"Just.pick one, Potter. For the love of Merlin. Stop fluttering about."
Harry Potter, fifteen years old, bespectacled and currently rather nervous, closed his eyes again and ran his palm a few inches above the tabletop, over which was strewn a collection of gemstones, all different shapes and colours. They were meant to be studying dreams in this class, which unnerved him. Usually his dreams weren't pleasant. Usually they predicted the future. Sometimes they showed him what his.well, arch-nemesis wasn't quite a strong enough term.
Mortal enemy wasn't either.
Voldemort was a bit worse than that, and unpleasant to look at as well.
Dreaming of him was stomach-turning, really. He didn't fancy losing his lunch in class in front of a teacher who disliked him. So he was wasting time picking his focus stone.
He thought he might be able to waste five more minutes, but that wasn't the case. He passed his hand over a jade lion-dog, and it fairly jumped into his open palm.
Harry let out a noise that sounded like, 'YARK' and stumbled back. He straightened his glasses and stared.
Snape blinked. "All right then," he said. "That one's yours. Obviously."
Hermione Granger put up her hand. Snape was rather fond of her. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind or ask questions, and she simply laughed in the face of any young man silly enough to suggest she hush up and dumb down.
She was taking this class only because Sybill Trelawney, the usual divinations teacher, had been transferred to Beauxbatons. Apparently the psychic vibrations in England weren't very good anymore. Now Snape was teaching until the new professor arrived. Thankfully he would only be teaching a quarter of a term.
"Sir," Hermione said, clicking Snape's mind back into this plane of existence, "have you a focus already, or are you participating?"
"I do, but I shall not be participating. I don't see the point. I don't dream."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Well, so much for the theory that everyone dreams," Ron Weasley remarked.
"Perhaps he just doesn't remember what he dreams," Parvati Patil suggested.
"No, Miss Patil, I am bereft of any sort of nocturnal wandering."
Parvati looked as if she felt sorry for him, briefly.
Hermione simply looked interested.
"Miss Granger, please put that eyebrow down, I am not a specimen."
"Excuse me," she said, and did.
Snape cleared his throat. "Right, then. The focal stones you are currently holding, students, are now yours. You will keep them with you at all times. Don't worry about losing them; they have a way of finding their way back to you. If your stone does not find its way back, do not panic like a twit. You will find another.or rather, it will find you."
He sat down in the squashy armchair and steepled his hands, then pulled out a pendant from inside his robes. It was a ruby, dark-red and cut in the shape of a five-point star.
"To satisfy your curiosity, Miss Granger. It was at one point much bigger - roughly two by three inches rectangular - but my younger sister broke it. I have no idea how."
He left the pendant where it was and looked over the students. "Right, then. The lesson will commence in five minutes. Take these five minutes to attempt lotus position, or, if you are sane, find a comfortable position to rest in. .Well. Impressive, Mr. Longbottom! You are the first student in three years to have managed lotus position on the first try."
Neville Longbottom allowed himself a shy grin. Neville was usually incredibly accident-prone. Snape had a feeling that he might hurt himself attempting to get out of lotus position, but hoped the boy would manage all right. Longbottom was daft as a brick, but he meant well, and right now he looked something like a Laughing Buddha after a short stint of dieting.
The room was filled with whispers and the sound of shuffling as the students got comfortable. Silence fell, punctuated only by the sound of the wind outside and light breathing.
Snape closed his eyes as well. It was nice and peaceful in here. The students were actually quiet. He felt he should savour this.
He only got in thirty seconds of savouring, however, before something began to annoy him. He opened one eye and looked over the students, trying to discern who, exactly, was doing all that damned whispering. Instinctively he eyed Potter and Weasley. No.they were still and quiet, and Potter was smiling slightly.
Snape stood slowly and concentrated. The damned whispering was getting louder, and no longer seemed to come from everywhere at once. Now it was emanating from near Longbottom.
Now it was resolving itself into words.
"Longbottom," Snape shouted, making everyone jump. Well, everyone but Neville. The nervous boy stayed as he was, eyes shut, legs crossed, swaying slightly. Lavender Brown inched away from him.
"Neville?" she ventured, and poked his shoulder. He fell over in a small heap.
"Back up," Snape bellowed, herding everyone away from Neville as the whispered curses grew louder still. There was a feeling of nasty familiarity about the voice, one that set his teeth on edge and made him itch to break something.
Harry heard the whispers now, too, and muttered, "What IS that?"
The whisper had three distinct voices, but only one voice. Deeply disturbing, but then again, this particular presence thrived on being deeply disturbing. That was, after all, what he was meant to do.
"Not 'that', exactly, although I would prefer to refer to him as 'that," said Snape, directing the remark at Neville's general area.
As if on cue, the air around the snoozing boy seemed to coalesce. It took on the form of a tallish man, white-haired, black-clad, sporting an impressive pair of mirrored sunglasses that should have looked absurd but somehow didn't.
The strange man stood slowly, an irritatingly smug smirk playing about the corners of his mouth. He didn't seem to notice the students around him at all, though he was careful not to step on Neville. He seemed to walk right through the waking students, but stopped short suddenly.
Snape was approaching him, slowly, peacefully. Harry did not envy the stranger. Whenever Snape approached anyone like that or wore that expression or held his hands just so, he had something unpleasant in mind.
"What the hell?" said the stranger in his odd, triple voice.
Snape smiled, and it was a nasty cold sort of smile.
"And what," he said, "brings you here?"
The stranger swallowed hard. "How the hell do you know me?" he demanded, his voice raspy.
"I'm not quite sure," Snape said smoothly, "but rest assured, my good man, I know you."
The stranger took off his sunglasses to get a better look at Snape, and the class erupted in utter chaos.
The stranger had no eyes. There were only two smaller mouths where his eyes should have been.
Harry leaped onto a chair, wand out. Hermione readied an enormous textbook to hurl - as effective as any stunning spell. Ron simply stayed out of the way.
"Silence," Snape roared, and silence fell.
A change seemed to be coming over Snape now, and Harry slowly lowered his wand in wonder. It was almost as if Snape were becoming someone.something different entirely. He radiated utter authority and calm.
He was changing visibly, too. His hair was hanging much less heavily in his eyes. It seemed to be almost standing the way Hermione's cat's fur did before a storm. Except in this case, Harry thought, Snape was the storm.
The fire in the grate dimmed and died almost entirely, and in the gloom Snape's eyes were pitch black, glittering like distant stars. He seemed paler now, and his wild hair and robes were stirring in a nonexistent breeze.
"Corinthian," he said coolly. "You're extremely lucky, old friend, that you did not destroy yourself in this idiotic attempt to join the waking world again."
The stranger - Corinthian - made a funny rasping sound.
He cleared his throat. This action was very disturbing, as he made three throat-clearing sounds.
"What the hell is it?" Ron howled suddenly, pointing. At that the air of nervous tension in the classroom broke and the students started whispering amongst themselves.
"It is in more trouble than it has ever been in all its existences, Weasley," replied Snape.
"Squee," went Corinthian.
"Perhaps the most intelligent thing you've ever said, that."
Corinthian sputtered a bit, then let out a curse that was probably ancient Greek and pointed at Snape, shaking visibly. "YOU!" he shouted. "You're DEAD! I saw you die! I saw you take your sister's hand and that was it! I went to your damn wake! I saw your successor! And now you're here and alive? Bullshit!"
"Watch your tongue. There are young impressionable people within this chamber."
Corinthian pressed his hands to his temples and said, "YAAAAAHHH," then sat down hard on the floor, twitching.
Snape pointed to Neville. "Your portal home is right there. Go. Close it behind you. Your master will know about this, and I shall strongly suggest to him that he unmake you as.as I did."
Snape trailed off, utterly confused.
Corinthian didn't notice. He nodded frantically and vanished. Neville awoke with a start and hit his head on a beanbag chair.
"Class is dismissed," Snape said as Neville stood. "I need.there are certain things I need to peruse, and you lot are not conducive to perusing. Out."
Harry Potter, fifteen years old, bespectacled and currently rather nervous, closed his eyes again and ran his palm a few inches above the tabletop, over which was strewn a collection of gemstones, all different shapes and colours. They were meant to be studying dreams in this class, which unnerved him. Usually his dreams weren't pleasant. Usually they predicted the future. Sometimes they showed him what his.well, arch-nemesis wasn't quite a strong enough term.
Mortal enemy wasn't either.
Voldemort was a bit worse than that, and unpleasant to look at as well.
Dreaming of him was stomach-turning, really. He didn't fancy losing his lunch in class in front of a teacher who disliked him. So he was wasting time picking his focus stone.
He thought he might be able to waste five more minutes, but that wasn't the case. He passed his hand over a jade lion-dog, and it fairly jumped into his open palm.
Harry let out a noise that sounded like, 'YARK' and stumbled back. He straightened his glasses and stared.
Snape blinked. "All right then," he said. "That one's yours. Obviously."
Hermione Granger put up her hand. Snape was rather fond of her. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind or ask questions, and she simply laughed in the face of any young man silly enough to suggest she hush up and dumb down.
She was taking this class only because Sybill Trelawney, the usual divinations teacher, had been transferred to Beauxbatons. Apparently the psychic vibrations in England weren't very good anymore. Now Snape was teaching until the new professor arrived. Thankfully he would only be teaching a quarter of a term.
"Sir," Hermione said, clicking Snape's mind back into this plane of existence, "have you a focus already, or are you participating?"
"I do, but I shall not be participating. I don't see the point. I don't dream."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Well, so much for the theory that everyone dreams," Ron Weasley remarked.
"Perhaps he just doesn't remember what he dreams," Parvati Patil suggested.
"No, Miss Patil, I am bereft of any sort of nocturnal wandering."
Parvati looked as if she felt sorry for him, briefly.
Hermione simply looked interested.
"Miss Granger, please put that eyebrow down, I am not a specimen."
"Excuse me," she said, and did.
Snape cleared his throat. "Right, then. The focal stones you are currently holding, students, are now yours. You will keep them with you at all times. Don't worry about losing them; they have a way of finding their way back to you. If your stone does not find its way back, do not panic like a twit. You will find another.or rather, it will find you."
He sat down in the squashy armchair and steepled his hands, then pulled out a pendant from inside his robes. It was a ruby, dark-red and cut in the shape of a five-point star.
"To satisfy your curiosity, Miss Granger. It was at one point much bigger - roughly two by three inches rectangular - but my younger sister broke it. I have no idea how."
He left the pendant where it was and looked over the students. "Right, then. The lesson will commence in five minutes. Take these five minutes to attempt lotus position, or, if you are sane, find a comfortable position to rest in. .Well. Impressive, Mr. Longbottom! You are the first student in three years to have managed lotus position on the first try."
Neville Longbottom allowed himself a shy grin. Neville was usually incredibly accident-prone. Snape had a feeling that he might hurt himself attempting to get out of lotus position, but hoped the boy would manage all right. Longbottom was daft as a brick, but he meant well, and right now he looked something like a Laughing Buddha after a short stint of dieting.
The room was filled with whispers and the sound of shuffling as the students got comfortable. Silence fell, punctuated only by the sound of the wind outside and light breathing.
Snape closed his eyes as well. It was nice and peaceful in here. The students were actually quiet. He felt he should savour this.
He only got in thirty seconds of savouring, however, before something began to annoy him. He opened one eye and looked over the students, trying to discern who, exactly, was doing all that damned whispering. Instinctively he eyed Potter and Weasley. No.they were still and quiet, and Potter was smiling slightly.
Snape stood slowly and concentrated. The damned whispering was getting louder, and no longer seemed to come from everywhere at once. Now it was emanating from near Longbottom.
Now it was resolving itself into words.
"Longbottom," Snape shouted, making everyone jump. Well, everyone but Neville. The nervous boy stayed as he was, eyes shut, legs crossed, swaying slightly. Lavender Brown inched away from him.
"Neville?" she ventured, and poked his shoulder. He fell over in a small heap.
"Back up," Snape bellowed, herding everyone away from Neville as the whispered curses grew louder still. There was a feeling of nasty familiarity about the voice, one that set his teeth on edge and made him itch to break something.
Harry heard the whispers now, too, and muttered, "What IS that?"
The whisper had three distinct voices, but only one voice. Deeply disturbing, but then again, this particular presence thrived on being deeply disturbing. That was, after all, what he was meant to do.
"Not 'that', exactly, although I would prefer to refer to him as 'that," said Snape, directing the remark at Neville's general area.
As if on cue, the air around the snoozing boy seemed to coalesce. It took on the form of a tallish man, white-haired, black-clad, sporting an impressive pair of mirrored sunglasses that should have looked absurd but somehow didn't.
The strange man stood slowly, an irritatingly smug smirk playing about the corners of his mouth. He didn't seem to notice the students around him at all, though he was careful not to step on Neville. He seemed to walk right through the waking students, but stopped short suddenly.
Snape was approaching him, slowly, peacefully. Harry did not envy the stranger. Whenever Snape approached anyone like that or wore that expression or held his hands just so, he had something unpleasant in mind.
"What the hell?" said the stranger in his odd, triple voice.
Snape smiled, and it was a nasty cold sort of smile.
"And what," he said, "brings you here?"
The stranger swallowed hard. "How the hell do you know me?" he demanded, his voice raspy.
"I'm not quite sure," Snape said smoothly, "but rest assured, my good man, I know you."
The stranger took off his sunglasses to get a better look at Snape, and the class erupted in utter chaos.
The stranger had no eyes. There were only two smaller mouths where his eyes should have been.
Harry leaped onto a chair, wand out. Hermione readied an enormous textbook to hurl - as effective as any stunning spell. Ron simply stayed out of the way.
"Silence," Snape roared, and silence fell.
A change seemed to be coming over Snape now, and Harry slowly lowered his wand in wonder. It was almost as if Snape were becoming someone.something different entirely. He radiated utter authority and calm.
He was changing visibly, too. His hair was hanging much less heavily in his eyes. It seemed to be almost standing the way Hermione's cat's fur did before a storm. Except in this case, Harry thought, Snape was the storm.
The fire in the grate dimmed and died almost entirely, and in the gloom Snape's eyes were pitch black, glittering like distant stars. He seemed paler now, and his wild hair and robes were stirring in a nonexistent breeze.
"Corinthian," he said coolly. "You're extremely lucky, old friend, that you did not destroy yourself in this idiotic attempt to join the waking world again."
The stranger - Corinthian - made a funny rasping sound.
He cleared his throat. This action was very disturbing, as he made three throat-clearing sounds.
"What the hell is it?" Ron howled suddenly, pointing. At that the air of nervous tension in the classroom broke and the students started whispering amongst themselves.
"It is in more trouble than it has ever been in all its existences, Weasley," replied Snape.
"Squee," went Corinthian.
"Perhaps the most intelligent thing you've ever said, that."
Corinthian sputtered a bit, then let out a curse that was probably ancient Greek and pointed at Snape, shaking visibly. "YOU!" he shouted. "You're DEAD! I saw you die! I saw you take your sister's hand and that was it! I went to your damn wake! I saw your successor! And now you're here and alive? Bullshit!"
"Watch your tongue. There are young impressionable people within this chamber."
Corinthian pressed his hands to his temples and said, "YAAAAAHHH," then sat down hard on the floor, twitching.
Snape pointed to Neville. "Your portal home is right there. Go. Close it behind you. Your master will know about this, and I shall strongly suggest to him that he unmake you as.as I did."
Snape trailed off, utterly confused.
Corinthian didn't notice. He nodded frantically and vanished. Neville awoke with a start and hit his head on a beanbag chair.
"Class is dismissed," Snape said as Neville stood. "I need.there are certain things I need to peruse, and you lot are not conducive to perusing. Out."