Lionheart ~ Harry Potter (Under Heavy Editing)

Chapter Eight | Looming Darkness

"Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," said Snape, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.

Ariana looked over at a furious Ron, who was trying his best to undo the damage he had done to the roots, then to Harry, who was viciously skinning a shrivelfig. Malfoy was truly a nasty piece of work, one she wanted to curse into oblivion most of the time. She took pity on Ron and helped him try to correct his roots, doing her best to make them somewhat better.

"Thanks," he said miserably, giving her an almost imperceivable smile.

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" Malfoy asked them quietly, smirking widely.

"None of your business," Ron growled jerkily, without looking up.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. "Father's not very happy about my injury -"

"Your pathetic 'injury' was healed by Madam Pomfrey within ten minutes of you receiving it," Ariana said in a low, threatening tone. "If you want, I can give you a real injury. One that won't be healed so quickly."

"You see, he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this -" he gave a huge, fake sigh "- who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"

"So that's why you're putting it on," said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking with anger, "To try to get Hagrid fired."

"Well," said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, "partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me."

A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned -

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see. Humiliating the Gruffindor students was something he done quite often, and it was usually Neville.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.

"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right -"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear.

"Help me!" he moaned to Hermione, after seeing Ariana was preoccupied with a heated debate with Malfoy.

She turned around and saw Malfoy watching closely. "What is it now, Malfoy?" she said through gritted teeth.

But Malfoy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed Harry. He leaned across the table. "Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Harry offhandedly.

Malfoy's thin mouth was curving in a mean smile. "Of course, if it was me," he said quietly, "I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy, I'd be out there looking for him."