Giving him a hard time?

Strange. Was Professor Snape's anger not about Potter after all?

Damn it, this was infuriating!

They had thought Snape would give Potter a thorough dressing-down, but Potter had turned out not to be the professor's target for venting.

Faced with Potter, who had stolen away their house's noble young lady, the young Slytherins could not help feeling a little helpless...

There was nothing they could do. They would leave it at that for now. If they had to change seats, so be it. They could not control Professor Snape.

Of course, Professor Snape, a master of Legilimency, did not actually need magic to see the young witches' and wizards' feelings.

One quick glance was enough to guess what those children were thinking.

It was nothing more than a bit of muttering about her behind her back. Could there be anything else, anything of substance worth her listening to?

There was no need to mind them. She would do what she needed to do.

Those eyes, as still as an ancient well, passed over Draco and Harry, whose seats she had not changed, and swept across all the young witches and wizards in the classroom.

"Oh, one more thing. My name is Severus Snape, your Potions professor. That completes the introduction I left out earlier..."

After speaking, Professor Snape gave them no time at all to react.

She walked straight down, slapped Malfoy's desk hard, and spoke softly to Malfoy.

"Draco, your father did not send you to Hogwarts to chat with Potter."

"I..."

Singled out by Snape and suddenly subjected to this reprimand, Draco was startled, her little face turning pale.

Well, white people were already pale. It was just that the rosy color had drained away.

How did Professor Snape walk without making any footsteps? That had scared her to death!

Of course, once she recovered, young Miss Malfoy immediately became unhappy.

When had she done that?

Apart from constantly pestering Potter right now, she was perfectly normal the rest of the time, all right?

But her father had the standing to argue with Professor Snape. She apparently did not...

Still, had class even started yet?

Exchanging a few words with Potter did not break any school rules, did it?

Otherwise, surely she would have lost points, right?

"Enough. Don't make me think your father has raised an idiot."

Snape shook her head and casually asked a question.

"What are the basic materials needed to brew a potion?"

"Huh?"

Now Draco was stunned too.

Wait, wasn't this all knowledge they were only supposed to start learning after school began?

How could she possibly know it now?

She had not memorized the entire Potions textbook before starting school. How could she possibly answer these questions?

I'm telling my father! Professor Snape is bullying me as soon as school starts!

And Professor Snape even called me an idiot!

She...

She's just bullying me!

Just as Draco's eyes began to redden and she felt more wronged the more she thought about it, a clear voice quietly reached her ears.

"A cauldron and a stirring rod."

"Also, in a broader sense, you need a wand."

Sniffling, Draco looked straight into Professor Snape's emotionless eyes and carefully repeated the answer Potter had supplied.

"A cauldron and a stirring rod. In a broader sense, you also need a wand."

Thank you, Potter.

I'll get Potter a present for Halloween...

I just don't know what Potter likes. Sigh...

"Heh. A textbook answer."

Snape sneered and waved a hand at Malfoy.

"All right. Since you enjoy answering questions for other people so much, Potter, you can do it."

At this point, Snape shifted her fire straight to him.

Those narrow, dangerous eyes met Harry's emerald-green ones, one looking down and the other up.

Only then did every young witch and wizard in the class stiffen.

Oh no. Snape really would bite anyone she could get her teeth into!

Of course, the young Slytherins were now taking pleasure in his misfortune.

Damn Potter.

If not for him, would young Miss Malfoy ignore everyone else and spend all her energy pestering him every day?

Well, look at him now. Professor Snape was putting him in his place, wasn't he?

Tsk, tsk. Professor Snape really was formidable. After biting the Malfoy family's young lady, he had started biting Harry Potter...

As Harry's four roommates watched him being singled out, it would have been unrealistic to say they were not worried.

After all, they had actually gotten along quite happily last night. Overall, it had been quite comfortable.

But there really was nothing they could do...

Harry had secretly given Malfoy the answer to help her, only for Professor Snape to catch him.

Harry was in for it now!

Her hands twisting together uneasily, Malfoy was feeling terribly upset too.

Had she gotten Potter into trouble?

It was all her fault. She had insisted on dragging Potter into conversation, which was why that awful Professor Snape had set his sights on them...

Sorry, Potter. Next time, even if you're with Ronnie again, I'll restrain myself and won't cast any jinxes...

Pah, pah, pah! What nonsense. We're just ordinary good friends. What does that have to do with this?

Of course, even after Snape called on him, Harry had not panicked.

He simply looked straight at Snape with his emerald-green eyes, offering no resistance.

"Professor, what question would you like me to answer?"

Please. I wouldn't claim my current Potions skills were all that advanced, but they were definitely better than Hermione's when she first started school in the original story!

After all, Hermione was merely very competitive and good at studying, with some innate talent on top.

But Harry carried the excellent genetic legacy of Lily and James Potter!

When Lily had been at Hogwarts, she herself had been a young witch highly proficient in Potions~

As Lily's child, how could Harry's talent for Potions possibly be as poor as it had been at the beginning of school in the original story?

He simply had not learned it.

And now, Harry had already been working hard to turn his potential into actual ability.

As long as Professor Snape did not go too far and use upper-year knowledge to make things difficult for him, he should have no problems!

"So confident?"

Professor Snape sneered. Seeing Harry's confident expression, he immediately switched to making things difficult.

Heh. Looking at Potter now, he was still exactly like James Potter. I really had misjudged him.

He hadn't learned a thing, yet his arrogant manner was exactly the same. How could he possibly resemble Lily?

"What is the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?"

"They're both aconite. It says so in the textbook. Of course, the two different names are actually used because they're employed in different branches of potion-making..."

"When used in Dark Magic, it's generally called wolfsbane, and when used in Transfiguration potions, it's generally called monkshood. Of course, sometimes simply calling it aconite works too..."

(Send some power and good reviews my way. I still have chapters in reserve, so extra updates are no problem. Let me see what you've got, hehehe.)