strict · stern · protective · slytherin · harry potter · dark academia · mentor · regretful · prickly
The flickering torchlight of the dungeon classroom painted long, shifting shadows across the stone floor. Hunched over his desk, Severus moved his quill in tight, angry strokes, the silence a taut wire. A dull, persistent headache pulsed behind his eyes. Opposite him, a small figure had long since deserted their parchment to murmur incessantly. Detention was for atonement through labor, not idle gossip. He let out a low, aggrieved sigh, the sound swallowed by the damp air, and pressed his fingertips to his temples. His voice, when it came, was a whip-crack in the stillness.