The curtain beside Orli's bed was suddenly swept aside with a "swoosh." Snape stood by her bedside, looking down at her with unmistakable impatience in his eyes.
"Miss Orli 'Fainting' Waters, the talk of the school, would you care to explain how you managed to deteriorate to this pitiful state within just one month? While I don't consider myself responsible for first-years' health conditions, as the only professor who saw you before term started, I need to provide a reasonable explanation to Dumbledore and your Head of House, McGonagall."
His expression might as well have had "you're causing me trouble" written across it.
Orli reluctantly sat up again in bed, extending her arm to show him the potion stains on her sleeve.
"Sorry, Professor, I was just trying to brew potions at home and lost track of time, so I'm a bit sleep-deprived..."
"So Miss Waters considers herself a potions prodigy? To the extent that you thought you could brew potions without any professor's guidance before term even began?" Snape cut her off disdainfully, his eyes filled with even deeper contempt:
"What happens when you add porcupine quills before removing the cauldron from the fire while brewing Cure for Boils?"
Wait... why these sudden questions? Before Orli could even process this, she instinctively recalled her knowledge and answered rapidly:
"The mixture would violently boil over with corrosive properties, burning through the cauldron and causing boils to break out..."
"What potions can be made using water from the River Lethe, valerian, and mistletoe berries?"
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His thin lips moved rapidly, giving Orli no time to think.
"With only those three ingredients, it would be the Forgetfulness Potion..."
As she answered, Orli felt grateful for not wasting her first eleven years of life. Her theoretical knowledge had been honed through old manuscripts in the manor, and she had brewed many basic potions without taking shortcuts.
"That's enough, Severus. She's in poor condition and needs rest..." Madam Pomfrey looked disapprovingly at Snape, but he didn't stop.
"What common potion typically uses powdered moonstone and syrup of hellebore?"
"The Draught of Peace, but you must never add too much powdered moonstone, or it will cause deep sleep..."
"Enough showing off. You should know these basic facts as a Waters anyway."
Snape tossed a small potion vial onto Orli's blanket.
"This potion won't keep you sleeping forever, unless you deliberately want to miss your first class at school."
With that, he turned and left without sparing her another glance.
"Severus... he really is..." Madam Pomfrey muttered disapprovingly as she settled Orli back in bed, opening the small vial and helping her drink the potion.
"But you answered brilliantly, child. You're truly worthy of the Waters name. I'd say your performance just now deserves at least two house points, if you weren't in Gryffindor..."
A bitter, sour taste spread from Orli's tongue down to her throat. She wrinkled her nose in disgust before sinking into deep sleep.
In her dream, she was running endlessly on a blank examination paper, chasing after an unreachable quill while Snape pursued her with a pocket watch, shouting:
"Time's up! Hand in your paper! You'll definitely get a T in Potions!"
Just as she was breaking into a cold sweat from anxiety, the quill transformed into a massive cauldron. Professor Quirrell stood beside it with his enormous turban, smiling maliciously at her and saying in an eerie voice:
"I've discovered all your secrets..."
Orli wanted to wake up from fright, but perhaps due to the potion, her limbs felt impossibly heavy and wouldn't move at all.
The next morning, when she finally woke up in the sunlight, she found her back drenched in cold, clammy sweat.
But the good news was, her headache was completely gone.