3

On the morning of the third of December, Snape was woken before the crack of dawn by heavy knocks on the door to his office. It must be an emergency or Dumbledore. On second thought, Dumbledore would let himself in.

Snape was up in an instant.

"What happened?" he barked as he tore the door open, ready to make his displeasure known to the person who had woken him if this turned out not to be an emergency.

It was Hagrid.

"I'm awfully sorry, Professor," said the half-giant, "I know it's earlier than is polite but Fang is ill. The poor dog is in pain."

Snape looked past Hagrid. Behind the man stood a basket which would have taken three men of normal size to carry. In the basket lay Fang, the gamekeeper's dog, and he looked miserable. He whined softly.

"Bring him inside," sighed Snape. Of course they couldn't let the poor dog suffer longer than necessary. "We'll see what's wrong."

"I know perfectly well what is wrong," boomed Hagrid as he lifted the basket with the dog as if it was nothing. Now that the potions master had agreed to help, at least the half-giant looked a lot better. "He bit a gnome yesterday. The silly creature was hoaxing him and when it became too much, poor Fang attacked."

"Gnomes are poisonous for dogs," Snape pointed out.

"I know that," sighed Hagrid. "That's why I do my best to keep them out of my garden. This one must have snuck in."

"There is potion for gnome-poisoning," Snape was all business now. "I'll go fetch the recipe."

"I have it here, Professor," Hagrid held out a book. "I just can't brew it myself. I was never good at potions and it's a newt-level potion."

The potions master nodded. "It's not complicated to brew but some of the ingredients can be pretty dangerous. It was wise to not attempt it yourself."

For a master brewer like Snape it took less than a half hour to finish the potion.

"You must let it cool before you give it to Fang," he advised as he handed Hagrid the flask. "Two table spoons with his food for a whole week. The symptoms will disappear after the first dose but if you don't finish the circle they will come back worse than before. – And don't forget to let it cool properly."

Hagrid thanked Snape profusely. He pocketed the potion before he picked up the basket and Fang and left.

Snape decided that it was too late to get another nap and went back to his private lab. Since he was up early, he might as well make the gifts he was going to use for the advent calendar for the next few days.

Since he was alone and undisturbed, he started several brews in quick succession. By the time it was time to go to breakfast, he had a total of seven presents ready. He chose one of his nicer baskets. A quick spell decorated it with a little holly and fake snow before he put his vials inside. Content with the morning's achievements, Snape took the little basket to his living room and put it on the coffee table. It was very decorative.

When Snape reached the Great Hall, Sprout was the only teacher already present. The potions master sat beside her as he knew from experience that the witch was a good breakfast companion. She knew when to stay quiet (before Snape had had his first cup of coffee) and when to make conversation. What was more, the herbologist always had something interesting to talk about.

The two teachers were in the middle of a discussion about the influence of fertilizers on the quality of herbal potions ingredients when the headmaster encouraged the students to get their presents.

Once again, there was a bit of chaos before everybody sat back down, present in hand.

Snape's present of the day was a nicely decorated red bag. It smelled of chocolate but the potions master did not open it yet. It seemed wise to watch the children open theirs first, just in case somebody got something they could not deal with on their own.

The other teachers had the same idea and put their presents beside their breakfast plates unopened.

Hermione Granger squealed with delight when she uncovered a bottle of Sleakeasy.

Pansy Parkinson got a vial of a greenish potion which she down after smelling it. She waved at Snape and stroked her hair which now reached down to her knees. Her friends swarmed around her and started to braid her hair. Snape allowed himself a small smile. He was proud of his snake who would not drink an unknown potion without at least sniffing what it was, and what was more, she had realised it was something harmless.

One of the first years at the Gryffindor table discovered a small porcelain bird which started to sing the moment he touched it. The girls sitting near him were delighted and the boy almost burst with pride.

"Is it only me," whispered Sprout, "or is there a rather high number of socks?"

Snape was startled. He stopped concentrating on single students but rather looked at the hall at large.

"You are right," he confirmed, "there are lots of socks."

"I spotted a couple of ties," whispered Sinistra who sat on his other side.

"Strange," Snape was puzzled.

Finally, the last student had unwrapped their gift of the day and Snape was able to open his little red bag. He had been right. There were chocolates in it. Only three, but they were Honeyduke's best as far as Snape was concerned. Dark chocolate and hazel nuts.

Snape's first lesson of the day was with the Slytherin and Gryffindor sixth years. Oh, what a difference one year could make! True, the Weasley girl was a bit volatile but luckily there was nobody in the Slytherin part of the class who felt threatened by her and would cause chaos like the Malfoy boy did with Potter. Therefore, this class was usually rather quiet. What was more, most of the class were competent brewers, some of them closer to the NEWT level Snape expected from his students than the seventh years.

The potions master liked this class. Like always, he began the lesson with a short lecture about what they were going to make and what was the new technique or ingredient to be used. He hinted what was going to be homework and unlike other classes, this one paid attention and started taking notes before he even revealed the recipe on the blackboard.

Once the students had started their brewing, Snape sat at his desk and started grading a stack of first year essays. With this class, he knew that they were going to ask if there were problems.

The lesson was almost over, when Polaris Goyle – a cousin of Malfoy's sidekick, much brighter than her kinsman and a Slytherin prefect – cleared her throat in front of Snape's desk.

"Yes, Miss Goyle?" Snape was puzzled. He was sure that the girl had already handed in a vial of her brew for grading. So what could be her problem.

"Sir," the girl sad in a low voice, "I wanted to ask your permission to use the classroom after dinner. The first and second years are running out of things to put into the advent calendar and they do not know enough magic to make some."

"That's the reason for the socks," Snape mused.

The girl nodded. "We – the Slytherin prefects – would like to show the younger ones how to make perfumes. Or perhaps hand cream."

"Permission granted and ten points to Slytherin for an excellent show of house unity. I will provide you with simple recipes if you need them and I will be present just in case there is an emergency. You will have to do the teaching though. I need to grade homework in the evening."

"Yes, Sir!" the girl beamed. "Your help is very much appreciated. We didn't dare hope you would give up your evening for us."

"I'm not giving up my evening," Snape reminded her. "I'm just spending it in a different room."

During lunch break, Snape pointed out to the other heads of house why there had been so many socks in the advent calendar. "My Slytherins have organised a tutoring session for their younger house mates to show them how to make little things for the calendar," he said proudly.

"I will suggest to do the same to my prefects," Flitwick cried.

Sprout smiled. "I have first years this afternoon. I will show them how to plant a little gift and make sure that it survives the journey through the calendar. And I will talk to the prefects."

McGonagall started to make plans for her first and second year classes, too. "There is a lot they can do with Transfiguration," she stated. Of course she was also going to enlist her prefects' help.

After dinner – Dumbledore found it hilarious that the Dark Lord and both his companions had gotten children's socks – Snape went down to the potions classroom, as promised.

There was a total of twenty children plus the prefects.

It turned out that no other than Draco Malfoy was to play teacher. He was a good choice. Malfoy was a competent brewer and when he saw no need to show off in front of certain Gryffindors he was also a diligent worker.

The blond came well prepared. There were three simple recipes to choose from for the children. A rose perfume, an herb-based remedy for a sore throat and hand cream. Snape added recipes for shampoo and conditioner as well as one for a cough syrup.

Malfoy explained which brews were easier and which a bit advanced. Then he had the children form teams of two and set them to brewing.

Snape graded his essays and made rounds from table to table every half hour.

The brewing went smoothly. The prefects helped where it was needed and by curfew, every Slytherin first and second year had enough calendar presents for a week.

The potions master was proud of his little snakes and glad that he brewed his own presents earlier. Now he was simply too tired to stand in a lab. Once the students were safely back in their common room – he had taken it upon himself to go up to the Great Hall with them since it was after curfew and he didn't want to lose points when Filch caught them outside so late – the potions master cleaned the classroom with a swish of his wand.

Once everything was ready for the next day, he retired to his room and went to bed. He just hoped that Hagrid wasn't going to need anything at the crack of dawn again.