It was very odd to be sitting in Snape’s living room. The room wasn’t at all what Harry imagined it to be. He and his friends sometimes joked that there would be a hatchway that led to Snape’s living quarters. That there would be chains hanging off the walls where he would have hanged students by their thumbs during detention, just like Filch said used to happen. To Harry’s surprise however, Snape room looked, by and large, to be tidy and normal.
But Harry had much pressing matters to wonder about than the state of Snape’s living quarters.
“Now, about your detention,” said Snape, his voice sounding quite sinister in the imagination of the 12 year old.
Harry swallowed, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No? It is fully one hour after curfew,” said Snape, pointing to the grandfather clock that stood against a wall. “Why were you not in your dorm?” He continued, gazing at Harry with an accusing stare.
Harry immediately felt like he was being interrogated for doing something awful.
“I just got stuck,” Harry mumbled. “My leg got caught…”
“Your leg was caught for a whole hour?” Snape asked with skepticism in his voice.
“Well I …”
“I find it incredibly unlikely that you were trapped for a whole hour,” Snape drawled, stepping closer to Harry and making him feel trapped. “That means curfew had already been announced when you got yourself trapped. This leads me to the conclusion that you were indeed out of bounds.”
“But I wasn’t! I was heading towards my dorm when I got caught,” Harry tried to explain himself.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you mustn’t lie to me, Mr. Potter. Why were you out after curfew? What were you up to?”
“Nothing!”
“Nothing?” Snape repeated and then, drawling out each syllable he said. “Tell me, do you think I am dense like you, Potter?”
It was a rhetorical question but knowing where Snape was going with this line of questioning and feeling the injustice of it all, Harry mustered up all the courage he could and replied.
“I’m not dense!”
Snape quelled him with a look. “Detention, Potter, for being out after curfew. And 20 points from Gryffindor for disrespect. Do not speak to me in that tone of voice again, is that clear?”
Harry wanted to shout that, no it was not clear! That it wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t his fault and that there was something in the step, he was sure of it!
“Is that clear, Mr. Potter?” said Snape, leaning over Harry.
Harry frowned and looked away from Snape to stare at his knees. Why did Snape bothered to heal him at all? Why did he care? One minute, he looked almost concerned, and the next he was taking points and giving Harry detention like he couldn’t care less what Harry felt.
“Yes,” Harry mumbled, knowing he hadn’t any other choice.
“Good,” Snape said curtly and stood back. “I don’t know what you were up to, Potter and it is far too late for me to be wasting my time on you. However, rest assured that if I ever catch you out of bounds again, I will not be so lenient.”
Harry didn’t respond.
“Your leg should be fine. If it still hurt in the morning, go to Madam Pomfrey…are you listening to me Potter?”
“Okay,” said Harry, annoyed.
Snape raised an eyebrow at Harry’s tone and simply let the power of silence work its magic.
Harry shifted in his seat and finally couldn’t take the pressure anymore and apologized. “Sorry, sir.”
Snape nodded in acceptance. “Now, it is far past your bedtime, Potter. You will go back to your dorm, you will not take any detours and I will see you in my office on Friday, directly after supper for your detention.”
***
The door closed with a click and sound reverberated off the walls. Harry began his long trek back to Gryffindor Tower. In the dark and quiet night, with no students hanging about or rushing to and fro, the dungeons were indeed scarier. Now there wasn’t even Professor Snape to keep him company, not that Harry enjoyed Snape’s company. It was just that, well, Harry didn’t mind Snape too much if it meant that he wouldn’t be alone. Harry hated being alone and in the dark, with nobody….
A sudden chill crawled down Harry’s spine. Out of the blue, he had the feeling that he was being watched, as though there was someone or something lurking in the shadows where the torches failed to light. Feeling incredible uncomfortable, Harry walked a little faster, but the bad feeling only got worse. In fact, the faster he walked, the more he felt like he was being followed!
Adrenaline and fear ran through him. This kind of fear wasn’t like the fear he felt when being chased by Dudley and his gang. This was worse, oh yes much worse. Because Harry always knew what would happen if Dudley caught him, he’d get beat up and nothing worse than a few bruises would be the result. Harry could deal with that. But that thing that had had brushed against his leg, whoever or whatever was following him now…Harry didn’t know what it was, what it wanted or what it was capable of doing. That was a whole other type of fear.
Harry took off in a dead run.
He ran all the way out of the dungeons, across the Entrance Hall and up the stairs to Gryffindor tower without pausing. He came to a full stop in front of the Fat Lady portrait and banged on her framed door. “Let me in! Let me in!” Harry shouted frantically, pulling at the doorknob.
The Fat Lady stirred. “What’s this, a student out of bounds?”
“Please, open up!”
“Password?”
Password? Password? Oh no, what was the password?
Harry couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t remember the password.
“I….I don’t know, I don’t remember,” Harry cried. “You know me, I’m in Gryffindor, I’m Harry Potter, please let me in.”
“No entry without a password, no exception.”
“No please! There’s something there! Help me, help!” Harry gasped and turned to face the … there was nothing but an empty corridor.
In his frenzied state, Harry failed to notice or remember that unlike the Slytherin dungeons, Gryffindor tower was very clearly lit. And as far as Harry could tell, there was nothing in the hall but torches and portraits.
Harry’s heart thumped painfully and his breathes came out hard and fast. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again and as he tried make sense of it all, the Fat Lady swung open.
“Harry! Are you quite alright?” Harry recognized Hermione’s voice before he even saw her face.
“Hermione!” He yelled in relief and rushed inside, almost bumping in to Ron.
“Harry what’s happened? Where have you been?” She asked him.
“Ron, Hermione, you…you won’t believe what just happened to me!” He cried, and once he calmed down enough, told his friends every single detail of the past hour and half.
***
That night, Harry snuggled himself beneath the covers and held on tight. He felt much safer in his dorm, surrounded by his friends. At least he wasn’t alone anymore and if something did try to get him, he felt sure that Ron wouldn’t abandon him. Unlike Snape, Ron and Hermione didn’t think he was dense or crazy. Hermione was a bit unsure about the whole thing, but the important thing was that she listened to him.
Harry thought back to what happened today and why he became so afraid. It wasn’t as if this was the first time he dealt with the unknown.
Well, first, just because he spent plenty of time in dark places did not mean he was used to them. And second, although he tried to put up the front of being unfazed, Harry was scared by what happened last year with Quirrell and Voldemort. Finding the Philosopher Stone seemed like a good idea at the time, but when he was down there under the trap door, Harry had been scared out of his wits!
And this summer, something happened that made him even more afraid of the dark, or more precisely, what was in it.
Since the Dursleys had moved him up to Dudley’s second bedroom, Dudley had started to play a new game with him. This new game was called ‘Harry haunting’, a new twist on the old ‘Harry hunting’ game. To be honest, Harry was surprised Dudley was imaginative enough to come up with the new name. And to Harry’s everlasting dismay, Dudley loved this new game even more than Harry hunting, and had of course and gotten his thug friends to join in.
Dudley would creep into room at night, hide beneath the bed, and start making scary sounds or jump up and howl like some wild beagle with rabies. Harry would scream and tumble out of bed, frantically trying to get away the ‘monsters’. For, as logical as Harry tried to be, he learned only a year ago that ‘monsters’ or rather, ‘magical creatures’ do exist.
Granted, it had only been Dudley and Piers under the bed, but they gave Harry such a fright that he now had bad dreams about it. And Dudley and Piers weren’t here to trick him….so what as it?
Maybe he had only imagined it? But it was so real, it felt so real…so…alive. And when he was being chased…it couldn’t have all been in his head!
Harry shuddered and gripped the covers a little tighter. Whatever it was, Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.