"Ah," Dumbledore said. "It's called a Lumen Orbis," he frowned.
"Lumen Orbis?" Snape's voice queried lowly. "Light Circle?"
"Right." Dumbledore said. "It's uncommon but not unheard of. If a person is killed in certain circumstances, instead of becoming a ghost, which is simply a mirror of the body that contains the soul, or instead of the soul dissolving into the World soul and becoming part of the earth, it becomes an energy sphere of emotions and thoughts that went through the mind of the person while they were dying." Dumbledore spoke carefully, to make sure everyone understood what he meant.
"So… I'm my thoughts. Which explains why I am still thinking. But how can I be thinking different things than what was in my head at my death?" Snape wondered.
"Perhaps I should go into further detail. Your soul is trapped inside the sphere, because the thoughts you were having at the time are weighing you down. Those emotions and thoughts are harnessed to the body, as they were thought at the moment of death. Basically, you are chained to you corpse. Arthur was right in that they are currently doing studies in Ministry research about this phenomenon. They're attempting to find triggers that will put the soul back into the body,"
"So… I am chained to my corpse. What a pleasant prospect. That's disgusting, Albus,"
"Actually, it's not that bad, Severus," Dumbledore said. "The body will not decompose or be destroyed as long as your soul is attached to it. In a sense, it is still alive in the same way that vampires are alive."
"So, I'm stuck here, basically. No eternal bliss, no eternal damnation, no eternal nothingness? Just… stuck?" The lumen orbis bobbed, turning a grayish blue color.
"Exactly," Dumbledore said with a sigh.
"How boring." Snape grumbled.
"Actually, you could still teach if you wanted something to do. We could just, I don't know, prop you up in the corner of the classroom or something." Dumbledore lifted an eyebrow tentatively.
"Wait, so you want to put my corpse in a classroom for nine hundred students to gawk at all day?" he asked.
"Well… we could put a blanket over it or something," Dumbledore shrugged.
The orb turned a yellow color and laughter filled the room. "That's an interesting idea, Albus. I say, the first day of classes just leave it uncovered, so they can think I'm sleeping. Then when that cautious first year walks over and pokes me, I can leap out and terrify them!" More laughter, this time it seemed more malicious laughter than anything else.
"You know, this is why Neville is so afraid of you!" Ron said.
"Ron," Molly said in a warning tone.
"Neville's afraid of me because he's a weak little idiot," Snape said nonchalantly. "If he would just get a spine he might actually do something right for once."
The family sat for a few moments, before Molly clapped her hands against her knees.
"Well! It's dinner time. Albus, we'd be blessed if you would stay to dine with us. Arthur, you're going to have to move… that…" she pointed to the corpse.
"Yes, Arthur, move that," the orb hissed mockingly. "Honestly, woman, I am not to be heaved about like so much trash," he snarled.
Nevertheless, Arthur lifted the body from the table and dumped it into an overstuffed armchair that faced away from the table. Molly went about wiping the wood down with a clean cloth.
Even with that added effort, nobody seemed to touch the table during their meal. Snape noticed this. The orb glared a maroon color.
"You can touch the fucking table you know, I'm not poisonous!" He snarled at the startled family.
"Severus, watch your language around the students," Dumbledore chastised.
"I think I deserve to vent a little bit, Albus. You know I can still feel the damn thing, and that arm still hurts. So don't mind me if I'm just a little bit edgy," The orb hovered slightly, occasionally stretching and changing shape, looming like Snape did in class.
The days passed quickly, it seemed. Within a few days, winter holidays were over and it was time to return to school. Dumbledore had set Severus up in a mechanical sort of wheeled chair, and with his limited solidity he was able to push the button and move the body around.
Finally the day came when classes began again. The Weasleys all knew about what had happened, of course, but none of them were comfortable talking about it. They were so shaken up by the even that they could barely think about it without going pale.
"Ron!" Harry said as they met again after the break. They got to talking about what they had done over their break, but Ron had… conveniently left bits and pieces out.
When the feast began, they and Hermione looked up at the High Table as they always did. "Hey," Hermione said. "I wonder where Snape is,"
"Mm," Ron said. He felt uncomfortable keeping the information from his best friends, but he just couldn't talk about it. It made him afraid.
When dinner was over, and the House Elves had cleared the plates, they went to bed. Ron felt apprehension over the next day's classes. They wouldn't really prop his body up in class, would they?
Harry noticed as they walked towards the dungeons that Ron appeared overly nervous. Hermione chatted about their assignment from over break and some of the things she'd discovered while researching. When they finally arrived to the classroom, they saw, not Snape, but Dumbledore.
"Where's Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.
"All in good time, my dear," Dumbledore smiled at the intelligent girl.
Ron looked about the room, noting the blanket covering something in the back corner. His stomach flipped. So they were going to go through with it. He felt nervous knowing that the dead body was there. Though he had grown semi-used to it, it still made him feel uncomfortable. Like he had swallowed a large wad of gum.
When the bell noted the beginning of the class, Dumbledore stood behind Snape's desk, folding his hands in front of him.
"Over holidays, something terrible happened," he began softly. Ron swallowed at the lump in his throat. "Professor Snape was involved in an escapade in which he felt it necessary to help someone escape from a very dangerous situation. While attempting to aid this person, he was injured very, very badly,"
There were confused murmurs around the room. Ron sat stiffly, sweat on his forehead.
"Because of the location and the nature of the situation, he was not able to receive medical aid in time to save his life. I'm sorry to say he was killed, though in quite a valiant and successful effort to save another's life."
The murmuring stopped as the students sat, staring in stunned awe.
"However," Dumbledore continued. "I'm sure many of you have heard of something known as a Lumen Orbis?" There was a bit more murmuring. "Professor Snape has become trapped in a form, similar to a ghost, and has made it clear that he wishes to continue teaching. Eventually, we hope to be able to re-bond his soul and his body, so he can continue teaching in a human form. But until then, I will leave it to him to make do with what he has," Dumbledore smiled at the students. He turned abruptly and walked out of the room. Ron thought idly that Dumbledore must be quite fit to have gone from his office to the dungeons at the beginning of every class.
The orb sulked into view from below the desk. It asserted itself into the space where Snape's eyes would have been. It was eerie to hear him speak without his body there.
"This is the one day that you have an opportunity to ask questions about the form I am trapped in. If anyone mentions anything about it ever again, you will lose house points. Regardless of what house you are in," his soft voice said firmly. "Any questions?"
No one moved. "Right, well. I'm something called a Lumen Orbis, which is basically the same as a ghost, save the fact that it's not in the image of my body. I will continue to teach, and don't think that I won't give you a detention just because I'm dead,"
Hermione tentatively raised her hand. "Professor?" she asked.
He seemed to sigh. "What?" he asked.
"If you're a Lumen Orbis, doesn't your body have to be in this room somewhere?"
Leave it to Hermione, Ron thought.
"So it does, Miss Granger," Snape snapped. The students looked uncomfortable and began glancing to the blanketed form in the back of the room. They were disturbed at the prospect of a body in the classroom.
"Now, all things aside," he murmured. He began the day's lesson.
It seemed to Ron, though, that no one was paying attention. Whenever he looked at the other students he saw them looking at the blanketed form in the back. Ron could tell that the majority of them were so curious that they wanted the blanket to be removed.
The next day was the same. For days it went on like that, people couldn't seem to keep their minds on the lesson. Eventually, it seemed, Snape got tired of taking points and shouting at absent-minded students. Finally, one day, when they entered the room, the body was uncovered and slumped over his desk. The hair was pulled back from his face, his expression visible. His eyes were half-lidded and his skin very, very pale. There was still sweat on his brown and his mouth was grimaced in pain. Sweat trickled down the face of the body. It never stopped, although technically the thing was dead.
The class stared at the body. It was as though it were frozen in time, the moment of absolute death revealing and vulnerable before their eyes. The orb hovered above the desk, and moved slightly, pulling the wrist over so they could see the wound.
The hand was red-stained with blood and the gash was long and smooth, gleaming bright red and angry against the pale skin. Students gasped and many looked nauseous and uncomfortable, but none of them moved to look away.
The orb sat for a few minutes, the body and the hand, reaching out as though in an eternal plea for help. Red fingerprints on the cheekbone. The body taught the students a lesson. Even the harshest people have weaknesses, and you can only see their true self in the moment of vulnerability.
"And now you've seen it," his voice finally came. Shaking and strained. "Don't let me catch you staring at it again,"
The students nodded, their eyes never leaving it.
"Class dismissed." He muttered, and the students got up to leave. When the room was empty, Hermione still stood behind her desk. Ron and Harry lingered uncomfortably, waiting for her.
"Professor," she inquired softly. The orb directed its attention towards her. "Now what?" he snipped.
"Well, I was just wondering. Why don't you have Madam Pomfrey heal the body up so you can go back in?"
The orb turned green. "What? I can't go back in there, it's dead!"
"Well, I was doing some independent research and I discovered that the project on Lumen Orbis has, so far, discovered that it is possible if you handle things correctly. First of all, the body has to be healed and rejuvenated. Then, when a certain trigger thought happens within the soul, it causes a reaction where it is sucked back into the body," she said.
The orb bobbed unsurely. "You're sure?" the words were slow and hopeful.
"Yes, I'm sure, Professor," Hermione nodded.
Snape turned to look at the body. "Well, then." He said shortly. "Weasley, come over here and help me push this old thing up to the hospital wing," he said, turning towards Ron. Ron paled. "Er… but sir…" he frowned.
"I saved your father's life, Weasley, the least you can do is save mine,"
"It was your Dad?" Harry asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?" he seemed slightly hurt.
"Because, I didn't think it was my place to tell everyone what happened," Ron said.
"And it wasn't. But it is your place to wheel me up to Madam Pomfrey like a good little boy," Snape snapped. Ron frowned, but walked over and took hold of the back of the chair. He looked uncomfortable as he reached forward to grab the robes of the body and jerk it back against the chair so that it wouldn't fall out during the journey.
Harry and Hermione walked along with him, assisting him when he needed it. As they arrived at the Hospital Wing, they turned to leave.
"Hey," Snape snapped. "Stay here, I'll need you to wheel it back down when she's done.
Harry and Ron frowned, but took seats next to Hermione as they waited.
Madam Pomfrey made tutting noises with her tongue as she inspected the body. "Really, Severus, you should have brought this long ago to have it cleaned up. Do you have any idea what kind of an infection you could have gotten? What were you thinking?" she scolded him. The orb turned a mellow violet in embarrassment. Harry and Ron smirked at each other.
"Er… well, I didn't think about that," he offered.
"Bad excuse, Severus. I have half a mind to keep you here until you're competent enough to take care of yourself!"
"Sorry…" Severus murmured uncomfortably. Ron snickered, and the orb glared red and purple at him. He pulled a straight face.
"Merlin, Severus, honestly! These robes are filthy, I'm going to have to change them. They're covered in mud and blood, if you try to stay this way you'll catch your death of pneumonia!"
The orb glared red again. "Hey, now, Poppy, If you think for a second that I'm going to let you dress me, you've got another thing coming!" he snarled.
"Hush, Severus! Don't be a baby! Boys, if you would go to his chambers and bring me some clean robes?" she directed to Harry and Ron. They smirked at each other and left. "It's not like you could really do anything about it anyways, Severus. What are you, going to glow at me?" she teased him good-naturedly. He hissed something inaudible but obviously malicious.
When they came back the curtains were drawn and the orb darting about outside it, a deep purple in color. "Where do you want these robes, Professor?" Ron asked.
"Just toss them over the bar, boys!" Came Madame Pomfrey's voice from within the curtain. They grinned and followed directions, before sitting down again. Soon the curtains were open again, and not only was the body dressed but it was also washed and groomed. The orb, though it seemed impossible, turned an even deeper violet color.
"Poppy! You could have just changed the robes, you know, you didn't have to wash!" his voice sounded shrill.
"Oh, honestly, Severus! I've never seen you so embarrassed in my life!" she shook her head,
"Well I've never had someone bathe me like a helpless child before!" He snarled at her.
"Oh, come now. I'm sure your mother bathed you when you were young. Now, boys, go on and help me put this body back in the chair and then you can take him on back down."
They did as they were told, and soon Severus was alone in his office again. He sank into the lap of the body he once occupied. "Christ," he hissed. "Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't I have just died like a normal person?" He heard a knock at the door, and floated high enough that he could see the Weasley twins, Ginny, and Ron standing in the doorway.
"What do you want?" he snapped.
"We wanted to talk to you," George said. They spread a letter from their father out on his desk and explained that he had written to say that the Ministry had broken through the mysteries of Lumen Orbis and found a way to trigger the soul-body fusion again. He had written to say he was going to come and help Snape back into his body.
Severus could barely contain his excitement. "Finally," he said.
In a week, Arthur arrived and went immediately to see Severus in his office. Severus noticed that the Weasley children were lurking about in the hallway, peeking in. He couldn't bother himself to care when the idea of being alive again was in front of him.
"So, you just have to pour that slime into my mouth?" Severus said. The liquid looked extremely distasteful, but he was willing to try anything.
"Exactly," Arthur said. He walked over to the body. He managed to pull the jaw open enough to pour the liquid down Severus's throat. "It's supposed to induce the thought-trigger that will pull you back into your body."
I wish I had children of my own… he thought suddenly.
He blinked. "What? I don't want children!" He said. Wait, did I just blink? He thought. He looked around, suddenly realizing that he was in his body. "It worked! Oh, Merlin, it worked!" he said. He threw himself up and pulled Arthur into a crushing hug.
He jerked away suddenly, unsurely. "Er, I mean, thank you." He said, a genuine smile on his face. Arthur winked and nodded. "Thank you, Professor," he said.
Snape scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.
"Christ," he said.
"Is something wrong?" Arthur asked concernedly.
Snape moved his head and arms slightly.
"I don't think I've ever been this stiff in my life!"