The Ugly Ducklings

Chapter Two: Potions Class and a Bit of Musing

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The remaining portion of Transfigurations went smoothly. Professor McGonagall began her two-week review of Transfigurations basics from the previous six years, going as far back as the first year and having the students transform hedgehogs into pincushions. Hermione personally thought that McGonagall was going a bit too far, but her orderly nature would never allow Hermione to express this opinion aloud. Instead, she told herself that the first year review was to prepare the students for the harder task of changing into animals, and refresh their memories of the spells they may have forgotten.

When the class ended, Harry, Ron, and Hermione could barely wait to talk about the upcoming project.

"I´m excited about the entire Animagi/Potions project!" Hermione said.

"That figures," Ron sniffed. Then his face brightened. "Aren´t we all? I´d like to try to become a dragon! Wouldn´t Charlie be surprised!" Charlie was Ron´s older brother, who had trained dragons in Romania for a while, but two years ago he decided to get married and live on a dragon farm in Romania.

"I haven´t really thought of what I´d be, but I wouldn´t mind being a stag, like my Dad." Harry commented.

"I wouldn´t be surprised if you turned into Bigfoot!" Hermione laughed. Harry gave her a look and the three friends walked to the Potions classroom.

Ron and Harry´s faces dimmed when they entered the class. Potions had always been a difficult for Harry and Ron, but always for Harry in particular. Professor Snape had a strong dislike bordering on hate for the "Boy Who Lived," for reasons known and unknown. The professor always came down hard on Harry, and it usually resulted in a loss of five to twenty points per day for House Gryffindor.

Hermione didn´t mind Potions as much as the two boys. She disliked Snape just as much as Harry and Ron, but she had always done well at Potions. That is, until Draco Malfoy passed her up last year. Hermione figured that it might have had something to do with the Malfoys being a Dark family. Hermione slid into her usual seat, between Harry and Ron, ensuring that that her two friends wouldn´t chat too much during class and lose additional house points.

A minute later, Draco Malfoy, and his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle, strolled into the classroom. Draco was a tall boy, with shoulder-length blonde hair that sometimes fell into his eyes. The Hogwarts females all thought that the bad-boy look that Draco emitted made him look uber-sexy. That was part of his charm: his looks and his drawl. Crabbe and Goyle on the other hand, were not so handsome. Their bulkiness made them seem like bodyguards, and they probably were.

Draco stopped in front of Hermione´s desk, glanced at her from head to and sneered, "I can see why Potty and the Weasel passed you up. You´re ugly, you´re a no-good Mudblood, and you look as if you´re about to fall over. I think you should donate some of those knockers to Pansy Parkinson, because she´s in desperate need of a pick-me-up."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed loudly behind Draco. Harry and Ron didn´t know whether to laugh at the joke about Pansy Parkinson or pound Draco´s eyes into the back of his head. So they did nothing.

"I´m in need of a `pick-me-up´, hmm, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson walked in and stood in front of Draco. Pansy didn´t hesitate. Her right fist landed on the bridge of Draco´s nose, and the class gasped when Draco crumpled to the ground with blood spilling from his nose. The Great Draco Malfoy had been pummeled, and by Pansy Parkinson, no less! Everyone was used to the fights between Harry, Ron, and Draco, but this was something entirely different.

At that moment, Professor Severus Snape´s shadow fell across the door way and he entered the dungeon classroom. Shoving Pansy out of the way, Professor Snape knelt before Draco, examining his broken nose.

"It can be fixed," Snape observed. "Miss Brown, please escort Mr. Malfoy to the Infirmary. Ten points from Slytherin for harming a fellow student, and thirty points from Gryffindor for not preventing Ms. Parkinson from breaking Mr. Malfoy´s nose."

The room filled with groans and sighs from both houses as Professor Snape went to stand in front of his desk.

"I won´t tell you how you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for your actions. I am beginning to reconsider my part in this project before it´s even begun."

The Slytherins ears perked up while the Gryffindors listened nonchalantly. Snape went over the same thing that Professor McGonagall explained.

"Professor McGonagall may loosen the reins on you because you´re seventh years," Professor Snape announced coolly. "But my grip will be tighter than ever. Anyone who fails the Potions side of this project will not participate in the graduation ceremonies in June." Snape eyed everyone in the classroom and a small smirk appeared on his face as his sharp gaze fell on Neville Longbottom.

Hermione noticed Neville shaking, perhaps from fear. The person that Snape had been cruelest to, aside from Harry, was Neville. Neville was poor at Potions, and it seemed to Hermione that Snape relished this fact. Neville was even used as Snape´s guinea pig from time to time.

It caused Hermione to ponder more about Snape. The poor man must not have any other goal in life, except teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and tormenting all of the students of Hogwarts except the Slytherins. Hermione stared at his face for a few minutes, when he wasn´t looking at the class. His combination of physical features almost made Snape look like a zombie: greasy hair, small black eyes, crooked nose, thin lips, and skin so pale that the veins could be seen flowing under his skin. Perhaps he had some type of skin disease that caused his skin to look so white.

Then again, Hermione mused, he couldn´t be any look any worse than she looked. Her skinny body, oversized breasts, nonexistent buttocks, large hands, and wild bushy hair made her look like a freak from Planet X or some kind of wild animal.

Her hair! How she detested the fact that her hair looked like it had been fried as if she had stuck her hand in a Muggle electrical socket. Her hands were larger than a normal female´s hand. Her body was too small, and she wouldn´t even think about her boobs! All in all, the worst features that anyone could want had been mixed together like a skewed bag of Chex Mix, whatever that was.

"Miss Granger!" Snape´s dark eyes scowled down at her face. "Need I remind you to pay attention? Do you have any thoughts that you wish to share with the rest of the class?"
"None that you would like, " Hermione bitterly said. She was becoming angry with Snape for disturbing her no-so-peaceful thoughts.

"I see that Miss Granger is developing a nasty streak. Ten points from Gryffindor for talking back to the professor." Snape snapped. He turned to the chalkboard and wrote Potions formulas.

The Gryffindors glowered at Hermione. They had lost enough points without Hermione losing more house points. Snape was going to continue with his regular Advanced Potions lessons until the ingredients needed for the Polyjuice and other potions arrived. It would give the students a chance to learn what they would have learned if not for the project. There would be no `two week review´ for Potions. If the students had survived for this length of time, then there would be no need for review.

Hermione diligently copied the notes from the chalkboard onto her scroll. This year of Potions was going to be more difficult than she expected. Of course, none of the students expected the Potions and Transfigurations team up for a project. Hermione dwelled on the possibility of whether any of her other classes, like Charms and History of Magic would have a combined final year project, or would Professor Binns just continue with the same subject he had been lecturing for years?

"Class dismissed," Professor Snape finally announced. Hermione scrambled form her seat, anxious to be out of the class.

"Mean bastard!" Ron muttered under his breath as the three friends left the class.

The first two classes of the day held surprises and excitement for Hermione, but she felt that her seventh year would turn out to be a very different from the past six years. She just didn´t know how different.

*End Chapter Two*