Exploding Malfoys: Chapter Three: Higher-level Potions
Author's Note & Disclaimer: Hi, there. Third part of the Exploding Malfoys. This one goes out to Kyra Invictus Black, my only reviewer (other than my sister, that is () I'll certainly give your idea some thought. So anyway. Enjoy! I also don't own this.
Most people think of hell as a place they go after they die, but then again, most people don't have Snape for potions. Harry sighed and sat down at a chair in the back of the classroom, his usual spot and glanced around him. This is it, he thought. It was just him and Hermione versus the slytherins. The rest of the Gryffindors had said a fond farewell to potions but Hermione and Harry, she armed with her desire to keep all career options open and he with an eye towards being an auror, had hung doggedly on. Malfoy entered the room and as soon as he saw Hermione and Harry a grin spread across his face. "So Potty and the mudblood are still here," he said in his nastiest voice. "Guess you can't weed them all out, can you?"
It took all of Harry's self-control (and Hermione's arm) to keep his wand at his side and respond only by saying, "Nice to see you too, Malfoy. Too bad your sidekicks couldn't join us. And watch who you call 'mudblood'."
At that timely moment, Snape burst into the room and stepped out in front of the class, surveying each person in turn. "Well, well, well," he said slowly, "You are my NEWTs potions class." Surprised, Harry glanced around and saw there were only 15 students max in the dungeon, no more. He swallowed, a but nervously. Weeding out, indeed. "These next two years will not be easy ones for you the," he paused before continuing sardonically, "cream-of-the-crop at Hogwarts." His roving eyes met Harry's and his lips curled into a sneer while Harry quickly hid the snort that had been bursting out of his mouth. As thought the first 5 years had been easy. "That said, we will begin the year by doing a brief review." He waved his wand and instructions for a swelling potion appeared on the blackboard. "Let's see how much you've retained since we last enjoyed each other's company." He said the word enjoyed as though he really meant something like 'torture'.
Harry bent over his cauldron, keeping one eye on the instructions and worked, determined not to give Snape a reason to bother him again. Whatever miracle had landed him an O in potions, he didn't want to ruin his opportunity, no matter how miserable Snape made it for him.
Snape, for his part, had not changed his methods at all. He patrolled the classroom, peering into cauldrons, making sarcastic remarks to the students he hated, saying nothing to those he merely disliked, nodding slightly to those he felt a bit more inclined towards, and generally disrupting his students ability to concentrate. He went by Malfoy's simmering cauldron without so much as a glance, telling Malfoy that his potion was perfect. Harry heard Hermione snort under her breath and allowed his eyes to leave his potion to look at Hermione, he leaned over and muttered into his ear, "Since when his black, billowing smoke the sign of a perfect potion?" Harry glanced furtively at Malfoy's cauldron and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Malfoy was mixing his potion with a satisfied smirk on his face, oblvious to the smoke pouring out of it.
"Potter!" Harry jerked back to his own cauldron. "What are you doing?"
"Er..just.looking at Malfoy's cauldron, sir."
Snape snarled at him. "You'd do well to watch your own cauldron, Potter. Your potion needs more help than staring at anyone elses can give." With that, Snape swept over to glare at Hermione's potion (whose perfection only added to Snape's bad mood) and Harry turned back to his own potion just in time to prevent the whole concoction from burning.
Suddenly, just as Snape reached the part of the room farthest from Malfoy's caudron, Malfoy's potion gave off a loud belching sound and then began to sweel up in a bubble. "Professor!" Malfoy called nervously, "Professor, something's wrong with my potion!" But before Snape could turn around, Malfoy's potion exploded and the entire class ducked behind their desks to shield themselves from the mess. When they looked up again, Malfoy, who had caught the full brunt of the explosion, had begun to swell. First his head expanded like a grotesque balloon, but as the potion dripped off of his face, his chest, hands and arms all began to swell and inflate until he resembled an overlarge white sausage. "Professor!" Malfoy cried and Snape ran over to him as the students peered out from behind their desks in horrid fascination. Snape shouted out a spell that was incomprehensible over Malfoy's roaring but nothing happened. Showing the most concern Snape had ever shown for a student, he shouted, "to the infirmary!" and began to squeeze Malfoy out the narrow dungeon door.
But it was too late.
Malfoy's head had become so large, so quickly that it popped, showering Snape, the door and the dungeon with all sorts of innards of Malfoy's head.
For a moment, silence reigned in the classroom. Then, Hermione straightened up and asked tentatively, "Professor Snape?" but before anyone answered, Hermione turned a peculiar shade of green and ducked back behind the desk. "Hermione, what is it?" Harry asked.
"Brains," she said weakly, but her voice carried and the remainding pupils jumped up to see for themselves.
"Ewwww!!" said a Ravenclaw student, "Malfoy brains!"
"Who knew they'd be so.pink?" added a Hufflepuff.
Harry felt his stomach clinch uncomfortably as he saw the massive, swollen remains of Malfoy blocking the doorway. Snape was still stading there, his arms holding his bloodied upper body up against the doorframe. Slowly, Snape turned around and Harry caught for the briefest of seconds a bit of a satisfied smile on his lips and a mischievious glint in Snape's eyes, then it was gone.
The class' murmur died off as Snape glared at them. "50 points from Gryffindor!" Snape shouted suddenly.
Both Hermione's and Harry's mouths dropped open. "But Professor! We didn't do anything!" Hermione protested.
"Yeah, Malfoy's the stupid git who got himself blown up!" Harry added.
Snape didn't respond, opting instead to vanish Malfoy's remains. Harry burned with the unfairness of it all as Snape dismissed the class early and pushed them all out of his dungeon. 'Fourteen,' Harry thought, 'that's all that's left of the class..' He couldn't help but wonder how much smaller the class would get as the year wore on.
Author's Note & Disclaimer: Hi, there. Third part of the Exploding Malfoys. This one goes out to Kyra Invictus Black, my only reviewer (other than my sister, that is () I'll certainly give your idea some thought. So anyway. Enjoy! I also don't own this.
Most people think of hell as a place they go after they die, but then again, most people don't have Snape for potions. Harry sighed and sat down at a chair in the back of the classroom, his usual spot and glanced around him. This is it, he thought. It was just him and Hermione versus the slytherins. The rest of the Gryffindors had said a fond farewell to potions but Hermione and Harry, she armed with her desire to keep all career options open and he with an eye towards being an auror, had hung doggedly on. Malfoy entered the room and as soon as he saw Hermione and Harry a grin spread across his face. "So Potty and the mudblood are still here," he said in his nastiest voice. "Guess you can't weed them all out, can you?"
It took all of Harry's self-control (and Hermione's arm) to keep his wand at his side and respond only by saying, "Nice to see you too, Malfoy. Too bad your sidekicks couldn't join us. And watch who you call 'mudblood'."
At that timely moment, Snape burst into the room and stepped out in front of the class, surveying each person in turn. "Well, well, well," he said slowly, "You are my NEWTs potions class." Surprised, Harry glanced around and saw there were only 15 students max in the dungeon, no more. He swallowed, a but nervously. Weeding out, indeed. "These next two years will not be easy ones for you the," he paused before continuing sardonically, "cream-of-the-crop at Hogwarts." His roving eyes met Harry's and his lips curled into a sneer while Harry quickly hid the snort that had been bursting out of his mouth. As thought the first 5 years had been easy. "That said, we will begin the year by doing a brief review." He waved his wand and instructions for a swelling potion appeared on the blackboard. "Let's see how much you've retained since we last enjoyed each other's company." He said the word enjoyed as though he really meant something like 'torture'.
Harry bent over his cauldron, keeping one eye on the instructions and worked, determined not to give Snape a reason to bother him again. Whatever miracle had landed him an O in potions, he didn't want to ruin his opportunity, no matter how miserable Snape made it for him.
Snape, for his part, had not changed his methods at all. He patrolled the classroom, peering into cauldrons, making sarcastic remarks to the students he hated, saying nothing to those he merely disliked, nodding slightly to those he felt a bit more inclined towards, and generally disrupting his students ability to concentrate. He went by Malfoy's simmering cauldron without so much as a glance, telling Malfoy that his potion was perfect. Harry heard Hermione snort under her breath and allowed his eyes to leave his potion to look at Hermione, he leaned over and muttered into his ear, "Since when his black, billowing smoke the sign of a perfect potion?" Harry glanced furtively at Malfoy's cauldron and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Malfoy was mixing his potion with a satisfied smirk on his face, oblvious to the smoke pouring out of it.
"Potter!" Harry jerked back to his own cauldron. "What are you doing?"
"Er..just.looking at Malfoy's cauldron, sir."
Snape snarled at him. "You'd do well to watch your own cauldron, Potter. Your potion needs more help than staring at anyone elses can give." With that, Snape swept over to glare at Hermione's potion (whose perfection only added to Snape's bad mood) and Harry turned back to his own potion just in time to prevent the whole concoction from burning.
Suddenly, just as Snape reached the part of the room farthest from Malfoy's caudron, Malfoy's potion gave off a loud belching sound and then began to sweel up in a bubble. "Professor!" Malfoy called nervously, "Professor, something's wrong with my potion!" But before Snape could turn around, Malfoy's potion exploded and the entire class ducked behind their desks to shield themselves from the mess. When they looked up again, Malfoy, who had caught the full brunt of the explosion, had begun to swell. First his head expanded like a grotesque balloon, but as the potion dripped off of his face, his chest, hands and arms all began to swell and inflate until he resembled an overlarge white sausage. "Professor!" Malfoy cried and Snape ran over to him as the students peered out from behind their desks in horrid fascination. Snape shouted out a spell that was incomprehensible over Malfoy's roaring but nothing happened. Showing the most concern Snape had ever shown for a student, he shouted, "to the infirmary!" and began to squeeze Malfoy out the narrow dungeon door.
But it was too late.
Malfoy's head had become so large, so quickly that it popped, showering Snape, the door and the dungeon with all sorts of innards of Malfoy's head.
For a moment, silence reigned in the classroom. Then, Hermione straightened up and asked tentatively, "Professor Snape?" but before anyone answered, Hermione turned a peculiar shade of green and ducked back behind the desk. "Hermione, what is it?" Harry asked.
"Brains," she said weakly, but her voice carried and the remainding pupils jumped up to see for themselves.
"Ewwww!!" said a Ravenclaw student, "Malfoy brains!"
"Who knew they'd be so.pink?" added a Hufflepuff.
Harry felt his stomach clinch uncomfortably as he saw the massive, swollen remains of Malfoy blocking the doorway. Snape was still stading there, his arms holding his bloodied upper body up against the doorframe. Slowly, Snape turned around and Harry caught for the briefest of seconds a bit of a satisfied smile on his lips and a mischievious glint in Snape's eyes, then it was gone.
The class' murmur died off as Snape glared at them. "50 points from Gryffindor!" Snape shouted suddenly.
Both Hermione's and Harry's mouths dropped open. "But Professor! We didn't do anything!" Hermione protested.
"Yeah, Malfoy's the stupid git who got himself blown up!" Harry added.
Snape didn't respond, opting instead to vanish Malfoy's remains. Harry burned with the unfairness of it all as Snape dismissed the class early and pushed them all out of his dungeon. 'Fourteen,' Harry thought, 'that's all that's left of the class..' He couldn't help but wonder how much smaller the class would get as the year wore on.