Prologue – Severus's Students
Black eyes stared out across his class with near disdain, though he didn't hate his career, maybe the area he taught, but no, the students were the worst of it, even when he could usually control them. But, there were a few of his pupils that he could not stand, thankfully only two of them of them were in this class, but they wreaked utter havoc together. They were twin sisters, even though they rarely looked like one another, for one of them, Kristi Merita was born was the knack for changing her appearance; she could only change certain things like her hair and eye color and she also tended to sport cat ears and a snow tiger tail many times. The other sister, Cera Merita, was not able to change her features like her twin but she would have random premonitions at any given time. The girl also had an intuition that let her predict what one person or many people would the next moment, whether it be meaningful or pointless, though she was unable to fully read their minds.
Two very different girls indeed; Kristi was characteristically ridiculous, for she would burst out with very unusual and silly things to say and/or do, like singing about toads or jumping out of dark corners in order to scare a passerby. On the other side of the scale was Cera; although sometimes a cheerful girl, she was deep and secretive, often keeping to herself and refusing to speak to anyone that she had not known to be an extremely trustworthy person. Opposites, yes, but being twins, they would often trade personalities or share them.
It was these girls that made Professor Snape's job so displeasing, for they would not submit to glares and verbal abuse; they just sat there and stared up at him like he was crazy. And because they were in a class together—he cursed Headmaster Dumbledore for every second he had to spend in the same room with those girls—the twins did their very best to make sure that poor Severus Snape never forgot how they could push his every button. And he wouldn't forget, ever.
After Potions was over, however, the Potions Master was safe from the childish insanity of the twins but in the class following theirs, which was Advanced Potions for sixth years training to be chemists, there was another evil. The twins had an elder sister, Kila Merita, and the girl was the "Spawn of Satan", for the lack of anything better then a Muggle term. She didn't need her siblings to destroy the hopes of each and every creature that crossed her path, which she didn't even have to try to succeed in doing so. Strangely though, Professor Snape was more tolerant of her then her sisters, because the girl wasn't out for his blood, just everyone else's, but often he'd acted as a restraint for the girl.
Young Kila had the power pyrokinesis, commonly called a "fire starter", and with that gift coupled with an extremely short temper spelt disaster in a class that involved chemicals, most of them very flammable. The Potion's Master acted as a teacher, more then just potions, in guiding her to controlling her power, along with providing a manner of anger management. So he made her potions to keep her from setting tables, linen and other students ablaze and she gave him enough attention in his classes to be his best student.
All of them were exceedingly good when it came to grades for their favorite classes, another trait each of them shared happily, but the amusing thing is that none of them had the same grades in the same classes, except History of Magic, which was the bare minimum. Their point of expertise had influenced which house they were each sorted into and, needless to say, with such interesting girls, the Sorting Hat had some amount of trouble finding the appropriate house for each one.
The eldest had been sorted a year before the other two and murmurs had erupted in the Great Hall when this dark, foreboding girl had been chosen to be Slytherin's newest member, but the serpentine house's students were pleased. Kila had ended up becoming a Prefect and helped her house win the House Cup several times before she graduated. When she did leave, she gave a somewhat fireworks show with her magic, proving that she had mastered it and herself, but where she went after school was a mystery.
When the twins had entered through the giant double doors, the staff, which had already endured their sibling's terror of spontaneous fires on the grounds and several burnt students, some a little charred themselves, regarded them with suspicion. Severus Snape, however, had been somewhat hopeful that they were like their sister, for having more of the girls in Potions should have proven as enjoyable as their predecessor. But, he had been wrong; both of them were sorted in different houses and turned out to be one of his greatest trials in all of his teaching years, even when he'd been the Potion's Master for nine years before they came along.
When the Sorting Hat had touched Cera's head, it stayed motionless for a long time and the girl looked around in question before her back had stiffened and she said something really softly, before the Hat had proclaimed that she would be in Ravenclaw. The reason for this became clear later on after it became apparent that she could expand her mind and senses beyond even what the Divination teacher could. She had proven to be a powerful ally or enemy in a duel, for she could normally tell what her opponent was going to do a split second before they did it and countered it perfectly. She had also been a great asset to the Ravenclaw Quiddich team as a skilled Chaser, even though her other sisters had absolutely no interest in the sport, and professional teams had recognized her, which is where she was rumored to have ventured after her schooling.
Kristi had proved to be even more speculation by the Sorting Hat, for it had sat there on her head, mumbling, while she stared in uncertainty at all the other students and Professor McGonagall—that expression became somewhat of her trademark. Snape could have sworn from his position at the staff table that he'd heard the Hat mutter something about a lack of proper categories. The folded tip of the Hat had pointed, to some extent subtly at each house in a sequence before repeating the action, but as it fell on the House of the Lion the second time, it declared with a sense of satisfaction—or relief—that she would be in Gryffindor. She had simply shrugged nonchalantly, as she most likely would in any house, and made her way to the table as her new housemates exploded into ear piercing cheers. The girl was remarkably good at Defense Against the Dark Arts and because she could change her appearance at will, she was rumored to have went on to work in some "secret" branch of the Ministry of Magic.
All of the girls were diverse in their own way, but one unbreakable bond of theirs was that all had a certain interest in strange animals, especially any type that had a feline trait. Each of them were dancing on the border between acceptable pets and those that weren't, but they used the excuse that a feline was allowed, so what was wrong with a feline variation? And their choices in pets suited them better then what most students had with their animals.
The older girl had a very extraordinary cat-like animal that had the small body and build of a domestic cat, only instead of fur luminous scales covered its body that ranged with a Technicolor gleam between emerald and amethyst, depending on the light. Where two bright, mischievous eyes would normally be on any given cat, stared pure black depths that never faltered or blinked, only closed in slumber. Two leathery wings sprouted from its back, extending almost four feet from its shoulder blades and able to glide it, without the ability of far flight, short distances around the length of two Quiddich fields. In the place of a furry tail were two scaly, whip like lengths, much longer then the animal's actual form, giving a steering aspect to its haphazard flying skills. If that not be enough, the creature was completely immune it all heat and flames, actually preferring to sleep in a fireplace, whether roaring or simply crackling in remains. The cat was much like a fiery Salamander and feline cross, what better to deal with an owner who would unexpectedly burst into flames?
The twin, Cera, who oozed of a deep, abyss like aura had a pure black feline, normal looking at first and able to ride a broom along side its master like any good, witch cat could, had a very bizarre trait. Ghostly creature, it never made noise whether in its stride or with a meow, and it could walk straight though solids as if they didn't exist in the first place. Commonly, if chased by a student or another creature, it would sit on the shadow of a statue or in a black corner, the only indication of it really being there were it bright yellow eyes and pink nose, and when the pursuer dived for it or just tried to catch it, it would cease to be there. It would pop out of another shadow, shocking the silhouette giver if it were living or effigy, and just walk away, satisfied with the ability to cross between dimensions. It held its own gift of forecast, like the girl it held in highest regard, and would often glare at anyone that ever thought of touching it, even if the very thought hadn't even occurred to the human.
The third sister, Kristi, had a creature so unusual and rare that it tended to stop students in their tracks, along with teachers, but it never liked attention of eyes so it remained in the far corner of the Owlery most of the time. It was a Felawk, a mixture between a small feline and a bird of prey, containing the hunting capability of both. The little beast was solely responsible for a lack of rats, ingredient or pest, in Hogwarts. It was mostly white, only not in fur, but in feathers, the underside of its downy wings was black, matching its shortest tail feathers, the tiny fluff on its cat face, and razor sharp nails. It was able to fly for days on end, and did so on occasion, transporting packages and letters between the sisters and their parents, who lived in Australia at the time. The noises the creature made were dumbfounding, somewhere between a gurgle and a purr, but sounding really nothing like either. It was strange, capricious, and so was its owner, a perfect match.
Each sister had promised Severus Snape, the twins with a somewhat taunting tone, that they would return to Hogwarts when they had found their calling and he had silently hoped they were joking. He may have tolerated them and was somewhat fond of the eldest, but if they came back in their latter years of life, who knows how much trouble they could cause and what on Earth they would do to him. He didn't fear them, in reality; he was only really frightened by his growing anxiety a year after they left, but it died out eventually. Three years after the twins had left Hogwarts, though, the three females fulfilled their pledge to him.