Through The Looking Glass: An enigmatic and brilliant Beauxbatons transfer student with a mysterious birthright has joined Hogwarts in her fifth year. Despite his resolve to dislike her as he did her father, Severus is surprised by his reaction to her.
The usual disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to the existing Harry Potter characters, though the characters you won't recognize as J. K. Rowling's are mine. I'm not making any sort of profit from this fiction apart from my own gratification.
Chapter One:
Albus Dumbledore sat contemplatively in his high-backed leather chair, his finger tips lightly pressed together in an arch of concentration. The weak light in the circular recesses of his study dimmed yet more as the flickering flame of the lone candelabra extinguished in a final swansong of desperate illumination. His concentration broken, he blinked his luminous grey eyes, usually shining with mirth, and picked up his wand which lay on the mahogany desk before him.
"Lumos," he murmured, his soft voice barely audible.
A soft glow illuminated the room once again and he rose unsteadily to his feet, the silence punctuated only by the creaking of the leather on the chair and the soft keening of the magnificent phoenix, which sat on a perch adjacent to his desk. He lit the candelabra with a well practiced flick of his wand and paused before the vast fire place that dominated the study in its gothic grandeur.
His hand reached tentatively to a small ornate box, perched innocuously on the mantel, but paused. He withdrew the hand, creased with age and instead ran it through his long silver beard in a gesture of uncertainty. Once again the aged hands reached out, more confidently this time, plucked open the lid of the tiny box and pinched between fingers and thumb a small quantity of the vivid turquoise powder within. In a sudden, almost violent gesture, he threw the powder into the darkness of the grate, igniting a vibrant orange flame, which sparked fiercely into the void of the chimney above.
"Snape!" Dumbledore shouted, the volume of his rich voice filling the highest alcoves of the vaulted ceiling. In an instant, Professor Severus Snape, resplendent in robes of blackest silk, appeared arrestingly in the room, his face wearing an expression of innate boredom and cynicism. The moment he entered, the phoenix gave a start and let out a loud squawk.
"Ahh, Severus," Dumbledore began, his words doing little to temper the potions masters jaded scowl, now directed at the striking bird. "I trust you received my letter of this morning?"
Snapes expressions soured to a look of pure disgust. "Yes, Albus. Though I hardly think…"
Dumbledore shot him a warning look which he heeded with a tired sigh. "All I am saying is that perhaps you should exercise a little more caution when accepting foreign students."
He paused, measuring what effect his words had upon the headmaster. "Especially now," he added pointedly.
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Dumbledore's wise eyes, and he conceded Snapes point with a nod of the head. "I understand your concern, Severus, but this is hardly some stranger we're inviting into the fold, as it were."
He sat heavily in the leather chair and opened a secret drawer in the desk with a flick of his wand. Holding a sheath of letters he addressed Severus again.
"Aloysius first wrote to me last year after that second Death Eater attack to ask if she could continue her studies here."
At the mere mention of the name, a cloud of annoyance blackened Snapes aquiline features. Aloysius and he had been in the same year at Hogwarts some twenty years before and had never been the best of friends to say the least. Many bitter arguments had occurred between the two, and their rivalry was well known and the passage of the years had done little to temper Snapes dislike of the man. Both had been prodigious in the art of potions and strove to outdo each other at every opportunity. Their rivalry had climaxed one fateful day when Aloysius, along with James Potter and Sirius Black, had added an extra ingredient to Snape's cauldron in their idea of a joke, during their final exam, causing the mixture to ignite and cause extensive damage to the dungeon where the lesson was taking place. A severe chastisement was given to all three boys, yet Snape found himself unable to forgive the tall, athletic youth who he knew had grown into the Ministries most eminent auror. He knew his grudge, though deep-rooted, was ultimately unimportant in the greater fight, against Voldemort, whose depraved tyranny threatened to envelop the wizarding world once again.
His reminiscences were interrupted by the sound of Albus' voice. "Severus? Severus!"
He mentally shook himself and guided his attention back to the headmaster sat before him. "Apologies, Albus," he murmured and silently rebuked himself for his inattention. The last thing he needed at the moment was an inquisition from Albus as to his own personal state of mind.
"Well," he said, aware that the headmaster had already made up his mind and this meeting was merely a formality, "it seems that you are decided. If you are satisfied that the arrival of this girl will be beneficial to all parties concerned then I must content myself and abide by your decision" He smiled a tight lipped smile, his lips curving at the corners into a wryly amused smirk. "However, I would consider it advisable if something were done to limit the effects of her……Abnormality."
Albus shot him a warning look. "I only mean to say that having a girl with half Veela blood in the school may cause more than a little disruption when it comes to the male pupils," Snape concluded with a self satisfied sneer.
Albus had to admit that he was right. He had pondered this thought over and over again yet could reach no viable conclusion and having already promised Aloysius that his daughter could attend Hogwarts for her remaining years of education he was reluctant to break that promise on the ground of her "abnormality" as Severus so dryly put it. He was rather taken aback when Severus cleared his throat and put forward the most workable suggestion he had heard so far.
"There is a tonic, known in some parts as Felicia Belladonna that I believe would serve our purposes. It is based upon an infusion of wode leaf and in simple terms, works in the opposite way to an enhancement elixir, making no physical alteration to her appearance, yet all the same tempering any extreme effects it may have on unsuspecting males."
He paused, awaiting Dumbledore's response. "Do continue, Severus." Snape retrieved a crumpled strip of parchment from a pocket in his black silk robe, carefully unfolded it and scanned the feathery script upon it.
"It would be fairly simple to make and could even be made in large enough batches to last our new student for up to a year. It must be taken orally every three to four days. The ingredients are common enough, most of which can be found in my personal stores, apart from the small sample of blood which we would need to take from her."
He trailed off, expecting a flat refusal from Dumbledore. Expecting a new student to take a glamouring potion was one thing, but extracting her blood was quite another. Severus was well aware of the rumours that fervently circulated the student body, that he was secretly a vampire, and admittedly did nothing to dispel the rumours, finding them useful in controlling the rowdier elements of the lower years. Even the most delinquent first year could be reduced to a quivering mass of fear with just one well practiced look, not of brutish intimidation but one burning with threat and quiet menace. Looking at him, it was not hard to see how the students reached their farcical conclusion: Obsidian black eyes glinted dangerously under expressive black brows, one of which was seemingly permanently fixed in a derisive sneer. A long aquiline nose tapered severely to meet solemn lips, not thin, but clenched together at this moment. Severus Snape was not, at first glance an attractive man, yet possessed a magnetic quality which drew all eyes to his pale, monochromatic face, a study in contrasts of light and dark.
Albus, after a moments consideration quietly agreed with the words, "A small phial of blood seems a small price to pay when compared with what she's already been through." At Snape's curious look he explained, "Eleanora has been something of a fugitive for the past two years, since the Death Eater attacks began again. The constant threats against her father have meant that she is invaluable property as far as the ministry are concerned. They've kept her under incessant surveillance lest a kidnapping plot take place, or worse," he ended, his wise brow creased with regret.
Snape privately wondered whether this girl would be more trouble than she was worth at Hogwarts. A Veela, even only a half blood Veela in a school full of hormonal teenage boys was bound to have some "interesting" consequences. Albus once again interrupted his thoughts.
"I shall write to Aloysius at once, explained the details of the glamouring potion. From what I've heard of young Eleanora she will be only too glad to gain some respite from the effects. I imagine it could get rather tiring being constantly surrounded by adoring males."
He winked at Severus but the wink was met with a stony expression which told Albus in no uncertain terms that he would not be one of those adoring males. Severus rose from his chair and asked "If that is all Albus?" He was answered by a gentle nod and swept out of the room, his robes billowing behind him.
As he closed the door, he heard "One more thing, Severus!" He turned back into the room. "She arrives in a week's time, three days before the start of term. I trust the potion will be ready by then if Aloysius can owl over a small phial?" Snape nodded in reply and closed the door which a smart click. In Dumbledore's office the candle flame once again flicked and faded, leaving the room in shadowy darkness. "Fiddlesticks," he murmured as he fumbled for his wand.