Blood of my blood (Severus Snape & daughter)

3- The Potions Professor

September 2, 1992

Severus Snape was not having a good day. He had gone to bed late, quite angry at the audacity of the insufferable Harry Potter, who had not only broken the rules again, stealing a flying car and crashing it into the Whomping Willow, but had gotten out of trouble without suffering the consequences, as usual.

He hadn't stopped tossing and turning in bed all night. Between Potter and that idiot Lockhart, there was no respite this year. When dawn broke, he had barely slept a wink, and Severus wondered what else could go wrong that day.

His head clouded with exhaustion and anger, he barely paid attention during breakfast, glancing over the final class schedule that McGonagall had left in front of his plate. It could be said that Severus was on autopilot, trying to keep any type of emotion or gesture that betrayed his bad mood at bay, but without really succeeding.

Glancing at the schedule out of the corner of his eye, he checked that the first class that morning was with the first years of Gryffindor and Slytherin and he grunted.

No doubt Merlin was punishing him.

***

Suppressing a growl of frustration, Severus entered the classroom, without looking around, and embarked on the old, familiar monologue of every year. Usually, his tirade served to intimidate the brats, and today he needed everyone to be quiet and attentive more than ever.

The terms "bottling fame", "brewing glory" and "stopping death" tumbled from his lips without him really thinking about it, and before he knew it, he was asking the same questions he harassed first-years with, without really waiting for anyone to respond.

"What happens if powdered asphodel root is added to an infusion of wormwood?"

As expected, the only response he got was the lost and scared looks of the students. Snape growled, irritated. As always, those brats were more interested in learning spells than developing the finesse and patience needed to brew potions.

And then, timidly, a Slytherin student raised her hand little by little. Snape raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Miss..."

"White, sir."

"Miss White, what is the answer to my question?"

"It is a sleeping potion, sir, one of the most powerful that can be found."

Severus's eyebrow rose a few more millimeters more, and without taking his eyes off the student, he asked her the next question.

"Where would you find a bezoar?"

"Inside the stomach of a goat, Professor."

"Do you know what it is for?"

"The bezoar is the most effective remedy against most poisons, sir."

Severus approached the student, glancing surreptitiously at the desk and at her lap. There was no open book or parchment with the answers written down.

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

The student frowned, confused, and Severus snorted smugly.

"The name?" she responded. The Gryffindor students laughed at that, but an angry look from the teacher silenced them.

"Indeed, Miss White, they are both the same plant," Severus was not happy. That girl was a Slytherin student, and she had answered satisfactorily, but that didn't mean she didn't know the answers beforehand. It would be very typical of a Slytherin to ask the older students for help, to obtain the approval of the Head of their house. "One last question, Miss White. If you have a potion for hair grow that is turning green, what would you add to it, salamander tails, or toad eyes?"