Harry Potter and The Jade Dragon

Chapter 17 ~ The Wizard Who Loved China

During breakfast the next morning, Shan asked Harry whether he'd had a chance to have a look at the astronomy scrolls yet.

"Not yet," answered Harry. "We haven't had any lessons since we came back. Yesterday was Sunday."

The first exchange lesson they had that morning was Potions. Harry found himself wondering what the Chinese students would think of Snape. Pixie, to say the least, was looking very apprehensive. She didn't look very enthusiastic, either, when she saw the place where the class was to be held.

"It's so creepy," she said, looking around the dungeon. "We don't have any classrooms like this, in Tian-Long."

With the exception of Neville, none of the other Gryffindors had wanted to volunteer for Potions. In the end, Seamus and Dean said they would come for the first month, while Parvati and Lavendar agreed to attend in January. When they reached the dungeon, Neville further shocked everyone by taking a seat right in front. Seamus and Dean seated themselves a few tables behind, and were glaring at him from the back, muttering to themselves in amazement.

After several minutes, soft footsteps could be heard approaching, coming down the corridor outside.

"Snape's coming!" hissed Ron, who was seated near the door. The class immediately fell silent, and there was a rather tense atmosphere in the room.

The door swung open, and to their astonishment, they saw that the person coming down the corridor had not been Snape at all, but Jeanne.

She strode calmly in, carrying a large box, and going up to the front, placed it on the desk. She then turned around and stood there, smiling at them.

There was a stunned silence for a few moments.

"Jeanne!" said Harry, at last. "What're you doing here?"

There was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Conducting this class, so it seems," she answered. She saw Neville attentively sitting in the front seat, and her smile broadened.

"What?" said Ron, disbelievingly. "What about Snape?"

"Severus is too busy this month to conduct the exchange class," said Jeanne, "so Professor Dumbledore asked me to step in for him."

Seamus and Dean looked extremely pleased.

"Brilliant," said Dean. "Wait till we tell Parvati and Lavendar. Are you going to take over our regular Potions classes too?" They looked hopefully at her.

Jeanne laughed, but shook her head.

"Severus has agreed to help out with a project," she said, "but not to the extent that he has to be relieved of all his classes."

She picked up a sheet of parchment.

"He gave me a list of instructions," she said, looking at it. "Today, you are to prepare a Confusing Concoction, and next week, a Shrivelling Solution."

The Hogwarts students groaned. They had done both potions before, and knew that they were extremely tedious to prepare, with ingredients were particularly foul-smelling and revolting in appearance.

Jeanne surveyed them for a moment, then crumpled the parchment up and tossed it aside.

"I don't see the need to follow that rigidly, though," she said calmly. "This is an exchange programme, and you won't be sitting for an exam. We shall do something else today."