A/N Chapter Warnings: Thank you for all your positive feedback! i'm glad you're all enjoying this new story. Story is rated M for a reason, this chapter may contain: bad language, sex, violence, mentions of rape, and general adult themes.
Chapter 8: A Pissed off Hermione, Classroom Disruptions and Research
"I just can't believe it!" Ron exclaimed as he and Harry walked from the dungeons and to their next class.
"I don't even want to take potions" he continued moaning.
Harry remained silent. He and Ron had been all but forced by McGonagall to take the Potions class. The only thing that had consoled Harry was that the subject was no longer taught by Snape. Slughorn seemed nice and Harry had felt that he had truly enjoyed a Potions lesson for the very first time in just over five years. The only problem was that he had successfully pissed off Hermione and he had gloated about it.
"And then you go and get the nicest Potions book, again" Ron continued his moaning tirade.
Harry snapped out of his own thoughts and turned his attention back to Ron.
"Well, Hermione warned you not to look to proud of your 'free time'" Harry said, smiling at Ron's expense.
Ron stopped moaning about his own troubles and his thoughts turned to their female companion.
"Speaking of Hermione mate, I would steer clear of her for a while. Merlin was she pissed when you created the perfect potion and she got nowhere near as perfect. Did you see the state of her hair and the way her magic was electrified? She was riled...good luck buddy" Ron said.
Harry grimaced, Voldemort was easy, but a pissed off Hermione was a lot more terrifying.
"How did you do it anyway?" Ron asked as the boys approached their dreaded Defence class.
"I will tell you more later on, but let's say that the book is annotated and has some helpful hints for every potion in it" Harry said.
Ron stared at him.
"You mean like a cheat book?" Ron asked in disbelief at how lucky his friend was.
"Shhhh, I will show you later" Harry promised, indicating that they should stop talking about it lest Snape find out and confiscate it from him.
The boys entered the classroom to find that everyone was being assigned seats.
"Assigned seating for sixth years? But that's ridiculous" Ron moaned.
"If you don't like it Weasley then get out" Severus snapped at the young red head.
The two boys spun around in shock not having even realised that their Defence professor was stood behind them.
Severus knew that this class was going to be a test of his patience. This was Potter's class, the one class that Potter proved himself to be somewhat adequate in and he knew that Potter would do anything to keep that reputation. Testosterone levels were going to soar today.
He noticed that his Hermione looked as though she wanted to maim something and he had a feeling that it was because of her moronic friends. Therefore, he decided to pair Hermione and Potter together, he thought it could prove quite entertaining.
Once all the students were seated, Severus began to give his usual introductory speech about health and safety and warnings about misconduct in his classroom.
"This year you will be expected to bring everything you have learnt in your previous Defence classes over the years and develop your skills of wordless and wandless spell casting. Today, you shall practice basic expelliarmus and protego spells in pairs but, you will aim to successfully cast these spells wordlessly. Whilst I know exactly how the lot of you fair in potions making, I am less aware of how you perform in Defence classes. Therefore, I will be merely observing you all today so I can understand what levels you are all at, your strengths and weaknesses, and what you need to improve on. Also, I understand that your Defence classes were abominable last year and the headmaster has required that I take that factor into account when observing and grading you. Naturally, I don't agree in making any allowances as you should have all done some reading and had at least three of the ten catch-up sessions that were made available to you over the summer" Severus said as he regarded his pupils.
"Now, with your assigned pair, I want you to take it in turns to cast spells. Longbottom, Finnegan, Potter and Weasley, I am talking directly to you four because I understand how incorrectly you interpret my instructions. I will make this simple; one of your pair will try to cast an expelliarmus wordlessly, whilst the other person tries to cast a protego wordlessly. Then you swap over. Any questions" Severus asked the class.
No one moved.
"Good, now get on with it" he snarled.
Everyone leapt into action and began practicing their spell casting whilst Severus went over to each pair to observe them and made notes.
Harry and Hermione were stood in their space and began practicing. Hermione had already practised some of these techniques last term, so she was confident that she knew exactly what she was doing. Harry also had some experience, so they were quite evenly matched.
"Look Hermione, I'm sorry that you're sore that I beat you in that potion making task today but, there is really no need to be quite so angry about it" Harry said, giving a half apology as he tried to cast a silent expelliarmus at Hermione.
Hermione cast a silent protego just in case Harry was successful.
"It's not that Harry, it's the boasting and the gloating about it all" Hermione replied, still in a bit of a funk.
"You boast and gloat all the time!" Harry exclaimed.
"The difference is Harry is that I work fucking hard to get the grades that I deserve and to gain my achievements. You don't, you study but in the end it's nearly always a lucky whim that enables your success and then you have the gall to gloat about doing hardly any work but reaping in the rewards" Hermione said.
"That's not true-" Harry protested irately.
"It is true. Put it this way Harry, all of us in that potions class besides yourself and Ron, worked our arses off to get O's for our Potions OWL, in the hopes that we would be accepted into Professor Snape's class. We all earned it. But now, because the teacher has changed, the rules have changed which works out perfectly for you and Ron but completely undermines the achievements of everyone else's hard work whose blood, sweat and tears went into getting those O grades" she said dangerously.
Harry realised that she was right, and that she was severely pissed off. He could feel her magic getting stronger and he knew he needed to be careful.
"But no, Harry bloody Potter, waltzes in, like he owns the goddamn place and not only disregards the instructions but also uses that disregard as a way of making the perfect fucking potion. So yes Harry, I am mad at you. No one else would have got away with doing that. All I want to know is how you did it" Hermione said angrily as she cast a particularly strong protego charm which caused Harry's expelliarmus to rebound and Harry had to duck quickly to miss getting hit by his own spell.
"Look, I know I can disregard direct instructions but there were annotations in my potions book which suggest different instructions to the printed text" Harry said having completely forgotten about Ron's warnings not to mention it.
"So not only do you foolishly follow anonymous annotations, but you used them to cheat?" Hermione screeched incredulous at Harry's audacity.
"Look Hermione, I'm not apologising for doing well in classes" Harry said irritated by her responses.
"But that's it Harry, you wouldn't have done well if you weren't, as per usual, riding on the coattails of someone else, would you?" Hermione spat at him.
That comment hurt him, just like Hermione had intended it to. He was momentarily distracted that he did not cast an effective protego at the same time that a very angry Hermione cast quite a violent expelliarmus. Her spell cut straight through Harry's protection charm like it was softened butter, and hit him with such force that Harry was hurtled backwards, several feet in the air, before landing on his back meters away from where he had been standing, with a particularly nasty thud.
The classroom went silent and Severus made his way over to the stunned looking Potter, who had not yet gathered himself enough to pick himself up off the floor.
"Granger! What happened to my simple disarm only instruction?" Severus shouted at her. He didn't really care about the incident as Potter was fine, but he couldn't show a lack of control over his own classroom otherwise students would walk all over him.
Harry had collected himself and started to stand up, whilst looking stunned at Hermione. He had heard what Snape had said to her and he was waiting for her answer.
"I'm sorry professor did I disregard your instructions?" She asked looking directly at Harry as she spoke.
"Miss Granger-" Severus warned her, not quite understanding what was going on.
"So, this is what could happen when a student disregards direct instructions? They could get hurt? or unintentionally hurt someone else?" Hermione stated rhetorically, whilst still staring at Harry.
"Miss Granger, I don't think you comprehend the severity of your actions. You didn't listen to my instructions and because of this, Potter nearly got badly hurt. Not that I care that much, but I do abhor it when my students directly disobey me" Severus said to her.
"I apologise sir, I should not have gone against your instruction. I could have caused some serious, unintentional damage" she said, looking at straight at Harry but shifting her gaze to a concerned looking Severus after she had spoken.
Harry looked like he was about to say something and Hermione glared at him, daring him to do so. However, Severus stepped in before anything else got out of hand.
"Class dismissed, get out!" Severus snapped at the class as they all rushed to collect their books and their bags.
"Stay behind Miss Granger" Severus said, stopping Hermione from rushing out the classroom.
Harry was the last one to leave the classroom, he looked at her somewhat reproachfully but the classroom door was slammed shut in his face by Severus, leaving Hermione and Severus behind, in the classroom together.
"You know I'm going to have to assign you detentions and take house points for that! The whole class saw what was going on so, the whole school will have heard about it by lunch time" Severus said.
He didn't want to punish her but knew that he would have to; there had been too many witnesses for her to get away with intentionally hexing another student.
Severus sighed. This was her second detention in two days. He wondered if something was wrong with her.
"Want to tell me what happened or what that was all about?" Severus asked her.
She sat down and let out a calmed and controlled deep breath.
"Harry did better than I did in Potions class this morning" Hermione said.
That made Severus pause.
"What the devil is Potter doing in an advanced level potions class? I only accepted O level students for a reason!" Severus exclaimed.
"Yes but, as usual, there is an allowance for the chosen one and I understand, I really do. At the end of the day, Harry needs to get to know Slughorn in order for Dumbledore to achieve his aims this year and Harry can't really do that unless he's in Slughorn's class. However, Harry swans into the class and then beats us all by using notes and helpful hints that had been made by someone else. He follows these anonymous notes, produces the best work by essentially cheating and then gloats about his success" Hermione said angrily.
Severus stared at her for a moment.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to allow my anger to explode in your class Severus. I just... it's so frustrating. I, Draco, Dean, Pansy, hell even Lavender Brown and Goyle earned our O grade's to be accepted into that class. Then Harry and Ron walk in and it makes us all feel completely undervalued" Hermione said.
"What? Weasley is in the class as well?" Severus stared incredulous.
Hermione nodded.
"May Merlin save you all" Severus said.
Hermione chuckled.
"However, you cannot allow your ire at your classmates to distract you in a class such as Defence. It's a very volatile class, you need to be focused or someone could really get hurt next time" Severus said seriously.
Hermione nodded in understanding.
"I know, I just wanted to make a point to Harry that he shouldn't completely disregard instructions because that's when accidents happen or, if he doesn't follow the instructions given by the professors, he doesn't know if things could go wrong" she said.
"Not that I'm entirely bothered about it but, was it really necessary to catapult him across the classroom?" Severus asked.
"I didn't actually mean to do that. I was angry and then there was this odd surge in my magic. Not the uncontrollable magic feeling, this was something else entirely" Hermione told him.
"You're still having odd magic experiences?" Severus asked her in disbelief that she had still been having problems with her magic and not informed him.
"Well, no, this was the first time my magic has felt odd since the last time I told you about it. I still don't understand why though" she said.
"I thought there was something wrong. Perhaps you should go and see Hogwarts' finest Mediwitch and get a medical opinion" Severus suggested.
Hermione nodded as she contemplated it. Her magic still felt off and it was unnerving her.
"You could tell something was wrong?" Hermione asked suddenly.
Severus looked at her for a moment and then nodded.
"I think everyone realised something was wrong. Everyone had already lost focus on their own spells and had become focused on yours and Potter's arguments. Hell! Even Draco had made a move to step in to help you out. Thankfully you got Potter when you did, otherwise there would have been questions for Draco as to why he stepped in to defend the best friend of Harry Potter" Severus said.
"I hadn't realised that we were that obvious. And thank gods that Draco didn't step in, he doesn't need to be brought into anymore mess than he has already" she said.
"What do you know?" Severus asked her.
She looked confused for a moment.
"About Draco? He told me that he had been given another task and may have mentioned what was expected of him" Hermione said.
"He actually told you?" Severus said a little hurt that Draco wouldn't tell him but he had confided in Hermione.
Hermione sensed this.
"Not personally no, but he said it was bad. I guessed and he didn't exactly disagree with me. I don't know what the task fully entails though" Hermione said, she would never intentionally hide something from Severus and, as Severus was Draco's godfather, Hermione assumed that Severus already knew what she did.
She hoped Severus wasn't too offended about this.
Severus relaxed.
"Alright, well, you need to go, lunch will be beginning shortly and we will both be expected to be there. I will let you know when your detention will be. Also, please go and see Madame Pompfrey, I don't want there to be anything wrong with your magic and you must consider that it could become dangerous. You cannot just chance things like this, we wouldn't want you, or anyone else, harmed just because we decided to not get it checked out" he said to her.
"Alright Severus, will my detention be in your rooms?" She laughed.
"You'll have to wait and see" Severus replied, smirking at her.
"I don't mind either way but I would like to see your rooms" Hermione replied with a wink.
"Minx" he growled after her as she walked out of the classroom, shutting the door behind her.
As Hermione walked out of the classroom, she decided that a quick side trip to the library was in order before she went to lunch. She wanted to go and see if there were any books that could help explain or suggest a reason why the power of a witch's magic could be fluctuating so dramatically.
After half an hour of reading through various texts, she had narrowed the reasons down to just three:
- If a witch or wizard has been subjected to situations that have led to sudden changes to emotional or mental health.
- A witch's magic could change, in particular, if she is expecting a baby.
- If either the witch or wizard has been exposed to large quantities of dark magic.
Hermione put the book down and stared at the small list of reasons that she had found so far. All three of those reasons could be correct. She sighed. Surely she wasn't pregnant; ever since she and Severus had started having sex, she always ensured that some measure of contraception had been used. However, contraception was never a hundred percent reliable, so it was therefore a possibility and she would query that straight away. She also knew that she had been subjected to situations that could have played on her emotional and mental health. The battle that she was involved in, both at the Ministry, and on the Astronomy Tower before the summer was quite stressful and traumatic. Not to mention everything that she had experienced with Sirius Black and all the problems she had with her friends, Dumbledore and other Order members throughout the previous school year. She paused, that was something that was also worth a second look when she got a spare moment. She looked at the last note on the list; she had definitely been exposed to excessive amounts of dark magic recently. With fighting off Death Eaters at the Ministry and being struck in the chest by that awful curse, she had definitely experienced dark magic. Furthermore, she had spent the summer with Severus and Draco, both had dark marks. She knew that Severus and Draco were good of course, but the dark magic of the dark marks meant that she had been surrounded by dark magic all summer. Could that have an effect? She had no clue but, she did remember how seduced she had felt by the power that dark magic had when she was around it.
All this thinking was giving her a headache; she put the books away, placed her notes and thoughts into her schoolbag and left the library. She was dehydrated and hungry - she headed to the Great Hall for some lunch.