Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. On this one, the group is going to read about a certain potion professor and the confrontation between him and Harry. So, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories.

Chapter 12: The Snake Chapter

"Chapter 12: Potions, Snakes, and Grudges…." Daphne read. Mcgonagall groan, already figuring out what this will be about. It look like Severus will take his hatred of James out on Harry.

Thanks to the book Professor McGonagall had given him, Harry's first magical project had been determined. The ability to transform into an animal whenever he wanted without the use of a wand not only sounded incredibly useful, but also sounded like a great magical and intellectual exercise.

"So he already decided to become an animagus?" Mcgonagall mused. It was more of a statement than a question. "Why am I not surprise?"

"Cause we all figured out by now that Harry is very ambitious?" Andromeda asked rhetorically, getting chuckles and nods from everyone.

That night Harry had read as much of the book as possible. It was a very large book, not quite the size of A History of Magic, but definitely one of the standard school tomes he had seen. It would probably take him somewhere around weak or two to finish reading, especially since he could only afford to read it at night before he went to bed.

This was because he not only wanted to continue spending time with Hannah, Neville, and Susan - whom he had found himself actually getting along with quite well despite his initial reasons for befriending them

"Glad we got his stamp of approval so far." Hannah responded, with Susan nodding in agreement. "And I'm glad he didn't befriended someone like Malfoy."

"So do all of us." Tracey muttered, with the others nodding in agreement.

- but he also wanted to continue enhancing his reputation as a polite and helpful young man in order to facilitate more respect from his peers and the teacher's. It was necessary for him to present this image to everyone at Hogwarts since he was so famous and everyone would have their eyes on him.

"That is true." Daphne commented and Harry has done well at that part, only with a few people, including herself, either not falling for the facade or dislike him because of it.

Still, even if he was only able to read the book at night, Harry knew he would make good progress. Thanks to his eidetic memory he only needed to casually glimpse at a page for a few seconds before his mind was capable of remembering it in it's entirety. So far he had managed to read just a little under eight chapters of the book.

"Would you stop rubbing it in?" Hermione huffed, crossing her arms. She would give anything for a ability like that.

"Um Hermione, do you always talk to your books?"

"Be quiet Tracey."

What he had read was quite fascinating. Becoming an Animagus was one of the most complicated and difficult feats of Transfiguration to accomplish. Often times it took years for someone to become an Animagus, which was why so few people ever bothered to become one.

According to the book, becoming an Animagus required several steps that one needed to take. The first was discovering ones 'inner animal', something that all witches and wizards have. Basically, someone's inner animal was the animal they were most connected to based on a combination of key factors such as physical features and personality traits.

Sirius was the perfect example of this. Harry's mother had always told the man that his dog transformation was perfect for him, since both would hump just about anything with two legs.

Susan has a deep blush on her face at the sentence, with Lisa T having a lighter blush while the others that knew what that meant either laugh or have disapproving looks. The ones who doesn't have slightly confuse looks.

Morgana had explained that there were two ways for someone to discover their inner animal. The first way was done via meditating in order to connect with ones inner animal. This was a very long and arduous process, and was also half the reason becoming an Animagus took so long. It not only required years of meditation, but also a mastery of Occlumency, the rare skill to defend ones mind from intrusion. This was because Occlumency not only defended the mind from external influences, but also organized the mind in such a way that made it easier to connect with ones self.

According to Morgana, only those with a clear mind could connect with their inner animal, and only those who had mastered Occlumency could take on that animal's form without losing their mind to said animal's instincts.

This was another reason it took so long to become an Animagus using this method. Occlumency was not only a very rare skill, but also one that took years to master on it's own. Morgana's book had stated that mastering Occlumency normally required four to five years of intense training under a master, and discovering ones inner animal took another two to three years. That meant if someone wanted to become an Animagus using this method, it would take six to eight years all told.

There were, of course, advantages to using this method. One of those advantages was having a much closer connection to one's inner animal. This led to the witch or wizard in question not only having an easier time of their transformation, but also gaining traits of their animal outside of their animal forms.

Hermione is scribbling this all down in her notebook while the Ravenclaws of the group paid rapt attention to the information being given to them.

A good example of this would be Morgana herself, who had used this method to become an Animagus. Her form had been that of a bird, a raven to be more precise, and it had given her several unique traits and abilities that she had access to outside of her animagus transformation.

One of her abilities had been those of enhanced eyesight. While ravens did not have the eyes of say, a hawk or an eagle, they still had incredibly sharp vision. Much sharper than those of a human. Morgana had stated in her book that after becoming an animagus she had been able to see objects such as buildings, people, animals, and plants with extreme clarity up to fifty miles away outside of her Animagus form.

Another talent she had gained was the ability to feel air currents. It was a little known fact to those who had not studied zoology, but when a bird flew, they did so by riding on the air currents, not just flapping their wings. This was especially true during long distance migrations. How else could their ability to travel hundreds of miles without tiring be explained?

"Um, they have good stamina?" Tracey guessed. Daphne, Hermione, and Lisa T roll their eyes at that.

This particular ability, while not sounding very useful at first, had actually enhanced Morgana's skill with elemental wind magic to nearly unheard of levels. Harry had no clue what kinds of powers and abilities she had with wind magic, the book didn't say, but it was definitely an interesting little fact and made him wonder what kind of powers he might gain from his own animagus form.

However, it was not those powers that had truly captivated Harry's attention. No, while those abilities sounded incredible, what had really gotten him interested was Morgana's ability of partial animagus transformation. Morgana le Fay had the ability to partially transform specific parts of her body into her animagus form, while retaining her human form in others. One of the things she had been well known for in fact, was her ability to transform her arms into wings and take flight by creating wind current underneath her.

"Wow." Hermione said in awe, voicing the others thoughts. The ability to partially turn into an animal. So far, no wizard or witch could do that in this century.

It was that ability, more than any other, that had convinced Harry to become an animagus this way, and not using a potion to discover ones inner animal, as most people did. He did not know what his animal was, but whatever it was, he was quite certain that the abilities he could gain from complete mastery of his animagus form would most definitely prove far more useful than simply using the potion to discover his inner animal.

Of course, there was far more to just discovering ones inner animal that went into becoming an animagus. Becoming one not only required a lot of time just for a person to discover their animal form, but also required a lot of skill in Transfiguration.

"Skills that Mr. Potter is slowly getting." Mcgonagall murmured, but she wondered how skilled Harry really is in transfiguration and other magical abilities. Well, she will see in this book.

Morgana had written in her book that in order to become an Animagus, there were two branches of Transfiguration that one needed to obtain mastery of. Human Transfiguration, or the ability to transfigure a human into another object entirely, and cross-species Transfiguration, which was the ability to transfigure a person or animal into a different animal.

Both sub-branches of Transfiguration were required to become an Animagus. It was just another reason so few people ever became one. Transfiguration was one of the most difficult and complex branches of magic. Even the slightest mistakes could lead to disastrous consequences, including permanent transfigurations and even death. For this reason most witches and wizards preferred branches of magic that were considered safer, such as Charms.

"But Harry isn't most wizards." Neville said, with all of the magic-users nodding in agreement. That fact has been proven several times, even before they read this book.

"Or most people in general." Wei added in, with the other non-magicals agreeing as well. That fact has also been proven several times before he went to Hogwarts.

Harry was not most wizards. He had every intention of not only becoming an Animagus, but of mastering all branches of magic to such a degree that no one would ever question that he was one of the best and most powerful wizards in the entire world.

"I can't wait to see how far he'll get." Nymphadora said, with her mother agreeing. That something everyone would pay attention to, from kids his age to adults in the ministry.

The morning after receiving Professor McGonagall's book, Harry went through the same routine he had done yesterday. However, even during his work out, Harry's thoughts remained on what he had read the night before. Even when he and Neville made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry was still thinking of how he would become an Animagus.

How long would it take? He wondered. Morgana had projected it would take six to eight years by going through the process she had used, but that did that necessarily mean it would take him that long?

"I'm betting five galleons that it'll take five years." Lisa T said, getting a snort from Tracey.

"Really? Five? I'm betting three galleons that it'll take three years."

"No, four years." Hannah piped in. "I'm putting in four galleons for that."

Soon, the kids and teens began betting win Harry going to become an animagus. Hermione thinks that it'll take the minimum six years. Terry said that it would take two and a half years. Tonks betting on five years, plus three-quarters of a year. And so on. The adults merely watches on with amusement, though they wonder when are they going to get back reading.

Daphne finally had enough. "Hey, did you guys forget that we are reading?" That immediately stopped the others from talking, as well as get some sheepish looks and blushes. Daphne roll her eyes before putting them back on the book. Before she started reading though, she said this. "Oh, and I'm thinking that he'll become an animagus by the summer before year two." That cause gobsmacks look to form from her friends. She ignore them though and started reading.

While he had not known about Occlumency until the Sorting Ceremony, the truth of the matter was he had been practicing meditation since he was seven, and thanks to his need to shield his mind from the memories of his past so he could function as a normal human being during the day, he had practically mastered the art of clearing his mind through meditation, which was the key to mastering Occlumency.

Did that mean he had already mastered Occlumency? The Sorting Hat had told him that he would have easily pushed it from his mind had it not spoken to him before he could do so. But did that mean he would have been able to shield his mind from intrusion from someone who had mastered legillemency?

"That's something that might be tested in this book." Andromeda murmured. A few others are thinking the same thing as Andromeda.

He didn't know. Unfortunately, there was no way he could know. Not without finding a master legillemens and asking them to take him on as an apprentice. Even more unfortunate was that he did not know anyone who knew the art. He assumed that Dumbledore might. After all, the man was the most powerful wizard in magical Britain, but he wasn't entirely sure he trusted the man. Not after the Headmaster had left him on the doorstep of his magic hating relatives like a bottle of milk on a cold November night.

Mcgonagall wince at the memory. "I can't really blame the boy for that."

"But Dumbledore the headmaster of the school." Hermione argued. "He cares for his students and…."

"And people can make mistake." Wei said, looking at Hermione. "If it wasn't for me and Lisa Crawft, Harry would've gone a dark path. Dumbledore could've made a dark wizard by sending him there and not checking up on him." Hermione frown. While she did not like it, that is true.

Harry supposed that just meant he would have to make do with what he had. He was positive that he could discover his inner animal on his own before the start of the new year, it would just take some time.

His only real problem, as far as he could see, was actually becoming an Animagus once he found his inner animal. From what he had read of the books he had bought during the summer about Transfiguration, Cross-species Transfiguration was a fourth year skill, and Human Transfiguration was a N.E.W.T. Level skill, meaning it was only taught to those who managed to get an O on their O.W.L. Exams in fifth year. To make matters more difficult, in order to become an Animagus one had to combine Cross-species Transfiguration with Human Transfiguration, which was considered above N.E.W.T. Level magic that required one to gain Mastery of Transfiguration. All in all, if Harry wanted to become an Animagus before the end of the school year, he had his work cut out for him.

"Understatement of the year." Blaise said with a whistle. He doubt that any of the Slytherin are this ambitious as Harry. Harry got a lot of plans and Blaise wonders if he could complete them all. Well, everyone will just have to wait and see.

Thankfully, he did have an advantage that most others didn't. His mums journals. While his mother had never become an animagus, she had described the process his father, James Potter, and his friends had gone through to become Animagi. It gave an added perspective to what he had read from Morgana's book.

According to her, James Potter had been a genius when it came to Transfiguration. One of those once in a generation prodigies.

"He was." Mcgonagall murmured, with Andromeda nodding in agreement. It was saddening to see someone so skilled, despite being a prankster, died because of betrayal and that damn war.

In fact, it had been James who had first gone through the process of becoming an Animagus, and it had been him who had taught it to Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, two of his three friends who had formed the group known as the Marauders. His mother had written that James had been so good at Transfiguration that he had not only become an Animagus during his third year at Hogwarts - an until then unheard of feet - but had gained Mastery under Professor McGonagall's tutelage before he had graduated from the prestigious school of witchcraft and wizardry.

That would also explain why Professor McGonagall had been willing to lend him her book, as well as why she seemed to have a soft spot for him despite this being the second time they had met - he didn't count the times she had been around him as a baby because he had not been able to interact with her beyond gurgling. James had been her favorite student, despite the amount of trouble he and his band of misfits - as she and his mother called the Marauders - got into.

"All of it true." Mcgonagall confirmed with a nod. Indeed, she do have a soft spot for Harry Potter. Not because he was the boy-who-live, but because, like the book said, because of his father.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

Harry's attention snapped back into reality at the sound of Neville's voice. He looked at the round faced boy walking with him on his left and gave a polite smile.

"I'm fine, Neville," Harry assured the boy. "I was just thinking about what we learned in our classes yesterday." True enough, he supposed. McGonagall had shown off her animagus form yesterday during class, so it wasn't like he was lying.

"Oh," Neville looked unsure for a second, but then plowed on. "So what do you think of our classes so far?"

"They're definitely intriguing. Way more interesting than the muggle classes I took in primary school," Harry said with a chuckle. Of course, learning magic was infinitely more interesting than learning math and English.

"Another understatement." Lisa C grumbled, pouting. Again, her friend is so lucky. She would love to have magic.

Though he did admit that he loved learning science and history just as much as he did magic.

"So what's your favorite class?"

"How could I possibly pick a favorite?" asked Harry, this time a genuine smile came to his face. "Aside from the fact that we've only had two classes, there's no way I could choose one branch of magic over another as my favorite. From what I've seen so far, they're all just too diverse to really compare them to each other." He looked at Neville with an inquisitive stare. "What about you, do you have a favorite?"

"Well, we haven't really had the class, but..." Neville blushed a bit and ducked his head. "I've always had an interest in studying Herbology."

"Understatement of the year." The first years, san Neville, chorused. That cause the boy to blush a little at that. It was no secret to them that Neville love that class. That probably one of the few times he express his gryffindor courage, especially dealing with the more dangerous plants.

"Nothing wrong with that," Harry said, much to Neville's shock. "Herbology is a useful skill, especially for potion brewers, and I hear that owning your own business in growing and selling plants as potion ingredients can be very lucrative."

"It also help you get several jobs." Andromeda said, but then frown. They don't have a lot of aurors or doctors since potion is one of the criterias, and the current potion teacher is someone that everyone that isn't in Slytherin dislike greatly.

It was actually one of the suggestions Ragnok had made to him, though Harry had no idea how he would go about starting that. Perhaps with Neville's help he could get started. Maybe he could even gain himself a business partner if he pushed Neville in the right direction.

"So then, you want to learn about the study of magical plants then?"

"Yes," Neville nodded. Now that he realized Harry wasn't going to make fun of him for his love of Herbology, he seemed a bit more confident talking about it. "I actually own a Greenhouse at home where I grow my own plants. I don't have a lot right now. Gran said she wouldn't allow me to have any of the more dangerous ones until my third year at Hogwarts, but I do have a few that are pretty rare."

"The sounds sensational. Herbology is a commendable field of study," Harry praised, causing Neville to blush in a bit of embarrassment. The boy had probably not been given much praise as a child. He wouldn't be so under confident otherwise.

"No, I didn't." Neville admitted, a bit embarrassed. His gran doesn't treat him badly, but she expects him to be a lot like his father.

It looked like it was up to Harry to up the boy's confidence to where it should be. That was fine with him. If Harry was going to have Neville as an ally, he wanted someone who could make informed decisions without needing a prompt in the right direction from him, and he needed people who would challenge and push his beliefs by playing devils advocate.

One could not become great unless they were challenged by those around them, including their allies.

"Very true." Wei said in agreement, along with Andromeda.

"Hiya, Harry, Neville!"

A distinctly feminine voice reached the pairs ears, and both turned around to see Hannah and Susan walking up to them. The blond, pig tailed girl was waving to them, a large smile plastered on her face. Meanwhile, Susan was walking slightly behind her with a shy, slightly embarrassed smile directed at them.

"Good morning, Hannah," Harry greeted with a congenial smile. Hannah's bright smile greeted him as the two girls stopped in front of them. He then turned his attention to the other girl. "And good morning to you as well, Susan?"

"Good morning Harry." Susan seemed to be doing much better in his presence than she had yesterday. No longer was she looking down at her shoes when she spoke to him. Instead she was actually making a decent effort at maintaining eye contact.

Her face was still nearly as red as her hair though.

The first years muffled their laughs or giggles at the typical look while Susan blushed brightly, once again.

With the addition of the two Hufflepuffs, Harry and Neville made their way into the Great Hall. It wasn't that crowded yet, though it looked like a little more than half the school was already eating, there were still quite a few seats available for them. Most of the people who had yet to come in were those who enjoyed sleeping in, like Seamus and Dean.

"Why don't we sit at the Hufflepuff table today," suggested Harry. The other three looked at him in identical masks of confusion, then at each other. After a shared shrug, they followed Harry's suggestion and made for the Hufflepuff table. Even though they had only been around him for one day, they were beginning to get used to the boy-who-lived's eccentricities.

"He still got some surprises up his sleeve." Blaise said. There were some nods or snorts of agreement from the other first years. Ain't that the truth?

By this point in time, a lot of people in the school knew about Harry's friendship with Susan and Hannah, so while their walk down the Great Hall garnered quite a bit of attention, most of it seemed to run more along the lines of idle curiosity instead outright gawking.

Which was good, because it meant people were getting used to them. That was one of the first steps towards acceptance.

As Harry sat down at the table with Susan on his left, Hannah on his right, and Neville on her right, several heads turned to look at them.

"Harry!" Sally-Ann Perks gasped in surprise while Ernie Macmillon and Megan Jones gaped at him. "What are you doing here?"

Harry offered the girl a polite, indulging smile. "I decided that since Hannah and Susan were kind enough to indulge me by sitting at the Gryffindor table yesterday, it was only right that Neville and I returned the favor."

"Oh," Sally-Ann Perks mouth formed a slight 'o' shape as she spoke. "Well, I guess that makes sense."

"So Harry," Hannah said, diverting his attention away from the other girl and onto her. Sally-Ann Perks puffed up her cheeks slightly, but didn't get to say anything when her friend, Leanne, began teasing her about wanting to spend time talking to Harry Potter.

Harry only spared the girls a curious glance, wondering if this was something that girls did to bond with each other.

The guys looked at the girls questioningly, silently asking the same question. All of them merely smile or smirk at them, even Mcgonagall have a twitch of a smile.

The thought was shrugged off a moment later and he refocused all of his attention on Hannah.

While Sally-Ann Perks began blushing and sputtering, Hannah had continued talking.

"We have Charms class today, think you can give us some advice?"

"I wouldn't worry about the class to much yet," Harry told her. "Right now you'll just be getting an introduction into what you're going to be learning this year. The only spell you'll be learning right now is a simple color changing charm, which is actually very simple to accomplish, though it does help to know which color you want the cloth Professor Flitwick will give you to change into."

Even though Hannah was the one who asked the question, all of the first year Hufflepuffs that were seated near him leaned in to hear what he had to say. Everyone single one of them remembered how Harry had done in Transfiguration. If he was even half as good in Charms as he was in that class, then it would be wise to listen to him.

Mcgonagall nodded in approval, then frown a bit. A part of her wish that the students would pay attention to the classes that much, but she is glad that Harry is helping them.

"Speaking of classes," Hannah started. "What class do you guys have?"

"Double Potions with the Slytherins."

Neville grimace at his least favorite class, as well as the memory of the first day there. "This isn't going to end well." Those who were there grimace as well.

Lisa C look confused. "Why not?"

"You'll see."

Hannah grimaced. "Ouch, good luck with that. I've heard that class is horrible."

"Oh?" Harry blinked. "What's so bad about it?"

"It's the Professor," surprisingly enough, it was Susan who spoke up. Harry, Neville, and Hannah turned to look at her. She flushed slightly at the attention, but screwed up her courage and continued. "One of the older students told us that the Potions teacher is really mean to everyone in class to everyone who isn't in Slytherin. Apparently, he's their Head of House."

Mcgonagall frown. She wish Albus would deal with Snape about his teaching styles, as well as his bias views, but the headmaster trust that man too much.

Anastasia look at the transfiguration teacher. "They are exaggerating, right? I can't expect most principals or headmasters letting someone so biased teach classes here." She grew a little worried when Mcgonagall didn't say anything about it or defended the teacher they're talking about.

"So we have a biased teacher who hates anyone who isn't in Slytherin," Harry frowned. "Surely you're exaggerating, right? I can't imagine the Headmaster allowing someone who's so biased to teach classes here."

"Well, maybe, I don't know," Susan admitted softly. "I'm just telling you what we were told. I can't help but think it's true though. All of the older students who were within hearing range when we were told this agreed."

Wei frown. "If this is true, then I'm not sure this Dumbledore if the best man to lead the school if lets bullying from kids or adults fly." Mcgonagall wanted to defend Dumbled, as well as Hermione, but they have no logical explanation for that. The two of them both know how biased Snape is.

Harry's frown deepened a tad. He would admit to being worried about what he was told. Potions was actually one of the classes he was looking forward to the most. It would be very disappointing to have his expectations ruined by a biased teacher.

Potions, unfortunately, did turn out to be a major disappointment.

Anastasia, Wei, and Andromeda frown at that.

Harry and Neville entered class with the other Gryffindors. The classroom was located in the dungeons. It was dark, dank, and there was a cold draft blowing in from somewhere.

The room smelled of fumes, almost clogging the senses. Everywhere Harry looked he could see shelves upon shelves lined with potions ingredients. Some he recognized, many he didn't. He saw powders, slimes, shells that looked like they belonged to some kind of animal. A few jars even had shrunken and shriveled up heads in them.

The TV show the picture of the potion room, as well as the dungeon. Lisa C shudder at the looks of it. "Why would anyone want to stay at a dungeon? It look like it would suck all of the warmth out of you."

"You get used to it." Tracey said, with Daphne and Blaise nodding. They got use to being at a dungeon, eventually.

The Slytherin students were already there. Harry recognized Daphne and Tracey as they sat together at a table near the back of the Slytherin section. Blaize was sitting with Theodore Knott, a weedy looking kid with beady eyes and stringy black hair. A little ways over from the dark skinned Italian boy sat Malfoy, who was surrounded by Greg and Goyle, as well as Pansy Parkinson, a girl with black hair and a pug-like nose.

Harry and Neville sat in the middle of the group of Gryffindors. At first he had considered sitting in the front like he usually did, but after hearing about how the Potions professor was rumored to behave, had decided that it may be safer to sit somewhere more inconspicuous.

"Smart call." Nymphadora said with a nod. She's been at Hogwart when Snape was potion teacher and she really loath the bias git.

Wanting to be prepared, Harry pulled out several of the shrunken objects he had taken to class with him, his cauldrons and brass scales, the book Magical Drafts and Potions, and a muggle notepad where he stored all of his notes on the potions he had worked on over the summer along with a calligraphy pen and his potions kit.

"So basically, every material he needs to face against Snape." Nymphadora stated, getting a nod from the younger wizards and witches. Snape is ruthless, to all but Slytherin. If you want to pass that class, you will need to prepare yourself for the worst he can give you.

Neville also brought out the items he brought, but he didn't have nearly as many supplies as Harry.

A little while after everyone had entered and got seated, the potions Professor swept into the room, his robes billowing out behind him, making him look like some kind of oversized bat.

There were a few snickers and laugh from the audience, even Mcgonagall has a twitch of a smile for that one.

Severus Snape was a very pale man with a long, hooked nose and shallow black eyes. His hair hung around his face and was incredibly greasy. It looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. His finger nails were dirty and looked like he had never taken the time to clean them. Harry's eyes could pick out several stains on his black robes from potions and fumes that had not been washed out. Once more, Harry had to question the personal hygiene of most adult wizards, as the man before him looked like he hadn't bathed in days.

"Same." Anastasia and Lisa C said in agreement while Wei merely nodded. Lisa C wrinkle her nose when she saw Severus in the very description.

Class started when Snape took roll. Like Professor Flitwick, he stopped at Harry's name.

Unlike Professor Flitwick, he did not seem very excited.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Potter," he said softly, with that mocking, condescending tone. "Our new celebrity."

It was in that moment that Harry realized this class was not going to be anywhere near as pleasant as he had hoped, and would likely be even worse than he could have possibly imagined.

"A teacher who doesn't like Harry." Lisa C said in amazement. "I never thought I would see the day."

"I don't think Snape like anyone, if his own Slytherin." Hannah retorted. No one denied her statement about that one, although Mcgonagall remember that Snape used to be friends with Lily. So the statement isn't completely true.

Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished taking roll and then looked up at the class with eyes that were darker than the blackest of nights and ten times more menacing. They held a condescending quality to them that made the man look like he was staring at a bunch of ants, rather than a group of students wanting to learn.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. His voice was barely above a whisper, yet everyone in the class could hear him and watched on with bated breath. Harry had to give the man credit, he knew how to captivate an audience, even if he didn't care about looking more professional. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Anastasia frown. "That is not something you need to say about students. I can already tell that the rumors about this teacher is probably accurate."

There were mutters of 'Understatement' and 'You have no idea' from young group of magicals.

Harry's eyes subconsciously narrowed. The last part of his speech had been unacceptable. A teacher was not supposed to mock and belittle his students by calling them names. It was the job of a teacher to encourage those learning under them and help them understand the subject they are striving to teach.

"Well said Mr. Potter." Mcgonagall said with a firm nod. Snape is showing the exact opposite of what a teacher supposed to be and yet, Albus still keeps him there without even reprimanding him for his behavior.

It had only been a few seconds since the class began, and already Harry had a low opinion of the potions professor.

Lisa C whistle. "Damn. A new record."

"Lisa C, language!"

"Sorry." The girl said meekly under her mother's stern stare.

Sitting beside him, Neville seemed to shake ever so slightly in fear. His eyes were wide and he looked like he wanted to hide under the desk. Two tables away from them, Hermione Jean Granger sat on the edge of her seat and was already taking notes, looking eager to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly, causing nearly half the class to jump. Harry just frowned. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Mcgonagall's eyebrows rose in surprise before scowling. "That's an upper year question, not something fit for a first year." She said, a bit angry. Andromeda is also frowning as well at the bullying the professor is doing.

Hermione's hand shot into the air while Harry stiffened in his seat slightly, but quickly relaxed and answered the question. "You would get a powerful sleeping potion known as Draught of the Living Death, which is said to be so powerful it makes the person who drank it seem as if they are dead."

Snape's eyes widened, surprise showing blatantly on his face. It only lasted for a second, maybe less. Harry doubted any of the students had seen it, but he had, and it was good to know he had just surprised the man who seemed to have the desire to pick on him.

"A lucky guess," Snape sneered. Harry's hand twitched where it was on the table. "Very well then, answer me this. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezaor?"

"In the stomach of a goat, sir," Harry answered as Hermione's hand began to tremble in the air. It went ignored. "It's a stone-like object that is capable of curing most poisons, and is used in the preparation of many common antidotes."

Snape's nostril's flared, the only sign he gave that he was upset that Harry had answered him correctly.

Mcgonagall frown even more. Is Snape really that petty to hold on to that childhood grudge? And once more, send that grudge out on a child, who has no involvement of that time?

"What is the difference, Potter, between Monkshood and Wolvesbane?"

"There is no difference, sir," once again Harry answered the question as Hermione's hand began to wave in the air. She was beginning to look angry.

"I was." Hermione said with a huff, although she admit, it was silly of her to raise her hand when Snape was asking Harry specifically. She was just so use to having the answers all the time.

"It's the same plant, and is one of the key ingredients in the Wolfsbane potion that was created to relieve the strain of Lycanthropy during the full moon and allows the werewolf who drinks it to retain their humanity during the transformation. Wolfsbane also goes by the name Aconite by mugle botanists."

For a long, long second, Snape stood there, staring at Harry like he was the worst kind of disease. Within the sleeves of his robes, Snape's hands clenched into fists so tightly they shook. The man looked one second away from throttling Harry for daring to get the answers to his questions right.

And then the man's face went blank for a second, before he sneered. "Ten points from Gryffindor for cheating, Mr. Potter. And another ten for being an insufferable know-it-all."

"What?!" Was the response from some of the readers, except for the ones who weren't there or heard about what happen. Mcgonagall look especially angry.

'I'm am going to talk to Albus about Severus Snape's behavior.' Mcgonagall vowed in her mind. This type of things shouldn't go unpunished, whether you're a teacher or a student.

Harry's body went stiff with rage. He managed to control himself, for the most part, but his eyes narrowed.

"Cheating?" he said, his tone almost questioning. "And just what makes you think I am cheating... sir," he added at the end, the tone more condescending than he had ever used when speaking to a teacher. Not that he was even sure this man deserved to be called a teacher.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that you cheated when answering those questions. None of them are on the first year syllabus -"

"Then you shouldn't have asked him." Anastasia said angrily, not liking this man one bit. That man is a horrible excuse for a teacher.

"Then why did you ask them to me," interrupted Harry, drawing shocked gasps from everyone in the room and flared nostrils from Snape. "If this knowledge isn't in the first year course work, then you shouldn't have asked me those questions in the first place. And the mere fact that this knowledge isn't something a first year is supposed to know makes it equally obvious that I didn't cheat, because there is no way I could have known you were going to ask those questions, since it wasn't in the first course syllabus... sir." This time, there was no mistaking the condescension in his tone when he said sir.

"I would not encourage a student to do that, but Severus deserves it." Mcgonagall said, glaring at the image. She wonders what else the man has done over the year behind her and Dumbledore's back.

Snape's upper lip curled as he grit his teeth. The man looked like he wanted to burn Harry to ash with his eyes. Had they been capable of shooting out laser beams, Harry would likely already be dead.

Harry met the man's glare head on. A part of him knew this was wrong, knew he should back down and try to regain his composure, but Snape had pushed one button too many. These days, there were very few things in this world that upset Harry Potter, truly upset him.

One of the few things that still upset him, truly upset him, was accusing him of cheating or calling him a liar. Harry Potter never cheat. He didn't need to. The simple fact was that thanks to his eidetic memory he was more intelligent than anyone his age he had ever met, and more intelligent than many people twice his age. He didn't need to cheat to get good grades.

"Understatement of the century." Lisa C said with an eye roll, with the others agreeing. Harry doesn't need to cheat in order to pass each class.

It was also a matter of pride. Harry Potter was a prideful person. To cheat meant to stain ones honor and pride. And he refused to do that.

So to have Snape accuse him of cheating was galling, and not something he was willing to let slide.

It was during this stare down, where everyone on the sidelines waited on baited breath, that he felt it. That familiar feeling of something trying to poke around in his head. Legillemency.

"What?!" Mcgonagall exclaimed, her scottish accent slipping in. That shows how angry she really. "I'm going to have a chat with Severus! And Albus as well, if he knew he was doing that!"

The first years and the Tonks almost feel bad for Severus. They knew that when Mcgonagall want to have a chat and is really angry with you, she will chew you up and spit you out.

Harry could barely contain a snarl as he realized Snape was trying to invade his mind. It was one thing for the Sorting Hat to enter his head in order to Sort him into his house. He didn't like it, but he could accept it. It was quite another to have a teacher invading his mind because he was angry at having someone contradict him when he knew they were right.

And Harry was not going to stand for it.

Harry's magic rolled forth as he opened the floodgates to his core. His entire body became saturated in energy as he contained it within his own body, compressing it into a tiny ball of condensed energy.

And than he launched the magic at Snape's mind probe.

There was no subtlety in Harry's defense. It couldn't even truly be called defense. Harry's mind and magic bashed into Snape's probe with all the subtle prowess bull in a China shop. It crashed against Snape's mind probe like a middle-aged battering ram bashing against the gates of an ancient stronghold, destroying the probe like it was made of paper. So powerful was Harry's retaliation that the mental attack actually had some adverse effects in the real world.

That perked up everyone's interest, especially the ones who know of the mind magic.

Snape, unprepared for someone who was actually capable of using even the most basic talents of Occlumency, was sent stumbling backwards as the mind magic smacked him in the face almost literally. The attack burrowed into a mind and drove a large spike of pain into his brain.

He hissed, bringing a hand up to his forehead to try and stem the pain from hurting him further. It felt like someone had driven a spike through his head. His vision blurred for a second, before snapping back into focus with painful clarity.

"..." Everyone was shock at what happened, especially the wizards and witches. They knew that Harry was powerful, but to push back a mind probe and have an experience wizard

Harry watched on, glaring at the man who had dared enter his mind uninvited. He didn't know much about the mind arts. In fact, he only knew what the Sorting Hat had told him. But surely there was some kind of law against invading the mind of a minor? Of a student?

"Yes it is." Mcgonagall said crisply, her scottish accent still showing. Andromeda and Nymphadora, along with the pureblood kids, nodded to it as well. They question why Dumbledore would allow this man at school, if he is willing to invade a minor's mind.

Snape's seemed to come to. His body straightened and his hand fell away. Harry watched the man grimacing warily, waiting to see if he would be stupid enough to attack him in some way again. If he did, Harry would show him that he was not one to be trifled with. If he tried anything, Harry would break the man's nose. It wouldn't take much to knock him flat. Harry could probably reach Snape before he even pulled out his wand.

"Definitely." Lisa C grin, wanting to see that git get a beat down. Wei, on the other hand, frown. He is going to reteach this boy to control his temper. Although he couldn't blame him, considering that man was trying to invade his mind.

However, Snape did nothing more to attack him. After a moment where the two stared at each other, one wary and ready to attack, the other with an unfathomable expression on his face, Snape turned away, flicking his hand at the chalkboard where a set of instruction wrote themselves.

"Follow the instructions and begin making the potion," he said, his voice distant. He sounded like he was in pain, or suffering from a migraine. "I expect each of you to have a vial filled with the potion at the end of class. Begin now."

There were a few seconds where no one did anything. Everyone was still switching their gaze from Harry to Snape in confusion and shock. Harry could almost imagine what was going through their minds as they tried to come up with some comprehensible theory on what had just taken place.

"Some theories are probably crazier than others." Tracey said, with some of them agreeing. People at Hogwarts students can come up with some pretty crazy stuff, even for a wizard or witch.

He couldn't blame them, he would probably be confused as well if he had just watched what amounted to a mental duel between two people.

Snape snarled. "Well! What are you waiting for!? An invitation!?"

"Although all thought process when Snape use the intimidation card." Tracey joked, getting a few laughs. That's pretty true though, for most of the first years. Especially Neville.

That got everyone started. There was a great scraping of chairs as students stood up and made their way to the potions cabinet to grab their potions. Neville had also tried to get up so he could get the potions showing on the board, but Harry stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll get them," Harry said, summoning his wand from his holster. Without deliberation he waved it over at the cabinet, and all of the ingredients the instructions called for soon floated above the heads of shocked students and made their way over to Harry's and Neville's desk.

"It even briefly broke Daphne's cold mask for a brief second." Tracey teased, getting a slap on the arm from her friend for revealing that fact. She merely laugh while Daphne glare at her.

Professor Snape eyed the flying potion ingredients, his face carefully blank as he watched Harry begin setting everything up.

"I honestly thought he was going to punish Harry for it." Neville admitted. "I was surprise when he didn't even say anything."

"Most likely a bit scared of what Harry can do if he tries." Tracey grinned, getting a few nods in agreement.

"I'll prepare the ingredients while you add them to the cauldron," Harry said softly to Neville as he set aside all of the items he needed to prepare the ingredients for adding to the potion. The round-faced boy nodded, the gesture seeming almost instinctive as his mind didn't seem to be all there, as Harry flicked his wand at the cauldron as it sat over the bunsen burner to start a fire.

He picked up his notepad and flipped over to the page where he had his instructions for the boil cure potion, which was what the instructions on the board told him they were making. The instructions were written in elegant cursive, clearly visible and easily legible. He set the instructions in front of Neville, who was still looking at him in shock.

"Use these instruction to create the potion," Harry instructed.

Neville seemed to snap out of his stupor at all that had transpired and looked at the notepad.

"Harry," he said carefully. "These instructions are different from the ones on the board."

"Yes, I would imagine so," Harry said dismissively. "I created those instruction when I was experimenting at home. Not only will the potion be of a much higher quality, but it will also cut down half the time to make it. Just follow the instructions."

Neville didn't respond at first, and it was clear he was still very confused by everything that had transpired within the last few minutes, but eventually he seemed to hold in his curiosity and muttered a, "right," before getting to work.

As silence descended upon the classroom, with nothing but the bubbling of cauldrons and the cutting, scraping, and scuffing noise of people working on their potions to break it, Harry began to finally calm down. He allowed his hands to work on their appointed task with the ease of someone who knew what they were doing and could work with their eyes blindfolded. It was one of the many benefits of being such a great chef, cooking was very similar to brewing a potion.

"Don't let the purebloods here that." Hannah joked. "They would have a fit." Some chuckled at that statement, even though it's kinda true.

And as Harry worked in silence with Neville, he allowed his mind to wander.

Now that he was much calmer, Harry felt a hint of shame at how violently he had reacted. He should be better than this. Harry had dealt with insufferable people before. If he could deal with his Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin on a daily basis and not lose his cool when all he wanted to do was telekinetically hurl them through a wall, then surely he could deal with one surely teacher.

"Considering he tried to read your mind, I don't really blame you for losing your cool." Lisa C said dryly. Even someone like Harry would get angry if someone try to invade your mind.

Except that this man wasn't just a surely teacher with a strong amount of biased, was he? It was clear that Snape hated him with a passion, even though they had never met. From the very first moment he had come upon Harry's name during roll, the man had done his best to mock and insult Harry. The potion professor's animosity for him was quite astounding, and incredibly childish.

"Yes, it is." Mcgonagall said crisply. Honestly, Snape would bring his hatred of James out on Harry? She wonders what cause Dumbledore to hire that man.

Which really just made Harry more ashamed of himself. He was supposed to be above responding to such childish taunts. A man who was so childish he would resort to using elementary school insults and taking points was beneath receiving a response from a person like him.

Wei nodded in agreement, although the other don't agree. "He tried to get into his head, I don't blame him for losing his temper." Tracey said, getting nods in agreement.

"I think he was referring to before, when he talked back at the man." Wei told them. "That was when he should have not lose his temper." There were a few snorts of disagreements.

As Harry cleaned the horned slugs of any contaminants that might adversely affect the potion, his mind went through all it knew about Severus Snape thanks to his mother's journals.

According to his mum, she and Snape had actually been childhood friends when they were younger. They had met before they had both been accepted at Hogwarts. Apparently, it was Snape who had informed his mother that she was a witch.

When they got to Hogwarts, his mother had been sorted into Gryffindor and Snape went into Slytherin. Despite this, they still managed to remain friends for a long time.

Those who already know the story didn't really pay attention while others did.

During their years at Hogwarts, Snape had come under the assault of none other than the Marauders, who had taken to playing pranks on him and the other Slytherin students, though they had mostly picked on him.

Harry knew that a big part of this bullying was due to how close Snape was to his mother. From the moment he had laid eyes on Lily Evans, James Potter had been in love with her, and had taken every opportunity he could to gain her affection. However, she had continued to spurn his advances, claiming he was an arrogant bully for picking on her friend.

Lily's spurning of his love had only pushed James to new heights of bullying, and Snape had responded to the then arrogant boy's taunts and pranks with equal fervor. This intense rivalry between Snape and James had lasted until their seventh year at Hogwarts, when Lily had chosen to begin dating James.

However, Snape's friendship with his mother had been broken two years before that. During their fifth year, after a rather terrible prank that Lily had tried to defend Snape from, he had called her a Mudblood, which was a terrible derivative to call someone who was born from muggle parents. It was akin to calling someone of African descent a nigger, or a Chinese person a Chink. It was considered one of the vilest and most insulting words you could call a muggle-born, and it had ruined their friendship permanently.

Perhaps that was why Snape hated him so much. Perhaps he saw Harry's father as the man who was responsible for destroying his friendship with Lily. Maybe he saw Harry as a symbol of James' victory over him.

"Then he is more than immature than I thought." Anastasia said with a frown. Others nodded in agreement while Daphne smirked a little when she read the next line.

If so than the man was even more immature than he thought.

Some of the people laugh while Anastasia smiled sheepishly. Though she is glad that Harry is thinking the same thing.

Blaming the child for the sins of the father was incredibly childish, and to carry a grudge for so long over a man whose been dead for eleven years was even more so. Harry had to wonder why Dumbledore allowed a man like this to teach school children. Surely the headmaster knew that having someone so petty and petulant teaching would only create more problems in the future?

"Many would think that." Wei said, wondering the same thing as his student. What is the headmaster thinking when he hired this man?

"Harry," Neville said in a voice so quiet even Harry had almost missed him speaking as he stirred the cauldron. The original instructions said not to while on the brewing phase of the potion he was currently at, but Harry's improved instructions called for the potion to be stirred with two clockwise stirs, and one counterclockwise stir every minute for five minutes in order to hasten the mixing of the ingredients after one added the horned slugs.

"Yes?"

"What was all that about?" asked Neville. "You know, with Professor Snape?"

"I don't know," Harry said honestly. He wasn't sure if the other boy was talking about Snape's reaction to him, or the end results of their little mental duel. In either event, he only had a small bit of knowledge on both subjects, so he wasn't really lying, even if he did have a few theories. "You'd have to ask Professor Snape."

"Not happening." Was the answers from several first years. They would not risk getting their heads ripped off by asking Snape about his past.

Neville looked at Harry for a moment, before eventually nodding and returning to the potion. He took the cauldron off the fire, then added two porcupine quills that Harry had chopped up and added them to the cauldron.

As Neville began to stir, Harry debated on what he should do about Snape. It was clear to him that the man couldn't be trusted with children. It was equally clear that Snape's grudge against his father was still ruling his life. At the same time, Dumbledore must have a reason for keeping the man here.

"That shouldn't interfere with his job." Anastasia said, crossing her arms. "When you are doing your job, whether it's teaching or directing the school, you have to put everything else behind you. No other personal pursuits should matter."

The adults nodded in agreement to that statement. "Well said Ms. Crawft." Andromeda said. "Dumbledore should realize that."

That didn't mean much to Harry, not after finding out that Dumbledore was the reason he was forced to live at the Dursley's, but it did mean that he couldn't do much. While being the Boy-Who-Lived gave him great leeway with his peers, and could probably be used to further his cause politically, it would not help him win a fight against Albus Dumbledore. The man had been a leader of the light for over one hundred years, was looked up to and respected by everyone as one of the most powerful wizards of the century, and had more political acumen and pull than Harry did.

Perhaps it would be best if he did nothing for the moment, then? Yes, that seemed to be the best course of action right now. He would do nothing, and no one but him and Snape would know what had truly transpired during those few minutes where they had stared each other down. He would come to class, act exceedingly polite and not let on that anything was wrong, and he would secretly hold the fact that the man had tried to unsuccessfully invade his mind hang over the potion Professor's head like a dark storm cloud. Every time Snape saw Harry, he would know that Harry could say anything at anytime, that he could release the news that a professor of Hogwarts had attacked a student using legillemency, but for some reason wasn't. He would make the man sweat.

Tracey whistled. "Wow, a evil mind Harry has there."

"A mind of a true politician." Andromeda told her. If Harry can think like that at the age of eleven, then you wouldn't want to make an enemy out of him when he gets older.

In the meantime, Harry would look up the school rules involving using Legillemency on a student. He would also see if some of the law books he had yet to read had anything on Legillemency and it's legalities in the magical world. Hopefully, there would be something he could use against Snape in the future, either as black mail or to get him fired if he felt the man would be too much of a problem.

It wasn't exactly what he wanted to do, which involved publicly humiliating Snape and having the man live the rest of his life in shame, but it was the best he could do on such short notice. It would be enough, for now. Harry was nothing if not patient.

"That's the end of the chapter." Daphne said, putting the book down on the table. She took a sip of pumpkin juice beside the book. "Anyone else want to read?"

And that's the end. I hope you guys like this chapter and I hope no one acted OC. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.