Chapter 2: The Antidote
Professor Snape struts quickly through his private stores, his eyes probing the shelves. The potion that he assigned to his students today is a classic rendition of Heavy Duty Cauldron Scouring Agent, a perfect remedy for cleaning the toughest stains and burn marks off of cauldrons that even a scouring charm just can't quite seem to address, but an entirely inedible substance that is quite notorious for being toxic. He knows that even a spoonful of this powerful potion can be deadly if the witless victim is left untreated. He sighs, and pulls out his wand. He gives it a flick, and the familiar, lumpy shape of a bezoar comes soaring toward him, from where it had perched on the top shelf at the back of his store area. Although he is reluctant to use this rare, and also very valuable, addition to his collection, he knows that the situation at hand is sufficiently drastic to necessitate its use.
The moment that the potions master steps out from his private store area, he turns and starts toward the front of the room, only to find that the young Miss Daybrook is no longer sitting on the floor in front of his desk - in fact, the professor finds, as he scans the vicinity, that she is nowhere in the classroom.
The professor strides over to the young student's desk, only to find that she has taken her belongings but abandoned her unfinished Scouring Potion in her cauldron. Thomas Haley, another Hufflepuff fourth-year, whose desk is right beside Miss Daybrook's, is just throwing the last bits of ground daisy-slugs into his cauldron as Snape approaches. The professor inquires, "Mr. Haley, did Miss Daybrook happen to inform you as to why she left class early without finishing her potion?"
"No, sir. She just grabbed her books and walked out. She seemed to be in a hurry." Thomas's curious eyes follow Professor Snape, as he very quickly turns and marches away. As soon as Snape arrives back at the front of the classroom, he leers out at the class and bellows, "Class dismissed! Leave your potions."
Although there is only a quarter hour left of class, the students are rather caught off guard by the professor's outburst. Only three students have finished their Cauldron Scouring Agent potions so far. But they all obediently pick up their books, certainly much too glad to be let out of potions class early, than to inquire as to why.