Severus loomed over the grounds as he did every night, walking slowly, calculatingly, his eyes darting over the shadows and foliage that he came upon. He was taking his rounds as every other professor did nightly. Severus' shift followed Minerva's and it was nearly three o'clock in the morning before he finished every evening.
It was nearing that time and Severus had turned to head back toward the dungeons, hoping to meet Filch who took the latest shift being that the poor man had wretched insomnia and was prone to fits of unrest for weeks to months at a time. Perhaps Filch would be ready early, Severus thought, and he could turn in for the night. He had a class at eight o'clock sharp that morning.
As he rounded the corner of a tree and began the trek toward the large, oaken doors at the front hall of the school, Severus heard a noise that sounded like a sharp scratching. It was brisk and nearly inaudible. He strained to hear and turned back around after a few moments, following the noise as quietly yet quickly as possible.
The scratching grew louder until Severus could clearly see where it was coming from. There was a small, bushy, tawny cat scratching maniacally at the wooden base of a tiny cage. Severus didn't really care for animals but he couldn't quite understand why someone would trap the poor cat in a domicile where it could barely lie down or turn around.
He knelt down and the cat immediately stopped its' scratching. She looked up at Severus with such plea he could hardly stand it. Feeling like a blubbering fool for actually giving a rat's ass about the cat, Severus mumbled incoherently to himself as he fiddled with the lock. When he realized it was impossible to release the cat on his own, he pulled his wand from his robes and whispered, "Alohamora," and watched as the lock dissipated and the cat was freed from its' confines.
The cat came clamoring out of the cage as fast as she could and shook like a dog, her fur puffing out even more. She looked up to Severus as if to say thanks and then took off toward the castle at an alarming pace.
Severus had a strange feeling that the cat was more than just a cat, and so he followed it as best as he could, but nearly lost it when entering the castle. It jetted around corners, leapt upon banisters, and tucked into shadows trying to lose Severus. Yes, this was more than a cat indeed.
Severus was determined to catch the student that he knew must have been an animagus and punish them for at least a week for one, being stupid enough to get locked up in a cage as a cat, and two being out after curfew and having the distinct displeasure of meeting one Severus Snape.
He had nearly caught up with the cat when all of a sudden it vanished. Severus blinked into the darkness of the Transfiguration classroom in dismay, lifting desks and kicking chairs in anger. Bullocks, he thought. He couldn't believe he'd let it get away. It must have snuck out behind him as he was turning the classroom upside down in search, he thought. Yes, must have been.
Severus angrily magicked the room back to its original form and took off in a huff toward the dungeons.
