Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 20: Pranks & Other Diversions, 1

7 September 1992

The potion turning lime-green was the first clue that something was amiss. The second clue was when it started screaming. Harry was partnered with Neville in Potions today, and he immediately noticed the problem and called out for Professor Snape just before the potion's agonized wailing started. Seemingly in response, Harry, Neville and everyone around them clutched their heads and began to sway as if overcome by vertigo. Luckily, before anyone passed out (or possibly died), Snape was close enough to cast a Silencing Charm on the cauldron which now had what appeared to be several mouths floating in the gooey green surface of the cauldron, all wailing in silent agony. Snape frowned at the contents of the cauldron and then banished it with a slash of his wand, along with the silencing spell. Then, he turned to Neville with an obviously annoyed expression.

"Your hands, Longbottom! Show them to me." A nervous Neville held out his hands, and Snape grabbed one and turned it over so that the palm was facing up. Then, he waved his wand silently, and the boy's hands turned the same vivid green as the vanished potion. The man sighed.

"Five points from Gryffindor. You will both sit quietly until the end of class. Longbottom, you will think long and hard about what you might have done to have earned that point loss. If you can come up with an explanation and a good excuse, I might let you off without an additional punishment."

After enduring a small amount of sniggering from Draco and his lackeys, the two somewhat dejected boys sat down until the end of class. Then, at Snape's summons, they relocated to the front row of class.

"Well," Snape asked.

Neville swallowed and glanced down at his hands which were still green. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't imagine what could have happened."

"Can't you?" he replied. "Well let me hazzard a guess. By any chance were you assisting Professor Sprout with unpackaging the Mandrake seeds that arrived this morning? And were you perhaps foolish enough to not wear gloves while handling those seeds or to even wash your hands afterwards?"

Neville scrunched up his eyes in frustration. "Sorry sir. I did use gloves, but I was running late and didn't have a chance to do a full decontamination. Honestly, I never realized that I'd been contaminated." He looked down at his glowing hands. "Certainly not this much."

"Well, don't apologize to me about it, Longbottom. Apologize to your lab partner for whom you've just earned a zero for the day." The boy looked even more downcast, and Snape sighed. "Unless, of course, the two of you can find a time within the next week that also fits within my schedule to come in and brew that potion over again."

Harry nodded. "We'll compare schedules and let you know before the end of the day. Thank you, Professor."

"However, you're not getting off scot-free, Longbottom. By Monday, I want three feet of parchment from you on the importance of keeping yourself free of contaminants while brewing potions, and another three feet on the reactive properties of the Mandrake plant. I must confess I am disappointed in you, Mr. Longbottom. If there was a single student in your Year who I would have expected to know about the dangers of even the slightest speck of Mandrake pollen introduced into a potion, it would have been you."

"Again, I am sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

"See that it does not. In any case, since you are both here, there is another matter I wished to discuss with you two. Mr. Potter, you will no doubt recall some rather serious concerns you raised last May regarding the confrontation between the Other Potter and the Dark Lord. Specifically, your insinuation that the Headmaster might have deliberately engineered that confrontation. However, I will require a secrecy oath before I tell you anything more. Indeed, I am only offering to tell you anything now because you were both potential subjects of the Prophecy and I believe you are entitled to be kept aware of developments pertaining to it, but only if you can keep it a secret. Speaking of which, how is your Occlumency progressing, Potter?"