Chapter Seven

The Sorting and the Substitute

Andrew smiled as he stepped off the train and saw the serene figure of Doctor Sagittari standing there, calling for first years. He turned back to his sister and brother to wave goodbye, bumping into one of the other students in the process. But as he began to apologize, he was taken by complete surprise when he had to look up to meet the other boy's eye.

"Wow, I've never met anyone taller than me and the same age before," Andrew said with amazement, forgetting to apologize.

"Halbert Hagrid," the boy said with a grin. "You?"

"Andrew Snape," Andrew grinned, accepting his hand.

"Oh! I think I ran into your brother earlier, and a sister too," Halbert said. "I wanted to say, well, I am sorry to hear about your mother. My father is a friend of hers, you know. He used to work here."

"Really?" Andrew said with interest and then realized they were getting called into the boats.

Andrew would have liked to talk to the other boy more, but Sagittari had put them in different boats. But soon Andrew became distracted by the sight of the approaching castle and felt a thrill go up his spine. Was it wrong, he wondered, to be glad to be here, considering the uncertainty of his mother's fate? He sighed softly. No, of course it wasn't wrong. She would have wanted him to come, and dwelling on guilt hardly did anyone any good. But as he looked to the castle, he felt a strange sense of home he couldn't explain, stronger than it had ever been at the Broom Closet. Somehow in that brief instant, he understood without question why it was that his parents needed to be there. It was the sort of place that not only molded minds, but seemed to be molded by them as well.

A bump announced their arrival at the dock, and out the students came, up to the steps to where Professor McGonagall was waiting. She smiled thinly at them all, but made intentional eye contact with Andrew, as well as Halbert, who was standing just behind him. Then she explained how they were going to proceed.

Just as Andrew began to think he could take the wait no longer, the doors opened and they filed in. Halbert companionably stepped up beside Andrew and offered him a smile. There was something about it that settled Andrew's nerves a bit. No matter what happened, Andrew was sure he had already made a friend. Peering around he finally picked his sister out, shaking her own hand and cheering him silently as a show of support. At the Slytherin table, Aurelius merely nodded to his brother before turning to speak to the boy sitting next to him, an older boy whom Andrew recognized as Xavier Platt.

As they got below the dais, Severus Snape, who had been sitting strangely alone with a large central chair on one side and a plain chair on the other stood and got Andrew's full attention. But Andrew immediately became worried, for his father seemed unusually sallow and tired, his robes in disarray and hair even more so as if neither caring nor having time to care about such matters.

"Just a few announcements and some faculty changes of which you should be aware," Severus said, glancing out over them without meeting anyone's eyes. "Please welcome Professor Witolf, who will be teaching Potions for… for as long as required," he said, glancing over at a wizened old man who stood merely an instant to smile at them before needing to sit back down again. Rose over at the Gryffindor table stood and clapped loudly for her grandfather until Severus gave her such an annoyed look that she slowly sank back down again. "Also, Professor Ravenclaw of Divinations has agreed to assume temporary duties as Head of Ravenclaw House. Please remember to discuss any issues with your advisors before taking it to Professor McGonagall or myself, unless we happen to be your advisors. Also, please remember that with the exception of students with permission to go to Hogsmeade, students are not to leave the school grounds without arrangements made by both senior staff and parents… and no, the grounds do not include the Dark Forest," he added looking straight at Aurelius, who looked slightly uncomfortable. "And finally, please keep in mind that your familiars are your responsibility while at school and that you will be held responsible for any problems we have with them, and that also includes experimental creatures in the pens and experimental plants," he added looking at Rose warningly. "That is all for now," he said, nodding to McGonagall and taking his seat as she put the Hat on the stool.

"Let's just get this over with," said the Sorting Hat. "I am hardly in the mood to rhyme."

Minerva's jaw dropped in complete surprise. She had never heard the Sorting Hat say that before. Glancing over at Severus, he sat completely oblivious the Sorting Hat's odd behavior, his eyes heavily lidded. What in the world did Severus say capable of depressing even that Hat? Clearing her throat, she smiled as best she could, rolling out the list.

Andrew watched with interest as one by one the others got Sorted, every now and then looking back at his brother and sister who were waiting quite impatiently to see which house he would be in. Each student was greeted with a good round of applause, from Douglas to Hufflepuff, Gayle to Slytherin, Hagrid to Gryffindor, and Nickleby to Ravenclaw and on, until finally Andrew heard his name and felt the familiar tingle again as he stepped up with a lopsided smile on his face.

"Oh, no," said the Hat out loud. "It's another Snape." Some of the students snickered slightly, while behind him Severus' lip twitched.

All right, I'm ready this year, what's your complaint?

I beg your pardon? Andrew thought, tilting his head slightly.

This is where I tell you where I think you'll go and you talk me out of it.

Oh! Well if that's the way it's supposed to work. But if it's all the same to you, I'm sure wherever you want to put me will be fine.

Are you sure?

Quite sure. Wherever you like.

Well, in that case, I suppose I'll just have to get on with it, shan't I? You don't seem to fit in at first look, that is true, but then again as I look past your defenses, I see the real you. Oh, you've got hidden talents; in this school you'll do fine, and I think in the right house you'd surely shine. Of course, in the wrong house, you might completely disappear and that would never do when you have so much to give here. No, a dull life is something that won't be in store, for I'm going to put you in…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As Andrew beamed with joy, Alex covered her face, and Aurelius was trying very hard not to sink under the table from sheer embarrassment while Hephaestus snickered beside him. At the Gryffindor table, Halbert was clapping excitedly, congratulating him warmly and making room beside him. As Andrew turned his head back to the main table, Severus simply nodded in acceptance, his eyes wandering the empty chair where Jennifer normally sat with a haunted look on his face. It had taken all of his strength to sit there and watch, and after the final student was finally placed, he suddenly got up and went out the back door. Minerva quickly placed the Hat at Dumbledore's seat and took her place, starting the feast with one word and a smile. She didn't comment when Danny left a moment later, and Pomona not long after that. By the end of the Feast, only half of the staff was still there.

"I think this has officially turned into a school crisis," Hermione murmured to Minerva.

"Yes, I agree," Minerva said. "Hermione, could you pass out the Gryffindor schedules? They're in…"

"Second filing cabinet, top right hand drawer," Hermione nodded. "Are you going to go see Pyther?"

"Yes. I think it's definitely time that Dumbledore came home," Minerva said, releasing the students to head back to their dorms.

Sirius Black was comfortably sitting in one of the chairs near the desk when Severus came in.

"I finished the forest patrols. Everything's fairly quiet on the grounds."

"Good. Get out," Severus said, going over to the desk.

"Pretty quick dinner. What house is Andrew in?"

"Gryffindor," Severus said, scowling when Sirius started to chuckle.

"I had a feeling he'd be the white sheep of the family."

"Don't you have something better to do?" Severus snapped, glaring at his appointment book, which read: talk with Sirius. "I know I have, like replacing an appointment book!" He told the book threateningly.

"I just thought you'd want to know that we moved Alicia to the mansion with Zoë and Zack," Sirius said.

"I didn't give you permission to move her. Alicia is supposed to be at the Weasley's," Severus snapped, coming back out from behind the desk.

"Alicia didn't want to be there! In fact, she tried to run away. If you'd been paying any attention at all, you'd know that she didn't want to be left alone," Sirius said, standing up. "She has the ability to go anywhere she wants, and rather her get into a bad situation with everything going on, I think it's better we humor her and make sure she is around kids her age that care about what she's going through."

"That's not for you to decide. I'm her parent, not you!" Severus snapped.

"Well, I'm glad you actually remembered that for a change," Sirius said back with a mocking smile. He quickly ducked as the swing came in and took a couple steps back, still grinning a bit. "You know, you'd be better off getting your wand out. You were never any match for me physically, and we both know it."

"Don't tempt me!" Severus snapped. "What is your problem, Sirius, do you just like to torment me?"

"I am tormenting you?" Sirius said with a look of feigned disbelief.

"You have been dogging me ever since the first week she disappeared and haven't given me one single moment to breathe!" Severus snapped.

"You know, that's a good pun, even for you," Sirius commented, quickly stepping to the side as he came in again. Growling in annoyance, Severus finally pulled out his wand, aiming it at his head.

"Get out." Severus said. "Now."

"All right, Severus, but I'm not leaving without telling you why I'm really here," Sirius said calmly, seemingly not at all concerned about the wand inches away from his nose. "Despite what I may think of you, your friends and family happen to be worried about how you're dealing with Jennifer's disappearance. And rather than knowingly subjecting them to the total pain in the arse that I knew you'd become over this, I volunteered. I knew that someone was going to have to be around for you to lash blindly at or you'd lose it, and I'd rather it be aimed at someone you despise than destroy what few relationships you've actually been able to keep with others. So lash away, Severus, you've always wanted to, haven't you?" Sirius challenged him. "But I am going to keep 'dogging' you until Jennifer is found. If I don't, at the rate you're trying to tear yourself apart, she won't have anything to come back to."

Severus didn't move for a long time, his eyes not leaving Sirius. Finally he lowered his wand, but made no move to put it away.

"Now, Anna has taken the liberty to send one of the pictures she took of Jennifer with a normal camera to the authorities here, in France, and the States, just in case they moved her," Sirius continued as if nothing had happened.

"Why France?" Severus asked, baffled.

"Jennifer would still retain her language skills if she was subjected to a memory charm, so if she were taken out of the country, it'd be somewhere that she knew the language or would be somewhere she's familiar with, and she's been in both cultures. There they can hide her while convincing her she's someone else," Sirius explained. He then sighed softly. "You know, this may not be necessarily one of her enemies. It could be one of yours, planning to use her as a way to get even with you." Severus slowly sat down. "And she is, after all, one of the most powerful Dark Witches in the world, and that would also give someone reason to try and manipulate her."

"Yes, but would she remember those spells now?" Severus wondered. Sirius shrugged.

"I have no idea," Sirius admitted.

Andrew wasn't sure of the hour, but he was entirely too excited to sleep, and so, it seemed, was Halbert in the next bed over, and the two of them started to talk quietly about things, careful not to wake the others.

"Mon m`ere was almost hoping I wouldn't make it into Hogwarts. She wanted me to go to Beauxbatons," Halbert grinned. "But Dad was pretty set on it and made me take English lessons. M`ere never could say no to him when he got his mind set on something. You ought to see our farm. It's more like a zoo."

"We live in a cottage near the sea in a town full of witches, wizards and Muggles all living together and knowing each other. It's usually quite nice, but it seemed really lonely this year without Mum. She loves that house… not nearly as much as she loves this place, I don't think, but close," Andrew explained.

"I can see why she loves this place! It's enormous! I'll bet there's an adventure lurking around every corner," Halbert said. "What do you say we do some exploring after lunch to get used to the place?"

"We have to survive our first two classes before that," Andrew chuckled. "I hope they serve a large breakfast here!"

"Yes, you pack away as much food as I do!" Halbert agreed. "Hey, what say our first adventure is to try and find the kitchen in this place?"

"I am definitely game for that," Andrew agreed, settling into bed.

The first class of the day was Transfiguration. Andrew and Halbert came in together after quite happily eating their fill, picking out desks near the center of the room. Hearing a pair of chuckles, Andrew peered curiously over to where a couple of Hufflepuff girls sat. The freckled blonde haired girl with two short tails had been peering at them, but quickly looked away when she saw Andrew looking back, whispering to her girlfriend again.

"Women," Halbert said with a bit of disdain. "My father says never to trust them."

"But your father's married, isn't he?" Andrew asked.

"Yes," Halbert said sagely. "I think that's why he told me never to trust them." That was when Professor McGonagall came in, tapping a stick she was holding on the girls' table as she passed to get their attention. The two girls quickly sat straight up, giving Andrew and Halbert a sideways glance when they looked back.

"Eyes front, please," Minerva warned them again. "I am Professor McGonagall, and this is Transfiguration first year. Who can tell me what Transfiguration is? Yes, Mr. Allan?" She asked, turning to one of the other Gryffindor boys.

"Its where we use spells to turn things into other things?" he said.

"Not exactly, but a good try," Minerva said, looking around. "Miss Davidson?"

The freckled girl put down her hand with a smile.

"Transfiguration is the art of manipulating an item to change its appearance, properties, and often its functionality to resemble another object than what it was originally intended to be," said the girl.

"It's worse than I thought. She's got brains too," Halbert whispered to Andrew, looking at her warily.

"Well, I see someone is reading ahead, at least," Minerva said with a slightly amused smile. "Good, that is, of course, correct. We won't be getting much into its practice until your Charms professor teaches you how to use your wands properly, but we will go over the first chapter and perhaps have a demonstration or two. Yes, Mr. Hagrid?"

"Can you teach us how to turn into a cat?" A few of the students chuckled.

"Well, no, but I can show you if you like, I suppose," she said getting full support. Andrew watched intently as McGonagall's features changed dramatically as she took a step towards her desk and suddenly jumped… landing on the desk in her cat form while everyone clapped appreciatively.

"I'd really like to learn how to do that someday," Halbert admitted as he was clapping. "Wouldn't you?" Andrew shrugged.

"I've never thought about it," Andrew admitted, watching as the teacher turned back into herself again.

"Very few witches and wizards actually master that level of transfiguration without the aid of a potion or spell, Mr. Hagrid. In fact, we only have two besides myself on regular staff who can. As to who and what, you'll have to wait and see if they will admit to it themselves," Minerva said with amusement. "Now, if you'll turn to the first chapter, we're going to go over the properties of matter in magic."

"Is your father an Animagus?" Halbert whispered softly as they got out their books.

"No, no one in my family is," Andrew admitted. "Unless you count my aunt and uncle."

"I wonder who the other professors are then," Halbert murmured, opening his book. Andrew smiled at him but didn't comment.

His new friend sure seemed curious, he thought. Rather like Alex in a way, and yet he didn't seem too much like the sort who would try to find the answers to his questions in a book or by talking to others. Halbert was very much the "do-er" sort, and Andrew couldn't help but wonder what it was going to take to keep up with his enthusiastic mate.

Aurelius had wondered what it was he had done to 'deserve' getting Potions first period two years in a row. At least it wasn't a double, he thought to himself, as he took his seat beside Heph. Aurelius noticed right off the bat something was odd about the lab. It was unusually immaculate; all of the class ingredients were in neat rows and the sulfur pots were clean and shining, and every rack of phials were in precisely the same position on each desk. How the old man had gotten it that way, Aurelius wasn't quite sure, for the man who hobbled in with a cane hardly looked as if he was capable of such detailed magic. It was quite difficult not to snigger as they waited for the old man to get to his desk, but when he turned to look at them, he did so with a pair of bright, completely aware eyes and harrumphed a bit at their obvious skepticism.

"My name is Glen Witolf, although I've been known by other names over the years. In here, you will call be Professor Witolf, although the only thing I will profess is that I do not claim to be even half the teacher Craw Snape would be," he said distinctly. "I do, however, know quite a bit about alchemy, as I've been practicing it long before your parents were born," he said with a grunt. "I know of ancient concoctions that predate today's potions that became the basis of standard alchemy today. When you open your book, you may see within it a bunch of formulas and recipes," he tapped one of the books as if he were going to put his finger through it, even though his voice was calm. "What I see are years of very hard work by alchemists that time forgot. Every recipe, every standard formula within your book was developed by one or more people, Mr. Grey," he said, Hephaestus instantly trying to look attentive. "And quite a few alchemists died or worse testing their own concoctions. And their mistakes too serve a purpose, teaching us what not to do again. Proof, I think, that you can learn from other's mistakes as well as your own… that is if you're paying attention, Miss Delmar," he added, the Ravenclaw girl immediately facing forward.

"We'll be learning chemical tests for ingredient effectiveness. From my notes, I see you already learned visual testing last year. However, first, we're going to learn how to make the tester. Turn towards the back of the book to page four hundred and fifty, we'll be starting there."

The students looked at each other as they did so, and Aurelius frowned at the formula in front of him. They'd never done anything with so many variables before.

"Take out your first ingredient please. Yes, Mr. Stockton?"

"Sir, we haven't worked on any of these formulas yet. Surely we're not going to make this today," he said.

"You mean make it effectively? I'd be very surprised if you did," Witolf agreed. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you all failed miserably. But I'm not here to pamper egos; I'm here to teach you something. Now, let's begin, shall we?"

"Wait a moment, if we're expected to fail, how are you going to mark this?" Aurelius asked out of turn, getting Witolf's full attention. The old alchemist studied him intently.

"You're one of the Snapes, aren't you? I know your mother," Witolf said gently.

"Who didn't?" Aurelius retorted.

"Who doesn't," Witolf corrected. "I don't give marks for experimentation, Mr. Snape, or for anything else for that matter. You also won't be doing any extensive formula work in this class once I've shown you the gist of the theory. No formula, standard or not, should be accepted as fact. The moment you believe so, I guarantee you some upstart alchemist will come out of nowhere and blow it out of the water. Do you want to look like an idiot?" Witolf asked Aurelius, who merely gaped at him. "No, I didn't think so. So expect homework while I'm here to consist of serious reports on, 'what you did wrong' and 'what could have worked better.' If I am here through the term, you will receive two tests, which will be lab work only; one before Christmas and your final, which will be posted for all to see. Half of that test score will be based on whether your classroom efforts up to that point have been worth your time and my time. As long as you do your best, you will get a passing mark in this class."

"But how can we possibly tell how we're doing in class if you're not giving us marks until the end?" Heph protested.

"If you don't know whether or not you're making progress, Mr. Grey," Witolf said, "You probably aren't. Now, shall we get back to the experiment at hand?"

It was not long after class that there was a knock on Severus' office door and he answered it to find Aurelius standing there.

"Can I talk to you a moment?" Aurelius asked.

"A brief moment. I have a class in ten minutes, and so do you," Severus said, letting him in. "Don't tell me you've gotten into some sort of trouble all ready."

"It's about Professor Witolf's class. Sir, I don't think that man is capable of teaching. He's completely incompetent."

"Oh?" Severus said almost unconcernedly, getting some notes together.

"He said he's not going to have regular tests or even formula drills at all, and he's not even going to give us any marks, and we're supposed to write our own progress reports, instead of him letting us know how we're doing!" he complained.

"Aurelius, every teacher in this school sends a detailed itinerary listing their plans for the year, and whether or not it seems unorthodox to you, Professor Witolf's methods have been approved by both McGonagall and myself."

"But he just tried to teach us a potion nobody in the class except myself was ready for, and half the phials exploded! There could have been a fire!"

"For your information, Mr. Snape, the lab is intentionally charmed to keep accidents from getting out of hand. Furthermore, Mr. Witolf is nothing if not overqualified for this job and is doing it as a personal favor to this school as well as our family. I expect from now on that you treat him with the utmost respect, or our next conversation will hardly be congenial," Severus warned him, opening the door so he could leave.

"So you must like his teaching style better than Mum's?" Aurelius challenged him. Severus quickly closed the door again, staring at him in complete disbelief.

"Tell me where, exactly, did that come from?" Severus asked.

"I had a bit of discussion with some of the other students once we got here. Someone mentioned to me that you and Mum quarreled at lot in the classrooms when you didn't think anyone was around, and everyone else seems to think you were arguing about teaching."

"Aurelius…" he began, but then paused. "Mr. Snape, I understand you are concerned about this temporary substitution. However, I can assure you that my professional discussions with Professor Craw had nothing to do with what happened. She left on good terms. Now if you don't mind, I need a few minutes to prepare for my next class, and I'm sure that you don't want to be late for yours," he said, opening the door again. This time Aurelius went out, and Severus closed it behind him, immediately leaning on it and closing his eyes a moment.