be the same again?"

Amelia glared over at Malfoy. Her arm hadn't been straight the day she had fallen on the playground and still wasn't after surgery, but that didn't mean she couldn't strangle Malfoy.

"So that's why you're putting it on," said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger. "To try to get Hagrid fired."

"Well," said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, "partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me."

A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned --

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one -tat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.

"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right --"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

"That's animal cruelty!" Amelia shouted slamming her hands on the desk as she stood up.

"Five points from Hufflepuff."

"It's going to be one of those days." Ron sighed.

"Maybe if you had done your damn job right and taught us instead of punishing us we would get the portions right!"

Snape was foaming. "Detonation. Ror the remainder of the class you willl assist Professor Filch in his daily tasks." he snarled.

"Glady."

Amelia walked out of class but stopped just short of the door. Smirking she tossed something over her shoulder which landed with a splash in Pnasy pot. "Latter fuckers," A small explosion and the room filled with thick green smoke that smelt of rotten eggs and dragon dung around Pnasy's desk. Even though the stench was rancid Harry couldn't help but laugh.