Chapter 13
Severus Snape hated teaching with a passion. All those dunderheads of students, that couldn’t even grasp the easiest potions. His true passion was researching potions and the dark arts, but after finding himself snared by Albus Dumbledore, he had to do as he was told, unless he wanted to end up in Azkaban. It all started on that fateful night when he had overheard part of a prophecy. Thinking nothing of it he hurried to the dark lord, telling him all about it. Unfortunately this led to the events that killed his childhood friend, Harry Potter’s mother Lily.
Growing up wasn’t easy for Severus. His mother was a witch, who had fled from her family, just so she could marry his muggle father. They were dirt poor and lived in a dilapidated area of the industrial town of Cokeworth. His father Tobias worked at the factory, while his mother stayed home with him. After a few years of marriage, Tobias started drinking and became downright abusive against both mother and child, possibly taking out his own frustrations on them. Severus often had to see his mother bloody and bruised, it affected him more then when Tobias would hurt him instead. In a way he held resentment towards his mother who didn’t leave his father. She still loved him through everything, until that day it cost her her life.
The only light in his life growing up, was Lily Evans. She was a neighbour from the more affluent part of town, not that they were rich by any means, but she lived in a nice home with her parents and sister Petunia. One day when he was outside to get away from the fighting, he had seen the two girls in a playground in town. Lily had been on the swings when she suddenly leapt off at the highest point, then slowly floated down without getting hurt. Severus was in shock, could it be that someone had magic like him, living in the same town. When Lily then started to show Petunia how she could make a flower’s petals move, he went up to them to talk. Petunia had sneered at him, recognising who he was and where he came from, but Severus only had eyes for Lily. He told her about being a witch with magical power. She thought he had been rude calling her a witch, so she and Petunia left him there and went home.
Severus had been sad the first meeting hadn’t gone well, but he would continue trying. He never had been good at reading other peoples emotions, and feel empathy. He had mostly kept to himself in school and didn’t have any friends. His mother had taught him about magic, which had led to his passion with potion making. The times they got to brew together, was one of the few times Severus would feel happy. If he had been tested by doctors, he probably would have fit the criteria’s for autism, but as he was born in the sixties, and with later living in the magic world, he never got any diagnose.
After a while his tenacity about getting to know Lily, made them become friends. Lily had gotten over his way of being too blunt sometimes, and how he didn’t always understand others. She saw him for who he was, and when she learnt about his home life, she took him with her to meet her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, were the nicest adults Severus had ever met. They made sure he got food, clothes, and a safe space when he needed to get away from home.
When the time arrived to go to Hogwarts, they had prepared themselves as best they could. Petunia had been extremely jealous of her sister, going so far that she mailed Albus Dumbledore, asking if she could attend as well, even without any magic. The answer was of course no, which led to the gap between the sisters, grow even wider, with Petunia starting to call Lily a freak. Leaving from the train station, Severus and Lily felt on top of the world. They wanted to be in the same house together, even if Lily had her reservations about Slytherin, which was Severus goal.
On the train, one of the compartments they tried to find a spot in held two boys, that already seemed to get along without any trouble. Those boys were: James Potter, and Sirius Black. The two boys that would haunt Severus time at Hogwarts, as his biggest bullies and tormentors. They had started immediately putting him down when they met, and it got even worse after his opinions of them. Lily stood up for him and together they had left the boys there.
During the sorting ceremony, Severus world came crashing down around him. Lily had just sorted into Gryffindor! They were supposed to be in the same house as best friends. Getting his preferred house of Slytherin, he couldn’t even feel joy when his best friend would be in Gryffindor with those horrid boys. He and Lily tried to stay friends throughout Hogwarts, but as time went on, they grew apart. She didn’t like Severus’ group of people he associated with, and he felt the same way about Potter’s group. It all came to an end during their fifth year, when a word was said that made Lily give up on him.
That and falling into the death eaters, where he was promised unlimited resources as a potioneer, and access to learn dark magic, were truly the biggest mistakes of his life. Being a death eater led to the death of the Potters, and making little Harry Potter an orphan. He was dreading the day the little Potter would start Hogwarts, and he would have to teach him. He felt conflicted about his caring for Lily, and hatred for Potter, but the hate won out, and he decided that Potter junior was going to feel the same way he did, when Potter senior bullied him. Besides Harry was said to have grown up like a prince, getting spoiled and loved everywhere he went. Dumbledore had made sure to tell everyone that.
Seeing the boy during sorting had been a trip back in time. He had James’ body type, facial features, and golden, light brown skin, but those magic green eyes were Lily’s. He had his father’s mess of a hair as well, even though it was white as snow, that he kept putting his hands through, just like James had. Severus was certain the golden boy was going to sort into Gryffindor and become a true copy of his blasted father, so when the hat called out Hufflepuff he could feel the hall go silent. Severus never showed his emotions outwardly, but inside he felt somewhat relieved that at least he wouldn’t be in the same house as his parents.
BACK TO PRESENT DAY
Harry had felt nervous when waking up today. After an amazing day with his favourite lessons yesterday, he couldn’t help but feel anxious about his first potions class. Harry knew what a mess he was in a kitchen, so the subject that had the most hands on, almost cooking like steps, scared him. Justin had been a true friend all morning, trying to tell Harry that everything would be fine, and that he was stressing himself out unnecessarily. Still, even when he and the girls tried to make Harry eat at breakfast, his stomach just couldn’t handle it. Professor Sprout’s speech was running through his head, telling him to do his best, but Harry only felt pressured by it today. Knowing he couldn’t eat any breakfast today, he took his stuff with him and went down early to the dungeons, where potions class was held.
He sat down outside the door, trying to calm himself by taking deep, slow breaths. He wished he had had some lavender from herbology class with him to help with relaxing, but he had to make due without. His friends showed up after a while, closer to the start of lesson, and tried to take his mind of it by talking as they normally would, and Justin even sat down next to Harry, making sure their shoulders touched, so he would feel grounded. Harry was thankful for the friends he had made in Justin, Susan, and Hannah, he truly felt seen and appreciated for the first time in his life.
When the bell rang, they all entered the classroom, where they chose places to sit. Harry took a seat next to Justin, and picked up his equipment from his bag. With a bang the door flew open, and the man in all black came striding into the room. Harry remembered having seen him around during meals, and the man always seemed to scowl at him, when looking in his direction. He felt this man did not like him at all, and he wondered why. He had never met the man so far as he could remember, and it made him feel even more nervous about class.
Listening to the man, who introduced himself as professor Snape, Harry heard him speak about all the virtues of potion making. He told them that if they weren’t as dunderheaded as his students normally were, he could teach them all kinds of potions. When it came to checking the student list, he suddenly paused at Harry’s name.
“Ah yes, Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Don’t expect me to give you any favours because of your fame. I’m sure you are accustomed to people fawning over you, but not here! Let’s see if you have some inkling of intelligence, hmm? What does the polyjuice potion do?”, he asked Harry.
Harry was feeling upset after being treated so unfairly, but he had to answer something.
“I don’t know sir.”
“I see… So let’s try another one then, where would someone find a bezoar?”
“I’m sorry sir I don’t know that either.”
“Disappointing Mr. Potter, fame can’t always help you, you need to have a brain as well. One last question. What ingredient would I commonly use in a calming draught?”
This however Harry knew, especially after their herbology lesson.
“That would be the lavender plant sir. Both it’s scent and the flower’s property help with their calming functions.”
“Well at least something stuck I see, although a 5 year old could have answered that. The polyjuice potion makes a perfect outwardly disguise, that makes you copy someone’s appearance flawlessly. This potion however don’t give you any insight to their personality, and it is regulated fiercely to prevent uses of questionable nature. A bezoar can be found in the stomach of a goat, and can heal you against most poisons out there.”
“Now today I ask of you to make a simple cure for boils potion. The instructions are on the board and you have 90 minutes to do it in. Well get on with it.”, professor Snape said and went to sit at his desk.
Harry tried to get rid of the anger and sadness he felt about his treatment, but he still felt all shook up. He never assumed a teacher would treat someone in that manner, especially someone he never even had met before. With a sigh he went up and collected the ingredients they needed to use. Susan came over and pat him on the arm, promising they’d talk later, and Justin had prepared all his tools for him, when he got back and sat down.
Looking at the board, he tried too make out the instructions, but the room was not well lit, and the professor wrote in small letters. Harry knew his vision wasn’t good, but he knew he definitely couldn’t say that to the professor. He probably would give another speech of him wanting attention. So Harry said nothing and started doing the steps he could read, but his nerves were not calming down. Then the professor started walking around the room, checking the progress of the potions. Most of the time he just sneered or said nothing, but when he came to Harry, he certainly got a lot to say all of a sudden.
“Tell me Mr. Potter, do you think you know more then I when it comes to potions?”
“No sir, I assure you not.”
“Then tell me why I saw you use 6 fairy wings, instead of the 8 I wrote out?”
Harry froze, had it been an 8? He wasn’t sure since rounded shapes could be hard to read.
“I’m sorry sir, I must have misread. I’ll add them right away.”
“NO DON’T POTTER”, professor Snape yelled, but it was to late. Harry’s potion started to boil and bubble until the cauldron started melting from the potion inside. Fortunately Harry’s reflexes made him grab Justin, and get away from the table in time. Professor Snape looked furiously at him.
“Potter! There is a reason we have steps to follow, you can’t just add stuff later on when the process has moved past that point. Your idiocy almost got your friend drenched in potion, which would have made painful boils sprout on him. 20 points from Hufflepuff, and no more potion making for you until I deem it safe. Now get out of here right now!”
Harry packed up his things quickly and ran out of the dungeons with tears in his eyes. He felt so ashamed, and guilty over almost harming Justin. Who would be friends with him now? Turning a corner down into the Hufflepuff corridor, he slammed right into someone.
“Oh I’m sorry.”, Harry sniffled out. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“It’s ok, but are you doing alright Harry? You seem upset about something?”
Looking up, Harry saw that he had run into Cedric of all people. Harry did not want to lie to Cedric, so he told him how the potions class had went, from beginning to end.
“That professor Snape is not made for teaching, but I have never heard him treat someone this badly. You need to bring this up with professor Sprout when you can, cause this can’t be allowed to happen again. I fully understand that you’re upset right now. May I give you a hug Harry? It usually helps me when I feel sad.”, Cedric said.
Harry was not used to hugs, he only remembered hugging aunt Minnie that time. But since it was Cedric he said yes and got a hug from the taller boy. The hug felt really good and made him feel warm too. Cedric ruffled Harry’s hair and let go.
“Now I feel after all that today you deserve a treat, so I’m going to show you a well known Hufflepuff secret, don’t share it with anyone other than the other puffs.”, Cedric said with a smile.
“Follow me.”
He led them to a painting of a fruit bowl. Harry wondered what could be so special about this painting, when he saw Cedric starting to tickle the pear in the bowl. Harry’s eyes widened when the pear started laughing, and turned into a doorknob of sorts. Opening the door he followed Cedric into a huge room. The room was full of ovens, cooking equipment, five long tables and cupboards. But the most curious thing was the little beings, that was scurrying around, cooking and cleaning in a fast tempo. Harry couldn’t help but ask: “Cedric, what are those beings?”
“Those Harry are the house elves of Hogwarts’. They are beings that help us wizards with things like cooking, cleaning, gardening, everything you can think of. But don’t ever think of them as slaves, they get something out of it as well. House elves needs a focus to bind their magic to, otherwise it would go wild, harming them, and in the end kill them. So they bind themselves to a wizard, witch, or family to keep this from happening. And in return they help out in and around the home. These ones are bound to Hogwarts itself, so they have no true master, but they cook our meals, wash our laundry, and clean our rooms at night. I want you to treat them kindly and with respect, cause they have feelings and thoughts just like us Harry.”, Cedric said, explaining it all.
Harry felt a kinship with these elves, since it was practically what he had been at the Dursley’s. Soon a little elf scurried up to them with a bow and asked if they could help the young sirs with anything. Cedric had answered that they needed a cup of tea each and some treats please. The little elf happily complied, and soon they sat down with their tea to talk.
“Thank you for showing me this Cedric. It’s incredible to see it all.”
“You’re welcome Harry, sometimes when we get sad, we just need to take a break and talk to someone. It really helps, and you know I’m here for you whenever you need, just come find me.”
Harry felt he was so lucky to have gotten Cedric of all the students as his mentor. He had truly helped him today, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. Thanking the house elves, they left to head back to the common room, where Harry would wait for his friends to finish potions, before they’d head off to lunch and the afternoon classes.