Enchanted Bunnies
Did you speak to him? McGonagall asked when they met at the doors leading into the Great Hall the following morning.
Yes, Ma'am. Severus replied and walked next to her along the Gryffindor table.
All is well then?
Yes, Ma'am.
Severus, would you please stop calling me 'Ma'am'? She asked. You're not a student anymore and it's making me feel incredibly old.
Yes, Ma'am. He replied. When she rolled her eyes at him he couldn't hide a smile.
McGonagall hadn't seen him in such a good mood ever since he had come here. He still looked pretty outworn and a little paler than usual, it would take quite a while before he would fully recover from those curses, but that sparkle in his eyes she had always remembered him for was finally back.
Quite a lot of students had complained to her about him - his lessons, his behaviour in the classroom, the homework, the detentions and everything that had to do with him basically. She truly hoped those students would benefit from his good mood today as well, otherwise she wouldn't be able to ignore their complaints any longer and would have to talk to him or to the headmaster about it.
When three of her 5th year Gryffindors entered her classroom after their first lesson she already knew what to expect. She knew the timetables by memory and those three were coming straight from their potions class.
Gentlemen, what can I do for you? She asked and looked up from her newspaper.
We need to speak to you about Professor Snape. One of them said, the other two simply nodded.
Did you already consider speaking to him before coming to me? She asked and took off her glasses.
No, Professor, because actually none of us wanted to risk a few more hours of detention.
McGonagall sighed and leaned back in her chair. So what is the problem?
Well, he's handing out detentions for nothing, he's expecting us to know things we were never taught before, he's making us write essays that are taking us a whole day to finish and today he returned them to us and told half of the class to write them again because they weren't good enough!
It's not an unusual procedure to have students rewrite their essays if the outcome wasn't adequate. McGonagall replied.
It's never good enough for him, no matter what we do!
I have to agree that Professor Snape is expecting a lot from his students but in the end you will be the ones to benefit from this. She said.
Not if none of us will make it through this year to ever see that day when we might benefit from it... The boy muttered under his breath.
I beg your pardon, Mr. Chesterfield?
Nothing, Professor. I just thought we should rather go now, we have some essays to write...
I will speak to Professor Snape about your concern. McGonagall said.
The boy suddenly went pale. You won't mention my name, will you?
Don't worry about that. She put her glasses back on and continued reading her paper. A few minutes later she set it aside again, got up from her chair and walked out into the corridor to search for the headmaster.
It didn't take her long to find him. She spotted him walking along a corridor on the second floor and made a few quick steps to catch up with him.
Albus, do you have a minute?
Actually I'm on my way to the kitchen because one of the house elves came to me about an enchanted cooking pot running amuck down there, but if you'd walk with me, of course.
I've had some students complaining to me about Severus. She started.
Really? Why could that be?
He seems to be expecting a little too much from them from time to time and he might also be taking things a little too seriously when it comes to detentions.
Is this regarding only Gryffindor students? The headmaster asked.
No. I spoke to the heads of the other houses and they also had heard complaints about him, although Gryffindors seem to be affected worst.
Dumbledore sighed. Well, it seems as if he hadn't changed much since he was a student. He was always expecting a lot from himself as well so I'm not surprised he's treating his students the same way now. Did you speak to him about this?
No. I thought if he's still only half as headstrong and stubborn as he used to be when he was younger I should rather leave this to you. I never had much of an influence on him.
I'm afraid none of us ever had a lot of influence on him. Dumbledore replied and stopped at the top of the staircase leading down to the kitchen. Let's just give him a few more weeks. If nothing changes, I will talk to him.
Yes, that should be best. She nodded at him, turned away and walked back along the corridor. She hadn't gotten too far when she had to stop abruptly in order not to run into a boy who had obviously come running along another corridor and landed face forward on the floor right in front of her.
Aren't you supposed to be in a classroom? She asked as the boy quickly got back to his feet.
Uhm, yes, Professor. Well, not really. He replied, gasping for breath. Actually I'm searching for a bunny. I've been following it and I thought I could catch it and jumped at it.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow and glanced around. I didn't see anything. She said.
Sure, you couldn't, because it disappeared. The boy explained.
Are you feeling all right, Mr. Hughes?
Yes, Ma'am. I... there! Excuse me! He replied and set off running along the corridor, apparently chasing that invisible bunny again. McGonagall simply shook her head and continued on her way to the staff room. She hoped at least there she might find a place where she could finish reading the newspaper without being disturbed again. She had already gotten far enough to actually see the door she was looking for before she met two more 3rd year students muttering a quick 'Excuse me' before shouting 'There's one!'. She didn't even bother to ask anymore - whoever might feel responsible for this should take care of it, but she wouldn't. Not before she had read her paper.
She smiled to herself when she found the staff room completely empty, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down in the green armchair in the corner of the room. Already ten minutes later she came to the conclusion that this particular issue had not really been worth reading, left it lying on the table for anyone else who might want to take a look into it nonetheless and left the staff room again to check the lists for the extra transfigurations lessons on the blackboard.
You didn't happen to see any of my 3rd years?
She whirled around at the sudden sound of a voice right behind her. Do you sneak up on people like that just to see if you can startle them? She asked.
Not at all my intention. Severus replied.
As a matter of fact I did meet three of those students you're looking for about fifteen minutes ago, telling me they were chasing bunnies in the castle.
Did they catch it yet?
McGonagall raised an eyebrow at seeing him not surprised at all. You wouldn't mind to explain this to me?
Potions accident, so to say. He replied. And one that would not have happened if someone would realise that the order in which I'm writing down the ingredients actually has a meaning behind it, if I may add this.
McGonagall sighed. I won't ask you how exactly this happened, but what are we dealing with now?
Oh... just a few bunnies. Rainbow coloured and disappearing into thin air whenever you try to catch them.
How many are we talking about here?
Severus turned his head to take a look at the old clock at the wall. It's been half an hour already so I suppose it should be around... two hundred by now.
Two hundred? This was not quite what she would call 'a few'. Did I get this right, they're multiplying?
In a manner of speaking. He replied with a sly smile. Once we catch the first bunny though, the real one, no more copies will be created.
McGonagall couldn't help but smile. Let me tell you one thing, Severus: I'm truly glad that this isn't my class.
I have to admit I had hoped for a little more support from you.
Now you didn't expect me to run along corridors and chase bunnies, did you? She asked.
No, although the idea creates quite an amusing picture. But if you wouldn't mind, just in case you accidentally came across a rainbow coloured bunny, would you please catch it and should it not disappear right away, hand it over to me?
I'll be looking out for them. McGonagall replied and smiled at him. Good luck with your search.
Thank you. He muttered while turning away.
Severus wasn't too successful on his hunt. The bunny in question was found and caught two days later at dinner in the Great Hall by a few Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students, treated with another potion and handed back to its owner. Its 'offspring' however had by this time already infested the whole castle and even though Mr. Filch spent most of his time searching for those bunnies there was no telling how long it would still take to finally get rid of them. Severus had handed out detentions to those students who had involuntarily invented the potion that had caused all this chaos as well as to the girl who had brought her pet to the lesson. All in all he was definitely even a lot less amused about the whole incident than the other staff members but at least none of the students dared to complain about their detentions because they knew that this time, their teachers would turn a deaf ear to them.
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AN: Thank you everyone for reading! I'm glad none of you seemed to hate the last chapter because it was pretty hard to write for me. This one was a quick one, written in one night... I hope you liked it anyway although I have to admit it was a pretty meaningless chapter, wasn't it?
carpathia: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Vivid imagination... thank you :)
Ronnie: Thank you! Was the last chapter so short? Didn't look that short to me... this one's definitely shorter ;)
shadowycat: Thank you! It's interesting that you bring up the chess game, because I have often thought about it like that as well. Do I believe a point of no return doesn't exist? No. I often tend to identify with Snape quite a lot, especially in this story, so he doesn't believe it because I don't ;) I just think that we often make the mistake to believe we had already reached this point simply because it's easier to surrender to the mistakes we made than to try and change something.
