Chapter Nine

The Dragon Unleashed

Alicia Snape would never forget her first Defense class, nor would anyone in the classroom that day including the Professor himself. Zoë and Zacchius sat on either side of her, chatting up a storm about their first couple of days and all of the things they planned to do this year.

"Actually, we signed up for everything a first year could sign up for; Sparring Club, Bridle Club, the Gryffindor House Pride Committee, oh, and we might even that Adopt a Ghost program Professor Scribe has going, but I'm still not sure we're going to keep that," Zoë said.

"Well, I want to. We might end up getting someone interesting. An axe murderer or a fatally cursed chap," Zack said. "And I'm trying out for Quidditch. I can't believe that Madame Brittle had the nerve to tell me she wasn't doing any more challenges! I could have beaten her."

"Likely you would have broken your neck," Zoë said.

"How are you going to do all of that and still keep up with your homework?" Alicia asked.

"Take turns like we always do, I suppose, that way neither of us have to bother with it every day. One day she'll do all of it, and the next day I will. It's the only way to keep from getting burnt out on it, you know. Although I can forge her writing better than she can me."

"Probably because I don't write in chicken scratch," Zoë said.

"Why go to school if you can't have fun, that's all I'm saying. Everything anyone needs to know one can learn on the Quidditch Pitch. How to duck, when to turn and grab the ball and run, how to watch your back, you know, important stuff."

"Really, you don't mean that. What about learning spells and incantations?" Alicia asked.

"You don't need that mumbo jumbo when you have pure talent. Here, look at you. You can go anywhere at the drop of a hat. Why would you need anything else?" Zack asked. Alicia stared at him. The idea was so radical she didn't know what to think.

But just at that moment, Alicia heard a familiar voice intoning the words, "Timere atar!"

The room went completely black, and Alicia felt something begin to crawl upon her skin. A scream went up, followed by the sound of a boy, possibly Morfinn, begging for help, then everyone began to chime in as Alicia swatted at her own hair, which felt like it was full of creeping crawling things.

"Lumos!" barked a voice in front of them. With relief Alicia looked around to see her father's face in the light, stern and calm as the lighting in the room returned to normal. Alicia, in fact, was one of the very few students still in their seats. Zack and Zoë had jumped to their feet, standing back to back with their wands out. Morfinn brought out a paper bag, breathing deeply into it.

"Back to your seats," Severus snapped, lowering his wand and looking at them disapprovingly. "Do I detect a curious lack of backbone in this classroom? I said to your seats, and absolute silence! From now on regardless of what happens, I expect to find all of you seated in your appropriate seats and completely quiet before I come in. Anyone breaking this rule will be dealt with harshly."

Zoë and Zack looked at each other curiously and then at Alicia, who was staring at him as if she didn't quite know what to think.

"I think that was probably the most pathetic response I've gotten out of a first year class since I started opening with that spell," Severus said disdainfully, shaking his head and glancing at Morfinn. "Pass out in my classroom, Mr. Bliant, I dare you," he said in such a tone that Morfinn lowered the bag, looking at him with open shock. "I can guarantee you it'll be the last time you do it."

"May I go to the hospital wing then, sir?" he asked softly. Alicia admitted he did look a bit green.

"You may not. And five points off of Hufflepuff for speaking without permission. I will not have you using your illness to attempt to get out of this class or any homework involved, do I make myself clear?" Morfinn nodded slowly. "Answer me when I speak to you, Bliant!"

"Yes, sir," Morfinn said meekly.

"And if your silly wheezing, sneezing, and choking habits begin to get disruptive over the course of the year, you may find yourself out of this class altogether and may I warn you that you are not likely to graduate without it. I am here to save lives, not to pamper them," he said, turning to look at the class as a whole.

"I am here to teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts, and you will find that the real world is hardly any more forgiving than I am. There are beasts, entities and even fellow wizards that will want to use you, intimidate you and yes even kill you," he said, glancing over at Phoebe who looked as if she wanted to sink under her desk. "Your only hope of getting out of this castle alive is to listen to me, for although Potions may be useful and Transfiguration makes for good party tricks, only I will teach you how to use your skills and what little common sense you may have to prevent you from becoming nothing more than another stone marker. Mr. Black," Snape said suddenly, the class looking over at him nervously. "I take it by your eye rolling that you believe you have better things to do than sit through this class?"

"No sir, I wouldn't miss this class for the world," Zacchius said evenly, "although to hear you tell it, it sounds as if we'd be struck by lightning every time we stepped out of the gate."

"Mr. Black, with that tongue of yours, it's a wonder that you survived long enough to even get this far," Snape said. "That'll be five points off Gryffindor for your verbal insolence, and five points off for your expressive insolence. I trust I won't see it again in the future." Zacchius stood agape. He just got five points off for an eye roll? "Anything else you'd like to add, Mr. Black?"

"Not in front of you, no, sir," Zack said. Severus stared at him.

"You're even more like your father than I thought you were," Snape said in annoyance. "I am not about to tolerate your type of behavior in this class, Mr. Black. You will write out the entire first chapter in addition to the assignment I'll be giving you to make sure you are getting something out of the material, and if I hear another peep out of you today, I'll take ten more points from Gryffindor. Considering that the both of you have already managed to get Gryffindor into negative numbers, I suggest you be very, very careful," he warned. Waiting until Snape had turned around, Zack rolled his eyes again, shrugging at his sister, who was glaring at him. "Get out your books and turn to the first chapter, but all eyes on me unless I say otherwise," he ordered as he headed to his desk.

Zack opened his book then sniggered, quickly closing it again when Snape whipped around, staring at him. He put his hand on his hip then in disbelief and ready to say something else, but Zacchius quickly opened it again, attempting to hide a lose piece of paper under the front cover. But Snape hadn't missed it, descending on Zacchius immediately and snatching the paper away, turning white the moment he opened it. It was a badly drawn picture of Snape with a very exaggerated nose and wild hair and labeled, 'Uncle Snivellus.' A moment later it burst into flames causing Severus to drop it. He stamped it out with his foot.

"How very artistic of you," he snarled.

"I didn't do it!" Zacchius said in surprise. "Zoë must have done it!"

"Did what?" Zoë said in surprise. "Don't look at me! The only person that doodles around here is her," she said, gesturing to Alicia. Alicia, who had been busy doodling around the edge of the cover page, froze in terror.

"It was in your possession, Mr. Black, and I am done with being lenient," Snape snapped, pulling him to his feet. "You're going straight to McGonagall's office to explain all of this to her!" he said, letting out a strange hiss. A large lizard with an eye patch and a glass eye lumbered out of his office, causing many of the students to gasp and draw up their feet. "The rest of you read the first chapter. If any of you let out a single whisper while I'm gone, I will know about it. Is that understood?"

Severus dragged Zack out by the arm. As they walked down the hall, the rest of the students glanced at each other worriedly, before staring at the first chapter in a feeble attempt to pay attention to it. Morfinn sneezed miserably, gazing over at Alicia unhappily.

It was then that Alicia noticed he wasn't the only one. In fact, quite a few people were looking in her direction, some accusing and others sympathetic. Alicia tried to concentrate on her book, resisting the urge to stand up and inform them all that he wasn't normally like this. Zoë noticed it too, taking out a piece of parchment and wrote on it, passing it to Alicia.

What does he get off treating students like that? If we were back home, he'd have been fired for treating students that way, Zoë wrote. Alicia knew 'back home' to them referred to California.

Well, your brother was being a bit of a jerk about it, Alicia said wrote back, glancing at her father's familiar, Rasputin.

Not as much as your father was being, Zoë wrote back. And where did that paper come from, anyhow?

I don't know but I didn't do it, Alicia said, instantly regretting it. Since when did she have to defend herself against her two best friends? This was getting out of hand. Maybe we should just try doing what we're told.

Since when did you turn into such a suck up? Zoë wrote back. Or is it that you just don't want to admit what we've been telling you for years and your father is a jackass?

Alicia grabbed the paper and stuffed it in her mouth, and a moment later the two of them ended up on the floor. Several of the Gryffindors tried to pull them apart unsuccessfully, while Morfinn was too busy wondering what had caused it, grabbing the paper up where it fell on the floor. He glanced at it, stuffing it in his pocket. Just then, he noticed that the lizard had somehow managed to get on the desk and was rubbing his head against the side of the desk.

"Look out! The monitor basilisk!" Morfinn shouted, trying to remove his cloak as he ran towards the desk.

Alicia and Zoë both looked up at once.

"Rasputin, no!" Alicia barked as the eye patch began to slip off. "Morfinn, what are you doing?" But as he finally got his cloak off, Rasputin whipped his head around towards the boy, and instantaneously he became rigid, taking on a stony appearance. Most of the class began to scream, running out of the classroom and into the hall.

"The cloak! He was trying to cover it with the cloak!" Zoë said.

"Is he still on the desk?" Alicia asked, backing up.

"I don't know, I'm not about to look and find out!" Zoë said.

"Wait! What was that spell we heard before?" Alicia asked.

"What?" Zoë asked confusedly. But Alicia held up her wand, waving it randomly in the air.

"Timere atar!" she shouted, and at once it went dark again.

"Alicia?" Zoë said nervously, feeling something slip across her leg.

"Don't worry! I don't think the spell can actually hurt you!" Alicia said, managing to stand despite the sensation of bees swarming around her head.

She felt around in the darkness, shivering from the phantom creatures in spite of herself as she found where Morfinn was. Seizing the cloak, she felt in front of her until she felt a scaly beast and hesitated a moment. But instead of crawling away or moving, it merely ignored her. Taking a guess that that meant it was real, Alicia threw the cloak over it, making double sure it covered its head.

"I did it!" she shouted with relief. "We're safe now!"

She didn't realize how wrong she was until she heard the word "Lumos!" spoken from the doorway. Her hands still on the covered basilisk, Alicia attempted to adjust to the light, looking up to see her father standing there looking more furious than she had ever seen him before in his life.

"Who cast that spell?" he said as he stormed over to them. "The fear spell, who cast it?"

"I did, sir," Alicia said. "I overheard you speaking it when you came in."

"Then perhaps you do not realize the severity of what you just did, Miss Snape. That spell was a Dark spell, and students are not allowed to cast any dark spell in this school except during the latter years in this course and then only with supervision!"

"Sir, she didn't have any choice! Your basilisk was on the loose! Look at Bliant!" Zoë said.

"I didn't ask your opinion on this, Miss Black!" Snape snarled, and then pointed his wand at the cloak. Alicia and Zoë instinctively shut their eyes, but when he moved the cloak, Rasputin's eye patch was back on. Snape hissed at him softly and reluctantly the basilisk hissed back, Snape's eyes becoming fixed on his daughter again. "A brawl. You started a fight with Black in the middle of my classroom? What was it about?" he demanded in a louder tone, Alicia shrinking back a bit. "If it is worth causing a disruption, upsetting a professor's familiar, and casting advanced Dark magic when the professor is out of the room, I want to know why. Now tell me!"

"Well, we were fighting over whether you or my brother was the bigger jackass, but I think you just answered our question for us," Zoë said. A gasp erupted from the students still standing near the doorway.

"Twenty points off of Gryffindor! Sit down in that chair, and you had better not utter a single syllable more, Miss Black. You have no idea how over your head you already are!" Snape said, firmly pointing her to a chair. "As it is, your parents have already been Owled over your brother's matter, and now it seems I'll have some words to say to them about your behavior as well. In all my years, I have never seen such disgraceful conduct, and that is saying quite a lot," he said, descending on his daughter like an enraged dragon. "Miss Snape, I am completely appalled by your actions and I hold you ultimately responsible for everything that occurred when you started that fight. That's forty points from Hufflepuff, detention, and not only do I want you to copy out the first chapter, you will also write a report on different types of basilisks with special attention to the fact that sudden movements startle them. And I want it on my desk before you dare have the gall to venture into this classroom tomorrow! Furthermore, expect that your parents will have some input on these events as well, and I do not think that their reactions will be favorable! Now, take your seats!" he barked, glancing at where the students were cowering by the door. "We're going to have a nice little test on the first chapter, since all of you so obviously had time to finish the reading I gave you. Now! Without one more word from any of you! That includes you, Miss Snape! Get back to your seat!" he barked when the trembling girl didn't move from where she had been standing.

But suddenly Alicia burst into tears, running out of the room as fast as she could.

"God, what an absolute hole you are!" Zoë declared as she stood, the students coming in giving her plenty of berth as she stormed towards the door.

"Where are you going? Get back to your seat!" Severus said.

"Kiss my arse, Uncle. I'm going after Alicia," Zoë said firmly. "I don't need this kind of education," she said, walking out of the room. Severus stood with his wand pointed thoughtfully as if to do something, then slowly lowered it, his expression not unlike Morfinn's, still stiff and standing at the edge of the desk.

"Get out some parchment, and number it one through ten," he said quietly, slumping behind his desk with his head in his hand. He could not let it happen. He could not lose any more control over his class than he already had. Slowly with the force of someone trying to wade through quicksand, Severus gave them the questions and dismissed them as quickly as he could, sending one of them for Pomfrey to collect Morfinn before shutting himself up in his office.