Severus walked the dim corridors of the dungeon level with staid purpose. He had spent the whole Halloween feast rehearsing this confrontation with his students in his mind. As he counseled Petunia, he had set other thoughts aside.
"Everyone sees what you appear to be, not who you are," he said softly. It was the current pass phrase for the Slytherin common room. Going through Petrus' files, he had discovered the hidden door chose its passwords not at random, and not from the heads of its prefects as he had thought when he was a student, but instead as short quotations from an insipid book in the library of quotes and family mottos by famous purebloods. Severus had wasted little time in modifying the charm to quote from a muggle political philosopher instead. Some of those quotations were pretty bad as well, but he had few political treatises to hand.
He was hit by a wave of sound as the door opened. It seemed his Slytherins were having a party. That or the seventh years were attempting a Samhain ritual against the rules. There were many voices either singing badly or chanting, as well as stamping and clapping. Severus was reasonably certain it was supposed to be singing, so he remained calm and did not yet draw his wand as he walked into the luxurious common room. He grew slightly more concerned when he observed the students were all clustered on the far side of the room, ringed around a central object that flickered eerily in time to the beat.
Then he reached the edge of the crowd and was able to look over the children's heads and recognize the source of the flickering. He smiled. "Good evening," he said. A few of the students nearest to him spun around and shrieked in alarm, which effectively disrupted the party. The singing and stamping died. The flickering settled into a steady glow from second year Kirley Duke's silver, pumpkin-shaped head. He must have saved the leftovers from his cauldron earlier. Severus continued walking, students parting before him until he reached the open center of the ring. "You will be glad to know that no one is in trouble, and I have no intention of interrupting your evening for more than a few minutes. Congratulations again on a unique Pompion potion, Mr. Duke. The light effect synchronizing with ambient sounds is clearly the envy of your classmates." Duke's potion surely would have won the competition if not for the Gryffindors' concerted anti-Slytherin campaign. Next year, he would ensure the competitors' identities were concealed to negate such bias. Personally, Severus was most impressed by a Ravenclaw's potion that turned her head not into a mere pumpkin but rather a flesh-colored and knobby squash that eerily resembled a bald Filius Flitwick, especially once she colored the eyes with her wand and put on a hat. She had essentially created a much simpler, much safer, much quicker alternative to polyjuice for magical disguise. He would help her publish her potion formula in a reputable journal.
"Th-thank you, sir," Kirley stuttered from within his pumpkin.
Severus inclined his head to the twelve-year-old, then looked out to the rest of the Snakes. "Before I leave you all to your celebration, there is another, more serious competition to announce. This is for all years. Every Slytherin shall participate, but this will remain secret and sacred within our house."
"What is it, Professor?" Gwenog Jones asked.
"I'm thinking of it as the Heir of Slytherin competition, though I am open to other titles. The point is to embody the virtues of our house. Ambition. Achievement. Cunning. Resourcefulness. Et cetera. At the end of the year, one student will be acknowledged for their excellence."
"What will they win?" someone in the back piped up.
"A flask of the legal, non-amorous potion of their choice, a bar of the best chocolate Honeydukes has to offer, a stand-out letter of recommendation, and, much more importantly, the respect of all of you."
"How do we win?" Gwenog asked, eyes alight with nascent ambition. She had taken his words to heart at the start of term, unlike most of the layabouts in the sixth and seventh year cohort.
He gestured broadly. "Convince your peers you deserve it. Convince me you deserve it. If you somehow without giving away the game manage to convince someone not of our house to comment to me in perfect candor 'my goodness, so-and-so must be the greatest representative of House Slytherin in decades,' so much the better." He grinned. "The winner will be at my discretion, and I promise you, I will be fair. I have few rules: firstly, don't let me catch you breaking any rules, mine or otherwise. Secondly, I am the authority in this competition, and in this House. My goal is to see all of you succeed, and if any of you think to rise in my favor by sabotaging others, particularly those younger than you, then you risk working at cross-purposes to myself. Thirdly, as stated before, this stays between us. Telling anyone else about the competition, whether your family, another Professor, or another student in a different House, is forbidden." His eyes darted around the room a moment before he decided he had made his offer tantalizing enough. He nodded and turned to leave as softly as he had come in. "I'll leave you to it."
Severus finished the last bit of grading, disillusioned the Sorting Hat on his head to hide it from the students, and opened his office door to go to lunch, only for a bolt of pale yellow light to flash under his nose. It took only a quick glance both ways down the corridor to determine what was happening.
"Locomotor Mortis," Severus spat. Seventh-year Vivian Vandamme froze in the act of launching a bat-bogey hex at a cowering Elizabeth Tuttle. He stared at his students in quiet rage for a minute. Augusta Selwyn sniggered from further down the corridor as Elizabeth scrambled away to rejoin the other first years, a difficult feat with her legs stuck together from Vivian's half-body bind curse. Severus shot Augusta a glare before turning back to Vivian. "You... simpleton," he said softly. The situation was absurd. Not only had the stupid, blood purist twat decided to cross him less than a week after he specifically warned the upper years not to bully their juniors, but she did it in the hall right outside his office. He was almost as angry about her idiocy as he was about her cruelty. He snapped his wand at Elizabeth to remove the half-body bind. "Twenty points from Slytherin, Ms. Vandamme. And detention. Ms. Tuttle, you and your friends may await me in my office while I deal with this. Ms. Selwyn! Stay."
The first years scuttled to obey. "Ooh, you're much more fun to sit on than Pomona," the Sorting Hat whispered in his ear. He fought not to roll his eyes at the Hat's annoying commentary. He had worn it for barely a week, and already he was fed up with the constant presence. Two months with this thing was going to be a nightmare. Thank Merlin it had agreed not to attend the Potions practical classes.
Severus released the binding on Vivian's face only, allowing her to talk. "Speak."
Vivian rolled her eyes. "The halfblood girl tripped me, Professor Snape!"
"Did she now?"
"She ran right past me with no respect for who I am and jostled me."
Severus grinned darkly. Vivian's outraged expression faltered. "And who are you, Ms. Vandamme, that an accidental encounter with an excited eleven-year-old merits magical vengeance?"
"Such snark!" the Hat quietly interjected.
"I- I am the daughter of Darius Vandamme and Lucille Louvrex! My family is-"
"Irrelevant."
The Hat chuckled in approval.
She sputtered and almost hissed at him, "You... upstart half-muggle! How dare you think to control the House of Slytherin, you dirt! People like you and that mudblood's daughter don't belong here!"
Severus arched an eyebrow and smirked at her. "And in order to uphold the purity of our house, you forget all sense of cunning and disobey my edicts at my very door. Tut tut. Your cause is doomed if its advocates cannot think or control themselves. Ah, but I suppose I am also in the wrong and should do more to accommodate the grandness of your blood... You pathetic girl. Your insults mean nothing to me. They are but the cries of a powerless child, and so bereft of bite. Now, who shall you serve your detention with? We must make sure you are supervised by someone with sufficient purity, I suppose, so clearly not myself. Perhaps Professor McGonagall? Oh, but you must not associate with Gryffindor, mustn't you? Professor Sprout may do..." He snapped his fingers in feigned sudden inspiration. "I know, Caretaker Filch. His family was purer even than your own."
"Oooh!" the Hat exulted, clearly enjoying itself. Shut up, he thought at it.
"I will curse that wretched squib, don't think I won't!"
"My, my. Threatening staff now, are you? Another ten points from Slytherin, and a second detention. It has been awhile since the drains in the floor of the potions classroom were properly cleaned. You might not know that manual methods are more effective for accumulated grime than cleaning charms, of course, being of such lofty parentage. I shall ask the Caretaker to instruct you and supervise myself to prevent any incivility between you and him. Meet me after classes tomorrow night." He released her.
"Come on! Hex us! I dare you!" the Hat cackled into Severus' ear. He pictured Fiendfyre at it. Fortunately, Vivian glared at him but evidently decided not to keep digging her hole.
"Dismissed." Vivian jerked her head at him and stalked away. "Ms. Selwyn, I have not forgotten you," Severus said, slowly turning to face his seventh-year prefect, who was currently lounging against the wall looking bored. "Why did you not intervene?"
She smirked. "It was all too fast, Professor. Am I supposed to step up the moment I see wands drawn in the corridor?"
"If it is a seventh year's wand pointed at a first year, then yes," he told her firmly. "That is your job as a prefect."
"Hmm. I'll keep that in mind."
"How did she make Prefect?" the Hat asked, scandalized.
Severus ignored the Hat. His eyes narrowed. When he spoke again, his voice was deadly soft. "See that you do, Ms. Selwyn. If I hear of more Slytherin upper years harassing any of our first or second years, any of our upper years and any of our first and second years... you will be serving detention as well."
Her eyes widened. "You can't do that! It's not in the rules for you to punish students for infractions they didn't commit!"
"Ah, but I won't be punishing you for bullying," he said silkily. "No, you will be punished for dereliction of your duties as a prefect."
"You can't do that, it's my NEWT year!" Augusta objected. Amusingly, the Hat said the very same thing. It might support Severus' anti-bullying campaign, but it valued the students' education above anything else.
Severus fought to control his grin and offered a sly smile instead. "Indeed it is. I am only thinking of you and your ambitions, Ms. Selwyn. Did we not discuss your... underwhelming... ambition to inherit the House of Selwyn? Your ability to lead and control your inferiors is far more important to that goal than your grades. I have already told you that you could get all 'T's on your NEWTs and still inherit. I will tell you now, if you cannot learn to control your own classmates with your resources, you will be a miserable head of a Noble House. You have a chance to impress me, Ms. Selwyn. I suggest you take it."
"This is all your fault anyway," she grumbled.
"Is it? Enlighten me."
"Vivian wouldn't have been so careless without your stupid 'Heir of Slytherin' competition."
"Ah, she believes this is a competition to prove who is most foolish and short-sighted in the House?"
"No. But it means she won't take slights from the unclean. Like the real Heir of Slytherin."
Severus walked forwards to loom over the seventeen-year-old girl. She involuntarily shrank from him before remembering her noble birth and straightening her shoulders. "I think Salazar would be ashamed if his Heir prioritized causing pain and fear amongst young children over honing their mind, forging alliances, and furthering their future. Don't you?"
Augusta shifted. "I didn't say she was smart."
"You and your classmates should not forget who is judging this competition. Me. One of the unclean. I will not be impressed by public recitations of incestuous ancestry. If that was what I wanted to select an honorary 'Heir of Slytherin," I would simply have you and Mr. Rosier duel to the death. Show some leadership, Selwyn. Show me that you are worthy of the same respect I hold for your father. Get the sheep in line." He glared at her a moment longer and smiled inwardly when he saw her eyes begin to glisten. She was a narcissist, but that only made her more susceptible to well-delivered humiliation. "Dismissed," he said softly.
"Yes, sir," Augusta muttered. Her face was flushed in mixed shame and anger. She walked past him and then broke into a run, no doubt to catch up with Vivian. Severus grinned. Delegation: the most important part of effective leadership, according to Vernon's books. It was a productive day if he could reduce someone as arrogant as Prefect Augusta Selwyn to tears.
"Young Severus, Salazar would have loved and hated you," the Hat whispered admiringly.
Oh? Severus thought at it as he made his way back to his office and the waiting first years.
"He would have enjoyed your manipulations, but he had no sense of humor. Godric might have appreciated the sarcasm... and I lost track of all the students he shamed to tears. He thought it built character. This is so much fun. I should really thank you for persuading the Headmaster to have the staff wear me."
Any advice for talking to the first years?
"I can't share anything confidential. Do you want to know their favorite colors?"
Do you want me to test the third years' potions on you this afternoon?
"You wouldn't dare!"
Then stop with the stupid questions and comments. With that, Severus opened the door to his office. He studied the four first years, who collectively shrank from him. He sighed. Their timidity was irritating. "Are you alright, Ms. Tuttle?" She nodded, though her red, watery eyes belied the gesture. "What happened?"
"Er... I forgot my quill in the Common Room and went back to get it. Then I ran down the corridor to catch up with the others and bumped into Vivian. I didn't mean to trip her."
Ismelda rolled her eyes. "You didn't trip her, Lizzy. You barely clipped her elbow. She didn't even drop anything. She just took that as an excuse to hex you."
"But that's so mean!"
"Certain older purebloods are mean," Severus informed her. "They feel the right to target people like you and me because of our blood status. You will face that not only in Hogwarts but as an adult as well. Anyone with a muggle parent or grandparent, even some with only muggle great-grandparents, will encounter bias." Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"Told you," Merula Snyde muttered.
Severus grimaced. "I gather your family has sheltered you from the unpleasant reality of your blood status, Ms. Tuttle. I suggest you listen to your peers. I suspect they all have more understanding of this issue than you do." He moved past the children and sat down at his desk. He rummaged in a drawer to find an almost empty tin of biscuits. Minerva had gifted them to him in celebration of their completing the renovations at Spinners End. They might be a little stale by now, but he didn't have anything else to offer the shaken eleven-year-olds. He conjured a plate and dumped the biscuits onto it. "Share these," he said shortly. He waited for each of them to select a biscuit, then folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. "Now, what will you four do if something like this happens again where I am not able to immediately intervene?" No one answered at first. "Well?"
"Uh... I could hex whoever it was back?" Ismelda suggested.
"I wanted to put her in Gryffindor," the invisible Hat said wistfully. She should have been in Gryffindor if you were doing your job properly, Severus thought at it disdainfully.
"And what hex would you use, Ms. Murk?"
"Um... Flipendo?"
"Ah, the first one you learned in Defense class. Unfortunately, the knockback jinx is not disabling. Assuming you managed to land it, your more experienced foe would still be in the fight, and they would be angrier and more likely to escalate their violence."
"Stinging hex?" Elizabeth offered.
"A better option, but only if you hit their wand hand." He attempted a gentle smile, but from their fearful expressions he was sure it looked predatory or something. "You four are not powerful enough to fight off an older student if they are determined to hurt you, certainly not by traditional means. So what else can you do?"
"Call for help," Barnaby muttered.
"And get stamped on later for tattling," Ismelda drawled.
"Depends on who and how you call," Severus said lightly. "If you are actively being attacked and scream loudly and dramatically, maybe cry a little even if you aren't actually hurting, that may satisfy your attacker's lust for violence and get them to stop to save themselves from discovery, while also alerting anyone nearby to come to your rescue. What is the risk of that approach?"
The four students glanced at eachother. They were no doubt surprised by the direction of this conversation. "No one comes," Barnaby whispered. "And they don't stop."
Severus nodded. "A possibility we cannot ignore. Even if someone else hears you, those who are cowardly or without mercy may choose not to intervene. That is life. So. What can you four do to protect yourselves and eachother?"
All four of them looked down at the floor. Elizabeth started to cry again. Damnit, he was trying to be helpful!
"You idiot. Give them a pep talk, not a reality check," the Hat hissed at him.
Easier said than done. Especially now he'd terrified them all.
"They're afraid of you for a reason. You're an ex-Death Eater! You say things like 'lust for violence' and they think dead parents and cousins."
I can't help being an ex-Death Eater.
"No, but you're not helping yourself by also being one of the strictest and most impatient Professors around. You should work on your own reputation. Now, repeat after me," the Hat simpered at him. "'This is not an impossible problem, and I want to help you sort it out together.'"
Severus grit his teeth a moment, but he obeyed the Hat. "This is not an impossible problem, and I want to help you sort it out. Together." Merula's and Ismelda's heads jerked back up. The Hat kept dictating, and Severus just followed its lead for a bit. "I am on your side. It is my job to take care of you, and I want to keep you four safe as well as happy and successful in Slytherin. You don't have to like me or be friends with me for that, but you do have to trust me enough to take your problems to me so that I can help you. Never be too afraid of tattling when it comes to safety."
By the time he was done, the first years were all looking at him with cautious hope rather than fear.
"You take it from here, maestro," the Hat chuckled in his ear. "I'll rescue you again if needed." Dragon dung, then Fiendfyre, Severus thought at it.
"The first step is for you four to stay together, which I know you already are doing. Why is that?" He decided not to stare them down while waiting for a response this time.
"Er... harder to attack?"
"A little harder to attack, yes, but more importantly, easier for someone to raise the alarm. If one of you is in jeopardy, and no older ally is in sight, then another of you can run away and find someone willing to help. Who will you run to?"
"You?"
"A possibility, yes. But if you are out on the grounds or in one of the towers, I will be a long way away. Seek assistance from anyone you trust to help you, including...?"
"Gwenog and Erika!" Elizabeth said.
"Good, yes, I see you are already on good terms with those two. You should definitely try to secure more allies in the senior classes ahead of time. They will help you in more ways than this. Even if none of your known allies are nearby, you should ask any prefect or teacher you come across."
"But... Augusta..."
"I have spoken to Ms. Selwyn and corrected her indifference. She will help you, and she will ensure that any Slytherin prefect will help you. I can guarantee any Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw prefect would also attend to you. The Gryffindors should help, but you might have to work harder to catch their attention because of their bias against Slytherin in general. However, if you make it clear that your friend is being unfairly victimized by someone much senior, then they will undoubtedly dash off to nobly rescue the downtrodden." He couldn't help a sneer at that, and Merula giggled.
"You don't like Gryffindors, do you, Professor Snape?"
"In general, not really. They have strong tendencies towards arrogant self-righteousness that is easily misdirected and therefore quite tiresome, particularly with their grudge against our House. That same quality, along with their commitment to 'valor,' makes them easy to manipulate. You will do well to remember that and capitalize on it."
"Yes, sir," Merula giggled again.
"Sounds like you want us to cry a lot, sir," Barnaby said, uncertainly.
"The tears of children are valuable weapons in a moral argument. Make use of them while you can," Severus told him with a grin. "By the time you have outgrown that tactic, you will have other, more powerful weapons available to you."
"Er, okay." Barnaby looked confused, and Ismelda looked a little put out, but both Elizabeth and Merula seemed to understand and approve his advice.
"So," he said with authority, "if a senior student harasses you, you are to call for help immediately. If no help is forthcoming and your attacker does not relent in the face of tears and expressions of fright, you will fight back. You will fight back cleverly. I want you four to practice your accuracy with the stinging hex so that you can hit your attacker's wand hand without fail. You should also think about how you could use the other spells you learn in both Defense and Charms to help either disable your attacker or enable your own escape. If you have questions about the feasibility of your ideas, ask your professors or myself."
"Could we use Lumos to blind them?" Elizabeth interjected.
"If it is dark and you are in close quarters, yes, absolutely," Severus said approvingly. It probably wouldn't help for more than a few seconds, but it was still a creative application of a simple spell, so he would encourage it. "If all else fails, then you focus on protecting yourself by physically protecting your head, and as soon as you are able, you report what happened to Ms. Selwyn and to myself."
There was more resistance to this suggestion, but Severus was firm. "Tattling" was only a crime according to rulebreakers. Moreover, he could not be everywhere, and he had to give Augusta the resources she needed to succeed in the mission he had forced on her, or else she would come to resent him even more and start conspiring with her classmates instead of trying to control them. There was a little more discussion about bullying, about blood status, and about the Slytherin prefects. Severus asked them how their classes were going, and he got real answers this time. When he sent them off to lunch, he was actually satisfied.
The stupid Hat alternately praised him and offered feedback for the meeting all the way up to the Great Hall.
Author's note: Severus has clever plans, they just have to be under constant revision because he keeps self-sabotaging. And he hates having a Jiminy Cricket Sorting Hat in his ear for the months of November and January. I also acknowledge I previously stated Elizabeth's father was a half-blood, not muggle-born as Vivian said. I'm going to stick by the half-blood thing if it ever comes up again, but Severus didn't bother to correct it because blood status really wasn't the point.
Thank you for the reviews, next chapter will be on Friday.
