Taran watched the students filtering into the great hall, keeping track of as many as possible as each took seat at their individual tables. It could tangibly feel the glare from the potions master, but decided to ignore the man for the time being. Except, well, it was impossible to not be amused, really. Taran's grin went a bit feral in the shadows of the hood. It was only a matter of time before Snape's next confrontation. The man was probably only waiting now on a lack of audience so that Taran would not have an excuse to weasel out of it.
It had to have been so disappointing for him last time, cornering his prey, only to have it duck out of his way. No, that would not happen again, not that Taran minded. It was curious and that might answer a few questions, but it would also be most problematic if done in public.
Taran brought its attention back to the doors to the great halls as half-giant swung them open, first years behind him. Its eyes narrowed, watching them, knowing each of them would be in its class at some point. Considering the books Taran intended to have on hand, it would need a way to prevent younger students from getting their hands on them. Not precisely a simple task that lay before it, but hardly impossible either.
The proper charms and hexes on the bookshelves and possibly the books themselves would be enough, along with safeguards. Something to only allow certain years to acquire certain books, and to prevent one from being passed down by a less than trustworthy older student. No, that shouldn't be too terribly difficult now that it thought about it, however it would need to be done as soon as possible after the ceremony had come to an end.
Of course, if Taran didn't start paying more attention to what was happening the ceremony would end without it even realizing. Except Taran would likely be introduced, and even if it was in another world somewhere, that would bring back the relevance of the tangible. With that reassurance, Taran allowed its thoughts to resume their drifting, working over and toying with the exact combination of spells to be used in setting up the classroom's mini-library.
Taran finally was pulled back into the here-and-now not, as anticipated, by its name, but position. Which was actually a more fortunate scenario since that would mean it wouldn't have to mull over memory to get context.
"...Defense Against Dark Arts Professor must be welcomed. Taran Dilerd," was what it heard Dumbledore say.
Taran's only response was slightly lifting from its seat, giving enough of a nod so as to make shift in the position of its hood visible from across the great hall, and after that it began watching the students once more, noting reactions, fear, curiosity, whispering. It was all highly anticipated, even the reaction of certain Slytherins, who first seemed almost respectful albeit uncertain before shifting into glares as they observed Snape's readily apparent opinion.
Taran smirked at the whole scene laid out before it. No, it seemed the students would not be quick to trust their newest professor. Taran really couldn't blame them, after all, it would have reacted the same were it in their shoes.
o-o-0-o-o
The hallway was empty as Severus went along it, looking irritable enough that even the Slytherin's would have dared not attempt to talk to him. If looks alone were enough to kill, well, he'd be a Basilisk. Even with what he knew, what he'd told Dumbledore the man had insisted on hiring that...scum as a professor.
Severus froze at the sound of footfalls approaching from behind him, eyes narrowed icily as he turned and found himself facing Dilerd, well, well, what a surprise. He could make out distinctly the silver eyes through the shadows. "Hello Professor," he snarled coolly, doing his best to keep temper in check.
There was a flash of teeth beneath the cowl, a grin. "I believe we had some unfinished business in Diagon alley."
"Ah yes," replied Snape sharply, "I don't know how you managed to blind everyone else, but I see right through you Dilerd, and I'm going to be keeping an eye on you."
"Oh really, for who," was the sharp quip as the cloaked figure gestured at his arm, which despite it being covered he grabbed by reflex.
His glare was vicious now, if it weren't for Dilerd being a fellow professor his wand would have been out. "You must think yourself awfully clever, a wolf accepted by a shepherd as a pet, hmm?" He smiled, for all the control Dilerd had been mustering, he'd hit right into the weak point he'd anticipated, and the reaction was visible though small.
"I'm not going to let you betray us all," Severus finished after maintaining silent victory for just a moment. With that last statement he waited for Dilerd's reaction, resisting the temptation to stalk off and leave the professor to wonder what he knew. Turning his back could prove rather detrimental.
The response was long in coming and slow when it did. "How did you know," it was soft, but there was no attempt at concealing to it and it gave Severus a bit of a start to realize he was hearing Dilerd's true voice.
He didn't show that though, he just snorted, shaking his head, "You aren't as clever as you think."
With a distinct narrowing of silver eyes it was Dilerd that ended up stalking off, and Severus glared at the retreating back with a feeling of victory that lasted only a moment before Dilerd paused and spoke, voice concealed once more. "Nor are you, Professor, nor are you."
Severus's eyes narrowed more distinctly as the figure resumed its retreat. That might well have been an empty bluff on Dilerd's part, but if it wasn't... He shook his head, holding back a snarl and wishing more than ever that Dumbledore had listened to him.
o-o-0-o-o
Taran looked over the bookshelf with a critical eye, wand out, caught in a state of pure analytical thought. All the spells and their interactions would be utterly perfect or Taran would not sleep until it came up with a way to get the desired effect. It paced around the shelf before finally giving a simple nod and shoving the wand into a deep pocket of its cloak.
The bookshelf had allowed Taran to not dwell on the confrontation with Severus, that had not gone well at all. It was still curious how Snape knew, was yet more curious how much more the man knew. Then was the real question: Whose side was he on?
Taran paced the room, it had been quite sure it knew before then, but now... Taran shook its head, one hand tracing under hood and through hair. The greatest frustration Taran had with the situation was that no matter what it found out about Snape, or who it told, the man could return the favor. Taran closed its eyes; taking a moment to breathe and calm down.
The library was finished, the Snape situation was undeniably beyond its control. All it could do now was focus on teaching the class and not proving whatever Snape had told the headmaster to be true. Which, for the moment, meant it was time to get to bed so that it would be ready to deal with students when morning came..
Author's Notes: Well, it's chapter three, waves little flags. Chapter four shouldn't be too far behind... just gotta get it mauled by my beta readers before posting it. And umm, I won't keep up your time rambling.
