November 1971
After October came November.
The Marauders had grown accustomed to the school by now, and everyone’s place in the silent hierarchy was defined. James found himself along with Sirius somewhere close to the top.
Nothing much happened mostly, until the boys would do another prank, directed towards Snape, who was now dubbed Snivellus.
The story of they had given that name to him was rather odd and humorous.
It was potions, with the Slytherins of course. Professor Slughorn had told the boys to get into pairs and unfortunately, Remus was too slow. By the time everyone had found someone, only Snape and he were left. Remus grumbled language which made Gryffindor lose five points.
James had kept watching them slyly and had noticed that Snape insisted on handling most of the brewing of the motion, always eager to prove his intelligence. Remus sat there, with a pointed look, but let Snape do as he pleased.
However, something had gone wrong horribly.
Whether Snape had misread the instructions or wasn’t as skilled as he thought he was, the cauldron emitted a foul-smelling smoke that made everyone’s eyes water. James rubbed his, grateful he had glasses, so his eyes weren’t as affected. But before long, the entire class had erupted into coughing fits and the potion managed to spill itself all over Snape’s robes, Remus spared.
The most unfortunate part? The potion contained an ingredient that triggers an extreme, uncontrollable runny nose. Within seconds, Snape’s face was covered in snot as he sniffed endlessly, trying to wipe it away.
James and Sirius couldn’t help by find it funny, laughing nonstop,
James nudged Sirius, “Look at him – he’s practically drowning in his own snot!”
Sirius grinned back. “Merlin, he’s sniveling like a baby.”
Peter who was right next to them with his partner had been trying to stifle his laugher, blurted “Sniveling Snape!”.
That’s when Sirius had a light bulb. He turned to James, smirking. “No, no. That’s too boring. Snivellus.”
James’s face lit up, and he tested out the name before exclaiming it was perfect.
And ever since, the name had stuck.