Disclaimer: I don't own the name Harry Potter or the characters. Need I say more?
Harry Potter and the Potion of Devil's Tears
Harry and Ron dropped the chest of Quidditch balls off at Madam Hooch's office, who checked to make sure that they were all there before letting them leave. They left their broomsticks in their dormitory and went down to the Great Hall, both of their stomachs rumbling for food.
Harry made sure that his cloak was firmly around his shoulders before striding into the Great Hall after Ron. He looked down the Gryffindor table, searching for Hermione's face. He didn't see her; she was probably in the library doing homework, he thought. He followed Ron, who sat down next to Neville, while Harry sat next to Ginny, opposite them.
"All right, Harry?" Neville said, casually reaching for some pork and shooting Ginny a meaningful glance. Harry caught the look.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up with you?" Harry said, fixing Neville with a stare that made him squirm.
"Um…that is—rumor has it—not saying it's true…your arm's back?" Neville said, finishing as if asking a question.
Harry tried to maintain a neutral expression as he pushed his cloak aside slightly to reveal his incomplete left arm. Neville looked abashed.
"Sorry, Harry…people talking—Ravenclaw girl told me…sorry," Neville repeated lamely. He got up and moved down the table, leaving just Ginny sitting with Harry and Ron.
"So," Ginny said, continuing as if Neville's awkward question hadn't been asked, "what did you two do today?"
It was Harry and Ron's turn to exchange meaningful looks. Should Harry tell Ginny? Surely she could be trusted not to spread around that Harry was using the Third Arm Transfiguration. She was Ron's sister, after all…
"What?" Ginny said, looking back and forth between the two of them. "What're you into?"
"Erm…well, I did a bit of Snape's homework, and had lunch, and then played Quidditch with Harry until dinner," Ron said, dumping the matter entirely into Harry's lap. Thanks a lot, Ron, thought Harry.
Harry grabbed a pasty as he stood up, eating it and grabbing Ginny's arm and dragging her along behind him. He pushed open the door to an antechamber in the Great Hall, pulling Ginny in behind him and shutting the door.
"Harry, what…?"
"Ginny, you can't tell anyone about this," Harry said, pulling the cloak off his left shoulder.
"Harry, what are you on about?" Ginny asked, looking at him with an confused expression. "Tell anyone about what?"
Harry concentrated on his mental image, placing himself into that image. The silver sprouted from his shoulder, enveloping his bicep and trickling down his arm. Ginny's eyes widened as she watched it coalesce into an elbow, then a forearm, then a hand…
Harry held the arm out, twisting it and closing his fist.
"This is what you can't tell anyone about. Hermione told me about this transfiguration," Harry said.
Ginny stared open-mouthed at the shining limb. "Harry…what is it?"
"It's called the Third Arm Transfiguration, and it's Dark Magic," Harry said, looking pointedly at her.
She looked at Harry with a bit of skepticism in her expression. "What if Dumbledore finds out?"
"Dumbledore already knows. He actually helped me pull it off," Harry said, somewhat surprised that Ginny didn't have a strong reaction to the fact that it was Dark Magic; Ron had practically come unglued.
"Why is it Dark Magic?" Ginny asked, seeming to read Harry's mind.
"Because it's really strong," Harry said, pulling the iron bar out of his robes and holding it in his left hand. He closed his fist with all his might, and the bar crushed with a shriek. Ginny jumped slightly at the sound, then looked at the bar, which was pitted and toothpick thin, like before. Harry pulled his wand out and repaired the bar, before replacing it in his robes.
"Isn't that really dangerous around people?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, so I'm working on controlling my strength and grip, so I don't go around demolishing the castle."
Ginny reached out and touched the back of the silver hand, feeling the 'skin.' She ran a finger up his arm, then pinched the skin.
"It feels odd," she said, poking at it as if it were a dead animal. Harry held her wrist to stop her prodding him.
"You feel just the same," Harry said. "The skin is really more like a metal, but with all the texture of skin and body temperature."
Ginny looked up at him. "You can feel?"
Harry frowned. "Of course. It was one of the side effects of the potion. I can still feel the arm, and the transfiguration works just like a replacement of the arm, so I'm able to feel anything that's done to it."
Ginny got an impish look on her face and used her fingernails to tickle the inside of Harry's wrist. He unsuccessfully tried to stifle a giggle, and let go of Ginny's wrist.
"Cut that out," Harry said, mock shaking his finger in her face.
Ginny's expression grew serious. "What about Quidditch?"
Harry shrugged. "I can fly with the transfiguration. I practiced with Ron today to try and get the hang of it."
"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed. "You really were playing Quidditch!"
Harry frowned again. "What, did you think Ron wasn't telling the truth?"
Ginny blushed. "Well, he didn't come across as honest."
"Well, I don't know about the bit about him doing Snape's homework," Harry said with a grin, then snapped his fingers.
"Snape! I've got to talk to him tonight," Harry said, remembering that he hadn't gotten the homework from Friday.
Ginny mouth fell open. "Snape? What, do you have a death wish?"
Harry grimaced. "No, but I'd rather get the homework now then lose House points for it later."
Ginny looked thoughtful. "You know, now that you mention it, Snape has been acting a bit odd, lately."
Harry was surprised. "You think so? I noticed that he was being weird lately…he actually got down on Malfoy at breakfast yesterday…"
Ginny snorted. "You think that's all? He put Malfoy in detention just this Thursday because he bewitched Dean's shoes to eat his feet. And that's not all; he's actually stopped taking House points from Gryffindor as amusement. I even heard he awarded five house points to Gryffindor for a second year who made his potion perfectly."
Harry was shocked. Snape, awarding Gryffindor House points?
"Maybe someone put something in his food," suggested Harry.
Ginny looked skeptically at Harry. "D'you think anyone could slip something past Snape?"
Harry shrugged. "Dunno. I'll bet something's up, though. For Snape to actually start acting fairly…it should be cataloged in the next revision of Hogwarts, A History."
Ginny laughed. "Either that or an announcement made to the school."
As if on cue, Harry heard a silence fall out in the Great Hall. Ginny and Harry looked at each other, before both sprinting to the door and opening it a crack, peeking out into the Great Hall. Dumbledore had just stood up, clearing his throat.
"I have something to announce to you all. We have found an appointment for Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who has consented to fulfill both his current duties and the additional workload. That means that Mr. Shacklebolt will no longer be with us, but we thank him for his willingness to help during the interim."
Kingsley Shacklebolt stood, graciously bowing and resuming his seat. Dumbledore continued.
"I am pleased to announce that Professor Snape will fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts post in addition to his position as Potions teacher. He will begin instructing the class after the holidays."
A gasp went up from all four tables, as Professor Snape stood and gave the smallest of bows before quickly sitting back down (Harry could swear that he saw a small smile curl at the edges of Snape's lips). Harry shot a look over at the Slytherin table, and was surprised to see Malfoy looking at Snape with a sour expression on his pointed face. In fact, most of the Slytherins seemed upset by the announcement.
There was a resounding silence in the Great Hall. Not a sound but the scrape of Professor Dumbledore's chair was heard as he sat back down. Slowly, whispers broke out, before hushed tones and finally talking resumed. Harry caught Ron's eye, who gave him a horrified look at the prospect of Snape teaching two classes. Harry mouthed the words wait there before both he and Ginny retreated back into the antechamber, shutting the door as quietly as they could manage.
"So that's it!" Ginny said, clearly as shocked as the rest of the school. "He's happy because he finally got what he's wanted all this time!"
Harry scratched his chin, thinking deeply. Snape had always wanted the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but Harry had assumed that it would have made Snape even worse than he had been. Harry thought that there must be an additional reason for his behavior. He ran his theory past Ginny, who thought about it, before nodding her head in agreement.
"You could be right…he's never been nice to Gryffindor before…or even fair, for that matter," Ginny said, crossing her arms in thought. She tapped her foot on the floor as her brow furrowed, thinking about what it could possibly be—then her face lit up.
"Oh! Harry! You could ask him!" she said excitedly.
Harry was aghast. "Ask him? What, do you think I have a death wish?"
Ginny burst into helpless laughter as Harry quoted her own words back to her, clutching her sides as if they would split. Harry smiled sheepishly, before chuckling a bit himself. Ginny managed to stop giggling, wiping a few tears from her eyes as she looked back at Harry.
"Seriously, though, why not ask him? If he's really being more friendly toward Gryffindor, what's the danger?"
Harry thought about it. Snape had been a bit odd lately, that much was clear. In the past, Harry would say that Snape abhorred the mere sight of Harry, and Harry admittedly had been in the same position. He recalled the times that Snape had been furious at him, all the way back to his third year when Snape had been thoroughly unbalanced by Harry so neatly snatching Sirius from under his nose. It had cost Snape the Order of Merlin, Harry knew, and Dumbledore had even suggested that it was the reason Snape had been so enraged at Harry.
Harry stopped as he thought about it again, piecing together the last few days. Snape had probably been happy to receive the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, because it was what he had always wanted. And Harry had tried his best to be friendly with Snape when they had been researching his potion.
Then it hit him. The potion. Harry had named Snape as a co-inventor of the potion, giving him recognition for his work on researching it and filling in the gaps where Harry had messed up. Harry again thought about his third year when Snape had lost the Order of Merlin. What if Snape had been upset in his third year because he had lost the recognition that the Order of Merlin entailed? And filling the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts over an Auror? That would certainly bring a bit of mention to Snape's name.
"Ginny," Harry said slowly, "what if Snape's happy because his work is being recognized publicly?"
Ginny thought about it. Then her eyes widened as she realized what Harry was talking about.
"You mean, Snape's happy because his work isn't covert for the Order of the Phoenix, where nobody's giving him credit for it?"
Harry was jolted by that. He hadn't thought about it, really, but it was true that all of Snape's work that had probably made a difference was done covertly, and he hadn't gotten a bit of praise for it at all, save from Dumbledore.
"Yeah, and since he's being given the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I named him as co-inventor of my potion, he's happy because he's getting attention." Harry was suddenly struck by another thought.
"What if…" Harry said, now practically trembling with excitement at his logic, "the reason for Snape's disliking me is because I'm famous for something I didn't really have any control over, and also because I'm the son of a man who was far more popular than him in school?"
Ginny looked excited as well. "That would make sense! But…"—the glint in her eyes faded a bit—"…what about Snape and the Slytherins? Why is he suddenly getting down on them?"
Harry thought about that, but try as he might, he couldn't explain it. He shrugged in dismay.
"I'm not sure about that," Harry said, a bit depressed that he wasn't able to totally explain Snape's behavior.
Ginny looked at him through narrowed eyes. "And what's this about you naming him 'co-inventor' of your potion?"
Harry told her about yesterday morning, after his little spat with Malfoy, and later that same afternoon, leaving out the bit about the message of the Pensieve's runes.
Ginny nodded as he finished telling her his story. "That would also make sense. They have an inventor's column in the Daily Prophet; it's sure to be in today's paper, if not tomorrow's. That would bring Snape a bit of notice, too."
Harry realized that through all of their discussion, he had managed to maintain his transfiguration rather easily. He stopped concentrating on it and let the arm dissolve.
"I think that I will go talk to Snape about it. I might be able to find out about why he's being so odd around the Slytherins, too," Harry said, pulling the cloak back over his shoulder.
Ginny looked at him with her chocolate-brown eyes very serious, a concerned expression on her face.
"Be careful what you say, Harry. Don't bring anything down on yourself," she said.
Harry nodded, before pushing the door open and going back into the Great Hall. Some students had started to file out, others were still eating. Harry looked up at the staff table, and was relieved to find that most of the staff members were still in their seats, including Snape. Harry walked back to Ron at the Gryffindor table, bending over close to Ron so he could speak without being overheard.
"I'm going to talk to Snape; I'll see you in the common room later," Harry said, grabbing another pasty and hurriedly eating it.
Ron looked like he thought Harry had gone mad. He opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it and just nodded, going back to his meal. Harry straightened up, and determinedly walked up to the staff table, stopping right in front of Snape.
Snape looked up, fixing Harry with a suspicious glare.
"What is it, Potter?" he growled, as though Harry had committed the world's biggest crime by interrupting his meal.
"May I speak to you, Professor? Er…alone, that is," Harry said, trying his very best to sound respectful.
Snape's suspicious look deepened, but he rose from his seat and circled around the table, striding from the hall with Harry in tow. Harry glanced back over his shoulder to see Ron waving at him as if to say 'nice knowing you.'