Saturday. It was Saturday morning. Agnes stretched as she finally decided to quit laying about. She still had that tutoring session with Ja-Juno. First thing was first. It was time for her first muggle cigarette of the day. If she was going to go through with the arrangement, Agnes figured having some nicotine in her system wouldn't hurt.
She lit the tobacco end of the white, paper wrapped stick and sat back against the headboard. She inhaled the bitter carbon monoxide and let the stinging smoke tendrils tickle her lungs. Agnes didn't even look up when a thud vibrated her mattress. A soft, yet deep, purring confirmed her assumption. A calico with seemingly perfect markings rubbed against Agnes' hand holding the cigarette. The cat looked up at the witch by her side and meowed.
"You have no fear, do you Beatrice? Or rather, you lack common sense."
The cat tilted her head to the side and meowed as though she had understood Agnes' words. Agnes knew she understood. How, she couldn't explain- Beatrice had just always acted like she understood English.
Agnes snubbed out the cigarette in the glass ashtray. She petted the calico as if to only acknowledge her presence. Agnes glanced at the clock on the wall and immediately jumped to her feet.
She had risen on Saturday afternoon, not Saturday morning. She was late before she had even woken up!
Without wasting anymore time, Agnes grabbed one of her many black long-sleeved cloaks and ran out the door. Beatrice looked at the door curiously as it quickly closed. Seeing that her owner was gone, the cat leaped onto the bedside table.
Since her owner had left, Beatrice decided to occupy herself by sleeping. The harsh smell of the ashtray distracted her. Cautiously, Beatrice outstretched her neck to investigate the strange smell. The door quickly opened. Beatrice jumped at the sudden noise of Agnes entering the room. The witch came over to the bedside table to retrieve the wand that lay beside the cat and left again without a backward glance.
When the door closed again, Beatrice looked in its direction. Her ears folded back in annoyance for being startled. With the threat gone, Beatrice found a comfortable position and layed herself down to sleep.
Finally here...
Agnes leaned against the wall beside the threshold outside of her classroom. She supported her weight with her left hand as she regained her breath. Once recovered, Agnes straightened her robes and entered the classroom with her head held high. She hoped to pull off the appearance of grace and poise that her parents had very often drilled into her brain. Her parents...
The masquerade, thankfully, hadn't been for nothing. Though Agnes was dreadfully late by an hour and a half, the Slytherin girl had obediently waited. Her facade of elegance had intimidated the student with ease. The seemingly confident demeanor radiated from Agnes as she moved across the classroom to sit behind her desk. The student said nothing. Her eyes silently followed her teacher's movements as though she were hypnotized.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Jan-Juno... I keep wanting to call you Jane. What is it that you are struggling to comprehend?"
There was a pause as Juno gathered her wits about her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts before speaking. "Um... one second," Juno muttered as she shifted through the parchment of notes. She stopped once she had found the page with its title underlined. "How the Nature of Magic becomes accessible to a witch or wizard."
"Ah," Agnes nodded. "This is how we will proceed. I will repeat highlights of the previous lecture, and then break down that said highlight. Will that be alright?"
Juno nodded.
"Then let us begin. The main focus of that lecture was that wizards do not have a source of magical power that can be measured in quantity. Basically speaking, that means that magic is not energy. It appears as though you had failed to jot that down." Agnes pointed to the place of the parchment's face those words should have been. Obediently, Juno wrote the added information on the side of the parchment. She would rewrite her notes later.
Agnes continued. "Just like how magic is not energy, one's power is not fixed. When factors that influence power change, the intensity and power changes as well." She paused to let Juno catch up.
Juno's quill jiggled about with the quick movements of her scribbling. The girl read over what she had just written and furrowed her brow. "How can power change, then? If it is not fixed, how can certain factors make it change?"
"It is like with the Crucio Curse," Agnes dismissively waved her hand. Juno's eyes widened with the calm demeanor in which her teacher brought up one of the three Unforgivable Curses.
"Anyone can say the incantation, and anyone can learn and perform the wand movement. Just because they can do so, doesn't mean the cast will be successful. To complete the cast of Crucio, one must possess a sadistic, masochistic pleasure in seeing and causing people pain." Agnes paused. To Juno, it looked as though her professor was choosing her next choice of words - at first glance. On a closer inspection, Juno swore Agnes' eyes temporarily darkened. Then, as fast as it had appeared, it was gone.
"Same thing with Patra-" Agnes' voice cracked. "The Patronus Charm. To successfully cast, the caster must think of their happiest memory. The trick is doing so subconsciously."
If you can even have a memory happy enough to conjure a Patronus.
Now understanding, Juno wrote down the Patronus Charm example in her notes.
"Alright... to support what I've just told you, substantial changes in a person's character can result to changes in their ability to use magic. Prime example being Crucio and the Patronus Charm."
"I do ever so hate to interrupt, Professor, but may I have a word with you?"
Juno nearly jumped out of her skin. There had been sound of anyone stepping in. Agnes remained still. She was becoming used to these surprise visits.
"I'm afraid, Headmaster, that for the moment, I am otherwise occupied."
Dumbledore smiled warmly and nodded. "My apologies, Professor. I did not realize that you were with a student. When the opportunities arise, could you kindly speak with me in my office?"
"But of course," Agnes smiled out of courtesy. Dumbledore excused himself with a short bow before taking his leave. Both Agnes and Juno watched as the door creaked closed.
"Getting back on task, now; incantations and wand movements do not account for the difficulty in magic like Professor Flitwick would have you believe."
The gargoyle moved aside to allow entry. Agnes looked up to the towering steps. She had no idea what Dumbledore was going to say. Had he heard her miniature speech on the Crucio Curse to a student? Probably. But, it was strictly for educational purposes only.
Either way, the Headmaster had summoned her, and she must answer his call. That's how she had viewed people with authority wanting to "talk to her," as they say. Let's go ahead and get this over with...
At her approach, the doors opened to reveal the vast Headmaster's office. She had been here before, so the grandeur no longer affected her as it had before. As expected, Dumbledore was seated behind the Headmaster's desk waiting for her arrival. Agnes took her seat without being told. Damn the formalities.
Dumbledore nodded in her direction once Agnes had seated herself. "Agnes."
Agnes returned his nod. "Albus."
The awkward, tension-filled silence from the day before had returned. Neither of them liked it. Dumbledore leaned back into his chair. "I would like to start by apologizing for yesterday. It was never my intention-"
"Don't worry yourself with it, Headmaster. We are all human; no matter the age or experience. To ease your nerves, I accept your apology."
Dumbledore relaxed, if only slightly. Agnes could still see the guilt on the man's face.
"Right. On with the other matter, then, shall we? Despite the facts that you and I both know concerning your situation, I am afraid that Severus isn't the most forgiving person."
Agnes sighed. Severus again.
To be quite honest, Agnes had forgotten about Severus' existence. Never mind the fact that he was of the very few people who knew. If word got out, the Ministry would have her shipped off to Azkaban before you could say "Jimmy-crack-corn." Severus was definitely her biggest problem.
"Oh, him," was all that Agnes could muster as a response.
"Yes, him. I called you into my office to assure you that I had talked to Severus."
I'm sure that went real far.
"Severus has agreed to my boundaries, albeit reluctantly. I wanted to tell you to not let his words get to you. Although he agreed to secrecy, that doesn't necessarily mean that he won't try to make you break." Albus was looking at Agnes intently, now. The worry was plain as day in his sparkling blue eyes.
Agnes smirked. That stereotypical Slytherin smirk. She crossed her legs; her left shin resting atop of her right knee. "I assure you, sir, Severus couldn't break me even if he were the Dark Lord himself. Severus and I are both masters of the same game. The trick to surviving is who is the better liar. As we are both Slytherin, it would result in a stand-still."
Dumbledore regarded Agnes' words with a precautionary look in his eyes. This was a side Dumbledore had not expected- the cocky, and ever so cunning, Slytherin. "Very well, Miss Blackwood; however, if you find yourself in any unwanted situation, you know where to go."
Agnes nodded to show she understood. Taking that as her cue to leave, Agnes exited the Headmasters' chambers. She went back to her dungeons. The students would be leaving from the Great Hall soon, and Agnes did not want to be caught up in that traffic.
She successfully made it to her chamber's corridor before a single student had left from dinner. Agnes was quite proud of herself.
Footsteps.
Quick footsteps echoed through the dungeons. Both out of habit, and radically knowing who their owner could be, Agnes ducked to the side behind the wooden threshold paneling. Correctly (unfortunately), as always, Severus Snape briskly walked by the corridor's small entrance. Agnes caught her breath in fear of being heard. She wasn't noticed. Assuming it was safe to come out of hiding, Agnes peered around the corner to the main dungeon hallway. Though completely dark, Agnes' eyes had easily adjusted.
Thank you, carrots.
Silently, she watched the potions master stalk down the halls. It must be his turn to patrol tonight.
Agnes hated feeling like she was his enemy. Yes, she had made her mistakes, but so had he.
She remembered catching glances of him at the Slytherins' table during meals. He had been in his fourth year while she was in her first. He had always caught her eye back then, but Agnes had no idea why. They never spoke to one another. Ever.
When he was alone, isolating himself from everyone else in the Slytherins Common Room, she had been there. When he was teased, she had been there. When he was bullied by those dastardly Marauders, she had been there. When he had (angrily so) called that uppity Evans girl a mudblood (which she had derserved), she had been there. When the Potters were murdered and Severus lay there crying, holding Lily in his arms, she had been there. She had always been there. In the shadows - never once noticed. Just as alone as Severus had felt. But he was never truly alone.
The hell'd he see in that damned Gryffindor, anyway?
Agnes snatched open the door to her quarters. She frantically searched for the cigarettes.
She never loved you, you git.
She didn't make it. She couldn't find them quick enough.
Agnes finally, after all these years, broke down.
Well, I reached my goal to get this chapter out by today. It was a lot longer than I had expected it to be. Hopefully the next chapter will come just as fast.
~DJ-Kyoto
