“Not at all, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne.” The man said with an airy sort of undertone to his voice. He had been waiting for the boy to realize, and was equally keen to see his reaction. Satisfactory, as was his cleaning.

While he was quite aware of the Headmaster’s gaze, Fletcher kept his attention on the boy. “I think you’ve done a superb job. One you can do again, and again....and again until I decide I’ve had enough and would like to be somewhere else.” This was detention. It was punishment. Whatever punishment he decided. The Hufflepuff would scrub and waste his time and see his efforts amount to nothing until the Divination Professor got bored.

They had already established that the boy had learned his lesson, didn’t mean there wouldn’t still be punishment. Real punishment. Not this rag and dusting foolishness. Anyone could do that. No. Derfael would truly be wasting his time here tonight, incentive perhaps to not get detention again.

Surely the boy could think of several things he could be doing that didn’t involve repetitive cleaning that would meet no end goal.