#also we're just going to pretend you're in fifth year or a transfer student because

[potions-and-potters]

Hello Lilly! Can you do an imagine where Snape punishes a careless student who failed to turn in their homework with all his sarcastic snark?

Hi! So sorry for the late reply! Here is that imagine for you! Hope you like it!

Your Girding Potion was a very bright blue. It was bordering cyan at this point. Meanwhile, your classmates’ potions were all going from silver to red. Something was obviously wrong. You had no idea what because it seemed you were also the only student in class that didn’t do that bloody essay. 

Here’s the thing: you had planned to do the essay. You had. You really really had! But then some Gryffindor had whipped out a supposed extreme version of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and you had to prove Slytherin had just as much bravery in its house. Everyone knew Gryffindors were less brave than they were reckless so with your cunning, ambition, and bravery, you were sure to win. AND YOU DID! You just.. sort of… ended up losing track of time and not doing your essay. But it was for house pride! Besides, you’d never heard of Professor Snape taking points from his own house so you were fine surely.

Your now definitely cyan potion was starting to bubble and spit in its cauldron. You had to do something. Snape might not have raked you over the coals for your homework but he sure as hell would if you exploded his classroom. 

Frantically, you look around to see what your classmates are doing.  Some of them were just waiting while others were adding stuff. What was it? 

The sound of a chair pushing back had your eyes snapping to the front. Snape was about to make a round of the classroom. Luckily his first stop was always the Gryffindors. That meant you’d have time and he’d be in a better mood after taking some points from them. 

You could do this. 

You glance to your left, watching the other Slytherin fourth years. A girl next to you appears at her cauldron with some kind of measurement of something. 

“Hey,” you whisper, glancing to Snape to see where he was. He was sneering at a Gryffindor. You turned your attention to the girl who seemed to have been checking on the same thing. 

“What?” she asked

“What’s the next step?”

Snape’s footsteps indicating he was moving on. Two more workbenches of Gryffindors and he’d be onto this side of the room. 

Your housemate tilted her measure casually, allowing you to get a sneak peak.  Toasted dragonfly thoraxes. Right. You quickly go to the supply closet. How much should you put in? How much did she have? Was that a cup? Half? 

Snape was onto the Slytherins now. Panicking, you grabbed a measuring cup and scooped it full, not bothering to check what it was. Surely your housemate would help you. 

You rushed back to your cauldron. Your potion was turning into goo now. Was this normal? Could you save it? You probably should have at least read the chapter assigned to you last week. 

Snape’s footsteps were heading your way so you begged Merlin and all thing magical in the world to help you out this one time and you dumped your entire measurement of toasted dragonfly thoraxes right into the cauldron and started stirring like mad.

Please work, you begged silently. 

“Miss Y/L/N,” Professor Snape drawled behind you and you all but froze.

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you making Girding potion or scrambled eggs because I am quite sure beating it was nowhere in my directions. But then again, I have been a Potions Master for only fifteen years so what do I know.”

“Just trying to really incorporate those dragonfly thoraxes, sir,” you reply with a charming smile.

“Well, if you incorporate them anymore they’ll want to start a union.”

You don’t say anything. Instead, you just look down at your potion. It’s turned silver! And they say potions is hard. You smile and smirk up at him.

“That’s fine by me as long as the work gets done, which it obviously has been,” you say gesturing to your cauldron. 

Snape looks into it, cocking an eyebrow.

“You call that silver? And here I thought Hogwarts had yearly eye exams.”

“You could practically stake a vampire with this!”

“You would know that then? You are remarkably like a vampire, miss Y/L/N. You truly suck the life out of everything. Just look at what you’ve done to this potion.”

You frowned. It was a little more grey than silver but it wasn’t that bad! Besides at least you’d saved it from the disastrous goop it was becoming.

“I doubt you could salvage that. Not because your potions talent resembles that of a drunken weasel, though that’s certainly a contributing factor.”

You opened your mouth to reply but snapped it shut as Snape simply walked away to continue his round.

Right. You’d show him. Your potions grades might not be that great and you might not do your homework all that often but it wasn’t like this was hard! Have a recipe. Follow the recipe. Make a potion. The end. 

Just because he couldn’t get the Defense job didn’t mean he had to go around acting like potions was so dangerous and mysterious. He literally wrote the directions on the board for Merlin’s sake.

Speaking of directions, next step was to turn up the heat. You carelessly turned the heat all the way up. Hotter would heat it faster which means you’d be a step ahead. Then he could stick that up his arse. You’d be done first and perfectly well.

You glared up at his back as he made his way to the front of the room.

“Y/N, watch out!” your housemate next to you yelled just as your potion belched out a huge cloud of metal grey air and grey slime pinged out of the cauldron in a spitting explosion. Everyone ducked for cover, yelling and abandoning their own potions as they tried to get to safety.

Snape stopped mid-stride as the explosion went off behind him.  You stood there in shock, splattered with the destruction of your potion. You looked up at him, too taken aback to speak.

“I didn’t know it would do that, I swear!”

“You stupid girl,” he growled as he charged towards you. His wand was out before anyone had yet come out from cover and he vanished the mess with a flick of his wrist. Including the mess on you.

“It’s not my fault, Professor!” you said, as he glared at you. “Will- Will I be okay?”

“At least you’ve saved me the trouble of reading your homework as there’s no way you could have earned a passing grade if you had to ask that question,” he said, staring down at you.

“I didn’t do my homework…”

Snape frowned, unimpressed. His black eyes boring into yours.

“And why not?” he asked slowly, crossing his arms.

“I was busy.”

Blank surprise followed by not just one but both eyebrows arched, nearly up to his hairline. Then, narrowed eyes and a tight-lipped expression was looking back at you.

“You…were…” he articulated, even slower than before, “busy.”

The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. People had come out of their hiding, too fascinated with the exchange happening between you and Snape to care about the state of their potions.

“I suppose you didn’t bother to read the chapter I assigned you?”

Your heart was beating fast. You weren’t used to having so much of his attention. Or it being this intense. 

“Well?”

“No,” you muttered.

“What was that?”

“No,” you squeaked.

“No what?”

“No, sir.”

Snape watched you for a second. 

“Where is it you think you went wrong today to land you in the position of being such a pathetically terrible potioneer or does it go all the way back to walking into this school four years ago? After all, not all witches or wizards have the capability to do something as simple as reading a book. Especially for someone such as yourself, with such a busy schedule.”

You didn’t say anything, your cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

“Can you not speak either? Surely that does not take magical talent. If it did it would be a wonder you uttered even a syllable thus far in life.”

“My potion turned really blue. I was trying to save it and panicked,” you blurted out. “I think it’s because it was such a dark red when I put it on the heat but it was fine before!”

“Page one seventy-nine,” Snape replied evenly, staring at you. 

You hesitated before reaching for your classmate’s book. Snape stopped you. “I… don’t have my book.”

“Of course you don’t. Why would you bring your book to class when I’ve told you every first day since the first year to bring it to class. How silly of me.”

Your cheeks were burning. You pulled the book to you, muttering a thank you to your classmate. You flipped it open to the page he told you. You read, feeling his eyes boring into you. Your heart was beating faster. 

Step One: Add one set of fairy wings.Step Two: Heat until the potion turns turquoiseStep Three: Add one measure of doxy eggs.Step Four: Heat until the potion turns pink.Step F-

Wait.

Step Three: Add one measure of doxy eggs.

Bugger. The Doxy eggs. 

“Well?”

“I didn’t add enough doxy eggs.”

“And?”

You glance around the room. Everyone is watching. Some of them look sorry for you.

“They can’t help you. Answer the question.”

You look back at the recipe. “I think I messed up the dragonfly thorax bit.”

“You think? Are you sure you’re capable of such a complex activity?”

“I messed it up.”

“How?” it was more a statement than a question. You gulped. How? 

“I panicked.”

Snape said nothing. Just waited. You sucked in a breath. 

“I just tossed some in and started stirring and then turned the heat up as far as it would go.”

Someone in the room gasped. Snape ignored it.

“You carelessness is only matched by your incompetence and disregard of the use of the excuse you call a brain. Five points from Slytherin for not completing your homework. Another five for not doing your reading. Ten points for wasting my ingredients. Five points for distracting your classmates and almost causing their potions to ruin. And an additional five points for disgracing my classroom with your presence and pathetic attempt at being a student.”

Your jaw dropped open. “But I’m in your house!”

Snape stood and glared down at you sharply. “Ten more points for thinking you deserve special treatment and questioning my authority. You’ve also just failed your assignment and will not be given a second chance.”

“But, Sir, I’ll never be able to pull my grade up in time for the end of the year! I need potions for my NEWT! I’ll never make the cut now!” You stared at him open-mouthed, heart racing in shock.

His face was blank and he was paused as if expecting you to continue.

“How am I supposed to bring my grade back up?” you asked weakly.