Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before the Quidditch match began that afternoon, Snape approached Madam Hootch, citing the health and well-being of his house's players as the reason for postponing the match.
Madam Hootch seemed to know about what had happened at noon and readily agreed, preparing to have Ravenclaw replace Slytherin.
"Madam Hootch, I don't think Gryffindor is suitable to play today either,"
Snape said, glancing towards the Gryffindor team. "I have some things I need to ask those two Weasleys."
"Can't you wait until the match is over?" Madam Hootch frowned.
If both teams were to be replaced, the match would be completely disrupted, and rescheduling would be very troublesome.
Snape drawled, "It's urgent, Madam Hodge."
"Well… alright." Although reluctant, Snape was, after all, a full professor of the school and the head of the house, and had the right to intervene in Quidditch matches.
Madam Hootch could only agree.
However, she still spoke up, "Headmaster Snape, I hope this won't happen again. Rearranging the match is a real hassle."
"Believe me, I don't want this to happen either, but I just don't know what they're thinking..."
Snape turned and went to Gryffindor, taking Fred and George away without a word.
Charlie tried to stop him, but was penalized ten points as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Disrespecting a professor, Weasley, Gryffindor loses ten points." Snape said coldly, "If you don't move aside, I'll deduct twenty points next time."
Charlie's face turned red with anger. He clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on his arms, then took a deep breath and... moved to the side.
"Take care, Professor Snape."
Snape's hand holding his wand relaxed slightly, and after a cold snort, he left the Quidditch pitch with Fred and George.
But no sooner had he left than Charlie stormed towards Professor McGonagall's office, cursing.
Slytherins had no sportsmanship, not only framing them but also calling for backup—how tasteless!
"So what if he's a big shot? Everyone has one. Gryffindor's big shot is the Deputy Headmistress... in terms of official rank, he's much higher than Snape."
Meanwhile, back at the castle, Snape led Fred and George to the Potions Office.
The twins, far from being nervous, actually looked around the office with interest.
It was quite ordinary.
Not only was it cramped, but the desks and chairs were old-fashioned, and the floorboards creaked underfoot.
If you ignored the potion ingredients, they might even think they'd wandered into a secondhand furniture store.
It was far inferior to Professor McGonagall's.
"Professor Snape, what can I do for you?" Fred asked first.
Snape said slowly, "What about that package you received this morning?"
"We don't know, Professor," George said calmly, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and placing it on the table beside him.
"It wasn't signed; we thought the owl had delivered it to the wrong address."
"Yes," Fred nodded. "We searched for a long time but couldn't find the owner. 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 intentionally or not, George emphasized the word "stole" and paused.
But Snape seemed not to hear, continuing, "So, you didn't buy that package? Don't try to fool me. I know it came from Zoko; I'll go to Hogsmeade to inquire later."
"Of course, that's your prerogative, Professor," Fred said, his expression unchanged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"But if you know who stole that package, please tell us. After all, it was lost in our hands, and we won't be able to explain it to the owner."
Snape's eye twitched, and he pretended not to hear again.
"Weasley, you…"
"Bang bang bang~"
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Professor McGonagall walked in.
"Severus, I heard you took Fred and George away." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her expression serious. "Did they do something wrong?"
"We didn't, Professor McGonagall," Fred quickly protested.
George followed up, "Professor Snape called us to inquire about that package."
Professor McGonagall thought for a moment and said, "The one you told me about before, the unsigned package?"
"Yes, that's it," Fred said. "But it's missing, and we suspect someone might have stolen it."
"Stole? At Hogwarts?" Professor McGonagall's lips tightened. "If I find out who it was, I'll deduct a hundred points from them, no, two hundred."
"Ahem..." At this moment, Snape suddenly coughed twice and said, "Actually, it belongs to one of our Slytherin students. He saw it and took it."
Professor McGonagall was slightly taken aback. "From your house?"
"Yes, from our house." Snape's face turned a little pale, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "I called Weasley this time because I wanted to confirm the situation with them."
"I see..."
Professor McGonagall's expression softened considerably, but she gave Snape a somewhat displeased look. "This could have been discussed on the pitch. Why interrupt the game?"
Snape didn't speak, but inwardly cursed Rosier as an idiot.
Afterwards, Professor McGonagall returned home, taking Fred and George with her.
Snape didn't stop her.
Actually, he had never suspected the two Weasleys from the beginning. Their styles were too different.
He had only called them over to try and extract some information, and to casually deduct a few points to ease his mood.
He hadn't expected Professor McGonagall to arrive so quickly, and the two seemed prepared, directly labeling the incident as "theft" in front of Professor McGonagall.
He couldn't even find fault with it.
Because it was the truth; if the Slytherins hadn't stolen the package, none of this would have happened.
"That idiot Rosier, he's practically a troll's relative!" Snape cursed inwardly again.
However, after what had just happened, he was even more certain that the Weasleys had nothing to do with this, or at least they weren't the masterminds.
The Weasleys weren't that clever.
Snape stood there lost in thought for a moment. For some reason, a seemingly honest and loyal (crossed out) yet cunning and hypocritical face suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Kyle Chopper..." Snape murmured to himself.
Although by all accounts Kyle had absolutely no connection to this matter, not even a shred of it, Snape's intuition told him that Kyle was definitely not innocent.
Yes, it was just intuition, and had nothing to do with him corrupting Kanna.
[End of the chapter]