Gryffindor

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When Filch delivered his report, Snape looked briefly too stunned to speak. Once he had confirmed that Harry was unhurt and that the blood on him was not his own, he immediately had poor Elias taken to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.

With that arranged, Snape seized Harry and Ron by the backs of their collars, one in each hand, and marched them to his office. The moment they were inside, both boys shrank into the corner. Snape sat behind his desk, his stare cutting back and forth across them like a saw.

"At least seven Muggles saw you," he said. "And as if that were not enough, you have also managed to run down and grievously injure a wizard. I have never expected much from either of you, but even I did not imagine you could sink quite this low. Even the dark wizards locked in Azkaban did not manage anything this deranged at your age. I suggest you start packing for home. Though perhaps Azkaban will be your next address instead."

Snape was enjoying himself far too much. He knew perfectly well that Dumbledore would never expel Harry, and that no Hogwarts student was going to be sent to Azkaban over this. None of that stopped him from frightening the boys as thoroughly as possible. When Harry and Ron's eyes turned red and wet, a flicker of satisfaction crossed his face.

Eventually, he frightened them into tears.

They already knew they had made a terrible mistake, but hearing it from Snape in such cold, certain terms made the punishment feel real. Even then, the two boys were miserable for different reasons.

Harry, who had spent most of his life in the Muggle world, still did not truly understand what Azkaban was. The word expulsion alone had been enough to empty his mind. He could not bear the thought of being sent away from Hogwarts and forced back to the Dursleys.

Ron, on the other hand, had gone pale at the thought of Azkaban itself. On the way to Snape's office, he had already braced himself for the worst ordinary punishment: being expelled from Hogwarts. But Azkaban was something else entirely. As far as Ron knew, Azkaban was where they kept the worst dark wizards and Death Eaters. And that was before one even mentioned the Dementors.

Before long, quiet sobs began to fill Snape's office. They grew louder with every passing minute. Snape watched the boys huddle in the corner, wiping at their tears, and the satisfaction in his eyes became almost visible.

The sound of the door opening cut that satisfaction short.

Dumbledore entered first, white hair and beard flowing around him, followed by Professor McGonagall in emerald robes and a pointed black hat, her hair pinned with its usual severe precision.

Both of them looked unusually grave. Dumbledore crossed the room at once and examined Harry from head to toe. Only after he was certain that Harry had not been harmed did he seem to let out a small breath.

Silent reproach filled Dumbledore's bright blue eyes. Under that gaze, Harry and Ron instinctively shrank in on themselves again.

Professor McGonagall looked as if she still could not quite believe what she was seeing. Dumbledore's scrutiny was frightening enough, but the disappointment in their Head of House's face was almost worse. With two Heads of House and the Headmaster watching them, every second dragged.

After a short silence, Dumbledore finally spoke.

"Would either of you care to explain why you did this?"

Harry opened his mouth, but Ron cut in first.

"It was all my fault. You can't expel Harry. I was driving the car. Harry had nothing to do with it. I'll go pack right now. Just please don't send me to Azkaban."

At the mention of Azkaban, Ron visibly broke down again and began to cry in small, wounded gasps.

"I am certainly not going to expel you or send you to Azkaban," Dumbledore said, genuine surprise in his eyes. "In fact, I do not know why you believed I would send two underage wizards to Azkaban."

He turned slightly, giving Professor McGonagall more room.

"Your punishment should be decided by your Head of House."

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter will each lose two hundred and fifty House points," Professor McGonagall said, adjusting the hat that had gone slightly crooked in her rush to reach them. Her voice was stern enough to make both boys flinch. "I will be writing to your parents today, Mr. Weasley, and I am afraid your family will need to come to the school. If there is ever another incident like this, I will have no choice but to expel you."

Snape looked as though he had just swallowed something foul. His gaze swept over Ron and Harry with open disgust.

"Professor Dumbledore, these two students ignored the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and gravely injured a wizard. Conduct of this nature should, by all rights..."

"Severus." Dumbledore raised one hand, stopping him. "For the two of them, Professor McGonagall will decide the punishment. They are both students of her House, and therefore her responsibility."

He looked back at the boys, and the severity in his face softened by the smallest degree.

"Also, I imagine Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter have gone hungry all day. Perhaps you should go to the Great Hall and have dinner."

Dumbledore winked at them.

Harry and Ron took the reprieve like a pardon. They hurried out of Snape's office and made their way toward the Great Hall with their heads down.

Once the boys were out of sight, Dumbledore's expression turned serious again.

"Well, Severus, Minerva, I think we should hurry to the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. Afterward, we can visit the poor gentleman in the hospital wing."

The moment Harry and Ron pushed open the doors to the Great Hall, noise swallowed them.

The unfortunate Gryffindors had been eating, singing, and enjoying the feast when the ruby hourglass for Gryffindor had suddenly emptied itself. The shock had rippled through the hall at once. Some Gryffindors were still wondering if the point hourglass had malfunctioned. The Slytherins, however, had already begun laughing themselves sick.

By the time the students learned what Harry and Ron had done, a buzzing wave of whispers filled the Great Hall. So when the two boys stepped inside, every eye turned toward them.

"You two are brilliant!" one of the Weasley twins said, clapping Harry on the back with open admiration.

"Ron, we never knew you had it in you," the other added. "Come on, tell us what happened."

The twins, no strangers to losing House points themselves, had long since stopped caring very much about the House Cup. They waved the evening edition of the Daily Prophet with great excitement.

"Did you really hit a wizard? What happened to him? Is he dead?"

Harry became painfully aware that the attention of the surrounding students had fixed on him. At the Slytherin table, someone had already started a new chant: "Potter the murderer."

At last, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Snape entered the Great Hall. Under the weight of three professors' presence, the noise finally died down, and the Sorting Ceremony was able to continue.

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