Snape, the Wasteful Fool

By the time Silvan left the castle, it was already dark. As he hurried toward the Forbidden Forest, he spotted Hagrid standing in the distance, flailing his arms toward the forest.

"Get away, you nasty thing! Go on, get away!"

It seemed he was chasing off some kind of creature.

"Hagrid." Silvan went over to greet him.

"Silvan?" Hagrid turned around, looking surprised. "You shouldn't be leaving the castle this late. Hurry back."

"I came here specifically to find you," Silvan said.

"Find me?"

"Professor Snape wants you to stop by his office," Silvan said. "Are you free now?"

"Oh, of course. I've been waiting a good while," Hagrid said. He didn't look surprised at all, as if he'd known he'd have to make the trip.

"Wait here a moment. We'll go back together." Hagrid left Silvan with those instructions and went inside to put on his mole-skin coat.

"I thought Professor Snape would send that old blubberhead Filch to fetch me. What brings you here?" His voice came from inside the hut.

"I happened to be in his office, I guess," Silvan said. "What were you doing just now?"

"Chasing off a cat." Hagrid came out and took the lantern from beside the door. "We ran into it in the Forbidden Forest. Fang only barked at it, and it scratched him. Then the beast chased us out and nearly bit Fang's ear off."

As if it knew Hagrid was about to leave, a string of hurried whines and scratching sounds suddenly came from inside the hut.

Through the crack in the door, Silvan could just make out a large black dog. It looked like a big Newfoundland, or perhaps a Neapolitan Mastiff. It was hard to tell through the narrow gap.

"Don't let its fierce looks fool you. It's a coward... Calm down, Fang, calm down. I'll be right back." Hagrid soothed him for a while before finally managing to shut the door.

He checked it carefully, making sure there were no gaps before going down the stone steps and returning to the castle with Silvan.

Silvan looked a little strange, his gaze wandering as he did his best to avoid Hagrid's eyes.

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his pet, Tom, in quite a while. And that familiar, vindictive streak... Could it really have been Tom who'd scared Fang so badly he wouldn't go outside? No, it definitely wasn't Tom.

Silvan shook his head.

No matter how timid Fang was, he was still a big dog. Tom wasn't even as tall as one of Fang's legs when he stood upright. How could he have scared him into staying indoors?

Impossible. The creature that chased Fang must have been a Kneazle living in the Forbidden Forest.

Feeling a little guilty, Silvan saw that Hagrid was still muttering about the culprit who'd bullied Fang, so he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Hagrid, what does Professor Snape want you for? Does it have to be this late? Couldn't it wait until tomorrow morning?"

"That nasty cat... Oh, Professor Snape said the same thing, but I thought a student might see me in the morning. This time of night is just right," Hagrid blurted out.

But Silvan's interruption made Hagrid lose interest in the cat. He absently opened his mole-skin coat and held it up for a look.

"That bone's too long. I can't cover it completely. It'd be a shame to break it."

Hearing Hagrid mutter to himself, Silvan furrowed his brow and fell into thought.

A bone?

Was he talking about the one behind the desk?

But why would there be a bone in Snape's office? And what about that club behind the door...

At that thought, Silvan stopped walking. He felt he'd figured it out.

It was the Troll Quirrell had let into the castle on Halloween, the one Silvan had later locked up where Fluffy was!

The foolish Troll had come face-to-face with an enraged, injured three-headed dog. Its fate was obvious: it had probably become a snack.

But what about the rest of the Troll's body? Fantastic Beasts like that were worth quite a lot. The school couldn't have simply thrown it away, and they were hardly likely to return it to Quirrell.

The answer was obvious... Snape had taken it.

Thinking carefully, Silvan realized that all those odd Potions ingredients in Snape's office seemed to have come from the Troll.

As for Troll bones, they were so hard that they were difficult to cut or grind, and they weren't much use in Potions. So they'd been handed over to Hagrid to deal with.

Silvan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

If that was the case, everything made sense... Why Snape's office had a Troll Club, and why Hagrid had to go there at night.

Carrying a bundle of bones around in broad daylight would be rather alarming. It wouldn't look good if students saw him.

Silvan immediately looked up. "Hagrid..."

"What is it?" Hagrid asked.

"N-nothing." Silvan was quiet for a moment, then shook his head. "I was just saying we're here."

They had already climbed the stone steps and entered the castle.

"Then hurry back to your dormitory," Hagrid said, not thinking much of it. He went down the stairs toward the Dungeon Classroom.

But Silvan didn't return to his dormitory. He stayed where he was.

November nights were still cold. Even the candles burning on the walls on either side of the Entrance Hall seemed to have lost their warmth.

Silvan ran into Filch, too. Filch was furious to see a young wizard wandering the castle at night, but curfew hadn't started yet, so there was nothing he could do. He could only glare at Silvan from nearby.

Silvan suddenly missed Tom a little. Who knew where that lawless cat had gone off to this time? Next time, he'd have to make him spend some quality time with Mrs Norris.

They stood off against each other for several minutes before Hagrid finally came back up the stairs.

He had a huge sack slung over his back, the big club in one hand, and something else in the other. It was covered by a large bedsheet, so Silvan couldn't tell what it was.

"Silvan, why are you still here?" Hagrid came over and noticed Filch in the corner.

Hagrid had no patience for him.

"Get out of here. Silvan hasn't broken any school rules." His tone was anything but polite, as if he were shooing away a pest.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you," Filch snapped before leaving with a string of curses.

"Don't worry. That old blubberhead can't do anything to you," Hagrid said.

Silvan waved a hand, unconcerned. His eyes stayed fixed on Hagrid's hands.

"Hagrid, is that Troll bone you're carrying?"

"Right..." Hagrid started to say, then immediately clamped his mouth shut.

"How do you know... No, I mean, it's none of your business. Hurry back to your dormitory."

Silvan wasn't about to leave, of course. He hadn't waited here just to hear Hagrid complain about Filch.

"Where are you taking them?"

"I can't tell you... Fine, I have to dispose of them. Don't ask again." Hagrid set his face and headed for the castle exit.

As he turned, the wind blew the bedsheet aside, revealing a stretch of stark white bone beneath it.

Judging by the length of the sheet, the bone was about five feet long. In the moonlight, it looked like a thick python.

At that moment, Silvan's eyes lit up, shining like a pair of searchlights in the dark night. The corner of his mouth seemed to be drooling, too.

What a treasure! What a treasure!

Snape, you wasteful fool, you cauldron-stirring idiot! You were going to throw away something this precious?

Slurp...