The Princess and the Dungeon Bat

For three Hogwarts students, nerves had become a major factor over the week. In the back of their minds, concern was not a fleeting emotion. They were worried about what their Saturday detention with Professor Snape might entail. When the letters about their detentions first came, any worries they might have had were an insignificant speck. But, as Saturday drew closer, their concern grew to an insurmountable amount. Potions class was definitely where their nerves were the worst as Professor Snape would sneer at them, just waiting for one of them to make a mistake so he could hand out even more detentions.

Bill Weasley was immensely worried about Saturday. He was in his fourth year here at Hogwarts and had yet to have a detention with Professor Snape. Somehow, after all those years of avoiding it, the oldest Weasley son slipped and got caught by the irritable Potions Master. Because of that, Bill had no idea what to expect on Saturday; what would he, Charlie, and Charlie’s friend Dora Tonks have to do during this detention anyway? And, what kind of role model would he be for his five younger brothers and younger sister—especially stuffy little Percy who seemed to look up to Bill—if he got mountains of detentions?

Whereas his older brother seemed to worry about what was supposed to happen, Charlie Weasley seemed slightly at peace with the fact that he had a detention with Professor Snape come the weekend. Since first entering Hogwarts a little over a year ago, the second-oldest Weasley boy had a few detentions with the Potions Master in the past and knew what to expect; Professor Snape liked to have his students clean by hand or help the man prepare for upcoming classes. His only concern was that Dora Tonks would be there as well. The two became friends at the beginning of last year and Charlie knew all too well that the Hufflepuff was a bit clumsy when it came to her magic. Consequently, Charlie Weasley knew that it was quite possible for the trio to receive even more detentions from the tetchy Potions Master because of a mistake one of them—most likely Dora—made on Saturday.

Nymphadora Tonks was not looking forward to her Saturday detention with Professor Snape. Out of the entire teaching staff, the Potions Master was definitely her least favorite. He never really taught any of his students, merely asked that they follow the instruction written on the board. Aside from the fact that his teaching methods were not up to the Metamorphagus’s satisfaction, Professor Snape seemed to like to lie in wait, hoping that one of his students would make a mistake so he could take points away. And, from what she heard from Charlie Weasley and some of his housemates, Professor Snape seemed to target Gryffindors especially, far more than the Slytherin Head of House typically should. The Hufflepuff had a bad feeling that a detention with two Gryffindors might cause a few problems.

Saturday morning came soon than they expected it would and, after eating a hearty breakfast, three students—two Gryffindors brothers and a Hufflepuff metamorphagus—trooped down to the deepest bowels of the castle where their detention was to take place. The Weasley brothers spoke amongst themselves about what was going to happen during their detention while Tonks—who had dark blue hair today so as to reflect her somber mood—remained silent as they went down to the dungeon. When the students arrived just outside Professor Snape’s office to find that their strict Potions Master wasn’t there, Charlie and Tonks slumped down against the wall as Bill began pacing.

“Bill, why are you pacing?” Charlie asked.

“I just have a weird feeling about all of this,” Bill admitted as he continued pacing the dungeon halls. “Something is very wrong here and I’m not exactly sure what it is. Why would Professor Snape ever schedule a detention on Saturday morning? I could understand Saturday evening for a detention, but not Saturday morning; it makes no sense.”

“Maybe he’s just trying torture us,” Tonks suggested.

The trio sat there waiting for Professor Snape to show up, wondering the whole while what the Hogwarts Potions Master was going at the moment that would keep him from coming out to explain the reason they had to come down to the dungeon for a detention this early in the morning.

***

Apollonia Snape looked up at her father with big green eyes, trying to understand what it was that he was telling her. His request made no sense, particularly after he spent the past few years drilling it into her that she was never supposed to do such a thing. Misbehavior, in her father’s eyes, was not to be tolerated; Apollonia learned that lesson at age three when she inadvertently wandered into her father’s potions lab one night and knocked several bat wings into a potion that didn’t call for it. The result of doing so was that Apollonia had dual-toned hair—green and black—for three days, followed by a case of blotchy skin that lasted a week. Her father refused to reverse the potion as punishment, which was in addition to her actually punishment of ten minutes in the corner. Since then, Apollonia never did something wrong again. So, why was he sitting here asking her to do exactly that? “Dad, are you sure that you want me to do this?” the five year-old asked her father.

The imposing man that was her father nodded. “I’m very sure, Apollonia. And, know this; it is the one time I will ever permit you to do something like this. Should you ever do something like this after today, you will be punished according,” her father declared.

“And I won’t get punished?” she asked.

“Not for today,” the Potions Master replied evenly.

If she was being perfectly honest, Apollonia was not quite sure that her father meant what he said, that she would walk away from this unscathed in regards to punishments. No matter what happened, she was sure to get punished for whatever she did. “Dad, tell me why this is going on. Why am I being allowed to misbehave for the day?” Maybe if she could understand what led to her father’s request, she might be more willing to believe it.

“This is being done to teach three errant students why I cannot condone sneaking out of bed after curfew or not following instructions to such a degree that it causes an explosion.” Apollonia flushed, recalling the incident two years ago; her dual-toned hair and blotchy skin. “Many of my other methods seem to be ineffective when it comes to disciplining my students. So, I will need your help with that, little one. Perhaps baby-sitting a misbehaving child—namely you in this case—will make these three students understand just how perturbed I get when I see when of my students behaving so abhorrently.”

Apollonia nodded. “Okay, Dad.”

“Good. Now, wait here,” her father said, pointing to indicating her yellow and green bedroom. “I must go retrieve your wayward baby-sitters and inform them of their duties.”

As her father disappeared, Apollonia picked up a book and started looking through it. She wondered how this day would turn out, what these three students did to deserve a detention with her father.

***

Now that his daughter was made aware of the role she was to play, it was time for Severus to gather up his daughter’s baby-sitters and alert them as to the unique detention they were to be given. This detention was to be forever etched in their memories as the day they realized a certain truth about their cantankerous professor, the only students to ever do so. Of course, they would also have to remember that it was a punishment as well; he gave his daughter permission to misbehave as much as she wanted for the duration of this detention.

Severus was never one to condone misbehavior; even Apollonia knew that. His five year-old daughter had to question her father’s motives regarding why he was asking her to go against every rule he ever made simply for today. She knew the rules all too well and she appeared slightly hesitant to disobey a direct order. As she should, Severus thought. Now if only my students would learn such a lesson. I wouldn’t have to use Apollonia as a punishment. Unfortunately for him, only his daughter was able to grasp such a concept, forcing the irritable Potions Master to get creative in regards to how he went about handing out detentions. This was his only option at the moment; the only possible way for the Potions Master to ensure that no other student pulled something like this ever again.

The Potions Master emerged into the hallway where three errant students sat in wait. “Misters Weasley, Miss Tonks, please follow me. I will explain what I expect out of you once we go inside.” Severus led his daughter’s baby-sitters for the day into the room before turning to face them. “Since it appears as if I will forever be plagued with misbehaving students, I shall have to make an example of the three of you; I’m giving you three a special detention, which in turn will serve as an object lesson,” the Potions Master explained.

“An object lesson for whom?” the older Weasley asked.

Before Severus could give out the instructions for their upcoming detention, Apollonia toddled out into the room. She focused her big emerald green eyes up at her father in a piercing glare before turning to the three students. “Who are you?” she asked the trio.

It was the younger Weasley who knelt down to Apollonia’s eye level. “I’m Charlie Weasley.” He pointed to his left where his older brother stood. “And, that’s my older brother, Bill. The girl to my right is our friend is Dora Tonks. And, who might you be?”

“Apollonia,” she replied.

“And what are you doing down here in the dungeon?” he questioned. “In fact, what are you doing here at Hogwarts? Shouldn’t you be at home with your parents? Hogwarts is no place for little kids. It’s far too dangerous for someone of your age to be at Hogwarts.”

“Careful what you say, Mr. Weasley, for that is my five year-old daughter you’re talking to,” Severus warned. “She knows perfectly well of the dangers posed by her staying in the castle.”

“Sir, you have a daughter?” Charlie asked.

“I do indeed,” Severus replied smoothly.

“But, you don’t seem like the type of person who would have a daughter,” Bill objected. “In fact professor, you don’t really seem like the type of person who would have kids at all.”

“And that means I wouldn’t?” Severus inquired. “Just because I happen to be irritated by my students does not mean that I would not have children of my own. Now, if my personal life was any of your business, my daughter was born before my teaching career began. Under normal circumstances, Apollonia would be with a nanny during the week while I return for the weekend. Only, her usual nanny somehow caught a case of Dragon Pox forcing me to bring Apollonia here to Hogwarts. You three will be baby-sitting my daughter for the day. And, I assure you that baby-sitting my daughter will not be an easy task.”

“Sir, we have a five year-old brother. If we can handle him, I’m sure that we can handle watching your daughter,” Bill replied. “Watching Apollonia can’t be much different.”

“When my daughter is known to be a bit of a troublemaker, it is sure to be very different,” Severus warned. “Why just last week my daughter decided to wander into my lab and dumped several bat wings into a Pepper Up potion I was working on. For three days my daughter had dual-tone hair followed by a week’s worth of blotchy skin. Unfortunately for you three, my daughter is quite a handful.” Severus peered over at his daughter, wondering if she would go along with her father’s little white lie. While Severus had no moral qualms about lying to his students—having lied on numerous occasions during his tenure as a spy—Apollonia might very well have a problem with what her father was doing. His obsidian gaze flickered to his daughter momentarily. Before he left, the Potions Master would have to have a talk with his daughter, to convince her to go along with the lie.

“We can handle it,” Tonks declared.

“Sure you can,” Severus muttered. “Apollonia, come here for a moment. I must discuss something with you before I go.” His daughter came forward and he knelt down. “Go along with the story; make sure that these three have a miserable day and teach them a lesson in breaking the rules.”

The girl nodded. “Okay, Dad.”

“Good.” Severus turned to his daughter’s baby-sitters. “I shall be gone until early afternoon. Misters Weasley, Miss Tonks, I expect my daughter to be in one piece by the time I return.”

“She will, sir,” the trio declared.

Severus nodded and emerged from the room, snickering all the while. If Apollonia followed his instructions to the letter, the Weasley boys and Miss Tonks would be in for one very interesting morning. He strode across the grounds, arriving at the edge of the grounds, where apparation was possible. As the Potions Master apparated out to Diagon Alley, his mind flitted through all of the possible outcomes for him to return to. Apollonia was under direct orders to do whatever she could to make her baby-sitters miserable; and, if she followed his orders to the letter, they would be a wreck by the time Severus released them from their detention.