A new beginning

Down to the dungeons

The walk through the castle was slow at best. Hand latched onto the child's arm, Snape occasionally looked sideways as if to make sure the child was still following, which was absolutely ridiculous as he was practically dragging the uncouth child himself. Why he was doing it, basically begging Potter to run, he did not know, but then again he supposed it could do something with the uneasiness he felt about the possibility of being alone with the child. What if Potter remembered him somehow? What if he remembered how he had cried for his mother and he, the feared Potions Master, had held him?

He supposed he could let the child go. The experience of being dragged near the dungeons by him should be a terrifying experience in itself. He could assign a punishment on top of it as well. Maybe a detention and an essay. Yeah, that sounded severe. But then how was he going to explain his reasoning behind taking the child with him? What could he say, that he was simply looking to scare the child? Of course, that could not do. He would have not only the Golden Boy's family knocking on his door as soon as he released Potter but McGonagall and Dumbledore as well. They would want to know who in their right mind would want to scare a child. Of course, McGonagall would be more concerned about what was wrong with him since he had let Potter go and Dumbledore would wonder why he had felt the need to punish said child if all he had been doing was walking outside to see a friend. No, the mere thought of having to explain himself to them made him continue walking with Potter stumbling behind him.

But what exactly was he going to do once they got to his office?

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Snape's hand on his arm was starting to hurt a bit, but then again he supposed that is what he got for being so short. The man was basically dragging him in order to make him keep up with the fast and long strides. It did not help either that the black billowing robes the Professor wore would occasionally tangle on his foot and make him slip a bit on the damp stone floor.

He had never imagined the dungeons to be damp, but then again he supposed that is what snakes liked...

The small smile that had spread across Harry's face quickly disappeared as he caught a glimpse of Snape looking sideways at him. The man looked extremely angry, along with something else, something he could not quite put his finger on. It was obvious that Snape considered both his and Ron's little escapade to be more serious than they did. Sure, they had been out past curfew but they were with Hagrid, and even though he was not a Professor, he worked on the school's grounds, which made him something close to a Professor, or even a Prefect. They were not alone for God's sakes. And it had only been past curfew when they were intending to go back. They had not sneaked out at night to go visit Hagrid, they had walked out under the bright sunlight only to come out a bit later than they had thought. Surely, that could not be as bad as sneaking out...

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A bit too soon for Harry's taste, they were standing in front of a broad wooden door in the middle of a corridor, to which the Potion's Master waved his hand in order to open it. Without wasting a single second, the Professor used the same hand that had previously been clutching the small extremity to push Potter into the office. The walls were lined with shelves that held an enormous amount of bottles with liquids, although some did not seem to be liquid at all, and many different coloured substances.

A small shiver spread across Harry's back as the chilled air swirled around him. The fireplace found near the small desk was clearly not used on a daily basis as neither a fire nor the ashes of a slowly burning one were found inside.

Not knowing what to do, Harry stood in the middle of the room, observing as Snape re-straightened the sleeves of his robes and took one last long look at the child in front of him. Walking around the small desk directly across from the door, Snape placed both hands on top of the wooden surface and let a frustrated breath out, all before issuing the single command:

"Sit"