The plumes of down burst from Al's hand like a tiny flurry of snow, and Severus startled back, tossing his head with a swirl of black hair like a nervy horse. Even his nosewrinkled snort sounded distinctly equine. But the gesture just ensured that his hair netted the maximum amount of airborne down, and the remainder dusted itself over his bony shoulders.
He looked down at himself and heaved a grand and gusty sigh. The white specks thus disturbed danced in midair teasingly, before settling right back down on his robes again, as if attracted by the sheer contrast of all that stark black with their fluffy whiteness.
"Hmph!" he snorted again. "And after I went to the trouble of applying dandruff-alleviating potion."
It would have taken someone who knew him as well as Al did, to hear the smile in his voice, see the glint of humour lurking in the depths of dark eyes.