The Boy Who Wanted to Live

Potter

Harry looked down at his now ruined notes and waited for them to dry before shoving them into his bag,his breath trying to resume it's pattern. 

"Assss I wass saying," Snape drawled in a bored voice "In this class you will pay attention. Any notes taken," he looked at Harry "Should be neat, and as concise as the ingredients you put in your potions. This is not as some would like to believe a muggle cooking class. Stir a potion one time more than is specifically stated in the directions and you could wake up in the hospital two months later with the body of the opposite gender. It is crucial that you pay attention."

Snape turned and began to pace down the rows of students sneering at them.

"It is very likely that within your first day ten of you will be sent to the hospital wing. It is even more likely that you will fail this class." Harry shuddered even though the potions professor wasn't near him "Do note that if you intend to fail and do not put all of your effort into every project in this class you will be removed from it."

On the chalkboard in front of the class chalk began to write a list of directions for a potion. 

"Any mistake you make could be fatal" he warned before turning to sit at his desk "So please, make a mistake. I would be glad to be rid of the imbeciles who loiter in my classroom as soon as possible."

Harry took out a new piece of paper and slowly copied the instructions to it as the other students scrambled to get the ingredients. Professor Snape watched Harry with a mixture of amusement and disgust. Snape knew if Harry didn't hurry in writing the instructions he wouldn't have enough time to actually complete the potion. But once again Harry surprised his teachers for while the other students were pulling hair and kicking shins to get to their ingredients Harry simply stood up and walked through the crowd, slipped easily between the ruckus and exited holding all of his ingredients as if he had done it a million times before. He slowly sat at his desk and began to spread his ingredients in order from which he would need first to last, while most students had only just began to get their own ingredients. Harry looked at his teacher and Snape almost smiled, but then remembering who had spawned the child sneered instead. Stupid Potter, he thought to himself, Thinks he can  do everything better than anyone else. Harry, as if hearing these thoughts frowned sadly and looked down at his cauldron and set a small fire under it and began to add the quail yolks and buttered snarfblats.  

Harry finished his potion and sighed softly. The other kids around them had caught fire, exploded, or disintegrated their potions half way through the class but Harry's was pretty much average. At least his hadn't sent him to the hospital yet. He put in his final ingredient (one mint leaf) and the potion turned a soft baby blue and made Harry relax slightly.  Snape came over, sniffed at Harry's potion and took a few samples until the cauldron was emptied of its contents. Harry took out his wand and casted a scourgify on the metal bowl and extinguished his fire. Well... He didn't fail. Harry smiled a little and looked cast a tempus for the first time since he read about it. He had five more minutes left in class. Harry pulled out the ruined notes, deicidng that he had enough time to recopy them.