Harry Potter and the Misunderstanding

CHAPTER 6

Ten minutes later, Harry was upstairs brushing his teeth when he suddenly heard furious footsteps on the stairs. He paused, toothbrush in hand, and almost fell off the little stool when Snape barged into the bathroom, his expression livid.

"You lazy little brat. You lied to me!" Snape bellowed, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him roughly off the stool.

"You never even touched the books or parchment I left you! They are completely blank! Did you think I wouldn't check?" He demanded.

"I did!" Harry exclaimed.

Snape's grip on his arm hurt.

"I worked all morning, right up until one, and then I was going to make lunch..."

"Noddy tells me that you played outside all morning and then ordered him to make you lunch!" Snape growled. "You do not order this household around, do you hear me!" Snape shouted, shaking Harry with each of the last four words.

The toothbrush fell out of Harry's hand and skittered across the tile floor. Harry was frozen with fear, Noddy had obviously hidden the work he'd done while Harry was outside but how could he convince Snape of his inncoence? His mouth was full of toothpaste, and when he tried to speak again, he only ended up swallowing a bit and choking on it.

"SILENCE!" Snape bellowed, twisting Harry around so that he couldn't see the man's angry face anymore. Harry was pushed unceremoniously out of the little bathroom and into his bedroom. Snape pushed him into the desk chair and stood over him, looking for all the world like a malevolent bat.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear that if you stay here, you are to follow my rules! These rules of which do not involve you running wild like you did at your relatives! The next time you disobey me, you won't be able to sit down again for a long time afterwards! Is that clear?" With that, Snape slammed his fist down onto the wooden desk, so hard that the frail legs shook, and left the room, pulling the door behind him hard.

Harry let out a gasp, his voice choked with unshed tears, and his mouth still full of toothpaste. His ears were throbbing after Snape's verbal assault, and he was confused by all that had happened.

"Go to bed!" Snape ordered, his voice only slightly muffled behind the door. "And don't test me further, Potter. I won't tolerate disobedience, and I especially won't tolerate lying."

Harry stood up shakily and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He stumbled over to this bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. He did not want to cry but his eyes burned with the threat of them. Harry looked over to his door when he heard it creak open however. He had just enough time to see Noddy's smirking face in the hallway light before he roughly jerked the duvet cover over his head to hide the intruding face.