Thanks for all the great reviews. I'm reposting this, because back in the day (aka- 6 months ago) when I first wrote this, there was a problem with Fanfiction.net's loading time.
I originally wrote this as a one shot. I might be persuaded to continue though. Suggestions are welcome.
-Disclaimer: All references to the Harry Potter Universe belong to J.K. Rowling.
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It was the first feast of the new School year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The student population was noticeably diminished as the news of Cedric Diggory's death last Spring and rumors of Voldemort returning to power reached every wizarding home for miles around. Harry rejoined his best friends Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table while surveying the faces around the room and taking tabs on who was missing. The mood in the air was less cheerful than in recent years.
Harry glanced over at the head table and looked over his Professors. They all seemed a bit tense, even tired. He caught the eye of Severus Snape who regarded Harry with that same unreadable expression Harry got at the last feast. Snape barely held the gaze for long, as he seemed preoccupied and distracted. He occasionally poked at his food but never seemed to eat anything.
After the newest students had been sorted and everyone had eaten their fill three times over, Dumbledore stood up once again to make an announcement.
" Ahem. It seems there is one more announcement to be made before you are sent to your respective houses to tuck in. There will be a special guest assisting Madam Trelawny in her classes for the next few weeks. She has the highly amazing gift of being able to communicate with those that have passed on to the other side."
There was an audible gasp from the student body and Harry and his friends all gave each other a disbelieving look. Harry's heart beat wildly in his chest. Was there a chance he could communicate with his parents? It couldn't be true!
"She has become quite famous in the Muggle world and has been credited with helping to open many otherwise skeptical minds there." Dumbledore continued. " She is also a powerful wizard, but her special talents are just beginning to be appreciated here."
The door to the great hall opened and all eyes turned towards a plump, gray-haired woman in her mid sixties. She seemed to radiate a kind, grandmotherly aura as she stood in her long green, white, and navy robes waiting patiently for Dumbledore to finish.
"It is my pleasure to introduce Madam Olivia Argyle" Dumbledore beamed as she walked slowly amongst the tables.
The entire room erupted into whispers. Harry suddenly had a pained thought about Cedric Diggory.
"Good evening students and professors." She said in a warm but scraggly voice.
She continued to walk amongst the tables, surveying the faces one at a time around her with great interest.
"I would like to share with you a bit of my talents this evening. Now before I begin, I must explain that I have no control over who comes through to me from the other side. It might take me a while to figure out whom the deceased are trying to communicate with. Even if you are the one who's being given a message from the other side, it rarely goes as expected. Your cooperation will greatly help the entire process. Only a select few of you will receive a message tonight, but be comforted in knowing that I will be available for private consultations throughout the next few weeks in the afternoons. And take heart that your loved ones are still with you, just in a different form."
She smiled gently at her audience.
"However I always tell everybody that it is most important to communicate with those you love while they are still living so that a medium such as myself doesn't have to do it for you someday. As you'll find though, sometimes this is not possible."
She continued to walk by the different tables. Some Slytherins were rolling their eyes and snickering to each other. Harry noticed Draco Malfoy twirling his finger next to his forehead, implying that the older witch was crazy. Harry turned to look at Hermione who shared the same skeptical look as the Slytherins. Ron however, was clearly on the edge of his seat.
"I have some energy coming through." She said suddenly as she walked toward the Gryffindor table.
"It appears to be an older man coming through. He died in some type of exploration accident? I get the feeling he was on a ship…like he was an explorer type who went to many different lands. His ship got lost at sea and he was never heard from again."
Everyone looked at the faces of the Gryffindor table. Neville Longbottom was turning red and looking around nervously waiting for someone else to speak up.
"Who's Nigel or Neville? I'm getting an "n" name here?"
"I...I'm Neville." He answered as he slowly raised his hand. "I think it could be my Grandad."
"I see him on a ship in a terrible storm He's showing me some kind of compass and ruler."
"He…he was on a ship that went missing near South America. My Grandmother says he was traveling with Muggles, helping to make maps." Neville's eyes were wide with awe.
"He's showing me a toad that keeps appearing and disappearing in his hand. He wants me to make this reference to you, and it seems very funny to him."
"Neville's always losing his toad!" Ron shouted out.
"Yes, he appears to be the one moving your toad around on you. He thinks it's pretty funny."
Neville smiled as the room laughed. At that precise moment Neville's toad peeked its head out of his front pocket.
"He's pulling his energy away Neville, but he is sending his love and asking you to pass this message on to your Grandmother that he's ok."
"Th...thank you." Neville peeped. The student body began to whisper excitedly as more and more were becoming convinced that this was indeed for real.
Madam Argyle suddenly got a serious look on her face.
"I'm getting a lot of strong energy here all of a sudden. Two children who've been murdered, I believe."
Surprised murmuring filled the Great Hall.
She began to slowly walk past the other houses' tables and towards the head table. Harry watched as she walked closer and closer to the Professors. Madam Argyle suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
"They're telling me not to get too close. They think the one they wish to speak with will run out before he receives the message."
Harry scanned the teachers. When his eyes fell on Snape he was staring at Madam Argyle with a glare that would have sent any student running out of the room. Harry suddenly had a disturbing thought. Had Snape ever killed any children while he was a Deatheater under Voldemort?
"They are two powerful forces. One is a young boy about ten years old. The other is a little girl, about six or seven years old. They both have very dark hair, and the girl is holding a stuffed orange striped cat. They are sending enormous waves of love to their brother, the middle child."
Harry noticed Snape's expression change to a look of extreme shock and…wonder? The other professors began looking around at each other. When they saw Snape's expression, they kept their questioning eyes in his direction.
"Um...this is hard for me to say, but they are insisting. It appears they died under mysterious circumstances."
Suddenly Snape jumped up, pushing his chair back. He turned to leave the hall through the door by the head table but stopped abruptly as he heard Madam Argyle's almost yell her next words. The entire hall held their breath.
"Their brother blames himself for their deaths or that he remained alive." Suddenly she pronounced her words in a forceful way, directing them specifically at Severus Snape as if she were trying to keep him there frozen, facing away from everyone else.
"But there was NOTHING you could have done! They are telling you this." She looked as if much negative energy was flowing through her as her forehead crinkled and she appeared to almost be in pain.
"It was the father, but it was made to look like accidents to the rest of the world. I feel a lot of pain…A lot of punishments. A Curse…"
A look of pure horror washed over the older witch's soft features.
"The Cruciatus!!!" she whispered fiercely. "Has to be…"
The Great Hall went dead silent and Harry caught a look at Dumbledore who'd never looked more disturbed in all of Harry's years of knowing the wizard.
"He seems to have used it a lot on different people. Even on his children to punish them. He thought it would make them stronger...better for his causes...The older boy he used it too long on. It drove him insane. They're showing me a hospital…a mental hospital? You went to visit whenever you could sneak out. Your father was embarrassed to have his first born in such a place. One day after about half a year he poured a potion in his food. His death was blamed on faulty medical care. I believe some of the staff were even fired."
Snape remained in place, though now his head hung down slightly. He appeared to be trembling slightly. It was impossible to know what he was thinking with his back turned toward the wall.
"The girl was a different case. All the children were taught the dark arts at an early age and were expected to be perfect in their studies. They are telling me some years later you were punished for not becoming Head Boy. What a pity, because you were very, very close. It's just that under so much pressure, no one can perform to the best of their ability"
Harry thought quickly of his father. This was all too much. This was not at all what he planned on learning tonight.
"The girl was taught to make a semi-poisonous potion. It wasn't quite right and then I see the father making her drink it as punishment. Apparently his punishment backfired as the girl's body was too weak to fight the potion. She fell ill, and it seems like the death was slow. A few weeks maybe?"
Suddenly Snape spun around, robes whirling with him in a flash of angry black cloth.
"Is there anything ELSE you'd like to share with the REST OF THE WORLD?!" he yelled sarcastically with pure venom.
Madam Argyle retained her composure and just looked sadly at him.
"Young man, there are things they are telling me that I cannot say in front of the children… things you've been through as both child and adult. There are some very heroic things you do and have done that I cannot say. Your brother and sister are sending you all their love and are very proud of you. They are with you more often than you think, and they are also with your mother, taking care of her as well. They desperately wanted to communicate with you tonight."
Severus Snape's expression slowly went from pure hatred to a dumbfounded gaze. He turned and silently started for the exit. The students didn't dare look in his direction. The Slytherins weren't snickering at all now. Most of them stared at their plates.
"They are now bringing through a young woman with long brown hair in a braid wearing a blue dress and holding a baby girl." Madam Argyle commanded in her tone meant to hold him a few moments longer.
A few feet from the door, Snape paused again. His hand was on his forehead as if he were dizzy or had a headache.
"She's telling me she was also murdered along with the baby…By…You Know Who."
.
Snape's hand slowly returned to his side.
" She has a message for you."
Snape turned to look at Madam Argyle with an expression of bewilderment and anticipation. Hary noted to himself that he'd never seen Snape appear so …human before. Then again, he never thought about the events that may have turned him to become so inhuman.
"She is taking the baby's hand and they are smiling and waving. She's telling me to refer to the orchid she's wearing behind her ear…that you will know what the orchid is about."
Harry swore he saw the beginning of a tear in the Potion Master's eye.
"She says she loves you."
Snape slowly turned back towards the door. As he was about to exit the great hall, he turned once again to Madam Argyle, though avoiding her eyes.
"Thank You." He said in a voice barely above a whisper.
And with that he disappeared for the rest of the evening.
-I think I'm done for now. I might add future chapters later on. What do you think? Please read and review. Thanks! ;-) -Kaypee