Inside the classroom, Snape pointed to her naughty desk and made Ari take a seat. Then he made her roll up her sleeves so he could check her arms. Ari had almost forgotten about her scratches; they had stopped hurting and bothering her so much. Most of them had faded to thin lines, and many were barely even visible. Looked like Dittany must've really helped.

"It's recovering," Snape finally said, looking up at her. "I believe you shouldn't need any more of the Dittany."

She nodded. "Okay."

"I'll need the bottle back," he said. "Do you have it with you now?"

She shook her head.

"Bring it back to me as soon as you can, then."

"Okay," she said again.

He stared at her a moment longer, his eyes dark and brooding. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, having the distinct impression he wanted to say something else — but he didn't. Instead, he got to his feet and walked over to his desk. Curious, she watched as he opened his desk cupboard, took out a piece of parchment, and slid it toward her. Ari peered down at the parchment, which was covered with what looked like potions instructions. Only instead of written in Snape's usual spiky handwriting, the words were clear and mechanical, as though the page had been taken from a textbook.

Before Ari could ask Snape what this parchment was all about though, he suddenly waved his wand around. At once, a cauldron and bottles containing various potions ingredients appeared on her desk. She stiffened. The mishmash of equipment and bottles in front of Ari gave her a sudden flashback to all her horrible Potions classes and all the times she'd work on those stinky potions and get yelled at for messing up.

"What's all this for?" Ari demanded, looking at the ingredients, then Snape.

"Don't you recognize any of the ingredients?" Snape asked.

She frowned and scanned the table. A moment later, she spotted a familiar looking wrinkled fruit resting among the other supplies, and she perked up.

"Wait, I know this one!" she exclaimed, snatching up the fruit. "It's the fruit I was peeling yesterday. But then I added the whole thing to my cauldron and I guess I wasn't supposed to do that, because — well, the potion turned to a total mess," she added, grinning as she thought of her jelly concoction.

Meanwhile, Snape pursed his lips, not looking the least bit amused. "But Professor," she continued hastily before Snape could make a snide remark, "why do you have everything out here again? And why'd you get out my cauldron and write all these instructions on this paper? Are you gonna make me make another potion or something?"

"Yes, dunderhead, indeed," he replied. "You are here to remake — or at least attempt to remake — the Compacting Solution you so catastrophically desecrated yesterday. This time, however, I have established very clear rules and expectations for you. For starters, I expect that you will read and follow each of the instructions on the parchment carefully and thoroughly. In other words, you will no longer be allowed to blunder your way through the potion again and throw whole Shrivelfigs into your cauldron like an unhinged barbarian."

Ari snickered at that amusing memory, but was quickly silenced by a deadly glare from Snape. "In an ideal world," he continued in that low, silky voice with a terribly dangerous undertone, "you will have made a fully functioning potion by the end of your detention tonight. However, in this woefully limited reality, I know that is too high of an expectation for an incorrigible dunderhead like you. Therefore, at the minimum, I ask you to follow the directions to the best of your ability and produce a liquid that resembles a potion. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" she chirped. So she just had to make a liquid resembling a potion… ha! That was easy enough! "You won't be seeing any more jelly things in my cauldron this time. I'll work hard and make a good potion, just you watch!"

"Very well then," he said, narrowing his eyes. "We shall see where this takes us.. and whether you truly have the skill, or are just spouting off empty promises again. Now… begin."

Ari looked excitedly down at the list of potions instructions and read the first line. Since the words on the parchment had the same font as the writing in her textbook, it was much easier to read than Snape's cramped chicken scratch. She pointed to the first line of the instructions and followed the text with her finger. Light up the cauldron.

Well, that was easy enough! She used her wand to poke underneath the cauldron stand a few times before sparks finally managed to come out. She prodded it a few more times before the sparks zapped and ignited into a small fire.

Ari barely had time to celebrate her victory, though, before Snape spoke again. "You've completed the first step," he said. "Now read the second line on the parchment."

She found the second line and read it out loud. "Measure out ten grams of pill bugs, and add them to your cauldron."

She looked up expectantly at Snape, and he nodded. "Find the jar of pill bugs."

Her eyes scanned the various trinkets and jars resting on her desk, and a moment later she spotted a bottle filled with dead, rolled-up bugs. "Is it this one?" she asked, picking it up.

"Correct," he said. "Measure out ten grams on the scale."

Ari started to pour the pill bugs onto one of the scale plate things, but Snape suddenly let out a gas leak hiss. "No, dunderhead! Put the bowl on the scale first and weigh it. Then add in the ten grams weight, and then add the pill bugs into the bowl."

Now that part was sort of confusing, and after another minute of fumbling Snape had to get up from his desk and do it for her. He put the metallic weights on one of the pans, and put the bowl on the other until they balanced out. Then he put in ten grams of the weight so the pan with the weights ended up higher. Only then did he finally tell her to add in the pillbugs to the bowl so that the two pans were equal.

Ari quickly unscrewed the jar of pillbugs, eager to get them measured out. Only, in her excitement, she accidentally tilted the bottle too far, and next thing she knew all the tiny rolled-up bugs came gushing out of the opening. Beside her, Snape leapt five feet in the air, and she screamed as all the dead bugs pelted down onto the floor like something from a nightmare.

"Merlin's drawers!" Snape barked, sidestepping the rolling pill bugs. "Watch where you're pouring, child!"

"Oopsie!" she exclaimed, setting the jar back on the table. "I'll pick them up!"

But just as she hopped down from her chair, her foot went crunch right in a big pile of the pill bugs. "Uhhh!" she said, looking up at Snape like a deer in headlights. "I think I just stepped in them!"

"Don't! Move!" he hissed, his hair zapping out like he was being electrocuted.

Ari froze. He waved his wand and vanished the pill bugs that were rolling around on the floor. He made her lift up her feet, too, so he could vanish the pill bugs squashed underneath her shoes. He told her that the bugs couldn't be used anymore since they'd been crushed by her foot and contaminated when they had touched the floor.

"Hehehe," she laughed sheepishly once they had resettled themselves back in their respective seats. "That was a fun little adventure."

Snape glared at her with all the ferocity of a feral wolf. "Indeed," he hissed, his forehead vein pulsing out its familiar mad tempo. "It never ceases to amaze how you are unable to do the simplest things without landing yourself into a full-fledged battle zone."

Ari giggled. "Why, thank you, sir."

He continued to glower at her, his nostrils flaring. In return, she smiled and batted her eyes cutely.

"Get back to work!" he suddenly barked, slapping his palm against his desk. Ari jumped. "And for God's sake, do be more careful in handling the ingredients this time. There are only so many resources available, and I would prefer not to waste them all on a deadweight like you."

This time, Snape watched her like a hawk as she measured out the ten grams of pill bugs in slow, careful increments. Only when he had approved of her measurement did he let her add the pill bugs into her cauldron.

The rest of the lesson proceeded in a similar vein. Snape would make Ari read each line of instructions out loud and have her follow the steps. Then he would glare her down as she prepared the ingredients or stirred the cauldron, and would keep on nitpicking her until she finally completed the step. Then she would move on the next line of instructions and this process would repeat. It wasn't long before the fun of potion-making wore off, and she just wanted to finish up already so she could be free from Snape's nagging, which seemed to constantly buzz in her ear like an annoying mosquito.

"Can you be quiet, sir?" Ari asked as Snape was in the middle of instructing her on how to properly cut up some weird-looking flower bulbs. "No offense, but your voice is kinda annoying. Not to mention seriously distracting. I think I'd work better if you just stopped bossing me around all the time."

He glared daggers at her, and she held his gaze, fully expecting she'd have to put up a fight. "Very well," he said after a few moments, his voice silky. She blinked in surprise. "If that's what you want."

And just like that, he shut up. Pleasantly surprised at his quick compliance, Ari continued cutting up her flower bulbs in blissful silence, then added them to her cauldron. After stirring it a bit, she read the next step of the recipe, which was to crack open some walnut shells and add them to her potion. So she found the container of hard walnut shells on her desk, but opening the nuts was a lot harder than it looked. The shells were as hard as bone, and no matter how hard she tried pressing or slicing or straight-up whacking them against the table, they just wouldn't open! Ugh! What kind of magic was holding this stuff together?!

"Ughh, this is so hard!" Ari whined after a few minutes of her walnut struggles. "I can't open this stupid thing!" She looked up at Snape, who had his chin propped up with his hand and was watching her with an expression of idle amusement. "What do I do, Professor?"

He blinked. "Why should I tell you?" he said. "I thought you said you didn't want me bossing you around anymore."

"Huh?" she said, and then she remembered the orders she'd given him just a few minutes ago. Oh, this stupid little toad! He just thought he was so slick, huh? She watched as the side of his mouth curled in a sneer, and she glared at him. "Yeah, well, this is different," Ari snapped. "I'm asking you what to do. So, if I ask you, you have to tell me."

"My my," he drawled, his eyes glinting. "How arrogant must you be, to not only tell me what to do, but to think that I'd help you again, after you so ungraciously spurned my guidance earlier?"

Ari gulped, feeling all hot and prickly. "Well I— I changed my mind, okay? I actually need your help now."

"Is that so?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "And if I tell you what to do, are you going to revert to your old opinion and say I'm being too bossy again?"

"No, I won't!" she snapped, feeling both annoyed and impressed at how long he could draw this stupid thing out. "I won't say you're bossy ever again, sir, as long as you just tell me how to open these walnuts. So, can you just tell me how to do it already?"

He pursed his lips. "Say please."

She scowled. "Please."

His eyes gleamed as he gazed at her like a predator sizing up its prey. "Say it in a full sentence."

She gnashed her teeth together, and Snape's diabolical smirk widened. Ugh! This was so annoying! But what else could she do, if she was going to get this stupid potion done by tonight?

"Please," Ari said through gritted teeth. "Please, can you show me how to open these walnuts, sir?"

Snape continued studying her, and for a moment she thought he was gonna torture her some more with his stupid please-ing. But instead, he finally relented and pointed to a weird plier-like device on her desk that she hadn't noticed before, and told her to crack the walnuts with that. She had no idea how to work the pliers, though, so Snape had to demonstrate for her.

It took her a few tries before she was finally able to crack the walnuts herself, and even then, it was quite difficult. She was just glad when they were finally finished and they could add the walnuts to the cauldron and move on to the next step.

After that, Snape continued bossing her around and telling her what to do like usual, but Ari didn't mind it that much anymore. Now she no longer found it annoying, but rather helpful when Snape was telling her what to do every five seconds. Maybe she shouldn't have judged him so harshly the first time around.

Soon they finished preparing the ingredients, and before long they had reached the last step of the recipe, which was to let the potion simmer for fifteen minutes.

"This was really fun, sir," Ari said to Snape as they were letting the potion simmer. "I never thought that making a potion could be so fun. And I guess it wasn't so bad having you boss me around once I got used to it. It was like you were the one telling me what to do, and I was the one actually doing it. We make a good team, don't you think?"

"No, not at all," he rolled his eyes. "Don't you ever dare suggest something so offensive ever again."

"Okay, okay," she giggled. "How much longer until the potion's done simmering?"

He glanced at his timer. "Seven minutes."

"What should we do in those seven minutes, then?" she asked. "Maybe we can talk some more?"

"No, let's not," he snapped. "Sit still and be quiet."

"You know, I've always been curious about your hair, sir," Ari said, ignoring him. "It's so long and pretty. Have you ever thought about wearing it in a ponytail?"

She snickered heartily as the funny image of a ponytailed Snape popped into her mind, while the real Snape glared at her with all the heat of a thousand suns. "No, I have never entertained the idea!" he snapped.

"Oh, really?" she snickered some more. "Well, you should!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" he snarled, baring his teeth. "I'd sooner gouge my eyes out than take fashion advice from a blundering fool such as yourself. Now be quiet! I am not going to tolerate any more of your insolent talk, do you hear me?"

"But it's not insolent talk!" she protested. "It was just an honest suggestion!"

"And your so-called 'honesty' has no place here!" Snape spat, his eyes crackling. "For the last time, just shut up! I've had enough of you and your filthy little mouth. Make one more undue comment about me or my appearance, and I swear it will be the last thing you ever do, do you understand me?!"

"Okay, okay!" she said, rolling her eyes. Sheesh, someone sure was dramatic, wasn't he?

After that, Ari was nice and good and didn't say another word about ponytail Snape, though Snape still glared at her like she owed him money. When the potion was finally done simmering, Snape told her it was done and handed her an empty glass vial to collect it with. As she scooped the potion inside, she was very impressed with how her potion turned out; it was better than any other potion she'd ever made. Not only was it actually a liquid this time and not some strange chunky solid substance, but it was also a deep, sparkly green, like emeralds. Wow! She sure felt like one accomplished Potioneer now!

"See, Professor?" Ari boasted to Snape as she held her potion vial in his face. "Isn't it beautiful? I made this amazing potion with all my skill and self-discipline. And it's like a liquid and a real potion and everything — but you said at the beginning of detention that I wouldn't have been able to do it! I bet you're regretting that you underestimated me like that, huh?"

He snatched the vial from her hand and glared at her. "Don't get your head too puffed up, idiot," he growled. "Need I remind you, I was the one who was feeding you instructions and doing damage control the entire time. If it weren't for me, you would have exploded your fifth cauldron by now and turned my classroom into a nuclear waste site."

"Yeah, right!" Ari rolled her eyes. Leave it to Snape to make it sound like she was some sort of dangerous hooligan who blew up bombs for fun! "I only exploded my cauldron that one time!"

Snape rolled his eyes as well. "One time too many," he growled under his breath. Before she could retort, he quickly added, "all right, dunderhead, that's enough. We're done here for tonight. Now that you've turned in your potion and cleaned up your things, you may go."

"Okay!" Ari chirped, bouncing up and down on her feet. Finally! She was almost starting to think she'd never be freed from this dungeon jail. "I'll see you later then, sir."

He let out a grunt. "Remember, return the bottle of Dittany to me as soon as you can."

"Okay, I will!"

Ari skipped out of the dungeon and back to her dormitory, in a good mood after she had made such a beautiful potion and was finally freed from detention. Plus, today was Friday! Tomorrow was the weekend and she could sleep in for as long as she wanted! Hip hip hooray!