Title: Four and Twenty
Author: BertaS
Date: July 2015
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 528
Warnings: None
Summary: Just a little one shot discussion and speculation on what Severus Snape would be, were he an Animagus. Takes place, Christmas during fifth year.
A/N: Anything you recognize I most likely stole.
Four and Twenty
The Order meeting was over and dinner was about to be served. Severus tried to get out of the house without the almost inevitable encounter with the owner of said house. Unfortunately he had been forced to take a position on the opposite side the room from the door. And the huge dining doom, that had finally been cleaned enough to use for its intended purpose, was crowded with Order members trying to leave and Hogwarts students attempting to get in to eat.
Severus had almost made his escape when, almost as though he was continuing the conversation from the last meeting, Sirius Black laughingly crowed, "Aw, come on Snape, ya know if you were an Animagus ya'd be a big ol' black bat." He flapped his arms in imitation of Severus' billowing robes.
Severus glared at the man. He had been on about this after every Order Meeting for the past three months. Only it was made worse this time, by the presence of several of Severus' students, most of which were not making any attempt to hide their amusement.
Surprisingly Potter just had a thoughtful look on his face before he shook his head speaking slowly, "No, Sirius, I don't think so. From the reading I've done, the Professor's eyesight is much too keen, and he's way too smart. Bats aren't considered terribly bright and there is a reason for the phrase 'blind as a bat'. My guess would be a bird of some kind."
The other students were now looking at the Potions Master with what, to Severus, was a very disconcerting speculation.
Snorting Severus stalked out of the room and left the house. He damned the boy for actually giving him a complement. Why couldn't the boy just laugh and let him make a scathing remark so they could continue hating each other as they always had before?
After the professor left Hermione asked, "You've actually read more about it than I have, Harry, would he be a bird of prey or something more innocuous, do you think?" She sat at the table with her back to the window.
One of the twins laughed, "Vulture?" He sat beside Hermione as Ron scrambled for the seat on her other side.
The other twin nodded, "Good one Gred. I'd guess a scruffy old crow myself."
Ginny took the seat across from Ron leaving a chair between herself and the already seated Sirius as she speculated, "A black hawk, maybe?"
"Still say he'd be a bat." Sirius pouted, having not gotten the rise out of the man he'd wanted.
Harry shook his head as he sat between Sirius and Ginny. "Something innocuous. You have to remember Snape's job for the Order. So something that could sit on the windowsill and no one would give it a second thought." He suddenly grinned as a bird actually landed on a branch just outside the window he was facing. "Like a common black bird." He shrugged. "They're everywhere. A perfect disguise for a spy."
The bird seemed to stare intently at Harry for a moment before it flew off in a flutter of fluffed out feathers.
AN: I personally love the idea that he would be a Grackle, which is a ubiquitous black bird there in the US, slightly smaller than a blue jay. They are sleek and graceful flyers that strut around on long legs when on the ground. They are actually very pretty being a shiny almost oily black with black beak and legs and in bright sunlight they appear to have iridescent blue, purple and bronze highlights to their feathers.