"Draco has one thing right. It's completely unfair. We'd probably both be able to have positions on the Slytherin team if Snape didn't follow the rules, and I would bet everything in the Arisio vaults that he messes up tomorrow. He was raised by muggles after all. He's only had a few months to learn how to fly and memorize the rules. I have been playing Quidditch for as long as I can remember, but nooo, Harry gets to be a—Bozhidar, are you even listening?"

Amanda was lying on a blanket she had laid out at the feet of the Slytherin statue, and she was gazing up at the ceiling. The basilisk, meanwhile, was curled up a few feet away, a towering pile of scales with his head peeking out in between the coils.

"Of course, snake speaker," Bozhidar mumbled back to her.

"You were asleep!" she exclaimed.

"You are mistaken," he told her. She sighed.

"If you aren't even going to listen to me rant what do I come down here for?" she asked.

"To keep a lonely basilisk company," he said, still mumbling sleepily.

"Except whenever I come down here you're sleeping," she pointed out.

"When you are centuries old, you learn sleeping is as significant as everything else," Bozhidar said.

"I bet Delilah's giant pet doesn't just sleep when she's around," Amanda said with a smirk. She heard the giant snake shift.

"I am no dog," Bozhidar hissed. "That pup is as friendly as it is stupid. If they really wanted to protect the stone, they would have used me." Amanda grinned at his show of pride.

"So this stone…" Amanda began.

"You do not need to know," Bozhidar told her, obviously having said it before. He had, but mostly because when he had first mentioned it a few months ago after Amanda had told him of her meeting with the giant three-headed dog, he had not failed to mention that was valuable and powerful, so of course she would keep asking. The answer was the same each time.

"What about the mirror?" Amanda questioned.

"I would tell you if I knew," the basilisk replied. She had heard that answer as well. She asked only to see if she could catch him off guard because she didn't believe he didn't know anything. Hogwarts was his home, after all. "Did you not have an appointment with your Severus Snape?"

Amanda groaned. "I don't want to!" she whined. It had been a nice couple of months, not having to show up to extra pureblood lessons with Draco and Theo and go into all of the "extracurriculars" her Head of House decided she needed to know.

"Go, so I can have my sleep," Bozhidar told her.

"When I come back," she said, standing and collecting her blanket, "I'm going to be so loud I'm going to give you a headache." A low rumble came from the giant snake that she could only assume was a chuckle.

"Slytherin Heirs have been annoying me for centuries," he said. "I would like to see you try."

Amanda left the Chamber with a smirk on her face. Challenge accepted.

Amanda was walking through one of the many corridors when she saw Theodore and Elena slowly striding along toward her. Elena looked like she was explaining something Theodore was extremely unhappy about.

"Did you get a T on an assignment or something?" Amanda asked when she was closer. They both halted to gaze at her.

"What do you mean?" Theodore asked, his blank face of confusion saying enough.

"I was just clarifying a theory for him," Elena said. Amanda recognized her vagueness as secrecy. The Slytherin Heir really didn't like it when her older sister hid things from her, mostly because those things were often incredibly interesting and important.

"Well then stop looking so angry, Theo," Amanda told him, "otherwise Snape might start asking questions."

That got his attention.

"Snape?" he questioned, twisting around to look behind him.

"Er, no, lessons start today," Amanda said. "Aren't you coming?"

Theodore gave a worried glance to Elena as if asking permission, but quickly turned his attention back to Amanda and replied, "I need to go write a letter to my father." Amanda's eyes narrowed.

"Can't that wait?" she asked. He gave her a hardened stare that let loose a little pleading that basically told her, 'no, it can't.' She sighed. "Well I suppose Draco and I will just have to endure Snape's wrath together, then."

"Yes, well, it isn't like I'm behind on anything," Theodore assured her.

"Amanda," Elena said before the Slytherin sister could say anything. "Would you happen to know where Audrey is?"

"No, why?" Amanda asked.

"I think I may have overheard something she would want to know," the Ravenclaw explained. Amanda narrowed her eyes. More vagueness. At least Amanda had a clue as to what it was Elena was talking about, and she knew she had to be quiet about it because Theodore did not know about the family ability.

"Check the library, or better yet, her dormitory. Audrey hardly goes anywhere but those two places and her classes," Amanda said with a roll of her eyes.

"Alright," Elena said. She ruffled Theodore's hair with a playful smile. "See you later, Theo!" Amanda tried to hide a laugh as she tried to decide if Theodore was going red because of anger or embarrassment.

"I've got to go," Amanda said, realizing she couldn't keep her laughing a secret much longer. Theodore nodded and they parted ways.

Lessons with Snape weren't horrible. They just went over more family histories (seriously, how many of them could there be if Purebloods were a 'dying breed?') and started on the basic theory of Occlumency. Amanda was irritated when Snape told them it would take them awhile to actually practice the skill. Snape made her go over the theories again after that, being extra sour because of an injury he had to his leg. Amanda guessed the wound was from the three headed dog, but didn't say anything. If she had, Snape would really have a reason to be angry.

Sooner than she would have liked, the next day came and the Slytherin Gryffindor match was starting. Literally everyone made their way out to the Quidditch pitch. Amanda knew why as soon as she heard all the whispers about Harry Potter, and each time she heard 'he must be brilliant!' or 'I bet he wins today!' she wanted to gag. After all she highly doubted Harry was good enough to catch the snitch in his first game.

"What do you mean you're going with Cedric?" Amanda asked with a whine as she, Delilah, Audrey, and Elena made their way to the Quidditch pitch.

Delilah was all smiles as she said, "He wants to see Harry play since he's the Hufflepuff seeker. Apparently Harry is what they call a 'wildcard.' I don't know. Oh! And I'm going to be next to Ron and Hermione."

"Why, does helping them with a troll suddenly make you part of the Harry Potter group?" Amanda grumbled. She crossed her arms, still resentful about the fact her wolf sister got to do something so exciting while she was off with Bozhidar that Halloween. Audrey apparently hadn't been there either, most likely studying in the Ravenclaw tower.

"Hermione was just being nice," Delilah answered, completely missing the hint of irritation in Amanda's voice. It made the Slytherin Heir's frustration fade away. How could you be angry at someone who didn't react to it?

"I'm curious about Harry too," Elena said suddenly. Amanda knew that. Why else would her older, scientific sister come to a Quidditch game? "He must have shown potential if the professors allowed him on the team. Do you think he could be better than the Slytherin seeker?"

"No," Amanda said quickly, standing up straighter to demonstrate her confidence. Yes, she thought. From what Amanda had seen of the Slytherin seeker, he wasn't much. Not nearly as small as Harry with a broom model at least six years old.

"Why am I going to this game, again?" Audrey sighed.

"To help cheer on Slytherin," Amanda reminded.

"Why?" Audrey asked. "I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Yes, but I'm a Slytherin, so you should cheer on the team you've actually got family members in."

"I still don't see the point of watching the match," Audrey said. "I don't think the Ravenclaws care about winning the cup this year and I have homework to do."

"We all have homework to do," Elena said, rolling her eyes, "but you can take a break. No professor is going to give you a bad score because you went to a quidditch game."

"I know, but I have this really long assignment—"

"Shh! If you talk about homework again, I'm going to go to the Ravenclaw tower and burn your homework. And don't think I won't." Amanda threatened.

"Oh, I have no doubt you would, but I would love to see you stand in front of the door for an hour trying to figure out the riddle," Audrey said, and gave Amanda a casual expression that had the Slytherin Heir ready with a retort on her tongue.

However, that's right when Delilah sprang forward shouting, "Cedric's already here!" After a short 'see you later!' the Hufflepuff was gone.

"Who would have thought that Delilah of all of us would have made friends with an older year first?" Amanda asked.

"I still think it's weird," Audrey said.

"Well, anyway , if you two are going to go sit by the Ravenclaws I'm going to go meet Theo and Draco in the Slytherin section. Bye!" And just like that Amanda was striding toward the stands.

By the time she found her cousin and friend, the game was just a few short minutes from starting. She glanced at Snape, who was sitting in the teachers' section looking as angry as usual.

"I bet Potter won't last five minutes on his broom," Draco sneered.

He lasted that long when you threw the Remembrall , Amanda thought with a roll of her eyes. Draco could be stupid sometimes.

Theodore looked like he was going to respond, but that's just when the players flew into the field.

Slytherin thundered around her, but they could not match Gryffindor's triumphant roar. Harry came flying out like a pro, though he looked around like this was the most amount of attention he'd ever gotten in his life.

It played out like she thought: Harry flew up several feet away from the battling chasers and the bulldozing bludgers. He thought he'd seen the snitch once, but Flint was stupid enough to almost knock him off his broom and proceeded to get a foul.

And that's when things started getting weird. Harry's broom starting bucking and swerving. Harry had to hold on tight, but he wasn't doing a good job at it.

Amanda knew it was dark magic. The Nimbus Two Thousand was a broom with twice the amount of protection as the model before it and triple the amount compared to any other brand. So she searched the crowd as they began pointing at Harry.

Her eyes finally caught Snape and she felt like her stomach had disappeared. He was completely focused on Harry, his lips moving but definitely not his eyes. Amanda knew the spells that called for that sort of focus were powerful. Powerful enough to take control of a Nimbus Two Thousand.

Amanda looked to her friends. Draco of course was grinning with glee as he watched his rival struggle, but Theo was looking from Snape to Harry, his ever present quizzical scowl on his face.

She turned back to Snape and asked the same question over and over in her head: why is Snape trying to make Harry fall? Amanda considered that it was just to make sure Slytherin would win, but she knew him better than that. Snape liked winning the House Cup, but he wouldn't endanger Harry's life for it, no matter what reason he had for making Harry's life so terrible. Right?

Amanda wasn't ignorant about Snape's past as a Death Eater, but he had helped in the end and she was certain Snape wasn't that cruel. Well, perhaps not certain. Draco had told her stories that she hardly believed, but Draco could be truthful when it suited him.

Snape caught on fire. Amanda blinked in surprise as everyone around her mentor started shouting even louder than those pointing at Harry. The Slytherin Heir swung her gaze to the Gryffindor seeker, finding him dazed but in control of his broom nonetheless.

The game began again in full force, with Harry searching for the snitch and all the other players no longer worried about the Boy-Who-Lived falling off his broom. Suddenly Harry headed straight for the ground, and Amanda saw it: a golden spec that was getting closer and closer—

Harry tumbled to the ground. As he staggered up, he spat out something into his hands. Amanda's heart fell as the Gryffindors gave out the loudest roar of the day. It was the snitch. Gryffindor had won.

"Alright, that's it," Amanda said, not letting her eyes leave the Boy-Who-Lived. "Next year, we're trying out for the Slytherin team because the current team is obviously in need of new talent."

"They couldn't even win with the distraction Potter gave! Pathetic!" Draco shouted, his eyes alight with fury as he, too, watched the Gryffindors celebrate.

"I'll go as a chaser if you go as a seeker. Maybe Theo can go as a chaser. He's fast enough," Amanda said. Theodore shrugged.

"I don't really want to be on the house team, to be honest," he told her. Amanda turned her attention to him.

"What are you, a Ravenclaw?" Amanda asked offhandedly. Theodore didn't respond, averting his eyes.

"Snape looks angry," Draco pointed out. "Do you think we still have to go to our lessons tomorrow?"

Amanda sighed. "Unfortunately."

She saw Ron and Hermione rushing up to Harry. Hermione had her wand out, and Amanda's eyes narrowed. Of course the know-it-all had casted the flames. Well, there was no way she was going to let the three of them believe Snape was a murderer.

"I have to go do something. Meet you in the dungeons," she said, and rushed through the stands through the quickest route to the three first years now being swarmed by every Gryffindor who could make into the Quidditch pitch.

Even with all the time wading through the witches and wizards shuffling out of the stands, Harry and his friends were still protected by a wall of over-excited Gryffindors. Eventually, Hagrid herded the Gryffindor trio toward his hut. Amanda waited until they were away from the Quidditch pitch and anyone else ready to eavesdrop before she approached them.

Harry was talking very quickly, saying, ". . .tried to get past that three headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he's trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

"How do you know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked.

"Fluffy?" Ron said.

"Is that what his name is?" Delilah asked. Amanda narrowed her eyes. When had she showed up? "I'm happy he has a name. I was beginning to think someone had just left him in there and forgotten about him."

"No, he's guarding something for Dumbledore, isn't he?"

Hermione pressured Hagrid, "And Snape is trying to steal it."

"And what proof do you have of that?" Amanda asked, stepping forward. Harry steeled himself as if ready for a fight.

"I saw him; he got bitten by that three-headed dog," Harry said confidently. Amanda paused, clenching her teeth as she tried to remember her own reasoning for what Snape would want with a three-headed dog.

"The teachers must be in charge of feeding him," Delilah pointed out. "Perhaps Fluffy wasn't in a good mood that day? Even sweet dogs like him are known to be aggressive in certain circumstances." Everyone but Hagrid gazed at her with wary looks, probably thinking that 'sweet dog' was an antonym to what Fluffy actually was.

"Are they?" Hermione asked, turning to Hagrid.

"Eh, well, I don' know exac'ly who's suppos' to feed him. He don' like the food we give him sometimes, see, bu' I know everyone tries," Hagrid said quickly.

"Then why did Snape try to throw me off my broom today?" Harry demanded.

Once again, Delilah had the answer Amanda didn't. "It wasn't Snape. Professor Sq—er, Professor Quirrell wasn't blinking and he was muttering, I saw it. Cedric said only dark magic is used like that." Not completely true, Amanda thought.

"Quirrell was probably trying to save Harry," Ron pointed out.

"Snape wasn't trying to kill him," Amanda snapped, getting their attention with her fierceness. "He may hate Harry, but he isn't cruel and he isn't a murderer."

"He's a Slytherin," Ron spat, as if that explained every motive Snape might have had.

Amanda turned on him like a snake, saying, "Oh, does that mean I can say all Gryffindors are stupidly arrogant with no respect?"

"Amanda, tha' was a li'le harsh—"

"Ron was harsh too," Delilah pointed out, but Amanda was already talking.

"What's harsh is you three accusing the head of my house without any proof just because he isn't nice to you," Amanda spat. "He may not be happy, he may not be kind, but he is not evil." She looked straight at Harry, locking gazes with him to force him to see the sincerity in her eyes.

"Don't forget where the Sorting Hat almost put you," she said in parseltongue, ignoring Ron's gasp and Hermione's confusion. It was a complete guess, but she could see him in silver and green as easily as gold and red. Judging by Harry's reaction, she knew she had guessed correctly.

Amanda spun around and marched toward the castle. She knew she should be at least a little concerned with 'I-can't-keep-a-secret' Ronald Weasley knowing about her parseltongue, but she knew that bit of information would get out to the rest of the school eventually. It wasn't as if she was keeping it a secret anyway, but she knew if rumors came out the wrong way it could ruin what little she had built in her first few months at Hogwarts.

But she didn't care. No one was going to assume those things about Snape, no matter the questions she had rattling around in her head. He had only ever been helpful to her, teaching her the way of the Purebloods so that she could survive her heritage.

And no matter her own doubts, she was certain he had his reasoning.

Snape was indeed in a horrible mood when classes began the day after. Throughout Potions he was particularly irritable, and later on that day when Amanda, Theo, and Draco had gathered in the otherwise empty classroom for extra lessons, Snape stormed in, going straight for his desk to search for something. There was a containment to him, though. He was still walking as silently as he always did, straight and proper yet rigidly so.

"Is something the matter, Professor?" Theodore asked in a tone that suggested he was saying the words out of politeness rather than actual interest.

"I am fine, Nott, and how nice of you to arrive today," Snape said sharply, slamming a drawer shut. Theo flinched.

"I had something important—"

"I'm certain it was of the utmost significance," the Potions Master interrupted coldly. "Shall we begin?"

"I have a question," Amanda said, standing up after leaning on a desk. Snape's eyes fell on her and she felt the weight of his anger push her down. For a second the words stuck in her throat as if the tiny, logical part of her was screaming that this was very much a bad idea.

"What did you do to Harry?" the Slytherin Heir asked at last. Theodore tensed and Draco looked from Amanda to Snape as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. Snape, meanwhile, let his anger seep out a little as she saw his body grow stiffer.

"Do you remember," Snape said, his voice painstakingly restrained, "when I taught you subtlety?" Oh yeah, she was in for it. She chided herself for going along with this stupid plan but she knew she was impatient and needed to know the answer.

"Well?" Snape pressed on, more rage slipping into his voice.

"Yes, sir," Amanda said, limiting herself from saying anything further in case that burst the balloon that was Snape's current self-control.

"You obviously didn't learn anything, so I suppose that is what we will be learning today," Snape said, getting out his wand. Amanda paled. Subtlety meant control, and she had no doubt that he had many more creative ways to teach her that than before, when he didn't look ready to hit her with a Cruciatus.

"Sir, we aren't the only ones who saw you," Theodore said suddenly. Amanda looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise at the unexpected defense. "Potter saw you too. He and his friends think you were trying to murder him."

Snape gave him a hard, cold look. "This is not the first time a student has believed I'm a murderer, and you are a fool to think Potter could do anything with what he thinks he saw. He may be the Headmaster's golden child but he is hardly persuasive."

"What did you actually do, then?" Amanda asked. Quickly, she added, "Sir."

"And why is knowing so important?" the Potions Master questioned. Amanda hesitated, trying to think of a response that would subtly explain her motives.

"Because I want to know whether to watch out for you or Professor Quirrell," Amanda told him. Theo glanced at her, confused, as Snape's jaw clenched.

"What's Professor Quirrell got to do with anything?" Draco asked.

"Nothing, if you all want to continue attending this school," Professor Snape said. His gaze had not left Amanda's equally challenging stare. Snape did not back down, however, and against her better judgement, Amanda averted her eyes first. She knew her mentor enough to understand he was not going to budge on this subject.

Talking to him about it still reassured her about his innocence. After all, she knew there was no way he was going to admit to saving Harry Potter in front of Draco or Theo, but he was also refusing to talk about Quirrell, which could only mean the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was guilty.

And with that, subtlety lessons began.