Grim Grinning Ghosts

Chapter 7: Night Wandering and Classes

Harrison was always partial to nighttime. Everything was always so quiet, so tranquil, so calm. At night, everyone was asleep, and those who were awake were too afraid to wander through a large castle in the dark. Obviously Harrison, being a spirit, had no qualms with exploring his new dwelling in the dark of the night. In fact, he loved it. While he adored Harold and his new friends to no end, Harrison also enjoyed his alone time, his time to think. Which was what he was doing as he explored the empty halls.

Already he had memorized the path to the Great Hall, to most of the Professors' offices, and around eight bathrooms scattered around the castle. He had peeked inside classrooms to see which ones were used, and had deducted the ones he would probably be sitting in for the year. The classroom that had the same odd smell as Professor Quirrell must be the Defense Classroom, while the one that was decked in blue and was shaped like an auditorium must be the Charms classroom and the classroom near the Astronomy tower was, well, the Astronomy classroom.

Harrison paused in his exploration when he heard noises coming from behind a broom closet. Instantly Peeves came up in his mind at the culprit, and the ghost gave a vicious smile at the thought of giving the dratted poltergeist a taste of what he deserved. Making sure he was still invisible, Harrison stick his head inside the broom closet, ready to jumpscare Peeves.

Instant karma happened when he was faced with not a plotting Peeves but with two older students who were in a sloppy makeout session and were rapidly taking their clothes off. Quickly the ghost jerked his head out of the closet and, if he were visible, sported a bright red face. He put his hands to cover his face in embarrassment, and vowed never to look inside broom closets before finding a system to weed out eloping hormonal teenagers.

Making his way around a corner, Harrison found himself flying down into a darkened area of the school. By the way the air was damper and the echoing winds blew through the corridor, he deducted that he had finally found the Dungeons. Water dripped from a leaky pipe and Harrison's eye twitched at the sound. He understood the need for the place to be somewhat foreboding, but honestly, at least keep it relatively clean! Phasing through two large double doors, the ghost found himself in a cleaner room with stone walls covered in shelves and drawers. In glass jars were the most interesting of objects, some dry, some suspended in either some sort of gel or liquid. Judging by the fact that the desks were free of any dust (to Harrison's immense joy), this must have been the Potions classroom, the class taught by Severus Snape.

He wasn't going to lie, Harrison had high hopes for Professor Snape, drummed in by his mother who had ranted that the man was a Potions Master. Still, it was also obvious that Severus held a bit of a grudge, most likely against his father. Earning the Potion's Professor's respect and trust may take some work, but a fellow intellect was always welcome.

Seeing nothing else to explore in the room, the green eyed ghost floated through one of the side walls. Passing hidden corridors that he filed away for exploration later, Harrison entered what looked to be an office. It was rather neat, and impeccably well kept. The furniture was all dark wood tones, and shelves were covered in books and potions ingredients. This had to be Professor Snape's office, though the man himself had probably retired into his sleeping quarters. Shrugging to himself, he floated through another wall and was about to head back up when Harrison heard shuffling noises coming from the other side of the door that was present.

Curious, he floated in, and saw an interesting sight.

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Severus Tobias Snape was once again unable to sleep. Every time he tried to close his eyes, his mind wandered to a woman with fiery red hair and brilliant emerald eyes, and the boy that was undoubtedly her son. Harry Potter had messy black hair and facial features that reminded Severus of his childhood enemy, and yet when he stared into those eyes...Lily stared right back at him. However, those bespectacled eyes held a cunning that neither of his parents had possessed, and the Potions Master couldn't help but think about what he would have done had the boy been Sorted into Slytherin. Alas, the child was in the House of his parents, and Severus held a rather large bias against them. Yet his mind once again wandered, causing them to imagine the child decked in emerald robes. Emerald like Lily's eyes.