The Potion Master's Apprentice

Chapter 4

Harry couldn't wait to play on his piano. Even though it technically wasn't his, he had come to think of it as his own. As he and his classmates passed into the castle, he glanced longingly at the dungeons entrance.

"Hopefully we don't have potions first thing tomorrow, eh?" Harry turned to smile at Ron. No matter how he tried, he just couldn't break it to his best friend that potions was now one of the things he enjoyed most. Hermione seemed to understand that he didn't want to complain about the class-or the teacher-anymore but never brought it up outright. She would just purse her lips, tilt her head in thought and move on with her brow furrowed. No doubt she was trying to understand just why Harry didn't complain about the class and actually stood up for Professor Snape now.

"Do you think-"

"No Ron, I'm not going to ask for another bloody resorting." He sighed. "Look, I know it's hard to believe but I needed to not be in a traditional House anymore. What happened in the maze in fourth year...it changed me. A lot. And-please don't take this the wrong way-I needed to be away from everyone for a few hours a day at least." They sat down to await the first years in the great hall.

"If I had stayed in Gryffindor, I would have been questioned. Maybe not right away, but they would have asked questions sooner or later. And Gryffindors don't ask-they demand. I wasn't mentally in a state where I could handle that. And even if that didn't break my mind, being around so many people and so many distractions would have left me utterly unprepared to be living out on my own in the real world."

"You can stay at the Burrow Harry, it's not big deal!"

"I know, but there's a lot of activity at your house. What happens when I decide to get a flat for myself and suddenly I'm all alone and there's no one there to stop me from thinking too hard about it all? Being on my own every night has given me the opportunity to learn how to handle my own thoughts and to process the trauma I went through. There's a reason I don't talk about what happened in the maze-it isn't this dramatic hero story where I came out on top. It's gruesome and disturbing and if I had been distracted all the time to suddenly have no distractions at night...it would end very badly Ron."

"How badly?" Harry had been looking at Snape taking his place at the head table. Harry's eyes clouded over at the question.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Ah bugger! Potions is our entire afternoon?!" Harry rolled his eyes as he accepted his timetable from McGonagall as she passed them out.

"Well what do you expect Mr. Weasley? There's only thirty students in your year taking potions and I'm sure a few will either drop out or be kicked out within the week. You'll be learning about very dangerous brews and even so much as one small mistake could blow up the entire classroom and cause many problems for your classmates." They got up to attend their morning lessons.

Later that day, Harry left lunch a bit earlier than normal to head off to potions. Snape saw him enter and motioned for him to sit at the table directly in front of his desk.

"I'd like to watch your little tricks more closely this year. It wouldn't do to have you blow my classroom to the heavens. My ingredients quite like the dark atmosphere down here." Harry laughed and set his supplies down on the desk.

"Sir, is it true what McGonagall said? That some of the students won't make it a week in this class?" Snape nodded. "Oh. I thought she was just trying to talk Ron into obedience."

"No, unfortunately she is right. I've been known to start with many students for the seventh year and to end the year with at least a quarter of them gone. Either by my own judgement or their own. You'll see, I'd be willing to bet money that a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor cracks first." Harry's face must have given his shock away. "Oh come now. The ones I dismiss are the ones that are showing disregard for everyone's safety or the ones who just truly cannot keep up-and I do offer additional help before they're dismissed from the class altogether. The rest simply can't deal with it-be it myself or the actual work involved." With that, the rest of the students started filing in for the start of their class. When everyone was seated, Snape shut the door with a flick of his wand.