Chapter 1

"Albus, just tell me what it is that I'm going to be displeased about. I enjoy having tea with you, but I have far too much that I need to accomplish today to wait around for you to try to break it to me gently. You don't call me up and make small talk unless you are going to spring something unpleasant upon me." Snape drained his teacup, set it on the headmaster's desk, and awaited the bad news, with an expression of mild annoyance.

"Severus, I feel that we are going to be at war again soon. You've felt changes in the brand Voldemort put on you. I've sensed an awakening of darkness as well. Few of our people have any training in combat. I've called in one of my distant kinfolk to help, a wizard who fought in all three of the American vampire wars and taught at the American wizarding war college. Not only skilled at battle, but most importantly, skilled at forms of magic and weapons we have never seen here. We need every advantage we can get if we're to survive the coming troubles."

Snape groaned. He poured himself another cup of tea, rolled his eyes, and inquired silkily "When does your kinsman arrive to show all of us poor ignoramuses how to cast a curse?"

Dumbledore permitted himself a wide grin. "You have already made one erroneous assumption about that particular wizard. I should be kind and correct you, but I think this time I'll let you figure it out on your own. And, Severus, this is an American. We're all aware that their culture is different. Show a little tolerance. You're going to be welcoming our visiting wizard in Hogsmeade."

Snape shot the headmaster a dark glare. Albus smiled back sweetly. Oh, this should be fun, Dumbledore thought. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he finds out just what sort of wizard he'll be dealing with.

Snape scowed and paced the train station platform. Per schedule the express was not due for another 15 minutes, but Snape was early as usual and per usual he perceived it as being someone else's fault that he had to wait. He did not appreciate being selected as an escort for some foreigner who almost certainly commanded a rear echelon position since he had made it alive through all three vampire wars. Snape had poked around in the library earlier in the evening to refresh his memory, and was somewhat astonished at both the scope and violence of the American wars. They had involved not only thousands of vampires but also wizards, sorcerers, witches, werewolves, and more. He faintly smiled to himself as thought about what he would have liked to said to the headmaster when the onerous duty was dumped on him.

A scattering of small scratching sounds drew his gaze to the far end of the platform. A rat climbed out of a garbage can. A swift glance at the other end of the platform told him that the rest of the people waiting on passengers were watching the train approach and that he was unobserved. Snape drew his wand stealthily and flicked it at the rodent. It let out a mangled shriek and fell. Snape placed his wand back into his sleeve and turned to find that now everyone on the platform was staring at him. He dramatically shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. The crowd turned away, most wearing expressions of frank disgust. Another small smile.

The train pulled to a hissing stop and the passengers disembarked. Severus fumed. No wizard. He had wasted his evening on a man who couldn't be bothered to show up to be brought to the school. Then he heard a voice behind him asking "Severus Snape? Is that you?"

He turned and found himself facing a short smiling woman clad in a battered leather bomber jacket, nondescript t-shirt and obviously old jeans. She looked to be perhaps thirty or so years old, but it was difficult to guess-she had a young looking face that didn't marry well with her thick mane of stark white hair. Only her black lashes and brows and a few residual strands of color betrayed the fact that she once had hair as dark as a raven's wing. Severus was visibly shocked at the notion of a female "wizard," and found himself nodding stupidly, incapable of speech. The woman held out her hand to shake his and by some ingrained habit he was able to respond properly. "I'm Deb Jenkins" she said. "Albus's cousin, the American wizard. He described you perfectly. Nice piece of work with the rat."

Snape led the woman to the carriage, still dumbstruck and wondering how she could know about the rat because she was still on the train when that happened. She spied the hitch of thestrals and moved forward to inspect them. "So these are thestrals?" She stroked one gently and looked back at Snape for confirmation. Again, the idiotic nod. She smiled again. "I've read about these but never seen them before. We don't have any in America."

Snape's power of speech finally returned. "I'll have the porters load your luggage in the carriage and we'll be off."

"No don't bother about luggage, there is none. I shrank what few thing I will need immediately and I have them in my pocket. My family keeps an ancestral home not too far from here, well in stringing distance and I've had most of my things sent there." (Stringing? he wondered. Some means of transport?) I really don't think that Hogwarts needs to be bothered by dealing with all of my animals. And while I'm staying at Hogwarts my quarters will likely get crowded anyways, with all of my wand making stuff."

Good grief, what to say to this female wizard? He was not one much for small talk. "Hagrid will be wanting to meet you, then. He's our gamekeeper." That seemed safe enough. "What sorts of animals do you have?"

"A few horses. A crow. A cat. Six pythons. A small basilisk….."

"A basilisk? You brought a basilisk here?" Severus was again astounded. "Do you have any idea what a basilisk can do?" He spoke slowly, as if trying to communicate with an idiot.

"Being as I breed them and train them, I am aware of the abilities of a basilisk. Of course it mostly depends on what they are bred out of and which generation they are. F 1 and F 2 hybrids are pretty much untrainable. F 4 and beyond make amazing familiars. A battle trained basilisk can take out people you could never hope to get a good shot on. I'll show you sometime." She turned toward him and grinned. "Surely y'all don't still believe that you die if you see their eyes or that you make a basilisk by letting a toad incubate a chicken egg?" she drawled, giving it her very best back-home redneck twang. His face told her that indeed he did. She broke into a fit of choking laughter. Severus scowled furiously. When she finally composed herself long enough to catch her breath, she caught sight of the scow, and her laughter resumed.

Severus sulked for the rest of the trip, and mercifully the American wizard who appeared to his eyes to be exactly like a witch in mediocre garb had the good sense to mostly shut up. She took in the countryside, looking about as evening deepened into night. "This part of Scotland is more beautiful than I imagined." she softly observed. Severus did not deign to reply. He inwardly seethed from the indignity of being laughed at by some short brash witch who had the gall to call herself a wizard.

Albus was waiting to greet them when the carriage arrived at the castle gate. He took both of the woman's hands in his own and studied her face for several seconds before speaking. "Deborah, it's good to finally meet you! I knew your father from when he was stationed here during the second World War. You look so very much like him, especially that same white hair. Even though we've never met before, your father made me feel as if I knew you. He was always bragging about you and your wand making skill. He also said that you knew nastier curses at the age of ten than most wizards will learn if they live to be one hundred." The headmaster glanced at Severus. "You and our Professor Snape should get along brilliantly-you share that particular interest. That and concocting poisons."

"I'd like that very much, cousin."

Severus scowled. In return, Deb presented him with the broadest and cheesiest of smiles. Albus beamed. Snape shot the headmaster a dark look, bringing a grin to the old wizard's face. Inwardly Snape groaned. Once again he was the unhappy victim of Dumbledore's love of unnecessary drama.

Albus placed an arm across Deborah's shoulder and walked with her through the gates. "Welcome to Hogwarts, dear cousin. Consider her your home for as long as you like. If there is anything you need come to me or to Severus and we will do anything we can to be of service."

Deborah strolled the corridors that midnight, familiarizing herself with the castle layout. She asked a magical painting if there was any place it knew of where she could obtain a little gentian violet in the morning. "You can get it tonight. There is plenty of it in the potions room and Professor Snape is working late tonight."

"Thanks so much!" She started down the steps.

Snape was still peeved at having to waste his time dragging some American wizard to Hogwarts, and not even a real wizard, just a stupid witch. "Concentrate, concentrate!" he whispered to himself. He spoke the cracking spell at the stubborn Quercus mephitis nut he was trying to open. Not even a light crazing appeared on the surface; not even powdering. Someone knocked at his door. Snape scowled and ignored it. They knocked again. Fuming, he got up, strode to the door, and opened it to find Dumbledore's pretend wizard cousin, the very reason he hadn't had time to work on cracking the nut earlier.

"Severus, I'm sorry to bother you this late but the magical pictures said you were still working down here. Could I trouble you for a little gentian violet? I'm working on something in my room and I just realized that I forgot to pack it."

"Why of course!" he said in a frosty voice. "I have all of the time in the world to dispense botanicals for charms. I'll be right back."

He retrieved the material, growing angrier by the second. When he returned he found that the American witch had the audacity to be wandering around his potions laboratory, hands clasped behind her back, looking over his equipment.

He thrust the small packet at her. "Here is your gentian. Now, if you would be so kind as to excuse me, I must get back to work if I'm to open a Quercus mephitis nut. It's not something that I would expect you to understand, but it will require a great deal of effort and attention."

"Oh, stink oak. Want me to open that for you?"

"That would be so wonderful if you actually could, but I'm afraid that it's not so easy as bashing it with a rock. The shell is quite resistant to both force and magic, but I really didn't expect for you to know that."

Deborah walked to the table then reached into her sleeve and pulled out an unusual looking slender wand. She lightly touched the stink oak acorn. Trickles of blue energy crawled over it's surface. She gave it a gentle tap and the acorn cracked cleanly into halves. She turned and flashed a insincere beauty pageant fake smile. "Will that do, Severus, or do you require my assistance in peeling it as well?"

"How did you do that?" Snape growled.

"With my little wand." She wiggled it in front of his nose then replaced it in her sleeve. "And now I'm going to return to my room and whip up a little doublecut blue goatclaw tisane. It's quite useful in correcting oily hair and scalp conditions and as I can plainly see, you didn't know that. Sweet dreams, Severus." She blew a kiss as she strolled out the door.