The strange alchemy of hate

“Your viva is three days from now and I’ll see how you pass your exam”, the Professor said, in tones dripping with venom and deadly intent, nurtured through years of blind prejudice against the trembling student. Sick at heart, she returned to her hostel in tears. Terrifying thoughts of failing, after 6 years of effort and nerve-wracking encounters with the Professor, the thought of enduring another horrible year with him, and then failing again and again; the thoughts roiled her mind. On the day of the viva, she waited for her fate in the classroom. After a considerable delay another Professor, a gentle man with a lovely smile, arrived and said he was the replacement juror as her Professor had an accident. A huge rush of relief flooded her system followed by a searing pang of guilt. The viva went off splendidly and she spent the next weeks in a state of bliss. Nobody knew much about the accident and the Professor returned after a couple of weeks.

He summoned her to his office and she went dreading meeting him again.
She was struck by how sick he was, and the look of torment on his face scared her. He gestured at her to sit down. She was shocked to hear his broken voice asking her for forgiveness for his conduct over the years. The morning of the viva he said, he was in bouyant spirits, at the thoughts of his vengeance and her destruction in front of him; he bathed and reached into his cupboard for a crisp white shirt. He felt a series of sharp pricking sensations on his arm and when he withdrew his hand in pain and shock, he saw a large cobra coiled in the shelf, hood raised and hissing, unblinking eyes glinting at him with sharp intellect. 

He looked at the blood on his arm and rushed out of the room, falling over the center table as he did so, cut his forehead badly, and all bloody and screaming, called for an ambulance. He was admitted into a hospital. Through the weeks of his recovery the only thing he thought about was the student, the horrifying incident and the seemingly divine punishment meted out onto him for his evil intentions. Dreams of his student turned into nightmares that left him shaking with fear in the aseptic ward. He knew he had to meet and plead forgiveness of her. He broke down and sobbed like a man in mortal pain.
This time, her heart felt a deep sadness at what he had undergone, she knew that he had learned a terrifying lesson and was changed by it. He would never again nurse hatred in his heart. She forgave him and they parted ways, never to meet again. She passed the exam with distinction.