Chapter 9: Road Trip
They began continuing their work on the potion early the following morning. Several hours, and many added ingredients later, they broke for lunch.
Their conversation throughout the day had been limited but pleasant. It was mostly centered around potions ingredients and methods for adding them, but it deviated every now and again to more relaxed matters of interests.
Hermione told Snape about her recent time spent at Hogwarts in his former rooms, taking special care not to mention the 'changes' she had made to the colors in his quarters. She filled him in on her first attempt at completing the curing potion, and he tactfully pointed out her mistakes as she went. When he asked for a detailed account of how she was able to obtain the centaur hair, she regaled him with the story of her and Harry's journey into the forbidden forest.
When she had run out of things to tell him about, she inquired as to his experiences over the several weeks that they were apart. He chuckled at her question, telling her that he would have told her earlier, but he needed her alive in order to complete the wand, and he was sure the information would have bored he to death.
Apparently the last several weeks had been quite dull for him. He had spent them apparating (under a dissolusionment charm) to and from his old house to transfer his belongings. He quieted when she asked if there had been any Death Eater meetings, eventually answering that there had been only two, and they had been mildly uneventful.
As they finished their lunch, it occurred to her that she had been the reason for his having to leave his former home. She felt a need to apologize for his troubles.
"It really is a shame that you had to sell your house, sir." She told him.
He looked curiously at her for a moment before saying "I did not sell the house."
At the moment, she felt relaxed enough in his presence to inquire further. "But sir, why would you keep two homes? Especially if the ministry is watching your other one. I would imagine you would think it a terrible waste of money, buying a second home while still owning the first."
He hesitated a moment, seemingly considering whether or not to tell her something, before answering. "This house was my grandmother's. It has been in my possession for more than two decades. I have just chosen not to return here for quite some time."
"Oh!" she answered as she comprehended the situation. She let out a prolonged giggle while looking at Snape.
"Something funny, Miss Granger?" he asked her, a slightly irritated tone in his voice.
"No, no…" she replied, still giggling. "It's just that, well… I was wondering whether it had been you who picked out the hot pink wallpaper in the master bathroom." She just managed to finish her sentence before she broke into an explosive fit of giggles.
Realizing why she had begun laughing in the first place, he let a smirk grace his lips briefly before scowling at her in an attempt to force her to regain her composure.
"Alright, Miss Granger" he said to her in his usual tone of voice. "Compose yourself. We have work to do."
She just managed to stifle the last of her giggles when he cleared away the lunch table and led them back into the laboratory. They worked tirelessly in near silence for several hours before he initiated conversation with her.
"I was wondering, Miss Granger, if you had given any thought as to how you were going to discover the activation spell for the wand."
She thought about his question for a moment before answering him. She had done quite a bit of research on the subject, but all that the books had told her was that the only people who know the full incantation are certified Wand Makers and their apprentices. She had always thought that eventually, after all of her tireless research, she would simply stumble upon the needed spell and would be able to use it to activate the wand.
"Well, I have not exactly been through all of my books on the subject… at least not thoroughly. I am hoping that I will find it in one of them."
He was shaking his head before she even finished her sentence. "You will not find the spell in any book, Miss Granger. It is passed on from Wand Maker to apprentice and can only be discovered when one of the two willingly explains it. Naturally, a certified Wand Maker would never reveal this secret to anyone. Neither would an apprentice, if he values his job."
She furrowed her brow as her hopes diminished. So much for finding the spell in a book…
She thought on the matter for several minutes as Snape took to stirring the potion again. As she watched him work, a thought occurred to her.
"Sir, you knew a Wand Maker. Is it possible that he told you-"
"No." he cut her off. "I was never told the activation spell. If I had been, I assure you that I would not be keeping that information from you and the Order. Have some sense, Miss Granger."
She frowned and went back to helping him with the potion. When they had settled the potion in preparation for several hours of simmering, they sat back and picked up their conversation again.
"You will need to speak with an actual Wand Maker." He told her flatly. "If you would like, I could owl a friend of mine in Romania and ask if he will see you. It will be a long trip, but well worth it. If the Wand Maker is not willing to divulge the spell to you, which I am sure he will not be, there is a chance that his apprentice might. The last I knew his apprentice was a young witch around the same age as you. It would be worth a shot."
She smiled at him before answering. "That would be wonderful, sir!"
She thought about what he had said for a moment. He knew a Wand Maker, in Romania, apparently. She wondered if he had ever been there before…
"Sir," she began in a curious tone. "Have you been there before?"
"Yes, I have. And if you are going to ask me what clothing to pack, you should dress warm for this time of year." He answered her.
"So you have been there before?" she asked with a mischievous grin on her face.
He looked at her with an arched brow before saying "I believe I have already answered that question."
"Then would you mind taking me there?" she asked quickly and excitedly, now that her trap had been set and she had backed him in to a corner.
He had a look on his face that made her somehow feel that he was thinking 'damn…' in his mind.
"I am very busy here, Miss Granger. I simply do not have the time to-"
"But, sir." She interrupted. "This mission is of the utmost importance to the Order. If I have to fly there it could take me days, possibly even weeks, that would be utterly wasted! But, if you were to apparate me there…"
He looked down his nose at her with an expression that said he was impressed and disgruntled at the same time.
"I have far too many things-"
"But, sir." She interrupted yet again. "You have just gotten through telling me that you were utterly bored out of your mind these past weeks… Everyone needs some adventure in their lives. And I promise not to be to much of a bother…"
He sighed, apparently giving in to her prodding. "I do not even know if he will agree to see you. However, I am willing to admit that his agreement would be much more likely if I was in attendance."
She couldn't help but give a slight hop in her seat at his concession, earning her a sharp glare from Snape.
"I have not even owled him yet, Miss Granger. Save your school girl expressions for when we have a definitive answer."
He rose from his seat and crossed the room, making his way toward the kitchen.
"Where are you going, sir?" she called to him.
He paused and turned the upper half of his body back toward her. "I am going to owl my acquaintance in Romania, and the Order, to let them know of our intentions. The potion is fine for the time being. I will thank you not to touch it."
She frowned at his instructions. He knew perfectly well that she was aware that the potion was fine and that she should not touch it. He only said it out loud in order to regain the upper hand in the conversation. She smirked as she realized that she had bested Snape. She had actually tricked him in to escorting her to Romania. She wondered how long it would take to convince the Wand Maker or his apprentice to reveal the spell to her. It would be awkward, staying overnight in a foreign land by herself… She didn't even know of any hotels in the area. Of course, she could always write to McGongall… surely she would know of someplace that she would be able to stay.
He returned approximately forty minutes later with three pieces of parchment in his hand. He placed them on the lab table aside from Hermione and scrutinized the potion for a moment before turning to meet her anxious gaze.
"We will be leaving tomorrow morning for Romania. I have owled Minerva, who not only agreed to our trip, but, in turn, flooed Charlie Weasley. He has agreed to allow you use of his apartment there. He is away on a mission for the Order, and assures Minerva that it will be no trouble at all for you to stay there while you… negotiate… the acquisition of the incantation."
A relieved expression took her over as he gave her the answers to all of her unasked questions.
"I will be taking you there at approximately nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I will introduce you to my contact, but then I must leave to continue the work with the potion. The longest that I will be able to stay with you is one o'clock. At that time, the potion must be stirred and new ingredients must be added. If you do not return by nine o'clock tomorrow evening, I will assume that you need more time, and will apparate back to your location to strategize further."
He paused to purse a serious look on his face before continuing.
"Time is of the utmost importance, Miss Granger. It would be best if you were to gain the information tomorrow, rather than later in the week. The curing potion is almost completed. Then the wand core must be added to the base. We will want to activate the device as soon as possible. The more time that the Order has to work with the wand, the better off our cause will be."
She nodded in agreement, and took off upstairs to pack a bag for the trip. She decided to throw in both muggle and wizard clothes, as she did not know how the wizards of Romania saw fit to dress. She threw in the now clean muggle jeans and t-shirt that she had been wearing while captured, along with a darker pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt (for a nice change of color). She packed three pairs of robes, two plain black ones and a fancier, silky yellow one. Even though she hadn't worn dress robes since her fourth year at Hogwarts, she still found herself compelled to pack at least one set everywhere she went. 'You never know when you're going to need them' she always told herself.
When she had completed packing for the following morning, she rejoined Snape in the laboratory to continue working on the potion.
During the course of their labor, he informed her that he had met the Wand Maker, Mr. Zebadiah Ravenclaw, many years ago when he was just a young boy. He also informed her that, yes, Zebadiah was a direct descendent of Hogwart's founder Rowena Ravenclaw, so it would be quite a task tricking him into divulging the incantation for the activation spell. Her best bet would be to become friendly with Zebadiah's apprentice, Natalia Borgova, and try to elicit the information from her.
They discussed the situation into the late hours of the evening until Snape looked up at the clock on the wall and said "It is late. We will both need our rest for tomorrow's journey."
With that, they both left the laboratory and retired to their respective bedrooms for the evening.
………………………………..
She stumbled lightly as her feet landed on the cold, hard pavement. She couldn't help but thinking that this last side-along apparition trip was particularly nasty. Perhaps it was because of the long distance that they had traveled. On any account, she was glad to be back on the ground again.
They walked through an archway of sorts and onto a fairly busy group of streets. They were clearly in a wizarding town, as most of the patrons were wearing robes and pointed hats instead of jeans and t-shirts. She was glad she had decided on the former before apparating that morning.
They walked along the cobblestone street until they found a sign that read 'Ridgeback Apartments, 35 Hardner Circle, Tusnad, Romania' with an arrow pointing to the right up a long, brick walkway. They followed the path to a tall, white building with a single black door in the front. When they entered through the opening, Snape took out one of the pieces of parchment that she had seen him handling the day before and glanced at it briefly. Speaking directly into a potted plant in the front lobby, he stated clearly "Chinese Fireball, three hundred and twenty eight."
The elevator doors at the far right side of the room opened, revealing a large area for the two of them to stand. They ascended for mere seconds before the doors opened again, revealing a narrow hallway with a door at the end of it. With a simple "alohomora," the door swung open, revealing a modest, yet attractive apartment.
The apartment was much to her taste. There were only four rooms- a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. The flat was small, but comfortable, and modestly decorated. The walls were all plain white and decorated here and there with lovely paintings of dangerous and exotic dragons.
The living room contained a large throw rug and a couch that was fire engine red in color. The kitchen was built in to the living room, and was small and efficient. The bathroom, she noticed, was plain white and as sparkling clean as the one she remembered from the Weasley home at the Burrow. She tossed her bags in the red and gold bedroom and stepped back in to the living room to meet Snape and begin their assignment.
"How long has it been since you've seen your friend?" she asked him casually as they left the apartment complex and made their way north into the center of the small town of Tusnad.
"Longer than I care to remember" he answered her as they turned left onto a small, abandoned alleyway.
As they rounded the corner he hesitated, taking a small map out of his pocket and staring at it for quite sometime before he pocketed it and motioned for them to continue forward.
They reached their destination after approximately ten minutes of walking from the apartment. She made a mental note to herself that the short distance may come in handy, should her stay be prolonged for more than one night. They stopped in front of an old wooden sign that read 'Ravenclaw's Wizard Wands and Watches.'
"Watches?" she asked him incredulously. It seemed an odd product to be selling alongside wands…
"Time turners." He answered her. "He manufactures them for the International Ministry of Magic. There is absolutely no need to advertise, as he cannot sell them to anyone but the Ministry, but, Zebadiah is… proud… of the fact that he is actually able to produce them."
She laughed and said "He put it on his sign to brag? How arrogant can one person be…"
"Indeed." He smirked at her.
He opened the door for her and pursued her into the shop. It was much larger than Ollivander's in London had been. The building itself appeared to be at least twice the square footage that Ollivander's was, and it was absolutely littered from floor to ceiling with unsold wand boxes. The shelves that ran up and down the shop and split it into six even aisles gave the building the appearance of a library, which Hermione found quite comforting.
They wandered around the room for several minutes before the owner revealed himself from a back area hidden behind a blue curtain.
"Can I help you?" the man asked them, placing a large pile of wand boxes on top of the front counter.
He was an older man. Hermione would have guessed him to be at least seventy or eighty years old. He had a stern look about him, but the look was offset by a rosy pink hue held high in his cheek bones. He wore coke-bottle glasses that strongly resembled Harry's. The wizard was quite obviously old-fashioned, which showed in his choice of attire. Much like Dumbledore's robes, his were full and billowy, and were a deep navy in color. The man's beard hung half-way down his midsection, completely covering the upper most buttons of the man's robes.
He placed the wands down gently and walked toward the young witch and wizard, a content smile sitting on his face.
"If you two are looking to have…" he tipped his glasses down his nose and stared over the brim of his glasses at Snape. "Severus?"
"It is nice to see you, Zebadiah. How have you been?" Snape replied.
"Oh! Severus! I've been just lovely m'boy, just lovely. I wasn't expecting you until this evening. And I see you've brought your friend… Miss Granger, is it?" he said, holding out his hand to greet her.
"Yes, Hermione, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you." She answered shyly, taking the man's hand in her own and shaking it vigorously.
"I understand that you've taken an interest in wand making, Hermione?" he asked her tenderly.
"Yes, sir, very much so."
"Well, then, I suppose a tour is in order, then?" he offered.
He led them around the room, pointing out his rarest and oldest wands, wondering out loud when the rightful owners of the 'blasted things' would be in to claim them. He showed them some of his newest creations, one of which was highly experimental and contained a single string of pure gold, molded into string form from a leprechaun's treasure coin. Apparently, although highly magical, the wand was incredibly temperamental, rendering it utterly useless.
Hermione was offered the chance to test the wand, and, after being assured several times that it would be perfectly safe, she accepted. One flick of the wand saw them covered in feathers, causing Snape to scowl angrily and Zebadiah to double over hysterically with laughter. After the mess was cleared, she replaced the wand to its box and politely placed it back on the shelf herself, lest the old Wand Maker ask her to give the device another try.
Zebadiah led his guests to a far corner of the shop and conjured up a table and three chairs for them all to sit at. After pouring everyone a cup of tea and sitting down himself, he brought up the anticipated topic.
"Tell me, Severus, why the sudden visit? Surely Hermione here could have met with a wand maker in her own country. I must say that I am more than happy to be seeing you again, though. Why, I have not seen you since you and your mother came here for your wand the summer before you went off to Hogwarts."
Hermione turned her gaze from the old man to Snape, but when he refused to meet her eyes, she questioned him aloud. "Sir, you came all the way to Romania for your wand? Why didn't you just go to Ollivander's?"
Zebadiah interrupted them before Snape had a chance to answer. "Oh, yes! My family has manufactured wands for every member of the Prince family for many, many generations. Young Severus here was the ninth in his family, I believe."
She quirked a brow questioningly at Snape, but when she didn't receive an answer, she turned back to her host.
"So when will we be meeting Natalia?" she asked.
Zebadiah looked at her curiously for a moment before answering. "Natalia left my apprenticeship almost three years ago. She married a young British man from London and decided that working outside of the home was simply not for her."
She frowned a moment, wondering why they had even bothered making the trip if the Wand Maker did not have an apprentice. A certified Wand Maker was highly unlikely to divulge any of his secrets to anyone other than his own apprentice, let alone a foreign witch that he had never met before.
"My new assistant," he continued, "Is Theodore Smith. Severus is famailiar with him, naturally. Actually, Hermione, you may know him as well. Theodore graduated from Hogwarts just five years ago."
She thought on the matter for a long moment, trying to place the name with a face. 'Let's see… five years ago would have placed him in… who's class? Smith… Smith…'
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I remember him! He was in Ravenclaw, correct?"
Zebadiah looked at her appraisingly. "Absolutely. Brightest wizard in his year. Graduated with six Outstandings on his N.E.W.T.'s. Theodore is a remarkably intelligent young man."
Now that she thought about it, she remembered Theodore quite well. He was a prefect when she began her time at Hogwarts, and she remembered thinking that he was quite handsome. She had often run into him in the Hogwart's library. Though, at the time, he was reading books far too advanced for her to have gained permission to check out. Intelligence did not seem to be his only talent, however. He had been keeper for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, and had played many a game opposite Harry. And, now, he was a Wand Maker's apprentice.
His choice of career paths told a lot about the young man. Wand Making was not an occupation to be chosen lightly. It required countless hours of study and practice, leaving the aspiring witch or wizard with little time for anything other than work. She had never considered the career herself, though, now that she thought about it, she probably would have done quite well in the field. Her love of research and constant need for perfection would have carried her far in that particular occupation.
"I believe I do remember him, as a matter of fact." She stated definitively, causing Snape to look at her questioningly.
"Yes," Snape interrupted, "He was one of my potions students. He was quite… ambitious."
"Oh, absolutely!" Zebadiah countered, clearly unaware of any sarcastic undertone in the other man's voice. "Theodore is the finest apprentice that I have had in quite some time. In fact, I do not believe I have had the pleasure of mentoring such a hard worker since… well-"
He looked up towards the man sitting across from him and Snape interrupted the old man before he could finish his sentence.
"So, Zebadiah, when can we expect your young apprentice?"
"Oh, any moment now." Zebadiah answered. "As I was saying, brilliant young man. Ferocious worker, if I may say so. Nearly as promising as-"
Zebadiah meant to speak further on the subject, but was interrupted before he got the chance. At that moment the front door to the shop creaked open, and a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair and clear-blue eyes stepped into the room. He was carrying a canvas bag that was overflowing with long, white boxes. His gaze met Hermione's briefly with what appeared to be slight recognition in them, before he switched them to focus on the old man.
"Ah, Theodore." Zebadiah called, raising from his chair and motioning for the young man to join them.
Theodore crossed the room and paused next to Zebadiah, moving his eyes towards Hermione for the second time. She and Snape both stood to greet the young apprentice, waiting for Zebadiah to introduce them.
"Theodore," Zebadiah said, "You remember Severus Snape. And this is-"
"Hermione Granger" Theodore interrupted his master. "It's a pleasure to see you, Hermione…" he took her hand and placed a chaste kiss on edge of her knuckles… "Professor Snape."
He extended his hand towards Snape and paused while the other man glared at him for a moment. Eventually, Snape extended his in turn and the two shook hands, albeit unusually briefly, before Theodore stepped back towards Zebadiah.
"Come, come, Theodore." Zebadiah encouraged. "We have much to talk about with our new friends."
Zebadiah conjured him a seat and the newcomer sat down amidst an interested Zebadiah, a glowering Snape, and a flushing Hermione.