Severus stared at the fourth year Ravenclaw with a menacing glare, but Teddy Lupin didn't seem in the slightest frightened.
"You used the Tormento curse on Miss Olsson, Mr. Lupin, is that correct?"
"Yes." the teen replied coldly, not even bothering to try to deny his deed.
"And where did you learn this curse? Certainly not at Hogwarts."
"I've read it in a book. I had never used Dark Magic before today, really." the boy added as though it made his fault smaller. "I know a lot of curses that are not taught here." ah, the Ravenclaw need to show off...
"You are aware that cursing a fellow student is punishable with expulsion, yes?" Snape said with a sneer. "I would like to know why you did it, Mr. Lupin." Severus had an idea of what had pushed the quiet boy into doing something as drastic as using such a curse, but he wanted to be sure, although there was no justification for the boy's action.
"She was saying things!" Teddy said. "About Harry."
Snape remained silent for some seconds. He knew that what people talked about Harry Potter were lies, some of them really bad things, but he didn't care about that—people could talk about Harry Potter all they wanted.
"I do not care, Mr. Lupin, about what Miss Olsson said. Whatever it was, it does not justify your reaction. That will cost a hundred points from Ravenclaw."
Teddy snorted audibly, looking enraged. Severus did not care, really, about what the girl said about Potter—the press was always talking about him, and Lupin should be used to the gossip by now. "And one month of detentions with Filch. And of course I will be calling your godfather here."
That last statement made the boy look really upset and Snape thought that Potter would be disappointed with his godson's attitude.
"Good afternoon, Po—Mr. Potter." Snape said civilly. He might not like Potter, but their experience during the war had calmed the intense animosity between them.
"Good afternoon, Headmaster." Potter replied, ridiculously fidgeting the hem of is robes. "Is everything alright with Teddy?" he asked visibly concerned.
"Mr. Lupin is in perfect health but he is the reason why you were called here today."
Potter frowned and then snorted when realization seemed to hit him. He pursed his lips and looked levelly at Snape. "What has happened, then?"
Severus explained everything that had transpired. Potter looked concerned, and then angry. He didn't seem disturbed, though, when Snape told him why the boy had cursed a school-mate—what surprised the headmaster, since the Potter he knew would not be able to ignore what the press said.
"I see." Potter said when Snape finished the explanation. "May I talk to him?"
Severus left his office briefly to give Potter and his godson privacy. He expected that Potter would cast silencing charms, but none was used, so he could hear everything they were saying.
"I can't believe you did this, Teddy!" Harry roared. "What did I tell you about that kind of spells?"
"That I shouldn't use them unless my life or someone else's is in danger." Teddy said quietly. Lupin's reply surprised Severus. He knew that Potter had been unstable after the war, even a bit paranoid, but to condone the use of Dark Magic was something he would never think...
"Yes, exactly!" Harry said exasperated. "And that was not the case, Teddy! Do you have any idea of what you did today? You cursed a school mate! Did you at least know what the curse did?" Severus rolled his eyes at Potter's hypocrisy, remembering the episode in which the boy cursed Draco Malfoy with Sectumsempra.
"But she was saying things—horrible things—about you. Lies about you! And of course I knew what the curse was supposed to do."
"Teddy." Potter said with a softer voice. "I understand that you shouldn't be under this pressure, I know that you suffer because of me, but please, don't act like that. Ignore what people say, all right? I've lived my whole life being blamed for things that weren't my fault, being accused of being a liar and humiliated. I learned how to deal with that..."
"But—" Lupin said and paused. "She said that you were... You know... Taking advantage of me!"
Snape gaped and listened a sharp intake of breath and Potter murmuring a curse. It was a ludicrous idea that Potter would ever do such a thing. Suddenly Severus felt outraged, angry like he had not felt in ages. He didn't quite understand that feeling or its source, since he himself had denigrated Potter's image in the past, saying things that he knew to be untrue... Of course, he never went that low to say that Potter was a sick pedophile... Ashamed, he thought that he might have said that if it was something that could be attributed to Potter in the past, just to humiliate James Potter's son.
"I'm sorry, Teddy." Potter muttered. "I am really sorry that you need to hear these things. I am sorry for everything."
"It is not your fault. I am sorry that I used that curse—I just couldn't let her say those things about you... I could not hold myself. One moment I was there, telling myself to let it go, to ignore Olsson; and then on the next the curse was on my lips and she was on the floor, screaming." the boy finished actually sounding a little ashamed, and Snape wondered—since he couldn't see Lupin—if he was sincere.
"I... I think it was an error to let you read Dark Arts books, Teddy." Potter said. "You are too young, and you used a curse—you promised you only wanted to learn the curses for the sake of knowledge... But I was wrong in letting you do it. I will confiscate your books."
"But—"
"No buts, Teddy. You can have them back when I sort this whole mess out and you are not on the edge, or when you're of age."
"Okay, Harry."
"I need to go now, Teddy. I have a lot to do..."
Severus snorted. Potter forgot that they still needed to talk more—or did he think that it was all?
Snape was genuinely curious about why Harry Potter of all people let his godson learn Dark Arts... He wondered if that sudden inclination had something to do with Potter being expelled from the Auror forces. He would have his answers, from the Lupin brat and from Kingsley.
"Sir?" Lupin said when he entered Severus' office. "You called me? I was just going to my detention with Filch..."
"I've changed my mind. Your detentions will be served with me, Mr. Lupin."
"Oh." the boy said quietly and shrugged his shoulders. "All right."
"Follow me." Severus said and waved his wand in front of a wall, saying an incantation that revealed a potions lab. Teddy followed him, his eyes scanning the room with curiosity.
"You will cut the Hibiscus petals." Snape said, handing the boy a large jar containing the red flowers. "I expect you to know how to cut these." It wasn't heavy work, or a disgusting one, but the flowers' petals needed to be precisely cut in the same size, so it was a job that demanded a lot of attention.
"I know sir," the boy said sounding even a bit offended.
And hour a half passed and the teen had finished the petals. He looked expectantly at Snape, who nodded his dismissal. "Use gloves tomorrow, Mr. Lupin." he said when the boy was closing the door.
"So, Severus, why was I called here? Is everything alright?" Shacklebolt asked with concern while a house-elf poured tea for him and Snape.
"Everything is fine, Minister. I called you here because I have some questions."
"About?"
"Potter."
Suddenly looking distressed, Kingsley shook his head and crossed his arms. "I will not tell you anything."
Oh, so there was something more to the story... Everything about Potter's sudden expulsion from the Auror corps remained very secret—what was odd.
"His godson, Mr. Lupin, cursed a seventh year Gryffindor with Tormento," at that Kingsley's head snapped up. They both knew very well how aurors were found of that spell. "And I have reason to believe that Potter's carelessness with that boy and the Dark Arts goes beyond that. I need to know with what I am dealing, Kingsley, lest I find the boy casting Unforgivables in the castle—condoned by his reckless sainted godfather!" at the end Severus noticed he was almost shouting. "Potter lets the child learn Dark Arts!" he said in a lower voice, but his tone was still enraged.
The Minister sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'd hoped it would not come to this." he looked at Severus and started to speak. "Right after the Death Eaters' trials Harry joined the Auror Academy. He was very angry at the time... I didn't want him to join the aurors right away—later I would be proved right in my guess—but Harry insisted that he needed something to do. I finally agreed, and he joined.
"For two months or so things were smooth, and he was trying hard to study, but I guess the stress of the war didn't let him live in peace. We were all stressed after the war, but I think things were... harder on Harry—he was so very young, with so much responsibility—and he started to fail in the academy."
Kingsley paused and sipped his tea. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"His colleagues in the academy, with the exception of Ron, started to mock him, belittle him... surprisingly, he didn't react to their taunts. Harry seemed really odd during those months. They kept pushing him, some blaming him for their loved one's deaths during the war... Until one day he snapped and used a Crucio on one of them."
Snape almost gasped.
"Yes, he did..." Shacklebolt added. "He had already used some Unforgivables during the war... but I don't know what made him do it later—he wouldn't say it, and neither would the man he cursed. We tried to keep it quiet, and actually succeeded, but I had no other choice but expelling him from the academy."
"Naturally," Severus agreed. "What the bloody hell is wrong with him?"
"I don't know. After leaving the academy he had a fallen with Ron Weasley... it happened when his... sexual inclinations were made public." Snape merely raised one eyebrow. "Ron believed that Harry had toyed with his sister, Ginny, for the short time they dated. They had a huge fight, and Ron blamed Harry for Fred's death... After that they have not spoken again."
That was a shock. Severus had presumed that the Golden Trio was still firm, strong. But he was wrong.
"Then a year passed and Harry came to me with his idea of teaching more... aggressive magic at Hogwarts. He claimed that people needed to know it in order to do anything they could to protect themselves and their families. From the bits he let out, it is my understanding that he is well versed in the Dark Arts.
"I think he blames himself for the war lasting so long... He's got this idea that if he'd used the same weapons Voldemort used a lot of people would have been saved. I don't know if he's right, I just know that he would be the last one to blame for all the shit that happened during the war..."
Snape nodded. He didn't like Potter, but who was he to blame anyone, last of all Potter, for death and destruction during those dark days? If anything, Potter had saved them all from more pain and suffering.
"He isolated himself in Grimmauld Place and we didn't hear from him for about a year. When Andromeda died he simply requested Teddy's guardianship. It was guaranteed, of course. I think the child made him good. Minerva floo calls him from time to time to know how things are going, and she often shares her news about his life with me—Harry has no one to take care of him... somehow I feel responsible for him, and so does Minerva..."
Severus snorted. "Potter is thirty-three, Kingsley, he hardly needs a keeper."
The Ministry looked cryptically at Severus and then smiled. "I think it is best if I keep an eye on him, though."
"So you think that is possible that Potter taught more Dark Magic to his godson?"
"He might, but Harry is not bloody out of his mind and he would never deliberately teach Teddy the Dark Arts like a Death Eater would. And Teddy, he's a Ravenclaw to the core, wants to learn every charm, potion or curse he lays the eyes on. He wants to learn just for the pleasure of knowing. I know the kid, if he used the curse he must have felt compelled to do so—not that I condone his actions."
"I see. I will talk to Potter soon, to make it clear that I do not wish Remus Lupin's brat causing more trouble in this school."
Kingsley pursed his lips and sighed. "I can talk with with Harry, Severus. I think he will be more inclined to cooperate if I—or Minerva—do this. You two have a difficult past…"
Severus snorted. "This is a matter of my concern as the Headmaster, Kingsley. I will let Potter know that the war wasn't fought for his irresponsibility to cause this kind of problem."
The Minister merely shrugged, knowing that arguing was useless. And Severus planned the conversation he would have with the excuse of a parent that Potter had become.