The Nature of Friendship

Harry Potter was very troubled. For Christmas, he had received the most wonderful present ever, a brand new broomstick but not just any broomstick. It was a Firebolt, the elite of broomsticks. Instead of enjoying his new gift, it had been confiscated by Professor McGonagall to check for jinxes and such. She was under the impression that the Firebolt had come from Sirius Black and spells were placed on it to bring about Harry's demise. It was doubtful he would get it back in time for the next Quidditch match.

It was all Hermione's fault. She told Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. Both he and Ron were furious with her for the loss of the Firebolt. Who knew what condition the broom would be in when it was returned. He may not even be able to get it off the ground.

It was a mystery as to whom had sent the broom. It did not come with a note. He and Ron had speculated on the identity of the giver. A few days before term was to begin, Harry spotted Professor Turner in the hall. Ron had jokingly suggested her because she was very wealthy. He doubted that she was the one. His ears were still ringing from the set down she had given them before Christmas. Taking a chance, he asked to speak with her.

"Of course, Potter. We are close to your common room. Why don't we talk there?"

When Sir Cadogan saw Professor Turner approach his portrait, he was so overcome that he forgot to challenge Harry to a duel. "What vision of loveliness has chosen to grace me with her presence? The sun, moon and the stars pale in comparison to your beauty."

'She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.'

Professor Turner turned to Harry and rolled her eyes. She faced Sir Cadogan and gave him her best smile. "Good sir. We require admittance to this room."

"Of course, good lady. Anything for a vision such as yourself."

After they had entered, Harry said in disgust, "He didn't even ask for the password. And what was he going on about?"

"Let's hope Sirius Black cannot take the appearance of an attractive woman. He was quoting a poem by Lord Byron. I studied it in high school, only we changed 'eyes' to 'thighs'. She turned a little pink at that admission. "What did you want to see me about?"

As they both sat in comfortable chairs, Harry explained about the surprise Christmas present. "I was wondering if it might have been from you. If it was, then Professor McGonagall can return it before the jinx checking makes it completely useless."

"I'm afraid it wasn't me. I sent all the students chocolate frogs this year. Didn't you get yours?" At his nod she continued. "A Firebolt is an extremely expensive present. Professor McGonagall is quite right to check it for tampering. The only other family that I know with that kind of wealth is the Malfoys, and I highly doubt that they would spend their money on a present for you, even if they did jinx it. I wouldn't worry about your broom, Potter. There are ways of checking for these things without destroying the object. I'm sure that you will have your broom back in no time."

Harry didn't have her confidence about its return. As they were talking, he noticed that Crookshanks and Professor Turner's cat, Lizzy, were looking at each other. "It looks like they are communicating," Professor Turner observed.

"Do you think they are," queried Harry.

"It wouldn't surprise me. Lizzy is a magical cat and I have a feeling that Crookshanks is magical as well. I have heard that they share a dislike for your friend Ron's rat. Perhaps they are plotting his disappearance." Her eyes were twinkling, much like Professor Dumbledore's, which told Harry that she was having fun with him. Since she seemed in a much better mood today, he decided to broach an uncomfortable subject. "Professor, do you believe in the Grim?"

"Well, that's quite a change in subject. Cases have been documented of sudden death after seeing the Grim but I've never had any experience with it or know anyone myself who has. Did you know that Professor Trelawney predicted that I would lose everything and has that happened? No. Instead, I gained everything, a loving husband and the promise of a happy future." She rubbed her hand over her belly as she said this. "I know what happened in your first Divination class but I wouldn't worry about it. After all, that was the beginning of term and you are still alive."

"How did you know…," his voice trailed off.

"Well, I certainly didn't look at tea leaves. This school is very isolated from the rest of the world so naturally, topics of conversation revolve mainly around what happens at the school. I heard about it from Minerva."

He was shocked to hear Professor McGonagall referred to by her first name, but, then again, he shouldn't be surprised. He had often seen them at meals together, talking, so they must have become friends. He had never really thought about the subject of their conversations but it made sense that it would be about school matters.

It appeared that Professor Turner had forgotten all about her anger. Harry took another chance and asked her something that had been bothering him for a long time. "Why does Professor Snape hate me so much? And why does he seem to hate Professor Lupin?"

"Oh, Harry. He doesn't hate you. Well, that's not true. He does hate you but not for anything you did. He hates you because you look so much like your father." She leaned towards him and took his hand in hers. "They were all at school together, you know. Remus, your father, Sirius Black and Severus. Your father and Sirius Black were rather," she paused, looking for the right words, "unkind towards Severus. He had a difficult childhood and their actions did not help him fit into the school."

"What do you mean by 'unkind'?"

"They bullied him," she stated flatly.

"My father wouldn't do that! It was probably the other way around." Harry became flustered at her accusation.

"I don't know what happened. I wasn't there." She looked hard at Harry and he heard her unspoken censure that he wasn't there either. "I can only go by what others tell me. I have been told by sources other than Severus that your father did get into a lot of trouble at school but that he changed after he became involved with your mother. As for Remus, he was a prefect. I'm sure that it would have been challenging for him to stick by the rules when his friends were intent on breaking them. Oh well, that was all a long time ago."

Her words reminded him of something she had said when she was upbraiding them. "Were you a prefect in school too? Is that why you said to Hermione that you thought you had to prove yourself?"

"No. We didn't have such things as prefects in school. Everyone went home at the end of the school day. No one stayed at the school. I am what you would call mixed blood. My father is a muggle and my mother is a witch. They are both teachers. It was easy for my twin brothers because one was magic and one was not so each parent got a child at their school. When it was my turn, both parents wanted me to go to their school. In order to please them both, I went to both schools, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so I had to do double the work to keep up."

"That's awful." Harry thought one school was bad enough. "Why wouldn't you just go to your mother's school. You are a witch."

"My father's reply was that I could learn magic at home. We live very much in a muggle society so he felt it important that I have a muggle education."

"What about Muggle Studies?"

"There is no such course in Canada. The population of witches and wizards is very small so we tend to adapt to a muggle lifestyle. Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley may seem commonplace to you but a strictly magical community is a wondrous thing to me."

"It's a wondrous thing to me too. I grew up with my aunt and uncle who are muggles. I didn't even know that witches and wizards were real until I got the letter from Hogwarts."

"Really? I understand that your parents were magic. Why didn't your aunt and uncle tell you? Didn't you wonder about the things you could do that the other children could not?"

"My aunt and uncle were ashamed of my parents. They thought them 'unnatural'. And yes, strange things did happen to me. They called me a freak so that's what I thought I was. I was so happy when I learned the truth, when I was able to come to Hogwarts to get away from them."

Professor Turner sighed. "I know you won't believe it and Severus would deny it immediately but you and Professor Snape are a lot alike."

Harry just about choked on her words. He and Professor Snape alike! How could she even conceive of such a comment. He was nothing like Professor Snape. He was not cruel, angry, disdainful…he could go on and on.

"I can see by the expression on your face that you have a hard time believing that. You do have very different personalities. What I was referring to were your circumstances. Severus also did not have a supportive home. It was a relief to him as well to come to Hogwarts when he was a boy. Unfortunately, it wasn't all he had hoped for."

"If I am so much like Professor Snape, I suppose you think I should have been placed in Slytherin House too," Harry blurted out.

Professor Turner cocked her head and looked at him with a piercing gaze. "Why would I think that? And what do you mean by 'too'?"

Harry squirmed in his seat. "Well, I can speak Parseltongue. A lot of people thought I was the heir of Slytherin last year."

She nodded her head. "I thought so as well for a time."

"What!" He gaped at her. "How could you think that I would harm all those people," his hurt voice questioned.

"I didn't think you were doing it on purpose." She leaned in toward him again and said quietly, "It's your scar. I thought perhaps the scar provided a link between yourself and Mr. Death, that he was controlling you unawares."

"Mr. Death?"

"I prefer it to his other monikers." She did not have to explain. Harry knew of whom she was speaking and he could understand her supposition.

"But what if I was supposed to be in Slytherin." He also lowered his voice. "That's where the Sorting Hat was going to place me, but I asked it not to."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Really. Being in Slytherin doesn't automatically make you evil or a spoiled sot like Draco Malfoy. Who knows, you may have changed its reputation. It doesn't matter now. You are in Gryffindor. There's nothing to be gained in playing the 'what if' game."

The professor's cat, Lizzie, started to growl, her back arching and her fur standing on end. Crookshanks took a similar posture. "I think your friend Ron and Scabbers are at the door. I'd better take Lizzie out before she and Crookshanks tag team the poor rat." She greeted Ron at the door and left the common room.

"What was Professor Turner doing here," Ron asked.

"We were just talking," responded Harry. "I asked her if she had sent me the Firebolt but it wasn't her."

"I didn't think it was. She's not too happy with us. Have you forgotten how loudly she yelled at us? Another Snape, I tell you."

Harry disagreed. He sat by the fire, thinking about their conversation as Ron went to hide Scabbers from Crookshanks hostility and decided to turn in himself. Professor Turner was not like Professor Snape. Yes, she had been angry when they had challenged Snape in the classroom but her anger was understandable. It was quite obvious that she loved her husband as evidenced by his unnoticed observations that night in the hospital wing so her loyalty was to him. Who knows what Snape told her about it, probably made it sound much worse than it actually was. Whereas Snape held a grudge forever, Professor Turner seemed to have forgotten about the whole incident. She treated him tonight the same as she had always treated him before the blow up.

He shuddered. He had to question her sanity when she had said that they were a lot alike. Snape was his enemy, wasn't he? After the way he had treated him, he would never like Snape. Maybe their background was similar but that's where the comparison stopped. Harry wondered about that as well. In the hospital wing, Snape had said that everyone he loved died. Were his parents dead and was that what Professor Turner meant by their 'circumstances'? And what did she mean by Hogwarts wasn't what he had hoped for. She had said that his father and Sirius Black had bullied him. If Professor Lupin had been friends with his father, had he bullied Snape as well? Was that why Snape hated him more than any other Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Hermione could probably find out about Snape's past. But he wasn't talking to Hermione. Questions chased each other inside his head as he went upstairs and spent a sleepless night.