Flint thumped Draco on the shoulder. "Good going, Firstie!"
Draco managed to suppress his wince at the blow тАУ Flint was as bad as Hagrid at not knowing his own strength!
"I will inform the elves to set up a celebratory feast in the Great Hall," Dumbledore continued, "commemorating how inter-House cooperation averted today's tragedy." He sent a sly look at Snape as he said this, and the younger wizard gritted his teeth. As if saving Gryffindors was something to be proud of!
"Party in the Great Hall!" Wood yelled. "Let's get cleaned up!"
Both teams sprinted for the changing rooms, while the rest of the school hurried up to the castle. Snape made a long arm and snatched Harry by the back of the robes when the boy would have headed off with the others. "Oh, no, Mr Potter. You are in no condition to glut yourself on sweets. You must recuperate from your Ordeal," he informed the brat sternly.
"Oh, Pr'fessor!" Harry groaned in disappointment. "It wasn't that bad. Honest!"
"Madam Pomfrey will be the judge of that," he retorted, unmoved. "If she provides you with a clean bill of health, then you may attend the party but тАУ" he held up an admonitory finger "- only for two hours, after which I expect you to rest quietly in your room. You may do your homework until nine, when you will go to bed."
Harry scowled and kicked at the grass. ""S not fair," he grumbled. "Wasn't my fault that someone tried to pull me off the railing. Don't see why I have to miss the party. I caught the snitch an' everything!"
Snape took him by the shoulder and marched the unwilling boy towards the infirmary. Surely the brat couldn't face another attempt on his life with such aplomb? Was he merely in shock and denial? Better to let the medi-witch check him over.
"After such a fright, your body needs rest," he informed the little monster icily. "Overstimulation at a party is hardly conducive to recovery."
Harry heaved a great sigh, clearly feeling much put-upon. "It wasn't that scary, Pr'fessor," he argued. "I mean, it's not like it hurt or anything. It actually felt kinda fun тАУ y'know, scary-exciting. At least, it did until I started to feel like I was gonna sick up."
Snape rolled his eyes. Were all children this foolish? Concentrating on the physical sensations rather than the actual threat? "Potter, you will drive me mad," he scolded. "Are you not even the slightest bit concerned about who did this to you?"
Harry blinked up at him in surprise. "No." At Snape's stunned expression, he explained with childlike conviction, " 'Cause you'll find out and take care of it, just like you did last time."
There was a lump in his throat that made it difficult for Snape to reply immediately.
After clearing his throat uncomfortably, he managed to say, "Well, yes, Potter. You are correct." He allowed the hand that rested on the boy's shoulder to gingerly pat him a few times. "You may leave all that to me."
Harry beamed up at his professor, reveling in the warm hand on his shoulder. Professor Snape might be a bit of a worry wart at times, but as much as Harry might chafe at the examination and the early bedtime (to say nothing of only being allowed a few hours at what promised to be quite a party!), he was still more than delighted at having an adult look after him. It meant that he could concentrate on taking good notes for Hermione тАУ and preventing Ron and Draco from outright warfare тАУ rather than having to solve a huge mystery about who was out to get him this time. He figured that Professor Snape was way sneakier than he was тАУ not to mention more powerful тАУ so he'd not only figure it out quicker, but also be able to exact revenge upon his attacker much better than Harry ever could.
Harry remembered those four Ravenclaw boys. Snape had gotten them expelled before breakfast the next day! Harry could never have managed anything like that тАУ at best he might have been able to stay out of their way, or maybe think of some way to prank them. Professor Snape wasn't limited to schoolboy revenges like that тАУ he was a lot nastier than Harry could ever be. In fact, Harry felt rather sorry for whoever had tried to hurt him today. Professor Snape was going to kill them. And with a happy grin on his face and his guardian by his side, Harry walked unafraid through the doors of Hogwarts.
TBCтАж
*Chapter 27*: Chapter 27
Snape glared at the grey stone wall of his dungeon classroom and contemplated banging his head against it. Much against his will, he was spending his evening supervising Harry, Hermione, and Ron, along with two of his own little snakes who had managed to earn a detention with Sprout. (Sprout! What were they thinking? A furious Snape had given each one a second detention for being so inept as to infuriate the normally placid Herbology professor. What kind of Slytherins couldn't handle a Hufflepuff, for Merlin's sake? Well, two nights copying "Slytherins are not dunderheads" over and over should help remind them that their House prided itself on out-thinking the rest of the school. If they couldn't even manage the Head of Hufflepuff, they deserved every hex their Housemates sent their way.)
He would normally have set his Slytherins to scrubbing cauldrons, but he could hardly do that while the three Gryffindors sat at nearby desks working on their essays. So instead, all five children were industriously scribbling away, and Snape had to cast his own cleaning spells on the cauldrons. As if he didn't have better things to do! It was all Potter's fault.
And Minerva's. She had pointed out that being restricted to the Common Room with all their friends wasn't precisely an onerous penalty for the Trio, nor one conducive to working on their punishment essays. And since neither Granger nor Weasley had access to a private bedroom the way Potter did тАУ though Potter's was (thanks to Albus) so chock-a-block with toys that it was no more punitive a site for banishment than the Common Room тАУ it was only sensible for the three to spend their time on restriction under the supervision of a professor. And, McGonagall had said with a steely glint in her eye, since she had already spent the last three evenings supervising them, it was now his turn.
In vain had he protested, arguing that they were in her House. She had turned a deaf ear and promptly at seven, the three little miscreants had appeared on his doorstep. His two snakes had followed closely and тАУ much to Snape's irritation тАУ were visibly relieved to find Gryffindors present, knowing full well that their Head of House wouldn't be nearly as stinging in his invective when there were non-Slytherins within earshot.
They had underestimated his menacing hiss, however, and before sending them to their desks, he rendered both of them ashen and sweating with a low-voiced lecture about what would happen if they were ever again so foolish as to fail to live up to their House values. Now though, an hour later, they were displaying the resilience of youth and beginning to glance up from their papers and exchange winks and cautious signals with the Gryffindors.
Snape again wished he could bang his head on the wall. His Slytherins were being corrupted by those blasted lions. Normally, Slytherins were either too sulky at being punished or too embarrassed at having been caught to do much during a detention other than the assigned task. They were anxious to get their punishment over with and escape, so that they could then pretend the whole thing had never happened.
By contrast, Gryffindors (probably because they received so many detentions, Snape thought sourly) seemed to view them as a social opportunity. These dratted lions obviously didn't consider their restriction a shameful indignity, and they were sending sympathetic glances over to his snakes, along with funny faces to try to cheer up the gloomy second years.