Severus Snape leveled a sneer at the gathering, retreating back into a corner where his back was against the wall. Harry Potter sympathized, and wished he could cower back there too.

Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Cold

Predators don't die old

Albus Dumbledore started the meeting, as was his right as host, "What seemed to be the problem, Harry?"

"Someone tried to kill me." Harry Potter said firm and truculent, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I want to withdraw from Hogwarts."

"Harry..." Albus Dumbledore said, "I assure you everything is being done to stop the miscreant."

"If you haven't caught him yet, what makes you so certain you will before another... attempt?"

"Your professor is investigating all possible leads," Dumbledore said, his bearing indicating he meant Professor Snape.

"Is he?" Harry Potter asked, green eyes wide for all they were worth. "Snape said there was no investigation."

"No formal one," Snape put in, his soft voice carrying clearly over the clucks and clicks and wizbangs.

Harry Potter pivoted towards Snape, and asked directly, "What qualifications do you have to conduct this investigation? Do you have a forensics certificate?"

It must have been Harry's imagination, because he swore he saw Snape look amused, for just a flash of a second. "I am a teacher, and a Head of House, and a Potions Master, I hold no other certifications."

Harry turned toward the headmaster, "You are treating my attempted murder as a matter of school discipline. Can I take it that there were in fact no strangers visiting Hogwarts that day?"

"No one other than Lucius Malfoy, who has my complete trust." Snape purred, which was completely undermined by McGonagall's snort. How she could make that noise sound crisp was an open question.

"You mean ye'd help him bury the body, no foolin' Severus Snape," McGonagall said in an increasingly Scotch accent.

"I might," Snape said cuttingly, "If it were done well. This botched job was anything but."

Harry Potter turned away from the Professors behind him, and spat at Dumbledore, "Headmaster, there's a teacher at this school, who just openly admitted he'd be an accessory to my murder, if only it was done neatly. Can you see why I want to leave?"

[a/n: quote's a paraphrase from Unsounded the webcomic.

Snape and Albbus are very much not used to people actually thinking.

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