Chapter Twenty-Six
The Potion and the Scroll
Everyone in the school was glad when classes resumed, but none more so than Corey Willowby. He was tired of the sympathetic looks, and of people he hadn't even spoken to before going out of the way to be nice to him, not to mention everyone trying to get him to talk when he didn't feel like it. Even Professor Craw seemed hesitant around him, not even saying a word when he turned in his holiday assignment half finished.
Corey picked at his food thoughtfully at dinner that night, barely listening to Doug and Ron as they talked about the sparring tournament starting that evening. He glanced up at the head table where Craw was listening intently to McGonagall, who seemed to have the rest of the table's attention as well. Snape drummed his fingers distractedly, glancing out over the students. Noticing Corey's gaze, he studied the boy for a moment before focusing his attention back on Craw, who seemed to be absorbed in what was being discussed, barely touching her food as usual. She hardly ever seemed to do much eating at the head table as far as Corey could tell, and never stayed for meals except dinner.
They had both come to him just a day before classes resumed. Craw had asked if he would like her as his guardian and perhaps even adopt him once she and Snape were married. It was a tempting offer; maybe too tempting, and Corey didn't feel like answering right away. It was as if everything he might have wanted for himself was now being handed to him at the expense of his parents and brother. How could he allow himself to just go on like that? Of course, there was the advantage of seeing his sister more often if he were living at the Broom Closet. Corey had little doubt that he would be able to arrange to see each her without his aunt knowing about it quite easily, and he knew that Craw and Snape would never try to keep him away from his sister.
"Corey?" Hermione, who was sitting next to Ron and Doug, was tapping his hand lightly from across the table, trying to get his attention. "Taylor and some of the other news staff and I are going to the newsroom to work on some new ideas for the paper while they're in sparring club. Do you want to come?"
"I wouldn't, Corey. Malfoy's going to be there, and I think he still blames you for getting kicked out of sparring," Ron said, earning an intense look from Hermione, as if she were trying to get him to see what she was thinking. "Besides, not much is going to happen there without the paper's star reporter," he said smugly. Harry and Ginny, sitting on the same side as Corey, rolled their eyes.
"Speaking of which, now that you have that new camera your father got you for Christmas, why don't you help Justin take pictures at sparring club tonight and knock out a short article about tournament prospects… and try to remain unbiased this time?" Hermione added, looking at him sternly.
"It's my unbiased opinion that I'm going to win again," Ron said with a grin. "How's that for an article?"
"I think it's a little early to be predicting winners," Ginny said. "This is only the first round. And if it's anything like last year, we'll be at this for hours tonight to get everyone's first rounds in."
"Well, we'll be long done before you then, so we'll have time to study and relax," Hermione said. Corey knew she was only trying to keep him from wishing he hadn't gotten kicked out of sparring class. It wasn't really working.
"Actually, I have something to do tonight. Maybe some other time," Corey said quietly.
"Without Taylor and me? You've got something to do?" Doug asked curiously. "Snape and Craw will be judging the tournament, so I know you're not going to be with them."
"No, nothing like that. I'm going to write a letter to my sister," Corey said. "I just hope they let her read it."
"Don't use a regular familiar, Corey. Take it up to the Owlery and get one of the head birds to do it," Harry suggested. "They'll make sure it gets delivered one way or the other. Our post doesn't normally go astray like regular post does."
Corey took his time writing the letter, and most of the students were turning in by the time he headed up the long winding steps leading up the to the Owlery tower. He was taking his time knowing that his aunt and uncle, if not already in bed, soon would be in preparation for a long day on the farm and that might increase the chances of getting a letter to his sister without them knowing it. As he got up in the Owlery, he looked thoughtfully up at the perches where the head owls roosted. Normally those owls were for professors and emergencies, but Harry seemed to think it'd be all right to use one for this. Trusting the older student's judgment he called one down, explaining exactly which room was hers in the house.
"Would you please take it to her window and not to the front? Tap the window lightly, and be careful, my aunt and uncle don't take to magic," the owl hooted in understanding and took the letter from the boy and headed out one of the large open windows out of the tower. Corey watched the owl go, gazing after him until he disappeared from the moonlight.
"Good evening, Corey."
Corey turned around slightly surprised to see Professor Dumbledore, standing at the top of the stairs with a calm smile on his face. He walked further in, a letter in his hand, his expression almost amused as he glanced up at the perches above.
"I see you have borrowed one of my favorite owls," he said, "No no, it's quite all right, Corey. Hethren, would you carry a note for me?" The horned owl immediately came down, taking up the letter. "The normal place, old girl, and thank you." The owl quickly sped away, and Dumbledore looked back at Corey once more.
"I… I'm sorry if I overstepped, but Harry suggested… I mean, I wanted to write my sister and…" Dumbledore put up his hand reassuringly.
"If a particular owl wants to carry a particular letter, who am I to argue?" Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "I am sure your sister will be very glad to hear from you."
"I just hope my aunt and uncle aren't awake," Corey sighed. "You don't think that they'd keep the letter from her, do you?"
"Not if she wants to receive it," Dumbledore said. "As long as the two of you wish to keep in contact with each other, you will," he assured him, "and whether or not you do is only up to the two of you and no one else. Don't let anyone try to take that decision away from you, it's not theirs to make." Corey looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment then nodded. "Please feel free to chose any owl you like to contact her."
"Thank you, sir." Corey said gratefully.
"You are quite welcome. And if I do say so myself, it is nice to hear you talking again. You had us worried there for a bit. You have a great deal of people here who care a lot about you, Corey. Never doubt that."
"They don't care, they only pity me," Corey shrugged with a frown. "All of them are only being nice to me because… because of what happened. I don't want people to be friendly or offer to do things with me just because of that."
"No, I don't suppose I blame you," Dumbledore said with a nod, sitting on the stair rail. "Although I do disagree that's the only reason they're all being nice to you. It's easy, sometimes, to read too much into things when you're feeling unsure of yourself, and fearing that people might feel a certain way might make you think they really are. The best cure for that, of course, is to ask them," he smiled. "And after they answer, perhaps you should ask yourself why you believed that their response would be any different." He got up then, heading down the stairs. "Good night, Corey. Don't be too long about getting back to the dorms. You're not supposed to be out this late, you know."
Corey, realizing that he just managed to escape another detention, he stepped back from the window and hurried down the stairs, quickly and quietly making his way back to the Gryffindor houserooms.
Jennifer propped her head up on Minerva's desk as Minerva and Severus huddled over notes and formulas, tired but keenly interested. At last, Minerva's long hard efforts had paid off, and she was able to crack the code on the Chaser's scroll, and had asked Severus to double check her work decoding the simplest of the spells. Severus nodded to himself as he looked between the notes and the scroll before finally handing it back.
"Verbatum Syncronium. Interesting little cantrip," Severus said, as he glanced at some of her other notes on the scroll.
"I can't understand why a spell like this fell out of knowledge to begin with. Don't you see how powerful this can be? And yet any first year could cast it," Minerva said, barely containing her excitement as she pondered the possibilities.
"Speech in unison?" Jennifer asked, slightly puzzled.
"Actually, it's more than that, it's a charm to cast for spell synchronization," Minerva explained. "Of course we all know that when more than one wizard casts a the same spell at something the effect multiplies, but there's always lulls in the effect, and you don't really get the power that each of the people are capable of, because it's lost by being not perfectly in time with the others."
"Yes, yes, I know, the Flux Effect," Jennifer said impatiently. She knew Minerva was only lecturing magical theory out of excitement, and not from thinking Jennifer didn't know it.
"But if you cast this spell first, it eliminates the effect. Everyone that is a part of the connection that casts the same spell will be in complete unison, and therefore there is no power lull or loss," Minerva explained, grabbing the translation still in Severus' hand and handing it to Jennifer.
"I can see times when it can be useful -" Severus began.
"I sure could have used this on the train ride to Hogwarts this year," Jennifer interrupted as she glanced it over, thinking of all the rocking cars.
"However," Severus continued, nodding slightly to Jennifer, "there are definitely limitations. You have to be in physical contact with any others you want the spell to effect, you will have had to have agreed on a spell beforehand; anyone casting a different spell would break from it, and everyone in the line must let the spell guide their timing. In effect, Minerva, it'll only be useful in a fully prepared situation. It would have been a lot more effective had the creator taken in account situations where it would be more readily needed, such as spur of the moment defense, even if it would make the spell a bit more complex in initializing it."
"But in the right situation, the power of this spell as it is now is unbelievable, and anyone can cast it, even an incoming student. Can't you just imagine what it might be like to have everyone working together in perfect unison against a common threat? The entire school working as one?" Minerva said, bristling slightly at Severus' skeptical face.
"I can," came a voice from behind them, and Jennifer looked back to see Dumbledore standing beside the door with a smile on his face, closing it behind him. "Well done, Minerva, I had been wondering if that had been one of the spells that was on the scroll."
"What do you mean by that? You knew about this spell before this?" Jennifer asked with irritation.
"Of course, Jennifer. I think you still need to brush up on some more Hogwarts history," Dumbledore chided her teasingly as he came nearer. "It is often said that the four founders on occasion cast spells together as if they were one, and I've always suspected that there was more than just personalities in perfect harmony involved," he said, his eyes twinkling. "So, Minerva, now that we have it, what do you propose to do with it?"
"I think we should teach it to everyone in the school, students and staff alike, and go over scenarios in which it should be used," she said.
"Sir, I don't think that's such a good idea," Severus said quickly, shaking his head with a frown. "The staff, yes, but we all know not all the students have the school's best interest in mind, teaching everyone might be…counterproductive. This spell will help focus any group of casters, of Dark or Light magic. This isn't something to just be handed out to just anyone." Dumbledore listened to Severus thoughtfully, his hands behind his back as he walked over to the fireplace, watching it for a moment.
"You have very valid objections, Severus, no one knows that as well as I. But at the same time, I've always held the belief that the school was strongest when it worked together, and kept together. Hogwarts is first and foremost a place of learning, and not just about the learning of spells and magic, but of magic ethics, personal growth and realizations, and self-discipline. I cannot, as Headmaster, conceivably allow myself to believe that any student that has spent any length of time here doesn't take a part of it with them; no matter what their background, no matter who their parents, no matter what baggage they carry with them." Dumbledore turned around, glancing at the three with a look of determination and unwavering faith. "To trust our students is to trust ourselves, our own teaching, and everything this school stands for. We will teach them all."
Jennifer glanced up at the troubled look on Severus' face, watching him slowly nod. He was reflecting on himself, Jennifer realized, something that Dumbledore had said had got him thinking about the past again. She then looked over at Minerva, who was smiling slightly, but solemnly. Minerva was convinced, it seemed, that this was the right thing to do, and was just as convinced that this out of the three spells she had been given, this was the one she had to pass on. As for herself, Jennifer suddenly felt as if they had just started a chain of events in motion and she was being swept along with it.
It was well after midnight before she and Severus walked back towards their rooms, when Jennifer became increasingly aware that something was bothering him. She put a hand around his arm just after they reached the top of the stairs, trying to get him to look at her. He sighed softly, walking to the door of her room.
"Are you all right?" Jennifer asked concernedly, trying to meet his gaze.
"I think I'm going to go back down to my office for a sedative. I've a lot on my mind tonight," he said, finally looking towards her.
"Something Dumbledore said bothered you. What was it?" Jennifer asked, leaning against the painting. Dewhurst, the raven in the picture, fluttered slightly, edging sideways on his perch so he could see more clearly. "Something about trusting the students with this?"
"No. Well, perhaps partially," Severus admitted. "I am not so certain that we've had as much influence on some of our students as we'd like to think. It seems rather naive to think so. I can't possibly bring myself to trust them." Jennifer smiled softly at him.
"I don't think Dumbledore ever asked you to trust them," Jennifer said quietly, "rather, I think he's asking himself to. And personally, I don't blame you. The last thing I want to see is Malfoy's gang threatening to double-team some of the other students around here. Not that I wouldn't enjoy hanging them up by their toenails for it later," she added with a grin. "That's probably what he meant by us trusting ourselves."
"No, I don't think so," Severus said, looking away for a moment. "Go and get some rest, I'll see you in the morning."
"Well don't stay up too late, I know you have an early class tomorrow too. Baskerville, Dewhurst," Jennifer said, the door swinging open behind her as she gave him a quick kiss goodnight and headed inside. Severus then quickly went back down the main stair; taking the longer route so he could stop in the staff room on his way to the lab.
He strode into the room with his wand out, determination on his face as he approached the closet, then hesitated, looking at it with a frown. Finally he slammed it open, pointing his wand at Humphrey, who looked back at him like a mirror, wand out, squinting at himself… angry, dark, vengeful. Severus slammed the door again. Scowling, he drummed his fingers with anger and irritation on the closet. How could he find a way to disillusion his fear? Make fun of it? There was definitely nothing funny about it. Dispel it? Perhaps fight fire with fire? He forced himself to open the door again, but the Boggart was different this time. It was Severus, but not Severus…darker, angrier, its face grey and eyes vicious as he looked back at its counterpart. It raised its arms, its sleeves turned back to show a pulsating Dark Mark as if to strangle the other, fangs bared as it moved as if to attack.
Barking out spells quickly, Severus slammed shut the closet door as a slew of iron chains seemed to materialize from nowhere, slamming in front the closet in winding ropes and locking each other in large padlocks. More and more slapped on with loud rattling and snapping clicks, bars slamming across in every direction. Suddenly there was a loud crash as it fell onto its side, followed by silence as Severus stood, face pale and slightly out of breath, trying to regain his composure, angry at himself for his actions. Taking one last look at it, he threw open the door in the back and headed down the stairs towards the dungeons.
As the room regained its silence, a silhouette stepped out of the shadows in one corner of the room. Dumbledore stepped into the light with a thoughtful expression on his face as he gazed at the closet, then over at the open door.
As cold as it was that January, Professor Craw had, almost at a spur of the moment it seemed, decided to hold classes on the Quidditch Pitch. It was a bit of a surprise at first, but not as much of a surprise as when Harry got to the field to see an old locomotive with a filled coal car in the center.
"I wonder what that old wreck is doing in the middle of our pitch?" Ron asked in surprise as he and Hermione walked up behind Harry.
"I'm sure we're about to find out. Look, the other students are gathering near there," Hermione said. Professor Craw was sitting on the cab of the locomotive, waving students over.
"Today and for the next month or so, we're going to start studying and experimenting with a different sort of defensive tactic than we have in the past… team defense," the professor told them from her perch, glancing over at her class apologetically. "And before you mention it, no, it's not on the syllabus, and if you read ahead in Advanced counterhexing, er, sorry, we'll get to that eventually." Hermione sighed loudly. "Today, we're going to run a series of experiments that deal with our situation getting to the school this year, and the difficulties of mass vs. power, which I'm sure you all remember from Arithmantics… the Flux Effect, and ultimately, overcoming these obstacles. You might ask, what's this have to do with Defense? Quite a bit, as you will soon see. Right now, however, we're going to use a simple concept, levitation, to show some of these effects off the paper so you can get a real feel for how they work. Get into work groups of four, please, and we'll go from there."
Professor Craw then hopped down, helped make sure everyone was organized, and had each group try to lift the train together. Some of them actually got it to shake, and wheels to turn, and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Seamus actually got the front of the locomotive off the ground, coming down with a hard crash after hovering a moment.
"Not bad, not bad. All right, let's see the whole class do it, on my mark," Professor Craw said, counting to three as the students shouted out the spell, pointing their wands. Up the train went, several feet off the ground, shaking slightly from side to side. "All right, now put it down gently," Craw said at last. But apparently some of the strength of the combined spell had wavered, and as they tried to set it down it crashed into the muddy, snowy field, sinking slightly into it from the impact. "Hm. Thank goodness for corn fields," she chuckled, shaking her head slightly and grinning at them. "Good job, class, now we're going to learn something new."
The professor then taught them what she called the sync spell, having them each practice saying it several times. Then, one by one, she held each students hand and had them cast it. Harry stepped up curiously when it was his turn, and she took his hand with a smile.
"All right Harry, whenever you're ready," Craw said. Nodding slightly to her, he pointed his wand up making a slight swirling movement as she had showed them and cast the spell.
"Verbatum Syncronium!"
Immediately he felt an odd, tingling sensation around him, as if there were a thin web of energy surrounding him, and crossing through his hand into the professor. It was a strange, almost slowing feeling, as if floating in water. When she let go, it still remained for a few moments afterwards, fading away very slowly.
"Perfect, Harry, good job. Ron, you ready?" Craw asked moving to the next. Once she went around to all of them, she head them get back in their groups, smiling at each of them cryptically again as she came back around. "Now, let's see it in action, shall we? Hermione, cast the spell on your group and then step up, and cast the levitation spell at the train whenever it feels right. Try not to fight the spell on you, or it'll break, just let it guide you. Whenever you're ready, Hermione," Craw nodded, stepping away from the train. Calmly Hermione cast the spell on them, the tingling web shooting through her hand to Ron, Harry, and Seamus as she felt herself pointing her wand at the train, concentrating, knowing without looking, that the others were doing the same. In clear, perfect unison, the four called out, "Windgardium Leviosa!"
The train did not even hesitate. With all the grace of a leaf in the wind it lifted easily into the air, hovering without shaking or bulking. Just then, Harry heard a gasp from the rest of the students, but was able to hold onto his concentration as Professor Craw walked over and stood directly underneath the train.
"As you can see, with perfect synchronization, a small group is able to accomplish things that a much larger group can't. Granted, this spell is limited partially by the fact that you have to have time to decide beforehand what to cast, but still as you can see, it's a very powerful spell," she smiled, walking out from underneath of it once more. "Would you please put it down gently, group?" Slowly the train descended, lightly settling to the ground. "Well done," she grinned. "Next group please?"
"And then she did it again with the other seventh years," Doug whispered to Corey. Taylor, sitting on the other side of them, leaned over to hear him better. "I had gone out with Julie to watch her practice, and they were still out on there so I saw when Draco's group came up and she stood underneath the train for ages, longer than any of the other groups! Talk about nerves of steel! Me, I was nearly biting my gloves to bits watching it, I was sure he was going to drop it on her."
"I can't believe Craw would put herself in any real danger, she probably had a spell or something up her sleeve in case something went wrong," Corey insisted quietly.
"What would she be able to do? Wouldn't have been much time to do anything if something went wrong," Doug said, shaking his head.
"Corey's probably right, after all, she is a Hogwarts professor. I'm sure it was just all for show," Taylor said. "Besides, if she'd put herself in any real danger, I'd think Snape would have words with her about it, don't you?"
"Well, he is late," Doug pointed out, glancing around the classroom. As if on cue the door suddenly popped open and Snape entered, glaring at the three from across the room.
"What have I told your three about whispering in my class?" he snapped as the three boys scrambled to sit up front and straighten their chairs. "That's five points off for each of you and if I catch you doing it one more time it'll be fifteen each."
"But Professor, class hadn't actually started," Corey said before Doug could stop him. "You weren't in here yet."
"Mr. Willowby, class starts at the same time every day regardless of whether or not I am in the classroom at the time. I expect every one of you to follow the rules whether or not I am present! Now, unless you want to further risk the danger of being the first student in Hogwarts history to run his house points into negative numbers, I suggest you sit back, keep your mouth shut, and pay attention to me, not to Brittle, and not to Brim, while you're in my class."
"Yes, sir." Corey said. Snape stared at him.
"Did I just not tell you to keep your mouth shut?"
"Yes, sir," Corey said. Doug and Taylor gazed at him with their eyes wide.
"Brittle, Brim, face front, I didn't give you permission to gawk," Snape snapped, his eyes flicking back over to Corey. "I want to see you after class, Willowby. I'm growing quite tired of your insolence, and we're going to discuss how we're going to correct that. Unless anyone else wants to attempt to undermine my authority, we will get back to our discussion on venom based potions and antitoxins.
"Now that we've covered some of the formulas with prepared type C venom, we're going to look at making anti-venom from fresh venom. I've some sedated specimens here that you all will have the opportunity to harvest the substance first hand. Now pay attention while I show you how to do this, especially to how I've positioned my hand and fingers and I'm only going to show you this once. If you end up flat on your back in the hospital wing when it's your turn and a failing mark, you'll have only yourself to blame," he warned them, reaching in and taking one of the sleepy serpents just below the head.
Corey watched with interest as Snape showed them how to extract the venom into a cloth-covered jar, carefully listening to the instruction. Doug watched for a moment, but couldn't help but peer behind him knowingly, then smirking to himself. Gail and Katie were squirming in their seats, not looking too thrilled about the idea of having to handle the snakes themselves. After the incident just before Christmas where Katie left to get sick after dicing slug eels, Doug was of the mind that Potions just wasn't most girls favorite class. He finally looked back over as Snape had finished, putting the snake in a different glass container to keep them separate.
"All right, we'll have one to each table. Sedated or no, I suggest that once I bring these out nobody makes any sudden movements or do anything else stupid, or I guarantee you the snake won't be the only thing you'll have to worry about," he said, reaching in for another snake. But one of the snakes inside had begun to come out of the sedation, for the moment he stuck his hand in one of them viciously lashed out and struck him just below the wrist. Hissing loudly in apparent pain and anger, Snape pulled his arm back, slamming shut the lid. He took a small phial off his desk and loosened the stopper, quickly throwing it into the glass container. A puff of smoke came out of the phial as the stopper came out, filling the container with yellow gas, working to make the snakes sedated again.
"As always, you never want to do any sort of harvesting with any poisonous or venomous ingredients without the appropriate antidote handy," Snape continued, his voice steady but irritated as he pulled up his sleeve slightly. "Now you can see first hand some of the beginning effects of a blood based natural venom first hand. In this particular case, you'll notice immediate inflammation and swelling around the wound, followed by numbness and loss of…" he paused as he held out his arm, looking at it with bewilderment. He then looked at it closer, brushing his other hand against the bite, moving his fingers wildly in the air with an alarmed look on his face. Corey was busy waiting for the arm to swell up, but didn't really see any noticeable difference from where he sat. After staring at his hand for a long, tense moment, Snape looked up, noticing the class' curious stare.
"Memorize the main ingredients and their relative temperatures in your book for the next five minutes while I tend this in my office. And I had better not catch a word or whisper in the meantime, either!" he snapped, then strode into his office.
"That's it, he's finally cracked," Doug whispered, shaking his head. "He's gotten balmy on us, always knew it'd happen." Gail suddenly kicked him from behind.
"Shut up or we'll gag you ourselves, haven't you caused enough trouble?" Gail hissed at him. Doug had turned to say something smart back when Corey nudged him, nodding over to Rasputin who had just lumbered out of Snape's office door, looking over the class with his yellow glass eye.
Corey quickly recited the ingredients when Snape drilled him on his return, leaning back in boredom as he listening to the several of the others he pointed out struggled with theirs. Afterwards they got to work with the snakes, some of the students nervous to touch them after what had happened earlier. Somehow each group was able to get through it before the bell sounded, labeling the phials with their names and setting it in the racks set aside for their class as they filed out of the class. Snape went immediately into his office, slamming the door behind him as Corey looked thoughtfully at it.
"Looks like he forgot about you, Corey, I think you lucked out this time," Doug said as other two got up.
"Best just leave him, Corey, you know how he doesn't like to be disturbed," Taylor agreed worriedly. "It might be hazardous to your health to go in there right now."
"Go on, guys, he said after class, he can't get mad at me for doing what he told me to." Corey said.
"He's done it before," Doug pointed out.
"Not with me," Corey said. "I'll see you next class." He waited until his two friends were on their way before he knocked on the door. After a long moment the door popped open, and Snape frowned at him in annoyance.
"What do you want?"
"You told me to see you after class," Corey reminded him calmly. Snape stared at him a moment before sighing and opening the door wide enough for him to enter. He then went over to his desk, sitting behind the haphazardly organized collection of phials and instruments, barely having enough room left to work in.
"As you can see I'm in the middle of something at the moment, so I'll be brief," Snape set, glancing up at him with a somber expression before picking up an eye dropper, testing a sample in front of him with a few drops of a dark black liquid. "I don't care if you spend your entire school year outside this class room driving your house into the ground… Gryffindor could use a little ego bruising after six and a half years of Potter delirium. But I will not allow you to start disrupting my classroom with your lack of discipline. I fully expect that you keep up your obedience and unwavering attention while in both of my classes, you've already proven that you can maintain that… plus your status as head of the first years and third in Dabbler's. You are capable of it and I have no intention of watching you slip up now.
"Your lack of discipline since we've gotten back from break has left much to be desired. And although I realize you're under a great deal of stress, you are still responsible for your performance and have no one but yourself to blame if you slack off. I'll not have you using your loss as a crutch to help you get away with things. Well, other teachers might, but I won't let you do it my class so you might as well snap out of it. If things don't improve dramatically after this I shall have to be disappointed in you," Snape scowled. "It's bad enough being on the verge of having to admit to everyone I actually like one of my students without having to immediately turn around and also be disappointed in them," he snapped, setting down the phial. Corey smiled slightly then quickly hid it when Snape looked up at him. "I know you have the strength to get through this, no matter what you decide to do about your future. However, I want you to promise me that if you start to feel over-pressured that you come to me about it, be it from schoolwork, your friends in Dabbler's class, or otherwise."
"Yes sir, I will," Corey said quietly, nodding.
"Good. Now get out," Snape said, writing in a small notebook about his latest results.
"Thank you, sir," Corey said as he walked towards the door, his voice filled with such sincerity that Snape looked up at him quizzically.
"What for?" Snape asked with a slight frown.
"For treating me the same as always," Corey answered with a crooked smile, shutting the door behind him.
"What was all of that about?" a voice hissed from the bottom of a large rock shelf beside the fireplace.
"Nothing, Rasputin, go back to sleep. The boy just needed a little coaching is all," Snape hissed back, pricking himself with a needle and adding the blood droplets to a square pane of glass in front of him.
"I like him. He offers me food sometimes. That reminds me, I'm hungry," Rasputin hissed, slipping off of the shelf, brushing up against the fireplace in attempt to get his eye patch off.
"It hasn't even been a full day since I took the blasted potion, and you're already trying to boss me around? I think I liked you better when I didn't understand you," Severus muttered at his familiar. But Rasputin ignored the grumble, leaning his head patiently on top of his empty bowl until Severus finally gave up and fed him, using the rest of his conference time to run some more tests.