"Much worse like how?"

...He shakes his head.

"...I'm not gonna stop doing it if you don't tell me what exactly I should be afraid of, here, I haven't been able to think of anything not worth it."

"Really? Somebody's scared of something and scared to tell you what, and your response is 'okay, guess I'll just ignore you'?"

"What should it be instead? 'Okay I'll just stop doing the things I think are good ideas on someone else's ill-defined fears'?"

"Ill-defined?"

"I don't know what his fears are. Snape isn't going to kill or torture me, and if he tries it will be worse for him, Veritaserum is a thing that exists and if I'm missing time I left myself a note telling myself what to do, and I got an older Slytherin to enchant something else—anyway he won't do it, and then he'll give me detention and take points from me but meanwhile maybe other people will get the idea that, hey, the third most powerful member of faculty in this school shouldn't be bullying eleven-year-olds!"

"How confident are you that he couldn't dodge a truth potion if he really wanted to? How confident are you that he wouldn't guess you've got all those safeguards and go after Victor instead? He hasn't, but you don't know enough yet to be sure that makes you right as opposed to lucky."

"I meant a truth potion for myself not for him, and anyway yeah but he's a Professor at a school, these things don't happen, I may not be paranoid enough for the worst-case but I'm pretty sure I'm paranoid enough for school. The answer to a teacher bullying you isn't keeping your head down because he may murder you."

"Am I the only one who remembers the Headmaster telling us all that if we walk down the wrong hallway we're going to die horribly?" he asks rhetorically.

"You aren't," says Victor.

"Okay so what do you suggest?"

"Wait until you know more," says Victor. "Maybe there are rules about how teachers are allowed to behave. If you know the rules, then you can notice when someone breaks them and tell the - tell someone about it. I'm not sure if the Headmaster is the right person. Maybe Professor McGonagall."

"And supposing the rules allow them to do whatever?"

"Then you know it might be dangerous to try to do something about them."

He purses his lips. "A Gryffindor advising caution to a Slytherin. Fine, I'll figure more things out." Pause. "But a student should ask this of their Head of House, and mine's the problem—you could ask McGonagall?" he says hopefully.

He nods.

He nods, too.

"...but if the rules do allow it then I'm going to change them."

"Then at least you'll know that's what you need to do."

He sighs. "Fine, you're right."

"Thank you."

He rubs the back of his neck. "So, erm, I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

He looks at Muninn now. "That apology extended to you, as well, for what it's worth."