Filius was asked what he thought of the matter and had replied honestly. He knew that Snape had a dislike for the boy but, as he rarely saw them interact, he did not know how bad things were between them. On the one hand he did not want to believe that Dumbledore would let Snape get away with such behaviour, far less encourage it and participate as well. But then, Harry Potter never seemed like the type of boy to go making complaints to the highest authority figures he could find without due course. He wasn't a Malfoy. He would have to be pushed hard before getting to that point.
He was aware, of course, that Snape was not the most loved Professor in the castle, far from it in fact, but now it appeared that most of the students not only disliked the man, but outright loathed him. Even amongst those of his own house there were students who hated him. He could see the Greengrass sisters and Tracey Davis talking together not too far away and earlier had heard the youngest, Astoria, express the wish that "Perhaps they'll finally get rid of the Greasy Git."
Flitwick had earlier heard Seamus Finnigan state to Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom "Seems like someone is finally taking action against the berk."
To which Dean replied "I brought up my own complaints about him. Put a few more nails in his coffin."
"I thought gran was gonna leave the room and gut him when I told them how he treats me," said Neville.
Near to them were the Patil twins, and Flitwick heard his one of the two state "Well, he's had it coming for a long time. It's about time someone brought him to heel, if nothing more."
Filius had taken more than a few complaints from the students in his house about Snape over the years, but those never really went anywhere. He would inform Dumbledore, who would insist that things would straighten themselves out.
It was only now that Filius was realising just how little Dumbledore did to make Snape behave. He himself had become complacent on the matter, bringing it up at the end of meetings as though it were an afterthought.
He wasn't the only one. He looked over to where Minerva was sitting, looking deeply distressed. It appeared that she had received a similar wakeup call from this incident.
The door to the questioning room opened up and Hermione Granger, the last to be questioned stepped out, followed by Madam Marchbanks, who said "All students please return to your respective common rooms. Staff, please gather in the staff room for an important meeting."
Amelia Bones walked into the Great Hall and found a surprise. The lesson had changed again, meaning that the fifth year Hufflepuffs had returned to the hall, accompanied by the Ravenclaws, except Padma. The fourth year Ravenclaws were still there, but the Gryffindors had gone, replaced by the Slytherins. Also there were the sixth year Gryffindors still, but the Slytherins had been replaced by Hufflepuffs.
Amelia watched for a few moments, observing Harry as he and a few others, including her niece, moved through the group giving a few pointers.
"Try again, Cormac," said Harry "You're getting there. That's fantastic Luna, you've got this down. Have another go Lisa. Yes, that's it Anthony. Your turn Leanne…"
"He's been doing this all morning," said the male W.E.A officer "As soon as he realised that the first group weren't putting much effort into studying from their books he got them on their feet and practicing."
"The kid's a natural," added the woman "I'd wager he's already giving half the professors in this place a run for their money. Give him a couple of years and he'll outshine the lot of them."
"Seems a shame to break this up," Amelia commented "but Harry's needed for a staff meeting."
"I'm sure your niece and the others can keep things going in his absence," commented the male officer "We'll keep an eye on them."
Amelia nodded and walked forwards "Mr Potter? Your presence is required in the staff room."
Silence fell over the hall as the practicing students turned to look first at her and then at Harry, who nodded and followed her from the hall.
The group watched them go before Hannah broke the silence "Alright, let's keep it up people! Cormac, don't bend your wrist so much…"
Dumbledore was making his way along a corridor and was just about to turn a corner when a group consisting of all the fifth year Gryffindors came around it and nearly trampled him.
"Ah, excellent," he said as they stopped in their tracks "I have been looking everywhere for you-"
"Head down to the staff room, Dumbledore," said Professor Tofty, whom he had not immediately noticed standing at the back of the group "I am escorting these students back to their common room and then I will join you and the others there."
At Professor Tofty's prompting, the group began moving again. Dumbledore tried asking several of them what they had been asked about but they walked right by him. Even Miss Granger kept her eyes fixed firmly on the floor and acted as though she did not hear his question.
In the end Dumbledore was left with no choice but to head down to the staff room and see what he could learn there.
.....
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