A/N – I know that last chapter was short, but this one will be longer, I promise! A brief synopsis—the Gryffindors (Hermione and Neville) and the Slytherins (Katrina, Ria, Bytenix, Zanthia, Kieran, Khazoi and Thomas—fight. The Great Hall, fortunately empty, is where we find ourselves at the beginning of the story. Happy reading. And please, please Read and Review.
Inside The Hourglass
by
shadracon
"In Which the Gryffindors and Slytherins Have A Row"
The assorted seventh-years found themselves, much to their surprise, in an empty Great Hall. Ivy grew through the windows and frames, much less abundant than the ivy that had been there during there time at the school. This perplexed Zanthia greatly, as she had not even seen--
Then it hit her.
Her Time Turner must have malfunctioned! There was no other explanation. Having recovered first, she helped her fellows to their feet and began to make sure no one was hurt.
Meanwhile, the two Gryffindors were greatly disturbed to see themselves surrounded by Slytherins. Although desperately outnumbered if things came to a fight, Neville thought dimly, (having hit his head on the stone floor), he and Hermione made a formidable fighting team--it had come to a stalemate in duelling club last year until stupid Draco Malfoy had interfered with a--
Hold up, Neville thought, his brain beginning to function properly again. He had see Draco with his wand pulled out right before a load of stinging dust hit his eyes, and he had seen Zanthia stumble and put her hand out so that she might catch herself when she hit the ground.
Zanthia Pyrades was a very odd young woman, to say the least. She came from a very rich wizarding clan, and although they were not pure-bloods, the Sareni family held the monopoly in wizarding trade. In Italy, the Saren was a type of wizarding currency named after the family. She was also related to Professor Florence Sinistra.
Many of the students (and a few of the teachers) greatly feared her powers. She was very absentminded, often forgetting about them. It was only far and few between that her powers would burst out--she might point at something and it would catch on fire, or she would get mad and suddenly her body would be wreathed in flames.
But these displays of power were rare and short-lived. Her real power lay in the very blood that coursed through her body--the power to turn back the hand of death and time.
This, however, was not the power of a healer. Envied by the Dark Lord and feared by his followers, her clan, the Sarenis, had harbored this secret power for ages--how could they not? At every turn, people would be hounding them to bring their loved ones to life if word got out. As it was, but few of the people knew she could turn death to life--Severus Snape, Florence Sinistra, Albus Dumbledore, and of course, The Dark Lord.
Severus Snape knew because Zanthia once lost control of her Necromancer's powers in his presence. His pet crow, Corvus, forty-seven years of age, had died. He showed no outward emotion, yet his absence of sarcasm (indeed, speech) for hours afterward had signified to Zanthia that something was dreadfully wrong with Severus Snape.
She had gone to visit him in his office, where she found him sitting over the body of Corvus in silence. She had brought him back to life with a touch of her finger, and left. But Severus had seen who she was, and after many days of puzzling, told Albus Dumbledore.
The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had found this issue rather worrisome for several reasons, one of which was that if the Dark Lord were ever to discover Zanthia's powers, he would find it highly desireable to have her join his ranks. It made even the venerable Dumbledore shudder to imagine a sizeable army of Dead (rather like Muggle's notions of zombies, feeding upon human flesh and emotions, yet unable to be killed unless the wielder of the magic was slain or they were rendered handicapped by being blown to bits with a hand grenade or some such). Mortal magic stopped working withing yards of any Dead creature. Dumbledore found it intereting that only Muggle weapons could stop the Armies of the Dead.
Meanwhile, back in the Great Hall, the Gryffindors and Slytherins were arguing bitterly about what to do when Severus Snape entered the room.