from his being the most feared Dark Lord of all time! ¡°I thought my father was that,¡± I said fiercely without meaning to. I made it sound like he was accusing him of it when he really didn¡¯t mean anything like that at all. ¡°Look, Snape did what he did. Let¡¯s not cry over spilt milk, okay, Jim? Honestly, I thought we would¡¯ve learned that a long time ago now!¡±

He looked hurt. The wall actually did go up that time, and I felt no more anger from him. It felt good. I practically threw myself down at the lake¡¯s edge and sat there fuming. What had I been angry about? I had no idea. Whatever it was, it felt irrelevant. I was a kid, and I had just been shouting about growing up. I thought of how strange it must¡¯ve sounded to Jim, and felt foolish.

Jim spoke from behind me. I just don¡¯t like seeing people get hurt in front of me, Kora. Especially people I feel close to. I know that Snape has never really done anything to harm you before, but he went too far today. I¡¯m just concerned about his behaviour towards you, that¡¯s all. As a friend.

He really was sincere. And I told him that. ¡°You really are sincere, Jim. I really ought to think before I speak, huh?¡± Yeah¡­maybe even before you decide who you put your crushes on. You know, before you and me I actually thought that you had Frances in your sights. I laughed, more in incredulity than anything. ¡°Sit down, we don¡¯t have long to go before the detention.¡±