Caught

“RUN!” Harry yelled.

In that moment there was no Gryffindor vs Slytherin rivalry. There were only six first year students that wanted desperately to avoid being caught out of bed by the cantankerous castle caretaker.

Potter, Weasley, Granger and Longbottom all rushed towards you and the second door on the other side of the room. You glanced down at Malfoy lying on the ground with his face covered in boils and briefly considered abandoning him. But you immediately disregarded that idea. Draco wouldn’t hesitate to name you and the four Gryffindor if he thought it would mean a reduced punishment for him. Heck, he’d probably do it anyway just to ensure that he brought the five of you down with him. You ducked down and hauled your roommate up to his feet and tore after the four Gryffindors.

The second door out of the Trophy Room was around a corner and at the end of a long gallery filled with gleaming suits of armor. You were **** to guide Draco along by holding his elbow since he was still holding his hands over his face to keep anyone from seeing all the boils.

You rounded the corner just as you heard Filch come charging into the trophy room behind you. Longbottom let out frightened squeak as he tripped and then grabbed Ron around the waist to stop his fall. The pair toppled right into a suit of armor. The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

“Students out of bed!” you heard the caretaker growl from somewhere behind you.

You passed Weasley and Longbottom as they scrambled back to their feet and soon the six of you were sprinting out of the trophy room into the corridor beyond.

But suddenly Harry grabbed Granger’s arm and they tore through a tapestry into a secret passageway. Weasley and Longbottom were quick to chase after them. That was the last you saw of the four Gryffindors that night because you and Draco opted not to take the unknown secret passage and raced along the same corridor and around another corner just as Filch came running out of the Trophy Room.

“There!” you pointed out a convenient broom cupboard and frantically tore open the door before you and Draco ducked inside.

And there you were. Two thirteen-year-old boys hiding in a broom closet desperately hoping not to get caught. You covered your mouth and struggled not to breathe loudly as you heard the old caretaker come running around the corner. He stopped and started to pant and wheeze.

“Damn kids…” the bitter old man grumbled as he struggled to catch his breath. “If I had my way the wicked little beasts would be strung up and beaten.”

Over the last week, you had heard many non-Slytherin students complain that Professor Snape should never be allowed around children. But in your eyes, Filch was way worse. At least Professor Snape taught something. Filch was a bitter, child-hating squib surrounded by children learning magic. Maybe there was a point to Draco’s anti-Dumbledore smear campaign? Only a madman would employ sure a cruel man in school full of children.

“Sniff around, my sweet,” Filch instructed his cat. “They’re lurking about somewhere… they couldn’t have just vanished…”

You held your breath as the light from a lantern shined under the crack of the closet door.

“Maybe they’re hiding in here…” the caretaker growled from right outside.

This was it. You were busted.

But suddenly a loud shout echoed through the school.

“STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!”

Filch swore and went running off. You finally started to breathe again. That sounded like Peeves - the school poltergeist. Perhaps the four Gryffindors had run afoul of him?

You silently pushed the door to the broom cupboard open and peaked outside. The coast was clear. There was no sign of Filch anywhere. “Let’s get out of here and get back to the common room.”

“No!” Draco refused as he stayed back in the closet with his hands still clamped over his boil-jinxed face. “I can’t go back there! I can’t let anyone see me like this!”

“Do you realise how lucky we were not to get caught just now?” you asked him.

“It’s your fault we’re in this situation anyway!” Draco argued. “All I wanted to do was tip off that stupid squib so he’d catch Potter out of bounds. But somehow you talked me into actually going and now I’ve got boils all over my face and that filthy squib nearly caught us!”

“How was it my fault that you got jinxed in the face?” you retorted. “You should’ve ducked instead of standing there gloating! Weasley tried the same thing on me. But you don’t see me with boils all over my face because I dodged it.”

“I have to go to the hospital wing to get these removed,” Malfoy insisted.

“Oh, and what will you tell Madam Pomfrey when she asks how you got them?” you inquired. “That you got hit during an illegal duel? Or maybe you’d accuse me of jinxing you? What if we get caught on the way there? Do you want to lose house points for Slytherin?”

Malfoy uncovered his mouth to show his scowl. “I won’t spend all night with these boils on my face!”

“Well, we can’t stay here!” you exclaimed. A sudden idea came to you. “Look, I’ve still got the recipe for the Boil Cure Potion memorised. I can brew some in the common room while you hide out in our room. If anyone comes across me, I can tell them that I was nervous for Potions tomor-er… later today and that I was getting in some practice when no one was around. Tomorrow morning no one other than Potter and his gang will even know that you had boils.”

Draco moved his hands so he could stare at you looking perplexed, “You’d do that… for me?”

You shrugged, “It’s the sort of thing that **** friends do for each other, I guess. Since you’re gonna blame me for the boils anyway then I might as well be the one who helps you to get rid of them. We caught a really lucky break tonight so we have to get out of here now.”

“Fine,” Draco finally conceded.

There was no sign of Filch as the two of you rushed back down to the Slytherin common room. Draco ducked out of the way to hide his boil-covered face while you hissed at the wall and checked to make sure that the common room was empty.

“Go, go,” you urged Draco as you rushed through the common room to your room. Both of you let out sighs of relief when you finally made it. “By the way, what was that spell you tried to use on Potter? It looked like something aimed at the legs...”

Malfoy finally smiled, “That was the Leg-Locker Curse. I didn’t even bother learning the counter-curse. So if Potter hadn’t jumped over it, he would’ve been **** to hop all the way back to the Gryffindor common room.”

“Sounds extra humiliating,” you mused, “But I highly doubt that he would’ve even made it back to his common room. He wouldn’t be able to run with his legs locked together and Filch would’ve caught him.”

“Are you really going to brew that Cure for Boils?” Malfoy asked.

“I said I would,” you replied as you retrieved your pewter cauldron and potions kit from your trunk. Your potions kit contained all the tools and ingredients that you needed to brew a boil cure potion. Thankfully it was a basic potion so you wouldn’t need to risk stealing special ingredients from the student stores. “Hopefully I can finish before that Astronomy class gets back.”

You gathered everything together and made your way to the door but stopped when your roommate called after you. “Marvolo... thanks.” You nodded and left.

The common room was still empty as you rushed over to the fireplace and set your cauldron down in front of it. The fire had been extinguished so you placed your cauldron on the grate in the fireplace then cast the Fire-Making Charm to reignite it. The new fire provided you with extra light and heat as you began your work.

You had just begun stewing your slug when the entrance to the common room opened. You tensed and turned to see who was entering. You immediately went pale.

It wasn’t the older students returning from their Astronomy class.

It wasn’t a prefect.

It wasn’t even Filch.

It was Professor Snape.

The Head of Slytherin House stalked into the common room wearing a menacing expression.

Busted.

“Mr. Gaunt, it is nearly one in the morning,” Professor Snape stated. “Perhaps you would like to explain why you’re brewing a Boil Cure Potion at this hour?”

You opened your mouth to tell him your prearranged cover story about wanting to be prepared for Potions class but the glare that the Potions Master sent you caused your response to die in your throat.

“Do not. Lie. To me.”

You called on all of your Slytherin cunning to provide truthful answers. “It’s for Draco. We both learned new spells today.” You’d learned two. “We were using them in a duel but he got hit in the face with a Pimple Jinx.” True enough but left unsaid was that those duels were against four Gryffindors in the trophy room. “He doesn’t want anyone to see him with boils all over his face and we didn’t want to break curfew by going to the hospital wing after hours. So I decided to make use of what we learned in your class to make a Cure for Boils myself.” That was all true. You’d merely withheld the fact that you had already been out after curfew. “That’s all the truth. You can ask Draco in class to-er-later today and he’ll tell you that the boils are all my fault.”

“Interesting,” Professor Snape said. “Then perhaps you can explain why Mr. Filch made a point to inform me that he was chasing some students near the Forbidden Corridor?”

“The Forbidden Corridor?” you repeated. Was that where Harry and the others had wound up? “The closest I’ve ever been to the Forbidden Corridor is for Charms class.”

“Let’s test that then,” Professor Snape decided with a cold sneer. “If I know Mr. Malfoy, he is, no doubt, still wide awake and eagerly awaiting the completion of your Boil Cure Potion. I’ll see if his story corroborates with yours.”

You rose to follow him to your room but another cold glare stopped you in your tracks. “Stay. You know full well that slug must be stewed for exactly five minutes for optimal effectiveness.”

Professor Snape stalked to the boys’ hallway and you dropped down to survey your cauldron. His advice about the slug was accurate but it was also a way to ensure that you weren’t near your roommate while your Head of House questioned him. You crossed your fingers and hoped that Draco stayed true to character and tried to save his own skin by blaming you for getting jinxed in the face.

You nervously finished stewing your slug and took the cauldron off the fire to add the porcupine quills and had very nearly completed the potion when Professor Snape finally emerged from your room. Your hands were shaking and you could barely look up to acknowledge your Head of House as the walked out from the boys’ hallway.

“Mr. Gaunt…” you held your breath as Professor Snape addressed you. “Four points to Slytherin for employing knowledge gained from class in order to aid a housemate.”

You let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, professor.”

“But know this, Mr. Gaunt,” Professor Snape said as he glared at you. “If I ever learn that you have been wandering the castle after curfew and especially in the Forbidden Corridor... I will ensure that you and anyone else involved are severely punished.”

“Of course, professor,” you agreed. “I have no wish to suffer a most painful ****.”

“Good,” he said stiffly. “And three points to Slytherin for putting three Gryffindors in their place. However, next time I expect you to get four. Do not let these late-night activities negatively impact your performance in class.”

Your jaw dropped and you stared in shock as your Head of House walked out.

HE KNEW!

You’d been caught. Professor Snape had somehow found out about your and Draco’s midnight duels in the trophy room against the four Gryffindors. But he’d not only let you off but rewarded you for winning your duels with Weasley and Granger as well as jinxing Lonngbottom.

Did Draco tell him?

You quickly finished your potion and ladled it out into a vial before you brought it and your cauldron into your room. Malfoy immediately reached out for the boil cure potion but you didn’t hand it to him.

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him you jinxed me in the face,” Draco answered.

“And he bought that?” you questioned him further.

“Yes,” he answered. “What I want to know is why you pointed him towards our room.”

You held up the vial of potion. “I was brewing this in the fire. He caught me red-handed. He cut me off before I could even think of lying to him but I still made sure to omit the fact that we were dueling in the Trophy Room. Are you sure that you didn’t tell him?”

“Yes,” Draco insisted. “I told him that we were practicing spells and that you jinxed me in the face and were brewing the Cure for Boils to make up for it. I swear that’s all I told him.”

“He gave me four house points for using knowledge from class to aid a housemate,” you said, “But then he gave me three more… for putting three Gryffindors in their place! If you didn’t tell him and I didn’t tell him then how did he know!?”

Malfoy’s pale face paled even further until it was nearly bone white. “Can… can he read minds?”

You tossed Draco the vial then ran to your trunk and pulled out your lone Chocolate Frog card and read off the description. “‘Salazar Slytherin was the founder of Slytherin house at Hogwarts. He was one of the first recorded Parselmouths, an accomplished Legilimens, and a notorious champion of pureblood supremacy.’ I didn’t know what a Legilimens was so I looked it up in the library last week. It’s a wizard who uses a highly advanced magic called Legilimency to read minds. Professor Snape must be a Legilimens.”

Professor Quirrell’s strange behavior during your unexpected lesson had briefly put him ahead of Professor Snape in your personally appointed role of Hogwarts’ Scariest Professor. But upon learning that your already intimidating Head of House could read minds… he’d regained his unofficial title.

“You mean… he knew we were lying… and he still rewarded you for it?” Draco realised.

“He likely would’ve found a reason to give you points too if you had beaten Potter,” you informed him. “Not even two full weeks in and I’ve already earned twenty-four house points for Slytherin.”

But now that you’d mentioned him, you couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Potter, Weasley, Granger, and Longbottom. Professor Snape mentioned that Filch told him he had been chasing students by the Forbidden Corridor. Considering your Head of House’s blatant dislike for Harry Potter, he likely would’ve said anything if he had been caught, expelled or killed.

Elsewhere

“I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.”

Ron stared after her, his mouth open.

“No, we don’t mind,” he said. “You think we dragged her along, wouldn’t you?”

No one responded. Harry looked like he was thinking deeply about something. Neville looked like he’d never speak again. He was pale and all he seemed to care about was never going near that terrifying three-headed dog again.

Ron thought back to what that git Gaunt had said on the first day of classes. “I’d be careful if I were you, Harry. If you let Ron dictate your social life… he’s going to drive everyone away and you’ll end up going through Hogwarts with no friends.”

The last thing that Ron wanted was to be a jerk like Gaunt was describing. But when you grow up in a poor household with five bigger, stronger, and smarter older brothers, you fight for everything you can get and you do everything you can to keep it if you don’t want it stolen from you. Being best mates with Harry Potter was something special that none of his talented siblings could claim to have done first. Maybe he had been driving people away. But no more.

“Hey Neville… the way you stood up to Gaunt back in the Trophy Room was really brave. Especially after you saw what he did to me and Hermione.”

“R-really?” the pale boy stammered.

“Yeah,” Ron said. “That git was right about one thing; you belong in Gryffindor.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Neville pointed out. “Harry’s the one who hexed Malfoy in the face.”

"I can’t stand bullies like Malfoy and Gaunt,” Harry spoke up. “You’re worth ten of them.”

Neville’s pale face brightened a bit.

Ron smiled, “You should stick with us from now on. There’s strength in numbers, you know”

“You mean that?”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “I’d consider anyone who would have my back in a duel against Gaunt and Malfoy a friend. We can even teach you the Pimple Jinx that I used on Malfoy. Ron and I learned it in a matter of hours. Between the two of us, we should be able to help you get it too.”

“Come on,” Ron said as he led the way up to the first year boys’ dorm. “I’ll tell you how Harry got your Remembrall back from Malfoy.”

Something changed that night. From then on, wherever Ron and Harry went, Neville was sure to follow. Their duo had become a trio.

---

Marvolo Gaunt House Point Ledger

Severus Snape: +4

Severus Snape: +3

New Total: +24

Points awarded by: SS, RH, QQ