Chapter Six

Severus and the Bogwight

It was just before dinner that night when Severus walked into Jennifer's office. She was busy putting away the last of her paperwork.

"I need to borrow some nymph-wing powder and dried rabbit-fern toes," Severus said, walking over to her ingredient shelves with a frown. "Didn't I just organize these shelves for you a week ago?"

"I had to fill the hospital wing's order since then," Jennifer explained. "Making Potent Water?"

"Yes, although I could have sworn I had at least two phials left, that's why I didn't bother bringing the powder," he scowled. "You wouldn't know what happened to the other phial, do you?"

"Perhaps you miscounted," Jennifer suggested, quickly trying to make herself look busy.

"Nonsense. And I know we haven't been through two full phials since last Wednesday," Severus said, finally finding the ingredients he needed.

"Not for lack of trying," Jennifer said coyly, earning a smirk from her husband. "Are we going to dinner or not?"

"Well, I do have tests to mark. We could just skip the crowds and eat upstairs," he suggested as Jennifer headed for the door, keeping her from opening it.

"Severus, what's your Aunt Viv's last name?" Jennifer said. Severus' expression turned to one of bewilderment, wondering at her choice of subject.

"I hardly know her, I don't know. Ask Anna. Why in the world are you bringing that up now?" Severus asked.

"That's who was visiting Dumbledore today. She seemed awfully interested in the Callum's Seal," Jennifer said. Severus squinted slightly as Jennifer opened the door, following closely behind her. "It was almost as if she had something personal at stake. She didn't seem to care about the magic failing at all. As if it were no consequence! And I couldn't read her. Who is she, Severus?" But it was fairly obvious from the expression he gave back to Jennifer that he had no more idea than she did.


After a busy weekend watching Angela at Quidditch tryouts and then consoling her afterwards, Essie was glad to get back to classes again and her favorite subjects (with her favorite teachers.) This year they were getting into a lot more complex Transfigurations too, and Essie was intent on getting a jump on her best classes, perhaps even make better than average marks for a change.

But before she knew it, Wednesday rolled around, and she reluctantly found herself shuffling towards Defense Class. Angela watched her as she walked down the hall reading the first chapter over again, certain that they were going to have another test.

"You're fretting for no reason," Angela finally sighed as they neared. "We're having a demonstration today. He's not going to be wasting time with a test."

"Lovely. Thanks for reminding me. He always calls me for things like that," Essie protested.

"I doubt he's going to call anyone up on a Bogwight. Besides, if you think he's calling you out too much, why don't you talk to him? He is your brother's 'Dad' after all," Angela pointed out.

"That's just another reason why I can't do a thing about it," Essie sighed, walking into the class. Essie immediately headed for the back, taking an empty seat near Mick Young. Well, he wasn't very friendly but at least he was big, Essie mused, just in case anything went wrong. She opened her books and notes and waited nervously. In the corner of the room next to the Professor's desk was a very large box with chains about it. For the first time since she got to Hogwarts, Essie wished she were on the Slytherin side of the room.

Finally Snape came out of his office with a stack of papers in his hand, the class hushing immediately as he appeared.

"The first casualty list is in, and you'll find the totals are rather alarming," Snape said, glancing at the class with a stern look on his face. "Slytherin has accrued five deaths to due to unfortunate choices, and thanks to their own incompetence, Hufflepuff has lost fourteen. One of you somehow managed to die twice," he added, his eyes flickering to the front desk. Noticing no one sitting there his hands went to his hips, looking around to where Essie was shrinking behind her desk.

"Miss Willowby, what are you doing lurking in the back? I thought you told me you needed to be up front," he snapped.

"Um, Madame Pomfrey said I didn't need glasses," Essie explained.

"Never mind that, get up here where I can see you clearly. Anyone talented enough to die twice on one test needs someone to keep an eye on them," Snape snapped. "Well, don't just sit there, do as you're told!"

Essie scrambled to pick her books up and hurried to the front, the Slytherin students sniggering at her as she passed by them. Snape shook his head and thrust his test at her and she took it, slowly sitting back down as he passed out the rest of the tests. Angela risked a grin when Snape turned his back. After all, at least it meant they could together. Of course, it also meant they were the closest students to the gently rocking box as well.

"Now," Snape said as he flung back the last test and strode back over to the desk, taking out his wand. "Greisley, what do you know about Bogwights?"

"Bogwights are undead that live in the swamps, made up of swamp mud and the corpses of the dead. They prey on those that wander in the swamps and get lost, draining all their energy with their touch until their victims become a part of them."

"And what's their main disadvantage?"

"They lose everything that they ever were before and become completely mindless, acting only on instinct. They also depend on water to keep themselves whole."

"Very good, ten points Slytherin," Severus said, putting on gloves. "They also must make contact with the skin to drain you, so as long as you are aware of their presence, you can usually keep your distance. They prey on individuals and don't attack groups unless threatened, and usually only in darkness. As you can see, this particular Bogwight is at a severe disadvantage already and should be relatively easy to handle, but you will be more alert of them if you see first hand what they look like. So pay attention!" he said, loud enough some of them jumped. "And whatever you do, don't go forward of the desk line. I do have some protects up and if you cross it you'll prove to be just as mindless as the creature we'll be looking at today," he added, taking a stance across the room.

As Snape unlocked the large box with a spell and the crate opened, Essie's face drained of all color, having never really seen anything so scary in her life. So much mud encompassed the Bogwight that it was hard to tell there had ever been any semblance of a person there at all, and it stank horribly, like nothing she had ever smelled before. It made a terrifying rasping noise as it came out, wary of the light, its form sinking to resemble a large moving puddle.

"As you can see, it attempts to blend into the swamps, only taking form just before it strikes… an unknowing victim probably won't even know what hit them until it's too late," Snape said, circling carefully as the thing moved slightly. "Let's see if I can trigger a response before I dispose of the thing."

"What, just like that, you're going to kill it?" Angela asked.

"Bogwights are already dead, you idiot," Greisley snapped. "It'll just release the spirit that gave life to it."

"Quiet! I didn't give anyone permission to talk!" Snape barked at them. The noise must have startled the wight, for it drew itself up in a bipedal form, lurching towards Severus with its arms outstretched. But Snape had been watching its movements and immediately turned his wand on it.

"Assiccarus belapalus!" Snape intoned, his gaze intent on his intended prey as he thrust the wand in its direction.

Nothing happened.

Surprise came over Snape's face as he glanced at his wand then tried again to no avail, and the creature suddenly stretched his muddy arms around him as several of the girls in class began to scream.

"Somebody do something!" Essie begged as he tried to fight it off, losing hold of his wand. A bright white glow surged around him from apparently nowhere as several of the classmates took up their wands. Victor Greisley was the quickest, and using the professor's example he suddenly jumped on the table for a clearer view.

"Assiccarus belapalus!" Victor called out and a blast of tiny particles seemed to burst forth from the wand.

The Bogwight cried out in pain, its skin suddenly turned hard as the drying spell took effect and the entire thing slowly turned to dust, dropping into a pile on the floor. Everyone in the class froze in place, shocked, frightened and confused by what had just occurred.

Severus Snape slowly stood up, attempting quite forcefully not to look as shaken as he felt, brushing the dust away from him as if nothing had occurred. A moment later, Anna appeared in the doorway followed closely behind by Jennifer, who was desperately trying to figure out what happened.

"I think that was enough of a demonstration today," Snape said in a hollow voice. "Class dismissed. No homework."

It was at those last two words that made everyone realize just how wrong things were.

Essie felt terrible. She hadn't done a thing to help, just stood there and screamed for someone else to do something. What if he had been killed? Her brother would have lost the only other man he saw as a father; it would have ripped him apart. Not to mention she herself really sort of liked him when he was not around other students, especially in the summer. She certainly didn't want to see him hurt. She was also aware as they began to leave that the other students thought it was extremely funny. Wasn't anyone else worried about what it might mean for a teacher to lose their power out of the blue like that?

Severus himself was fully aware of it. In fact, his mind was exploding with possibilities of causes and possible repercussions of it as the students filed out, barely aware that his sister was standing in front of him talking at him.

"What were you thinking, bringing an undead in the school like that? Someone could have gotten killed! It was evil, couldn't you feel it?" Anna snapped.

"Anna, Bogwights are very common undead and an easy match. I've used them often myself in demos. Please stop yelling at him! Severus, what happened? Are you all right?" Jennifer asked.

"If you don't mind, why don't you both go back to your classes before they start to straggle away? I think I'm going to go see Poppy," he said irritably. Jennifer looked after him worriedly as he walked out the door. He'd never volunteered to go see Poppy before.

"Is Dumbledore in the school?" Anna asked, realizing the same thing.

"No, but I'm going to send him a note anyhow. I'm sure he'll want to hear about this," Jennifer said before going back down to the Potion Lab.


Poppy Pomfrey shook her head at him just as Sagittari and Dumbledore came in together.

"Well, I've run every test I that I have and as far as I can tell, there's nothing physically wrong with you," Poppy told him.

"Then explain this? Wingardium leviosa!" Severus said, pointing his wand at a water cup. Nothing happened. He scowled again, folding his arms.

"Did you try another wand?" Sagittari suggested.

"Yes, he tried mine," Poppy admitted with a sigh. "Nothing."

"Have you tried any strenuous spells lately?" Sagittari asked. Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully, knowing very well Sagittari meant the spells from the Tome.

"No, not in over a month," Severus said.

"Eaten anything new or unusual you might have built up an allergy to?"

"No. And before you ask, I haven't eaten from the Cauldron since the first night we were back. I found I am not very fond of porridge," Severus muttered.

"What about potions, Severus?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"I haven't used anything but potions for our personal schedule in two weeks either. Not even a Subtle Slumber," he added, sitting back on the chair in annoyance.

"I should hope not," Poppy said, but turned back to her other patients when he gave her a dirty look.

"This is hardly a laughing matter. This could be the beginning of the end, you know. Soon all of us could be reduced to Muggledom," Severus said ominously.

"Now, Severus, let's not panic just quite yet," Dumbledore said in a quiet tone to encourage the others to keep their voices down. "I'm sure there's a very logical explanation behind this, and we will find it and get you back to normal as soon as possible," he assured him. "But until then, I suggest that perhaps you shouldn't have any more demonstrations for awhile." Severus glowered at him. "Jennifer has managed to live without using her spells most of the last three years, after all, I'm sure you will survive."

"She at least had a good reason to lose her magic. There is no reason here," Severus snapped.

"There is a reason, Severus," Dumbledore said firmly. "And I assure you it is not the end of all magic. Now, I want you to take the rest of the night off to relax and rethink your teaching strategy, and I will do a little research to see if I can't come up with a viable solution."

"Sir, if there are no objections, perhaps it'd be prudent to ask Jennifer to run some tests on his potions and any lab ingredients that were used?" Sagittari suggested.

"Very well, Sagittari," Dumbledore nodded. "But soon as you can I want you to get back to the island, Poppy and I can take care of this."

"Yes, Professor."

"The island?" Severus repeated, looking between them. Dumbledore sighed then and sat beside him, his expression turning very serious.

"It seems that some of the events that are occurring here have extended out quite a ways. The Fomorians' magic is also failing, and the island became quite visible for a while. Their city is also flooding, they have nowhere to go but to the surface. They refused to accept wizardry help, but have accepted the help of the giants. I am hoping, with Sagittari being a centaur and therefore a great symbol from their past, along with Hagrid, as a half giant, we will be able to breech this history gap of ours. You may have lost your magic, Severus, but your home and life aren't threatened. Or job, for that matter," Dumbledore added mischievously getting up.

"I understand, Professor. Do what you need to with what's going on. I'll manage somehow," Severus said, a lot more subdued.

"I expect all you'll need to do is talk to Jennifer about it. She's probably got a well of information on this subject," Dumbledore said with a wink. "And if she can survive as a near Muggle, you certainly can," he added.

"And what about the students? Surely we won't be able to keep that little episode quiet," Severus muttered again.

"Well, I believe you should probably do what you always do and tell them to mind their own business," Dumbledore suggested with a smile before heading out of the room.


Essie waited quietly by the staircase until Corey returned, but he shook his head at her.

"Mom won't let me see him, but she says he's all right. They think it's just an allergy or something," Corey explained as they headed down to dinner.

"An allergy?" Essie repeated thoughtfully. "What a horrible thing to happen! I suppose that's just as bad as me swelling up like a balloon when I get stun by a bee."

"You see? Nothing to worry about. I'm sure all of this rubbish going around is nothing but that… rubbish."

"I just wish I could have thought of something to do," Essie sighed.

"I wish anybody but Victor Greisley could have thought of something else to do," Corey admitted.

"Tell me about it," Essie agreed.

"He's still giving you a hard time too, isn't he?"

"Oh, well, it's nothing I can't handle, really," Essie insisted. "He just, well, sometimes teases me about my marks is all."

"Then don't listen to him, he's nothing but a Slytherin anyhow," Corey insisted, stopping as they got to the doors of the Great Hall.

"Don't let Danny hear you say that," Essie said.

"Well Danny's different. Actually, Lisa and Liam aren't that bad either, I guess. I mean, they can be a pain but they're not all bad. And Greisley did help save Dad…" Corey mused, but then shrugged it off. "But I want to know if he puts on you again, you hear me? Nobody bothers my sister and gets away with it."

"All right, Corey," Essie sighed as she went to sit next to Angela. But soon she caught a conversation going on down the table as Mick Young began to give an account of the entire episode, quite a number of the other students huddled around.

"Can you imagine? He was just floundering there. We were all for sure he was going to be turned into a wight. Half the Slytherins were already edging to the door," Mick was saying. "Then Greisley went and had to save him. And then he just told us to go with no homework or anything."

"That doesn't sound like Snape at all. I wish I could have seen it," Aelfred grinned.

"Oh, come on, Snape's not as bad as all of that. If he was, Craw wouldn't have married him," Julie protested. "I hope he's all right."

"Yeah, we might get stuck with that loopy Madame Belle again," Mick grinned. "And I bet that's the last time Dumbledore lets him bring a dangerous creature in this school. We might have all been killed!"

"Snape wouldn't have brought in anything he thought we couldn't handle!" Essie suddenly snapped angrily.

"Oh, come on, Essie, we all know you got a soft spot for old sourpuss Snape but you saw what happened. Snape nearly ended up swallowed in mud," Mick said. "Not that hardly anyone would notice the difference." As the other students laughed, Essie got up and left, Angela's eyes following her with a frown.

Why was everyone being so cruel? He could have been killed! Everyone spoke about the Slytherin, but was her house any better really? She slipped into the bathroom to have a short cry, washing her face to make herself feel better. But just then she heard voices outside and listened through the door, not really wanting anyone to see her on her way back to the houserooms.

"It's true, I heard Chester Snitch talking about it, he was in the hospital wing for breaking his leg at broom practice," she heard Greisley say. "He's lost his touch, they said, magic totally gone. And if wasn't for me, he would have been gone. I wouldn't be surprised if they gave me a medal or something."

"What was really funny was all of those Hufflepuffs. Did you see Willowby? I swear she was going to faint under the table again. She does it every time. Even that smart mouth Ames was ready to bolt."

"I still say you should have let the thing finish him off," said another voice that Essie suddenly realized was Amadeus Longbottom. "He's turned soft over the years. Oh, he's the same in class maybe, but how often do those Gryffindors get away with murder since he got married to Craw? Corey Willowby would have been expelled years ago if it wasn't for them having pity on him, and his sister wouldn't have made it into the school at all, would she Greisley?"

"She's at the bottom of nearly every class," Victor agreed. "Somebody ought to give that girl a hint and give her a subscription to Kwikspell or something."

"Somebody should just kick her out so she doesn't keep being a school embarrassment," Amadeus said. "No doubt about it, the school would be better off with neither of the Willowbys around."

Essie felt her throat tighten again, wishing she could just run away, go somewhere…anywhere. If only they would go plot somewhere else, but they kept talking, bringing up other students they'd love to see expelled. Essie didn't want to stay there anymore. In fact, she didn't even feel like staying in the school anymore. If only there were some way to get out, somewhere to hide. If only she were invisible, or even be small enough to just creep away without anyone noticing she thought, gazing at the tiny space under the door. If only she was…

Suddenly as she stared at the door, she began to feel very strange indeed, her heart pounding faster and faster as the hole that she had been looking at grew bigger and bigger until finally it stopped growing at just the perfect height for her to wriggle through on her hands and knees. But wait, her hands and feet were touching the ground, but they didn't feel awkward at all. She twitched her whiskers as she contemplated that, sitting back on her hind legs and looking at herself.

That was when she realized she was a mouse.

Wonder overtook her, unsure of how she managed to do what she did, and yet still pretty sure she could repeat it if she had to. Perhaps she would be better off just staying a mouse forever, away from those hateful glances and words, no classes to fail or bullies to worry about. As she thought about those things, she quickly scurried out, running very close to the wall to keep anyone from seeing her or stepping on her. Perhaps she did have the courage to run away after all.