The Enrichment Project

The Enrichment Project

When Professor Snape commanded the class to clean up their immediate areas and put their things in order, Hermione's hand shot up at once. What was going on? There was nearly forty-five minutes of class left!

"How nice..." Snape began, "to have such well-trained, *obedient* students who do as they are instructed to do without question." He stared directly into Hermione's eyes until she placed her raised hand back on her lap. She felt that familiar flip-flop of dread in her stomach each time Snape singled her out for ridicule, *please don't take points...please don't take points* she repeated to herself. Snape folded his arms and paced back and forth looking more irritated than usual. The corners of his lips curled as though he had a sick taste in his mouth. "The Headmaster has seen fit to have Potions class end early today so that you may enjoy an...*enrichment* project," Snape announced, clearly repulsed at the idea.

Hermione felt a jolt of excitement. Enrichment project! She sat up straighter, her quill poised at the ready over her parchment.

The Potions Master looked from his timepiece to the door. To add insult to whatever Snape was clearly forced to take part in, *someone* was late. The students all looked at the door, then back at their professor like a bunch of prairie dogs with large question marks hovering over their heads.

Snape stopped pacing and eyed his students. His stare once again fell onto the Gryffindor know-it-all. *Oh Great!* Hermione thought. She shifted in her seat. Snape appeared to draw in a long breath--which meant a long, stinging series of barbs was about to be delivered upon her--when she was saved by the sound of sure-footed heels clicking on the stones of the corridor. All eyes returned to the door of the Potions classroom.

A handsome, rosy-cheeked lady with a large crinkled hat, and equally large bosom, entered the classroom holding a wicker basket. She was full of purpose and enthusiasm. Snape disliked her immediately. She placed the wicker basket on Snape's desk and strode over to him, hand outstretched. "Professor Snape! An honor to meet you. I do apologize for my tardiness; had some travel delays earlier...I'll be a bit late for *everything* today, I'm afraid," she chattered to him with hearty gusto.

Professor Snape didn't smile or respond verbally. He did not take her offered hand, but did give her a slight bow. "Professor Poppenz," he greeted her. She bowed back at Snape before turning on her heel and facing the students. Her eyes were rather friendly and her healthy complexion didn't seem to be affected by the dark, damp atmosphere of the dungeon classroom.

"Good day, children!" sang the middle-aged witch standing at the front of the room. "My name is Wilma Poppenz and I have been asked by your Headmaster to host this special class. To be most effective and disrupt the least amount of class time, I'll be getting the Gryffindor and Slytherin 4th years in this class, and the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff 4th years together in another class. You Dears have quite an interesting and fulfilling assignment ahead of you and will surely learn much over the next several weeks." The round, matronly woman practically skipped over to the blackboard and gave her wand an energetic flick.

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she read the chalky text that appeared on the blackboard: Practical Life Skills--Raising A Magical Family.

Hermione scanned the faces of the rest of her classmates. It seemed she was the first one to understand. Her muggle cousins had recently gone through something similar at their muggle schools, either in "Health Class" or in "Sexual Education." Hens eggs or dolls were usually involved. She scanned the room and tried to relax...no eggs or dolls were present.

"Now..." Professor Poppenz clicked her way over to Snape's desk and began to rifle through her basket, "I will draw names at random to separate all of you into pairs. Once that business is done, we can *really* get started."

Hermione's hand was up before the new professor could finish her sentence. Professor Poppenz smiled warmly, "Yes, Dear?" she asked, more than happy to have eager students ask her questions.

"Professor...may I ask why we need to be in pairs? I mean...what is the project?" Hermione asked, not because she hadn't already figured it out, but because she just needed confirmation. Indeed, she had already finished with a rough outline for the essay.

Professor Poppenz smiled brightly, as though she had been waiting for exactly that question to be asked. "Well, for several weeks, everyone will be...." she grasped something in her basket, "PARENTS!" She pulled what appeared to be a baby out of the basket and held it aloft by its ankles. The 'baby' began to wiggle and wail. Snape was unmoved, a grimace of irritation and another glance at his timepiece were his only actions.

After a collective jaw-drop, a good number of students tried to coo and distract the baby, others merely covered their ears, and a few girls started to rise from their seats to go and comfort the baby in distress. Professor Poppenz abruptly returned the "baby" to her basket and the wails stopped. "Now, now...it's alright!" A couple of girls had started to cry and Ron was half out of his seat to get the poor thing out of the crazy lady's basket. Hermione pulled on the back of his sweater. "Ron, sit down!" she hissed, "it's not a real baby!" He obeyed, but eyed the basket in disbelief.

"This young lady is correct. That was not a real baby! Of course not," Professor Poppenz chuckled. "What you just saw was merely a charmed doll. Each pair of students will receive a doll to care for as though it were their own. You will all be keeping a diary and there will be an essay required from each of you at the end of this project." Groans of contempt emanated from most of the boys, while many of the girls clapped a few times and giggled to one another, already planning wardrobes for their "children."
Professor Poppenz's eyes seemed to twinkle as she watched the students' reactions. *This never gets old,* she thought with a happy sigh.
Noticing Snape glance at his timepiece (yet again), the guest professor decided to get things moving along. "Right. Let's get our pairs set, then I'll hand out the dolls. Until we meet again tomorrow, I'm going to have all of you just do your best to care for your 'babies' without a guidebook," Hermione frowned slightly at that. "We can share our experiences tomorrow. I'm sure there will be some surprises! That will be so much fun," she concluded with a nod.

Professor Poppenz reached into her basket again and pulled out two small bits of parchment; one pink, one blue; one a girl's name, one a boys name. "Our first set of parents will be...Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy!" All the Slytherin students clapped for the couple. Hermione rolled her eyes. Pansy looked as though she had just won a pagent. She was teary-eyed and covered her mouth with her hands as her friends patted her on the back. Draco leaned back in his seat, a sly smile on his lips, "Of course *my* child would be well-bred," he muttered. Crabbe and Goyle grunted their agreement. Draco's and Hermione's eyes met for a moment and he mouthed the word *mudblood,* but quickly looked away remembering what he had received from Granger the last time he had called her that. Hermione forced herself to bite her tongue and pay attention to the Professor.

Professor Poppenz continued to call out the names of new *parents.* Groans and giggles grew steadily louder as the couples were paired. Neville was paired with a quiet Gryffindor girl who always sat in the back row. He looked over his shoulder, gave the girl a wave, blushed, then turned back around as Seamus jabbed him in the ribs. "Way to go, Nev! She's cute. Congrats...didn't know you 'ad it in you, lad!"

Hermione thought she could just about see smoke coming out of Professor Snape's ears as he surveyed the display of behavior in his classroom. She fought hard to stifle her giggles.
What actually ended her giggles was the fact that only three students were left unpaired. Herself, Harry, and Ron. Poppenz clicked her tongue, "It appears that we have an odd number of students...not to worry," she assured everyone.

Hermione figured that either Harry or Ron would end up a 'single parent.'
*Rather modern, actually,* she thought, *happens all the time now, really*

Professor Poppenz pulled out a blue bit of parchment from her basket, "Harry Potter...and..." she began as she pulled out a second BLUE bit of parchment.
The class went absolutely rowdy at that point. Ron's ears turned bright red. "Hey...the next paper should be PINK," he blurted loudly, "Professor...you have another BLUE paper in your hand." He sounded almost as though he were pleading.

Poppenz looked at the parchment in her hand. She appeared to be in deep thought. "Yes, I do...Hmmm...well, this could be interesting, class..."

"No." Ron answered back abruptly. "Not at all interesting. NOT INTERESTING! NOT!"

The professor, seemingly deaf to Ron's cries, nodded, "Yes. We'll try something different." Both Ron and Harry shook their heads *NO* as the professor nodded an enthusiastic, *Yes!*

"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley!" Poppenz announced the latest 'couple.'

*Pandemonium*

Only Hermione didn't laugh like the others. She bristled at being left out. SHE was to be the single parent. She wondered what was wrong with her. *I should be happy* she thought, *I don't have to share my project with anyone else...I can have it EXACTLY the way I want it.*

But, damnit, she was sad. She wanted a partner...would this be the start of a lonely, hard-working life? Was she just not meant to have someone? Her eyes clouded over with these thoughts as she held her composure. *I'm being silly!* she chided herself. *I'm just having a bit of bad luck. Perhaps my monthly is due?* she wondered, trying to reason away her feelings of sadness. She looked across the room at that moment to find Professor Snape staring at her. She froze and stared back.
Hermione was confused by the lack of contempt and hatred in Snape's eyes...she wasn't used to seeing his eyes without those qualities present. Not that there was any obvious emotion there to replace the contempt and hatred, but...he DID look different. She felt dizzy for a second and had to shift her gaze elsewhere.

* * *

The students started to settle down and began to notice that Hermione was the last one not yet picked AND without a partner. It was obvious that some girls felt sorry for her by the tight smiles they were forcing themselves to give her. She hated them all at that moment.

Professor Poppenz, still smiling and cheerful, snapped her fingers. "Now THIS will be interesting," she promised. "Single parenthood is quite the common thing today. In fact, more than half of all muggles in the western world are being raised in a single parent home as we speak, and the numbers for us wizarding folk are much the same," she lectured, "People find themselves parenting solo for all sorts of reasons." Poppenz smiled brightly at Hermione, "However, one of the main goals of my curricula this year, is to have each of you experience parenting as a team effort. To realize all the compromise and shared decision-making that are mandatory in a successful two-parent situation. Indeed, two parents have to deal with their own share of difficulties...it's not always easy to share and compromise when it comes to your youngsters.


"That is why I think it imperative that Professor Snape should partner with Hermione Granger to even everything out...," (oh yes, there were gasps aplenty), "also, I think an age difference between parenting-partners would be a very exciting twist. I almost can't wait to read your essay, Miss Granger!"

To be continued...