Nobody Cared Enough !

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 16 (Pt 1)

5 Oct 1991, Saturday

Harry, Hermione, and Draco were sitting on the steps to the entrance of Hogwarts. They had just finished breakfast, and Harry and Draco were trying to think up some entertainment so they could avoid their weekend homework. Hermione was half-listening to them as she read her Transfiguration textbook.

"We could go look at the monster," Draco tossed out there.

Hermione's head shot up and she glared in warning at the two boys. "You heard what Professor Snape told us. Do you want to get into trouble with him?"

Draco frowned at Hermione. Harry replied, "Let's just try and forget about it, okay?"

"But don't you think we ought to show it to Hermione?" persisted Draco.

"I don't want to see it!" she stated.

"Just drop it, Draco," said Harry with irritation. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his scar.

"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"I don't..."

"P-p-pardon me, ch-ch-children," stuttered Professor Quirrell as he stepped out of the castle. He paused and look down at them. Harry winced and Draco scowled. The DADA professor tried to smile at them, but it was weak and insincere. He chose to walk quickly away from them.

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly when their DADA professor was some distance down the path that led to the gates of Hogwarts.

Harry rubbed his scar and then shook his head. "I'm fine."

Hermione was going to press the point, but a sharp nudge and a scowl from Draco made her sigh and stick her nose back in her book.

Draco wrinkled his nose. "He stinks."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. His scar still ached, but it was fading. He resisted rubbing it again. "He smells so badly of garlic I wonder if he's trying to ward off vampires."

"Could be, but there aren't any vampires at Hogwarts," replied Draco.

"Vampires aren't real, are they?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Hermione intoned, with a mocking, deep voice, "I hear rumours that Professor Snape is a vampire."

That sent all three of them into peals of laughter. The rumours about Snape being a vampire were an old one, and a flimsy one. Really, the only thing anyone could pin the man down on were his black clothes. Many children had seen him eat, and everyone, including those that weren't Slytherin, knew that the wizard must have his morning cup of coffee. Draco was sure vampires didn't care for coffee, and Hermione gave him a knowledgeable nod.

"Hasn't anyone ever seen him out in the daylight?" asked Harry with a touch of sarcasm. After all, their teacher had been to the little league tryouts and that was a sunny afternoon!

"I am rather fond of the sunshine," spoke a familiar voice behind them. All three yelped or squeaked and turned to face the teacher they'd been discussing. He lifted his hand and began to curl each finger down as he recited, "I have never imbibed a student's blood in detention, I have a reflection, I do not have a bat as a familiar, nor am I a bat Animagus, and it is werewolves that howl at the moon, not vampires."

Draco snickered and Harry smiled. Hermione blushed for having brought the silly subject up.

"Shouldn't you three be running around like young maniacs avoiding your homework until Sunday?" he asked sternly.

"I'm studying for Transfiguration, Sir," Hermione asserted.

"So I see, Miss Granger," he frowned down at the textbook. "You really do need to play more." He summoned the textbook and her bookbag. Letting out a reluctant protest, she tried to snatch the book out of the air. Snape put the textbook into the bookbag and then shrunk it and pocketed it. He said, "It will be waiting for you after dinner. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, if you go down to the Standing Stones, look around their bases. You will find some interesting pebbles. I am certain, Miss Granger, that you shall be able to identify them." Snape then shooed the three children off the steps and watched them as they ran down a path towards a curious set of Standing Stones that one passed right before reaching the Quidditch pitch.