Warning: Language. Not beta'd. Remember English is not my native language. This story is a little strange and out of the ordinary. If you like please review. A little challenge also: What if the war was over and the MOM was encouraging adopt a Mudblood for say a weekend. What would happen if the Malfoy's got Herminone and so on. Email if you write it I'd love to read this.

This chapter has nothing to do with the last. Just more Snape torture. Snapes POV mostly.

Password Reset.

By Wittchway

"Severus, I only have a few minutes. What did you want to talk to me about?" Dumbledore stood behind his desk quickly waving the potion master in. He then turned to the wall of books behind the desk and began to pull random books setting them on his chair. He still had quite a bit of packing to do before he left for vacation.

A small growl startled the Headmaster and turned he looking over the rim of his moon shaped glasses. "Severus?"

"Headmaster, I would appreciate your full attention. To look at me and to understand," Snape voice was little more than a whispered growl. Red blotches had appeared on each pale cheek.

Albus Dumbledore moved the books from his seat to the desk, sitting down in his seat, he hadn't seen Severus Snape look this serious in a long time. The potion master clutched a few rolls of parchment in his hand. Dumbledore motioned for him to take a seat, Severus only shook that notion away. Dumbledore took a deep breath and steeled himself for the bad news. It was always bad news when Severus acted like this.

Snape closed his eyes trying to remain calm. He just knew if he could stay reasonably even-tempered this year that Dumbledore would see his point of view. If he could just not yell, scream and manage not to throw anything that he would have a better chance of escaping Dumbledore's yearly torture.

So he began to pace, slowly, calmly, hands clutched behind his back, still grasping the small roll of parchment.

"Dumbledore…Albus," calm Severus, remain calm, he chanted to himself, breathe, "Albus" he paced, "I have been in your employ for nearly 14 years." He glanced at the headmaster out of the corner of his eye. "And within that time we have acquired several new teachers. Namely Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers and the Care of Magical Creatures now taught by Hagrid..."

"Severus...?" the headmaster groaned cutting the man off, resting his head in his hands.

"Sir I bid you to let me finish," Snape continued to pace, "as I was saying. Hagrid became a teacher after me. Nearly 12 years after me. That making me no longer the junior member of the staff..."

"Severus, " Dumbledore stood, "we have had this conversation each year." he said tiredly he held up his hand to stop any protests from Snape. "And as I have told you each year. Hagrid has been employed here since before you were born. Until a Defense teacher completes one year and plans on returning the following year, you are the junior member of the staff."

Snape stopped pacing. "Hagrid was not a teacher until two years ago." Snape stopped pacing shaking the rolls of parchment, "and as per contract based upon Hogwarts tradition. He is the junior member of the staff. He is the last teacher to become fully employed by this school" he spat the distasteful words unrolling the parchment on Dumbledore's desk.

"See here" he pointed taking out a magnifying glass to read the tiny minute writing of long ago. "Section 174, paragraph 12, line 9: Per Hire date and agree date of said teacher. See the word teacher." Dumbledore nodded sighing as his potions master tried to make a valid point.

"…Newest member of the staff, this being Hagrid, will carry on said traditions set and approved by the Headmasters." Snape stood obviously pleased that he had found such a clause in the Hogwarts teacher's rules.

Now he would soon be exempt from this year's yearly hell of resetting all the password through out this damned school. 365 password, mind you. Passwords he had neither rime nor reason to reset. It was a stupid tradition that the most junior member of the school be given the task of resetting the password through the entire school. All 365 of them, by himself.

He understood the tradition. He would be the first to admit it was a good tradition. Damn good tradition. To a point.
It was to teach the new teacher the ways around the school, all those hidden passages and the teachers dorms and studies, offices and private rooms. To keep the children out of corridors they had no business being in, to keep younger students in their place or from hurting themselves in the more advanced classrooms.


Sure it had helped him learn the secrets of the school, yes he had mocked this tradition when he had been given the task. After all he had just spent 7years in school here. 7years of sneaking out, late nights, his own invisibility cloak. But it had helped him learn the short cuts a little faster, to learn of secret halls and staircases that were only open to the teachers.

But really one only needed to do this One or two years, maybe even three had been plenty. Four & five years had been a push. Six he had spoken up, half offering the job to others. Seven he offered to let the teachers set their own passwords. He had no business resetting the passwords to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Those were tasks the heads of house should be setting. Eighth through 11th year he had ignored the task and had acted stupid like he didn't know what the professors were talking about when they had asked him to reset the passwords.

Little to his knowledge some passwords expired at midnight of August 31 at which point he had to rush about the school coaxing the doors and portraits in to accepting passwords. Which in the end had resulted in more work for him. Arguing with a door at three clock in the morning was something he did not want to repeat. Some of the doors and portraits, statues and gargoyle's where most unpleasant when woken up.

Of course he had the whole summer to complete the task. The other teacher's submitted the passwords they wanted to use for the next school year by June 15 and then he could complete the task little by little over the course of the next couple of months.

I choose of course to do the task all in one shot. Why would I want to spend my summer wandering this hell of a school telling the fat lady that the password in October was going to be Griffin? Does that even make sense? Does it make sense that I would reset Gryffindor passwords? No it doesn't.

Now I am a reasonable man. I understand why all the heads of house should be knowledgeable of the other common rooms password. This is after all a school of magic. There are emergencies and accidents, blunders and contastray's and any teacher should be able to get in there and help. Not to mention experimental hexes and spell, potions gone a rye, the return of Voldemort, the Weasley twins...well any Weasley. And with Potter around and his little troop of imbeciles I don't doubt that I need to know the password to Gryffindor. But for Merlin sakes can't McGonagall just send me an owl. I have a good memory I won't forget the passwords. Hell I could probably guess it all the passwords are so typical of the house they represent.

I almost hate to admit this and it's only in the middle of the night after a couple of shots of firewhiskey that I will. And I'll hex you seven ways to hell and back if you tell anyone but I almost wished... and this is hard. I hadn't out'ed Lupin as a werewolf. He's the type of soul that would be happy to do this sort of task. He would undertake it with a quiet reserve I never possessed. I had been so close to the end of my yearly torture.

Hagrid had only been teaching two complete years. Now last year most of the summer had passed before I remembered to be upset on the password deal. Of course as soon as it popped in to my head I had owled the headmaster to let him know of the change in status. He had asked me to complete one more year as he was out of town and Hagrid had already gone for the summer. That year I had almost skipped from password reset to password reset. Then this year these dunderhead teachers had started to send me their password resets. Me. I had refused them politely then gathered them up and sent them to Hagrid.

The numbskull had sent them back, saying Dumbledore said he was exempt. Exempt. Can you believe that?

So there I stood before the headmaster the roll of ancient Hogwarts traditions laid out before him. He was squinting at the small writing that twisted and wound it's way across the page. Different colors of faded ink, splotches of times and finger prints of other desperate teachers that had poured over these old scrolls for they two had been rope into some repulsive Hogwarts tradition. and there were hundreds of them.

I crossed my arms as the old man looked over the passage I had pointed out. He muttered to himself, moving the magnifying glass over the yellowing parchment. He turned the scroll this way and that way. Over and under, skipped to the bottom and again to the top. His brow frowned and smirked even ah'd a few times. I stood there in my most menacing poise with the look of fury and defiance on my face. I was daring him to look up at me, to tell I that there was some loophole because I wasn't wearing red sock that this was a binding agreement. I dare him. I despised him. I would curse him.

"Severus" the headmaster called.

I hated him.

I could hear it in his voice mocking me, I could see it in that damn blue twinkle of his eyes. I growled at him. I know I did, there was no denying it. I did I admit it. I could tell he was trying to maintain a nice tone with me. After all I had come to him every year but this year I would win. Had to win.

"Severus" he was trying to be gentle. "See here line 42." he moved the glass over the line.

"…If said new teacher has taught prior to accepted employment of new school…".

"He hasn't taught before you know that".

"Severus let me finish".

"...Or if new teacher has assisted more than a 160 total day as teachers assistance within a five year period or teached a total of 80 alone or with little supervision. Said teacher is grandfathered in and is exempt from most initiation tradition unless said teacher wishes or agrees to the terms…"

I hate him.

Dumbledore looked up over the moon shaped glasses, "believe Hagrid assisted Professor Kettleburn on quite a few occasions. More than stated. Ole' boy looks like you will have to convince Hagrid to take over the ...task."

Snape tore the parchment from Dumbledore's hand and read the passage for himself. A low dangerous growl escaped him. The rage slowly streamed through his veins. He clenched his fist, bunched his shoulders up, his pale skin turned red and he started to grind his teeth.

Dumbledore stood up slowly, "Severus" he said softly "it's not like I do these things intentionally. But we must follow the guidelines and tradition set by the four founders of this school. While it is a little out of a ordinary for this to go on for so long..." Albus stopped talking.

Snape was now rubbing his temple, eyes tightly closed.

Dumbledore looked at him with an amused concern. "Perhaps I could be so inclined to do the password resets this year for you. It would be a nice refresher, there are parts of the castle I haven't visited in years." he chuckled merrily

Severus looked up. "Oh by Merlin Albus. You and I know damn well you are just messing with me. I'll do" he screamed. "I always do it. I'll be doing it for the next hundred years, till the day I die." He stomped his right foot ripping the 42foot scroll of parchment from Dumbledore's hand.

TBC

Next Snape Resets the schools Passwords in his own unique way.