Better Be Slytherin!

Severus gritted his teeth and ground out, 'Stupefy!' The spell would not knock the beast out, any more than it would a dragon, but . . .

The hellhound stopped worrying Severus' leg, and reared back, shaking its head. Severus used the brief respite to flee.

Merlin, he hated that beast.

His leg throbbed as he limped away from the relocked door. He had a salve in his quarters he could use on it, but the dungeon was very far away. It hurt, and was bleeding, and there was a troll loose somewhere, and Potter probably was in danger. With these thoughts in mind, he was not in the best of moods when he came across Quirrell lurking not twenty feet down the corridor.

'What are you doing here?' he snarled. 'Shouldn't you be in the dungeons subduing the troll?'

'B-but, S-s-severus,' the Defense Professor stuttered. 'I w-w-wanted to make s-s-sure everything was s-s-safe here. I th-thought p-p-perhaps the t-troll was a d-d-diversion.'

Severus' eyes narrowed dangerously. Was Quirrell finally admitting to his perfidy? 'Indeed?'

'B-but you have it all in h-h-hand, y-yes?'

'Of course,' Severus snapped.

'I would expect nothing less, my dear boy,' interjected a new voice.

Severus whipped around, wand high. Even though he recognized the voice, one could not be too careful. He gazed at Albus, whose bright blue eyes took in the two Professors, the door, and even Severus' wounded leg, in a matter of seconds. Severus inclined his head sharply and lowered his wand. 'Headmaster.'

'Severus,' Albus greeted. He looked Quirrell up and down. 'Quirinus.'

'I trust the troll has been dealt with,' Severus said.

'In a manner of speaking,' Albus said. 'I should think you would find the girls' bathroom on the first floor very illuminating.'

Severus glared at the Headmaster cryptic statement, but something in the old man's expression made Severus take a step back, eyes wide. Pain shot through his leg, and he bit his tongue to keep it from showing. Potter. It had to be Potter.

'Go,' Albus said. 'I'm here now.'

With a sharp nod, Severus took off at a run, or as much of one as he could manage. At the bottom of the stairs, he could hear the roars of the troll, and the crash of heavy things being thrown or smashed, as well as at least one higher pitched yell, that of a child. By the time he reached the lavatory in question, however, dead silence reached his ears. To his surprise, Minerva was also running toward the door, and they reached it at the same time.

Minerva's lips were pressed together tightly, but even though she had been running, not a hair was out of place from her tight bun. She glared over Severus' shoulder, and he turned to see that Quirrell had followed him.

This day got better and better every second.

They had paused only for the space of a heart beat before Minerva flung open the door, to reveal a very unusual sight.

Potter -- he knew it! -- was standing, wand out, over a twelve foot, lumpy gray troll, while Theodore Nott looked on and Millicent Bulstrode crouched under one of the smashed sinks, softly encouraging the Gryffindor girl, Granger, to come out. The Bloody Baron hovered by the sinks, looking a bit less shiny than usual.

Severus glared at the two boys and took a moment to gather his thoughts as he checked the troll over. It was not dead, just knocked out. And it stank to high heaven.

Minerva had no such compunctions about watching her words. 'What on earth were you thinking of?' Her voice was the essence of cold fury. Severus was impressed, despite himself. 'You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?'

Snape glared at the Slytherins again, specifically at Potter . . . though he realized with a start that the boy should not have even known about the troll, since he had not been present at the Feast. The boy did not hold his gaze, but looked briefly at his shoes before bringing his head up to face McGonagall's wrath. Severus was content to let her yell at them a bit; he would have his chance later. In private.

'I, er . . .' Harry started.

A voice from under the sinks interrupted him. 'Please, Professor McGonagall. They were looking for me.'

'Miss Granger!'

The girl climbed to her feet. 'I went looking for the troll because I -- I thought I could deal with it on my own -- you know, because I've read all about them.'

Potter and Bulstrode stared at her, open mouthed, as she continued, 'If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived.'

'Well -- in that case...' said Professor McGonagall, staring at the lot of them, 'Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?'

Granger hung her head and said nothing, which was a sure sign of the Apocalypse, Severus was sure.

'Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this,' said Minerva. 'I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses.'

The girl left, and Minerva turned to Severus' Slytherins, obviously with every intention of bending their ears over the issue. Severus knew there was more going on here than the Granger chit said, but he was certainly not going to let Minerva worm it out of his students. As she opened her mouth to start in on them, Severus straightened from where he had been crouched by the troll and said, 'You three were