Birds of a Feather
Chapter 15: Pomona's Plan
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
"I've tried every charm I know, and everything I could find in the library, and the Hat is still spouting gibberish," Filius told them.
"That's what I was afraid of," Minerva said. "We need to make an alternate plan before the students arrive."
"Well, I've been thinking about it, and I've got some ideas," Pomona announced. "This may be for the best. After all, the parents will be upset if we abandon the sorting tradition, and now most of them will also be upset if their children are sorted into Slytherin. However, if the Hat can't sort, that gives us the excuse we need to make some major changes around here."
"Shytherins are not evil," the portrait of Phineas Black shouted. "If Minerva had just stopped to think before she kicked them all out …"
"We know that," Filius said, "but Minerva can't change what she did in the heat of the moment. She made a public apology, but I'm afraid that the stigma will last for a generation or two at least."
"Gryffindors never stop to think! That's the whole problem. They always act rashly. Now if the Ministry still had some of those time-turners …"
"But they don't, Phineas," the portrait of Albus Dumbledore said firmly, "so really, we will just have to accept the fact that …"
"Please, gentlemen," Minerva interrupted them. The last thing they needed was another portrait shouting match. They might have to put the blasted things out in the hall again. "Please settle down. We would like to listen to Pomona's ideas now."
~~~~~
Under other circumstances, Severus might have laughed out loud to see Potter and Weasley standing in front of him, dressed as Auror trainees and levitating a pair of sleeping orangutans. He had certainly never seen such looks of deep concentration on their young faces in any class. However, the fear that they might recognize him despite his disguise blinded him to the humor of the scene.
Stay calm, he thought to himself. Appear disinterested, and don't make eye contact. He had fooled the Dark Lord for many years, so he could certainly fool these two young twits. They made him nervous, though, and he cursed cruel Fate for casting them into his path once again. He also cursed the Dark Lord, Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Aurors, Death Eaters, the whole of wizarding Britain …
Kat stepped forward and took Potter's orang, so Severus stepped forward and took Ron's. They floated the creatures out of the barn and apparated back to the boat with them. So far, so good, Severus thought as he renewed the sleeping spell on the two creatures.
~~~~~
"That panda cub looks pretty heavy," Ron said. "It will probably take both of us to levitate him out of that cage."
"Did you notice anything about that guy?" Harry asked.
"What guy?" asked Ron.
"The one with the long hair who took the orang."
"They both had long hair and took orangs," Ron observed.
"The one with the longer hair and the black turtleneck sweater."
"No. Why?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. He just seems familiar, somehow. Take a closer look when we give them the cub."
~~~~~
"Don't worry, I'll watch 'em," Seabiscuit said just before Severus and Kat apparated off the deck. He conjured a deckchair beside the sleeping orangs and unrolled a copy of The Daily Prophet. He'd taken out a subscription after he figured out the connection between 'Slade' and Professor Snape.
He scanned it for more Snape stories. Some dame named Rita Skeeter was starting to write a book about Snape, and another one named Celestina Warbeck was planning an opera. She couldn't decide whether to call it "Severus and Lily", "The Prince's Tale", or "Lilly Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", but she promised that it would be a tragedy of epic proportions and there wouldn't be a dry eye in wizarding Britain after the final scene.
"I hope Slade never finds out about that," Biscuit mused.
Fawkes perched on the railing beside Biscuit and started looking at the pictures.
Lucius and Draco Malfoy looked relieved as they walked out of the Ministry. They had been pardoned for being Death Eaters. The Wizengamot agreed that they had been forced into it, although The Prophet speculated that some hefty bribes to key individuals might have helped them reach that decision.
Argus Filch scowled from a Wanted poster. He was wanted for aiding the Carrows and abusing students, but he and Mrs Norris were nowhere to be found.
A note about The Hogs Head being fined for health violations again was accompanied by a photo of Aberforth feeding his goats.
Hogwarts was advertising for instructors in Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and The Prophet speculated that the latter position was probably still cursed.
In other words, it looked like things were slowly getting back to normal in wizarding Britain.
~~~~~
"You're nuts," said Ron. "He's nothing like Snape. His hair isn't black and greasy, and his nose way too small."
"Those things can be fixed," Harry said. "He's the same build as Snape, and he moves like Snape."
"And Snape's dead, remember? We watched him die. I know it bugs you, but you've done everything you can. You cleared his name and got him that medal. He's even got a chocolate frog card now, too. Come on, let's go get those wyverns.
The wyverns were young, so they were only about the size of full-grown crocodiles. Each one had two stout legs, a pair of leathery wings, a set of sharp teeth and claws, and a long, barbed tail. They snoozed quietly under a strong sleeping spell.
"Ugly brutes, aren't they?" Ron said. "It's a good thing they can't breath fire. Let's take 'em one at a time."
"Maybe he has a brother," Harry said.
"Who? The wyvern? Snape? Are we still on that?"
"I've just got a feeling about him, that's all."
"When you 'get a feeling', it usually means trouble, you know that?" Ron said.
~~~~~
They floated the unconscious wyvern out belly up, with its wings and tail dragging on the floor and its legs sticking up in the air. Harry kept casting 'furtive' glances at 'Slade' that were not really as inconspicuous as he thought they were.
Kat knew that 'Slade' was worried about being recognized, so he took the lead again.
"Wow! I've never seen one of these before," he said, reaching out curiously to touch the wyvern's scaly leg. Suddenly the beast snorted and kicked in its sleep. Kat tired to jump back, but he wasn't fast enough. The claws caught him in the shoulder, tearing deep gashes and knocking him to the floor.
Severus immediately knelt beside Kat and muttered a spell to stop the bleeding. Then he began moving his wand in intricate patterns while singing a healing spell. He was surprised how distressed he felt. It had never occurred to him that he might actually like Kat. Which was not to say that the fellow wasn't irritating; he most certainly was, most of the time. But in fact, Severus realized that he liked the captain and Biscuit, too. Being on the boat was sort of like having friends, not that he had much experience with that sort of thing. He gave Kat a vial of pain-killing potion from a pouch on his belt, and Kat gulped it down like a shot of whiskey.
Clark and Morris rushed over and took the wyvern from Harry and Ron. In their shock, the boys had almost dropped it.
"Slade, take Kat back to the boat. Morris and I will finish here," Clark ordered.
"It's just a scratch," Kat mumbled as Severus levitated him out the door.
~~~~~
Morris didn't blame the trainees for the accident. There was no way they could have known that the beast would thrash in its sleep.
"Finish checking this place for evidence," he told them, "and then we'll go back. It's time to get out of here."
The boys couldn't have agreed more.
"I'm sure it's him now," Harry told Ron after Morris left. "I saw him use that spell before, when he healed Draco. It looked like his wand, too."
Ron looked worried. "You know, maybe we're rushing things too fast, after everything we've been through," he said. "Have you thought about taking some time off? We could go to, I don't know, maybe the Mediterranean. We could lie on a beach, drink some muggle-made wine, watch girls, that sort of thing."
"Did you happen to catch his name?" Harry asked.
Desperately, Ron tried to change the subject. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a large iron cauldron that was sitting near the back door.
~~~~~
"We will need to create four new Houses," Pomona announced. "We should sort the students randomly, and then rotate them between the Houses every year, so that every student will be in each House at least once, and every student will be in a House with every other student at least once."
"That sounds rather sensible," Filius agreed.
"But what about Quidditch?" Minerva interjected. "We can't stop Quidditch!"
"We won't stop Quidditch, "Pomona said. "The students will have to form new teams every year, and learn to work with new teammates. It will be a good experience for them.
"We can name the new Houses after chimeras, to symbolize the mixing," she added.
"Chimeras?" Minerva asked, scratching her head.
Horace looked perplexed. The portrait of Phineas Black guffawed. The portrait of Albus Dumbledore snored.
"Yes," said Pomona. "There are lots to choose from: griffons, wyverns, sphinxes, quetzalcoatls …"
"Quetzalcoatls?" said Minerva. What would be next? Snorkacks? "Perhaps we should call them something a bit more, well, bland. To help keep down the House rivalry, of course."
"Maybe we should name them after colors," Filius suggested.
"Yes, but then they should be new colors, like purple and orange," Pomona said happily. "Maybe black and white, too. That would be nice."
"I think we should all give this matter further thought, and meet again tomorrow," Minerva told them. She was starting to get a headache.
To be continued …
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
"I've tried every charm I know, and everything I could find in the library, and the Hat is still spouting gibberish," Filius told them.
"That's what I was afraid of," Minerva said. "We need to make an alternate plan before the students arrive."
"Well, I've been thinking about it, and I've got some ideas," Pomona announced. "This may be for the best. After all, the parents will be upset if we abandon the sorting tradition, and now most of them will also be upset if their children are sorted into Slytherin. However, if the Hat can't sort, that gives us the excuse we need to make some major changes around here."
"Shytherins are not evil," the portrait of Phineas Black shouted. "If Minerva had just stopped to think before she kicked them all out …"
"We know that," Filius said, "but Minerva can't change what she did in the heat of the moment. She made a public apology, but I'm afraid that the stigma will last for a generation or two at least."
"Gryffindors never stop to think! That's the whole problem. They always act rashly. Now if the Ministry still had some of those time-turners …"
"But they don't, Phineas," the portrait of Albus Dumbledore said firmly, "so really, we will just have to accept the fact that …"
"Please, gentlemen," Minerva interrupted them. The last thing they needed was another portrait shouting match. They might have to put the blasted things out in the hall again. "Please settle down. We would like to listen to Pomona's ideas now."
~~~~~
Under other circumstances, Severus might have laughed out loud to see Potter and Weasley standing in front of him, dressed as Auror trainees and levitating a pair of sleeping orangutans. He had certainly never seen such looks of deep concentration on their young faces in any class. However, the fear that they might recognize him despite his disguise blinded him to the humor of the scene.
Stay calm, he thought to himself. Appear disinterested, and don't make eye contact. He had fooled the Dark Lord for many years, so he could certainly fool these two young twits. They made him nervous, though, and he cursed cruel Fate for casting them into his path once again. He also cursed the Dark Lord, Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Aurors, Death Eaters, the whole of wizarding Britain …
Kat stepped forward and took Potter's orang, so Severus stepped forward and took Ron's. They floated the creatures out of the barn and apparated back to the boat with them. So far, so good, Severus thought as he renewed the sleeping spell on the two creatures.
~~~~~
"That panda cub looks pretty heavy," Ron said. "It will probably take both of us to levitate him out of that cage."
"Did you notice anything about that guy?" Harry asked.
"What guy?" asked Ron.
"The one with the long hair who took the orang."
"They both had long hair and took orangs," Ron observed.
"The one with the longer hair and the black turtleneck sweater."
"No. Why?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. He just seems familiar, somehow. Take a closer look when we give them the cub."
~~~~~
"Don't worry, I'll watch 'em," Seabiscuit said just before Severus and Kat apparated off the deck. He conjured a deckchair beside the sleeping orangs and unrolled a copy of The Daily Prophet. He'd taken out a subscription after he figured out the connection between 'Slade' and Professor Snape.
He scanned it for more Snape stories. Some dame named Rita Skeeter was starting to write a book about Snape, and another one named Celestina Warbeck was planning an opera. She couldn't decide whether to call it "Severus and Lily", "The Prince's Tale", or "Lilly Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", but she promised that it would be a tragedy of epic proportions and there wouldn't be a dry eye in wizarding Britain after the final scene.
"I hope Slade never finds out about that," Biscuit mused.
Fawkes perched on the railing beside Biscuit and started looking at the pictures.
Lucius and Draco Malfoy looked relieved as they walked out of the Ministry. They had been pardoned for being Death Eaters. The Wizengamot agreed that they had been forced into it, although The Prophet speculated that some hefty bribes to key individuals might have helped them reach that decision.
Argus Filch scowled from a Wanted poster. He was wanted for aiding the Carrows and abusing students, but he and Mrs Norris were nowhere to be found.
A note about The Hogs Head being fined for health violations again was accompanied by a photo of Aberforth feeding his goats.
Hogwarts was advertising for instructors in Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and The Prophet speculated that the latter position was probably still cursed.
In other words, it looked like things were slowly getting back to normal in wizarding Britain.
~~~~~
"You're nuts," said Ron. "He's nothing like Snape. His hair isn't black and greasy, and his nose way too small."
"Those things can be fixed," Harry said. "He's the same build as Snape, and he moves like Snape."
"And Snape's dead, remember? We watched him die. I know it bugs you, but you've done everything you can. You cleared his name and got him that medal. He's even got a chocolate frog card now, too. Come on, let's go get those wyverns.
The wyverns were young, so they were only about the size of full-grown crocodiles. Each one had two stout legs, a pair of leathery wings, a set of sharp teeth and claws, and a long, barbed tail. They snoozed quietly under a strong sleeping spell.
"Ugly brutes, aren't they?" Ron said. "It's a good thing they can't breath fire. Let's take 'em one at a time."
"Maybe he has a brother," Harry said.
"Who? The wyvern? Snape? Are we still on that?"
"I've just got a feeling about him, that's all."
"When you 'get a feeling', it usually means trouble, you know that?" Ron said.
~~~~~
They floated the unconscious wyvern out belly up, with its wings and tail dragging on the floor and its legs sticking up in the air. Harry kept casting 'furtive' glances at 'Slade' that were not really as inconspicuous as he thought they were.
Kat knew that 'Slade' was worried about being recognized, so he took the lead again.
"Wow! I've never seen one of these before," he said, reaching out curiously to touch the wyvern's scaly leg. Suddenly the beast snorted and kicked in its sleep. Kat tired to jump back, but he wasn't fast enough. The claws caught him in the shoulder, tearing deep gashes and knocking him to the floor.
Severus immediately knelt beside Kat and muttered a spell to stop the bleeding. Then he began moving his wand in intricate patterns while singing a healing spell. He was surprised how distressed he felt. It had never occurred to him that he might actually like Kat. Which was not to say that the fellow wasn't irritating; he most certainly was, most of the time. But in fact, Severus realized that he liked the captain and Biscuit, too. Being on the boat was sort of like having friends, not that he had much experience with that sort of thing. He gave Kat a vial of pain-killing potion from a pouch on his belt, and Kat gulped it down like a shot of whiskey.
Clark and Morris rushed over and took the wyvern from Harry and Ron. In their shock, the boys had almost dropped it.
"Slade, take Kat back to the boat. Morris and I will finish here," Clark ordered.
"It's just a scratch," Kat mumbled as Severus levitated him out the door.
~~~~~
Morris didn't blame the trainees for the accident. There was no way they could have known that the beast would thrash in its sleep.
"Finish checking this place for evidence," he told them, "and then we'll go back. It's time to get out of here."
The boys couldn't have agreed more.
"I'm sure it's him now," Harry told Ron after Morris left. "I saw him use that spell before, when he healed Draco. It looked like his wand, too."
Ron looked worried. "You know, maybe we're rushing things too fast, after everything we've been through," he said. "Have you thought about taking some time off? We could go to, I don't know, maybe the Mediterranean. We could lie on a beach, drink some muggle-made wine, watch girls, that sort of thing."
"Did you happen to catch his name?" Harry asked.
Desperately, Ron tried to change the subject. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a large iron cauldron that was sitting near the back door.
~~~~~
"We will need to create four new Houses," Pomona announced. "We should sort the students randomly, and then rotate them between the Houses every year, so that every student will be in each House at least once, and every student will be in a House with every other student at least once."
"That sounds rather sensible," Filius agreed.
"But what about Quidditch?" Minerva interjected. "We can't stop Quidditch!"
"We won't stop Quidditch, "Pomona said. "The students will have to form new teams every year, and learn to work with new teammates. It will be a good experience for them.
"We can name the new Houses after chimeras, to symbolize the mixing," she added.
"Chimeras?" Minerva asked, scratching her head.
Horace looked perplexed. The portrait of Phineas Black guffawed. The portrait of Albus Dumbledore snored.
"Yes," said Pomona. "There are lots to choose from: griffons, wyverns, sphinxes, quetzalcoatls …"
"Quetzalcoatls?" said Minerva. What would be next? Snorkacks? "Perhaps we should call them something a bit more, well, bland. To help keep down the House rivalry, of course."
"Maybe we should name them after colors," Filius suggested.
"Yes, but then they should be new colors, like purple and orange," Pomona said happily. "Maybe black and white, too. That would be nice."
"I think we should all give this matter further thought, and meet again tomorrow," Minerva told them. She was starting to get a headache.
To be continued …