Jacob looked down at his plate. As usual, Penelope put a little of each food on his plate and told him to eat what he wants. Jacob thought about it. What he wanted to eat was ice cream, but there wasn't any on his plate. That shouldn't be a problem, he thought. Even before going to Hogwarts, he sometimes transfigured his ketchup to ice cream; he just didn't know what he was doing then. Now he does. He even has a wand to use. He pointed his wand at his plate and watched silently as all the food turned to ice cream.
"Hey, I want some!" a classmate said.
Jacob easily turned his food to ice cream too. Soon half the table was eating ice cream for dinner. It didn't go unnoticed at the head table.
Professor Dumbledore noticed it first. "I see Jacob is transfiguring everyone's dinner into ice cream," he said wryly.
"He really is good at Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall said. "I don't know what I'm going to do with him when he finishes the 7th year material."
"I have the same issue with charms," said Professor Flitwick. "He's a natural. He picks everything up so fast."
"That's because he already had control of his magic before starting Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore explained. "Most students in this school are born to wizard families who monitor what their children do as far as magic is concerned. They allow them some control, but not too much. The muggle born children don't want to appear freaky, so they try not to show accidental magic. Jacob was considered strange anyway because of his autism, so doing magic didn't seem any stranger. He never tried to suppress it, and nobody tried to rein him in."
"I wonder if Ravenclaw is really the right house for him," Professor McGonagall said. "He would probably be best friends with the Weasley twins if he was in Gryffindor."
"The Ravenclaws actually started a petition to get him out," Professor Flitwick confided. "But Jacob told them that the hat said he didn't have enough confidence to be a Gryffindor."
The other staff members sat quietly listening to the conversation. They didn't see the genius that Professors McGonagall and Flitwick saw.
"I think I could cure him," Professor Lockhart said.
"Every time you suggested it, Jacob set you on fire. I don't think he likes that idea," said Professor Dumbledore.
Professor Snape was still thinking about that conversation when he taught Jacob's class the next day. Jacob looked excited when he heard they were making a forgetfulness potion. Jacob rushed through the potion without tasting any ingredients.
"Slow down, Jacob," Professor Snape told him. "What's your hurry?"
"I want to try the potion already," Jacob said through his mirror.
"Why would you want to be forgetful?" Professor Snape asked.
"There are lots of things I want to forget," explained Jacob.
When the potion was finished, Jacob tried tasting it. Professor Snape stopped him.
"You don't want to be forgetful," Professor Snape reprimanded.
"There are lots of things I want to forget," Jacob said.
Professor Snape looked in Jacob's eyes. Jacob did not look away, thinking he could convince Professor Snape. Looking through Jacob's eyes, Professor Snape saw Jacob's disastrous school interviews when he was four. He saw five-year-old Jacob sitting between his mother and grandmother while the grandmother tried to convince his mother to put him in an institution. That memory was so painful that Professor Snape pulled away.
"Let's discuss this tonight after dinner," Professor Snape said.
After dinner, Professor Snape escorted Jacob to his office.
"Do you want to tell me about these memories or do you want me to look the way I started to this morning?" Professor Snape asked.
"I'm not talking about it," Jacob said.
"May I look?" Professor Snape asked.
"Yes," Jacob said.
"Why are you using your mirror for yes and no? You say both words clearly by yourself," asked Professor Snape.
Jacob didn't answer. Professor Snape looked in Jacob's eyes. He saw the disastrous interview again, complete with the principal listing all of Jacob's shortcomings in front of him. He saw Jacob's grandmother trying to convince Jacob's mother to institutionalize him, saying that he will never amount to anything and he's an embarrassment to the family, all while Jacob was sitting in the room. Luckily, Jacob's mother did not take it too well. She yelled at the grandmother and threatened to put her in a nursing home so that she can't inflict permanent damage on Jacob. He saw a group of boys in a park, pointing to Jacob and laughing, calling him "That boy". Every time Jacob tried going on the slide, they all blocked him. He saw another park where a bunch of girls ran after him saying, "That's the boy who pulls hair." Some of them even got physical with him. He saw more run-ins with the nasty grandma. He saw Jacob in obviously soiled pants while a man (an uncle?) called him little doggie. He saw the petition being passed around the Ravenclaw common room requesting his removal. That was when Professor Snape made a difficult decision.
"You know, I was bullied too when I was your age," Professor Snape told him. "In fact, all seven years in Hogwarts, I was a target for bullies. I also have lots of painful memories, but now, as an adult, I'm a professor with a decent income. Two of the bullies are dead, one is in jail, and one can't hold down a job. I think that living well is the best revenge. When all the people who belittled you see how successful you will become, they will feel incredibly stupid for how they treated you."
"I won't be successful," Jacob said.
"Why not?" asked Professor Snape.
"I have autism," Jacob said.
"So what?" asked Professor Snape.
"Nobody will want me to work for them," Jacob said. "Besides, I can't read or write, and I can barely talk. I don't always understand people."
"Did you know that you are the most powerful wizard in the school?" Professor Snape asked.
"No, I'm not," Jacob said.
"So how do you do such advanced transfigurations and charms? Your professors said that you could do seventh year work already."
"Those things are easy," Jacob said.
"Not everyone thinks so," Professor Snape told him. "What's easy for one person is hard for another. Every person is different."
Jacob didn't say anything. Professor Snape decided to change the subject.
"I'm sure you heard about the chamber of secrets and the attack on Colin Creevey. Do you have any opinions about it?" he asked.
"I heard people talking about it," Jacob said.
"So what do you think it is?" Professor Snape asked.
"Sometimes I hear a hissing sound near the girls' bathroom on the second floor. The chamber must be in there," Jacob said. "But I don't really think about it much."
"Okay, let's end with a happy memory," suggested Professor Snape. "I will try to think of ways to help you, but I want you to be happy before you leave. Could you think of the funniest thing that ever happened to you? I need something to laugh at."
Jacob thought about a time when there was no ice cream in his house. He really wanted ice cream, but because he didn't have any, he decided to eat ketchup instead. He was holding the ketchup wishing it was ice cream, when it suddenly turned to ice cream. He ate some and put the rest in the fridge. His family had fish and chips for dinner and both of his parents like ketchup on their chips. Jacob started laughing when he thought of his parents' reactions to the ice cream in the ketchup. Professor Snape laughed too.
"Good night," Professor Snape said. "I'll see you tomorrow and try to come up with ideas to help you."