Detention with Professor Snape

You found out during lunch that the Gryffindor first years had Friday afternoons off. You and the Slytherins didn’t have that luxury and were **** to attend to your second History of Magic lesson of the week. Professor Binns’ boring droning soon had most of the class taking a post-lunch nap.

Your upcoming detention with Professor Snape was that evening. And since you knew what it would entail, you decided to make better use of the forty-five minute period and relentlessly studied the Cure for Boils. It seemed a lot more productive than wasting time struggling to listen to the most boring ghost in Hogwarts.

Crabbe and Goyle were the only other two students who appeared remotely ‘conscious’ during the lesson. Again, for some reason that you couldn’t even begin to fathom they enjoyed learning about goblin rebellions and could actually follow Professor Binn’s droning lecture.

Goyle shot you an annoyed glare.

“What?” you asked. “Our Potions grades rely on me performing well in my detention tonight. Remember our deal, you help me out with this class and I help you pass Potions. That’s what I’m doing now.”

Goyle nodded and turned his attention back to Professor Binns.

Hmm… Goyle… boil… You glanced down at the boil that was still on your index finger from when you touched Longbottom’s disaster of a potion. It was no longer angry, red or overly painful but it was still there serving as the price for your learning. You hadn’t been brave enough to ask Professor Snape if you could use someone else’s potion to remove it during class. So you suffered in silence and now you had yet another reason to ensure that the potion you brewed during detention tonight was perfect.

You were going to have that recipe memorized before dinner if it killed you.

With that in mind, you studied the potion for the rest of History of Magic and only stopped when you had to leave for your final class of the week: Herbology with the Ravenclaws.

Your school week started and ended with Herbology. You heard through the rumor mill that the first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had Herbology together three times a week. Your combined class with the Ravenclaws met twice a week. The first lesson on Monday was Double Herbology, not because it was with two houses but because it covered two periods and went for ninety minutes instead of the usual forty-five. It was just like the Double Potions class you had with the Gryffindors on Friday mornings, only much less hostile. Similarly, Astronomy was also held for a double period, the only differences were that it was at midnight and that Professor Sinistra taught all four houses at once.

Professor Sprout had you working with the same tentacle-like plant. You had since learned that it was called Devil’s Snare. You were set to perform the same task of subduing the stubborn tentacle-like plant from your first class. Only this time you were permitted to use the Wand-Lighting Charm that you had learned from Professor Flitwick in Charms earlier in the week. This made the task much, much easier.

You and Theodore Nott took turns casting Lumos on each other’s Devil’s Snare. The tentacle-like plant recoiled from the light which enabled you to complete the task much faster than on Monday. Beside you, Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode enacted a similar strategy on their plants. You glanced over at the other Slytherin groups and saw that Draco Malfoy was the lone spellcaster at his tray and was using Lumos on all three plants while Crabbe and Goyle muscled them into submission. You were surprised to see that Pansy Parkinson was actually getting involved this time, she and Tracey Davis were the most gifted at Charms in your class and were shining their extra bright lights on their plants which allowed Daphne Greengrass to quickly and efficiently subdue all three of them. None of you got any points despite the fact that you all finished before the Ravenclaws.

Herbology ended by three which gave you plenty of time to return to your relentless studying. By the time you went to dinner, you were able to mentally recite the entire recipe which made you reasonably confident going into your detention.

That confidence instantly vanished when you found your scary Head of House standing over you just as you were finishing your dessert. “Mr. Gaunt… it is time.”

You grabbed your cauldron which you had brought to dinner with you along with your book and potions kit knowing you had a detention to go to afterward. Numerous students turned to watch as you rose from your seat and you couldn’t help but feel like you were marching to your execution. It didn’t help that Blaise Zabini started to hum a funeral dirge as you followed Professor Snape out of the Great Hall. The only reassurance was that everyone knew where you were going to be which made it highly unlikely that Professor Snape would actually **** you.

Professor Snape led you down to the Potions classroom in the dungeons. You set your cauldron on your station from class and went to get started with your assigned task. But you instantly stopped when you found Professor Snape standing over you.

“Understand, Mr. Gaunt, that innovation is the heart of Potionmaking,” Professor Snape stated. “New and more potent potions would not be invented if their brewers never bothered to experiment with their ingredients. That being said… there is a time and a place for everything.”

“With all due respect, sir,” you spoke up, “We were in a controlled classroom environment being supervised by a professional. When Longbottom messed up his potion you knew exactly what he’d done and were able to clean up the mess he made with a mere wave of your wand. What better place is there?”

“Not in a classroom with a number of impetuous Gryffindors who might have attempted to follow your example,” Professor Snape said so lowly that it caused you to flinch as his dark eyes bore into yours. “The next time you decide to experiment in your brewing, I expect you to know the recipe by heart.”

You blinked in surprise. He wasn’t telling you not to experiment. He was basically commanding you to make sure you knew what you were doing. Admittedly, your actions during Potions had been reckless. You didn’t actually know if halving the number of porcupine quills would cause a less volatile reaction. You’d been lucky that your potion hadn’t imploded and left you covered in boils like Longbottom.

“For what it’s worth, sir,” you replied. “I studied the Cure for Boils as much as I could in preparation. I’ve got the recipe memorised now.”

“Have you?” a grin crossed Professor Snape’s face. Unlike a smile which is normally warm and uplifting, Professor Snape’s grin was unnerving and made you feel uncomfortable. “Let’s test that, shall we?”

Professor Snape reached into your cauldron and removed Magical Drafts and Potions which he brought over to his desk at the front of the classroom.

“I will now be treating your assignment as an exam,” Professor Snape announced. “You will be brewing the Boil Cure Potion without the aid of your book or your partner. I will still be grading it on the same one-to-ten scale as the rest of your classmates. Your results will determine the marks you and Mr. Goyle receive for today’s lesson. You may begin.”

You mentally recited the recipe that you had spent most of the afternoon memorizing as you prepared your station and began brewing your potion.

Professor Snape retrieved a collection of familiar vials. They were the potions your class had brewed earlier. Your boil-causing potion easily stood out among the boil-curing potions. Especially, when Professor Snape selected your potion and dribbled some drops of it on a toad that he conjured.

A smile spread across your face as you watched your potion create boils on the toad’s back. You were pleased to see your potion being used for its ‘intended’ purpose as Professor Snape began testing your classmates’ Boil Cure Potions on the boils yours had caused. That was an extra dose of motivation that went into your brewing as you made sure every one of your ingredients was perfectly prepared.

You had reached the final cooling stage of your potion when Professor Snape finally broke the relative silence that hung over the dungeon classroom.

“It seems that your plan to bolster the Slytherin average paid off, Mr. Gaunt. Your housemates all scored higher than most of the Gryffindors.”

“They did?” you asked.

“Longbottom and Finnigan created a disaster and received a zero,” Professor Snape recounted. Ouch. Longbottom got covered in boils and had nothing to show for it. “Brown and Patil were so caught up discussing how biased and unfair I am that the potion they brewed is barely passable. Miss Parkinson and Miss Bulstrode scored the lowest of your housemates due to Miss Parkinson’s unwillingness to touch some of the ingredients.”

“She has a similar problem in Herbology, sir. She refuses to get her hands dirty and has Greengrass do her share of the work. They have an arrangement of some kind.”

You felt a little bad about outing Pansy but you felt justified in that maybe Millie would get a better partner now that the man who assigned the groups knew about the issue.

Professor Snape continued as if you hadn’t spoken. “Potter and Weasley’s potion was utterly mediocre and shows that Potter didn’t inherit an ounce of his mother’s talent.”

“Potter’s mother was good at Potions, sir?” you inquired. “But wasn’t she… muggleborn?”

Professor Snape didn’t ignore that comment. But the glare he sent your way made you wish he had. You briefly considered abandoning your potion and fleeing the classroom.

“If that were truly a factor, Mr. Gaunt,” Professor Snape nearly growled, “then perhaps you can explain why Miss Granger and Mr. Thomas were the only ones to receive a perfect score?”

“Er… but surely Draco-”

Professor Snape cut you off. “Mr. Malfoy made the amateur mistake of stewing his slug for too long under the belief that the additional time would make its inclusion in the potion more potent. Instead, the inverse effect occurred and it watered the potion down and resulted in a slower reaction time. I couldn’t, in good conscience, give him full marks for a potion like that.”

A number of thoughts went through your head at that comment. The first was that you were so going to rub that in Malfoy’s face when you returned to the common room. The second was how glad you were that you’d stewed your own slug for exactly five minutes as the instructions said. The third was how impressive it was that Professor Snape was able to tell exactly what each student had done wrong. Did he know the effect of each ingredient that well? Or had he done experiments himself to see what caused each reaction?

“Well, you won’t have that problem with mine, sir,” you stated as you ladled your finished potion into a vial that had been provided.

“I’ll be the judge of that, Mr. Gaunt,” Professor Snape said as you set your vial on his desk.

“Of course, sir,” you agreed as you scooped your index finger through the remains of your potion. You were aware of Professor Snape watching as your potion caused the boil on your finger to shrink down to nothing in a matter of seconds. You grinned as you wiped away the remaining residue to reveal unblemished skin. “But I’m reasonably confident in it.”

You began to clean up but watched out of the corner of your eye as Professor Snape used both of your potions on his conjured toad. Your first potion caused boils to appear on the toad’s back while your second potion made them disappear like they were never there.

“Eleven, Mr. Gaunt.”

“What’s that, sir?” you asked.

“I said I would be grading your potion on the same scale as all of your classmates,” he reminded you. “But the fact that you brewed a perfect Cure for Boils alone and without the instructions to guide you counts for an extra point in your favor. Eleven.”

A wide grin spread across your face. You couldn’t wait to see the expression on Granger’s face next Friday when she learned that you had out-scored her.

“Also, I’m awarding you another house point as a reward for being prepared for detention,” Professor Snape added.

Eleven on your potion and eleven points for Slytherin. Not a bad day for you. But as you thought about the points you’d earned today you couldn’t help but think back to the beginning of class.

“Professor, there’s something about class that I wanted to ask you,” you requested.

“Ask it, but know that your continued presence here is wasting both of our time.”

“At the beginning of class when you were asking Potter all those questions… you asked him three but you only asked me two. I’m sure you saw my hand raised for that first question… is there a reason you didn’t ask me that one as well?”

Professor Snape’s face became a rather menacing scowl. “I’ll tell you what I told, Potter. If I wanted someone else to answer that question - I would have asked them.”

Against your better judgment, you asked another question. “What was so special about that question?”

“None of your business, Gaunt,” Professor Snape snapped. “Get out.”

You rushed to comply and made sure to grab your book off of his desk as you ran out.

But Professor Snape’s refusal to answer your question ended up making you more curious. And as you made your way back to the Slytherin common room, you couldn’t help but continue to wonder what was so special about that one question that it was geared specifically towards Harry Potter.

“Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

“And for your information, Potter, powdered root of asphodel combined with an infusion of wormwood creates a sleeping potion so powerful that it’s called the Draught of Living ****.”

Was there a hidden message there? Maybe it was in the plants themselves? You didn’t really know anything about plants and their meanings… but you did know that some of them meant things. You grinned when you remembered that you knew someone who did know a few things about plants.

You hissed at the wall and made your way into Slytherin common room with your cauldron slung over your shoulder. You scanned the room and spotted Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis sharing a couch as they worked on homework together.

“Evening Greengrass, Davis,” you greeted them as you leaned on the back of the couch.

“Gaunt…” Daphne replied as they both glanced back at you. “Back from detention then?”

“Yup,” you confirmed. “Professor Snape had me brew the Cure for Boils from memory. Fortunately, I spent all afternoon memorising those instructions “

“Then maybe you can help me,” Tracey said as she motioned to the parchment in her lap. “I’m stuck on the essay Professor Snape assigned because you had to needle Granger.”

“Hey, for all we know, he was going to assign the essay anyway and she gave him an excuse.”

The blonde half-blood still looked annoyed. “You and Longbottom gave us plenty of material about the porcupine quills. I managed to write a foot about them. But after everything else, I’m four inches short.”

“Lemme see,” you requested as you peered over her shoulder and scanned her essay. “You don’t have much about the snake fangs. Remember it’s not just about removing all the venom from them to ensure that the potion isn’t toxic. Snake fangs are naturally designed to contain venom. A snake doesn’t normally drool venom everywhere. Its fangs contain it until it bites down on something. That’s the benefit it brings to the potion.”

Tracey nodded thoughtfully and flicked her nose with the end of her quill. “Yeah… I could probably pad that out to make four inches. Thanks.” She cast the Ink-Moving Charm that you had learned from Professor Flitwick earlier in the week and you watched as some of the ink on her parchment moved down to make space for her to write in the middle.

You glanced over at Daphne to see her eyeing her own essay speculatively. “What did you want, Gaunt?”

“You mean I can’t have just come over to say ‘hello’?” you asked.

“This is Slytherin,” the dark-haired girl stated. “No one does that here. Everyone’s got an ulterior motive. So what’s yours?”

“Well… since you’re asking…” you replied, “I wanted to ask you something. Based on your performance in Herbology you clearly know a fair bit about plants. Do you, by any chance, know about the meanings different flowers have? Like how roses have different meanings depending on their color.”

“Red is love and beauty,” Daphne stated, “Pink is admiration and happiness, yellow is joy and friendship and white is remembrance and innocence. Was that all?”

“Er… no… actually, I was just using roses as an example,” you explained, “Do you know more complicated plants? Like, say… wormwood?”

The Greengrass heiress frowned. “No. I don’t know that one.”

“Er… how about asphodel?” you tried again.

Her frown grew. “Are you mocking me, Gaunt?”

“No, no, I-” You were cut off by Tracey’s gasp of surprise.

“Wormwood and asphodel… they’re from Professor Snape’s questions for Harry Potter earlier today,” the blonde realized.

“Sharp as a tack this one,” you remarked. “Yes, I think that question was specifically for Potter. Which is why he didn’t ask me when I knew the answer. So I’m wondering if there was a hidden meaning to it.”

Davis frowned nervously, “If it was a hidden message… do you really think Professor Snape would want us looking into it?”

You shrugged, “If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have said it in a room full of Slytherins.”

“Alright, Gaunt, you’ve piqued my curiosity,” Daphne decided. “I’ll look into it.”

Tracey covered her mouth with her hand and whispered to you out of the corner of her mouth, “Daphne’s got a collection of mystery novels.”

“Tracey!” Daphne hissed at her friend. It was odd how close certain Slytherin girls could get to hissing parseltongue when properly agitated. “I’ll write to my father about it. Is that all you wanted, Gaunt?”

“Well… I would stay,” you replied with a teasing grin, “But if I did, I wouldn’t get to tell Malfoy that Granger’s Boil Cure Potion was better than his.”

Tracey covered her mouth again to hide her giggles while Daphne grinned faintly and raised an eyebrow. You pushed off from the couch and made your way across the common room to where Draco Malfoy was holding court. Pansy Parkinson was seated on a couch next to him while Crabbe and Goyle were on chairs nearby. Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode were sitting on another couch across from them. The only first year missing was Theodore Nott. Draco appeared to be regaling some older Slytherins about your Potions class.

Blaise saw you coming and slid away from Millicent to make room for you on the couch and you flopped down in between them.

“There he is,” Draco said. “Marvolo, I was just telling them about Potions. What was it Potter said after flubbing that question about monkswood and wolfsbane?”

“‘I don’t know, I think Hermione does, though, why don’t you try her?’" you recited. “Which was really like waving a red flag in front of an angry bull.”

“Too right,” Malfoy cut you off before you could say more. He was eager to be center of attention again. “So just to rub Potter’s ignorance in even further, Snape asks Gaunt the same questions and not only does he get them all right but Snape gave Marvolo five points and took five from Potter. You should’ve seen the look on that know-it-all Granger’s face. The mudblood was bouncing on her chair with her hand up and Snape ignored her the whole time.”

Your eye twitched at Malfoy’s use of the word ‘mudblood’. A few of the older students laughed and Pansy make sure to giggle along with them. But what Draco didn’t realise was that he just presented you with a perfect opening.

“It’s funny that you should mention Granger, Draco,” you remarked. “Professor Snape was grading the potions from class while I was with him. It turns out that Granger’s was better than yours.”

“WHAT!?” Malfoy yelled. His pale, pointed face flushed in a combination of embarrassment and anger.

“Apparently, you stewed your slug for too long,” you informed him. “That watered down your potion. Be sure to remember that when you write your essay.”

A number of the older students chuckled. Draco didn’t like that laughter at all.

“I… well how did you do?” Malfoy challenged you. “You had to brew yours in detention.”

He was trying to regain his footing and drag you down with him while mentioning your detention with Professor Snape. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know how well you’d done during your detention.

“About that…” you said with a smug smirk, “He gave me an eleven out of ten on mine. Not only did I brew a perfect Cure for Boils but I did it without a partner and without any instructions. Studying it all day really paid off because Professor Snape decided to even things out and gave me a point for Slytherin. That brings my total for the day up to eleven.”

“You earned eleven house points in one day?” one of the older students asked. “Good going, Gaunt. That’s hard for anyone, especially a first year.”

“That’s because Snape’s the only professor who awards points to Slytherins!” Malfoy argued.

“He’s also the one who takes the most from the other houses…” someone quietly added.

Malfoy didn’t look happy but you felt confident in knowing that after today your standing in Slytherin was much higher than his.

“Eleven out of ten, huh?” Blaise finally spoke up. “Snape doesn’t strike me as the type of teacher who gives extra credit very often. It looks like you’ve found your best subject.”

“Yeah, but I had to study my arse off all week to do it,” you pointed out. “Honestly, I think the extra credit might’ve been so we can all see the expression on Granger’s face next Friday when she learns that I scored higher than her.”

“Could be, but I wouldn’t complain,” Zabini replied.

You looked over at Millicent to see that her face had fallen. “What’s got you down, Millie?”

“I’m not good at anything,” the large girl muttered. “Daphne’s good at Herbology, Pansy and Tracey are good at Charms, Theodore and Blaise are good at Transfiguration, Draco’s good at Astronomy-”

“I’d be good at Defense too if Quirrell taught anything useful!” Malfoy rudely interjected.

“Vincent and Gregory are good at History,” Millicent continued, “And now you’re good at Potions. I’ve got nothing I’m good at.”

“Hogwarts offers other classes,” you pointed out. You turned to the older students who were still milling about nearby. “Oi! What’re the classes we can take in third year?”

“Arithmancy, Divination, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures,” came the reply. You were also reasonably sure there was a Muggle Studies course but no self-respecting Slytherin took that class.

“See, there’s still a chance for you to find a class that you excel at,” you reasoned, “And besides, it’s only the first week of classes. The whole point of coming to Hogwarts is to learn and get better at things. If you’re not good at something now there’s always a chance that you can improve and get really good at it by the end of the year. That goes for all of us.”

“Speaking of which… I should probably take a crack at that homework from McGonagall,” Blaise decided as he stood from his seat. “I bet Theodore’s already finished it.”

Draco muttered something about not being bested by a mudblood and stalked off to your shared room.

Millicent was smiling faintly which meant you’d managed to cheer her up a bit. “Thanks, Marvolo... you’re a good friend. Do you… think you could help me with Snape’s essay?”

“Sure,” you agreed, “I already helped Davis and Greengrass with theirs. How much have you got so far?”

“Er… nothing…” Millicent confessed.

“Then I suppose we’ve got our work cut out for us,” you mused. She got up and headed for her room to fetch her supplies. You glanced over at Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle. “And have you three started your Potions essay yet?” You received three negative head shakes in response. “Well? What are you waiting for? If you want my help with it, you’d better get your things now because I won’t be repeating myself a half a dozen times.” Pansy was soon running after Millicent while Vincent and Gregory rushed to their own room.

You smirked to yourself as you put your feet up on the table in front of your couch. Your first week of classes at Hogwarts had come to an end and you’d firmly cemented your place atop the Slytherin first year hierarchy.

Marvolo Gaunt House Point Ledger

Severus Snape: +1

New Total: +11

Points awarded by: SS