Hate at first sight
I decided to find Mrs Sprout first. I saw her in the corridor while I was going to the Dumbledore’s office. She noticed I was in a hurry so she asked me to find her in the greenhouse after the meeting with the headmaster.
As I walked towards the building, small raindrops getting stuck of the shoulders of my coat, I thought about who was teaching potions now since Slughorn retired. It’s not like I was upset I'm not getting my old teacher back. Quite the opposite, since I’ve never liked the man, but at least with Slughorn I would know what to expect to some extent while the new teacher remained a mystery. On top of that, Dumbledore didn’t help as he refused to tell me who it was, the way his eyes have lighten up with playfulness as if there was something entertaining for him to make me meet that man. What if the guy is completely bollocks and out of his mind like Trelawney?
I entered the green house. The smell of fresh soil, plants and flowers wrapped my body. I greeted my old professor. She somehow managed to remember me from the time when I was a student, which was quite surprising since I’m for sure wasn’t a memorable kid.
She showed me where all the equipment was, gave me another pack of keys so I can enter every room here and gave me some inside of what I’m gonna have to focus on in the next month. I was not thrilled to hear that I’m gonna have to take care of mandragoras most of the time, but I told myself it could be worse.
After some additional chit-chat (which I was awfully awkward at) she changed the topic.
“Have you met Severus yet?”
“Severus?”, I asked, not knowing who she was referring to.
“Professor Snape, I mean. Potions teacher. You probably heard professor Slughorn retired?”
I nodded, surprised by the name she just dropped. Who the hell looks at a baby and names it Severus?
“I heard something. But no, I haven’t seen him yet. I’m gonna go look for him before dinner.”
“Oh, well. Maybe you’re gonna get along with him better than me. I guess you’re similar age to him. How old are you, sweetheart?”, she asked in an overly motherly tone that made me uncomfortable.
“Twenty one, ma’am”
“Really? Well then. I guess he’s a little older. But all of you look so young to me. Maybe it’s just an old-women issue” she giggled, her laugh sounded like she’s swollen a frog.
~*~
The dinner was about to start in an hour. My socks were soaked after walking outside through the wet grass in those stupid mary-janes with holes in them. I was hungry, tired and still anxious. But I knew I had to go and introduce myself to this new teacher. I didn’t want to make a bad impression of myself on my first day and not saying hello right away wouldn’t look good. So I went to the damn dungeon.
The air there was colder, corridors narrower and no matter how many candles and chandeliers one could put there, it would never be enough to break the gloom that seemed to sneak into every corner. The view surely didn’t lighten up my mood. I was even more stressed by the atmosphere. It was like going to take the mid-term potions test all over again.
I knocked on the door of what was once Slughorn’s office, thinking I may find the guy with a nightmarish name I already managed to forget, but it was empty.
I tried the next door of the potions classroom, and for a moment I thought it was empty too, since I didn’t hear anything coming from inside. Just before I could turn around and walk away the door swung open.
A tall man appeared in the doorway. He looked me head to toe with irritation painted all over his face. I automatically wanted to sink into the floor and vanish under his gaze, yet somehow I managed not to look away and put on a small smile.
“I hope I’m not disturbing anything. I’m Susannah Walton”
I reached out a hand to shake but he just looked at it and ignored it, looming over me. I awkwardly put down my hand.
“Enlighten me, why should I care?”, he asked in a monotone, cold voice.
When I heard him speak for the first time all I could think was that despite his tone, he had a beautiful voice. The unusual type one could only hear from radio hosts or people who read for muggle audiobooks.
“I’m a new intern. Professor Dumbledore said we’re going to work together this year.”
I could see his annoyance grow even more with every passing second. He pressed his thin lips in one line and crossed arms over his chest.
“Delightful.”, he summarized, clearly not happy with my presence.
“You’re professor Snepe, right?”, I asked, realizing I didn’t even know if it was him or just another staff member I took him for.
Before I could finish my question his face twisted in an awful grim as if I just slapped him.
“Snape”, he spit the words through his teeth.
“What?”
“Snape. Not Snepe. I see you haven’t really grasped the concept of spelling yet, have you?”
I felt my cheeks burn slightly, realizing my mistake.
“I’m sorry. Yes, I meant Snape.” I muttered quickly, shifting nervously under his gaze. “Well, professor Dumbledore said it would be nice if you could show me the storage rooms and all of that today. And give me the keys. I’m gonna need it for work.”
“Really?”, he asked, the mockery tone slipping from his mouth.
“If you have time, of course.”
“I don’t”
“Oh…”, I muttered sheepishly.
I couldn’t fathom why he needed to be so rude about all of it. It’s not like I wanted to be looking through cold, messy storage rooms either.
“Then when…?”
“Six o’clock.”, he cut me off, ” And clean your shoes, you look like you’ve been walking through muck.”
Before I could say anything in response he turned around and closed the door right in my face, the sound echoed through the corridor.
I looked at my shoes and sighed with a frown. He was unnecessarily rude. I just wanted to be nice, introduce myself, get to see who I was supposed to work with and all I got was this. Whatever the hell it was.
On top of that, he looked like an overgrown bat in those dark robes that in the dim light of the dungeons appeared to have the same color as his hair and eyes, making him look like a dark pitch with a splatter of somehow sickly pale but at the same time slightly olive skin tone on his face.
Some say love at first sight does exist and others argue otherwise. On that, I don’t have an opinion. But what I know for a fact is that hate at first sight is real. For me that encounter was a real life example of it.
“Fuck you”, I muttered to myself before turning on my wheel to leave the dungeons.