Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Author's Chapter Notes:
Last chapter: Harry was rudely awakened after staying up later than usual, the 'family' visited a Muggle technology store, and Harry got permission to go to his friend's house before dinner.
The Tantrum

Micheal was waiting for Harry outside. “Look at what I got!” Harry yelled as soon as he was within shouting distance. He kept running, stopping only when he was in front of Micheal.

“What is it?”

“It's a dinosaur egg.”

“Wow, cool,” Micheal exclaimed, moving closer to see. “Is it real?”

“No, of course not. Dinosaurs are extinct. This one is robotic,” Harry tripped over the last word, feeling very smart anyway.

“Let's make a nest for it!” Micheal said, leading the way back inside.

Harry spent the afternoon with Micheal, playing with his egg and pretending, only taking a break when Micheal's mom made them eat some carrots and toast as a snack. They pet the egg, and it cooed and shook, but it didn't hatch. They pretended to be dinosaurs, then adventurers, and then Ninja Turtles. They pretended straight through nap time, since Micheal was going with his family to visit their grandparents far away and his mom wanted him and his little brother Benny to sleep through the long drive.

Harry was tickling his egg for the millionth time when he realized something. “What time is it?” he asked as he got up and searched out Micheal's mom.

“It is five ten, sweetie,” Micheal's mom told him, smiling calmly as she prepared snacks for the ride.

“Oh no, I have to get home! Bye Micheal, bye Benny! Bye Micheal's mom!” He grabbed his egg and hurried back to the house that he was staying in with his “family”. He was supposed to be back before five, and it was already later than that!

When he got to the front door, Snape was waiting inside with a frown. “You're late,” he barked, his eyes dark and glinting.

“I'm sorry,” Harry said in a small voice, clutching his egg tighter to himself.

Snape's eyes narrowed at the small boy. “Go get cleaned up and hurry back down,” he said as he opened the door wider to allow Harry through under his arm.

Harry scampered in and ran up the stairs to hide his egg in his room. He wouldn't let Snape get it!

After washing his hands and splashing water on his face, Harry went back downstairs to the back room where Snape was waiting for him. That was where they always had their lessons to help Harry try to be better prepared to learn Occlumency.

He walked rather slowly, feeling kind of funny, like he was a rubber band wrapped around a ball. As he walked past the kitchen, he really hoped that they would eat pizza, or noodles, or noodle-y soup for tea.

Harry was apprehensive about the lesson. He hadn't brought any of his toys with him, because Snape hadn't asked him to, but he was still worried for them.

“Hurry up, Potter,” Snape said as soon as he was in the room and pointed to the floor. “We're already behind.”

Harry sat down in his usual spot and the lesson began. Snape did his usual thing, telling Harry to clear his mind and not think of anything, checking to see if he managed it. Harry hated this part, and found it particularly difficult to focus today or accomplish anything to Snape's satisfaction.

“No, Potter, you're not even trying!” Snape bit out, nearly half an hour later. After failing to clear his mind, Harry was also failing to resist whatever mind commands Snape was telling him to do.

“I don't want to do this anymore!” Harry complained, eyes welling up with frustrated tears. He couldn't do it, and he didn't want to try anymore.

“Stop your weeping, and keep trying! Do you think that the Dark Lord will take it easy on you because you don't want to do something?”

Harry sniffled.

Snape looked at him silently for awhile before giving a quiet huff. “I can see that we will make no progress today,” Snape concluded in defeat. “I expect better from you in the future.”

Harry's lips turned down in a frown. He wished that he could just be good at this, and didn't have to try so hard.

“It's time for tea, anyway,” Snape got up from his usual chair and started for the kitchen.

Harry followed, sniffling a little. The smells from the kitchen were making him hungry and he still hoped for something he wanted. It didn't smell like pizza, but they could still have noodles, or noodle soup, or maybe even fish and chips! He was sorely disappointed, however. When he got to the table, all he could see were vegetables.

Harry stopped at his place, giving an unhappy look at the vegetable dish already on his plate. They weren't even the vegetables that he liked. He already had carrots today, wasn't that enough? Maybe the rest of the food wasn't done cooking yet. “Noodles?” Harry asked, looking hopefully at Hoppity.

“No, Harry. We're not having noodles tonight.”

At this, Harry felt something inside of him snap, maybe the rubber band that he had felt like earlier. He felt fussy and hurt, and extremely disappointed, as if the whole world had turned its back on him and was playing a cruel trick. “I wanted noodles,” he complained, feeling whiny and thinking that somehow they could just appear.

“Well we're not serving noodles tonight. We can have them next time if you'd like, but not today.”

A truly Dudley-esque complaint bubbled out, tears spilling out of his eyes and unto his cheeks, “I want them today.”

“Well, you can't have them today,” Hoppity replied, uncharacteristically denying him. “Why don't you sit and eat what we're serving.”

Harry pouted. “I don't like it.” His voice was whiny even to his own ears.

“Maybe you will if you try them,” Hoppity offered kindly.

“I don't want to try them! They're icky!”

Snape was less patient. “Potter, sit down and eat your supper.” He pulled Harry's chair out, waiting for Harry to sit.

“No.”

“Potter...” Snape growled in warning.

Crossing his arms, Harry decided he wasn't going to budge. He was not going to sit at that table and eat those foul vegetables.

“No.”

“You don't have a choice.” Snape started to pick Harry up and force him into his seat.

“No! No! No vegetables!” Harry cried, twisting and squirming and trying to get out of Snape's grasp. “I don't want them!”

“Sit!” Snape exclaimed, managing to get the squirmy boy into his chair and push it to the table. “If you don't stay, I will turn it into a high chair!” he warned.

Harry stilled at the dire threat, angry at the situation and hating what was in front of him. He couldn't do anything to get away unless he wanted to end up in a high chair. The possibility was so terrible that Harry found himself glued to his seat, having to face the terrible lump of icky vegetables on his plate. There was no way that he was going to eat that!

He felt so terrible. He hated it, hated everything around him at the moment.

Snape sat at his own seat, and started to eat. Harry couldn't even look at the people who were torturing him so. They were mean to make him eat this, when he really wanted pizza, and noodles. Shouldn't he get to decide what to eat?

He heard a sound from Hoppity, a noise of appreciation as she ate. “Mmmm, this is good.”

“Yes, quite,” Snape said sounding pleasantly surprised. “Well done.”

Harry could hear the sound of cutlery on plates and chewing noises.

“Too bad Harry is missing out.”

Harry glared at his plate. The very existence of the vegetables on it offended him, and he could feel his dislike growing like an inflating balloon. They were wrong, he wasn't missing out at all. Except for not having noodles.

“He will mostly likely enjoy it if he tried it,” Snape said between bites.

No. It was not going to happen. Harry would never like it, even if it was the last food on the planet.

Finally, Harry couldn't take the comments or the vegetables' presence anymore. He pushed his plate off of the table, watching satisfyingly as it hit the floor and spilled food everywhere. Only afterward did he realize what he just did.

He looked up at his guardians, apprehensive but challenging. He was worried at what they were going to do.

Hoppity looked shocked, but Snape looked livid as he stood up and threw his serviette down. “You're going into the corner until you can be civilized!” Snape said, grabbing Harry by the upper arm and pulling him off of his chair. He started for the kitchen corner by the door.

“No!” Harry cried, upset at everything, and trying to sit down as Snape carried him, trying to be difficult. He didn't want to stand in the corner and he hated that Snape could just pick him up like he was doing. Unfortunately, being in a six year old body there wasn't much he could do about it, and all too soon Snape had him where he least wanted to be.

“Stay!” Snape barked as he pressed Harry's torso to face the corner.

“Nooo,” Harry sobbed, fresh tears falling from his eyes.

“Yes! Stay there or you will not like the consequences.”

Harry choked out another sob.

“Oh my,” he heard Hoppity say, “That is most out of character. Do you think maybe something's wrong? Is he sick?”

“Noo,” Harry keened from the corner. He didn't like them talking about him as if he wasn't there.

“Hush,” Snape replied harshly. Harry wiped his runny face on his sleeve but more tears and snot kept coming. “I have never met a more ill behaved child.”

“Severus, he's only six, you probably have not met many children this age. He's been remarkably well behaved so far, today was just unusual," Hoppity said, getting up from the table. "I think he may be sick. I better go get the thermometer.”

Harry waited and waited while Hoppity left. He heard Snape pick up a plate and place it into the sink. He felt a little guilty now, but still frustrated and horrible.

When Hoppity came back, she approached the corner Harry was in and bent down to give him a hug. He leaned into it, feeling somewhat comforted despite the fact that he didn't like her very much for serving vegetables.

“It's okay, Harry. We'll find out what's wrong,” she said as she gently stroked his hair. “Can you open up for me?” Hoppity's eyes were kind as she placed the thermometer in front of Harry's mouth. He obediently took it, sniffling through his nose. “Good boy.”

They stayed that way for a minute until the thermometer beeped. Hoppity took it out and glanced at it. “Normal. Maybe he's just cranky and hungry.”

“'m not,” Harry said, feeling as tired and cranky as he ever had been.

“Maybe some food will make you feel better. Would you like some toast?”

Harry hiccuped. “Noo- noodles?”

“Harry, do you think that you deserve noodles after throwing your supper on the floor?”

Harry started a fresh set of tears as he was reminded of his bad behaviour and told that he wouldn't get noodles, yet again.

“I can't believe that all of this is just over some noodles,” Snape said.

“There must be something else going on,” Hoppity mused. “Harry do you feel well?”

“Hun-hungry,” Harry replied. He wanted to eat something but the vegetables had not been appealing at all.

“How about some juice first, okay?”

Harry nodded and Hoppity lead him to the fridge. Harry could see that the vegetables were still on the floor, but his plate had been picked up.

Hoppity got him a glass of orange juice and he gulped it down. He felt a little better as she made him some toast and buttered it.

After he ate the piece of toast, Hoppity looked at him compassionately. “Now Harry, do you know what's wrong?”

He wiped at his eyes, his voice coming out small, “No... Don't feel happy.”

“You shouldn't.” Snape came near and bent over to feel Harry's forehead, and the sides of his neck. He frowned at finding nothing seemingly wrong with Harry besides his attitude. “It is unacceptable behaviour to throw one's supper on the floor,” he lectured as Hoppity looked on. “If you do not like what is served for tea, then you do not have to eat it, but you do not throw food on the floor. That was rude and uncalled for and completely unacceptable.”

Harry nodded. He felt ashamed at his actions.

“If you do not want your supper, then you may not request something else,” Snape told him, ignoring the fact that Hoppity had just served him toast.

“You can have noodles tomorrow,” Hoppity told Harry, ignoring the dark look Snape gave her at giving in to the boy's request, “But not tonight.”

“Now, clean up the mess you made,” Snape said as he pressed a damp cloth into Harry's hands. “Afterward you can have what is served for supper, or not, but you will go straight to bed.”

Harry cried at the news. He didn't want to go to bed! It was so early it was still light outside and he felt terrible. Going to bed would mean hours of painful boredom. He would get hungry again before he fell asleep too.

“Start cleaning,” Snape commanded, bringing over the the waste bin so that Harry could scoop up the vegetables and place them in the bin. Sniffling, Harry got to work. He got most of the vegetables up, but made a bit of a mess in the process. Snape sighed and started to help him clean up the remnants streaking the floor.

As they finished, Hoppity asked, “Would you like to eat what's for supper now?” Harry wrinkled his nose. Hot vegetables were bad, but cold vegetables were even worse! But he didn't want to go to bed just yet. But they might get mad at him if he said he wanted vegetables but just sat there and didn't eat them.

“No thank you,” Harry said, more like the polite boy they were used to.

“Straight to bed with you,” Snape said as he started to guide Harry out of the kitchen and to his room.

“But I'll be good,” Harry tried to get out of his punishment. “I don't want to go to my room.”

“You are going to bed, not just your room. There will be no playing. You will dress in your pajamas, brush your teeth, and lie down on your bed. If I find you up and playing then we will have a repeat of corner time, and you will go to bed early tomorrow, too.”

Harry pouted and sniffled as Snape pulled him along, but got ready for bed with little protestations. He changed and brushed his teeth in the bathroom as Snape went through his bed and prepared it, turning down the sheets and removing anything that could be considered a toy.

“I want my friends,” Harry entreated upon spotting his plush dragon and bunny moved away from his bed and onto the top of his dresser.

“Get in bed.”

“Please?” Harry begged with pleading green eyes as he got into his bed. “I'll be lonely without them.”

“Potter, they aren't real,” Snape said.

“But they're real to me.”

“Very well, you may have one but if I find you playing with it, it gets taken away and no amount of pleading will get you another one.” Snape went to the dresser and picked up the rabbit, the one he had purchased for Harry while Harry was sick. He handed the bunny to the boy, and then tucked the blanket around them both. Harry snuggled down in his bed, tear tracks evident on his face.

Snape left for the adjoining bathroom and came back with a wet cloth. He wiped Harry's face, washing off the tears and snot from his earlier debacle.

“Go to sleep, Harry,” Snape said. “Tomorrow I expect you to be cheerful, well rested and willing to eat whatever is placed before you.”

Despite the early hour, Harry found himself doing just that, exhausted at the long day he had. He wasn't awake for when Snape stroked his head, much the same way Hoppity had earlier.

Chapter End Notes:
You may have noticed that there was no corporal punishment in this chapter. Sorry to all those who were hoping for it! I almost wrote spanking in, but it didn't really work for this story.

One of the reasons why I didn't, besides the fact that it didn't work for the story, is some things I learned in the last couple of years about it. In a psychology class I took recently my Professor said that based on studies, spanking is one of the worst ways to deal with a child. Based on what she said, and many studies and issues that I looked into about it, I learned that children may feel betrayed by their parents and not trust them because of it, learn that violence is is a legitimate way of dealing with things, and that it's okay to dominate someone weaker than yourself, sometimes even in anger. I wasn't really able to find a lot about the pros of it, other than it's traditional, and people think it works.

My Professor said that when spanking is used as a deterrent, it is only a deterrent for doing whatever they did when there's a possibility they may get caught by the person who disciplined them. So if a Father spanks his child for hitting a sibling, the child may stop hitting the sibling when the father is around, but still hit them when only the mother is around, or at school. When spanked, a child stops doing whatever they were punished for because they are afraid of getting caught and hurt by the punisher; they are afraid of physical pain. It's possible that they could learn the base morals of why something's wrong, but they will be more motivated by the fact that they will get hurt by that someone if they get caught again. It may work for really small children who do not have good reasoning skills, but it probably wouldn't work well for older children.

A child being punished with physical means because they fought at school didn't seem to make as much sense when you learn that when taken to the extreme, or done too often, corporal punishment can increase the violent tendencies of children in several cultures. (If doesn't seem to have an effect on children when corporal punishment is used normally in all school and homes in a culture, and all the children know it because they watch their classmates and neighbors being punished that way, but it does have an effect if children know that not all children are punished that way.)

It doesn't seem like best way to deal with things all the time, even though many people do use it traditionally, it has some limited uses, and it could be very in character for Snape to use it. For Harry in this story, I did not feel like it would work best for him to employ those means.

In any case, it's best to come up with your own conclusions. I find that most arguments and studies online do not examine comparable positions, and there are always questions how what causes what, but you can make your own conclusions. You can read more about the Anti-spanking and Pro-spanking positions here. Most sites are slanted one way or another. Please do not write to me about this. I really do not care to support or argue one side or the other. It's just that at the point of writing this chapter, I learned those things so it made me take a second look (actually a first look) and I want to make sure that everyone understands why I didn't include spanking in this chapter when I told some people that I might.

Fanfiction is fun, just please be educated about everything you read before deciding to use them in real life. :)

You must login (register) to review.
[Report This]


Disclaimer Charm: Harry Potter and all related works including movie stills belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Bros, and Bloomsbury. Used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made off of this site. All fanfiction and fanart are the property of the individual writers and artists represented on this site and do not represent the views and opinions of the Webmistress.

Powered by eFiction 3.5