An enounter in the infirmary

[heartswill.livejournal.com]

Something...odd...happened in the infirmary today.

I went there immedately after dinner. It seems like there's at least one student in the infirmary now at any given time. Today it was a Second-Year Hufflepuff who'd been knocked against a wall practicing hexes in Professor Carrow's class. She had a nasty bruise on her shoulder, but at least that was easily Healed. As she was leaving, she bumped into someone coming inside, and she screamed so loudly that I thought she'd seen a troll or something. But no, it was Professor Snape glaring at her.

"Um, Professor S...Headmaster. Can I help you?"

I hadn't seen him up close since that night in the spare Potions room, but he looked tired, more tense, and...I guess, angrier somehow. And he can look very menacing indeed when he chooses.

"Miss Aldrern. Keeping...busy?"

The way he said the word "busy" made me very sure that he was talking about something other than school or infirmary work. But I hadn't even had much time to visit the Chamber of Snog these past few weeks, and nor heard about what Neville was planning until--

Syrien had once told me that if there was to be a fourth Unforgivable Curse, it would be invading another peron's mind. I was so shocked to feel Professor Snape's mind pushing into mine that I immediately shoved back, and...I don't know what happened, but I saw Headmaster Dumbledore's face for a moment, looking tired and sad and stern, all at the same time--then Professor Snape's face again, with a rather odd expression on it.

"How dare you--" that was Madam Pomfrey, and I had never heard her speaking like that to anyone-- "hurt a student here?!"

"Oh no, I'm..." I hadn't realized that I was half-leaning against the wall behind me. "...not hurt."

I blinked up at Professor Snape, who had straightened and pulled something out of his pocket. He held it towards Madam Pomfrey.

"Calming Potion. I had heard that you're running short."

"However short I am, I don't need that from you," Madam Pomfrey retorted, and turned her back on him.

Professor Snape's mouth tightened, but he only set the potion on a nearby table and walked out. "Thank you," I said to his back, but I don't think he heard.

It seems like everything is so confusing now, and everything turned upside down. Madam Pomfrey can be stern sometimes, especially if a hurt student is involved, but I had never heard her deliberately say hurtful things to someone. And Professor Snape--I still can't believe he tried to read my mind, but he brought us Calming Potion even though the Extendable Ear in his office says that he always works long into the night.

What does it mean?

Comments

[prime-veridian.livejournal.com]

It seems pretty obvious to me that Professor Snape is probably feeling guilty over betraying the Order and killing Professor Dumbledore and trying to alleviate his conscience by helping out the students.

Though to be honest, if he really wanted to help he'd be hexing You-Know-Who and kicking the Carrows out of the school (and hexing them too). I don't really know what to make of it. Is he really onto you? I'd be worried, maybe he's just waiting for the last minute to feed you to the Carrows. Unfortunately, nothing in the journal says much about what he's planning. His life can't be that boring, something else is happening in a place we can't see or hear, I'm sure of it.

Say, have you heard anything from Ginny and Neville about their plans? Have they confided in you at all? Because they seem to want to get Alison involved, and I am not going to go off on some half-arsed Gryffindor plan until I know it's for a good reason.

[heartswill.livejournal.com]

If he's on to me, why would he be waiting? Besides, I haven't even done anything in the past few weeks but go to class and help out in the infirmary. I do hope that I blocked him out quickly enough, though. There must be some rules against teachers using Legilimency on their students!

I haven't heard anything about their plans, but they were telling the other Gryffindors that Headmaster Dumbledore had left the Sword of Gryffindor to Harry in his will, and they were pretty angry that Professor Snape has kept it. I'm guessing that they'll either try to get it to Harry or hide it somewhere--either option must be better than leaving it with Professor Snape?

[prime-veridian.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there's some rule somewhere against teachers using Legilimency, but it seems like Snape and the rest of You-Know-Who's cohorts are making the rules now. Somehow it doesn't surprise me anymore that he'd go that far with the students.

We're having a meeting in the greenhouse with Neville, Ginny, and Luna tomorrow night during dinner. I sure hope they have a plan for where to hide that sword or how to get it out of Hogwarts without being detected by Snape or the Carrows, because I am going to do everything I can to prevent them from carrying out a plan that isn't well thought out.