9 Chapter-9: Classes and Castle-2

The Harry Potter movies didnt do any justice to the whole curriculum that students needed to go through. Every Tuesday, all of his housemates had to go to the astronomy tower. They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Tuesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for.

During Herbology lectures, he noticed that Professor Sprout didnt make eye contact with him, and acted as if he was not there, which was different as he was the only kid who raised his hand to answer the class questions. From the day he spent with her, he knew that she was not the kind of person who would hold the house identity against him, and not talk to him just because he is a Slytherin. He figured that she was ignoring him because she lied to him, apparently most of the Slytherins knew that Victor Johanson, his father was in Azkaban. But she lied to him about him.

But her lie didnt matter to him, he had bigger fish to fry.

Easily the most boring lesson was History of Magic, which was the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff-room fire and got up the next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. He didnt bring any energy to the class and had this monotone voice to him which made them all sleepy.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. Slytherins shared their Charms lecture with Gryffindor. At the start of their first lesson, he took the register, and when he reached Neville's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. It was a sight to see, but under the breath comments by his housemates about how half-buffon Professor Flitwick was, did dampen his mood a little bit. He acted as if he agreed with his batch mates' comments, but it was all an act.

He had to act in such a way because he needed to blend in, and it helped as well. Most of the first-year Slytherin students were sort of keeping some distance from him because he was raised in a muggle orphanage. It took about three days or so, but he made everyone realize that he was like everyone else. Malfoy and his bodyguard still weren't onboard, but it didnt matter to him. 

Blaise stopped acting in such a way and they started becoming good friends. And seeing that most Slytherins warmed up to him. One of the reasons that Slytherins warmed up to him was because he was the smartest Slytherin out of all of them.

His intelligence worked in his favor, as he showed his in-depth knowledge of the subjects, and earned a lot of points during a few of the lectures, Slytherins came around. He understood that they were all warming up to him because they could see his potential, and he could become a good ally in the future. But he didnt mind, he minded it at all…

Professor McGonagall was again different. During her first lecture, Ronan felt that he had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they had sat down in her first class.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

After the first few lectures of making a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only he had made any difference to her match, Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy which earned him some points. He didnt think of it as a win because they shared this class with Hufflepuff, those folks were known to be not very smart people.

The class that he looking forward to was Defence Against Dark Arts because the professor with the purple turban taught it. But Professor Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. Because from the outside, the man looked like a wimp. He looked like someone who could be robbed with a fake wand…

It was morning, and every at the Slytherin table was having breakfast. Today they had double potions with Professor Snape, he didnt know a lot about that man, but from what he had heard, everyone in Slytherin respected the guy. He had heard from his seniors that Professor Snape was able to handle most of any mischief they had done, he favored every Slytherin student. That is why everyone loved him.

Potion lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Neville's name.

"Ah, yes," he said softly, "Neville Longbottom, our new celebrity."

A few of the Slytherin including Draco sniggered. Snape did stop at Potter's name as well, but didnt make any snide comments on his name. After he was done, Snape looked up at the class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death.. if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

"LONGBOTTOM!" Poor Neville almost jumped from fright. Then Snape asked him, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Neville who was sitting beside Harry and Ron, looked at both of them, all of them sharing clueless faces. Then with a very small voice, Neville spoke, "I dont know sir." Hermione's hand went up and stood erect like a pole.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer, "Tut, tut… fame isn't everything."

"Let's try again. Potter!" Harry looked up, "Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Harry was clueless, while Hermione desperately stretched her hand as far as she could, she really wanted to answer. Then Harry said in a low voice, "I dont know sir,"

"Why am I not surprised, I will give you another chance, Potter… What is the difference between monkshood and wolfs-bane?"

"I don't know," said Harry quietly, at this point Draco and his friends were having a very hard time controlling themselves not to laugh out loudly. Seeing this an opportunity, Ronan then raised his hand. Seeing a Slytherin student's hand up, Snape ignored Hermione's hand and turned toward him. "Yes, Johanson."

Ronan then spoke, "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion called the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite"

Snape smirked, "It seems there is one among all of you that at least had the courtesy to open his before the class."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mix up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except him and Malfoy. In just one class he managed to impress Snape to such an extent that the Professor started telling everyone to follow his example.

It was then clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand.

"I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus, a Gryffindor student.

Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. "You and Potter.. why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's two points you've lost for Gryffindor."

On the other hand, everyone in Slytherin was smirking at Potter and Weasley's misfortune, but he on the other hand had a blank expression. He didnt like the way the Snape was getting aggressive on both those kids, it was evident that they were not at fault here. But there was nothing that he could do. 

By the time class was over, every Slytherin had a big smile on their faces, while Gryffindors had a scowl. As Ronan had some time to kill, he figured that he should go to the library and see what it has to offer. He had been here for a week now, and had not visited the place. After putting his bag in his room, he made his way to the library.