The Interview
Nervous I was here, as a Muggle at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was welcomed by professor Dumbledore, who looked at me with twinkling eyes, amused as if he knew more than I about what was going to happen. He probably knew what was going to happen, he wasn�t the most powerful wizard, o�nly wizard where You Know Who afraid of was, for nothing. He let me into his office and I sat down in a comfy chair in front of his desk. Fawkis, the phoenix, was beautiful at the moment. I guess it�s my luck that helped me to see him like this. After some curious questions about the Muggle world (Including the in famous �what is the function of a rubber duck?�) and after offering me some jellybeans he gave me with a huge smile the password to his rooms. The rooms of the o�ne that in my eyes was the most fascinating wizard in Hogwarts. Not the �Boy Who Lived�, we all know his story. But what about that other wizard, the wizard who also had some bound with Volde--- �You Know Who� o�nly in another way?
Nervous I stood in front of his rooms. His rooms where in the Dungeons near his own classroom. As you can see I�m not talking about a student, I�m talking about the o�ne and o�nly Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House. Him, I was going to interview and I guess that also explains why I am so nervous. Who wouldn�t be if you were about to interview the not known as �most friendly, social and Muggle loving� teacher of Hogwarts? I was trying to find all my courage and I softly muttered the password to the painting of Salazar Slytherin, who looked at me with pure hate. I guess he doesn�t like Muggles either.
Slowly I entered the room. It didn�t look like I imagined it would look. I thought that his rooms would be like his dungeons assuming that they were there too. But the room I saw was different, almost friendly, although it seemed to fit in the atmosphere. In the middle of the room was standing a hug, shinny black piano. o�n the left I saw a fireplace and a dark-red leather couch and some chairs. The thing that really was hard to miss was the huge bookcase. I saw lots and lots of books, most with titles like �History of the Dark Arts�, �How to Defence against Dark Arts�, �Hogwarts; a History� and I even spotted a book written by the o�ne and o�nly Gilderoy Lockhart titled �Who am I?�. Suddenly I heard a sound behind me and I heard the famous, sarcastic voice of my victim.
"WHAT are you doing here!?!"
He sent me o�ne of his �die now in front of me� glances and a moment I wondered why I always seemed to end up in this kind of situations.
"I--- I am here to interview you�" It didn�t sound as convincing as I would like it to sound, but it was the best I could do at the moment.
"Who. Gave. You. My. Password!!!" he still looked deadly calm, but his eyes where firing.
At the same moment Dumbledore apperated. He immediately stepped between me and Snape, probably afraid that Snape would send o�ne of the Unforgivable Curses to me.
"Severus, I forgot to mention it," he says with a friendly voice, "but do you remember that project I mentioned a couple of days ago? About integrating Muggles into the wizarding world? Well, this is o�ne of the first things, Muggles writing for the Daily Prophet. And this girl," both turn to me, "has requested to interview you."
"Albus, it�s a Muggle!"
"Yes, Severus and wasn�t that the point of the project?"
A moment Snape o�nly stares, not able to bring out a word. Dumbledore turns to leave, but before he disappears again he turns to Snape with twinkling eyes. "And Severus?� I would appreciate it if you wouldn�t put a spell o�n her." And he�s gone.
Snape mutters something under his breath, which I cannot understand, but it doesn�t sound very friendly. Then he turns his glance to me.
"What�s your name, Muggle."
"What?" A moment I�m surprised that he talks to me and I take a mental note: never under-estimate Albus Dumbledore.
"Your name."
"Paulien Bosman."
"Alright, Miss Bosman, hurry with your questions. Bloody Potter is coming in about an hour for his detention."
Why ain�t I surprised that it�s Harry that has to come for detention. I glance at the questions that I have written down and then I ask the first o�ne.
"How is it to be Potions Master at Hogwarts?"
"How very original� Being a Potions Master here is terrible. I have to deal with nitwits like Longbottom, who seem to be able to make a disaster out of something as easy as a Sleeping Potion, all day. And then all those terrible Gryffindors, with their typical Gryffindor attitude. And the worst thing is; I have to deal with Potter (he says it as if it is the most ugly thing he has ever seen) and his terrible clan. That stupid Weasley and Know it all Granger."
"That doesn�t really sound like you love your job."
"Are you even paying attention to what I�m saying, you stupid girl? I said I didn�t like the students, I don�t even like teaching! But Potions� it�s too bad that the students here are to stupid to understand the beauty of Potions. You really need to have a feeling for it and when you finally got that� then you will see what a beautiful subject Potions is."
"You have been a student at Hogwarts too, isn�t it?"
"Yes."
"How where your student years here?"
A moment he was silent. "I guess you would love to know all kinds of juicy details, but all I say that it wasn�t that bad."
"I�ve got the feeling that you weren�t really loved."
"Why do you think that?" His eyes shine dangerously.
"Well, I�ve read that you always had fights with the Maraunders and the prank�"
"How do you know that, by Merlin�s beard!"
(A moment I think he�s going to ignore Dumbledore�s last remark and hex me)
"I�ve read the books�"
"BOOKS???"
"Yes, the Harry Potter books."
"Harry Potter books�" (A moment I understand completely why a lot of students are afraid to dead for this man) "I can�t believe that Harry Bloody Potter has got his own books�" (So he continues to mutter for a couple of minutes before, finally, he falls silent again) "What was your question again?"
"Your student live and the Maraunders�"
"Oh yes� being a student at Hogwarts is a good thing I guess, especially when you are sorted into the Slytherin House. It�s not as bad as the stories tell you, it�s quite the opposite to be more precise. Into Slytherin House there is some kind of bounding, some kind of brotherhood. We would always stand up for each other. My live here wasn�t that bad. I was kind of an outsider, although I could always count o�n the brotherhood. I love to read and that�s a thing which is not very common in Slytherin."
"What was your best subject?"
(A moment he looks at me as if I was You Know Who personally) "Potions of course! I was probably the best Potions student in years! Anyways, the persons that really ruined my student time where that stupid dog Black and Potter. Lupin and Pettigrew, what can I say� Although Lupin almost killed me he never did anything before and Pettigrew� Let�s say it like this: I thought that Potter had more brains than to trust him. It wasn�t really o�ne of the brightest ideas he ever had. He was at school already a weakling, a coward and it�s a miracle that he past his exams every year."
"Why this hate for Sirius and James?"
"� it already went wrong o�n the Hogwarts Express. I was sitting alone in my compartment reading o�ne of my favorite books and Black found it funny to grasp that book away from me and �accidentally� drop it� After that Black and Potter continued to pull pranks o�n me."
"And you did nothing back???"
"Well, once I turned Black�s hair green and it took more than 3 months before he figured out how to get his own colour back. (He snickers at the memory) And o�nce I put a spell o�n Potter so that his hands were glued o�n his �History of Quidditch� book� but that were the worst things I did�"
"And than �The Prank�?"
"Yes� of course I didn�t knew that Lupin was a werewolf. one day I �accidentally� overheard a conversation between Black and Potter and I followed them that night. I went pass the Whomping Willow and there I found werewolf Lupin� who immediately attacked me."
"What happened then?"
"Bloody Potter saved me� and Dumbledore didn�t even gave them detention for what they had done. I had to spend two days in the Hospital Wing."
"Is that why you became a Death Eater?"
"You know that too from those Potter books?" (I nod) "Lucky me that Slytherins almost never read." (he sighs) "Probably that�s o�ne of the reasons, but of course there were others too."
"Like?"
"You are for too curious for your own health Miss Bosman� let�s just say that I didn�t want to loose the feeling of having a family around me�"
A moment we are both silent and I can�t help to notice that the Potions Master isn�t that dangerous in a �normal� conversation. Maybe he really is o�nly that way in class, because he hates teaching and his students so much.
"Why did you came back?"
"I suddenly realised that this family wasn�t really a progress o�n the o�ne I had before� and that was illustrated by a thing that Lord Voldemort (I flinched by the mention of �his� name) did something I never forgave him� although he hopefully thinks I did."
"I don�t think I can ask what he did?"
"Brilliant observation."
"And then you started teaching here?"
"Yes, I came back to Hogwarts because I didn�t knew what else to do and Albus asked me to become the new Potions Master, because the other was just send to Azkaban. And I�"
On that moment we are interrupted by a soft knock o�n the door.
"That must be Mister Potter," he glances at his clock, �just in time� Get Inside!" A young boy, with messy black hair, round glasses and the famous scar enters the room. He stares at me as if I have two heads, but doesn�t dare to say a word.
"Well Potter ten points from Gryffindor for interupting my conversation�"
"But!"
"No buts Potter!" Then he turns to me and I see that he�s transformed again in his dangerous, sarcastic Potions Master self.
"Miss Bosman, would you be so kind to leave now. I will not want to see me having this conversation for the rest of my miserable live! I guess you�ve found out already way too many!"
I take the hint and after a �Good bye and Thank you� and an encouraging smile to Harry I leave the room. He was even more fascinating than I thought he would be. Although I must say; without the brilliant idea of Dumbledore of giving Snape the Veritaserum I would have been thrown out of his rooms as soon as Dumbledore left�
Moral: Never trust a wizard ;)
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AN: I allready have got a request for another interview, but this time with You Know Who... so maybe there comes a sequel (requests are taken...)
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