Birds of a Feather
Chapter 18: A Night in the Swamp
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape from the Shrieking shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
A/N: This story is updated much earlier at fanfiction.net. See wolfwillow there.
Severus put his pack in his room and transfigured a perch for Fawkes. The room must have belonged to the artist, Mr Greenly. The walls were covered with paintings of beautiful landscapes and ocean scenes. Fawkes liked the brightly colored birds that flitted in and out of the pictures and he watched them happily from his new perch.
After washing up, Severus followed Kat to the dining hall. Like the entryway, the hall had white marble walls and floors. Decorative columns supported the ceiling, which featured a large domed skylight. French windows flanked by potted palms at the far end of the hall let in the glow of the late afternoon sun. It was very bright and cheerful, and made the Great Hall at Hogwarts seem rather medieval by comparison.
Only a few of the tables were set, and Mr Cohen waved them over to one. "Come join us," he called. "I want to introduce you to more of our staff members.
"You've already met Vic Armstrong and Ms Applewood, of course. This is Ms Canto, who teaches Transfiguration, and Magical Music," he said, gesturing toward a large, middle-aged woman to the right of Ms Applewood. She smiled and nodded to them. "Mr Griffin teaches Magical Theory, and is in charge of the Magical Creatures Club." He indicated an elderly gentleman on the far side of the table. "The young lady who's coming in right now is Ms Larose, our Divination teacher."
Severus looked up to see a tall woman striding in, her burgundy robes flowing around her as she walked. A matching burgundy turban and large golden earrings framed her smiling bronze face, and her brown eyes glowed with warmth. The sight of the turban brought back some very unpleasant memories - if only he'd known then! - but he forced those thoughts from his mind. It looked like there was something much, much nicer under this turban. She knows how to make an entrance, he thought to himself. Sybil Trelawney had never looked half so good. He found it difficult to take his eyes off of her.
"She's new here," Kat whispered. He was having trouble taking his eyes off her, too.
Severus forced himself to look away and turned to Mr Cohen. "When will the students be arriving?" he asked.
"There have been a few early arrivals, mostly children from difficult home situations, they're over there at that table," he said, gesturing toward a small group of children, "and there are some new students who have come early for orientation, but the majority won't return for a few days yet."
He waved his wand and platters of food appeared on the tables. The main course was catfish, which the house-elves had prepared in Kat's honor. Severus thought it was really very good, despite being a bit spicier than he was used to.
"We should go out as soon as it gets dark," Angie said. "The sooner we find this thing, the better."
"I'll go with you," Armstrong said. "It's my school, and I'm the Martial Arts instructor. It's my duty."
"That's good of you, Vic," Mr Cohen said. "None of us will rest easy until this threat is gone."
Then he waved his wand again and the desserts appeared. There was pecan pie, and Severus saved his slice for Fawkes.
~~~~~
They set out after dark. Clouds, trees, and Spanish moss blocked what little light there was, and they had to cast Lumos to see where they were going. Even with the light from their wands, they could only see a few yards in any direction, and the tree trunks and bushes cast confusing shadows everywhere. Flying was out of the question. They would have to walk.
"Where do you think we should start looking?" Kat asked as they started down one of the trails through the swamp.
"I wish I knew," she said. "The thing seems to strike near water, but of course there's water everywhere around here, so that probably doesn't mean anything. I think we should just keep walking and see if it comes after us."
That plan didn't seem particularly brilliant to Severus, but he didn't have a better idea so he stifled his natural impulse to say something sarcastic. He could hear the whiney hum of mosquitoes and the chirping of frogs and crickets. Once he heard a splash nearby, maybe from a bullfrog plunging into a pool, or a fish jumping. Or possibly something more sinister. He was in unfamiliar territory. Were there grindylows here, or merpeople? Kappas or hinkypunks? He had no idea. He cursed himself for not reading up on the area after Captain Clark talked to him about going along, but there had been too little time.
They stopped when they came to an open area beside a large lake, where they could see the stars shining through gaps in the clouds.
"Perhaps the thing is staying away because there are too many of us," Severus said. "Perhaps I should go ahead, and the rest of you can follow behind to help me if it attacks." He didn't want to be bait, but it might be the quickest way to get this over with, and he wouldn't ask anyone else to do it.
"No, it's my job, and I should go first," Angie said firmly.
They all objected to that, and after much arguing they decided that they would take turns. Armstrong took the first shift. Severus was pleased to see that the big man could move silently and gracefully despite his size.
There were disadvantages to being in the following group, however, as Severus soon learned. To conceal their presence, they weren't casting Lumos, so it was impossible to avoid tripping over roots and stepping in muck in the darkness. He had to cast Muffliato to cover the noise.
"The next time we stop, we've got to tell that man to slow down," he hissed to Kat as he watched Armstrong's light dancing ahead of them.
Kat nodded his agreement as he splashed through an unseen puddle.
~~~~~
On her way down the staircase Minerva nodded to the portrait of the late Headmistress Heliotrope Wilkins, and the portrait smiled back at her. Minerva paused. It was rather late in the evening and it appeared that no one was around.
She approached the portrait and cast Muffliato. It was such a useful spell.
"Heliotrope," she said, "I'd like to know a bit more about portraits. Perhaps you can help me."
"I hope so, Headmistress," the portrait replied. "Our purpose here is to help you in any way that we can."
"How was your portrait created?"
"I had several painted just before I retired. When I died several decades later, they received the imprint of my soul, and my family brought one of them here to hang at Hogwarts."
"I see," Minerva said. "Did the portrait in the Headmaster's office appear by magic?"
"Yes it did, a few days after my death. It gives me an additional frame to inhabit," she said happily.
"Do you think a portrait of Dolores Umbridge will appear there after she dies?" Minerva asked. "She was appointed Headmistress after Albus fled."
"Oh, I doubt it," Heliotrope replied. "The castle never accepted her as a true Headmistress. It never cooperated with her, and we portraits didn't either. The castle is somewhat sentient, as you know, and it has magic of its own. It must have felt that Albus Dumbledore was still Headmaster then, despite the fact that he was not present."
"I've been wondering why a portrait of Headmaster Snape didn't appear after he died," Minerva said. "Did the castle not accept him?"
"Oh, no, the castle accepted him, and we all tried to help him, as is our duty, especially Albus and Phineas. Phineas was well positioned to transfer information to and from Ms Granger, as you know, and he's very proud of the role that he played."
"Yes, so I've noticed," Minerva said dryly. "But then why was there no portrait for Headmaster Snape?"
"Well, Phineas claims that Headmaster Snape was so angry about the way that Headmaster Dumbledore left him to face a horrible death that he refused to allow his soul leave an imprint. Most of us disagree, however. While Headmaster Snape was certainly a very strong-willed man, I'm sure that during the snake's attack, preventing soul imprints for portraits would have been the farthest thing from his mind.
"On the other hand, Dilys Derwent thinks it's because Headmaster Snape abandoned his post, but he didn't really. He kept right on working to protect the school and bring Voldemort down, even though he had left the castle, much like Headmaster Dumbledore did while he was gone."
"I'd agree that Phineas' theory does seem a bit far-fetched," Minerva said, "and Dilys' theory is weak, too, but that leaves the questions unanswered. Why didn't a portrait appear, and why hasn't the portrait that hangs there now become animated?"
"I think you know the answer to that," Heliotrope said, smiling.
"Yes, I think I do," Minerva said. "Thank you."
"My pleasure, Headmistress. We are here to help you."
~~~~~
Mr Cohen and the others were waiting anxiously for them when they returned from the swamp at daybreak. "We've got breakfast ready for you," he told them.
"We need to get cleaned up and showered first," Armstrong said as he cast Scourgify on himself. They were dripping sweat and muddy water in the entryway, and they looked like the proverbial drowned rats.
Severus went to his room and peeled off his wet clothes. He was about to get into the shower when Fawkes shrieked and he saw the poopy-brown, worm-like thing attached to his calf. He'd never seen a live one before, but he knew what it was: a smeech! It was surrounded by a magenta glow, which meant it was already feeding on his magic. When he tried to lift it off, he felt a sharp pain and he realized the thing had started to burrow under his skin.
Grimacing in disgust, Severus wrapped himself in a towel and headed for Kat's room.
"Yeah, it's a smeech, all right," Kat said, poking it gently. "They're not usually too active this late in the summer."
"Maybe you should explain that to the smeech," Severus grumbled. "What's the best way to get rid of it?"
"You have to curse them off, and you have to be quick about it. If they realize what you're up to, they'll inject you with poison."
"How nice," Severus said dryly. "What curse do you recommend?"
"I'll show you," Kat said.
Before Severus could stop him, Kat whipped out his wand and cried "Hirudo nomoe!"
He felt a flash of pain as the smeech was ripped free, and then it flew across the room, smashing into the wall beside the window. It stuck there for a moment, and then its magenta glow faded away and it fell to the floor.
"Ha! Got him!" Kat said triumphantly.
Severus cast a healing charm on the small hole that it left in his leg, and he walked over and picked up the smeech by its tail end. It was a disgusting thing, but perhaps he could use it in a potion some day. It has absorbed a bit of his magic, after all. He conjured a vial and dropped it in.
"I'll see if I can get us some smeech repellant before we go out again," Kat said.
Severus scowled. He was starting to think that facing down the monster might not be the worst part of this job.
~~~~~
Harry didn't really like staying at Grimmauld Place, but he wanted privacy sometimes and the Black family magic still kept the old house secure. He'd finally managed to get Mrs Black's portrait moved to the cellar, with a bit of help from Bill Weasley and a team of curse-breakers from Gringotts. The doxies were all gone now, of course, but lately he could hear something scampering around at night, and last night something had run across him while he was half asleep. Maybe it was a rat. An ordinary rat, not an Animagus rat, he hoped. He'd have to set a trap for it.
He was drinking tea and reading Quidditch Today when the seagull brought the note with the picture of his mom and the fragment of her letter. Even though the handwriting was unfamiliar, he quickly realized that Snape must have sent them. After all, he'd seen Snape steal them in the memories Snape had given him in the Shrieking Shack, just before he died. Except that he must not have died! Harry's hunch had been right: Snape was still alive!
He had mixed feelings about that. Throughout his years at Hogwarts, he'd hated Snape. Snape had always been so rotten to him and his friends. Sure, he'd been a bit cheeky in class, maybe, and a lot of the time he and Ron hadn't paid much attention or put much effort into their assignments, but still, the git didn't have to be so nasty about it.
He'd thought Snape was trying to kill him during his first year, trying to curse him off his broom during the Quidditch match, and trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He'd been wrong about that, though. Snape had been trying to protect him, and had actually saved his life. Dumbledore said Snape had only done it because he owed Harry's father a debt, so Harry had never bothered to thank him, but maybe he should have. Maybe things could have been different between them if he had.
Of course Harry knew that Snape had only done it all as penance for betraying his mom, and because he hated Voldemort even more than he hated Harry and Harry's dad. And Harry hated him right back, too. But now he thought about how much Snape had loved his mom, and how he'd sort of gotten to know Snape from the Prince's potions textbook, and from the memories.
Harry didn't want to think about the way he'd watched Snape die without lifting a finger to help him. He always tried to help everyone, even Wormtail. Everyone except Snape, that is. Snape, who'd worked so hard to protect him, despite the fact that it was a thankless task. Snape, who'd risked death countless times, spying on Voldemort for longer than Harry had been alive. Snape was the bravest man that Harry had ever known, and Harry had just stood there and watched him die. The sense of shame tied a knot in his stomach.
But Snape wasn't dead, and now he had sent these treasured keepsakes. Was it some sort of conciliatory gesture? Harry had to know.
He remembered the man from the Knight Boat, the one he and Ron had seen taking the creatures away from that barn in Scotland. His instincts had been right! That guy must have been Snape in disguise!
He tucked the envelope in his pocket, grabbed a jacket and his wallet, and caught a muggle bus to the river. He wandered along until he found a spot behind some warehouses where there was no one around to see him, and he held out his wand. A Knight Boat soon appeared.
Harry was well on his way to Norway before he figured out that it was the wrong Knight Boat.
------------
To be continued ...
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape from the Shrieking shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
A/N: This story is updated much earlier at fanfiction.net. See wolfwillow there.
Severus put his pack in his room and transfigured a perch for Fawkes. The room must have belonged to the artist, Mr Greenly. The walls were covered with paintings of beautiful landscapes and ocean scenes. Fawkes liked the brightly colored birds that flitted in and out of the pictures and he watched them happily from his new perch.
After washing up, Severus followed Kat to the dining hall. Like the entryway, the hall had white marble walls and floors. Decorative columns supported the ceiling, which featured a large domed skylight. French windows flanked by potted palms at the far end of the hall let in the glow of the late afternoon sun. It was very bright and cheerful, and made the Great Hall at Hogwarts seem rather medieval by comparison.
Only a few of the tables were set, and Mr Cohen waved them over to one. "Come join us," he called. "I want to introduce you to more of our staff members.
"You've already met Vic Armstrong and Ms Applewood, of course. This is Ms Canto, who teaches Transfiguration, and Magical Music," he said, gesturing toward a large, middle-aged woman to the right of Ms Applewood. She smiled and nodded to them. "Mr Griffin teaches Magical Theory, and is in charge of the Magical Creatures Club." He indicated an elderly gentleman on the far side of the table. "The young lady who's coming in right now is Ms Larose, our Divination teacher."
Severus looked up to see a tall woman striding in, her burgundy robes flowing around her as she walked. A matching burgundy turban and large golden earrings framed her smiling bronze face, and her brown eyes glowed with warmth. The sight of the turban brought back some very unpleasant memories - if only he'd known then! - but he forced those thoughts from his mind. It looked like there was something much, much nicer under this turban. She knows how to make an entrance, he thought to himself. Sybil Trelawney had never looked half so good. He found it difficult to take his eyes off of her.
"She's new here," Kat whispered. He was having trouble taking his eyes off her, too.
Severus forced himself to look away and turned to Mr Cohen. "When will the students be arriving?" he asked.
"There have been a few early arrivals, mostly children from difficult home situations, they're over there at that table," he said, gesturing toward a small group of children, "and there are some new students who have come early for orientation, but the majority won't return for a few days yet."
He waved his wand and platters of food appeared on the tables. The main course was catfish, which the house-elves had prepared in Kat's honor. Severus thought it was really very good, despite being a bit spicier than he was used to.
"We should go out as soon as it gets dark," Angie said. "The sooner we find this thing, the better."
"I'll go with you," Armstrong said. "It's my school, and I'm the Martial Arts instructor. It's my duty."
"That's good of you, Vic," Mr Cohen said. "None of us will rest easy until this threat is gone."
Then he waved his wand again and the desserts appeared. There was pecan pie, and Severus saved his slice for Fawkes.
~~~~~
They set out after dark. Clouds, trees, and Spanish moss blocked what little light there was, and they had to cast Lumos to see where they were going. Even with the light from their wands, they could only see a few yards in any direction, and the tree trunks and bushes cast confusing shadows everywhere. Flying was out of the question. They would have to walk.
"Where do you think we should start looking?" Kat asked as they started down one of the trails through the swamp.
"I wish I knew," she said. "The thing seems to strike near water, but of course there's water everywhere around here, so that probably doesn't mean anything. I think we should just keep walking and see if it comes after us."
That plan didn't seem particularly brilliant to Severus, but he didn't have a better idea so he stifled his natural impulse to say something sarcastic. He could hear the whiney hum of mosquitoes and the chirping of frogs and crickets. Once he heard a splash nearby, maybe from a bullfrog plunging into a pool, or a fish jumping. Or possibly something more sinister. He was in unfamiliar territory. Were there grindylows here, or merpeople? Kappas or hinkypunks? He had no idea. He cursed himself for not reading up on the area after Captain Clark talked to him about going along, but there had been too little time.
They stopped when they came to an open area beside a large lake, where they could see the stars shining through gaps in the clouds.
"Perhaps the thing is staying away because there are too many of us," Severus said. "Perhaps I should go ahead, and the rest of you can follow behind to help me if it attacks." He didn't want to be bait, but it might be the quickest way to get this over with, and he wouldn't ask anyone else to do it.
"No, it's my job, and I should go first," Angie said firmly.
They all objected to that, and after much arguing they decided that they would take turns. Armstrong took the first shift. Severus was pleased to see that the big man could move silently and gracefully despite his size.
There were disadvantages to being in the following group, however, as Severus soon learned. To conceal their presence, they weren't casting Lumos, so it was impossible to avoid tripping over roots and stepping in muck in the darkness. He had to cast Muffliato to cover the noise.
"The next time we stop, we've got to tell that man to slow down," he hissed to Kat as he watched Armstrong's light dancing ahead of them.
Kat nodded his agreement as he splashed through an unseen puddle.
~~~~~
On her way down the staircase Minerva nodded to the portrait of the late Headmistress Heliotrope Wilkins, and the portrait smiled back at her. Minerva paused. It was rather late in the evening and it appeared that no one was around.
She approached the portrait and cast Muffliato. It was such a useful spell.
"Heliotrope," she said, "I'd like to know a bit more about portraits. Perhaps you can help me."
"I hope so, Headmistress," the portrait replied. "Our purpose here is to help you in any way that we can."
"How was your portrait created?"
"I had several painted just before I retired. When I died several decades later, they received the imprint of my soul, and my family brought one of them here to hang at Hogwarts."
"I see," Minerva said. "Did the portrait in the Headmaster's office appear by magic?"
"Yes it did, a few days after my death. It gives me an additional frame to inhabit," she said happily.
"Do you think a portrait of Dolores Umbridge will appear there after she dies?" Minerva asked. "She was appointed Headmistress after Albus fled."
"Oh, I doubt it," Heliotrope replied. "The castle never accepted her as a true Headmistress. It never cooperated with her, and we portraits didn't either. The castle is somewhat sentient, as you know, and it has magic of its own. It must have felt that Albus Dumbledore was still Headmaster then, despite the fact that he was not present."
"I've been wondering why a portrait of Headmaster Snape didn't appear after he died," Minerva said. "Did the castle not accept him?"
"Oh, no, the castle accepted him, and we all tried to help him, as is our duty, especially Albus and Phineas. Phineas was well positioned to transfer information to and from Ms Granger, as you know, and he's very proud of the role that he played."
"Yes, so I've noticed," Minerva said dryly. "But then why was there no portrait for Headmaster Snape?"
"Well, Phineas claims that Headmaster Snape was so angry about the way that Headmaster Dumbledore left him to face a horrible death that he refused to allow his soul leave an imprint. Most of us disagree, however. While Headmaster Snape was certainly a very strong-willed man, I'm sure that during the snake's attack, preventing soul imprints for portraits would have been the farthest thing from his mind.
"On the other hand, Dilys Derwent thinks it's because Headmaster Snape abandoned his post, but he didn't really. He kept right on working to protect the school and bring Voldemort down, even though he had left the castle, much like Headmaster Dumbledore did while he was gone."
"I'd agree that Phineas' theory does seem a bit far-fetched," Minerva said, "and Dilys' theory is weak, too, but that leaves the questions unanswered. Why didn't a portrait appear, and why hasn't the portrait that hangs there now become animated?"
"I think you know the answer to that," Heliotrope said, smiling.
"Yes, I think I do," Minerva said. "Thank you."
"My pleasure, Headmistress. We are here to help you."
~~~~~
Mr Cohen and the others were waiting anxiously for them when they returned from the swamp at daybreak. "We've got breakfast ready for you," he told them.
"We need to get cleaned up and showered first," Armstrong said as he cast Scourgify on himself. They were dripping sweat and muddy water in the entryway, and they looked like the proverbial drowned rats.
Severus went to his room and peeled off his wet clothes. He was about to get into the shower when Fawkes shrieked and he saw the poopy-brown, worm-like thing attached to his calf. He'd never seen a live one before, but he knew what it was: a smeech! It was surrounded by a magenta glow, which meant it was already feeding on his magic. When he tried to lift it off, he felt a sharp pain and he realized the thing had started to burrow under his skin.
Grimacing in disgust, Severus wrapped himself in a towel and headed for Kat's room.
"Yeah, it's a smeech, all right," Kat said, poking it gently. "They're not usually too active this late in the summer."
"Maybe you should explain that to the smeech," Severus grumbled. "What's the best way to get rid of it?"
"You have to curse them off, and you have to be quick about it. If they realize what you're up to, they'll inject you with poison."
"How nice," Severus said dryly. "What curse do you recommend?"
"I'll show you," Kat said.
Before Severus could stop him, Kat whipped out his wand and cried "Hirudo nomoe!"
He felt a flash of pain as the smeech was ripped free, and then it flew across the room, smashing into the wall beside the window. It stuck there for a moment, and then its magenta glow faded away and it fell to the floor.
"Ha! Got him!" Kat said triumphantly.
Severus cast a healing charm on the small hole that it left in his leg, and he walked over and picked up the smeech by its tail end. It was a disgusting thing, but perhaps he could use it in a potion some day. It has absorbed a bit of his magic, after all. He conjured a vial and dropped it in.
"I'll see if I can get us some smeech repellant before we go out again," Kat said.
Severus scowled. He was starting to think that facing down the monster might not be the worst part of this job.
~~~~~
Harry didn't really like staying at Grimmauld Place, but he wanted privacy sometimes and the Black family magic still kept the old house secure. He'd finally managed to get Mrs Black's portrait moved to the cellar, with a bit of help from Bill Weasley and a team of curse-breakers from Gringotts. The doxies were all gone now, of course, but lately he could hear something scampering around at night, and last night something had run across him while he was half asleep. Maybe it was a rat. An ordinary rat, not an Animagus rat, he hoped. He'd have to set a trap for it.
He was drinking tea and reading Quidditch Today when the seagull brought the note with the picture of his mom and the fragment of her letter. Even though the handwriting was unfamiliar, he quickly realized that Snape must have sent them. After all, he'd seen Snape steal them in the memories Snape had given him in the Shrieking Shack, just before he died. Except that he must not have died! Harry's hunch had been right: Snape was still alive!
He had mixed feelings about that. Throughout his years at Hogwarts, he'd hated Snape. Snape had always been so rotten to him and his friends. Sure, he'd been a bit cheeky in class, maybe, and a lot of the time he and Ron hadn't paid much attention or put much effort into their assignments, but still, the git didn't have to be so nasty about it.
He'd thought Snape was trying to kill him during his first year, trying to curse him off his broom during the Quidditch match, and trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He'd been wrong about that, though. Snape had been trying to protect him, and had actually saved his life. Dumbledore said Snape had only done it because he owed Harry's father a debt, so Harry had never bothered to thank him, but maybe he should have. Maybe things could have been different between them if he had.
Of course Harry knew that Snape had only done it all as penance for betraying his mom, and because he hated Voldemort even more than he hated Harry and Harry's dad. And Harry hated him right back, too. But now he thought about how much Snape had loved his mom, and how he'd sort of gotten to know Snape from the Prince's potions textbook, and from the memories.
Harry didn't want to think about the way he'd watched Snape die without lifting a finger to help him. He always tried to help everyone, even Wormtail. Everyone except Snape, that is. Snape, who'd worked so hard to protect him, despite the fact that it was a thankless task. Snape, who'd risked death countless times, spying on Voldemort for longer than Harry had been alive. Snape was the bravest man that Harry had ever known, and Harry had just stood there and watched him die. The sense of shame tied a knot in his stomach.
But Snape wasn't dead, and now he had sent these treasured keepsakes. Was it some sort of conciliatory gesture? Harry had to know.
He remembered the man from the Knight Boat, the one he and Ron had seen taking the creatures away from that barn in Scotland. His instincts had been right! That guy must have been Snape in disguise!
He tucked the envelope in his pocket, grabbed a jacket and his wallet, and caught a muggle bus to the river. He wandered along until he found a spot behind some warehouses where there was no one around to see him, and he held out his wand. A Knight Boat soon appeared.
Harry was well on his way to Norway before he figured out that it was the wrong Knight Boat.
------------
To be continued ...