OKAY SO YEAH HERE WE ARE. 8D

Ready to gooo? 

Snape watched as the students slowly made their way into his classroom. 7^th year NEWT Potions. Joy.

“Sit down!” he bellowed, and more than a few of them jumped, before scurrying to find seats. His lip curled. It was so easy to make them jittery.

“You students have made it here, because-” his eyes glittered as they rested upon each and every student there, “-it seems you are not as imbecilic as other impressions would imply. As you know, I only take the best students into my 7^th year NEWT class. If I find you have wavered in your consistency, you will be kicked out with no hesitation. Is that understood?”

There was a murmur of assent.

“Wonderful,” he said silkily. “Now. Let us…take a chance to reacquaint ourselves with our fellow classmates, shall we?” He moved to the first row, and slowly made his way down the line, doing his best to humiliate every student he went past.

“Ah, Longbottom. A disaster in itself. Not even able to handle a wand without blowing himself up and those around him. You must have relied on Ms. Granger to get this NEWT, who of course couldn’t keep her snobby nose out of it.”

“Brown. The girl who could not keep her lips to herself. The girl whose adventures in snogging have been discussed between the faculty members, for the sheer shame of it.”

“Malfoy. Able to handle a wand, but not a broom. The cause of all of Slytherin’s losses to Gryffindor in a game of Quidditch.”

Some of the remarks he made were cutting and personal, and had the Headmaster known what he had said, he’d surely be fired. But the students were too scared to say anything. They only wondered how he knew so much about them.

By the time he had done the first row, there were no faces without colour or hints of tears. He felt a kind of sadistic pleasure in this, so he quickly made his way to the second row. Much the same happened, and several students in the class, ones who hadn’t been humiliated yet, were glaring at him. He had not even spared the Slytherins.

“Weasley. The overlooked one. The jealous little boy with the famous best friend and clever girlfriend. The one whose robes, books and all possessions have been passed down from generation to generation of redheads, who can only afford at best the fifth-hand of an item.”

“Granger. The insufferable know-it-all chit who worships the book. Unable to raise her hand to answer a question without looking as if she has an incurable urge to make a trip to the bathroom.”

“And…Mr. Potter.” Snape’s mouth curled into a sardonic smile, and he looked the boy up and down. “Hogwarts’ own little celebrity. The one with the bullying father, fugitive godfather and clever mother whose traits he has not one of. The one who relies on pure luck for all the wonderful accomplishments he has on his record. Who leeches off others’ brilliance to make up for his own incompetence.” 

The blue eyes of the Potter boy focused onto Snape, narrowing slightly at the mention of his parents. He knew by now not to back-talk his Potions professor. He simply sat there, staring back up at the tall man, leaning up with his elbows on his desk. He was tired of Snape talking down to him, trying to degrade him for what his father may or may not have done.

Then he simply kept his gaze steady, arms crossing in front of him."Good morning, Professor," was all he said, wanting to see if that would rile him up. Sure, Snape wasn't exactly his favorite teacher here at Hogwarts, but he was pretty amusing when and iff you could get him mad...truly mad. So he simply remained calm for the time being, only shifting in his seat to adjust himself.

Truthfully, over the past few years, he'd gotten used to Snape being...well, Snape. HE was a monotone man with that same dark hair, that same sneer, and that same...I guess loathing for the Potter boy. All because of his father, who died when he was just a baby, who he never got to know. How could he be compared to a man he never got to know, or compared to a woman he didn't get to grow up with?

How could Snape compare him to his long-dead family? Why did he even keep bringing them up? Was he obsessed with them or something? Harry really could see it in the way he described his mother...Lily Potter. Had he liked her that much? So much that he couldn't let her rest in Harru's memories without stirring them up every change he got?

And then there was Sirius Black. He had been a good man, and he had died to protect him. The blue-eyed wizard merely closed his eyes to keep himself calm. He was still upset over his godfather's death...

((Wooo. :U Unless in this AU all these people are still alive I don't know. o3o)) 

Severus watched the many thoughts of Potter go through his head. He mentally shook his head in disgust. The boy was hopeless at Occlumency. He heard the boy greet him, and he knew that he was trying to anger him. Or piss him off. Or both.

Not one to give in easily, Severus only gave him a cold smile. "What, no retort from the Boy Who Lived to Irritate The World?"

Anticipating his reaction, he took immense pleasure from the thought that, whatever came out of Potter's mouth next, he'd be able to assign him detention and deduct house points.  

Harry Potter stared at Severus Snape, then decided he did't want to cost his house any more points. "No, sir. No retorts," he said, his voice calm as he stared at his professor, a smile playing on his lips. To everyone else, they would see him being polite. To Snape, he was just asking him to try and give him detention now. You can't give a good boy detention, now can you?

Potter was behaving himsef, so he could not possibly get detention and have house points deducted. Otherwise it would be like he was just out to get him, even though he was. Not that Snape would make it obvious. Or at least, HArry believed he wouldn't. 

((Chance. xD Sorry I have to make Snape so evil in this one.))

Severus had to smirk at his perceptiveness. He had picked up on his Professor's slightly sadistic mood. Well, you had to expect it when you were being taught by one Severus Snape.

"20 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," Snape purred, "for ruining my little game of fun." He appraised Harry for a moment, before sweeping away back to the front of the classroom, his robes billowing behind him dramatically in a way he knew was the cause for his universal nickname: The Bat of the Dungeons.

"Today," he drawled, "we will be brewing a difficult potion that I'm sure none of you will be able to accomplish in an acceptable standard. However, I feel that it will give you some...amusement." Or more like, it would give him amusement. "The instructions are on the board. Yes, you will be testing this on your chosen partners, and yes, you have read that right. This potion will turn you all into rats. I already have several cages here for your use."

He gestured grandly to a row of cages that seemed more like torture-chambers, with wheels that had spikes on them and bars that were razor sharp. "The Headmaster has given me permission to let the Seventh Years brew any potion that I find them capable of doing, and I think this is well-suited to your...dispositions. The effects will wear off at the end of the day. Begin. If I find that any of you have purposely sabotaged your potion, I will personally administer my own brew to you."

HArry decided it would be best to bite his tongue and not let out a retort at the point deduction. He did sigh though, lifting a hand to run it through his hair, briefly revealing the lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead that was the reason he was so famous. It got kind of old after seven years of it...

When the potion was brought up he looked up, grimacing at the cages. He was turning them into rats? Really? Oh well...it could be worse... So he began to gather the ingredients, his blue eyes glacing up at the instructions. He then grinned a bit, looking over at Ron. "Want to be a rat, Ron?" he asked, carefully brewing the potion in question. Why was Snape out to get him? Was it really /him/ he was after, or the father that died seventeen years ago? The one he wished he was with instead of being in a family that wanted nothing to do with him.

Remembering the cupboard he used to be in, he shuddered slightly. He hated that little place underneath the stairs... 

Snape sat at his desk, idly watching the students. He loved using Legilimency at this time, and it was how he had found out so much about his...wards.

A movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Potter brewing. His eyes darkened, until they had an almost maniacal gleam in them. Legilimens...

'Why was Snape out to get him? Was it really /him/ he was after, or the father that died seventeen years ago?'

Snape smirked as that thought drifted into his head. Of course it was him he was after. The father was useless, dead. He pushed that thought back into Potter's head and waited for a reaction. 

Harry paused in his brewing, his eyes drifting to Snape when the thought was pushed into his mind. His eyes narrowed very slightly. Okay, so why was Snape after him? What had he done to get him on his case? When this all started, he had just been a new student, innocent to the world of magic. He didn't know what was going on, and suddenly here's this tall, dark man that's out to make his life here horrible.

But he had to admit, even this was better than the Dursley's had been. He quickly shook that thought out of his head, instead focusing on the potion he was brewing so he wouldn't give the teacher a reason to fuss at him. He's had quite enough of that for now, thank you. He would rather not get into a big argument and lose even more House points. 

Snape's eyes narrowed slightly. He had heard everything the boy had thought, and he hadn't known the Dursleys had been that bad. 

Why did he care, anyway? He didn't. He just wanted the boy to himself. His eyes were like Lily's...

Shaking his head visibly, he stood up and barked, "Bottle all potions now, regardless of whether they are finished or not." His lips curled into a smirk. "We are going to test these now." 

Harry's eyes widened slightly, the seventh-year mumuring a soft curse. He wasn't at all sure if he was totally finished or not! Oh well...there was no going back... So he simply followed his teacher's orders and bottled the potion, sighing softly.

Then his eyes were on Snape again, almost...studying him. Was he still listening to his thoughts? Had he heard his memories of the Dursleys, the family that left him alone in an empty house before this term even started? He sighed, shaking his head and willing those thoughts away. there was no need to go showing his past to Snape if he was still listening.

Looked like this was going to be a bloody brilliant year, wasn't it? Hehe. Wasn't every year of potions this delightful? Had he really expected anything to change these past years?

No. Not really. 

"Hand me your vials," he commanded, "and then line up single file."

He waved his wand, and the desks and seats that had been there before now vanished. He locked the door, closed the blinds and blocked any means of escape. He knew that once they were rats, they'd try and run. He didn't want that. He wanted to see them suffer in their cages.

Plus, he had a special plan for Potter. 

Harry sighed as he moved up to hand over his vial, then stand in line like a good boy. He glanced around at his classmates, wondering if they were as anxious about this as he was. For all he knew his potion could kill somebody.

But still he stood still, his blue eyes focusing warily onto the Potions professor that everyone deemed 'The Bat'. He had to say that he couldn't help but be a little nervous... Good grief why was Snape such a sadist?

((Nothing new, HArry. Nothing new. xD)) 

Snape eyed each of them menacingly. He had collected all the vials, and they now stood in single file. "Once I have administered the potion," he drawled, "you WILL stay still. If you move even the slightest millimetre, I will make sure that you accidentally stay as a rat for the rest of your life. The Ministry would not be able to charge me when it is your own potion that must have... gone wrong."

He saw a few of them gulp.

"BROWN!" The girl stepped forward, quivering. Snape looked at the vials, and an idea came to him.

"I will give you a random potion from one of your classmates," he said, grinning evilly. "You'd all better pray that the rest of the class brewed a potent potion. Otherwise, you might be six feet under this time tomorrow." He popped the cork out of a random vial and forced the girl to swallow it. She squeaked, and then in a few seconds, she had shrunken down into a rat.

"Very good," he murmured, "very good. Next."

And so he went. He saw Potter was at the end of the line. Wonderful. 

Harry sighed yet again, shifting slightly. Ron and Hermione were further up in the line, while he was at the very back. He had to admit this wasn't where he wanted to be... He wanted to get it over with but he couldn't because he was stuck back here until he was turned into a rat.

But despite this, he still watching Snape carefully, blue eyes carefully tracking his movements thanks to the thick black-framed glasses on his face, whithout which he couldn't see. And he just realized that Snape was probably going to make him take them off so he could run around like the blind rat he'd be.

He did NOT like where this was starting to go in his mind. Not at all.