After lunch, Severus made his way to his classroom. He had been given a reprieve from teaching the lower years four years ago when Professor Granger took up the Arithmancy post, allowing Septima to retire but since her classes weren’t until the afternoon, Minerva offered her the lower years’ Potions class. Professor Granger had jumped at the opportunity and it afforded him the chance to focus on brewing for the many contracts he had, not that he couldn’t do it with the normal class load but it was nice to not have to. He had thought her mental for taking on two subjects but she worked it well. The lower years, first through third, were hers and fourth through seventh were his. He was actually surprised that she used the same speech he used to use for the first years’ first day of class. He had felt a surprising warmth when he had heard her repeat it. It was a speech that had slipped smoothly out of his mouth his first day teaching and he had used it every year since. Now, it would seem, it would continue to live on through her and she was every bit as strict as him but seemed to get her students to pay attention better. That wasn’t to say no one blew up cauldrons, because they did, but it seemed to be less than all his years teaching newcomers. Severus had to admit that since she took over the younger years, his classes were a lot less stressful. Thanks to her manner of teaching, every student he had was well prepared and he ended up having more students sign up for N.E.W.T. level potions. Although he had never told her, Severus was quite proud of the witch Hermione had become.