Potterbook | *Started*

Spoiler

Haha. Another Snape post. Enjoy. You'll be seeing more of these~ <3

Professor Snape | Entrance Hall - Early Evening, not-quite-dusk:

Snape waited in the entrance hall near the double doors that would lead him outside onto the lawn, arms crossed over his chest. Where was that Sewlyn boy? He was definitely taking his time, and it was starting to irritate the Potions Professor. Why in the name of Merlin had Albus asked him to do this, knowing that he didn’t like werewolves? Snape shook his head. He probably wouldn’t even find out. And perhaps he didn’t want to.

Footsteps on the marble staircase brought the Potions Master’s head up and he sneered at the boy now crossing the entrance hall. “You are late, Selwyn,” he snapped, spinning on his heal and swiftly striding out of the hall through the double doors, fully expecting the boy to follow him. Which he did, much to the annoyance of Snape. “Let’s get moving. It’s dangerous to wait much longer, and I don’t want to see you after the sun goes down.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Allen snarled under his breath.

Snape apparently heard him, for he turned on the boy with a sneer. “At least I have the decency to make you the Wolfsbane, boy. Do not make me regret it.” They stared each other down for a moment before Snape turned his back on the boy and continued on his way to the Whomping Willow and the tunnel that would lead them to the Shrieking Shack on the edge of Hogsmeade.

There was a brief moment of silence as Selwyn slowly followed him, and then he said, almost too quite for Snape to hear him, “You’re afraid of me?”

Snape froze mid-step before he determinedly took his next step and continued on his way to the Willow, glancing back only once to make sure Selwyn followed him. He paused at the tree to freeze it and then gestured to the boy. “After you.”

Allen sniffed, sparing the Potions Professor a half-hearted glare before he stalked forward and disappeared into the hole that served as an entrance to the tunnel. Snape stood frozen for a moment, lost in the memory of Lupin snapping his jaws at him before he swiftly shook it off and followed the boy into the tunnel. Several minutes later, he emerged in the Shrieking Shack, noticing that Allen was slouched on the stairs and scowling at the wall.

Snape sighed and pulled the Wolfsbane out of his robe pocket, holding it out for the boy to take. “Here,” he said, trying not to sound too soft or afraid. The boy would not scare him if he could help it. “The Wolfsbane. Take it, and then I’ll go. If you are sure you can handle it.” The last was said with a slight sneer. The boy merely looked at him, then dropped his gaze to the vial of potion.

Allen Selwyn | The Shrieking Shack

He knew he should’ve brought more than his Hogwarts uniform today, but he had been in such a hurry, he had completely forgotten. Outside, the first snow of the year had started; an awful early time to start, to be honest, but he supposed it was like that when you were this far up in the country. He wrapped his black robes securely around his shoulders and clutched his arms; with any luck, night would come soon and he could change into his wolf form. Not that he was looking forward to it, to be honest. It was just that wolves were better suited to sleeping out in the cold than humans were.

Oh, what on earth was he thinking?

He just wanted to get this over with, to be honest. Tomorrow he’d be able to tell Alice exactly what he thought of her right now, but he had to get over this little issue first. Anything to get over this. Sometimes he felt like a girl. Didn’t they also have that weird thing with monthly cycles, too? Ugh...

“Selwyn, are you done?” Snape broke into his thoughts cynically. “Or maybe you are considering mauling me by making me stand here and wait for you to transform.”

“Huh--wha?” Allen looked up. He had completely forgotten Snape had been there for the last few moments. He glanced at the professor with a sullen look on his face and took the vial. “Thanks, professor. I think I can handle it from here on. Unless you want to stand watch and get mauled?”

Snape sneered and turned his back on Allen, forgetting to close the door to the room on his way out. Allen stared at the potion; it looked like glowing blue sludge, to be frank, and he wasn’t sure whether it normally looked like that or whether Snape made it look like that to make the experience as disagreeable as possible--he wouldn’t really put it past the professor. But he tugged the cork open anyway, and preparing himself for the taste, gulped the whole thing down in one single shot.

“UGH!” He dropped the vial and backed away to a wall, choking on the taste before slumping into a heap on the floor. “That’s...dis...gusting...” This tastes even worse than last time! He thought, pulling his knees up to his chest and letting his head rest on them. It wasn’t long before he could feel the changes; the pain that normally accompanied his bones and muscles and everything transfiguring themselves into another shape. He grit his teeth together, trying not to whimper. Heaven knew he was used to worse than this. But, it hurt just so, so much...

When it had ended, he found himself on four feet, and a lot smaller than he was as a human. The pain wracked through his small body, and it was all he could do to roll up against the desk with his tail wrapped closely around himself.

...and then, the door creaked and flew open to reveal junior Rockharrow with a bottle of something weird in her left hand, and a confused expression on her face. She glanced around, muttering something about not finding someone...when her eyes landed on him. They immediately widened in surprise...and delight.

Oh dear gods. Oh no. No. Please tell me this is just a nightmare. Allen started praying inside his head. Please tell me this is just a ridiculous joke!

“So CUTE!”

He wanted to curl up and die.

Valentina Esparza | The Gryffindor Common Room

Valentina resurfaced from her Herbology homework only to discover that even the last lingering Gryffindors had left the common room to go down to dinner in the Great Hall. She blinked, rolled up her essay and stood up, feeling a certain sense of calm washing over her. Glancing out of the window, she saw a landscape of pure, uninterrupted October snow, topped by a grey and misty evening sky. She sighed, put away her homework, and began the descent down to the Great Hall from the common room.

It was only when she was halfway through the corridor of the Fat Lady’s Portrait that she heard quick, calculated footsteps behind her. For a moment she considered pausing, but soon carried on at an even faster speed. Then the voice: “Miss Esparza.” There was a certain cold and cruel quality to it. She turned around to see him standing there; lanky, greasy-haired, tall and breathing quite heavily through his nose; Professor Snape.

“Y-yes, Sir?” she mumbled, feeling suddenly almost afraid. There was not much Valentina was afraid of, but her potions teacher managed to intimidate even her.

He walked up to her, his eyes cold, hard and dark all the while, eyebrows narrowed, posture unnervingly straight. “Come with me,” he said. “Now.”

Valentina felt goosebumps crawling all over her skin. She looked at Snape for a moment, bewildered, and then began to follow him, having to rush to keep up with his steady, long strides. As soon as Professor Snape had approached her, she had begun to feel incredibly guilty; what for, she could not imagine. She thought of everybody else sitting at dinner downstairs, tucking in to their meals and sipping pumpkin juice. The thought of food at this moment made her stomach churn queasily.

“In here,” Snape said, and showed her into his office. She took a nervous seat opposite his on the other side of the desk, trying very hard not to look around her at the assortment of odd creatures floating in tanks. They seemed to be everywhere; on the shelves, cabinets, hung on the walls. There were all sorts of varieties, but each and every one of them had several things in common; they were all slimy, all dark and writhing, and all of them looked more dead than alive.

He sat down and leered upon her. “Do you know why you’re here, Miss Esparza?” he asked, almost sneeringly.

Valentina looked down at her hands. “No, sir,” she said.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” growled Snape.

She looked up. As she did so he stood up and began to pace around the room, rather like a cat regarding its prey-to-be. She could almost see the claws at the tips of his fingers, sheathing and unsheathing invisibly as he took pleasure in taunting a Gryffindor first year. It was no secret, she thought, that Snape disliked Gryffindors.

“I believe I have something or yours, Miss Esparza. Would you say that my assumptions are correct?”

Valentina froze. She felt as if something heavy had been dropped inside of her, like a large, ice covered brick. She leaned back, worked on silently taking a deep breath and tried to keep her voice neutral. The book, she thought. Please don’t say he’s found the book. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” she said politely.

Snape opened a draw and pulled the book out. She tried not to show any signs of the dread that was forming inside of her. I’m going to get expelled for this. She kept her face perfectly neutral, waited for Snape to speak first.

“Is this yours?” he said eventually, his voice a low warning tone.

“I’ve never seen it before, sir,” said Valentina.

Snape resumed his pacing. His lips twitched. He stood behind her then, put one hand on her shoulder, and hissed, “Liar.” He paced again to the other side of his desk and opened the book. “If this isn’t your book,” he said, “why is your name in it?”

Sketched in pencil on the front page of Introduction to the Dark Arts, in handwriting which was almost certainly not her own, was Valentina’s name. Valentina Esparza, first year, Gryffindor, it said. She could only stare. She had not written her name inside her book; perhaps she had been stupid to bring it in the first place, but she never would have been quite as stupid as that.

“Sir,” she said eventually once she had found her breath, “That isn’t my handwriting. This isn’t my book. You can check-“

“50 points from Gryffindor!” Snape cut in. Valentina closed her eyes and winced. Snape slammed the book down on the desk. “And 4 months of detention from Mondays to Fridays. You will be coming in here to help me sort out my potions stock. Is that clear?”

Valentina nodded weakly; she knew there was no use in protesting.

Snape came up behind her again. “And,” he said, his voice a barely restrained whisper, “You will. Never. Touch. A Dark Arts. Book. Again.”

Valentina couldn’t help feel that she was on the verge of tears; but instead of threatening to come out, they welled up inside her chest and her muscles tensed.

“Do I make myself understood?” Snape hissed.

“Yes, sir,” Valentina whispered.

“Detention on Friday at eight in the evening. You don’t need to bring anything with you.”

There was a silence; Valentina stood up and her knees trembled a little.
“Now get out of my office,” said Snape. “And if I ever catch you with something like this-" he pointed to the Dark Arts book, "again, you will be expelled.”

Valentina stumbled out of Snape’s office. For one ridiculous moment, it occurred to her that she should have asked for her book back. But she soon shook away the thought and headed off towards the Great Hall, trying to calm her nerves by looking out of every window she passed at the blanket of snow covering the ground. She looked at the moving portraits, too, so much that one of them, a bearded man wearing a horned helmet, stared right back at her. “What are you looking at?” he barked. “Nothing,” she said, and hurried on.

She hoped to be able to slip into Great Hall unnoticed among all the chatter and eating; although she did not feel like eating much, she knew that she should probably get something down before going back up to the dormitory. When she entered her hallway, it seemed that her wish was granted; she slipped into the hall completely unnoticed. Only it was not because of all the chatter and dining.

It was for another, all too familiar reason entirely.

Leopoldina Rockharrow | The Castle Grounds

It was cold out here, but she kept her eye on Snape and Selwyn, intrigued to see where they were going, down the twisting path from the Entrance Hall. It was weird, wasn't it? I mean, Allen may have been a Selwyn, but he was still a Gryffindor. What did Snape want from him? More detentions? Then why were they heading towards the forest?

Then she saw Snape move them towards the Whomping Willow. She squinted as she saw them vanishing.

Well that was unusual.

Not wanting to go too near the tree- Iphigenia had a horrifying story of how she nearly flew into it one day, and she claimed that that was worse even than when she mistakenly flew into a hurricane last summer, Leopoldina crouched down and watched. Soon enough, Snape reappeared- from between the roots of the tree.

There was a secret passage. Of course the twins had told her about these, but under the Whomping Willow? Really?

She could barely hold her curiosity in.

The tree seemed eerily calm. She waited until Snape was safely away, then began on her way down. But as she moved closer, the branches began to quiver. The opening was still there from Snape's coming back up.

Leopoldina dived for it.

The passage way was just big enough for her to walk through, stooped over a little. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her eyes drinking in the gloomy surroundings. A secret passage. Under the Whomping WIllow. It was almost too good to be true.

It wound its way along until, at last, it began to widen. But what Leopoldina saw was not the clear bite of an evening sky. It was a dark interior, with damp creeping in around the corners.

And asleep on the table, a wolf puppy.

"OH MY GOSH YOU ARE SOOOOOOO CUTE!"

She really, really, couldn't help herself.

The cub looked at her curiously, practically resignedly. But it didn't make any move to attack. Leopoldina stepped forward and touched its head.

"I should take you back with me. You can't stay here. Come on. You and Angelica will be the best of friends." Surely Hogwarts would bend the pet rules, just this once.

"Come on."

But the puppy wouldn't budge. It refused to come with her point-blank.

Well, Leopoldina wasn't going to leave it here. She sat on the table with the puppy who grumply plonked his head down in her lap. Leopoldina stroked the soft fur of his back gently. He was so warm and soft... She could just lie down on the table and have a quick snooze...

---

The Morning After...

Leopoldina slowly opened her eyes, her neck stiff, she didn't know where she was. Then with astonishing clarity she remembered the dark room, and the wolf cub.

But what was lying with its head in her lap was not a wolf cub.

She screamed. "SELWYN? WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN ARE YOU DOING? AND WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING ANY CLOTHES???"

Selwyn fell to the floor with a thump. Leopoldina shielded her eyes, leaving only a slit between her fingers, waiting for an explanation.

Alice Potter | Dinner in the Great Hall

At dinner that night, the entire Ravenclaw table put their hands to their mouths, a suspicious look glinting in their eyes as they looked around at each other. Alice stabbed at her dinner plate, not bothering to aim her fork as she watched Matt Edmunds bowl over. Then the whimpers of pain started. "My TEETH!" Someone from the table screamed. "It hurts so much!"

The teachers (excepting Snape, who was conspicuously absent) all bustled over to the table and tried to help the students. But to no avail; the teeth began clattering from their mouths all over the place, and Alice observed that Edmunds was almost crying from the pain. She put a hand over her mouth in wincing sympathy as his teeth clattered out.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...


Allen Selwyn | The Shrieking Shack

Allen wasn't sure afterwards how it had all happened, or how he had managed to fall asleep on junior Rockharrow's lap without realizing the consequences. Had Snape put something in the last Wolfsbane after all? Not only did it taste absolutely disgusting, it also dulled his brain last night; enough to make him sleep on her lap without bolting from the spot. He shivered behind the desk as he hurriedly put on his clothes. "What was the big idea in following me anyway?!"

"I was just worried!"

He glanced at the spray lying beside her. "Yeah, sure, I believe you!" He clipped on the robes and stood up, still red in the face. He wasn't sure how come his voice sounded stable, but it did. "Well, I'm leaving!"

"Not without an explanation!" Leo yelled, getting up as well. She brought her wand out and pointed it at his face. "You owe me one, after knocking out my teeth twice and then making me see your--you-know-what! I also saw you coming in here with Snape! What's the big deal?!"

"None of those were my fault! And you saw nothing!" He took a step back, all the same. Maybe he'd consider Pepperidge's offer to join the Duelling Club a little more seriously starting today. "It's my personal business, stay out of it!"

"If you don't tell me I'll hex you!"

Allen gulped. Yes, he was definitely going to give joining that club more serious thought. "I can't tell you, it's a secret--"

"Oh, never mind." Rockharrow lowered her wand, something in her eyes that said 'I figured it out'. "You're a werewolf, aren't you?"

"Huh--wha?" Allen gulped, backing away even more. "No I'm not--how did you--?"

"It was easy." Rockharrow scowled and took a seat on one of the rickety chairs. It creaked so badly Allen might have been scared for her, if he wasn't already scared for himself. "Full moon, and there was a wolf cub on my lap. When I woke up, there was you...in that...condition..." She grimaced. "Besides, there's that huge scar over your eye."

"Thanks." Allen snapped. "And I'm not cute, by the way. Never ever call me cute again."

"Oh, but you don't really get to say what I can and can't do anymore." Leo grinned. "Because I know your secret--"

"How much would it take to shut you up?" Allen cut through her speech in a monotone. Leo looked taken aback for a moment, then a mischievous grin spread out over her face. She held out her hand dramatically.

"Be my slave."

"...what?"

Leo's grin grew wider, if that was possible. "Because otherwise--"

"Alright, alright, I'll do it!" Allen clenched his fists and grit his teeth. Being a slave was better than being found out as a werewolf. Whatever the problems at Hogwarts, Allen still wanted to stick around and be a wizard. As long as Rockharrow kept her mouth shut, he could still graduate.

Now if only he could re-negotiate the clauses that came with being a slave...

Samara Devereux | Great Hall - The Next Morning, at breakfast:

Samara sat the Slytherin table and eyed the mostly empty Ravenclaw one with a frown. What happened there? she wondered, eyeing the way one of the seventh year Ravenclaws glared at the food and drink on the table before casting what appeared to be several charms and spells designed to reveal anything that could potentially be harmful to the person or persons eating or drinking it. Samara snorted and shook her head, picking at the toast and eggs on her plate. She didn't know where Alice was and Allen...was not at breakfast yet either. She sighed and pushed her plate away without eating anything.

"Hey Devereux."

Samara scowled at the plate before turning on whoever was speaking to her with a dark look. The boy seemed to frown for a moment before he smiled. He was a Slytherin second year with pale hair and grey-blues eyes. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Can I sit here?" he asked and sat beside her anyway. Samara's scowl came back. What in the name of Merlin was he doing? "My name's Zacchaeus Malfoy, but you can call me Zach. How's your mother and father? I think Nicholas is my Aunt Bella's cousin or something."

Samara could only stare at the boy beside her in stunned silence, her mouth slightly open in shock. What in the name of Merlin was he talking about? Cousins? With him? Zacchaeus saw her face and chuckled. "R-right," she muttered and stared some more. He let out a full laugh this time.

"Better shut your mouth, cousin. You might swallow a Cornish Pixie, and then you'd be in trouble, wouldn't you?"

Samara was saved from replying by the timely arrival of one Alice Potter. "SAMMY!" She winced as the redhead latched onto her. "Hey, have you seen Allen?" Before Samara would even shake her head, Alice had noticed her...'cousin'. The redhead peered at him in confusion for a moment before she smiled. "Hello there."

Zacchaeus frowned at Alice for a moment before recognition crossed his face. "You're the Girl-Who-Lived," he said, giving Alice a quick up-and-down and flashing her a smile. "Alice Potter, is it? My name is Zaccahaeus Malfoy. I'm Samara's cousin."

Alice met Samara's eyes, and the brown-haired girl quickly steered the conversation in a different direction. "I haven't seen Allen yet. Why don't we go look for him?" she said, and quickly stood, half-dragging Alice out of the Great Hall with her and ignoring the look that settled on her back thanks to her 'cousin'. Samara knew Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and they weren't exactly...nice. Death Eaters, the both them. Not that it mattered, since her father was one, but she wasn't inclined to tell anyone that if she could help it. She rather liked not linking herself to Death Eaters, if she could manage it.

"What's with him?" Alice asked as they walked, peering back over her shoulder at the blond second year Slytherin still seated at the Slytherin table. "He really seemed like a nice guy." Samara shot the other girl a glare, which Alice was not at all put off by it at all.

“I’d rather not talk about him,” she muttered and glanced towards the front doors just as they opened, admitting two Gryffindors--the Rockharrow girl and a very sullen-looking Allen. Samara stared for a moment before sharing a look with Alice. “Hey, Selwyn!” Samara shouted, approaching him. Allen looked up and froze. “What are you doing sneaking back into the castle with her?” She jerked her head at the other girl. Leopoldina Rockharrow glared back.

“Uh...we...decided to get along?” He grinned nervously.

“Get along?” Alice scowled, looking at Leo. The other girl seemed to be amused for some reason; and Alice didn’t like how laid-back she seemed and how nervous he seemed. Samara didn’t like it either. They both put their hands on their hips and glared at the two of them. “It looks more like she’s blackmailing you into something.”

Allen might have responded, but apparently the word ‘blackmail’ had triggered something. He stared back at Alice and frowned. “Well, it’s not like you care, is it? I mean, I even got detention because of you, and you didn’t even care!”

Samara glanced towards Alice with a frown. “Alice?”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about, Sammy,” the redhead said and scowled at the Gryffindor boy. “What are you talking about, Allen?”

“Maybe we should start with how you set me up for that prank you played on Gryffindor!” he yelled. “The Hufflepuff twins told me all about it! It was your idea, wasn’t it?!”

“What?” Samara said and turned a narrow-eyed glare on the redhead. “That was your doing?” She watched as Alice gave her a sheepish grin. Samara snorted and shook her head at the other girl. Irresponsible. Typical.

“Yes, the idea was. But I wasn’t the one who had the bright idea to put it in the their punch! I wouldn’t do that to you, Allen,” she pleaded, turning to the boy in question. “It was the twins’ fault, I swear!”

Samara looked between Alice and Allen, unsure of how to react to the situation, let alone what to say. Allen was glaring at Alice, and Alice looked worried. And Leo looked absolutely delighted. Samara scowled in the Gryffindor girl’s direction.

“I don’t believe you,” Allen said, taking a step back. “You told me nothing about this prank, nothing at all. You might have at least warned me!”

“I didn’t know they were going to put it in the punch!” Alice stomped on the ground. “Why won’t you listen to me?!”

“Because you didn’t tell me anything!”

Samara sighed. “Alright!” she shouted, butting into the middle of it. “You are both in the wrong! Stop arguing and get it sorted!” She huffed and turned to walk away. “I’m going back to the Common Room. You sort it out.”

“Excuse me,” cut in Rockharrow. “I couldn’t help but overhear what you just said.” Samara turned back to find that Leo had taken a step forward and had her eyes pinned on Alice. “Did you just say it was your idea to prank my house? My entire house, too, by the way.”

“...no. I just said it wasn’t my idea, Rockharrow.” Alice levelled her amber eyes at the other girl. “Are you sure your teeth were the only things that fell out?”

Leo started saying something else as Samara groaned, covering her face with one hand. Merlin, she thought. This just isn’t going to stop, is it? She promptly uncovered her face and shoved into the middle of it again. “Cut it out, Rockharrow,” she snapped. “Just because your entire family are a bunch of blood traitors doesn’t mean you can go around acting all high-and-mighty, you know!”

Leo sneered at her. “AT LEAST MY PARENTS AREN’T DEATH EATERS!” the Gryffindor shouted. The entire entrance hall froze. And Samara’s face went white.

“My mother is not a Death Eater, thank you very much,” she said tightly and turned to storm off, leaving Alice and Allen staring after her and one rather annoyed Gryffindor girl in her wake. She didn’t look back.


Kaius Rousseau | Entrance Hall, watching from the stairs:

Kaius watched the fight unfold from his seat on the marble staircase, smirking the entire time. He hadn’t started this one, but it was going to be fun to watch it, either way. He liked to watch how others interacted and occasionally he’d join in. But not this time. This time he was just going to watch. Let the Girl-Who-Lived deal with it. See how she handled it, too. Maybe he’d find a way to get under her skin when he bothered to duel her later. And he was going to, that was for sure. Weren’t redheads feisty?

“Hey. You spying on people again?”

He turned at the sound of his brother’s voice and waited until Julius had taken a seat beside him before speaking. “Potter’s getting into a fight, I think,” he said as he turned back to study the ‘fight’. “At least, that’s what it appears to be. It might head into a full-on one instead of just verbal soon.”

Julius chuckled, amused. “Really, now. Are you obsessed with the girl or something?”

Kaius shot his brother a dark look, which only made his brother laugh harder. “No,” he said sullenly, narrowing his gaze into a glare. “Since when do you care what girl I hit on? You’re the one who plays chaser for the other team.” He chuckled at his own witty comeback for a moment, satisfied that his brother didn’t have anything to say to that yet.

The pair watched the four first years for a moment longer before Julius sighed. Kaius shot his brother a glance before his attention was back on the first years. The confrontation was getting...interesting. He smirked and chuckled, and shot his brother another glance. Julius was smiling, too, now. He couldn’t help it. It was just too cute, the firsties fighting like they were.

“Alright,” Juls said and Kai meet his gaze. “You’re kind of right, I guess. This could be fun.”

And then the shout echoed through the entrance hall.

“AT LEAST MY PARENTS AREN’T DEATH EATERS!”

The twins exchanged a startled glance. Oh, shit. They watched as one of the first years--a Slytherin girl with curly brown hair--stormed off, leaving the other three firsties standing there in the middle of the Entrance Hall. A few moments later, Snape swept out of the Great Hall with a sneer. He spotted the retreating Slytherin first year, the two Gryffindors and Alice Potter. Kaius and Julius sent each other a worried look before they both climbed to their feet.

Snape reached the trio of first years before they could manage to disappear up the stairs. They still had detention with him, after all. “What is going on here?” the Potions Professor demanded, and it was loud enough that everyone in the Entrance Hall heard him, even the twins as they disappeared into their common room.

Alice Potter | Entrance Hall

“Professor!” Alice was the first to talk, startled. Allen and Rockharrow looked as though they wanted to be anywhere but here with her, and for a good reason; Snape had taken a good look at the expression on all of the three’s faces, and had come up with the most logical and simplest explanation of what had happened. “Ten points each from Gryffindor,” he said, turning around to face both Allen and Rockharrow, “for bullying students from another house, and another week of detention to Selwyn for encouraging--”

“Not so fast, Professor Snape.” It was McGonagall, her nose wrinkling as she approached the the small gathering; whether in distaste, Alice could never tell. “I’m afraid that young Selwyn here was wrongly blamed for the prank on Gryffindor. Ten points to Gryffindor as an apology, and all your detentions are cut, Selwyn.”

Snape looked irritated for a moment, before he rounded on Rockharrow. “Two weeks of detention with me for bullying Devereux. That is all.” He turned around and walked off, leaving a very scared Gryffindor boy sighing in relief and a Gryffindor girl blinking at his back in disbelief.

McGonagall turned to the three, a severe look in her eye as she regarded Alice suspiciously. “Well, what are you doing here? Don’t you have classes to get to?” she snapped. “Off with the three of you!”

Alice thought that sentence sounded remarkably like “off with your heads”, but decided not to comment on it, lest McGonagall get the idea to take off their eleven-year-old heads and display them in the trophy room as an example to other mouthy first-years. Whatever Allen might have said, in the end, it was McGonagall that scared her more than Snape. Thinking so, Alice turned her back on the two Gryffindors and walked off, thinking about her next prank.

She would have to make it a little less painful this time around.


Allen Selwyn | Entrance Hall

As Alice walked away from the two of them, Allen wanted to smack junior Rockharrow one on the back of her head. Exactly how stupid was this girl? But he couldn’t bring himself to do anything, since she knew about his secret. He sincerely hoped she wasn’t going to make him do anything that was too embarrassing, but knowing Rockharrow, she’d probably do weird stuff like that.

As they walked away from McGonagall, junior Rockharrow decided to set him his first task as her new slave. She took her backpack from her shoulders and dumped it into his arms. “Carry that for me, would you?” she remarked almost casually. “Also, could you do my Potions homework for me?”

“Oi, just because I said I would do some stuff for you doesn’t mean you can--”

“Everyone! Selwyn here is a--!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll do it!” He almost screamed in frustration. He fell into step beside her, thinking about how he’d already lost the few friends he’d made when he came here. Now he was stuck being Rockharrow’s slave. He suspected that life honestly hated him, sometimes. Not that thinking about it would do him any good, but still, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Rockharrow started humming, making Allen send a sullen glare at her direction. “You know, I won’t be able to do anything during the full moon...”

“That doesn’t really matter, because I’ll be there to keep you company.” Rockharrow grinned at him. Allen swore he could see an evil glint in her eye. “I’ll dress you up in pet clothing and...”

“Thanks, but no.” Allen grimaced. He didn’t want to imagine what other tortures the girl would come up with. “I think I can handle being by myself in the Shack, thanks.”

“Oh, but you would look so cute!”

“I told you not to call me CUTE!”

“Guys, Selwyn--”

“Alright, alright!” He yelled, and sighed to himself. This year was going to be hell, he just knew it...

Three weeks later, on Halloween

He sniffled as he splashed tap water on his pale face, wondering why Alice had had to be so mean to him this morning. Maybe it was his fault, and maybe it wasn’t, but that didn’t mean she had to hurt his feelings that much. He wasn’t a Death Eater. He didn’t follow Voldemort, and he never intended to, either. But she called him that, to his face, and told him they weren’t friends anymore. Not friends anymore...he wondered if he’d had any friends in the first place.

And while all this was going on in his head, something slid through the entrance of the boy’s bathroom, the hiss it emitted sounding terribly like that of a snake’s...

Owen | Great Hall (Halloween)

Owen sat down at the Gryffindor table and nursed his bruised face. This "training" was doing nothing for his dashing good looks. He tugged at his scarf. At least he was still well-dressed.

"Oh my," said one of the Rockharrow twins. "It looks like you've been in the wars."

If Owen was well-dressed then those two were, well, well-well-dressed. Doubly well-dressed. The twins sat down either side of him and Owen had the strangest feeling he knew what it must be like to be a mirror. Either side of him the identical girls flipped their identical hair over identical shoulders and began to eat.

"Duelling practice actually," Owen managed around a mouthful of stew. "Matt packs a mean snowball."

"Edmunds?"

"Yeah. The Ravenclaw Keeper."

The twins exchanged one of those "girl-glances" that the female species developed for the fast transfer of information. Two eyebrows arched.

"Why don't you practice with us?" asked Quin.

"We thought you were going to run a Duelling Club this year." Ara pouted.

Owen grinned. It turned out all that persuasion at the beginning of term had been worthwhile. And, thanks to Dumbledore's "guidance" he had a great idea for their first meeting.

"You're right girls," he said, spinning his empty plate with a flourish. "Just wait and see. Wait and see!"

Fiona O’Connell | Great Hall (Halloween)

Fiona and Maggie sat side by side at the Slytherin table, gossiping and eating at the same time. Fiona fiddled with her ring, sliding it on and off her ring finger. She ate carefully, discreetly staring at Owen Pepperidge.

“What are you looking at?” Maggie asked.

“Oh, um, nothing.” Fiona said quickly, diverting her gaze, “just that wall over there. Interesting, no?” She looked around the Great Hall, remembering that she actually loved seeing all the houses down and interacting with each other. It was one of her favorite things about the school. That and Quidditch.

She toyed with her fork, going back to discreetly staring at Owen Pepperidge. She wondered why he always wore that scarf.

“Seriously, Fee.” Maggie said. The humdrum of the Great Hall got louder and louder. The students were always rowdier during Halloween. It was one thing Fiona never understood about the school. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled slightly.

“Plotting my next target, Maggs.” Fiona said semi-sweetly, “also, Quidditch things. I’m trying to think out a new move for us.”

“Always so dedicated.” Maggie sighed.

Blue Roald | Great Hall (Halloween)

Blue sat alone at the Ravenclaw table, partly reading, partly eating. Her French braid tickled the edge of her plate, and she pushed it back. She looked up, watching her housemates talk on about whatever it is they talked about at dinner.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have anything to say, she just didn’t want to say it. She always had something to say.

“Hey, Roald!” One of the prefects called out. Blue turned her large eyes on him.

“It’s Blue.” She said, “please, just call me Blue.” Hogwarts was obsessed with calling people by their surnames. It was odd, as she had noted in a letter to her
father, but she went with it because she wanted her housemates to accept her.

“What are you reading, Blue?” The prefect asked.

“History of Magical Creatures. It’s interesting. I’m learning about unicorns now. I just read about grindylows and mermaids and boggarts and pixies and dragons.” Blue said, “I think I like boggarts the best. How cool is it that it turns into your fear. Oh, I wouldn’t want to face one, ever. My fear is silly. It’s really silly.” The prefect chuckled and shook his head. Blue Roald’s stream of conscience thought was always fun.

Spoiler

Sorry for the long post! I started writing a scene and then it got out of hand. I promise to keep them shorter in future!

Owen | Outside Hagrid's Hut (some weeks previously)

Snow. Footprints. Muttered conversations.

Owen reckoned he could tell the difference between a secret and a Real Secret just by the way they were told.

The first type were simple things: the answers to a potions test, where to meet for a midnight feast, or the latest gossip of who kissed who at Hogsmead last night. The second type, however, were more than that. These were words so dangerous they could only be handled safely by whispering.

Dumbledore dealt in the second type.

Owen had lead the way to Hagrid's hut. They took a careful route, tacking down the snow-covered hill like three boats. Sae was their rear-guard, erasing their tracks with discreet flicks of her wand. Matt grimaced at the thought of eavesdropping, but even he didn't want to miss out.

When Owen reached the hut they pressed themselves against the stone wall beneath the window. A rotting windowsill was all that hid them from plain sight. Through a gap in the window the three students heard the urgent whispers of a Real Secret.

"... and you're certain this is the best way to protect it, Professor?"

"Naturally, Minerva. I have assured Nicolas that our measures are even more rigorous than at Gringotts." The calm, reassuring tones could belong to none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Tha's quite a claim." Hagrid's broader tones rumbled through the room.

"It is one that I am sure we can uphold," concluded Dumbledore. "Have you finished your part in this, Severus?"

"I have... concocted a trial as you requested, Headmaster."

"Splendid." Owen swore he could hear the smile in Dumbledore's voice. "You should put the particulars in place during the Halloween Feast, Severus. Only then can we guarantee that the Third Floor will be free of mischief makers."

"Agreed, Headmaster."

Then Dumbledore lowered his voice. "We must all be vigilant at that time. While Severus prepares his part in the trials The Stone will be at its most vulnerable. Though we have gone to great lengths to keep its whereabouts secret, I fear that it cannot truly be considered safe until this final protection is in place."

The Stone. What could that mean? The silence in the cabin seemed to spread. Even the snow fell a little lighter on the ground outside.

"Well," said Dumbledore, finally. "If there is nothing left to discuss, I suggest we adjourn to the Hall. Thank you for the tea, Hagrid, but I'm afraid we must waste the rest of it."

"Are ya sure ya can't 'ang around any longer?" asked Hagrid with only a touch of hurt in his voice. "There's still 'alf a pot left."

McGonagall coughed. "I'm afraid not, Rubeus. We'll be missed from the castle if we're away too long."

There was a lumbering sound of Hagrid moving in the cabin. Owen heard him pick up the copper kettle with a clang and the sound of footsteps got louder as Hagrid moved toward the window.

As if on cue, all three students held their breath. The window shuddered up with a heart-wrenching rattle. Owen knew that if Hagrid leaned out then the game was up. He couldn't fail to spot three students hiding underneath his window. He tried to think of something, anything, but there was no time.

"Don't," said Dumbledore suddenly. "Don't empty it out the window, Rubeus." There was a pause. "You never know what sort of... creatures take shelter there in winter. And it would be terribly rude to pour boiling water on them, don't you think?"

Owen's heart beat faster. Was the headmaster... protecting them? But that meant he knew they were there...

Hagrid gave a chuckle and the window slid shut. "Course you're right, Professor," he said as he found somewhere else to get rid of the water. "I thought I saw a bowtruckle hidin' there jus' the other day."

The trio let out their breaths. Owen exchanged glances with the other two. He wasn't sure what this "Stone" was or what it meant, but it seemed like they had overheard a highly restricted conversation.

And, for whatever reason, Dumbledore had wanted them to hear it.

Spoiler

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Life got in the way. -_-

Bonnie | The Staircase

At last. Her collective weeks of detention were over.

Bonnie plodded wearily down the stairs. She was so tired.... but midnight quidditch practices were completely worth it. They just didn't do enough flying in the day, after all.

It just took soooooo long to climb down those stupid stairs... If only there were a quicker way...

Bonnie yawned wide, and in that short time, a brilliant idea must have drifted into her mouth and up into her dream. All her tiredness dissapeared in an instant.

"OF COURSE!" Bonnie yelled, making several portraits jump.

Why on Earth hadn't she thought of it before? Bonnie had slid down banisters hundreds of time back at home... what was to stop her doing it now?

As she hopped up onto the banister, clutching the handle of her messenger bag tightly, Bonnie got the strange feeling that there was something she'd forgotten... Oh, well. it probably wasn't important.

She took her hand away from the banister, and let herself slide.

"WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!"

Bonnie's blonde hair streamed out behind her as she flew down the stairs. She laughed happily- it was almost like flying! There was the wind, the speed... and Bonnie was good at flying. What could possible go wrong?

Bonnie was just about to round her second turn, when something changed. She felt the staircase shift beneath her, then begin to turn away!

With no corner to turn, Bonnie just kept going, and slid straight off the edge. In shocked silence, she saw the world zooming up and away from her. In that brief moment, a bizarre thought reached Bonnie's mind. Perhaps she'd never land, it said, perhaps she'd just fall forever, and it would all be okay...

Then she hit the floor. Intense pain attacked her body, white hot and urgent.

Bonnie whimpered, and slipped from consciousness. In the short time before she passed out, a voice in the back of her mind told her what she'd forgotten.

The staircases move, idiot.

Alice Potter | Great Hall, Halloween feast, afternoon

It had been an awful day.

First it had started with McGonagall dumping two pages of homework on the class on the required movements and incantation for the mouse to matchbox spell, topped by what it could be used on and what it couldn't. Then she had run into the Hufflepuff twins; while Julius had been nice to her, Kaius had turned her braid into a kumquat for one whole hour, because she had called him all sorts of names and stomped on his foot. Actually, considering she had been doing that nearly everyday for the last three weeks, she had to admire his patience...

...sort of.

The best part of the day had been, in her opinion, when she had discovered the ‘Blabbing Hex’ in one of the fourth-year DADA books she’d grabbed from a Slytherin senior. Well, technically she didn’t steal them or anything. They were just lying there open on the table; it couldn’t have hurt to take a look, right?

But at any rate, the hex apparently was a really weak version of Veritaserum, whatever that was, and only worked on people who already couldn’t keep their mouths shut. Alice wondered if using it on Edmunds would net her any information on the goings-on around the school. Not that he seemed like he was a big source of information, at any rate...

Alice sighed, making her way down the Entrance Hall and towards the Great Hall doors. It felt awful nowadays, to be honest. Sammy was still mad at her and wouldn’t talk to her anymore, and Allen, idiot that he was, refused to even look at her anymore. Alice half-wondered if it had anything to do with those rumours that had been floating around school. Was it actually true that his parents were Death Eaters? That would explain why he called Rockharrow a blood-traitor; and as these doubts churned insistently in her head, she bumped right into the subject of her thoughts.

Allen looked dishevelled. He had a stack of books on one arm and a bunch of scrolls in another; there were black circles under both his eyes, and his hair was an absolute mess. He flinched on seeing her and then tried to get out of the way; Alice grabbed his shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded. “I need to talk to you.”

“Well, I don’t want to.” He sneered and tried to tug himself away from her; but apparently this time around, he didn’t have the strength to manage it. Allen straightened and glared at her general direction. “Let go of me!”

“What’s wrong with you?” She held onto his arm more tightly; even in his weakened state, he was still a tough one to keep hold of. “I just want to talk to you, idiot!”

“Don’t call me an idiot! And I’m not cute, either!” he blurted out, before reddening and looking away. Alice stared at him strangely, making him turn around and glare at her. “People have been calling me all sorts of names, lately, and now you’re starting, too. You’re just like them...”

“Oi. I’m supposed to be your friend.” She squeezed his arm tightly, making him wince. “That means I get every right to call you whatever I want to!”

“...friend?” he mumbled, and grinned back at her; it wasn’t the usually friendly grin that Alice was used to, but a feral, angry one. She released him quickly, but he didn’t leave. He turned around and stared at her. “Would a friend really lie to me and then abandon me for three whole weeks?”

“I’ve been trying to talk to you--!”

He smiled; again, not friendly. “No you haven’t. If you’d really tried you would’ve gotten through to me, wouldn’t you?” He tilted his head curiously at her, and Alice suddenly felt something break. Like a string stretched out way too far. “What do you think, Alice?”

“...you want to know what I think?” Alice stepped in front of him. “You really want to know what I think, Allen Selwyn?” She clapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it painfully; even she wasn’t sure where all this anger had come from. Maybe it had come from all those weeks of being ignored. Being lonely, neglected by the people that were supposed to be her friends. She felt betrayed, useless; the first friends she ever had now hated her. She didn’t deserve this. “You’re a coward, Selwyn. Instead of facing me like a sensible person would, you pranced off with your Gryffindor buddies and took their side. And you blame me for not being your friend? For not talking to you?”

He glared at her. “Yes, yes I do!” His voice got louder. “I think you’re selfish and petty, Potter. I don’t know why I ever even thought you were my friend!”

“Fine, be that way!” she roared. “Go back to your Death Eater parents then! I’m sure they never hurt your feelings.” She shook, her vision clouding over with tears, unable to see the shocked look on his face. “You got close to me just so you could play at being the Girl-Who-Lived’s best friend, didn’t you? Maybe you thought you could sell me to Voldemort later on!”

“I don’t need to stay here and listen to this!” He wrenched out of her grip and stepped away; she looked up, seeing him shaking too, just like herself; he was crying as well. “I don’t...I can’t...” The scrolls and books dropped onto the floor with several loud thumps, but he didn’t bother picking them up. His hands balled up into fists. “I...I...”

Unable to bear it anymore, Allen turned his back on her and stormed off, leaving Alice staring behind him. She glanced down at the scrolls, half of which were marked “Leopoldina Rockharrow”.

Samara Devereux | Great Hall - Halloween Feast:

Samara glared at her plate, only half-listening to her cousin as he rambled on about something his father had said to Samara’s father. She didn’t really care; she was more concerned about Allen and Alice. Yes, she was upset with Alice for that stupid, stupid prank, and she was annoyed because Allen was practically trailing after Rockharrow like a puppy or something, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t talk to both of them, right? She sighed and shook her head, pushing her food around on her plate. Zacchaeus kept on talking. She didn’t think he even realized that she wasn’t listening to him.

Her two friends--and probably the only people who would have even bothered to speak to her all year, other than the boy sitting beside her--had had a fight during lunch earlier on in the day, and it hadn’t looked...nice. She winced, remembering how most of the student in the Hall during lunch had stared, waiting for it to turn into a full on fight. She was well aware of the fact that most eyes had been on her, Alice and Selwyn since that day last month where Rockharrow had shouted at her.

Samara looked up and scanned the Slytherin table for Alice. She didn’t see her anywhere at first--and then she spotted the familiar head of red hair at the very far end of the table. Perhaps it was time she apologized for not speaking to Alice much at all during the least few weeks? Samara considered it for a moment--Allen had yelled at Alice during lunch... Maybe her telling Alice she was sorry would cheer the redhead up a little?

She glanced sideways at Zach, her cousin and sighed again. He didn’t even glance towards her as she stood and slipped away, off down the table and over to Alice. She hadn’t seen Allen at all since lunch, and had a feeling he could be really upset. Professor Quirrell running into the hall was not something she’d been expecting.

“Manticores!” he shouted, rushing up the long centre aisle between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. He looked absolutely terrified and frantically looked around before his gaze found the Headmaster. “Manticores in the dungeons!” He abruptly passed out.

As the Great Hall erupted into chaos (that was quickly somewhat-controlled by Dumbledore), Samara rushed to Alice’s side and tapped her on the shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said, raising her voice, “for whatever it was that upset you, for not talking to you...but I don’t think Allen knows!”

Alice stared at her almost dully. “Knows what?”

“About the manticores, Alice!” Samara snapped, her voice still raised. “He could be in trouble!”

Alice blinked at her for one moment, and then looked around, as if noticing the panic in the Hall for the first time, and the passed out Quirrell as well. “Wait, manticores?” She stood up. “In the dungeons...wait....” Alice looked at Sammy with clear worry and panic in her eyes. “Isn’t Allen in the boys’ bathrooms?”

“Oh, heck,” Samara muttered, worried now. “We should go check on him!” She completely ignored the call for order and the suggestion to follow their house prefects back to their dorms. Alice gazed back at her for a moment before Samara huffed and snagged her hand, dragging the redhead towards the doors that led into the Entrance Hall. They failed to see a certain Potions Professor slipping out the secret, backdoor that led out to the second floor.


Professor Snape | Third Floor:

Snape, remembering Dumbledore’s words of warning, stalked up the stairs from the second floor and onto the third floor, and then the corridor. He almost tripped on the shadowy lump right in front of the door that led into the room that that disgusting dog of Hagrid’s inhabited. Snape scowled and knelt to check on the ‘lump’ only to find that it was Miss Wray, the Ravenclaw that often had a strange, dreamy expression on her face. She also happened to be the student who had messed up in his potions class. An eyebrow twitched at the thought. Of all the mistakes she could have made...

He scowled and stood, casting a glance towards the door. From the snores beyond it, the dog was already asleep. He should complete his task quickly and return to take the girl to the Hospital Wing. Yes, she had turned his hair clean and shiny for a few months, but that did not mean that he should leave a student, regardless of her house or what she had done to him, unconscious and lying in the middle of a hallway. He felt an eyebrow twitch again and scowled.

Shaking his head, he cast a Levitation Charm and turned towards the door, opening it and casting another spell on the harp sitting in the corner to make it play for the next two hours, at least. The things I do for that brainless headmaster, he thought sourly as he placed the girl against the wall just inside the door. Better to be safe and make the instrument play again than let the dog wake up and try to attack her. Gingerly, he moved the dog’s paw away with a flick of his wand and lifted the trap door. It shouldn’t take long.

Several Minutes Later...

Snape slammed the trap door down a little harder than necessary, scowling as he healed the dozens of small cuts that littered his body, focusing on the ones on his face the most. No need for the students to start getting ideas--or suspicious. Especially Potter. She was a smart girl, that one. Definitely worthy of his house. Well, that was if she kept out of his business, of course. He somehow doubted that, though.

He shook off the thoughts and crossed towards the door, casting a spell to cease the music being played by the harp. It was, apparently, the wrong thing to do.

With a low growl, the three-headed dog was awake, and Snape turned towards it, just as the cursed beast took a swipe at him with its’ paw. He didn’t make a sound as two of the four claws caught his leg and sent him sprawling into the door. “Fluffy” lunged, but was caught up short by the thick, thick chains bindings the dog’s three collars to the far wall.

Snape quickly stood and grabbed the unconscious girl, retreating from the room in a flurry of robes, limping the entire time. It seemed a trip to the Hospital Wing was in order either way; he could hardly go around with a limp, could he now? With a resigned sigh, Snape turned and headed for the Hospital Wing, an unconscious Miss Wray in his arms.

Alice Potter | Dungeons

After that last, horrible fight between her and Allen, Alice wasn’t sure what to think about herself. She had heard later on in the day that Allen refused to come out of the boys’ bathroom and had been crying all day; the boys who had told her had been sniggering to themselves, which prompted Alice to turn their robes pink and their hair purple. Nevertheless, she let them off without doing anything else, because she was the reason Allen was like that in the first place. The first time she had seen him crying had been because of her too.

Would she always keep hurting his feelings like that?

“Alice, this way!” Sammy dragged her down a different hall from the direction the Slytherin common room was in. Alice didn’t have to try hard to keep up with her; Sammy was a good runner, but Alice could be faster if she wanted to. She simply didn’t have the energy right now; or so she told herself. “You look out of it, Alice.” Sammy sounded worried.

“I’ll be fine.” Alice waved it off. “More importantly, I haven’t seen a manticore around here yet, think Quirrell was lying--?” She cut her question short as a familiar scream reached them, and Alice grabbed Sammy’s wrist and ran towards the source of aforementioned scream. She didn’t have to kick the door open or anything; it was already off its hinges. Alice dragged Sammy through the entryway and stared.

The manticore was an odd-looking creature; similar to a lion, Alice thought, but a scorpion as well. When it turned around to face the two Slytherin girls, however, Alice realized it wasn’t so much of looking like a lion as she thought it was; the eyes were bright and intelligent, but unpleasant, and it had fangs that reminded her of vampires. Allen looked up from behind a cubicle door; the Potter girl realized that several of the cubicles had already been reduced to chunks. Alice glanced at Sammy; and then, without warning, dove to the far side of the room, dragging the other girl with her. “Petrificus Totalus!” The redhead yelled, intending to freeze the manticore. But the spell glanced off its forehead; Alice stared. “That didn’t work!”

“IT’S COMING AT US!” Sammy screamed, dragging Alice away as the manticore charged into their direction. Alice quickly fired off the Incendio charm this time, thinking its fur could catch on fire; but that spell glanced off, too.

“MY SPELLS AREN’T WORKING!”

“AIM AT ITS NECK!” Sammy screamed as the manticore aimed its tail at them. This time, however, they were saved by a toilet sink crashing into the creature’s side, knocking it over quite a ways; it was Allen, who had come out of the cubicle he’d locked himself in. “Selwyn!”

“Wingardium Leviosa!” Alice reacted quickly as the manticore turned towards them again, aiming her wand towards the rubble and sweeping it towards the creature’s neck in one single moment. There was a hollow sound as the rubble crashed against the manticore and sent it flying; it hit a wall and landed right there on the ground, unmoving. Alice lowered her wand, realizing just how much she had been shaking. That was close, she thought, letting herself relax.

“Did we kill it?” Sammy stepped forwards, albeit nervously. Alice glanced at Allen for a moment, and they broke out into sheepish, but relieved grins.

Samara Devereux | Dungeons - Boy’s Bathroom:

“I don’t think so,” Alice said, studying the creature on the floor. Samara nudged it with her foot before grimacing and backing up a few steps. She glanced between Alice and Allen and then sighed, suddenly feeling like it the situation could easily turn awkward.

“I think we knocked it out,” Allen muttered, eyeing it from a few feet away.

“Oh, my,” said a voice from behind them, and Samara turned to find Professor McGonagall and several other Professors, including the Headmaster, standing in the doorway. She lowered her head and stepped to the side, watching from under her eyelashes. “Miss Potter, Mr Selwyn, Miss Devereux.” The Gryffindor Head of House took in the manticore and the three students. “What happened here?”

“Well... Uh..” Alice looked towards Samara and then Allen. It was Allen who stepped in.

“It’s my fault!” he claimed; for some reason, he looked awful cheery. “I thought I could defeat the Manticore, so I went looking for it!” He nodded to himself, looking self-satisfied. Alice made a choking noise in her throat and gave him a weird look.

Samara groaned, covering her face with one hand and peeked out to see how the Professors would react. McGonagall looked surprised for a moment, blinking and just staring at Allen before she shook her head and settled a very stern gaze on the Gryffindor boy. The nerve of their friend! Honestly. He was going to get them all detention now....well, more detention than they’d normally get, anyway...

“You,” McGonagall began, and cleared her throat, “you are all very lucky. Most adult wizards would not try to take on a manticore for fear of their lives--or poisoning.” She tsked at them and gave Allen one rather infamous glare. The boy seemed to cringe for a moment. “I believe a detention is in order, am I correct?” She turned to gaze at her fellow Professors, frowning momentarily.

It was then that Samara realized that one of the Professors was missing. She bit her lip to keep from questioning it and kept still. Hopefully McGonagall would forget she was there. She waited, holding her breath briefly as the Gryffindor Head of House shook her head and turned back to the trio of students before her, taking a deep breath.

“Ten points each from your respective houses,” she announced, taking in each of the three before sighing, “for recklessly endangering yourselves and damaging school property.” She gave Allen in particular a stern look. “And twenty points each for protecting the school from a dangerous creature. You will be taking a detention with Professor Snape for a month, however. Every day at four pm sharp.” She scowled and ushered them out of the bathroom. “Do remember not to be late. Severus has a problem with students and tardiness.”

Samara exhaled and moved to follow Alice and Allen out of the bathroom. She ducked her head when McGonagall glanced her way and hurried to catch up to the other two, who were already down the hall and chatting away about...something. Why did she have a feeling that there was something more to the so-called manticore situation?


Professor Snape | Hospital Wing:

Snape stand stiffly bedside the bed as Poppy attended to the Ravenclaw girl--he had refused to let the woman look at his leg until she’d checked on the girl first. He sneered, watching as Poppy fussed over the girl, checking everything over before she turned to him. “She’ll be fine, Severus,” she said. “Just a concussion and minor bruising. I do wonder what the girl was doing...”

While Poppy mused on that, Snape finally limped over to a nearby bed and sat down, letting the nurse look at his leg. She was still musing, but luckily she’d toned it down enough to check on his leg. “Well, at least the girl isn’t laying in some dark hallway for someone else to tip over any longer,” Snape muttered, his tone sour and disgruntled. Clearly, he did not like the entire situation as it currently was.

“Oh, hush, Severus,” Poppy muttered, chanting healing spells over his leg. The flesh started to knit back together, although not completely. “You will be fine, but I’m afraid that this may have to heal the old fashion way after I’m done here.” Snape merely stared at her. The old nurse met his gaze and scowled. “It’s a very deep wound, and I have a feeling you may a limp for a little while--”

“Can you just heal it, Poppy,” Snape snapped, cutting off the nurse. He was irritated; he did not like having his time wasted--he had to report to Dumbledore. “I need to be somewhere else very soon.”

Poppy shook her head and stood, crossing to a set of shelves off to one side and plucking a vial of potion off a high shelf. She returned to Snape and handed him the potion. “Drink this,” she said sternly, “it will help with the pain.”

“I know what it does, Poppy,” Snape hissed, tucking the vial away into a pocket in his robes. The pair froze when the girl on the bed behind Poppy stirred. “I think I should leave now.” He made to stand but froze with a wince when he put his weight on his injured leg. If he knew it wouldn't upset Hagrid, he would have killed that cursed dog long ago.

Poppy rushed off to the girl, leaving Snape standing awkwardly beside the bed, considering his options; leave and put up with the pain or wait a little longer, take the potion and then leave. He decided on the latter and sat down with a barely concealed groan. Oh, the things he did for that bloody Headmaster.