"You astonish me," drily remarks the man who has babysat Draco not only while his parents were out but also while each of them took over two hours to get ready. "Staffrooms always are; classrooms aren't. I stayed because I was supposed to stay and because someone needed to look after the dungeons. And because I like to see my subject done right, and if you want a thing done right , you do it yourself."
"No, we're talking about sleeping potions and potions to encourage a natural rhythm of sleep," he explains, "and charms against nightmares. If you like him in an excited way, you probably should read someone else. But it's all right to listen to an author you like, so long as it will be lulling." Severus sometimes wonders if Voldemort had gotten his sense of wounded entitlement from Dickens.
"No doubt. A potion that worked perfectly would stop a were from transforming; no one has gotten anywhere near that far yet. All we can offer thus far is a less painful and more mastered transformation, with an easier recovery period. I don't know why he would have said no to that." He scowls. "Yes, he did. And little if any work on a vaccine or an approach to a cure or treatment."
Severus snorts, and idly uses the darts to spell out I F W A N D S U B T L E on the board as he nods to and measures up the two new men.