Third week of January 1996
James recovered well enough to go back to Durmstrang only ten days later than he should; Nicholas had promised Florence that he'd take his brother home in case he got any strange symptoms.
Hogwarts
Florence was alone in the infirmary when a very nervous Hermione Granger ran into the room, a piece of parchment in her hand and tears staining her face.
"Hermione?" Florence worried. "What happened, dear?"
"He nearly died?" The girl whispered. "Is this true?" She shook the letter.
Florence quickly realized what she was talking about and cast a silencing spell in the infirmary, locking the door.
"Yes, Hermione. James was poisoned by a rare form of Noxious Poison. Luckily he had a bezoar on him and his mother is a very well-read healer." She said, trying to make her smile.
But her attempt to humour didn't work. Hermione kept looking at her with a very concerned expression.
"Noxious Poison." The Gryffindor repeated. "A rare form you said."
Then Florence realized that the girl's brilliant mind would reach the right conclusion just as easily as she had.
"Hermione, stop!" she held the girl's shoulders. "Listen to me. I'm glad to see that my son has this level of devotion from you, but his father will handle this." She looked into her eyes. "Even if you find out the origins of that poison: do not do anything – that's an order. And it's not a good idea to piss off your future mother-in-law." Florence winked at her and Hermione blushed.
"Alright. I'll not... do anything. But... is he truly fine?" she sounded anguished.
Florence looked at her sternly. "Do you think I'd send my son to school if he wasn't fully recovered?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Also," continued Florence, "Nicholas is keeping an eye on his brother. And Nick's the responsible twin."
"Right." Hermione nodded.
Florence looked at her for a moment, before saying: "I mentioned once to you that James is a lot... did he tell you how this poisoning happened?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Well, it happened because he was at a party, and carelessly accepted a drink from a young woman he didn't know, and who took him to a motel room."
"We're not in a relationship, Madam Delacour." Hermione sounded nonchalant, but the pain in her eyes betrayed her.
"And yet you barged in here demanding to know if he was fine." Florence looked at her knowingly. "I like you, Hermione. And I know my son. He's an amazing young man; he's brilliant, he's charming – it's easy to see why you would fall for him. But he's just like any other seventeen-year-old boy: he sometimes thinks with his dick." Florence paused, watching Hermione blush at her words. "I don't want to discourage you, dear, specially because I know James has never pursued a girl for more than a few weeks and he's been talking about you for over a year now. Just... be careful."
The girl nodded, understanding. "I'm sorry for how I walked in here, ma'am, but... I got his letter this morning and just... just imagining he could've died, the thought of never seeing him again, it filled me with so much pain..." She was breathing hard from the anguish.
Florence pulled her into a hug.
"He's fine. Don't worry. And... we'll have our revenge, Hermione. Trust me. The person who did this will pay."
The girl jutted her chin up and said, angrily: "I hope they suffer."
Florence snorted: "Somewhere between spending time with me and exchanging letters with James, your Gryffindor values have been compromised, dear."
And Hermione chuckled, agreeing with her: "I'm afraid that's true, Madam Delacour. That's very true."
February 1996
Overall, things at the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed to be going quickly down the drain for Madam High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge.
During her several classrooms evaluations, she happened to be very disrespectful to the teachers – she even dared to measure Prof. Flitwick's height with a measuring tape as he was giving a lecture to first years on the best ways to hold a wand. The Head of the Ravenclaw House was obviously displeased and very offended by that.
One afternoon, on her way to the potions lab, Florence encountered the most bizarre scene: Prof. McGonagall was having what seemed to be a friendly conversation with the castle's resident poltergeist:
"You have to push it over just as she passes by it. Let her hear the noise reverberating in the corridor. One after the other. Muggles call it torture by sound – but I just want to make her nervous. I'll make sure the armours are all put back together and you'll certainly not be punished, Peeves. I give you my word."
Peeves did a little dance in the air.
"You're also free to come up with your own ways of having fun with her, of course." Added McGonagall.
Florence cleared her throat to make her presence known and Peeves quickly flew away.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Florence said raising an eyebrow and smirking.
McGonagall didn't look embarrassed, only uncomfortable.
"I know you heard me talking to Peeves, Florence. And I also know you've been having some fun of your own with our resident pink toad."
She chuckled. "I sure am, professor. But what did she do to you to have you forming an alliance with Peeves?"
McGonagall sighed exasperatedly: "She has permanently banned Harry, George, and Fred from playing Quidditch!"
"On what grounds?" Florence frowned.
"They had a fight with Malfoy."
"That's it?"
"Yes." McGonagall sighed. "But Umbridge is so angry with Albus hiring Firenze to teach Divination that she's taking her frustration on the students." she lowered her voice. "I should tell you: she's very interested in solving her frustrations with Severus. But I believe you know that already and that is the reason why you're messing with her."
"Yes, it is." Florence confirmed.
McGonagall smiled. "I'm glad to know the rumours about you and him are true then. He knows about the twins, I gather?"
"Yes, he does. He has for a while now, actually."
The professor frowned, "And still he hasn't registered them?"
"Not that easy to do, since we're not married." Florence shook her head.
"And why aren't you?" McGonagall sounded outraged.
Florence laughed. "Are you concerned about my virtue, professor? I was a pregnant teen, that ship has sailed."
"Still, Severus should do right by you!"
Then they heard Severus speak from behind Florence: "Don't worry, Prof. McGonagall." he approached them and held Florence's left hand, showing it to the teacher. "Things are not exactly what they seem."
Florence looked at him with a frown, surprised he was being so truthful with the professor.
McGonagall seemed just as surprised as she recognized the Prince family ring on Florence's finger. "Oh, this is wonderful!" But as fast as she had smiled, she frowned, looking from one to the other. "If I ever see a kid of yours walking through the front doors, I'm retiring."
And they both laughed.
"With all due respect, they wouldn't be Gryffindors, professor." Said Florence.
"I'd still have to teach them, Florence; and despite the stellar marks between you two – you were both on detention every fortnight." She shook her head. "Nope. Not doing it."
"If I'm being honest: you're absolutely right, professor. I'd do the same." Said Severus, getting a slap on his arm from Florence.
It didn't take long for Peeves to begin his terrorizing of Umbridge; later that same day, she showed up for dinner with the cuffs of her pink jacket all singed.
Apparently, the poltergeist had toppled a neatly stacked pile of parchments Umbridge had just graded into the fireplace, and she had to pick them up quickly to save them from getting burned.
The poltergeist was also following her down the corridors – blowing raspberries every time she spoke.
But not one word of sympathy was offered to Umbridge from the staff. Only Filch seemed to be redoubling his efforts to capture Peev es.
March 1996
One Saturday night
12 Grimmauld Place
Severus opened the door and Florence walked in before him; he followed her closely as they walked down the narrow hallway, hearing conversation and laughter coming from the living room.
So that's where they went, and when they entered the room, all the voices quieted down. Remus was the first one to get up and greet them.
"Florence! How are you?" he hugged her.
"Fine, Remus." she smiled.
Severus only nodded his head once, acknowledging Remus' greetings, then he turned to his wife:
"Florence, I'll wait for you downstairs, in the basement lab, so we can begin working."
"I'll be there soon, Severus." she replied.
"First-name basis now?" Asked Remus, frowning.
"Well, my father knows and gave us his blessing, so... we'll let people think whatever they want to think." She whispered.
"That's reassuring; and how is everyone?" Remus asked, clearly meaning the kids, but unable to talk about them because of the spell Florence had cast on Liz, Chris and Sophie.
"They're are all great." She hugged him again and whispered: "James was poisoned two months ago."
He looked at her with concern. "What?"
"He's fine now... fully recovered but it was a very close call."
"Holy shit. Do you know who did it?"
"Yes. Severus will handle it." She looked at him and smiled, changing the subject: "It's good to see you're well, I heard you are partners with Greyback now."
"Yes. And it's as good as it sounds." He said ironically, giving her a small smile although his green eyes showed how tired he was.
"Oh, my friend." Florence whispered, touching his face, where he had a new scar.
"Remus." A young woman with blood-red hair interrupted them. "Won't you introduce your friend?" she sounded a little jealous.
He smiled. "This is Florence, Dora. You already know her."
Then the woman seemed to recognize her and her hair turned its usual purple colour. "Of course, Madam Delacour! The mediwitch! I'm sorry it took me a while to recognize you out of Hogwarts and without the apron."
"Its alright. Don't worry. It's been a few years too. I don't know if you've heard this already, but you look a lot like Andromeda." Florence replied, smiling.
"You knew my mother?" asked Tonks, surprised.
"Yes. I used to spend summers at your grandma's beach house in Italy with Cissy, Bella and Dromeda!" said Florence. "Narcissa and your mother were great friends of mine. Bella and I never liked each other much though."
"Florence!" exclaimed Molly Weasley walking into the living room and coming towards her. "How are you, dear?"
"I'm fine. And you?"
"Good. All is good."
"Hey, mom." a male voice called Molly. "We've finished cleaning the rugs upstairs."
"Thank you, Fred."
Then the teenager approached them. "Good evening, Madam Delacour."
"Hi, Mr. Weasley."
Fred looked at her with a tilted head and Florence knew he was certainly finding some similarities between her and his boyfriend.
"George is already in the shower." He told his mother. "I will go next. Tomorrow we'll finish the curtains."
"Thank you, dear." Molly replied, watching her son walk away. "He's such a good boy."
"He's the good twin then?" Florence asked.
"Oh, no!" Molly laughed. "He's actually the evil mastermind of the two of them, but he's sweet. That Umbridge woman has been confiscating all their inventions, so they ask to get out of Hogwarts every weekend. Even Hermione is here today."
"I don't blame them. Umbridge is truly awful. And your sons' inventions are amazing!"
Molly opened her mouth but hesitated; Florence could sense she wanted to ask about Sophie but couldn't find the words.
She smiled and took advantage of the moment, "Excuse me, Molly, but I should be going to the lab, I came here to help Severus with the potions for the Order."
"Ah! Severus and his potions!" Molly exclaimed. "Always in that lab downstairs! You know, dear, I heard some rumours that I hope are true now." She winked at her.
"Well, maybe now they are." whispered Florence, smiling.
"Oh! Isn't that nice!" but then Molly shook her head, "Although I don't understand how is it possible for a sweet charismatic person like you to be involved with that moody creature."
"Well, Molly, Severus can be pleasant when he wants." Florence said.
"If you say so, dear." replied Molly unconvinced.
Forty minutes had passed since they had arrived in the headquarters and Severus was already hard at work in the basement lab, three cauldrons were bubbling and letting out vapours in front of him. But Florence had yet to show up downstairs.
You should've been here already! He told her.
They had three different potions to begin that day and other five to bottle.
I'm here, husband. Florence said as she opened the door. Why are you so annoyed?
"What took you so long?" he asked, ignoring her question. "Was the dog there?"
"No," she stopped beside him. "I was just talking to Molly. And I haven't seen Sirius since we got here." she chuckled. "He is probably dead scared of you since that day." her husband didn't say a word. "What's wrong, Severus? I can see something's been bothering you since last night."
"It's Harry." He said.
"What happened?"
"He needs to learn occlumency now more than ever, for your father is aware of their connection and intends to use it to lure the boy away from Hogwarts and into the Department of Mysteries. But Harry is not focused enough."
"I know you can help him with that, love. You can't stop teaching him." She touched his back. "It's not just that, though, is it? I can see there's something else bothering you. What is it?"
He sighed. "The boy's memories, Flor... The Dursleys made him eat scraps! They made him sleep in a tiny closet under the stairs for years! His first birthday cake was made by Hagrid when he picked the boy up to go to Diagon Alley!" he paused, resting his hands on the worktable, clearly upset. "And to think we could have made it all different… he could have been raised within a loving family, with a room of his own and toys and birthday parties!"
Florence put herself between him and the table, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his lips softly.
"I get it, Sev. But you can't stop teaching him Occlumency. You can get to know him better this way and help him protect his mind from my father."
"I know." he said with a sigh, before kissing her, his hands going behind her back, pulling her to him.
"Sev…" she murmured; his right hand was already underneath her dress, touching her thighs. "We don't have enough time." his mouth was on her neck.
"We'll be quick." He whispered, using occlumency to stop her from knowing what he had planned for her later – just the thought of that had him going from irritated to horny in seconds.
But the sound of someone trying to open the door of the lab had them jumping apart.
"I locked it." Florence said, her hands on his chest. "Do not stop the occlumency lessons." She said firmly, before kissing him once more and pointing her wand to the door, opening it.
It was Hermione Granger: "Prof. Snape, Madam Delacour, I'd like to know if you two need any help."
"Of course, dear." said Florence. "It'll be great tohave you here helping us."
Great. Severus said, ironically. Does she know about the poisoning?
Yes. James told her. She freaked out.
Hermione smiled, walking downstairs and starting to work on one of the unattended cauldrons.
The three of them worked together until dinnertime.
Later
Florence walked into the kitchen a little after midnight to get herself something to drink. She opened the fridge and got the juice pitcher out, going to the sink to pour herself a glass.
"Flor?" she heard a whisper and looked up, seeing Sirius by the door.
"Hey, Padfoot."
"I thought you had gone home already." He walked into the room and sat on a chair.
"Just finishing up actually." She took a sip of her glass. "We were brewing a special Wiggenweld potion, it takes about four hours to complete."
"And that is for?" he asked, having no idea what it was.
"Healing potion." She replied, opening the fridge again and putting the pitcher back inside.
Suddenly she felt a presence right behind her and knew who it was without even looking.
Sirius watched as Severus walked into the kitchen silently, glancing from him to her and smirking. He stopped right behind her in front of the fridge and she turned around. Florence was a full head shorter than her husband, Sirius noticed, his frame much larger than hers.
She touched a hand to Severus' chest and smiled sweetly. "I was going to bring you a glass of juice, Sev." she pointed to the full glass on the sink.
"Let me see if I like how this juice tastes." He said and she reached out to pick up the glass to give it to him, but he held her chin and tilted her face up, pushing his tongue between her lips, kissing her slowly, sensually, tasting the orange juice in her mouth while caressing her tongue like an expert lover.
Sirius exhaled; he could hate Snape but what the man was doing was sexy as fuck.
Florence had both hands on her husband's chest, opening his buttons as he fucked her mouth with his tongue. She was whimpering and breathing hard as she rubbed against him.
Then he pulled her long hair loose from the high bun she had had it tied in. And from the other side of the long table, Sirius could smell the delicious sweet-vanilla scent he knew was uniquely hers.
Severus fisted a hand in her hair and gave a gentle, but forceful, tug – exposing her neck to his attack. He bit the curve of her shoulder and she moaned, melting against his larger body. His other hand caressing down her curves, grabbing her ass before pulling one of her legs up.
You're too slow! She complained through their bond. Ward the kitchen, push me on that table and fuck me.
No. I'm taking my time. He kissed her lips again, deep and sensuously, drugging her with desire and pleasure. I'm showing him you belong to me.
Then Florence seemed to suddenly remember that Sirius was in the kitchen. She stopped the kiss and opened her eyes, looking at him; his blue eyes were fixed on them – and she realized Severus had set that up: Sirius hadn't wandered into the kitchen at that late hour purely by chance.
Severus touched her body, both hands going under her dress, pulling it up and off of her slowly, leaving her in lacy white bra and knickers.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Severus whispered, kissing her shoulders.
"She's fucking gorgeous." Sirius replied, his voice heavy with desire.
Severus caressed down her half-naked body, possessively. "She's mine. All mine." then he quickly picked her up and lay her on her back on the table, pulling her bra down and sucking on her nipples.
"Fuck!" she gasped as he pinched one nipple while his mouth worked on the other, making her moan.
Severus kissed her lips once more, caressing her tongue with his passionately, his larger body caging her against the tabletop.
He trailed kisses down her neck and bit her nipples again, going from one to the other until both were red and sensitive and she was writhing under him, begging for more.
He kissed down her belly, pushing her knickers down her legs, kissing towards her pussy and licking around her entrance, but not touching her clit or her channel.
"Fuck me, Severus." She gasped. "You're torturing me!"
He looked into Sirius's eyes, seeing desire, anger and jealousy there.
"Did you hear her, Black? Begging me to fuck her." Severus paused, smirking at the other man. "You hate me, don't you?"
Florence, panting and sprawled naked on the table, arched her neck to look at Sirius at the other end.
"I hate you, Snivellus." Growled Sirius.
Then she saw her husband smirk.
"But you want her." Severus said, cruelly.
Sirius didn't reply, knowing the man just wanted to humiliate him, for his feelings were obvious.
Florence frowned, feeling anger taking over her desire as she saw what her husband was doing.
"That's it!" she said, getting up. "I'm not going to lie here and be part of this stupid game of yours." she pushed Severus away and jumped off of the table, reaching out for her dress.
"Yes, you are." growled Severus, forcefully pushing her back onto the table, on her stomach this time.
"Stop!" Sirius shouted angrily, getting up from his chair and walking closer to them. "You're gonna hurt her!"
"Hurt her?" Severus arched an eyebrow before fisting a hand in her hair and pulling her head back.
Florence moaned.
"Does she look in any pain?" Severus asked.
Sirius gulped as he looked at her, she was biting her bottom lip, nothing but lust in her face. He was startled by the loud sound of a slap followed by a moan from her.
Merlin's beard! Snape was slapping her buttcheeks and she was fucking moaning.
"Holy fuck." Sirius groaned.
"She's sexually submissive, Black. She gets off on being manhandled."
Florence arched her back further, as her husband pulled on her hair and kissed her neck.
"Are you ready for this, princess?" Severus whispered in her ear, unfastening his pants one-handedly.
"Yes. Please." She whimpered.
And he positioned the head of his cock at her entrance and drove into her in one solid thrust, closing his eyes at the feeling of her hot, drenched channel clamping around dick, fighting the sudden invasion.
She mewled and trembled, climaxing right then.
Severus hissed. "She's fucking cumming already! Look how she loves this. Such. A dirty. Princess." He marked each word with a hard thrust.
Sirius was frozen in place; he had never seen Florence in the throes of passion – he had kissed and touched her, dreamed of making love to her. But he had never had her under him.
He saw his hated enemy pull all the way out of her just to slam back in, balls deep. And she moaned, clearly loving his rough taking, even though the bastard wasn't small – he was almost as thick as his wrist.
Severus let go of her hair and held her hips with both hands, ramming into her. And she moved backwards, meeting him thrust for thrust, his dick fully embedded into her pussy. He grinded his hips on hers, staying as deep as possible, leaning over her to grab her arms and hold them on her lower back, moving his hips harder into her.
The feeling of being completely dominated by him as he fucked her in front of another man had a strong orgasm soon taking over her body; but when Florence tried to arch her back as she screamed his name, Severus didn't let her move, forcing her down onto the tabletop.
"You stay there and take it, princess!" he growled, feeling her pleasure through their bond. "Fuck, you love this." And he moved faster into her pussy.
Florence couldn't think of anything but the amazing cock ramming into her body; she was made of pleasure, all she felt was pleasure – her orgasm was restarted every time he hit her cervix and she could do nothing but take it and cum again and again.
Sirius watched the fully dressed man thrusting into her furiously as she moaned and screamed under him, climaxing repeatedly. And suddenly Severus stopped, grunting; and Sirius knew he was filling her up with cum.
Severus dark eyes fell on his blue ones, full of mischief and self satisfaction.
"She's mine, mutt. Now get the fuck out of here!"
Sirius hesitated for a moment, hating to be ordered around in his own home; but the need to reach into his pants and touch his painfully hard dick was too strong. So he walked out of the kitchen and into the closest bathroom, cumming hard after just a couple of strokes.
Severus helped Florence get up from the table and she glared at him when she turned around to face him.
"You just had to enact your revenge, didn't you?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You said you wanted this, Florence. Would I pass on the chance to fuck you in front of Black? Never." He calmly replied. "He hates me and he desires you. You are mine." he held her chin, kissing her passionately.
"It was cruel." She said once he let go of her lips.
"Cruel?" He sneered. "Black was probably cumming all over himself the moment he entered the bathroom, love. The only suffering he experienced was that he couldn't touch himself right here."
She finished fixing up her hair and sighed, men sure thought very differently from women. Married or not, if she had ever caught the man she loved fucking another woman, she'd never feel aroused by that – she'd feel murderous.
"Let's clean up here and go back to the lab." He said. "I left Granger alone down there."
Back in the lab
Florence finished the Wiggenweld she had modified and decided to go home – she was tired after all the kitchen activities and she also had to look after little Sophie. Eileen was at their home with the little girl, but Florence liked to stay all the time she could with her daughter. She kissed her husband's lips and hugged a blushing Hermione before leaving the basement lab.
After she left, Severus and Hermione worked in complete silence; only the sounds of the boiling cauldrons and the chopping of the ingredients filled the air for a while.
The lab was full of fumes and humidity, making Hermione's hair bushier than normal.
Severus took off his coat and threw it over a chair. It was then that something that looked like a picture fell from it, but he didn't notice.
Hermione picked it up from the floor and, at first, she didn't see anything, but then the image began to form: it was a recent picture of his family. Florence was sitting on an armchair right in the middle, her long hair up in a messy bun, some rebel curls escaping from it. A pretty little baby, who Hermione knew to be Sophie, was in Florence's arms – the little baby was the spitting image of her mother – and she was smiling at her mom and then at her dad, holding his finger. Severus was standing to the left of Florence's armchair; a beautiful black-haired girl, named Elizabeth, was in front of him. The twins were standing to the right side of the armchair and another boy, a brown-haired one, was in front of them, his hand resting on his mother's arm.
It was a beautiful and simple family picture. They all looked happy and loved. Hermione smiled as she realized how happy her sour Potions teacher really was. Her eyes paused for a while on the taller of the twins. James. She couldn't avoid thinking he looked a little thinner than his brother – but he seemed healthy. She loved him – there was no denying it anymore. Their unexpected date at the tea house had left her completely charmed, and his letters had made her fall for him.
In the moving picture in her hands, James ran his hand through his long black hair and smiled at the camera. I could watch him do that for hours. She thought with a sigh.
"What do you have there, Miss Granger?" Severus asked.
Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice, being so lost in thoughts about James that she almost dropped the picture.
"You let it fall…" she started again: "I mean: this fell from your coat, sir." she handed the picture to him.
"Ah, yes." Severus smiled looking at the picture. "We took this picture last weekend." he put it back inside his coat pocket. "Just so you know, if any other person had looked at it, they would have seen nothing. You can see the picture because Florence has allowed you to retain your knowledge about the kids."
"Yes, she told me about the cloaking spell. And the picture's protected by a spell, I understand." she said, nodding. Then she walked back to her potion. "Can I ask you something, professor?"
"Miss Granger." Severus began with a sigh. "In all these years I've known you, nothing – neither a troll nor giant chess pieces, nor a basilisk, not even a werewolf – has ever stopped you from asking a question."
She blushed and smiled, before saying: "You have a beautiful family, sir. Florence is so nice and she says your children love you. But…" she hesitated.
"Go on." he said, realizing where that talk was going to go.
"But you're such a bastard to your students, especially to Harry! Why don't you like him?"
Severus paused, looking at her for a moment; three years ago she'd never have the guts to talk to him like that. But by now she had already seen a side of him that no student even dreamed existed. She also knew nearly everything there was to know about Florence and him. Telling her how he truly felt about The-boy-who-lived wouldn't do that big of a damage.
Specially if her relationship with James progresses... he forced himself to stop thinking about that; not wanting to dwell on how it would be like to have Granger as the mother of his grandchildren.
"It's not that I dislike Harry, Miss Granger." He started saying, stopping stirring the potion in the cauldron in front of him to look at her. "I worry about him. A lot. Much more than you would ever believe if I told you." He paused. "Harry arrived at Hogwarts hungry for affection. He left a house where no one cared about him to go to a place where everybody knew of him, where people admired and adored him for something he didn't even remember doing. He was reprimanded and even humiliated while growing up. I actually feared for his sanity on his first year in Hogwarts. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Hermione nodded, her eyes opening wide in surprise.
Severus continued: "James and Lily Potter were my friends, believe it or not. James was brilliant, a complete asshole most of the time, but still a brilliant wizard. And Lily was extremely clever and a magically gifted witch. Harry has a lot of potential. I just didn't want him to get too excited about fame – and the temptation was strong. So while everybody laved him with attention and coddled him, I decided to show him that life is not that easy."
"That's why you give him a hard time." Hermione said. "It's tough love. Everybody makes it easy for him, but not you."
Severus nodded. "Someone had to make sure Harry would keep his feet on the ground. That's what I tried to do." he turned back to his cauldron, stirring it slowly. "Nowadays, I know Harry hates his fame, but I didn't know that years ago. Everybody showered him with praises when he arrived at Hogwarts. McGonagall even put him on the Quidditch team on his first year just because he was a good seeker."
"He's not just good. He's brilliant!"
"See. Even you're conditioned to defend him." He shook his head. "I couldn't do like the rest of you. It wouldn't be the first time that an intelligent and powerful young wizard, hungry for some love and attention, would have had a bad ending because he thought of himself better than his peers."
Hermione stared at her teacher in shock. She knew right then that he was talking about himself.
Note: Peeves did terrorize Umbridge by McGonagall's request – that's canon.