After depositing the boys at their dorm, Severus quickly made towards the Headmasters office.
A troll, a fucking troll, he thought irately. Gee, I wonder who could have let it in.
Quirrell, with all his dramatics, had recovered quickly enough from his fainting spell once Severus cornered him outside the entrance for the third floor corridor.
'I d-d-don't know what you're i-i-insinuating Severus," he had mumbled. 'I th-th-thought the t-t-troll was m-m-maybe a diversion so I came to ch-ch-check.'
The mans stutter gave Severus a migraine. After the amount of time he'd spent around Potter in one of his timid moods, he was beginning to suspect Quirrells stutter was as fake as his excuses.
Although, what blasted reason would someone have to sound like an idiot? At least Potters only made an appearance when he was feeling vulnerable or threatened.
Thank Merlin for small mercies.
When he arrived at the Headmasters office he saw that Minerva had beaten him there. Her and Albus had similar grim looks on their face.
"Severus," Albus said solemnly, "how are your charges?"
"They are as well as can be expected," he informed him. "Potter was still quite shaken and Weasley was consoling him when I left."
He was stretching the truth until it nearly broke, but it wouldn't hurt for the Headmaster and Deputy to hear of vulnerability from Potter.
"Ah, yes, Ronald comes from an excellent family," Albus mused. "I believe it wouldn't hurt to speak with Molly about his progress here."
Severus kept his face emotionless while he seethed internally at the blatant manipulation. He could imagine what Albus planned on telling Molly. Would it be instructions to have the young Weasley drag Potter to 'Team Dumbledore' or a blunt directive to have her son sever his acquaintance with the other boy?
"Albus I am telling you, the bathroom was utterly destroyed! Potter was standing there glaring at the troll as if it had personally offended him somehow- and it was dead! Its face was sliced right open! The boy was standing beside it with cold eyes, covered in blood. It was chilling!"
Minerva sounded hysterical.
Severus absolutely loved it.
"Potter was suffering from shock. You witnessed him needing assistance to fight his way back through a panic attack," he jeered at the witch. "And I believe the troll did offend him when it attempted to smash him and his friends' heads in with a club."
Albus held his hand up, silencing Severus' rant.
Insufferable coot.
"Do you believe the child purposefully killed the troll Severus?" He asked softly, studying Severus closely.
"I do not," he replied, lying through his teeth. "I believe that he intentionally blew apart the club then got an incredibly lucky throw in with a busted pipe." He attempted a sneer, as it would do neither him nor Potter any favors to appear too fond of the child. "He was clearly terrified, as his anxiety indicates. The child was all but in tears on the walk back to the Slytherin dorms."
He mentally apologized to the child for making him sound so weak and playing up his mental illnesses, but this could very well be the difference between life and death.
Albus sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling contemplatively with his hands steepled.
"Very well," he eventually said. "We will say no more on this matter."
Severus almost let out a sigh of relief except he could hear the silent 'but' that was surely about to come out of Albus' mouth.
Sure enough, "However," Albus continued, "I would appreciate you both keeping a closer eye on the boy. Tom was able to gain favor and affection from his peers based on the preferential treatment he received from the Professors who refused to listen to my warnings. I will not see this happen again."
Minerva sniffed haughtily. "The boy receives no special treatment from me."
Severus inclined his head, as if in silent agreement. In the safe privacy of his mind though, he was disgusted at how the Headmaster was all but outright requesting that they treat Potter as if he were already an irredeemable dark lord.
If this is how Albus treated a young Tom Riddle, then Severus was not truly surprised that he had turned into an angry and dark adult.
Merlin knows how hard he will have to work to ensure Potter does not follow his footsteps.
***
The next morning Severus was seated at breakfast, enjoying his morning ritual of coffee and disparaging the Daily Prophet, when his godson approached him.
"Sir, may I make a quick announcement?"
He had his chin out defiantly, and his back was ramrod straight. He looked as if he had something to prove.
Severus shared a glance with Pomona, who was listening in curiously, and raised a brow at Draco.
"Certainly, although you shall regret it if anything unbecoming comes out of your mouth."
"No sir," Draco assured him, before turning outward to face the student tables.
"Excuse me!" He called out to quiet the Hall, unnecessarily as most students had already been watching him with interest after he approached the Head Table.
"I would like to apologize to Hermione Granger."
Severus looked at Granger, who had turned red with the sudden attention of most of the students and staff.
"I called her a terrible name yesterday and she did not deserve it. Granger, I hope you accept my deepest apologies."
Draco bowed his head to her and stepped down with a graceful stride, returning to his table with his head held high.
Interesting.
Severus could infer from Dracos carefully worded speech that he had likely insulted her heritage yesterday, something to dock points for later. And, judging by Potters cold smirk, he had apologized publicly at his command.
Command, or threat? He wondered idly, not truly caring one way or another. Draco spouting off Lucius' rhetoric was problematic. If Potter was taking the matter personally then all the better for Severus.
"What was that about, you reckon?" Pomona asked him, her voice muffled by the whispers and laughs tearing across the hall.
"No idea," Severus lied. "You know that Draco leans towards the theatrics."
Pomona laughed while Severus eyed Potters group closely. He was seated with Weasley, Draco, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, and for some reason, Miss Susan Bones of Hufflepuff. An odd group.
The grouping got even more odd mid-way through breakfast as Severus watched Granger and Neville Longbottom join them at the end of the Slytherin table.
None of the older Slytherins even appeared to try and scare away the first-years from other houses- which was quite unlike them. He assumed their quiet acceptance of the children had everything to do with the scar decorating Lestranges face and the whispered gossip, 'Potter killed the troll!,' that was floating through the hall.
Potters group all had their heads bent together were talking amongst themselves eagerly. The others appeared to refer to Potter, who was seated at the head of the group, throughout the conversation.
The Boy-Who-Lived, two sole heirs of stout Death Eaters, two sons of some of the lightest families Severus had ever met, the only child of the infamously grey-aligned Zabini Widow, a Muggleborn, and the niece of the Head of the DMLE.
Very curious.
It appears as if Potter has managed to bring together an extraordinarily unnatural group of students that were all willing to follow his lead.
It was encouraging to see such a mixture of backgrounds in the group. Yet, it was also dangerous to see that Potters compelling power had already publicly drawn in many dedicated followers.
Friends, not followers, he corrected himself.
Severus spared a glance at Albus to see if he was watching Potters group- which of course he was.
The 'Potter Problem' had clearly grown exponentially in the last twenty-four hours and Severus needed to stay alert to protect the child.
He ordered another cup of coffee, black.