Childish Games

Annoyed to no end, I cursed the name Severus Snape because the greasy-haired bastard attempted to waste my precious time for childish reasons.

It was a random Wednesday morning. Nothing special was going on until I left the Potions classroom to spot two older Slytherin students standing at the end of the hallway, their faces twisted with malicious grins. The moment they caught sight of me, they fired a salvo of the pimple jinx Furnunculus at my face.

In response, I conjured a Protego that rebound the spells back at their caster, causing the faces of two Slytherins to break out with horrific boils and large pimples that oozed with sickly-yellow pus. It was absolutely disgusting.

Snape came running out of his office at the same moment, looking livid. He swiftly punished me with detention for harming fellow students. The entire class, made from Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffies, saw what actually happened and argued that I was only defending myself by using a surprisingly advanced shield charm.

Snape sneered at them in response, stating that I wasn't innocent because I shouldn't have 'maliciously' reflected the spells back to the attackers, the Slytherins. When the complaints became louder, he finally 'relented' and told the two older students that they had to serve detention along with me. We were ordered to serve it in the Potions classroom in the evening, cleaning cauldrons and whatnot.

I knew that something was off because the two Slytherins looked quite pleased despite their hideous facial disfiguration. In the end, they were sent to the infirmary while I was stomping my way out of the dungeons, plotting my revenge.

While aware of my high talent and unusual powerful level of magic, Paulina didn't know my full strength. It was only natural for her to worry about me.

"We should inform Lily," she suggested with a small hiss, upset about Snape's unfair punishment.

"Nah, it's alright, Paulina," I assured with a nonchalant shake of my head. "That whole scenario was most likely planned by the bunch. I don't know what they want to achieve yet, but I am pretty sure that it will be some childish attempt to 'humble' me through humiliation. But they won't achieve anything. Just lay back and watch me destroy them instead."

"Fine, but what do you plan to do?" Paulina inquired with a mix of worry and curiosity. She was already aware of the fact that I wouldn't act confident if I weren't absolutely sure of my victory.

"There is no plan. I adjust myself to whatever situation I am confronted with and exploit every weakness available," I replied with a predatory grin.

"Tamino?" Paulina whispered silently.

She was already aware of my magical flute and the effect its tune had on listeners. We also agreed to use the name of the flute Tamino when we are talking about it in order to make sure the secret stays a secret. It was my first attempt to see how Paulina handled a secret of mine and if I could trust her with more secrets in the future.

"Maybe, if the situation requires it," I chuckled in reply.

Whatever the snakes had in plan for me, they couldn't really harm me, but I could do so if they managed to piss me off. My guess was that they wanted to humiliate me in some way. I still remembered Dysnomia's not so subtle threats she made in the last we days, warning me that I would soon understand why people had to respect purebloods and Slytherin as their betters.

Anyways, Paulina and I traveled up into the Great Hall for lunch. My carefree attitude seemed to have calmed her down a bit, but just by a bit.

…

…

Detention started from 7:00 pm and would last two hours. Snape awaited me in the Potion's classroom that was used by the sixth and seventh years. The two older Slytherins were already present, displaying nasty grins while they mockingly watched me approach the professor's table.

"Move to your table and start cleaning cauldrons, Vegaz!" Snape growled with a nasal voice, his bushy monobrow forming an angry 'V' above his eyes.

I gave him a short nod in reply and turned around before walking over to a table with a pile of oily, slimy cauldrons waiting on top of it. The two older Slytherins boys were casually reading Quidditch magazines all the while, faking bored expressions in an attempt to mock me.

Not showing any reaction to that, I started cleaning the first cauldron with an old piece of rag that was soaked with some kind of magical cleaning solution.

In the meantime, I let my eyes roam the large potion classroom with curiosity since it was the room that was used by the older years. Well, the walls were basically shelves filled to the brim with all kinds of ingredients stored in large jars. Some dried-up plants were hanging from the ceiling and even the skeleton of some winged animal.

The room itself was dimply-lit, almost freezing-cold, and had an unpleasant sterile scent just like in a hospital lingering in the air. Snape's area was also the only one with enough illumination.

One corner of the room offered a large, dark pond into which an ugly gargoyle puked ice-cold water into. It was the so-called 'trashcan' of the classroom. Throwing stuff into it would simply make it disappear somewhere. Rumors say that the same goes for students.

Another corner had several large cupboards where I suspected Snape's old potions textbook to be hiding. My detention was a nice opportunity to claim it for myself and see if I could learn anything useful from it. Potions wasn't one of my main interests, but I liked to collect knowledge.

…

Ten minutes into the detention, and Snape suddenly stood up from his table. He gave each of us a sneer before marching towards the exit of the room.

Opening the door, he swirled around and growled. "There won't be any foolishness while I am gone." His dark, murky eyes moved over the two Slytherins before arriving on my humble self. "Do you understand, Vegaz?"

I nodded meekly, hiding a grin. "Yes, Sir!"

Dragging his billowing cloak behind him, Snape vanished out of the door before he shut it close hard. In response, I concentrated my senses and detected that Snape's magical aura was moving away from the area.

"You filthy Mudblood," snarled one of the older boys. An average-looking nobody with a brutish demeanor. He stood up from his table and pulled his wand out from the holster attached to his belt. The second boy mimicked the actions and both pointed their wands at me.

"We don't take kindly of your types around here," the second one growled.

The tips of their wand began to glow before two lightning-like beams of sickly-yellow light raced towards me. I casually dodged the spell and then grabbed one of the cauldrons next to me, throwing it at one of the boys.

"Ahhh!" Startled by the attack, my first victim screamed in pain when the piece of metal crashed against the hand that was holding his wand, breaking one of his fingers with an audible crack.

Another cauldron followed…

And another…

"Vegaz, stop!"

And another…

"P-Please, stop!"

And another…

"You bastard just broke my hand!"

And another few cauldrons until both boys were sobbing messes, begging me with tears in their eyes to make the pain stop. Scoffing at them, I pulled my wand from my holster and levitated the cauldrons back on my table.

I cast two stunners at the two idiots and walked over to where I suspected Snape's old potion book was hiding. It was on an old wooden cupboard filled with old books and second-hand tools. Searching around for a bit, my face split with a grin when I found what I was looking for.

Swiftly stuffing the copy of Advanced Potion-Making into my mokeskin pouch, I moved over to the two Slytherins idiots to cast a Rennervate on their bodies, waking them up from their small slumber.

"Why did you two apes attack me?" I asked them with glowing eyes, utilizing my mind-mending ability at full capacity. Their vision blurred for a moment with a look of confusion.

"To teach you a lesson," the brutish-looking boy replied with a groan of pain.

"Yeah, we were paid to break some of your fingers," the second boy admitted weakly before sucking at his broken finger.

"Oh, and who did pay you?" I pressed curiously, infusing my voice with the Confundus Charm for good measure. "You two will tell me everything you know."

"It was Dysnomia Travers' mother," the brutish one blabbered between his sobs. "We meet with Lady Travers a week ago in Hogsmeade. She paid us and a few others to cause trouble for you and your girlfriend. But today was Snape's idea. He and Lady Traves met during the last weekend in his office."

Hearing that they targeted Paulina, I really wanted to permanently maim them beyond any hope of recovery. However, I forced myself to calm and exhaled a small breath of scorching-hot fire, scarring the two boys out of their minds.

"Listen well, you degenerate pieces of shit," I hissed sharply. My magical power seeped through my skin, causing the two boys to tremble in fear. "If I ever hear that you two or anyone of your ilk harm Paulina in any way, I will make your future days of your pathetic exitance so excruciatingly painful that you two will begin to see life in hell as a paradise in comparison."

After getting all the names of the involved from the two idiots, I cast several basic healing charms on their bodies to get rid of the visible injuries. Next, I threatened them into silence and that they would visit the infirmary the next morning and claim that they slipped down the stairs.

Of course, just threatening them wasn't enough, so I utilized the mind-bending ability that I got from Azazel's skillset at the highest level possible. The weaker the mind, the better the effects, and it was a more permanent kind of manipulation if needed. The Confundus Charm was nice and all that, but its effect didn't last very long.

With all that done, I returned to my table and began to casually clean up cauldrons again. The Slytherin boys were in the meantime doing their best to ignore me, silently enduring the pain that the numbing charms couldn't suppress.

…

Snape eventually returned shortly before my detention was about to end. To my surprise, he was in the company of a fuming Lily and a furious Flitwick. The greasy-haired dungeon bat looked visibly confused to find me in a healthy and unharmed condition, standing next to a pyramid made of perfectly cleaned cauldrons. The damage done during the one-sided battle was also taken care of with a few useful household charms, and what couldn't be repaired with magic ended up in the pond-of-no-return.

Two Slytherin boys said and did nothing when the infuriated gaze of their Head of House landed on them. Their spiritless gaze sank to the ground while their mouths remained sealed.

"Mister Vegaz, the next time you receive a detention from Professor Snape, you will come and report that to me, am I clear?" Flitwick demanded. His usual cheerfulness was completely gone as he turned to narrow his eyes at the unwashed Potions Professor.

Snape looked beyond furious when he heard Flitwick's words, gritting his teeth while keeping his thoughts for himself. At the same time, he shamelessly snacked a few quick glances at Lily's ample chest, unconsciously licking his lips once or twice. The woman in question shuddered in disgust when she noticed that.

"Yes, I will keep that in mind," I replied smoothly, allowing a smile on my lips when I saw Flitwick rudely pushing Snape out of the way.

"Very well, Mister Vegaz, since your detention is over, you will follow me and Professor Potter to my office," Flitwick announced firmly, establishing his dominance by cheekily pushing Snape further away from the door so I could easily pass through it.

"Johnny, is everything alright?" Lily questioned as she stepped beside me, giving my back a few gentle rubs.

"Yeah, just a little bit bored," I replied nonchalantly. "Cleaning cauldrons isn't funny business, and the two lazy Slytherins didn't help me at all. Stupid brats."

Hearing an angry hissing sound and rushed footsteps, I turned around to see said boys race out of the potions classroom. Flitwick appeared moments later and waved his little hand at the classroom's door, slamming it shut with a loud bang. The sound of a hateful roar of rage erupted from behind the wooden door.

"I hope Professor Snape isn't too upset," I said with a small grin, luring an amused chuckle from Lily's lips.

Not many words were shared while the professors and I ascended the Ravenclaw Tower into Flitwick's office. Arriving there, I made myself comfortable on the armchair I was offered with Lily taking a seat beside me. The Head of House Ravenclaw hopped on his own seat before summoning a house-elf to serve us with some tea.

"Mister Vegaz, I know that I have said it already, but I will mention it again. If Professor Snape punishes you with detention, I want you to immediately report that to me from now on," Flitwick explained with an air of seriousness. "You are one of my best, and I won't tolerate any funny business from Professor Snape against you. If he acts out of bounds, you will tell me."

"I will do that," I replied with a nod. "Thank you, Professor."

"Johnny, do you know why you received a detention?" Lily inquired curiously. "The true reason, not that silly spectacle Paulina told me about."

Nodding again, I decided to see how they would react to the truth. "Dysnomia Travers and her mother think that breaking my fingers will allow me to learn my place in society. They paid some older students to do the dirty job, and Professor Snape seems to be part of the plan, too. Today's plot was his idea."

Flitwick and Lily's eyes opened in shock before narrowing down in anger. I didn't need to be a Legilimens to know what they were thinking. Telling them the truth would also allow me to see if they were true allies or not.

"Well, I can handle idiots like that," I continued with a low growl. "But they also target Paulina because they think she is my official girlfriend. And If they harm her in any way, I can promise that I won't let it go without severe retribution."

"It's so typical for Severus to do lower himself to such a level of despicable," Lily cursed with a sigh of frustration. "Filius, can we do something?"

"My hands are tied, Lily. Dumbledore doesn't tolerate any kind of open conflict amongst his staff," Flitwick muttered with a shake of his head. "Our best strategy is to stay alert," he said before turning his attention to me.

"Mister Vegaz, I know that you are above your years and that you can defend yourself against most students," Flitwick said with a proud smirk. "But Miss Barbossa is not, and it will be your duty to help her learn how to defend herself. I am confident that you can do that, Mister Vegaz."

"It will be my priority from this day forth," I replied with a determined gaze. "But… ehm, can Paulina and I visit the restricted Section to find ourselves a few books that might be helpful for our situation?"

Mimicking my grin, Flitwick nodded in reply. "Professor Potter will assist you with that, Mister Vegaz."

I turned to Lily to see her smiling softly, shooting me a playful wink.

In the following moments, the professors and I chatted about more joyful matters. Flitwick wanted to know how far I am with my studies and jested if I learned any new spells already. He was quite amazed when I introduced him to my 'Thermo Vision' spell, Visignis.

Both Flitwick and Lily offered their desire to learn it from me and vowed that they wouldn't share my creation without my explicit permission. And since I started to see them as my allies anyway, I accepted and spent the rest of the evening until almost curfew teaching them how to properly cast the spell.

Sharing my spell with Flitwick would also make him more likely to agree when the time came to ask him after the Fidelius Charm. He was one of the best Charms Master in Europe, if not in the world, and making him feel indebted to me was always a good thing. Magical folk took stuff like debts a lot more seriously. It was a small community, and oathbreaches, untrustworthy, and selfish individuals would often find themselves ostracised from the community. Basically, a man's word is his worth.

Leaving Flitwick's office, I used the Marauder's Map to see that Paulina was already in her room. She needed to know about the plot the Slytherin's planned, and I had to make sure she was prepared for whatever they might try in the future.

And that meant…

...brutal training in the Room of Requirement!