Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [157]
“Very nice as well, Mr. Weasley,” said Professor Sprout, holding her nose from the stench. “You, Miss. Granger, and Mr. Potter will each receive the Advanced O.W.L.”
“But what about us, professor?” asked Parvati, also holding her nose. Professor Sprout glared at her.
“You are lucky you will not be expelled for cheating, Miss. Patil, and that goes for the rest of you. You should be thankful I only am punishing you like this.” Parvati bowed her head sadly, and walked off, to wait for the bell to ring with the rest of the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs.
“Professor Sprout,” asked Harry, a few minutes later, “what’s wrong with Neville? Will he be okay?”
“Neville? Oh, yes. He isn‘t feeling to good… he shall be fine, though.”
“And what about his tests?” asked Harry. However, just then, the bell rang.
“I’m sorry Mr. Potter,” she said, “I don’t have time to talk. I need to prepare for my next class’ test.” She shoved Harry aside and started making the plants and the mess they had made disappear. Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran out.
“Hermione, how did you get your plant to grow so big?” asked Ron. “I thought Harry’s was as big as it could get.” Hermione smiled.
“Well, I added a little… special ingredient…” she said smugly.
“What was it?” asked Harry excitedly.
“Unicorn hair,” said Hermione. “It’s a very magical substance, concerning plants. If I had added more, the plant probably would have grown to the size of the room!”
“But Hermione… Professor Sprout didn’t have any unicorn hair available to use- oh… I see,” said Ron, catching on.
“All I did was transform part of my arm into the unicorn leg. I pulled of a few hairs quickly, and put them in.”
“That’s Hermione,” said Ron, “getting good grades, even if it means putting part of herself into the potion!”
“Well,” said Hermione, trying not to laugh which was especially hard since Harry was cracking up, “you got the O.W.L. too.”
“Yep,” said Ron, looking happy, “my third one! I already got one in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I succumbed to the pain right before Hermione, and she was the best… except for you Harry.”
They arrived at the Potions dungeon, ready for their next exam. Hermione threw the door open and there, at the head of the class was no other than Professor Snape.
CHAPTER 27- Dungeons and Dragons
Ron stopped in his tracks, and turned white; Hermione’s jaw dropped to the floor; and Harry’s eyes became the size of baseballs. What was professor Snape doing here? He had been gone all year, why was he returning now? He glared at them, with his pointy nose, and greasy appearance. He looked no different than when Harry had seen him at Azkaban.
“That will be five points from Gryffindor,” he hissed at them, “…each. You are two minutes late, that is two minutes less that everyone will have to work on the exam. What are you still doing standing Potter! Sit down and get ready! Another five points!”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats, not moving their gaze from Professor Snape. He was holding a thick stack of papers, and was passing them out.
“I know all you are wondering the same thing,” he said as he passed out the tests, “why am I here? Well, I can answer that for you. I have been away all year, helping the Aurors try and defeat Vold- You-Know-Who. It has come to my attention that during my absence, a certain Mr. Fletcher watched over my class…. Well, I know him, and we shall see if he did a good job teaching you, now won’t we?”
He emphasized the ‘e’ as he glared at Harry, trying to physically show the same hate towards him that he always did. Through his cold stare, though, Harry saw a new warmth inside him, his eyes were on fire, not icy and cold as he remembered them. He also didn’t seem afraid to say Voldemort’s name anymore, from his stutter before. Maybe