Albus Potter and the Journey Through Time

Umbridge's Legal Demise

Hey guys! I'm sorry about posting this chapter a day late! I hope you enjoy this one!

Severus strode through the dungeon halls and into the Potions classroom, preparing himself to find incriminating evidence on the pink toad in the form of Harry James Potter.

When he had Apparated to Number 12 Grimmauld Place yesterday morning to see how the boys were faring, he was entirely convinced that he was hallucinating after seeing Black cooking breakfast with the help of that stupid elf of his. Even more surprisingly, he had offered Severus some breakfast, and since he didn't get a chance to eat in the morning, he had obliged. He was further convinced that he was dreaming when he tasted the sausages and the baked beans drenched on top of the toast. Even the eggs, which were over easy, tasted decent. Of course, he couldn't exactly compliment Black, but he did manage to say, "So you are useful, contrary to what I had previously thought." That set off a trigger for the mutt, but before he could react, the spawns came bounding down the stairs, and Black was forced to act as if an altercation hadn't been brewing in the dining room. Severus smirked at that, for it seemed that Potter's spawns were much more of a blessing than he imagined. The spawns had greeted him and then proceeded to rave about how good their spaghetti dinner was the previous night and how the older spawn learned a fifth year spell, Aguamenti. Severus had tuned them out, not wishing to hear any more praise about the dog, and once he was finished with his meal, he had taken his leave, giving Black instructions on how he was to proceed with the spawns' education. Hopefully, Severus had thought to himself, Black will listen.

Once he had reached the castle, he had taken out some books on Wizarding Law from the library and secluded himself in his private quarters, preparing his accusations and storing his incriminating memory (without the emotions he felt, of course) in a tiny flask. He had checked and rechecked the case he had prepared to look for any and every loophole it had been littered with.

Now, with a plan in his mind, he calmly waited for the Gryffindors and Slytherins to arrive. With every second that ticked by, Severus bounced his knee in anticipation. It would be easy to fool the Potter boy into thinking that it was the first time he noticed something. Today, he wouldn't be the Greasy Bat of the Dungeons or the Greasy, Slimy Git. He'd just be stern, strict Professor Snape. No jabs, no insults, and no humiliation towards any Gryffindors, and no favoritism to his young snakes. With deep breaths, he morphed into a neutral, unbiased version of himself. He couldn't afford to be mean or snarky today, because there would be no room for mistakes in the second part of his master plan. He looked at his lesson plans and smirked to himself. He'd be teaching the dunderheads the theory of Veritaserum. Severus knew that the potion wasn't covered in any year, so to make up for what the students should be learning in class, he would make the original lesson into homework for the next class. Unfortunately, since the brewing time usually took more than a month, he'd just have to settle with lecturing the students on the theory and quizzing them on it later. The thorough instructions for the potion were already written on the chalkboard, and the notes about the history of its use were on there, too. With this writing assignment, he'd be able to observe Potter more clearly and assess the amount of damage that Umbridge actually inflicted on him. Severus also intended for this lesson to be a subtle foreshadower to what would happen in the coming days.

Soon, the brats filed in, one by one. Surprisingly, the first to arrive was Neville Longbottom. Parvati Patil followed in from behind. Then, Hermione Granger came in, her hair bushy as ever. Secretly, Severus was glad that he didn't have to deal with two sets of Gryffindor twins. It would've been pure madness. The fourth student to come in was Draco Malfoy. Sometimes, he felt like Lucius's son was much, much more of a brat than Potter. An evil voice in his head cackled. If only the other Houses knew how he psychologically tortured his snakes on the occasions they slipped up. Severus remembered when he gave Malfoy a good thrashing verbally during the boy's first year after he embarrassed Slytherin during his first flying lesson, and it reduced Malfoy to a blubbering, sobbing mess. Because Severus knew how to use his words in a way that enabled him to sharpen those words into poison-laced daggers, he didn't even need a paddle. He always threatened it, but he never had to make good on those threats he issued. In a way, he didn't show favoritism to his own House, for his own snakes suffered worse punishments than what the other Houses suffered at his hands. For crying out loud, the other students should've been grateful they weren't Sorted into Slytherin!