A Beginner's Guide to Dimension Hopping
As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became an icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. It was beginning to look outside like Corvus felt on the inside all of the time.
November was also the start of his self-imposed exile, and the beginning of the Quidditch season. As much as he enjoyed playing with Sirius, he had no desire to see the game, especially since Nott was there with Granger.
He'd found out that over Halloween, Sirius and Remus had been picked up by the Muggle police for destruction of public property and disturbance of the peace. Stupidly, Sirius had obliviated the officers, which had resulted in the appearance of the Aurors. They had spotted Sirius, but hadn't caught him, and the front page proclaimed the first sighting of Sirius Black in nine years.
Nott hadn't done more than cast Corvus a worried look before hurrying off after Granger to History of Magic, which he didn't usually attend, as he had previously skipped with Corvus.
On Saturday, the first Quidditch match of the year was going to be played, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Corvus made sure to disappear to the library immediately after breakfast, hoping to avoid anyone who might try to convince him to come to the game, namely, Malfoy, who had since made up with Corvus, and Ron, who seemed to turn up no matter where Corvus hid.
By eleven o'clock, most of the school was out on the Quidditch pitch, and Corvus was still skulking in the library.
However, it seemed Professor Quirrell was hardly interested in Quidditch either, as he turned up to the library at about half past eleven. "M-m-mr. Lupin," the man said nervously. "I haven't seen- seen much of you in cl-class this y-year."
Corvus offered him a thin smile, even as his head began to ache. "I prefer to study on my own," he said honestly.
"A-and remain on-on your own?" the man asked, and it would've sounded sly if it had come from anyone but him.
Corvus snapped his book shut and slid it closer to his chest. "That's right, sir."
Quirrell looked down at the book's cover. "M-magical be-beasts?" he asked. Corvus thought he saw a red glint in the man's eyes.
"I'm researching the Cerberus for an independent project," Corvus said, watching his face closely.
"Been sn-snooping around the-the thi-third floor corrider, have you Lu-Lupin?"
"That's right," Corvus said slowly.
"I imagine that for a – a Ravencl-claw like you, the Sorcerer's S-stone would be-be a hard thing to re-resist," Quirrell remarked.
Corvus stared at him. "That it would be," he said, locking eyes with Quirrell. Almost as soon as he did so, his headache seemed to vanish as suddenly as it began. He raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to know how to get past a Cerberus, would you sir?"
Quirrell looked startled. "You-you can't be think-thinking of trying t-to get past it, Lu-Lupin?"
Corvus smiled. "Of course not, sir. This is a question for my independent study." His smile said 'don't be ridiculous' but inside, he felt a faint thrill. They were hiding the Sorcerer's Stone at Hogwarts? He couldn't imagine what for. He immediately thought of telling Nott, but then he remember with a rather dull ache in his chest, that they hadn't spoken since Halloween.
"I-I believe you-you know the answer to t-that question, Ravenclaw t-that you are."
"Music," Corvus said, with a pained grin. "Thank you for your time, Professor," he said, standing up and scooping up his books. "It was… most enlightening."
With that, Corvus quickly ducked amongst the shelves to return his books. He wasn't stupid. There was no way a teacher like Quirrell would drop that information for no reason; he would be too afraid of what Dumbledore would do.
No, it seemed Quirrell was more Slytherin than he appeared.
That was an exchange of information, not a casual discussion. Of course Corvus knew that. He and Remus had been doing that same thing for years. Quirrell had revealed that the Sorcerer's Stone was at Hogwarts, and in exchange, Quirrell now knew how to get past the dog.
But why would he need to know that?
Corvus frowned.
He wanted the stone. Merlin, that was a goldmine of information and knowledge, and it shouldn't go to waste on someone as useless and pathetic as Quirrell.
No, absolutely not. Corvus was going to get the stone first. His dream of disappearing into the Department of Mysteries seemed marginally closer. But god, he wasn't doing very good on his networking, was he?
Granger…her blood status put her at a disadvantage, but she was smart. Brilliant even if she was the stuff of nightmares. Malfoy, well he was a snob, but he was rich and well connected, and would obviously follow his father into the Ministry. And Nott…Nott might not have the same connections as someone like Malfoy, but he was personable and friendly, as was Weasley.
Connections, Merlin. And apologies. All things he knew nothing about. He couldn't remember a time that Sirius or Remus had ever apologized genuinely, to him or to each other. And there was no such thing as connections when you were on the run.
Gods, he was going to have to apologize to Nott and Granger. And mean it, because Nott, with his soft, kind eyes, would know if he was lying through his teeth.
Corvus shoved the last book back into his place and stared consideringly at the title next to it. Conceding in his head that this was likely the stupidest thing he'd ever done in his life, Corvus removed the thick Potion's tome from its place. If he didn't have the feeling of remorse, he could always…create it.
Dangerous, he thought. Gods, that's dangerous. Anything could happen.
Corvus grinned to himself. He was about to create a new potion…Sirius was going to be terribly pleased.
Somehow, Corvus managed to enlist Malfoy's – no that was Draco now, they were friends – help in creating the potion, which he hadn't initially been sure about. But Draco managed to procure a hidden corner of the dungeon for the experiment, and a large quantity of ingredients too.
"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Draco asked him, his mouth twisted into a tiny little smirk.
"I already told you," Corvus scowled.
"I know," Draco grinned. "I just want to hear you say it again."
Corvus tried to keep his temper in check. "I want Nott to believe me when I apologize to him and Granger," he said, grimacing. "Because I'm not sorry, I'm angry."
"And?" Draco prodded.
"And I need a network," Corvus said, breathing evenly through his nose. "Which is what I need you lot for. Okay, enough of that. Aren't you going to help me?"
Draco shoved some of the ingredients forward. "It's similar to a love potion, right? That's just synthetic love, and we want synthetic remorse."
Corvus caught on quickly. "So we ought to start out with a similar base to say, Amortentia. But we don't want something that strong, because then I can't control the situation." Corvus leaned forwards and scribbled something into a large blank book.
"So, you want to control the amount of remorse you feel by the size of the dosage?"
Corvus made another note. "That's…yeah. Exactly."
It was already going better than expected.
Notes: I know it might not seem plausible that two eleven year olds could create their own potion, but Draco has grown up around Snape and if you've read the story that follows after this one, you'll know that Corvus has to be smart to be recruited into his furfure field by fourth year.
Also, sorry for the wait! Happy holidays, to everyone who celebrates! Please review!