"This is the fourth time this week that the activities of these five
First-Year boys have been brought to my attention," Albus Dumbledore said.
"As their Heads-of-Houses, respectively, I want your input."
The Headmaster picked up a parchment and began to read its lengthy list
of transgressions.
"Professor Sartoris was prepared to give an examination; he'd placed the
test papers on his desk and started to lecture the students about the
test process. He'd been speaking for about thirty seconds before the
whole stack of tests burst into flames. Suspects included Pettigrew,
Potter, Black, Lupin, and/or Snape. Disposition: No action taken due to
lack of proof."
The Headmaster sighed.
"During a lesson involving freezing potions, Sirius Black placed a
sausage in one of the fingers of his laboratory gloves – poured the
potion over said finger – then grabbed a hammer and smashed the frozen
sausage. The end of the glove burst open and real meat flew across the
room. Several Gryffindor girls passed out and Mr. Snape lost his
breakfast. Disposition: Five points from Gryffindor."
The teachers all suppressed smirks. They couldn't help it.
"Black turned Snape's textbooks into chicken livers. In retaliation,
Snape turned Black's nose into a trumpet. Disposition: Five points from
Gryffindor, ten points from Slytherin because Snape hexed a person
instead of an inanimate object."
Dumbledore scanned down the parchment. "Ah, yes. Potter transfigured
Snape's tie into a garter snake. Although Snape was actually pleased to
have such a fine snake, he transfigured his quill into a piece of horse
dung that he speared with his wand and used to chase Potter out of the
classroom. Disposition: Five points from Gryffindor, fifteen points from
Slytherin due to the total disruption of class."
Barely-suppressed laughter.
"Pettigrew caused Snape's inkwell to explode, showering both Snape and
Professor Sartoris (who unfortunately had just come over to take a look
at Mr. Snape's cauldron) with ink. Snape replaced Mr. Pettigrew's ears
with batwings. Disposition: Detention for Pettigrew, ten points from
Slytherin because Snape hexed a person instead of an inanimate object
after having been warned. Oh dear. Here's another. Snape caused eels to
fall from Lupin's lips during choir practice. In retaliation, Lupin
changed Snape's singing voice to high soprano and asked Professor
Terpsichore when she'd begun recruiting castrati. Disposition: Five
points from Gryffindor, five points from Slytherin."
Professors Penderdandis and McGonagall were both red-faced in their
efforts to keep from breaking out in hysterics.
Albus tried his level best to appear serious. "Your thoughts, Gallo?"
"First of all, perhaps you've been just a bit heavy-handed with the
penalties to my House, Albus. One wouldn't want to give the impression
that you favor your own."
Painful silence.
"Severus is a loner. Very bright, very afraid of being touched or being
wrong. Has a good deal of trouble just – getting along. I have the
feeling that nobody ever taught him the social graces that children
generally learn before they come to Hogwarts. Doesn't surprise me. His
father is a terror, his mother a dishrag. He hasn't given me any
trouble, Headmaster."
Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall.
"James Potter and Sirius Black are the two more prominent members of the
foursome. Both are lively, mischievous, and bright. Remus Lupin is more
reserved; we all know why, of course. Unfortunately, Peter Pettigrew is
as dumb as a box of rocks. I've heard nothing in the way of major
complaints, however."
Dumbledore sighed once again. "I've concluded that none of these boys
have crossed the line from ordinary pranking to malicious trickery, at
least so far. Keep an eye on all of them, however, and let me know if
the situation changes."
Both Penderdandis and McGonagall nodded, rose, and left the office.
Albus turned to Fawkes, a smirk on his old face.
"The old dung-on-a-stick gag! Childish but effective. My hat is off to
young Snape!"
Chuckling, he turned back to the parchments stacked up on his desk and
began to work again in earnest.
-----------
Once a month in the fall and spring during Sev's first year, Hogwarts
had what Muggle schools would call a field day. The students would
participate in flying competitions, fencing duels, dancing contests,
wizard duels, and Quidditch tournaments. In spite of this wealth of
activity, however, the Marauders were just as bored as eleven-year-olds
could possibly be.
"What can we do?" Potter whined.
"We could always pick on Snape," Pettigrew commented.
Remus looked around. "Where's Snivelly, anyway?"
"He's way over there, all by himself. What a surprise," Pettigrew
laughed.
It was true. Severus hadn't gone about making new friends at Hogwarts
because he hadn't really known how to go about it. Unfortunately, the
boy was just sarcastic enough to insult most people to whom he spoke. As
a consequence, he stood alone next to the Herbology greenhouses, shading
his eyes from the bright sunshine and watching a number of his
classmates dancing the Tango.
Sirius Black sneaked up behind Potter and Pettigrew, slapping his hands
on their shoulders.
"Gods, don't do that!" said Peter, who had just dropped his giant salted
pretzel. He picked it off the ground and brushed it off before taking
another bite.
"Gah! How can you do that?" Remus said, shuddering.
"My mum has a five-second rule. If the food's been on the floor for less
than five seconds, it's okay to eat."
The other Gryffindor boys rolled their eyes.
"Guess what?" Sirius Black hissed.
"What?" Potter answered. "And it better be worth the scare you gave us,
too."
"Oh, it is," Black said, his lips curling into a wide smile. "I asked
one of the Seventh-Years to help me with an illusion spell. I've been
practicing, and once they announce that lunch is ready, I'll show you!"
---------
The other three Marauders were full of anticipation. What exactly had
Black planned for their amusement?
Finally, lunch was announced.
As the crowd began its push towards the Great Hall, Black raised his
wand. He murmured an incantation and pointed it at Slytherin Tower. A
shower of sparks shot out, tracing the outlines of something indistinct
above that part of the Castle. This caught the crowd's attention almost
immediately.
The sparks congealed together, forming an outline of a student with an
enormous nose. In florid flaming letters above the figure, the words
"GREASY GIT" inscribed themselves. All four Marauders shrieked with
laughter, backslapping one another in glee.
Black looked around. He noted the nods of approval from the Gryffindor
Seventh-Years who had helped him with the sophisticated illusion. He
glanced at the Slytherin students, and he'd be butched if many of them
weren't laughing as hard as the Gryffindors! Applause broke out from the
large crowd, which was rapidly quelled as the teachers went into action
to suppress Black's little prank.
No one thought of looking for Severus Snape's reaction.
"Well, that's that," Sirius said, grinning broadly. Before one of his
teachers could do so, he dissolved the illusion with a flick of his
wand.
The Marauders received congratulations all around at lunch in the Great
Hall. The only disparaging remark came from Professor McGonagall, who
told them that they would be her prize pupils if they paid as much
attention to their Transfiguration lessons as they did to their pranks.
Sev's absence during mealtime was scarcely noticed.
Instead of eating his lunch, the boy was busy plotting his revenge.
----------
The fencing competitions were next on the schedule. Once those were
completed and the winners declared, the wizard duels among the Seventh-
Years had begun when Severus reappeared, his own wand at the ready.
The Slytherin boy waited until the crowd was busy watching the
competition between Ebenezer Moore and Lavinia Lestrange. And then, he
unfolded a small piece of parchment and took his wand from his sleeve,
using it to scratch out a pentagram in the dirt. He spoke in a low voice
to avoid calling unwanted attention to himself.
"DRAGONS OF SPIRIT, HIGHEST OF DRAGONS AND MOST POWERFUL, BLESS THIS
CIRCLE WITH YOUR FIRE. LET US BE ONE IN MAGICK, O DRAGONS GREAT AND
WISE."
Starting and ending in the east, Severus sprinkled the circle with a
little jar of water that he had hidden in his robe pocket. "AIR, FIRE,
EARTH, AND BRING POWER FORTH. WATER OF LAND AND SEA, PURIFIED BE," he
whispered. He then poured a small amount of salt on the pentacle,
circling it three times with his wand. "WATER, AIR, FIRE, AND HEAR MY
DESIRE. SALT OF EARTH AND SEA, PURIFIED BE."
Severus was heartened to observe that no one had seen him so far. His
fellow students were too busy watching those two idiotic upperclassmen
assault one another with spells Sev had learned before he was seven
years old. Well, that was fine with him. The Slytherin pointed his wand
at the pentacle.
"BEHOLD, ALL DRAGONS AND RULERS OF DRAGONS, I AM SEVERUS SNAPE, A
MAGICIAN WHO SEEKS DRAGON MAGICK. WITH THIS WAND IN MY HAND, I ENTER THE
REALMS OF THE DRAGONS FOR KNOWLEDGE AND POWER."
He faced the east once again. "FROM SAIRYS, RULER OF THE EASTERN DRAGONS
FAIR, COMES NOW THE WONDROUS POWER OF AIR." Severus then faced south,
making sure that he was still undetected. "FROM FAFNIR, RULER OF DRAGONS
OF THE SOUTH, COMES CLEANSING FIRE FROM DRAGON MOUTH."
The boy then walked around the pentagram so that he faced west. "FROM
NAELYAN, RULER OF DRAGONS OF WEST, COMES THE POWER OF WATER, THREE TIMES
BLEST." Moving a quarter turn, he continued his invocation. "EARTH
GRAEL, RULER OF DRAGONS OF THE NORTH, THE POWER OF EARTH DOES NOW COME
FORTH."
Sev smiled a secret smile and drew upon the core of Dark magic he
possessed by virtue of his father's years of instruction. "COME,
DRAGONS! BY YOUR ALL-CONSUMING BREATH, I SUMMON YOU."
He tapped the pentagram three times with his wand.
"BY YOUR PIERCING GAZE, I SUMMON YOU."
Another three taps.
"BY YOUR MIGHTY STRENGTH, I SUMMON YOU."
And three more.
"BY YOUR WISDOM ANCIENT AND CUNNING, I SUMMON YOU."
Three more.
"BY YOUR MAGICK DEEP AND OLD, I SUMMON YOU."
He gave the pentagram three more taps.
"COME, DRACONIS, TO MY CALL!"
A hazy ectoplasmic stream poured from the end of his wand. Grinning, he
pointed it upward, right at Gryffindor Tower.
The sudden energy shift in the air above the crowd was enough to be
noticed by everyone present. The more sensitive students moaned deep in
their throats, reacting to the Dark magic now swirling around above
their heads.
"Minerva!" gasped Professor Daragon. "What in Seven Hells is that?" He
pointed toward the apparition now whirling above the top of the Castle,
its shape seemingly coming together out of nothingness.
Within the next ten seconds, it seemed that everyone forgot about the
duel and focused on Gryffindor Tower. This gave Severus the opportunity
to slip into a stand of bushes near the entrance of the Great Hall. All
he had to do now was laugh himself sick when those four Gryffindor
dipwits wet themselves over his own little piece of magickal art!
The shape, now fully congealed, had become a huge silvery-green dragon.
Its every detail was perfect, from its hundreds of scales to its curved
toenails to the wings it now lazily unfolded. Its wingspan was easily
the length of the Castle itself. The thing was massive!
And then -- one of its claws broke the glass of one of the tower windows
with a small "ping". A shower of broken glass fell, shattering into even
smaller pieces once it hit the cobbled walkway. Several nearby students
shrieked, moving away as quickly as they could.
Severus frowned. An illusion shouldn't be able to do any harm! He looked
around furtively to make sure he was still undiscovered.
The dragon threw back its massive head and opened its jaws, which were
easily three stories high. Its unearthly roar was loud enough to shatter
the rest of the windows in Gryffindor Tower, along with every single
pane of glass in the Herbology greenhouses.
Students began to panic, the crowd breaking up in chaos and the events
of the field day forgotten.
The dragon now flapped its wings, flattening trees and people alike with
gale-force winds. It roared again as it rose, standing up from its
crouch and causing half of Gryffindor Tower to collapse in a mess of
glass and masonry.
Severus gulped. This really wasn't what he had in mind.
And then, the dragon picked out the four Gryffindor students from out of
the crowd. It cocked its huge head and then emitted a blast of fire at
them, more than sufficient to have set the entire Forbidden Forest on
fire.
With his own hasty incantation Albus Dumbledore froze the firestorm into
a veritable glacier, which then broke up into thousands of pieces of
ice. But no matter what other spells the Headmaster used against the
dragon, he could not dispel it.
Professor Sartoris glanced round to assure himself that he was
unobserved. It was fortunate that he knew the Dark counterspell. With a
surreptitious wave of his own wand, he sent the creature back to whence
it had come. His jaw clenched and his face grim, Sartoris looked around
for Snape.
And unfortunately for the boy, he located him.
---------------
"What happened to you then?" Asphora LaChance asked.
Severus shuddered. "Well – it was the first time that Headmaster
Dumbledore absolutely terrified me."
---------------
"Professor Penderdandis, what is your recommendation?" said Albus
Dumbledore, sitting behind his desk with a frown on his face. The
undersized Slytherin child stood in front of him, his hair nearly
covering his face completely.
"Well, Headmaster," the Slytherin Head-of-House said, "I've spoken to
the boy and he explained that he had only meant to cast an illusion,
like the Gryffindor boy had. He was inexperienced and failed to think
through the ramifications if his spell went wrong. I would recommend
that he receive the punishment you gave Mr. Black – two detentions and
the loss of 20 House points."
Dumbledore looked at Severus Snape. "Do you have anything to say, Mr.
Snape?" he asked.
Severus raised his head and looked the Headmaster in the eye, mindful
that he needed to omit Sartoris' involvement in the incident. "I admit
that I summoned the dragon and I dispelled it. I only cast the spell in
the first place because Black had made me the laughingstock of the
entire school. If he hadn't, I wouldn't be standing here now. I don't
have anything more to say, sir."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Snape, but I know a Dark spell when I see one. I won't
ask you where you learned it. If I hadn't transfigured the fire into
ice, Mr. Snape, we would be mourning the deaths of hundreds of students
and teachers. I am giving you five detentions and am penalizing
Slytherin House fifty points. Further, I will owl your father and ask
him to meet with me immediately, for the purpose of convincing me why I
shouldn't expel you outright."
Severus went white. "Oh gods no, Headmaster! Please! Don't tell my
father!" The boy trembled in fear. Professor Penderdandis looked at him,
alarmed at his reaction.
"I'm afraid my decision is final, Severus. Go over to Gryffindor Tower
and ask how you might be of assistance in cleaning up the wreckage you
created. I will summon you once your father and I have talked."
The panic that Severus felt made him feel faint. His father would beat
him to death!
He turned and left the Headmaster's office as quickly as he could. He
would not let either man see him cry.
-----------
"How awful!" Asphora gasped. "What happened next?"
Sev dropped his head, old fear swamping him. Healer LaChance reached
out, infusing him with calming energy until he relaxed.
"I waited for the proverbial axe to fall," he said, his voice shaking.
"And it fell hard, believe me."
-----------
"I appreciate the opportunity to have met with you about this matter,"
Confutatis Maledictis Snape said to Albus Dumbledore. Both men kept
their disdain for the other well hidden; both were old hands at keeping
their true emotions hidden.
"Not at all," the Headmaster replied, turning his gaze onto Severus, who
stood next to his father. The child's eyes were downcast and his facial
expression a calculated blank. "Severus, I have decided not to expel you
at this time. However, if you use any more Dark magic at this
institution, you will be expelled immediately. Do you understand me?"
Severus nodded.
His father gripped his shoulder. "Answer the Headmaster, boy."
Sev raised his head. "I understand, sir," he said in a low voice.
"Well then. This matter is concluded. My decision on the House points
and the detentions stand. Good day to you, sir. Severus, you can return
to your dormitory room once you have said goodbye to your father." And
with that, Dumbledore stood and began to climb the stairs leading to his
upstairs library.
---------
Snape Senior ordered Severus to walk with him toward Hogsmeade, where he
intended to use the floo network to return to North Yorkshire.
The path took them past the far edge of the Forbidden Forest, where
shadows overtook the road. It was an area most people liked to rush
through. However, it suited Snape Senior's purposes admirably.
With a sudden whicker of his raven-headed cane, Sev's father cracked his
son in the head. The child fell to the road, moaning in shock and pain.
"Little bastard," Confutatis Snape snarled. "How dare you! I should kill
you now, and I won't have to worry about getting any more messages from
the Headmaster about your antics." He reached down and scruffed the boy,
yanking him up. Another blow of the cane. Severus cried out, clutching
his middle this time.
"No – please, Father! Don't!"
Another swish through the air and another blow. "Don't what? You know
full well Dark wizardry is against the law. You've just exposed us to
arrest and imprisonment, just because a Gryffindor made fun of you! How
dare you?"
The cane cracked Severus in the knees this time. With a shriek, he
crumpled to the ground.
"I'll continue to Hogsmeade without you, Severus. You are even more
useless than I thought. You're – dangerous. Dangerous to your own
family! I'd better not see or hear from anyone at this school about your
conduct. Or I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, and we'll see how much Dark
magic you can flaunt then!" Without another word, Confutatis Maledictis
Snape made his way down the road, his raven-headed cane clicking in time
with his footsteps on the cobblestones.
His son lay facedown on the side of the road, sobbing in grief and
terror.
-----------
"What happened to you then, sweetheart?" Asphora asked, tears standing
in her eyes.
"One of the centaurs from the Forbidden Forest had been watching, and
took me to the front lawn of the Castle. I think Hagrid was the one who
carried me in. I don't really remember – I was in too much pain to think
clearly."
Asphora sighed. "I know that you covered for Sartoris because you had
to. Is that what you did for your father as well?"
Sev nodded, the memory causing his own tears to well up. "Dumbledore was
rightly horrified, suspecting that my father had beaten me. He
apologized. I told him that it was nonsense because my father had
already gone, and that two boys waylaid me to steal my money."
"Did he believe you?"
"Of course not," Sev sighed. "Yet he gave me the dignity of acting as if
he had."
"Still, you felt that his punishment was excessive, didn't you?"
Severus nodded. "As it happened time and time again, I always got a
worse punishment than those damned Gryffs. After all, I was a Slytherin
– a practitioner of Dark magic – and a liar to boot." The boy wiped his
eyes. "It hurt to know that the Headmaster thought ill of me. I always
looked up to him, and I very much wanted to tell him the truth about my
life."
"Yes," Healer LaChance sighed. "And you would have, but for the threats
of your father and the intimidation of Professor Sartoris. Come here,
honey, and get a hug."
The boy looked up at her gratefully, accepting the hug and the ensuing
wave of healing energy she sent into his being.
"Face the truth, Severus," Asphora said. "You weren't a bad boy, not
ever. You were in what healers like to call a double bind. You would be
wrong no matter which choice you made, and would get in trouble for not
choosing at all."
Crying now, Severus nodded.
"Let it go, Sev," the healer whispered. "Let it go and let your wounded
heart heal at last. And know that your Headmaster believes you and
loves you a great deal."
Sev buried his face in the hollow of her throat and wept out his old
fear and pain.
------------