Snape assigned the sixth-years a three-foot-long essay on the effects of armadillo bile in the Wit-Sharpening Potion, due on the very same day as the Celestial Ball. "Everyone" groaned in complaint.
The first-, second-, third-, and fourth-years were not attending the Celestial Ball anyway. The seventh-years were busy with employment and internships, while the fifth-years were occupied preparing for their OWLs and career counseling, which concerned how many certificates they would earn in their OWLs.
Having only just become Head of House, Snape did not know he was supposed to conduct career counseling. As the "youngest" professor and Head of House in Hogwarts history, he had not realized it until Pomona reminded him.
This made him furious. He had undergone career counseling himself in his fifth year, but it had soon been replaced by the grand ideal of following the Dark Lord.
He was in a bad mood, so no one else was allowed to have a good time either. If anyone failed to hand in their homework on time... well, it was not much of an issue. Because of their career paths, not everyone needed a certificate in the Potions N.E.W.T.s, nor would everyone continue taking Potions after sixth year, so only a small number of people were affected.
What truly made everyone hate him was that he and Filch caught students breaking school rules. The trophies in the Trophy Room had already been polished to a brilliant shine by the students; there was simply no need to keep polishing them.
Following a tributary of the Piyu River and passing around the mines, there was a village called Aindale somewhere near the marshlands. Its original founders had been Goblins mining in the surrounding area, but once the veins ran dry, the original residents left and were replaced by wizards