"SHOCKING BUSINESS... SHOCKING... MIRACLE NONE OF THEM DIED... NEVER HEARD THE LIKE... BY THUNDER, IT WAS LUCKY YOU WERE THERE, PROFESSOR SNAPE..."
"Thank you, Minister."
"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class if I can wangle it!"
"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."
"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"
"As a matter of fact, it was young Black, Minister..."
"No!"
"Black had bewitched her, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by her behavior. She seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. She wasn't responsible for her actions. On the other hand, her interference might have permitted Black to escape... she obviously thought she was going to catch her father single-handed. She's got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given her a rather high opinion of herself... and of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of licence by the Headmaster—"
"Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... we've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."
"And yet—it is good for him to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try to treat him like amy other student. And any other student would be suspended—at the very least—for leading his friends into such danger. Consider, Minister: against all school rules—after the precautions put in place for his protection—out of bounds, at night, considering with a werewolf and a murderer—and I have reason to believe he and young Black have been visiting Hogsmeade illegally, too—"
"Well, well... we shall see, Snape, we shall see... the boy has undoubtedly been foolish..."
Alena laid uncomfortably on her side, listening to the conversation with her eyes tightly shut. Her head seemed too heavy to move so she couldn't fully understand the discussion happening next to her.
