The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 131: Clearly He Liked It

Snape cleared his throat.  He almost need not bother.  Despite his mellowing the last few years, his presence still tolerated no back-talk nor disrespect.  The seventh year N.E.W.T.s Potions class immediately fell silent.  "There will be something a little different this year.  I will be having a mastery student as a student instructor from time to time to guest lecture.  They are a graduate of the school and obtained an Outstanding on their N.E.W.T. and I have no qualms about their competence."

He looked at each student.  "I expect you to treat them as you would me, as a Potions professor.  They are in charge of their classes and any sort of deliberate disrespect will be dealt with harshly.  Do I make myself clear?"  He waited for them all to nod.  "Good."  Without another word, he left the classroom, leaving them to mutter about who the student instructor would be.

A click of heels could be heard, someone walking to the classroom with a steady pace.  When the door opened and Alicia walked in, Harry's eyes opened and he smiled wide while Hermione and Daphne looked astonished.

She was dressed in navy blue robes so dark they appeared almost black.  Her long brown hair was done up in a tight bun and she looked severely at the students, many of whom stiffened or straightened under her piercing eyes.    She walked in slowly, inspecting each student as she passed.

"You, Scruffy."  She gave a Ravenclaw boy a sharp look.  "Tuck your shirt in and tighten up your tie properly.  Button up your sleeves."

"What?!"  The student looked incensed.

"If your clothes are a mess then your station is a mess, look at it."  She looked at his very messy workspace.  "Your sleeves are open and you will drag your ingredients left and right and mix things incorrectly.  Clean up, now."  She stared at him until he started to sheepishly do up his buttons.

"You, what's that scent?" she asked a Hufflepuff girl.

"Vanilla and orange blossom," the girl said.

"It's pretty."  Alicia flicked her wand, deodorizing the girl.  "And it's too much.  Too much perfume can throw off your ingredients.  Not to mention that it renders your nose ineffective.  You need to be able to smell your materials and the potion that you are brewing."

"I can smell with my perfume on!" the girl protested.

"You might, but your classmates probably cannot.  Will anyone disagree with me?"  No one did and the girl looked away, embarrassed.

Alicia walked past another Hufflepuff and stopped, turning slowly.  She glared up at him.  "Are you eating during Potions?"

He shook his head, mouth shut.

She stared at him.  He started to sweat, face turning red.  He started to cough with his mouth closed.

"I am waiting," Alicia said.  "You can either swallow and admit fault or be stubborn and choke and we watch."

The boy finally swallowed, coughing and hacking.  "You would have watched me choke?!"

"There is a Medic in class, you would have been fine, aside from the fact that you are eating during Potions!  You do know that saliva is an ingredient and can have drastic effects on your potion?!  Not to mention whatever you spray about otherwise!"  She sighed and shook her head, walking away from a very red-faced student.

By the time she reached Harry, Hermione, and Daphne, they had surreptitiously cleaned their table and straightened themselves up.  She inspected them critically, eyes never still.  She took her time and the rest of the class took the hint to do what the trio had done while Alicia had inspected the first three students.  She finally reached out and straightened Harry's tie before leaving with a smirk and without a word.  The rest of the class had managed to avoid her ire aside from small comments to tie up hair and to clean their kit better.