The two made their way down to the staff room and knocked. There was no answer. Harry knocked again. Nothing.
Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. Harry pushed the door ajar and peered inside ━━ and a horrible scene met their eyes.
Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.
"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"
Harry immediately tried to shut the door quietly, but━
"POTTER! SHAAN!"
Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped while Maya stumbled back, grasping Harry's arm tightly. His voice was quiet as he said, "I just wondered if I could have my book back."
"GET OUT! OUT!"
The two left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. They sprinted back upstairs.
"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry and Maya joined them. "What's the matter?"
In a low whisper, Harry told them what they'd seen.
"You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him ━━ he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to create a diversion!"
Hermione's eyes were wide.
"No ━━ he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."
"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," Ron snapped.
"To be fair, Mione," Maya said, causing the girl to whip her head in her friend's direction. "Snape isn't exactly professional with anything he does. He gives points to Slytherin for getting out of bed."
Ron nodded. "I'm with Harry and Maya. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"
Maya went to bed with her head buzzing with the same question. Parvati and Lavender were giggling loudly, but Maya couldn't sleep. She tried to empty her mind ━━ she needed to sleep, she had to, she had to be up and early to support Harry for his first Quidditch match in a few hours ━━ but the expression on Snape's face when her and Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.
━━━━━━━
THE NEXT MORNING DAWNED VERY BRIGHT AND COLD. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.
"You've got to eat some breakfast."
"I don't want anything."
"Just a bit of toast," Hermione wheedled.
"I'm not hungry."
SEVEN. quidditch woes
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