Chapter 99
The variety of cheeses, fruits, chocolates and pastries that were sold made their mouth water; however the prices made them go dry instantly.
"Well after that nice surprise from this, this should be my treat" Sev purred lowly and the two witches knew that if the potion master had one of his own creations at hand at the moment, they'd be in for it.
A moment later they indulged in the flagitiously expensive treats, silently wondering how often a family could have done grocery shopping with the money Severus had just spent.
With a full belly they went visited the Tower of London and admired the crown jewels along with the more gruesome facts of the ancient building.
Sev followed the two chattering witches along and not for the first time he wished himself back to his quiet dungeons.
When they finally had enough of the Tower, Lily dragged them to the underground once more.
When will this martyrdom finally end, he pleaded to every deity that might bothered to listen and boarded the crowded train with a sigh.
When they had finally reached their destination, Severus and Kimberly followed Lily out of the underground train. They waked through the stalls that collected their tickets and up a flight of stairs into Baker Street.
Severus had no time to look at his surroundings as Lily was already heading down the street and excitedly pointing at the building across the street, it looked like all the other big grey buildings in London except this one had a queue of about 150 people outside. The line of people had started at a small doorway and had gone up the street and round the corner. Severus sighed and wondered what could be so interesting that someone would actually stand in line for it.
To his displeasure he found that Lily had joined the end of the queue with Kim; the two now talking and giggling about some Madam.
"Pray tell, what is it that you feel the necessity to return to ridiculous teenage behaviour in your age" he scolded and frowned in annoyance.
"Don't be such a killjoy Severus. We're not that old yet that we can't have fun when it is appropriate. We all had enough to worry about lately and I'm not going to let Terrible Tom spoil the little entertainment I'll have here."
Then with something that Severus disgustedly identified as puppy dog eyes, she added. "I'm sure you'll protect us like our knight in shining armour"
Severus shuddered visibly at the comparison and decided to ignore them for now.
In the meantime, Lily explained that what they were going to see was Madam Tussauds, a wax museum, which meant that there were hundreds of statues of famous muggles in the building made from wax.
Severus couldn't see why the girls were excited about seeing a collection of oversized candles.
After an hour and a half of slowly edging forward the trio, the animated chatter of the crowd only interrupted by Kimberly's groans about their hurting feet, they had reached the lobby of the building. The potion master had endured all this with a stoical silence, his face set into the ever present scowl, wondering for the hundredth time why he had let himself talk into this ordeal, while the witches were admiring the small yellow walled room with golden fixtures.
Lily pointed him to a ticket booth in the centre of the room and Severus grudgingly purchased their tickets.
The woman in the ticket booth then showed them to an elevator that they should take to the start of the tour.
The mentioning of a tour made Snape swallow. Why couldn't they just have a quick glance at those candle-muggles and be over with it?
But who did ever ask him, they just expected them to follow along. Well, there wasn't much he could do about it now. He couldn't leave them alone and give the deatheaters a chance to abduct Lily again or Kimberly for that matter.
So all he could do at the moment was breath deeply and plot his revenge if he should ever make it out of there before he died of boredom.
The three stepped out of the elevator a few moments later and headed down a small corridor. Kim gasped in delight when they entered an area that was arranged like a garden party.
Lily excitedly started to tell the pair who all of the wax figures were.
Kim looked at a figure of an old lady in a bad purple wig, the name on the plague had said Dame Edna Everage and Lily had explained that this was a man who dressed as a woman and was a comedian.
Snape snorted in disgust. How amusing could it be to look at a man prancing around in women's clothes and Draco Malfoy little mishap came to his mind again.
They moved on and Lily pointed at a man wearing a tuxedo and holding something in his hand, which Snape immediately recognized as a gun, the muggles bad substitute for a wand.
He had a closer look at the plague and read that this man was supposed to be James Bond.
Lily caught his questioning look and explained that he was a spy in a muggle movie.
Severus raised his eyebrows and shook his head ever so slightly.
This man was as conspicuous as a flying cow; he could never work as a spy, or at least not successful.
I could surely teach him a bit about stealth and concealment, he thought with just a hint of self-praise.
However, when Kimberly asked why this man had two names and how it could be possible to be James Bond and Sean Connery, Lily had to stifle a giggle and tried to explain what the job of an actor involved.
Severus stared a group of giggling silly teenage girls taking a photograph of a man with a strange costume on; he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, long socks and a pair of trainers with funny little studs on the bottom completed the strange attire.
Not for the first time the wizard wondered who had taught the muggles how to dress.
He also noticed that someone had crossed out the man's name on the sign over his and exchanged it with 'Hair Style Barbie'.
Lilly explained to him that this was David Beckham who was the captain of the England Football team and it was a bit like the wizard equivalent of Quidditch. However before he could question what the little studs on the shoes were good and how they would manage to fly a broom without magic, Kimberly had dragged them further.
They were now looking at a man at a piano and a lady on the piano singing. Severus didn't pay much attention to the man who was named Dudley Moore, but the woman sparked his interest.
He was sure that he had seen her before or at least the spectacular outfit. Though he couldn't remember ever meeting a woman named Kylie, but the extremely sort pants and top didn't leave much to imagination. This was the clothing used to bewitch customers in those 'special establishments' he had visited during his deatheater times.
They left the garden party and walked into another room where Lily explained were all the famous athletes. Kim couldn't help but watch a couple of ice skating figures that revolved on their pedestal. The name card read Torville and Dean. Now it was her who wondered where the muggles got their sense of fashion from.
"Would you please explain to me, dear, why this man is wearing a woman's swimming suit?"
Severus had finally found his voice again. He didn't really care how muggles lived their lives, but after he had seen this, he didn't wonder anymore about all those crazy things the muggle born did at school.
Lily laughed heartily.
"That's not a swimming suit. That's Linford Christie here. He was the world's fasted 100m runner at one time. All runners are wearing this type of clothing. It has something to do with aerodynamics"
"He certainly looks extremely sexy… showing all those muscles" Kim commented with a conspiratorial voice.
When she recognized the disgusted look Snape was giving her she winked at him and added "What? Thankfully not every man has decided to disguise his god given beauty under voluminous black robes and a bat-like appearance!"
Severus glared daggers at her but decided that the best way to keep his dignity intact was to just remain silent.
The next room was dedicated to famous actors.
Severus discovery of the lacking dress-sense of muggles was once again confirmed when Lily explained that the crazy leather-cloth-mix was the traditional clothing of cowboys and the man who was wearing it John Wayne.
"Leave it to the muggles to worship a herder" he muttered.
There was another man with a huge bolder behind him, the big sign above him said Indiana Jones, but the small card said Harrison Ford. Severus guessed that he was another actor.
Kim noticed that Lily was calling another man in a suit with a gun James Bond, this time his card read Pierce Brosnan.
"Dang, how many names has that James Bond? He has to be a Metamorphmagus. Look, he's looking totally different now!" the potions mistress exclaimed. Lily just shook her head, stifling laughter and tried once again to explain to her what an actor does.
In the next room there was a strange looking black man in his 20s with black curly hair, he was wearing a leather jacket and trousers with studs on them. Lily began to laugh as she explained to the pair how this Michael Jackson now looked.
Much to their relief there was a small cafeteria next and they stopped for tea and coffee. Kimberly's feet were hurting even more now and was about to cast a healing charm when Lily stopped her.
"Not here Kim. Go to the bathroom over there"
The witch nodded quickly and limped to the restrooms.
As soon as everyone was ready to move again they headed into the next room.
There were many people in fancy costumes; Severus stared at an old lady wondering where he had seen her before. It turned out that the old lady was the Queen of England and the others were the members of the royal family including the late Princess Diana.
Lily squealed with delight as she spotted 4 men in grey suits holding guitars sitting on a sofa,
"The Beatles!"
As an answer to Kim's questioning look she added.
"That's a pop band. I've been a big fan of them when I was a child"
Severus shook his head again, knowing that he would have a terrible headache today, when they headed down a flight of stairs and he felt suddenly at home when they entered a dark, dank dungeon.
'Chamber of horrors' read the sign and he found that the two witches were now linking arms with each other and walking very slowly looking around everywhere.
He heard them scream and all of a sudden he saw them running off.
His spy senses kicked in full gear when he drew his wand and scanned the area. There was nothing unusual and he couldn't detect any sign of magic around.
Just then he heard a hissing noise and spun around.
To his left then he recognized the figure of a man being beheaded but then he noticed that the guillotine actually came down and the man's head came off. After watching it for the third time he decided he should find the girls.
In the next corridor he found himself in a dark street and there was a mangled corpse of a young woman with entrails hanging out.
Severus read the sign and apparently this had been how the police had found a young woman who was the victim of Jack the Ripper.
A little further on, a man in a doctor's uniform had caught his attention; this was Dr Crippen who had murdered his wife in the early 1900's.
On the way out of the Chamber of Horrors he noticed a man that he had recognised from a history book, it was Vlad the Impaler.
Now he truly wondered why the muggles had him in their little creep show. Every educated person knew that Vlad the Impaler had been a wizard.
He found the two women outside the chamber of horrors, and they quickly pulled him along to another queue.
I'm never going to survive this, he thought and seriously pondered if this was worse than a Crucio session with the Dark Lord.
After another 10 minutes the three were settled into carts that looked like London taxis. They were going on a tour through old England.
The carts moved along and they watched as ghosts were singing about the plague. Lily explained that they were just projected images and not real ghosts, when she spotted the equally shocked expression on her companions' faces. Next there were a number of old queens and kings.
Severus 'admired' a few models of the first muggle machines and heaved a sigh of heartfelt relief when the tour was finally over.
He helped the girls out of the cart and they pulled him straight into the gift shop which you have to walk through to get out.
"I trust you won't mind when I not indulge in gift shopping" he spat with venom and rushed out of the shop, sorely missing the billowing of his robes then.
The witches laughed heartily before they returned their concentration to the various gifts on the display.
He paced in front of the building, thinking about what hex would be convenient to avenge the martyrdom he had to endure today.
Thankfully they hadn't crossed the path of one of his former 'friends' and so he could relax in this department.
When the witches finally emerged from the building, both with a big bag in hand, he gave them his nastiest death glare, just daring them to spill out what nonsense they had bought.
However the next stop on their schedule was a trip to the Sherlock Holmes Museum close by and he knew he'd enjoy that a lot more.
After reading all the adventures of the famous detective he was eager to see how this museum displayed his fictional life.
They walked the short distance and reached the house at 221b Baker Street in no time.
It was pretty crowded with tourists and the potion master was quite uncomfortable with so many people intruding in his private space.
When they went up the steps, Snape snorted disdainfully at a group of Japanese tourists who settled down in Holmes's armchair by the fireside to pose for photos.
All of Holmes possessions were in their usual places and so Severus could discover his deerstalker, magnifying glass, calabash pipe, violin, chemistry equipment, notebook, Persian slipper and disguises.
On the second floor were Dr Watson's rooms, which contained personal belongings and private papers of the great detective and a variety of exhibits from his published cases.
The diary of Doctor Watson contained hand-written notes and extracts fromthe famous adventure of The Hound of Baskerville
The third floor exhibit rooms contained an arrangement of wax models of scenes from the stories.
When his curiosity was finally satisfied and they left, it was already late.
"Well, I think it's time to return to Hogwarts now" Severus said firmly and glowered at the two witches, who didn't look too anxious about the aspect of leaving.
"Oh Sev, don't be such a killjoy. I have made plans for us tonight. An old friend of Albus' at the Globe and organized tickets for tonight's show of Macbeth" Kimberly stated.
Lily battered her eyelashes and coaxed "Oh Sev….I know how much you love Shakespeare
The potion master looked down his prominent nose but he already new that he couldn't miss the chance to see a professional Shakespeare play at the Globe.
"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." he sneered and Kimberly laughed heartily.
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes."
"Now it's enough, Sev." Lily scolded. "Stop quoting Shakespeare and come on. I've made reservations at the Hostelysium this morning. They're waiting for us"
"What is the Hostelysium?" Kim inquired and rubbed her back. She was sore and tired and was looking forward to a long hot bath and dinner.
"It's similar to the Knightbus" Lily explained. "When you have unexpected business somewhere and can't find a room on short notice, you can go there. You just hold out your wand and say Hostelysium"
"I'd have preferred the Sheraton" Severus growled, still upset about himself. How could he been so unobservant and not noticing that his company had something wicked in mind when they involved him in that trip.
They held out their wands, called "Hostelysium" and were apparated directly in front of a small building that looked very similar to the Burrow.
A little cottage with 10 turrets that varied in size and color was surrounded by a small garden area.
The two witches looked around but no matter how hard they tried they couldn't recognize where they were.
Severus had already reached the entrance door, so Kim and Lily rushed to catch up with him.
When they entered, they were pleasantly surprised. The interior was simple but clean and friendly; the witch at the reception smiled and beckoned them to come close.
"Welcome to the Hostelysium, the boarding house for the needy witch and wizard. How may I serve you?"
"We have made a reservation. Snape" Lily told the witch and received 2 keys.
"I hope you enjoy your stay, Mrs Snape"
Kim just made it out of the reception area and into the elevator before she burst out in laughter.
"Mrs Snape… never heard a better joke. You can just pray that James doesn't hear about this"
Severus glared daggers at Kimberly and Lily couldn't truly understand why.
However they didn't have much time to get ready until the play would start so they had to hurry.
Lily and Kim had a room right next to Severus in the little north-east tower.
"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" Severus said before they opened the doors to their rooms.
Lily just rolled her eyes and sighed "Well Mrs First Witch, I'd say in an hour; that should be enough time for all of us.
Severus wondered what could take them an hour when a Refreshening and Cleaning Charm could be cast in less than a minute.
Lily and Kim stepped into their room and were more than surprised.
"Wonderful, I haven't slept in bunk beds for ages" the older one squealed and threw herself on the lower bed.
Kimberly just looked at her in awe.
"I had no idea that you'd have liked that too"
Lily pushed herself up on the elbows and tilted her head.
"I wonder if the rooms in Hostelysium react on the preferences of the customers"
"Well if they do, we can be sure what kind of room Severus has" Kim snickered and opened the door to what she assumed was the bathroom.
"Dang… looked at the tub!" she shouted and Lily was in there too just a moment later.
"Well that's what I call a contrast"
The light blue tiles, decorated with all kinds of fishes, seahorses and water plants that moved and swayed with the charmed waves, made you feel like you were in the middle of a tropical bay.
The large sunk in tub was almost as big as the one in the prefects' bathroom at Hogwarts and also had several faucets you could chose from
"Do you think this thing has a whirl-pool function?" Kim whispered.
"Well see that instantly" Lily retorted and touched some of the faucets at random.
One poured a stream of milk and honey into the large basin, the one she had touched second offered large rainbow-colored bubbles that were obviously filled with music, the last one produced a stream of bright blue foam into the milk and honey water.
Lily was still looking at the tub that was filling in an alarming rate while Kimberly had already stripped to the underwear and transfigured it into a black one piece.
"What are you waiting for?"
Little didn't need any more encouragement and followed Kim's example. Just a few minutes later she joined her friend in the tub.
They enjoyed themselves immensely, floating in the warm water while the rainbow bubbles lingered in the air, filled with music of Chopin.
Just then Kimberly started to sigh when the blue foam started to jump into action.
"What is that?" Lily gasped when invisible fingers started to massage her back, shoulders and legs, but she enjoyed it thoroughly and leaned back to relax.
After 30 minutes in the tub, the two witches reluctantly left the bathroom and got dressed.
They met Severus outside the rooms just in time for a quick dinner.
"The weird sisters, hand in hand,Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about."
"Sev…if you don't stop that…" Lily said with a threatening voice and rolled her eyes.
In the little restaurant was in the main building lose to the reception and the three settled down at a desk next to the window.
A waiter served water and wine and they only had to wait for a moment when a big pot with stew appeared on the table.
The potion master wrinkled his nose but the smell seemed to be pleasant enough for his stomach to agree.
Lily stirred the content of the pot and started to ladle a portion on all of the three plates.
"Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot." Severus recited and smirked when he saw the disgusted look on Lily's face.
"Severus if you don't stop quoting Macbeth this instant, you will find this pot on your head; am I understood? It's hard enough for me to keep down my food without your graphic descriptions"
"Did you tell James that we're staying over night?" Kim asked while she enjoyed her stew.
"I have a letter I will floo after dinner. I really don't want to deal with his bad mood right now"
"Wait until he hears about the reservation, Mrs Snape" Kim snickered while they quickly finished their meal.
Soon they were on their way to the Globe.
Fortunately, the building had a separate entrance for the magical folk so they could apparate.
They found their seats right in time and waited anxiously for the beginning.
"You better come right here Missy and get your spanking. Don't make me come and get you" James growled and tapped his hand threateningly on the armrest.
"Oh James, don't play the big bad wolf with me." Lily sighed and fell in the chair next to her husband. "It's been two long and hard days so please leave the spanking for later"
Her airy tone didn't lighten his mood in the slightest.
"Would you please care to explain what took you so long to return? I doubt that you have spent one and a half day in the library"
"No" she replied meekly.
"So why didn't you return after you had finished your researches there?"
"I wanted to enjoy myself a bit. The last time I've checked the law this wasn't a crime yet. We spent a wonderful night in London; the Tower, Madame Tussaud's, the Globe…" Lily rhapsodized and wiggled with the bags she was holding.
James didn't say anything but glared at a spot on a wall behind her.
"Oh don't be like that" she coaxed and ran her delicate hand over his cheek.. "I missed being out and about and I got you a present"
This seemed to make him a bit more approachable, because he peeked at the bag in her hand.
"That might get you off a bit easier. Maybe I will just use my hand for the spanking and leave the cane in the closet" he growled and Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Well what is it? What did you get me?"
"Don't you want to hear what we found out first? Severus is talking to Al – "
He cut her off with a curt wave of his hand.
"No I want to see my present first"
Lily laughed heartily. Some things never changed, it had always been the same with James and stuff that was gift-wrapped; worse than any child at Christmas ever could be.
She rummaged through one of the bags she had, pulled out a small package and held it out to him.
He snatched it from her and ripped it open.
"Oh that's cool" he called out when the soft cotton landed on his lap.
"Sorry dear, but they didn't have anything for the wizarding gent. I still hope you like it"
"Yeah…of course I do "
He stripped his blue button down shirt over his head and seized the black on he had gotten from Lily.
On the back it had several miniature pictures of the attractions at Madam Tussaud's and Lily had charmed it so they were animated.
"I have bought a bunch so we can all wear matching ones" she called, turned the bag upside down and 5 more identical packages fell on the bed.
"What's in the other bag?" he asked curiously.
"Oh that's something for the baby"
She picked up the other bag and emptied it in the same fashion as the first.
A shower of little pieces of clothing and another package wrapped in brown paper fell on the sheets of their four-poster. James picked up tiny rompers and held it out in front of him. It was soft, pre-washed cotton with ruffle trim, white with little birds on it.
As he looked closer, he saw that Lily must have charmed the original bird pattern into a phoenix pattern.
"Always prepared, aren't you" he chuckled and let his hand run over all the little baby clothes she had bought.
"Well, I've learned my lesson and no matter if Voldemort is dead by the time this baby is born or not – " she laid her hand unconsciously over her abdomen "- I will cast the same charm on her that I casted on Harry. Better safe than sorry"
"Her?" James inquired and arched an eyebrow.
"Just a mother gut feeling" Lily replied dismissively. "Now do you want to know what we found out or not?"
"Spit it out" he said and beckoned her to join him at the fireplace.
Lily recalled the strange riddle they had found in the book.
James stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, who's the riddle specialist here? Is Albus informed already?"
"Severus is giving him the details just now. I have an idea, but I'm not sure if this is going to get us any further"
"What idea?"
"We should write down who is connected to Voldemort in any way and then list up who is linked to whom and in what way"
"That sounds good to me. I will get right to that and you are going to take a nap. You can surely use it"
Lily smiled gratefully at her husband and packed away all the baby clothes on the bed.
While James settled down in front of the desk and concentrated at the matter at hand, Lily snuggled under the covers.
Before she fell asleep, the morning in London came to her mind again.
She still could see Severus expression of shock and utter disgust when she had mentioned that she wanted to do some baby-shopping before they left.
"This has to be a sick joke, my dear"
"No Severus, I'm very serious. There might not be another chance for me to get everything I need and you sure don't want my poor, innocent baby to be naked?" she had purred and batted her eyelashes.
"This is merely a ridiculous excuse. You could always transfigure something"
"Forget it! We're going to Baby Gap and there's nothing you can do about it. And the sooner we get there, the faster you'll be back in your beloved dungeons."
This time they had opted for a cab and it took only a short time to reach the store.
Although Severus had dreaded the fact to enter a shop for baby …things; he had shuddered even at the thought; Lily had known that he wouldn't let her and Kim out of sight.
After she had paid the driver, they stepped through the door and were immediately greeted by a sickly cheerful young muggle girl.
"How can I be of assistance?"
"I'd like to purchase all the clothes I'm going to need for my newborn." she had informed the shop assistance and the muggle had smiled from ear to ear.
"Oh then this just has to be the proud father"
At that Severus had given her his trademark death glare and Lily had known that he was about to hex her if he had to stay there another minute.
Lily heard James muttering to himself and scribbling while she drifted off to sleep, hoping that James wouldn't find out how often she had been mistaken for Snape's wife this weekend.
The black-haired wizard was deep in thought when he heard a soft knock at the door.
Careful to not wake Lily up, he peeked through the little spy hole at the door and sighed.
He opened the door and held his index finger in front of his lips.
"Lily is sleeping"
"Then let's go to my quarters then. I trust Lily had told you what they found out in the library. Severus has been even more cagey than normal. I have to ask Kim later what exactly they have put him through"
James pulled his invisibility cloak around his shoulders and followed his friend and Harry along the corridor.
In Remus sitting room, the werewolf provided them with tea and biscuits while James told them what had happened.
"The two of the past, the four of the tower, the one of the light…. that could be nearly anybody" Harry sighed and sipped on his tea.
"Well, we can be sure that 'will circle the devil' is certainly referring to Voldemort" Remus stated and the others nodded in agreement.
"There are two people that come to my mind who are linked to Old Tom by mind and that's Albus and you, Harry" James said and ruffled his son's head.
"Well, that leaves still 6 more identities we have to clear" Harry retorted and sighed.
"Lily said that Snivellus has found out that the caster of the spell have to be connected to the receiver in some way, but it's not clear if everybody mentioned in the riddle have to be connected and if so, in which way"
"I think that is for us to find out then" Remus said with a strained voice and beckoned them over to his little study.
"Uhm, I think I will talk to Hermione about this. She's the Gryffindor brain; maybe she can solve the riddle" Harry said and excused himself.
While James and Remus busied themselves with the riddle, Harry rushed back to the common room.
His friends were sitting at their usual table. Hermione was studying as usual while Kayla helped Ginny with her potions homework and Kelsey and Ron played chess.
Harry rushed over to them and whispered in Hermione's ear. "Can we meet in your room? There's something important I have to tell you"
The prefect nodded and rushed to her room. Fortunately, the other Gryffindors were too busy with studying and chatting that nobody became suspicious when Harry, Ron, Kelsey, Kayla and Ginny shortly afterwards disappeared upstairs.
When they all had settled down on Hermione's bed, the two little armchairs and a cushion on the floor, Harry started to explain.
They all listened curiously and Hermione was feverishly taking notes.
"Then my father said that the devil in the riddle most definitely is Voldemort and 'the one of light' either Dumbledore or me"
"This sounds quite plausible, in my opinion" Hermione said thoughtfully and bit her lower lip absentmindedly. "However I think it's more likely you than Dumbledore. You and Voldemort are linked through the spell that went wrong and both of you don't have to perform a certain spell to invade the other's mind. Dumbledore and Voldemort both have to use legilimency."
"Yes that's true" Harry admitted, not exactly happy about the fact that he once again has been destined to be everybody's saviour. "But what about the four of the tower? What people do we know that come in groups of four?"
Ginny counted "The four founders, the four marauders, the four –"
"Dwarves?" Ron suggested.
"Honestly Ron" Hermione chided. "You should take that more seriously. And by the way there were seven dwarves, not four. Seven is a very important number in muggle fairy tales, just as the number 3 –"
"Thanks for the lecture, Hermione" Ron interrupted her and rolled his eyes.
Hermione shot him an annoyed look and just when she was about to shoot back, Harry held his hand up.
"Stop it now! We don't have the time for any childish bickering. If my mother is right, then Voldemort will attack soon and if we don't have the riddled figured out by then and know what to do, I will be the meat in Voldemort's immortality-stew"
Ginny slapped a hand over her mouth and made a low retching noise in her throat.
"Don't say something like that"
"I'd say we get to work then"
Severus had just finished his report for the Dumbledore and McGonagall when one of the house-elves appeared with a plop.
"Professor McGonagall, ma'am, there is a visitor waiting for ma'am"
"Very well, that was quick" the headmistress said grimly and clenched her hands to fists on the desk. "Show her to my old office. We'll meet her there in just a moment"
The house-elf bowed deeply and disappeared.
Snape gave her a quizzical look and Albus explained "A new staff member has just arrived"
"Who's leaving?"
"Oh, Sybil has told me on Friday that she's going to the Sahara" Minerva said with a severely strained voice.
Snape's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he shook his head in disbelief.
"Sahara? The desert? But what, in the name of Merlin, is she going to do in the desert?"
"Well, she said she had a dream about a nomad who had ordered her to come to receive a long awaited prophecy" Minerva explained, her voice showing how ridiculous this idea was to her.
"Well, probably a little chat from camel to camel, I presume" Snape sneered and Albus hid a chuckle behind his hand.
"I think it would be the perfect time to introduce you to your new colleague, Severus" he headmistress said, not without a little sarcasm in her voice by the word 'colleague'.
"If it is absolutely necessary. I'd rather go back to the dungeons; it's been a stressful weekend.
"You'll have enough time to rest on Sunday" Minerva said firmly and Snape knew he wouldn't get out of this.
Hopefully this won't take too long, he thought and followed Albus and Minerva.
When they entered McGonagall's old office, a young witch in her mid-twenties was sitting in an armchair, holding a little terrier on her lap.
She better keeps this filthy rug with teeth away from me, or I won't have a problem to get a certain ingredient for the next decade, Snape thought grimly when he gave her a curt nod of recognition.
"Let me introduce you to Severus Snape, our potion master" McGonagall said with an even voice. "This is Miss Regula, our new divinations instructor"
The witch rose from her chair, still holding the tiny dog in one arm and offered her hand to Severus.
"Please call me Lupa, everybody does" she smiled brightly and Snape felt a sickening twist in his guts.
Oh bloody brilliant, another twit with a misty, I'm-everybody's-darling- attitude, he thought and shook her hand reluctantly.
Her bright green eyes sparkled in merriment when she turned back to Albus and Minerva, her green travelling cloak swinging with the movement just as her long brown hair, which was adorned with flowers and tiny butterflies that flapped their wings.
"I will order Filch to show you to your rooms" the headmistress said with a quick nod to Snape, who took that as a dismissal and almost fled the room before one of those terrible butterflies could escape or even worse, Albus would expect him to walk the dog.