...
Rodrick wound up showing up to the Potion's classroom late, having overslept for the first time since he'd arrived in the castle. And while he genuinely had a good enough excuse for the matter, he had a feeling the whole 'late because my Dark Lord grandfather was busy teaching me curses,' wasn't going to fly well with anyone. Still, it quickly became rather clear that any fears of being reprimanded were unfounded the moment he saw the sheer number of students waiting outside the class.
It certainly wasn't the first time their classes had been relatively swamped by the other years, merely the first time he'd been caught outside of it.
It took him a further moment before he noticed Daphne trying and failing to go in as well. Walking up towards her, he quickly grabbed her attention, earning a worried smile from the girl in response. It took a few minutes of waiting before their head of year was finally seen marching towards his classroom.
At which point Daphne promptly went and hid behind him.
'Thanks...let me take the brunt of it why don't you,' He couldn't help rolling his eyes.
The professor in the end merely gave them a nod of understanding on noticing the gathered crowd. Said conglomerate of students almost immediately dispersing at the sight of him.
...
The classroom itself wound up not going as expected, at least in any of the Gryffindor's opinions. Most of their other professors, after all, had either made no reaction to their resident celebrity or outright gushed over him.
Severus Snape, judging by the look he sent his fellow year-mate, didn't look like he was going to do either. A fact that made the Slytherin students sitting right up front quite happy though it brought more unnecessary attention towards him and Daphne. Given both, the fact their current seating arrangement was close to the boy in question as well as the fact the professor had used them as an excuse when mentioning Harry Potter's Celebrity status affecting everyone else.
Whilst somehow deciding it gave the Potter heir an ego. And frankly, Rodrick just couldn't see it.
Harry Potter, from what he'd seen so far almost seemed humble in nature. Not that it meant he'd openly disagree with his professor. He had some sense, after all.
Tracey, her seat right ahead of them in the middle section, looked rather frightened of the professor.
'...I might have to tell her she doesn't have too much to worry about...'
Blaise, on the other hand, much like Malfoy seemed to enjoy the professor's actions, a fact he found disconcerting. He couldn't very well be seen with him enjoying such actions as getting the professor's trust looked to be hard enough, the others anyway.
The lesson itself had quite literally started off with a problem, with Harry Potter copying down everything their professor was saying. Snape, however, had somehow taken the fact as an insult, or an excuse.
He'd watched as the professor went up to him, questioning if the boy was too good to be paying attention. Before proceeding to bombard him with questions he couldn't answer. Questions Hermione Granger could, judging by the raised hand.
Either that or the girl just really had to use the restroom.
Rodrick unfortunately had been sitting to his right, albeit there was a gap between their tables. And on his own parchment sat the answers he'd written down himself. A piece he'd intended to give to the Potter heir, to help him. However, Harry Potter, on seeing him more or less doing as he did; that been writing on parchment evidently, promptly threw him under the bus.
"...Well, Rodrick must not be paying any attention either, as he's doing the exact same thing!" Harry Potter remarked, pointing one finger towards his parchment.
'...Really, Potter? Really?' He thought irritated, making a mental note not to bother helping him in the future
The words, had, of course, brought most of the attention towards him; his expression twisting the slightest in a wince as Professor Snape turned towards him with a bewildered look, one that immediately disappeared as the man took note of exactly what he'd written.
Rodrick saw the barest hint of a smirk appear on the man's face.
'Ah, crap,'
"Very well then Potter. Rodrick why don't you read out what you've written for the class to hear."
Rodrick almost couldn't help rolling his eyes. He was annoyed, to say the least, practically seeing what was going to happen next. And while he certainly didn't want the repercussions on his head... He still listened to his professor all the same. Reading out each answer to the questions the professor had thrown. Every word somehow making the smirk on Professor Snape more defined and the scowl on Potter's face more prominent.
By the end of it, the irritation was more directed towards him than it was to Snape.
'Perfect' Thought Rodrick 'The-boy-who-lived wants me dead.' Which, he hoped was an exaggeration.
Hermione Granger's hand had long since gone down; the girl either annoyed at him or envious of the attention the professor had shown. A fact that, unfortunately, resulted in an instinctual chuckle given it was a clear matter of house favoritism and nothing else.
Harry Potter sadly caught the action and likely thought that it was intended for him.
He pre-emptively sighed, given he doubted the odds of him taking it remotely positive.
"Do you see the difference now Potter? While you're wasting parchment, Rodrick had the insight to write down the answers and not cry for attention." The man sneered as he turned to Granger near the end. "10 points to Slytherin and five from Gryffindor for your classmate's cheek."
'That about does it, every Gryffindor here probably likes Malfoy more than me,' Rodrick sat back down with a heavy sigh. That was admittedly a new low, all things considered.
Looking around, he almost couldn't help rolling his eyes at some of the looks of approval his fellow Slytherins were giving him. Though at the very least Malfoy had settled for sneering.
He wasn't sure if he could handle approval from the blonde snake.
After a few seconds, having turned his attention towards Daphne and Tracey, he found the two openly grinning at him. 'Well, can't be all that bad I suppose.'
...
The class, despite the rocky start, continued on easily enough. Each table wound up pairing up together and attempting to follow the instructions on books.
Thankfully the professor had laid off of him, focusing instead on Malfoy, who had unsurprisingly gleamed on the attention shown. Daphne, his designated partner, had initially seemed put out by the fact as their work had been as good. Though it hadn't lasted, the girl, for whatever reason, letting the matter go... after staring at him for a moment.
He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the reason.
Still, despite his wariness towards the subject, potion's making admittedly was rather relaxing, somewhat enjoyable even.
...
There did wind up being another incident during the lesson where a certain Longbottom had managed to mess up the recipe shown, causing it to boil through the cauldron onto himself. The effect looked about to make the girl beside him throw up, something he'd thankfully managed to prevent. His hand grabbing the end of her robe sleeve, a faint yellow glow coming out from beneath his hand.
"Thank you," She'd stated after collecting herself.
He shrugged off the thanks, instead choosing to focus his attention on their currently livid professor.
He watched as the grown man called the, clearly terrified boy a fool before calling for someone to come and escort him out. Albeit not before he turned towards Potter and blamed him for not helping the other make the potion properly. Practically accusing him of having let it happen so he could look better.
Daphne had chosen that moment to whisper something to him, his own reaction to the unrelated joke been a snort.
The professor having heard them merely raised an eyebrow though he chose not to say anything. Really, if anything he looked faintly amused.
The two Gryffindor's in trouble, well Potter, at any rate, narrowed his eyes towards them having assumed to be made fun of.
"This just keeps getting better 'n better doesn't it Daph?" He almost couldn't help the whisper back.
The girl rolled her eyes at his choice of words, barely managing to keep her smile from growing.
Following that, thankfully, things somehow managed to calm down. The end of the lesson, despite his enjoyment of it, frankly, could not have come fast enough.
...
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