Snape definitely wasn't crazy.
He just didn't want to witness Ian struggling to hand out his loot any longer, so with a dramatic flick of his cloak, he spun around and chose a more distant route back to his own safe house.
Along the way—
Plenty of Little Wizards saw the Head of Slytherin House looking downright stormy. No one dared approach or provoke him, since the Old Bat would even kick a passing toad if it got in his way.
Some say—
Nobody saw Snape at all for the rest of that day.
But others claim—
Snape caught a few unruly Little Wizards and brought back the notorious whippings of Hogwarts past, locking himself in his office for an entire day of unspeakable experiments.
No matter how full of holes and contradictions these rumors were, it didn't stop them from spreading like wildfire—largely thanks to the valiant efforts of the Gryffindors.
They were always delighted to spice things up, painting ever more absurd Snape rumors for everyone they met.
"Hey, did you hear? Snape actually gave Ravenclaw points!"
"What? Has Snape gone mad?"
"Snape has finally snapped! He's going to use some evil magic to kill all of us for sure!"
...
At the very beginning of these rumors—
Maybe it all started with a well-meaning Little Wizard fresh out of Magic Potion Class, just wanting to say Snape wasn't quite like the stories. But Snape's reputation in the hearts of Hogwarts' Little Wizards ran ancient and deep.
Ian probably had to shoulder some of the responsibility, but like hell he would. How was this Ravenclaw supposed to control the chaos Gryffindor caused?
"Wait for my good news, I'll start making it soon."
Saying goodbye to Aurora, who totally got his ideas about Alchemy, Ian began exploring Hogwarts Castle. The Little Wizards weren't exactly drowning in homework their first week in school.
One class in the morning, one class in the afternoon, and the rest was up to you. Maybe it was tradition, letting the Little Wizards have time to uncover the castle's secrets.
This ancient castle was over a thousand years old.
There were all sorts of things hidden in Hogwarts—even Dumbledore might not have seen them all before.
Now that Ian had finally arrived in this dreamlike place, how could he possibly not want to poke around? Especially the secret passages to who-knows-where, and the legendary Room of Requirement.
"Vera Verto!"
Things are more valuable when you have to fight for them. Whenever Ian spotted a golden opportunity, he'd practice Transformation on some decorative potted plant. He honestly had no idea if this was breaking school rules.
"Probably not...?"
It's not like he was pulling Weasley Brothers–level pranks—he was just giving the pots a bit more artistic flair, brushing up his Skill Level and shocking Hogwarts with a splash of Picasso.
"Oh! Thank Merlin I could afford the best painters back in the day!"
The only group truly affected by Ian's masterpieces was probably the wall-hung paintings of Hogwarts. Some Witch in a portrait even covered her eyes in terror.
"Madam, this is art."
Not all the paintings minded Ian's artistic touch, though.
Take the Giant busy beating up the ballet teacher inside a painting—he happened to love Ian's work so much, he actually paused his centuries-long brawl.
He pressed up to the edge of the frame, staring intently at the pot outside.
"Even Giants get art now?"
Ian was amazed. The Giant, of course, didn't reply—just drooled all over the frame with his mouth hanging open, eyes glued to the potted plant outside.
"Out of the way, buddy."
By now—
Ian figured he'd found the entrance to the Room of Requirement. What really burned it into his memory was being traumatized in his youth by a tutu-wearing Giant.
But just as Ian was about to go in—
A white figure slipped soundlessly out from inside a suit of armor behind him—a tiny, ridiculous Ghost with a huge mouth, broad face, and big, shiny eyes.
It was Peeves.
The school's incorrigible prankster Ghost—ever since Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded, Peeves had been there stirring up trouble, out-pranking the staff and students for generations.
Even Dumbledore found him a giant headache.
"Let me scare you to death!"
Peeves shot out from between Ian's legs, popping up right in front of him.
"Ah—Sectemsempra!"
Ian had been trying hard to recall the Room of Requirement's exact access steps. He definitely didn't expect a jump scare prank from a Ghost right in his face.
Startled, his hand snapped up—Magic Wand already at the ready.
An eerie green light flickered out.
Luckily, Wisdom Enlightenment kept Ian calm as always and switched to an invisible spell blade, slicing at the Ghost right in front of his nose.
"Wow!! Caught a secret Dark Ar—"
Peeves was gearing up to cackle and tease Ian, but the next instant, his whole body split into dozens of chunks, slashing apart before he could finish.
That hurt!
But it wasn't Death coming to get him.
"Ah!!!"
Peeves' 'remains' squirmed on the ground, his split head re-forming, but pure fear was already flooding his brain in that frozen moment.
Scared him out of his wits.
"Impossible! Impossible! I'm an Elf! I'm an Elf!"
"That isn't Snape's Sectemsempra!"
"What kind of spell is this, you little brat?!"
In a thousand years, this was the first time Peeves had been the one truly terrified. Once his 'body' reassembled, he just wanted to dash away as fast as possible.
"So it was you causing trouble!"
Ian hadn't expected his magic to actually work on Peeves, but now he realized something, and with excitement, he wanted to test his theory.
"Trying to run, huh?"
Ian lunged forward and grabbed Peeves' legs out of the air.
And—YES!
He actually caught something solid!
"Guess you're not as slippery as the upperclassmen claimed!" Ian didn't waste time—he hurled Peeves to the ground and started pummeling him with furious fists.
"I'm dying! I'm dying! Let me go, you little menace!" Peeves thrashed wildly, but just couldn't escape his suddenly non-ghostly fate in Ian's grip.
He couldn't understand it.
Terrified him even more.
"You try to scare me and call me names? Let's see if I don't beat you to death first!"
Ian was the petty type all right.
He'd almost gotten spooked into breaking a big rule just now.
If he didn't leave this prankster Ghost with a real psychological trauma, Ian knew he wouldn't rest easy—and he'd just be haunted by Peeves even more down the road.
The fix for a grudge was simple enough.
Reason with your fists.
"Incendio!!!"
Ian raised his faithful Magic Wand.
"Ouch! Ouch! Let go of me!"
Peeves' hair instantly caught fire, and the shrieks he let out were enough to scare a banshee. It was almost dinner time, so the eighth-floor corridor was mercifully empty.
"Go to the west office and bring Dumbledore to save me!"
Peeves could only beg the wall paintings for help.
But—
The Giant had gone right back to beating the ballet teacher, deaf to anything beyond the picture frame.