A new beginning

Glass Vials

I know I left some questions unanswered in the last chapter, sorry again about that, but here are some of the answers.

Enjoy!

...

Harry scanned over the small piece of paper for the third time, almost hoping that he had somehow read the words wrong. Your detention will be today at 18:30 was all it said, followed by Snape's name, but Harry could not help wishing that the words would suddenly disappear from the small parchment.

His leg continued to move nervously under the table as everyone enjoyed the meal in the Great Hall; he, on the other hand, could not eat. He had detention with Snape in just a bit more than an hour! The man had for some reason given him a chance the night before and allowed him to leave alive, but today he probably would not be so lucky.

Shifting in his seat once more, Harry let out a long breath as he attempted to calm his nerves and swallow some of the food in front of him.

...

A long time had gone by since his last class had finished, leaving Snape alone with his thoughts; thoughts that had plagued his mind following the eventful afternoon he had spent with Potter in his office.

There was one notion that continued to puzzle him even more than others. Potter had taken the small vial from his desk. After the fervent refusal to drink the contents, the child had decided to take the vial with him mere seconds before leaving the office. But why had he changed his mind? He was not complaining about the fact that Potter had decided to follow instructions for the first time in his life; he needed to ingest the Nutritional Potion after all; but why had he suddenly and abruptly desisted the fight?

...

A soft knock drew his attention back to the door. He had been too absorbed in his own musings to notice that it was now two minutes after the time he had told Potter to be present for the detention. Without turning around, he slowly waved his hand in order to open the door to the office and reveal said child standing nervously on the other side.

"As amusing," said Snape after giving the child enough time to move of his own accord, "as you may find to waste my time by standing there, I assure you I do not find it so." Turning around to face Harry who continued to stand on the threshold, Snape pinned the child with a hard stare. "It is now more than five minutes after the time I expressed your detention was at, and yet you continue to stand there and waste even more of my time." Harry did not move. "What else are you waiting for, Potter?"

"I got here two minutes after..." mumbled Harry but quickly silenced himself when Snape shot him an annoyed glare as he walked towards the mysterious third door from the previous night. Not knowing what else to do and not wanting to annoy the professor even further by continuing to linger by the door, Harry made his way towards the desk on the other side of the room.

Unlike the night before, Harry was able to briefly look into the unknown room. To his disappointment, it was not anything secret nor exiting. Beyond the open door was the Potions classroom, a discovery that made Harry feel slightly dejected for not realising how obvious it was. Of course, Snape's classroom would be attached to his office! Nonetheless, before Harry was able to continue his way towards the desk, Snape came back out of the classroom clearly annoyed. This time he was carrying a medium-sized crate and shot Harry a look that clearly indicated that he was meant to have followed the man into the room, making Harry scramble to join him.

"You will be discarding the contents and washing each one of these vials," informed Snape. "You will find the appropriate utensils and a pair of suitable gloves over the counter."

Quickly turning around, Harry was able to spot the counter easily, although he was absolutely certain it had not been there during Potion's class the day before. Immediately after, Harry's eyes fixed on the abundance of wire brushes and other cleaning supplies, before moving to the gloves; he was however surprised to find not one pair but two pairs of thick black leather gloves, but before he was able to ask the Professor who else had the unfortunate task of serving detention with him, Snape took hold of the gloves nearest the box he had placed on the counter and began to work them over his hands.