Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 41 ⚡️

"Late again, Potter," Snape said coldly, as Harry hurried into the classroom. "Ten points from Gryffindor,"

Harry scowled at Snape and sat down on the desk next to Vega and Hermione's, with Ron. Vega breathed out in tiredness, knowing that Snape wasn't going to give them points – as always, his hate for them – and she would have to cover this in another class.

Especially since the lesson hadn't even started – half the class was still on its feet, taking out books and organising their things; he could not be much later than any of them.

"Before we start, I want your dementor essays," Snape said, waving his wand carelessly, so that twenty-five scrolls of parchment soared into the air and landed in a neat pile on his desk. "And I hope for your sakes they are better than the tripe I had to endure on resisting the Imperius Curse. Now, if you will all open your books to page – what is it, Mr. Finnigan?"

"Sir," Seamus said. "I've been wondering, how do you tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? Because there was something in the paper about an Inferius –"

"No, there wasn't," Snape said in a bored voice and Vega rolled her eyes.

It was very frustrating to Vega that Snape insisted upon working as a teacher yet did not have any desire to listen to students and their queries. She had found the best thing about teaching to be able to help explain things to students in easier ways.

"But sir," Seamus insisted. "I heard people talking –"

"If you had actually read the article in question," Snape said. "Mr. Finnigan, you would have known that the so-called Inferius was nothing but a smelly sneak thief by the name of Mundungus Fletcher,"

"I thought Snape and Mundungus were on the same side," Harry muttered to Vega, Ron and Hermione. "Shouldn't he be upset Mundungus has been arr –"

"But Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject," Snape said, pointing suddenly at the back of the room, his black eyes fixed on Harry "Let us ask Potter how we would tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost,"

The whole class looked around at Harry, who hastily tried to recall what Dumbledore had told him the night that they had gone to visit Slughorn.

"Er – well – ghosts are transparent –" Harry began.

"Oh, very good," Snape interrupted, his lip curling. "Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter – 'Ghosts are transparent,'"

Pansy Parkinson let out a high-pitched giggle. Several other people were smirking. Harry took a deep breath and continued calmly, though his insides were boiling, "Yeah, ghosts are transparent, but Inferi are dead bodies, aren't they? So, they'd be solid –"

"A five-year-old could have told us as much," Snape sneered. "The Inferius is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark wizard's spells. It is not alive; it is merely used like a puppet to do the wizard's bidding. A ghost, as I trust that you are all aware by now, is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the earth... and of course, as Potter so wisely tells us, transparent,"

"Well, what Harry said is the most useful if we're trying to tell them apart!" Ron suddenly burst. "When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we, we're not going to be asking, 'Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?'"

There was a ripple of laughter, instantly quelled by the look Snape gave the class. Vega herself had to hide her laughter with her hand, looking away.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said. "I would expect nothing more sophisticated from you, Ronald Weasley, the boy so solid he cannot Apparate half an inch across a room,"