Chapter 089

Harry's process of making this particular potion was a little different. While he still used Bezoar and Unicorn Horns, he cut out the Standard Potion Ingredient and mistletoe berries and instead added Honeywater, mint srpigs, stewed Mandrake, and essence of lavender. The Honewater and mint sprigs decreased the time the cauldron needed to sit be heated by fifteen minutes, and the stewed Mandrake and essence of lavender increased the potions potency by a factor of two. The overall result was a potion that was not only far better than the original, but also cut the time it took to brew the potion by a third.

Harry filled up four vials worth of the potion in vials charmed to be unbreakable. One went to him and another to Neville just in case either of them ever needed to use the antidote (you can never be too careful), one was used as a back up potion in case Severus Snape decided to sabotage the one they gave him, and the last Harry handed to the potions master and Head of Slytherin House.

When he handed over the potion, the greasy-haired professor had stared at him with that blank yet confused look for nearly five minutes before taking the offered potion. The man then dismissed him, and Harry had gone back to his seat next to Neville. On the way back he'd noticed Hermione giving him another nasty look.

Snape's actions had confused Harry, though it would be more accurate to say his lack of actions confused Harry. He remembered well what happened the first time they'd had potions class. How the man had insulted them before class even started. How he had singled out Harry and picked on him because of who his father was. How he had taken points from Gryffindor for the littlest of things and given points to the Slytherin's for 'looking smart while they worked.' None of that happened this class. There were no insults being bandied out, no points given or taken, no potions master stalking between desks and intimidating the Gryffindors. And most importantly, he hadn't insulted Harry once.

Harry wondered if perhaps their confrontation last class had made the man wary of him. Had their battle of the minds caused Snape to approach the class more cautiously? Or maybe he was trying to think of an explanation as to why Harry, a young boy of 11, was capable of Occlumency when most pureblood children only just started learning it? It could even be something as simple as the man keeping quiet due to knowing that Harry could, at any time, let out the knowledge that he had used Legillimency on a student. Doing such a thing may not get him thrown into Azkaban or even fired, but it would most certainly ruin his reputation and the board of governors may decide to crack down on his teaching method. In the end, Harry supposed the real reasons didn't matter, and decided to put it out of his mind. There were more important things to think about than why Snape was acting so unusual.

"Snape's acting pretty weird, don't you think?" Neville asked, breaking Harry from his own thoughts. He gave the boy a small nod.

"He is. I was expecting him to try insulting me like yesterday, or at least give Slytherin some points for 'putting in their potion ingredients with flare' or something along those lines."

"What do you reckons wrong with him?"

Harry glanced at Neville out of the corner of his eyes, then shrugged.

"Who knows. It's probably best not to think about it and just accept our good fortune while it lasts."

"I guess."

His gaze sweeping around the classroom, Harry noticed that all of the other students were still working diligently. A few would look at him and Neville, but once they realized he saw them they would look away. He wondered if they were trying to figure out how they'd completed the potion so fast.

Over at the Slytherin side of the classroom, Tracey Davis caught Harry's eye when she looked at him from where she was working with Daphne. He offered the girl a smile and was pleased when he got one in return. Daphne also seemed to notice the two making eye contact and her lips thinned into a line of displeasure. Harry was sure she would have sneered if doing so wouldn't have ruined her icy image.

When class let out, Harry and Neville followed the other Gryffindors to the entrance hall where they would head to their first Herbology lessons. The sun shone clearly when they reached the world outside. A pale blue sky with thin, wispy cirrus clouds sparsely populating the atmosphere greeted them.

Harry and Neville and the other Gryffindors reached the Greenhouses to see the Hufflepuffs already there. The greenhouses were long, rectangular buildings made of windows and a steel frame. Long, serpentine dragon statues ran along the roofs. From inside two of the three greenhouses, Harry could see vines of various thickness and sizes writhing and pressing against the glass windows.

"Susan, Hannah." Harry and Neville walked over to the pair of Hufflepuff girls. Hannah offered them the sunniest of smiles, while Susan gave them her own small smile.

"So how was potions?" Hannah asked curiously, eager to know how bad Professor Snape was to them this time.

"It went well actually," Harry said. "Professor Snape didn't say anything for the entire class. Just put the instructions on the board and told us to get to work. No insults, no taking points, nothing. It was rather nice, to be honest."

"Really?" Hannah blinked in surprise, then puffed her cheeks out. "That's not fair, he docked ten points from Sally-Ann Perks the other day when she asked him a question."

"I don't know what to tell you." Harry shrugged. "I guess he was just having one of those off days or something."

"I guess," Hannah sighed as Susan hid a smile from her friend. The red-haired Hufflepuff looked from Harry to Neville, then frowned.

"Are you alright, Neville?"

The smile that had been dotting Neville's face since potions ended grew larger.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just..." Susan paused, searching for the right word. "This morning you were so worried you looked like you were going to be sick, but now you look really happy."