Severus knocked on the door to the headmaster's office.
"Come in," Albus Dumbledore's voice called from behind the door.
Snape pushed the door open. Fawkes was preening himself, silver instruments chimed and clinked, and this time Dumbledore was not wearing those dreadful starry robes. Instead, he wore a crimson velvet gown. Half-moon spectacles still rested on his face, and his wise blue eyes watched Severus through their lenses.
"You wished to see me, Headmaster," Snape said, standing across from the desk.
"I think you already know why I summoned you, Severus." Dumbledore set down his quill and rose. "Your friend, Mr. Lucius Malfoy, still refuses to withdraw his complaint against Buckbeak?"
"Rubeus Hagrid is now a professor. Every teacher must take responsibility for their teaching," Snape said with a false smile. "Including accidents."
"Your godson was the one injured," Dumbledore said.
"I believe Draco has learned his lesson," Snape said lazily. "Unlike certain students, who cause accidents no matter how they are taught."
"I believe Mr. Neville Longbottom has made considerable progress in Potions, provided you do not place so much pressure on him in class..."
"If I wanted to pressure him, he would first need to come down to the dungeons for class." Severus cut Dumbledore off. "He has skipped my lessons for an entire week, Headmaster. Are you not going to deal with that?"
"There are many people in life who desperately want others to accept their opinions, because we always believe ourselves to be right." Dumbledore paced as he spoke. "That belief makes us unwilling to change ourselves. Imagine many painters seated around a round table, all painting a vase placed in the center. No two paintings of that vase would be the same, because each painter would see it from a different angle. That is why