Daddy Dearest - (No Update, Edit)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 8 ~ Potions Class

Severus paused outside of his first year Potions class and collected himself. He could hear the students chattering excitedly. The Professor took a deep breath, then strode into the room, his voice booming.

"You will be silent. You will face forward. You will hang on to my every word as if hanging on a precipice for dear life!" he said, striding up to the front of the classroom and stopping in front of his desk, his robes billowing.

Every student in the class stared at the pale wizard in shock and awe as he did his yearly speech.

"My name is Professor Severus Snape, and this is first year Potions. There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few who possess, the predisposition... I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death.

Mathias stared in rapt attention at his head of house, completely gassed. Although he had a very through knowledge of Potions ingredients and recipes for quite a few potions, he'd had little opportunity to actually brew them. Professor Snape was going to open a whole new world of learning for him. Out of all the classes at Hogwarts, this was the one the young wizard truly wanted to be in.

The Professor walked around his desk, lifted a piece of parchment and looked at the class imperiously.

"As I call out your name, please answer loudly and clearly with the word 'Here," he said to the class. He began to call out names, and the first years responded accordingly.

"Boyle Goyle?" the Professor thought, shaking his head slightly as he looked at the latest ape-like incarnation of the Goyle line. "Only his idiot father would come up with a name like that."

As he went down the list, he called out Mathias' name.

"Mathias Granger?" he said.

"Here," Mathias answered, looking at the wizard soberly.

Severus studied him. The young wizard was seated in the third row on the aisle seat. No front-row-and- center eagerness in this Granger. Thank the gods.

"Mr. Granger, is your mother one Hermione Granger?" he asked the boy.

Mathias frowned at bit. His mother had talked to the Professor this morning he was sure. The wizard already knew Hermione was his mother. What was he playing at?

"Yes sir," Mathias said in a low voice.

Severus looked at him, his eyes glittering unpleasantly.

"Your mother, Mr. Granger, was an intelligent, yet annoying pupil who felt the need to regal the class with the great depth and scope of her knowledge. She was well read and in her early years the overflow of facts, figures pouring from her brain had the unfortunate consequence of causing her to talk more and listen less in my class. And in order to learn effectively and correctly, one must listen. Book knowledge isn't everything. Application has to be taught."

"I am hoping, Mr. Granger that in your case, this aggravating inclination of your mother to spout facts as if from a broken spigot has skipped a generation and your ears are bigger than your mouth," the Professor said, staring the boy down and waiting for a reaction.

Mathias stared back at the wizard evenly, a slight glitter in his own black eyes at being singled out and his mother's shortcomings made known to the entire class. But he kept his face carefully neutral and simply said "Yes, sir," as a few Gryffindors snickered.

Severus looked at him a moment more, then continued on with the roll.

"Jasmine Malfoy?" he called, his eyes falling directly on the little blond witch, who waved at him with a bright smile.

"Hello Professor Snape. We so enjoyed your company at our little get-together at the Manor last month," she said sweetly.

Severus sighed inwardly. Another Malfoy. In one sentence the witch had managed to let the entire class know that she was familiar with him on a personal level, associated with him and was quite rich. He had to be careful with the granddaughter of Lucius Malfoy. She would cry to her grandfather if so much as a hair were mussed out of place.

"Thank you, Miss Malfoy," he replied as the girl looked around the classroom smugly.

Suddenly Severus' eyes widened and he quickly scanned the class until his eyes fell on a round-eyed, rather chubby young Gryffindor witch who looked like she wanted to flee the class.

"Edwina Longbottom?" he called out. Sure enough the witch responded in a quaking voice.

"Here," she piped, raising her hand slightly, then lowering it quickly.

With a bit of dread in his heart, Severus asked, "Are you the daughter of Neville Longbottom?"

"No sir. Neville's my uncle, sir," the girl replied. "My father is Jeffrey Longbottom."

Severus looked at the girl.

"I remember no Jeffrey Longbottom at Hogwarts," he said.

"No sir, you wouldn't. He was raised in America, sir," the witch responded nervously. "With an aunt."

Severus studied the witch for a moment.

"I see. Well, let us hope Miss Longbottom, that your uncle's gift for causing destruction when brewing even the simplest potion has not passed on to the rest of the family," he said.

"Yes sir," the witch replied, reddening, clearly embarrassed as the Slytherins chuckled at her. Except Mathias. He knew how she felt.

The Potions Master continued calling roll, making comments here and there as he did so. Finally he came to a name he loathed.

"James Potter," he said with an edge to his voice as the green-eyed auburn-haired wizard answered him.

"Here, sir," the boy said boldly.

James knew about Professor Snape and how he hated all things Potter. He looked at the wizard a bit insolently. Professor Snape's eyes swept over the boy, dislike apparent in them. He reminded him of the James Potter of his day in the way he carried himself.

"I hope, Mr. Potter that you are not like your father or grandfather, both of whom were swollen-headed, rule-breaking show-offs who would do anything for attention. A sad pair, the both of them. I doubt however if that particular mold has been broken," Severus said to the wizard with a sneer. "Suffice it to say, Mr. Potter…I will have my eye on you."

Both of Mathias' eyebrows went up.

The Professor didn't like James because of his dad and granddad. He bet that took some wind out of James' sails. The boy was used to everyone admiring him because of his parentage, but here was a wizard that loathed him for it. Mathias eyed Severus with a look of appreciation, the teacher's previous snafu, forgiven. Anyone who hated James Potter was a definite ally in Mathias' tome.

James looked mutinous, his face set in a stubborn little scowl.

Severus cocked his head at him.

"Are you…scowling at me, Mr. Potter? Ten points from Gryffindor," the Potions Master said silkily, "I suggest you fix your face to a more acceptable set or you will lose another ten points for your house. Am I making myself clear, Mr. Potter? I expect an answer this time."

James set his face to neutral though his eyes blazed angrily.

"Yes sir," he replied, his voice a little raw.

Mathias was going to hang a picture of the Professor in his room as soon as he could get hold of one.

Severus finished taking the roll, checked off all the names and put the attendance parchment in his drawer. Then he stood up and walked from behind his desk. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the students until most were quite uncomfortable. Finally he addressed them.

"In this class you can count on assignments every night, including weekends and over the holidays," he said, smirking a little as the customary groans went up.

"You may think this excessive, but brewing potions is a dangerous art. You must learn among other things, what ingredients and bases can and cannot be mixed, what materials cannot be over or under heated, what is deadly and what is not. This requires study. If you are lax in your studies you can greatly injure yourselves and others. So doing your work is important," he said.

"In addition, I am a wizard who believes in pop quizzes and written tests. You will have no multiple-choice exams in this class. I am not willing to take the chance that you have passed because of the luck of the draw and then set you in front of a heated cauldron. All questions on my tests require complete answers written in legible, correctly punctuated sentences. I give no partial credit. Either an answer is right or it is wrong.'

"There will be no horseplay at all in this class. I am swift to deduct points and assign very unpleasant detentions. In addition, any intercepted notes will be read to the class, so I suggest you share your little messages before and after my class. If you get a detention from me, you can be quite sure it will not consist of you sitting at a desk writing lines. More than likely you will be out on the grounds shoveling dragon dung with our caretaker, Argus Filch. I assure you that you will be doing most of the work as Argus is up in years and utilizes student labor to the fullest.'

Severus began to pace.

"All right. We have come to the most disappointing part of the first day, where I have to see just how many of you have the slightest idea about anything remotely connected with Potions," he said.

His eyes fell directly on Mathias, and the young wizard knew he was being targeted.

"Mr. Granger," Severus purred, "what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?

Mathias' eyes shifted a moment, then he shrugged and said, "I don't know, sir."

Severus knew the boy was lying. His mother's eyes shifted the same way when she was telling an untruth. He scowled at the wizard.

"Mr. Granger, I know I said your mother was an annoying student. I don't want you to interpret that statement as my saying knowledge is bad, because it isn't. It is to be pursued and absorbed. There is a difference between spouting off like a know-it-all and answering a simple question. You are not to hide your knowledge if you know a correct answer to a direct question. Never, ever dumb yourself down, Mr. Granger. You do yourself and others a grave injustice when you do so. Now, once again… what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" the Professor asked him again.

Mathias looked at him. Okay, he wanted knowledge, he would give him knowledge.

"There is no difference, sir. Wolfsbane and Monkshood are the same poisonous plant. It is also called Aconite. The reason that the plant is called Monkshood is because the flower resembles a monk's cowl," the boy said, his black eyes hard.

Severus looked at him. Gods, the boy was just like his mother.

"That was a bit more information than I asked for, Mr. Granger, but acceptable. Next time a simpler answer will suffice," he said. "Never offer more than you are asked for. In anything."

"Yes, sir," the young wizard replied, sighing inwardly.

Severus continued to question the class until the end of the lesson period. As usual, their overall knowledge was deplorable. The Potions Master was starting from scratch. He walked up to the blackboard and wrote the night's reading assignment, to be followed by a summation.

"When you enter class tomorrow, you will place your parchments on my desk and take your same seats. If you are late that is an instant five point deduction. If you are late more than twice in the same week, it is an instant detention with Filch. You must arrive before the bell. During the bell counts as lateness. Now you are dismissed," Severus said, watching as the first years hastily gathered up their tomes and backpacks, hustling from the room.

Mathias slowly and meticulously put his books away before rising. Severus' eyes fell on him.

"Not you, Mr. Granger," he said to the boy who turned to him.

"It's about the sixth-year, isn't it sir?" Mathias asked the Potions Master.

Severus nodded at him.

"Only I can remove the spell sir. Otherwise it takes six to eight hours to wear off," Mathias informed him.

Severus noticed the boy made no attempt at making either excuses or apologies for hexing the boy. Apparently, he had none.

"Only you can remove it? How is that, Mr. Granger?" Severus asked him.

Mathias decided to tell the truth.

"I've adapted all my spells to my signature only on purpose, so they'll stick better when I use them," he said.

Severus stared at him.

"That's illegal. You have to be a certified Spells Master to do that kind of spell work," the wizard said with an eyebrow arched. It took great skill to place a signature on a spell. How bright was this boy?

"I know," Mathias replied. "But I haven't been caught, sir. Unless you are going to tell."

Severus could tell Mathias was making a thinly veiled reference to his rule breaking not being yet being discovered. According to Slytherin philosophy, he would only be punished if he were caught. Was his own head of house going to turn him in?

"How did you learn to do this?" the Potions Master asked Mathias.

"Watching my mother do spell work at home. After a while I caught on. She doesn't know. I never use my signature when I cast spells around her. She'd have heart failure," the boy said.

Severus fought back a laugh. He could only imagine Hermione's reaction to her son purposely breaking the law. He cocked his head at the boy.

"Well, I'm not going to report you Mathias. What happened, happened in Slytherin house. We settle our own issues in-house as much as possible. But I do need you to come to the infirmary and release Mr. Hoyt from the hex," Severus said.

"Yes, sir," Mathias replied, hoisting his backpack on one shoulder, just as his mother used to do.

Severus strode from the classroom, followed by Mathias. He warded the door and both walked up the dungeon corridor side by side. Severus could have used the floo, but he wanted to talk to the boy as they walked.

"Professor?" Mathis said, looking up at the tall, pale wizard.

"Yes, Mr. Granger," Severus said looking down at him.

"What will my punishment be? For hexing the sixth-year?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

Severus considered this.

"What do you think it should be, Mr. Granger, and why?" he responded.

Mathias didn't hesitate.

"I don't think I should be punished. The sixth-year called me a liar and was harassing me, demanding information he had no right to. He was about to get physical as well. He needed to be hexed. Just because I am a first year is no reason to harass me. He got what he deserved," the young wizard said, looking up at the Professor soberly.

Severus turned his head, his lip quirking a bit. The boy certainly had no problem justifying his actions. He was not apologetic at all. Mathias did what he felt he had to do. Just like Severus would have done in the same situation.

"I believe you are right, Mr. Granger," Severus said. "You will not be punished. We must do what we must to protect ourselves at all times. Yet we must be careful about it. Outside of Slytherin I suggest if you use a spell you do not put your signature on it. It will draw attention to you."

"Yes sir," Mathias said, beaming at the dour wizard. He had just been given carte blanche to hex others…but carefully.

Professor Snape was very, very cool.

Together, the two wizards entered the main hall and walked up the main stairwell toward the infirmary.

Severus had to make an effort not to look at the young wizard walking beside him too much.

He certainly was a fascinating boy.

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A/N: Interesting chapter. Did you notice that Severus was already giving Mathias advice? Potions class was interesting particularly since he picked on Mathias first. Probably testing to see if he could keep his cool. Jasmine is something else too. Well, please review.