Calamity by MellarkandArt

Snape had been right in assuming that Harry would need the purple potion.

As soon as he had reached the dorm, Harry set the vial and his glasses both down on his nightstand and collapsed into his bed, ignoring the dinner tray that was sitting there as well. He was exhausted, physically, emotionally… it didn’t seem to matter that he had spent most of the final days of his stay at the Weasleys sleeping his troubles away, he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

But it wasn’t to last.

Harry became trapped in a nightmare consisting of a woman’s screams, a dream that had been recurrent when he was younger. He hadn’t understood it at all when he was little and alone in the darkness of his cupboard, but he felt now that the meaning behind it all had become crystal clear even through the haze of green that tainted the dreams.

He was covered in sweat by the time Ron came in and shook him awake.

“You okay, mate?” Ron had asked after Harry had steadied his breathing.

“Mmm, yeah. Fine. What time is it?” Harry asked, reaching over to his nightstand for his glasses. His hand found mashed potato instead.

“It’s half-past eight, feast just ended,” Ron responded while retrieving Harry’s glasses himself and handing them to him. He grabbed a napkin out from under the plate and handed it to him as well. “Aren’t you gonna eat?”

Harry’s stomach flipped unpleasantly at the thought as he wiped potato specks off his hand. “Ugh, no. Not hungry.”

“Are you really okay? I mean, with what happened on the train… It was scary.”

“Um, yeah. I’m still really tired, but I’m fine. What was that thing, anyway? No one ever said.”

“Professor Lupin called it a Dementor, he said that it feeds on happiness.”

“Did… did anyone else, you know… pass out?” Harry asked, feeling heat rise to his cheeks at the thought of it.

“Er, no. But it was really just awful when it was there, everything seemed so cold and empty. I felt like I would never be happy again.” Ron shuddered a little as he said it. “Lupin did some sort of spell to make it go away.”

“Oh,” Harry muttered, feeling uncomfortable. Of course he’d been the only kid in the whole entire school to pass out, he always seemed to stick out. Why would he expect anything less?

“So, uh, was Snape okay to you?” Ron asked him.

Harry nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess so. He wasn’t mean or anything, but it was still awkward… I’m really dreading class,” he admitted softly.

Ron hesitated a moment before patting Harry on the back and sending him a little smile, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’ll be okay. He might even be nice to you this year.”

Harry snorted. “I don’t know. I think I’d be okay with him just leaving me alone for once, actually,” he muttered, reaching for the potion bottle on his nightstand. He turned it around in his hands, looking for the directions.

“Hmm, but maybe you could get him to sign your Hogsmeade permission slip?” Ron offered lightly.

“Yeah, maybe,” Harry replied absently as he read the label attached to the vial.

Harry,
Take one swallow before sleep, no more than three times a week. Come see me if you run out and still feel that you need it, or anything else.

The note had been left unsigned but Harry recognized the handwriting as Snape’s. Harry felt a sort of odd sensation building up in his chest as he stared at it.

“What’s that?” Ron asked, snapping Harry out of his reverie.

“Dreamless Sleep potion… I think I’m gonna try and get some more rest, uh, thanks for waking me, Ron,” Harry said, uncorking the vial and taking a swallow of it.

Ron shrugged. “No problem. There’s a party going on down in the common room, I told Hermione I was going to come check on you for a minute and she’s probably wondering what’s taking so long. Sleep well, mate.”

Harry hummed his acknowledgment as his eyelids fluttered closed. He didn’t even hear the door open and close when Ron left and he fell away into a deep, dreamless sleep.

***

For the first time in a very long time, Harry slept through the entire night and woke up feeling refreshed.

That still didn’t help to ease the feeling of dread pooling in his stomach. He was being ridiculous, he knew, as he didn’t even know what classes he had today but the thought didn’t calm him any.

He rolled out of bed and drug his trunk out from underneath it, taking out his clothes and heading to the bathroom for a shower.

Once clean and dry, he quickly dressed. He started to hear the sounds of the other boys in the dorm waking up as he was adjusting his tie. Ron would be the last to rise, Harry knew, so he went over to his friend’s bed and shook him awake.

“Five more minutes, Mum,” Ron muttered, rolling over and facing away from Harry who shook him again.

“Time to wake up, Ron, it’s the first day of school.” Ron groaned.

Harry laughed lightly and went over to his own bed, going through his trunk again and taking one of his Gryffindor robes out. It was a bit wrinkly, but nothing he couldn’t fix with a wave of his wand. Mrs. Weasley had shown him and Ron both a few tidying spells over the summer and Harry intended to make good use of them.

Once his robes had been straightened out and thrown over his uniform, he grabbed his school bag out of his trunk before kicking it back under the bed. He didn’t know which books he would need for that day until he received his class schedule from Professor McGonagall so he sat on his bed and waited for Ron to dress so they could go down to breakfast together.

Ten minutes later, Ron was finally ready as Ron could be and they went down to the common room together where they met Hermione. The three of them said their good mornings to one another and headed down to the Great Hall together.

“Are you feeling better, Harry?” Hermione asked, nibbling on her lower lip.

“Yeah,” Harry replied honestly. “I slept really well, actually.”

Ron raised his eyebrows at that and Harry rolled his eyes. “After you woke me, of course. It wasn’t even nine o’clock at that point.”

“Those Dementors were awful,” Hermione murmured. “I’m glad you’re feeling better now.”

Harry nodded as they turned a corner and entered the Great Hall, taking seats at the end of the Gryffindor’s table. They were munching on their bacon by the time they had additional company.

“Can’t believe Ron beat us to breakfast,” Seamus muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“It’s Harry’s fault, he’s such a bad influence,” a much more awake Dean added playfully, clapping Harry on the shoulder as he walked by. “We missed you at the party last night, mate.”

“Yeah, Ron said you weren’t feeling well, are you better now?” Neville asked quietly as he sat down next to Harry who nodded, inwardly sighing with relief. It seemed like his dormmates didn’t know about the Dementor incident, so hopefully, it wasn’t public knowledge that Harry had passed out on the train because of the foul creatures.

As the Great Hall filled with students, Professor McGonagall came over and passed out their timetables. Harry held his breath as he glanced over his before letting it out in a sigh. Double Potions with the Slytherins on the very first day… that would be cruel in any circumstances.

At least it wasn’t until after lunch, although Harry wasn’t sure if he would prefer to put it off or get it over with quickly. Didn’t matter either way, as Divination was his first class of the year, followed by Transfiguration.

Harry pushed his breakfast away, suddenly completely losing his already feeble appetite. Ron gave him a concerned glance as he looked up from his own schedule but Harry stood before he could say anything.

“I’m going to go grab my books, do you want me to get yours, Ron?” Harry asked, not extending the offer to Hermione as he knew she carried around all of her textbooks in her bag with a featherweight charm and he wouldn’t be able to enter the girl’s dorm to retrieve them anyway.

Ron nodded and gave him an appreciative smile as he swiped a piece of bacon from Harry’s abandoned plate.

“I’ll meet you in Divination.” Harry glanced up at the staff table and caught a glimpse of Snape sitting down to his meal and he quickly darted his eyes away. He turned around and headed back up to Gryffindor tower.

Entering the third year boy’s dorm, Harry grabbed his schoolbag off his bed and in it he stuffed his textbooks for Divination, Transfiguration, Potions, and History of Magic, as well as his shrunken caldron. He found Ron’s bag and put the same things in his.

Harry slung the two bags over his shoulder, then taking a deep breath, he left the sanctuary of the dorm and went to face his third year of Hogwarts.

***

Divination was completely bonkers, to say the least, but it was a great deal easier than Transfiguration. McGonagall was one of the strictest professors at Hogwarts and she wasn’t afraid to show it.

Still, she wasn’t the strictest professor at Hogwarts and at least she was fair to students of all houses. Unlike someone…

Harry trailed behind Ron and Hermione as they trekked down to the dungeons for Potions class, dragging his feet all the while. His stomach was practically a whirlpool made up of dread.

At least he knew he wasn’t alone in his discomfort. Neville was nearly sweating as a result of his nervousness and it wasn’t as though any of his other housemates fancied the prospect of spending time with Snape.

The third year Gryffindors and Slytherins stood in the corridor outside the potions classroom passing jibes at one another that they had thought up over the summer. Harry paid no mind to Draco Malfoy’s typical immaturity, but ignoring the blond boy only assisted in fueling Draco’s agitation.

“What’s the matter, Potter? Missing those filthy muggles you call family? I’m surprised they still allow you in their home, I mean there’s only so-”

“Mr. Malfoy,” a silky voice interrupted. Draco jumped and Harry glanced up from where he had been staring at his shoes during Draco’s tirade and saw Snape standing by the half open classroom door.

Snape vocalized nothing else to Draco, but his glare spoke a thousand words. The Slytherin boy visibly gulped and broke eye contact.

Snape looked over at Harry, but for perhaps the first time ever he said nothing to place the blame on him. Well, it might have also been the first time Harry said nothing in response to Draco’s taunts, so he didn’t really have any ammunition. Not that that mattered much, usually.

“In,” said Snape stiffly, opening the doors fully and waving the students inside the classroom. Harry took a seat next to Ron at a table towards the back.

Snape closed the doors and swept to the front of the classroom.

“Congratulations for making it to your third year in my class. I am truly astonished that not one of you have managed to blow yourselves up in the two years previous.” Here Snape paused and sent a not so subtle glance in Neville’s direction before continuing.

“However, very few of you appreciate the art that is crafting potions. I am not hopeful that this fact will change, but if you put forth actual effort into your studies, it is still possible at this point in your education to achieve success as a potioneer.”

Snape waved his wand and instructions appeared on the chalkboard. “Today we will be brewing Doxycide. It temporarily stuns Doxies so that the pests can be safely removed should your home suffer an infestation. I am certain that your families would appreciate the ability to brew this potion in such an event, so take that as extra motivation to do so correctly. Begin.”

Harry dug his shrunken caldron out of his bag and placed it on the table. He squinted at the instructions on the board, looking for the ingredients list and copied them down on a piece of parchment before going to the storage cupboard to retrieve them. Bundimun ooze (ick), Streeler shells, dragon liver (double ick), hemlock essence, tormentil tincture, and cowbane essence.

He set the ingredients down on the table for both Ron and himself. They juiced the Bundimun, grinded the Steeler shells, and chopped the dragon liver. It went fairly well, all things considered. Once all the ingredients were blended together in a precise manner over heat, they ended up with foul smelling black potions. Well, Ron’s had more of a grey tint to it but it smelt bad all the same.

The eighth and final step was to wave your wand over the cauldron, and Harry chuckled inwardly thinking back to his first potions class when Snape had stated that there would be no foolish wand waving. Perhaps this was intellectual wand waving?

Just as the thought entered his mind, Snape stopped by his caldron to inspect it. He studied it for a moment before saying anything. “Excellent potion, Mr. Potter. Five points to Gryffindor.”

Harry nearly fell out of his chair. He looked up at Snape, almost involuntarily, waiting for the punchline. But there was none, for Snape had already turned away.

“Time is up, bottle your potions,” Snape’s voice announced, and the class obeyed.

Harry picked up his bag and turned to leave but he was stopped in his tracks before he could make it to the door.

“Potter, stay behind,” Snape muttered absently.

Oh, no. He knew it was too good to be true. Maybe Snape would accuse him of cheating? It would make more sense for him to embarrass him in front of everyone, though.

Ron and Hermione stopped with him but Harry waved them off before hesitantly making his way over to the professor’s desk.

“Sir?” he inquired.

Snape looked up from his notes, and black eyes met green. “How are you faring today?”

Harry furrowed his brow. “Erm… fine…”

“Did the potion help you rest?”

Harry nodded slowly. “Yes, sir. Thank you for it…”

Snape waved a hand absently. “It was nothing of consequence. Just be sure not to abuse it.”

Harry nodded again. “Was that all, Professor?”

Snape studied him carefully for a moment before responding. “Yes, that should suffice. But… I am certain that this is a stressful time for you, taking into account everything that took place over the summer. If you find yourself in need of anything... ”

It was the kind of thing that should receive a vocal response, but Harry stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. He turned on his heel and fled the classroom.

What on earth was wrong with that man? Was he really going to play nice now just because of… because of that thing…

Harry attempted to shake the thought from his head. This was a mess, an utter disaster. It would be easier to deal with if Snape was being his usual cruel self, then Harry would be justified in his mixed up feelings… but with him being so bloody nice… this Snape was just confusing. It was all just too much to deal with and he didn’t want to think about it.

So, he wouldn’t.