Potter and his friends many have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it. "But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the deathday party. "...there were hundreds of ghosts, they'll tell you we were there--"
"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.
"Because--because--" Harry said, his heart thumping very fast; something told him it would sound very far-fetched if he told them he had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear, "because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said.
"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."
"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly as his stomach gave a huge rumble.
Snape's nasty smile widened.
"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful," he said. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain priveleges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."
"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply, "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."
Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look. His twinkling light-blue gaze made Harry feel as though he were being X-rayed.
Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.
Snape looked furious. So did Filch.
~Chamber of Secrets, Ch. 9 "The Writing on the Wall"
Since I've already finished rewriting Chamber of Secrets, I'll give you another snippet of the rewrite (which is in the form of a fanfiction) instead of an analysis. Because, in a way, it is an analysis.
And finally, Potter spoke—and loudly. “I never touched Mrs. Norris! And I don’t even know what a Squib is.”
“Rubbish!” snarled Filch. “He saw my Kwikspell letter!”
They wouldn’t get anywhere at this rate, but Severus knew exactly how to get to where they wanted—he wanted. “If I might speak, Headmaster…” All heads turned towards him, including the Lockharts on the wall. “Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said with a slight sneer, doubting it. “But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn’t he at the Halloween feast?”
Thanks to Vesperra, he had the perfect way of proving that Potter wasn’t trustworthy. Severus already knew why they hadn’t been at the feast, but he wanted to see if their story would match up with his.
“Nearly Headless Nick invited me to his deathday party!” said Potter. “And I promised him I’d go, so—”
“We thought we’d go with him,” Granger said shrilly, “and we did—”
“It was in the dungeons,” Weasley added. “There were hundreds of ghosts, they’ll tell you we were there—”
“But why not join the feast afterward?” asked Severus, determined to find that they had done something wrong. “Why go up to that corridor?”
“Because—because—” Potter stammered, failing at his obvious attempt to appear innocent, “because we were tired and wanted to go to bed.”
Severus’s glittering eyes swept over Potter’s, and he didn’t even have to go into Legilimency mode to dip into the surface of his mind—he was obviously lying. But he didn’t delve further, because Dumbledore would surely see what he was doing, and Legilimency was forbidden on students. Still, a triumphant smirk flickered across Severus’s face.
“Without any supper?” he asked. “I didn’t think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties.”
Then just as a huge rumble sounded from the boy’s stomach, Weasley said, “We weren’t hungry.” This was too easy… Severus’s smile widened as he turned to Dumbledore.
“I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.” This was turning out to be a better Halloween than he expected. That is, until—
“Really, Severus,” McGonagall said sharply. “I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn’t hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong.” Oh, but there was… Severus didn’t need to put any effort into using Legilimency to see that the boy what guilty of something!
“Innocent until proven guilty, Severus,” said Dumbledore after giving Potter a searching look. It seemed as though the old man was using Legilimency himself… but couldn’t he see? Couldn’t the greatest wizard of their age see that Potter was guilty?!
Filch seemed just as furious as Severus. “My cat has been Petrified! I want to see some punishment!”
“We will be able to cure her, Argus,” said Dumbledore patiently. “Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris.”
Then Lockhart stepped forward. “I’ll make it,” he said eagerly. “I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep—”
“Excuse me,” Severus said icily, glaring daggers at Lockhart. “But I believe I am the Potions master at this school.” In the pause that ensued, Severus was fuming both for Potter’s lack of a punishment and Lockhart being a pompous arse, and everyone else stared awkwardly.
“You may go,” said Dumbledore to the trio. They left at once, and Severus calmed down a bit once he didn’t have to look at those brats anymore. The Headmaster then turned to Filch, who had an expression of mingled anger and grief. “If you wish, Argus, you may keep Mrs. Norris’s body in your own quarters until the Restorative Draught is ready, as she is your cat.”
Also, random thought--I like how Snape "speaks from the shadows." He's such a BAMF.
