But Professor Snape, who never used to call on Ron at all, even less often than he ever called on Hermione, was doing calling on him a lot these days. He seemed to have taken Potter's side against them. Which to their minds only confirmed what Potter had done had been dark magic since everyone knew Professor Snape was nothing but a Death Eater traitor.
Hermione had told her friends Fawkes hadn't actually been there at all. It was just a ruse Harry had employed to fool everyone into thinking he wasn't using dark magic on them when he was. Ginny really wanted to learn how Harry had conjured such a realistic image of Fawkes so she could do it too. She thought her reputation as a light witch would soar if she could be seen with Fawkes perched on her shoulder. Surely then Potter would be forced to choose her as his future wife? None of her peers could contest her place at his side then.
But as for Potions class, even Ron quickly figured out he had better at least try to answer those questions as fully as possible. Hermione quickly came to realize she needed to answer his questions without sounding like she was reading the answer from her textbooks but as Ron hardly ever bothered to read his books that wasn't such a problem for him as it was her. His problem was that he honestly didn't know the answers at all.
And the questions were hard . He even asked a few Hermione, for all her bragging and studying, was unable to answer. What surprised everyone was when he then turned to Harry with the same question and got an answer. A correct and concise answer. But Snape had seen the magnitude of Potion related books in Harry's rooms over the last few days when he'd gone to check up on the boy and to inform him of what was happening in the school that he might not be aware of. He knew the boy had put a lot of time, effort and study into the field. Not to mention Harry had all but admitted it after the scene in the library. He said he hadn't had time to brew any Throat Soother as of yet for himself, which told Severus, Potter brewed a lot of potions for his own use outside of the classroom.
So he knew all those questions Hermione failed to answer were things Harry had gleaned from the more obscure and esoteric of those books in his rooms which he had noted now had a bathroom attached as well as a small sitting area with a table large enough for eating at and his study room where the books were. No wonder the boy no longer asked for an escort to a free shower chamber. He had no need of one. Clearly the Castle was trying to make the boy comfortable in his chosen rooms. He wouldn't be at all surprised to go in there and find one of the doors he'd noticed led to a lab similar to the one in his quarters. No wonder the boy didn't want to go back to the tower. He literally had a better deal in the isolation rooms. Minerva, though she didn't know it, had been right. Potter had his own private rooms in the castle now. He had to wonder just how long this isolation chamber had been a private apartment. And if when Potter was finished with it, would it go back to an isolation chamber?
Some of the class, the smart ones anyway, were even taking notes on the questions he'd ask that Potter would answer. The only good news about Potions class to the trio was, unlike how he had treated Harry in his classes, he didn't assign them detentions with himself. Instead, all the detentions he assigned them were with Mr. Filch for Ron, to the kitchens for Hermione where the house-elves made her life difficult simply because she wouldn't shut up about freeing them, or to Hagrid for Ginny.
Severus knew Ginny had an abhorrence for Hagrid's animals and absolutely hated getting dirty and smelly, both of which were almost guaranteed during detentions Hagrid oversaw. Added to her misery was the fact that Hagrid was Harry's friend and Severus had made certain the gentle half-giant knew what the trio had been doing to his friend all these years they had claimed to be his friends. As well as how they'd tried to lay all the blame for the werewolf thing on his shoulders for them being out on the grounds that night. Hagrid knew beyond any doubt the only reason Harry, Ron and Hermione had been there was because Hermione badgered the boys into it. To say Hagrid wasn't happy with them was an understatement. Therefore, he would make certain all of Ms. Weasely's detentions with him were sheer misery for her. She hadn't been a part of that thing with the werewolf but she had been lying to and about Harry as well as stealing from him behind his back and that was enough for Hagrid.
Ron hated anything that smacked of actually performing manual labor which Mr. Filch specialized in. Mr. Filch, like Hagrid, considered himself to be Harry's friend. Mainly because Harry had gone to the trouble of brewing an ointment for his joints that would reduce the swelling which gave him such a hard time and made it almost impossible for him to get around these days. He'd also gotten some muggle arthritis over the counter drugs, analyzed them and then created some potions based off them for him. That made it easier for the old nearly magicless man to do his job. And he had bought Mrs. Norris many a can of sardines and other finger sized fish over the years. When she had a bad spot of dry skin that was causing her to lose her hair, he had found a topical lotion for her to moisturize her skin. So Mr. Filch considered himself a friend of Harry Potter just as Hagrid did.
Between them the Triad lost far more points for Gryffindor than Harry and the twins ever had in all the years they'd had been students combined. But that was mainly because Professor Snape wasn't the only teacher docking points from them over trifling matters. The rest of the teachers made it very clear they had little to no use or respect for them any more. Hearing they were accused and admitted thieves disabused the staff of any notions they might have had over their innocence. And once Professor Babbling had informed everyone of what the rune on Ron's forehead was, they found there was no sympathy for them anywhere. A Betrayer's Rune as a part of a judgement call wasn't easily come by. Nor could it be gained by mistake. Potter could've called for it but if Ron wasn't guilty, the rune wouldn't have formed. Therefore, he was guilty.
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