Chapter 7: First Detention and Lesson
It's just the third week of the year, and Severus Snape has a major headache. It doesn't help that Harry Potter is part of the reason he has this headache. He should have known that Potter was just like his father.
Let's rewind to the exact moment when Severus Snape realized he needed to be more present in Potter's life, to steer him away from how his father was, a troublemaker.
Harry was sitting on the opposite chair from Snape's desk, where his arms were crossed tightly over his chest. His office had his own books on Potions and Defenses that were important for Severus. The office was also near the Potions classroom, so this area was quiet after all the students left. Empty and quiet, where Severus can hear any squeaks of Harry moving his chair out of nervousness, and his office was lit by dim candlelight casting long shadows across the stone walls. Instead of berating Potter, Severus Snape merely studied the child in front of him. Didn't help that Potter was smaller than his father, timid and quieter. He wondered what made Potter this quiet while also being such a troublemaker.
"Explain," Professor Snape told Harry while waiting a few more minutes, his voice being deceptively quiet.
Harry bit the inside of his cheek because he really didn't do anything wrong, per se. See, he knows what his life was like in the Dursleys, and he didn't like how everyone was talking about him. He knows he's keeping his head down; some might call him "coward," but really his life has been teaching him that he shouldn't be trying to speak out to anyone.
And then he did.
It didn't help that others have been talking about him, whether he likes it or not. The fact of the matter is, it didn't help that a lot of those students from Gryffindor who talk about him because he wasn't sorted into that house, and he doesn't want to be in it.
While trying to go to his next class after History of Magic and going to the Potions class, there were students who were concerned about him between those classes, and he came late to class. He didn't deserve getting detention because he came a few minutes late.
"They started it," Harry muttered. "I just finished it."
Snape arched an eyebrow. "You believe that justifies your actions?"
Harry lifted his chin. "If I don't defend myself, no one else will." He believes this.
At this point, Snape realized something, and something flickered in his expression, but it took fast for Harry to decipher. He leaned into his chair and then said, "And yet, despite your supposed Slytherin cunning, you allowed yourself to be caught and came late to my class."
Harry was upset; it wasn't his fault, though, and said, "It was worth it."
Silence crept amongst them for a good few minutes. Snape was thinking about what to say; he knew that Potter needed detention, and his eyes were unreadable, and he turned to take a quill to write a note. "Detention," he told Harry, "tomorrow evening, you will help me prepare ingredients in Potions, and in the future, should you feel the need to retaliate, you will make sure not to be caught or be late to class."
Harry wasn't shocked about hearing he got detention; he expected that from Professor Snape; he was just shocked that he wasn't getting lines, scrubbing cauldrons, or being expelled. "Wait, you're not giving me lines or scrubbing cauldrons?" He expected detention to be those things because he heard that from other students.
Snape's lip curled; he hated questions like these from students. "I have no interest in giving mindless punishments and wasting my time. Consider this as a lesson instead, especially if you're not going to act like a Slytherin; you need to learn to be."
Harry didn't know how to respond to this. He spent the last three weeks assuming that Professor Snape hated him and something about being James Potter's son, which he is, but he doesn't know his own father. And now, Professor Snape, who makes it well known that he hates him, is offering advice, teaching him something about where he belongs? He feels unsettled more because he doesn't know what to really expect from Professor Snape now.
Turning around from Potter, Professor Snape turned around and got up to pick a book from his bookshelf behind his chair. "Dismissed Potter, and try to stay out of trouble. I imagine that might be challenging for you."
Harry hesitated because he wanted to say something to Professor Snape, but he didn't want to shoot himself with asking something else or getting even more in trouble, so he stood to go to the door, and before he reached the door, he heard Professor Snape call him.
"Potter."
Harry stopped and turned around to look at Professor Snape's face.
Snape's gaze was sharp, and he told him, "You are not alone in this house; it would do you well to remember this."
For the first time since being sorted into Slytherin, Harry felt something other than feeling lonely in this place, and his feeling was thumping into his chest.
He wasn't sure how to identify this feeling.
Harry nodded before he slipped out the door, not knowing that he left behind a Potions Master who may or may not hate him after all.