TEACHING POTIONS
During the following month, a kind of routine settled. Every time Snape would come across Professor Ursaglow, the young man would follow him around like a little dog chattering endlessly about some whim of his. Then Snape would resort to menacing him with all sorts of painful deaths, but the DADA teacher would not understand. On the contrary, he would keep following the Potions Master until he suddenly remembered he had a lesson to give or until Snape shut his study door in the man's face.
Snape did his best to avoid Ursaglow, but it seemed the young man had the faculty to appear out of nowhere at the exact moment Snape wished to be alone. Even if he hexed him, Ursaglow would probably keep following Snape.
As for Professor Wilson, Snape never missed a chance to bless her with some cutting remark whenever he could - which basically meant whenever he was within her earshot. Surprisingly she usually took no notice of his sarcasm, as if ignoring him, though it was obvious it upset her - which always filled him with tremendous delight.
He spared her only during the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix - the last thing he needed was Dumbledore or McGonagall asking him to be kind to the Charms teacher. Especially since the more Ursaglow annoyed him, the more Snape took it out on Wilson, and the crueller his sneers were. Somehow, he had found equilibrium this way and it was probably the only reason why he didn't jump down the DADA teacher's throat every time he caught sight of him.
On a Friday afternoon in October, though, as Snape left the Great Hall after lunch to return to his classroom for the last lesson of the week, Ursaglow decided to accompany him to the dungeons. Had it been the only time, Snape would have probably done nothing more than just ignore the young man. But it wasn't, and Snape had been annoyed more than was tolerable for one week.
Snape paid no heed to whatever Ursaglow was babbling on about, until he suddenly stopped and turned to face the DADA teacher.
"Maybe you don't mind being late for your lessons, Professor Ursaglow," he said coldly, "but I don't need any escort to my classroom. Hence, you should go back to your classroom."
As Mizar was about to protest, Snape went on.
"Of course, were you to linger here more than necessary, I would be extremely delighted to renew my offer to oblige you with the most unbearable death I can imagine."
Ursaglow opened his mouth - undoubtedly to object - but Snape interrupted him again. What were the words he didn't understand exactly in 'unbearable death'?
"Listen to me carefully," he said slowly in a low and menacing voice. "I know more ways to kill a wizard than you can think of, so I would advise you to follow my suggestion and return to your own classroom at once."
Snape didn't wait for a reply and strode towards the dungeons. He entered his classroom quickly and sat at his desk; almost all his students were already there.
Sixth year double Potions with Slytherin and Gryffindor. Oh, the joy. The other way he had to vent his frustration for not being allowed to put an end to Ursaglow's life: try to break his record of points taken from Gryffindor in a two hour lesson.
Just a few seconds after he sat at his desk, a Gryffindor boy entered the classroom hurriedly.
"Mister Lange," Snape called, and the boy immediately froze and stiffened. "What a pleasure to see you finally decided to bless us with your presence today. Five points from Gryffindor for being late."
The boy hurried to his seat without a word.
"But, Professor, the lesson hasn't started yet…" one of his housemates pointed out shyly.
Snape glared at the young girl. Today was not the day to mess with Severus Snape, and they should know better by now than to contest his decisions. "Ten points for your insolence, Miss Dolix."
Snape intertwined his fingers and propped his chin on the back of his hands.
"Today, I will teach you how to prepare a Pain Relieving Potion. It is a rather complex potion that requires a lot of attention. Each ingredient must be measured accurately and prepared earnestly, for they all enter in the composition of a powerful poison as well, yet in other proportions. Hence, as you can guess, any mistake during the preparation of the potion could be lethal during the testing."
A slight sardonic smile appeared on Snape's lips at these words.
"It is possible to obtain Pain Relieving Potions of different strengths depending on the time you allow the ingredients to brew. However, considering the short time we have ahead of us, you will only manage to get a very weak potion that probably wouldn't even ease the slightest headache. That is, if any of you manage to prepare the potion correctly, of course. You will first need three ginger roots."
Snape observed his students as they took the ingredient from their potion-making kit. "The roots must be in good shape or the consequences could be disastrous." He couldn't help another smile. "The roots have to be chopped into bits that will not exceed a sixth of an inch. The cuts must be clear and clean, so as to be immaculate."
Snape paused again, as a movement caught his attention.
"Miss Martin, would you care to bring this piece of parchment to me?" he eventually went on, "Yes, the one you are trying to hide under your book."
The young Gryffindor walked up to his desk and handed him the piece of parchment before looking down to her feet with embarrassment. Snape quickly read the few words written on it and raised an eyebrow.
"Miss Martin, I am sure you and Miss Weasley are more interested to know whether Mister Caldwell likes you or not than how the roots should be chopped, but for your own sake I would advise you to pay more attention to my instructions."
At hearing his name, Caldwell looked up from his cauldron, blushing furiously, while some Slytherins began sneering at him and making wolf howls.
"Yes, Professor," the young girl whispered.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention. And the same for you, Miss Weasley," he added turning to the redhead.
The rest of the lesson turned out approximately like any other. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough time to test the potions, but Snape reassured his students with an evil smile by telling them they would test the potions the following week.
Once all the students had left the classroom, Snape glanced at the piece of parchment where he had recorded the points he had taken during the lesson.
Five points for a blunt knife, ten points for damp roots… When the boy tried to explain that someone played a prank on him minutes before the lesson and that all his things were soaked, Snape made it twenty points. Ten points for asking one's neighbour's help, five points for a broken test tube, twenty points for a lumpy potion, five points for a dirty cauldron…
Snape quickly read the rest of the list and added up the points: two hundred and five. Not bad but still not his best.
He consigned his students' potions to his storeroom and finally left his classroom, heading for the library. He needed to check something for the project he was working on, and he hoped to find what he was looking for so he could test a few things over the weekend. However, the next morning he would have to go to Hogsmeade to replenish some of his ingredients. It wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, so he wouldn't be annoyed by students all around.
When he reached the Restricted Area, Snape saw Professor Wilson already there. She hadn't heard him coming and was still examining the titles of a row of books.
"Looking for a book?" he asked ironically.
At the sound of his voice she perceptibly tensed up. "No, actually I lost a student here last week, so I was hoping to find him at last before Professor Dumbledore noticed someone was missing," she replied without looking up at him.
Oh, the witch was in a playful mood… Maybe he could get some fun out of this day after all…
"I do sincerely hope it wasn't a Slytherin," Snape insisted before looking for the book he was hoping to find.
Wilson glared at him from the corner of her eyes before looking back to the books in front of her. "No, it was a Gryffindor, which I am sure will please you immensely," she retorted, and took her wand out to cast a summoning charm on a book out of her reach.
The Rarest Potions and Their Multiple Uses… Brews and Concoctions: One Hundred Recipes for the Most Dangerous Potions… Potent Potions and Poisons… Hmm, that wasn't what he was looking for but this one could be useful later, though he was sure he already knew most of what he could find in there.
"Did you do everything necessary for the charms protections of the school?" Snape added as he kept browsing through the Potions section of the Restricted Area, knowing the Charms teacher would understand his implication that he thought she hadn't.
"Since you obviously didn't pay attention when I answered that question weeks ago during a meeting," she began, and Snape knew she was talking about an Order of the Phoenix meeting, "I will have you know yet again that yes, I did."
"I expect you used something more powerful than a simple Repelling spell. Even a fourth year would be able to get past it," he insisted, knowing full well that Wilson would interpret it as a denigration of her abilities.
From the corner of his eyes he noticed the witch gripping her book and her wand a bit tighter. "Professor Snape, if you want to take care of the Charms protections of Hogwarts yourself, you could ask Professor Dumbledore. But I sincerely doubt it would be any use, seeing how your applications have a tendency to be rejected."
Snape turned to her sharply, but she kept turning the pages of her book without looking at him.
"I truly hope you do not make light of your responsibilities," he accused roughly, "for I would hate to be killed only because you miscalculated the threat. Were I in charge of the assignments, I would have never given so many liabilities to someone as inexperienced as you are."
Endora brusquely slammed her book shut and took a few deep breaths, still not turning to face him. Well, it seemed he had managed to exasperate her at last, Snape thought with delight. When she opened her book again and resumed her reading without a single word, Snape turned back to the shelves.
Potions and the dangers of their misuse… Ah, Ancient potions no longer in use in modern days! There it was. Snape picked up the book and left the Restricted Area.
