5

The morning of the fifth of December dawned bright and early but Severus Snape had no idea of that. It was Saturday and the potions master blissfully slept in because breakfast was served an hour later than during the week.

He was among the last to arrive at the Great Hall but not The Last, so he had enough time for a cup of coffee and a bite before Dumbledore announced the opening of the advent calendar.

Snape got a bottle of shampoo, the very recipe he had taught his first year Slytherins. He opened the bottle and smelled the liquid. It smelled of camomile with a hint of lavender and bergamot. Excellent! Just the combination he would have chosen and it was very well balanced, too. Snape's inner teacher squealed with delight.

Dumbledore uncovered a single piece of candy wrapped in orange foil. The headmaster unwrapped the treat and sniffed it carefully.

"Do you think this does what I think it does?" he asked Snape as he held the candy out to him.

Snape smelled the proffered sweet and nodded. "I wouldn't eat the whole thing at once if I were you."

The headmaster cut about an eighth off the treat and threw it in his mouth cheerfully. "Here we go!"

The effect was immediate.

The old wizard's tongue lengthened until it hung past his chin and swelled to the size of a stuffed sock.

"Melightful!" he mumbled. "You mutt be pmoud of you mudemt, Mevemum!"

"Yes, I am quite proud of my students, Albus!" Snape bit back his laughter.

"Really, Albus," scolded McGonagall. "Do you think this is the right setting for this?" She shook her head.

Millicent Bulstrode got a magical hairbrush. With every stroke of the brush her hair changed colour. The Slytherins had fun with the thing handing it around the table. Soon the whole seventh year had different hair colours.

Millicent was now a blonde, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe both sported Weasley-worthy red hair, Blaise Zabini's hair had turned white and Draco Malfoy's hair was now black with a white stripe in the middle.

"Look, someone turned Malfoy into a skunk!" cried Potter from the Gryffindor table.

"What did you just call me, Scarhead?" Malfoy shouted back.

"A skunk! Are you hard of hearing?" Potter laughed.

"Take that back!"

Luckily Pansy Parkinson had the presence of mind to interfere before Malfoy lost points for Slytherin.

After breakfast and after everybody had had enough time to enjoy their gifts, McGonagall rose from her seat and informed the students that Mr Filch had put up lists of where and when the workshops the students had chosen were going to take place. With a wave of her wand sheets of parchment flew to those older students who had volunteered to help to inform them where and when they were needed.

After that she bid the students who were not involved – mainly third to fifth years – a good day and instructed the younger years to go and look up their courses on the board in the Entrance Hall.

Snape had the morning free – he had grudgingly agreed to hold a brewing session for the other houses if the course was scheduled for Saturday afternoon; there was no way he was going to give up his free Sunday. He remembered just in time before going to down to the dungeons that it would be wise to see the Dark Lord before he retired for the rest of the morning.

"Severus!" cried the dark wizard when Snape announced his presence in front of the visitor window. "How nice of you to come and see us!" The Dark Lord was barely recognizable with his new shock of red hair.

"The headmaster informed me that you wanted to talk about your calendar gift?" Snape stated solemnly.

"This is a wonderful potion I received yesterday," the new redhead informed Snape. "And just at the right time! Bella mentioned only before we came here that she has a thing for red hair."

"It looks regal on you, my Lord!" Bellatrix purred from the side.

Snape raised a brow. "Then why is she called Lestrange and not Weasley?"

The female deatheater jumped into view. "You!" she raged. "How dare you! I will not be in quarantine forever and I never promised to not hurt you!"

"You made a vow to not hurt anybody," Snape reminded her. "That includes me."

"You are nobody! Not anybody!" spat the furious woman.

"I will enjoy watching the vow kill you." Snape was not impressed.

Their quarrel was interrupted by the Dark Lord. "Lucius, put that down! It's unnerving!"

"I want to show Severus!" Malfoy stepped into view, headless.

"Lucius, I see you got one of the Weasley's invisibility hats." Snape admired the other wizard as was expected of him.

"Spendid, isn't it?" Lucius turned on the spot to show off his invisible hat and head.

"Wonderful," agreed the potions master. "If I didn't know that set of robes I wouldn't know it's you."

"I could do anything with this hat and nobody would know it was me."

"Why didn't I think of something like that?" the Dark Lord wondered.

"We were going for scary rather than unnerving," Bellatrix pointed out.

"True," the dark wizard conceded, "anyway, Severus, I wanted to ask you whether you would be ready to make me a bottle of this delightful brew. Red, obviously."

"Anything for my Lord," the potions master hinted a bow. "I have to point out however that you don't get to choose the colour. The potion gives you the colour you need."

"Sounds like magic," the Dark Lord chuckled.

Snape allowed his mouth to twitch. "Sorcery!" he agreed.

Their conversation was interrupted by a house elf. "Master Snape," he cried without the customary bow. "The house elves need your help!"

"Dobby!" bellowed Lucius, "how dare you address a wizard this informally!"

The elf didn't even spare his old master a glance.

"There is trouble in the kitchens!"

"Go to the headmaster!" Snape ordered.

"Oh no! Master Snape ordered the elves to work with the students. Now Master Snape must help!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "I have to ask your forgiveness, my Lord. – And 'anybody' includes the house elves, Lucius."

There was mayhem at the kitchens. A total of about twenty scared first and second years had retreated to one corner. Two house elves were standing in front of the children, ready to throw up a shield if it was needed.

The kitchen was a battlefield.

Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were throwing bits of cookie dough and jinxes at each other.

"You will stop this this instant!" bellowed Snape. He summoned the fighting cocks' wands wordlessly. "How dare you turn this workshop into your private circus! You are here to help the younger students! What kind of example are you setting? I am disgusted!"

Both wrongdoers had the decency to hang their heads.

"Malfoy over there! Show the students how to make their own cookie cutters!" Snape threw the blond – who was still sporting a striped hairstyle – his wand. "Potter! Over there! Show them how to charm the icing!" Potter got his wand back, too.

"Why would I charm the icing?" asked Potter.

"Use your imagination! Make it change colour. Make it blink! Whatever! Are you magical or what?"

Snape gave the kitchen at large his worst teacher's glare.

"I'll be at my rooms in case I am needed again. And mercy on you if I am!"

In the afternoon Snape taught a group of Hufflepuff students how to make soap.