Chapter 15: The Promise to Petunia
In his office, Albus Dumbledore was speaking with the Heads of House and Madam Pomfrey of the recent development of the Wolfsbane Potion and the fortunate effects it would have on the life of one Remus Lupin.
"But Albus, Belby is selling the Potion as ingredients and/or in flasks that will excel the expense an outcast to society such as young Mr Lupin will ever be able to afford." said McGonagall.
"Damn selfish of Belby." said Sprout.
"If he thinks any werewolves will be able to afford that stuff he concocted at that steep a price, I fail to see the point in his making it. No werewolf can pay for it, or even half the ingredients." added Flitwick.
"Plus, no werewolf apart from Mr Lupin was allowed access to magical education." put in Madam Pomfrey in a cold tone. "That's why a bunch of them are eating out of the hand of You Know Who as we speak.! This overcharged cure that Belby and the Ministry know they cannot afford will only push the werewolves further to the Dark side, because they are being deprived of something that could make their lives so much better. They're practically dangling this Potion in their faces and yanking it away when they want it."
"Horace, what is your input on this matter?" asked Dumbledore.
Slughorn had a prideful looking smile on his face, but he stammered out of his stupor on Dumbledore's prompt.
"Oh, um, dreadful decision, Albus. Mind you, Belby was a talented Potioneer even when I taught him here. To put his name on it and to want some credit is not exactly unjustifiable, surely?"
"It's all very well to sell it at a reasonable price, Horace." said McGonagall contemptuously. "But this price the Ministry have approved is too much, ridiculously over the top."
Slughorn only nodded half-heartedly.
The other three Heads of House lifted their heads in exasperation at Slughorn's lack of concern on the matter.
"Is there a way you can get this potion through your own sources at the Ministry, Albus?" asked Sprout. "You are very well-respected there and have a high-standing rank in the Wizengamot."
"That thought has already crossed my mind." said Dumbledore gently. "However, I fear I cannot possibly ask the Ministry for this Potion and its recipe without arousing suspicion for my usage of it."
"Understandable." sighed Flitwick.
"However, there is someone her whom could ask Damocles Belby for the Potion and its uses quite innocently enough, and with a little flattery, be conceded quite swiftly…isn't that so, Horace?"
Slughorn looked up again.
"You wish me to write to Mr Belby?" he asked in surprise. Dumbledore hardly ever showed appeal to his Slug Club and his 'claiming' of talented students.
"Indeed." smiled Dumbledore. "If you were to simply ask Belby, 'strictly for the sake of research and study', if he could give you the Potion and its recipe, and throw in some well-deserved praise, I see nothing stopping Belby from agreeing and handing it over to you."
"Oh, marvellous idea, Albus." said Slughorn, almost bouncing his belly about in his anticipated excitement.
"However, you are to hand the formula to me directly and promptly once you receive it." said Dumbledore sternly, but with the same polite smile on his face.
Slughorn agreed sheepishly. "Oh, but of course, Headmaster."
Soon enough, the party was dismissed, and Dumbledore sat at his desk, thinking of not just Remus Lupin, but of the girl, Lily Evans. She had tried twice to speak with him this weekend and pondered as to her motives. As he had his attention taken by the ailing Lupin, he hadn't a moment to use Legilimency on the girl and so still did not know what reason she had to approach him. He was keen to find out, and maybe learn more of her friend, Mr Prince, but at a later date. Right now, the issue of Remus Lupin and the Wolfsbane Potion came first.
The days and even weeks passed. Lily and Severus' lessons became more difficult and the homework began to build up. They were both next to useless in flying lessons, and both friends agreed that the world of Quidditch was not their place to explore.
October came, and as that month rolled in, so did the frail paleness of Remus once more. Lily, Mary and Quincey Arnolds all believed him to have recovered from his illness for the time being, but Severus knew full well that the boy was due to transform again in a matter of three to four days.
Severus and Lily often discussed his illness with the others, and at every turn, Severus tried to divert the suspicion whenever the necessity expressed itself to him.
Lily's main concerns soon changed however, because now a whole month had gone by, and the year did not seem to be toning down the amount of work, making her chances to press matters further with Dumbledore were becoming less frequent. At every chance, Dumbledore dismissed her, and she always noticed that he seemed to be occupied mentally. Lily did heed Severus' advice in asking Professor McGonagall for help in arranging a meeting with the Headmaster, but the Deputy Headmistress strictly replied, "Professor Dumbledore is currently occupied with some more serious business at present. If you wish to see him still when that business is dealt with, I will bring up your desire to see him, but only once that matter is sorted."
Lily was growing more and more upset with Dumbledore. He had rejected Petunia already, and it seemed like he was going out of his way to prolong her suffering.
Petunia herself had written to Lily via Gabriel. It amazed Lily that Petunia had done so. The letter mainly consisted of asking after Lily, with several hints that involved the repetitive name of 'Dumbledore'. This made Lily feel very inadequate and worried that Petunia would begin to feel that Lily isn't really trying to help her have magic in her life at all, and that she was easily forgetting about her in her new atmosphere, hence why Lily replied to the letter straight away.
Severus wanted to put Lily out of her misery by assuring her that Dumbledore's motives for rejecting her wishes to speak with him were true and justified. But respecting Remus' privacy and maintaining a friendship to potentially prevent the calamitous Marauders group from coming to be was more important, to his mind at least.
Another matter that Severus found important was how to deal with Voldemort.
He knew that something about his snake, Nagini, and Harry Potter's soul being contaminated by a piece of Voldemort's played a large part in the matter. But Nagini did not exist yet, and if Severus could work out what Voldemort's secret to being defeated was, she would never come to be a part of his grand design either.
Severus knew that if he was to find anything at all on Voldemort's dark magic involving souls, the best place to look for an answer would be in the Restricted Section of the library, and failing that, in Knockturn Alley. But Severus had no desire to go to the latter area as it was a notorious location for those interested in the Dark Arts, and he did not wish to give Lily or his family and friends the wrong impression.
He knew his chances of getting into the Restricted Section to find a book involving heavily Dark Magic would be very slim, so he was now at a quandary.
He knew of only one person whom would allow him to fetch such a book if it existed, two if he had been in Slytherin again. But Slughorn would likely not adhere to Severus' needs as easily, especially in just the first month of his education, and prior to being asked to join his precious Slug Club. And asking Dumbledore for help, and likely having to explain his motivations was simply out of the question. He could not trust Dumbledore with his secrets again, not after what he did to him before their deaths.
So, for the time being, until a solution presented itself…Severus had nothing more to do.
Remus awoke alone and exhausted, not to mention in immense pain from his transformation and his self-inflicted harm.
He dressed in his previously discarded clothing once more, which he hid near the entrance to the house which would later be known as the Shrieking Shack, so as to prevent reducing them to tatters.
After resting in the Shack for several hours, he made his way to the entrance of the tunnel leading out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him, as was their arrangement. She had pressed the knot on the Whomping Willow and saw just how ragged the poor boy was, perhaps worse than he had on their first occurrence of this event of the month.
"Oh, poor boy!" she said, taking him by the shoulder in a motherly fashion, quite unlike her normal demeanour, but then, Remus was not a normal student. "Sooner we get that Potion for you, the better."
"Does it ease the pain?" asked Remus.
"I do not know, but at least you will be you at heart and mind." assured the matron softly.
Remus nodded. Anything would be better than being an out of control savage. He would always be a beast, a thing. But at least with the Wolfsbane Potion, he would no longer be a savage.
It was mid-October by now. The students were keenly looking forward to Halloween. Severus was breezing through his homework. His natural talent was winning out over his renewed naivety in magical education. Lily was still getting nowhere with meeting the Headmaster.
Nor apparently was Dumbledore himself with his endeavours. Until now.
Dumbledore was at his desk when he heard a knock on the door.
"Enter." he said welcomingly, raising his head.
McGonagall and Slughorn came through, the latter looking triumphant. "Well, it is here." he said producing a scroll bearing the ingredients.
"You have no potion with you?" asked Dumbledore.
"Alas, no." said Slughorn, looking slightly forlorn. "I couldn't get across to Damocles Belby that I merely wished to use it for experimental and educational purposes. He settled for the ingredients, as he knew with them separately, I could, um, dabble with it. He asked me to send a flask of my first attempts round. He said in the letter that he was very keen to see if his old professor had any potential feedback and advice on the Potion, once I brewed it myself. He also said not giving me the finished product itself would add a challenge to me, a cheeky means to exact revenge on making Potions so complicated for him here, I believe."
Dumbledore nodded in understanding.
"How long may I ask do you think it would take for you to brew it?"
"Oh, with the wolfsbane, also known as aconite, it can be very dangerous and complex, so to ensure I get it right and to the exact detail to Damocles' instructions, I would say a month, give or take." said Slughorn.
"So, Mr Lupin has to endure another full moon of being uncontrollable?" asked McGonagall.
"Yes, but only for his own health." replied Slughorn. "Aconite is a very poisonous plant and ingredient in a potion. If anything went wrong, it could kill the boy."
Dumbledore and McGonagall nodded in agreement, but telling Remus he had to wait another two months or so to demonstrate the Wolfsbane Potion was going to be a dubious task.
Sirius and James were barely able to face each other after their falling out the previous month. Their estrangement came as a pleasant surprise to Severus, though he felt that through his second chance, this James Potter was now the one being dealt a bad hand.
Severus could not help but think that Potter deserved it. He made his life hell on the train onwards, just like the original. Nothing to suggest he was a better version.
However, Severus never intended for his misfortunes to shift to someone else. Nobody had to go through what he had, though Potter came very close indeed.
It was Friday today, and Severus was having lunch, though Quincey was in the Hospital Wing after burning his hand trying to brew a Sneeze Release Remedy. He sat with his other Ravenclaw friends, Nora Waynefleet and Elizabeth Burns from second year. Just then, Lily rushed over from what seemed to be the teachers' table. She looked positively thrilled.
"He has accepted. He and McGonagall will see me tonight in his office!" she squeaked, bouncing with excitement.
Severus smiled too, and quickly glanced in Remus' direction. He looked both excited, yet disappointed at the same time. Severus wasn't sure what that combination meant, but he didn't dwell on it. He turned to Lily swiftly.
"Don't count your gnomes though, Lily." he said sensibly. "Just because they have accepted the meeting, at last, it doesn't guarantee that they will accept the idea of helping Petunia. She is pure Muggle. Nobody has trained one to perform Herbology, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures before. Nobody has trained a Muggle to perform magic, ever."
"I know, Sev." replied Lily, her cheerful face starting to recede. "But I have to try. It's my best shot and my only chance to make Tuney happy again."
Severus understood.
"I suppose I won't be able to join you." he said.
"No. They just said I could go up to the office." confirmed Lily worriedly. "I hope they say yes, or I will be upset and alone with that knowledge all night."
"I'll wait for you at the bottom of the office entrance." suggested Severus.
"But curfew might begin by the time I finish." protested Lily.
"Eh, so I get a detention and lose a few points. I want to be there for my best friend should the worse happen." Severus replied.
Lily smiled and cuddled her best friend. She could always count on him.
But the same could not be said for Potter. He was eyeing them suspiciously. He noticed the rise and fall and rise again of Lily's smile, and wondered if Severus was jinxing her after confessing to her that he was indeed a Voldemort supporter. At this point, Remus was glad Potter wasn't focusing his attentions on him, and Sirius was glad Severus and Lily were unintentionally providing him with some peace and quiet, away from James' constant attempts to apologise for indicating that he and Regulus were Death Eater wannabes and should never have been born as a result. He didn't deny that his brother was more susceptible to his parents' theology than he was, but at the end of the day, he still cared for his brother, and hoped that he too would avoid being put in Slytherin.
That evening, Lily was escorted by McGonagall to Dumbledore's office, whilst Severus followed from behind, in a silent and distant way to avoid being caught by the cat-like reflexed McGonagall.
Severus watched as the two of them went up the gargoyle staircase which opened the entrance upon McGonagall's pronunciation of: "Jelly Beans."
Lily was astonished at the circular staircase, and soon enough found that it led to an oaken door, which McGonagall knocked upon stiffly.
"Enter." came the kindly voice of Professor Dumbledore.
McGonagall escorted Lily into the room and whispered, "Not every day I bring a student here who isn't in trouble for breaking the rules. In fact, it's the first time in many years I have brought a student here by his or her own request."
Dumbledore sat in his chair and turned to smile at Lily.
"Thank you, Minerva." he said. "Perhaps you would like to stay and hear what Miss Evans here would like to say?"
McGonagall agreed, piqued with curiosity at what brought on Lily's ongoing desire to visit the Headmaster. She took a seat beside Lily, before Dumbledore's desk.
A flap of feathers showed to Lily that Dumbledore was not alone. A beautiful bird of burning red feathers and at the prime of its life was perched on a stand beside the desk, preening its feathers and almost winking at Lily in a friendly manner.
"You're interested in my phoenix friend, Fawkes, I see." smiled Dumbledore.
"Phoenix?" gasped Lily. She had learnt from Severus that these birds were as rare a find as unicorns were.
"Yes. Fawkes and I have had a relationship based on trust in the other's life for more than fifty years now." said Dumbledore in a reminiscent voice.
Before Lily could pry more into this magnificent creature's history, McGonagall coughed suggestively.
"Perhaps we had better return to the matter at hand." she said.
"Of course." replied Dumbledore. "Now, Miss Evans, what would you like to see me about?"
He had a feeling he already knew. He had used Legilimency on her a couple of times after she kept asking him for this meeting, and he could primarily see her sister was on her mind at the time. He hoped that she wasn't here to ask him to admit her into Hogwarts again, as this was beyond any possibility or hope.
"I'm um, here, because, um…"
"Do get on with it, please, Miss Evans." piped up McGonagall impatiently.
"Sorry, I'm just…scared." said Lily.
"Why?" said McGonagall suspiciously. "Are the Slytherin students upsetting you?"
This was true enough, as they had openly scoffed at her for not having a magical family's name and they deducted that she must be Half-blood, or worse still, a Muggle-born, or to them, a Mudblood. But this was not what was troubling her, as she had expected such abuse from Severus' warnings, and she took them in her stride.
"No, it's um, to do with my elder sister." explained Lily.
"Ah." sighed Dumbledore.
"The girl you went to visit to deny entry to Hogwarts, Albus?" asked McGonagall with interest.
"It is." affirmed Dumbledore.
"Well, Miss Evans, if this meeting is to try and get a second opinion and a new hope for your sister, I am sure Professor Dumbledore has explained most kindly to her and to you, that it is simply not possible." said McGonagall sternly.
"It's not exactly for that." said Lily timidly. "It's just that, since you told her she couldn't come to Hogwarts…she went off the rails. She refused to learn anything at her secondary school, she hated not being at Hogwarts when she turned eleven, and she even began to neglect everything connected to the Muggle world."
"I am sorry to hear that my rejection of your sister learning here had such a negative impact." said Dumbledore softly.
"But then…Sev, my friend in Ravenclaw…he came up with an idea one day, that gave Tuney and I a new hope."
"And that was to follow the Headmaster around and bother him until he said yes?" said McGonagall coldly. "Most immature plot and quite an underdeveloped one for a Ravenclaw to come up with. Come, Miss Evans, this has been a waste of time."
"NO! That's not the idea, please wait!" implored Lily.
"Let her speak, Minerva." said Dumbledore sternly. "We have seen Miss Evans and Mr Prince around here several times and both show promise. If there's one thing I have observed, they are not immature fools."
McGonagall looked slightly abashed and sat down once more and allowed Lily to continue her story.
"Well, Sev said to me one day, that perhaps although Tuney could never come here to learn classes such as Defence Against the Dark Arts and spells that generally mastered in wand usage, she could perhaps…maybe…with your consent, sir, a-a-and with professional tuition from a skilled witch or w-wizard…she could learn more basic things, such as Potions, Herbology, and maybe even Care of Magical Creatures…and surely, even History of Magic? We had the idea if that were to be the case, Tuney could even learn to be a Herbologist. She loves gardening, y-you see."
When she finished, she hung her head low. She couldn't bear the thought of looking at Dumbledore, whom most likely have looked at her with a kind smile but with despondent and rejecting eyes underneath.
McGonagall, on the other hand, was looking at Dumbledore. She had never heard of such an idea before. There had been many Muggle-born witches and wizards who had entered Hogwarts and had siblings, but most of those siblings either had no interest in learning magic as it scared them too much, or they had magic too and followed their sibling later. Petunia was the exception in the former. She was jealous and desperate to be like her sister, even to this minor extent.
Dumbledore was looking from Lily to McGonagall. He too had never come across such a circumstance. When he rejected Petunia in person on that day, he thought she would accept things and move on with her Muggle life and that would have been an end to the matter. But the poor girl was still fixated on learning any form of magic. The Wizarding World and its many secrets and possibilities had seduced her, and she did not wish to let go.
He considered hers and Severus' idea to let her study subjects that did not necessarily need spell work.
Potions was a dangerous subject for anyone to study, most especially for a Muggle, and he knew with certainty that if he did grant it all to Petunia, she would never be able to brew anything beyond second year education, and even with those other potions open to her, she would need supervision at all times, possibly even after learning everything about them. Care of Magical Creatures would be dangerous, but even fully trained wizards and witches often had a partner to join them on their professions of exploring such creatures. History of Magic would be next to no problem, as it is generally studying, and to a Muggle like Petunia, the subject could well be fascinating and to an extent, fun. Herbology would most certainly need supervision, due to the dangers of plants such as Mandrakes. But so did most students throughout their years at Hogwarts, Lily amongst them.
Dumbledore pondered for a while longer. After a full quarter of an hour, Lily becoming more stressful, fidgety and upset by the second, he looked up and gave McGonagall a conceding expression.
"Miss Evans, I must say that I have never encountered such a proposition before, no matter how many Muggle-borns there have been with siblings with no magical qualities." he said, pausing impressively. "The idea of a Muggle learning the subjects you have suggested is intriguing to me. And I believe that one day, I would like to aid you in this mission of yours to provide some magic in your sister's life."
Lily looked up in surprise, but did not jump to a hasty conclusion. She had to be sure.
"S-s-so, you'll do it, sir?" she asked hesitantly.
Dumbledore smiled, but had a stern look.
"Only when you have graduated Hogwarts and after she has completed her Muggle based studies, once she graduates what I believe they call, collage and universallies." he said.
Lily nearly corrected him, but daren't do so. Dumbledore was willing to help Petunia achieve her dreams, albeit at a later time in her life, but Severus believed this would be the case anyway and her sister was prepared to wait, so long as she at least had a guarantee. And now Lily could finally provide her with one.
"I understand that, sir." she said excitedly. "Thank you, Professor!" She rushed over and hugged him. Dumbledore chuckled and patted her back.
McGonagall looked very hesitant to acquiesce. She was certain teaching a Muggle even the most basic forms of magic would be exceedingly difficult and time-consuming. But as Dumbledore had granted the request to occur in the future, she had little say in the matter, and went along with it.
"Now that that's settled, time for bed, Miss Evans." smiled Dumbledore.
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore."
"I trust you can escort yourself back, Miss Evans?" asked McGonagall. "I need a word with the Headmaster."
"Yes, I'll be fine, Professor." smiled Lily and she left the office eagerly.
Severus saw her as she came down the staircase and was very surprised to see she was grinning with anticipation.
"He said yes!" she cried, hugging him. "Dumbledore will help teach Petunia magic once she and we have graduated from our educations!"
"That's wonderful!" said Severus happily.
Nothing made Severus happier than to see Lily so happy, and for once, he found himself grateful for Dumbledore's involvement in their matters for the first time in eleven years.
Severus and Lily went up to bed, and Lily was only too keen to rise early the next morning to write the news to her awaiting sister.
(Chapter 15 is up, and so will 16 in a week or so! Please read and review! Thank you!)