Before the afternoon Quidditch match, Snape found Madam Hooch and requested to postpone the match, claiming his house's players were suffering from physical and mental distress.
Rolanda, seemingly aware of the noon's events, agreed readily and began arranging for Ravenclaw to replace Slytherin.
"Madam Hooch, Gryffindor is also unfit to participate in today's match." Snape said, glancing toward the Gryffindor team, "I must discuss certain matters with the Weasley twins."
"Can't this wait until after the match?" She frowned.
Replacing both teams would completely disrupt the schedule, making rearrangement difficult.
Snape drawled, "It's urgent, Madam Hooch."
"Well... alright."
Though reluctant, she had to concede — he was, after all, a professor and Head of House with authority over Quidditch matters.
Madam Hooch yielded but warned, "Professor Snape, I hope this won't become a habit. Rescheduling matches is extremely inconvenient."
"Trust me, I wish to avoid such situations myself, but who knows what they were thinking..." Snape turned to the Gryffindor team and led Fred and George away without further explanation.
Charles attempted to protest but lost ten points before he could finish speaking.
"Talking back to a professor, Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape said icily, "Move aside, or it'll be twenty next time."
Charles's face flushed with anger. His fists clenched tight, veins prominent on his arms. After a deep breath, he stepped aside.
"Have a good day, Professor Snape."
Snape's grip on his wand loosened slightly. With a cold snort, he departed the Quidditch pitch with the twins.
The moment they were gone, Charles stormed off to Professor McGonagall's office, muttering curses under his breath.
Slytherin had no honor — first framing them, then calling for reinforcements. How pathetic. What was so special about having connections? Everyone had them.
Their Gryffindor ally was the Deputy Headmistress herself — far superior to Snape in rank.
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Meanwhile, back at the castle, Snape led Fred and George to the Potions office.
The twins weren't nervous at all; instead, they looked around the office with interest.
The room was unremarkable — cramped, with old-fashioned furniture and creaking floorboards. If not for the potion ingredients lining the walls, it could have passed for a second-hand furniture shop.
It was far inferior to Professor McGonagall's office.
"Professor Snape, what did you want to see us about?" Fred spoke up first.
Snape said slowly, "The package you received this morning — what's that about?"
"We don't know either, Professor." George said calmly, taking out a piece of paper and placing it on the nearby table, "There was no name on it. We thought the owl had delivered it to the wrong people."
"That's right." Fred nodded, "We looked everywhere but couldn't find the package's owner, and just as we were about to hand it over to Professor McGonagall, the package disappeared."
George continued, "Professor, do you know who... stole that package?"
Whether intentional or not, he emphasized the word "stole" and even paused slightly.
But Snape acted as if he hadn't heard and continued, "So you're saying the package wasn't bought by you? Don't try to fool me — I know it came from Zonko's. I'll be inquiring in Hogsmeade later."
"Of course, that's your prerogative, Professor." Fred's expression remained unchanged, "But if you find out who stole~ the package, please do let us know. After all, it went missing while in our possession, and we'll have trouble explaining if the owner comes looking for it."
Snape's eye twitched, and he again pretended not to hear.
"Weasley, you—"
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Just then, there was a knocking at the door.
Minerva walked in.
"Severus, I heard you took Fred and George away." She said with pursed lips and a serious expression, "Have they done something wrong?"
"We haven't, Professor McGonagall." Fred quickly protested.
George followed up, "Professor Snape called us to ask about the package."
Minerva thought for a moment and said, "The unsigned package you mentioned to me earlier?"
"Yes, that one." Fred said, "But it's gone missing, and we suspect someone might have stolen it."
"Stealing? At Hogwarts?" Her lips tightened even more, "If I find out who did it, I'll take a hundred — no, two hundred points."
"Ahem..." Snape suddenly coughed twice and said, "Actually, it belonged to one of our Slytherin students, who took it when he saw it."
Minerva started slightly, "From your house?"
"Yes, from our house." Snape's face turned slightly blue as he said through gritted teeth, "I called the Weasleys to confirm the situation."
"I see..." Professor McGonagall's expression softened, though she gave him a disapproving look, "You could have discussed this on the pitch. Why did you have to interrupt the match?"
Snape said nothing, but in his mind, he cursed Rozier for being an idiot.
Afterward, Minerva left, taking Fred and George with her.
Snape didn't stop them.
In fact, he had never suspected the Weasley twins from the start — their style was too different. He had called them here merely to gather information and perhaps dock some house points to improve his mood.
He hadn't expected McGonagall to arrive so quickly, nor for those two to be so well-prepared, immediately framing the issue as "theft" right in front of her.
He couldn't even find fault with their logic. After all, it was true — if the Slytherins hadn't stolen the package, none of this would have happened.
"Rozier, that fool — practically a troll's relative!" Snape cursed again in his mind.
However, after what had just happened, he was even more certain that the Weasleys had little to do with this, or at least weren't the masterminds. They weren't that clever.
Snape stood thinking for a moment, and somehow, an honest and sincere face… scratch that — a cunning and hypocritical one flashed through his mind.
"Kyle Chopper..." He muttered.
Although Kyle had absolutely nothing to do with this incident — not even remotely — Snape's intuition told him that the kid definitely wasn't innocent.
Yes, it was just intuition, and had nothing to do with him corrupting Kanna.
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