The End-of-Year Feast was held the next day.
After everyone came in, everyone in the Great Hall was talking loudly.
Ever since several teachers had learned of Douglas's suggestion concerning the Basilisk, Professor Snape had worn a cold expression whenever he saw Douglas. Of course, he had never really smiled before, either, but this time Douglas could clearly sense that Professor Snape was genuinely unhappy.
Still, Douglas was certain that Dumbledore had never told Snape his conjecture about how Harry had become a Parselmouth. Otherwise, Snape could not possibly have been mocking him so calmly now.
That was also what Douglas had never been able to understand. At one point, he had even wondered whether it was because he had performed too well at Occlumency.
Perhaps Dumbledore had taken an interest in him and intended to groom him into a second Snape, or to divide Snape's responsibilities in two, leaving Douglas to take on the responsibility of guiding Harry to the very end.
The system did contain some Magical Theory from other worlds on how to deal with possessing souls. However, for one thing, Harry was his student, and Douglas could not possibly conduct soul experiments on a student.
For another, Harry was only one of his students. Magic involving souls was dangerous in any world, and since the original story had already provided a very good solution, there was no need for Douglas to take the risk himself.
Snape, who was mocking Douglas for his generosity at someone else's expense, discovered that after he had gone on at length, the other man had actually let his mind wander. His anger flared at once.
Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived in the Great Hall just then. Snape gave a cold snort and turned away, no longer looking at Douglas. The other professors also