Title: Paradox
author: AvalonParadox
Summary: After the war went bad, and his cover was blown, Snape had been captured by the dark lord. Now free, he goes back to the only one who can offer him hope, Hogwarts. Send back in time, he has to go through school again, trying to change the future. Unfortunately a werewolf was waiting on him, and James Potter was unable to save him this turn around. Dumbledore shows himself to like his Gryffindors a lot this time around as well.
Chapter 8Severus trudged on toward his detention. He had quickly grabbed some dinner so he could eat underway. His classmates had waved him over, but since he was already running late because of his detention, he used that as an excuse to not talk to them.
He knew that tomorrow or even this evening he would have to, but for now avoiding them seemed okay. He was still thinking about how he would handle them.
When he arrived at the transfiguration classroom Minerva and Poppy were already waiting for him.
No, not Minerva and Poppy. Professor Mcgonagall and Madame Pomfrey.
He would have to get used to it, the quicker the better. Slip-ups would only be met by suspicion.
After they had greeted each other they entered the classroom. Then the questioning began.
"Have you casted more extra strong magic, today?" Madame Pomfrey started. She had actually already pulled her wand out and started to cast a diagnose spell on him.
He rolled his eyes at her concern, but he let her cast the spell, knowing that he couldn't stop her from casting it, so he might as well let her do it.
"Not really. Today's classes didn't need any spell casting, so I haven't really tried yet." He said calmly. The healer looked satisfied at his answer/
"Good, and how have you been feeling today, any dizziness of nausea?"
"No, I am feeling fine." He answered. He didn't mention that his body still felt a bit sore, but he was already used and thought it better not to mention it.
She finally putted her wand away, seemingly happy with his physical condition.
"Well, then it's about time that we try out your magic. Perhaps with an easy spell, just to be safe." Mcgonagall said. She lifted a feather out of a box and laid it down on the desk in front of him.
"Wingardium Leviosa Mr. Snape, you know how the spell works." She said to him friendly.
Severus felt a slight twinge in his chest at her slightly playful tone. It was one he had gotten used to when he was a teacher at Hogwarts, when he and Minerva had a friendly friends/rivals band going.
He swallowed thickly and pulled out his own wand. The dark wand felt good in his hands. It had been his only wand and it had belonged to his great-grandfather. His mother had given it to him, one of the few heritages she still had from before.
She had looked a bit fearful that day, afraid that the wand wasn't compatible and that they had to save money to buy a wand that they couldn't afford. Her fears proved unjust. That day the house had been decorated with silver and white sparks.
He now pointed his wand at the feather and casted the spell.
The feather rose, but no more spectacular then when he used a normal spell.
Mcgonagall frowned a bit and looked at Madam Pomfrey.
Severus frowned at himself. That had been indeed his own magic, not the excess that now swirled in him.
He tried to focus himself again and casted the spell again, but he failed again to use the right magic.
After failing a fifth time he was starting to feel a bit frustrated.
Concentrate, feel it, want it. The voice whispered in his head.
He listened to her advice. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating in the feather, wanting it, trying to want it to fly. He didn't wave his wand that time but the feather soared to the ceiling in a speed that he hadn't know he was capable of casting.
"Well, that was indeed more like what happened in the hospital wing Mr. Snape." Madam Pomfrey said. Mcgonagall was blinking at him in amazement.
"Let me check your core." She passed her wand over him for the second time that evening.
"Everything seems the same as before. Perhaps try a few more spells now."
Line Break –
James and Sirius went to their detention after dinner. They were fashionably late, knowing that Slughorn wouldn't mind it, since they were his favorite students.
When they had arrived he had greeted them enthusiastically and had then proceeded to tell them that it had been decided that they would have to serve their detentions separated for each other.
At the look of their crestfallen faces he had told them not to worry, that professor Halvard would take good care of them they had looked up a bit.
Sirius went to the DADA teacher while James stayed with professor Slughorn, who proceeded to ask what he had planned for his future.
"I want to be a Quidditch player or an Auror. Professor Mcgonagall said that perhaps it would be a bit hard to enter the Quidditch league immediately." He said enthusiastically.
When career advice had been announced he and Sirius had immediately decided on these two jobs for the two of them. They wanted to be best friends forever.
Professor Mcgonagall had smiled indulgently at him when he had told her about his and Sirius' choice and had said that they had been good choices for both of them. Well inside their abilities, but that it could be hard to get a job in either of them.
For Quidditch it was because they had to be really, really good to be chosen for a team, students were often scouted in school Quidditch, and for the Aurors it was the grueling qualifications they needed and then the training they had to go through.
She had said that after the training a lot of people didn't think that it was much for them.
While she encouraged their choices she had also advised him to leave some other lanes open and even gave him a pamphlet about studying further.
"Professor," he asked when Slughorn had just finished a story about a previous student who went on the Aurors squad, "did you study further after your Hogwarts graduation?" James asked curious.
Even though his parents were pure bloods, he didn't know a lot about the working world after school, and he had gotten more curious these last few years. He had read through the pamphlet that Mcgonagall had given him, even went as far as hide it from his friends and peers as not to be laughed at.
"Ah, yes, yes I did. I studied at the International Potions Academy. You have to do that if you want to become a Potion's Master." He said, chuckling when he remembered the time.
"Did it take you a long time before you got your mastery?" James asked. This was probably the first person he had talked to about the possibility of studying further. He didn't know if there were other teachers who gotten their mastery or tried to, and he didn't know a lot of other adults except his parents.
"I got it earlier than most. Why, I finished studying after 5 years, but it took me a while after that to get my mastery. Though I was only 37 when I reached my first mastery, earlier then most I can tell you. And since five years I have officially risen up to the second rank. I'm hoping to get first rank in a decade or two."
James blinked shocked.
"Are all after school studies that hard?" He asked incredulous. Slughorn chuckled at the wide eyed look of his favorite student.
"No of course not. Potions is just a very delicate subject with a lot of levels of mastery. If you study transfiguration for example it would take you 5 years. But you will only receive mastery when you have completely mastered the Animagus form."
"Really, five years and an Animagus form." James asked, a bit more relieved at this. Perhaps he would like to study further. Transfiguration has always intrigued him and this was an opportune moment to get his questions answered without Sirius telling him not to be daft. That they had sworn to be Aurors or famous Quidditch players together and that they should be happy getting rid of boring classes.
Lin Break –
To state that Halvard was annoyed would be a serious understatement.
When Sirius Black had arrived at his classroom, late might he add, he had given him the simple chore of cleaning all the desks, making sure they were nice and polished for the day after.
He had given him the necessary equipment for the job. He had to ask Filch what he needed because he had always used magic for the job, but the caretaker had complied easily enough when he explained that it was for a detention.
He had only left the classroom for five minutes after that, but when he came back Sirius Black was cleaning those desks with magic.
He had confiscated the boy's wand, but then the boy had said that he had never been forbidden to use magic for this.
Then when he finally started to clean them by hand, as was required of him, he started muttering against himself about how this was work for house elves.
Now Halvard may be a magic like most people here, but he had never gotten used to the high and mighty of the pure blood society and how they looked down on anyone that was 'less' then them, including whole species like house elves.
"Well Mr. Black, just for that comment you may start again, with more appropriate equipment for someone of your status, mmh." He said with a calmer tone then he thought possible.
He waved his wand and used a non verbal spell. The desks were full of fingerprints and grease spots again. Instead of hand brush, Sirius was now holding a toothbrush in his hands.
Well, Halvard thought to himself, he complains less now.
He went to his desk to correct some essays and tried to ignore the hateful stares that the boy was throwing him.
Next time that Slughorn asks for a favor, he can go fuck himself, favor done in the past or not, even if it was a favor with big consequences.
Line Break –
Severus was exhausted when the witches finally let him go. Even though he had a vast supply of magic power, it still was exhausting for his body to use it for hours on an end.
He had proven to both Mcgonagall and Pomfrey that he had sufficient control over his new powers, but they wouldn't try the higher level spells with him just yet.
He hadn't succeeded in casting the spells with Hogwarts' magic each time, but most of the time it worked now.
When he entered the dorm everyone was already asleep, something he was very happy for. He didn't know if he could handle questions now. He would have to make sure his Occlumency shields are build up properly for tomorrow again, he knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid the rest of the Slytherins then.
He laid down in bed and started to concentrate, turning his attention inward. First to his own core, feeling the magic swirl in it easily. Then he turned it toward the core that had completely surrounded his own.
This magic was swirling harder, flaring up now and then. He could feel were the magic was spend from his casting.
He was relaxing, his Occlumency shields were growing firmer and then he encountered the image if himself that he didn't like to see. The part of him that felt wrong.
"I have felt something like this before." He said silently to himself. "and it wasn't Lupin."
It feel it coming from the young werewolf.
Severus was startled. He hadn't expected Hogwarts to answer him. Sometimes it felt weird not to be alone in one's own head.
"You do? I'm sure I have felt it from somewhere else."
Perhaps.
Severus sighed. Perhaps he was still overly tired. He checked his shields and when they were sufficiently up he went to sleep.
Tomorrow would be a tiring day.
Line Break –
Peter was lying awake in his bed. He was afraid. He had defied Sirius and James and they hadn't done anything in retaliation yet.
He knew how longer the wait, the more humiliating the experience would be. He just hoped that Severus would keep his promise about helping him out were those two were concerned.
In the end he fell into an uneasy sleep, not noticing when James and Sirius returned, and he would not know what prank they just pulled.
He didn't know either that it was only the first in a long line of pranks.
TBC
Answers to reviewers
Moi: Dumbledore's attitude sucks. That's because he thinks he is the smartest and most insightful person on the side of good and that he is the only one that stands in between good and evil.
Sirius is a character that doesn't really understand the normal limits. It's partially because of his upbringing.
Lbjw0128: thank you. Sorry for the wait for this chapter. Hop you will like it.
