Crying Wolf
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
by Drauchenfyre
During Harry Potter's Second Year, Severus Snape hears some unpleasant truths from a colleague...
General
Severus Snape/Aurora Sinistra
*Main Story*
With a sigh of contentment and a warm mug of cocoa in her hand, Professor Aurora Sinistra settled into her favorite chair in the fourth floor teacher's lounge. It was January 6th, 1993, and she finally had the free time to peruse the Holiday gift she had received from one of her second year students, Hermione Granger. Aurora had been skeptical of Miss Granger's claims about how much more advanced Muggle astronomy was than magical- that is, until she had seen the beautiful book, filled with photographs and charts that proved or debunked many theories that had stumped the magical community for decades. She was a good chunk of the way through the second chapter when the door banged open, causing her to spill her cocoa on herself (but fortunately, not on her precious book), and curse in Welsh as she grabbed her wand and Scourgified her robes. Looking up, she sighed, this time in frustration. She should have guessed who would bang his way into a room in a strop.
"Severus, is there a reason for you to barge in here disturbing my quiet time, or are you just making an effort to be more insufferable than usual?"
Severus Snape glowered at his fellow Slytherin alumnus. Aurora was the only professor, with the possible exception of Minerva McGonagall, who was this openly hostile. Then again, when Horace Slughorn, the previous Potions Professor and Head of Slytherin, had retired, Albus Dumbledore, in a move which probably only made sense to him, had passed over Sinistra, the senior-most Slytherin alum on staff, to give the Head of House position to Severus, a newly-appointed professor, effectively denying her the promotion to senior staff that was hers by right. For an ambitious Slytherin, such a situation was maddening.
"It is that Potter boy who is insufferable, Sinistra! He dared to cheek me in class, pointing out he was too much of a dunderhead to understand my instructions and trying to blame me, claiming I was unclear! I will see him expelled for this!"
Aurora rolled her eyes and drolly replied, "Yes, because that approach has worked so well for you in the past."
"He is an arrogant fool, like his father! I will find a way to expell him!"
"No, you won't Severus," said the fiftysomething witch, "because you've cried wolf far too many times."
What in Morgana's name are you talking about, woman?"
Aurora sighed, then gestured to another chair in front of her, "have a seat, Severus, and I'll relate a fable that could help you here."
Severus sullenly threw himself into the chair indicated and glared at the older witch as she settled back into her Scourgified chair.
"There once was a shepherd boy, standing on a hill tending his flock. One day, he became bored, and, deciding to stir up some excitement, he yelled down the hill to the villagers, 'Wolf! Wolf! There's a wolf attacking my sheep!' The village men grabbed what tools and weapons were on hand and ran to the field, only to find no wolf, and the boy laughing at the troiuble he caused. After being yelled at by his father, the boy went back to tending his sheep and the menfolk back to work.
"The next day, bored once more, the boy decided to pull his prank again. He yelled, 'Wolf! Wolf! There's a wolf attacking my sheep!' The men weren't sure they believed him, but a few grabbed their weapons, including the boy's father, and ran up the hill. Upon finding no wolf for the second time in a row, the boy's father gave him a mighty blow upside the head, and the men went back down the hill, grumbling at the trouble-making boy.
"The third day of our little tale, the boy, who had decided to behave himself this time, was tending his sheep, when lo and behold, a genuine wolf came out of the woods. In a panic the boy screamed, 'Wolf! Wolf! It's really a wolf!' The men of the village exchanged looks of disgust at the troublesome shepherd boy, and went about their business. Realizing the villagers didn't believe him, and no one was coming, he held his shepherd's crook and charged at the wolf. Unfortunately, in any battle of strength or speed, a wolf will always beat a single human child, and the shepherd boy was quickly brought down and killed by the wolf."
Sinistra affixed Snape with her most baleful glare. "The Muggle expression 'crying wolf' stems from this story. It means bearing false witness or lying. What you seem to have trouble realizing, Severus, is that, at this point, you are doing exactly that. In the year and a half that Mr. Potter has attended this school, you have accused him of causing every problem since the last Ice Age. You have borne false witness against Mr. Potter, bent the truth even in your own mind so often, that at this point, no one believes you. You could catch him red-handed, with overwhelming evidence, and no member of the staff would believe that you did not set him up, because you have made it abundantly clear that you will not rest until 'the Spawn of James Potter' has been expelled from these hallowed halls. You have simply 'cried wolf' far too many times."
Standing with her accustomed grace and dignity, Aurora Sinistra gathered up her book and departed the lounge. Perhaps there was a nice, quiet place to read in the Library while most of the students were in class...
Severus Snape sat in his chair, glaring at the door Aurora Sinistra had departed through. He had never liked the woman, but he disliked her more than ever- nowhere near the level of the raw, seething hatred he held for anyone named Potter, but more pronounced than in the past. He had to admit to himself that the reason he suddenly hated the woman more was- she was right. He had noticed the eye-rolls at the staff meetings any time he brought up his latest plan to expell Potter. Perhaps a more... Slytherin... approach was called for. He would have to think on this.