Chapter Sixteen: In Which Pranks Are Vilified
"Sirius thought it would be — er — amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he would be able to get in after me."
"He didn't!" Hermione said in horror. "I mean to say — that's terrible! Professor Snape could have died —"
"And the world would have been better for it," said Sirius.
"Its not for you to decide what's best for everyone!" said Hermione hotly.
"He was a stinking Slytherin —"
"Which still does not give you the right to kill him, or even try to," she said indignantly. "All this for a prank? You disgust me, Black."
Sirius shrank.
"Er — anyway, Snape tried it and he would have met a full-grown werewolf. But your father heard what Sirius had done and went after Snape and saved his life. Snape managed to glimpse me, and was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but that's how he knows. . . ." said Lupin.
"What about Black's punishment?" asked Harry.
"What punishment?"
"So you mean to tell me the only thing Snape got was a 'don't tell anyone about this'?" said Harry incredulously.
"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.
Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin.
"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an —"
Snape quickly disarmed everyone, stunned both Black and Lupin.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"They talk too much," said Snape nastily.
"That explains a lot," said Harry sarcastically.
There was a pregnant pause.
"It pains me to admit. . . . Miss Granger, your indignation on my behalf gave me the moment of clarity I needed —"
Who was he and what had he done with Snape?
"— amongst all the half-witted claptrap Lupin was spouting —"
Ah, there he was. The real Snape.
"— I noticed that Black seemed to be obsessed with Weasley's rat. I dismissed it as his crazed ramblings, of course —"
Snape was subtly getting closer and closer to Scabbers.
"— Azkaban has quite the reputation for inducing lunacy in prisoners."
Many things happened at once — Ron's hold on Scabbers loosened, and the rat escaped his grip. Snape flicked his wand, and Scabbers flew towards him like iron to a magnet.
"LET GO OF —"
Snape Silenced Ron with a lazy wave of his wand. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Don't overexert yourself, Weasley," he drawled, waving patterns over the rat. A blue light flickered, turned red and winked out of existence.
He placed it on the floor, but the rat did not make any attempt to escape. Harry supposed Snape had immobilised him somehow.
He muttered a spell and it turned into a human.
"Scabbers is an Animagus!" exclaimed Hermione.
"His proper name would be Peter Pettigrew, Miss Granger, or as I prefer it — vermin. I suspect the filth somehow managed to survive the explosion twelve years ago."
"S-S-Severus p-p-please —"
"Your stutter is inconsistent and grates on my nerves. Stop it immediately," sneered Snape.
"The Dark Lord! I am on his side! I am the one who betrayed the Potters for him! You have to —"
There was a flash of red light from Snape's wand. The rat-like man slumped to the ground, unconcious.
"He talks too much, doesn't he?" grinned Harry despite the situation.
AN: Bwah ha ha ha! I love it when Snape gets all confront-y and sneer-y. If only he wasn't such a git to Harry, I would have liked him as a character!