Hogwarts Rounds:

Through the Eyes of Snape

I have never really liked rounds; most people think that giving out detention to misbehaving students would be my forte. However, I have other things I like to do with my time, passing out detentions to idiots that don't know how to follow the rules isn't my favorite pastime. But once or twice a week it is my job to walk the halls and find these misbehaving miscreants and punish them as I see fit.

Tonight Hogwarts was too quiet for my opinion, eerily so, at least at the beginning. As I swept from shadow to shadow, looking for those stragglers that would certainly be getting into trouble, I noticed the deep, penetrating silence. The little brats decided to stay in for right now, but what where they doing in the common room?

I slid almost silently down the hallway to the Slytherin common room, the only place outside of the hallways and my classroom that I had any power over. I slowly opened the door, taking in the shocking sight that met my eyes. Who in their right mind would give the first years Firewhisky?

"Detention to all of you!" I seethed, reaching down and grabbing the half-empty bottle out of the middle of the drunken group of dunderheads, "Now get to bed before I decide that wasn't a harsh enough sentence."

I swept through the dorms, nothing amiss there. Then took to the hallways once again, I had a couple more hours before I would be done with tonight's rounds, so many more opportunities for giving out detentions to children who would never pass a class with more than an Acceptable.

This sweep of the lower halls saw a pathetic attempt to break into Filch's main broom closet, no doubt the frightened Hufflepuff second years thought that it would be fun to pull some sort of prank on the old man. However, I put a stop to their plans by giving them detention with the very person they were trying to trick.

I found a Gryffindor fourth year twenty minutes later attempting to break into a locked classroom, with the deduction of fifty points and detention issued I was starting to feel that tonight would never end. What had started out a quiet night of rounds had turned out to be a night of constant dunderheads trying to break the rules.

I picked a hallway close to the Great Hall and slipped into the shadows, watching carefully for anyone else that might decide that tonight was the night to cause trouble. A Ravenclaw girl and a Hufflepuff boy showed up in the entrance to Hogwarts, whispering between them about taking a naughty swim in the lake. Detention was issued and house points deducted, both students were sent back to bed without completing their little adventure.

When rounds were done I headed back to my private quarters, sat down in my favorite armchair, and closed my eyes as I heaved a heavy sigh. Tonight I was done, for the next few days it would be someone else's job to patrol the halls. I wouldn't have to do this again until Saturday.

AN: Working for Residential Life in the Residence Halls on campus made me wonder what goes through Snape's mind when he is stalking the hallways of Hogwarts. I wrote this in order to get a better look into his mind. It's not good in my opinion, but maybe someday I will extend the concept to something better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Snape or Hogwarts, nor do I wish to make money off of this work of fanfiction. I don't envy the Professor the monster sets of rounds he has to do in Hogwarts either, but that's another story.