Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.
Chapter 16
As usual, it was raining as Severus stepped out of the front entrance to join the other Heads of House in waiting for the carriages to arrive. Remus, as Minerva had done the previous year, had cast a spell of coverage from where the carriages pulled up to the entrance way. It would keep the students dry as they exited the carriages.
Professor Flitwick was waiting for the students to arrive inside the Entrance Hall. It was now his duty to take charge of the first years after Hagrid got them across the lake and to conduct the Sorting Ceremony. Professor Fleinhardt stood in for him outside as he was the assistant head of Ravenclaw House.
Severus shivered. The wind made it seem colder than it was. Unlike the others, he wasn't dressed in a robe tonight, but rather in his Slytherin sweatshirt and jeans and his dragonhide boots. He was wearing a Manchester United windbreaker, a gift from his father. Manchester United was Toby's favorite football club. He stuck his hands inside his pockets to keep them warm Being taller than anybody else, Severus could see the first carriage as it came through the gate. "They're coming," he said to the other Heads of House.
The first carriage pulled up and mainly older students students jumped out, laughing, joking, and talking loudly. Severus recognized them as mostly Gryffindors.
"Gryffindors, no lollygagging," Remus called. "Others need to get inside, too."
"Hey, Professor Snape," some of his Slytherins called as they saw him.
Severus nodded at them and smiled. The row of carriages seemed endless.
When the last carriage finally pulled up and emptied of students, the Heads of House followed the students inside. Severus felt sorry for the first years coming across in the boats this year.
He walked into the Great Hall, glad for the warmth, and sat down at the Slytherin table beside Lily. Luc and Cissa sat across from them. He noticed Remus sat with the Gryffindors, Professor Fleinhardt sat with the Ravenclaws and Pomona sat with her Hufflepuffs as did Charity.
James and Sirius were sitting at the head table next to Hagrid's large chair. Minerva was sitting in the chair she had always sat in except now it was in the middle of the table. She had shrunken Dumbledore's "throne" and gotten rid of it.
"I wonder what this new group of first years is going to be like," Lucius said.
"I helped Filius to deliver the Muggleborn's Hogwarts Letters this year so I've met some of them. There's a Muggleborn student living in my parents' old home in fact. I asked Sev's parents to help them out with any questions they might have about magic or Hogwarts."
Severus chuckled. "I wonder if Mum told them about the time you had the incident of accidental magic and turned Petunia's hair green for two weeks and she had to wear her hair wrapped up in a scarf."
"You did?" Narcissa asked laughing.
Lily nodded. "And I didn't know how to change it back because I didn't know how I'd done it in the first place, but as I recall, I got really mad at Petunia because she kept calling me "Lily-liver"* which I hated and that's when her hair turned green."
"It was really just an outside reflection of what Petunia carried on the inside which was mainly jealousy," Severus added.
Just then the double doors swung wide open and the first years led by Filius came into the Great Hall. As always, they looked around them wide-eyed with their eyes wide in surprise, especially at the ceiling of the Great Hall. One of the children, looking around, spotted Lily and waved.
Hagrid came in after them and lumbered up to the head table and sat down in his chair next to James and Sirius.
"It looks as if nobody fell into the lake coming across this year," Lucius remarked.
Lily jogged Severus' arm. "There's Ian," she pointed at him and then waved back to him. Lily looked at Luc and Cissa and said, "The Muggleborn child I was telling you about that lives in my parents' old home."
The Sorting Hat was sitting on its usual stool in the front of the Head Table, opened its mouth and began to sing. It sang a different song every year. Severus supposed it had a lot of spare time to come up with a new song. He'd heard seven different songs in his time at Hogwarts.
When it finished, all the first years starting clapping and the Sorting Hat bowed. Filius came up in front and stood beside the stool with a roll of parchment. "I'll call your name and you'll come up, sit on the stool, place the Hat on your head, and you will be sorted. Anabelle Adler."
Annabelle came up, sat down, and after making a face, put the Hat on her head. It took a few minutes then it yelled, "Better be Gryffindor!" She slid off the stool and placed the hat on it and then went over to sit at the Gryffindor table to much applause. James and Sirius both clapped loudly and Sirius whistled.
Severus noticed Bill Weasley who was starting his third year and his brother, Charlie, who was starting his second year. They both clapped, but Charlie's clapping was much louder than Bill's.
Filius went down the list, calling the first years and then he called, "Ian McCloskey."
Lily's ears perked up and she watched as he sat down on the stool and pulled the Hat over his head. He could hardly be seen under the large brim. It took a few minutes because either he was speaking with the Hat or it was speaking with him, but then it suddenly shouted, "Better be Slytherin!"
Lily, Luc, and Cissa clapped loudly as Ian came over to the table and slid into place by the other first years. Severus smiled and nodded at him. Ian made the twelfth first year to be sorted into Slytherin tonight,
When the Sorting was finished, Slytherin had gained a total of fifteen new members, Ravenclaw gained twelve new members, Hufflepuff, eleven, and Gryffindor, ten.
"Merlin's beard!" James exclaimed. "Slytherin got more than any other house! That can't be right!"
Sirius sighed. "Just a bunch more future Death Eaters to fight! And who's going to be beefing up the Order with Albus gone, Prongs?"
"We can do it," James declared. "We'll start this year with the best of the 7th year Gryffindors."
"Yeah, and we'll give them extra training in Defense. I can teach them the spells I learned as an Auror."
"Good idea, Padfoot," James replied, nodding approvingly.
Minerva stood up and said, "Let the feast began." The first year's eyes widened again as platters of meat, poultry and fish, tureens of soup, bowls of different vegetables and covered baskets filled with rolls appeared on every house table and the head table. Many of the them gasped at all the food. Many had never seen so much food or so many different kinds on one table.
"It's a good thing we had the foresight to brew a lot of Stomach Soother," Severus muttered to Lily as he watched his first years filling their plates with everything they could reach. "I suspect I'm going to be administering Soothers to just about all the first years tonight and every night for the first couple of weeks." He had gorged himself his first two weeks at Hogwarts. Fortunately, his mum had brewed vials of Stomach Soothers and packed them in his trunk.
Severus took a dish of soup, some baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and some vegetables. Lily took some soup, fish, and a vegetable while Lucius went for the roast beef and Narcissa had the chicken also.
"What do you think they are up to?" Lucius asked, looking over his shoulder at James and Sirius who had their head bent and were conversing avidly.
"Who knows?" Severus rolled his eyes. "Probably planning how Gryffindor's going to get the cup this year. Potter still is the assistant Quidditch coach, isn't he?"
After the last dessert had disappeared from the table, Minerva used the Sonorus Charm on herself then stood and said, "Welcome to our returning students and a warm welcome to our first years! Let's have a big Hogwarts welcome for them, please." Minerva started to clap and everybody joined her. "
When the clapping died down, Minerva said, "I have a few announcements to make and then the Prefects will escort the first years to their Houses to get unpacked and ready for tomorrow. There are a few new changes this year. This will be the last night you will be required to sit at your house tables until the Leaving Feast. I am also authorizing tours of all the Houses and once that is done, you may study in other House's common rooms provided you obey the rules of that House. Starting next week, Slytherin House will be visited by the other houses first, Hufflepuff the next week, Gryffindor the week after that, and Ravenclaw the following week. As we did last year, after NEWTs and OWLs are over with, we will bring the Founder's portraits here and you will be able to ask them any questions you may have. Other than that, magic is not allowed to be done outside of class. If anyone is bothering or bullying you, please report it to either your Head of House, a professor, or one of your Prefects. Most products from Zonko's Joke Shop are banned from Hogwarts by our caretaker, Mr. Filch. There is a list of banned objects on the door of his office if you wish to check. The Forbidden Forest is completely off limits to fifth year and below and is only available to the sixth and seventh years if they're with Professor Hagrid, Professor Snape, Professor Lupin, or Professor Knightly. We have three new professors with us this year and they are Professor Rebeus Hagrid who will be teaching Care of Magical Creature assisted by Merlinius, Professor Christian Knightly who will be teaching beginning Warding and Professor Salem Ollivander who is teaching beginning Wandcraft. Please give them a big Hogwarts welcome."
"Great!" Sirius muttered to James. "Couldn't Scrimgeour have sent anybody else, but Knightly? He's got his wand shoved so far up his arse, I'm surprised he can pull out in an emergency!"
"I'd like to introduce our Head boy and Head girl next. The Head Girl is Kathryn Alcoven of Slytherin House…"
Slytherin House erupted into loud clapping and cheering. Devin Petertorf put two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly.
Minerva waited until all the clapping and whistling died down then said, "And our Head Boy for this year is Trevor Bascombe of Hufflepuff House."
Hufflepuff began to clap and cheer loudly for Bascombe being named as Head Boy then began chanting his name over and over."
"Minerva smiled. "I'd also like to have a round of applause for the elves who worked so hard to prepare this wonderful meal we had tonight."
Everybody applauded loudly and many of the students cheered. Sirius made a face and said to James. "What the hell is Minerva doing, Prongs? Next, the little blighters will be up here asking for pay and vacations."
"Yeah! I mean Albus never felt the need to compliment them. They're here to serve us and that's the only thing they should be concerned about!"
"You are dismissed. First years, please wait for your Prefects to lead you out. If the Head Girl and Head Boy will make sure none of the students get accidentally separated from their Houses. Thank you all. Have a good night and I will see you at breakfast tomorrow."
"That's my cue," Severus said, getting up and helping Lily up. Lucius and Narcissa stood and followed Severus out through the door behind the head table. Severus entered his quarters and went into his office through the door in his quarters. He sat down behind his desk and leaned back in his chair. Lily sat on Severus' desk while Lucius and Narcissa sat in the chairs opposite his desk.
"I'm glad Minerva accepted your recommendation of having Miss Alcoven as Head Girl," Lucius remarked.
"Miss Alcoven has had Exceeds and Outstandings since her first year here. She's been an excellent Fifth year and Sixth year Prefect and she's always been the first to volunteer if someone needed tutoring or any other kind of help. I thought she deserved it," Severus said.
"Of course, but were Dumbledore still here, we would have a continual line of Gryffindor Head Boys and Head Girls," Narcissa remarked. "No other house would have even been considered."
"That why I didn't believe it when I got the letter saying I was the Head Boy. I figured it had to be the Marauders trying to play their biggest con on me yet," Severus laughed.
"He was going to bin it, but I told him to wait," Lily said.
"It is a good thing you did," Lucius remarked. "Or Dumbledore might have used it as an opportunity to appoint Potter as Head Boy."
There was a knock on the door and Kathryn Alcoven came in. "The first years are ready for you, Professor."
Severus stood. "Miss Alcoven, you need not stay for this meeting if there are head duties you should do. As you know, it's mainly to acquaint the first years with the rules of Slytherin House, reminders, and answering any questions they may have."
"My duties really don't start until tomorrow and I wanted to attend my final welcome meeting for the first years."
Severus smiled. "You are most warmly welcomed then." He followed her out into the Common room. Lily, Narcissa, and Lucius followed.
The first years were gathered together, close to the fireplace. The portrait of Salazar Slytherin was looking down on them and smiling. "Before you start, Professor Snape, may I say something?"
Severus nodded. "Please do, Lord Slytherin."
"I am Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts and founder of this House. I would like to welcome all the first years to Slytherin and assure them that they have been sorted into the very best House."
All the first year started clapping and smiling.
"Now I shall turn it back over to Professor Snape."
"Thank you, Lord Slytherin," Severus replied. He turned his attention to the first years. "Please have a seat." When they were all seated, he continued, "Good evening. I am Professor Severus Snape. I am head of Slytherin House and I will also be teaching you Potions."
"I like your jacket, Sir," one of the first years called out.
Severus laughed. "This was a gift from my dad. We're both big fans of Manchester United." He continued, "There are three rules that I consider the most important of all the rules of Slytherin House. The first rule is unity. No matter what's going on inside our house, we show a unified face to the outside. Unity is the reason we've survived this long." Severus pointed at the table in front of the couch where a pile of Slytherin sweatshirts lay. "These are sweatshirts with the Slytherin House crest. Go ahead and take one and don't worry about the size as they've been spelled to either shrink or enlarge the first time you wear them."
The children got their sweatshirts and then sat down again. "You'll probably be wearing these a lot on the weekends as it does get quite cold in the winter down here."
"These are cool!" One of the girls said, holding it in front of her.
Severus smiled and went on to explain the other rules of Slytherin House. "Starting tomorrow night at 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm will be my office hours and I will make an appointment for each of you so we can talk."
"Can we talk about anything?" one of the first years asked.
"Yes, and should I not be available for some reason, Professor Lucius Malfoy is the assistant head of Slytherin House and teaches Runes," Severus said, introducing Lucius, "And he will be holding down the fort, as the Americans say. You will also be meeting Professor Narcissa Malfoy in your Wizarding Etiquette class and in later years, Transfiguration. And the other beautiful lady is Professor Lily Evans-Snape who will be teaching you Charms."
He introduced the fifth and sixth year Prefects. If you don't feel comfortable talking to me, then you can talk to one of them, but they may refer whatever problem you're having to me if they feel it needs my attention."
"What if we can't remember the rules, Sir?"
"They're posted right by the fireplace here," Severus said pointing. "Also, you need to keep your rooms straightened up on your own. There are elves assigned to Slytherin House, but they are not your private servants and you cannot order them around as you might do with your elves at home. There will be a loss of house points, writing lines, or possible cauldron cleaning if I hear about it."
The first years eye widened considerably at this announcement.
"Does everyone know the password?" Severus asked.
"It's Knotgrass, Sir." A boy named Bretton Sherman replied.
"The password is to be kept secret, alright? And if it happens that you can't remember it, I've instructed the Gargoyle to allow you in because I don't want any of you sleeping in the hallway as it gets very cold down here in the winter.* Severus looked around at them. "Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 9:00, lunch from 12:00 to 1:00, and dinner from 5:30 to 6:30. Curfew is at 9:00 o'clock and that means you might want to leave wherever you're at about 10 or 15 minutes early in order to get back here in time. If there are no more questions, then our fifth year Prefects will escort you to your dorms. I will be escorting you to the Great Hall for breakfast for this week and also I will be scheduling all you for a physical exam, the girls with Madam Pomfrey and the boys with myself as in addition to being a Potion Master, I am also a Medi-Wizard. This is to make sure you have all the required shots and they're up to date."
Ian stopped momentarily to wish Lily and Severus a good night. "I'm really looking forward to both Charms and Potions tomorrow."
"You have a good night, too, Ian. I'll see you in Charms tomorrow."
"And I'll see you in Potions," Severus added.
As the children followed the Prefects out, Severus shook his head, "I swear they get smaller every year!"
"Maybe, you're just getting older, Sev," Lily teased.
"I think Mr. McCloskey has a crush on you," Severus teased back.
"You say that every year about one of the first years, Sev," Lily pointed out.
"Can't say I blame them," Severus replied then stretched and sat down on the couch. "So glad we don't have to patrol tonight and I'm happy Minerva is more reasonable about it, too, because I have a suspicion I'm going to be up most of the night administering Stomach Soothers and comforting homesick and anxious kids."
Lucius was seated in one of the armchairs with one leg crossed over the other. He looked around him with a pleased expression on his face. "It is much more comfortable in here now. I never could figure out why Slughorn kept it looking like a house of horrors."
"Dumbledore probably wanted it that way," Narcissa replied. She was sitting on the arm of Luc's chair. "He wanted Slytherin to look evil and forbidding."
"And I don't imagine he wanted to give Slughorn the money to redecorate either," Severus said. "The only reason I was able to do it was because I didn't ask his permission and Dad has three furniture stores." He grinned. "I get the family discount."
"I hope we don't have any trouble from Potter and Black this year," Lily said. She was sitting next to Severus on the couch.
Luc shook his head. "They won't. They know they can't pull the same sort of tricks on Minerva that they pulled on Dumbledore. They know that she doesn't have a problem suspending them if they put one toe off the line," Luc said. He chuckled. "I think they may even be afraid of her."
"My idiot cousin never will figure things out with Potter always whispering in his ear," Narcissa said. "Sirius doesn't want anything to do with his parents or Reg, and Reg was awfully hurt when his older brother didn't want anything to do with him just because he was sorted into Slytherin."
"Well, we can always hope that something will happen to Sirius that makes him realize that Potter is not worth a sack of dragon dung," Lucius replied, getting up. He helped Narcissa to her feet. They both wished Severus and Lily a good night. "We will see you in the morning, if not sooner," Luc said. "Send your Patronus if you need help."
Once they left, Severus stretched his arms and got to his feet. "I suppose we'd better get some sleep, too, before the epidemic of upset stomachs starts." He said, helping Lily to her feet.
The night was as Severus had predicted. The Prefects summoned him several times for children with upset stomachs, children who were homesick or anxious about their first day of classes. He was thankful for the help from Lily, Lucius, and Narcissa, but when his alarm went off at six, he felt like he'd been run over by a Muggle dump truck. He stumbled to the bathroom, took a shower, and then dried off. He got dressed in his green Muggle scrubs and then his brewing robe. He looked at his watch and saw it was seven. He reached over and shook Lily. "Time to rise and shine, Lily."
Lily rolled over with a groan, rubbed her eyes, and yawned. "I feel like I just went to bed."
"Me, too," Severus replied. "I'm going to drop my books and notes in my classroom and then I'm going to see if the Tita can brew me an industrial strength cup of coffee."
"Yuck!" Lily said loudly as she got out of bed.
Severus chuckled and went to his classroom and dropped off his books and notes then went back to his quarters and sure enough, Tita had a cup of coffee ready for him. "Tita, you are a true treasure!" Severus said as he took a sip of it.
"Thank you, Professor Severus. I is going to make some Jasmine tea for Professor Lily now."
"Good idea," Severus said. Since he could not tell what the weather was like from the dungeon, he decided to go up into the Entrance Hall and have a look. Just as he reached the Entrance Hall, he heard Mr. Filch call his name, "Professor Snape!"
"Yes, Mr. Filch, what seems to be the problem?"
"There's a student out of bed and flying a broom around," Mr. Filch spluttered.
"I'll go outside and round them up. Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Filch."
Mr. Filch nodded. "Thank you, Professor Snape. Knew I could count on you!"
Severus went out the main door and stood on the steps, looking upwards with his hand shading his eyes, to spot the errant broom rider. He caught sight of him, noticing his bright red hair first thing. He amplified his voice and called, "Mr. Weasley, what exactly do you think you're doing?"
Charlie Weasley stopped his broom and leaned over it. "Practicing, Professor. I've gotta be the best if I'm gonna make the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"
"Do you have Professor Lupin's permission to be outside this early?"
"No, Sir. I just thought I'd practice for awhile before breakfast."
"Please land and we'll go back inside," Severus requested. When Charlie landed and walked over to Severus with his broom in hand, Severus said, "To be honest, Mr. Weasley, I don't believe you'll have any competition making the team. You're a natural."
Charlie grinned widely, "Thanks, Professor Snape!"
They went back inside. "I suggest you talk to Professor Lupin to get his permission to be out early and ask him to write you a note so you can show to Mr. Filch," Severus suggested.
"I will," Charlie promised. "Thanks Professor Snape!" He turned and ran up main staircase.
Severus went back down to the Slytherin Common Room to wait for the first years to appear. When the first years had gathered and were all accounted for, Severus asked, "Has everybody got their books for your morning classes, your ink and quills? You won't need all of your books because you'll have time to switch them out before lunch."
A couple of kids disappeared, apparently, to leave some books behind, then came back looking relieved that their book bags felt much lighter.
"Does everybody have their maps, too?" Severus asked. "If you get lost, and it's easy to do as this castle is very big, you can always ask the Gryffindor Ghost, Sir Nicholas or the Hufflepuff Ghost, the Fat Friar, for help. They are always happy to help out lost students. Slytherin's Ghost is pretty much useless. The Bloody Baron spends most of the time on the parapet outside the Astronomy classroom, moaning and rattling his chains. Sometimes Professor Sinistra gets so annoyed with the noise he's making during her classes, she'll chase him off the parapet with a broom. The Grey Lady who is the Ravenclaw Ghost is very shy so you may never see her. I recall I only saw her once in my seven years here and that was during my seventh year."
He led his group of first years up the main floor and down to the Great Hall. As the students sat down at the Slytherin table, Severus said, "Be sure and eat a nutritious breakfast as that really helps you in class." He went to sit down at the end of the table then stopped. "Remember you're not required to sit here. If you want to sit elsewhere or bring friends you've made over here, that's fine."
Severus sat down and Blinky immediately popped in with another large cup of steaming hot coffee. "Tita told Blinky to bring Professor Severus this," he said cheerfully.
"Tell Tita thank you for me, Blinky, and thank you for bringing this to me," Severus nodded. Usually he only required one cup of coffee to start off his morning, but this morning a second cup was required as he hadn't gotten eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
He spotted Lily, Narcissa, and Lucius coming in just as breakfast appeared on all the tables as well as the head table. "We're just in time," Lily said to Lucius and Narcissa.
"Good because I am really hungry," Lucius said as they all sat down.
"Are we on the schedule to patrol tonight?" Severus asked.
"Yes, I believe we are," Lucius responded. "Do you want me to bring along my omnioculars so we can check beyond the wards?"
"Yeah, that would be great, Luc," Severus said. "If whomever he is can't get through the wards, he may be lurking outside of them."
"If he is, we can set up another plan to capture him," Narcissa said.
"Maybe Minerva will be agreeable to magically locking Potter and Black in their quarters so they can't interfere this time and allow him to escape again," Lily said.
When the fifteen minute bell rang, Severus left the hall by means of the door behind the staff table and made his way to the potions classroom. His first class was first year Slytherins and Gryffindors. He hoped none of the students would get lost, but there were always a few that did. He had asked Sir Nick and the Fat Friar last evening to keep their eyes out for lost students and give them a hand. He looked at his list of students and saw that Lily's new friend, Ian McCloskey, was in his first class. He waited and finally he saw a head or two peer into the classroom uncertainly. He get up and went out into the hallway where a bunch of first years were grouped. "Yes, you're in the right place so please come in and take a seat at one of the brewing stations."
Severus led them into the room and sat down on the edge of his desk while the students seated themselves. "Okay, I'm Professor Snape and I will be teaching you potions, but first I'm going to call roll to make sure everybody who's supposed to be here is here and nobody got lost."
He looked behind him and grabbed his scroll of the class register. "Please raise your hand when I call your name." He called the first name and looked up as the student raised their hand. He did this for every name he called. "Good, everyone's here." He put the scroll back on his desk. "Now if you'll all stand up. Gryffindors on the right side of the room and Slytherins on the left, please. What I'm going to do now is assign you a permanent partner and a permanent brewing station." He took up the register again and called out two names, one Gryffindor and one Slytherin, and pointed at a brewing station then continued on until everybody was sorted with a partner.
"Alright then. The first lesson I'm going to give you is that potions is a very serious subject as is brewing potions so I don't want any jokes, pranks, or messing around in here because it could lead to serious injury and that will lead to point loss and detention, possibly expulsion. I want you to pay attention and if you have any concerns about the potion you're brewing, please ask me before it gets to the point of no return. I'm always willing to help you because the whole point of this class is to help you brew a successful potion. Any questions?"
There were none so Severus continued. "I'm not going to start you brewing until next week. What we will be doing throughout this week is discussing the importance of adding the ingredients in the correct order. Does anybody know why this is so important?"
One of the students raised their hand. Severus looked at his seating chart and said, "Yes, Miss Stromberg?"
"It won't turn out right because some ingredients need to steep longer before you add the others," she said.
"Correct. Ten points to Gryffindor. Anyone else?"
Ian raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. McCloskey?"
"Some ingredients have to be added at the beginning or at the end or they could cause your potion to explode."
"Correct," Severus said. "Ten points to Slytherin."
Another student raised her hand. Severus looked at his seating chart. q "Miss Murdoch?"
"Brewing is kind of like cooking, but you can't substitute ingredients like you can in cooking. You have to have the exact ingredients the formula calls for."
Severus nodded. "A good point. Ten points to Gryffindor."
Another student raised their hand and Severus said, "Mr. Sherman?"
"The reason the ingredients have to be added in a certain order is because doing otherwise could make the potion less efficient."
"Yes, ten points to Slytherin."
Another student raised their hand and Severus looked at his chart, "Yes, Miss Redgrave?"
"Is it true, Professor, that fresh ingredients are better than dried ones. My mum always insists on using the freshest of ingredients."
Severus shook his head. "No, there's no difference in their quality or efficacy. My mum's the head brewer at St Mungo's, which is the Wizarding Hospital…"
"Wizards and witches have their own hospital?" Somebody asked.
Severus nodded. "Yes, but mainly because non-magical hospitals wouldn't know how to deal with curses and hexes or diseases like dragon pox and besides the fact it would reveal the magical world to the non-magical world. As I was saying St. Mungo's Potion Department uses dried ingredients to brew their potions because the heat and humidity from all those cauldrons makes fresh ingredients impractical, but it's really a personal choice. I use both and I've been gathering potion ingredients since my 4th year although I wasn't supposed to doing it and I don't want any of you attempting it either."
The bell rang and Severus said, "For our next class, please read the first chapter, 'The Ins and Outs of Brewing', if you haven't already. We'll be discussing cauldron heat."
He smiled as they walked out of class, talking to each other. They seemed like they were really interested in Potions.
Severus sat down next to Lily and across from Narcissa, and Lucius at lunch. "How was your mornings?"
"Mine was fine. My second class of first years came in talking about Potions," Lily laughed. "They seemed really fired up about your class, Sev."
"They seemed like a really bright bunch," Severus said. "A lot of them already read the first chapter. I'm glad I ordered a new potion's text book for this year."
"The year seem to be starting off really well," Cissa agreed. "I had no problem with my fifth or seventh year classes either. Maybe, with the addition of the three new professors, the influence of Potter and Black will be pretty much diluted."
"We can certainly hope so, my dear," Lucius replied.
Once classes were over for the day, Severus took his first years to the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey. Both he and Poppy did the physicals on them, but did not find any signs of abuse, thankfully.
After dinner, Minerva gave out the patrolling assignments. Severus and Lucius were given the 11 to 1 slot. "This is because I want you two to keep your eyes out for the visitor we had last year and send me your Patronus if you spot anything funny," she said in a low voice,
Severus nodded. He really didn't mind as it gave him two hours to catch a nap or correct homework after his regular House office hours. They would be patrolling with Charity and Lawrence.
Lily and Remus had been shifted to the 7 to 9 rotation, while James and Sirius remained on the 9 to 11 rotation.
As they had agreed last year, he and Lucius would patrol the Dungeon, the ground floor through the third floor first, while Charity and Lawrence patrolled the fourth, fifth, sixth, the seventh floor, the towers, and Owlery for the first hour and then they would switch. Both Severus and Lucius figured their visitor would probably show up closer to midnight.
The first hour was uneventful, "No students snogging even," Severus joked. Lucius rolled his eyes. They met Lawrence and Charity on the fourth floor and switched. Lawrence handed Lucius back his omnioculars. "Neither Charity nor I spotted anything out of the ordinary from the Astronomy parapet."
Lucius nodded. "He may be waiting until things settle in."
Severus and Lucius went back to patrolling. They left the Astronomy Tower for the very last. They leaned on parapet and while Severus scanned the area around the wards with his eyes, Lucius used his omnioculars.
"I don't see anything," Severus said. He turned, but caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. "What was that?"
"I saw it, too. Something activated the runes at the bottom of the wards." Lucius lowered his omnioculars. "Do you want to go down and take a closer look?"
Severus nodded. "Might be a good idea for safety's sake."
"They both disapparated from the tower to outside the wards, took their wands out, and had a quick look around. Severus looked at the ground where they'd seen the flash of light. "Lumos," he said and ran his wand over it. "Looks like something was digging, trying to get underneath the wards," he said. "A small animal, maybe?"
"Well, we know for sure the wards work now," Lucius replied. Severus sent his Patronus to Minerva and when they went back inside, Minerva was waiting for them. They told her what they'd discovered.
"So, you don't think it was our visitor from last year?" Minerva asked.
"It looked to me like some small animal was trying to dig its way underneath the wards," Severus replied.
"But Severus and I will keep an eye on things as well as Professor Fleinhardt and Professor Burbage," Lucius assured Minerva.
They returned to their quarters. Lily had fallen asleep on the couch and Severus woke her.
"Did you see anything?"
"We saw a flash of light near the bottom of the wards where Lucius had positioned the runes, but there was nobody around so we figured it was some kind of animal. I know the elves sometimes leave food out for them."
"Now, I feel bad because some bunny rabbit missed their meal," Lily said.
"Well, I'll ask the elves in the morning, if they can put the food outside of the wards," Severus promised.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Peter Pettigrew breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down on a stump in the Forbidden Forest. Malfoy and Snape had nearly caught him! He wondered how he was going to be able to get through the wards if they prevented him from coming inside, even in his Animagus form. Maybe he could ask one of the people he'd recruited last year to bring him inside in his rat form. Once he was inside, he'd have free movement around the castle and he knew of several good hiding places where he could stay undisturbed and he could recruit for his Lord right under all their snobby noses, but he needed to be careful that neither James nor Sirius spotted him because they were well aware of how he appeared in his Animagus form and they'd probably turn him in immediately to score points with McGonagall. Snape and Malfoy needed avoiding, too, because they were much sharper than James or Sirius. He also needed a clever way to present the plan to his Lord so he didn't risk getting Crucio'd and that would take a lot of consideration, but time was on his side.
*The name "Lily-Liver" is courtesy of Snapegirlkmf, 'Lily's Defender', Part 1.
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