The sin of Gluttony
If it was one class Severus hated to teach, it was Potter's class. Not only was Potter in it, but his two Gryffindor shadows were too. Weasley didn't even bother to try, and Granger was a know-it-all that just had to answer every bloody question. Severus was all for the pursuit of knowledge, but Granger didn't seem to have an off switch when it came to spewing all the stuff she had learned over everyone.
He sat and watched as the trio entered, Granger practically pulling the almost catatonic Potter behind her. His hair looked messier than usual, his tie was askew, his shirt was miss-buttoned, and his school robes hung down his left shoulder.
"Potter!" he snapped, "I expect N.E.W.T students to be prepared when they come to class, and that includes being properly dressed. Ten points from Gryffindor!"
His words had little effect on the boy, who just tugged up his school robe. Granger reached over and began to straighten his tie.
"Granger! Potter is 17! He can bloody well dress himself! Weasley, there is no eating in the potions lab! Put it away!" he hissed.
Ron looked mournfully at his chocolate frog, but did as was bid. Hermione glared at Snape, but pulled away from Harry and sat.
The lesson progressed, with Hermione being more annoying than usual. Severus felt his ire rising and was about to lambast her when he saw Ron out of the corner of his eye.
"Weasley! I told you no food in the labs! Twenty points from Gryffindor and detention tonight, 6pm!"
Ron grumbled as he left the Dungeons at 9.30 that evening. He'd had to cut into valuable eating time at dinner in order to get to the Potions Classroom slightly early. Snape had been harsh as usual, making him scrape off the undersides of the desks and tables for the duration. He understood that he shouldn't have been eating in the Potions Lab, but knowing that the Chocolate Frog was in his bag; opened, proved too much for his recently increased appetite. Before he knew what he was doing, the sweet was in his mouth and Snape was on his back.
He'd been allowed to leave at 9.30 because Snape had a meeting with the Headmaster. Ron knew better than to look a gift hippogriff in the mouth, and had swiftly left the lab before the Greasy Git could rope him into another detention.
As he reached the Entrance Hall, he found that his feet led him down the opposite dungeon staircase instead of up the one that led to the Tower. He was confused but chose not to question the impulse as it led him to the kitchens.
"What can Jiffy be doing for sir?" squeaked a small house elf.
"Just thought I'd stop by for a snack before I return to the Tower." Ron explained, and smiled when half a dozen elves laden with plates and dishes approached the replica of the House Tables. He sat down and began to eat.
After twenty minutes of non-stop scarfing, a small voice in the back of his brain began to question why he wasn't full. The fact that he was still ravenously hungry worried him, but he couldn't stop himself from shovelling down more food.
The house elves tugged at his arms and squeaked loudly at him, but it was as though he had lost all control of his body as it simply ignored them and continued to gorge itself.
Severus and Minerva were sat in Dumbledore's office at half ten that evening, Severus having released Ron from his detention at 9.30. Dumbledore was explaining to them what he had discovered.
"The spell did indeed call the personifications of the mortal sins upon the school. Apparently, the last time it was used was just before the fall of Rome, and may have even started the process. That is why Christianity managed to get such a strong foothold, as it was a Christian who broke the curse."
"So how did he break it?" Minerva asked.
"Well that is when the information gets a bit sketchy. For a long while, the inflicted seven were killed off, but that only caused the curse to inflict seven others. The seven virtues were identified around this time, and the seven were encouraged to practise their opposing virtue whilst continually suppressing their sin. It was unknown how long the practice had to continue until the sin was purged and the curse broken, but it was known that the effort had to be made together as a group."
"But what do we do if we can't find all seven? We cannot allow known students inflicted with the curse to allow their traits further time to manifest, but by practising restraint, they won't break the curse unless all seven do the same." Severus said.
"Which is why we need to find the seven as quickly as possible. When a student is identified, they must begin to practice their virtue immediately so as to reduce the damage to their soul." He explained.
"What are the seven virtues?" Minerva asked.
"Temperance is the opposite of gluttony, patience to wrath, charity to greed, chastity to lust, diligence to sloth, kindness to envy, and humility to pride."
Minerva opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a loud crack that heralded the arrival of a house elf.
"Bitsy, what ever is the matter?" Dumbledore asked the elderly elf who was twisting the hem of her uniform between her long fingers.
"I is being sorry Headmaster, but we is having a problem in the kitchens! Weazy is eating everything! He isn't stopping, even when we is asking him to! I is never seeing anyone eats so much before!" Bitsy squeaked, becoming shriller in her bafflement.
"I think Minerva, Severus; we may have found our gluttony."
They all rose and left the office, descending the staircases to the kitchens. The sight that greeted them wasn't pretty. Ronald Weasley was sat at one of the house table replicas, and had stacks of empty dishes before him. He was plastered in food from where he had dropped it or missed his mouth in his haste to eat. It was truly grotesque, and all three teachers felt slightly nauseated by the manner in which Ron ate.
Dumbledore approached and shook his shoulder, but Ron steadfastly kept eating. McGonagall approached and tried along with the Headmaster to forcefully remove him from the table, but he became aggressive and elbowed the two out of the way. This went on for a while, the two elder Gryffindors becoming exasperated when the boy evaded their efforts and continued to eat.
Severus watched in equal parts amusement and disgust as his two superiors treated the teenager like a toddler, letting him go when he began to thrash about rather than restraining the idiot.
His annoyance got the better of him when the Headmaster and his deputy looked at each other in bafflement, so he simply took out his wand and stupefied the boy. He then, under the scandalised glare of Minerva and the disapproving look of the Headmaster, proceeded restrain the young Gryffindor in a strait jacket.
"I didn't want to use magic on him Severus. We have no idea what the curse has done to his core or how he might react to spells." Dumbledore chastised.
"Well if you would have said something before I cast the bloody spell then I wouldn't have cast it! Besides, he seems to be fine." Severus defended.
They were fortunate that it was so late in the evening, as there were no witnesses around to see the three members of staff levitating the prone body of the youngest Weasley male to the hospital wing.