Chapter 7
As the week went on, Alyssa found themselves growing more and more excited for Potions. Herbology had been interesting; with Sprout being a kind woman, if unwilling to put up with shenanigans, and History of Magic being a drag; Bins just droning on without any of the energy that they had seen from the other ghosts.
But Potions, that was something she looked forward to. That was something that she could get into.“Eager Wayne?” Pansy sneered as the group headed down to the dungeons, and Alyssa let out a soft sigh.
“Yeah, and I’m not going to let you drag me down.”
Heading into the large room Alyssa took her place, rolling her eyes slightly as Snape faltered at Harry’s name. There was a look of something behind his eyes, and Alyssa realized that one way or another, he was going to Silent Hill. It didn’t matter if he avoided the states, he would be called there and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it.
“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact are of potion making.” The man was hardly talking above a whisper, but it was easy to make out each and every word. Like McGonagall he had a skill, the ability to keep the entire class silent without any effort. “As there is little foolish wand-waving many of you may hardly believe that this is magic. I hardly expect you will really understand the beauty of a softly simmering cauldrons with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death… If you aren’t a big of a bunch of dunderheads as I normally have to teach.”
Harry and Ron exchanged a look, Alyssa clearly trying to decide what they thought of the professor. On one hand she hated the falter, on the other he was dark and mysterious and she had a deep respect for people who actually pulled that off. Hermione at least seemed eager to prove that she wasn’t a dunderhead at all.
“Potter!” Snape called suddenly and Alyssa rolled her eyes, the tone not helping their choice. Quickly Snape shot her a slight glare but didn’t pay her any more mind as he continued with Harry. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”
Harry’s face fell and Alyssa closed her eyes.
“Drought of Living death.”
“A drought of living death, sir.”
“Very good.” He said, voice level. “Where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?”
“I… Wouldn’t doubt that you have a few in one of the supply cupboards.” Harry said, pulling a smirk to Alyssa’s lips as she opened her eyes. “But that would be the stomach of a goat.”
“Hm… So, you did some research.” He spoke, eyes shifting to Alyssa again, as she braced a bit for the next question. “Or did you? Perhaps your friend here is giving you the answers.” Quickly he headed up to the girl. “Mx. Wayne, I was informed you had psychic powers; innate, immense. Did you really think that I would not notice that you were assisting Mr. Potter on this?”
“Queen. James isn’t actually his father.” Harry quickly brought his palm and his forehead together, a look of shock momentarily crossing the Potion master’s face before he coldly glared at them. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. But it is Queen, Professor. It should say on the attendance even.”
“Perhaps you would like to tell me the difference between Wolfsbane and Monkshood?”
“Wolfsbane and Monkshood are both names for the plant Aconitum, which is a genus of plants that have over 250 species of flowers in it. Under the Wolfsbane name the only one I can name off the top of my head is Aconitum Lycotonum, or Northern Wolfsbane. Monkshood holds: Aconitum anthora or Yellow Monkshood, Aconitum carmichaelii or Carmicheael’s Monkshood, Aconitum columbianum which is Western Monkshood, Aconitum delphinifolium Larkspurleaf Monkshood, Aconitum fischeri or-“At the professor’s unimpressed look she shook their head. “The type that you are actually thinking of in this situation is Actonitum Napellus, or simply Monkshood. It’s used in a potion known as wolfsbane, which I find minorly ironic as it is not technically using ‘Wolfsbane’.”
Snape was silent a moment before scanning the class. “Well why aren’t you all copying this all down?”
As quills started scratching against parchment he glared coldly at Alyssa. “As much as I which to take point for both-“ he shot Harry a look. “-You were both right. Not only that but I suppose your little herbology lesson wasn’t entirely unfounded. I’ll give Potter five points, and you six Mx. Wayne.”
As class went on Snape quickly paired everyone into twos, leaving Alyssa on their own while they began their work on a simple cure for boils. She had insisted on being able to do it and she genuinely did enjoy the work. It wasn’t too hard, and she had taken to it like a sponge to water. While Snape was overtly biased; nitpicking most of the Gryffindor’s potions while highly praising Malfoy’, Alyssa had actually managed to draw begrudging; if still slightly backhanded, compliments as he watched her work.
For most of the double period everything was going fine; Alyssa getting why the class was so long due to the work that had to be put in, but it didn’t last the entirety of the three-and-a-bit hour class. Two and a half hours into the brewing, a large plume of rancid green smoke began filling the air, Alyssa’s eyes easily catching the source.
Seamus Figgin’s cauldron, which let out a series of groans as parts of it melted, soon twisting into a withered mass, the potion pooling onto the ground. The stench only worsened as the souls of shoes began melting, people clamoring onto their stools to avoid the liquid.
Then there was Nevil. As Alissa went cross legged she took in the screaming boy. His skin was coated in an awful combination of angry red boils, massive blisters, and feint acid burn.
“Idiot boy!” Snape hissed, easily clearing away the spill and smoke with a wave of his wand, storming up to Nevil. Alyssa quickly turned her attention back to her own potion; half paying attention to the shouting as she finished it off, watching as the deep crimson turned a brilliant shade of pink.
“Smart ass alert here, but um… I’m done if it’s an emergency. I know that’s beyond just needing this, but it should be able to help. I also have healing items that I’ve found can cure far worse in a timely manner if need be.”
“Like what?”
“Ampuls, which I would actually like to discuss with you after class at some point if you will allow me the time.” She nodded as the Professor headed up to her.
“Very well, if your so confident in your potion, let’s see if it will cure your friend’s mistake.”
“I will say that was a dangerous mistake, but taking points from Harry, who was focused on his own potion was unneeded and genuinely cruel. Nevil or Seamus, at the low number of five I would get considering the situation at hand, not Harry.”
“I’m the professor here Mx. Wayne.” He scolded, taking a sample of their potion, a glint of something flashing through his eyes before he dumped it on Nevil’s injuries. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but after a bit the worst of the boils cleared up. The blisters and burns; as Alyssa has suspected, were past the potions limit, but she couldn’t help but smile as the rest of the boils themselves faded away. She had brewed the potion nigh-perfectly.
“It would appear that we have a resident celebrity.”
“I’ll take it, but Harry was a baby when the Potters were-“ As he glared she shook her head. “Please just listen for this one. I’ll take a points loss, I’ll take detention I don’t care. I just need you, and everyone to know. He was a baby, he should not be heralded as a hero, when it was Lily’s magic that protected him. It’s not fair on Harry to put that responsibility on him.”
“Very well, I suppose, you have earned your house back the five points that P-Queen lost you. I’ll even be generous considering you healed the foolish boy and add another three.” He sneered. “If you truly wish to discuss things, then we can discuss your attitude during detention, tonight at six.”
“I’ll take it, that’s completely fair and I earned that.” Alyssa nodded, as Seamus lead Nevil out of the classroom. “You are holding a lot of demons to work through. And you will one way or another.”
As Snape went to scold her, he faltered as he took in her blacked-out eyes, the phantom blood that ran down their forehead, ink spilling from her eyes like tears. He looked genuinely horrified for a moment, shock taking a bit to leave his face as she blinked back to normal. The calm, confusion she held clearly not helping the visibly shaken professor.
“Everyone, back to work!” he shouted, collecting himself. “Wayne, I want your Potion veiled and on my desk. I also expect a 1500-word minimum essay on what went wrong today by the time detention rolls around.”
“Yes Sir.” Alyssa nodded, getting to work as he waled off to continue the lesson.
Stretching their back Alyssa quickly made her way into the Potion’s classroom once again. She had changed out of their uniform, and now donned a black tank top and ruby red skirt over black leggings, a grey hoodie tied around their waist as a precaution.
“You are quite the smart-ass Mx. Wayne.” Snape drawled, face set in his typical deadpan. “And I don’t say that lightly.”
“I don’t put up with needless blame shifting. I get the initial shout; your serious about safety in your classroom, but not ensuring he was alright was cruel. I know the dangers of things, and I could easily tell how bad things got. But further punishing Harry was a bad call, no matter how you paint things.”
“Talking down to your-“Snape fell silent as his eyes landed on Alyssa’s shoulder, the massive; now healed, burn scar that encased it. It wasn’t a small injury either claiming their entire left shoulder, and a good part of the way down their arm. It crawled just about half way down the top upper arm around the sire and to the back, where it had crawled completely across the shoulder blade to the midst of their back. It was a pale cream pink, very pale against her dark skin, with pink patches where the acid had managed to eat even deeper into her body.
“What happened?”
“Acid, it was a straight Jacket, or lying figure; it’s a bit hard to tell them apart when they are upright. Look very similar all things considered.” She admitted, pulling a very large binder from the nothing and placing it on the desk, flipping to the page. The two were side by side in a comparative way, and even Snape; who had to be good at telling little differences, has a hard time telling the two apart when they were standing. “I can probably get Psi to magically duplicate this, but on topic-“ She closed the book, and sent it back to the nothing. “It hit me in the shoulder, like from behind. It was a monster swarm situation, and shit happens in the Other World. "-Unfortunately, I only had Heath Drinks, and bandages. While the health drinks are strong; and I work magically not too unlike a video game, wrapping an injury like that on your own isn’t easy. It just kind of set by the time I got back, and this is fully healed. Cold; and I mean like beyond normal winter cold, can set it off, but I know to dress warm.”
“You weren’t bluffing when you said you were durable.”
“Of course, not Professor. But that dose somewhat further my point don’t you think? No disrespect meant, for things to be that bad something went dangerously wrong. I know that potions is a dangerous subject, and I know fuck ups aren’t that bad normally. That’s why-“ They held up a hand as Snape went to speak. “I am not mad about points being taken. Just from who. Nevil or Seamus, absolutely. Nevil was the one who fucked it up, Seamus was his partner. I get that. Harry didn’t do anything wrong by worrying about his potion, so him and Ron didn’t mess it up.”
“Very well, I will concede to your point Mx Wayne.” He gave a small nod. “I must ask about that book, and the other injuries I can see. You’ve gotten a few of them. Not to mentions the strange happenings when you told me to face my demons.”
“You’re going to have to fill me in on that one.”
“Your eyes went black, cried in and your head was bleeding. And then it just faded, and you were acting like it hadn’t even happened.”
“Ah, yeah, that’s the other world. It’s a bit complicated but I can show you something for your first part of the question.” They held up a walki talky, “Static when there are monsters nearby.”
“Monsters?”
Closing her eyes, Alyssa summoned some fog to her palm, a hissing sounding as a beetle appeared in their hand. As he got close, he heard the sound of a baby crying, shuddering at the baby face that it held as Alyssa flipped it, with it quickly biting their finger. Quickly she smashed it against the desk, and the static stopped.
“What was that?”
“Baby faced beetles.” They responded, cleaning the injury which quickly patched itself off. “I have a book of the monsters that have been seen around Silent Hill, and you know lore and things. Most of the time they are specific to a person, but there are quite a few overlaps with only slight changes. Not only that but with me, on occasion other people’s monsters will show up. That can actually happen with everyone. Like I said it’s a bit complicated. We can go over things during like winter break if you would like, but it’s a bit long for just detention talk. Speaking of which, here. The essay you wanted.”
As she handed it over Snape gave a small nod.
“By the way what do you want me doing? Detention and all.”
“You can help me sort herbs for the time being.” He responded sighing as they got to work. “I do have more questions however.”
“Of course.”
“What was it that you were talking about being reverse engineered?”
“Ampuls. They are really powerful healing potions, the reason I’m not way more scared than I am. Strongest I know of, even after a fair amount of research. Issue is they don’t spawn very often, making them incredibly rare. I figured it would be good to see if they could be broken down, and then reverse engineered. I tried to get Psi to run it through a mass speck, but they were weird about it. Said that it was something I needed to try figuring out in my own way.”
“That’s not a bac though. I should be able to accomplish that much.” He nodded. “Now, about Potter.”
“Queen. And what I said is true.”
“So Lily...”
“Had an affair.” She nodded, getting to work on the herbs. “I’m sorry, and I will say Sirius was not the kindest talking about you, but Remus did his best to keep things balanced. I think both sides could have been equally to the wrong, I can’t say considering it happened when you were kids.”
“They-“
“I do know about the tree incident, and yes it was wrong but… Sirius is severely mentally ill. And you knew at that point what Remus was, why would you go?”
“I wanted proof.”
“And what happened?”
“Remus was agitated, but… He may have thought I was going to…” He shook his head, mind spinning as he somewhat grappled with his own role in thing. The heightened victim narrative that he had used to protect himself from things. To justify being worse on the group, and their kids.
“I’m not saying your not a victim. I’m just saying that it seems he has grown from it and is getting therapy now. You don’t have to forgive him; I just want you to understand that part.”
“Very well.”
“Oh, can I see your instructions for the day’s potion? It was a bit different from the book and I want to jot it down.” As they finished up Snape nodded, jotting it down. Quickly Alyssa added it to their book, nodding as Snape assisted her with editing a few more. “Thank you, Professor. All I ask, is that you try to understand where I’m coming from in regard to your actions. You’re not the only one I’m going to be like this with. Lets be real from day one everyone should have expected my shit, I know word about me claiming tracking and everything spread.”
“I will consider it, so long as you hold off your search of the third floor until you are well enough equipped.” He gave a nod, a small, amused smirk touching his lips for a split second.
“Can I ask you about something?” Alyssa sighed, pausing as she went to return to the sorting.
“What is that?”
“Is there a gold framed mirror anywhere?”
“Probably several, why?”
“It was a strange dream; a shadowed figure was in front of it.”
“You’re asking about this over a dream?” He arched an eyebrow.
“You saw me crying ink, and bleeding from the forehead while giving you… I actually have a bit more that I need to bring up.” They shook their head, sitting across from Snape as he motioned for her to do so. “But the dream is the situation your questioning? I’ll admit, it might have been nothing. But I doubt it. It has been reoccurring, and the last two times I’ve gotten flashes of- red. I can’t shale it, and well… I am the type of person who puts slight merit into dreams anyways.”
“I’m not sure how much I should be telling you Mx. Wayne, but considering you made your stance very clear… I’ll compile a bit of information, the bits that I know. Albus hasn’t shared everything-“Alyssa rolled her eyes and Snape shook his head. “You have issues with authority figured don’t you?”
“I’m going to tell you what I told McGonicall. I am troubled. And I have issues with people like Albus. I absolutely will never trust him, nor will I ever forgive him. He left harry with the Dursleys, who severely abused him to the point that when he was kidnapped by Slade Willson, the man trained him. He wasn’t going to actually kill a child, but he was trying to bate and upset Queen and he ended up treating Harry better then he had been. He didn’t even fight when he gave Harry to Queen, and he hates Queen. He had Mirikuru madness, that’s beyond normal shit, partly lets him get away with more things. For fucks sake, Harry’s injuries are from a different group that kidnapped him; during his kidnapping, and Slade saved him.” Alyssa’s hair was floating as they wildly talked with their hands, eyes blacking over in their rage. Soon the ink tears began flowing, and while Snape was a bit terrified, he realized why quickly.
The girl was sobbing.
“He hates Queen, more than you hate Potter. He blames that man for the death of his beloved Echo. Do you understand who much of a- he had to know. Albus had to know how bad Vernon and Petunia were. And yet he sent Harry there. James and Lilly. They thought they had to hide Harry’s true name. And they were right to! Sirius was fraimed for murder, even though it was proven that Albus was the one who cast the Fidelius charm in the first place. He denyed an innocent man a-“
Without thinking Snape rounded the table, turning Alyssa’s chair. Quickly he knelt down to her level and pulled her into a tight hug, guiding her head to his shoulder.
“That’s enough Mx. Wayne. I didn’t know, I was being selfish. But I see why your angry, and I can promise you that even hating James, I would never wish any of what happened on him, or Sirius. I never hated Remus, and my behavior towards him was very selfish as well.” He soothed, gently petting their back. “It’s going to be okay now. Things are going to change, and I will not let anyone hurt that boy.”
After a few minuets Alyssa managed to relax, Snape taking note that there was no trace of the fact they had been crying ink for part of it.
“I’ll get you something for the puffiness. Since it is getting late you may spend the time in my spare room, for the night. I can tell there is more you wish to discuss so let’s reconvene there.”
“Thank you Professor.” She nodded, following him to his private quarters. The sitting room was much warmer, with a fire magically lighting itself as they went in. Quickly Snape guided her to a couch, heading to a very small kitchen, returning not to later with a potion/tea mix.
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” As she sipped it he sat on the chair nearby. “Now onto the other topics.”
“I think we’ve gotten to the point that Harry isn’t either of his fathers, nor is he his mother, and as such he should be treated as his own person.”
“I can agree to that.”
“Try not to be abusive in your anger towards fuck ups.”
“I will try.”
“Okay… Nevil. I will take him on. I want him to be paired with me for the following classes, and I want you to let me… in a sense be a teachers aid for him. I don’t need extra points to do it, I just want him to have a chance.”
“Very well, any of his mistakes will be on you.”
“He won’t touch anything until I’m confident about things, or I will break his collarbones.” Snape shuddered at the smile on Alyssa’s face.
“You are… Somewhat frightening.”
“Your good with DADA as well, correct?”
“Yes, why?”
“Quirrell is a joke. But isn’t the position cursed?”
“Supposedly.”
“So why would you want a cursed position?” Alyssa crossed her arms. “It would be dangerous, would it not?”
“Why do you care?”
“You have a lot to work through, I would rather you didn’t die while the other world calls to you, thanks.” She smirked, and Snape sighed softly. “But really, you deserve to come to terms with things. You don’t need to die.”
“I’m the one who told him-“
“Say his name. Honestly I’m really sick of people not getting that it’s not actually a Tabu. It’s just giving a name unnecessary power.”
“I told Voldemort about the prophecy. I… Asked him to spare Lily.”
“Good, that’s-“ Alyssa let out a frustrated shout clanging their fists roughly on their lap. “I’m going with you!”
“Where?”
“Silent Hill! When you end up going, I’m going with you. Because you are being called no matter what, and I. There is no fucking way your fighting a Pyramid Head and surviving.” Alyssa huffed, placing the binder on the table, easily flipping to the page. The beast was 7 feet of just muscle, with a, odd looking massive sword, and a pyramid of bloody, rusty metal on it’s head. “This mother fucker, is immune to magic. Trust me, I fought one. Vastly different reason.”
“That’s… What the hell?”
“Alphabetical, save the Lying figures which were moved so that they could be compared with the Straight jackets. I haven’t encountered everything so it’s to the best of my ability.”
“These are… Impressive.” He noted, flipping through the pages. “But why would you be so worried about me facing it?”
“Pyramid Head, when manifested is caused via immense guilt.” She responded. “I’ve fought one, for a bit of a different reason. I’m very highly connected to Silent Hill and their god. I kind of am their god. It’s communicated.”
“Oh. Well, I doubt that I will ever go to Silent Hill.”
“No. Snape I just said, you can’t avoid it. I can sense it on you. It will find a way to call you, to make you go. It’s done it many times before, that’s why I have so much. It’s not just me in the other world.”
“Forgive me for doubting that. It calling me that is.”
“Of course.”
“Now you should get some sleep. I wouldn’t mind seeing you on the weekends for some extra credit as well.” He nodded, leading her to the spare bedroom. “15:00 to 16:50.”
“That’s 3 to 4:50. Alright, thank you Professor.” She nodded. “And thank you for letting me stay the night. I don’t really want to deal with the questions right yet.”
“Understandable. Good night Mx. Wayne.”
“Good night Professor.”