Shifting Perceptions
Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to J. K. Rowling.

III

September 2, 1972

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office with the Head Boy, Lucius Malfoy, and the Head Girl, Amelia Bones. They had entered his office just a few moments before and he took the time to note the contrasts and similarities between the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff as they seated themselves in two comfortable chintz chairs, while he was at his usual place behind his desk.

Young Lucius still had a bit of a pinched, pointy look about his face due to his nose, but was beginning to show the signs of growing into the young man he already legally was. He showed a reserve that was calculated for effect, but usually achieved the desired goal of making people take him more seriously than if he acted the usual awkward teenager. Amelia Bones' facial expression, however, was more open, but she did not display the over-exuberance one Head Girl had a few years ago, practically bubbling over in her enthusiasm for the job. Miss Bones also sat in a poised manner, reminiscent of some of the Aurors he knew, such as Alastor Moody.

In fact, if he recalled correctly, Miss Bones had indicated a strong desire to go into the Auror program. With hard work, she would no doubt end up as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and from there, if she wished it, she could springboard into the office of Minister for Magic, since she would be an unofficial successor-in-waiting. Her performance as Head of DMLE would heavily influence the Wizengamot should she put her name forward some time in the future.

And as for Mr Malfoy, no doubt he would continue the family business. The Malfoys had many sprawling connections throughout the continental European pure-blood community as well as within magical Britain. Rumours had gone around some years before as to how Abraxas had suddenly magnified the family fortunes after the Soviet Ministry of Magic, in concert with its Muggle equivalent, had declared all pure-bloods as "counter-revolutionaries" (as in Britain, the distribution of wealth of magical Russia and its immediate neighbours was hopelessly lopsided) and targeted them for either expulsion or "re-education".

Of course, not all the pure-bloods in that realm waited for the formal announcement, and had taken everything they could out of the country. Abraxas was right there, ready to assist - for, of course, an immodest fee, smoothing the way for resettlement of their ranches of magical beings, their businesses and so on. The unlucky pure-bloods who had not left with such alacrity found their wealth confiscated and redistributed to Muggleborns; at least the magical Soviet government was a little more "socialist" in that respect than its Muggle equivalent.

Lucius would be expected to maintain those connections and draw upon them if needed. Albus wondered if the young man would not be more inclined to live off the returns. He was already courting Narcissa Black, who was clearly smitten with Lucius, and Albus, as loath as he was to think too far in the direction of the physical looks of his students, was forced to admit that Lucius had the kind of appearance that could turn peoples' heads. Gellert, though, had been livelier, somehow.

Albus turned away from thoughts of the past with almost a physical shake.

"Thank you both for coming to my office today," he said, "I realise it is a bit of an imposition when on Saturday I'm sure you would rather be catching up with your friends. Would either of you care for some tea?"

Both Lucius and Amelia nodded. As it turned out, Lucius took his tea the traditional way, with some cream and sugar, while Amelia took hers black, with sugar only. Albus poured himself some out of the elegant pot, which piped a small burst of steam after he set it down. He then indicated his bowl of sherbet lemons and said, "Feel free to have a sherbet lemon afterwards."

He noted that Lucius was holding his cup as though he were in a formal gathering with the Minister for Magic, grasping the handle with his left hand, while his right hand steadied it as though he and the cup were a statue. Amelia held her cup with a more casual air, but still steadying it with her left hand as her right hand held it through the handle.

Albus took a sip, and then began.

"I would like to cover the duties expected of you as Head students. You may have already read through the information packet sent with your Hogwarts letter, but I would like to take up a few details now."

One thing Albus knew about Legilimency was that it was easier to do if he could call forth associations and memories by certain word triggers, and he proceeded now.

"The first item of note is that you need to be as impartial as possible to all students in all Houses. You have been chosen to represent the best of Hogwarts of your year. In some respects the position of Head Boy or Girl is as much a political statement as it is a statement of a student's abilities. What you do will reflect on your House as well as on you personally."

The images that flickered across Lucius' surface thoughts showed an already-pronounced dislike of the Muggleborn students; indeed the red-headed Lily Evans had been tinged with a distinct emotion of distaste for her skill, linked to Horace Slughorn's effusive praise of her Potions. Also linked in with this was some suspicion of Severus Snape for his readiness to partner with her, but beyond that Albus dared not probe without activating any Occlumency Lucius might have learned. If he probed deeper, better to wait until the end when Lucius would be bored and wanting to leave.

"Second, the younger students will regard you as role models. You should endeavour at all times to display the proper behaviour Hogwarts expects of students, such as no untoward displays in the hallways, no use of magic in the hallways, and so on. The rules you were asked to follow and enforce as Prefects still hold for you now and more so, even, as I have already mentioned that how you comport yourselves reflects on more than just each of you personally. You should assist younger students, but not neglect your own studies and duties as you do so."

As Albus specifically mentioned younger students, Lucius's hand quavered the tiniest bit, and the images called forth seemed to show Severus Snape in some detail. None of the emotions called forth were of the inappropriate kinds, for which Albus was thankful, but it was clear that Lucius had mercenary motives that seemed to centre on the Prince libraries. Repeatedly, images of Lucius gaining Severus's trust showed as the older boy would praise the younger for his spell-work, while demonstrating a particularly effective one to be used on the foursome of boys from Gryffindor.

One odd thing stood out, in that none of the images Albus saw as he gleaned them from Lucius's eyes showed Lucius himself cursing or hexing James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew. Albus also noted that none of the images showed Lucius specifically teaching Severus Occlumency. With these two pieces of information juxtaposed, now was the time to begin being purposely boring.

Albus rattled on in detail, feeling a bit sorry for Amelia Bones as she seemed anxious to leave, knowing she had already read everything he had decided to highlight from the Head Student's Handbook. It didn't hurt that some surface Legilimency showed Lucius indeed becoming bored and a bit contemptuous of the 'old man'. It was always wise to be underestimated, especially as no-one must know that he now held the Elder Wand.

As he wrapped up the tedium almost twenty minutes later, Albus took his chance and probed a little deeper as he continued to speak, noting that Lucius's tea was half-way finished and Amelia was almost done. He sipped from his own cup, and added, "Finally, if you should have any problems, rest assured my door is always open. I want Head students to know they have the backing of Hogwarts' faculty and, of course, its Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress. So, to summarise, comport yourselves appropriately, be as even-handed as possible without hint of favouritism, and reflect the best of all that is a Hogwarts student."

Amelia Bones looked distinctly relieved as the finality in his tone indicated he was well and truly finished, while Lucius set his teacup on the saucer and politely placed it on the desk. He took stock of his deeper probe of Lucius' mind. Oddly, it seemed the young man barely knew of Occlumency at all, having only seen it as a theoretical exercise in disciplining the mind.

Albus withdrew as subtly as he entered, and noticed neither student had any questions.

"Well, then," he concluded, "Thank you for coming. I shall not keep you any longer, and you may go about your usual activities, except that you will need to patrol at your discretion to enforce curfew and other such school rules. Good-bye and good luck."

He perfunctorily shook hands with Lucius and Amelia, then escorted them to the doorway out to the moving stairs. He retreated back to his desk, looked at Fawkes, and mused that Severus Snape could not have learned Occlumency from Lucius Malfoy.

So where did the boy acquire even passing proficiency at it?

III

Severus Snape scowled at the Charms work that he was trying to touch up for handing in on Monday. It had been assigned as summer homework, apparently a usual practice with the exception of the gap between fifth and sixth years.

He was in the library on a Saturday with his second-year Charms text (Intermediate Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling) open in front of him along with a supplementary reference he had heard Lucius mention, called Working On Wand-Waving, by a man named Hogan Thistlethwaite. Lucius had laid a tiny – very tiny, to be sure – stress on the name, as though it portended hidden treasures ahead. Maybe Lucius hadn't meant any such thing, though. Severus, however, had become a bit of an expert (or so he thought) at divining one's intentions from tone. He had learned well from his own father, since banished into long-term convalescence after mysteriously falling from a high stairwell at work, and his Prince relatives, who barely tolerated his half-bloodedness. So that name might still bear watching.

The supplementary text was full of boring instructions on why it was important to follow rules for general categories of spells (example: the 'swish-and-flick' needed for a Levitation Charm), but aside from that it did not reveal any exotic forbidden secrets or Dark spells of any kind. Severus re-read the question, which ran, "Describe the Charms you have learned in your first year and, using a textbook or your own ideas, classify them appropriately."

Severus had, initially, attempted his own classification, but upon seeing Thistlethwaite's book, realised the man made more sense. He then promptly busied himself with trying to rescue the week's worth of work he had put into the initial penning of said essay (or 'quilling', he supposed he ought to say).

But the notion of attempting his own ideas and classifications stuck with him, and he wondered if maybe Potions would be more amenable to not treading ground someone else had already gone over. Flitwick no doubt expected his Ravenclaws to effectively and efficiently classify the spells on their own, while the rest of the Houses would be a mixed bag of using the standard second-year text's classifications (which were not as detailed and as clear as Thistlethwaite's) or haphazardly applying their own.

Well, he thought, he was a Slytherin and blasted if he'd make like a Ravenclaw who would no doubt insist that his way had to be superior to the textbook's, just because.

Even as he thought this and began re-working the essay, Madam Pince's sharp "Hsst!" resounded through the library and an appropriately abashed James Potter smiled at the librarian, then tugged his friend Sirius Black along with him. Severus groaned mentally, wishing that he had chosen a library table in the far corner so as to be less observable. Unfortunately, as it was, he was seated at a table near the entry doors and would soon be seen by the pair, which did happen.

Severus was sure that his poorly-suppressed expression of distaste mirrored that of Potter's and Black's as they approached his table to stand across from him, their backs to Madam Pince some thirty feet or more away, at her usual place, sternly examining a stack of books and briefly waving her wand over each one. The table separated him from the other two, thankfully.

James Potter said, "Snape."

"Potter. You know what Dumbledore said."

Potter nodded and said, "Sirius told me last night. Look, I wanted to say, well, that is—"

Annoyed, Severus spat, "Well, say whatever it is in that flobberworm's excuse for a brain of yours and leave me alone."

Potter's face coloured a little, but the boy controlled his tones as he continued. "Look, will you shake my hand too? I want you to know I'll stay clear of you as well as Sirius will."

And as James actually extended his hand, Severus nearly blurted out what went through his mind: "Well, I'll be dipped in—". It had been a crude expression he'd heard a mate of his father's use, a man who worked at the mill as well.

Luckily, he recovered himself and simply stood, walked partway round the table, and extended his own hand. Icily, he said, "Very well then. I'll shake, and I'll want you two to not annoy me. All right?"

Potter nodded, and Severus grasped the boy's hand, shook exactly once, and then resolved to find a strong cleaning charm on general principle.

True to their word, the boys departed, making for a different section of the library and utterly ignoring hm.

Severus exhaled, letting out a breath he had not realised he had been holding, and re-seated himself. At that moment, Lucius Malfoy, his Head Boy badge glistening noticeably on the part of a robe where a Wizengamot member would keep his or her judicial W, seated himself with perfect urbanity and placed his book on the table. He looked at Severus and asked, "Are Potter and Black bothering you again? I may have a good hex in this book to show you."

Severus shook his head and said, "Dumbledore's orders. We're not to go round attacking each other anymore or he'll take off House points. Lots."

Lucius' voice, to Severus's practiced ears, gained that slight quaver which meant he was really interested in something, just like with that Thistlethwaite Charms book.

"That will be all to the better, then. More time to study the things that really matter in our world, Severus. Since I see that you are busy, come see me tomorrow."

Lucius nodded and left, the perfect picture of a Slytherin Head Boy. But why did Lucius care a bit more than he seemed to about what Severus got up to with those Gryffindors? Was he disappointed that Dumbledore had told them to behave?

Author Note:

Thanks go to Maddevillechilde for Britpicking and excessivelyperky for having a look at this. :) Concrit is always appreciated, as well. :)