Better Be Slytherin!

Now they were getting somewhere. Where, Severus had no clue, but he would find out, oh yes. Regarding the boy through narrowed eyes, he considered what to do with him. Clearly there was a pattern to the Brat's regular dismissal of the edicts of others, and Severus would need to determine what that was, precisely. 'For this evening's detention, I require an essay of no less than two feet, due tomorrow night. The essay will contain an explanation from you on which rules you feel it behooves you to follow, and which it does not, citing examples from both Hogwarts and your home in Surrey. You are dismissed.'

For the space of three, maybe four heartbeats, Severus was almost sure the Brat Who Confounded Him would protest, or refuse to follow the very simple order to leave, but then Potter nodded, said, 'Yes, sir,' and escaped the office without looking back.

Severus sighed and went back to his grading.

The next morning's classes were under constant interruption by the unfettered poltergeist, so much so that Dumbledore himself had to step in at least once, when Peeves' antics caused an entire roomful of second year Gryffindors to start hexing each other in an effort to get rid of him, right through the robes he had jerked over all of their heads.

At lunch, Severus kindly hid his smirk over the incident from Minerva, as she was none too pleased about the resulting flurry of feathers and thistle down in her classroom, and had spent more than enough time cleaning up after her class.

An extra special surprise was that Professor Quirrell had canceled all his classes for the day, claiming a bout of flu. Having all the Defense students running about in the halls when everyone else was in class was just this short of the best fun Severus had ever borne witness to on a Monday.

But all that aggravation went out of his head completely when, on the way back to his office before his first afternoon class, Severus at last found the Bloody Baron.

The ghost was hovering just in front of his office door, in fact. He looked . . . less substantial than usual, for the Bloody Baron, though the silver streaks of his blood were brighter than ever.

Severus stepped closer, but stayed slightly out of range of touch. If the Baron had turned . . . well, evil, Severus would not present him with an easy target, at least. He did, however, erect a simple privacy ward, so anything spoken here now would remain between only the two of them.

'Severus Snape,' the ghost intoned as it turned to see him. His voice was breathy, almost a whisper, and curiously flat. His eyes were odd, too, dark tunnels with a touch of madness.

'Baron.' Severus inclined his head slightly, but did not lower his gaze. 'We've been looking for you.'

'The boy . . . is he well?'

'By boy, I presume you mean the Potter child.' The Bloody Baron nodded, barely, and Severus said, 'He fares well enough now. But he lost blood, a lot of it. As well as some memories.'

'Ah . . . the fault lies with me. For . . . both of those.'

'Does it?' Severus surreptitiously slid his wand into his hand, though what he could do if the ghost really attacked him, he did not know. 'How so?'

'I am . . . unsure.'

'Funny, that's what Potter said. He remembers you flying through him. . . .'

'I did not . . . fly through him.'

'No?'

'I possessed him.'

'I see,' Severus said, though he did not. He kept his expression carefully blank, and did not lash out as he wanted, but . . . What in the world was going on here? 'May I ask why?'

The Baron's face matched his for blankness, though there was a flash of something in his eyes. 'He is a Slytherin.'

'Yes . . .'

'I did not expect it.'

Join the bloody club, Severus thought. 'That's not an answer.'

'There was no time.'

Getting the odd sense he was holding more than one conversation here, Severus said, 'No time for what?'

'To aid him . . . in any other way. . . . He is powerful, but weak yet.'

Dammit, this was getting him nowhere. 'So . . . Potter was in trouble and you possessed him in order to aid him?'

A ghostly sigh toughed his ears, as if the Baron was pleased he had reached the correct conclusion. 'He wishes to return,' the Baron said in that same oddly flat tone, but there was nonetheless a note of urgency to his next statement. 'And we cannot let him.'

'Potter?' Severus shook his head, even as the Baron did. 'You mean whoever attacked Potter. And someone did attack him, didn't they?'

'Yessss.'

'Who?'

'I cannot say.'

Severus frowned. What was this, then? 'Are you unable to say? That is, whoever attacked the boy . . .'