A few weeks past, almost every minuet, for Hermione at least, was spent in the library, trying to recover a spell that would work on bringing back Professor Snape's old self. Harry and Ron laughed at this, they didn't know why she wanted the old meanie to return. Some of the Slytherin's even tried to help Hermione; they didn't like the idea of the dungeon being painted pastel colors, and hated the idea about Snape singing Jimmy Buffett's, Margaritaville on the top of his lungs. Not to mention, Snape kept giving points to Gryffindor instead of taking them away. Harry and Ron were walking with Hagrid, trying to explain that Hermione was taking it too far with the research when they heard the all too cheerful voice behind them.

"Oh, hey boy's! Hagrid! Nice to see you old buddy! Have you lost weight?" Hagrid mumbled something under his breath and turned around.

"Ah, Severus! Nice to see ya out an' about!" Snape smiled.

"Oh yes, it's too beautiful of a day to miss out on." Hagrid nodded. He looked down at Harry and Ron and rolled his eyes before looking back at Snape.

"Well, seems like the trip in America served you well. I hear some rumors goin' around of you and Minerva---"
"I did not have sexual relations with that women!" Snape cut in. Harry and Ron tried to keep their mouths from dropping open.

"Um, Harry, let's go find Hermione." Ron said, but Harry was already gone, Ron had to run to catch up. Hagrid turned back to Snape and just smiled.

"So…tell me more about your trip." Hagrid sat down on a bench, Snape joined him.

"It was amazing, I saw all these dolphins and everything!"

"Really?" Hagrid tried to sound amazed.

"Oh yes. SAVE THE WHALES!" Snape yelled, Hagrid scooted closer to his hut.

"Is that so?"

"I wrote a song while I was there."

"Oh, you did?"

"Yes, it's called Big Pink Elephant…you want to hear it?" Hagrid jumped when he heard this.

"Um…oh, is that my tea I hear? Maybe later Severus, I think I'm going to burn my tea." Hagrid ran inside his hut, leaving Snape outside, smiling. Snape decided to leave after a while when Hagrid didn't come back outside. At that moment, he was knocked to the side, making him trip into the lake that sat next to the school. He looked up and saw a few students he didn't recognize watching him. Snape thrashed around, trying to get out of the lake, but the water and his long robes didn't match.

"Help! Help! I'm a fish!" He screamed as he tried to stand up. He stopped squirming a little bit and removed his outer cloak before standing up. A quizzical expression came across his face and he turned to the nearest student.

"Um…Do you think I'd get thrown out of Hogwarts for streaking around the school?" The student just stood there, starring at the professor, backing away slowly before turning around and walking a little faster. Snape shrugged and looked at students that walked passed him.

"Watch out…it's kind of slippery." He tried to giggle before running off to change his clothes.

***********************************

"Any luck?" Ron asked Hermione as they walked down the halls.

"Nope, none at all. They're expecting a few books I put on order, maybe those will tell me something." Hermione looked straight ahead of her and saw Snape walking down the hallway, waving at them.

"Oh great, here he comes." Hermione said before she smiled and waved back. Harry and Ron just looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Hey G! How are you doing?" Hermione shuddered at that name. Ever since she told him to call her by her last name, he found out it was much easier calling her G instead of Granger.

"Not bad. How are you?"

"Seriously?" Snape leaned into Hermione, she nodded, taking a step backwards.

"Yes, seriously."

"Well, I'm afraid to fart because I might shit my pants, but other than that, I'm not doing too bad." The three kids tried to force a smile. They had no where to walk, Snape had cornered them. A small meow was heard and they looked down. Ms. Norris was sitting there, looking up at the four people and and Snape bent over and petted it.

"Severus." A frail voice sounded from behind him. Mr. Filch walked up to them and nodded.

"Oh Mr. Filch, I never noticed how cute your cat is! Who's a cutie? Are you a cutie? Yes you are! You are so cute!" Filch rolled his eyes.

"Come Ms. Norris, we have things to get done." Snape gave the cat one last pet before waving good bye to Filch's back.

"Hey! Guess what I saw today?" Harry, Ron and Hermione shrugged, wanting to get away from the professor.

"What did you see today?" Harry said.

"I was taking a walk outside and I saw a squirrel, he was eating a nut. He was doing this." Snape put his hands up to his mouth, bared his top teeth and did the best impression he could of a squirrel eating a nut.

"That's nice." Hermione said, finally managing to squeak by Snape, pulling Ron and Hermione with him.

"He was so cute!" Snape said, turning around to face them every inch they moved.

"Well, we better be going now, we have a test to study for." The other two kids nodded with Hermione's excuse.

"Well then, don't study too hard!" The kids took off running.

"Where are we going?" Ron asked when they went the opposite direction of their rooms.

"Dumbledore. I don't think he knows how critical this is getting. We can't even have a normal conversation with him." They ran to his door and gave it a knock. They knew this sometimes worked because Dumbledore sometimes heard it.

"Do you remember the password?" Hermione turned to Harry.

"No, we haven't needed it yet this year." Hermione thought for a second then turned to the door.

"Lemon drops." Hermione said aloud, and surprisingly the door opened. The three kids laughed, knowing how much their headmaster loved Lemon drops. They got to the top door and knocked on that one. A polite 'come in' was heard from the other room and they entered.

"Good afternoon, Harry, Ron, Hermione. What can I do for you?" Dumbledore threw an arm out at the chairs behind them, offering them a seat. They sat.

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed about Professor Snape." Hermione stated. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, I have noticed a slight change."

"Slight?" Hermione's voice made the rest of them jump, she lowered her eyes.

"It's more than a slight problem." Hermione corrected herself. Dumbledore looked at her and clasped his hands together.

"How so?"

"Let's just say he cornered us today and said he saw a squirrel eating a nut and looked like this." Ron tried to do his best impression of Snape. Dumbledore chuckled.

"That is a bit odd, I'm afraid. Hermione, I understand you have been trying to look up cures?" Hermione nodded.

"Has there been any luck?"

"No sir." Dumbledore nodded.

"As far as I am concerned, I don't know any reversal magic spell that would cure this. It might be a temporary spell, but it wouldn't last for more than a few hours at the most. Has he really been that big of a bother?"

"You have no idea." Hermione rolled her eyes, Harry started laughing. Dumbledore smiled.

"I have no idea where he could have picked it up. Although, I have heard that some Americans are weird, he could have picked it up from hanging around them for too long. I have tried to talk with him, but he doesn't say much that makes sense, always changing the subject. He keeps talking about his song he made up, I think it's called Big Pink Elephant? It's actually a catchy tune if you ask me." Dumbledore sat back in his chair, waved his hands around like he was conducting and started humming the song. Hermione, Ron and Harry tried to sit as patiently as they could until he was finished.

"Do you have any more suggestions?" Hermione begged.

"No, sadly I do not. However, you three have always found a way to get around things, what would you say to leaving it up to you guy's to find the cure?" Hermione barely had a chance to open her mouth before Dumbledore announced the deal finished. They thanked Dumbledore and walked out of his office.