Snape's preference for targeting Gryffindor's little lions was obvious and well-known to everyone, with Harry Potter and those around him bearing the brunt of his attacks.
Of course, Snape's main target was still Harry—perhaps the others were just caught in the crossfire.
Even though Harry was no longer the mischievous boy who only caused trouble, and his Potions grades were slowly improving, this didn't prevent him from still placing Potions and Snape at the top of his lists of least favorite subject and most detested person at Hogwarts, respectively.
There was no helping it. His awakening and progress had come rather late, and Harry's talent in Potions was utterly ordinary. This meant that even though he could now pay slightly more attention in class, Potions Master Snape could still find problems from every angle.
Well, even if it weren't Harry, anyone else in Potions class could have various issues picked out by Snape—even Glenn and Hermione were no exception. But Harry was the most miserable one.
Looking at the current situation, Snape was probably going to use Harry as an example again to make a statement on the first lesson of the term.
Wait, hadn't the last school year and the year before that been exactly like this?
Oh, then never mind.
"Harry—Potter..."
Snape took the test paper he'd just picked out and set aside—of course, we now know it was Harry's paper—and slowly stood up. The great black bat suddenly spread its wings, and his upright figure brought even more oppressive pressure to the young wizards.
"...It seems the long, lazy summer vacation has completely rusted your brain. The content on this test paper... is riddled with errors..."
Snape moved, taking heavy, slow steps. His leather shoes struck the wooden floor of the podium with hollow sounds, like an invisible hammer pounding down again and again on the young wizards... oh wait, now it was just on Harry alone.
Harry, you are our true savior.
Praise Harry.
Harry's expression was stiff as he watched Snape step down from the podium, circle around the front potion tables, and walk straight toward him.
The oppressive feeling was already at maximum, wasn't it?
But Harry didn't retreat, craning his neck to stare directly into Snape's eyes, trying not to lose in terms of presence to this old bat.
However, this was ineffective. Harry's green eyes couldn't have any confrontational effect on Snape—in some sense, this further intensified certain thoughts in Snape's mind at the moment.
So Snape came to Harry's side and stood motionless.
The two locked eyes, their gazes clashing continuously.
"How long do you plan to sit in that chair? Stand up and answer my questions."
After a stalemate, Snape was first to break the silence, speaking coldly.
Harry stood up with a stiff face, facing Snape directly.
"Very good... Let's look at some of the... errors that ordinary people would find difficult to make that appeared on your test paper..."
"Potter, what is the second-to-last step of the Herbicide Potion? Tell me."
Snape slapped the paper onto Harry's desk and asked in a deep voice.
Obviously, this was something Harry had gotten wrong, but now, due to Snape's influence, Harry's mind was in complete chaos—there was no way he could come up with the correct answer.
So Harry chose silence.
Seeing this, Snape let out a cold laugh.
"Stir the mixture in the cauldron clockwise four times. And your answer? Stir clockwise three times. Is stirring one more time really so difficult for you?"
"During the formation and mixing stage of potions, if you don't fully blend the components, the final effect will be vastly different from what should appear. Use that smooth brain of yours to remember this."
"Next question: In Swelling Solution, what is the treatment method for bat liver?"
Snape had no intention of giving Harry time to react and think. Following his explanation of the previous question and mockery of Harry, the next question came immediately.
Harry continued to choose silence, because he knew that rashly blurting out wrong answers or showing defiance would result in even fiercer attacks from Snape.
"...As expected, you still haven't realized your mistake. The answer is: no treatment needed—just put one portion of bat liver directly into the cauldron. But your answer on the test paper is..."
"...Grind it the same way as Dryncorpse and puffer fish eyes. Hah! Preposterous!"
Snape glared coldly at Harry, continuing his verbal assault and comprehensive suppression in terms of knowledge, picking out every error on Harry's test paper with nanometer-level scrutiny.
Harry's face turned green. This guy Snape was even pointing out his spelling mistakes and grammatical errors—this was way too much bullying!
Time seemed to pass like ten thousand years in Harry's perception, and Snape's torrential criticism and corrections finally ceased—either he'd finished pointing out all the errors on Harry's test paper, or Snape's skill had entered cooldown.
This couldn't help but make Harry breathe a sigh of relief.
"...So, facing all those completely unacceptable basic errors above, Potter, what are your thoughts?"
The pause was just an illusion—Snape's venom continued spraying.
Looks like it was the former of the two situations.
"...I will keep them firmly in mind, Professor."
Harry held it in for a long time before squeezing out this sentence.
His tone was quite firm—it seemed he wanted to regain some face through this aspect.
"Hah, keep them firmly in mind, keep them firmly in mind. Which time haven't you promised to keep your mistakes firmly in mind... but have you really remembered them?"
Snape crossed his arms, speaking disdainfully.
"Therefore, in my view, necessary punishment is essential. The deep impression punishment brings will help you remember the reasons for your punished mistakes. Only this way can dull fellows like you ensure you won't make the same errors next time."
Snape's voice was like an echo drifting from the depths of hell, pulling Harry's heart into the abyss. Snape's pitch-black eyes watched Harry like they'd locked onto prey, and an inexplicable fear made Harry shudder.
Snape reached into his pocket and pulled out a potion bottle containing liquid.
In the potion bottle, dreamlike yet eerie red and blue liquids shifted and merged, dizzying to watch and making Harry feel alarmed.
"This is my latest developed new potion, but it lacks test subjects..."
Snape's mouth opened and closed, speaking cold, ruthless, demon-like words.
"So, as punishment for you, Potter, take it and drink it down."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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