Snape's Unknown Secret

Potions Class

The next day the Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins in the afternoon. Because of Harry's late night he wasn't feeling up to dealing with Malfoy and his gang of losers.

As Harry trudged down to the dungeons with Ron and Hermione, he couldn't help but think about what happened that night. He still couldn't comprehend that his mother and Snape were once happily married. Ron and Hermione kept making nervous glances at him as he was being unusually quiet.

As they waited for Snape to let them into class, Ron finally spoke up.
"You alright, mate?"
"Huh?" Harry said, finally being taken out of his trance.
"You've been really quiet all day."
"Oh- yeah I'm fine. Just thinking."
Ron looked at Harry with uncertainty.
"If you say so." Ron and Hermione gave each other a look, but just then the potions room opened.

Harry was taken out of his deep thinking and instead thought about class.
Maybe this will be my first potions class where Snape will actually be decent towards me!
Harry thought happily as he felt a small but timid smile form on his face. He looked up at Snape, who was holding open the door, while he walked in with the rest of his classmates.

Snape quickly and briefly caught Harry's eye, but Harry didn't like the look. It didn't feel kind or warm, but instead cold and heartless. Feeling a bit uneasy, Harry made his way to his table and took a seat between Ron and Hermione.

"Today... you will al be brewing a sleeping draught," Snape said as he picked up some chalk and started writing the potion's instructions on the blackboard. "Now go find your ingredients," he said turning around to face the class.

Harry flipped to the 135th page in his text book which held the instructions for the sleeping draught. After reading the ingredients he got up and collected them. He sat down and got started on his potion. He was quite determined to make Snape proud, and make himself seem worthy of being his son. He flipped his long black hair out of his face so that he could concentrate better.
Stir clockwise three times then counterclockwise twice. He thought to himself while he maintained complete concentration.

He was only brought out of his concentration when he sensed Snape making his way closer to their table while observing other students. Harry started feeling nervous. It caused him to panic because he knew if he was nervous he was bound to mess up.

Soon Snape was peering down on Neville's potion at Harry's table.

"Tsk tsk. looks like someone forgot to add flobberworm mucus to their potion," Snape sneered.

"Oh, sorry Sir!" Neville said while nervously checking his potions book.

"Looks like you'll have to restart, seeing that this potion is now useless," then with the flick of Snape's wand, Neville's potion's contents disappeared.

Harry watched it all happen, but after Snape moved on, Harry quickly looked back down at his own potion to attempt to focus again.

Snape merely grunted when he reached hermione, and soon he was looming over Harry.

Harry could feel his heart racing as he concentrated on cutting his lavender into smaller pieces. You cut the lavender into small pieces so that it's juice enters the potion better for a stronger effect. Harry recited in his head to keep his mind off of Snape, who was spending a much longer time behind his back than he had with others.

"Well, Potter," Harry felt sweat form around his hair line.  "Looks like you cut the lavender instead of crushing it. That will affect your mark immensely," Snape sneered.

"But, Sir! The instructions say to cut the lavender, not crush," Harry said panicky while trying his best to sound polite.

"Sorry, Potter, but I'm afraid it doesn't. Maybe if you took better care in your potion making, you would have noticed," then Snape continued on, looming over other students.

With a sigh, Harry halted his cutting of the lavender and with shaking hands, he started crushing instead.
That could have gone worse, he thought to himself.

"Psst. Hermione! Where does it say to crush the lavender?" Harry whispered to Hermione while double checking his potions book.

"It's not in the book, Harry, it's on the board," Hermione said while eyeing the blackboard where Snape had written the potion's name at the beginning of class.

Harry cursed in his head at his stupidity. Quickly and quietly, he pulled out a quill to change the instructions in his potions book. He briskly crossed out "cut the lavender into small pieces" and wrote above it "crush the lavender".

After Harry had successfully finished his potion with the help of the blackboard, he flasked up a sample of his potion for marking. Proud that he had finally brewed a potion correctly, he nearly bounced as he made his way to Snape's desk.

He carefully placed the potion in front of Snape who only glanced at his potion, then at Harry and placed the potion in a drawer along with the others.