Chapter 5
Severus Snape sat alone in his office, as was customary for him of an evening. Rueing the end of his short holiday he gently poured himself a tall glass of fine Romanian wine, with a tired sigh he looked over his lesson plans for the next month. It was lucky for him that his students took to knowledge like a snake took to singing, if they ever had any actual talent for the art of potion making he would have to start advancing at a much faster rate.
He let out a groan as the glass had been emptied, he really needed an extended holiday one of these days he thought for already the second time this year. School hadn't even started since the new year and his head throbbed.
He was no stranger to stress or pressure, he had learned a lot about himself when he had taken the dark mark, coming face to face with his own shame and self loathing though... that he knew he would never get used to.
His office was cold and unwelcoming, he would have laughed at the reflection it cast on himself if he had much capacity for humor anymore. It felt like an age ago that he had felt the burning joy of mirth, much to his annoyance the last had come from Dumbledore, no matter what he owed the ancient wizard he loathed the leash the man had given him.
The utter relief on the old mans face made Snape freeze, he still remembered it clearly to this day, he had hardly managed to look at Dumbledore in that moment. Fear; hope, dread, self hatred and panic waged war inside him.
Snape Stood angrily, memories of that night always unsettled him, he was different to that fool of a boy Dumbledore still tried to manipulate. He was under no impression he was a better person, he had become bitter and miserable in his long years stuck in these dungeons, the fact he had little option in the matter made things worse.
He had underestimated Dumbledore, back then the man seemed so righteous and good, standing in Voldemort's way at great risk to himself. Snape had been a fool, blinded by appearance and ignoring the actual man, thirteen years had been his punishment for his idiocy, with no end in sight.
Dumbledore had taken the scared and broken young man he had been and given him hope and promises, all Snape had had to do was risk his life, a price he had been too eager to pay. Love the old man had called it, maybe he was even right, but it had been sheer stupidity now he had a chance to look back on it.
His words still echoed in his mind as they had that day. "It's over Severus, it's over. He's gone." That hadn't been what he cared about and he knew it, it had just been another way to try and get him off balance. But Lily had lived and that had given Dumbledore all the ingredients he had needed to make of him whatever he wanted.
Snape still had no idea what that was, with Dumbledore's word he was cleared of all and any crimes, he could let Snape live a modicum of a life. He had learnt of Dumbledore's vindictive streak far too late, somehow even this felt like too much.
Teaching two of her children, it was worse than anything he had been made to do for Voldemort, he would have preferred to have died a long time ago. There would be a third one next year too, it wasn't exactly easy to look into the face of a miniature James Potter, but he made do after all hate was a terrific fuel. Rose, he knew she was called would be different, a miniature of Lily would break him.
The door to his office was suddenly flung open, he instinctively practiced his mastery of occlumency, cold anger floated to him when he saw Julian Yaxley strut into his office. He wouldn't have noticed the two first years floating gently behind Yaxley if he hadn't been more angry at himself than at the intrusion.
Snape waved his wand and cleared his desk of his lesson plans, he made sure to note that Yaxley had taken the time to investigate the closest ones. The boy showed potential at times, it was a shame he was just like his father though, a sharp mind didn't need to rot in Azkaban. Draco Malfoy was gently lowered onto his desk followed by Harry Potter, Snape suddenly wished he had more of that wine.
"What happened?" He demanded.
"They dueled Professor." Yaxley replied lazily. Snape wasn't about to be fooled by a child, the almost unthinking pulse of legilimency left him. He saw glimpses of the two dueling, some underlying smugness from Yaxley and a weighing feeling towards the boys.
Snape didn't really cared about what happened, the thing that mattered was the effects of what ever it was. Potter had been bleeding heavily out of a large gash in the side of his face, Draco looked like he was merely sleeping.
Snape cast a few basic spells any decent healer would learn very early into their education, Draco seemed fine except for a pain on his head that would be uncomfortable. Potter though was much worse for wear, he almost laughed at the sick circumstance, he wasn't bleeding currently and seemed at least stable.
"I take it only the house knows about this?" At Yaxley's nod he sighed, dueling inside of the Slytherin common room wasn't unheard of exactly. He assumed that with these two he would be having to deal with this a lot more than he would like, he should have put a stop to it long ago. "Leave us then Yaxley." He commanded, Yaxley bowed his head and walked out slowly.
A quick 'rennervate' woke Draco up, Snape watched as his godson scrambled up to his feet, he watched as his eyes fell on Potter. The sneer that crept up Draco's face was familiar, Snape decided to let him know he wasn't alone. The cough made Draco jump, he turned to glare at him then decided better of it when he saw Snape wasn't in the mood for his insolence.
"What happened?" Snape said using his skill in occlumency to make all of his emotion leave his voice, he found it worked very well for getting right to matters.
Malfoy shifted before he answered. "Yaxley forced us to duel, Potter tired to kill me, he can... he can speak to snakes Professor." Draco's voiced dripped with envy. Snape almost lost his grip of occlumency at that last part, he took another look at Potter as if he could see some new secrets in the boy.
"Forced you how?" He said as though Draco hadn't just gave him reason for another bout of headaches.
"Potter was trying to pull his wand on me, but Yaxley stopped him, I couldn't let him get away with that could i?" His smirk reminded Snape so much of Lucius it made him feel for the boy, another one going down the wrong path. He had made efforts to try and correct Draco's foolish notions but he had no chance when he went home to someone like Lucius.
Despite the boy's boasting Snape could see how things had went, a cheap shot from Draco had given him a chance to win the duel, but he messed up and Potter retaliated hard. Lucius' had the same style, it was effective in a battle but left him weak when alone, at time Snape had wished to have that opportunity. Snape had been in that same situation more times than he cared to count, he wouldn't give Draco the shame of letting him know though, some pride would do him good.
"What spell did you use for this?" He asked indicating the mess that used to be Potter's cheek.
"A 'diffindo' Professor." He replied with a hint of shame. Had he honestly not considered what a severing charm might do to a person? Snape would like to give the boy some real education on actions and reactions but Lucius would never allow it.
"Leave Draco, next time you get caught dueling remember that somethings aren't worth getting expelled for." Snape tried to let some hint of his true disappointment out in his tone, Draco merely shrugged and left. Snape might need to write a letter to Narcissa if he wanted anything to get better on that side of things.
Snape summoned a blood replenishing potion from his storeroom, Potter looked like he would need to take a good amount of it, it wasn't easy to pass out from blood loss after all. He had noticed as soon as he checked Potter that someone had cast the body bind curse on him, he knew it wasn't Draco since he hadn't thought anything through tonight.
Yaxley really did show some good potential, he may even have saved Potters life with his quick thinking and action, perhaps he could get Dumbledore to try and have a word with him. He cast the counter curse and followed it up with another spell healers used to stitch up wounds, he had hoped it would work but it seemed the damage done was too great. He would have to be quick as the bleeding began anew.
Snape sighed, he could cure this for Potter but it would leave a mark, after all dark magic left its traces on people, for better or for worse. In a soft voice he began to chant the incantation for the dark healing spell, it might not be the fastest spell or the safest but under his control it was very effective.
He had managed to fix a lot of terrible wounds using this, even the dark lord had been impressed, it made him feel sick how much pride he still felt at that fact. The skin of Potter's cheek slowly began to knit itself back together, it wasn't slow but the wound had long since stopped gushing blood.
After the skin was repaired he took a second to look over the wound that wasn't there anymore, a thin pale scar was staring back at him, Snape hated having to use dark magic on a student. He wished the boy had been cut somewhere he wouldn't see every time he looked at him, another reason to hate what he had become as if he needed more.
He decided to awaken the boy, he couldn't put it off really, he needed to drink the potion if he was going to make a full recovery. When Potter began to stir he seemed weak in his actions, but once his mind caught up to him he sat up quickly and looked around. When he realized he was alone with Snape he seemed to relax a bit, a fact that managed to give Snape a small surprise, he wasn't used to Potters being at ease with him.
"I've taken care of Mr Malfoy, he went on his way with a warning." He explained to the messy haired boy. He took the bottle of blood replenishing potion and walked towards Potter while unstopping the bottle. "You'll need to drink most of this." Potter took it and drank it without any fight.
Snape felt himself frown at him, did the boy actually trust him so much? Maybe his parents hadn't felt the need to tell him much about what had happened between them, thought what happened to Jasmine Potter he very much doubted they wanted to remember the name Severus Snape.
"The taste is your punishment for being foolish enough to get caught in a duel you weren't ready for, and for not blocking that spell." He said quietly.
Potter nodded as though he was thinking. "I underestimated Malfoy, i didn't think he wanted to actually hurt me." He said calmly as though he was talking about breakfast. Snape knew the boy was spoiled in his own way, maybe not what he had expected but he hadn't seen the horrors of the world yet. Maybe this incident would open his eyes, it wouldn't hurt to keep his eye on the boy for a while.
"So I hear, rather foolish of you to let out a secret like Parseltongue and not use it to your advantage." Snape felt his curiosity getting the better of him, he only wished he had been able to notice such things when he was younger. Potter's eyes went as wide as possible then lowered his head, he began to nod taking Snape's words as advice.
"What was that potion Professor? I feel it crawling inside me." Potter asked.
"A simple blood replenishing potion." He saw the young boy's eye widen again, Snape almost felt satisfaction at guessing the events correctly, the boy had lashed out and forgotten his serious injury until it brought him down. "You lost a lot of blood tonight Potter." He said gently, trying to urge the boy to continue opening up.
"I see, thank you Professor." Potter said sagely, he met Snape's eyes and he was suddenly struck with just how much they looked like his mother's. Maybe it was the fact he was grinning or maybe Snape had been to distracted but they were exactly like hers. "Not the best showing in my first duel."
Snape shook his head distractedly, hardly even noting the arrogance of the boy. He walked over to the door, opened it and tried to usher Potter out, having done all he could for him. "In the future i would advise, if you cant dodge a spell or block it or even counter it you shouldn't be in the duel. Failing all of those Potter, don't fight with an injury, you could die making a foolish choice in a fight."
"You've seen it haven't you? Battle I mean. I know it's nothing like a duel, but it felt so real tonight, is battle like that Professor?' Potter asked, his tone and eagerness belied his age and innocence. If he knew anything about the real world he would know how foolish he sounded.
Snape didn't answer he just indicated to the door again.
Potter laughed lightly. "My dad never talks about it either, good night Professor and thank you again." Snape slammed the door behind the arrogant little shit. The nerve of the boy, and to think he had been starting to think he had some potential too.
Harry found himself nursing a headache, it had nothing to do with Professor Binn's droning voice, it was Tracey Davis who caused it. For about two hours she had been talking at him, everything from how tired he looked to how strange parseltongue sounded, she was relentless. He was glad she had the sense to keep some things to a quiet volume and not blurting it out for the whole world to hear, it wasn't silence but he was starting to enjoy the little victories.
Daphne had been livid, she wasn't a fan of how he had went about things, she had lectured him about kicking people when they're down. All he had done was taunted Malfoy a bit, she made it sound like he had tried to start a fight, actually she made it sound like he was a brain dead troll but he gave her some benefit of the doubt.
Harry had been expecting his housemates to hate him or be afraid of him, speaking to snakes was a famously dark art, so when he entered the common room and saw people nod to him respectfully he couldn't believe his luck. It had also been apparent to him that no one had talked about what went on to the other houses, a rumor like that going through the school would be condemnation for him. A small link to the founder of Slytherin house would win him no favors with the rest of the school.
Malfoy had been seething when he made eye contact with Harry at breakfast, Harry wasn't sure who won the duel they had but he was sure he knew who had lost. He didn't goad Malfoy this time, he just ignored him like he would some dust.
He would need to practice some of those spells in the book Sirius had gotten him, Malfoy could prove to be a thorn in his side if he let him, Malfoy wasn't exactly a push over thought. The pride the boy had was astounding not to mention the self confidence, it seemed he genuinely believed being a Malfoy made him better than everyone else.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the class was dismissed, Harry hadn't made a single note all class, some way to restart the year. Before long he had found the routine from before Christmas was back into full effect, spending his time with more than his Slytherin friends was nice, he had found Daphne had been looking at him funnily and Tracey wasn't keeping any of her critical thoughts to herself.
Classes kept on with their usual formula of teaching useless spells that were designed to waste his time, he managed to cast most of them pretty quickly, except for defense against the dark arts though. If he managed to keep up with Quirrel he found he could learn some interesting things, not the most helpful though, the professor was still as snappish as ever making his students sit in silence as to not anger him.
Harry's rivalry with Malfoy had grown too, he was yet to be confronted by Malfoy but he knew it was only a matter of time, he had noticed him skulking around too often. He had noticed the drive to be better than Malfoy in class had pushed him to study deeper into the subjects rather than just going ahead, he remembered the look Malfoy had given him when in potions Snape had given Harry ten points for his "flawless" ingredient preparation.
He had been fascinated when he had realized the difference in his favored classes, with charms he had learned that precision and clarity in his casting was the key to perfect results, Flitwick had been jubilant to find a student with some real talent. Transfiguration was almost the opposite, he hardly needed to follow the wand movement, the skill laid in how focused he could be. Not as easy in a classroom with friends and a stern teacher who had a sharp eye, but when things worked out he had unrivaled results, the fully autonomous hedgehog he had transfigured attested to that.
McGonagall had been happy with his performance but she didn't give him any points, apparently not having favorites meant she just had much higher expectations for him. He had been reading Jasmine's old second year transfiguration book recently without much luck, it seemed that while she performed well in the class she hadn't gotten a firm grip of how it worked.
Daphne had noticed that Snape had been keeping an eye on Harry, she didn't know what for but she had seen that Snape swept past Harry in potions and in the hall more than strictly necessary. Harry didn't really care, Professor Snape had healed Harry when he needed it and he also hadn't told on him.
Harry had managed to get Susan and Hannah to agree to practice some spells with him Daphne and Tracey, they hesitated when they realized the spells weren't strictly for self defense but they had agreed when Harry told them some things about the duel he had shared with Malfoy. He had managed to hold most of the juicy parts back, he had noticed Daphne giving him an approving nod when he weaved his way around the many dangerous topics without stumbling.
"What will you do if you cant dodge it?" Susan asked sounding worried. Harry had only asked Daphne if she was able to cast the 'reductor' spell in a mock duel, he was pretty confident in his dodging but he had a plan if he couldn't.
"I dont want to get hit, Merlin i still remember what happened the first time Daphne managed to cast it at the stool." The inch long splinters had given him ideas but he was sure it was beyond him for now, but that didn't mean he couldn't try something similar.
They had started doing some basic duels for practice to try and get into the mindset of being in a fight, Harry had told them how he had been struggling to keep focused when dueling Malfoy, Tracey had the idea to try and recreate the situation for practice. Harry had quickly learned not to underestimate his friends, they had a nothing painful rule in place but that didn't mean things couldn't get dicey.
Hannah and Daphne were very quick at casting their spells, maybe not as accurate as they could be but the others still tried to dodge more often than reacting to the exact spell. Harry was aware that they would need to get over that hurdle before long, after all silent casting was a thing, he knew he would rather block a spell than be put on the run.
Daphne looked Harry up and down and gave him a small smile, she could be pretty damn scary when she tried to be. "Sure ill give it a try." And so they began. Harry cast a few weak spells at Daphne who tried to apply the counters in the time it took for them to reach her, Harry took the time she wasn't casting spells at him to cast some more.
Some simple tricks he had been trying out were becoming a habit for him Susan had said, Harry noticed that when he had cast a tickling hex at Daphne he followed it up with the body bind curse. Susan was right, he had been doing that for about two weeks now, it wasn't even an effective combination as Daphne proved when she shot a spout of water at him.
Harry felt himself trip on the now slick floor, before he could catch his balance Daphne cast the 'reductor' towards him, he heard Susan and Hannah gasp. The spell was quick in the air, nothing at all like the weak and useless spells they had been using before, Harry knew he wouldn't be able to dodge this spell. It wasn't what he had been expecting but he had everything he needed.
A freezing charm on the puddle of water was easy enough due to his proximity, the next part was the tough part. He focused on raising a small pillar of ice to get in between the spell and himself, as soon as the first piece of ice began to raise up off the floor it exploded. Powdered ice crystals seemed to rain down on him, he stood transfixed by the spectacle.
Daphne had either missed her target or aimed slightly off, either way Harry was relieved, he hadn't managed to be fast enough to pull of the stunt he had wanted. He saw Daphne looking at him with a small smile, she nodded at him and he copied her.
"You managed to cast it much better this time Daphne." Harry told her as they went to sit on a bench in the empty former herbology class.
Daphne laughed a warm and prettily. "Of course i did Harry, I'm not Malfoy I'm actually capable of learning things." She said as she gave Harry a hard look. "Your transfiguration was risky, I'm not even sure McGonagall could have done that."
Harry guffawed, McGonagall was second to only Dumbledore at the art of transfiguration. "She could have turned your shoes into trolls and given you detention in the time it took me to do what i did." Harry knew what she had been getting at though, he knew transfiguration in a fight wasn't easy but that didn't mean it wasn't effective. That annoying book about Dumbledore had taught him that much.
The headmaster of Hogwarts was famous for many things, dueling wasn't exactly one of those though, and not from lack of skill on his part. According to people who knew Dumbledore in his youth he had always had a way with battle transfiguration, and when Harry had read descriptions of some of the creative ways Dumbledore had subdued dark wizards in his day made Harry eager to try his hand at it.
His own dad was known for being skilled in transfiguration, Harry assumed his dad had made a similar leap, it was a shame he didn't like talking about his work much Harry could have talked for hours about what he thought was possible.
After a few months Harry had noticed that things in Slytherin house had reverted back to the old ways, people seemed to remember he was a simple first year and not worth much more than a glance. It didn't matter much to Harry, although he had enjoyed the perks of being a little bit respected, no one other than second years had given him their seats in the common room but it was better than sitting in a cold corner.
The final game for Slytherin was coming up and they would need a big win to have a chance of winning the house cup, even with them beating Hufflepuff. Hannah and Susan had been livid to see the snitch in Malfoy's hand, Harry had to give it to Malfoy he had gotten a lot better, for a first year he had played really well.
Gryffindor were another prospect entirely though, unbeaten in seven straight games, as the Weasley twins liked to tell the school. It was an impressive record that spanned two and a half years, one that Harry could only assume would continue despite the best efforts of his house. Jasmine had been of fire too, not missing a single snitch in any of the games this year, so when Harry had went to talk with her the day before the game to wish her luck she had scoffed at him.
"I dont need luck, I'm going to be up against Malfoy, that grease ball couldn't catch a snitch unless it was near some hair product." They shared laughter as they walked together. Harry had missed spending time with his sister, he had always assumed when he went to Hogwarts they would be inseparable but as time went on Harry found himself wanting to spend time with his friends more than Jasmine.
It wasn't as though he didn't want to spend time with her, he just enjoyed his friends that much. "I wouldn't be so sure, he might be inbred but he's good at one or two things." He retorted, it felt strange almost coming to Malfoy's defense.
Jasmine gave him a grin, she was getting really tall Harry felt as though she might be as tall as dad was now. "You're a strange little snake Harry. I thought you all loved each other and hated the rest of us good and kind people." She joked.
Harry gave her a sad smile. "With some Slytherin's there's only so much i can work with."
"What's that supposed to mean Potter." A gruff voice from around the corner called. Harry looked at Jasmine hastily, they were in the sixth floor in a particularly unexplored part of the floor. Harry saw four people walk out from the end of the hall, all were Slytherins, Harry only knew two of them.
Malfoy was stalking at the back of the group looking nervous, when their eyes met his face held an eager twist to his features. Marcus Flint led the group, walking lazily at them with his wand in his hand. The fifth year student wasn't exactly respected for much else other than his viciousness on a quidditch pitch, Harry wondered if that carried over to his wand work.
"Looks like we got two birds with one stone." Flint said to the two flanking him, Harry knew them as third year boys, they both had their wands in hand. Jasmine had began to step in front of Harry as if to protect him from the four by herself, Harry pulled his own wand out and brushed her to the side again.
Jasmine growled in frustration, clearly not liking her odds, she didn't know much about Harry's abilities, though to be fair harry didn't either as he had only been tested once and that was by the obviously weakest person there. He might not know as many spells as the others but he was confident he had better strategies than them, training with Daphne had made that much a necessity.
Flint seemingly wanted to get things over with quickly as he cast a cutting curse in their general direction, Harry was amused to see it go wide of the both of them, accuracy was a very underrated talent it would seem. Jasmine darted into action throwing out a few full body bind curses at the students, she aimed for the two third years instead of going for Flint. Harry followed her lead, as he was sure she knew those two better than he did, he didn't want to be the main target of their attacks, it seemed Jasmine was their main goal here.
Firing out a small jet of water at the third years which fell a little short Harry motioned to Jasmine to walk back, he was pleased to see her follow along. An 'expelliarmus' came out of nowhere and ripped Jasmine's wand out of her hand, luckily it landed between the two groups. Harry regretted not taking any time to learn the summoning charm. The two third years darted forwards, splashing slightly in the water, Malfoy was still lingering behind waiting for his chance Harry realized.
Flint managed to reach Jasmine's wand before she had, they had been quick Harry thought, much faster to reach the distance than he was expecting. He put that out of his mind as he cast as powerful of a freezing charm as he could on the floor, the sudden burst of ice seemed to shatter towards the Slytherins, the water on the floor was nearly useless on its own even turning into ice as it was.
Harry quickly cast another jet of water at the Third years, he managed to douse their robes and school uniforms in water, it quickly froze them in place below the waist. Their wands were still able to be used though as they casted some cutting curses at Harry, one caught the side of his leg but it didn't hurt too much, the other sailed past him without any concern.
Harry suddenly felt his legs wobble beneath him, and he fell hard to the floor. His legs continued to shake randomly and aggressively. He could see Jasmine wrestling her wand out of Flints hand, and his eyes fell on Malfoy who had his wand pointed at him. Harry swore loudly as he realized what had happened.
He was a fool to forget about Malfoy, he might be a first year, but so was Harry after all. He cast the counter curse as quickly as he could knowing Malfoy was about to cast something nasty at him. Harry scrambled quickly to his feet, ready to dodge the attack that wasn't coming.
The 'Serpensortia' that Malfoy chose to cast wasn't aimed at Harry, it was aimed at Jasmine, who was still fighting with Flint for her wand. Harry had to stop the two third years and protect his sister as soon as possible, he was at a loss for ideas. The last thing he wanted to do was speak Parseltongue in front of his sister, he had no idea what she would make of his little talent. It gave Harry a shiver of fear. And Malfoy knew it. A long pitch black snake darted towards the wrestling Jasmine.
Inspiration struck Harry, he had never managed to cast a good reductor curse before but he didn't need a perfect spell. He took his aim between the two third years and fired his spell. As it whizzed at the two immobile third years it hit into a magical shield and fizzled out into nothing.
One of the third years had blocked his spell with a startled look at him, the other had retaliated and cast a bludgeoning hex at Harry.
As he landed harshly against the wall of the corridor he tried to catch his breath, he looked up to see Jasmine but he couldn't focus properly. Heat radiated down the corridor and a loud scream hit Harry's ears, it wasn't a girls he was pleased to notice. Scrambling to his feat he fought his wobbly feet for any balance he could manage. His head rang with the impact he had suffered.
Jasmine stood with her wand pointed at Flint, she had cast flames at Flint and he stumbled backwards as his previously frozen feet were enveloped with green flames. Harry watched as she blocked a bludgeoning spell that was cast at her before she launched her counter attack. Harry knew she hadn't seen the thin long snake making its way towards her, he didn't trust himself to cast a banishing charm at the snake as it was closing in on Jasmine, and he was still feeling his head ring.
The desperate hiss that left his mouth seemed to kill all other sounds, he commanded the snake to back off, and it did instantly without any fight. As it slunk away into the depths of the hallway he saw Jasmine turn to look at him, the look of shock on her face burned into him. Feeling anger give him some semblance of control over himself, he cast quickly, a reductor towards the two third years again, this time he hit the floor in front of where the shield had appeared last time.
Small chunks of rubble were launched into the air and Harry wasted no time in banishing them toward the third years. They hit squarely in their midriffs and they collapsed as the wind was crushed out of them. Harry tried to banish a block of stone at Malfoy but he noticed the boy had ran off. Bloody coward, he thought.
The anger that surged through him wasn't for the two third year student really, Malfoy was the source of it. The damage he had done was personal. Somehow he knew that this was Malfoy's work, he couldn't trust that Flint managed to think for himself. He could tell by the way Jasmine had looked at him when he spoke to the snake.
Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall came around the corner at a brisk walk, both had concern and anger warring on their faces. Malfoy followed behind them with a smug grin. Dumbledore took care of the students quickly and efficiently, before long Harry and Jasmine were helping the two third year students into beds in the hospital wing.
No one had talked after Dumbledore had given orders to them, Harry had managed to catch his sisters eye but she was as scared as he was. She knew they were in trouble. Professor McGonagall had stayed behind to clean up the corridor. Harry and Jasmine stood together to one side of the hospital wing and Dumbledore gently lowered Marcus Flint into an empty bed.
Madam Pomfrey had began working her magic as soon as she had them safely in their beds, and before long she had both third years awake and recovering, Flint joined them soon after. Harry and Jasmine found themselves watching Dumbledore as he surveyed them over his half moon spectacles, the look he gave them spoke of hurt and utter disappointment.
The door to the hospital wing opened and Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape stood waiting, Dumbledore rose slowly and ushered them out of the hospital wing. The weight of the world seemed on both their shoulders as they followed the three formidable teachers. As a gargoyle statue spun to unveil a flight of stairs Harry knew where they were the headmasters office.
Jasmine managed to move before he did, she was a Gryffindor after all. The office was a cluttered mess of odd and ends, mismatched items seemed scattered aimlessly and ancient book lay half opened on the floor below giant bookshelves. Harry was almost able to forget how horrible he felt when he had a chance to study perhaps the most incredible room he had ever seen.
Dumbledore sat behind his large imposing desk and settled his hands in front of his face to hide his mouth, Snape and McGonagall took up spots either side of him with practiced grace. The three of them looked at them with no pity or sympathy, just anger and disappointment.
Dumbledore broke the tension. "Would you care to explain what happened today, and why you were caught dueling other students in the hall?" His soft voice sounded like it fit the age of the wizard. The sheer disappointment made Harry look away from his headmaster, Jasmine had managed to keep her head up. A trill came from the side of the room, a small red gold bird croaked out a song that made Harry feel warm, the bird was young, maybe a few months old. He knew it wasn't thought, this was the headmasters famous Phoenix.
"We... Harry and I were catching up, talking about classes and quidditch, next thing we know we are in the sixth floor corridor and Flint; Talbot, Irons and Malfoy were walking towards us. Flint fired a cutting curse at me and then I started to fight back." Her voice was strong and confident, she didn't think they were in the wrong and had faith they could get out of this with being expelled. Harry wished he could share her optimism.
Dumbledore's eyes were fixed on Jasmine, as if waiting to catch her in a lie, Harry felt suddenly as though he needed to help her. "They were looking for one of us, Flint said they caught two birds with one stone." He spoke, feeling as though he had rudely interrupted something private.
Dumbledore turned his gaze to Harry, and spoke softly. "Do you have any idea's as to who they were targeting?" His polite tone almost made Harry forget that they weren't here for a casual chat.
"I would guess Jasmine, she is the Gryffindor seeker after all, and Flint went for her first instead of me." He said cautiously, he didn't think Dumbledore knew about what had happened early in January, so he wasn't going to just go out and admit it.
"It certainly seems so." Dumbledore said mildly, his eyes were fixed on Harry's though, with an intensity he had never experienced. Harry suddenly felt that he was being weighed by Dumbledore, and he had no idea what the old man could learn from it.
Professor Snape spoke as if he was letting a thought out by accident. "I find it odd, that these two managed to not only overcome their four attackers but do so while being ambushed." He left a pause to hang in the room before adding his last thought. "Irons and Talbot happen to be very quiet student who dont step out of line, not to mention reasonably talented in their own ways."
Professor McGonagall visibly bristled. "Are you saying you think these two set about to attack these other four students? A third year and a first year, going out of their way to target a fifth year and two third years? Severus whatever wrong these two have done today it wasn't being that foolish." Her tone was protective but Harry could feel that she wasn't interested in protecting them against punishment
Professor Snape merely shrugged casually. "I was just commenting how out of character it was for those two students. As we know its not unlike a Potter to behave this way." Snape finished quickly.
"Severus..." Dumbledore warned quietly. Harry felt his mind racing, Snape was implying that his dad had been a bully. He knew his mother had hardly been a fan of his dad until they were a bit older, but he had never though why that might have been. And his mother had also mentioned a friend from before Hogwarts called Severus... Suddenly things seemed so clear to Harry, he knew why his sister always complained about the Professor.
That didn't explain what had happened when Harry had been hurt earlier that year though.
"Regardless of those small matters." Dumbledore continued, he looked at both of them before sighing tiredly. "Filius has told me you have quite a hand for charm work Mr Potter, tell me can you perform the 'sonorus' charm?" He asked as though just making conversation. At Harry's nod, he gave him a small smile and nodded back. "So why is it you chose to fight back, why did you not call for help?"
"I didn't consider it an option professor, they were trying to hurt Jasmine and i wanted to protect her." Harry answered as honestly as he could, he felt he wouldn't get away with any lies in this company. He saw Dumbledore crook an eyebrow at his comment, and looked away with a small amount of shame.
"And you Miss Potter, why didn't you try to get a teacher instead of fighting?" He asked.
Jasmine spoke up quickly and confidently. "I tried to protect Harry, and we did try to get away, Harry froze the path between us and them, but Irons managed to disarm me before we could get away." Harry instantly wished he could be elsewhere, all the adults watched him. Harry would bet that only Voldemort would make the situation worse.
The silence dragged on as Harry sat still trying to school his features into stillness, he didn't last as long as he would have liked as he began to fidget.
"A clever idea Mr Potter." Dumbledore complimented with a genuine smile. "Tell me what did you do next, with your sister disarmed and against at least two older students?" Harry sighed, he heard Jasmine groan beside him, she had realized what she had done when she implicated Harry as the main perpetrator.
"I froze them in place further and tried to help Jasmine so we could leave." He said slowly, he really didn't want to have to explain more.
McGonagall spoke up in her usual firm voice. "That doesn't quite explain what we came into in that hallway."
Harry gave a dejected sigh, they wouldn't let him try and get out of saying it. "I had to try and stop the two third years from attacking me or Jasmine, so i cast a 'reductor' between them. Not to hurt them, just to shake them up a bit, but they blocked it and cast another spell at me. When i got up i was against a wall and my head hurt." He didn't need to tell them he knew what a bludgeoning hex was.
None of the teachers spoke they just waited, Jasmine sat beside him looking like she was thinking hard. "So Jasmine managed to get her wand back and i cast another 'reductor' at the floor between the two of them and banished the rocks that came up towards them." When he finished he felt like he had done pretty well, he hadn't mentioned the snake at all.
Dumbledore frowned as he mulled things over, Harry couldn't tell if he was impressed or if he was angry, as seconds began to stretch into minutes Harry sank into his seat. "I wish i could commend you for creative use of some rather simple spells, even if they are a bit advanced for a first year i might add. However, i will stress the importance of what you did here today."
"You are, i am told, both becoming influential in your own houses." Dumbledore said as both Professors shifted nervously. "And as such, should such displays become a more common occurrence, i would be hard pressed to keep students safe. Therefor i will have to give you all fitting punishments."
Harry gulped, he might not have attacked fellow students but he knew Dumbledore knew he had went out of his way to hurt them. The evidence was there for him to see and he didn't think he had managed to get anything by the man, well except for the snake.
"Jasmine you are banned from playing your last quidditch game this year, Minerva and Oliver Wood will find a replacement for tomorrow. And you have lost one hundred points for Gryffindor house." He said calmly and turned to Harry. "Harry you also have lost your house one hundred points, perhaps another set of detentions with Mr Flitch in the Trophy room will teach you some restraint."
Harry and Jasmine knew a dismissal when they heard it, they nearly raced down the stairs.
AN: Thanks for reading.
So i added a Snape POV at the start, i was hesitant to do it as I've found it can be a slippery slope, i think it works to how i want it to.