A/N: Chapter beta read by Forty-Two Dreams. All remaining mistakes are mine.
THE PUPPET MASTER
Dumbledore looked gravely at Hogwarts's staff members, all assembled in the Headmaster's office.
"Ladies, Gentlemen," he began with a sombre frown. "I am sure you are all well aware of the seriousness of the crisis Hogwarts is going through. Last night, roughly fifty students as well as Minerva were poisoned by the Dormant Poison, which is, as you might know, incurable."
The Headmaster paused, looking older than ever.
"I've been dealing with the Ministry during the last few hours, and their investigations led to a dead-end."
Snape stared at Dumbledore: the implication of the House Elf or of the Malfoys had been totally hushed up.
"As for the parents," Dumbledore went on, "they are understandably quite furious. A lot of them wanted to take their children to St Mungo, and those have already been transferred there."
The old wizard gave a look around at the silent teachers in front of him.
"I also discussed the matter with several Healers at St Mungo," the Headmaster continued. "They told me not to hold onto any hopes concerning the possibility of finding a cure. They don't have enough time on their hands to search for one." He paused again. "Which is why I was wondering if, maybe, one of you would have heard of anything that could help find a cure."
Dumbledore waited a few seconds, looking expectantly at the teachers, but none spoke up. "Anything, even just a lead," Dumbledore persisted, sending Snape an insistent look. "Severus, if I remember correctly, you have, ah… a fascinating collection of books, shall I say?"
Snape glared back at him and shook his head. What did he expect exactly? And what was he getting at? No, nothing sprang to his mind any more than to the other teachers. The Dormant Poison was incurable; anyone with the least knowledge about Dark Arts knew that - as did someone with an extensive knowledge about Dark Arts.
"Maybe something related to poison-induced curses?" the Headmaster asked again.
Something suddenly clicked in Severus' head. Where had he heard of poison-induced curses before? Oh, he suddenly realised. Wasn't it mentioned somewhere in that book Wilson had yearned for? 'Combining different kinds of magic', was it? Yes, there was a section dealing with poison-induced curses!
Snape sharply looked left to the other side of the room where the Charms teacher was standing. She was frowning, with an expression of sudden comprehension on her face, until she turned right to look back straight at him. She had read about it too, Snape concluded.
Dumbledore noticed their exchanged glance - looking as though he had expected it.
"Severus, Endora? Anything to suggest?" he asked.
Snape was the first to answer, with the odd feeling that Dumbledore already knew what he was about to explain - on days like these, Dumbledore sounded frighteningly more like a puppet master than a mere Headmaster. "I own a book - that Professor Wilson read as well - dealing partly with potion-induced curses, but I have never used any of its contents for experimentation."
"Do you think the information contained in this book could be used to elaborate a cure?" Dumbledore questioned.
Snape hesitated. He hadn't read it in detail, and would have to read it again to answer that question. But Wilson, on the other side of the room, was nodding vigorously.
"This book's section is very complete," she replied, "and would constitute an excellent basis for experiments."
"Then would you be able to carry out research for a cure, using this book's information?" Dumbledore queried.
Did the puppet master want to let the puppets think they still had some free will? Snape shrugged off this thought - this wasn't the Dark Lord he had in front of him, but Dumbledore, a wizard that had helped him more than any other ever would.
Wilson hesitated for a second before shaking her head. "This part of the book deals with combining Charms and Potions, and I'm not skilled enough in Potions, not to mention experimental Potions."
Dumbledore turned to Snape with a questioning look, but before the Headmaster could ask him the same question, Snape shook his head as well. The Potions part would obviously not be a problem to him, but he wasn't skilled enough in experimental Charms.
Who would be skilled enough in both Charms and Potions to be able to carry out these experiments? Snape wondered. Apart from Dumbledore himself, he couldn't think of anyone qualified enough. Maybe McGonagall would have been, though.
"I could have a try."
Just like all the other teachers, Snape turned to stare disbelievingly at Ursaglow. The confidence that man had in his own abilities was astounding.
"That's a very kind offer, Mizar," Dumbledore replied with a warm smile, "but I'd rather have our Charms and Potions specialists work together on this."
Snape suddenly straightened in his seat. He glared at Dumbledore for a moment, then glared at Wilson - who was glaring back - before glaring at Dumbledore again. He wasn't serious, was he? No, wait. This was Dumbledore after all - even the craziest thing that wizard said had to be taken seriously.
"With you, Endora, taking care of the Charms part, and you, Severus, taking care of the Potions part," Dumbledore went on, "I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before you find a cure to the Dormant poison."
Snape glared once more at Wilson with antipathy. She looked as thrilled by the prospect of working with him as he was.
"I would like all of you," Dumbledore said as he turned to the other teachers, "to help them both should they require your assistance in any area."
All wizards and witches nodded.
"Thank you all for coming here today," Dumbledore concluded. "Severus, Endora, could you remain here a few more minutes?"
Snape waited until everyone was gone except for the three of them to burst out.
"Albus, if you really intend me to – "
He was cut short by the Headmaster. "Severus, this is no time for petty and selfish considerations," Dumbledore said gravely. "We have no time to spare. These children, as well as Minerva," he reminded, "need a cure. Quickly."
Snape opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Dumbledore.
"I want the best to work on this," the Headmaster went on. "And as far as I'm concerned you two are more than skilled enough in experimentation in your respective research fields."
"You could – " Snape began.
"I would deal with it myself," Dumbledore said as though he had read Snape's mind, "if I wasn't busy enough dealing with the Ministry, the parents, and my usual load of school administration as well as Minerva's."
Snape hesitated before arguing again - or rather attempting to. "But – "
"I do hope that by now, you have developed enough trust in each other, especially after what you've both been through, to be able to work together, haven't you?"
Snape remained silent for a few seconds, staring at Dumbledore who was looking back at him above his half-moon glasses. Snape averted his eyes with a sigh, only for his gaze to fall on Wilson. She was looking at the Headmaster, an expression of resignation on her face.
"So, Severus," Dumbledore continued, "will you agree to work with Endora, or will I have to ask Mizar to take over the job?"
Snape shot a venomous look to the old wizard, feeling offended that he would suggest Ursaglow as an alternative to him. He eventually nodded sharply with another annoyed sigh.
He already seemed to have too little free time. Now he would have virtually no free time at all. Which meant that his personal project was officially on hold for an unspecified duration.
Absolutely brilliant.
"Good," Dumbledore went on, "this is settled then. I will leave the organisation to your discretion," he said looking alternately at Snape and Wilson, "but if I may, I would like to give you two a little piece of advice. I think it would be interesting to share your notes on your respective ongoing projects and use them as a base to start your research."
Snape had a noticeable start when the Headmaster mentioned his project. How could he know about it? Or rather, how could he know enough about what it was about to think it could be of help - which it could be, as Snape realised now that Dumbledore had suggested it.
Snape gave a quick look at Wilson. She was staring blankly at the Headmaster, gaping slightly. She might also be a bit paler than the minute before.
"How– how do you know?" she asked quietly.
Dumbledore discarded the question with a slight smile, and Snape thought he saw a mischievous twinkle in the old wizard's eyes.
"I sincerely hope you both follow my advice. And," the Headmaster concluded, "good luck to the two of you."
The next day, the lessons - which had been temporarily cancelled since the poisoning - started again. It had been agreed that he and Wilson would meet that evening, once the lessons were over and once the Occlumency one Snape had with Potter was done with. It had also been decided they would work in the Potions classroom, since Wilson could work on Charms virtually anywhere, while Snape could hardly work anywhere other than in his Potions lab.
As always, Snape didn't look forward to meeting Potter. And obviously the boy didn't look forward to seeing him either. It was quite clear that Potter had trained on his own during these two years: it now took him longer to fail miserably at trying to prevent Snape's mental intrusions.
Overall there wasn't much improvement, though. Snape always ended up accessing some pathetic memory of Potter's, and Potter always ended up angrier - when would the boy understand that anger was exactly what he should avoid at any cost?
Potter managed to get past Snape's own mental barriers only once that day, but thankfully the lesson was over only a few minutes later. Snape soon wondered whether he should really be thankful when he saw Wilson and Potter meet on the Potions classroom doorstep.
"Hey, Harry," Wilson greeted with a warm smile. She was holding a stack of parchments under her arm.
"Good evening, Professor," Potter replied, looking relieved to see a friendly face down there. "Er, Professor?" he called Wilson back as she moved away. Potter then cast Snape a quick look before whispering something to Wilson.
The witch's answer was loud enough for Snape to hear. "You won't manage to get in touch with him, he's, erm, busy these days."
Potter smiled sadly and left.
Wilson headed for Snape's desk and laid down her stack of parchments there while Snape browsed through his own pile of papers to make sure everything was there.
"Here's a compilation of my notes on - hey, isn't that a Pensieve?"
Snape looked up and saw Wilson stride to the cupboard where the Pensieve was stored and bend over the bowl eagerly.
"I never saw one for real, it's such a rare item… Is it really like they say in books?" The witch turned her eyes filled with overexcitement toward Snape. "Can you really see someone else's memories as if you actually lived them?"
She looked like a child with a new toy. Snape nodded unenthusiastically. Wilson turned her attention back to the Pensieve and began to tap the bowl lightly. Seeing this, Snape instantly stood up with alarm and strode towards the cupboard.
"That's so fascinating, I've always wondered – "
Snape would never know what she had always wondered for he closed the cupboard's door sharply, not caring that her fingers were in the way.
His initiative was welcomed by a shout of pain followed closely by several nasty curses. Wilson then cast him a murderous look. As a reply, Snape arched his eyebrows defiantly. After a few seconds she headed back towards his desk, muttering under her breath.
Each of them picked up his or her own notes. Snape was reluctant to hand her a collection of information so precious to him - so was she, obviously.
"This," she said as she clutched her papers tightly, "represents many years of work. So I would appreciate some care when handling it."
"The same goes for my notes," Snape warned.
After a few more hesitant seconds they eventually exchanged their notes warily.
To his own surprise, Snape found Wilson's notes to be a quite interesting read. Not because, as he quickly gathered, this was all about finding a cure for the werewolf condition - how surprising coming from a werewolf's sister. But because it felt as though what he read in there could help him solve the problems he encountered with his own project.
It was striking how what had stopped Wilson in her progression was her distaste for Potions. And while she was reading his own notes, Snape was sure the witch was realising what he now knew had stopped his progression - his disinterest for Charms.
Snape now understood why Dumbledore had set both of them on this job. The connection between the werewolf condition and poison-induced curses was almost instantaneous. As for the Dark Mark… Few but those who had experienced it first hand knew it was provoked by the absorption of a potion. A potion to get closer to your flesh than any spell or curse could - to get in your flesh and mark it indelibly.
But now Snape realised it had been no ordinary Dark Arts potion, and after reading both 'Combining…' and Wilson's work, he wouldn't be surprised if that very special potion had been a Charmed one… Which would explain why all his experiments until then had failed. A potion could always be countered by another potion, but a Charmed potion… this was unexplored territory for him.
With both of their works as a start and the enlightenment provided by 'Combining…', they might be able to work something out. It would be a long way, but they just might… And Snape could see the faint possibility that in the process they may find what he had looked for for years: how to get rid of the Dark Mark…
It almost made him enthusiastic about this whole project. Almost.
Coming Next: The Joys of Teamwork