When Severus Snape swept into his quarters one Friday evening he was not in a good mood. His last class had been the fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class. Which happened to include Harry-The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Annoy-Potter, along with his cohorts Hermione-Know-It-All-Granger and Ronald-Not-Another-Bloody-Weasley. All of whom thought he was an evil git. Although Severus very much enjoyed his effect on the students, it did not make for peaceful lessons.
Severus sank into his favourite armchair and summoned a glass and an unopened bottle of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey. Doubtless Albus would not approve of this method of stress release but Severus felt he was perfectly justified. Once he had drained his first glass and poured himself another, he glanced around for a decent book to read and was surprised to see a collection of seven books, none of which he had ever seen before in his life, sitting on his bookshelf. He frowned and moved slowly towards them with his wand at the ready. Severus knew he was not without enemies, and thus was highly suspicious of mysterious objects in his rooms. However, none of the spells he performed showed any sign of the books being dangerous or tampered with magically in any way. So Severus prodded them carefully with one finger. Nothing. Hesitantly, he pulled the first one off the shelf. The book did not do anything unusual, so Severus carried it cautiously back to his armchair...and began to read.
He kept reading all weekend, working his way through all seven books. He didn't do any marking, brewing or lesson planning. He was completely absorbed in the books.
In the early hours of Monday morning, with strained eyes and a bad headache, Severus finished the seventh book and sat back in his chair to contemplate everything he had read.
To absolutely frank, the boy was rather incredible. He had accomplished things that no other child – in fact, that most adults- could never manage. To still be the person he was, despite everything he had been through, was remarkable. To have lost so many people. The boy had hardly anyone to rely on. The man with the ability to protect the child instead used and manipulated him for his own purposes. For someone so young to carry so much weight on his shoulders... He had survived so many things, come close to death so many times. It must have taken a great deal of strength to keep going.
Yes, Severus Snape had a great deal of admiration for Alex Rider. Maybe he should force the Potter brat to read these books. He could learn a thing or two.