Chapter 6 – Mistrust and Werewolves
*** Fixed invisibility cloak mistake 12/12/02, thank you to Charlotte Black and Jinxx Alleycat for pointing that out, I'm such a dunce! As for the Point system…well…I'll just leave it, for she'll get the use of it in the next couple of chapters anyway, but thank you for pointing that out Jinxx – much appreciated!***
A/N: Sorry this took so long to update, I've had trouble writing one of the scenes. If you want to be mailed when I update please tell me in a review ^_^! You'll all be happy to know that the next chapter will have the Snape/Hermione stuff creeping in. I hope you like this chapter, because the plot thickens!
Thanks to: Footmonster, Purple*Passion, Mandy Snape, Snakecharmer, Hawkeyes, Charlotte Black, Sasery, Kitsunelover, Vara and Spunkz the wacked out Spaz!
Hermione walked down the corridor to the Library, her legs feeling like they were about to fold in on her at any moment. It was mid Tuesday morning, and her first class (which thankfully happened to be first years) was due to start in half an hour. She had spent yesterday afternoon with Snape going over what was to be done, and how she was to teach. He told her that help was only to be given to the first years during the making of the potions whenever said potions looked like they were about to explode. Otherwise, she was to leave the pupils alone for they were meant to have learnt about the making of it over the Halloween holidays. Hermione couldn't see the logic in not helping the pupils in their subject - for surely that was the role of the teacher? To Snape though, this was apparently not the case. Although he did not deny that a teacher was there to help, he did stress that the term 'teacher' came from the process of teaching somebody, and he had done this before the end of last term - by telling them to read a textbook. He also went on to say, with the greatest of sneers, that the pupil's job was to learn, and if this was not the case after two weeks of having time to learn something so simple then nothing could be done. Hermione was about to argue with this statement but was given a look of such hatred that she decided it was best to keep quiet. But she did vow to not stick to Snape's teaching methods - if, of course, they could be called that. She was determined to give help where needed and do Snape's job properly, for it was becoming clear to her that he was incapable of it.
Harry and Ron had, of course, reacted in a positive way to Hermione teaching potions. This was due to two things, one being that Snape would no longer be teaching them and two, they believed Hermione would mark them up. Well, they didn't actually believe it, for they knew Hermione would never do something like that - but they were hopeful of it. Both of the boys' faces, however, dropped when they found out Snape would still be marking all set assignments and exams. Still, they were both glad that they would no longer have to put up with him.
Hermione turned the corner and walked into the library, to find Marc filing books away ahead of her. She smiled,
"Hello."
Marc twisted round in surprise and lost his balance, letting the books he was holding drop to the ground. Several of them let out a sharp, hurt scream at their treatment. Marc clambered down the wooden ladder and began to pick each one up gently.
"I didn't realise anyone had entered," Marc said apologetically as he stood up and walked over to where Hermione had just sat down. Smiling in jest he said, "So I hear you've become an honorary member of the Hogwarts teaching staff."
Hermione looked taken aback,
"How did you know? I didn't know anybody else knew yet..."
"Oh you hear things when you work in such an exciting place as the school library," Marc flashed her a smile, then raised an inquisitive eyebrow,
"So...does this mean Snape has been fired?"
"Oh no," Hermione laughed, "Just suspended - Dumbledore is positive he'll be back in a couple of months. Supposedly they have no evidence to pin him down for anything else other than a few heated words."
"I see." Marc gave Hermione a brief smile then walked over to the bookshelves again to return to what he was doing before Hermione had entered. She put her head to one side,
"Why did you do that?"
"What?"
"Go cold on me all of a sudden."
Marc laughed,
"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about Snape's situation."
"I figured as much. You didn't look to pleased when I told you he was only suspended – don't you like him?"
"Me?" Marc shook his head, "Oh no, I don't know the man. Never had the pleasure of meeting him for he still hasn't visited the library this year. I've just heard rumours about him, that's all."
"Rumours? Of what?"
"Well, his loyalties for one," Marc let his voice drop to a whisper, "I mean it's not unlikely that he may not support Dumbledore as fully as he makes it look like he does...my mother always said never to trust shifty eyes."
Hermione's face filled with anger,
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to insinuate - but I trust Dumbledore's choice of teachers fully. And quite frankly I can't believe that Dumbledore would put his trust in someone without knowing for certain where his loyalties lie. To suggest something like that is to suggest that Dumbledore doesn't know what he is doing, and I can assure you he does."
Marc shrugged,
"All I'm saying is that I have no reason to trust Snape."
Hermione gave Marc a sarcastic smile,
"And you have no reason to distrust him."
Marc stopped what he was doing to look at her, his look received by a stony glare. After a moments silence he finally replied with a simple,
"Quite."
***
When Snape walked into the conference room at the Ministry Headquarters it fell silent as every head turned to look at him. He carefully sat down and gave the room a cold smile. Dumbledore had followed Snape in, but was much more cheerful and gave everyone a quick 'Hello!' as he sat down and made himself comfortable. At the far end of the table Lucius Malfoy stood up and gave a little cough to grab everyone's attention,
"Welcome everyone. You were called here today in light of new evidence concerning the death of our…most beloved…friend and Minister, Cornelius Fudge. As some of you already know I shall, for now, be standing in his stead."
"Isn't it such a coincidence that Fudge has been killed the year that you run for election?" Snape stated, angry at the look Lucius had thrown him when he had spoken the name Cornelius Fudge.
"Severus, let us all remind you that you are the prime suspect in his murder," Lucius drawled, "I would not go around throwing such accusations – they are more likely to draw more attention to you than to shift it onto anyone else."
Snape scowled and sat back in his chair. Lucius continued,
"As you all know, the murder was carried out in an odd fashion…that being without the use of magic. But, on this note, we have come to the conclusion that magic was used to get into the room."
Dumbledore leaned forward,
"And what exactly is meant by that?"
Lucius threw a file down on the table with force, so it slid across the table to where Dumbledore sat. Lucius smiled blankly,
"That is what the Daily Prophet did not tell you. All the windows were locked and undisturbed. All the entrances were either guarded or heavily boarded up. There was no way that anyone could have got into that room without the use of magic."
"I thought that it is impossible to Apparate inside Ministry buildings." Snape raised an eyebrow, curious as to what explanation Lucius would give over this predicament. Lucius let out an embarrassed cough, and several other people in the room let their eyes drift to the ground to avoid Snape's inquisitive glare. Lucius clenched his fists slightly and slowly said,
"The Minister has…or had…given permission for his office to be free of that particular rule. His reasons for doing so were, of course, his own…"
"What do you mean by that?" demanded Snape, knowing that Lucius was trying to keep something from him and Dumbledore – and most likely something that could help him get out of the situation that he was in.
"Fudge had several, hah, lady friends, that would have been allowed direct entry to his office."
"So he was a friend of prostitutes?" Snape smirked. Lucius looked irritated and gave Snape a controlled smile,
"That is not what I said. Do not try and twist my words, Severus, they were merely friends. But they were allowed direct entrance so their visits did not give the Minister undue embarrassment," Lucius waved his hand in an off-handed manner, "You know how the press can make something out of nothing."
Yes, thought Snape, I know all too well. Dumbledore smiled,
"I assume that these ladies have all been questioned about where they were on the night of his death?"
Snape watched everyone shift, once again, uncomfortably. I knew it, thought Snape; they want me to be guilty, therefore they are avoiding looking into other options.
"Not as yet…no," Lucius rubbed his hands together slowly, "But rest assured, we are at this moment tracking them down for such questioning." Lucius gave Dumbledore a stiff smile, "But I am afraid that the evidence is piling up quite significantly on Severus here."
"All you know is that I fought with him that night," Snape said confidently, "Bluffing will get you nowhere – for there is nothing else that I did that would imply any involvement in his death."
Lucius nodded then held out his hand and simply said,
"Your wand, please."
"What?" Snape put his hand to his pocket and held on to it defensively. Lucius sighed,
"You know the procedure for situations such as these…old friend. The room where Fudge was murdered has been checked by a highly trained member of our staff for traces of wand residue…"
"But magic wasn't used in his killing!" Snape argued.
"It could have been used at some other point that night – for example, entry into the office."
Snape hesitated and looked around him, realising that refusing to hand over his wand was making him look even more suspicious in the eyes of onlookers. Reluctantly, Snape pulled his wand out of his pocket and set it on the table. He knew what was going to happen next – they were going to bring in Robin Barley. Barley was the only known werewolf that had been allowed to work for the Ministry, and was given the job on Lucius' recommendations too. It was well known to Snape that every wand left behind magic residue for several days after it had been used, and that this residue had a distinguishable colour - to a certain degree. The colours could be narrowed down into categories of, for example, the type of wood the wand that had produced the magic was or what its core was made of. The purpose of Barley was that werewolves, in their canine form, were able to see this residue that was invisible to the human eye. Barley would therefore be able to report back on what colours he could see in Fudge's office, and check to see if any were a close match to Snape's wand. Snape had always been against the checking for magic residue, because he said that it was all too easy for Barley to lie. And he wouldn't put it past him.
Lucius gave Snape a cold smile and said,
"You will get it back in a couple of days…"
"Of course," Snape nodded stiffly, "Now if you'll excuse me…I have a class to teach."
"No you don't."
"If you really believe that…old friend…then you don't know me half as well as you think you do." Snape gave the room a brief smile, and then turned abruptly on his heels to speed out of the room, his robes billowing out behind him.
***
As the door to Snape's classroom closed after the last first year had left, Hermione let out a sigh and let her head fall on to Snape's desk. She muttered to herself,
"That did not go as expected..."
She hadn't expected to be bombarded by crumpled up parchment every time her back was turned, or end up with spitballs in her hair. But that's what had happened. The class was totally unruly, and had left a complete mess behind them. She tried to reason with them but it hadn't worked and, of course, she couldn't take points away. Her duties as Head Girl allowed her to give out warnings and detentions (as long as a teacher was consulted) but she was not allowed to use the point system. That was something she would have to talk to Dumbledore about - being allowed to take away or give points where she saw fit.
A rustling from behind her caused Hermione to swerve around in her chair just in time to see Snape appear out of nowhere, holding a cloak in his hand. He smirked,
"I must say you dealt with the spitballs superbly. Unfortunately, as you are not gifted with eyes on the back of your head, the note stuck to your back was neglected."
Hermione threw her hands to her back and felt around, and after several attempts grabbed hold of a piece of paper. She pulled it round to see what was written on it. Sprawled in bad handwriting were the words, 'Birds use my hair as a nest in springtime'. Hermione's jaw set in embarrassment and anger as she crumpled up the parchment and shoved it into her pocket. She noted Snape had stood perfectly still with a smirk on his face, that seemed to be verging on the edge of laughter, as she had struggled to get the note off her back. She stood up to face Snape,
"What are you doing here?"
"This is still my classroom, Miss Granger," Snape opened a wooden chest that sat behind him on the floor; to put the cloak he was holding away. After closing the chest he turned back to Hermione, "And if you are so presumptuous as to believe that I would neglect it then I would suggest you wake up pretty quickly."
Hermione stared at the chest Snape had just closed in realisation. Snape raised an eyebrow and said,
"Potter isn't the only one in this school with such a possession."
Hermione's cheeks reddened, not liking the fact that Snape had been watching her for the whole time the class had been in the room. Snape continued to speak,
"Your teaching methods leave a lot to be desired. You had no control over any of the pupils, your explanation of the potion the class were to make was poor and as for your practical skills...well," Snape gave her a cold smile, "I never realised how diabolical they were. Your skill to regurgitate words from your textbook may be of a high standard, but I do strongly advise you to get your head out of that book and practice some 'hands on' work. After all, a mouthful of words will get you nowhere in this world."
"It's got you places." Hermione replied back boldly, but Snape looked unabashed by the comment.
"Miss Granger," Snape said silkily, "Perhaps you are not aware, so I shall do you a favour and enlighten you: I am still above you…in many ways. And although you may now have control of teaching…the brats…that come to this school, you have no right to talk to me in such an offhand manner. You are still a pupil, and I am still a teacher."
Snape walked forward and picked up the Halloween work that the first years had handed in, and then walked to the door. Before he left, he turned to face Hermione and said sharply,
"Be here at 8pm tonight - you'll be cut to pieces by your 7th year class tomorrow if you act like you did today. You need to work on your attitude and the potion you will be making."
With those words Snape left the classroom, letting the door slam behind him. Hermione growled in irritation under her breath and looked around at the state of the classroom. She then whispered to herself,
"I think I'll just leave this for him to clean up…after all, it is his classroom – and he would never neglect it…"
Grinning happily, she picked up her bag and went to find Harry and Ron.
***
