Chapter 14

Not long after Harry left his quarters did Snape have the meeting with the headmaster, McGonagall and madam Pomfrey. He walked up the stairs till he arrived at the Gargoyle. "Fizzing Whizbee" he told it and then it moved to reveal the turned staircase that lead to the headmaster's office. He knocked on the door and stalked into the room. Both Dumbledore and McGonagall were already there, having small talk. They looked up as he strode in. He took one of the two empty seats that stood around Dumbledore's desk. He didn't join the conversation that the other two occupants of the room continued to have.

A few minutes passed before the floo flared up and Madam Pomfrey stepped through. Greeting the others as she took the last free seat at the desk between Snape and McGonagall, since the tall man had sat himself in the chair furthers away. The chatter went on for another minute before Dumbledore took the meeting to a more serious level.

"Severus, did you already talk to Mr. Potter?." The headmaster asked him calmly, raising his eyebrows a little in question.

"I did," He answered, not showing the annoyance he felt towards the headmaster for being right about Potter opening up to him. "and I have a memory I think you should watch." He waved his wand in the air and summoning the Pensieve that Dumbledore kept in his office. The two women watched the interaction with interest as they had not yet been told what all this was about.

"What's all this about, Albus?" McGonagall asked, now curious as to what was going on.

"Unfortunately, something came to light concerning Harry Potter and Professor Lockhart." The headmaster said with a sorrowful sigh. This of course didn't make things any clearer.

Snape in the meantime had pulled out the memory and dropped it into the large silver bowl. He had already picked the memory out of his mind before he came here and put it in a small bottle. He wanted to make sure that only the things necessary were there, so he had had to cut it a little shorter but not much else needed tempering with.

He signalled the older man that he was ready. "Perhaps it is best to watch the memory first. However I feel the need to warn you that its contents may be of a dark nature and should not be taken lightly." The headmaster's cryptic words sounded. He motioned the two ladies to join him, and the three of them put their heads in the Pensieve. Snape did not join them as he had already seen it.

He sat down in one of the chairs, his thoughts drifting off to what would come next and how they were going to solve this problem. It continued on to a plan he would set in motion if nothing else could be done. He was not going to share these thoughts with his colleges, as he was fairly certain they would not (completely) agree with him.

In the earlier days of Wizarding World people like Lockhart had gotten different punishments than they got these days. Now they were simply sent off to Azkaban, but long before the war against Voldemort or Grindelwald there was a potion that was forced upon rapists and child molesters. Now however the potion was banned and considered dark, but that does not mean the recipe couldn't be found. In fact Snape was pretty sure that it was in one of the books in his private quarters.

Before he could speculate more on his plan he was roused out of his thoughts as the others emerged back from the Pensieve. Madam Pomfrey's face was sad and tears were in the corner of her eyes. Dumbledore himself had gone a lot paler and was trying hard to keep it all together. McGonagall however was angry, there was a sadness on her face as well, but most of all she was furious. How could this have happened without anyone noticing for so long!

"How could this have happened?!" She said, her voice a little louder and stronger than usual. She turned towards Dumbledore with questioning eyes. He led that man into the castle, he trusted that man with the children!

"I don't know." The old man answered tiredly. They all took their seats once more before the headmaster continued. "What's more important now however is how we are going to deal with this?" He tried to sound steady and assembled, but his face spoke of a different world where clouds betrayed their usual sunshine.

"We need to call an auror in on this; that man needs to be arrested and locked up." McGonagall said sternly.

"In any other situation I would agree, but I don't think it is wise to do so now. I'm positive that reporters would get wind of this…"

"But they keep the identities of the victims secret in trails like these." Madam Pomfrey chipped in.

Dumbledore turned sad eyes towards her as he answered "They do. However this is The Boy-Who-Lived, they will figure it out eventually. Either because he is missing from school at the same time as the trials are or because he might be seen nearby. If we go to aurors with this, there will be a trial, and I do not think it is in Harry's best interest if the whole Wizarding World knew about this."

They all heaved a sigh as they thought about that. The silence stretched on until McGonagall interrupted it. "He can still be fired on suspicion, right? That way at least he won't be hired near any children."

"Yes it seems that is the best solution for now." Dumbledore contemplated. "Lockhart will be gone by the end of the evening. As for Harry, he will come to the infirmary for a check-up at four o'clock. Severus, could you be there as well since he trusted you enough to talk?" It was more of an order than a question. The sparkle that usually resided in the headmaster's eyes had faded after they watched the memory, but it had returned at the thought of his two favourite boys becoming closer.

Snape merely gave a nod of his head in agreement. They talked a bit more and then rounded up the meeting. They had agreed to keep a closer eye on the boy, but that was not Snape's main thoughts at the moment. As he had suspected there was not much going to be done about Lockhart since the headmaster had forbidden them from doing anything else to the bastard. At least that is what his words were saying, his expression clearly had other ideas. And Snape knew exactly which one to listen to, he already had something planned and he still had some time to set his plan in motion before he was supposed to be in the infirmary.

He entered his private quarters and walked over to one of the bookshelves. After a minute of looking he found the book he was looking for; it was a book on dark potions. It was called Penology Potions Throughout The Ages. It covered several potions that had been legal and actively used in earlier ages on criminals, depending on their committed crimes. However most of these were no longer used or in several cases even became illegal.

The potion Snape was looking for was now considered a dark potion, so he had to be careful. He looked at the recipe and then went to his storage cupboard and collected the ingredients he needed. He moved into his office which also functioned as his personal potions lab. He started preparing the ingredients and put silver cauldron on the fire. The potion was not very difficult to make, but it did require precision.

He was done at a quarter to four, all it needed to do now was shimmer on a low fire of a few hours and it would be completely ready. He cleaned up the last of his things and left for the infirmary. When he arrived Potter was not there yet so he sat down in Madam Pomfrey's office as she had coerced him in doing so. After twenty minutes the boy still wasn't there and Snape was getting annoyed.

When half an hour had passed he stood up to leave. Madam Pomfrey assured him that the boy had probably just forgotten about it and they would make a new appointment for the next day. After Snape left, she fire called McGonagall, letting her know that Harry hadn't show up and that she expected him tomorrow at the same time.

When he got back to his office, he checked up on his potion before settling to mark some essays. It was a dull job but he needed to finish it and he needed to pass the time. After an hour he went back to his potion, it was almost done now. All he needed to do was add the last few ingredients and stir three times counter clockwise.

He bottled the finished potion in four vials, three needed to be administered, but he wanted to keep the fourth to be sure. He called his house elf and gave him the assignment to spike Lockhart's drink for the next three days. The house elf took the vials; he would put one in the next drink Lockhart ordered from the kitchen. For the others he would have to sneak into the man's house to do so, as his master had already informed him that Lockhart wouldn't be in the castle much longer.

He arrived in the great hall for dinner and was glad to see that Lockhart wasn't there; with a bit of luck he had already left the castle. His suspicion was confirmed when Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

"Attention please. I regret to inform you that as off today Professor Lockhart will no longer be teaching at this school. Certain events caused us to lose the trust we put in him to teach properly and to care for his students in a dignified manner. I will be looking for a replacement for your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, in the meantime however your classes will be taught by Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and I. Now please enjoy your meals." With a clap of his hands the food appeared on the tables.

During his speech all students had fallen silent, but now murmur rose in speculation of what had happened. Draco, the only other student who knew what really happened, looked happy and relieved. Harry on the other hand was still tense, he was scared that word would get out. But he was also relieved he didn't have to see Lockhart ever again. He looked up at Snape and when the man locked eyes he gave a short nod of appreciation that Snape answer with a small nod in acknowledgement.