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Severus Snape followed Draco Malfoy to the Headmistress's office. He had to admit, he was quite disappointed with his godson at the moment, choosing to be the lacky of that toad. One would think he'd have better sense. Then again, hadn't he made some spectacular mistakes in his youth as well? Perhaps he'd grow out of it, Snape thought. Hopefully he'd learn the error of his ways before it landed him in Azkaban, caused heartache or got him killed.
He was not pleased to see the assembled children being held in the office. What the hell had Potter gotten himself mixed up with this time? And it looked like he decided to bring a host of others down with him. He spared a glance at Hermione struggling with Bulstrode. Of course, Umbridge wanted him to provide her with more Veritaserum. Not bloody likely, Snape thought. He hadn't provided her with it the first time she asked, and he certainly wasn't going to give it to her now. Not with how many secrets the students in this room kept for the Order. That and he was fairly certain the bitch would end up poisoning the children.
As he "reasoned" with Umbridge he took another quick glance around the room. Both Potter and Granger were practically screaming their thoughts at him. So, the mutt was in trouble, at least according to Potter's "vision". Granger wasn't so certain and was trying to rein in Potter. Well, this couldn't be good. He noted that Longbottom looked as if he would lose consciousness at any moment. That damned oaf, Crabb, was about to kill the boy. He was able to convince Crabb to loosen his hold before being ousted by Umbridge due to his unhelpfulness.
As soon as Snape was alone, he ducked into an empty classroom and sent a Patronus to Dumbledore. He didn't need to wait long for a response. The Order would be assembled to find Black, and he was to stay at the school unless he was summoned by the Dark Lord. With that he doubled back to the headmistress's office to make sure that neither she nor her little band of thugs hadn't "accidently" killed one of the students.
Snape had planned to simply hover outside the office but scrapped that plan when he heard the commotion inside. He swung the door open to find Malfoy was frantically trying to escape from a cluster of bats hovering around his face. Severus cast a quick finite incantatem in the boy's direction. He looked around the room to find his Slytherins with various injuries and not a Gryffindor in sight. Umbridge wasn't present either which didn't bode well.
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" he bellowed. All the students started talking at once in an unintelligible cacophony. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off the headache that was surely coming. "One at a time!" he shouted. "Malfoy, you first. What happened?"
"Sir, those Gryffindors attacked us!" the boy complained.
"I figured as much, Mr. Malfoy. But where did they go?" he pressed.
"I-I don't know, sir. They just left," he responded.
"And the headmistress? Did she go after them?" he was quickly losing patience with his snakes.
"No. She had already left with Potter and Granger to find Dumbledore's weapon," he stated.
"Dumbledore's weapon?" Snape repeated. "What weapon? Where is it?" he demanded hovering menacingly over the boy.
"Sir, I-I d-don't know. Granger said they were trying to contact Dumbledore to tell him they'd completed it. She wouldn't tell us where it was but would only show the headmistress alone. Umbridge then left with Granger and Potter. I-I don't know where they went," Draco explained.
Severus looked to the others in the room. "Do any of you know where they went?" he demanded.
"I think they went into the Forbidden Forest, sir," Bulstrode piped up.
"All of them?" Snape rounded on the girl.
"I-I think so. I saw the Headmistress walking towards the forest, and she hasn't come back. I think the others went in there too," the girl added.
Well, that was another complication. He had what, five Gryffindors and one fourth year Ravenclaw missing now?
"All of you, go to the infirmary. Make sure there's no permanent damage done," Snape said, and the students slowly started to move towards the door. "And detention with Filch this Friday."
The group froze. "Detention for what," Crabbe blurted out.
"For embarrassing our house," Snape explained. "You couldn't maintain control of four students that were outnumbered and wandless. I expected more from you. Your house expected more of you."
His snakes looked shocked but knew to keep their mouths shut. "And if even one of you skips detention, I will deduct 200 points from Slytherin."
"What! From your own house?" Goyle cried.
"Yes, from my own house. If that's what it takes to prevent you from dishonoring our house again, then by Merlin, I will gladly forgo the house cup. Is that understood?" Snape said as he eyed each of his snakes.
They all hung their heads and mumbled a string of "yes, sirs" as they filed out of the room.
Snape slammed the door shut after them. He wiped a hand down his face as he looked around the office. Fuck! He thought. What the hell was Granger's plan? He had no doubt that she had one. She wouldn't have led them into the forest without one. He also had no doubt that the little band of escapees would have gone in after her and Potter.
He scanned the walls, hoping that one of the portraits would shed some light on what happened. Unfortunately, that daft bitch had replaced all of them with those damned kitten plates. So, no help there and with Hagrid gone, he couldn't count on him either. He had no idea if the students were wondering around the forest alone or trying to make their way to London. Either seemed equally plausible.
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Severus quickly assembled a search party to find the missing children and their headmistress. Although, it seemed fairly clear that most of the faculty would be quite happy if Umbridge was never found. He agreed. If they found the students before the toad, he was quite comfortable with calling off the search until the morning due to "safety concerns".
They combed the forest for hours before finding a clearing which showed signs that a large group of centaurs had recently been there along with blood and a broken wand. On closer inspection, the wand was identified as Umbridge's, but the blood belonged to a troll. Not all bad news then, Snape thought. At least they had something to go on.
Now that they had a reference point, they searched the immediate vicinity and found footprints heading back to the castle. They followed the faint trail until it stopped in yet another clearing. This one suggested that the two groups of students came together here. Hoofprints were also present, but they obviously didn't belong to centaurs. Mainly because, while these hoofprints entered the clearing, they never left, neither did the students.
"Thestrals!" Severus spit out. "It's the only explanation."
Sprout opened her mouth to dispute the idea as nonsense, but Snape quickly interrupted her. "What other explanation can there be?"
"How could they have possibly managed it?" Sprout asked.
"Luna," Flitwick answered. "She visits them sometimes. Poor girl has trouble with the other students, but she has a way with animals. I think they appreciate her company more than her classmates do," he explained. "If anyone could get a thestral to allow a rider, it would be her."
"Where could they have possibly gone?" asked Sprout.
"I don't know but it's too dark, and we're too far into the forest to be able to search further tonight. I'll notify the aurors, and we can resume our search in the morning," Severus signed.
No one wanted to abandon the search, but they all had to agree that it would be foolish to keep looking. They were as likely to run into an acromantula as the children. It was with a heavy heart that the searchers returned to the castle. All the while not sparing a single thought for their missing headmistress.
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As soon as he was able, Snape sent a second Patronus. Harry Potter and his band of misfits were on their way to London.