II: The Testing

Chapter II: The Testing

Ten days had passed since Morgaine had arrived at Hogwarts. She spent her mornings studying in the library under McGonagall's supervision, and in the afternoons, her knowledge was tested in more practical ways. And despite her inexperience, she was making quite a good impression. She had obviously been tutored well.

'She is quite knowledgeable in Herbology,' Professor Sprout told the other teachers one evening. 'And most of all, she is interested. I don't recall ever having a student who asked so many questions.'

Severus hadn't tested the girl in Potions yet, and he refused to get impressed by what his colleagues were saying about her. As a matter of fact, he found it quite annoying how delighted they all were. The girl had surely done her homework, but if she wanted to impress him, she would have to do a damn fine job in Potions.

First on Thursday afternoon was it time for Severus to test Morgaine. He had prepared her task well and decided to assess her theoretical knowledge of potion ingredients first. And only if she did a good job, a thoroughly good job, would he even consider letting her get close to a cauldron.

~ ~ ~

Time flew by, and my first ten days at Hogwarts passed in a blink of an eye. It was a wonderful time. Being surrounded by people who did not frown upon magic was a new experience for me. I had been used to studying in secluded rooms, but now I could openly show what I had learnt and loudly ask to learn more. I was grateful that Remus had done such a thorough job. He sure has taught me well. Yet I knew there was much more to learn, and I wanted to start right away.

Potions was next. I knew that I had learnt as much as I could and that I would do well. But there was something about the Potions master that made me not want to disappoint him. And when I entered his classroom, my heart was beating so hard that I was convinced that he would be able to hear it from across the room.

~ ~ ~

Their first meeting was scheduled at one o'clock in the afternoon, and Severus had been waiting in his classroom for a quarter of an hour, ready to reprimand Morgaine in case she showed up late. He wanted her to know from the start that it was him who laid down the rules and that he wouldn't accept sloppiness. But he didn't get the chance. At two minutes to one, there was a firm knock on his classroom door.

'Enter,' hesaid in his most commanding voice.

Morgaine stepped inside and closed the door behind her. 'Good afternoon, Professor.'

Severus curtly nodded towards her. At least she was punctual.

He wordlessly beckoned her to take a seat in the front of the classroom. 'You will identify some potion ingredients for me,' he instructed her in a cold voice. 'And to each one, you will give me an example of a potion in which you would use the ingredient.'

The girl slightly inclined her head. 'Yes, Professor.'

She was again chewing on her lip. Severus found this habit of hers rather annoying. And he decided to give her something to be nervous about.

He held up a dried flower with violet leaves. 'Well?'

Morgaine squinted at the flower. 'I believe it is belladonna, sir. It's a hallucinogenic.'

Severus raised an eyebrow. 'You believe?'

He saw the girl bite her lip and was surprises when she looked him straight in the eyes a second later.

'No, sir,' she stated. 'I know.'

Severus oppressed a smirk. What do you know, he thought. The girl has some confidence.

He picked up a glass jar and held it up before her. 'And this?'

'Fluxweed, sir. When picked at Full Moon, it can be used in Polyjuice Potion,' Morgaine said in a firm voice, an almost defiant look on her face.

And Severus nodded, satisfied. At least, the girl was no push-over.

It was almost dinner time when he sent her away. He had to admit that the girl had done her homework well. She had identified most of the ingredients correctly and seemed to know their properties. With some luck, she wasn't going to blow up the classroom the next day.

~ ~ ~

I tried. Merlin knows, I tried.

But what confused me the most was that I could not figure out why I was so desperate to please Severus Snape.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Severus woke up with a pounding headache. He had slept poorly, as he did so often during the night of the New Moon. He made his way to the bathroom and took a bottle of Headache Potion out of the cabinet. To his annoyance, it was almost empty, and he decided to save the last few drops until later that day and to brew a new batch in the evening, hoping the headache would disappear by itself.

But his condition didn't improve during the morning. Any loud noise made him jump, he felt nauseous, and by midday he was in a really foul mood. And when Morgaine knocked at his classroom door at one o'clock, he was ready to rip somebody's throat out.

He directed her straight to a workstation in the front of the classroom and instructed her to brew a Shrinking Potion. There was not much that could go wrong with that potion, and with any luck, he could let the girl work on her own and tend to his headache.

He observed her examining her ingredients, noting that she sorted them according to when they would have to be added. This was obviously not the first time that she brewed a potion.

Then he watched her chopping the daisy roots. She took her time, chopping them evenly.

'Are you always that thorough?' he asked in a low voice.

Morgaine looked at him and smiled. 'If the task requires it, yes, sir.'

Severus raised his eyebrow in surprise. He had obviously underestimated the girl. She knew what she was doing.

After a while, he decided that he could indeed let her work on her own and went to sit behind his desk in the darker side of the classroom. Morgaine was standing with her back to him, which he welcomed, as he could close his eyes to try to block out the searing pain in his head. But something was disturbing him. Several times he felt as if Morgaine was looking at him, but when he opened his eyes, he found her still standing with her back turned to him. Severus frowned. Was he hallucinating?

After two hours, Morgaine had finished, and her Shrinking Potion had exactly the bright acid green colour that it was supposed to have. She had cleaned up after herself, too. Nothing on her workstation indicated that somebody had been working there: the knives were clean and the table dry. Severus watched her closely. She seemed to be quite pleased with her work and eager to show him more, but Severus was tired. The pain in his head had, if possible, increased over the last hour. He just didn't have the energy to come up with a difficult potion to test the girl with.

'Surprise me,' he growled. 'You have two hours, and you can use any ingredient you might find in this cabinet.'

He returned to his desk to sit down. The pain in his head was now so severe that it was almost unbearable. All he wanted was to hear and see nothing, just drift away. He picked up the bottle containing the Headache Potion. There wasn't any point in waiting any longer to drink it. The pain couldn't possibly get any worse.

He filled a goblet with water and added the potion, making the water turn light blue. He brought the goblet to his lips and drank its content greedily, hoping that it would bring some ease.

When he put the goblet down, he noticed Morgaine looking at him from across the room.

'Is there anything you would like to ask, Miss duLac?' he barked, annoyed with himself that he had let her see that he was not feeling well.

The girl didn't even flinch but shook her head. 'No, sir, not at all.'

'Then get to work. You have already wasted five minutes.'

He sat down behind his desk. He had to calm down. He couldn't let the girl see that he was out of balance. He took some deep breaths and closed his eyes.

'Think of something else,' he told himself. 'Concentrate.'

It was no use. It felt as if someone had split his head open with an axe. Normally, the potion worked at once, but he would need a bigger dose. Why had he not brewed a batch when he saw that he was running out?

Severus was angry with himself. He seriously considered starting at once, but his hands were shaking too much. He would just have to put all his mental power to ignoring the pain. He concentrated hard but there was once more something disturbing him: he still had the feeling that Morgaine was looking at him.

Two hours later, the girl was suddenly standing in front of him, holding a phial in her hand.

'Leave it on my desk,' Severus instructed. 'I will have a look at it later.'

He just wanted her to leave, but Morgaine didn't move. She just kept looking at him, and Severus wished she would stop.

'Well, what are you waiting for?' he snapped. 'You are dismissed, Miss duLac.'

To that, Morgaine slightly inclined her head, wished him a good night and left the classroom as he had told her.

Severus looked towards her workstation. She certainly knew how to clean up after herself: the table and cauldron were clean, and she had returned all the jars and bottles exactly to the place where she had taken them.

Curious, Severus picked up the phial she had placed on his desk. The potion inside was shimmering light blue, and as he opened the bottle, he noticed a faint scent of peppermint. No, this couldn't be. How on earth had the girl managed to produce the exact potion he had intended to make himself?

He poured some of the potion into a cauldron, and waved his wand over it, murmuring an incantation that made the potion split into its basic ingredients. He shook his head in amazement. No doubt, the girl had succeeded in producing a Headache Potion.

He took a goblet from his cupboard, filled it with water and added seven drops of the potion which made the water turn light blue. Then he lifted the goblet to his lips, drained it and walked towards the door. Dumbledore would want to know how Morgaine had preformed.

By the time Severus reached the headmaster's office, the pain in his head had disappeared.

~ ~ ~

There had been a whisper inside my head all afternoon. I knew it was his voice, Severus Snape's voice, but he wasn't talking to me. His voice was just there, inside my mind. And I did not know what to do about it.