(A/N Harry Potter and associated characters, etc., belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. The only things that belong to me are: the plot of this story, and the characters, who do not appear in Rowlings stories. Ok, people, here's the next chapter, now, go bug someone who owes you money! _)
Harry Potter and the Staff of Time
Chapter 8
Merlin's Myths
Savana followed Hermione, Ron, and Harry to some vacant seats midway back in the classroom. Once they were seated, Ron explained that, while the class was incredibly boring, at least they wouldn't have Professor Snape to deal with.
A ghost floated into the classroom and began to take roll.
"Where's the professor?" Savana whispered to Ron.
"Professor Binns is right there in front, taking roll." Ron whispered back.
"But, that's a ghost!" Savana whispered back.
"Yeah, he still doesn't know he's dead." Ron sniggered.
"Cool! I've never had a ghost for a teacher!" Savana grinned and sat back in her seat.
Professor Binns had written the necessary texts and a class syllabus on the blackboard, then proceeded to explain what he had written there. He then began to lecture on today's topic, Merlin, and Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Savana leaned forward with interest.
"...it is sometimes difficult to separate the myth about Merlin from the reality, especially where Muggle myth is concerned." Professor Binns smiled at his own little joke. "Actually, the wizard world knows much about Merlin..." Professor Binns droned on in this fashion for awhile. He talked about Merlin's background, lineage, early life and so on.
Savana had begun to feel bored and sleepy. She felt herself drifting off to sleep, but, jerked to full alertness when the phrase STAFF OF TIME floated through her semi-conscious world.
"Did I hear that, or just imagine it?" She thought. Then she refocused on Professor Binns, as he began to wind up his lecture for today.
"...We know that Merlin could predict the future, but, just how he accomplished that has been a matter of debate, as well as some fantastic theories, for years. Some of those theories, especially those of Muggle origin, are quite far fetched. They have one theory, for example, that Merlin knew the future because he aged backwards."
When Professor Binns completed that statement, there were several comments from the peanut gallery, some more audible than others: "...How ridiculous!...Oh, sure...Like his mother gave birth to a full grown, old man!..."
Professor Binns motioned for silence. "We know that the majority of these theories are wrong. Merlin traveled through time by using The Staff of Time. It allowed him to travel forward, or backward, in time by using it in conjunction with a spell."
"The Staff of Time could be used in other ways, but, I do not have time to go into that today. I do want to tell you, in closing, that historic records from that period are incomplete and many have been lost or destroyed. Because of that, we no longer know where The Staff of Time is, or who, if anyone, is in possession of it. It is most probable that the staff was destroyed by Merlin at, or just before, his death."
Professor Binns then gave them a massive reading assignment and dismissed them for lunch.
...`~*~`...
Savana wasn't happy to recieve a note from Professor Dumbledore during lunch.
"What does it say?" Ron asked. He was eating everything in sight, it seemed.
"He wants to see me later this afternoon, when classes are finished for the day." Savana answered, while folding the note and putting it into her bookbag.
"Did he tell you why he wants to see you?" Harry asked.
"No, but, I doubt it's anything good. Do you think Snape already complained to him about class this morning?" Savana asked nervously.
"It wouldn't surprise me. Snape's such a git, he probably went running to Professor Dumbledore as soon as our class was over." Ron sounded indignant as he said this.
"Well, the entire thing was a bit much." Hermione said.
"What are you, a short adult...our conscience?" Savana questioned Hermione in disbelief.
"You do need to control your temper." Harry said. "And you two need to call a truce. This sniping between you is getting old, fast."
"I'll second that!" Ron added as he dug into a desert on his plate.
"I know, my temper has gotten me into trouble, more often than not. But, I am working on it." Savana said, then diverted the attention to Ron. "Do you always eat this much?!"
"I'm a growing boy!" Ron said with a grin. "Are you going to eat that?"
...`~*~`...
Savana sighed and smoothed some stray hairs back into place along her otherwise smoothly coiffed head. She was frazzled from the past couple of days and would much rather be unwinding in Gryffindor's commonroom, than be standing by the gargoyle outside the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office. He had given her directions for entry, in the note he had sent to her earlier.
"Gummy Bears." She commanded the statue.
It immediately lept aside to reveal the entrance and the unruly hairs sprang out of place again. Savana mounted the stairs with a sense of foreboding and knocked on the office door.
"Enter, please." The voice, which responded to her knock, was older and cultured.
Savana opened the door and entered with a sense of trepidation.
"Miss Walker, I presume? I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Professor Dumbledore looked kindly at her over his half-moon spectacles and Savana began to relax a little. "I just wish it was under better circumstances. Please, sit down."
Savana stiffened and sat in the chair which Professor Dumbledore indicated.
"I would ask how things are going for you here, but, I suspect you know part of the reason that I've requested your presence here." He said, while gazing benignly at her.
"Professor Snape..." Savana croaked.
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Chief Minnehaha said that you are a very gifted young woman." Savana smiled tenatively. "But, that your temper is still a bit of a problem. Even though, "you've come a long way"...his phrase, not mine. I gather that was the problem this morning, in potions class?"
Savana found her voice and rushed to tell her side of the story while Professor Dumbledore listened attentively. Part of her attempted to evaluate Professor Dumbledore and to compare him with Chief Minnehaha.
She decided that they were alike in many important respects. They were both: good listeners; respectful of students, as well as faculty and staff; older (maybe that should be respected elders?); and definately, wise. She hoped her first impression of him was correct, because she definately needed a mentor, and Alex just wasn't mature enough.
He was only 22 years old, after all, and still discovering the world for himself. Anyway, he was her brother and even though she admired and respected him, there was still the matter of all the pranks and tricks he'd played on her when they were younger.
Savana had finished telling her side of the story, and looked expectantly at Professor Dumbledore.
He smiled at her, as he said, "I have been told there are three sides to every story: your side; their side; and the truth, which tends to be somewhere in between."
"Well, at least he's not blaming me for everything." Savana thought, with some relief.
"I will discuss the entire situation with Professor Snape and I will have him drop the penalties to Gryffindor House. Professor Snape, however, must be allowed the opportunity to 'save face'. Therefore, you will be teaching the rest of the class on Strength Potions." Savana made a face, indicating her distaste. "Come now, " he gently chided her. "Chief Minnehaha said he felt that you have the potential to become a teacher, a very fine one at that. He told me you've done an excellent job tutoring younger students, especially those who were, shall we say, less than gifted?"
Savana grudgingly smiled. "Well, I do enjoy tutoring them. They can be so cute! But, teaching a whole class, especially one made up of kids my age, and some of those Slytherin kids...!"
"Hush, my dear, you will do a fine job. And, I assure you, Professor Snape will make sure that you are treated with respect. Please, keep in mind, you also bear partial responsibility for that scene this morning, and because of that, it is your responsibility to repair as much of the damage you caused as possible, as well as to apoligise." His gaze studied her over the rims of his glasses, as he said this.
"I will try, but, I don't know how successful I'll be." Savana muttered.
"That is all I ask of you." He replied.
Savana felt comfortable enough with Professor Dumbledore that she decided to bring up some of the subjects that were upsetting, and/or, confusing her. "What is the story with Professor Snape? Why did he come down so hard on Harry and me? And why did he tell everyone about my family?" She asked her questions with the rapid fire of an Uzi, and she wailed as the frusterations of the past couple of days bubbled to the surface.
"I will discuss your family situation and the need for secrecy with Professor Snape. We will also figure out a way to control the damage from this unfortunate incident." Professor Dumbledore nodded sagely at Savana and she wasn't quite as filled with panic as she had been.
"As for Professor Snape and your friend, Harry..." He continued, settling comfortably into his chair, "that is a long story. I will be happy to share what I can of it, with you. If that is what you desire?"
Savana nodded, her aqua eyes bright with curiosity.
"First, however, I am going to have the kitchen send up some dinner, since, by the time our little chat is finished, the dinner hour will be long past."
He sent a message to the kitchens, then he sat back down and began to tell Savana the long, and complicated, stories of Severus Snape, James and Harry Potter, and a few things about her parents and aunt, as well.
"...so, you see, Savana, Harry is a very powerful wizard, much more powerful than he realises. It is my job, as well as that of several others here, to protect him, teach him, and to provide as normal a childhood as is possible, since his parents are no longer able to do that for him."
"So, try not to screw that up." Savana thought.
At least, now, she had a better understanding of what was going on here, and why. That knowlege had helped her to relax, somewhat. The information about Lord Voldemort, and his Deatheaters, however, chilled her to her core. No wonder, her parents had never told her about them, until recently. And then, they had only told Alex and her as little as possible. She now understood just how much danger they all faced.
"I'll see you out now, Savana." Professor Dumbledore interrupted her musings. "After all, you have a lesson plan to prepare, as well as homework to do. So, I will not keep you."
...`~*~`...
Savana walked into the Gryffindor common room and looked around as she dropped her books by one of the fireplace chairs and sat down opposite the room's only occupants, Ginny and Stellaluna.
Stellaluna hung, upside down, from a perch near the fireplace and next to Ginny. Stellaluna was happily eating a piece of fruit. Savana watched as the little fruit bat greedily bit into the ripe, red, pulpy, piece of mango, which she held between her thumbs.
"Ginny, Stellaluna looks so much healthier than when you got her!" Savana exclaimed.
The bat looked up at them upon hearing her name. She licked the juice from her muzzle with her long, pink tongue, then went back to her breakfast.
Ginny grinned. "I just love her and I couldn't be happier with her! She's so cute! I love just sitting and watching her."
"You should bring her down to see Alex." Savana said and extended a finger, so she could scratch the bat's little head. Stellaluna sniffed the finger, to see if there happened to be any food there. There wasn't, so she allowed her head to be scratched. "Alex will be impressed with the good job you've done with her."
"I'll bet that Stellaluna would like to see Alex, too." Ginny said. She picked up the book that she had allowed to fall into her lap when Savana sat down. "Please, excuse me, but, I really need to finish this reading and get to bed. It's getting late."
"Yeah, I hear ya." Savana agreed. "I've got more than enough to keep me busy, too."
It was a good thing she didn't need to worry about teaching the potions class for a few days, she needed to get what homework was due tomorrow finished, then go to bed. She felt exhausted.
She had spent the past hour, or so, reading and studying when Ron came in.
"I see you're finally back. We were wondering about you when you didn't show up for dinner." Ron said, by way of greeting.
"You weren't at dinner?" Ginny asked. She sounded surprised.
"Of course she wasn't there, you git!" Ron sounded like the perinnel older brother. "If Savana had been there, you'd have seen her, wouldn't you?"
"Oops! You're right." Ginny looked a little embarresed. "You missed such a scene!" She continued, then she stopped and paid some attention to Stellaluna. Who was nibbling at Ginny in a search for more attention, or perhaps, food.
"Well, are either of you going to tell me about it, or am I suppose to read your minds?" Savana demanded.
"It's not as if you couldn't." Ron said as he slouched into a chair and chuckled at his own, ingenius comment.
Savana and Ginny both glared at him.
"You know better than to go shooting your mouth off about any of that!" Savana hissed at him.
"What! There's no one else here!" Ron studdered in disbelief.
"What if someone walked in on us, or cast an evesdropping spell?" Savana was quite irritated with him.
"An evesdropping spell?! I've never heard of such a thing, though knowing it would be more than a little handy." Ron grinned as he thought of several profitable ways he could make use of such a spell. "I would love to listen in on the Slytherins strategy session before our quidditch match against them." He continued with an evil smile.
"It's a difficult spell to master, and it has its limitations." Savana explained, brusquely. "However, such a spell does exist and could get us into trouble. As for reading your mind, I'm wiped out and don't feel like playing games, so spill."
"Pansy Parkinson, one of the Slytherin girls..." Ginny began, only to be interrupted by Savana.
"I've had the misfortune to make her aquanitance. I know who you're talking about."
"Oh, that's right...anyway, she showed up at dinner looking like a train wreck! She had cut almost a foot off of her hair and did a terrible job of it. The ends were really uneven and some of them were black. Her hair was also sticking out around her head, like some bizzare, bird's nest and when anyone asked her about it, she would get really angry and start crying. She said during potions class someone stuck her hair into a bottle of permanent, black ink!" Ginny began laughing at this point in her story. "She said it was you that did it Savana, but, Harry told her to prove it and she couldn't, so Ron told her to shut her pie hole. Anyway, Pansy tried to wash the stuff out of her hair, with several different soaps and potions. They must have reacted with each other, because her hair turned green and bushy, now she can't do anything to fix it! She spent the afternoon with Madam Pomfrey, who tried to repair the damage. But, by that time Pansy had done so much damage with her previous attempts, that the only thing she could tell Pansy to do was to cut her hair and wait for the rest of the damage to grow out! Madam Pomfrey said that she would keep looking for a way to repair Pansy's hair, but, she doesn't hold out a lot of hope for her."
"It'll take forever for her to live this down and she really has no one to blame for it, but herself!" Ron was laughing hard, but, he was trying to keep the noise down, lest he wake anyone, especially Professor McGonagall.
Savana chocked down laughter as she quietly said, "It looks like Pansy did a bigger number on herself than I even thought of doing to her."
"So, you did dunk her hair in the ink?" Ginny giggled.
"Yeah, but, she's the only one responsible for the real damage to her hair." Savana laughed quietly, then proceeded to tell Ginny the rest of the story, ending with Pansy's friend shrieking in the hallway. "And on that note, I'll say good night to you since I'm very tired and I hear my bed calling to me." And, with that said, Savana picked up her books and headed up to her bed for a well deserved rest.
