The Era of Aria Snape

10

Chapter Ten

ARIA STAYED AFTER her Divination class, waiting for it to clear before approaching Trelawney. "Professor. Professor!" She called, running after her as she drifted from one corner of the classroom to another.

She spun around and grinned, showing all of her slightly askew teeth. "Yes? Miss Aria."

Aria cleared her throat. "A few weeks ago you told me that someone of the same blood was lying to me. Well, the only person of the same blood that I have is my father. My mother died during childbirth so it's only us two. I just don't understand why he would lie to me or what he would lie about. Could you please enlighten me?"

Aria looked up at Trelawney after a moment and groaned. She appeared to have zoned out while Aria was speaking. She waved her hand in front of her eyes and shoved her arm. "Professor?"

Trelawney blinked a few times and sent Aria another toothy grin. "Yes? Miss Aria."

Aria sent her a hateful glare, adjusted her bag, and stormed out of the classroom angrily. She was no use! The only other option Aria had was to go to her father, but that was hardly an option, more like a death wish.

Aria concluded that she would have to get the answers herself.

Tons of possibilities flooded through Aria's head as she made her way to her next class. Maybe her mother wasn't dead. Maybe her father wasn't really her father. Only, if Professor Snape wasn't her father then he wouldn't be the one lying to her because Trelawney clearly said that it was someone of the same blood.

Aria rubbed her head as an ache began to form and headed into her father's classroom. He turned to her and frowned. She was late.

Two boys began to snicker as she walked past them and Aria mentally added them onto her To Hex list.

"As I was saying." Professor Snape snapped once Aria had taken her seat. "The Girding Potion may be consumed to increase one's endurance for a considerable amount of weeks. Can anyone tell me what the ingredients consist of?" He scanned the classroom as he spoke, a cruel smile appearing on his face when his eyes landed on his daughter. "Aria, seeing as you know enough about Potions to arrive late to my class, perhaps you could enlighten us?"

Aria's breath hitched. Professor Snape was so close to being added to her list. Of course, she couldn't very well hex a teacher, she would be expelled for that. Perhaps in Durmstrang, however, the Potions teacher wouldn't single her out and pick on her.

"Aria!" Professor Snape yelled, shocking Aria and causing her to jump in fright.

"I don't know, Professor!" She snapped.

"Detention." He ordered and moved to find his next victim.

Aria sunk low into her chair, beyond angry at her father. She knew that he wouldn't pick on her again that lesson, he wouldn't want to further damage his reputation. There were already rumors that he abused her, but those were completely untrue. He may have been rude and in need of anger management, but he would never lay a finger nor a curse on his daughter. For whatever reason, he had always told Aria that her mother made him promise to protect her, no matter what, and clearly giving her detention was the only way he knew how.

Aria looked around the class, wondering if her father had tortured anyone enough for them to drop Potions as a subject during her absence.

She spotted the Weasley twins. They were the ones who had laughed at her when she came in. She frowned at the pair of identical boys.

Professor Snape dismissed the class moments later.

Aria waited at the door for the twins. She was going to confront them because no one laughed at Aria and got away with it. No one.

They were chuckling as they reached the door, barely noticing Aria's intense glare. She stretched her arm across the exit, resting her hand on the doorframe opposite to her, and cleared her throat, grabbing their attention.

"Why are you laughing?" She demanded.

The boys looked between each other and then back at Aria, confused.

She sighed in annoyance. "When I walked in, late, you two were laughing at me and I want to know why!"

"Oh, that." The one on the right laughed again. "We could tell you." He looked towards his twin.

"But first we must take evasive action." The other spoke.

Aria was about to question them but found herself lifted off of the ground as they grabbed either of her arms and swiftly carried her out of the classroom and down the corridor.

"Put me down!" She snapped once they were a good few classrooms away from her father's.

"Shoosh." One of them instructed.

"Did you just shoosh me? I-" Aria's sentence was muffled as the other one placed his hand across her mouth.

"Watch this." He snickered with his twin.

An explosion erupted from Professor Snape's classroom, yellow smoke wafting out of it. Aria felt an immediate sense of panic. "What did you two do?" She demanded, glancing between them and the classroom.

"Nothing old grumpy didn't deserve."

"Old grumpy is my father!"

The twins exchanged identical looks of horror as Aria glared at them. After a moment, the one on the left shrugged and smiled. "It's nothing drastic. It'll wear off in a few days."

"What is it?" She snapped again.

"Nothing horrible just a Canary Cream is all."

"What in Merlin's name is a Canary Cream?" Aria began to worry even more. What was this strange spell that she had never heard of? Was her father alright?

"One of our latest inventions."

"Still working out a few kinks, but the basic idea is there."

Aria shot her eyes between the two of them. "That doesn't explain what it is!"

"Here." One of them pulled something from his pocket and placed it into her awaiting palm. It was a small yellow sweet.

Aria poked at it. "This is a Canary Cream? This small thing caused that huge explosion?"

"Precisely. Fred, I think it was a bit much. I don't like the explosion, I mean, will people really want the explosion?"

"Good point, Georgey. We'll need to fix that."

"What does it do?" Aria wondered. She hoped it wasn't anything lethal.

"Turns the victim into a Canary, obviously." George - Aria assumed - laughed.

"You mean you turned my father into a bird?"

The twins began to chuckle again, obviously finding her distress amusing.

Aria couldn't have a bird for a father! Not only was that completely ridiculous to imagine, but if anyone found out what had happened to him he would be the laughing stock of the whole school. No one would ever respect him again!

Aria grabbed both of their shirts. "Change him back!" She demanded.

They glanced between each other.

"Thing is..."

"...There isn't a way to change him back."

"But as we said, it wears off."

"Until it does? What then? How am I supposed to have a bird as a father? What is supposed to eat? How is he supposed to teach?"

"Don't worry about that."

"Yeah, rather worry about whether it worked or not. There could be some nasty side effects. Remember the first year we threw one at, Freddy? Grew a feather mustache."

"Oh, Merlin!" Aria raced away from them and towards her father's classroom, hoping that - for lack of a better possibility - he was a canary.