AN: I'm sorry this is late, and this chapter is actually horrible. Feel free to suggest improvements or to criticize.

"Ugh, we'll have to charm this again next year," Luke, one of the upper year HFL members, groaned as he put the 'football' away.

Harry, who'd been walking behind him, grinned. "It's been permanently charmed, remember?"

Luke shook his head. "Permanent charms aren't actually permanent, it just means that they don't need a wand to be active." Seeing Harry's confusion, Luke tried to explain further. "Wingardium Leviosa needs a wizard to keep powering it - as soon as they lower their wand, the charm stops working. A permanent hovering charm, on the other hand, will last for some time before failing. I think the world record for longest permanent charm was eighteen years - a witch charmed her husband's hands to turn bright red if they came near firewhiskey. Enchantment, which isn't touched on until NEWT level, is the art of eternally charming something and it requires runes."

"What about transfiguration?"

"I don't think you can do eternal transfiguration… I do know it's very hard to make transfigurations last for more than a week - they give you a Mastery for that." With a quick wave goodbye Luke left with a couple of his friends.

Harry, however, had a new worry to keep track of. Most of what he knew about magic could be neatly categorized into the first or second-year curriculum of his current Hogwarts classes. He also had some knowledge of magical creatures, but nothing really in depth. He'd tried reading through his parents' notes, but after year two the theory got so over his head he'd been forced to give up. However, he knew that in year three he would have to choose elective courses, and based on what Luke was saying, at the NEWT level the classes start to overlap and not choosing the appropriate elective could hold him back. He needed to get a list of all the seminars, electives, and extracurriculars offered at Hogwarts at each year level before the end of his second year so he could plan his Hogwarts career. Since chances were good that he'll forget to do so, he needed to send a note to Jackie to ask her to remind him. She'll hate him for it, but she could probably just add it to her calendar or something.

Since coming back after Easter break Harry had been kept busy by all his commitments. He was keeping up with school work and had managed to continue his streak of doing homework as soon as he got it - it really helped having a whole house that encouraged this. Unlike what Neville had to deal with in Gryffindor, Slytherin (as well as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw) had nearly mandatory study sessions and the prefects did spot checks to make sure everyone was on top of their work. The worst performers in Harry's year were Vincent and Gregory - Vincent would routinely get into trouble for handing in lackluster work. Gregory did well on his homework assignments, but since it took him longer to learn new spells and understand theory, he had a hard time in class. Both had been reprimanded several times that year for getting too many A's, though Gregory got off lighter due to it being obvious that he was doing his best.

Harry also had his Potions study sessions with Neville, Millicent and Hermione as well as the quizzing game to help him keep his marks up. HFL was going well and allowed Harry a much needed physical release after all the hours spent sitting in front of books, and charms club, which was Tuesday and Thursday evenings, had been very interesting so far. Usually Flitwick taught them fun or useful charms that were not part of the curriculum, like a charm for dusting and one for tying your shoelaces into an elaborate sailor's knot. Harry had also made time to write to Jackie, Dudley, Remus, and Sirius. Sirius's letters were mostly about how he was doing and what was going on in the Wizarding World according to the Prophet (Newt Scamander finally had a grandchild named after him - Newtonia Scammander). Sirius hadn't brought up his sorting and neither had Harry - Remus had been careful to ask him to give Sirius time to recover from his ordeal. Apparently, due to family issues, Sirius was somewhat anti-Slytherin. Spending a decade surrounded by insane Death Eaters had not helped any.

Harry's only real problem was Potions, specifically Snape, who had been even worse than usual. He'd gone back to his habit of interrogating Harry and taking points off for cheekiness, as well as the snide comments over his brewing process. He'd also been marking Harry down, giving him A's and E's for work that, in Harry's humble opinion, deserved an O. It's only been a month (so four potions classes) but Harry was already getting fed up with this treatment. The next Potions class was the last of the year and it was a review period in preparation for exams - they would have a short question and answer session before brewing a simple base that can be used as the starting solution for a variety of potions.

That Friday, Harry had been caught up in a conversation with Juniper Lang, a Ravenclaw fourth year he'd met in HFL and who'd been helping him study for Astronomy. As such, he had to run to catch up to Neville and the others, arriving to the classroom barely seconds before the starting bell rang. Snape immediately began his usual vitriol.

"It seems Mr. Potter has finally decided to grace us with his presence. Ten points from Gryffindor; celebrity status does not give you the right to hold your classmates back!"

Harry, and everyone else, looked supremely confused. "But… I'm in Slytherin?"

Snape, however, seemed to be in his own world and ignored their confusion. He began firing questions at the class - Gryffindors, even though they got most answers right rather than wrong, lost an additional forty points due to cheek, being know-it-alls, and whispering answers to each other (which they hadn't). Eventually, he ordered them to begin brewing, only to stand over Harry's shoulder and begin the usual round of venom.

"POTTER! This is a simple solution, you should be able to complete it in the given time. At your slow pace, your customers will die of old age before ever receiving their product." Snape barked just as Harry was slashing down on a root. Harry, reacting to the sudden shout, missed the root and instead sliced through his finger.

Neville, seeing this, immediately brought out his wand to bandage him only to have Snape stop him.

"No wands in this class, Longbottom! Minus ten points!"

"But Harry's hand-"

"He'll live - it's just a scratch." Snape's glee could clearly be heard in his words.

Theo, who had been brewing in the desk in front of Harry, decided to intervene. He'd turned around at Harry's shout of pain and he could see that the top of Harry's finger was on the cutting board while the rest of his hand was cradled to his chest. Harry himself seemed to be in shock, his face very pale and his eyes tearing, but not making any actual noise. Taking out his own wand, Theo bandaged Harry's hand and went around his bench to take Harry's arm. "I'll take him to Madame Pomfrey, Blaise can you-?"

Blaise, who'd been brewing beside Theo, was already packing up Theo's things and cleaning his area. "Already on it, you go ahead."

"NOTT! What do you think you're doing?!" Snape was aghast at not only being ignored by the Slytherin first years, but having all of them be packing up their things. The Gryffindors, after a few moments, followed their lead - they were not staying in a room alone with Snape, and he had gone too far this time for them to care about house points. The girls were already near tears in worry over Harry - even Hermione, who was loathe to disrespect any teacher, acknowledged that Harry did not deserve any of that.

Theo hurried Harry to the hospital wing - part of Hogwarts magic was that during an emergency situation, getting to the infirmary took ten minutes or less no matter which part of the castle you were starting from. In fact, some portion of the seemingly random movements of the castle's floor plan was in response to similar emergencies.

Luckily for Harry, since this was not a cursed wound, Madame Pomfrey had a very easy time healing him, though it would take an hour for the tip of his finger to fully grow back. She insisted on keeping him until lunchtime in order to treat him for shock and blood loss and to make sure he healed fully.

Meanwhile, all the other first-year Slytherins, with the Gryffindors following them, made their way to McGonagall's office. Once their knocking went unanswered, they all just sat in front of her door to wait for her.

"We're finally making a formal complaint, then?" Neville guessed. From Harry, he knew the Slytherins hated to publicly stand against their Head of House, but they were also growing impatient with his continued behavior.

"Yes," Blaise answered. "We've tried being subtle, and the prefects and upper years tried talking to him, but this has gone too far. He either cleans up his act or we'll have him fired."

"My father has enough pull, as do some other parents, to force Dumbledore to act. This is a school, not his personal fiefdom." Draco, for once, managed to sound stern. The Drama teacher, Professor Arabelle Keyes, had worked with him to reduce the hint of whine that was usually present in everything he said, but that was a work in progress.

The Slytherins, Hermione, and Neville took out their books and used the opportunity to continue revising for next week's exams. Most of the Gryffindors chatted and played games rather than studying, though a round of the quizzing game did start up. Theo found them a half-hour into their wait and was able to calm their worry for Harry just in time for McGonagall's arrival.

Luckily for them McGonagall had the period before lunch free on Fridays as otherwise they would have ended up missing Herbology for no good reason.

"What is the meaning of this?! Why aren't you in class?" Her furious voice would usually have sent them running, but not this time.

Draco, being the most audacious, and Hermione, being the type to want to be in charge, spoke up for their respective houses.

"We're here to lodge a formal complaint against Professor Snape." Draco did his best to sound firm in the face of McGonagall's raised eyebrows.

"Harry cut his finger off!" Hermione burst out, catching McGonagall's attention immediately.

"What!"

"In potions, Professor Snape kept yelling at him, until Harry had an accident and cut his finger off. There was blood everywhere, but Professor Snape said it was a scratch and wouldn't allow Neville to bandage him! Theo, against the Professor's orders, took Harry to Madame Pomfrey and the rest of us walked out and came here to complain." Hermione said very quickly as the little Gryffindors nodded along with her and the Slytherins scowled unhappily.

"We refuse to stay in the same room as someone who holds so little regard for our well being," Draco added to show how the Slytherins felt. "He's been acting off since the year began, and while at first, he was receptive to our advice to stop bullying Harry, he's been a lot worse since we came back from break. The prefects couldn't talk sense into him and we don't know what else to do. He took points off from Gryffindor for Harry not showing up early to class!"

"He's not even in Gryffindor! The man has gone mad!" Ronald Weasley exclaimed half in shock, half in wonder.

"Settle down, I'll look into this. Where is Potter now?"

"He's in the infirmary - Madame Pomfrey said she'll release him for lunch," Theo was quick to reassure her when she turned her attention to him.

"Good. You lot go on to Herbology while I go see what I can do." Shooing them off, Minerva walked into her office and sank into her chair. She had heard from both Augusta and Jackie that Severus had been hard on Neville and Harry, but since the two boys hadn't complained to her, and their grades for Potions were in the upper range for their year, she'd assumed it was just the usual complaints Severus received from being a strict professor who lacked patience for the usual childishness. But now, with all the first years from two houses, one of them being Slytherin, telling her the same story and Harry being in the infirmary, she had to take a closer look at Severus's conduct. She hated to do so because the man was touchy in the best of times, let alone when his teaching style was being criticized. With a sigh, she got up again and made her way to her colleague - there was no point in putting this off.

She found Severus still in the same classroom - she had passed a confused group of Hufflepuff fifth years waiting outside one of the other dungeon rooms. It seemed as if Severus was not going to be able to attend his other courses for the day so she had ordered them to quietly review until she came back for them.

Severus was sitting at on of the stools, most of his weight on the table in front of him. He did not look well, his skin unusually pale, his eyes closed and his jaw clenched. His hands were gripping each other while he did his best to control his breathing.

"Severus… what happened?" Minerva tried to speak as softly as she was able, gently closing and locking the door behind her.

Severus startled before turning to look at her. After a few moments, he turned to look at the blackboard. "I don't know… I just… I can't think clearly, just looking at him makes me want to commit murder." He brought up a shaking hand to rub his face. "I had to drink two calming droughts to get to this point."

"Severus! That's dangerous-" Minerva began only to be violently interrupted.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Severus visibly calmed himself before continuing. "I'm not well. I can't - I can't do this anymore." With a shake of his head, Snape got up and quickly made his way out of the room.

"Sev- SEVERUS!" Minerva exclaimed as she followed after him. "Where are you going?"

"Away, Minerva, I'm going away. Tell Albus that I resign, for my own health as well as the well being of the students."

"But what about the students? Who will teach them?"

"I don't know, I don't care. I'm leaving with what little is left of my mental health." He abruptly stopped and turned to face Minerva, almost causing her to run into him. "I'm admitting myself into St. Mungo's. I'm not well, Minerva. I haven't been for a while, and it's time I acknowledged that." He grimaced before continuing. "Call on Slughorn, he can serve well enough, and he has the experience."

Minerva was left gaping as Severus Snape hurried off to pack his personal items. After a few moments, she remembered the Hufflepuff students and hurried back to see them. She would talk to Albus at lunch.

By the end of the day, everyone knew what had happened. While most of the students in the other three houses celebrated Snape's departure, the Slytherins were worried, both for their Head of House and their own situation. They gathered that night in their common room as they tried to understand how to react to the dramatic change in staffing.

"I can't believe he would act that way. He's always been cool and collected, even when the Weasley twins were up to their usual shenanigans." A third-year Slytherin said quietly, though his words could be heard throughout the common room due to the silence.

Lee stood up and began speaking. "Let this be a lesson to any of you thinking you can dabble in dark magic without consequences. Professor Snape was able to manage his issues for over a decade, but eventual something happened that tipped the scale and forced him to look for professional help. He almost caused a student, a Slytherin, to be permanently disfigured as a result of his condition. Hopefully, the mind healers can help him and he'll return to Hogwarts eventually, but in the meantime, we need to stick together. Don't get into arguments with other students about Professor Snape, maintain your dignity. They will talk, but the other professors will keep them in line."

Draco snorted while Pansy spoke up. "They'll make a show of it, but they're already gossiping themselves. Even some of the professors are happy that he's gone."

Harry was perhaps the only Slytherin who was fully happy with the day's events, but he was smart enough to keep his feelings to himself. Instead, he tried to get the subject changed. "Well, exams are coming up and if we do really well, there won't be as many people who would be able to say that he was a bad teacher."

"Exactly, Potter." Murk nodded firmly. "Everyone, you need to do your best on every exam, and especially Potions. It's what Professor Snape would expect."

In agreement, all the Slytherins broke into groups for study sessions, most of them going into their dorms for the quiet. The first year boys revised for their first exam, DADA. They did their best to make some sense of the notes they had taken of Quirrell's lectures, though his stutter meant half of the words were their best guesses as to what he had actually said. Harry couldn't help but continually double-check his finger, making sure that it was actually whole. There was no scar or any indication that he had been hurt earlier in the day, but Harry could still remember the pain and the feeling that something wasn't there anymore. He was happy that Snape was gone. Even if he was healed, Harry wasn't sure if he could face him anytime soon.