Three Werewolves, a Pony, a Seer and a Skepticist walk into Hogwarts...

by SamuelK28

Blistering Boils

Thankfully for Limestone, once she had been introduced to the thestrals and they had been ushered off back to the forest by Professor Kettleburn and Hagrid, with Barbera giving her one final nuzzle and telling her to simply ask if she ever needed their assistance, the remainder of Thursday passed relatively peacefully. That is if you can regard one of Hermione’s study sessions as normal and not unorthodox torture. The girl was adamant they be aptly prepared for both Herbology and Potions the following day meaning that Limestone had not made it to dinner until nearly eight o’clock.

On the plus side, this had made their final Herbology lesson of the week the following morning extremely easy. Their group had completed all seven tasks set out for them for the week halfway through the lesson, much to Professor Sprout’s delight, and avoided extra homework over the weekend in the process.

Much to Limestone’s relief, Hermione had disappeared after Herbology allowing her to retire to the library and make a start on her thestral essay as her fellow housemates frantically tried to cram ahead of their Potions test. Limestone had already made a mental note not to sit anywhere near Scoti and Susan today if she valued her life. She doubted even her wand, a supposed master at skirting disaster, could save her from whatever chaos those two would inevitably end up causing if she sat anywhere even remotely close to them.

Soon enough Limestone and her dormmates were making the trek down to the dungeons. An eerie and uncomfortable silence had fallen upon them as they begrudgingly descended the long windy staircase and Limestone had noticed that even Susan was looking nervous. None of them seemed able, or wanted, to start a conversation.

The silence continued until they inevitably reached their destination, Limestone immediately noticing, unsurprisingly, that Hermione was already waiting for her at a desk near the front of the classroom. She had barely even stepped into the classroom though before Snape pounced on her.

“I am glad to see that beast is not with you today, Miss Pie.”

“His name is Teeth. And if you don’t want me to whistle for him, you will remember that,” Limestone retorted fiercely.

The frown on Snape’s face intensified into a scowl but he refused to be drawn into yet another argument with one of these pathetic excuses Hufflepuff classed as students. “Anyway, onto a more important matter. Regrettably there has been a change of plan. You shall now be partnering Miss Moon today whilst Miss Brown shall partner Miss Granger. I am sure the two of them have a lot of catching up to do,” he droned without a shred of remorse.

Hermione looked less than pleased with that declaration but, knowing it was pointless to do so, opted not to object. Instead, she simply chose to continue ignoring Lavender’s very existence.

Limestone looked to the ceiling. Of course he would pull a stunt like this. “Fine sir, but might I…”

“You may not, so take your seat before I start deducting house points from Hufflepuff,” Snape snapped. “Your head of house might have forbidden me from giving you heavier punishments but I am still quite able to deduct points from Hufflepuff,” Professor Snape added testily. “And in future look at me when you address me. Such insolence shall not be tolerated in my classroom.”

Limestone bowed her head in submission before looking directly at Professor Snape and replying through gritted teeth, “Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” And with that she went and sat next to Leanne, only pausing momentarily to whisper in Lavender’s ear, “Sorry.”

To be fair, considering who was sitting at the desk to Limestone’s left, she felt Lavender may have got the better deal even if Hermione refused to acknowledge Lavender’s very existence.

“Alright, I believe that is everyone. I have already set out all the ingredients you require on your desks. Be warned that failure and cheating of any kind shall be met with the harshest of punishments. You have an hour,” Professor Snape droned from the front of the class before returning to his desk to do some marking.

After that there was a flurry of activity as pairs of first years either began their first attempt at a potion or were found to be totally out of their depth and thus tried to catch a glimpse of what their neighbours were doing. Snape though was instantly onto this tactic.

The Potions professor paused his marking for a moment. “Maybe I did not make myself clear enough. Cheating will result in twenty points each from your house and a week of detention where you shall write “I shall revise and not cheat in exams,” repeatedly for two hours each evening. Is that clear enough for you all?”

Those attempting to catch a glimpse of what their neighbours were doing immediately stopped and redirected their attentions back to the pile of ingredients in front of them, hoping for a miracle.

Limestone and Leanne were thankfully in the first category, although even they were struggling to distinguish just which fangs on the table were snake fangs. It took them five minutes but eventually they had pinpointed what they believed to be the correct type of fangs and after ten minutes their cauldron was steadily brewing the first half of the potion.

A loud explosion of too Limestone’s left did not surprise her in the slightest. In fact, she was more surprised it had not happened sooner and chose to ignore it as Snape lambasted her friends without lifting his head up from his paperwork.

“Why am I not surprised it is you two who are the first to fail. I suppose if you require medical attention, you have my permission to head to the infirmary.”

“No, sir, I think we’re all good,” Susan replied before breaking out into a coughing fit as black smoke continued to rise at an alarming rate from the cauldron she and Scoti were using.

Professor Snape lifted his head up from his marking and raised a questioning eyebrow in Scoti and Susan’s direction. The former’s face was covered in black ash and she was staring blankly and unfocused ahead of her. Her wand meanwhile hovered over the smoking cauldron.

“Fine. Did I mention that if I am unsure about the effectiveness of your potion from its visual appearance alone, I may have to test it. I suppose that is one benefit of having werewolves at the school. Their resilience and regenerative abilities make them useful lab rats,” Snape said wickedly before returning to his marking

Susan finished coughing and gulped nervously as she glanced down through the smoke at the bubbling black monstrosity that was currently her potion. And then Scoti slipped a piece of paper across the desk to her.

Don’t worry, I have a plan.

Susan gulped once more. She was definitely doomed.

Limestone had also caught a glimpse of the piece of paper and, despite being unable to catch what it said, likewise was feeling a certain sensation of dread building up in her stomach. A feeling she had barely known existed before ending up in this lunatics’ asylum of a school. Fear.

*

Whilst their potion was brewing the first half of their mixture, Leanne and Limestone ensured they were prepared for the second part by distinguishing which were the correct quills to use along with setting aside the horned slugs. Many of the pairs of students seemed to be faring okay, likely having studied astutely due to fearing the possible ramifications of failure. Some though, most notably Scoti and Susan, were clearly struggling for one reason or another Limestone noticed as she risked a quick glance around the room whilst waiting for the concoction in Leanne’s cauldron to boil.

Once the concoction started to bubble and spit to indicate it was ready, they added the horned slugs and carefully removed the cauldron from the fire before adding the porcupine quills, something that two Gryffindor boys had clearly forgotten to do if Snape’s yelling from across the room was anything to go by.

In spite of the rather distracting acrid green smog from the boys failed attempt, Limestone and Leanne completed their potion without any real issues arising and with time spare. This though did leave them waiting anxiously for Snape’s verdict. After more than five excruciating minutes of waiting the Potions professor finally called a halt to the exam.

“Time,” Snape droned. “Cease what you are doing and I shall come round and assess your work. I am not expecting much from your first attempt but hopefully you will at least be able to take some small piece of knowledge away with you today that will assist you next week when we attempt this potion again. I know Mr Longbottom certainly has. Right, without further delay, why don’t we start with our celebrity?”

Limestone watched as Snape rose from his chair with a clipboard in his hands and marched across to Harry and Ron. Ron looked terrified but Harry held his ground.

Snape assessed the ingredients left on the desk and then assessed the boys’ attempt which was emitting red smoke.

“How many horned slugs and snake fangs did you add?” He said sharply looking up from the cauldron unimpressed.

“Three and five, sir. I thought we should have added four and six but we were only supplied with three and…” Harry replied.

“Then why did you not ask for more?” Snape cut in brusquely.

“Why didn’t you supply us with the correct amount to begin with?” Harry retorted.

Ron sniggered next to Harry until Snape gave him a look that immediately silenced him.

“Congratulations Mr Potter, I shall see you and Mr Weasley back here after lunch to try again. Next time trust your judgement not somebody else’s. Grade: Dreadful. Let us see if little Miss know-it-all and the traitor fared better,” Snape said flatly moving on before Harry could argue some more, making a note on his clipboard as he did so

Snape stared down at Hermione’s perfect potion and the pristine pink smoke radiating from it and made a note on his clipboard.

“Acceptable. An outstanding attempt Miss Granger but this task was as much about your ability to work as a team as it was about perfecting the potion on your first attempt. I clearly noticed you did everything yourself and refused to let Miss Brown assist at any point despite her best efforts. In fact, you refused to even acknowledge her offers to help. Despite what you might think, you do not know everything and need to learn to listen to and work with your peers,” Snape explained noting the result onto his clipboard.

Hermione stared at the Potions Professor with a look of thunder but dared not be rude to a teacher.

“Is there something you wish to say?” Snape droned emotionlessly clearly seeing the fury behind Hermione’s eyes.

“No, sir. Sorry, sir. I shall try to do what you wish in future, sir,” Hermione replied through clenched teeth.

“See that you do,” Snape responded before moving onto his next pair of victims.

Limestone continued to watch as Snape went from one pair to another brutally nitpicking at the minutest of details. The potion is the wrong shade of blue, to unstable, smells wrong, smoke is to reddish pink, clearly left it to boil for too long before adding the horned slugs, and so on and so forth. The few pairs of students he did save positive comments for all solely came from his own house and only they received a grade higher than acceptable where applicable.

And then, there were just two pairs left.

“Okay,” Limestone spat as Snape approached. “What’s wrong with ours?”

“Already fearing failure I see,” Snape droned emotionlessly reaching Limestone and Leanne’s desk.

“I fear nothing,” Limestone snapped back. “And if I did, it certainly wouldn’t be a corrupt and biased teacher.”

“Ten points from Hufflepuff. Would you like to make it more?” Snape responded.

Limestone had a lot more to say but forced herself to lower her head in surrender. “No.”

“That is another five points for not looking at me when speaking to me. Now, no, what?” Snape said mercilessly.

“No, Professor Snape. Sorry for my insolence, Professor Snape,” Limestone forced herself to say as she lifted her head up and locked eyes with the Potions Professor.

“Good. And anymore insolence from you today and next time it will be one hundred points from your house. Try explaining that to Professor Sprout. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Professor Snape. Crystal,” Limestone replied.

“Excellent. Now, let us examine this potion of yours.” Professor Snape looked over and into the cauldron. “Hmm, not bad, although it is a shade darker than I would like. Everything else though seems to be in order. I suggest you use a touch more magic next time. Acceptable.”

Limestone was taken aback to have received what she would class as praise from the Potions professor. She was swiftly brought back to reality though by Professor Snape’s stern voice of to her left.

“What in the Dark Lord’s name is this monstrosity. You absolute muppets. And there I thought for a moment mutt you might have had some brains. Clearly not if you cannot even tell chizpurfle fangs from snake…”

BOOM!

Limestone stared in horror as her friend’s cauldron exploded and covered Snape’s face with its putrid green contents.

*

“THAT WAS YOUR PLAN!” Susan exploded as she, alongside Scoti, apparated to some unknown location in the castle with Teeth’s assistance.

It looked to her like they were in another part of the dungeons.

Hey, all I slipped in was Magic Ice to cause a smoke screen so that the classroom would have to be evacuated. How was I to know it would cause the potion to explode. And at the precise moment Snape was examining it to, Scoti retorted.

“That’s the whole point, you couldn’t be sure what was going to happen,” Susan lambasted. “Still, I suppose it was pretty funny,” she added with a chuckle. “Even if he is going to kill us when he finds us.”

IF he finds us.

“Yeah, no. I mean, there is surely no hiding place in this castle that Snape doesn’t know about,” Susan said despondently, resigned to her inevitable fate at Snape’s hands.

You’re almost certainly right but he still can’t get us in our dorm, Scoti responded with a wide grin.

“Maybe so, but he’ll just send Professor Sprout after us instead,” Susan griped.

And then we tell her it was an honest mistake and that Snape purposefully set us up with the wrong ingredients so that he could intentionally poison you, Scoti described her master plan.

Susan stood still and pondered Scoti’s plan for a moment. “That actually might work,” she finally admitted. “I just wish you were as good at Potions as you are at wangling your way out of trouble so we could have avoided this whole mess to begin with.”

Scoti shrugged her shoulders. Why should I put any effort into a subject where the teacher absolutely hates me? What’s your excuse?

“The same. Lycanthropy doesn’t help either, can really mess with your concentration at times,” Susan replied.

Fair enough, Scoti stated handing Teeth a dog biscuit and then proceeding to hand one to Susan as well.

“Thanks,” Susan said snapping the biscuit in half with her teeth and proceeding to eat half of it before continuing. “Are we going to be using Teeth to get back to our dormitory or walk?”

I would rather not risk apparating again. Apparating with one extra person is fine but any more can be extremely risky. I don’t think we’re far from our dorm anyway. How was the biscuit by the way?

Susan looked at Scoti cynically. “I know the risks. You don’t need to change the subject. Still would have rather chanced losing a limb or landing on top of the Astronomy tower than facing Snape after what happened.”

Can’t deny that. I suggest we get a move on then whilst we have the advantage.

“Agreed.” She sniffed the air. “Come on, the dorm is this way.”

And with that the two girls continued their retreat to their dormitory.

*

“Why does it have to be me?” Limestone groused as they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

“Because you were sat closest to them and got the best view of what happened,” Leanne retorted.

“Not by choice,” Limestone countered.

“Well, tough,” Leanne said brutally before adding a little more sympathetically, “And you need not worry, me and Lavender will be right beside you.”

“Eugh, fine,” Limestone grumbled conceding defeat and opting to stride straight to Professor Sprout at the teachers table at the front of the hall.

“What is it this time?” Professor Sprout said with a heavy sigh before Limestone could say a word. “Did Scoti and Susan blow up the Potions lab? Or send Professor Snape to the infirmary? Please tell me he has not been force feeding Susan potions again.”

Limestone stared at her head of house somewhat taken aback. Professor Sprout had come very close to the truth. Limestone coughed to regather her composure. “Well actually…”

The door to the Great Hall burst open and Professor Snape strode in, his face covered in boils.

“To answer your questions, just Susan’s cauldron, yes, and he was planning to until Susan’s cauldron spectacularly exploded. I had to take evasive action just to avoid being decapitated by a wayward piece of metal. Oh, and Scoti and Susan are currently missing. We think Teeth apparated them somewhere but cannot be certain. For all we know, they may have been blown to smithereens.”

Limestone was unsure Professor Sprout had heard her considering she was staring wide-eyed at her colleague but eventually she coughed and replied.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Leave it with me and I will sort the matter. If I require any further information from you, I will come and find you.”

Limestone was only too happy to sneak off and have her lunch. As she made her way to her seat, she saw an exasperated Kendra being pushed aside as Snape refused to be stopped from reporting his latest reason why the first-year girls in Hufflepuff should not be allowed to study at Hogwarts to Professor Sprout. This was even though the boils on his face made it extremely difficult for him to talk and even harder for anyone to understand what he was saying. Limestone should have been eating but, like many of the students, could not take her eyes of the bizarre confrontation at the front of the hall. That was until Teeth landed atop her.

*

Professor Sprout pushed the trolley dolly ahead of her whilst whistling a cheery tune. Upon reaching her destination she knocked sharply on the door.

“Friend or Foe?” Susan barked from the other side.

“That depends,” Professor Sprout replied. “Although, if you don’t open this door and tell me the truth and nothing but the truth, then I know two other first year girls who would be more than happy with a little more lunch.”

The door opened a pinch and a blue eye peeked through the gap. “Did you say lunch?” Susan queried before her stomach let out an ominous growl.

“Of course. I still owe you a steak dinner as an apology for not believing you the other night.”

Professor Sprout lifted the lid from a plate on the dolly that was laden with steak. Susan began to drool.

“I understand lycanthropes don’t really care for anything aside meat so I felt a mountain of steak would suffice. But, alas, if you don’t allow me in and tell me…”

The door opened before Professor Sprout had even finished her sentence. Susan darted for the plate of steak but Professor Sprout was quicker and froze the girl in her tracks with a wave of her wand and then followed it up with a wave of a disapproving finger at the lycan.

“Truth first. And if even one little detail is missed out or fabricated in anyway, I shall make you watch as your friends devour every last morsel. Do I make myself clear?” Professor Sprout released Susan from her magical grip and the girl rapidly nodded her head only for Scoti to try and pull her back into their dorm.

It was a futile endeavour. Nothing could get between a werewolf and food.

“So, it is like this, “Susan began shrugging off her friend. “For our first potion attempt we had to work in pairs to make a cure for boils from memory and without the aid of our textbook. We may not have studied as hard as we should have for the test but still thought we were prepared enough. My aunt made me read over the cure for boils numerous times during the summer. Extremely tedious. Anyway, unfortunately, we got a little confused as Professor Snape did not just leave the ingredients we needed on our desk but numerous others as well in an attempt to make us fail. Combined with Scoti’s wand backfiring on her by the halfway point our potion was, well, not looking so good and Snape then threatened to poison me with it if he deemed the finished product unacceptable by the end of the lesson. Fearing for my safety, Scoti slipped in some magical ice into our potion whilst Professor Snape was distracted marking our classmates’ attempts to create a smokescreen so we could make our escape. Instead, nothing happened, or so we thought until the entire thing exploded at precisely the wrong moment. It was an accident I swear Professor and Scoti was only trying to help me…”

Professor Sprout stopped Susan with a raised hand and then proceeded to speak herself. “So, in a nutshell, what you are telling me is Snape repeatedly ignored safety protocols and endangered the wellbeing of his students on multiple occasions.”

Susan stared at Professor Sprout in stunned silence for a while as her brain processed precisely what her professor had said. Finally, she uttered, “Are you not mad?”

“Heavens no, I’m furious,” Professor Sprout replied. “When I get my hands on Severus, he’s going to wish your potion did more than give him a few nasty boils. You will though have to spend the rest of today and the weekend with me in the greenhouses to ensure he does not try something but I am sure he will have calmed down by next week. Now, before I go and pay him a visit, is there any further information you can provide me with from your Potions lesson today, specifically to do with the actions of your professor.”

Susan was a lycan. An apex predator that was practically invincible. Yet the look in Professor Sprout’s eyes had even her quaking and she dared not question the fact that she and Scoti could, quite as easily, remain in their dormitory until Monday if needs be.

“Erm, well…” Susan stuttered.

“Go on,” Professor Sprout said in a tone that oozed more venom than that of a venomous tentacular.

“He deliberately didn’t give enough of some ingredients to Harry and Ron in Gryffindor, switched Lavender and Limestone around last minute so that the former had to pair up with Hermione purely for his own sick pleasure, and was extremely biased marking the results unfairly giving only Slytherin students high marks,” Susan blurted in one breath.

“I see. Anything else?”

He did threaten to take 100 points from Hufflepuff at one point after Limestone twice approached him about the matters Susan just brought up, Scoti stated upon seeing her friend gasping for breath,

“Did he now. Well, thank you to the both of you. You have both been most helpful. I will meet you both in the common room in an hour. Scoti, your lunch is on the bottom of the dolly along with some refreshments for the two of you, enjoy.” And with that, Professor Sprout turned and departed back down the hallway.

I would not like to be in Snape’s shoes right now, Scoti quipped turning to Susan as a shiver ran down her spine. Her eyes widened as she took in the grotesque and gruesome sight that greeted her. And there goes my appetite, she added as a shredded piece of steak landed in her hair.

Author's Note:

Happy Easter to all! This is very much like what happened in Scoti in this chapter except on a much smaller scale. Hope you enjoyed it. Up next: Falling Part 3: A Bumpy Ride.

Comments

[Frostgear]

Ah potions class. One of the best ways to show Snape's colors. Surprised he gave Limestone and Leanne an acceptable rating.

[SamuelK28]

11864659
Unfortunately for Snape, even he can't fail a student if they brew the potion correctly.