Entry for "Herbology" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

Write about someone being in some kind of conflict with a Death Eater.

Min Words: 700

Entry for "Muggle Art Club" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments"

Photography – the prompt is a "picture" of the monster of Loch Ness.

I found inspired by the fact that everything about Nessie is very vague and the truth about her is unknown to most/all people and this is where the story connects to the prompt – Severus' real loyalties are a mystery.

Just to explain this shortly if someone does not see the connection :)

I hope you all like it :)

A loud bang resounded in the circular Headmaster's office as the door was violently thrown open and slammed against the stone wall, making the endless rows of old wooden bookshelves shake.

Seconds later, a young witch in dirty flying robes stormed into the room and made it quake again as she slammed the door shut, her dark glare pointed towards the black-clothed man that sat behind the huge desk that was filled with parchments. He did look up briefly, the hand with the quill pausing for a second before it continued to scribble something down.

"Miss Hooch, I would prefer it if you would show some respect by knocking before you enter the Headmaster's office," he said in a disinterested tone, his gaze focusing on the letter he seemed to be writing.

"Oh, are we so formal now, Severus?! You are such a pathetic, arrogant..."

"That is Sir or Headmaster for you!"

It seemed as if he wasn't even listening to her and one could literally see how Rolanda started to fume about this, her fists clenching so hard that her fingernails did dig into her palms.

"Headmaster...," she snorted, giving her best to calm down a little bit, but Severus ignorance towards her presence was making it hard for her. "May I have a word with you?"

Her voice sounded forced, but Severus seemed to be pleased by it. He did put his quill aside, folded his hands on the polished wood and looked up at her.

"Of course, Miss Hooch. How can I help you?"

"I... I would like to inform you about my concern regarding the... the so called teaching methods of the Carrows and their... detentions."

Her hands were shaking and she tried to hide them on the inside of her cloak, not wanting him to show any weakness to him. She did not wanted him to see how shaken she still was by the fact that he had betrayed them all, that he had killed Albus Dumbledore.

She did not wanted him to see behind the façade of the strong, fierce woman to see how afraid she was. How much she feared the man he actually was.

Over the last year he had shown different sides of himself and it was unclear which one of them actually belonged to the real Severus Snape and which one had been pure acting.

A smug smile stole its way on Severus face and he answered:"I do not see why the lessons of other teachers and their detentions would concern you, Miss Hooch. After all, you only are the school's flying instructor."

It took Rolanda a lot of effort and some deep breaths to stop herself from screaming at him that he should finally realise what was happening here, that even he, someone who thoroughly disliked his students, could not want that First Years, or students at all, were tortured and forced to hex each other!

"I was just asking myself if allowing these punishments does not collide with your duty to keep the students safe, Headmaster."

"I see no problem here. If the Carrows feel like the students need stricter methods I am sure they have their reasons. But thank you for informing me about your moral concerns. You may go now, I have some work to finish."

Rolanda felt like his words had hit her right in the face like a fist. She could not, no, she did not want to believe that Severus did not care about the children's welfare at all, that it did not bother him that the Seventh Years had been ordered to practice curses on First Years in their DADA lessons.

Her feet seemed to be glued to the ground, she was unable to move and her own thoughts seemed to pull her down like heavy weights.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Severus asked calmly as she did not move a centimetre, a little bit of annoyance swinging with it.

The answer took the young woman some courage as she feared what could happen if she was honest, but on the other hand, she had nothing to loose – she already seemed to have lost a friend.

"I... I just don't recognise you any more, Severus!" Rolanda breathed with shaking voice, tears were stinging in her golden eyes and for a short moment she believed that she had seen his jaw twitch, but upon looking closer there was nothing but the cold, unmoving wall that shielded him from the outside world.

Once, or better, a year ago, she had thought that she was able to look past this wall sometimes, that she understood him better than other members of the staff.

"What have you become? We used to be friends, Severus!"

The moment his eyes flickered and his gaze moved away, avoiding hers, she knew that she had hit a weak spot, but he would not let her get a grip on this.

"Leave, Miss Hooch. And I don't want to hear any complains again. You know exactly that you are not safe outside this school. Just imagine what would happen if you were forced to leave. Just keep quiet, understood?"

Only during the last words did their eyes met and she was shocked by his urgency and this certain undertone that swung with it, as if he wanted to express something else than a mere warning.

"Now go," he added, his voice cold like ice again and Rolanda slowly backed off, gulping hard as she looked at him another second before she turned and hurried to leave.

Severus Snape had always been a mystery to her, but she only felt like this had just gotten worse. At first she had thought that his indifference expressed on which side he was, but his last words had pulled her back in this point, confusing her so much.

Rolanda just hoped that one day, she would at least learn what all of this was about.