Disclaimer: see chapter one
A/N: Hey guys! I'll be updating fairly quickly for the next few chapters. I'm anxious to get this thing underway, but once the story starts rolling, I'll probably slow down a bit. The good news is, we only have six more weeks until we're out for the summer, and then I'll be able write as much as I want. For now, though, it'll be pretty erratic. Well, here's the next installment, enjoy!
Chapter Two: Cacherio Personem
Snape was not the type of person that would wake up in a foreign place confused and wondering where he was—quite the opposite in fact. When the sunlight decided to grace his pillow at about seven-thirty in the morning, he was already showered and dressed in his standard black uniform, searching for breakfast.
He had woken up quite early, having fallen asleep at about 8:00 PM American time, and had occupied himself by racking his brain for any memory of the spell whose effects had seemed so familiar the day before. Unfortunately, no name or incantation had made itself clear, but the feeling of a spell lurking behind his tongue remained, giving Snape some hope of solving the riddle with the help of more clues.
The lodgings in the guest wing of the Ministry building were not familiar to Severus yet, and since no one else appeared to be up and about yet, he spent some time wandering the halls and exploring the layout of the floor. He discovered that this section was substantially more ornate than the business chambers of the previous day, if not as well taken care of. The rooms were empty and lonely, which provided a perfect place for Snape to clear his head and organize his thoughts.
He had been walking for almost an hour when he finally crossed paths with another human being. Fortunately, it was someone he recognized.
"Good morning, Professor Snape," Christopher greeted brightly. "I guess I'm not the only early riser in this place. Are you just exploring, or taking a walk, or what?"
For some unfathomable reason, Snape found himself offended by the other man's cheer, which had interrupted his quiet and pensive mood. "I was looking for some type of breakfast room, as everyone seems to have forgotten to mention where meals are held," he said bitingly, effectively conveying his annoyance.
Christopher was taken aback by Snape's manner. 'He seemed a lot nicer yesterday,' Christopher thought to himself as showed Snape to the meeting room in which breakfast was being held. (There was no official dining hall in the Ministry, as they very rarely had need for one.)
Judy and the rest of Christopher's investigation team arrived a few minutes after the two men did, and breakfast was spent discussing the day's plans. The investigation team launched into a discussion of experiments and spells, and Judy explained the travel logistics to Snape.
"We'll apparate to a safe area in California and head to the edge of the circle by broom. If we leave within the next hour, we'll have the entire day to work. You know, because of the time change," she told him. Snape's mind reeled at the thought of having to adjust to another time zone again, but he didn't say anything. It was only one day, after all.
Half an hour later they had gathered in the lobby where Snape had arrived the night before, and Judy was describing the desert valley that they were apparating to, so that Snape could visualize his destination. (This made apparating much simpler.) Judy was not truly needed for the mission, but she had opted to come along for the opportunity to watch Severus work; his reputation for brilliance was not limited to his home country.
"I'll go first, and Professor Snape, you can follow me. The rest of you come after him. See ya in five seconds!" Christopher said jokingly, and disappeared. Severus followed, and the others went after him.
When he arrived in the valley a split second later, Severus was shocked by the dry, scorching air that assaulted his lungs. He fell victim to a short coughing fit before he could control himself, and Christopher, who stood a few feet away, laughed at the candid surprise on his face.
"Don't worry, it's not this bad where we're actually going to work. I can tell you right now though, you're not gonna be happy in those robes," he warned Severus, and laughed again.
Christopher did not catch Snape's swift glare, as he had already turned away and begun to speak with one of the others. Snape walked over to get a broom, damning the desert and wondering how the hell anyone could live in such an arid climate year round. He had already begun to sweat.
As soon as the rest of the group had arrived and chosen a broom, they kicked off from the ground, Christopher in the lead and the rest trailing behind in no particular order. The cool wind refreshed the young men and women on the team, and they enjoyed the short flight while it lasted. Some of the former Quidditch players wove playfully between the others, executing lazy loops and corkscrews. Snape longed to join them, but he had to keep up appearances.
When they landed at their final destination, the investigators headed off to begin the tests they had discussed at breakfast, and Christopher had left to supervise his team. Judy had opted to watch Snape from a distance, realizing that close observation would probably only interfere with his concentration, and so Snape was left to work alone.
The uncomfortable heat quickly returned as Snape thought back to the list of spells he had read the other day. He tried a few more obscure spells that he had suspected would not work, and while his hypothesis was proven correct, he was disappointed in himself for his lack of a constructive plan.
He worked slowly and without result for the remainder of the morning, distracted and slightly dizzy from the hot winds and close robes. The others stopped for a lunch break around noon, but Severus ignored them and kept working, still motivated by the feeling that he knew what this was but could not name it. Only when his head started to ache did he retreat to the shade.
He found an old, low-growing tree and climbed carefully up to its lower branches to sit, preferring tree bark to dirt. There he thought again of Aidan, remembering the last time he had climbed a tree with his then beloved big brother.
He had been seventeen, about to enter his last year at Hogwarts, and Aidan had come home from the city to visit his family. They had sat in the monstrous, ancient tree that had graced the grounds of the Snape mansion for as long as the oldest family members could recall, and talked for hours. The brothers had spoken of their latest secrets and deepest thoughts, of the war and Aidan's job in the Order.
Severus had always loved being Aidan's closest confidante, and there were some things about Aidan that only he knew. 'Like that spell he told me about that day, the one he invented,' Snape recalled. 'It was supposed to keep Death Eaters from finding his house, but it only prevented magical means of discovery...'
Snape sat up suddenly, almost falling out of the tree. The mystery charm he was working on today sounded more than a little like Aidan's spell.
He would not have been so excited if there was no counter spell, but Aidan had been thorough enough to invent one and teach it to Severus, just in case. Snape racked his brain for more information about the spell and its counter spell, but he was having a hard time remembering because he had never used either one. Aidan had deemed his invention useless because while it prevented magical discovery, anyone could find the "hidden" object by non-magic means.
Just then, Christopher sauntered lazily into the view of Snape's focused gaze.
"Have you made any progress?" he inquired.
Snape continued to glare for a moment before he answered haughtily, "Yes. Quite a lot of progress actually."
"You know what spell this is?" Chris asked excitedly.
"I think I do, but unfortunately I cannot recall the incantation. No, you would not know it," he said before Chris could ask the question. "The spell I am thinking of is not what one would call exoteric."
"Oh," Chris said lamely. "Is there anything I can do? You know, to help you remember?"
'Bugger off, maybe,' Snape spat at him mentally. "No, there is not," he said curtly, trying to make the other man leave. Then, an idea occurred to him.
"Actually, Christopher, there is something I need that you may be able to get for me. Does anyone here have access to a Pensieve?"
Christopher looked surprised by the request, but he recovered quickly and told Snape, "I think Judy might have one. Let me ask, I'll be right back."
Snape watched Judy and Christopher converse from his vantage point in the tree, then climbed down and dropped to the ground as Judy approached.
Judy looked up at Snape (she had very far to look, considering their height difference) and said, "The only Pensieve I know of is back at headquarters. Do you need it now?"
"I'd rather get this done today," Snape replied.
"Alright, I should be back in about a half an hour. I'm going to get the thing and bring it here."
Christopher and Snape nodded their understanding and Judy mounted her broom and disappeared from sight.
* * * * * * * * * * *
True to her word, Judy returned before the half hour was up, lugging an undersized Pensieve under her arm. "I hope you don't need a big one," she told Snape. "I couldn't carry anything larger without dropping it. A disadvantage of having short arms."
"That one is fine," Snape replied. He took the Pensieve from her and returned to his patch of shade.
"You're welcome," she snapped to his back, safely out of his hearing range. She heard Chris giggle at her comment and she chuckled with him. They went back to work.
Snape was busy searching for the memory he needed. He concentrated on that day while placed the tip of his wand at his temple and drew the silvery thread from his brain. The memory went into the Pensieve and Snape stabbed the pool with his wand, making it visible to him. Then he tentatively inserted his finger into the swirling substance and steeled himself for his journey back into time.
Colors blurred as his body spun impossibly back sixteen years. Then it all stopped with a jerk and Snape struggled to regain his balance before he fell to the lush green grass that suddenly surrounded him. His eyes soon focused and found the majestic tree that his younger self shared with Aidan. As he approached, conflicting emotions filled his heart and mind. This was the brother that had loved him as no one else had, and the same brother that left him to fend for himself during the most dangerous time in his life. What was he supposed to feel about him?
He harshly shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind when he came in hearing range of his brother.
"Look, you can't tell anyone about this, okay? You never know when this might come in handy, and when it does I don't want anyone to...mess it up," Aidan whispered furtively. It seemed that Snape had arrived in the memory with impeccable timing.
Snape's younger self gave Aidan an annoyed glare. "When was the last time I ratted anyone out? Potter and Co. doesn't count."
"Okay, okay, I was just making sure. So... I've discovered something. Well, invented it, really," Aidan began hesitantly.
"Yes..." Young-Snape urged him.
"It's a spell...that can keep anything from being found with magic."
Young-Snape paused a moment to take it in before asking eagerly, "And anyone?"
"You know, I have no idea. I didn't try that."
"Let's try it now then, shall we?"
"No, not now, anyone could be watching," Aidan said with a slight degree of paranoia.
"So...are you going to tell me the incantation or what?"
"I don't know..." Aidan hesitated.
"You've got to tell someone," Young-Snape rationalized. "What if you get in trouble and someone has to cast the spell but no one knows it, or maybe they need to find something you've hidden and no one knows how to break it except you, but you're unconscious and they're running out of time—"
"Okay, I get it! The incantation..." His voice dropped to a whisper and both Snapes leaned in closer. "It's cacherio personem. Actually casting the spell is a bit more complicated than just waving your wand and saying the words, but I'll teach you how later."
"How do you break the spell?"
"The counter-spell doesn't break it, it just leads you to the source. That incantation is revelo personem, it's easy to do. Actually un-doing the spell is difficult, a bit like getting inside the object magically and unweaving the spell, in a sense. I'll show you that later, too..."
Snape could no longer hear Aidan by that point. He had begun his retreat from the tree the moment he had heard the second incantation. By that point, memories of the first and only time he had tried the spell had floated up from the depths of his subconscious, and he wanted to use the information before he forgot it all. He also recalled that Aidan had later taught the spell to the uppermost members of the Order.
Snape used his will power to pull himself out of the Pensieve and back under the scrubby tree by the work site.
He jogged over to Christopher, who was explaining something or other to one of his team members. Snape waited until Chris had finished speaking before addressing him. "I think I know what we're dealing with here, but I need to check it out before I'm sure," he said, surprised at himself for automatically downplaying the situation. He knew that there was truly no question about the nature of the spell, but he would rather be quietly right than embarrassingly wrong.
"That's wonderful! Absolutely great. We might have this over with by the end of the day," Chris said optimistically.
"I'm going to take a broom and see where it leads me. Don't follow, I'll be back before sunset at the latest," Snape informed Chris, and he strode purposefully off to find his broomstick.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Snape flew about five miles into the invisible circle (following the point of his wand) before it became too dangerous to be seen on a flying broomstick. He landed, hid his broom under some bushes, and began to walk, still following his wand's directions. It led him about a mile away, straight towards a sunny, secluded cove on a lonely and empty beach. He became confused and even a little discouraged when his wand seemed to lead him into the ocean, but he realized that it was actually pointing at a cluster of rocks jutting strangely out of the sand.
'Why would anyone want to conceal a load of rocks...?' he pondered, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed the back of a shiny black head just visible over the rocks. He crept forwardly slowly, the sound of his movements hidden by the crashing of the waves. The head belonged to a person, a teenaged girl, who was sitting a patch of dry sand and reading a very large and heavy-looking novel.
Snape, suspecting that the girl was, in fact, his quarry, settled on the opposite side of the rocks, just to the right of her. He could not see her face, and the rocks prevented close observation, but he would be able to see if she left or moved at all.
Some time later, when the angle of the sun was that of late afternoon and the sand and wind were starting to bother Snape, the black-haired girl looked up and sighed. She pushed herself up easily and dusted the clinging sand off her black sarong, then began to climb over and between the jagged edges of stone. She headed away from the ocean and towards a slim, black bicycle that rested against one of the smaller formations. Snape followed her movements closely, as did his wand, which was still functioning under the revealing spell.
The girl took a blue canvas bag off the handlebars of the bike and draped it over her shoulder before dropping her massive book into it. She walked the bike to the sidewalk, Snape shadowing her several hundred feet behind. He cursed quietly when she mounted and rode away, too quick for him to follow.
Snape, again at the mercy of his wand, started down the sidewalk behind the rapidly disappearing figure of the bicycle. Several pedestrians and many more vehicles passed him, which made his journey slightly more difficult because he had to be careful to keep his wand out of sight. The sidewalk ran parallel to the ocean, but Snape could no longer see the water because of the closely packed houses blocking the view. Soon, though, his wand told him to turn inland, and he found himself in a neighborhood of more, slightly nicer houses, separated by significantly larger yards.
As he wound through the quiet residential area, he began to wonder exactly how he was going to explain this concealment charm to the girl. He could not break the charm without the girl's knowledge and consent, as the process involved magically entering her mind, but he could not simply knock on the door, rambling about magic spells, and expect to be welcomed.
'Then again, she may actually be a witch,' Snape considered. 'That would certainly make this ordeal less complicated.' If that was the case, he could simply notify the girl that the charm was causing problems and she could take care of it herself. There would be no explaining of the magical world, no attempts to prove that magic is real, and no Obliviating afterwards.
Snape fervently hoped that she was not actually a Muggle, but only a Muggle- born witch home from school for the summer. He knew, though, that it was unlikely, and that he would have to prepare for the worst.
He was so caught up in his plans that he did not notice when he passed the girl's house, and he had to backtrack for a block when he noticed his wand pointing the opposite direction.
The wand pointed to a modern, expensive-looking house situated on the corner of two intersecting streets. Snape approached the front door, climbed the few steps leading to it, and began to reach for the doorbell. He stopped though, when he heard angry voices floating out of the screen door.
"You are grounded, young lady! Don't you dare touch that bike for another week, or it'll be longer than that!"
"Fine! You know what? I don't care! I am sick and tired of your jumping to conclusions, so maybe this once I'll just stop trying to make you listen to me, and I'll stop trying to make you think rationally!"
Snape heard stomping footsteps.
"Get back down here! I'm not done with you!"
A door slammed. Loud rock music began playing out of one of the upstairs windows.
Snape decided that it would be as good a time as any to intrude, so he rang the doorbell. Several seconds later, a flustered, red-faced woman appeared in the doorway. She stopped in her tracks, apparently surprised at seeing a complete stranger standing on her front porch, but she recovered quickly and opened the door.
"Can I help you sir?" the woman asked, sounding tired and wary. Her small frame sagged and she seemed older than she probably was.
"My name is Severus Snape, from the Department of Investigation and Law Enforcement of the county," Severus introduced himself, smoothly beginning the conversation he had rehearsed in his mind. He even procured a fake but official-looking identity badge and showed it to the woman. "Can I come in?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, of course," the woman said, suddenly looking nervous. She opened the door wider and Severus stepped in. She led him into the living room and begged, "Please sit down. Um...oh! I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Helena Castell."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Castell," Snape said politely, shaking the woman's tiny hand.
"Call me Helena."
"Well then, Helena, I need to speak with you about an incident that concerns your daughter."
At that, her expression became exasperated and angry, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, Snape corrected her obvious train of thought. "Don't worry, she hasn't done anything wrong," he assured her.
"Oh, well...um, is it very important?" she asked suddenly. "Because if it is, we should wait for my husband. He should be home any minute now."
"Yes, it will be best to speak with both of you at once, and your daughter should be present as well," Severus replied.
"Um, can I get you anything while you're waiting? A drink, maybe?"
Snape really did not want anything to drink, but the woman looked so nervous and agitated, and Snape thought it would be best to give her something to do. "Some water would be fine," he said.
She left the room quickly to fill his request, and as Snape waited patiently for her return, he heard the sound of a car rolling into the driveway.
"That's my husband," said Helena, poking her head in the door. "Should I go call Sianna?"
"Yes, please do," Snape replied, assuming that Sianna was the girl who he had been following.
Just then, a door opened somewhere at the back of the house and Snape heard a man walk in.
"Helena, Sianna! I'm home!" he yelled as he walked towards the stairs, briefcase in hand. He was halfway through the living room before he noticed another man sitting on his couch. "Well who do we have here?"
A/N: Hey guys! I'll be updating fairly quickly for the next few chapters. I'm anxious to get this thing underway, but once the story starts rolling, I'll probably slow down a bit. The good news is, we only have six more weeks until we're out for the summer, and then I'll be able write as much as I want. For now, though, it'll be pretty erratic. Well, here's the next installment, enjoy!
Chapter Two: Cacherio Personem
Snape was not the type of person that would wake up in a foreign place confused and wondering where he was—quite the opposite in fact. When the sunlight decided to grace his pillow at about seven-thirty in the morning, he was already showered and dressed in his standard black uniform, searching for breakfast.
He had woken up quite early, having fallen asleep at about 8:00 PM American time, and had occupied himself by racking his brain for any memory of the spell whose effects had seemed so familiar the day before. Unfortunately, no name or incantation had made itself clear, but the feeling of a spell lurking behind his tongue remained, giving Snape some hope of solving the riddle with the help of more clues.
The lodgings in the guest wing of the Ministry building were not familiar to Severus yet, and since no one else appeared to be up and about yet, he spent some time wandering the halls and exploring the layout of the floor. He discovered that this section was substantially more ornate than the business chambers of the previous day, if not as well taken care of. The rooms were empty and lonely, which provided a perfect place for Snape to clear his head and organize his thoughts.
He had been walking for almost an hour when he finally crossed paths with another human being. Fortunately, it was someone he recognized.
"Good morning, Professor Snape," Christopher greeted brightly. "I guess I'm not the only early riser in this place. Are you just exploring, or taking a walk, or what?"
For some unfathomable reason, Snape found himself offended by the other man's cheer, which had interrupted his quiet and pensive mood. "I was looking for some type of breakfast room, as everyone seems to have forgotten to mention where meals are held," he said bitingly, effectively conveying his annoyance.
Christopher was taken aback by Snape's manner. 'He seemed a lot nicer yesterday,' Christopher thought to himself as showed Snape to the meeting room in which breakfast was being held. (There was no official dining hall in the Ministry, as they very rarely had need for one.)
Judy and the rest of Christopher's investigation team arrived a few minutes after the two men did, and breakfast was spent discussing the day's plans. The investigation team launched into a discussion of experiments and spells, and Judy explained the travel logistics to Snape.
"We'll apparate to a safe area in California and head to the edge of the circle by broom. If we leave within the next hour, we'll have the entire day to work. You know, because of the time change," she told him. Snape's mind reeled at the thought of having to adjust to another time zone again, but he didn't say anything. It was only one day, after all.
Half an hour later they had gathered in the lobby where Snape had arrived the night before, and Judy was describing the desert valley that they were apparating to, so that Snape could visualize his destination. (This made apparating much simpler.) Judy was not truly needed for the mission, but she had opted to come along for the opportunity to watch Severus work; his reputation for brilliance was not limited to his home country.
"I'll go first, and Professor Snape, you can follow me. The rest of you come after him. See ya in five seconds!" Christopher said jokingly, and disappeared. Severus followed, and the others went after him.
When he arrived in the valley a split second later, Severus was shocked by the dry, scorching air that assaulted his lungs. He fell victim to a short coughing fit before he could control himself, and Christopher, who stood a few feet away, laughed at the candid surprise on his face.
"Don't worry, it's not this bad where we're actually going to work. I can tell you right now though, you're not gonna be happy in those robes," he warned Severus, and laughed again.
Christopher did not catch Snape's swift glare, as he had already turned away and begun to speak with one of the others. Snape walked over to get a broom, damning the desert and wondering how the hell anyone could live in such an arid climate year round. He had already begun to sweat.
As soon as the rest of the group had arrived and chosen a broom, they kicked off from the ground, Christopher in the lead and the rest trailing behind in no particular order. The cool wind refreshed the young men and women on the team, and they enjoyed the short flight while it lasted. Some of the former Quidditch players wove playfully between the others, executing lazy loops and corkscrews. Snape longed to join them, but he had to keep up appearances.
When they landed at their final destination, the investigators headed off to begin the tests they had discussed at breakfast, and Christopher had left to supervise his team. Judy had opted to watch Snape from a distance, realizing that close observation would probably only interfere with his concentration, and so Snape was left to work alone.
The uncomfortable heat quickly returned as Snape thought back to the list of spells he had read the other day. He tried a few more obscure spells that he had suspected would not work, and while his hypothesis was proven correct, he was disappointed in himself for his lack of a constructive plan.
He worked slowly and without result for the remainder of the morning, distracted and slightly dizzy from the hot winds and close robes. The others stopped for a lunch break around noon, but Severus ignored them and kept working, still motivated by the feeling that he knew what this was but could not name it. Only when his head started to ache did he retreat to the shade.
He found an old, low-growing tree and climbed carefully up to its lower branches to sit, preferring tree bark to dirt. There he thought again of Aidan, remembering the last time he had climbed a tree with his then beloved big brother.
He had been seventeen, about to enter his last year at Hogwarts, and Aidan had come home from the city to visit his family. They had sat in the monstrous, ancient tree that had graced the grounds of the Snape mansion for as long as the oldest family members could recall, and talked for hours. The brothers had spoken of their latest secrets and deepest thoughts, of the war and Aidan's job in the Order.
Severus had always loved being Aidan's closest confidante, and there were some things about Aidan that only he knew. 'Like that spell he told me about that day, the one he invented,' Snape recalled. 'It was supposed to keep Death Eaters from finding his house, but it only prevented magical means of discovery...'
Snape sat up suddenly, almost falling out of the tree. The mystery charm he was working on today sounded more than a little like Aidan's spell.
He would not have been so excited if there was no counter spell, but Aidan had been thorough enough to invent one and teach it to Severus, just in case. Snape racked his brain for more information about the spell and its counter spell, but he was having a hard time remembering because he had never used either one. Aidan had deemed his invention useless because while it prevented magical discovery, anyone could find the "hidden" object by non-magic means.
Just then, Christopher sauntered lazily into the view of Snape's focused gaze.
"Have you made any progress?" he inquired.
Snape continued to glare for a moment before he answered haughtily, "Yes. Quite a lot of progress actually."
"You know what spell this is?" Chris asked excitedly.
"I think I do, but unfortunately I cannot recall the incantation. No, you would not know it," he said before Chris could ask the question. "The spell I am thinking of is not what one would call exoteric."
"Oh," Chris said lamely. "Is there anything I can do? You know, to help you remember?"
'Bugger off, maybe,' Snape spat at him mentally. "No, there is not," he said curtly, trying to make the other man leave. Then, an idea occurred to him.
"Actually, Christopher, there is something I need that you may be able to get for me. Does anyone here have access to a Pensieve?"
Christopher looked surprised by the request, but he recovered quickly and told Snape, "I think Judy might have one. Let me ask, I'll be right back."
Snape watched Judy and Christopher converse from his vantage point in the tree, then climbed down and dropped to the ground as Judy approached.
Judy looked up at Snape (she had very far to look, considering their height difference) and said, "The only Pensieve I know of is back at headquarters. Do you need it now?"
"I'd rather get this done today," Snape replied.
"Alright, I should be back in about a half an hour. I'm going to get the thing and bring it here."
Christopher and Snape nodded their understanding and Judy mounted her broom and disappeared from sight.
* * * * * * * * * * *
True to her word, Judy returned before the half hour was up, lugging an undersized Pensieve under her arm. "I hope you don't need a big one," she told Snape. "I couldn't carry anything larger without dropping it. A disadvantage of having short arms."
"That one is fine," Snape replied. He took the Pensieve from her and returned to his patch of shade.
"You're welcome," she snapped to his back, safely out of his hearing range. She heard Chris giggle at her comment and she chuckled with him. They went back to work.
Snape was busy searching for the memory he needed. He concentrated on that day while placed the tip of his wand at his temple and drew the silvery thread from his brain. The memory went into the Pensieve and Snape stabbed the pool with his wand, making it visible to him. Then he tentatively inserted his finger into the swirling substance and steeled himself for his journey back into time.
Colors blurred as his body spun impossibly back sixteen years. Then it all stopped with a jerk and Snape struggled to regain his balance before he fell to the lush green grass that suddenly surrounded him. His eyes soon focused and found the majestic tree that his younger self shared with Aidan. As he approached, conflicting emotions filled his heart and mind. This was the brother that had loved him as no one else had, and the same brother that left him to fend for himself during the most dangerous time in his life. What was he supposed to feel about him?
He harshly shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind when he came in hearing range of his brother.
"Look, you can't tell anyone about this, okay? You never know when this might come in handy, and when it does I don't want anyone to...mess it up," Aidan whispered furtively. It seemed that Snape had arrived in the memory with impeccable timing.
Snape's younger self gave Aidan an annoyed glare. "When was the last time I ratted anyone out? Potter and Co. doesn't count."
"Okay, okay, I was just making sure. So... I've discovered something. Well, invented it, really," Aidan began hesitantly.
"Yes..." Young-Snape urged him.
"It's a spell...that can keep anything from being found with magic."
Young-Snape paused a moment to take it in before asking eagerly, "And anyone?"
"You know, I have no idea. I didn't try that."
"Let's try it now then, shall we?"
"No, not now, anyone could be watching," Aidan said with a slight degree of paranoia.
"So...are you going to tell me the incantation or what?"
"I don't know..." Aidan hesitated.
"You've got to tell someone," Young-Snape rationalized. "What if you get in trouble and someone has to cast the spell but no one knows it, or maybe they need to find something you've hidden and no one knows how to break it except you, but you're unconscious and they're running out of time—"
"Okay, I get it! The incantation..." His voice dropped to a whisper and both Snapes leaned in closer. "It's cacherio personem. Actually casting the spell is a bit more complicated than just waving your wand and saying the words, but I'll teach you how later."
"How do you break the spell?"
"The counter-spell doesn't break it, it just leads you to the source. That incantation is revelo personem, it's easy to do. Actually un-doing the spell is difficult, a bit like getting inside the object magically and unweaving the spell, in a sense. I'll show you that later, too..."
Snape could no longer hear Aidan by that point. He had begun his retreat from the tree the moment he had heard the second incantation. By that point, memories of the first and only time he had tried the spell had floated up from the depths of his subconscious, and he wanted to use the information before he forgot it all. He also recalled that Aidan had later taught the spell to the uppermost members of the Order.
Snape used his will power to pull himself out of the Pensieve and back under the scrubby tree by the work site.
He jogged over to Christopher, who was explaining something or other to one of his team members. Snape waited until Chris had finished speaking before addressing him. "I think I know what we're dealing with here, but I need to check it out before I'm sure," he said, surprised at himself for automatically downplaying the situation. He knew that there was truly no question about the nature of the spell, but he would rather be quietly right than embarrassingly wrong.
"That's wonderful! Absolutely great. We might have this over with by the end of the day," Chris said optimistically.
"I'm going to take a broom and see where it leads me. Don't follow, I'll be back before sunset at the latest," Snape informed Chris, and he strode purposefully off to find his broomstick.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Snape flew about five miles into the invisible circle (following the point of his wand) before it became too dangerous to be seen on a flying broomstick. He landed, hid his broom under some bushes, and began to walk, still following his wand's directions. It led him about a mile away, straight towards a sunny, secluded cove on a lonely and empty beach. He became confused and even a little discouraged when his wand seemed to lead him into the ocean, but he realized that it was actually pointing at a cluster of rocks jutting strangely out of the sand.
'Why would anyone want to conceal a load of rocks...?' he pondered, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed the back of a shiny black head just visible over the rocks. He crept forwardly slowly, the sound of his movements hidden by the crashing of the waves. The head belonged to a person, a teenaged girl, who was sitting a patch of dry sand and reading a very large and heavy-looking novel.
Snape, suspecting that the girl was, in fact, his quarry, settled on the opposite side of the rocks, just to the right of her. He could not see her face, and the rocks prevented close observation, but he would be able to see if she left or moved at all.
Some time later, when the angle of the sun was that of late afternoon and the sand and wind were starting to bother Snape, the black-haired girl looked up and sighed. She pushed herself up easily and dusted the clinging sand off her black sarong, then began to climb over and between the jagged edges of stone. She headed away from the ocean and towards a slim, black bicycle that rested against one of the smaller formations. Snape followed her movements closely, as did his wand, which was still functioning under the revealing spell.
The girl took a blue canvas bag off the handlebars of the bike and draped it over her shoulder before dropping her massive book into it. She walked the bike to the sidewalk, Snape shadowing her several hundred feet behind. He cursed quietly when she mounted and rode away, too quick for him to follow.
Snape, again at the mercy of his wand, started down the sidewalk behind the rapidly disappearing figure of the bicycle. Several pedestrians and many more vehicles passed him, which made his journey slightly more difficult because he had to be careful to keep his wand out of sight. The sidewalk ran parallel to the ocean, but Snape could no longer see the water because of the closely packed houses blocking the view. Soon, though, his wand told him to turn inland, and he found himself in a neighborhood of more, slightly nicer houses, separated by significantly larger yards.
As he wound through the quiet residential area, he began to wonder exactly how he was going to explain this concealment charm to the girl. He could not break the charm without the girl's knowledge and consent, as the process involved magically entering her mind, but he could not simply knock on the door, rambling about magic spells, and expect to be welcomed.
'Then again, she may actually be a witch,' Snape considered. 'That would certainly make this ordeal less complicated.' If that was the case, he could simply notify the girl that the charm was causing problems and she could take care of it herself. There would be no explaining of the magical world, no attempts to prove that magic is real, and no Obliviating afterwards.
Snape fervently hoped that she was not actually a Muggle, but only a Muggle- born witch home from school for the summer. He knew, though, that it was unlikely, and that he would have to prepare for the worst.
He was so caught up in his plans that he did not notice when he passed the girl's house, and he had to backtrack for a block when he noticed his wand pointing the opposite direction.
The wand pointed to a modern, expensive-looking house situated on the corner of two intersecting streets. Snape approached the front door, climbed the few steps leading to it, and began to reach for the doorbell. He stopped though, when he heard angry voices floating out of the screen door.
"You are grounded, young lady! Don't you dare touch that bike for another week, or it'll be longer than that!"
"Fine! You know what? I don't care! I am sick and tired of your jumping to conclusions, so maybe this once I'll just stop trying to make you listen to me, and I'll stop trying to make you think rationally!"
Snape heard stomping footsteps.
"Get back down here! I'm not done with you!"
A door slammed. Loud rock music began playing out of one of the upstairs windows.
Snape decided that it would be as good a time as any to intrude, so he rang the doorbell. Several seconds later, a flustered, red-faced woman appeared in the doorway. She stopped in her tracks, apparently surprised at seeing a complete stranger standing on her front porch, but she recovered quickly and opened the door.
"Can I help you sir?" the woman asked, sounding tired and wary. Her small frame sagged and she seemed older than she probably was.
"My name is Severus Snape, from the Department of Investigation and Law Enforcement of the county," Severus introduced himself, smoothly beginning the conversation he had rehearsed in his mind. He even procured a fake but official-looking identity badge and showed it to the woman. "Can I come in?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, of course," the woman said, suddenly looking nervous. She opened the door wider and Severus stepped in. She led him into the living room and begged, "Please sit down. Um...oh! I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Helena Castell."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Castell," Snape said politely, shaking the woman's tiny hand.
"Call me Helena."
"Well then, Helena, I need to speak with you about an incident that concerns your daughter."
At that, her expression became exasperated and angry, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, Snape corrected her obvious train of thought. "Don't worry, she hasn't done anything wrong," he assured her.
"Oh, well...um, is it very important?" she asked suddenly. "Because if it is, we should wait for my husband. He should be home any minute now."
"Yes, it will be best to speak with both of you at once, and your daughter should be present as well," Severus replied.
"Um, can I get you anything while you're waiting? A drink, maybe?"
Snape really did not want anything to drink, but the woman looked so nervous and agitated, and Snape thought it would be best to give her something to do. "Some water would be fine," he said.
She left the room quickly to fill his request, and as Snape waited patiently for her return, he heard the sound of a car rolling into the driveway.
"That's my husband," said Helena, poking her head in the door. "Should I go call Sianna?"
"Yes, please do," Snape replied, assuming that Sianna was the girl who he had been following.
Just then, a door opened somewhere at the back of the house and Snape heard a man walk in.
"Helena, Sianna! I'm home!" he yelled as he walked towards the stairs, briefcase in hand. He was halfway through the living room before he noticed another man sitting on his couch. "Well who do we have here?"