Episode 3.1
Sebastian was restless. He was usually somewhat restless, but tonight more so.
And his friends weren’t really helping. Polly was curled up in the armchair opposite, staring blankly at the essay she was supposed to be writing, and Bill was sitting on the floor with a heavy book - although he was also having trouble concentrating, and kept shaking his head as though to rid his ears of water. He also hadn’t turned a page or written any notes in a good twenty minutes. The potion he had been doused with was still affecting him, even though Madam Pomfrey had said it would wear off by now.
Seb jiggled his knee and bit his lip. Polly yawned and looked up with a frown.
‘What’s got into you?’ she wanted to know.
‘I just ... I keep thinking.’ Seb sprung out of his chair and began pacing the floor in front of Bill. ‘I mean, it’s bugging me. Something - or someone made me trip up in Potions and knock that stuff all over Bill, but I can’t figure out what.’
Polly rolled her eyes. ‘Come on, Seb. It’s not that hard to figure out - Sytherins, closed quarters, a professor guaranteed to look the other way ...’
‘Maybe Snape put them up to it!’
Bill blinked twice, before finally deciding to shut his eyes altogether if he was going to attempt speaking.
‘Snape wouldn’t do that,’ he said, clearly working quite hard to keep the sentence coherent. ‘He’s a teacher.’
Polly turned her head to one side and considered Bill thoughtfully. ‘I dunno about that,’ she said slowly. ‘I wouldn’t put it past him.’
‘Exactly!’ Seb cried, glad that for once Polly had chosen to take his side over Bill’s.
Suddenly, she sat up straight in her chair and put her hand over her mouth. ‘Maybe Snape’s trying to sabotage the Gryffindor quidditch team!’ she gasped.
Seb frowned. Bill groaned.
‘Makes no sense,’ he muttered. ‘I’m not on the team.’
‘Yeah, Pol,’ Seb agreed. ‘I’m not sure what you’re -’
‘No, don’t you see?’ her eyes were wide. ‘Charlie’s on the team - and he’s one of our best players! But if Charlie’s worried about his brother, he might not play as well; or if Bill’s seriously injured, Charlie might have to stay in the hospital wing, instead of going to practice, and then we’ll have to get a new seeker who won’t be as good, and we’ll lose our only hope of getting the cup back from Slytherin!’
She was quite breathless as she finished. Bill and Seb stared at her.
‘Or,’ she said, having caught her breath, ‘maybe he’s just mad because he missed out on the Dark Arts job again.’
Seb nodded at this. It sounded a lot more plausible.
‘Maybe. And maybe sending Bill to Harper’s class all doped up was his way of sabotaging the lesson!’
‘Or maybe,’ Bill groaned, ‘it was Van Doort, getting me back for the train yesterday.’
Polly and Seb glanced at him, then at each other, a silent agreement passing between them that they would ignore Bill’s mad, potion-inspired ramblings.
‘Snape’s always wanted that job. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wouldn’t resort to poisoning students.’ Seb took his seat again. ‘We ought to be more careful in his classes.’
‘I’ll say,’ Polly agreed. ‘Bloody hell, I can’t wait to give up Potions. Snape gives me the creeps.’
‘That doesn’t mean he’s guilty. You two always suspect Snape.’ Bill was rubbing his temple. ‘But he’s never done anything sinister, apart from swooping around the place like an overgrown bat.’
‘Yeah, well, you know what I think-’
‘He’s not a vampire!’ Bill cut across Seb’s sentence with feeling. Then he winced and put his head in his hands. ‘I’m going to bed,’ he muttered, getting to his feet rather shakily. ‘Try to avoid going after Snape with the garlic without evidence, all right?’
He headed off up the stairs to the boys’ dorms. Seb rolled his eyes.
‘He could be a vampire,’ he muttered. Polly grinned.
‘You never know,’ she nodded. ‘We should keep an eye on him at any rate. Harper seems all right, even if he is possibly a werewolf; it’d be a shame if Snape were to scare him off.’
‘Mmm...’ Seb murmured. ‘Bloody Slytherins. Whose idea was it to put all the psychopaths together in one house, anyway?’
Polly shrugged. ‘I suppose when something goes bad, at least you know where to look.’