In a dimly-lit room, a man with greasy black hairs and gloomy face sat silently on a squishy armchair in front of a fireplace. He kept looking at the clock as if he was waiting for someone. Just then a knocking sound came from the door before it was opened. A man with pale blonde hairs entered the room, holding a walking stick with a sneak head in his hands.
"Lucius, you better have a good reason for wasting my 3 precious days waiting for you." Man with greasy black hair spoke when he saw Lucius entering the room.
"You don't have to act like this, Severus. You know this matter is very important if he is really back." Lucius said as he sat down on a chair beside Snape.
"Before we talk about this, don't you think you should give me an explanation?" Snape asked as he looked at Lucius with faint anger in his eyes.
Snape saw that Lucius was confused about his question so continued, "You used my spell against a Hogwarts student, even after I warned you to not use it in front of others?"
Lucius was just about to refute Snape's words but he knew he had done something he shouldn't have done. Snape had warned him to not to use this spell in front of others but he had done it and on a hogwarts student at that. He didn't know why Snape didn't want this incredible spell to be known by others but he was really in the wrong this time.
"Now you don't have a word to say? Do you want other members to find a reason to remove you from the school board of governors? Do you know what Dumbledore can do if his students are threatened or hurt by someone?" Snape said in a cold tone. He didn't care about Dumbledore or other things, he was mainly angry because Lucius used this spell in front of many pure-blood families without his permission. Lucius didn't even inform him about this after the duel. He might not even know about this incident if not for Flitwik mentioning the matter of the duel during their head of the house meeting.
"It's not that serious. It was a duel, getting hurt is normal. And..." Lucius was interrupted by Snape who mocked him,
"You want to reason with Dumbledore with this? Duelling a first-year MUGGLE student who knew nothing about the magic is already way beyond Dumbledore's bottom line. If that boy had not been saved by Flitwik after the duel, you'd probably have to entertain Dumbledore in your Malfoy manor. You won't be able to hide if Dumbledore really wants to look for you in your manor." Snape was satisfied when he saw ugly look on Lucius's face, he continued, "You should not meddle in the matter of these little kids. Now tell me, what ingredients did you give to that person?"
Lucius didn't want to continue with matter of the duel so he quickly handed the list to Snape. He was already looked down by many pure-blood families for losing the duel against a muggle boy even after using unfair means. If not for Malfoy family currently being one of the strongest, everyone would've mocked him in the public for losing against a muggle-born.
" It seems like that person doesn't trust you. These ingredients are very random. He might just need one or two of them, while he asked other ingredients to keep you in the dark." Snape frowned as his face was getting heavier as he read these ingredient list, "I don't think dark lord is back. It seems like someone fooled you with that letter. I am even surprised that you actually believed him without any proof."
Lucius looked at Snape and said in serious tone, "We don't know if he is really dead so it is better to believe than getting your family killed. Are you sure it isn't him? And those ingredients, can you find out the potion that he wants to make?"
Snape got up from his seat and took a step towards the door before speaking, "I'll see what I can do."
He was just about to leave when Lucius called him from behind, "Severus! That boy... Are you sure he is a muggle? He used levitation charm with a great control. He could use Transfiguration accurately. It was like he had learned it for years. He even cast a Disarming charm which was very different. Others could not see it in the dark smoke from my artifact but I could clearly see it. It was in the form of red sphere full of magical power. I have never seen such a form of Disarming charm. It's either nearly invisible or a straight red line but never a sphere. And he is just a 11 year old little kid. Many people think that he is from the hidden pure-blood family because they never saw anyone capable of casting these spell at this age. You know that magic power increases from age of 11 so there is no way anyone could actually cast such spells with powerful effect at their age. I hope you'll look into it. If it's really those families then it would be a disaster for us."
Snape stopped for few seconds before walking straight out of the door. Snape knew about Adam using levitation charm and disarming charm but he didn't know about the Transfiguration spell that Adam had cast. Professor Flitwik had kept this secret for Adam so except for pure-blood families and Hermione who were present there at that time, no one knew about this. Snape quickly walked out of the Malfoy manor and apparated back to the outside of the Hogwarts. He looked at the Hogwarts castle from the distance, which looked really beautiful and peaceful in the morning sunlight, as he muttered to himself "He is back?"
At this time Adam, Hermione and Neville were on their way to the potions class which was the first class on Friday morning. Adam and Hermione were excited while Neville was nervous as he heard many rumours about the Professor Snape from senior students. Everyone was afraid of Snape and also hated him for favoring Slytherin house and deducting points from Gryffindor house.
Potions classroom was in one of the dungeons which was very cold and creepy. And as the trio entered the potions classroom, they saw pickled small animals floating in the jars all around the walls. Hermione shrunk behind Adam when she saw this scene, while Neville just shrieked at this scene. Even Adam felt a bit uncomfortable in this room. They were the first to arrive in the class so they had to wait for a while.
Adam and Hermione were discussing about the potions while Neville dumbly stared at them. Soon potions classroom was filled with the little lions and snakes. Snape was still not here so they even started to roar and hiss at each other, while the main focus of this bickering being Draco and Harry.
After few minutes, Snape walked in through the door. Everyone had only fear in their hearts, including Slytherins when they saw Snape. Everyone went silent as they waited for Snape to speak.
Snape started his class with a roll call but suddenly stopped when he saw a name in the parchment.
"Oh, Harry Potter. Our new celebrity." Snape said softly.
Draco and his two friends, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered when they heard this. Slytherins followed his lead and laughed which made Gryffindors angry but they could do nothing in front of Snape. Snape soon finished the roll call and looked up at the class with his black cold eyes. Slytherins quickly quietened down when they saw their head of the house looking at them.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," Snape started with his lesson. He spoke in a manner which sounded more like a whisper but everyone could clearly hear it. "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. ... 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."
Everyone remained silent after hearing this speech. Hermione wanted to say she was not a dunderhead but Adam stopped her. Adam knew what followed after this speech would be a scene of Snape and Harry exchanging their feelings.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry was stunned after hearing Snape call his name so suddenly. He looked around in confusion but no one looked at him. Ron was also as stumped as he was. Harry glanced at Adam and Hermione, just to see their hands shooting up in the air. He wanted to ask for help but they were not looking at him.
"I don't know, sir," said Harry.
Snape sneered at Harry and continued asking next question, "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Snape completely ignored Adam and Hermione. Adam was finding it hard to contain his laughter looking at this scene. He kind of liked this scene as Snape had a deeper meaning hidden behind his question. But now it looked like Snape was actually really trying to make fun of Harry.
"I don't know, sir." Harry said, trying not to look at Slytherins who were silently laughing at his misfortune.
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" There was a clear mockery in Snape's voice. Adam felt like Snape was actually mocking James Potter, instead of Harry when he saw this look on Snape's face. Hermione sitting beside him was dissatisfied as Snape didn't let her show her knowledge. The only thought in her mind right now was to shout, 'I AM NOT A DUNDERHEAD, LET ME ANSWER.'
Harry was angry but he controlled himself from talking back and looked directly into Snape's cold-black eyes which further infuriated Snape.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked one more question. Hermione stood up and stretched out her hand towards the dungeon ceiling. Adam quickly pulled her down, but he could not contain his laughter this time when he did this as he let let out a small laugh.
Harry noticed Hermione trying to answer these questions, so he quietly said "I don't know. I think Hermione does know the answers, why don't you ask her?"
Some brave Gryffindors laughed but Snape was not pleased with the way harry talked back to him. Snape glanced angrily at Hermione but then he noticed Adam holding a hand on his mouth trying to cover up his smile. He got even angrier. He had thought Adam was a good kid but now he felt like all the Gryffindors were the same.
"Taylor, what are you laughing at? Does this look funny to you?" Snape snapped at Adam. Adam was stunned when he saw Snape's anger turn towards him. He quickly stood up and put on a innocent frightened look on his face before speaking , "No... Professor. I was not laughing. I was just happy."
"What were you happy about? Does your classmate not being able to answer makes you happy?"
Snape replied with even colder voice which made everyone think that Snape would probably kick Adam and Harry out of the classroom or just kill them right here and now.
"No, Professor. I was just happy that I knew all the answers of these questions." Adam replied as he felt it was really unreasonable for Snape to be angry at him just for laughing. Snape did not calm down with Adam's answer but before he could speak, Adam continued,
"Your first question also reminded me of my mother's words and that was the main reason why I smiled. One day she was reading a book about the flowers, she told me about many flowers and their meanings. And the Asphodel that you mentioned was also one my favorite flowers which is also a type of lily. My mother told me that this flower also had the meaning 'Regret of someone's death' or something like that. It is really beautiful and interesting flower. So I smiled thinking about this conversation that I had with my mother. Sorry for smiling at the wrong time, Professor." Adam avoided the exact meaning of Snape's words as not to get suspected. Adam said these words very quickly, in fear that Snape would interrupt him. Except for Hermione who was standing by his side, maybe only Snape understood what Adam had said in the entire class.
'Now what will you do?' Adam smiled in his heart. He didn't want to say these things but since Snape was being unreasonable, then he had to act unreasonably too. He was sure that Snape would not say anything bad about his student's parent. And Adam was also sure that at most, Snape would just kick him out of the classeoom if he really got angrier because of his words. And if he really gets kicked out of the classroom then he could just come back later and innocently apologise.
Adam waited for Snape to react. He wanted to see if Snape gets angrier or sad with these words. But Snape disappointed him, as he had no expression on him. Snape stood there silently, looking at Adam with his usual cold black eyes. Everyone in the Slytherin house looked forward to see Snape throw Adam out of the class or deduct many house points from Gryffindor, but none of these things happened.
Snape had already lost himself in his memories. He could not help but remember the scene when he saw Lily's cold body lying on the floor. There was a trace of sadness that flashed in his emotionless eyes but he quickly recovered and turned around before saying, "Taylor answer all the questions. Potter, learn from your classmates. Fame isn't everything."
This time Snape's tone was a bit softer. It was not much different from his usual cold voice but Adam still noticed it. Adam immediately started feeling bad for mentioning these things to Snape. Adam could guess that Snape was probably recalling his days with Lily. Adam answered all questions with clear voice before apologising one more time. This time his apology was not for laughing, but because of his unnecessary words.
"You can make the draught of living death if you add the powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.
Bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of the goat, it can be used as a cure to most of the poisons.
Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite.
Sorry, Professor."
Snape didn't react to Adam's apology and turned around to look at the class before returning to his usual cold voice, "Why aren't you all copying this down? Or do you think these questions were asked just for fun?"
Everyone quickly took out their parchments and quills to note these things down. After this incident, Snape did not speak much in the class. He put everyone into pairs and let them make a simple potion to cure boils. He walked around in the class, watching everyone weigh and crush their ingredients. He criticised almost everyone except Malfoy. As for Adam and Hermione who were also a pair, he simply walked around them, completely ignoring their existence.
Adam was feeling bad about what he had said while Hermione was busy in paying attention to the potion that they were making. Both of them didn't notice Neville who made some mistakes on the next table, which finally led to Neville and Seamus's cauldron getting melted. Their potion was seeping on the stone floor. Adam and Hermione held onto each other as they quickly stood up on their stools. Everyone else followed their movements as they saw boils appearing all over Neville's body when he got in contact with the spilled potion.
Snape scolded them before instructing Harry and Ron to take Neville and Seamus to the hospital wing. Hermione wanted to follow with Adam but she didn't want her potion to be ruined so she decided to stay.
At the end of the class Snape inspected everyone's potion. By now, he had already returned to his normal self.
He even praised Adam and Hermione's potion, well only if his words could be considered as a praise.
"Atleast not everyone in this class is a dunderhead. This potion is acceptable, but it could still be improved." Snape said as he looked at the colour and smelled Adam and Hermione's potion. Both of them had made this potion with the tips that Snape gave to Adam during the breakfast on the first day so it was far better than other students, but it was still just acceptable quality in his eyes. Even with these remarks, Adam was happy as he felt that Snape probably forgave him for his words. Adam had not said anything wrong or bad but he just felt bad for making Snape remember these things. In fact even Snape had the same meaning in his words so even if Adam did not say it, he would still miss those memories.
After the class ended, Hermione complained about Snape's remarks as Snape left the classroom , "How can he say that it was just acceptable? Our potion was far more better than others. It even had the same colour as in the book."
Adam laughed as he tried to calm her down, "Hermione, what he said is true. our potion might be the best in the whole class but for a potion master like him, it might really be just of an acceptable quality. We should just try to improve instead of getting angry. What he says is for our own good. You can see, he didn't pay attention to other's potions."
"But..." Hermione wanted say something ro refute his words but Adam interrupted her, "Let's think about this later, okay? We should now head to the next class. We don't want to be late, do we?"
Adam walked towards the door as Hermione quickly followed him. Just as Adam and Hermione left the classroom, they saw a blonde slytherin girl standing outside of the classroom. They didn't know what she was doing there, standing all alone so they just walked by her.
After taking a few more steps, Adam heard a voice calling him, "Taylor!"
Adam looked at Daphne who had just called him. He now understood that she must be waiting for him. It had been few days since he was waiting for her to contact him but he did not expect her to wait for him here in front of Hermione and other classmates. Discussing about that trial in this place was not really a good idea.
Adam looked at Hermione and told her to wait for him ahead before he walked back to Daphne who had been waiting for him.
"Can we talk about this when no one's around? Or just find a place where nobody can disturb us?" Adam whispered when he arrived in front of her.
Daphne looked angry, she just handed him a letter before leaving his sight. Adam was puzzled when he saw Daphne acting angry.
'Did I say something wrong?' Adam thought in his heart before opening the letter.
Adam read the letter as he walked towards Hermione, who kept looking at him from the corner.
'Meet me at astronomy tower on Sunday, at 11 at night.
-Daphne Greengrass'
Adam put the letter inside his robes after he read the content and walked back to Hermione. He could not help but complain in his mind when he thought of their meeting time, 'Did she really have to choose my birthday for this meeting?'
8th September was Adam's birthday. It was not like he was going to celebrate it but atleast he still wanted to enjoy his birthday by relaxing and sleeping all day long. He did not even tell Hermione about his birthday just for this sole reason or maybe because she actually did not ask him about his birthday and he was too embarrassed to tell her about this by himself.
Hermione was curious as she saw Daphne hand over a letter to Adam so she asked, "What did she write in it? It was a letter, right?"
Adam's eyes immediately lit up when he heard this question, he sighed deeply before replying, "It is really hard to be a smart and good-looking boy." Adam paused for few seconds before continuing, "It's a love letter. She wants me to become her boyfriend."
Hermione was stunned when she heard this. At first she wanted to call him a 'Narcissist' for praising himself but then she heard the second part. She didn't know why but she felt like her heart had stopped for a second.
Hermione acted like a little girl in front of Adam and also appeared to be very emotional but her mindset had actually matured quite a bit after the duel and wand event. Her mother had told her about girlfriend and boyfriend relationship between opposite gender when her mother heard how her little daughter wanted to meet everyday with a boy during her vacation. Hermione was just about 12 years old so it was really early for her but her mother still told her about these things as she always thought of her daughter as a smart and mature kid.
Now when Hermione recalled her mother's world, she could not help but shout, "No!!..." But when she noticed how she shouted in the corridor, she quickly looked down at the floor in embarrassment and continued in low voice, "She is a Slytherin..."
Hermione was nervous not because she had feelings for Adam but because of her mother who told her how Boyfriend-Girlfriend would go on dates and always spend time together which made her feel like she would lose her best friend if he became that Slytherin girl's boyfriend. Adam was the only best friend she had and she didn't want to lose him like this.
Adam was surprised by her shout but he could still guess what she was thinking. He smiled at her before walking towards the next class. He calmly said, "Hermione, you can't say something like this. If you discriminate her like this just because of her house then won't you also become like those pure-blood families who discriminate us based on our blood status? You can't just hate Slytherin house because it had created some bad wizards. Even Gryffindor house had a traitor in the past but just because Slytherin had a bigger villain, Gryffindor's reputation was saved. You must not hate Slytherins, thinking that they are evil and some kind of monsters. They are just students of Hogwarts like us. If you keep treating them like a monster, then one day they will really become a monster. Remember this, 'If you repeat a lie often enough, it will one day become the truth.' "
Adam finished his small speech and kept walking towards the class. Hermione went silent thinking about the things that Adam had said just now. She believed in Adam so she believed in his words. If he had said that Gryffindor had a traitor then Gryffindor had to have a traitor. Adam didn't tell her who it was so she didn't ask about it. She was already accustomed to Adam's way of speaking these things without providing all details. She asked about those details at first but she never got the answers from him so she had found another pleasure in searching for these details. She would look for these details then proudly show it to him.
Hermione was lost in her thoughts about these words for the rest of the day so Adam had a rather peaceful day but this peaceful day finally came to an end with a letter that he received from Garrick Ollivander, which brought him the information about his and Hermione's wand. This information made him shudder in fear as he imagined those things mentioned in the letter happening to him and Hermione.