Birds of a Feather
Chapter 16: A Visit To Wales
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
"Is it settled, then?" Minerva asked. "The new Houses be named North, South, East, and West, and each will be housed in its own tower."
"I still prefer the chimeras," Filius muttered.
"Towers?" said Pomona. "But they're so cold and drafty! Why not underground? It would be much easier to heat them." She loved Hufflepuff's cozy underground quarters. They had long been her home, and they were conveniently close to the kitchens, in case one wanted a midnight snack. "Some of us aren't that fond of heights, you know," she pouted.
Horace didn't look too happy, either. He knew they would have to close the Slytherin quarters if they wanted to break with the past, but he didn't like it.
"It's a matter of practicality," Minerva told them. "The castle has quite a few towers, some of which aren't being used, and we can have four redone to house the new Houses. We all have to make sacrifices."
"But Gryffindor seems to be making less than some of the rest of us," Horace said coldly.
Minerva sighed. The old House rivalries were not going to evaporate overnight.
~~~~~
"The captain says Kat will be fine. He just needs a day or two to rest and heal," Jack told Lydia.
"I'm so glad," Lydia said. "It seems that Mr Slade has a talent for healing. He's a strange one, that Mr Slade. Very talented, and very troubled."
"And very grouchy," Jack added.
"Yes, that too," Lydia said, laughing.
"I've been thinking about young Stanley," she said. "We've been talking about getting some help at the bookstore. Maybe we should give him a try."
"Ah ha!" said Jack. "You're into your 'helping people' thing again, aren't you?"
"Of course. I have a talent for it, as you well know."
"It's one of the many reasons why I love you, dear," he said, taking her hand. "Of course we can try Stan at the shop when we get home, if you like." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry we didn't get to Rome, dear."
"Rome will still be there next year," Lydia said. "And it won't be nearly as exciting as this was. I can't wait to tell Junior all about it. He'll just flip!"
"That he will," Jack agreed. "Come on, let's go watch them unload the wyverns. We've never been to Wales before, after all."
~~~~~
It had been a very short hop to the wyvern preserve in North Wales, and the wizard in charge had been delighted to receive the two young creatures.
"They've been mistreated!" he said angrily, "but we'll have them as good as new in no time!"
He turned to one of the still-sleeping beasts and scratched its pointy ear. "Kitchy koo, iddle one," he crooned, "You're going to be very happy here in your new home."
He's as bad as Hagrid, Severus thought to himself, which turned his mind to Hogwarts. The summer was getting on now, and the students would be returning soon. He had been there, first as one of them, and later waiting for them, for most of his life. I ought to be there now, he thought. Who would protect the children? Minerva would, of course, and that would probably be fine for the present; she was certainly quite capable, but she might want retire in the foreseeable future. Pomona and Filius were both excellent teachers, but they weren't forceful enough to lead the school. Horace wasn't either, and he would likely return to retirement soon, in any event.
Then Severus got a grip on himself. What was he thinking? He did not care. His years at Hogwarts could hardly have been described as 'pleasant', after all. No, he had had more than enough of that place, and he had done more than enough for the students. He had gone out and almost died for them.
But he had gone out to die for her, hadn't he? Or to atone for his many sins. Probably all of those things. It wasn't quite so clear to him anymore.
He shook his head and chased the thoughts away. He was Solomon Slade now, Security Officer on Knight Boat Number 6. His previous life was over and done with. And he was glad of it!
He did miss his potions lab, though.
~~~~~
"Those hand-things were creepy!" Ron said, shuddering at the memory. "And I thought spiders were bad! What the heck made you open that thing, anyway?"
Even with Morris and the others helping, it had taken quite a while to round up all the hands and get them back into the cauldron. Morris had not been amused.
"I don't know," Harry said. "Sometimes my curiosity just gets the better of me, I guess. Usually, it pays off somehow."
"Well, it didn't this time. Like Morris said, an Auror needs to think before acting. We're lucky Morris didn't kick us out of the program. He probably would have, if we weren't so famous. "
Being the Chosen One certainly had its advantages, as well as its disadvantages.
"We're lucky we didn’t get strangled," Harry admitted. "I guess I need to be more careful."
"Good plan," Ron said sarcastically.
Neither of them noticed the long-fingered hand clinging to the hem of Harry's robe.
~~~~~
Captain Clark delayed their departure from Wales for as long as he could so Jack and Lydia would have the afternoon to tour the wyvern preserve and visit Portmeirion. Besides which, Biscuit wanted to go buy fresh bananas for the orangutans.
Jack showed off their photographs that evening after supper. There were some good ones of the wyverns being fed sides of beef, and several of the two of them waving from the central plaza in Portmeirion.
"Hey, I know that place!" said Biscuit. "It was in that weird TV show about the spy who refused to be filed, sorted, stamped, indexed or numbered. It was called The Prisoner, wasn't it? I saw a few episodes when I was a kid, but I didn't really understand it.
"I know what you mean," Jack said. "When I saw it, I was going through this phase where I was really into muggle culture. I was reading every spy thriller I could get my hands on, and then I started watching the show and became obsessed with trying to figure out whose side the characters were really on. I identified with the main character's struggle for freedom and individuality, but I think the main point at the end was that we are all ultimately imprisoned by ourselves, and until we face that fact, we can never hope to be truly free."
"Yes," said Lydia, "we blame others for categorizing and restricting us, but we categorize ourselves, too, and we become trapped in the roles that we create for ourselves. The self can be our worst enemy. It can keep us from seeing things as they really are, like when we're in denial and that sort of thing, but most of us never even realize it."
Severus looked over at Stan, who was listening quietly and drinking tea. Stan had decided that he was just a stupid nobody, and it had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stan had accepted that role and become trapped in it.
It wasn't until much later that Severus would realize that he might be trapped in some of his own roles, too.
~~~~~
They dropped off the panda cub next because he was flatulent. His supply of bamboo was starting to go off, despite the preservation spell, and it was giving him gas. They were all getting tired of casting air-freshening charms.
Dr Wong, a dedicated muggle researcher, was entering data into his laptop when the strange-looking boat popped up in the river at the panda preserve and they ran out the gangplank. "Y'all makin' some kinda crazy Hollywood movie?" he asked.
Severus raised an eyebrow and gave Kat a puzzled look.
"We bought our translation spell from some old guy in Nacogdoches," Kat whispered, "and it makes everybody seem to be speaking corny cowboy English. He's really speaking a Chinese dialect, I guess. Merlin only knows what we sound like to him."
Severus looked pained at the thought.
"That's right, Pardner," Clark said via the spell. "We were shootin' a little ol' kung fu Western, and the local constabulary asked us to mosey on over here and drop off this stolen doggie that they recovered."
Dr Wong burst out laughing when he heard that, but he stopped when he saw the cub. "Why, his li'l ears are missin'!" he said. "Them rustlers done mutilated the poor critter! I hope they hang those mangy varmints!"
"They're gonna be in the hoosegow for a long, long time," Clark assured him as the cub farted loudly and headed for the nearest stand of bamboo.
Furtively, Kat cast a spring-breeze charm.
"Y'all want ta stay fer tea?" Wong asked them. "The cookhouse is just round the back, and Cookie makes a mean pot o' tea."
"Thanks, Pardner, but we've gotta ride," Clark said. "Y'all take care, now, ya hear?"
~~~~~
They were on their way to Sumatra to drop off the orangs when the albatross landed on the deck. It kicked up a fuss and wouldn't give up its letter until Biscuit had fed it two tins of sardines.
Drama queen, Fawkes snorted, scowling at the big seabird.
"It's for you, Kat," Biscuit announced when he finally managed to retrieve the envelope.
"It's from my sister, Angie," Kat said happily, but his smile evaporated as he read it. "She says she needs help. Angie never admits she needs help. I've gotta go. She needs me."
"Where is she, and what's going on?" Clark asked. He could probably get along without his First Mate for a day or two, but he wasn't keen on the idea.
"Angie's at Southern. She says they were getting the school ready for the students to return, and something attacked a couple of the faculty members. They're comatose now, and the Mediwizards can't revive them. Angie and another Agent were sent to investigate.
"Can't they just call in more Agents?" Clark asked.
"Angie says her partner just quit and took off for New Orleans. The two of them had gone out searching the swamps, and they ran into some sort of ghoul-thing. It nearly got her partner and it scared the daylights out of her. She says she was lucky to escape with her sanity."
Since Kat didn't stop to make disparaging remarks about his sister's sanity, Clark realized that he must be seriously worried about her.
"Kat, your sister is an Agent, a highly trained wizard-cop. If she can't handle this thing, what could you possibly do to help?" Clark asked. "If it's as bad as she says, then they need to send more Agents."
"The Agency told her that they're short-handed, and they can't send anyone else for at least a week," Kat said, holding up the letter. "It's up to her to hold the fort. Potential students and their parents are visiting the school to evaluate it, and Angie is afraid for them and the teachers. Angie and I both went to Southern," Kat added proudly, as if that had anything to do with the matter.
"Okay, then," Clark said unhappily. "We have to drop off the apes and take Jack and Lydia to Melbourne. Then I'll drop you at Southern. I suppose I can get one of those extra numbskulls from Knight Lines to help out while you're gone, if I need to."
Next time: Chapter 17: The Southern Academy of Magical Arts.