After breakfast, it was as though a nonexistent bell had rung.
Everyone crowded out of the Great Hall at once, hurrying out of the Castle. There was little entertainment in Hogwarts Castle, and apart from wizard's chess, Quidditch drew the most excitement. Naturally, no one wanted to end up with a poor view of the match they had waited so long for.
The clever ones had already taken their breakfasts to the pitch to claim seats.
Su Er naturally followed the crowd out of the Great Hall, but he turned in the Entrance Hall and slipped away under cover of the noise and the throng.
He made his way onto the marble staircase without incident, skipped a step that suddenly vanished, and reached the Castle's Second Floor.
The noise of chatter and laughter gradually receded, and quiet returned to the Castle.
Only Su Er's light footsteps echoed along the second-floor corridor.
Before long, in the corridor where the Library stood, he spotted a figure in loose black wizard robes quietly waiting for him.
Torches burned year-round in the Castle's corridors. Their flames stirred in the breeze passing through the passage, casting the dark figure's shadow onto the smooth flagstones.
It looked like a great bat baring its fangs and spreading its claws.
"Professor Snape." Su Er stopped beside the figure.
As unsmiling as ever, Snape watched Su Er with a cold, stiff expression, his hair as greasy as always and his gaze as icy as a venomous snake's.
No wonder most young wizards were afraid to be alone with Snape. No one could enjoy being looked at as though they were a corpse.
If he had not been fortunate enough to glimpse other emotions in Professor Snape on a few brief occasions,
he would not have been able to stand