Chapter 15: The Winter Guest
"So the lesson went well then?" said Hermione, who had just returned from the hospital wing the following morning. "Sort of," said Harry, "I can transform, but Snape says you have to use a potion when you're a beginner so your body adjusts easier. It's pretty wild." "And what form did you choose?" she said. Harry looked a little downcast, "The snake." "Oh Harry don't be so upset," she said, "you're choosing to be a snake, not bloody well You-Know-Who himself! It's not like this means you're in Slytherin or anything!" "Yeh," said Ron, "and if it did you wouldn't do it, right?" Harry nodded, but felt no better about it.
That morning they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, which Harry happily looked forward to until he saw that Lupin was not there. Instead a single assignment was written on the board, instructing them to read Chapter 10 of their text book, and a homework assignment of "Assess the Conditions Suffered by those Bitten by Vampires, 6 inches." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other; Lupin hadn't been gone all year, but now...
"Maybe it's the werewolf business again," whispered Ron once they had left the class, "you know, like maybe he didn't take his potion like he's supposed." "I don't think so," said Harry, "because every other time he's always been fine." "Maybe he's on Order business," said Hermione, "that's always likely." "Yeah, let's hope that's all it is," said Harry, feeling slightly worried.
But Professor Lupin did not return, and when Christmas had rolled around, the three of them were becoming increasingly nervous about where he had gone. "I mean we're not learning much without him are we?" said Ron, "Snape ducks in there occasionally and teaches a lesson but he's just nasty about it all the time." "I don't see why Dumbledore doesn't take over for a spell," said Hermione, "what with Lupin being gone for as long as he has." Harry lowered his voice, "Maybe we'll see him at...Black's house," he said, not wanting to refer to Grimmauld Place by name. Hermione nodded, "I'll bet that's where he is. Doing stuff for the Order and all that."
Right before Christmas break, Harry was finishing up an Occlumency lesson with Snape when the Potions Master said, "And Potter, we will have lessons over break. Since I have," he suddenly stopped and placed a Silencing Charm on the classroom, then continued, "business with the Order, the Headmaster thinks it prudent for us to continue." Harry almost let out a groan of displeasure but said nothing; wasn't he good enough? He was getting sick of these Occlumency lessons, mostly because they just resulted in him and Snape casting spells on each other and trying to get the best of the other.
Therefore, when Christmas break finally came, Harry felt he didn't have so much to look forward to. "Aw, you're kidding!" said Ron when Harry told him. "Oh no, he's coming by at Christmas?" said Hermione, "The last thing I need is that git swooping around on Christmas morning!" "I know," said Harry, "and the thing is I don't know why Dumbledore's making us. I mean, I think I'm pretty good at it. I don't need any more lessons, I don't think. I haven't had a nightmare since the summer for goodness sake!" Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ugh, I suppose you should keep on having lessons though. It only seems right." But Harry felt as if there was something Dumbledore wasn't telling him; perhaps he had something else in mind, although what, Harry had no idea.
Their late night arrival at Grimmauld Place was filled with a thousand hugs and hellos, and Mrs. Weasley whisked about the kitchen to make them a late dinner. "Was the trip all right dear?" she asked Harry as he sat down at the table, "Yeah, except for Ron getting trounced by Hermione at wizard chess." Ron frowned at him, "Just had to bring it up, didn't you?" Hermione beamed but merely continued petting Crookshanks, knowing better than to press the matter.
The first week of their Christmas break was filled with games; none of them felt like doing homework, and especially Ron and Harry, who occupied most of their time with Gobstones, wizard chess, or eating sweets. Nothing, Harry thought, could make it a better Christmas than that. Ginny was also more than happy to join in the festivities, and she spent most of her time helping Tonks decorate the house. It was around then that Harry remembered that he hadn't seen Lupin in months; that evening, he approached Mundungus Fletcher on the matter.
"Oh, he's off somewhere," said Mundungus off-handedly, "taking care of some business for Dumbledore and the Order. Don't worry Harry, he's safe, just...busy." "Come on Dung," let us in on it," said Ron eagerly, "we won't tell!" "No, I'm sorry," said Mundungus, "you're not allowed and that's that. Besides, your mum would have my head if I were to divulge too much information." Harry remembered last year's incidents between Mrs. Weasley and Mundungus, and thought he had a right to be afraid.
Two days later it was Christmas morning and Harry looked down at the end of his bed to see a pile of presents waiting there in the sunlight of mid-morning, and looked over to see that Ron had already torn through most of his. "Thanks for the Firebolt model, Harry," he said, chewing on a Chocolate Frog he had received, "it's not exactly as great as my real broom, but it's still lovely." Harry grinned to himself, glad that Ron finally had the broom of his dreams, and quickly opened up the first package, which was from Hermione, who had returned home the day before to be with her parents for the next few days.
"Ugh," said Harry, "another homework planner?" "I think she figured out that you threw away the old one mate," said Ron, "but don't worry, I got another one too." He held up his own, which was spewing mantras such as "Time's a wasting," "Do it now or regret it later," and other things that merely made Harry want to shut the stupid thing in his trunk. "Bloody terrible," muttered Ron, throwing it haphazardly across the room; it landed in the wastebasket.
The next present was from Moody; it was a new edition of Harry's old Sneakoscope, which didn't surprise him much. Setting it next to the Foe- Glass he had received from Moody for his birthday he ripped into the next package, which was from Lupin. Pulling a thick leather bound book from the brown wrapping paper Harry read the words A History of Dark Magic on the spine. A note fell out of the cover as Harry flipped through the pages.
I thought you might want to do some reading up on the subject.
Merry Christmas,
R.J. Lupin
Harry grinned but said nothing as he quietly snuck the book under his pillow, glad that Ron had not seen it. He continued to open presents and only hesitated when he saw a large present from Fred and George, "Eh," said Harry, "Ron. Did you get a big present from Fred and George?" "Not a big one, why?" said Ron. "Because this one's moving," said Harry cautiously, pulling out his wand.
Ron got to his feet, "Let me hide over there first." He ducked around behind the large cabinet in the room then said, "Let it rip Harry." Harry kneeled beside his bed, most of his body shielded from any fireworks Fred and George might have packed. Snipping off the string with a Cutting Spell, Harry said "Locomotor paper!" and the wrapping paper shot off the package and into the air, revealing a large, furry niffler. It snorted and its long tongue shot out and tried to wrap around Harry, who beat it back easily, and the niffler ran into a corner, looking offended. "What am I supposed to do with this?!" cried Harry, "I don't have any good use for a niffler!"
"Actually," said Ron, "they can be pretty useful. I had one once but Fred used it as a Quaffle for Quidditch practice when I was eight. Ah, here's a note from them!" he said, snatching a piece of paper off the floor.
Dear Ron and Harry,
This Niffler is for the both of you; they're right useful for cleaning your room. Now we know what you're thinking; why do we care if you clean your room? Well the truth is we always used a Niffler to get rid of some of our more...shall we say, un-school-worthy items. Filch, for obvious reasons, never caught on. Keep it in your room and it'll dispose of any incriminating evidence should you ever be searched. But don't let it loose on its own; only let it out when you need to dispose of anything, particularly Skiving Snackboxes or anything else. By the way, it's also good for finding treasure; they can be right useful at times. Don't worry; you'll thank us for this later, especially since Nifflers can regurgitate anything they've eaten upon request. And always remember; evidence isn't incriminating unless it actually points to you!
Have a Wheezy Christmas,
Fred and George
"Well," said Ron, "at least if we ever have to worry about Filch nicking through our rooms we can use the niffler to get rid of it all." "This is a strange gift," said Harry, "I mean, they know that neither of us gets into nearly as much trouble as either of them did. And it's not like I've got any illegal stuff in my trunk. And you don't either, right?" Ron grinned uneasily, "Well...there's a few things that Fred gave me last time I saw him..." Harry rolled his eyes, "Then I guess we will need a niffler after all now won't we?"
That evening Harry and Ron were playing a game of wizard chess against Moody, who had agreed to play them two on one. After nearly an hour of exhausted playing, however, Moody finally beat the two of them. "I can't believe it!" said Ron, "Even two on one he still beats us!" "Experience over youth, sunny jim," said Moody, his magical eye whizzing about dizzily. Ron looked at the board with disgust, "Well, that's two Chocolate Frogs I owe you." Harry frowned at Ron, "I told you we wouldn't win!" "Well how was I supposed to know?! I figured with the two of us we might pull it off!"
They argued about this for some time while Moody merely smirked and went into the kitchen to help Mrs. Weasley with something when a knock sounded on the front door. "I'll get it," said Tonks, who had just finished hanging mistletoe in the doorway to the living room. A moment later Professor Snape appeared, a small amount of snow on his shoulders. Tonks appeared next to him and Snape noted that the mistletoe was hanging over their heads; he quickly moved; "Ready Potter?" he said, without so much as a "Merry Christmas." "Yes sir," said Harry, standing up from where he'd been sitting by the fire with Ron, throwing fizzing whizbees into the fire. "Kitchen," said Snape, "hurry it up."
Harry was following Snape as he opened the door to the kitchen, when all of a sudden he backed out quickly, "Let's go to another room in the house," he said, trying to act as if nothing had happened. "Professor Snape!" called Mrs. Weasley's voice; for whatever reason, Snape looked caught. He opened the door again, "Hello, Molly," he said with resignation. "I'm glad you came! You did get my invite didn't you?" she said cheerily, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Clearly, she was cooking what was more than likely to be a spectacular Christmas feast. "Ah, yes, about that Molly, thank you but I really can't stay-" he said quickly.
"Oh of course you can!" she said, "You're already here aren't you? Might as well! Besides, you don't want to spend Christmas by yourself!" "Who said I was by myself..." muttered Snape beneath his breath. "Please stay, please!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Nearly the entire Order is going to be here and you should be too!" "All right all right," said Snape bitterly, "just for a while." Harry groaned inwardly; why did she actually want him here?
"Is there another room we can use, Potter?" said Snape, turning to him. "We can use my room or the attic or something," said Harry. "Let's use the attic," said Snape, marching upstairs, clearly unhappy now. Harry followed docilely, hoping that none of Snape's rage would use him as an outlet.
Once they reached the attic Snape threw a few spells around, pushing the antique furniture against the walls so that they had a cleared space in the middle. "Shut the door," said Snape, "and don't forget to LEGILIMENS!"
"Arghh!" said Harry, "Gravitas Corpus!" Snape was sent flying backward, spinning several times before he finally hit the wall with a crack. For a moment Harry thought Snape was fine, then noticed that he wasn't moving, "Oh no..." said Harry, running over to him and shaking him slightly, "Sir? Professor? Professor Snape?" It was then that Harry noticed something red running freely from Snape's black head. Harry could almost hear Snape's voice screaming "EXPELLED, POTTER! FOR ASSAULTING A TEACHER!" and he could only pray that he would even have a seventh year at Hogwarts.
A moment later Harry was almost tumbling down the stairs looking for a member of the Order, "Professor Moody! Professor Moody!" he shouted the moment he saw Mad-Eye. "What is it Potter?" he said, magical eye whizzing in the direction of the attic, "Oh, I see. How did you do that?" Harry explained that he was supposed to be studying Occlumency with Professor Snape, and Moody nodded before he even finished and began his way up the stairs, his clawed foot clunking on every other step as he did so.
When Moody and Harry arrived, they found Snape had not moved, although it sounded like he was mumbling something, as if he were in another place and time. "No Longbottom, the porcupine spines, not the silverweed..." he said dreamily, "...ten points from Ravenclaw..." Moody snorted a laugh, "He's out of it. Well done Potter; you've succeeded in knocking your teacher for a tizzy." He bent down and rolled Snape over, "Snape! Snape, snap out of it!" he said, snapping his fingers in front of him. "Potter, what spell did you hit him with?" said Moody as he propped Snape up against the wall. "Ah, the Spinner Spell," said Harry, "we just learned it in Defense Against the..." "And where did you put the emphasis on the 'Gravitas' part of the spell?'"
Harry watched as Moody bent over Snape and looked at his head, "Uh, the 'tas' I think." "Well that's the problem right there Potter," said Moody, "when you put the emphasis on the 'tas' instead of the 'vi' you get the wrong spell. Spinner Spells are disarm only, but as you can see here you clearly knocked out your opponent. Took the form of a Disillusionment Charm. That should teach you to know the emphasis on words eh?" he said. Harry nodded guiltily, "Yes sir." "Oh it isn't a big deal Potter," said Moody, "you've still got a lot to learn. Now here, help me get him up."
Moody grabbed Snape's left arm and Harry took his right, and they propped him up, albeit rather wobbly. Moody snapped his fingers and a bandage appeared out of thin air and wrapped itself tightly around Snape's head; after a minute, the blood stopped flowing. "You sure got him good didn't you? A little rage coming out eh?" said Moody with a lopsided grin at Harry. "Oh no sir, I didn't mean to," said Harry, "I'd never voluntarily hurt Snape, mostly because I don't want to get expelled."
Moody let out a bark of laughter, then said, "All right Potter, let's walk him downstairs. He needs to walk a bit and try to get his legs back; the two of us need to keep talking to him and try to bring him back. I think right now he's having flashbacks; that's typical for a Disillusionment Charm."
After about a minute of babbling Snape seemed to be slowly but blearily coming back, and they were almost to the living room when Ron came walking by. "Hey Harry, how'd the-" he almost burst out laughing, "What'd you do to him?!" "It was an accident," said Harry, "and be serious Ron. I hit him with a Disillusionment Charm when I used the wrong emphasis on my Spinner Spell." "Oh, the 'tas' instead of the 'vi?'" asked Ron, helping them into the living room. "Yeah," said Harry, "I completely forgot Lupin had said anything about that." Moody started removing the bandage from Snape's head; the wound had healed, and Harry suspected that Moody had used some sort of spell to hasten it. "...No Headmaster, I would never hex James..." Snape mumbled, "...I was just minding my own business when..." "Well he's out of it, isn't he?" said Ron, "Almost bloody incoherent."
"Try to talk to him you two," said Moody, "I have to try to make up a good antidote for his majesty here before he wakes up. He'll have a terrible hangover, but I don't mind; it's not like I wouldn't like watching him go through it." Moody limped out of the room, and Harry said, "Uh...Professor?" Snape's eyes opened, but they looked dizzied and cloudy, "Huh? Who are you?" Ron leaned forward, "I'm Ronald Weasley, remember me sir? I'm in Gryffindor? You hate my brothers Fred and George?" Harry hit Ron on the shoulder, "Don't tell him stuff like that!" "Well sorry but it's true!" said Ron, rubbing his shoulder. He looked back at Snape, whose eyes were slowly beginning to focus, "Ronald Weasley...does not...ring...a bell..."
Harry said, "How about me sir? I'm Harry Potter. You went to school with my father James. Ron and I are in your Potions class. We're sixth years. We hang around a lot with Hermione Granger; she's the Head Girl of Gryffindor and Ron's Head Boy." Snape's head lolled from side to side, "No, can't say...I remember..." Ron let out a long whistle, "What did you do to him Harry? He hates you almost as much as Neville; you'd think he'd at least remember you!" "Oh lay off Ron," said Harry, trying to think of something else that might jog Snape's memory. "Sir, do you remember we were having Occlumency lessons? You're a Legilimens, remember?"
Snape shook his head, "No, no, don't remember..." Harry let out a sigh of frustration, "Well...do you remember being an Animagus? You're an Asp, remember? A snake? I have lessons with you to become an Animagus, remember?" For some reason, this seemed to jog his memory a little, and his eyes narrowed slightly, "Harry Potter...that sounds...familiar..."
Harry nodded, "Yes sir, that's me, Harry Potter. You've been teaching me Occlumency and Animagus Form." Suddenly Snape straightened a bit, "Harry Potter...James...James Potter...Lily Evans...I think I knew somebody once..."
"How's he coming along?" asked Moody, holding a small flask of some sort of fizzing potion. "I think he's starting to remember stuff," said Harry, "although I'm not sure." "Well this should help," said Moody, "Snape! Snape, look at me! I'm Alastor Moody, remember?" Snape's head bobbed slightly, "No..." "Well here, drink this," he said, shoving it into Snape's hand. Snape looked down at the flask, "Why?" "Because it'll make you feel better," said Moody, "now drink it!" Snape glared at him but slowly put the flask to his lips, "There's the Snape I know," said Moody, "always glaring at people. That's it, drink up." Snape sputtered and steam came out of his mouth, "Tastes bloody wretched! What is this?!"
But before Moody had a chance to reply, Snape said, "It's Disillusionment Charm antidote." Harry and Ron exchanged glances as Snape suddenly stood up and towered over the both of them, "Weasley! Potter! What're you doing here?!" "Uh, we brought you down here sir," said Harry, "you got hit by the..." "I was hit by a Disillusionment Charm," said Snape, his memory now fully recovered, "it was your Disillusionment Charm..." Harry cringed, "Yes sir, but I didn't know..." "Shut up Potter!" said Snape angrily, "Stupid boy, don't know the difference between a Disillusionment Charm and a Spinner Spell do you?!" Suddenly he swaggered, "Arghh..." and clutched his head. "That should teach you," said Moody, "no shouting until your hangover's gone eh?" "Be quiet Alastor!" snapped Snape loudly, then put a hand to his head and groaned with pain.
"The boy didn't mean anything by it," said Moody, "now sit down for a while and let your head rest." Snape let out a grunt of anger but sat down nonetheless, looking very put-out. "Sir, I really am sorry," said Harry, meaning it, "I didn't mean to-" "I know I know now get out of here!" said Snape, "Go find someone else to plague!"
Harry and Ron slipped out of the living room quietly and went upstairs to their room. "Well that was interesting," said Ron, "too bad he just didn't flat-out lose his memory, the stupid git." "Shut up Ron," said Harry, feeling miserable as he sat down on his bed. Ron regretted his remark for a minute, and said, "Harry, you know it wasn't your fault. He's just a mean old man who doesn't have any friends so he takes it out on us. Don't think on it." "I'm just tired of him always having a reason to hate me," said Harry irritably, "it's like I'm constantly fouling up around him. I must be turning into Neville or something."
"So the lesson went well then?" said Hermione, who had just returned from the hospital wing the following morning. "Sort of," said Harry, "I can transform, but Snape says you have to use a potion when you're a beginner so your body adjusts easier. It's pretty wild." "And what form did you choose?" she said. Harry looked a little downcast, "The snake." "Oh Harry don't be so upset," she said, "you're choosing to be a snake, not bloody well You-Know-Who himself! It's not like this means you're in Slytherin or anything!" "Yeh," said Ron, "and if it did you wouldn't do it, right?" Harry nodded, but felt no better about it.
That morning they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, which Harry happily looked forward to until he saw that Lupin was not there. Instead a single assignment was written on the board, instructing them to read Chapter 10 of their text book, and a homework assignment of "Assess the Conditions Suffered by those Bitten by Vampires, 6 inches." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other; Lupin hadn't been gone all year, but now...
"Maybe it's the werewolf business again," whispered Ron once they had left the class, "you know, like maybe he didn't take his potion like he's supposed." "I don't think so," said Harry, "because every other time he's always been fine." "Maybe he's on Order business," said Hermione, "that's always likely." "Yeah, let's hope that's all it is," said Harry, feeling slightly worried.
But Professor Lupin did not return, and when Christmas had rolled around, the three of them were becoming increasingly nervous about where he had gone. "I mean we're not learning much without him are we?" said Ron, "Snape ducks in there occasionally and teaches a lesson but he's just nasty about it all the time." "I don't see why Dumbledore doesn't take over for a spell," said Hermione, "what with Lupin being gone for as long as he has." Harry lowered his voice, "Maybe we'll see him at...Black's house," he said, not wanting to refer to Grimmauld Place by name. Hermione nodded, "I'll bet that's where he is. Doing stuff for the Order and all that."
Right before Christmas break, Harry was finishing up an Occlumency lesson with Snape when the Potions Master said, "And Potter, we will have lessons over break. Since I have," he suddenly stopped and placed a Silencing Charm on the classroom, then continued, "business with the Order, the Headmaster thinks it prudent for us to continue." Harry almost let out a groan of displeasure but said nothing; wasn't he good enough? He was getting sick of these Occlumency lessons, mostly because they just resulted in him and Snape casting spells on each other and trying to get the best of the other.
Therefore, when Christmas break finally came, Harry felt he didn't have so much to look forward to. "Aw, you're kidding!" said Ron when Harry told him. "Oh no, he's coming by at Christmas?" said Hermione, "The last thing I need is that git swooping around on Christmas morning!" "I know," said Harry, "and the thing is I don't know why Dumbledore's making us. I mean, I think I'm pretty good at it. I don't need any more lessons, I don't think. I haven't had a nightmare since the summer for goodness sake!" Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ugh, I suppose you should keep on having lessons though. It only seems right." But Harry felt as if there was something Dumbledore wasn't telling him; perhaps he had something else in mind, although what, Harry had no idea.
Their late night arrival at Grimmauld Place was filled with a thousand hugs and hellos, and Mrs. Weasley whisked about the kitchen to make them a late dinner. "Was the trip all right dear?" she asked Harry as he sat down at the table, "Yeah, except for Ron getting trounced by Hermione at wizard chess." Ron frowned at him, "Just had to bring it up, didn't you?" Hermione beamed but merely continued petting Crookshanks, knowing better than to press the matter.
The first week of their Christmas break was filled with games; none of them felt like doing homework, and especially Ron and Harry, who occupied most of their time with Gobstones, wizard chess, or eating sweets. Nothing, Harry thought, could make it a better Christmas than that. Ginny was also more than happy to join in the festivities, and she spent most of her time helping Tonks decorate the house. It was around then that Harry remembered that he hadn't seen Lupin in months; that evening, he approached Mundungus Fletcher on the matter.
"Oh, he's off somewhere," said Mundungus off-handedly, "taking care of some business for Dumbledore and the Order. Don't worry Harry, he's safe, just...busy." "Come on Dung," let us in on it," said Ron eagerly, "we won't tell!" "No, I'm sorry," said Mundungus, "you're not allowed and that's that. Besides, your mum would have my head if I were to divulge too much information." Harry remembered last year's incidents between Mrs. Weasley and Mundungus, and thought he had a right to be afraid.
Two days later it was Christmas morning and Harry looked down at the end of his bed to see a pile of presents waiting there in the sunlight of mid-morning, and looked over to see that Ron had already torn through most of his. "Thanks for the Firebolt model, Harry," he said, chewing on a Chocolate Frog he had received, "it's not exactly as great as my real broom, but it's still lovely." Harry grinned to himself, glad that Ron finally had the broom of his dreams, and quickly opened up the first package, which was from Hermione, who had returned home the day before to be with her parents for the next few days.
"Ugh," said Harry, "another homework planner?" "I think she figured out that you threw away the old one mate," said Ron, "but don't worry, I got another one too." He held up his own, which was spewing mantras such as "Time's a wasting," "Do it now or regret it later," and other things that merely made Harry want to shut the stupid thing in his trunk. "Bloody terrible," muttered Ron, throwing it haphazardly across the room; it landed in the wastebasket.
The next present was from Moody; it was a new edition of Harry's old Sneakoscope, which didn't surprise him much. Setting it next to the Foe- Glass he had received from Moody for his birthday he ripped into the next package, which was from Lupin. Pulling a thick leather bound book from the brown wrapping paper Harry read the words A History of Dark Magic on the spine. A note fell out of the cover as Harry flipped through the pages.
I thought you might want to do some reading up on the subject.
Merry Christmas,
R.J. Lupin
Harry grinned but said nothing as he quietly snuck the book under his pillow, glad that Ron had not seen it. He continued to open presents and only hesitated when he saw a large present from Fred and George, "Eh," said Harry, "Ron. Did you get a big present from Fred and George?" "Not a big one, why?" said Ron. "Because this one's moving," said Harry cautiously, pulling out his wand.
Ron got to his feet, "Let me hide over there first." He ducked around behind the large cabinet in the room then said, "Let it rip Harry." Harry kneeled beside his bed, most of his body shielded from any fireworks Fred and George might have packed. Snipping off the string with a Cutting Spell, Harry said "Locomotor paper!" and the wrapping paper shot off the package and into the air, revealing a large, furry niffler. It snorted and its long tongue shot out and tried to wrap around Harry, who beat it back easily, and the niffler ran into a corner, looking offended. "What am I supposed to do with this?!" cried Harry, "I don't have any good use for a niffler!"
"Actually," said Ron, "they can be pretty useful. I had one once but Fred used it as a Quaffle for Quidditch practice when I was eight. Ah, here's a note from them!" he said, snatching a piece of paper off the floor.
Dear Ron and Harry,
This Niffler is for the both of you; they're right useful for cleaning your room. Now we know what you're thinking; why do we care if you clean your room? Well the truth is we always used a Niffler to get rid of some of our more...shall we say, un-school-worthy items. Filch, for obvious reasons, never caught on. Keep it in your room and it'll dispose of any incriminating evidence should you ever be searched. But don't let it loose on its own; only let it out when you need to dispose of anything, particularly Skiving Snackboxes or anything else. By the way, it's also good for finding treasure; they can be right useful at times. Don't worry; you'll thank us for this later, especially since Nifflers can regurgitate anything they've eaten upon request. And always remember; evidence isn't incriminating unless it actually points to you!
Have a Wheezy Christmas,
Fred and George
"Well," said Ron, "at least if we ever have to worry about Filch nicking through our rooms we can use the niffler to get rid of it all." "This is a strange gift," said Harry, "I mean, they know that neither of us gets into nearly as much trouble as either of them did. And it's not like I've got any illegal stuff in my trunk. And you don't either, right?" Ron grinned uneasily, "Well...there's a few things that Fred gave me last time I saw him..." Harry rolled his eyes, "Then I guess we will need a niffler after all now won't we?"
That evening Harry and Ron were playing a game of wizard chess against Moody, who had agreed to play them two on one. After nearly an hour of exhausted playing, however, Moody finally beat the two of them. "I can't believe it!" said Ron, "Even two on one he still beats us!" "Experience over youth, sunny jim," said Moody, his magical eye whizzing about dizzily. Ron looked at the board with disgust, "Well, that's two Chocolate Frogs I owe you." Harry frowned at Ron, "I told you we wouldn't win!" "Well how was I supposed to know?! I figured with the two of us we might pull it off!"
They argued about this for some time while Moody merely smirked and went into the kitchen to help Mrs. Weasley with something when a knock sounded on the front door. "I'll get it," said Tonks, who had just finished hanging mistletoe in the doorway to the living room. A moment later Professor Snape appeared, a small amount of snow on his shoulders. Tonks appeared next to him and Snape noted that the mistletoe was hanging over their heads; he quickly moved; "Ready Potter?" he said, without so much as a "Merry Christmas." "Yes sir," said Harry, standing up from where he'd been sitting by the fire with Ron, throwing fizzing whizbees into the fire. "Kitchen," said Snape, "hurry it up."
Harry was following Snape as he opened the door to the kitchen, when all of a sudden he backed out quickly, "Let's go to another room in the house," he said, trying to act as if nothing had happened. "Professor Snape!" called Mrs. Weasley's voice; for whatever reason, Snape looked caught. He opened the door again, "Hello, Molly," he said with resignation. "I'm glad you came! You did get my invite didn't you?" she said cheerily, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Clearly, she was cooking what was more than likely to be a spectacular Christmas feast. "Ah, yes, about that Molly, thank you but I really can't stay-" he said quickly.
"Oh of course you can!" she said, "You're already here aren't you? Might as well! Besides, you don't want to spend Christmas by yourself!" "Who said I was by myself..." muttered Snape beneath his breath. "Please stay, please!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Nearly the entire Order is going to be here and you should be too!" "All right all right," said Snape bitterly, "just for a while." Harry groaned inwardly; why did she actually want him here?
"Is there another room we can use, Potter?" said Snape, turning to him. "We can use my room or the attic or something," said Harry. "Let's use the attic," said Snape, marching upstairs, clearly unhappy now. Harry followed docilely, hoping that none of Snape's rage would use him as an outlet.
Once they reached the attic Snape threw a few spells around, pushing the antique furniture against the walls so that they had a cleared space in the middle. "Shut the door," said Snape, "and don't forget to LEGILIMENS!"
"Arghh!" said Harry, "Gravitas Corpus!" Snape was sent flying backward, spinning several times before he finally hit the wall with a crack. For a moment Harry thought Snape was fine, then noticed that he wasn't moving, "Oh no..." said Harry, running over to him and shaking him slightly, "Sir? Professor? Professor Snape?" It was then that Harry noticed something red running freely from Snape's black head. Harry could almost hear Snape's voice screaming "EXPELLED, POTTER! FOR ASSAULTING A TEACHER!" and he could only pray that he would even have a seventh year at Hogwarts.
A moment later Harry was almost tumbling down the stairs looking for a member of the Order, "Professor Moody! Professor Moody!" he shouted the moment he saw Mad-Eye. "What is it Potter?" he said, magical eye whizzing in the direction of the attic, "Oh, I see. How did you do that?" Harry explained that he was supposed to be studying Occlumency with Professor Snape, and Moody nodded before he even finished and began his way up the stairs, his clawed foot clunking on every other step as he did so.
When Moody and Harry arrived, they found Snape had not moved, although it sounded like he was mumbling something, as if he were in another place and time. "No Longbottom, the porcupine spines, not the silverweed..." he said dreamily, "...ten points from Ravenclaw..." Moody snorted a laugh, "He's out of it. Well done Potter; you've succeeded in knocking your teacher for a tizzy." He bent down and rolled Snape over, "Snape! Snape, snap out of it!" he said, snapping his fingers in front of him. "Potter, what spell did you hit him with?" said Moody as he propped Snape up against the wall. "Ah, the Spinner Spell," said Harry, "we just learned it in Defense Against the..." "And where did you put the emphasis on the 'Gravitas' part of the spell?'"
Harry watched as Moody bent over Snape and looked at his head, "Uh, the 'tas' I think." "Well that's the problem right there Potter," said Moody, "when you put the emphasis on the 'tas' instead of the 'vi' you get the wrong spell. Spinner Spells are disarm only, but as you can see here you clearly knocked out your opponent. Took the form of a Disillusionment Charm. That should teach you to know the emphasis on words eh?" he said. Harry nodded guiltily, "Yes sir." "Oh it isn't a big deal Potter," said Moody, "you've still got a lot to learn. Now here, help me get him up."
Moody grabbed Snape's left arm and Harry took his right, and they propped him up, albeit rather wobbly. Moody snapped his fingers and a bandage appeared out of thin air and wrapped itself tightly around Snape's head; after a minute, the blood stopped flowing. "You sure got him good didn't you? A little rage coming out eh?" said Moody with a lopsided grin at Harry. "Oh no sir, I didn't mean to," said Harry, "I'd never voluntarily hurt Snape, mostly because I don't want to get expelled."
Moody let out a bark of laughter, then said, "All right Potter, let's walk him downstairs. He needs to walk a bit and try to get his legs back; the two of us need to keep talking to him and try to bring him back. I think right now he's having flashbacks; that's typical for a Disillusionment Charm."
After about a minute of babbling Snape seemed to be slowly but blearily coming back, and they were almost to the living room when Ron came walking by. "Hey Harry, how'd the-" he almost burst out laughing, "What'd you do to him?!" "It was an accident," said Harry, "and be serious Ron. I hit him with a Disillusionment Charm when I used the wrong emphasis on my Spinner Spell." "Oh, the 'tas' instead of the 'vi?'" asked Ron, helping them into the living room. "Yeah," said Harry, "I completely forgot Lupin had said anything about that." Moody started removing the bandage from Snape's head; the wound had healed, and Harry suspected that Moody had used some sort of spell to hasten it. "...No Headmaster, I would never hex James..." Snape mumbled, "...I was just minding my own business when..." "Well he's out of it, isn't he?" said Ron, "Almost bloody incoherent."
"Try to talk to him you two," said Moody, "I have to try to make up a good antidote for his majesty here before he wakes up. He'll have a terrible hangover, but I don't mind; it's not like I wouldn't like watching him go through it." Moody limped out of the room, and Harry said, "Uh...Professor?" Snape's eyes opened, but they looked dizzied and cloudy, "Huh? Who are you?" Ron leaned forward, "I'm Ronald Weasley, remember me sir? I'm in Gryffindor? You hate my brothers Fred and George?" Harry hit Ron on the shoulder, "Don't tell him stuff like that!" "Well sorry but it's true!" said Ron, rubbing his shoulder. He looked back at Snape, whose eyes were slowly beginning to focus, "Ronald Weasley...does not...ring...a bell..."
Harry said, "How about me sir? I'm Harry Potter. You went to school with my father James. Ron and I are in your Potions class. We're sixth years. We hang around a lot with Hermione Granger; she's the Head Girl of Gryffindor and Ron's Head Boy." Snape's head lolled from side to side, "No, can't say...I remember..." Ron let out a long whistle, "What did you do to him Harry? He hates you almost as much as Neville; you'd think he'd at least remember you!" "Oh lay off Ron," said Harry, trying to think of something else that might jog Snape's memory. "Sir, do you remember we were having Occlumency lessons? You're a Legilimens, remember?"
Snape shook his head, "No, no, don't remember..." Harry let out a sigh of frustration, "Well...do you remember being an Animagus? You're an Asp, remember? A snake? I have lessons with you to become an Animagus, remember?" For some reason, this seemed to jog his memory a little, and his eyes narrowed slightly, "Harry Potter...that sounds...familiar..."
Harry nodded, "Yes sir, that's me, Harry Potter. You've been teaching me Occlumency and Animagus Form." Suddenly Snape straightened a bit, "Harry Potter...James...James Potter...Lily Evans...I think I knew somebody once..."
"How's he coming along?" asked Moody, holding a small flask of some sort of fizzing potion. "I think he's starting to remember stuff," said Harry, "although I'm not sure." "Well this should help," said Moody, "Snape! Snape, look at me! I'm Alastor Moody, remember?" Snape's head bobbed slightly, "No..." "Well here, drink this," he said, shoving it into Snape's hand. Snape looked down at the flask, "Why?" "Because it'll make you feel better," said Moody, "now drink it!" Snape glared at him but slowly put the flask to his lips, "There's the Snape I know," said Moody, "always glaring at people. That's it, drink up." Snape sputtered and steam came out of his mouth, "Tastes bloody wretched! What is this?!"
But before Moody had a chance to reply, Snape said, "It's Disillusionment Charm antidote." Harry and Ron exchanged glances as Snape suddenly stood up and towered over the both of them, "Weasley! Potter! What're you doing here?!" "Uh, we brought you down here sir," said Harry, "you got hit by the..." "I was hit by a Disillusionment Charm," said Snape, his memory now fully recovered, "it was your Disillusionment Charm..." Harry cringed, "Yes sir, but I didn't know..." "Shut up Potter!" said Snape angrily, "Stupid boy, don't know the difference between a Disillusionment Charm and a Spinner Spell do you?!" Suddenly he swaggered, "Arghh..." and clutched his head. "That should teach you," said Moody, "no shouting until your hangover's gone eh?" "Be quiet Alastor!" snapped Snape loudly, then put a hand to his head and groaned with pain.
"The boy didn't mean anything by it," said Moody, "now sit down for a while and let your head rest." Snape let out a grunt of anger but sat down nonetheless, looking very put-out. "Sir, I really am sorry," said Harry, meaning it, "I didn't mean to-" "I know I know now get out of here!" said Snape, "Go find someone else to plague!"
Harry and Ron slipped out of the living room quietly and went upstairs to their room. "Well that was interesting," said Ron, "too bad he just didn't flat-out lose his memory, the stupid git." "Shut up Ron," said Harry, feeling miserable as he sat down on his bed. Ron regretted his remark for a minute, and said, "Harry, you know it wasn't your fault. He's just a mean old man who doesn't have any friends so he takes it out on us. Don't think on it." "I'm just tired of him always having a reason to hate me," said Harry irritably, "it's like I'm constantly fouling up around him. I must be turning into Neville or something."