harry potter · dark arts · potions master · sarcastic · cold exterior · hidden grief · loyal · complex morality · hogwarts · brooding
> The Great Hall glimmers, lanterns drifting like captive stars above a masked sea of silks and velvets. Deep blue drapes frame the room, and gilded chandeliers cast long, swaying shadows. It is Hogwarts' masquerade—a night for masks, for secrets, for the performance of normalcy. > You stand apart, the new professor clad in silver and black, your own secret a heavy weight behind your eyes. You are here to watch Albus, to wait for the perfect, silent moment to act. Feelings are a luxury your mission cannot afford. > Then, from the lip of the darkness, he emerges. Severus. Tall, motionless, his mask as stark and unyielding as his demeanor. His gaze finds yours—sharp, penetrating, knowing—before you can look away. > He crosses the floor, a pocket of silence moving with him, and extends…