Potions class began in a bizarre atmosphere, and it was all thanks to a certain blue cat.
Meanwhile, outside on the castle grounds near the flying pitch, Tom was lazily sprawling on the lawn, soaking up the sun, his tail idly tapping the grass. He squinted, his thoughts drifting toward the gloomy Potions classroom in the dungeons.
"Potions should have started by now, right? I wonder how well that potion worked. Snape's expression when he sees the current Harry must be priceless."
The thought conjured an image in his mind of Snape's perpetually mean face completely breaking character.
"And Ron... I hope he likes the gift I gave him. I mean, he only said he wanted Snape to change his attitude toward him; he never specified if it had to be for the better or the worse~"
Meanwhile, inside the dungeon classroom, the situation was exactly as Tom had predicted—perhaps even more spectacular.
Because of the new student, Ariana, Snape had to repeat the previous lesson. But for "Ronnie," she would have preferred sitting through a brand-new, more difficult lecture.
The reason? Well—
"Harley," Snape began. His tone was technically the same as usual, yet there was a subtle, almost imperceptible softness to it. "I believe I mentioned in the last lesson the stirring method required after adding dried nettles. Do you recall it?"
"I think... it should be three times clockwise—" Harley answered somewhat uncertainly.
"Precisely." Snape's mouth twitched microscopically; he was trying his hardest to smile. "It seems you were actually listening. Five points to Gryffindor."
If the other young wizards knew about this, they'd probably jump out of their skins. Snape actually smiled? And he actually gave points to Gryffindor?!
Then, the professor's eyes shifted to the girl beside her—Ronnie—and his gaze turned even colder than usual. "Now then, Miss Weasley, please tell me why this step requires clockwise stirring?"
"Huh? That—" Ronnie looked bewildered. "You didn't cover that in the last lesson, did you?"
"Just because I didn't say it, does that mean you can't look it up yourself? For your laziness, one point from Gryffindor!"
He paused, then turned his gaze back to Harley. "Harley, you answer the question."
"I... I don't know either, sir." Harley lowered her head nervously, bracing herself to lose points.
Looking at her expression, Snape fell silent. If Tom had seen this, he would have burst out laughing: Snape was actually hesitating about whether to deduct points, and from Gryffindor at that!
"Sit down."
Eventually, emotion won out over reason. The Potions Master spoke in a tone at least three degrees softer than usual, "For your honesty and courage, two points to Gryffindor."
Ronnie: So?
So, the only accomplishment here is that I'm the only one getting hurt, is that it? And what's this about honesty and courage? I was clearly being honest too!
The rest of the theoretical portion went much the same way. Snape always found various reasons to deduct points from Ronnie, only to find ways to add them back through Harley—sometimes adding even more than he took.
Just as Tom had anticipated, Gryffindor's house points were taken on a thrilling roller coaster ride during this class.
Ronnie was miserable, but Harley wasn't having an easy time either. Throughout the class, she could feel a burning gaze coming from the Slytherin side, but every time she turned around, she couldn't catch who it was.
If Snape hadn't been unusually lenient with her today, those little distractions would have cost them all their house points. This gaze was something even Tom hadn't accounted for.
He had originally just wanted to bait Snape, but he hadn't expected this unexpected bonus!
On the Slytherin side—Draco looked away just before Harley turned her head. Looking at the current "Harry," a wave of deep regret washed over him.
If only he had been a little more honest, a little more proactive, and kept his temper in check back then, maybe the person sitting next to Harley right now wouldn't be that damn Weasley, but him.
The thought made him irritable, and people kept interrupting him. "Draco, what are you looking at? You're so focused."
Goyle followed his line of sight. "Potter?"
"Shut up, Goyle!" Draco snapped in a low voice, though the tips of his ears turned slightly red. He forced himself to focus on the cauldron in front of him, but he couldn't help glancing out of the corner of his eye at the two Gryffindor "girls."
I definitely just hate Weasley's face! He told himself this, but the moment he thought about the relationship between Harley and Ronnie, his chest felt inexplicably tight.
"Tch, it's just a Gryffindor, what's so great about looking at them!" Pansy Parkinson sneered disdainfully from the other side. "Why do two big guys have to look so pretty anyway! And that damned Potter, even if his parents were wizards, he's practically just a Muggle-born Mud—"
"Enough!"
"Miss Parkinson!"
Her sentence was cut off by both Draco and Snape simultaneously.
Draco's outburst just stunned Pansy for a moment, but seeing the murderous look in Snape's eyes—as if he wanted to eat her alive—she shuddered and shut her mouth obediently.
"I don't know how your parents raised you," Snape's voice was soft, yet it struck fear into every young wizard present. "But in my class, before you learn potions, you need to learn how to be a decent human being. For your foul language against a classmate, five points from Slytherin!"
The entire classroom fell into a deathly silence. Students from every house were dumbstruck: Snape actually took points from Slytherin? And five whole points at that?!
But Snape wasn't finished with her. "Furthermore, report to my office at eight o'clock tonight. You will serve detention there every evening until you learn how to speak properly!"
And so, following in Tom's footsteps, Pansy made history: getting points deducted by Snape, from Slytherin no less.
For the rest of the class, Ronnie actually felt a bit relieved. Although Snape still picked on her occasionally, at least Pansy acted as a shield and drew some of the fire.
Most importantly, Slytherin didn't have a Harley to earn points back like Gryffindor did.
Although Malfoy earned a few points back, they were still in the negative overall. This net loss cast a gloom over the entire Slytherin dungeon.
This was something Tom hadn't anticipated either. He never expected anyone to actually dare touch Snape's raw nerve—calling a Gryffindor a "Mudblood" right in front of him, especially when that Gryffindor had red hair.
When Snape finally dismissed the class, almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Ronnie didn't dare stay a second longer, dragging Harley out immediately. Seeing this, Snape's mood grew even more irritable, scaring the other students so much they didn't dare breathe loudly as they scrambled to escape the classroom.