Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe on it.
Chapter 6 – Excalibur (part 1)
Merlin: Nay, Arthur, have no fear.
A mightier power than mine had led thy feet
There where I found thy sleeping by the lake:
For whilst I watched a star fell in the sky,
And, from the vacant space of Heaven, there came
A voice that cried "Awake! The hour hath struck:
Now guide him, Merlin, to that caverned home
Where dwells the sacred sword Excalibur."
"King Arthur, A Drama and a Prologue in Four Acts" by J. Comyns Carr
The child lay sleeping on the middle of a small wooden table that had been magically cushioned for his comfort. The small velvet duvet lay underneath him. He was dressed in a white cotton tunic as instructed by Hermione, and had been bathed in water from an underground spring. Just prior to putting him to sleep with the Somnus spell, Albus had given the boy the potion Hermione had owled him. All they were doing now is waiting for it to take effect.
It had been two days since Hermione's last experiment, and this time Albus was impatient to get started. Ever since the child's experience with the pentagram, Severus had been growing bolder. It was as if the talisman had reminded him that he was not so small and weak as he may have thought. Not that this was a wholly bad thing, mused Albus, but it had led to several dangerous incidents as Severus did not have the reasoning ability to go along side his new found desire to assert his prowess. And Albus feared that if they didn't soon find out exactly what it was that was that was inhibiting both the boy's ability to speak and his magical powers, he would soon have an uncontrollable child on his hands. That uncontrollable child would of course eventually grow to be an angry adult, and the entire purpose of returning him to childhood would all be for naught.
"It has been exactly two hours now." Poppy Pomfrey snapped her pocket watch closed. She had been asked to assist Albus and Hermione, as had Minerva, because this experiment benefited from as many thoughtful opinions as possible.
Albus nodded to Hermione who touched her wand to Severus and spoke the incantation. The others repeated her actions and words exactly. A slight humming sound filled the room. It was clearly emanating from the boy's body. As per Hermione's instruction, the invited guests each took a turn running their wands carefully along Severus' small frame, just inches above his body. When the last of them finished, Albus gently turned the toddler onto his stomach and they once again repeated the exercise. Once complete, the child was levitated into his cot, and the foursome retired to Albus' sitting room.
Professor McGonagall was the first to speak. "It was not very strong, but I did feel the energy pulsing from the back of his neck, just as you said Albus. There was also a faint aura of magic that permeated his entire body, but that is normal under this spell, is it not?"
Poppy answered her. "Yes, if he were older. Although some children have developed magical auras at his age, it is still quite unusual. By the way, I could feel the energy accumulating too, particularly behind his left ear."
"Did anyone feel anything coming from the area by his eyes?" Albus queried.
The two older women shook their heads. "Nothing at all Albus," added Minerva.
Albus looked to Ms. Granger who up until that point hadn't said a word. "Professors, I noticed too the magic in his neck as well as the faint aura about him. But don't you think it is unusual that there was absolutely no aura at all from his eyes? The rest of his body gave off something. Why not his eyes?"
"Very good Ms. Granger" Albus smiled. "I had been wondering about that myself."
Just then a house elf arrived. "Mister Harry Potter, Sir and Misses," he said bowing low and then ushering in the Boy-Who-Defeated-Evil.
"Welcome Harry, we were just discussing Sebastian."
Harry pulled up a chair and Hermione related the night's events to him. Harry nodded thoughtfully and then turned to the Headmaster. "Sir, I came tonight because Hermione told me what you were doing. I had a thought about how you might find out something more. I mean I know you and Professor Snape, I mean Sebastian," Harry blushed at his slip of the tongue. How was he ever going to get through Auror School which began next month, if he couldn't keep a secret any better than Hagrid? He swallowed and plunged on, "are pretty good with Legilimency and Occlumency, and so I had an idea."
"Sebastian hasn't been very trusting in opening his mind to me" the older wizard interrupted. "And I am afraid to push him, Harry. That's part of the reason Hermione here is looking for other ways to see what lies inside the boy."
"I know, Sir. But do you remember when Voldemort reached inside my mind?" Harry pressed on undeterred.
The old wizard chuckled. "I seem to recall something like that."
Harry blushed again. It had been a silly way to state it. "Yes, of course. Well anyway, he did it through dreams. At first I thought I was dreaming so I didn't question it. I didn't think to fight it. And he let me feel his emotions too. So in a way I almost felt like him, could feel his desires, his wants."
Albus nodded thoughtfully. "I see what you are getting at my boy. It is certainly worth a try." He rose from his chair and motioned the others to join him. They once again climbed the steps to the corridor that led to Severus' guest room. This time he did not return the boy to the table, but rather he lifted him into his arms and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. Placing his wand at the sleeping child's temple he whispered "Legilimens". The old wizard then leaned back in the chair and closed his own eyes as the others looked on.
Albus was initially met with a vision of the boy chasing chocolate frogs through the pond near the country house. Even in his dreams Severus was having no luck catching the things. "No, no, old chap, this time we are going to see things from my perspective." With that the Headmaster concentrated on a picture of the locked door he had seen in the boy's mind only a few days after Severus' return to childhood. Albus sent out a feeling of intense desire to enter the room. He waited a bit, and when nothing happened, he sent out another call. "Join me Severus, we can go through the door together." A short wait again and then a strange sensation, like someone entering his body, filled the old wizard. Albus once again concentrated on his desire to enter the room. He knew Severus must be feeling it now too. There was a tingle of hesitation and uncertainty that ran through him, but Albus countered that with reassurance. A moment later, the door clicked open.
Albus, with Severus within him, walked into the room. As soon as they passed the doorframe the small boy emerged from Albus and stood next to him. They both looked cautiously around. The room was brightly lit, as if sunshine had permeated all corners of the room, yet there were no discernible windows. The walls, ceiling and the floor where bright white and made perhaps of marble. Indeed, everything shone like a newly painted room in a king's palace. Not that there wasn't any color. In the center of the room, swirling like an incandescent smoke tornado, were the most glorious colors Albus had ever seen. Crimson swirled with a deep cyan, azure with indigo, teal overlapped with yellow and burst forth as bright green, royal blue and magenta wove in and out of each other, and of course silver and deep forest green appeared and disappeared through the constant swirling motion that made Albus' head hurt to stare too long. Severus, on the other hand, now stood transfixed. It was as if all his potion's dreams of color mixing had suddenly come true. He was smiling ear to ear, and he emanated intense feelings of desire. A Weasley twin in Zonko's storeroom could not have been more delighted.
Albus smiled down at the boy. "Go ahead and touch, child. It is after all your door and your room. Everything contained within is yours to behold." He gave the boy a small push forward.
Severus walked slowly to the colorful whirlwind. When he reached the outer edge he tentatively lifted his small hand and reached forward with a single finger. At the moment he made contact with the impermeable mass of colors, they immediately dissipated, so surprising the toddler that he fell backward and landed with a thud. Albus walked quickly to the boy and lifted him back up to his feet. Then they both took a good look at what the cloud of color had been obscuring - a large silver staff. Albus steadied the boy with a hand to his shoulder as they made their way around the object. It was over a meter in height and about a small fist in diameter. It sparkled in the lucent air as if it were diamond encrusted. But instead of gems, it was the refraction of the light on the numerous designs cut into the length of the staff that gave it that quality. The designs were magical symbols that Albus recognized, the most prominent among them, the pentagram.
Albus looked it over carefully for several minutes and then slowly he reached out to the large rod. He wrapped a carefully fist around the top and then slid his aged hand gently down a short way. He felt the tingle of magic permeate his body. Aware that the small child was watching him closely he turned his head and gave a reassuring smile. Then he looked back at the object and gave a firm tug. It did not move. He tried again, a bit harder, but it still wouldn't budge. The next time he used all his strength, but he already knew it would not work. The item was magically embedded, and he did not posses whatever it was that was necessary to release it.
He turned to the child. "Why don't you give it a try? It is after all in your mind, not mine."
Severus' dark eyes surveyed the silver staff. It was so shiny Albus could even make out the reflection of Severus' dark hair in the metal from where he stood. The child hesitated for a few moments, and then seeming to come to a decision, gave it a tug. Nothing happened. The boy gave a bit of a shrug and then turned his dark eyes on his Headmaster. The message he sent to Albus was quite clear "I want to go back to the pond."
So Albus nodded and complied. With thoughts of his beloved pond and chocolate frogs, he sent the child back to his dream and then returned himself to the bedchamber where his guests stood waiting.
Upon opening his eyes and seeing the expectant looks on the faces of his guests, Albus whispered "I believe I have found our problem."
*****
Albus stood in the kitchen of his country home happily frying up eggs and rashers while a house elf stood glaring at him nearby. It was so seldom he got to cook, and angry house elf or not, he wasn't going to let this opportunity go by. Harry, Ms. Granger, and Poppy had stayed overnight last evening, their discussion about the importance of the silver staff keeping them awake to the wee hours of the morning. Now the Headmaster was basking in the pleasure of having some new candidates to try out his cooking skills on. After a few more moments the house elf couldn't bear to watch any longer and headed out to the garden.
Severus sat on a nearby countertop, watching the Headmaster thoughtfully. His experience with colors last night seemed to have had a positive affect on his fashion preferences, for this morning he had allowed Albus to charm his favorite cotton shirt into some other color than black or white. Not that lime green was anywhere near the top of the list of Albus' favorite shades of green, but overall it was an improvement – and that's what mattered.
Albus slid his culinary masterpiece onto a serving platter and carried it to the table where everyone else sat, still arguing about the symbolism of last night. All except for Ms. Granger, who was in Albus' small study with one Madame Pince's tomes, researching the meanings of all the staff's symbols that Albus was able to recount for her.
"Eat, my children, eat. It is better to disagree on a full stomach." Albus slid into his own chair and helped himself to a large serving of eggs.
Harry was the one speaking at the moment, and his new found status as a war hero certainly was adding to his ability to hold court. All eyes where focused on him as he reasserted his theory that the staff held some sort of hidden message from Severus's subconscious, to his conscious self. Albus thought that perhaps Harry had been a bit too influenced by the Muggle psychology books he had been poring over at Hermione's request these past few weeks.
Minerva shook her head, "Hogwash, I doubt very much that he created anything symbolic like that. If he had been responsible for it, it would have been a dagger. Or perhaps a cauldron. But certainly not a staff."
"I agree," offered Madam Pomphrey. "Someone put that thing there. What purpose it serves I can't say, but traditionally the staff has symbolized strength. Even leadership. Not that…Sebastian…ever demonstrated much of that – unless leadership entails mixing up dark potions in the third floor boy's lavatory."
Minerva and Albus both chuckled. They had forgotten about young Severus' proclivity for trying out his concoctions as far away from prying eyes as possible. Madam Pomfrey, who had to heal the results of many of these attempts, apparently had not.
Albus had been about to add his own thoughts to the subject when Minerva let out a gasp. "Severus," she shouted, forgetting in her moment of panic to use his new name. All eyes turned to the child who was busy pouring every item on the counter top into the frying pan that Albus had so recently been cooking with. Worse, the boy had somehow managed to reignite the flame and the contents of the pan were now smoking. Unfortunately, Minerva's shout had startled the boy and he knocked into the flying pan, upending it onto himself. His face contorted in pain and he opened his mouth, yet no sound came out other than a gurgle.
A moment later four wands were out and the frying pan, along with its contents, magically eliminated. Albus grabbed the boy and set him down on a kitchen chair while Poppy kneeled in front of the child. Tears coursed down his face as Albus lifted his cotton shirt to expose the growing red patch of skin on his chest. Poppy gave Albus a look of reassurance. "Just a superficial burn, I can heal that with a simple spell."
She pointed her wand directly at Severus's chest and the boy immediately threw his body into the back of the chair, pulling himself into a ball as small as possible. Most interesting to all the observers was the fact that the child had placed both his hands in a protective covering position over the area just below the back of his left ear.
Albus tried to move Severus' hands, but he wouldn't budge.
"Don't bother, Headmaster. I can heal him just as well like this." Poppy murmured her incantation and then stood back up, pocketing her wand.
At that moment Hermione Granger came through the kitchen door with a big smile on her face. "I think I have found something," she beamed.
"I think I may have found something too," whispered the old wizard, looking down at his still cowering charge.
While Harry and Poppy related the morning's events to Hermione, Albus and Minerva spent the next quarter of an hour calming the child. Once they had succeeded in getting him out of the chair and over to a safe spot by a low set of window cupboards, Albus laid out a spread of herbs, spices and oils as well as a few pots and pans. The boy immediately went back to mixing his creations, and Albus enchanted all the jars to refill and the pots to magically empty every few minutes.
Albus looked on beaming. "Perhaps he will be a chef when he grows up."
"Or perhaps he will be a Potions Master," Minerva responded dryly, rolling her eyes as she returned to the table where Hermione had laid our several pieces of parchment covered with magical symbols of all sorts.
Albus gave his little alchemist a pat on the head and joined them at the table. Hermione directed their attention to the first parchment which explained the meaning of each symbol Albus had noted on it. The second parchment, she continued, listed in order of size and numbers of repetition, the symbols the staff contained as best remembered, and their arithmatic counterpart. The third parchment placed the symbols into an order that could possibly make sense. Although Albus did not remember the exact placement of every symbol, she had used the symbols numerical values, as well as some arithmatic calculations to come up with an equation that would have been likely. She went on to note the difference between the symbols likely placement and the one that Albus had partially remembered.
Albus could tell from the look of astonishment on Harry's face that he had never really appreciated quite how brilliant his companion was. Minerva and Poppy, with their self-satisfied smirks, obviously had.
"Well my dear, are you able to give us what I believe Muggles refer to as 'the bottom line'?" the Headmaster asked brightly.
"Yes, I think I can. What this says, if everything I did was correct, is that the staff is the main source of Sebastian's magical energy. It is, as many magical items are, just a representation of course. But if that representation can be manipulated, then the actual magic it stands in for can be manipulated as well. The markings on the staff, they are all representative of magical attributes. Nearly all of them are in some way connected to strength or power. But the markings are in a state of distress – they are chaotically placed. I believe they were once forming coherent patterns, but that over the years they have shifted. I am not sure why, although I suspect it is because the staff hasn't been used. From how you described it Headmaster, I would say his magic is 'stuck'." Her eyes darted about. It was obvious she wasn't really used to going out on a limb with theories like this. She had always preferred to present information only after she was certain she was correct. Albus gave her a reassuring smile.
"Excellent child, simply excellent. If everything you say is correct, then we will have our hands full in the coming days trying to find a way to release this staff, and hence, his magic."
It was Harry's turn to speak. "He could do magic already though, how is that possible with his magic stuck like that?"
Poppy answered before anyone else could. "I would imagine that either not all of his magic was concentrated in that one area – for instance we know that Divination is centered in another part of the brain than Apparition – or that perhaps however his magic got trapped, some of it managed to escape."
"Or," began Professor McGonagall "he managed to find a way to compensate. The way a blind person focuses more on their sense of sound. Perhaps that is why he was drawn to Potions?"
Albus could see that Harry was struggling with another question. "Yes, Harry?"
"How could someone's magic get "stuck" like that. Did something happen to him?"
Albus' face took on a dark and forbidding frown. "I think it would be fair to say that 'someone' happened to him."
All eyes at the table turned to the old wizard, who was looking quite tall and powerful at the moment. "I believe Sebastian should be left alone at the moment. We will continue this tomorrow. And I am pretty certain I now know where to begin."
Authors note: This is a pretty long chapter, so I thought I would send out half of it today so that you won't have to wait too long in between installments. Hopefully anything I write after I post this won't make me wish I could go back and change something in the first half. J
Let me know if anyone is not following the storyline. I am hoping my 'explanation' of Severus' magical limitations is making sense. There is a bit more explanation to come in the second half of the chapter, so if anyone is confused now, I'd really like to know so I can patch it up in the second part. After this chapter concludes, the story should pick up pace again with less informational details. Well, that's the plan anyway.
A quick question for those readers who also post a lot at fanfiction.net (and I have read a lot of your great Snape stuff) – I chose both Snape and Dumbledore as my character perimeters for searching within Harry Potter. But while the story always shows up if I chose Albus, if I chose Snape alone, sometimes I can't find my story anywhere. It usually does show up a few days after posting, but by then it is story number 60 something or so. Should I remove Albus as a search character? I want new readers to be able to come across this story but I also want those who are reading already to be able to find it too? Any suggestions?
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!
Zippy zany – the kitchen scene was for you.
-Hawaii
