Severus Snape wandered through the undergrounds of Hogwarts. He just returned from the Slytherin common room. There was a fight down there between those two idiots Crabbe and Goyle. An apple never fell far from the tree. They were just as stupid as their fathers were. Severus suspected the only reason why the Dark Lord ever recruited them was because they did all his dirty work without question, no matter how dirty it was, and took pleasure in it. No wonder they were spared by the Ministry ten years ago. No one could have believed they actually planned the atrocities they committed, and the claim they were under the Imperius Curse worked like a charm.
Not even their friend, Draco Malfoy, could separate them, and they were only fighting over a croissant. Snape had respect for the Malfoy family. Unlike most former Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy wasn't a brute only interested in making other people suffer. The man was actually intelligent and cunning, as was shown by how he managed to disentangle himself from the Dark Lord after the war was over, and without a protector like Severus did. The fact he taught Severus so many things during his first years at Hogwarts also placed the man high in his esteem.
Severus was expecting a lot from his son, Draco. If he was anything like his father, he would accomplish great things for the name of the Malfoys. But his inability to break off the fight between his two disciples (because Severus could see Crabbe and Goyle were more followers than friends to Draco) disappointed Snape. The Dark Lord never let his followers fight each other. But then, this Malfoy was still a young boy with a lot to learn, and lots of time to learn it. He deserved a chance, something Severus never got.
As he approached his classroom, he positioned himself behind a statue, in the darkness. No one would notice him here, and he would hear what the students would say as they walked in. He did this for every class at the beginning of the term, especially for first years in order to gauge them before they sat down. They were Friday morning, the first week this school year, and Severus was waiting for one new student in particular to show up. Or not. Given the resemblance with his father that he saw during the Sorting, it wouldn't surprise him if he missed his first Potions class.
Severus had cast a spell into his eyes, which enabled him to see through the matter within a limited range. As a result, despite the fact a statue concealed him, he could see and hear all the students who walked into his classroom through the statue and the walls.
This classroom was shared by Gryffindors and Slytherins, which made for an interesting combination. They were young, only children, and some of them, especially the Gryffindors who came from family of Muggles, might believe they were not enemies yet. Two weeks, a single month at most would convince them of the opposite if they were not fools.
However, and Snape regretted he had to admit it once again this year, Slytherins looked and sounded just as stupid as the Gryffindors who walked by him this morning. Miss Brown and Miss Patil talked about lipsticks that applied on lips on their own, while Miss Parkinson and Miss Greengrass talked about hair perfumes. Mr Thomas spoke about football, a Muggle sport Severus knew from his childhood, while Mr Zabini spoke about a strange magical sport he and his mother saw in Africa during the summer. Miss Granger told everyone she had memorized the whole manual for the class, while Miss Bulstrode boasted how she broke the arm of another student yesterday. The student must not have complained about it to any teacher or Madam Pomfrey, for Severus wasn't called to intervene on this matter. This was a weakness he despised far more than the childish bullying and boasting of Miss Bulstrode. Only Draco Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, behaved adequately, walking into the classroom as a true pure-blood wizard should.
The one Severus was waiting for arrived just before the course was about to begin, almost late. He was with the new Weasley in the castle.
"Do you think McGonagall could give you a favor treatment?" the redhead foolishly asked.
"I doubt it. My mother said she was her best teacher, but that she's also strict and impartial. There's no chance at that," Lily's son answered.
This caused a hit inside Severus. The boy looked so much like James Potter, he momentarily didn't think about the fact he was Lily's son as well, as he just mentioned it.
"By the way, Ron, you know this letter I received this morning? It was from Rebeus Hagrid. You know, the giant who conducted us at Hogwarts? He invited me to his home this afternoon."
"He told you why?"
"No, only that he was very eager to meet me, and he would be waiting."
"What would he want from you? He's the gamekeeper. If he wanted to meet Fred and George, I'd understand. They always go in the forest. But you?"
They walked into the classroom. The rest of their conversation was lost to Snape. Two other students, including Longbottom, came in at the last minute as well. He let some time pass, and when his course was due to begin, he cancelled the spell in his eyes, then violently opened the door and closed it the same way behind him.
"I'll remove ten points to the first student who breaks the silence."
These first years were at least not so stupid that they would speak after he said that. He took the parchment with the names of all students supposed to attend. Anyone who was missing would face dire consequences.
Each one of them was there, proving again they were not as foolish as he might have feared. He just said the name of a student, and the moment he raised his hand, he called the next one. It was only for one very specific name that he took some time.
"Harry Potter." He paused, and once the boy had raised his hand, he continued. "Our new celebrity."
He let the Slytherins laugh at it. It would be better if the boy learned his place quickly and lost any wrong idea that being famous might grant him any privilege.
He finished going through the names, then looked at the small crowd in front of him. The course started.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes. the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses..." He caught the look of Draco Malfoy, who seemed entranced by his speech and looked straight at him. "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death, if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
Lucius Malfoy's son stared in wonder. If there was someone in this class he could do something with, it was this boy. His attention, however, was drawn by a soft sound of quill against paper, which came from none other than Harry Potter.
"Then again," he resumed, "maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention."
The girl, Miss Granger, who was sitting right next to him, put an elbow in his ribs, which prompted him to stop right away. Then Severus met the eyes. Green and almond-shaped. They were just like hers. But all the rest was James Potter, including his behavior.
"Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Granger raised her hand in the air so quickly that it was stupid in itself, as if someone threw a ball over her head and she tried to catch it.
"I don't know, sir," Potter answered.
Severus allowed a sneer to come into his face. "Fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
The girl raised her hand even higher, while Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe continued to laugh uncontrollably.
"I don't know, sir," the spitting image of James Potter replied again. Severus wasn't surprised at all.
"I guess you didn't open a single book before coming, Potter."
It was at this instant he noticed something in his eyes. The fury. But this did not belong to James Potter.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" he asked, more to bury the glimmer in those green eyes than anything else.
An expression of surprise went onto his face while Granger stood up, her hand still raised, almost touching the ceiling. But Severus had already begun to turn his heels, knowing he wouldn't know the answer either.
"They're the same thing. A plant. We call that aconite," the boy's voice said to his back.
Everyone was caught by surprise, Severus the first. It was as if his dungeons had gotten even more still and cold than ever. The Slytherins had stopped laughing, and Granger was looking in awe at Potter. She was the first to move, sitting down, a disappointed expression on her face. Severus, on his side, didn't leave the green eyes who stared at him with the same defiance. A stare he knew only too well.
"For your information, to all of you, not just Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. And a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
All students rushed to their quills and ink. All except one, who continued to stare at him with his green eyes. Until, slowly, as if he deliberately wanted to taunt Snape, he went to write what he just said.
The first half of the course went this way. Severus decided to ignore Harry Potter, and the latter obviously decided to focus on his parchment, taking notes as quickly as the other students. When time came to prepare a simple potion to cure boils, he ordered the students in groups of two people. These idiots couldn't even prepare such a basic potion, except Malfoy maybe, who did almost no error. Snape gave his cauldron as an example, in an attempt to make the other students more careful, but it didn't stop one of those idiots in Gryffindor to add the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron out of the fire. This resulted in a melted cauldron and a red liquid spreading across the floor. Students climbed on their stools as they realized the potion was burning their shoes. The idiot who did this, Neville Longbottom, was crying as he received the liquid directly on him.
"Idiot boy! Take him to the hospital wing," he ordered to Finnigan. He then noticed Potter, sitting right next to the place Longbottom occupied. He had been one of the first on his stool.
"You, Potter. Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? You thought it would make you look even better if he got it wrong? I remove one point from Gryffindor."
This time, Potter didn't stare at him. He looked at his shoes. The boy had understood where his place was this time.
After the class, at lunch time, Severus Snape went to the office of Headmaster Dumbledore. He found it stupid, but Albus Dumbledore had asked every professor to make a report in person about the first lesson of the first years. More specifically, he wanted a report about one student in particular, even though he didn't say it loudly.
"So, Severus," the old man asked him straight away as he entered, still writing while he spoke, "how went the class of Slytherin and Gryffindor this morning?"
"They're just as stupid as every year," he replied.
"You are too hard on them, Severus. Don't tell me you were a master of potions from the very first day you arrived at Hogwarts."
"I was better than any of them." He pushed aside the memories of his first day here. "I will be lucky if one of them makes it to the N.E.W.T. level."
"Well, you have five years to change this, Severus. And what about Harry Potter? How did you find him in your class?"
Severus snorted in derision. "He is mediocre. Just as arrogant as his father, and impertinent." That was a very good summary. He avoided mentioning the glare the boy sent him.
Albus Dumbledore looked at him, a confused expression on his face. "I'm surprised of this, considering he is the son of Lily Evans."
Severus cringed. "He has as much in common with his mother than a basilisk with a niffler."
"The other teachers reported that the boy is modest and respectful. Most of them find him likeable, even after a single class." Severus shouldn't be surprised. His father knew how to be liked by those he wanted. Severus was among the few who knew better and couldn't be fooled by such an act. "You should try to look at him as someone else than the son of James Potter." It was hard to do when he shared the same appearance and behavior as his father. Only the eyes were different. Those green eyes...
Severus chased them with another question, which strangely enough was quite close to the matter at hand.
"How is Lily Evans?"
"As strong, determined and beautiful as ever. And she wanted me to give you a message the last time we spoke."
This time, Severus was surprised. And in a very tiny corner of his mind, a glimmer of hope made its way.
"She said that if you even lay a finger on Harry, she will come to Hogwarts and kill you personally, if necessary."
The hope had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. For a moment, Severus had been foolish. Maybe he still was. Maybe he would always be foolish, but he couldn't help it. It was part of him, and he felt it would always be part of him.
"She made herself clear," he flatly commented.
"Very clear, Severus. And I don't want you to treat this boy on the basis of his father. He's not guilty of the errors James Potter committed."
No, indeed. He was simply like his father. And Snape would treat him like any people who were like James Potter