Chapter 408: The Clear-Eyed Snape [bonus]
Late February, a Thursday. The air had turned mild, and darkness came later than it had in winter.
Hogwarts drifted through the hour after supper. The Great Hall emptied by degrees, students filtering off toward their towers and dungeons. Most of the Gryffindors packed themselves in front of their common room fire, shouting over a game of Exploding Snap. In Ravenclaw, a few older students hunched by the hearth comparing essays, while Hufflepuff had likely started another round of snacks.
Slytherin ran quieter. The common room stood half empty, though quiet never meant idle. Some people vanished the moment dinner ended, as Slytherin students always seemed to have a few inexplicable places to be.
Snape was one of those who went to such places.
Third floor, east side, behind a faded tapestry stood an abandoned classroom that had been permanently locked, the key in nobody's known possession. Desks and chairs had been shoved and stacked against the walls, leaving only a small open space in the middle of the room.
Eight or nine boys gathered there, all Slytherin, all upper years. With their hoods up, they came in one after another without speaking, accompanied only by the whisper of robe hems against the doorframe and the occasional short shriek of chair legs scraping across stone.
Snape entered hooded as well. No one looked at him, and he looked at no one. He went to his usual chair and sat down. Nobody fought him for it. After a few visits, the seat had simply become his.
For a while, he watched the torchlight flickering across the wall.
Then the door swung open again.