When Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts around dinnertime, he was greeted by a standing ovation from everyone in the Great Hall except the Slytherins and Harry.
The Slytherins were looking toward the Great Hall doors, waiting for their Head of House to appear.
When Snape still hadn't appeared by the time Dumbledore had taken his place at the Head table, the Slytherins began talking amongst themselves in low voices trying to figure out where he might be.
Dumbledore gestured for the cheering students to resume their seats. When the Great Hall was silent once more, he spoke. "You have no idea how pleased I am to be back among you all. After dinner I would like the Staff, Head Boy and Girl, as well as all Prefects to meet me in the Staff Room."
Silence greeted Dumbledore's announcement and he started to sit down.
Malfoy got to his feet before Dumbledore was completely seated and asked. "Headmaster, where is Professor Snape?"
Dumbledore got back to his feet and told him. "I would prefer to discuss that at the meeting after dinner, Mr. Malfoy."
"We have the right to know where our Head of House is, sir." Malfoy disagreed, gesturing to the Slytherins around him who nodded their heads in agreement.
Seeing that Malfoy and the other Slytherins were not going to yield on this matter, Dumbledore sighed, "very well Mr. Malfoy. Professor Snape is unfortunately on his way to Azkaban. The tribunal found him guilty on all charges."
"On what charges?" Malfoy wanted to know.
"That is none of your concern, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore told him.
"Can you tell us how long he will be in Azkaban and when he will be coming back here to teach?" A third year Slytherin girl asked.
"Once Professor Snape has been released from Azkaban, I am afraid he will not be returning to Hogwarts." Dumbledore told the silently waiting students.
There were loud cheers from the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables at this news.
The Ravenclaws didn't look all that surprised by the news, given his teaching methods, but they were largely silent.
The Slytherins on the other hand looked positively murderous. They knew who was responsible for Snape's incarceration and some of them started planning what they were going to make Potter pay.
Draco Malfoy, however, was not going to wait to make Potter pay for his actions. If nothing was done to stop the arrogant Gryffindor, Draco was willing to bet he would continue to decimate Slytherin House of its best, like his father and godfather.
The Great Hall was still in an uproar as Draco moved cautiously down the far side of the Slytherin table, trying to avoid detection. Not that anyone would have noticed him, given the chaos and crowd of people trying to get to the end of the Gryffindor table, where Harry Potter was currently seated. It looked like quite a few of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were trying to congratulate the arrogant git, but from what he could see of the expression on Potter's face, he wanted nothing to do with any of them.
Draco reached the best vantage point just as Potter apparently decided he'd had enough because he got up and started pushing his way through the milling crowd of students.
Draco waited until he had a clear shot before raising his wand and firing off the curse.
A moment later there screams as students scattered out of the way of the curse that was heading toward Potter. Those who were closest to him noticed that Harry made no attempt to dodge the curse as they had done. Instead he raised his hand in a halting motion and the curse stopped just before it would have hit him. However instead of dispelling the curse with a finite as they expected, Potter seemed to be studying it, then he made a shooing gesture with his hand and the curse sped off back the way it came.
As it reached the far side of the room, near the Slytherin table, the watching students saw it swerve as if it were looking for someone or something. The Slytherins were scattering out of its way like the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had a few moments before as the spell sped down their table, so all anyone saw was a burst of yellow light as the curse found what it was looking for.
In the almost deafening silence that filled the Great Hall they heard a squeak and several students caught sight of a streak of white on the stone flagged floor that was headed toward the Great Hall doors.
"Not this time." Harry commented making a gesture with his hand.
The white ferret flew backwards and came to a halt in mid-air in front of Harry. It was trying to curl up into a ball as Harry studied it.
"I wonder which Slytherin you are." Harry murmured. "I also wonder if you were stupid enough to try and make the transfiguration permanent."
"It's Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret!" Ron shouted. "Remember fourth year, Harry."
This announcement earned Ron laughter from his fellow Gryffindors who remembered the incident where Moody or at least someone pretending to be Moody had turned Draco in to a white ferret. The laughter quickly stopped however when Harry gave Ron a death glare, that would have rivalled one of Snape's. Ron quickly vanished into the crowd of students as Professor McGonagall strode up to Harry, looking furious.
"Mr Potter!"
Harry spoke up before McGonagall could get started. "I believe you may want to take care of Mr. Malfoy, Professor. He seems to have had an accident with a spell he cast."
"Mr Potter, how could you be so foolish?" McGonagall glared at the young man. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. That curse could have hit anybody when you sent it back. Why didn't you simply dispel the curse once you stopped it from striking you? "
"It wouldn't have hit anybody." Harry countered. "I put a return to sender charm on it, so the only one who was going to hit with it would be the one who sent it in the first place."
"Nevertheless you endangered your fellow students." Professor McGonagall went on. "You should have just dispelled the curse, so no one was hurt."
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