As you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Which, my initials are SRCND, so no, I don't own.
"Parseltongue"
"Normal Talk"
Thoughts/spells
Enjoy!
By the time the students from Beuxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, the houses were very low on points, and quickly going into the negatives. Even as the two school leaders looked on, the point numbers continued falling.
"Mein Gott!" Igor Karkaroff yelled in shock. "We have point systems like this, but aren't as low as this!"
"I apologize, Igor, Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said somberly. "One of our Professors has been in an extremely grumpy mood as of late, and the Triwizard Tournament is doing nothing for his nerves. Also, we've had to turn to one of our ghosts to substitute for one of our teachers to take an unexpected holiday for her health."
"Ah, a baby?" Madame Maxime grinned.
"If only it were that simple," Dumbledore frowned, and the other two stared at each other in shock and bewilderment. "But, all this aside, we welcome you! We have already explained the rules to the students."
"Albus," Professor McGonagall said briskly. "I've got an idea! I know it might be foolish, and one of them will probably hex the other, but – it might work."
"Send me a letter later, Minerva," he nodded. "Actually, go ahead with it. I think Severus might be a little less lenient, however, now that Halloween is coming upon us…"
"Of course," she said before heading back to her office to write to Chessie. She sent it off with her owl, knowing the youth wouldn't dare refuse an invitation from her former Transfiguration Teacher.
Fleur Delacour's name was called for Beauxbatons, and Victor Krum for Durmstrang. The next problem was for the Hogwarts Champion. With a blazing fire, and an extremely shocked and angry Professor Dumbledore, Harry's name was called out. However, that wasn't what made the school's night – Kiru's name was set out of the fire.
Harry and Kiru protested to their two Professor's, insisting that they hadn't put their names in. Kiru walked towards the Goblet, but was ricocheted backwards growing a full mane of hair that was turning just as greasy as her father's. Apparently it was a trait that the Snape family grew into, the school marveled. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened, but Severus' obsidian eyes narrowed as he saw her.
"I've got to report for the Triwizard tournament," she told him warily.
"Fine," he snapped. "But I'll be screening it, and don't make me hex you, Skeeter." Snape's message was clear: Mess up, and I reveal you for what you are. She nodded, smiling even though nauseated.
"Well, ladies first," she sang, pulling Kiru in, who had latched onto the Potions' professor's robes. He glared at Rita, who let go and led Fleur away quietly. Then it was Krum's turn, and he, too returned paler than he had been when he'd gone in.
When Harry finished, he felt like a pile of dirt when she was through. He whispered into Kiru's ear to watch out for the quill. Naturally, Kiru took one look at it and set it on fire without even using her wand, with a loud shriek from the reporter. The older Snape smirked and almost laughed when he heard the horrible woman screaming about the child burning her quill. It took his every ounce of self control to keep himself from laughing, and he made a mental note to embed the memory of the unforgivable vow into Rita's brain permanently.
Naturally, Kiru was happy when she felt her father's pleasure from afar. She didn't know how, but since she'd met him she could now tell his emotions a little better. This was especially so if she was in a good mood or sharing a mood with him. She grinned, handing the reporter one of her own quills, and enchanting it so that it would only write down what she herself had said.
"Well, should we get started, or not? Or are you too scared by a little accidental magic from a second year student?" Kiru smirked and Rita Skeeter's face flushed a harsh crimson.
"Suit yourself. You are the daughter of Professor Severus T. Snape, Potions master at Hogwarts, are you not?"
"Yup, and proud of it. I've been brewing fifth year potions all summer with him supervising and only occasionally helping," Kiru boasted proudly, keeping track of the quill. "Next question."
"Has he ever harmed you in any way, shape or form?" Rita sneered, pulling out the dirt from their house.
"If you're referring to that time you broke into our house this past summer, then your answer is an extremely strong no, yerou," she spat angrily. "I was throwing up all day, and dad was checking up on me to see if I needed a potion for nausea!"
"Have you hit puberty, little one?" Rita sneered.
"That's none of your pretty Veela-infested business, now is it? No, I thought not," Kiru sneered right on back, glaring daggers evilly, warning her of the dangers that she could give out to the illegal animagus and much, much, worse. "Speaking of which, wasn't your mother a Veela? Because if she is, then she most certainly didn't pass her looks onto you, but definitely her temper as a yes."
"I believe it is you who has inherited the infamous Snape temper," Skeeter retorted. "And your horrid looks from your father."
"Nah, I get it from mom. If you think dad was scary and evil, think again. My mom – my birth mom, not step-mom - makes my dad's dungeon look like a field of wildflowers and makes my dad look like a lost puppy with little sad-eyes," Kiru snorted. "Trust me, she used to use anything for target practice – me included. As for dad's looks – he looks a heck of a lot better than you do, especially considering the fact that he's married and you're not, and not to mention that he's got kids, and you don't. Now, what kind of reporter, or any woman, wouldn't want to get married to show off her looks to someone special?"
"And your step-mother? How does she fit into all this?" Skeeter asked curiously, ignoring Kiru's question.
"Well, mom was an idiot and killed herself, thus I naturally came to Hogwarts," Kiru said like it was obvious. "My dad left her when she got temperamental – I guess he knew temper tantrums were on the way, but he didn't know she was pregnant with me. Thus, when I show up last year and get sorted into Slytherin like him and mom, he gets the shock of his life. This past summer, he starting dating someone and got married a few weeks ago, though I have no idea why on the big blue orb that he had to chose someone who reminds me so much of a certain set of Houdini twins that run around here causing chaos and always landing themselves in detention. Truth be told, though, I'm glad he remarried – it gives me a mother figure that I've always wanted but could never have. As you can guess, I hate my birth mom, even though dad always says that she used to be really sweet."
"And, is anyone else living under that roof?" Skeeter asked.
"Well," Kiru said thoughtfully, giving the woman another harsh stare. "We do have a couple house elves, but I wouldn't be surprised if my step-mom ended up pregnant pretty soon before next school year. She's been wanting a kid for most of her adult life now, from what I can read off her behavior around little kids."
"And - !" Skeeter cut off, Snape knowing that she was going to reveal Harry's location. "Do you have any cousins?"
"Not that I know of," Kiru shook her head. "Although, I guess – nah, probably not."
"And you're sure?" she asked, causing Kiru to give her a glare that said shut-up-or-you'll-die. "Fine, then, next question. Do you have a secret crush?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it?" Kiru retorted. "However, I will relent that there's a very annoying sixth year that I want to destroy who should be in Azkaban for using two of the three unforgivable curses on school grounds."
"As a crush?" Skeeter asked incredulously.
"In your fondest dreams!" Kiru spat. "That was a woman, and I was the one she was trying to use the curses on! Now are you going to actually talk about the Triwizard tournament like you said you came for, or just keep talking about my house life?"
"What were your feelings when your name came out?" Skeeter asked, and Kiru shrugged. "Nothing at all?"
"Terror," Kiru admitted. "I know from the history books that this kind of stuff always ends up fatal. I was scared – I want to withdraw, but I'm not sure if that's allowed, and, well, I'm kind of scared for Harry. I mean, I know he's a great Gryffindor and all – what with banishing you-know-who into oblivion as a baby, and then special services to the school in his second year – but he's a minor, just like me. I think It'll take some serious private coaching to get us through this huge mess."
"I see. And what does your father think of this?" she asked.
"Oh, he's undoubtedly wanting to wring the neck of whichever sorry bloke put my name – and Harry's, I think – into that Goblet. He and I both know that it wasn't me," Kiru said putting her hands up. "And I'm fairly sure that Harry wouldn't risk his life like that just for fun or attention like everyone thinks he will."
"What kinds of strengths do you have? Rumors have been going around that you're a musiclancer," she smirked.
"Um, yeah, I'm not sure what my strengths are aside from potion making. And a musiclancer, me, the very idea makes my skin crawl. That is a power I would not want to have," Kiru shuddered realistically, thinking of Dudley to provoke it and make it look real to the reporter. "Yeesh, I pity the fool who has to have that for an ability. Although, Anti-legilimens would be a good power to have."
"I see," Rita huffed, her plot foiled. "And your strengths from potions stem from your father, yes?"
"Well, duh!" Kiru practically yelled. "My birth mom banned me from doing it, why the hell would I get it from her? Nah, I get wand troubles from her, among other things."
"Other things?" Skeeter asked, almost out of ink for Kiru.
"One more thing, off the record, and give me back my quill. Do the world a favor," Kiru said standing up. "And quit being a reporter. You suck at it, and you're nothing but an overobsessed yerou who loves nothing more than making other people miserable for her own profit. Well guess what – one of these days your job is going to drive you into a corner, and nobody's going to help you because of all the nasty things you wrote about them."
"Why you little-!" Rita snarled, but Kiru was already out the door. "Get back here, I'm not done!"
"Too bad, bitch!" Kiru called over her shoulder, to which Snape scowled and glared at her. "Oh, come on, Professor, you know she is one. Just in a different manner than a certain idiot we both had to put up with at one point or another."
"True," he murmured, before raising his voice to pretend scolding her. "You still shouldn't cuss like that, Miss Snape. That's detention the next time I hear that come out of your mouth in front of the headmaster, or any other adult for that matter."
"Not in a different language you can't since they can't understand me," Kiru shot back in perfect Japanese. The Potions master smirked at her Slytherin-ness, knowing he'd have done the same thing when he was her age. Yes, she most definitely inherited his brains and knack for potions.
"Well, do any of you wish to withdraw?" Rita asked, and the other two students scowled at the second and fourth year. "None? Miss Snape?"
"What my student does and doesn't do is none of your concern," Snape said coldly. "Now get out, before you get hexed by one of the champions or worse – their parents."
"You wouldn't dare," she snarled.
"Try me," he snarled back, giving her his glare that would send a seventh year running to the bathroom to change their drawers. Apparently it worked on adults as well, since the reporter backed off and went into the corner of the room.
.o0O0o.
Chessie frowned at McGonagall's letter. A girl talk, huh? She frowned, then wrote a brisk reply of no thanks, it's a trap to get me to talk to Severus and sent it off with the owl. She frowned, counting the days, weeks, and her eyes flew open. This was not good, no not at all. She jerked out a Muggle pregnancy test from the medicine cabinet, and stuck it in a cup of her fresh urine. She flopped down on the bed, wanting Severus to be at her side, but also knowing it would drive him insane.
She began sobbing uncontrollably, and a knock came at the door. She grabbed her wand, holding it at the ready. Dudley, naturally, got the door, his large frame slimmer more than it had been when she'd met him. In the time he'd lived with Severus, the boy had lost thirty pounds. She pushed the tears away as she heard him coming up the stairs. She nodded, her wand ready, and pointed it at the newcomers, who were wearing travelers' cloaks, wizard cloaks to be precise.
"You are?" she questioned, and the two gasped as they saw her. "Who are you?"
"You – I'm Molly Weasley," the small one introduced. "And this is my husband, Arthur. We were wondering if Severus was home."
"He's at work," she retorted, sidestepping the field. "What do you want? If it's a message, tell me and consider it delivered."
"Well, we can't. You see, he's Harry's legal guardian," Arthur said warily.
"Obliviate!" Chessie yelled, pointing it at one then the other. "Obliviate!" their eyes got misty, then they collapsed. "Dobby, make sure these two get home." The house elf nodded, and vanished with them.
"Mistress Snape," Winky said hesitantly.
"I know. My students need me," she growled. "Winky, get me into my History of Magic Classroom."
"Yes, Mistress," Winky beamed apparating the woman back into the classroom.
"You, ghost, out," Chessie ordered, her eyes still circled with red puffiness that the students knew meant tears – not that anyone but Hermione and Draco Malfoy (unnaturally) were awake to see them. "The rest of you can start reading. Oh for the love of – Three hundred points from all of your houses for you little brats sleeping in class!"
The rest of the class awoke with a start, now terrified of their new teacher. Harry looked at her, and she glared at him angrily until he turned back to the textbook. They could tell she was trying to keep from crying again, but she sent the house elf away with a jerk of her chin. They shuddered; this woman was worse than Snape, from what they could tell. They raced out of the classroom when the bell rang, stopping only to walk when she docked another fifty points from each house for running in the hallways.
"Albus," Madame Maxime said warily in the Great Hall as she watched the History of Magic students filing in fearfully and glaring at the Potions Master. "Is that normal?"
"Ah, dear, no," he said delicately. "Hm, perhaps…yes, I think I'll have no other choice… Igor, could you tell Severus that I need him in Minerva's office? Madame Maxime, could you go get our young Professor Chessie Snape from the History of Magic classroom? She's likely to have been crying, I believe."
Chessie screamed in defiance and rage, knowing good and well what they were up to. Before five minutes had passed in the next class period however, all the houses, Slytherin especially, were down two hundred or more points because of her foul mood. The students in the Potions dungeon fared no better – they'd lost three hundred points at least, with the exception of Slytherin, who'd been docked only two hundred and fifty points.
The next day fared no better, and by the end of the week, the students had lost hope of getting their house points back and the two enraged teachers had moved on to giving detentions at the slightest provocation. The houses were two thousand points in the negative, and getting lower with every class period. Naturally, the good teachers were doing their best to dish out the highest amount of points they could, but the two teachers were docking points so fast – and since there were two of them taking massive points each – they weren't able to keep up as much as they'd liked. They'd just barely manage to scrape by a narrow victory by keeping the points even for one class period, to which Severus managed to crash the next class period while he had Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. He'd docked the Gryffindor House one hundred points each time Neville, or anyone, blew up a cauldron. The Slytherins were also being punished, but both houses knew better than to object.
Chessie was in an unnaturally caring mood to Harry for the first task. She'd tried to get him to play to his strengths, which he said that there were none. In fact, she'd taken him out to the Forbidden Forest, where they were now hiding dragons. Harry, of course, had on his invisibility cloak, and Charlie Weasley was naturally curious as to who she was.
"Professor Snape, History of Magic," she introduced, holding out her hand.
"No relation to Professor Snape to teach potions?" Charlie asked, and she grimaced. "Sorry."
"Yeah, me too," she spat. "My husband. He's also a spoiled git who needs to stop brewing potions long enough to take a nice long shower or soak in a bath. I swear he's got worse hygiene than the amount of time the Weasley twins spend planning and playing pranks."
"Ah, so Fred and George are still at it, huh? How many detentions have you had to give them?" Charlie laughed. Chessie wasn't amused.
"Twenty-five this past week alone, and don't even get me started on how many I had to give them last month. To make it worse, they ignited a food fight on my first night back in the castle," she ranted, and Charlie winced. "Oh, you're another Weasley, aren't you? Yeah, from what I've heard they went without any desserts at all for three whole weeks. I know, shocking."
"Yes, Charlie. My brother, Bill, works in Gringotts, and my other brother works in the Ministry of Magic. I'm quite worried – is everything alright in Hogwarts? Ron wrote me sobbing that Harry hated him," he furrowed his brow worried. This new teacher said that Snape was a git, but she was being just as bitchy as he was being a git. He wondered if that was what attracted the two together.
"I should hope Potter hates him," Chessie snorted. "Your brother poisoned his drink. If we hadn't gotten that bezoar down Potter's throat, he wouldn't have even lasted long enough to get to the hospital wing."
"Well, if you don't mind, I'd best be getting back to the dragons. I pity the bloke that gets the Hungarian horntail – Ooh, that one's just as bad in front as it is in back. Yeegh," Charlie shuddered.
"I need to get back to the castle anyways," Chessie shrugged. "Good luck."
"Thanks. You too!" Charlie called back.
"You're welcome, Potter," she growled under her breath. "You owe me one for this."
"I know," he whispered. "How do we deal with the dragons?"
"Easy – confuse the hell out of them. They'll get pissed, but you'll be close enough to get one of the eggs if you dodge effectively," Chessie concocted, which, if you'd have asked someone else, was a very bad idea.
Severus scowled a few days later as his Dark Mark burned like before. He was back or at least regaining a small amount of power. Karkaroff kept glancing at him nervously every so often, and Snape knew that when Voldemort once again regained power, Karkaroff would be long gone, in more than one sense of the phrase. He sighed, having been forced to take Kiru up to the Hospital wing for a Gryffindor trying to set her on fire. Naturally, he'd docked hundreds of points from the lions, and had given the boy a very strict detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. Of course, he'd also have to go over and intimidate the half-giant, but he didn't care. Kiru, meanwhile, was talking up a storm and ignoring the tick marks appearing over her father's head.
"I mean, who does he think he is?" Kiru continued. "Seriously, who does Voldemort think he is?"
"Don't say the name," Severus Snape snapped angrily, snapping out of his going through the mental notes he'd made to himself that day.
"Voldemort!" Kiru yelled, and Madame Pomfrey came rushing out, her wand brandished dangerously before sighing with relief at who it really was. "Get over it, you ruddy coward. Voldemort! Voldemort! VOLDEMORT!"
"Stop that!" Snape snapped smacking her on the back of her head. "You may be in my house, and you may be my daughter, but you most definitely will not be permitted to break rules or disobey a teacher without my permission! I'd take points from you, but you're in my house. Do I need to give you detention with Filch?"
Kiru glared at the wall, tears streaming silently down her face at her father taking his stress out on her, almost exactly as her mother had done when she was alive. This went unnoticed by the Head of Slytherin, though, and wasn't at all shocked when he left for the night while she wanted to be alone.
You should already know that Kiru's temper will, yet again, get the best of her. What do you think she'll do?
Ah, who am I kidding? Review if you like and I'll keep trying to come up with chapters for the next segments of the series.
