If there was anyone in Hogwarts who was both idle and busy at the same time, it had to be Headmaster Dumbledore.
He was idle because he did not have to teach classes or mark homework. He was busy because Dumbledore was not merely the Headmaster of Hogwarts. He also had a great many matters outside the school to deal with.
At Hogwarts, Dumbledore was more of a spiritual symbol, a sign in himself. It almost felt as though Hogwarts was only truly complete when Dumbledore was in it. And yet their Headmaster was forever off wandering about, leaving the school's countless large and small affairs to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall.
And tonight... no, that was not quite accurate. It was already past midnight, so it ought to be called early morning.
After finishing the work in his hands in the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore finally had time for his routine inquiry.
"So then, which students this year ought we to keep an eye on?"
Leaning back in his tall chair, Dumbledore looked toward the Sorting Hat placed atop the bookcase to his right.
The clean Sorting Hat.
"The same as every year. Nothing worth noting."
"Oh? Not even Harry Potter, or that child from the Selwyn family?"
Dumbledore pushed his chair back and rose to his feet.
"Nothing worth noting. If I really had to say something, Potter seems rather averse to Slytherin. During the Sorting he kept saying, 'Not Slytherin,' even though it suited him best."
The Sorting Hat gave an annoyed twitch on the shelf.
"As for the Selwyn boy you mentioned, he chose Slytherin himself, but I think Ravenclaw suits him better. And I can say with certainty that the boy has practiced Occlumency. Though in front of me, it may as well have been nothing."
"Oh? Occlumency? That is hardly surprising. Before coming to Hogwarts, he studied at Scholomance for a few years. In order to resist the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius Curse, the children there all achieve something in Occlumency, more or less."
Dumbledore walked over to his pet, Fawkes, and gently stroked the phoenix's feathers.
"Then there is nothing else that needs attention. Over a thousand years, I have seen far too many young witches and wizards: talented ones, untalented ones, clever ones, foolish ones. I think it would be difficult indeed for me to encounter a child I would consider truly 'worth noting.'"
After saying that, the Sorting Hat became still.
"Oh, and I nearly forgot."
Hm?
Had the Sorting Hat noticed something unusual after all?
Dumbledore turned back and tilted his head up toward it.
"In a thousand years, not one Headmaster ever thought to wash me."
The Sorting Hat gave the tip of itself a little shake.
"And yet thanks to one little wizard, I have been allowed to experience this feeling of freshness again. You ought to thank him on my behalf."
The Headmaster looked at the perfectly motionless Sorting Hat and fell silent.
Just then, Dumbledore seemed to sense something. He returned to his desk and sat back down, his eyes fixed on the door as he waited.
The door to the Headmaster's office opened.
A mass of black drifted in and shut the door behind it.
"Ah, Severus. You've come."
Snape said nothing, merely looked at Dumbledore.
To be woken from sleep in the middle of the night would irritate anyone. And Snape had never needed much excuse to be displeased with Dumbledore in the first place.
"What was the result of your House's 'tradition' this year?" Dumbledore asked directly, without a trace of preamble.
"Lucius's son is the first-year prefect."
Snape's face remained expressionless.
A look of surprise appeared on Dumbledore's face.
"Is that so? That is somewhat different from what I had expected."
He frowned slightly, thinking.
"But Draco gave up the single room that belongs to the prefect."
Snape's leisurely pause between sentences was very clearly deliberate. A little repayment, perhaps, for being dragged from bed at this hour.
"The Selwyn boy?"
Snape nodded once and said nothing.
"The process?"
"Draco never made a move. Every other student was defeated by Selwyn."
Snape shifted slightly.
"Throughout the entire thing, he never spoke a single incantation."
"Nonverbal spells... that is rather beyond what I expected."
Dumbledore stood up.
"I had no doubt that Sorimus would be able to defeat the other young wizards. But nonverbal magic... that is another matter. What magic did he use, Severus?"
"The Knockback Jinx and the Impediment Jinx."
Snape watched as Dumbledore took the Pensieve from the cabinet.
"What is it this time? You want to inspect my memory again?"
An entirely unsurprised sort of mockery appeared on Snape's face.
"I only wish to understand this child better, Severus. I simply want to be sure..."
"What can a child possibly do?"
Snape cut him off roughly.
"Instead of doubting a little wizard this way and that, why not investigate someone far more suspicious?"
"Professor Quirrell is the school's appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Severus."
Dumbledore placed the Pensieve carefully on its stand.
"Why allow someone of unknown origin to become a professor, Headmaster? I applied for that post so many times and you refused me every time, yet someone of uncertain background you approve without hesitation?"
Snape stepped forward, challenging him outright.
"Quirinus is not a man of unknown origin, Severus."
Dumbledore looked at Snape calmly.
"He, too, graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"I sat beside him during the feast. The aura around him is not that of any decent man."
It seemed Snape had decided to speak plainly.
"I promised to protect Lily's son, and yet you ignore the danger right in front of you!"
Snape snarled the words in a low voice.
"I do not ignore the danger before us. But sometimes, Severus, to focus too intently on the danger before one's eyes is to overlook the true danger."
Dumbledore beckoned him closer.
"And before we discuss danger, Severus, I would like to see."
Snape gave Dumbledore a long, deep look, then took out his wand, drew a strand of memory from his temple, and flung it into the Pensieve.
"Come, Severus. Let us have a look together."
Without the slightest concern for whether Snape agreed or not, Dumbledore caught hold of his arm.
...
"Is no one going to make the first move? Since you are all being so courteous, then I shan't stand on ceremony."
The moment he finished speaking, Sorimus began to move his wand.
Among Slytherin's first-years that year, there were only three girls. The moment it began, Sorimus very gently pushed all three of them out of the circle with the Impediment Jinx.
"A very skillful Impediment Jinx."
Dumbledore's eyes remained fixed on Sorimus.
Snape stood beside him. It seemed he really had been dragged into his own memory by Dumbledore after all.
Only then did some of the other young wizards finally react. They began to aim their wands at Sorimus and attack. Their thinking was simple enough: Sorimus looked formidable, so get rid of him first.
All the remaining first-years seemed to have come to that exact conclusion.
Sorimus pulled Draco aside to dodge a Leg-Locker Curse, then, with a flick of his hand, sent a Knockback Jinx flying and blasted away one young wizard who had just been about to cast a spell. Immediately afterward, he yanked Draco down and tripped him with his leg.
The boy had been standing there like an idiot. If he had been hit, then Sorimus's single room probably would not have gone anywhere, but neither would the prefectship.
While Draco was still sprawled on the floor in a daze, Sorimus countered another student's spell with a counter-jinx, seized the opening, and slashed his wand hand swiftly from left to right.
An invisible wall swept through the circle and shoved every young wizard out of it.
Everyone except Sorimus and Draco, who had just managed to get back to his feet.
"All done."
As Sorimus strolled out of the circle, he waved his empty right hand casually.
"Don't forget, Draco."