Chapter Four
In which the castle suddenly seems quite empty
"What's the matter?" asked Remus, the light of a pale torch falling upon his face as he smiled at the two of them. "I heard footsteps and ... my word, but the two of you look scared! Is anything wrong?"
"Professor ..." sniffled Ginny.
"Go on." he said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You can tell me anything." he assured her, looking at Hermione as well.
"The tower is empty. Even Professor McGonagall is gone? Where is everyone, professor?" asked Ginny.
Remus, who had walked straight to his office from where he had parted ways with the girls earlier, had only just begun to realize that something was amiss, though he had yet to put a name to it. All of his books had been missing from his shelves, for instance. This he had attributed to some sort of elaborate prank as the books had been replaced by antiquated volumes on various topics.
"I will contact the headmaster. Don't worry, girls. We'll soon have this mystery solved." he said with an encouraging smile, ushering them into his rooms.
He gestured for them to have a seat on the couch as he stepped up to the hearth. Remus took a small pot from the mantel, handling it gingerly as he did not recognize the item as being his container.
Tossing some powder into the fire, he said, "Albus Dumbledore."
Then he waited for the headmaster to appear. Hermione and Ginny watched with great interest. Nothing happened. No head appeared in the flames. Remus scratched his head and tossed another handful of powder into the flames.
"Rubeus Hagrid." he said.
Again, nothing. Remus glanced nervously at the girls on the couch and hoped silently and fervently that the powder was defective somehow.
"I hate to say this, but I think we should find our way down to the dungeons and see if Severus is still down there." he told them.
The sound of someone pounding on the door to his rooms awakened Severus from sleep. He had just barely dozed off after tossing fitfully on a mattress that didn't feel like his own. House elves! Storming from his bedroom and through his little parlor where the fire was beginning to burn lower than normal, obviously due to the inattention of the cleaning-happy elves, he growled in frustration. It had been too good to be true. He couldn't have one night of peace. It would never happen. He could tell by the knock that it was a staff member. His money was on either Professor McGonagall or possibly Mister Filch. No one else would knock so insistently after hours.
"Yes?" he questioned, opening the door.
He had never even considered the possibility of Lupin, Granger, and Weasley standing outside the door to his chambers. Severus glanced down at his attire, shiny silver pajamas that were definitely not his, the night shirt of which was hanging open to reveal his rather trim figure. He wrestled awkwardly with the shirt for an instant. A pale blush touched his features as he buttoned the garment and tried to sneer and failed to manage the feat.
Hermione hid a grin and a bit of a blush behind her hand as she watched the potions' master in a state of disarray. Then she squinted as she noticed his hair wasn't greasy, which was almost as peculiar as the empty dormitory above them. All cleaned up and dressed in something other than his copious, billowing black robes, he was rather fetching, especially when he blushed just a little bit. Rather fetching indeed.
Even Remus, whose sense of smell was particularly keen so close to the full moon, sniffed appreciatively.
"Sorry to wake you, Severus, but we have a problem." Remus informed him, shouldering his way into the room and beckoning Hermione, who was somewhat distracted, and pale Ginny to follow.
"The potion can't possibly have hurt them, though I expected them to get washed up at least before they troubled me again." said Severus.
"It isn't that. I know this will sound mad, but the castle seems to be empty except for the four of us." Remus told him.
"You are mad! I have a dormitory full of students just a few doors down the hall." said Snape, drawing himself up to his full height, fully expecting this to be part of some incredibly elaborate trick involving the house elves, his belongings, and possibly even the earlier explosion.
"Oh, I don't know about that. You may want to check." said Remus.
"I think I will, and if I find nothing amiss, Lupin, you can expect that I will tell the headmaster all about this. He won't be pleased." said Snape, striding out the door and into the hall. The state of his clothes no longer mattered. There was a shadow of a doubt in his mind and a quiet, worried voice that said, "Check on your children."
Severus Snape glided through the dungeon corridors with quick, but measured paced until he reached the entry to the Slytherin common room. A shiver ran up his spine when he saw the open entrance and empty portrait. The den of his precious snakes was unguarded, unprotected. There was a coldness in the very pit of his stomach as he strode into the common room and turned this way and that, trying to locate just one of his young charges. The room was empty and silent as a tomb.
"Malfoy!" he bellowed. "Parkinson!" Severus called for his deputies, for the prefects of his house, but received no answer to his loud summons.
He raced to the stairs leading downward into the sleeping chambers of his first year students and burst through the door. The room was silent and dusty. Everything was not as it should have been. It was all wrong. The curtains of the beds were all drawn. He dashed from one bed to another throwing back the thick drapes, perspiration running down his brow and into his eyes as he found the beds empty. His heart was beating madly in his chest. Where were his Slytherins? Had someone taken them?
He strode purposefully from the dormitory. There was no need to check the other rooms. If the first years were gone, then the rest would be too. There was solidarity in that house, though it was oneness without trust or what most would consider loyalty. No, only Lupin could tell him what was going on. And if the werewolf would not, then the headmaster ... unless he too was gone. Snape's throat went dry. What manner of hell was this?
Remus had suggested that Hermione and Ginny go wash up a bit while they waited for Snape to return. A little cool water on their faces would do them a world of good. It would also occupy their minds and give him time to think, to work out what had happened to everyone. He had no serious ideas, no working hypothesis, but he knew that the situation was very grave and would require all of them working together to set right. His instincts told him that much. Three Gryffindors and one Slytherin set against an enigma.
"What ... has happened ..., Lupin? Where are they?" asked Severus breathlessly as he stepped back into the room.
"I don't know, Severus, but we will need to put our heads together." said Remus, rising from his seat on the couch to face Snape, whose eyes were as wild as he had ever seen them.
"I demand that you tell me everything you know!"
"I only know that Hogwarts is deserted. The only exceptions are you, me, and the two girls you had for detention tonight. We appear to be all that's left of the entire faculty and student body. I haven't even seen Filch's cat since the accident." said Remus. Realization flickered through his eyes.
"Lupin?"
"Could the accident have ... done something either to us or everyone else?" Remus questioned.
"Don't be stupid, Lupin. An accident like that couldn't have affected the entire school! If everyone had turned invisible or something, we would have bumped into one of them or something by now."
"But what about us? What if we're the ones who have been changed somehow?" questioned Remus.
"Mixtures like that produced in the lab this evening are unstable, unpredictable things, but ... I don't see how ..." said Snape. Making an unpleasant face, he continued, "I don't see what has been done to us. My expertise in potion making is substantial, but still I must confess that this situation seems to be beyond me. If that potion did indeed do something to the four of us to separate us from the other inhabitants of this castle, I would have no idea as to how to reverse it. It would require very old magic ..."
"Professor, does that mean that we will never see our friends again?" asked Ginny from the door to the bath. Her robes had been magically cleaned and her face was freshly scrubbed, but she was pale nonetheless.
"Of course not, Ginny. We just need to make further study of the situation." said Remus before Snape could answer.
"The library then." said Hermione, who was standing behind Ginny, crossing her arms and trying to look calm and collected. She was managing it quite well.
"Sensible." grunted Snape, who was still too shaken by the empty Slytherin dormitory to glare at her properly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: I've got nothing in particular to add or clarify at the moment.
Veresna Ussep: Well, while I don't want to give the plot away too much, I commend you on your observation. Thanks for the review!
Myranya: Eerie? That's exactly what I was going for! Thanks!
Artemis: Oh, I think we're all a little crazy. *grins* I am a bad judge of romantic speed. How fast is fast? I tend to prefer massive train wrecks since that's what most relationships are. Plus I am handling multiple ships (well, a ship and an oddment). Thank you for reviewing!
Redone: Yeah, it was unfair, wasn't it? This chapter wraps up a little more neatly though. Thanks for reviewing!
Christine: The castle seems pretty empty, doesn't it? All creepy and quiet ... Thank you for reviewing!
Mercurial: Now, if I answered those questions, what would I write in the story? Hmm? Hmm? Thanks!
Barbi Bee: I never thought of it that way. I wonder if anyone ever gets hit or run over by moving rooms. Food for thought. Thanks!
gagmewithasp0rkx: Time travel is an interesting thing. Most people say its impossible (even in science fiction - sparks rather lively debates though). Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.
lil pixie: Oh, many thing are going to happen to othem. Many things. *cackles* Thanks for reviewing!
Witchy-grrl: The possibilities are all but endless. I only hope I can make the story live up to them! The terrible secret might be a couple chapters away, but I think it's a good one. The review is appreciated.
JoeBob1379: I can't give away the secret! Not yet! And, yes, this is very strange. The pairings will start ... reasonably soon. I think/hope. I love all your quotes and stuff, by the way. Thanks for reviewing!
In which the castle suddenly seems quite empty
"What's the matter?" asked Remus, the light of a pale torch falling upon his face as he smiled at the two of them. "I heard footsteps and ... my word, but the two of you look scared! Is anything wrong?"
"Professor ..." sniffled Ginny.
"Go on." he said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You can tell me anything." he assured her, looking at Hermione as well.
"The tower is empty. Even Professor McGonagall is gone? Where is everyone, professor?" asked Ginny.
Remus, who had walked straight to his office from where he had parted ways with the girls earlier, had only just begun to realize that something was amiss, though he had yet to put a name to it. All of his books had been missing from his shelves, for instance. This he had attributed to some sort of elaborate prank as the books had been replaced by antiquated volumes on various topics.
"I will contact the headmaster. Don't worry, girls. We'll soon have this mystery solved." he said with an encouraging smile, ushering them into his rooms.
He gestured for them to have a seat on the couch as he stepped up to the hearth. Remus took a small pot from the mantel, handling it gingerly as he did not recognize the item as being his container.
Tossing some powder into the fire, he said, "Albus Dumbledore."
Then he waited for the headmaster to appear. Hermione and Ginny watched with great interest. Nothing happened. No head appeared in the flames. Remus scratched his head and tossed another handful of powder into the flames.
"Rubeus Hagrid." he said.
Again, nothing. Remus glanced nervously at the girls on the couch and hoped silently and fervently that the powder was defective somehow.
"I hate to say this, but I think we should find our way down to the dungeons and see if Severus is still down there." he told them.
The sound of someone pounding on the door to his rooms awakened Severus from sleep. He had just barely dozed off after tossing fitfully on a mattress that didn't feel like his own. House elves! Storming from his bedroom and through his little parlor where the fire was beginning to burn lower than normal, obviously due to the inattention of the cleaning-happy elves, he growled in frustration. It had been too good to be true. He couldn't have one night of peace. It would never happen. He could tell by the knock that it was a staff member. His money was on either Professor McGonagall or possibly Mister Filch. No one else would knock so insistently after hours.
"Yes?" he questioned, opening the door.
He had never even considered the possibility of Lupin, Granger, and Weasley standing outside the door to his chambers. Severus glanced down at his attire, shiny silver pajamas that were definitely not his, the night shirt of which was hanging open to reveal his rather trim figure. He wrestled awkwardly with the shirt for an instant. A pale blush touched his features as he buttoned the garment and tried to sneer and failed to manage the feat.
Hermione hid a grin and a bit of a blush behind her hand as she watched the potions' master in a state of disarray. Then she squinted as she noticed his hair wasn't greasy, which was almost as peculiar as the empty dormitory above them. All cleaned up and dressed in something other than his copious, billowing black robes, he was rather fetching, especially when he blushed just a little bit. Rather fetching indeed.
Even Remus, whose sense of smell was particularly keen so close to the full moon, sniffed appreciatively.
"Sorry to wake you, Severus, but we have a problem." Remus informed him, shouldering his way into the room and beckoning Hermione, who was somewhat distracted, and pale Ginny to follow.
"The potion can't possibly have hurt them, though I expected them to get washed up at least before they troubled me again." said Severus.
"It isn't that. I know this will sound mad, but the castle seems to be empty except for the four of us." Remus told him.
"You are mad! I have a dormitory full of students just a few doors down the hall." said Snape, drawing himself up to his full height, fully expecting this to be part of some incredibly elaborate trick involving the house elves, his belongings, and possibly even the earlier explosion.
"Oh, I don't know about that. You may want to check." said Remus.
"I think I will, and if I find nothing amiss, Lupin, you can expect that I will tell the headmaster all about this. He won't be pleased." said Snape, striding out the door and into the hall. The state of his clothes no longer mattered. There was a shadow of a doubt in his mind and a quiet, worried voice that said, "Check on your children."
Severus Snape glided through the dungeon corridors with quick, but measured paced until he reached the entry to the Slytherin common room. A shiver ran up his spine when he saw the open entrance and empty portrait. The den of his precious snakes was unguarded, unprotected. There was a coldness in the very pit of his stomach as he strode into the common room and turned this way and that, trying to locate just one of his young charges. The room was empty and silent as a tomb.
"Malfoy!" he bellowed. "Parkinson!" Severus called for his deputies, for the prefects of his house, but received no answer to his loud summons.
He raced to the stairs leading downward into the sleeping chambers of his first year students and burst through the door. The room was silent and dusty. Everything was not as it should have been. It was all wrong. The curtains of the beds were all drawn. He dashed from one bed to another throwing back the thick drapes, perspiration running down his brow and into his eyes as he found the beds empty. His heart was beating madly in his chest. Where were his Slytherins? Had someone taken them?
He strode purposefully from the dormitory. There was no need to check the other rooms. If the first years were gone, then the rest would be too. There was solidarity in that house, though it was oneness without trust or what most would consider loyalty. No, only Lupin could tell him what was going on. And if the werewolf would not, then the headmaster ... unless he too was gone. Snape's throat went dry. What manner of hell was this?
Remus had suggested that Hermione and Ginny go wash up a bit while they waited for Snape to return. A little cool water on their faces would do them a world of good. It would also occupy their minds and give him time to think, to work out what had happened to everyone. He had no serious ideas, no working hypothesis, but he knew that the situation was very grave and would require all of them working together to set right. His instincts told him that much. Three Gryffindors and one Slytherin set against an enigma.
"What ... has happened ..., Lupin? Where are they?" asked Severus breathlessly as he stepped back into the room.
"I don't know, Severus, but we will need to put our heads together." said Remus, rising from his seat on the couch to face Snape, whose eyes were as wild as he had ever seen them.
"I demand that you tell me everything you know!"
"I only know that Hogwarts is deserted. The only exceptions are you, me, and the two girls you had for detention tonight. We appear to be all that's left of the entire faculty and student body. I haven't even seen Filch's cat since the accident." said Remus. Realization flickered through his eyes.
"Lupin?"
"Could the accident have ... done something either to us or everyone else?" Remus questioned.
"Don't be stupid, Lupin. An accident like that couldn't have affected the entire school! If everyone had turned invisible or something, we would have bumped into one of them or something by now."
"But what about us? What if we're the ones who have been changed somehow?" questioned Remus.
"Mixtures like that produced in the lab this evening are unstable, unpredictable things, but ... I don't see how ..." said Snape. Making an unpleasant face, he continued, "I don't see what has been done to us. My expertise in potion making is substantial, but still I must confess that this situation seems to be beyond me. If that potion did indeed do something to the four of us to separate us from the other inhabitants of this castle, I would have no idea as to how to reverse it. It would require very old magic ..."
"Professor, does that mean that we will never see our friends again?" asked Ginny from the door to the bath. Her robes had been magically cleaned and her face was freshly scrubbed, but she was pale nonetheless.
"Of course not, Ginny. We just need to make further study of the situation." said Remus before Snape could answer.
"The library then." said Hermione, who was standing behind Ginny, crossing her arms and trying to look calm and collected. She was managing it quite well.
"Sensible." grunted Snape, who was still too shaken by the empty Slytherin dormitory to glare at her properly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: I've got nothing in particular to add or clarify at the moment.
Veresna Ussep: Well, while I don't want to give the plot away too much, I commend you on your observation. Thanks for the review!
Myranya: Eerie? That's exactly what I was going for! Thanks!
Artemis: Oh, I think we're all a little crazy. *grins* I am a bad judge of romantic speed. How fast is fast? I tend to prefer massive train wrecks since that's what most relationships are. Plus I am handling multiple ships (well, a ship and an oddment). Thank you for reviewing!
Redone: Yeah, it was unfair, wasn't it? This chapter wraps up a little more neatly though. Thanks for reviewing!
Christine: The castle seems pretty empty, doesn't it? All creepy and quiet ... Thank you for reviewing!
Mercurial: Now, if I answered those questions, what would I write in the story? Hmm? Hmm? Thanks!
Barbi Bee: I never thought of it that way. I wonder if anyone ever gets hit or run over by moving rooms. Food for thought. Thanks!
gagmewithasp0rkx: Time travel is an interesting thing. Most people say its impossible (even in science fiction - sparks rather lively debates though). Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.
lil pixie: Oh, many thing are going to happen to othem. Many things. *cackles* Thanks for reviewing!
Witchy-grrl: The possibilities are all but endless. I only hope I can make the story live up to them! The terrible secret might be a couple chapters away, but I think it's a good one. The review is appreciated.
JoeBob1379: I can't give away the secret! Not yet! And, yes, this is very strange. The pairings will start ... reasonably soon. I think/hope. I love all your quotes and stuff, by the way. Thanks for reviewing!