“What did you just say?” Severus growled, his fists clenching at his side as he turned toward the teacher. He couldn’t believe his ears right now. He really wished he had misheard the teacher, but as he watched the color drain from Alarie’s face, he knew he had heard correctly. This man dared to call his son a freak? He clenched his fists tighter as he took a threatening step toward the man.

“I—I misspoke,” Alarie started to say, taking a step back. “I meant to say . . . err, gifted but troublesome kids . . .”

“I’m sure,” Severus snapped, stepping closer to the man. “Very troublesome.”

“Now, Mr. Snape,” O’Loof began to say as she came around her desk to stand in between the two men, but Severus flicked his wrist in her direction and she froze to the spot, her mouth open mid-sentence and her legs caught in mid-stride.

Ciara gasped, startled by the magic while Harry and Ollie stared wide eyed at their principal before eagerly looking in Alarie’s direction.

“What did you do to her!?” Alarie demanded, alarmed. “There is a secrecy to uphold, you know. This is a breach!”

“So you do know?” Severus shot back. “You’ve known all along yet you made it seem like you were just some ordinary muggle.”

Alarie made a move as if to dart out of the office where more witnesses might see what was happening, but Severus snatched his wand from the sleeve of his muggle button up shirt and swung it in Alarie’s direction, forcing the man to stop dead in his tracks, his back against the wall of the office while Severus stepped close enough to jab the tip of his wand into the man’s neck. Alarie glared at Severus, baring his teeth in an almost disgusted manner.

“Don’t think I’m afraid of your magic just because I’m a squib,” Alarie snarled.

Something clicked behind Severus’s eyes, and he groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Magicless wizard, of course,” Severus muttered. He glanced back at the boys, who were still sitting in the chairs but clearly enjoying the show. They gave him pointed looks that screamed, “I told you so.” Glaring back at Alarie, Severus said, “The boys were right about you all along and you had me believing they were lying to me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t hex that tongue of yours out of your mouth.”

“I can give you several,” Alarie said, his voice hardening, “starting with it’s illegal to hex a muggle and you know it.”

“But you’re not a muggle, squib,” Severus reminded, putting emphasis on that last word, making Alarie flinch back slightly. “Where in the law is it illegal to hex a well-deserving squib?”

“I’m sure it’s there if you look hard enough,” Alarie sneered, though it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as Severus’s. “And you did hex a muggle just now. What did you do to the principal?”

“A simple freeze charm,” Severus explained, twirling the wand in his fingers as he considered Alarie. “Yet I am still debating what “charm” I might use on you. I don’t think freezing you for a night is going to cut it for me.”

“You won’t get away with this. I have resources.”

“I’m sure. Why did you target the boys?”

“Target them? They targeted me!”

“With good reason, clearly. They simply fought back. Harry and Ollie can be troublemakers, sure, but they have never had more problems in school than when you showed up as their substitute. They accused you that first day of unfair treatment and now I’m starting to realize that perhaps I was too hasty in dismissing their words.”

“I gave them the fairest treatment they deserved.” Alarie glared at the boys over Severus’s shoulder. “When I lived in the magical world as a child, I was ignored, ridiculed, and belittled for any achievement I might have accomplished. I was so happy to be rid of my family when they disowned me, so happy to be free of the magical world. I was living quite contently among the muggles until those two showed up to make my life miserable.”

“We didn’t do anything to you,” Harry interrupted.

“Yeah, you started it,” Ollie added.

“If you were so happy to be a muggle, why do you have a Kwikspell book?”

Ciara rested a hand on both boys’ shoulders to settle them, but she did cast concerned eyes in Severus’s direction.

Severus couldn’t help the smirk at Harry’s comment on the Kwikspell, and he watched Alarie swallow dryly.

“Not so content without magic it would seem,” Severus said. “Jealous of those who are with it? Or is that burning desire to have magic so overwhelming it angers you? Pity the course has been statistically proven to be useless for Squibs, a waste of good money, really. Have you had any success, Mr. Alarie? Do all your homework like a good student?”

“How dare you mock me, just because you have magic and I do not. You think you’re so gifted and special and superior. Especially the great Harry Potter, who saved the whole world as a baby! But is he really so special? Of course not. You magical folks are no better than those without it. Even yourself, wizard.”

“I never claimed superiority, nor has my son or his friend. They don’t even understand the finer prejudices in the wizarding world yet, though I wish they never have to understand it. You have no right to force them into a position where they feel singled out and left out because of something they cannot control. I thought a squib of all people might understand how that feels.”

“They have no idea what it feels like to be born in a world where they will never fit in,” Alarie said. “No idea. They have shown me just how spoiled and pampered they are by their magical parents and company. You do not even care of what they did to disrupt my class and cause havoc every day since I’ve taken over for Mrs. Pluckley.”

“Their pranks they pulled today will be dealt with in a manner the principal, Ciara and I feel fit. Perhaps they went too far, but I’m sure it was only because they felt they had no other choice in retaliating against your bias against them, especially after I didn’t listen to them because you acted like you had no clue what they were talking about. Shame on me, but I will not be fooled twice. I think you’ve done enough for this school, don’t you?”

“What are you going to do? Imperio me? Hex me? Crucio me till I apologize for all my wrongdoings to your little brat of a son?”

“None of the above,” Severus answered calmly. “You are going to resign on your own free will.”

               Alarie scoffed loudly at that.

               “Then you will move out of this town, out of this county, out of Ireland if you can make that possible, and I highly suggest you ensure that I never see your face again, because if I do . . .”

               Severus leaned in close to whisper in Alarie’s ear, his wand digging into Alarie’s throat as he did so, the wand vibrating as it heated up and burned against Alarie’s skin, making the man hiss in pain.

               “I will use curses on your person that you’ve never heard of, curses you’ve never even fathomed could exist. And before you tell me what I can and can’t do as a wizard, let me inform you that I worked for the most powerful dark wizards in our time. I’m sure you know who.”

               Alarie’s face paled more, and his eyes widened.

               “Laws do not scare me into obedience,” Severus continued in his harsh whisper. “I learned ways to torture muggles like yourself without leaving a trace, and I’ve been aching to unleash my dark side for so long, you would be the perfect Guinea pig.”

               Severus stepped back from Alarie; his wand lowered but still pointed at the man.

               “So, you will resign on your own free will, yes?” he asked.

               Alarie seemed frozen to the spot in the same way O’Loof was, but he slowly found his motion as he slowly nodded his head, small beads of sweat dripping down is neck.

               “I shall send my notice in immediately.”

               “No need for the formal two weeks,” Severus said as if it were an afterthought. “Perhaps a family emergency came up, surely you must leave as soon as possible.”

               “Yes,” Alarie agreed. “As soon as possible.”

               “Excellent.” Severus smiled. “You might want to head out and get started on that letter. Now.”

               Alarie stumbled out of the office as he rushed out, rubbing at his neck. He didn’t say a word to anyone as he quickly evacuated the school. Severus turned to Harry and Ollie, who were sharing devilish smiles while Ciara seemed unsure of what to do, her eyes flashing back and forth between Severus and O’Loof.

               “She’s okay,” Severus reassured Ciara. “She’s heard and seen everything, so I’m afraid I will have to modify her memories of what just happened. You understand the importance of why I must do so?”

               Ciara nodded, though she didn’t look happy about it. Severus hoped she wasn’t too freaked out by his darker displays of magic that she grew concerned for Ollie’s wellbeing or whether he might learn dark magic. He would reassure her on light and dark magic another time, but for now, he had to take care of the principal. 

               Severus pointed his wand at O’Loof. He used a levitation spell to move her back around her desk and into her chair. From there, he cast a gentle obliviate on her mind to erase the memory of the last few minutes in the office. He made sure he was standing behind Harry before cancelling the freeze charm on O’Loof, then tucked his wand up his sleeve and waited patiently.

Ciara shared a look with him before looking at the principal, her hands resting lightly on the back of Ollie’s chair.

O’Loof blinked a couple times then rested a hand on her head and rubbed tenderly at her temple.

“Are you alright, ma’am?” Severus inquired.

“What?” O’Loof blinked and looked across her desk at the two boys sitting in chairs and the parents behind them. She blinked a few more times and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just felt a strong headache come on.”

“Perhaps we should be going then? Give you some peace after all of this?” Severus suggested casually. “The boys will write letters of apology to you for their disturbances in class today during their early leave, and they will be on their best behavior during their in-school suspension the next three days.”

Harry and Ollie shot Severus a look, but Severus ignored them while O’Loof seemed to think that over. She nodded in agreement as she seemed to remember what they boys were doing in the office in the first place.

“Of course,” she said. “What you boys did was very mischievous and disruptive to class. It cannot happen again. And perhaps you should be writing those apology letters to Mr. Alarie?”

“Oh, your headache must be quite severe,” Severus said, sounding concerned. “Mr. Alarie left in quite a hurry, said something about a family emergency and that he would inform you of the details later. To me, it sounded like he might not be coming back so soon.”

“Really?” O’Loof asked, leaning forward slightly as she frowned in confusion up at Severus. “Huh. Well then, I will gladly accept your apology letters when you boys return to school tomorrow morning, and you will be respectful to your new substitute. Do we have a deal, Mr. Snape and Mr. Fowey?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the boys chorused, nodding their heads.

“Excellent.” O’Loof flipped open a book and wrote a few notes down. “You are both dismissed. Mind your parents.”

               With more nods, Harry and Ollie followed Severus and Ciara out of the school.

               “You won’t get in trouble for what . . . happened in there, will you?” Ciara asked softly as they stepped outside and onto a path that they followed to the sidewalk ahead.

               “No, it was such subtle magic, it’ll hardly be picked up on at the Ministry as something that should be investigated. Even if someone does look into it, I can claim it was to change my robe into muggle clothes. They’d buy it.”

               “Hmm,” Ciara commented, pausing next to her car parked alongside the curb.

               “About what did happen in there,” Severus began, “I meant no harm to anyone. The spells I used on the principal are very safe and harmless, even on muggles.”

               “What about the burn you gave Mr. Alarie?” Ciara asked.

               “A mild burn jinx,” Severus answered. “More irritating than painful.”

               “But there’s stronger burn jinxes?”

               Severus sighed.

               “Just like with anything you can learn in the muggle world, there are good and bad ways of magic in the wizarding world. It is unavoidable, unfortunately, but Ollie will go to a school where only good magic is taught. Many dark magic spells and curses have been forbidden in the majority of school’s courses for nearly a century. And he is a good kid. I would not worry about him even wanting to learn dark magic.”

               “It’s a lot to think about,” Ciara said. “I’m sorry, I just get so nervous sometimes because it’s so exciting to see Ollie so happy but also so scary because I can’t do what he can, and I can’t help him or guide him in a direction because I have no clue how to.”

               “I can’t pretend to know what that feels like,” Severus said honestly. “I do see what a good kid Ollie is though. You are doing everything right so far.”

               Ciara smiled at that, then opened the back door to her car and motioned for Ollie to jump in. The boys waved goodbye to each other, and Ollie climbed into the back seat of the car. Ciara closed the door.

               “He looks up to you,” Ciara said to Severus as she opened the door to climb in the front seat. “Promise me you’ll help guide him in the right direction with his magic.”

               “Always,” Severus answered with a firm nod.

               “Thank you,” Ciara said. She waved goodbye before driving away.

               Severus reached out a hand to Harry, who eagerly accepted it, and they walked for a bit as they talked.

               “I’m sorry I did not believe you about your professor being a “magicless wizard,”” Severus said. “I guess the connection between squib and your term evaded me. And I apologize for allowing Alarie’s treatment toward you continue.”

               “It’s okay, Daddy,” Harry said.

               “I disagree,” Severus said. He ran a hand down his face. “You told me what was going on at school and I didn’t listen. I’m not off to a great start with being a good father to you. This is exactly something my father would have done . . .” Severus growled slightly under his breath, frustrated with himself.

               “It’s really okay, Dad,” Harry insisted. “I got some revenge on Mr. Alarie and then I got to watch you make him pee his pants! He was so scared.”

               Severus snorted and looked down at Harry with a smile.

               “You are all sorts of trouble,” Severus said. “You shouldn’t have used all those magical joke products at your school. Any one of those kids or even Mr. Alarie himself could have reacted badly to the magic in the products or even the ingredients in some of them.”

               “I didn’t think about that,” Harry said, looking down at his shoes as he walked.

               “And it was very disruptive and distracting to your classmates, not to mention there’s no teacher now. I hope they can find someone to fill in for the day on such short notice or all those kids have lost a good day or education.”

               “I don’t think they’ll mind that much,” Harry shared his thought aloud.

               “Well, I do. You could be learning something new rather than writing an apology letter. And since you won’t be in school today, you can practice your cursive while you write that letter to your principal. You will apologize for the pranks you pulled on your teacher, disrupting the class, and you will explain how this will never happen again.”

               “It won’t,” Harry promised his father, then he muttered, “as long as the next substitute to nice.”

               “You’re pushing it, young man,” Severus scolded lightly. “I’m being pretty lenient letting you off with a warning and an apology letter . . .”

               “You got me in school suspension, too,” Harry reminded.

               “Yes, and you more than earned it. There are right and wrong ways of handling situations like Mr. Alarie, and you did not go about it the right way. You should have tried talking to me again, or Nana and Papa even. I’m sure they would have believed you over that professor in a heartbeat. But setting up pranks like that can be dangerous. What if someone had gotten seriously hurt?”

               “No one was supposed to get hurt.” Harry shrugged his shoulder then looked up at Severus. “Draco said they were harmless.”

               “They are usually harmless, but anything could go wrong. And when did you even set up the pranks? There was an awful lot to happen so quickly between the time you were dropped off and your professor would have arrived in the class.”

               Harry looked down at his feet again, falling silent.

               It didn’t take Severus long to piece together when Harry and his friends would have set up the traps.

               “The day you boys took off from Nana in the library,” Severus began, “you went to the school to set up your jokes, didn’t you?”

               “I’m sorry,” Harry said. “But we wanted to get back at Mr. Alarie. Now we don’t have to worry about being picked on.”

               “The last thing I ever want to hear is you or you and your friends wandering around town alone again. Is that clear?”

               “Yes, Daddy.”

               “Good. It’s been a long morning. I’m taking you home and you can either take a nap or get started on your apology letter.”

               “I’m too old for naps.”

               “Mmhmm,” Severus agreed as he picked up Harry and moved behind some trees, disapparating away. He arrived at the MacAuley Estate gates, and Severus set Harry down. They walked into the manor and Severus sent Harry on his way to his room with a firm swat and instructions to get going on the apology letter.

               Harry gave a small, surprised yelp at the swat, then gave his father an indignant look before heading to his room to work on the letter.

               “How did it go?” Eileen asked as she stepped out of her study, a hen harrier on her shoulder.

               “The substitute quit unexpectedly, and Harry is writing a letter of apology for his behavior to the principal,” Severus answered.    

               “Unexpectedly, hmm?” Eileen pushed, her brows rising at that as she gave Severus a knowing look.

               “It was rather sudden,” Severus reiterated, a smirk growing on his face. “I have to get back to work, but I’ll check on Harry first before I leave.”

               “I’m sure Harry is thrilled to be rid of him. I never liked that teacher. Something never settled right with me about him.”

               “Besides him being a squib and having a deplorable attitude toward magic? I can’t imagine what would unsettle you so.”

               Eileen smiled as she walked past Severus toward the kitchen. The harrier on her shoulder kekked before flying out a window that opened for it.

               “I have some deliveries I’m expecting,” Eileen said, “so don’t be surprised if the birds are in and out all day. And don’t be home late for dinner tonight. It’s important.”

               “I’ll try my best,” Severus said as he started, up the stairs to check on Harry.

               Severus still felt slightly guilty for missing all the clues the last few days about the substitute teacher. He wanted to be a good father to Harry, and here he was, failing already. He wondered if he had been a little too harsh with Harry with the in-school suspension, but he hadn’t wanted to seem suspicious and he felt it was a punishment the school would have offered anyway. Regardless of who started the little war between teacher and student, they were both in the wrong. He wasn’t going overboard, was he? And an apology letter was only polite.

               Severus knocked on Harry’s bedroom door, then opened it and was quickly greeted by a black and white rabbit hopping at his feet.

               “Hello, Miss Trifle,” Severus greeted, reaching down to give her a couple strokes over her ears.

               Upon entering the room and closing the door, Severus noticed Harry had managed to slip out of his sneakers and change his school uniform into clean day clothes before evidently falling into bed and passing out.

               A nap it was, then. The apology letter could wait.

               Smiling softly, Severus adjusted Harry on the bed before laying a light blanket over him. He spelled the room a bit cooler, then leaned down to kiss Harry’s temple.

               “I’m going to do better,” Severus whispered his promise in Harry’s ear. He ran a hand through Harry’s hair before closing the curtains with a flick of his wand. He pushed a small ramp closer to the bed, and Miss Trifle shuffled her way up it and snuggled in next to Harry. Content that everyone was napping, Severus quickly stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.