The Princess and the Dungeon Bat

The fumes from her little prank only cleared five minutes later. Apollonia was the only one to chuckle at the dual-tone hair—red and purple—Charlie Weasley now sported; Bill and Tonks didn’t seem to find it all that funny. Charlie, however, had no clue at to what had happened. And, Apollonia was thankful for that. Otherwise, Charlie might eventually come after her for what she did. Though the joke was funny—and well-deserved—Charlie wouldn’t take too kindly to the fact that Apollonia pulled the stunt her father told them about. The young five year-old disappeared for a moment, going to grab a mirror before proffering the reflective surface to Charlie. “You need to see something,” she suggested.

Charlie took the proffered mirror and screamed at his reflection like a little girl; the mirror dropped from his hand, Bill catching it before it shattered. “What?” he asked. “What happened to my hair?”

Apollonia grinned. “Payback.” Charlie eyed her curiously. “I heard what you were saying. It’s why I snuck away. Remember what my father said. Dual-tone hair and blotchy skin. Or weren’t you paying attention? Anyway, that’s what I was doing. I was making certain that, for the next ten days, you’ll be stuck with the effects of my potion. It should be three days of your hair looking like that, followed by a week’s worth of blotchy skin. Next time, be careful of what you say. I can be quite…what’s the word…um, vindictive when I want to be. I hope you remember that for my dungeon bat of a father can sometimes be the same way, and you do not want a Snape to have a grudge against you.”

“Dungeon bat?” Tonks asked.

Apollonia covered her mouth. That was not supposed to come out. But, it did and the young girl would have to suffer the consequences, at least when the name came to her father’s attention. There was another name that Apollonia could have told them, but that would get her in even more trouble than the one she just let slip. “Uh, pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Nope, I definitely heard it,” Charlie murmured.

“Well, don’t ever repeat it,” she insisted. If it got back to her father that Apollonia had provided the Weasley boys and Tonks with a new nickname for him, the five year-old would be in major trouble for what she did. “I can’t have this getting back to my father.”

“But, it’s too funny,” Bill told her.

“Yes, and I hope you know that my father would murder you three and me for starting the name,” Apollonia reminded them. Vindictive, remember? He can hold a grudge for a long time. I heard him saying once that he’s held a grudge since his own days at Hogwarts, one that’s still going on. Should Dungeon Bat ever circulate round the school, my father will target you.”

“It would be worth it,” Charlie noted.

At what was said, Apollonia shrugged. Despite her young age—and very brief meeting with the trio—Apollonia could see that they had no intention of listening to what she said; she was five and had little experience in the world. What would she know about it? Dungeon Bat would become a regular occurrence around Hogwarts. Too bad I won’t be around to find out the result. Once her regular nanny recovered from her bout of Dragon Pox, Apollonia would return back there, only seeing her father on the weekends and during the summer. She would never anything more about what was going on and the creation of Dungeon Bat would be but a distant memory. But, still; she was the one to start it, a fact that might one day come back to bite her in the butt. I hope it doesn’t though.

***

Severus emerged from the apothecary with a package of potions ingredients. For whatever reason, the owner refused to send thee through owl posts—as would be the norm—thus forcing to the irate Potions Master to come collect the ingredient himself. It would have taken only a few minutes had the Potions Master not gotten into a very nasty spat with the establishment owner over pulling the professor away from his daughter and threatened to take his business elsewhere if this continued. The Potions Master would have to wait and see about the future of purchases; the apothecary refused to give a response.

The Potions Master made one final stop, grabbing a bite to eat before apparating back to Hogsmeade and heading up to the school. It was shortly after one o’clock, about time to relieve his wayward students of their baby-sitting duties. He wondered exactly how much trouble his daughter caused for the trio of miscreants he charged with her well-being. When Severus arrived at his quarter, he stood just outside for a few moments and heard people arguing. The students were so loud that the Potions Master could hear every word that they were saying. “Charlie, it’s not going to happen. You’ve spent hours and hours trying to fix this. You heard her. There’s no way for you to fix this,” the Hufflepuff girl stated.

“It has to,” Charlie complained.

Severus took the opportunity to enter at that moment, only to find that the younger Weasley had dual-tone hair, colored red and purple. “Mr. Weasley, I believe I warned you about my daughter’s proclivity for doing this. It seems you chose not to listen.”

“I didn’t think…”

“That’s right; you didn’t think,” Severus declared. “And, in the same way my daughter had to live with the potion’s effects, so will you have to, Mr. Weasley. Part of your punishment is to walk around school, suffering the effects of my daughter’s potion. I will also inform Madam Pomfrey not to give you anything for it.” Charlie groaned. “This is what you get for causing such an enormous explosion in the Potions lab earlier this week.”

“But, sir,” Charlie objected.

His older brother elbowed him. “Don’t get yourself in even more trouble, Charlie. It’s not worth it. Isn’t the fact that Apollonia gave you red and purple hair enough of a punishment?”

“And that brings me to the next thing of the agenda,” Severus said. “No one can ever know of my daughter’s existence. You three were only informed because I needed someone to watch over her; otherwise, you might never have known about Apollonia, possibly ever. Should I hear one word of my daughter after today, I will douse all three of you with a permanent dose of my daughter’s potion.” He turned to the Hufflepuff. “And, that includes you Ms. Tonks. You might be able to change your appearance, but I will find a way to block that and allow the potion to work on you. So, keep your mouth shut about my daughter.”

The trio nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“You three can leave now,” Severus stated. “I hope my daughter was able to teach you a lesson in behaving. Otherwise, you might be subjected to my daughter’s brand of punishment even further.”

As her baby-sitters for the day were leaving, Apollonia tugged on her father’s sleeve. “Dad, did I do well?” the five year-old asked her father. “Not only did I use that potion of mine to change Charlie’s hair color and give him blotchy skin, but, while I was looking for everything I needed, they thought I disappeared and spent an hour an a half searching for me. I used it as a method of punishment, to make them see how you feel when they do stupid things”

“Let’s hope it works,” her father stated.

“Bloody Dungeon Bat,” the Potions Master soon heard the younger Weasley grumble as he, his brother, and Tonks slipped out of the Potions Master’s quarter. “Does the greasy git really think that he can try threatening us with punishments enforced by his daughter…”

Severus’s harsh features twisted into a scowl. It seemed as if Charlie didn’t believe that Apollonia could hand out punishments, or that Severus would enforce them. Well, he would soon see; Severus would make absolutely certain that Apollonia’s punishment would stick. Charlie Weasley would soon learn that he was not to underestimate a five year-old girl. It would turn out to be the worst mistake of his life. And, what was with the nicknames? Dungeon Bat and Greasy Git. Since coming to teach at Hogwarts, Severus was able to keep the students from disrespecting him. Somehow, it must have slipped because the two names cropped up. It had better b a one time thing. He turned to his daughter. “Did I just hear the words Dungeon Bat and Greasy Git?” he asked her.

The girl shrugged. “Don’t know, Dad.”

***

Come Monday morning, the names Dungeon Bat and Greasy Git had spread around the school. The Potions Master was not amused. But, Bill and Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks were ecstatic; their little baby-sitting adventure, though it started out as a detention—including a prank causing Charlie to hear a few taunts for the purple in his hair—turned into something good. It was the start of something wonderful, something people would laugh about for years. And, it was all thanks to a little girl by the name of Apollonia Snape.