Chapter 2 – Word Feast
The students sat assembled in the Great Hall, awaiting the arrival of the Headmaster. There was a bit of a stir at the Slytherin table when a copy of the Daily Wizard began making the rounds.
"Look here, Snips! You're famous!" said Evan Ryper, handing the paper to Severus Snape. A moving photo of Sev, Lily, and James having a snowball fight inside the crystal bubble caught his eye.
"Oh, great," the Seventh-Year student said, wrinkling his nose. He snapped the newspaper open and began to read.
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HOGWARTS STUDENTS SAVED IN SNOW MYSTERY
Copyright 1977 Wizards' Press International
A plot to abduct three Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry students was foiled last week when Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stepped in. The Seventh-Year students involved are James Potter, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape.
Magickal World Professor Frey Azaki told reporters that he and the three children had been hiking on nearby Mt. Muldoon when the students were Disapparated away by unknown forces – unknown, at least, until he saw the Sign of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named appear over the mountain itself.
Professor Dumbledore learned that the three had been transported to a location near the summit of Mt. Cotopaxi, which has an altitude of 29,528 feet. The children would have died from exposure and high altitude cerebral edema within minutes of their forced Apparation. He was able to successfully bring them back, encased in a protective bubble. The rescued students played in the snow captured inside the bubble as their classmates – basking in the warmth of a late summer day – looked on. The children were examined at the school's Hospital Wing and are fully prepared to begin classes two days from now.
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Fwaaaap!
A wadded-up piece of paper smacked Severus in the back of the head. With a hiss of annoyance, he shoved the newspaper back at Ryper and turned around. He leaned down and recovered the note, uncrinkling it with a tinge of foreboding.
It was a haiku.
From Sirius Black, to boot.
Mountain-climbing creepy Snape
Too bad he didn't stay
Freezing his huge nose.
"Oh brother," Severus sneered. Fully unwrinkling the paper and smoothing it flat, he turned it over and penned his own poem. Wadding it up tightly, he turned around, and – keeping a close watch for faculty notice – pegged Peter Pettigrew with it.
"Hey, what gives!" the chubby Marauder yelped. He tossed it at Sirius Black, who promptly unwrapped it.
Dumb ass cannot write
A plain haiku correctly
Does he count his toes?
Black grinned and began to write, scribbling over the Slytherin's work. Snape observed that the boy counted on his fingers throughout the creative process.
The Gryffindor's concentration was broken, however, when Headmaster Dumbledore began the welcoming ceremony. He warned everyone to stay out of the Forbidden Forest and away from the Third Floor, gesturing at Argus Filch and his cat.
"I'll bet you a galleon that Mrs. Norris is really a lady," James Potter said, snickering.
"If she is, does he give her catnip to get her frisky?" Remus Lupin returned. Potter stared at the usually timid Lupin and broke out laughing.
Professor McGonagall and the new students had just completed the Sorting when Sirius Black began penning furiously once again. He finished just as the Headmaster revealed that this year's words were bubble and squeak, capybara, jitterbug, and quasar. The Headmaster waved his hands, and the feast began.
Smiling, Black flung the paper at the Slytherin Table, where it eventually made its way into Snape's hands:
A drippy-nosed dork
Everybody hates his ass
He smells like bat dung.
"That Gryffie jerk," Severus muttered, eradicating Black's verse with a spell so he could write his own. While he was thinking, however, a touch of magical warmth came from the paper and he saw a shimmery haze that formed itself into letters:
You should be eating
Try the brisket, it's delish
Now settle down, child.
Severus looked up at Headmaster Dumbledore and grinned.
When Albus' gaze fell upon his own dinner plate, the Slytherin turned and gave Black the one-finger salute. Black returned it, as did several other Gryffindors. The Slytherins laughed and returned the favor until Professor Penderdandis caught them, hissing at them to stop right this instant.
So satisfied, Severus turned to taste the brisket. It was good, all right; leave it to Albus Dumbledore to recommend the tastier foods. Severus thought about the first bowl of pistachio ice cream he'd had here in the Great Hall. He sighed in remembrance and tried the whipped potatoes with chives and a bit of cream cheese.
Another shimmer appeared to the left of his plate. When it cleared, Severus found his heart's desire -- a large bowl of ice cream.
Pistachio!
Severus looked up.
The Headmaster was speaking to Professor Flitwick, but he turned to look at the boy.
Thank you, Severus mouthed with a huge grin.
Dumbledore smiled and nodded.
Severus also felt the Headmaster's warmth in his heart and in his mind.
He cares for me.
He will protect me.
He is my father.
I would die for him --
I would die for him and the Child of Light.
Without another word to anyone, Severus cleaned his plate and tucked into the ice cream.