"Another ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape announced sternly. He snatched the magazine from Harry's table and flicked through it, his cold gaze sweeping over Rita Skeeter's article. "How dare you read a magazine so brazenly in my class!"
The underground Potions Classroom instantly filled with the Slytherin students' gleeful laughter. Snape's thin lips curled into a particularly grating sneer.
Harry seethed, but he could only watch as Snape, far from stopping, went a step further and began reading the article aloud. Every word was like a sharp blade, carving deep into Harry's heart.
Harry's cheeks burned as though they could set the air around him alight. After every sentence, Snape deliberately paused to give the Slytherin students time to laugh.
"Strange. Rita Skeeter seems to have quite a 'soft spot' for you!" Snape's words dripped with mockery as he rolled the magazine into a tube, each movement accompanied by ever louder howls of laughter from the Slytherins. "I don't care about your messy affairs, but if you dare sneak into my office and steal my ingredients again..."
"I never did!" Harry protested indignantly, his voice trembling slightly with anger.
"Are you claiming you didn't steal the gillyweed you used in the tournament from me?" Snape lowered his voice, forcing each word through gritted teeth. "And the African Tree Snake skin!"
African Tree Snake skin? Harry suddenly remembered that Hermione had needed it to brew Polyjuice Potion for them in their second year. They had been struggling to find the ingredients, only for everything to turn up in their dormitory shortly afterward. Now it all made sense. Harry realized that Dobby must have stolen those too.
"If you dare sneak into my office in the dead of night again, Potter..." Snape's voice was low and dangerous. He slowly reached into his