Severus Snape really, really hated the Marauders.
When he and the huge group of first-years went to the Hospital Wing after breakfast, they found all the beds were in use with patients groaning in discomfort. "Food's must be poisoned," someone weakly quipped and Severus frowned; what would they achieve in doing this? Did they expect him to shirk away from his responsibility, or wanting him to exhaust himself in carrying out the supposed duties?
Well, that just wouldn't do. If anything, those Gryffindors had severely underestimated on how determined Slytherins could be to prove them wrong. And so, with his group of friends' help, Severus managed to control the bubbly crowd as they explored the huge castle for the day. He even allowed them to draw a simple map for each floor and gave advice to always be in groups to make sure they wouldn't get lost.
"Never thought you would get along with kids, Snape," Mulciber snickered as they had lunch, to which Severus only rolled his eyes.
"I'd rather like them to be prepared of anything and everything," he responded, taking a small bite of his sandwich, "Besides, you said it yourself; they're just kids who knows nothing much. It never hurts for them to be careful."
Evan grimaced. "You sound like that Auror; what's his name again? That talks about 'constant vigilance' or whatever that is."
And they talked about the disarray in the Ministry and the rumors of a war that might happen in the future. Severus had heard snippets of it but he had brushed them off as mere speculations; besides, Lily hadn't approved of the movement made by the opposing side. Now, there was no one to stop him though he really hoped it wouldn't come down to bloodbath when he finally joined the Dark Lord.
He would rather like if they were to be fully discreet in their attempt to restore the wizarding world to its glory, just like what Slytherins were meant to do. Wars, he thought in distaste, were products of reckless Gryffindors trying to sacrifice their lives in the so-called fame and glory.
Severus almost blanched upon the thought.
They bade goodbye to the new students and went to revise the subjects they would have classes for the next day. Severus also introduced Rogue to his friends and everyone supplied their own nicknames so the bird could call for them easily. He decided to go with 'Russ', simply because his previous nickname only reminded him of Lily.
His patrol schedules were quiet, mainly because no one dared to cross path with the newly-instated honorary Prefect. The fact he could take points from any House for whatever misdeed they might do to him were more than enough to keep the rest of the students in their toes. He also took time to practice using his extra wands before sleeping, wanting them to be as loyal as his hazel wand.
Most of Severus' classes went as they had been for the past five years, with the professors stressed for them to master non-verbal spells within the next month. Severus had had a decent headstart among his peers, but even he wasn't that skilled when it came to perform other artful charms and incantations.
The Defense against the Dark Arts subject was quite a bore, especially when the teacher in charge looked like she was ready to flee at the slightest sight of danger. Severus merely sighed to himself as he read his mother's old copy of Confronting the Faceless and was intrigued with the many Dark creatures that were described in the book.
When Potions came, he was more than ready to prove himself as the most skilled brewer in the room. As he took the farthest seat at the corner of the room, he contently watched as Professor Slughorn asked the questions about the potions he had displayed, with the man knowing very well that he chose not to participate in such childish acts.
He barely noticed Remus Lupin rushed in and was about to sit next to him when he almost jumped out of his stool in surprise and instinctively shouted, "Get your own seat, wolf!"
Several things happened at once: the whole room gasped loudly, Slughorn spluttered as he tried to explain the effects of Veritaserum and Lupin cowered as if he was physically struck by the words.
Severus immediately gulped, trying to discern a sudden thought that passed in his mind. Had he actually just said 'wolf' to a room full of people without any restraints? What happened to the silencing oath the damned headmaster had placed on him, which was he couldn't tell anyone about the incident in the Shrieking Shack?
Or… had he managed to find a loophole? He replayed his accidental 'slip' and the words Dumbledore had forced him to agree with to compare them, and he nearly broke into a wild grin right there.
Yes, he indeed couldn't tell anyone, but that rule didn't apply to those who already knew the secret. He had addressed the word to Lupin, and the others just happened to be listening in. Oh, Severus would have flipped in joy at that exact moment. He just needed to refine what he had thought of, even jotting down the idea eagerly in his notebook before paying his attention back to the class.
"Well then, today's challenge is to brew the Draught of Living Death-" Slughorn went on a bit distractedly, rubbing his hands together and paused, taking in all the eager faces in front of him, "and the prize would be this valuable vial of Felix Felicis!" He pulled out the item from inside of his coat to present it to the class; the golden simmering flakes in it were twinkling brightly.
Severus inwardly smirked to himself; oh, he's definitely going to win it. He already made a few alterations to the potion in the past thanks to his experimentations and was certain the famed liquid luck would be in his hands.
"I must tell you, no one had ever made it close enough since I've taught here!" Slughorn continued and that was all it took for the whole room to erupt in chaos. There was no need to rush on things; Severus was fine with waiting for the rest to pick their ingredients before taking his own portions. He preferred to do his work methodically and carefully, smiling as he crushed the Sopophorous beans and stirred the potion seven times clockwise with a counter-clockwise turn.
He glanced around the room; most of his classmates were struggling in their attempt to create the draught. Peter Pettigrew, he noticed, was doing reasonably well by himself while his other two friends, Potter and Lupin were frowning at their cauldrons. Lily Evans was muttering under her breath as she tried to correct her potion, which was scarlet red in color.
Severus then exchanged looks with Avery, Rosier and Mulciber who simply smirked in return. They knew they hadn't got any chance to compete with the resident potion brewer in their year.
As Severus waited for the next step, he formed a plan on how to apprehend Lupin's situation to other Prefects. Surely some of them had noticed how the boy was utterly pale by the time full moon appeared, right? Or do Hogwarts students really be that dense that they couldn't notice such glaring details?
No matter, Severus was determined to let the truth out, even if it might cost him the expulsion from the school. This of course wouldn't matter much since he already took his O.W.Ls and he could simply transfer to Durmstrang to continue his studies there.
His good mood only increased when the time was up and Slughorn declared him the winner of the challenge. He held his head high as he walked out of the dungeons with his friends. The lucky potion would certainly be handy in the future.
Sirius Black's disappearance remained the hottest gossip Hogwarts had ever had for the year, with many students gave their own spin to it. Some said his family had cursed him, to which Regulus simply laughed and told them about how their mother, Walburga Black had burnt Sirius' portrait off the Black family tree. Others even thought he was kidnapped and held for ransom, though why there wasn't any news about it was anyone's guess.
However, most of them agreed that it had to do with his group of friends, namely the Marauders. The current trio kept talking to each other in hushed voices and seemingly getting closer than before, even laying off their bullying for a while much to the students' relief.
Meanwhile, Severus was brooding at his usual corner in the library, thinking hard on connecting the missing boy with the black dog he saw in early August. Could they be the same person? But how could it be? Hadn't Professor McGonagall had said the Animagus transformation could be dangerous if conducted without supervision? And because of the imminent risk, those who succeeded would have to register their forms for safety reasons?
…Wait. Severus frowned in contemplation and looked down at the scribbles in his notebook, in which he had written:
Sirius = dog (dog star??)
He then thought back of what had led to the werewolf incident last year. Sirius Black had given him directions on how to bypass the dangerous Whomping Willow, which was used by Remus Lupin during the full moon. He, and by extension, the Marauders were already familiar with the arrangement considering how many times they had visited Lupin after his transformation, seemingly enjoying their own little secret. And for that to happen…
Severus opened his Defense against the Dark Arts book and flicked to the chapters about Dark creatures, onyx eyes scanned for even the briefest mention about werewolves. One passage in particular had grabbed his attention and he rewrote it in his notebook.
Werewolves only hurt or bite humans, not animals.
Severus never thought he had dug up so much dirt about his tormentors but it seemed Lady Luck had given him her blessings, all in the name of uncovering the truth.
He was definitely going to have a rather fun year in Hogwarts.
That thought quickly left his mind as he pondered on how to reveal the many secrets of the Marauders to the public.
In the end, he wrote an anonymous letter to Mr. Bartemius Crouch who was the head of the Ministry's Magical Law Department, telling the man about an unregistered Animagus that was caught by the Muggle authorities. He of course, didn't enclose the name of said Animagus just for the thrills.
Over the week, Severus also found himself in the strange company of the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin first-years, who still found time to talk to him during lunch or dinner. At the moment, it was a miscellaneous group of the former two that had approached him, with the latter was listening intently as they ate.
"Prefect Snape," a girl greeted and Severus tried hard not to scowl while his friends were tittering with laughter over his misfortune. "Yes?" he drawled.
"Um… we're just wondering about this, but… which magic is the best to practice first?" she queried and Severus was quite impressed with her thoughts. Must be a Ravenclaw, he briefly mused. Though why couldn't she just ask any Prefect from her House?
"How good are you with your accidental magic?" he questioned instead and the small crowd shared their own experiences before receiving their acceptance letters. "Well, I would advise to not abandon that because it's a practice to do wandless magic, which of course, will be covered in your sixth year. Your wands are important, but in a fight or duel, you don't want to rely on it." Severus felt a bit overwhelmed by the sudden attention they gave him and soon snapped, "Had I answered your question enough?"
The crowd immediately dispersed with some of them thanking him in gratitude, and he shook his head before continuing eating his dinner somberly. He wished someone had told him about the importance of wandless magic in his early years too. Maybe he wouldn't have to lose his friendship with Lily Evans. But as it was, the past had happened and the only way for him to move now is forward.
Severus distracted himself by reading his Ancient Runes notes when the entrance doors suddenly swung open and everyone quickly turned to see who had come in.
Three men walked into the Great Hall; the one in the middle was smaller than the other two and everyone gasped as they finally recognized who it was.
It was Sirius Black.
However, he looked so haggard and gaunt with his sunken grey eyes and scraggly black hair. They all watched curiously as one of the men, which Michael Avery had pointed out, was Mr. Crouch, headed to the teachers' table and exchanged words with Albus Dumbledore. From what they could gather, the issue seemed terrible.
Severus however, noticed something about the recently returned student and wasn't sure if he had to address it or not.
"Is it just me, or he's actually walking weird?" he finally asked Mulciber with a curious frown.
His five friends turned to him in confusion. "What do you mean?" Wilkes spoke.
"Well, why would he walk like he's-" Severus shook his head, blushing in embarrassment and whispered something to Regulus who stared at him in utmost shock, seemingly scandalized with the idea before reluctantly sharing the word with others. They then looked back at how Sirius had positioned his legs as he stood in waiting and could only draw one conclusion.