Beta-reader appreciation: Many thanks to Birgit and Spartina for inspiring this chapter. Thanks to Miss K for beta-ing it :)
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Chapter 5 – Oakvine and Dragon's Tear
Snape had lectured Draco Malfoy for hours after Lucius Malfoy left. He expressed his disappointment and anger that a student from his house would do such a thing as attacking a teacher, provoked or not. It had been very tactless and he deserved, at best, to be expelled. He didn't listen to Malfoy's protests and took eighty points off his own house and gave Malfoy three weeks detention. "I hope," he concluded, "that will teach you a lesson."
---
Snape walked quietly along the wall of his office, listening intently to the rustle on the other side. He was sure he'd heard some commotion in his classroom, the chime of something being banged against a cauldron and a smash of a bottle. Luckily he hadn't gone to bed yet and was still fully clothed. It couldn't possibly be Peeves! He had scolded Peeves often enough and he finally seemed to understand that Snape was the Head of Slytherin House, and could therefore order the Bloody Baron make Peeves stay away from the dungeon. Of course, Snape had never actually tried to order the Bloody Baron to do anything, but the threat often kept Peeves off his back.
He pushed his ear closer to the wall, his black hair falling into his eyes. No, it definitely wasn't Peeves. He could hear two people talking...male and female. It couldn't possibly be students! No student would be foolish enough to mess around in this dungeon after hours! It had to be teachers...but what could they possibly be doing in his classroom?
Very quietly, he opened the door, just enough to see Isolde sort out potions ingredients on a table and...Lupin...casting a spell to light fire under Snape's biggest cauldron. What on earth were they doing!
"Shouldn't we ask Severus if we can use his equipment?" Lupin asked and filled the cauldron with water by magic.
Isolde picked up a bash of dried nettles and pulled out about half of them. "No. Besides, it's not his equipment, or his classroom. It all belongs to Hogwarts and Dumbledore's given me permission to use what I need," she said as she roughly cut the nettles into smaller pieces.
Lupin shook his head and poured what looked like tiny clover eggs, out of a small sack, and into a wooden bowl. "I'm sure that Dumbledore meant for you to ask Severus permission first, Izzy."
"Oh, stop being so...decent," she said, shot him a look and poured green nymph powder into the cauldron, which was starting to boil. "Besides, he won't mind."
Lupin picked up the wooden bowl and started crushing the eggs. "Now, you don't know that -"
"Fine, Remus, I don't care if he minds or not," she said harshly, and slammed down what had to be a bottle of sunflower essence, judging by the thickness and colour. Isolde sighed loudly and cast an apologetic look at Lupin. "Can we just do this, Remus?"
Lupin smiled at her and put down the wooden bowl, and started measuring the contents. "Yes, of course. Did you have a bad day today?"
Isolde threw the nettle pieces into the cauldron and stirred vigorously. "So much has changed...I went to the library today and I'm never going to catch up on my reading!" A small amount of the potion splashed onto the floor and Isolde softened her stirring immediately. "I've finally read all of the new Runes books – you wouldn't believe the sudden interest over the past 13 years – but I still have so many Potions, Herbal and Astrology books to read. And then there's Charms, Geology and Charm-Crafting..."
She poured five jars of knotgrass into a big bowl, walked towards the ingredients shelves and started searching through them. "There's one book I tried to find in the library, but I don't think they have it. It's a Potions book, called Oakvine and Dragon's Tear, by Madam Greenwater..."
Snape saw her move some bottles and jars, the long, dark locks of her hair moving softly as she reached for a small pouch of blueweed dust. She held the pouch in her hands and carefully poured some into her palm.
"Izzy! You can't take things from his private stores," Lupin said in a hushed voice, and walked over to her, taking the pouch from her hand and moving to grab her other hand, presumably to empty it back into the pouch.
Isolde nimbly moved away, hurried over to the cauldron and put the blueweed dust into it. "Severus won't mind..." she whispered absent-minded as she watched the blue fumes gush up into the air.
They worked quietly for a while, measuring, timing, stirring and adding ingredients. Snape still stood behind the crack of his door and watched. After a while, Isolde walked back over to the shelves and started moving the bottles.
"What are you doing now?" Lupin asked and walked over to her.
"I need five bicorn horns..." she said and snapped her head at him when he removed her hand from the shelves.
"I have some bicorn horns in my private chambers. I'll go and get them. We can't use Severus's ingredients without asking him."
Isolde crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "These are not his ingredients, they're Hogwarts. Besides, he won't mind," she argued impatiently and glanced over at the cauldron.
"His ingredients or not, knowing him, he probably keeps inventory of everything and it isn't fair to just take some. I'll go and get the bicorn horns," Lupin said with finality in his voice before letting go of her hand and walking out of the classroom.
Isolde stood there for a moment, looking from the door to the shelves, and finally walked back to the cauldron to stir it. Snape looked at the self beside him, pulled out a book, opened the door of his office further and quietly walked in.
She had her back turned to him and he was only a few inches away from her when she jumped and turned around at the same time. She stared into his face with a fearful, yet distant, look in her eye. It seemed as if she was looking through him, at something behind him...or as if she was looking into a different reality.
"Isolde?" Snape asked and put his hand on her shoulder while clutching the other around his book.
Isolde jumped back slightly and finally seemed to realise who he was, and where she was. She scanned the room with her eyes and ended at Snape, looking him up and down, as if recently awaken from a dream and not fully conscious yet. She stepped back, glared at him, and went back to stirring the contents of the cauldron, thoroughly ignoring him.
Snape walked around the cauldron and stopped by the table. "Nettles, crushed clover eggs, blueweed dust, sunflower essence, green nymph powder, knotgrass and...bicorn horns, was it? Are you making a Forgetfulness Potion?"
Isolde didn't answer but reached into her pocket, drew out a small pouch and threw it onto the table.
Snape picked it up, placed the book under his arm, opened the pouch and took out a small piece of charwood. "Claresco Potion?"
Isolde shot him a cold look with her grey eyes, turned on her heel and walked to the ingredients shelves. "May I borrow some bicorn horns until Remus gets back – and he is coming back you know," she said icily, looking over her shoulder.
"Of course," Snape said while he put the charwood back into the pouch and pulled on the thread to close it. "You may use whatever you need," he said and felt the corners of his mouth curl upwards at the whole situation.
"Of course," Isolde muttered to herself and searched through the bottom shelf.
Claresco Potion... It was a recently discovered potion that enhanced the senses – hearing, taste, sight and attention... It was, however, still on experimental stages and any possible side effects were unknown. He wondered why she would need that potion...although he could very well guess... The victims of Reality Comas often had trouble with keeping their reality. Some had woken up briefly and fallen asleep again. Snape knew that Isolde was a special case, but she clearly wasn't fully recovered.
He walked up to her, reached for a sack in the top shelf and handed it to her. With narrowed eyes and pursed lips she accepted it and walked over to the table.
"They're whole – I need powdered ones," she said as she took one horn out of the sack and examined it.
"You crush it yourself," Snape answered with a curled lip and handed her a big bowl.
Isolde put five horns into the bowl, picked up a pestle and feebly tried to crush the thick horns. She glanced at Snape, who stood with his arms crossed, hiding the fact that he was highly amused.
"We have a spell for that now," he said and pulled out his wand. "Oblido," he muttered and showed her the wand movement very clearly. The horns crumbled down, in the bowl she was holding, and turned into fine powder.
Isolde gazed down into the bowl for a moment and then turned it upside down over the cauldron. The colour of the potion turned light green and as Isolde stirred it, more vapour arose and obscured Snape's vision of her.
"Is there a reason you're making such a big portion of it?" he asked calmly and glanced at the book he was holding. There was no answer from behind the fumes, but when it cleared he saw that Isolde was gazing down into the cauldron.
"So that I don't have to make it as often..." she whispered absent-minded and stirred automatically. After a quiet moment, she stopped, widened her eyes and quickly let go of the stirring branch, as if she had burned herself, and slowly backed away from the cauldron, baring her hands in front of her. "Go away!" she whispered shakily, staring at the cauldron, again as if she was in her own universe.
Snape swiftly moved around the cauldron and over to Isolde. He supported her unsteady body and she fell limp into his arms.
"Isolde?" Snape whispered and shook her. "Isolde!" he said louder and shook her again. She didn't wake up, so he picked her up and laid her on the teacher's desk.
At that moment, the door opened and closed behind him. "What did you do to her!?" Snape heard Lupin say in an angry voice.
"I did nothing," Snape said in forced calm and glared at him.
Lupin examined Isolde and shoved his bicorn horns at Snape. "These need to be crushed and added."
"It's already been done," Snape said and pushed the horns back at Lupin. Neither would take them, so they fell down on Isolde's chest and then onto the floor.
"Add the knotgrass then, it needs to be stirred for one minute," Lupin said and bent over Isolde.
"I know that!" Snape spat, swirled around and walked over to the cauldron. He emptied the big bowl of knotgrass into it and stirred more violently than usual, while he watched Lupin stroke Isolde's forehead with a cloth and whisper something to her.
After precisely one minute, Snape put some of the potion into a vile and hurried over to the teacher's desk. Lupin held Isolde's head back while Snape poured down the bright yellow liquid.
Nothing happened. Snape didn't know Lupin very well personally, but what he did know of the werewolf, was that he was usually calm and patient. He therefore glanced up at Lupin as Lupin gave an impatient sigh, while looking down at the unconscious woman.
Suddenly, Isolde sat up and coughed heavily. She covered her mouth with one hand and pointed at a water jug with the other. This time, Lupin hurried to get water while Snape stood by her back, ready to catch her if she'd fall again. She gulped down the water and slowly let herself lie down on the desk, taking deep, calm breaths.
"Thank you, Remus," she whispered and reached out a hand for him. Lupin carefully took it and smiled down at her.
Snape thinned his lips as he walked back to the cauldron and started heaving the potion into the large jars that stood beside it.
"You should thank Severus as well, Izzy," Snape heard Lupin whisper, but decided to ignore the two of them.
He heard Isolde get off the desk and walk over to him, and when he looked over his shoulder he saw that Lupin stood firmly by her back to prevent her from falling. Isolde, however, hadn't come over to thank him. She had the coldest look in her eyes as she grabbed the jar Snape was holding and started heaving the potion into it.
Irritated, Snape grabbed his Oakvine and Dragon's Tear book from the table and shoved it at Lupin. "I'm loaning this book to her," he whispered icily and strode off, into his office, snapping the door shut behind him.
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Professor?
Isolde turned around. "Yes, Miss Granger?" She looked at the girl before glancing at Draco Malfoy, who was sniffling heavily at his desk. He had his head leaned backwards and his nose was sticking up into the air. She suspected that this was some attempt of his to get some attention...or the beginning of some snide remark.
Granger cleared her throat. "We've been learning a lot of history of the runes and I was wondering...when are we going to learn how to actually use them?"
Isolde turned her attention back to Granger and looked at her in surprise. "We have spent time on how they're used in magic..." She was interrupted by Malfoy's slight moan and she noticed that he put his forefinger under his nose.
"Yes, but I mean, when are we going to have some practical lessons?"
Isolde was about to respond when Malfoy beat her to it. "I don't believe they work. I've never seen them being used in magic. I've only heard about rune-magic." He looked at Isolde and she saw thick, red liquid run down from his nose and out between his fingers. "May I be excused?" he continued and pointed at his nose with his free hand.
"No, you may not, Mr. Malfoy," Isolde answered and walked up to his desk. "But allow me to demonstrate."
She reached forward and took some of the blood on her finger, and drew a symbol on his forehead while chanting the proper words three times. The symbol stayed clear on Malfoy's pale forehead for a moment, but then disappeared under his skin when she finished the chant.
Malfoy had sat still with a look of curiosity on his face while she demonstrated on him, but now he frowned and removed his blood covered fingers, looking at them from under his brow, a lock of his blond hair falling into his eye. The bleeding had stopped.
Isolde conjured up a small piece of white cloth and handed to him. "That is a practical example of how runes are used. This particular one is useful when there are no magical herbs available." She took one last look at Malfoy before walking up to the blackboard and facing the class. "It is, however, imperative that you learn the correct history, theory and symbols before attempting the actual magic. One incorrect line can result in great horror."
A student from the front raised his hand. "That wasn't one of the Futhark runes..."
"Quite right Mr Boot. That was a rune found in the book Graskinna," Isolde said and looked into Malfoy's grey eyes. "Does anyone know about the three books, Rauthskinna and the two Graskinna?" Malfoy returned her stare with a smirk behind the cloth.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" said Isolde to the girl who shot her hand up into the air.
Granger rearranged herself in the seat and put her quill down. "They were written in Latin around the 17th century and owned by wizards in the North. The two Graskinna are kept in a museum, but the third, Rauthskinna, was buried with the wizard, Bishop Gottskalk the Evil, and hasn't been found," she concluded and looked very content with herself.
"That's correct. 5 points to Gryffindor," Isolde said, rather impressed. She hadn't expected any of the students to know about the books - except for Malfoy, perhaps. She was about to continue with her teaching when she noticed another hand up in the air. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"
"My father told me that Rauthskinna was, in fact, found many years ago."
"And just what do you know about Rauthskinna, Mr. Malfoy?" Isolde asked and walked back down to his desk, placing her hands on it and glaring into his eyes.
Malfoy sat back in his seat and removed the cloth from under his nose, glaring back at her with relish. His pink nose was very contrast to the rest of his pale face. "I know that Gottskalk the Evil was the greatest wizard of the Nordic countries and he studied at the Black School both in Iceland and France. He wrote the book in human blood and bound it in human flesh. Rauthskinna, unlike the other two books, contains only dark magic, written in runes.
Isolde pushed herself away from the desk and took a few steps backwards, opening her mouth and closing it again. Malfoy was smirking at her in a subtle way, occasionally looking down at the bloody cloth. She knew that in all fairness she should award him House points.
"The other two books use dark magic to heal, gain control and power, but they're nothing compared to Rauthskinna, so...5 points to Slytherin," Isolde said coldly and walked up to her desk, looked down at the open book and felt a sudden rush of pain shoot across the inside of her head. She'd have to end the lesson earlier today, not that the students would mind...
"Professor?"
"Yes, Miss Brocklehurst?" Isolde said and hid her pain from the children looking at her.
The Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst, sat in the back, gnawing on a quill, with blond locks falling down from her bun. "If the third book, Rauthskinna, has been retrieved, then where is it?"
Isolde looked at Malfoy who sneered slightly as he talked. "The book was stolen after it was retrieved, and is now believed to be in the possession of a witch, here in Britain."
Stolen indeed, Isolde thought, but turned to Brocklehurst. "The book is safely kept from those who want to use the dark knowledge it contains. Now, read chapter 20 in Ancient Runes of the North II for the next lesson. Class dismissed."
She watched the students push around to leave and then she snapped her book shut, grabbed it and walked into her office.
Stolen indeed!
She dropped the book on her desk, strode into her private chambers and threw herself onto the bed. With a furious sigh she picked up the book from her bedside table and looked at it. Oakvine and Dragon's Tear, by Madam Greenwater... She had nearly finished it by now. It was well kept, no scrapes, not torn or crumbled pages – how very characteristic of Snape... The golden, cursive script on the cover slowly moved and the tail of the 'g' stretched out and tickled the oakvine that decorated the page. The woman on the cover, an old witch holding a bottle of dragon tears, shushed at the oakvine and narrowed her eyes at the 'g'.
Isolde opened the last chapter and lost herself in the reading. She had taken her time with this book, dreading the time she'd have to return it. But that time would inevitably come...
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To be continued in chapter 6 – Full Moon
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;)
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Chapter 5 – Oakvine and Dragon's Tear
Snape had lectured Draco Malfoy for hours after Lucius Malfoy left. He expressed his disappointment and anger that a student from his house would do such a thing as attacking a teacher, provoked or not. It had been very tactless and he deserved, at best, to be expelled. He didn't listen to Malfoy's protests and took eighty points off his own house and gave Malfoy three weeks detention. "I hope," he concluded, "that will teach you a lesson."
---
Snape walked quietly along the wall of his office, listening intently to the rustle on the other side. He was sure he'd heard some commotion in his classroom, the chime of something being banged against a cauldron and a smash of a bottle. Luckily he hadn't gone to bed yet and was still fully clothed. It couldn't possibly be Peeves! He had scolded Peeves often enough and he finally seemed to understand that Snape was the Head of Slytherin House, and could therefore order the Bloody Baron make Peeves stay away from the dungeon. Of course, Snape had never actually tried to order the Bloody Baron to do anything, but the threat often kept Peeves off his back.
He pushed his ear closer to the wall, his black hair falling into his eyes. No, it definitely wasn't Peeves. He could hear two people talking...male and female. It couldn't possibly be students! No student would be foolish enough to mess around in this dungeon after hours! It had to be teachers...but what could they possibly be doing in his classroom?
Very quietly, he opened the door, just enough to see Isolde sort out potions ingredients on a table and...Lupin...casting a spell to light fire under Snape's biggest cauldron. What on earth were they doing!
"Shouldn't we ask Severus if we can use his equipment?" Lupin asked and filled the cauldron with water by magic.
Isolde picked up a bash of dried nettles and pulled out about half of them. "No. Besides, it's not his equipment, or his classroom. It all belongs to Hogwarts and Dumbledore's given me permission to use what I need," she said as she roughly cut the nettles into smaller pieces.
Lupin shook his head and poured what looked like tiny clover eggs, out of a small sack, and into a wooden bowl. "I'm sure that Dumbledore meant for you to ask Severus permission first, Izzy."
"Oh, stop being so...decent," she said, shot him a look and poured green nymph powder into the cauldron, which was starting to boil. "Besides, he won't mind."
Lupin picked up the wooden bowl and started crushing the eggs. "Now, you don't know that -"
"Fine, Remus, I don't care if he minds or not," she said harshly, and slammed down what had to be a bottle of sunflower essence, judging by the thickness and colour. Isolde sighed loudly and cast an apologetic look at Lupin. "Can we just do this, Remus?"
Lupin smiled at her and put down the wooden bowl, and started measuring the contents. "Yes, of course. Did you have a bad day today?"
Isolde threw the nettle pieces into the cauldron and stirred vigorously. "So much has changed...I went to the library today and I'm never going to catch up on my reading!" A small amount of the potion splashed onto the floor and Isolde softened her stirring immediately. "I've finally read all of the new Runes books – you wouldn't believe the sudden interest over the past 13 years – but I still have so many Potions, Herbal and Astrology books to read. And then there's Charms, Geology and Charm-Crafting..."
She poured five jars of knotgrass into a big bowl, walked towards the ingredients shelves and started searching through them. "There's one book I tried to find in the library, but I don't think they have it. It's a Potions book, called Oakvine and Dragon's Tear, by Madam Greenwater..."
Snape saw her move some bottles and jars, the long, dark locks of her hair moving softly as she reached for a small pouch of blueweed dust. She held the pouch in her hands and carefully poured some into her palm.
"Izzy! You can't take things from his private stores," Lupin said in a hushed voice, and walked over to her, taking the pouch from her hand and moving to grab her other hand, presumably to empty it back into the pouch.
Isolde nimbly moved away, hurried over to the cauldron and put the blueweed dust into it. "Severus won't mind..." she whispered absent-minded as she watched the blue fumes gush up into the air.
They worked quietly for a while, measuring, timing, stirring and adding ingredients. Snape still stood behind the crack of his door and watched. After a while, Isolde walked back over to the shelves and started moving the bottles.
"What are you doing now?" Lupin asked and walked over to her.
"I need five bicorn horns..." she said and snapped her head at him when he removed her hand from the shelves.
"I have some bicorn horns in my private chambers. I'll go and get them. We can't use Severus's ingredients without asking him."
Isolde crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "These are not his ingredients, they're Hogwarts. Besides, he won't mind," she argued impatiently and glanced over at the cauldron.
"His ingredients or not, knowing him, he probably keeps inventory of everything and it isn't fair to just take some. I'll go and get the bicorn horns," Lupin said with finality in his voice before letting go of her hand and walking out of the classroom.
Isolde stood there for a moment, looking from the door to the shelves, and finally walked back to the cauldron to stir it. Snape looked at the self beside him, pulled out a book, opened the door of his office further and quietly walked in.
She had her back turned to him and he was only a few inches away from her when she jumped and turned around at the same time. She stared into his face with a fearful, yet distant, look in her eye. It seemed as if she was looking through him, at something behind him...or as if she was looking into a different reality.
"Isolde?" Snape asked and put his hand on her shoulder while clutching the other around his book.
Isolde jumped back slightly and finally seemed to realise who he was, and where she was. She scanned the room with her eyes and ended at Snape, looking him up and down, as if recently awaken from a dream and not fully conscious yet. She stepped back, glared at him, and went back to stirring the contents of the cauldron, thoroughly ignoring him.
Snape walked around the cauldron and stopped by the table. "Nettles, crushed clover eggs, blueweed dust, sunflower essence, green nymph powder, knotgrass and...bicorn horns, was it? Are you making a Forgetfulness Potion?"
Isolde didn't answer but reached into her pocket, drew out a small pouch and threw it onto the table.
Snape picked it up, placed the book under his arm, opened the pouch and took out a small piece of charwood. "Claresco Potion?"
Isolde shot him a cold look with her grey eyes, turned on her heel and walked to the ingredients shelves. "May I borrow some bicorn horns until Remus gets back – and he is coming back you know," she said icily, looking over her shoulder.
"Of course," Snape said while he put the charwood back into the pouch and pulled on the thread to close it. "You may use whatever you need," he said and felt the corners of his mouth curl upwards at the whole situation.
"Of course," Isolde muttered to herself and searched through the bottom shelf.
Claresco Potion... It was a recently discovered potion that enhanced the senses – hearing, taste, sight and attention... It was, however, still on experimental stages and any possible side effects were unknown. He wondered why she would need that potion...although he could very well guess... The victims of Reality Comas often had trouble with keeping their reality. Some had woken up briefly and fallen asleep again. Snape knew that Isolde was a special case, but she clearly wasn't fully recovered.
He walked up to her, reached for a sack in the top shelf and handed it to her. With narrowed eyes and pursed lips she accepted it and walked over to the table.
"They're whole – I need powdered ones," she said as she took one horn out of the sack and examined it.
"You crush it yourself," Snape answered with a curled lip and handed her a big bowl.
Isolde put five horns into the bowl, picked up a pestle and feebly tried to crush the thick horns. She glanced at Snape, who stood with his arms crossed, hiding the fact that he was highly amused.
"We have a spell for that now," he said and pulled out his wand. "Oblido," he muttered and showed her the wand movement very clearly. The horns crumbled down, in the bowl she was holding, and turned into fine powder.
Isolde gazed down into the bowl for a moment and then turned it upside down over the cauldron. The colour of the potion turned light green and as Isolde stirred it, more vapour arose and obscured Snape's vision of her.
"Is there a reason you're making such a big portion of it?" he asked calmly and glanced at the book he was holding. There was no answer from behind the fumes, but when it cleared he saw that Isolde was gazing down into the cauldron.
"So that I don't have to make it as often..." she whispered absent-minded and stirred automatically. After a quiet moment, she stopped, widened her eyes and quickly let go of the stirring branch, as if she had burned herself, and slowly backed away from the cauldron, baring her hands in front of her. "Go away!" she whispered shakily, staring at the cauldron, again as if she was in her own universe.
Snape swiftly moved around the cauldron and over to Isolde. He supported her unsteady body and she fell limp into his arms.
"Isolde?" Snape whispered and shook her. "Isolde!" he said louder and shook her again. She didn't wake up, so he picked her up and laid her on the teacher's desk.
At that moment, the door opened and closed behind him. "What did you do to her!?" Snape heard Lupin say in an angry voice.
"I did nothing," Snape said in forced calm and glared at him.
Lupin examined Isolde and shoved his bicorn horns at Snape. "These need to be crushed and added."
"It's already been done," Snape said and pushed the horns back at Lupin. Neither would take them, so they fell down on Isolde's chest and then onto the floor.
"Add the knotgrass then, it needs to be stirred for one minute," Lupin said and bent over Isolde.
"I know that!" Snape spat, swirled around and walked over to the cauldron. He emptied the big bowl of knotgrass into it and stirred more violently than usual, while he watched Lupin stroke Isolde's forehead with a cloth and whisper something to her.
After precisely one minute, Snape put some of the potion into a vile and hurried over to the teacher's desk. Lupin held Isolde's head back while Snape poured down the bright yellow liquid.
Nothing happened. Snape didn't know Lupin very well personally, but what he did know of the werewolf, was that he was usually calm and patient. He therefore glanced up at Lupin as Lupin gave an impatient sigh, while looking down at the unconscious woman.
Suddenly, Isolde sat up and coughed heavily. She covered her mouth with one hand and pointed at a water jug with the other. This time, Lupin hurried to get water while Snape stood by her back, ready to catch her if she'd fall again. She gulped down the water and slowly let herself lie down on the desk, taking deep, calm breaths.
"Thank you, Remus," she whispered and reached out a hand for him. Lupin carefully took it and smiled down at her.
Snape thinned his lips as he walked back to the cauldron and started heaving the potion into the large jars that stood beside it.
"You should thank Severus as well, Izzy," Snape heard Lupin whisper, but decided to ignore the two of them.
He heard Isolde get off the desk and walk over to him, and when he looked over his shoulder he saw that Lupin stood firmly by her back to prevent her from falling. Isolde, however, hadn't come over to thank him. She had the coldest look in her eyes as she grabbed the jar Snape was holding and started heaving the potion into it.
Irritated, Snape grabbed his Oakvine and Dragon's Tear book from the table and shoved it at Lupin. "I'm loaning this book to her," he whispered icily and strode off, into his office, snapping the door shut behind him.
---
Professor?
Isolde turned around. "Yes, Miss Granger?" She looked at the girl before glancing at Draco Malfoy, who was sniffling heavily at his desk. He had his head leaned backwards and his nose was sticking up into the air. She suspected that this was some attempt of his to get some attention...or the beginning of some snide remark.
Granger cleared her throat. "We've been learning a lot of history of the runes and I was wondering...when are we going to learn how to actually use them?"
Isolde turned her attention back to Granger and looked at her in surprise. "We have spent time on how they're used in magic..." She was interrupted by Malfoy's slight moan and she noticed that he put his forefinger under his nose.
"Yes, but I mean, when are we going to have some practical lessons?"
Isolde was about to respond when Malfoy beat her to it. "I don't believe they work. I've never seen them being used in magic. I've only heard about rune-magic." He looked at Isolde and she saw thick, red liquid run down from his nose and out between his fingers. "May I be excused?" he continued and pointed at his nose with his free hand.
"No, you may not, Mr. Malfoy," Isolde answered and walked up to his desk. "But allow me to demonstrate."
She reached forward and took some of the blood on her finger, and drew a symbol on his forehead while chanting the proper words three times. The symbol stayed clear on Malfoy's pale forehead for a moment, but then disappeared under his skin when she finished the chant.
Malfoy had sat still with a look of curiosity on his face while she demonstrated on him, but now he frowned and removed his blood covered fingers, looking at them from under his brow, a lock of his blond hair falling into his eye. The bleeding had stopped.
Isolde conjured up a small piece of white cloth and handed to him. "That is a practical example of how runes are used. This particular one is useful when there are no magical herbs available." She took one last look at Malfoy before walking up to the blackboard and facing the class. "It is, however, imperative that you learn the correct history, theory and symbols before attempting the actual magic. One incorrect line can result in great horror."
A student from the front raised his hand. "That wasn't one of the Futhark runes..."
"Quite right Mr Boot. That was a rune found in the book Graskinna," Isolde said and looked into Malfoy's grey eyes. "Does anyone know about the three books, Rauthskinna and the two Graskinna?" Malfoy returned her stare with a smirk behind the cloth.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" said Isolde to the girl who shot her hand up into the air.
Granger rearranged herself in the seat and put her quill down. "They were written in Latin around the 17th century and owned by wizards in the North. The two Graskinna are kept in a museum, but the third, Rauthskinna, was buried with the wizard, Bishop Gottskalk the Evil, and hasn't been found," she concluded and looked very content with herself.
"That's correct. 5 points to Gryffindor," Isolde said, rather impressed. She hadn't expected any of the students to know about the books - except for Malfoy, perhaps. She was about to continue with her teaching when she noticed another hand up in the air. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"
"My father told me that Rauthskinna was, in fact, found many years ago."
"And just what do you know about Rauthskinna, Mr. Malfoy?" Isolde asked and walked back down to his desk, placing her hands on it and glaring into his eyes.
Malfoy sat back in his seat and removed the cloth from under his nose, glaring back at her with relish. His pink nose was very contrast to the rest of his pale face. "I know that Gottskalk the Evil was the greatest wizard of the Nordic countries and he studied at the Black School both in Iceland and France. He wrote the book in human blood and bound it in human flesh. Rauthskinna, unlike the other two books, contains only dark magic, written in runes.
Isolde pushed herself away from the desk and took a few steps backwards, opening her mouth and closing it again. Malfoy was smirking at her in a subtle way, occasionally looking down at the bloody cloth. She knew that in all fairness she should award him House points.
"The other two books use dark magic to heal, gain control and power, but they're nothing compared to Rauthskinna, so...5 points to Slytherin," Isolde said coldly and walked up to her desk, looked down at the open book and felt a sudden rush of pain shoot across the inside of her head. She'd have to end the lesson earlier today, not that the students would mind...
"Professor?"
"Yes, Miss Brocklehurst?" Isolde said and hid her pain from the children looking at her.
The Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst, sat in the back, gnawing on a quill, with blond locks falling down from her bun. "If the third book, Rauthskinna, has been retrieved, then where is it?"
Isolde looked at Malfoy who sneered slightly as he talked. "The book was stolen after it was retrieved, and is now believed to be in the possession of a witch, here in Britain."
Stolen indeed, Isolde thought, but turned to Brocklehurst. "The book is safely kept from those who want to use the dark knowledge it contains. Now, read chapter 20 in Ancient Runes of the North II for the next lesson. Class dismissed."
She watched the students push around to leave and then she snapped her book shut, grabbed it and walked into her office.
Stolen indeed!
She dropped the book on her desk, strode into her private chambers and threw herself onto the bed. With a furious sigh she picked up the book from her bedside table and looked at it. Oakvine and Dragon's Tear, by Madam Greenwater... She had nearly finished it by now. It was well kept, no scrapes, not torn or crumbled pages – how very characteristic of Snape... The golden, cursive script on the cover slowly moved and the tail of the 'g' stretched out and tickled the oakvine that decorated the page. The woman on the cover, an old witch holding a bottle of dragon tears, shushed at the oakvine and narrowed her eyes at the 'g'.
Isolde opened the last chapter and lost herself in the reading. She had taken her time with this book, dreading the time she'd have to return it. But that time would inevitably come...
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To be continued in chapter 6 – Full Moon
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;)