Chapter Six

ABLUMENS

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood outside the Potions classroom door, waiting for the arrival of their teacher. They always made an effort to be there before him. It didn't pay to be late for one of Snape's classes. As usual, Malfoy and his Slytherin gang were loitering further down the end of the corridor. Unusually, Malfoy had not approached Harry directly this year. He seemed content to shoot him dark glances and get him in trouble with Snape wherever possible, but made no effort to intercept him when they passed in corridoors, or -as now - waited for Snape to arrive. Harry found this a somewhat sinister development, and his relief was plagued by a niggling sense that Malfoy had something bad in store.

"Where's Lily?" Hermione said, glancing around. "She's going to be late... oh, god, Snape will love that! Any excuse to take points off Gryffindor."

Lily sprinted down the stone staircase to the dungeon hallway, her black and red robes billowing out behind her, her books and potions kit clutched under one arm. Potions was the first lesson after lunch, and she had barely had time to run across the Hogwarts grounds when the bell went... and she was going to be late for class with Snape...

Which was who she collided with as she rounded the last corner into the Potions corridor. There were mingled sounds of surprise - a loud "OOF" from Snape, and a little cry of fear from Lily as she crashed headlong into what seemed like a tall tree draped in black robes.

She bounced off Snape's back and hit the wall. Before she knew who it was her arm was snatched in a painful grip and she was yanked to her feet. She craned her neck up and flinched.

Snape leaned down so his long nose was inches from her own. She could smell his greasy hair and something else... like crushed spiders. She bit back a cry of revulsion.

"WHAT do you think you are doing, Miss Flanagan?" Snape half-spat, half-yelled. She wondered if she could wipe her face without offending him and decided against it.

"I was... late for... class, sir," she said in a strained voice.

"You were RUNNING in the CORRIDOORS!" Snape roared. "And being the clumsy, half-witted girl that you are, nearly knocked over your POTIONS MASTER!!"

"I'm very sorry, sir," Lily yelped, not because she was afraid of him, but because he now seemed to be trying to crush all the bones in her wrist.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor," he hissed, breathing hard, and let go of her wrist with a yank. "And detention. Now get straight to class."

Lily sucked in a breath and rubbed at her wrist, which had turned red. She was sure there would be a bruise. Snape had turned away and was striding down the corridor towards the Potions classroom. The students had already filed in before Lily had arrived, thankfully missing the ugly scene that had just passed, but she was sure they would have heard Snape shouting. Lily began to trot after him, and then slowed to a walk. Her face took on a look of grim determination. She remembered past Potions lessons during which Snape had found every excuse to fail Harry or make him stay in after class, or give him impossible amounts of homework. Anger boiled up inside her. She knew Harry would be sitting inside right now, dreading the rest of the lesson, and wondering what marvellous new punishment Snape would come up with today. Lily liked Harry. She hated Snape for torturing him. And, almost unconsciously, her hand slipped into her robes and pulled out her wand. She stood in the corridor and slowly raised it until it was pointing directly at Snape's back. If he turned around now he would probably give her detention for a month. She didn't care. He had almost reached the classroom door when Lily flicked her wand and whispered under her breath, "ablumens."

A silvery thread of light shot out from the tip of her wand and snaked towards Snape. It hit him directly in the small of his back. Snape stopped dead in his tracks. Lily's breath caught in her throat. She saw Snape's head flick from one side to another, as if he was trying to clear it, or perhaps seeing if the traffic was clear before he crossed a busy road. Then, abruptly he turned around and stared at Lily.

Her heartbeat drummed in her ears. The spell hadn't worked. Snape was still the same and the spell hadn't worked... she was going to be put on detention... she might even be expelled... the spell hadn't worked.

"Are you in my class?" Snape asked suddenly. His voice was different. There was no anger, no meanness in it. Lily thought it might be a trick.

"Yes," she answered blankly, her wand hanging down by her side.

Then Snape did something utterly out of character- he smiled. There was no trace of malice or spite in that smile. His teeth glinted yellowly in the flickering torchlight and Lily supposed he didn't care what they looked like- he didn't show them very much.

"Well come along then," he said cheerily, reaching the door and holding it open for her. "Haven't got all day, dear."

Lily's stomach did a somersault. She didn't know whether to laugh or feel sick. The word was so alien, coming from Snape... and yet she had done it! The spell had worked!

She walked past him slowly, cautiously, into the classroom. Only now was she beginning to comprehend what she had done. She had cast a spell on a teacher. Was that punishable by expulsion? Harry, Ron and Hermione turned to look at her as she entered and edged her way into a seat next to Hermione. She was very pale. She realized she felt slightly dizzy. The world seemed to be rolling in waves of grey.

"Are you alright?" Hermione whispered, thinking that Snape had frightened the living daylights out of her. Harry was leaning over his desk, looking worried.

Then Snape entered, swung the door closed and walked jauntily up to the front of the room. "Right, where were we then?" he said, looking around the classroom as if he had never seen it before.

Harry stared at him. Either Snape had just won the lottery, or something was seriously wrong. Snape smiled out over the rows of heads. "Anyone?"

"Uh... we did the Occulus Serum last lesson, sir," Draco Malfoy said, sounding utterly confused. Harry couldn't help but feel a moment of satisfaction at the sound of his voice.

"Right! Of course! Occulus Serum! Great stuff, that isn't it?" By this point most of the students had their mouths open halfway to their desks. Malfoy looked as if he had become unplugged from reality. But Snape went on. "Did you know that Occulus Serum has the power to... the power to..." he shook his head once, hard, as if trying to get a fly off his forehead, blinked, and smiled at them again. "Well I'm sure whatever it does it's really marvellous. Now, this lesson," he stepped around his desk and began to shuffle through the stack of books there. The classroom had filled with murmured whispers. A few people were giggling uncontrollably. Harry simply sat back in his seat, stunned, unable to take his eyes off Snape. "This lesson we'll be testing out our Occulus Serum and taking note of its effects." He looked up and grinned. Harry winced at the sight. There were a few more, louder giggles. None of the Slytherins were laughing.

"Everyone come up the front and collect your vials," Snape said amicably. "Then just... take a swig from it and see what happens!"

More bursts of laughter. Hermione's hand shot up and trembled in the air. Her eyes were wide and round. "But... Professor... er- sir, are you sure that's... shouldn't you test our potions first? To see if they're safe?"

"Nonsense!" Snape said loudly, and his cheek twitched. "I have complete faith in your skills. Now go on, drink up everybody! I want three inches of parchment on my desk by the end of the lesson..."

Ron turned to Harry, looked dumbfounded. "Three inches?" he whispered. "Has Snape gone mad?"

The thought had occurred to Harry too, but only briefly. He thought it much more likely that someone had put some sort of hex on Snape. The consequences for whoever did it would be very serious.

No-one had bothered to obey Snape's orders. They were now entirely convinced he had either lost his mind, or been possessed (perhaps by the spirit of Gilderoy Lockhart) or been jinxed. Many of the students were now roaring with laughter, talking loudly and excitedly to one another or, as in the case of the Slytherins, sitting silently in their seats and watching Snape as if he was a new and interesting species of life.

Snape didn't seem to care, or even notice, that no-one was obeying orders. After the first few failed attempts, he simply sat down behind his desk, put his feet up on it, and began humming. Every now and then his face would twitch, and he would shake his head violently, and then resume humming.

All the spit had dried out of Harry's mouth. He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't help but wonder what Snape would be like when (or if) he ever snapped out of this. He knew one thing: there would be hell to pay.

Two seats across from him, Lily was still very pale and occasionally swayed in her seat, but she was smiling at Snape with amusement and, Harry noted, the tiniest trace of satisfaction.

Please don't let it have been her, Harry thought desperately. The room was now a cacophony of voices and hysterical shrieks of laughter. The laughter became a roar when Snape leaned back too far on his chair and tipped himself off it onto the floor, then got up smiling and apologizing profusely.

Harry noticed that Snape's smile now seemed stretched; it was as though he was trying with all his might to prevent it but someone had put fishhooks in the corners of his mouth and was pulling on them. His head shaking became more frequent as the lesson wore on and once, after a particularly violent one, he looked around and jumped to his feet, glaring at the class, opened his mouth as if to shout, and then shook his head and sat back down, examining his fingernails.

This was enough to convince Harry that whatever influence Snape was under was not permanent, and was wearing off quickly. With five minutes to go until the end of the lesson he nudged Ron and Hermione and said, "I think we'd better get out of here."

"We can't just leave," Hermione said weakly.

"It's wearing off," Harry hissed. "And I personally don't want to hang around until it does, and the real Snape comes back, do you?"

The look on their faces was all the answer he needed. Lily too stood up, swayed, coughed, and looked at him.

"Let's go," Harry muttered, and they filed quietly out the door. No-one, least of all Snape, payed them any attention. People were now sitting on their desks, pointing at Snape and laughing. The Slytherins were gathered in a huddle, talking quietly. Snape was shaking his head now every few seconds, and slapping it with the palm of his hand. His facial twitch had become quite pronounced.

They stepped out into the corridor and began hurrying along it. Hermione glanced behind her every few steps as if expecting to see Snape come charging after them. They made it out into the entrance hall and outside before the bell rang. Harry wondered nervously if Snape had come round yet, and if he had noticed their absence. They walked together down the long, sloping decline towards the lake's edge.

"That was completely horrible," Hermione said, sounding traumatized. "I never ever want to see Snape like that again."

"It was pretty funny though," Ron said, smiling, although Harry recalled how he had sat stock still in his seat for most of the lesson, staring at Snape with an expression of apprehension and disgust.

"I wouldn't like to be the person who did it," Harry said quietly. "Snape will go berserk when he finds out."

Lily suddenly stopped walking. The others walked on for a few steps and then, realzing she wasn't among them, turned back. Lily's face was completely drained of colour.

"I did it," she said flatly, and Harry's heart sank. He wanted to shake her.

"Why?" he asked desperately.

Lily smiled apologetically at him. "I was sick of him being mean to everybody. Especially you, Harry."

"You did it because of me?"

Lily shrugged, and looked at the ground. She looked completely ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry, I know it was stupid, I know I'll get in trouble..."

"You cursed a teacher!" Hermione said breathlessly. "You could be expelled!"

"It didn't hurt anyone."

"That doesn't matter, you can't use magic on teachers, you just can't, no matter what!"

Hermione stopped, feeling sorry for Lily. "Did he see you do it?"

Lily shook her head, and continued staring at the ground. Harry watched her closely, but she said no more.

Hermione sighed. "Well, you might be alright then. He might never find out who it was. And it was very clever. Cheering charm, was it? We did those in third year. I must've read Achievements In Charming about a hundred times, it was invaluable for those OWL exams..."