Snape's cheek muscles twitched slightly.
He could hear the Old Bee's undisguised gloating in every word!
Trust? Benefit? He was clearly just enjoying Snape's misery!
"If this intensity continues, it will affect the quality of teaching and may even cause... teaching accidents."
Snape forced the words through clenched teeth.
"I believe that with your abilities, you can handle the balance perfectly well, Severus."
Dumbledore blinked, his tone infuriatingly light.
"After all, you are one of our most talented professors. Oh, Honeydukes has released a new Cockroach Cluster. I hear the texture is especially layered. Would you like to try some?"
Snape was so furious his nose nearly twisted out of shape.
He stiffly declined the "kind offer" of Cockroach Clusters, yanked open the door, and strode out. The door slammed shut behind him with a dull thud.
There was no hope of getting anyone else to share the burden.
Dumbledore was clearly enjoying the sight of him at his wits' end!
Back in the cold dungeon, Snape paced around his office like a trapped beast.
He could not abandon Potions Class. It was his foundation and his duty.
Defense Against the Dark Arts...
The position he had dreamed of for so long now felt like a tightening curse.
Snape's gloomy gaze swept toward an inconspicuous locked box in the corner of the bookshelf.
Inside were several mature Mandrakes he had acquired early through certain channels best left unmentioned—the most crucial and hardest-to-obtain ingredient for brewing Revival Potion.
He had originally had other plans for them. Or rather, he had merely been in the habit of stockpiling scarce resources.
An absurd thought, unusually clear amidst his thoughts on the verge of collapse, suddenly seized him.
What if... he made the source of all this trouble wake up sooner?
The thought left