Hey everyone chapter three is here! In this chapter a new twist will be revealed, but an old plot line is being addressed which will offer characters outside of Hermione and Snape some character development. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Special shout out to Onyx Obsidian, windyshoes, ndavis77, LoveInTheBattleField, playwright82, I See Thestrals, Guest, and awhile for leaving me their wonderful reviews. I'd also like to thank the people who have followed, favored, and viewed my story, as long as you guys are viewing, I'm writing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
October 16th, 1991
2:00 AM
Headmaster's quarters
Severus couldn't say that he was particularly shocked by the random horrors that were currently going on around the school. Harry Potter had finally reached the age to attend the school and as he predicted, the boy became a magnet for trouble. Luckily it hasn't affected the students yet, but the magical creatures in the forbidden forest, especially the unicorns (whose blood was powerful enough to bring one back from the verge of death.) suffered terribly. These attacks led to the immediate lock down of the forbidden forest which kept classes from being held in or near it, and it also caused Albus to hunt down one of the most powerful magical objects in the world. The Philosophers stone.
Every time he heard Hagrid report a dead magical creature, seen Albus toy with the stone on his desk, or looked into the eyes of the boy who lived, he felt it. Branded into his left arm was the mark of an absent, but not defeated, dark Lord, and it pulled on his magic as if it could anticipate its creators return. Soon his hell would resume and he would once again have to stand beside pure evil, and he would have to do unthinkable things to innocent souls. His claim to sanity and peace was guaranteed to shatter, but he was determined to hold on to that part of himself for as long as possible.
This brought him into the cheery atmosphere of Albus Dumbledore's office at two in the morning. Albus had his house elf preparing them a cup of tea, and the old wizard was offering Severus several different types of candy. He politely declined his offers and he tried to stop staring at the philosophers stone, which was carelessly placed on a small table in front of them.
"Severus, I believe you know why you are here tonight?" Albus stated, he politely accepted tea from his house elf, who silently disappeared shortly after with a pop. "I hate to ask you to accomplish this so late in the night, but the children cannot be suspicious. I fear the curiosity of it all will land our little artifact in the wrong hands." Albus gestured at the small stone on the table, it was blood red in color and had a few jagged edges around it.
"And you're sure that Hagrid has what we need to keep that thing hidden?" Severus asked, he silently fumed as Albus' lips pulled into a tiny smirk.
"I assure you my dear friend that no one in their right head would ever try to get past Hagrid's form of defense." Albus popped a lemon candy into his mouth and made a sour face.
"Albus I'll make sure that the task will be finished within the hour." Severus went to get up but Albus halted him with a wave of his hand.
"Severus something is bothering you, if you have any doubts about this I must here them now." Albus urged, Severus settled back into his chair and considered whether or not he should complain about the stones hiding spot. However in that moment he thought of something just as important.
"It's Miss Granger." Severus started, the old wizards eyes suddenly started to sparkle with enthusiasm.
"Ah Miss Granger, Minerva tells me that she's a very bright witch." Albus exclaimed, he caught Severus's glower and mumbled a quick apology.
"The girl practiced wandless and nonverbal magic yesterday Albus. I don't think she understood how advanced her actions were either." Severus explained. He waited for Albus to make some kind of reaction, but the old wizard just sipped at his tea as if he was waiting to hear the rest of the story. "You are not surprised by this?" Severus asked.
"That may seem impressive to you Severus, but I assure you that the girl is simply growing into her magic. Such occurrences should cease as she progresses throughout the year, but if she is still preforming as you explained, I will speak with her myself."
"This is a peculiar occurrence that we're dealing with Albus, I suggest that we take action now. She could become a very powerful witch as she ages, if she doesn't learn how to control it now it may destroy her." Severus winced at the thought.
"Severus we deal with peculiar magic every day, you yourself are an example. Not much can be explained about your current state." Severus scoffed as Albus gestured towards him. "You haven't aged a day in over ten years and we both know that dark magic wasn't involved."
"Fine Albus, we will wait." Severus shot out of his seat and nodded respectfully towards the Headmaster. "I will complete my task as promised."
"May I ask about your relationship with young Harry?" Once again Severus was stopped from leaving, he let out an impatient huff.
"I have nothing to say about the boy and our relationship. The only claim to power that the boy has lies within his title." Severus scoffed. "The boy who lived is nothing more than an average student who isn't and probably will never be prepared to face the Dark Lord."
"Perhaps if you gave the boy a chance he would learn from you Severus." Albus suggested, Severus rolled his eyes in response.
"Even if I could manage to teach the boy I could only help so much. My current job is to teach students how to brew potions, not battle against Dark Lords. You should have thought of that before you handed the Defense Against the Dark Arts position to Quirrell." Severus stated, just thinking about the stuttering professor made him cringe.
"Very well Severus, you may leave now. Hagrid should be prepared by the time you get to his hut." Albus dismissed him and poured himself another cup of tea. Severus cast one last glance at the Philosophers stone before swiftly exiting the room.
The trek towards Hagrid's hut was a rather long one, and it was eerily quiet save for a few shrill insects. He uttered a quick Lumos and was using his wand to light the way, he stared at the smooth skin of his wand bearing hand. Albus had thrown a low blow when he mentioned his condition, he hadn't been able to age in over ten years and he had no idea why. He should have the body of a thirty year old man, instead he was stuck in his twenties.
He wasn't allowed to enjoy the benefits of slowly dying as every human did, and he was doomed to facing the Dark Lord without an explanation to his unusually preserved body.
When he approached the but he was surprised to see the half giant already waiting for him in the doorway. He whispered "nox." and swiftly pocketed his wand in his robes.
"Oi professor Snape, it's good to see ya." Hagrid exclaimed he smiled at Severus, who slightly curled his lips in response. Hagrid's bloodhound trotted over to him and lazily sniffed his foot, apparently satisfied the dog swept away and disappeared behind the hut.
"I'm here for the thing Dumbledore wanted." Severus explained, as soon as he mentioned Dumbledore the giant literally started sweating. "Please tell me that nothing illegal is hiding away in that hut of yours."
Hagrid let out a forced laugh and quickly shuffled into his hut, when he emerged he held a black writhing animal in his arms.
"What the hell is that thing?" Severus demanded, he took a step back when Hagrid attempted to hand the animal off to him.
"Why this 'ere fella is Fluffy, Professor Dumbledore let me get 'im fer your project up at the school." Hagrid explained, he set the animal on the ground and it immediately jumped on all fours. Severus snorted when all three heads of the dog started growling at him. "He's a little bigger than that so make sure that you get 'im to the school in the next couple of hours. Wouldn't want the thing runnin' 'round the school chasing students."
Hagrid pulled out a flute and played a few notes, knocking the aggressive dog unconscious. He handed the flute to Severus and explained the affect of music on the dog. "A few notes out of the flute should put 'im down fer a while."
Severus nodded and swept the sleeping dog into his arms, he looked back at Hagrid who's eyes started to sparkle with tears. "He's all ready fer ya now. Take good care of 'im for me." Hi voice cracked as he slowly disappeared into his hut.
On his way back to the school Severus silently stroked the silky fur of the dog and silently prayed that it would do its job to protect the stone. He looked down at the unconscious dog, one of it's heads had its tongue sticking out. "You are an ugly little mutt." Severus stated, the dog let out a tiny growl in response. Severus chuckled but did reasonably pick up his pace as he approached the school.
So did you guys enjoy this chapter? I know a lot of odd magical occurrences are happening to both Hermione and Snape, but I promise you they all are going to add up (I can't tell you when but it's definitely not going to happen soon.) because everything in this story happens for a reason. Please leave me review and let me know what you think of the story, do you like it? Hate it? Do you have any predictions for later chapters? Let me know!
Thank you for reading!
