The group entered one of the three elevators. It was a spacious, transparent cube shaped structure made of glass with golden bars around it and no support mechanism.
The doors closed automatically behind them.
"17th floor. IDA headquarters" stated Carlo clearly.
The cube started ascending smoothly. The children were looking at each floor they passed with feverish interest, whereas Dumbledore was sitting relaxed on the back of the cube looking upstairs.
Carlo said "A qui vediamo la .." he stopped and swore under his breath while the kids looked at him expectantly. " We just passed the international statute of secrecy headquarters" helped Dumbledore.
"Yes" said the big Italian " Now we move to the tenth floor where is housed the International Magical Cooperation Committee and above…".
The children kept looking outside as their guide was explaining what they saw. All floors had a similar structure with a big balcony framing them and large corridors leading to the inside where the offices stood. Wizards and witches of all races and ages were pacing back and forth hurriedly, while others stood before large posters reading them and discussing.
Severus tried to figure out the content of the poster.
" It is some kind of lecture " he muttered to Lily who was looking at the wizards.
" ..What?" she said distracted.
" The poster " said Severus irritated.
" Ah.. " said Lily looking at the posters for the first time. Then she stopped at a start and turned to Dumbledore.
"Professor, what are these?" she said.
Dumbledore and Severus turned to see what she indicated while their guide seemed impervious to their comments.
Severus took a glance and saw whitish animal shapes hopping from corridor to corridor and floor to floor.
"Are these patronuses?" he asked.
Dumbledore nodded.
" We adopted the patronuses as a means of communication between colleagues. Saves the extra needs for paperwork" said the old man easily.
"But how can you convey a message with a patronus?" asked Severus.
"It is an adaptation of the common patronus charm" said Dumbledore.
"Wow!" said Lily. " This is ingenious! Who came up with the idea?"
Dumbledore smiled behind his beard. " I am afraid I will have to take credit for this" he said.
Lily and Severus exchanged looks.
"Can everybody do this here?" said Severus.
" Most wizards do. It is a criterion for their employment I am afraid" said Dumbledore.
" Two floors to go" jumped in Carlo, who was now getting more fluent " This is the twelfth floor, where you can find the Creatures Liaison Office.."
" We are getting there" said Lily excitedly.
They finally reached the seventeenth floor. The cube stopped easily and the glass doors slid to the sides.
Before them lay a balcony similar to the others. They stepped out with their guide leading the way to the nearest corridor.
Witches and wizards here were mainly dressed in black and only a few were out and about.
They entered the large corridor, which led to a double oaken door with a large label
" International Defence Association" on it.
The walls of the corridor were covered with light brown wooden cladding whereas the floor was covered with shiny marble tiles.
Severus looked at one of the nearby notice boards and located the poster he was looking for.
" Monitoring the Dark Magic activity in Global scale. Trends and threats" he read. "At 13.00, presented by the IDA director".
" Professor can we attend?" asked Lily.
"Yes Lily" said Dumbledore as he walked, his face now graver than before.
Carlo opened the double doors with a flick of his wand and led them to a second three pronged corridor. There were small exhibition benches housing several darkness detection instruments whereas the wall was covered with pictures of famous wizards and witches.
To the left and right they could see witches and wizards in black passing by, with offices every five meters while on the far end they could see a smaller oaken double door with the label "Director". Two men with black leather cloaks were on each side of the door.
The group approached the men.
One of them stepped forward. He was a short man at his early forties with a pointy chin and short wiry hair.
" Professor Dumbledore and the two visitors he brings have an appointment with the director" said Carlo as the other three waited two steps behind.
The short man nodded and looked at a painting on his right. It depicted a beautiful witch with long blond hair who was sitting by a lake . The beautiful woman nodded and with a graceful movement, she rose from her feet and disappeared from the corner of her painting.
The other guard , a tall black man with very broad shoulders was waiting by the door.
The procedure ran smoothly.
The short wizard requested their wands and performed a second check with a small sensor which reminded Lily wildly of a telephone handset.
"All clear" stated the man while the other knocked the door once.
The door opened after a fashion and the guards stepped aside.
"Thank you Carlo" said Dumbledore placidly. "I will take it from here."
The big Italian nodded with a smile on all three of them and then turned around and took his leave.
Albus headed forward and the two followed him at a small room with a big oaken office full of papers and memos. The children suddenly felt a cold breeze piercing them and immediately after the temperature returned to the original levels. Severus tensed and frowned while Lily stopped on the spot. After a fashion she smiled triumphantly and kept walking.
A large sofa lay on their right, next to a big window with a view to the whole city of Brussels, while before the office lay two elegant black chairs. A large oaken door was next to the office.
"Albus!" exclaimed a woman who could not be seen as she had knelt to retrieve her quill from behind the office.
"My dear Helen!" said Dumbledore warmly extending his hands.
The woman, in her late forties with long straight blond-dyed hair and a lively, smiling face walked around the office to give Dumbledore a tight squeeze.
Lily raised an eyebrow as she looked at her and turned to look at Severus. He had remained one step behind taking in his surroundings.
"Aaaah and you must be Severus and Lily!" said the woman with genuine pleasure in her childish voice. She moved from Dumbledore to Lily with her blue black dress robes floating elegantly and gave her a hug. Severus instinctively flinched but couldn't escape her.
"It has been very long since we had children here!" said Helen.
Dumbledore chuckled : "Severus, Lily allow me to introduce you Miss Helen Penworth, Eric's secretary".
"Hello Miss Penworth" said Lily while Severus mouthed a hello.
"Come come, do you want refreshments?" said the woman as she moved back to the desk. Behind her, Lily could see the painting of the pretty lady.
Lily made to refuse, but the woman turned her eyes at her and looked at her.
Her gaze was intense and Lily lost her words for a moment.
"Hmm, hot chocolate perhaps?" said Helen after a fashion.
Lily was momentarily taken aback but nodded after a while.
"And for Severus.." she turned to Severus who looked back at her narrowing his eyes.
The woman lingered for a while before breaking eye-contact.
Raising an eyebrow, she changed her intense gaze to a sweet enquiring look.
Severus's expression didn't change.
"Water would do. Thank you" he said. His voice was cold as he turned to look at Dumbledore. The headmaster however, seemed to be in a lively discussion in Italian with the portrait oblivious to his student.
"Albus, strawberry flavored tea if I remember correctly?"
"Yes my dear with three cubes of sugar" said Dumbledore without averting his gaze from the beautiful lady.
The woman drew a long, thin wand and waved it mumbling silently.
"Why don't you take a seat? Eric will see you in a while"
Lily made to sit at a chair, but Severus drew her rather forcefully towards the sofa.
"Sev what?" she mumbled as they turned their backs.
"Don't keep eye contact with her. She is a legilimens" said Severus in a hushed tone.
"A.. really?" said Lily turning to look at Helen as she was now discussing with Dumbledore.
"Yes. And that's not the whole story" said Severus taking his time to sit.
"We are not a..".
They had not even sat yet when the oaken door opened and two men came out.
" Edgar, Alastor" said Helen with her laugh-like high pitched voice.
"Miss Penworth"said inclined his head a tall broad shouldered man with brown graying hair and wire rimmed glasses. The man who followed was very tough looking at his early forties with a grizzly mane of dark blond hair and a battle-scarred face. He grunted a 'hello'.
The two stopped to greet Dumbledore and after a quick quiet chat they departed.
Helen rose from her seat and moved smartly inside the oaken door.
"What were you saying?" asked Lily looking at Dumbledore who was now staring at the portrait as if waiting for a confirmation.
"We are not alone in this room" mouthed Severus at her ear.
Lily looked at him abashed and then turned to look at Dumbledore again.
Surprisingly, the professor was smiling at them as if congratulating them on an accomplished task.
Miss Penworth came back from the other room and looked at all three of them.
"Director Pendragon will see you now. I will bring the refreshments inside"
The children stood up and marched to follow Dumbledore who had also moved from his standing position.
The group of three moved into the other room.
It was a spacious office with a dark blue carpet and a brown polished wood decorating the walls up to two meters. A big office was on the far right filled with parchment and some elegant quils. Behind it, were some pictures
As in the reception room, a big window was on their right with a cozy sofa next to it. On their far left was a nice marble fireplace. The walls were covered with books and some instruments while on their left hand lay a large portable whiteboard covered with a strange looking world map.
A man was looking at the map with folded hands.
When the three got in, he turned his head to them and smiled briefly.
"Welcome" he said in a deep, dark voice as he moved to greet them.
He was tall and well built in his late thirties, with short dark hair combed to the back and a well trimmed goatee.
He wore an elegant black doublet with silver buttons and matching black trousers and shoes.
"Albus" said the man inclining his head politely.
"Eric" said Dumbledore warmly as the men exchanged a handshake.
When they finished, the Headmaster turned to the kids
"Allow me to introduce you Miss Lily Evans and Mister Severus Snape, our students. Children, this is Mister Eric Pendragon".
The man exchanged brief handshakes with his gaze though fixed somewhere else.
"Please make yourselves comfortable" he said as he moved towards his chair. " Helen will be bringing refreshments".
Albus took the right seat before the office, while the two sat at the sofa.
Pendragon took a seat and looked at the children and Dumbledore.
The headmaster again was distracted looking at the pictures and portraits behind the director's office.
Lily turned her head and looked at the pictures herself and gaped.
"Professor.. Is this Fawkes"
"Yes Lily" nodded Dumbledore.
Severus turned and looked at the picture as the door opened with Miss Penworth bringing a large silver tray of beverages and cookies.
Three black-and-white pictures lay behind Pendragon. The one on the right showed a phoenix flying towards the air above a burning building with a long haired and bearded man holding its tail.
The middle one showed a team of around twenty men and women of various ages in a clearing. They were hugged and were smiling proudly with wands in hand. Many of them were bandaged and others were wounded.
The last one on the right depicted a duel between two men inside a burning building. The left one had short hair while the one on the right had long beard and hair.
"I have to admit that these photos are masterpieces." said Dumbledore.
" Professor, are these pictures from your duel with Grindelwald?" asked Severus.
"Yes Severus" said Dumbledore. "Eric was one of the most active wizards of the resistance against Grindelwald. The photographer was one of ours also."
A brief silence followed.
"So Eric, as we had discussed, our meeting today has the purpose of my students' assessing you as their potential teacher. Children" he turned at the two with twinkling eyes "you may begin".
Pendragon folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward. His eyes were fixed at the left chair and his head was slightly bowed.
Lily looked at Severus blushing slightly. Severus on the other hand seemed to have things to say.
" You have already figured out our power levels" he said simply, his mouth moving ever so slightly.
The man nodded without moving his gaze. "How did you figure it out?" he asked conversationally shortly after.
" The drop in temperature as we entered the office. It was a magical power detecting charm." said Lily.
Dumbledore smiled.
" Your secretary is a legilimens" stated Severus.
"An obstacle which you bypassed rather impressively as I am informed" nodded the man unmoving.
Severus smiled darkly but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"So, professor" said Lily to Dumbledore. "How are we going to assess? So far, it is us who have been put under test." she concluded matter of factly.
"Alas Lily, critical thinking" said the headmaster. "However, if you don't have any questions to Mister Pendragon I will assume our work completed."
"Not quite" said Severus as he stood up.
Lily turned to look at him and the two men turned their eyes on the adolescent boy.
"If you are going to be my teacher, and not the usual parody we encounter, I want you to prove me that you are worth my attention."
"Severus!" mouthed Lily.
Dumbledore didn't say anything. On the contrary, instead of being offended he seemed intrigued.
"Very well mister Snape" said Pendragon and he rose from his seat.
"Wand out please" he concluded as he drew his own wand from his holster.
For the first time, Severus was genuinely surprised. He recovered soon. Jerking his right hand, his wand came out of his sleeve.
Pendragon moved to the center of the room and pointed Severus to stand opposite to him.
The boy obeyed narrowing his eyes.
"In teaching defence, I believe in a practical approach."
Lily was livid. She nodded, even though the words were not directed on her.
"..This means that I want you to duel me with all you have. Your task mister Snape is to take me down. This means to disarm me permanently, stun or incapacitate me. Killing is not an option." said the man matter of factly.
"This is not fair" said Severus. " Your knowledge certainly outperforms mine."
"This is true. This is why, I will be using spells that are taught until the end of the fourth year at Hogwarts. You on the other hand, are free to cast as you like. Now.. Albus, could you help us a bit here?"
"Certainly" said Dumbledore placidly. With a flick of his wand, the room started growing. The middleground became five times larger after a fashion. With a second flick of his wand, a transparent dome appeared around the middleground.
Lily was livid. She didn't expect that. Severus was assessing the ground, calculating his opponent with his eyes. She could understand his excitement, even though his composure hid it. He seemed cold, composed, ready.
His opponent was rigid. His eyes assessing, didn't leave Severus for even a moment.
His wand held loosely in his left hand, Eric Pendragon was waiting for his rival to make the first move.
Finally, Severus took attack position and made a short bow.
Pendragon, taking defence position,returned the bow and waited.
One, two, three…
"Expelliarmus!" said Severus.
"Protego" said the man almost lazily. The spell was sent to the dome and was absorbed by it.
"Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Averte Statura!" fired Severus the one spell after the other.
The shield broke in the third spell and Pendragon was pushed some centimeters to the back.
He smiled.
Snape took advantage of the broken shield and exclaimed
"Obscuro!"
A thick fog engulfed the room and Lily placed her hands before her eyes to protect them.
Severus conjured daggers out of thin air.
With a flick of his wand they started flying forcefully towards the man while he started running to his right.
Five steps later, he pointed his wand towards the man's position and exclaimed "Expelliarmus!".
Nothing happened.
Severus looked at the fog and with a jab of his wand, a gust of air cleared it out.
He looked intently.
The daggers had all hit the dome wall. Pendragon was floating three meters above him, covering his eyes with his right hand, while his wanded hand was supporting his flight.
"Fuck" mouthed Severus.
Pendragon removed his right hand from his eyes and looked at the boy.
"My turn" he said with satisfaction etched in his features. "Confundus!" he bellowed as he jumped down.
Severus dodged and the other replied with a stunner which was blocked by a protecting shield. Severus quickly retorted with a purple jet of light which the other man countered with a stunner. The curses collided and were sent flying.
Now the duel became more and more intense.
Severus had started employing more complex spellwork, of which Lily had no knowledge. The other was replying with simpler charms, combining them, dodging and blocking.
The feverish dance went on for about five minutes with Severus sweating, eyes livid, and pointing his wand at the man's face. The other was pointing his wand at the boy's abdomen.
The man looked at the boy inquiringly.
"Impressive. But not any closer to achieving your task mister Snape" he said with a one sided smile.
Severus grunted.
"Show me your true potential!" commanded the man. "Give me your best!"
Severus lowered his wand slowly. "You don't want me to" he said in hushed tones.
The man moved two steps back.
"Then I will start duelling seriously" he said matter of factly.
The boy instinctively took defence position.
"Imperio!"
Severus was not prepared for this and the attack hit him full in the face.
"Professor!" said Lily.
Dumbledore however was placid, however his eyes seemed alert. He didn't reply.
"Surrender your wand" commanded Pendragon's voice.
Severus stood there looking at him dumbfounded. Everything was calm and beautiful. A relaxing sensation oozed his body. 'What if he takes my wand? Let it be over'.
He made to raise his hand.
"NO!" another voice spoke inside him as he fell to his knees.
"No?" said Pendragon. " I command you to surender your wand to me now!" he bellowed.
Severus made to rise to his feet but he dropped down at four like a beast.
"No.." he said slowly, trembling.
Realization stroke him and he recovered from his daze. He turned to look at the man above him. His eyes full of hatred.
"You dared…"
"Of course I did!" said the man and pointed his wand between the boy's eyes. His wandtip ignited and his eyes became harsh.
"I am not here to do textbook defence. The danger is out there and has a name. Everyone must be prepared for what is to come!"
Severus jumped like a wild animal to his feet and attempted a kick on the man's knee.
The other dodged easily and pointed his wand towards the boy once again.
"There may be a moment when your life depends on momentary decisions in the battlefield." he said as Severus was taking his distance.
"I am here to prepare you for what is to come. If you approve of it, then we have an agreement. If not, the duel is not over yet."
Severus took a deep breath.
This man was no joke. He had dodged some of his more advanced spellwork easily and had not hesitated to use the imperius curse against him. Severus had been careful enough not to invoke dark arts, not in front of him or Dumbledore and especially Lily.
But what would happen if he did? Would he really manage to affect the man?
"You blocked my imperius" said the man matter of factly.
"Yes" said Severus.
"This was quite an accomplishment." said the other carefully. "It requires strength of character and.. "
'A focused attitude' thought Severus simultaneously within his head, quoting Lucius Malfoy when he first placed the imperius on him in the private Slytherin "sessions".
"But you were not quick enough. I could have a dagger with me and stabbed you in the meantime, kicked your head open, broken your wand.." said the man.
"But the imperius curse is difficult to block!" said Lily from behind. "It needs time".
Pendragon smiled.
"Do me a favor Severus".
The boy looked at him.
"Imperius yourself".
This was the most uncommon request one had ever made to him.
"Myself?"
"Yes yourself"
Severus had never done this before. He slowly raised his wand and pointed it at his throat.
"Imperio!" he said.
The sensation returned, but this time he felt like he was in total command. He could make the highest jump, dance, play quiddich, he was the most powerful wizard alive and none could stop him from achieving what he wanted!
He turned and looked at Lily triumphantly. She was genuinely shocked.
As he faced his teacher again, the other smiled and exclaimed "Imperio!".
The calming daze came back, but this time it was incoherent. It came and went with no orderly fashion.
' Surrender your wand now!' commanded the voice inside his head.
The "No" came quicker than anticipated.
"Totalus Imperio!" said Pendragon.
The warm wave of ease and relaxation came again, stronger this time. He felt like his confidence was breaking. No, he wouldn't be broken! It was a battle of wills and he had to win. He slowly moved his wand upwards, to see the other man rushing towards him to ram him with his shoulder.
"PROTEGO!" he bellowed!
The connection broke.
The man staggered but did not fall. He crashed on Severus's barrier and pirrhouetted to the left to control his balance.
Severus fell on his knees, panting, with sweat all over his face. Moments later, Lily was by his side hugging him tightly.
She turned to Dumbledore who was perfectly calm.
" How could you allow this headmaster? " she said.
Dumbledore looked at Lily.
" I did allow this Lily, because you need to be ready. " he eyed Eric who was putting his wand back in his holster while walking towards his office.
" Ready for what professor? You allowed this man to use an unforgiveable on Severus!" she shouted pointing her finger to Pendragon.
The man came towards Severus who was still panting and knelt before him.
"Here, have some chocolate. It will help."
The boy took the chocolate without saying anything and tried to stand up slowly. His feet were betraying him, but with Lily's help he made it.
"Ready for Lord Voldemort" said Dumbledore simply.
The girl winced. Severus jerked his head towards his headmaster and then felt the other man helping him move to the sofa.
He sat down.
Lily sat by him speechless.
Dumbledore stood up and moved next to Eric Pendragon.
"The man who calls himself Lord Voldemort has finally come to the open" he said. "You have been informed, I am sure, of the disappearances and muggle murders that have been taking place the last six months. " he paused. He had all the others' attention.
Now his voice became deadly serious.
" Those who defy him have dire consequences to face. His followers are as ruthless as he is. Not hesitating to kill, control or torture. It is therefore my duty to prepare you the best way I can for the danger out there."
For the first time, Lily realized what all this fuss on the Prophet was about. If the deterrent needed to be so strong, the danger must be real.
Severus started eating his chocolate, lost in his thoughts.
"The Dark Arts" said Pendragon. "Are dangerous. They are beautiful, ever changing, adaptive and powerful. If you are not balanced enough though, they may consume you. This is why we do not teach or use them. However, you must be able to defend against them. To do that you must be able to understand what they do."
Lily lowered her head.
"Is he that terrible?" she said quietly.
"I strongly believe that we have seen nothing yet" said Dumbledore.