It was quite exceedingly obvious that Minerva McGonagal was not having a very good day at all.
Which was a shame, in the Head of Hufflepuff's opinion. It was such a nice day, all clear and balmy and all.
"---Why, Proffesor McGonagal? What appears to be the problem?"
And what a silky self-satisfied voice that was, too.
"Two of your Slytherins have been caught cheating. In my class, to boot!"
"Indeed? How---unlikely. "
Well, that could be true, he supposed. Slytherins were rarely were so careless as to let the Head of Gryffindor of all people catch them, after all.
"If you will give me the names of the students accused of this ...heinous act?"
Oh, ho, ho, now look at that smirk...
"Peterson and Landover, both 4th years."
"...Aah. .....How...strange. I would have thought that they would both know better then that..."
Tap, tap, tap, tap. Severus Snape is on a roll.
"You wouldn't mind if we put in to the test, Minerva?"
Oh no, Minnie. Remember your blood pressure. Breath, breath...
"Of course not, Severus."
And now comes the newest addition to their ranks, the brand-new Head of Ravenclaw.
Only to try to flicker out of the room like a phantom.
"No, no, my good man, no need to run away. The more witnesses the better in this kind of thing, anyway."
It cuts down on the he said she said seesaw, at the very least, he supposed.
Besides, the Minerva-vs-Severus thing was getting to be a Tradition in it's own right, by now.
"Oh come on, Proffesor Stanton. The more the merrier."
He should probably tell Severus that it's not polite to hiss in people's ears like that, for the umpteenth time. Not right now, though.
"Just come along, Nephlite."
The last is a barely audible hiss, but it's still not very...politic. To say the least.
Ah, well.
And so two hangdog Slytherin boys end up displaying their Tranfiguration skill in front of all four of their House Heads, as well as the Headmaster.
They manage to do so flawlessly. Or as close to flawless as 4th years are supposed to be, at any rate.
Minerva is livid.
Albus Dumbledore is twinkling as usual, but does call him over afterwards.
"Do you have to egg Severus on? "
And the Head of Hufflepuff thinks about a small boy who'd been in the nastier-by-even-muggle-standards-of-the-time orphanage, and a train ride, and a confrontation.
No. Not with Him. Any House will do if I don't have to be with Him.
Are you sure, boy? Him, well...That one is actually about equally suited for Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but you...
What about me?
You'll never find people who really understand you if you're not in Slytherin, I'm afraid...
Then I'll have to go without friends, wouldn't I.
Though he had managed to make some friends, eventually. Even if they probably didn't understand him, and he didn't understand them all that well either.
"Understanding" was vastly overrated, in his way of thinking...
"Please? Tom?"
And so Tom Marvelo Riddle smiles at the Headmaster.
...Gently. Gently.
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(Posted Mon, 29 Nov 2004 12:40)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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