"Lavender, are you feeling well?" Parvati asked.

Lavender blinked groggily at her. The sun was coming in through the window. "What time is it?"

"We're about to go down to breakfast, actually. What happened to you? You're usually up before me!"

The dream, and Lavender's corresponding resolve, came flooding back. As she hurried to get ready, Lavender told Parvati all about what had happened, though she downplayed the red-eyed man, about whom she still refused to speculate. Parvati seemed impressed. "Ooh, Professor Trelawney will have so much to say about this! A stranger, a snake in a cage — there's got to be loads of symbolism to look up in The Dream Oracle…"

"Parvati, I — I don't think this is that sort of dream. Those didn't feel like symbols. It felt like… well, like I was watching the future itself."

In the daylight, although her conviction of having seen the future was unshaken, Lavender could tell how far-fetched the whole thing would sound, and she didn't blame Parvati for frowning slightly and saying nothing.

When they entered the Great Hall, most of Hogwarts was already there. Lavender looked immediately toward the staff table. Professor Snape and Professor Grubbly-Plank were at their usual places. Snape looked exactly as he always did. When he saw Lavender staring, he raised an eyebrow. Lavender turned her attention quickly to the plate of eggs in front of her.

"Well, he certainly seems to be doing all right," said Parvati, whose thoughts seemed to have followed a similar path. "I don't see any snakes about."

"Of course not, the dream said it would happen when Harry shouts for Hagrid!"

"Hagrid isn't even here! Look — over lunch, we'll go and have a talk with Professor Trelawney. She'll sort this out."

Lavender nodded and glanced back at the staff table. Professor Grubbly-Plank was calmly eating bacon. In Lavender's opinion, it was more urgent to talk to her than to Trelawney; Lavender had the greatest respect for Professor Trelawney, but she didn't think the dream needed interpretation as much as the snakebite would need treatment.

Finally, the opportunity arrived for which Lavender had been waiting; Professor Grubbly-Plank rose and began to exit the Great Hall. Lavender ran after her, abandoning her plate of eggs. "Professor!"

"Yes?" Professor Grubbly-Plank turned. "Be quick, I'm in a hurry."

"Oh — I just — " Lavender gulped slightly and said in a rush, "If you saw someone get bitten by a really large snake, and he was collapsed and bleeding all over the floor, what should you do?"

"Theoretical question, I hope?" asked Professor Grubbly-Plank, giving Lavender a penetrating stare. "That's not a situation to play around."

"Y-yes," said Lavender, who did not feel like explaining about seeing the future.

"Is the snake venomous?"

"I don't know, it had really long fangs, and it was horribly thick, and it had a sort of triangular head and a diamond pattern…"

"Probably venomous, then. Is it still nearby?"

"No, it's gone… someone took it away."

"In that case, you can focus on treating the patient. You want to counter the venom and stop the bleeding, quick as you can. And then… you said the person's fainted?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Then you'll want to make sure he can breathe. Some people say to bring the patient 'round with Rennervate first, but that can take a few tries based on venom strength, and Anapneo will keep the airway clear meanwhile. You want to start reviving him quick, though. If he's lost enough blood to lose consciousness, he needs to drink a Blood-Replenishing Potion before his heart gives out."

Professor Grubbly-Plank glanced around at the diminishing crowds of students. "I really must be going now."

"Thanks, that was really helpful!" Lavender called after Professor Grubbly-Plank's retreating back.

"Psst," said Parvati, behind Lavender's shoulder; Lavender jumped. "Come on, we'll be late to History of Magic!"

Late they were, but Professor Binns didn't seem to notice. The lesson was exactly as boring as it always was, and Lavender's notes were even worse than usual, as she spent most of the time writing down and thinking about everything Professor Grubbly-Plank had said. Anapneo and Rennervate she could look up and practice. How was she going to find a Blood-Replenishing Potion or a way to counter the venom, though? For that matter, how on earth could one stop that much bleeding? She'd forgotten to say where the bite was — surely that would be important. Would Anapneo be enough to keep Snape breathing with a wound like that?

Potions came after History of Magic. Snape still seemed to be in good health, apparently unconscious of any looming danger. He handed back the homework. Lavender's moonstone essay had earned a P. It was a bit worse than Lavender had expected, but not by much; Potions had never been her best class. Snape swept past, explaining with his typical smirk that he had awarded grades based on the O.W.L. examination. He was so patently his ordinary self that Lavender began to relax. It was hard to imagine that quiet voice producing a scream of terror or pain any time soon.

Snape, at the front of the room, was telling the class that most of them would have failed the O.W.L. exam. "I expect to see a great deal more effort for this week's essay on the various varieties of venom antidotes…"

Lavender upset an inkwell and lost the end of Snape's sentence. Venom antidotes? Did Snape know about the giant snake after all?

At the end of the lesson, Lavender set her Strengthening Solution (indigo, not turquoise, unfortunately) on Snape's desk and stood there awkwardly. "Er… Professor? Is there any special reason we're learning about venom antidotes now?"

Snape looked up, his mouth a tight line. "Believe it or not, Miss Brown, there are academic standards that exist regardless of your squeamishness."

Lavender's face grew warm. "I didn't mean it that way, sir. I only meant — have you seen any snakes about? Not that it affects the work I put in for the essay," she added hastily.

"You had better hope that I haven't," said Snape drily. "If any lives depended on your current Potions expertise, we would be well advised to start making funeral arrangements."

Lavender gulped.