Insights On The New Professor
This is the usual disclaimer. I do not own anything. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. No money is made.
This is my first attempt to write a more humorous story. However, I'm afraid it will turn out to be my usual romance. I promise I'll try though.
Dear Lady Whitehart, thank you again for beta reading and for your kindness.
Indeed, the sides of Severus' shoes were covered with remains of the silver dust, and since Severus remembered silver sparks raining down on him, histwinmight be right. He would analyse the powder this evening and hopefully get rid of the grinning idiot in the near future.
The headmaster eyed Snape II. "You don't mind me using Legilimency on you, do you?" he asked.
"Of course not," the wizard agreed complaisantly.
Left reassured by the examination, Albus Dumbledore smiled, now with obvious mirth. "Very well, Severus, we have to take care of this problem. So far, we don't know if, or how, your twin's presence in this world will affect you. Another matter are your DADA classes. Since you will have to do a lot of research, and I do not have another professor to take over, he can make himself useful and teach some of your classes. By the way, we need a name for him. We cannot call him Professor Snape; that would be quite confusing. Severus, you do have a middle name, don't you?"
Severus' winced at the mention of his middle name. "You do not have to remind me. What was my mother thinking when she named me Aurelius?" he ground out.
"Well, then it is settled, we will call him Professor Aurelius. Professor Aurelius, tomorrow morning, you will substitute for Severus in his classes while he analyses the powder. Maybe we can send you back soon; otherwise you may take turns. Since today's DADA classes are cancelled, you will have time to show your quarters to Aurelius and maybe discuss the schedule for tomorrow, Severus. I am sure you won't mind sharing quarters with him for a short time; it will be an interesting experience for both of you." Not paying regard to Severus' shocked expression, he added mischievously, "I am quite sure you will get along with each other quite fine. At 7 PM, I expect you and your other colleagues for an extracurricular staff meeting."
The headmaster rose, and Severus understood that he was dismissed. He knew further discussion was futile and rushed out, not looking back, his robes billowing behind him.
In his office, Albus Dumbledore tapped his lips with his index finger. "Maybe, this is your chance, my boy," he mumbled, smiling.
The door of Snape's quarters closed behind them. Aurelius sat down on the sofa, grinning roguishly. "That was really impressive what you did with your robes, this billowing. Perhaps you can teach me..."
"Maybe you find yourself amusing; I on the other hand do not. You may keep your funny remarks to yourself," Severus grumbled. "We have a problem to solve and to get you back to wherever you belong. Therefore, I am sure you will not mind a few questions. First, what do you know about me? Second, what did you mean by 'a thought that became flesh'? "Third, if you are how I was meant to be, why is it that you look like I do, except for a few trifles?"
He stood before the sofa and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Aurelius smiled slightly, unimpressed by Severus' irritation. "First, I know everything that you experienced, everything you did. I do not, however, know anything about your current feelings, though I may sense certain things sometimes. Your feelings are yours. Obviously, our attitude is completely different. Second, when you had to make a decision, did you ever hear a voice counselling you, a sort of conscience? That was me. Third, I take that you are not content with your outer appearance? Well, I am; what's wrong with it?" Seeing Severus' incredulous expression, he continued, "People are created differently; what is considered beautiful in one era will be considered ugly in the next. Besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the person who loves you." Aurelius sighed. "I know that you have not found this person yet. Besides," he added, "it would not hurt if you worked on these trifles."
Severus scowled. "Am I to believe that I was meant to be a clown? I replaced the talking mirror with a Muggle mirror years ago. I do not set value on getting a walking, talking, grinning mirror now who tells me that my hair is greasy or how I am supposed to behave. You don't know anything about real life."
This time, Aurelius did not smile. "No, Severus, you are wrong. I am how you could have been with the same curriculum vitae as you; it is not the difference in experience that forms us, it is our reaction." Noticing Severus' killing glance, Aurelius added, "Well, since I know you quite well, there is no need trying to intimidate me by glaring at me. It does not work."
For once, Severus was at a loss for words. So he did what he always did, what he did best, he scowled and turned away. He had no interest in talking to Aurelius any longer. Sharing his quarters with Aurelius? Merlin's balls, he had always known that Dumbledore had a sadistic streak. Aurelius would drink his wine and even browse through his books. The only consolation was that he was probably tidy. Since he had been careless enough not to bring any clothing along, Severus would even have to lend his robes to him. Could anything get worse?
Finally all teachers were seated and glancing curiously at the new version of Severus Snape. Albus Dumbledore addressed his colleagues. "Of course, all of you have heard about the incident during the Apparation lesson, and I would like you to welcome Professor Aurelius. We have chosen this name according to Severus' middle name. His appearance seems to be the result of a prank caused by a silver substance we found on Severus' shoes. I will explain the details in a moment."
Severus winced at the mentioning of his middle name. Aurelius only inclined his head and smiled pleasantly at his new colleagues.
"But the most important things first," Dumbledore continued, pulling a scroll out of his robes, "This morning, I had received a most serious letter from the Ministry of Magic. Mr. Percy Weasley informs us that the green form XB 179 for the order of magical paper is replaced by the yellow form XR 785. The order of barn owls for this year is limited to ten, and apparently we have used the incorrect application form for the order of magical quills." The headmaster glanced over his glasses and shook his head slightly. "Minerva, if we have to order new quills, kindly remind me to ignore Mr. Weasley's request.
"Ah, I almost forgot to mention another letter from the Ministry." He smiled at the exasperated faces of his colleagues. "No, no forms. Miss Granger has applied to be allowed to take her NEWTs early. This requires permission from the Ministry and an extra project in a subject of her choice. The Ministry has given their permission, and one of you will be approached by Miss Granger. I hope she will find you willing to help her.
"Now back to the matter you are all anxious to hear about. Aurelius is no ghost, nor is he a duplicate of Severus. In fact, as Aurelius has explained to us, the moment Severus tried to Apparate, something caused his, well, let's say, conscience, or an idea of how Severus should have been, to materialise. The effects are still unknown. Together, Severus and Aurelius will try to send Aurelius back to the spiritual world. Professor Aurelius will also teach some of Severus' classes. I am grateful about the reinforcement to our staff. Needless to say that the students will not be informed about Aurelius' nature. It might cause unnecessary speculations."
All the while, the Hogwarts staff had been whispering amongst each other and glancing at the two wizards in question - the sour-looking edition of the two was scowling defiantly at each and every one. At Dumbledore's mentioning, however, that Aurelius was how he, Severus, should have been, Severus had glared daggers at his colleagues. Don't say anything wrong, better do not say anything at all.
Fortunately for them, everybody had refrained from any comments. When heading towards the door, Rolanda Hooch looked back to Severus and grinned. "So this is what you look like when you smile, Severus. Really nice!"
Severus' scowl only seemed to increase with that remark. Without looking back, he rushed out, his robes again billowing behind him. Aurelius smirked – Severus was really predictable.
Aurelius was as unnerving as Severus had expected. Even looking at him made Severus furious. i His conscience, a thought of how he should have been! Ridiculous! He tried not to pay too much attention to Aurelius, but this was not as easy as he had assumed. At times, a tiny little thought escaped his inner censure: What if it was not too late to change
He could not complain, though, about Aurelius' work in the lab. Fortunately, the powder was quickly analysed. The ingredients were not rare: powdered rats tails, dried toad mold, strained bobotuber pus, fluxweed, wormwood and cockroaches, dissolved in a mixture of alcohol and magical water. Severus had each of them in his usual stock.
Four hours of brewing and a drying spell later, the powder was nearly ready. Severus was appeased, and his mood improved significantly. Late at night, the powder finished, he fetched a bottle of old Amontillado from his stock and took two glasses out of his cabinet. Tonight he could allow himself to be generous, for tomorrow, the source of irritation would disappear. They would step into the hoop together, they would Apparate, and Aurelius would go back to where he belonged. Good riddance, peace at last.
Of course, it was too much to hope that this last evening with Aurelius would pass by without a aspersion. When Severus emerged from the bathroom later in his grey oversize night shirt, Aurelius arched an eyebrow and said, "Yes, I can see why you are still a bachelor."
Later, when Aurelius himself came out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips after twenty long minutes – how long could a man take for a shower – he complained about the lack of hygiene products. Merlin's beard, was this what he was meant to be – a girly, constantly-grooming Lockhart mutation?
The next day was even worse. After breakfast, Severus conveyed the lucky news, Dumbledore had lifted the Apparation wards and Severus and Aurelius had tried to send Aurelius back – and had failed. Severus had looked for a fault in the analysis, had reread everything he had found out about the powder. He groaned; he had been as meticulous as ever, but it had not worked. For now, he was evidently stuck with Aurelius. However, his frame was slightly paler than Severus'; perhaps he would fade with time. The only question was – when?
His colleagues, this gleeful lot, did not seem to mind the failure. On the contrary, they savoured each moment in Aurelius' company. Feeling that i his /i company was not needed, Severus retreated to his office. After all, there was work to do; he would have to do more research. Leave it to his obtrusive twin to make his appearance in class. Severus had no doubt that Aurelius would be a success; the students would love him. Severus snorted sardonically.
When Aurelius came back from his classes, Severus did not even bother to look up from his textbooks.
"Have you had a good sulk today? Classes were really interesting. Do you want to know how your students behaved today?" Aurelius asked cheerfully.
"I doubt that I can extricate myself from this extraordinary pleasure; you will tell me any minute," Severus replied. "Why is it that you are always grinning, that you are always in such a good humour but pretend to be me? You are making me sick."
"That's the purpose of my efforts, Severus. You are easily led up the garden path."
For the first time, Severus looked at his twin with genuine interest.This he could understand and this he liked. Perhaps he and Aurelius were not so different after all. Be that as it may, he was still irritating as hell.
Aurelius continued, "Well, anyway, they were quite wary at the beginning, at least until I deducted twenty points from that insolent boy. What was his name... Malfoy? The mood lightened considerably after that. By the way, congratulations."
"What for?" Severus replied, narrowing his eyes.
"You've got quite a reputation. I taught three of your DADA classes today, and I found a single student who did not dread you. She is the one who will take her NEWTs early, Miss Granger. I was quite astonished about her reaction towards me. She was polite and respectful, but showed no fear like the other students and does not bear a grudge against you. It was interesting how she scrutinised me when she thought I would not notice. I can understand why you might like her better; she is not one of the usual dunderheads. A brilliant witch, and she may be our intellectual equal in a few years. By the by, if you look beyond her funny bushy hair, she's quite pretty."
"She is a student, Aurelius, why would I care how she looks? You better not care either. Besides, you are talking about our resident know-it-all. Why would I like her better? I don't like the students, and they don't like me, and that is how I intend to keep it. Miss Granger is an obtrusive and irritating girl. I have told her often enough. Your knowledge of human nature is abysmal if you think she would not dread me and vice versa," Severus spat furiously.
"No need to be offended, Severus," Aurelius replied pleasantly, grabbed a textbook, and disappeared towards the lab.
Severus was still furious. Now that he knew that Aurelius was not as harmless as he pretended to be, Severus was convinced that Aurelius had mentioned this particular subject deliberately. Aurelius must have noticed that... No, there was no way Aurelius could have noticed that Severus felt anything but exasperation for Hermione Granger. Aurelius had told him that Severus' feelings were his alone, and Severus had been more than careful to hide them behind his usual contemptuous behaviour. This left only one other conclusion that was even worse: Aurelius had also noticed how extraordinary Hermione Granger was.
When Hermione Granger had returned to school for her sixth year, the changes in her had been remarkable. No longer did she try to gain his attention, but she had worked silently and efficiently. Her movements when she flicked her wand were graceful, and there was definitely no foolish wand waving on her part. Her eyes were warm, her demeanour confident, but not overbearing, and obviously, she had become a woman. It was not so much her curves--some fourteen-year-old girls had more curves, and she was still on the delicate side--but her behaviour set her apart from the usual giggling teenagers.
Severus had loathed himself for noticing that a student had become a woman. If someone could hear the way I think about her – I sound like a hormonal teenager.
This had never happened to him, and he would not allow himself ever to act against the school rules, least of all against his moral standards. Severus snorted inwardly. Even if i he /i was willing to violate the school laws, Hermione would run in the opposite direction at the thought of her DADA teacher liking her, more than liking her. In his thoughts, she had become Hermione , and that had to stop. It was best not to think of her. He would get over this infatuation.
But it had not become better. His reaction when Albus Dumbledore had conveyed that Hermione Granger would take her NEWTs early had been between relief and anger. But if Aurelius... Severus' fury and jealousy sprang to life again.
A knock on the door disturbed his thoughts. "Enter!" he bellowed. -- "Miss Granger, to what do I owe this unpleasant visit?" he asked gruffly.
Hermione was not intimidated, but remained polite and calm as she always behaved towards him. "Professor Snape, I suppose you know about the project I have to present to the Ministry for my early exam. I would like it to be Potions, and I wanted to ask you whether or not you would agree to tutor me. You might be astonished that I approach you and not the new Potions master, but he, well..." Shit, how can I tell him that the new Potions master is crap without being rude? Doesn't work. Hermione, you are Gryffindor, be blunt, he will probably slate you anyway.Hermione cleared her throat. "Professor Snape, you've got a certain reputation, you are thorough and you are... much better." There, she had said it, and no lightning had struck her so far.
Snape, however, did not seem impressed. "Miss Granger", he answered condescendingly, "surely, with your extraordinary intelligence, you have taken notice of my usually less than existent eagerness of dealing with students outside my classes any longer than necessary. Therefore, I cannot possibly account for your coming here, nonetheless to take up my valuable time. I am convinced you will earn the grades you need much easier with a different project."
"Professor Snape, it's not the grades; it's Potions. I have chosen to pursue a career as a Healer after my exams. Potions will be an important part of my study."
For a moment, Snape was at a loss for words. If possible, he would have paled to a whiter shade than usual. Working together with Hermione Granger in the lab would be worse than classes, which already took up so much of his energy that he could scarcely bear it. He could not do that. "Miss Granger, in case you did not notice, we have a more difficult, adult problem to solve than your project. You may harass one of my colleagues and..."
"She can work with me, Severus," Aurelius' voice interrupted from behind. "We will have to do a lot of research, and she may help me."
Severus whirled around. "This is not up to you to decide! This is my lab, and I will not allow her to disorganise everything!" he shouted.
Hermione was stunned. The two wizards stood face to face like two gamecocks. At least Severus Snape looked as if he wanted to attack any moment.
How dare he! I will not tolerate Aurelius spending time with Hermione. Over my dead body! Severus was boiling with rage. "Well, Miss Granger," he finally said with cumbersome aloofness, "possibly a little help may accelerate our research. You may assist me if you are able and willing to participate in the problem Professor Aurelius and I are working on. I will choose a potion you may brew and tutor you. You will assist me with the problem Professor Aurelius and I have to solve. I make it clear that nothing that is going on here can be discussed with your friends. If I find out that you act against this order, I will make sure that there will be more than serious repercussions. You will join me in my office at 8 o'clock sharp, where I will fill you in on the details. Do not be late." With a condescending nod and a corresponding gesture he dismissed her.
Hermione closed the heavy oaken door carefully behind her. What had just happened in there? When she had decided to approach her Potions professor with her wish for a Potions project, she had been nearly sure that she was going to be turned down. Never in his years at Hogwarts, he had allowed any student to assist him. Yes, she wanted to do a Potions project, but it was not only Potions that she liked. Crazy as it was, she also liked her former Potions professor. She had never told anybody; she would have been the laughing stock of the school if anybody had learned about this infatuation. And if Snape had learned about her feelings, oh my...
Miss Granger, misguided emotions can lead to cauldron explosions or other accidents. Perhaps detention with Mr. Filch for the rest of the year will show you the advantages of reality. That was what he probably would have said.
Hermione did not know how she could have developed feelings for Severus Snape. He was thin, had a nose which could not be called aquiline but only beak like, had a sallow skin and a sour demeanour. Usually, men made slim use of their head and had a penchant of discussing themselves. Severus Snape was an exception. He was overbearing, yes, but he i was /i brilliant and never went for superficial flattery like Lockhart. Look, how wonderful I am!
As for his outward appearance, no way, he could be a girl's dream man. When other girls had asked Hermione what her dream man looked like, she had not described the usual blond, blue-eyed hunk but had only shrugged and said that she was not fixed on a certain type. She had imagined their faces if she had said that she went for middle-aged, greasy-haired and hook-nosed wizards.
Hermione knew that these few weeks until her early exam were the last she would see Snape ever. He had made clear that he disliked her since her early days at Hogwarts. She had always hoped to gain a little of his acceptance. This would be her last chance.
And what will you do now that you are allowed to participate in Severus Snape's research? Nothing! You, Hermione Granger, are a coward! You will pine for him while cutting toads' eyes and beetles' legs. That's romance!
A/N: The name Aurelius is of Latin origin;aureus means golden . We can see why Snape is not so happy with this middle name.