Chapter 52

Isn't it obvious? Potter, you were appointed to your new position by the Ministry. By sabotaging your classwork and failing you as a result, Professor Snape attempting to discredit not only you but the Ministry. He is attempting to make it appear as though we selected the wrong person for the job and therefore compromise our mission here."

Harry doubted that Snape's goal had anything to do with the Ministry and was just a simple manifestation of the man's usual malicious attitude towards him, but if spinning the story this way could be used to get rid of Snape sooner, then who was Harry to argue? The greasy haired git was already on their "to observe closely" list, and it was long past time that the students of Hogwarts were allowed to learn potions in a productive and encouraging environment, free from disparaging comments and hatred.

"At this moment we are, unfortunately, powerless to have him removed from the castle," Umbridge continued "We can, however, document this incident and use it to advantage at a later date. I trust that you will be lodging a formal complaint?"

"I will," answered Harry "but I doubt that Dumbledore will pay it any mind."

"Which is why you will make multiple copies of your complaint," said Umbridge "Keep one copy for yourself and make one for my own records, then we'll send one to the Board of Governors, one to the Wizarding Examinations Authority at the Ministry and then one for Dumbledore to ignore, as you say."

Harry nodded his head thoughtfully before asking "But what about the potion? Is there any way for its quality to be examined? I think it would help my case if I could say with honesty that my work was any good.

Umbridge appeared to think for a moment, and then said "Leave two of the phials here with me, and I'll arrange for Madam Marchbanks to look them over as soon as possible. Take the other two to Madam Pomfrey and asked her what she thinks of them. She should have a decent level of potions knowledge to make a fair judgement."

"Okay, thanks." replied Harry, handing over two of the phials "Oh, and before I forget, I managed to write out the reports on the misbehaving Slytherins."

He set down the last two potion phials and swung his bag off of his shoulder to fish out the completed forms.

He pulled out all twelve forms and began counting them out "So these four are for you, these four are for the Wizarding Examinations Authority, these four are for the school, and these four, well I thought I'd keep a copy of each report for myself."

"A very astute move, Mr Potter," said Umbridge "It always pays to keep a copy for yourself as you never know when you might need it. I would recommend doing the same for any homework you are given, especially if it is for potions."

"Right," Harry agreed, making sure to store that piece of advice in his mind "Thanks for the tip. Now, I had really better get down to the Great Hall. I'm supposed to eat lunch at the Ravenclaw table. Gotta be seen to be mixing. It's the best way to learn what's going on."

"Oh, I quite agree," replied Umbridge "I'll make sure that these get to the appropriate persons." she added, referencing the forms.

Harry stored the last two potions phials safely away in his box of potions equipment, which had its own compartment in his school bag. Then he left the classroom and headed down to the Great Hall. How much lunch he could eat, and how much talking he could do with the Ravenclaws would depend entirely on how quickly Snape could have Dumbledore charging to his defence.

Down in the Great Hall, Harry quickly noted that Snape was absent, as were Dumbledore and McGonagall.

A good number of the students' eyes turned towards him as he headed over to the Ravenclaw table. Conversations came to a halt as he passed, and Harry was fairly certain that he knew what topic they were all discussing.

Padma beckoned him over and he gratefully sat himself down in the empty seat located between her and small girl with dirty-blonde hair who appeared to be a fourth year.

"Afternoon, all" Harry offered in greeting as he sat down. He was correct of course, as it was nearly a quarter to one.

"And here he is," said Terry Boot from the opposite side of the table, a wide grin on his face.

"The man of the hour," added Michael Corner, who was sitting next to him.

"Man of the century more like," corrected Anthony Goldstein.

"What?" asked Harry, bemusedly.

"Don't give us that, Potter," said Michael "You know exactly what we mean."

"Yeah," agreed Terry "You faced down the overgrown bat of Slytherin House not once but twice!"

"And in the same day!" added Anthony "If that doesn't make you the man of the century, I don't know what does."

"There was no face-off between me and Snape," replied Harry as he spooned a helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate "Well, not since the one at breakfast, anyway."

"So what happened?" asked Padma anxiously "Because everyone's saying that the two of you had a massive fight in your potions class earlier."

"There was no fight," said Harry "Snape was just being a complete jackass and refused to mark my work, so I walked out of the lesson."

"Doesn't that send the wrong message though?" asked Lisa Turpin from her seat on Padma's other side "I mean you are the Student Advisor, surely walking out of the classroom sets a bad example."

Harry shook his head and replied "Actually I think that I set a very good example. Snape was being extremely unreasonable in his actions, so rather than stand there arguing until I was blue in the face and gaining myself a month's worth of detentions, I simply walked away from the situation. Snape was the one acting out of line, and I took the best course of action available to me by walking out of there before things could get worse."

"Well, when you put it like that…" said Lisa, trailing off thoughtfully.

"Are you going to lodge a complaint against him?" asked Padma.

"Yup," replied Harry as he used a piece of bread to mop up some of the gravy on his plate.

Terry snorted and said "Good luck with that. Snape's had loads of complaints made against him but nothing ever happens."

"Which is why copies of my complaint are going to be heading to the Board of Governors and the Wizarding Examinations Authority," replied Harry "Just because Dumbledore won't hear a bad word said about Snape doesn't mean that others aren't prepared to listen."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Anthony.

"He picks on you lot as well?" asked Harry.

"Not quite so much as he does the Gryffindors," replied Lisa "But yeah, he does."

"Though mostly our complaints are about his overall teaching style," said Michael.

"Or lack thereof," said the small blonde-haired girl.

Harry looked at her, and saw that she had wide, slightly protuberant eyes, and was wearing what appeared to be radishes for earrings, and a necklace of corks from butter beer bottles.

"Harry, this is Luna Lovegood," said Padma, politely making the introduction "Luna this is, well, I suppose you already know…"

"Hello, Luna," said Harry politely, holding out his hand.

She didn't shake it. In fact, it was doubtful that she even noticed it as she was staring so intently at his face.

"It's good to see that the wrackspurts have left you Harry. Your head was full of them last year during the tournament."

"Erm… thanks?" said Harry, not really sure how to take that.

Anthony had to look down at his plate to keep from laughing, and Terry bit down on his lip. Michael however showed no such restraint and snorted loudly.

Padma kicked him hard under the table.

"Snape does leave a lot to be desired," said Harry in a desperate attempt to return the conversation to its former topic.

However, that was before remembering another reason why he had wanted to sit with the Ravenclaws this lunchtime "By the way Padma, I've come up with a little plan for us this evening."

"Oh yeah," said Lisa with a grin "I forgot that Hogwarts' hottest new couple were having their first date toni- Ouch!"

Harry had the distinct impression that Lisa too had just gotten a good kicking under the table, once again courtesy of Padma.

The Ravenclaw Prefect glared at her wincing dorm mate before turning her attention back to Harry and asking with a pleasant smile "So what have you got planned for me?"

"That is a surprise," replied Harry mysteriously "Though fair warning, don't eat too much at dinner."

"Gotcha," replied Padma, before…

"Potter!"

Harry winced a little at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice calling out loudly to him from across the Great Hall.

"Damn," he growled before getting to his feet and making his way over to the Deputy Headmistress.

"You know," said Padma "I've suddenly got a sinking feeling that my date tonight is going to be cancelled due to that greasy git."

Lisa patted her on the back sympathetically.

Harry followed along behind Professor McGonagall as the Transfiguration teacher led him up towards the Headmaster's office. He, like Padma, had a sinking feeling that their date tonight was going to be cancelled for them by outside forces, namely a greasy, bat-like git with a hooked nose and a twinkly-eyed, interfering old codger with a long white beard.

He wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings, and so had nearly passed by the doors to the Hospital Wing before remembering that he needed to go in there.

"I've just got to pop in here for a minute," Harry announced to Professor McGonagall, who had not noticed that he had stopped walking.

She wheeled around and demanded "The Hospital Wing? Whatever for?"

"It'll just take a minute," Harry reiterated "I just need to see Madam Pomfrey about something."

"Surely whatever it is can wait until after the Headmaster-"

Harry ignored her and pushed open the doors of the Hospital Wing.

All of the beds were empty, and he found Madam Pomfrey sitting at her desk going over some paperwork, a steaming bowl of oxtail soup and a half eaten bread roll sitting off to one side.

Harry knocked on the door to her office and she turned around to face him.

"Ah, Mr Potter. I was wondering how long it would be before you paid me your first visit of the year."

Harry smiled at that. He did normally spend quite a bit of the school year in Madam Pomfrey's care.

"Unfortunately I am not here to seek medical attention just yet," he replied "I just need your opinion on something."

"Yes?" she asked, sounding suspicious.

Harry swung his bag off his shoulder and began fishing out his potions kit "It's about a potion, Madam Pomfrey. You know a bit about them, I trust?"

"Medical ones mostly," the matron replied.

"This is a soothing solution," said Harry.

She nodded and beckoned for him to place the two phials on her desk.

McGonagall tried to interrupt "Mr Potter, we really must get up to the Headmaster's office. This can wait until later."

"If the reason for my being dragged to the Headmaster's office is the one I am thinking of, then this needs to be done now." replied Harry without turning to look at her "Madam Pomfrey, in your professional opinion, is this soothing solution any good?"

Madam Pomfrey picked up one of the phials and held it up to examine it.

"Colour's a little off, but nothing too major."

She un-stoppered the phial and held it up to her nose to give it a sniff.

"The smell appears to be fine."

She reached for one of the drawers in her desk and pulled it out. From within she took what appeared to be the wizarding equivalent of a petri-dish, which she set onto her desk before pouring a few small drops of Harry's potion into it.

She picked up the petri-dish and swirled it around a bit before stopping to study the contents within.

"The viscosity is a little too runny, but all in all it appears to be fine."

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Yes. It's not a perfect example of the potion in question, but it is more than passable. If fed to a patient it will do the job required of it."

"Great," said Harry before asking "Listen, could you do me a favour and write that down for me?"

"I can, but why not ask Professor Snape?" asked the matron.

"It was Professor Snape who refused to give me a mark for it," replied Harry "Other than a resounding zero, of course."

Madam Pomfrey appeared to be surprised at what she had just heard. For a moment Harry wondered if she doubted his comments about Snape, but his worried were quickly proven unfounded when she asked "You brewed this?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Harry in puzzlement.

She stoppered the phial she had opened and handed it to him before replying "I oversee a small club on a Thursday evening for all of those who wish to practice brewing potions for healing purposes. It's normally for those with a real affinity for potions, but with a few lessons you should fit right in."

"Thank you," replied Harry "Hannah Abbott mentioned that club this morning at breakfast. I'll look into coming along."

"See that you do," said Madam Pomfrey "It's nice to see that some of your mother's talents were passed on to you. Until now I thought you had only inherited your father's flying skills and penchant for getting into mischief."

"Thank you," said Harry once again, feeling something bubbling up inside of him.

His mum had been good in the art of brewing potions. Sarah had mentioned that before now, but somehow hearing it from a medical professional like Madam Pomfrey allowed it to be fully confirmed in his mind. He didn't doubt Sarah, but there was always the chance that she was exaggerating a little about her old friends. But now it was confirmed.

And he, Harry, appeared to have inherited that talent.

Madam Pomfrey handed him a piece of parchment, on which she had written down her professional assessment of this potion and, after thanking her for her time, Harry followed Professor McGonagall out of the Hospital Wing.

As they made their way towards Dumbledore's office, Harry felt as though he was in some kind of bubble of joy.

His mum had been good at potions, and he had inherited that from her!

Of course, this realisation quickly led to the question of why had this talent not manifested itself in any way, shape or form before now?

He recalled his first trip to Diagon Alley. He remembered being particularly fascinated by the apothecary where the majority of the potions ingredients required for school were supplied, and when he had returned to his relatives' home in Privet Drive he had spent a good deal of his time learning what the basic tools for potion brewing were and how they were used.

He had so looked forwards to making bubbling and boiling concoctions of many kinds, to brewing up antidotes and preparing solutions that were designed to make people feel better.

What had happened to that feeling? What had happened to make him not only dislike potions, but also suppress his capabilities in the subject?

As he and Professor McGonagall entered Dumbledore's office, the answer to those questions appeared, looming over him like a greasy, over-grown bat with a superior sneer on his face.

The bubble of joy popped, and Harry steeled himself to once again face down the Headmaster, his lapdog and his pet potions master.

'Another meeting with the Headmaster,' he thought, somewhat bitterly 'Well, this really must now be some kind of record. The first day of classes isn't even over yet…'

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