[Congratulations, Your Majesty! Defied authority, showed blatant disrespect, Tyrant Points +30!]
[Congratulations, Your Majesty! Insulted a teacher, disrespected an elder, Tyrant Points +20!]
[Congratulations, Your Majesty! Stirred up chaos and deflected blame, Tyrant Points +10!]
"What?! Thirty thousand points?!" Ron shot to his feet so fast he knocked over his chair.
"Professor, Charlie's in Hufflepuff!"
Snape froze.
He had been so furious, he'd lost track of everything.
But this kind of troublemaker in Hufflepuff? Did the Sorting Hat get stabbed in the head with the Gryffindor sword or something?
"Silence, Weasley!" Snape snapped, glaring at Ron.
"Disrespecting a professor, five points from Gryffindor!"
Then he pointed his wand at Charlie, gritting his teeth.
"Fifty points from Hufflepuff!"
The previous thirty thousand had clearly been a rage-fueled outburst, but fifty points was still a heavy penalty for talking back.
At that moment, the classroom doors slammed open with a bang.
Professor McGonagall stormed in, her hair disheveled and her face flushed with fury.
She had just passed by the house points hourglasses and seen Gryffindor suddenly drop by thirty thousand points.
Gee, wonder who could've done that.
"Severus!" McGonagall shouted, breathing hard.
"What on earth happened? Why has Gryffindor lost thirty thousand points?!"
Snape's eyes darted around awkwardly, clearly flustered.
Usually, he deducted ten, maybe twenty at a time. This was a bit much, even for him.
"Er… just a small misunderstanding," he muttered, clearing his throat.
Hermione, ever the helpful truth-teller, raised her hand and spoke in that know-it-all tone of hers.
"Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape thought Charlie was in Gryffindor and deducted the points by mistake."
McGonagall turned toward Charlie with a look of pure exhaustion. Her face said it all.
This black-haired boy was more trouble than all of Gryffindor combined.
"Mr. White, what exactly did you do to deserve thirty thousand points being taken away?" she asked, voice steely.
Hermione wasted no time reciting the full account.
"Professor Snape asked Charlie three questions, and he didn't know the answers. Then Professor Snape called him stupid and a dunderhead. Charlie argued back and said Professor Snape's questions were flawed. Then… he asked if the professor's brain was full of poop."
Snickers rippled through the classroom again. Hermione was brutally honest.
McGonagall pressed her lips together tightly and turned her gaze on Charlie, her face now stormy with restrained fury.
"Mr. White, you should not talk back to a professor."
Her voice was calm, but Charlie could hear the underlying anger.
He straightened up immediately. Despite everything, he did respect Professor McGonagall.
"I'm sorry, Professor. It won't happen again."
McGonagall gave a curt nod, then turned to Snape, her expression hardening further.
"Severus, I understand you have high expectations for your students. But that does not give you the right to insult them."
Her tone was uncompromising.
"Remember, you are a teacher."
Snape's face twisted.
Being scolded by a colleague in front of students was beyond humiliating.
"I was correcting poor behavior," Snape said coolly.
"Correcting behavior doesn't mean personal attacks," McGonagall replied sharply.
"As professors, we lead by example."
Snape let out a low snort, turned away, and said nothing more.
With a flick of her wand, McGonagall restored the thirty thousand points to Gryffindor's hourglass.
"Severus, let's not have this kind of 'misunderstanding' again."
Then she turned to Charlie.
"And Mr. White, after dinner, report to my office."
With that, McGonagall marched out of the room, looking thoroughly worn out.
She felt like every day at Hogwarts shaved another year off her life.
The classroom fell into uneasy silence.
Snape returned to the front, his robes billowing like storm clouds. His entire presence screamed rage barely held in check.
"Let us continue," he said icily.
"Today we'll be brewing a cure for boils."
He began scrawling the instructions across the board.
"The recipe is simple. But I warn you, mess up even one step, and your face will end up uglier than a troll's."
Charlie could feel Snape's eyes flicking toward him now and then like daggers.
"Mr. White," Snape suddenly call out,
"Since you're clearly so knowledgeable, when should porcupine quills be added?"
Charlie glanced at the board. The fourth step clearly said "add porcupine quills." Was this a joke?
"Step four, Professor."
"Wrong!" Snape snapped instantly.
"You must remove the cauldron from heat before adding the quills, or it will explode. One point from Hufflepuff!"
Charlie's eyes widened.
What the hell? Step four literally said "remove from heat and add quills." Was this man just born to be contradictory?
Harry muttered beside him, "He's totally picking on you."
"Mr. Potter!" Snape's voice rang out like a whip.
"If you're so concerned with your classmates, you tell me, what's the function of slug slime?"
Harry froze. He had no idea.
"I… I don't know, Professor."
"Pathetic! Slug slime neutralizes porcupine quill toxins. Two points from Gryffindor!"
The rest of the lesson was torture.
Snape was like a mad hound on a leash, constantly snapping at Charlie and Harry.
"Mr. White, your chopping technique is abysmal!"
"Mr. Potter, your stirring is counterclockwise, it should be clockwise!"
"You two are a disaster to the art of potion-making!"
Charlie and Ernie worked together on their potion, and to be fair, it looked fine, pale green, bubbling gently in the cauldron.
Ernie stirred carefully. "Looks okay… right?"
Charlie nodded. It hadn't exploded yet. That alone felt like a win in this warzone.
Snape loomed over them, scooped a spoonful, examined it… and sneered.
"Too dark. Too thick. Unacceptable. Two points from Hufflepuff."
Ernie looked heartbroken. Their potion looked exactly like the group next to them, and they hadn't been penalized.
Finally, the bell rang.
Students packed up as if fleeing a burning building.
Charlie, Ernie, and Justin walked out together, Harry and Ron close behind.
"That greasy bat is deranged!" Ron fumed.
"Why are we losing points just for breathing?"
"Seriously, it's ridiculous," Harry added.
"Our potion was totally fine!"
Ernie sighed. "Snape always favors Slytherin. He's brutal to the rest of us."
"Honestly," Justin said in a hushed tone,
"I think there's something seriously wrong with Professor Snape. A normal teacher doesn't behave like this."
"In the Muggle world," he added, "he'd be labeled a creep."
"I heard he used to be a Death Eater," Ernie whispered.
"Dumbledore may trust him, but who knows what he's really thinking?"
Harry walked beside Charlie, conflicted.
Charlie had been targeted for sleeping in class and insulting Snape. But Harry? He hadn't done anything, and still got hit.
But at least Charlie was around. If Harry had to face Snape alone, he'd have lost his mind.
Just then, Hermione hurried over, worry etched on her face.
"You really shouldn't antagonize Professor Snape," she said, frowning.
"He can deduct points however he likes, and you won't win."
Ron rolled his eyes. "He started it! We didn't do anything wrong."
"But you still talked back," she argued.
"No matter what, he's still a teacher. We should respect him."
Charlie could tell Hermione genuinely cared and didn't want them losing more points.
But her preachy tone was hard to stomach.
"I get it, Hermione," Charlie said, softening his tone.
"But sometimes, if you keep backing down, they'll just keep stepping on you."
"But…" she started to protest.
"Alright, alright, enough," Ron cut in.
"Let's just go eat. I'm starving."
Hermione pouted, trailing behind them.
She really was trying to help.
So why did it feel like no one appreciated her?
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters