Going down to the dungeons earlier in the day had been quite an experience. Never had he in his entire life experienced such an awkward situation and he had been in many. Harry laughed as he remembered the strangeness of the situation and sat back to think it over again. Maybe this time he could figure it out.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As Harry walked slowly down the corridors to ask about his detention he wished he could just be done with school already so he could start living his life and never see the Dursleys again. But with his luck he would be seeing them in exactly 124 days when the school year ended and he would be forced to go back to that hellhole. Reaching the door to Professor Snape’s office he knocked twice and stood there waiting. After a minute he knocked again and he thought he heard Snape say something so he opened the door and tentatively stepped in.

Walking up to the desk, Harry waited for Snape to look up at him but instead Snape only sat there reading whatever it was that Potion Professors read.

Clearing his throat he decided that he should just begin to speak. “Um Professor? Professor Snape, I just wanted to ask what time my detention was today because well I didn’t hear it and since I didn’t want to be late I uh thought I would err come ask?”

Waiting for a couple of minutes, he realized that Snape was ignoring him and wasn’t going to answer or he was too engrossed in what he was reading to notice him there. “Snape would do that. Well I guess I could write it down and lay it on his desk so he will see it later. Hopefully in time to let me know…”

He quickly jotted down his note and looking down at the desk he carefully laid it next to the inkpot. He slowly backed out of the room and when he reached the door to the corridor tried as quietly as he could to open it.

When he had slipped through the door he was turning around so that he could very carefully close the door. When he had the door closed, Harry let his breathe out. “Holy Merlin, that was strange.” He shook his head and turned to continue back to the library.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sitting there, he didn’t notice the time that was passing him by. The only thing that mattered to him at this moment was this journal and every single page that seemed hold even more amazing pieces of knowledge.

*BOOM CRASH*

Startled, he whipped his head up. “Hello? Is everything okay?!” Getting out of his chair he took a step and tripped.

“What the bloody hell?” Harry reached down to his left foot; it had fallen asleep from sitting cross-legged too long. Getting back up he gingerly stepped towards the source of the noise.

As he got to the middle of the library he heard another noise like of parchment in wind. Warily he peeked around the corner of a bookcase, “Oh! Haha…” He laughed as he got saw that the noise was coming from a piece of parchment valiantly trying to get out from being stuck under a large pile of books that had obviously fallen down on it.

Stooping down, he momentarily contemplated whether he should rescue the parchment or leave it for the librarian. Perhaps it was hers? “Oh well, if it’s hers then I’ll just put it onto her desk when I leave.” Grabbing his wand out of his pocket he whispered a quick incantation to put the books back into their “organized” piles. After the piece was freed it immediately flew up into the air and shook itself trying to rid itself of the dusk and took off in a different direction towards the back of the library. “Well I guess that settles what I was going to do with it then. Huh, wonder what it was.”

Turning around he walked back to his desk where his most precious possession waited to be explored some more. Settling back down into his chair, he picked up the book and started to read once again. Not three minutes later, he felt a jab in the back of his head. “Ouch!” Turning around he saw nothing, he stood and crouched down to look under the table. Nothing there. Standing back up he looked down at the table. Sitting there on the journal was that missive that he had rescued earlier.

“Well look at that. Are you still lost?” He reached down and grabbed it before it could fly off again. Turning it over he looked for whom it was addressed to but there was none. Opening it up he immediately saw that it was indeed for him.

Sighing he set the parchment down and picked up his book again but the focus that he had before he had been interrupted. His stomach growled and reached towards his extra plain papers and tore a hunk and stuffed it into his mouth. Sucking on the paper his thoughts began to run away from him and soon he found himself slowly drifting into a memory. It was his earliest memory of being with the Dursleys so he was around 18 months old.

It’s so dark.
I’m so hungry.
Where is Mummy?
Dada?
Tum-tum hurts bad.
Want to cry.
Don’t cry!
Bad man don’t like you.
Crawl to corner close to door and be by the light.
That’s better but I’m still hungry.
There’s a piece of paper on the floor.
Pick it up and decide to put in mouth.
Yuck! Don’t like it but my tum-tum does.
Sucks on paper till it dissolves and tum-tum is full
Lies down with cheek to the cold floor.
I want Mummy.
I want Dada.
Close eyes and tears slip down my cheeks.

Sitting in the library, Harry felt the tears sliding down his cheeks but he didn’t bother to wipe them off. He stood up and gathered his books and stuffed them into his satchel. His stomach growled once more and he grabbed another piece of parchment and stuck it in his mouth. “Damn the bloody detention, if only I could stop by the kitchen.”

Grabbed the parchment that contained his lists of ingredients and potions, he carefully folded it and stuck it into his robe pocket. He turned and began to walk slowly out of the library, careful not to disrupt any stacks of books that precariously surrounded him.

Reaching the front of the library, instead of heading to his detention he turned to head down to the corridor where he would hide the book. After hiding the book, he realized that it was 7:49 and began to stalk down the hall trying his hardest not to break into a real run. When he reached the door that opened into the potion classrooms he was already feeling faint from not eating since yesterday at lunch.

“Shut up, you damned stomach! I can’t turn back now, I’m practically late. Only a minute to spare” Harry straightened his spine and walked through the door. “I hope we do the same thing tonight. It wasn’t half bad.”

“Mr. Potter, Get over here. Now.” Snape’s voice rang out and caused him to jump. When he reached Snape he looked him over a bit more and intrigued by the clothes he was in. The robes were quite tight around his arms and upper body and also potion stained. On his hands he was wearing some rather thick gloves that looked like they had been taken off a live dragon and sewn into gloves but the inside felt like they were made out of the softest material he had encountered.

Without looking up, Snape told him. “Take off your robe and change into the one in the closet and take a pair of gloves as well. Hurry.”

As he changed into the robe and buttoned the last button he was surprised as the robes shrunk to his body. Looking up, he thought he saw a small smirk on Snape’s face as he was continuing on whatever he was doing. He finished putting on the robe and walked carefully over to the table Snape was working.

Snape turned to address “Now, Mr. Potter you must listen to everything that I tell you and follow it to the utmost detail. First, take the bean out with the tweezers. Be careful to grip it tightly, it will be slippery from the solution, don’t let it fall. Set it down onto the table and use the knife with the red handle to cut it down the spine. Next take the half-moon knife and hold down the bean and slide the knife into where you have split it and half it. Next grab the bean and I warn you this is the most dangerous part and the reason for the gloves, hold it down and pick up the black knife.” Holding it up, Snape motioned towards the strange tube that seemed to connect to the sharp point of the knife. “This tube is used to take in the juice from the beans. The juice from the beans is highly dangerous and will cause extreme pain and has been proved fatal so be careful. I don’t need to explain to the Wizarding world how I killed their golden boy.” Snape proceeded to show him two times how to do extract the juice and put it into a small vial.

As he picked up the “Sir, why can’t we just extract it through magic?” He was a bit nervous but he didn’t want to show it to Snape and was trying to keep his hands from shaking.

“If the juice is extracted through magic then it loses the magical quality by a ten-fold. Most potion masters do not dare to extract it for fear of their lives but I am a self-respecting potion master that does not give what you young people call a “half-assed attempt.” I do not expect you to understand what I am talking about since you take every single possible shortcut that is open to you.” Snape snapped at him then turned to him and unexpectantly said, “Your potion today was perfect, how did you cheat? I know that Blaine is not in the slightest way smart enough to make such a potion.”

He sighed and picked up the next bean to cut open, it wasn’t as hard as he had expected. “Sir, I am telling the truth when I say that I made that potion and Blaine is not as bad at potions as you think.” He paused as he held the beans down and looked at Snape’s cold eyes. “I do not lie to you sir. Too much of my life has been spent in lies and I try to stay away from. “ He turned bad to his work and continued working even as he felt Snape’s stare boring into his skull.

Snape turned back to his own work and made no further comment as he thought over what Harry had said to him. “Indeed, it is true that his life had been a lie. Interesting…” Snape continued to muse over his thoughts as he worked. He continued to work until he heard a strange sound, it sounded like a potion gurgling but there were none brewing at the moment, they were all in stasis right now. Snape looked over at Harry and noticed a strange red tinge to his cheeks, which compared to the rest of him made him look extraordinarily pale. Snape turned back to his beans and when the noise sounded again he cleared his throat and turning to Harry said, “Do you know where that noise is coming from?”

Harry felt his cheeks redden even more and nodded his head, “Yes sir, I do know where it is coming from.”

Snape impatiently replied, “Well then, please share with me.”

“From my stomach.” Harry mumbled under his breath.

Turning to fully face him, Snape raised his eyebrows. “And why is your stomach gurgling?”

“I guess I my stomach is hungry.” Harry turned back to his beans and worked for a few minutes. His stomach was hurting and cramping up, maybe if he chewed on some more paper it would hold him over until detention was over. He turned his body until he was angled away from Snape’s view and lifted the outer robe to grab some paper out of his pocket. He grabbed some and stuck some in mouth and was stuffing the paper back into his robe when he was startled.

“Mr. Potter! What do you think you are doing? What did you just put into your mouth?” Snape snapped at him.

Harry felt his face redden and muttered “Nothing sir.”

“I thought you did not lie, Mr. Potter. I beg to differ because I saw you put something into your mouth. Tell me before I make you.”

Harry opened his mouth to snap back at Snape but suddenly found himself unable to move his jaw as Snape had grabbed his jaw and looked inside to see what it was. “Is that parchment? Snape asked him with a look of disgust on his face.

“Yes, it is. Now leave me be!” Harry said trying to keep his temper in check.

“I will not, now spit it out! Why are you chewing on parchment? Are we in the nursery still?” Snape asked, his temper beginning to show its face.

“My stomach was irritated you so I thought that maybe if I ate some more parchment it would make it stop.” Harry mumbled, “Sorry.”

“More? Is this a regular habit? What was holding you back from coming to dinner?” Snape asked, slightly intrigued what had been important enough to keep a teenaged boy from food.

“How...Never mind. I was in the library. Working…on homework.” Harry said, trying to make it sound nonchalant. How did Snape know that he had not gone to dinner?

Snape grunted and abruptly turned to walk to his office. Harry watched him walk away and stood there.

“What is he doing there? Does he want me to keep working?” Harry turned, grabbed his knife and continued to keep working. Five minutes later he heard Snape’s boots clicking on the stones, he kept working on the bean he was working on not paying attention to Snape.

Snape walked up to Harry and waited for him to finish the bean he was working on. He was impressed with how fast Harry had picked it up; he seemed to be a natural. He shook his head. “Mr. Potter, put down your knife and gloves and go to the table back there.”

Snape donned his gloves and took up his knife again. He began to work again and waited for the questions.

Harry stood there by the back table staring at the contents on the table. “Sir, err what do you want me to do?”

Snape replied without turning around. “Use your imagination.”

Harry turned back and stared at the tray. It was laden with a huge bowl of soup with two enormous, thick slices of bread with a glass full of what looked like milk. His mouth started watering and he set his gloves down on the floor and sat in the chair in front of the food. He gingerly grabbed the spoon and dipped it in. He brought the spoon up to his mouth but stopped and stared at it. “What if he poisoned it with truth serum or sleeping potion so he can experiment on me or a potion to slowly kill me or turn me into a bug so he can put me into a potion.” He almost dropped his spoon as Snape addressed him again.

“Potter, I did not do anything to the potion. Eat it or come back and work.” Snape said in an irritated voice. Turning around he raised his eyebrows and stared at Harry. Harry looked down at the spoon and sighing stuck it in his mouth.

“Well if I die, at least no one else will have to have Snape as a professor anymore…” As he chewed his soup, he was surprised that it was among some of the best soup that he had ever had. Or maybe he was just that hungry, it was definitely an upgrade from the parchment. He shrugged his shoulders and decided that whatever the reason that he was going to finish it.

Snape watched Harry take a hesitant first bite and then begin to shovel it in as if he hadn’t eaten in days. “Teenage boys…” He shook his head, he remembered those days, even if he didn’t want to. “Potter, calm yourself and conduct yourself as a human being and not an animal.” He waited until Harry had slowed and turned back to his work. Not three minutes later he heard the chair scape against the stones and Harry come up to his side and began to put his gloves again. Snape turned to look at him and then to the food on the table. The bowl, while it wasn’t the smallest bowl but also wasn’t the biggest that he had ever eaten. But it was smaller that most meals he ate, why hadn’t he eaten it all? “Isn’t the soup good enough for you? Why do you snub it?” Snape looked down into Harry’s face and realized, as he looked closer that the boys face wasn’t full and vivid as other boys his age. He was eerily reminded of memories of reflections of himself at this age: the scrawny frame with sharp points and the thin face. As he stared into the boys face, he was taken back to the memories that he had seen in the boys mind during the failed occlumency lessons. The memories of damned Dursleys screaming at him and abusing him. He averted his eyes from Harry’s face and looked down at the scarred table. He didn’t want to think of the Golden Boy in any other way than a spoiled and pampered boy.

“No Professor, on the contrary. It was good, I am just full.” Harry said earnestly.

“What? Was the parchment that good that it filled you up?” Snape sarcastically retorted. He watched as the boy turned away without replying and began to work again.

An hour later, as Harry picked up the last bean and finished it he wondered if they were almost done. He needed to finish his essay for DADA so he didn’t have to worry about it over the weekend. He watched as Snape pushed the cork into the last vial and cleared his throat to ask if they were done it was nearing 10:30.

“Yes Potter. You may leave. Report back tomorrow at 9 am for the final detention…for now.” Snape said, waiting for the groan or angry remark.

“Fine.” Harry said, happy that it would be the last one, at least for right now. He turned on his heel and walked out into the classroom that was still covered in the day’s potions lessons. As he walked by one of the desks he stepped into an especially sticky patch and fell down. Disheveled and embarrassed he scrambled up and didn’t notice as the parchment that had his potions ingredients and the names of the potions that he was going to try on it fall onto the ground. He stalked out of the classroom as fast as he could before Snape could make a snarky remark about his lack of dexterity. He hurried off to the tower before Filtch caught him out after curfew.

After he reached the safety of the Gryffindor tower he sat down in front of the fire to think over his night and rest his feet that ached from standing in the same spot for over three hours. Remembering his strange dinner he was confused. “Was that Snape being kind? Why did he even do that? So confused…” Sitting back, he drew up his feet onto the chair and turned so he was sideways and hugged his knees. He was so tired and still full and the fire was warm. As he slipped into his turbulent sleep he didn’t notice his parchment containing the note about the potions missing.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As he put the last vial in his personal storeroom Snape sighed and walked back out to his messy office. He banished the knives and the extra supplies left over. He strode into the classroom that was still in a disheveled state and sighed, he would leave it for tomorrow to clean up but Slughorn was due back tomorrow. He looked around the room and decided that Longbottom was never going to make it in the world of potions. Ever. As he walked to the back of the room to shut the door that Potter must have forgotten to shut as he ran out he noticed a piece of parchment laying under one of the tables. He smirked as he summoned the parchment to him; he never left forgotten parchment lay on the ground. Some days he found the most interesting notes from students that contained some very interesting things. When he was feeling extraordinarily vicious he would hang the parchment in the hallway with a few well-placed spells so that only the person that wrote it would be able to take it down. It had proved to be a quite funny spectacle at times. Putting the note into his pocket he went around placing a few well needed spells in every classroom until they looked better than when he had come down here.

He went back to his office and sat down. He was still a bit taken back by his earlier examination of Potter’s face and the lackluster look about him. He still didn’t believe the memories that he had seen in Potter’s mind even though he knew that there was no way to lie when someone looked through your mind unless you were an excellent Occlumens, which Potter was not. Shaking his head, he remembered the note in his pocket. Cackling a little bit he pulled it out hoping to the high heavens that it was a good note that would create a great response and high amount of embarrassment. As he smoothed out the note he noticed that the page was nearly full with cramped handwriting, definitely an older student that cared what they were writing. A bit unsteady but very neat and precise and easy to read. As he started to read he was a bit put out that it was just a list of potion ingredients that a student obviously going to order, although some of them were very peculiar. He knew that Slughorn didn’t require his students to use essence of Haglorn. That ingredient was only used in serious ones that most potion masters even stayed away from. He kept reading and almost dropped the parchment as he continued to read on. There was a list of potions that seemed to coincide with the list above of needed ingredients. But these potions weren’t any potions that you could just casually make, most of them were extremely dangerous and in some cases fatal potions. As he ran down the list he noticed several potions that caused purposeful death and two deaging potions one temporary and the other permanent, one to make someone impervious to pain also temporary and one potion that wasn’t familiar in any way. He had never even heard of it. “Who the bloody hell is this? There is no one here that has any level of skill close enough to make any of these potions. How did they even find out about them?” Thinking back to the classes that he had today he ran over any of the possible choices. “Draco, Granger….hmmm no one else” Looking back at the handwriting he realized that it wasn’t familiar in the slightest. Draco had flourishes and graceful almost feminine writing that bespoke of his upbringing and Granger’s handwriting had the pained look of a muggle’s writing mixed with a wizards writing although her writing was very neat and precise it was nothing like this writing. This person, he or she, he couldn’t tell, was definitely brought up as a wizard and obsessed with neat writing and making it legible. While that cut down many of the options he couldn’t think of anyone.

He was still sitting there in front of his fire in his chair deep in thought when he was startled by his fire suddenly glowing green from a firecall. He sat up and looked into the fire, he wasn’t surprised to see that it was Dumbledore. Albus was the only other person that would dare to call on him at such an hour other since the one other that ever did was finally dead and gone.

“My dear Severus! How are you? You are looking drawn, are you still struggling with sleep?” Albus cheerfully asked.

“Good evening Albus. What do you need?” He replied ignoring the questions.

“I was just wondering if you would please come down to my office in the morning for a meeting? I have some very serious matters to discuss with you. It seems that last night around 2:45 a part of the castle was awakened” Dumbledore suddenly became very serious which made Severus’s curiosity peak. Rarely anything made Albus lose his cavalier attitude.

“Of course. What part of the castle?” He asked.

“It seems that it was the study of the great potioneer, Alexandra Syanda. I don’t know if you are very familiar with her creations but she was once a professor here at Hogwarts and while she was here the castle gave her a study that allegedly was enormous and filled with texts and labs…” Albus continued but Snape didn’t hear another word Albus was saying. He could only stare at the parchment that he was holding in his hand.

Yes he was familiar with Alexandra Syanda. He had studied her as a young student at Hogwarts and had tried to replicate her work. But most of all he had searched for the very study that Albus was speaking of.

Every text that talked about Alexandra Syanda’s study at Hogwarts said the same thing. When she realized that she was dying as a result from a failed potion she had placed spells upon it to make so that only until a person worthy of her study could find it and enter it making it their own. People had come from all over the world searching for this trying to find it and prove their worth.

This parchment that he was holding meant that someone had finally done it.

He, Severus Snape, had the next greatest potioneer in his class worthy even of Alexandra Syanda’s study.

Who the bloody hell was it?