Chaos comes to Hogwarts
Chapter 1There was utter confusion, and questions were being thrown all over the place in the side room. For once only a few of them were about Harry Potter. Alison was standing staring into space, seemingly oblivious to the world around her, when Snape silently appeared beside her.
"Just where is this University you are from?" He asked quietly, a slight sneer of suspicion in his voice. The gradual darkening of the mark on his arm – a process that had begun some time before now – had not escaped his notice, and he seemed, for some reason, to be attracting former Death Eaters if Karkaroff was any indication.
"South of here." She answered, tilting her head a little to one side. "Is it really important at this point?" She raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways but got no response. A very Slytherin-like answer, Severus thought. He was…intrigued…by this stranger, but also very wary. If the Dark Lord were to return, Albus would no doubt wish him to spy once more, and that could not be done if he gave himself away to someone who, potentially, could be a loyal Death Eater.
Dumbledore finally entered immediately locking twinkling eyes with her and extending a tendril of thought towards her, apparently, unguarded mind.
"Miss…Alison." He showed no outward response other then the brief grimace of pain as he was mentally slapped… Hard.
"That's your only warning old man." Alison said coldly, confusing all but two others in the room. Snape's eyes narrowed, and he wondered whether Albus had run into a particularly nasty occlumency barrier, had been counter-attacked by legilimency, or a combination of both. Whichever it was, it made this stranger all the more dangerous.
"What do you know of Harry's name being entered in to the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore settled for asking, not yet prepared to engage in an all-out battle of wills against an unknown quantity. Alison tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows.
"That it was, obviously, as he appears to be one of the champions." She answered evasively.
"Could you tell me anymore?" Alison remained silent, as though the question had not been asked. Snape, standing next to her still, was definitely intrigued by this new enigma in Hogwarts. There were precious few people in the world capable of either standing up to or fending off Albus in the short term; he would have to wait and see whether she was capable of continuing to do so. It promised to be interesting to say the least.
"Well, since it is a magically binding contract, we have no choice but to let them compete." Dumbledore's words overrode the protests of Madame Maxime and Igor Karkaroff. "I think what would be best now, is for us all to go and get a good nights sleep."
The other people in the room slowly departed, taking the hint for what it was and already knowing where they would be staying, leaving Alison alone with Snape and Dumbledore. The Headmaster seemed to be wondering where to put her, but whatever decision he had reached, if any, he was pre-empted by his Potions Master.
"Perhaps the guest quarters near my rooms would be best Headmaster." Snape suggested. A slight flicker of something – possibly amusement – crossed Alison's face but it was fast enough to leave anyone who might have seen it wondering whether they had merely imagined it.
"Come." Snape simply stated, and left the room with Alison following behind him. Dumbledore watched them go with a hard expression; he would have to keep a close eye on this…girl…
----
Alison followed Snape down into the dungeons without a comment, listening quietly and attentively as he gave her the password for the portrait at the entrance to the guest rooms, and then pointed out the various rooms inside. As he went to leave, however, she suddenly became quite nervous.
"Professor Snape…I…have a request for you." Her hesitant words caught his attention instantly. Where had her confidence gone, had it just been a façade?
"Which is?" He prompted when she seemed lost for words.
"I would like to think that I am a good judge of character." His expression hardened; if this was going to go where he thought it was, where it sounded like it was, then he wanted nothing to do with it. "I do, however, know quite a few things of importance; such as the prophecy…in full." That certainly caught his attention again, surprising him enough for it to actually show. It definitely hadn't been what he expected after her first words, although he thought that might have been, at least partially, the idea.
"So you believe, what? That I won't go running to Dumbledore with your secret?" Snape wondered aloud.
"Or Voldemort." She glanced pointedly at his left arm, and he barely suppressed the instinctive reaction to check that his mark hadn't, impossibly, suddenly become visible through the sleeve of his robes. They were both walking a fine line with this conversation now, and it was quite clear to Severus that Alison, for the moment, had the upper hand.
"Who are you?" Severus demanded.
"Someone who shouldn't be here, but is. When I find out why, and more importantly who is responsible, well…" Her teeth definitely weren't bared in a smile. "Anyway, that's besides the point. I don't support Voldemort, but neither will I become a pawn for Dumbledore."
"You intend to remain neutral?" Snape wondered, once again, aloud. It would be difficult if that was her intention, but he suspected, from the way she had managed to dodge Albus' questions earlier, that she might be able to do it.
"Unless I see a clear advantage, or an opportune moment in which to advance my own interests." There was no doubt in his mind that, had she attended Hogwarts, she would have made a fine Slytherin; and if he read between the lines correctly, a powerful one. "I think we are not too dissimilar as far as the war is concerned." Snape arched an eyebrow, a clear hint for her to explain her comment. Surprisingly, she did so. "I know what you appear to be…to both sides, but even I'm not certain where your true loyalties lie, although I would hope they would lean towards a…grey…side. Should one appear."
A third option, Snape thought. But, as she had indicated she knew, he was already a spy for both sides in the war. If he were to side with, well, her, then he would need certain assurances. He would also need to know what, exactly, she would require of him; he didn't think he could spy on three sides at once without being caught out – two was quite bad enough.
"Perhaps, if, like yourself, I saw an advantage for myself. It would have to be…powerful…motivation – I would not be gaining insignificant enemies were I to change my colours once more." There was a pleased expression on her face, subtle, but there, along with a gleam that suggested she was already calculating – or recalculating – her plans.
"I have no wand, currently." Snape waited, certain the non-sequitur would, somehow, prove to be linked to their previous topic of conversation. "I intend to request a custom made wand from Ollivander, however, the ingredients I wish to use are slightly…unusual." Severus was intrigued. What could this have to do with him, unless she required something he was likely to have in his potions stocks?
"I would like to use a thestral's tail hair, soaked in your blood." It took a few moments for her words to sink in, and then Snape found himself only able to blink in confusion.
"That would key your wand to me." He pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to use it." She grinned.
"Trust me, I will." Snape's thoughts whirled, trying to process that, then it struck him.
"You're a thestral animagi?" She nodded. "But why would you create a wand keyed to you and to me?" She shrugged.
"Like I said, if I see an opportune moment I will take it, and not necessarily with magic. Besides, no one would suspect you if you were surreptitiously casting spells with a wand keyed to me – who, after all, keys a wand to two people?" Snape could see the logic behind her reasoning. "I will ask nothing of you, Professor Snape, that might jeopardise your precarious position, and I will take into consideration any objections or ideas you wish to share."
"Do you require an answer now?" She shook her head.
"The blood, though…that I require whether you would aid me or not." Her tone was firm, and Snape suddenly wondered whether she did, indeed, want his blood for a wand core. There were a lot of spells – illegal, but he didn't think she would be bothered by that – that used blood…a lot of nasty spells. She seemed to sense his hesitation, and its cause. "I will watch you put the blood in a vial, give you the hair and watch you put it in the blood, but I will let you keep hold of the vial. You have no reason to trust me."
"Very well." Severus slowly agreed. "I shall fetch a vial from my offices." Alison watched him leave the room, certain that he would be back, and then set about retrieving a tail hair from her thestral animagi form.
----
The following morning found Alison sitting at the Slytherin table, and the subject of much speculation by all the houses. She was sipping from a gently steaming goblet – which was rumoured to be fresh blood, although it was really coffee – when Snape appeared silently behind her.
"Good morning, Severus." Snape's eyebrow rose, and the students in the immediate area started to choke and splutter at her use of their Head of House's first name. Snape himself was certain that his approach had been without warning, and she had certainly given no indication that she had heard him, so how had she known he was there? Another mystery to add to the growing list he decided, along with how, exactly, she had even known his first name – certainly he hadn't told her the night before.
"Tolerable, so far." Severus replied. "The Headmaster wishes to see you in his office." He sounded irritated at being made to carry the message.
"Does he now?" Alison responded rhetorically. "Well, I need to see the school Medi-witch first." She went back to calmly sipping the nearly-finished coffee, but clearly not intending to rush. There was a long pause while she finished her drink off, which Snape used to contemplate the clear message of control being sent to the Headmaster. He finally decided that discovering why she wished to see the Medi-witch was potentially more rewarding – information wise - than attempting – he doubted she would have allowed herself to be coerced into going to see the Headmaster first – to enforce his image of seemingly blind obedience to the old man. After all, didn't the welfare of students, and guests, take precedence?
"Very well. I will take you to the Hospital Wing."
----
The trip to the hospital wing was, unsurprisingly, made in silence. When they got there they found Madam Pomphrey treating a young boy's scraped elbow, no doubt the result of a minor mishap in the corridors.
"Okay, I've seen her. Shall we go?" Severus, several paces into the Hospital Wing, whilst Alison was still at the doors, turned with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Would you care to explain why we came here, if you do not, in fact, require medical attention?" Alison gave a slight shrug and a quick flash of teeth that might have been a grin.
"I don't take well to strangers casting spells at me. I wouldn't want to hurt someone trying to help me. Plus the Bumblebee needs to learn that I won't dance to his tune." Severus growled quietly, annoyed that the diversion hadn't had a real purpose, but mildly amused by the continued defiance of the Headmaster.
He swept past her and back down the stairs, robes billowing behind him, much to Alison's amusement. She'd always thought the stories she'd read tended to exaggerate about Snape's robes…apparently they didn't.
Several minutes of quick walking, again in silence, and Alison was standing next to a familiar gargoyle, waiting for Snape to give the password.
"Cockroach cluster." The Potions Master muttered distastefully, not really bothering to try and prevent her from overhearing. As soon as she saw the moving staircase, revealed as the gargoyle obediently moved aside, Alison was reminded of muggle escalators, although this was in stone.
----
There was a short stretch of corridor between the top of the escalator and the door to the Headmaster's office. Alison paused there, letting Snape move ahead of her once more. She had a theory she wanted to test…
"Come in, Alison." Snape's hand paused, centimetres from the door handle, and he glanced at the girl. She was smirking as though something had just been proven – truth be told, it was the first time Severus had ever heard Dumbledore get the identity of whoever was opening the door wrong – and gestured for him to open the door and enter.
They entered the office, Alison close enough behind Snape to catch the brief expression of surprise on Dumbledore's face before he quickly masked it with benevolent amusement. Automatically she scanned the room, assessing where danger might come from, and exits she might take in an emergency. There was the door behind her, obviously, and probably a concealed door or two, but the most obvious route was the window.
Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face as he offered them both a seat, and then asked if they would like tea and biscuits, or perhaps a lemon drop. Alison accepted a cup of tea, unlike Severus, but joined him in his rejection of the lemon drops.
"Well my dear, it would seem you will be staying with us for a while. The duration of the tournament at least. I am, however, at a loss as to why you did not begin attendance at the age of eleven, as you certainly seem to have magical abilities."
"Hogwarts does not have a monopoly on magical children." Alison stated. Snape wondered at the evasion. Hogwarts was the only magical school in Britain, and she had no trace of a foreign accent, so either she had been home schooled – in which case she would still have been sent an invitation to attend Hogwarts – or…or what? It all came back to the slight mismatch in behaviour and the age she appeared to be that he had noticed the previous night. Had she been schooled abroad and then come to a University in Britain, losing any foreign accent in the process? Another curious detail was the fact that she had to have come from a muggle University, as the Wizarding world didn't have Universities.
"Indeed, well, now that you are here, I believe the first thing we need to do is to see just what level your magical ability is at. To this end I must ask you to take a few exams." Alison's response was immediate.
"No. No exams. I would appreciate access to the library, and I will speak to the relevant professors should I wish for extra tutoring in any discipline." She spoke firmly and sounded quite professional. Snape was starting to think that his suspicion – that her age was a few years older than her appearance might suggest – was more valid than he had first thought. How old was she really? Twenty? Twenty-one? If she was the type who lost accents quickly then it was entirely possible.
"I would be happier if we could set up a proper timetable for you, and ensure that you are receiving a proper education." Dumbledore's tone had become more forceful and authoritative, but it didn't seem to phase Alison, for she gave a disdainful sniff before she commented on his words.
"And so that you know where I am, or should be, every moment of the day? I think not. I will, however, need to make a trip to Diagon Alley today." Dumbledore seemed to have the sense not to push the timetable issue, instead focussing on her requests, perhaps thinking that she would be more amenable to his suggestions if he allowed her some leeway. Snape wondered why she hadn't pointed out that she had finished said schooling, as she must have done to be a student at a muggle University.
"Very well, Severus, would you kindly escort Miss…" Dumbledore turned back to Alison, who hadn't missed the fact that Snape hadn't been given a choice in the matter of escorting her. "I'm sorry, I have yet to know your surname…?" Alison just smirked.
"I know." She agreed, rising from her chair and turning to Severus. "Let's go."
The Potions Master rose and followed her out of the headmasters office, silently impressed at how Dumbledore's manipulations had been expertly, and firmly, sidestepped. Definitely a Slytherin. Which made all the more reason for him to be suspicious of her and her motives, however open she'd been about them the previous night. He started to wonder again whether it was a good idea to have acquiesced over her wand being keyed to him through his blood, but, as he'd reasoned during the brief journey to fetch the vial – nestled in an inner pocket of his robes now – as long as he retained possession of the vial and its contents until the moment it was handed to Ollivander, there wasn't really anything that she could do with it. It was, as she had said, an arrangement from which only he seemed to benefit.
----
As they walked down the path to the school gates, which marked the edge of the wards, Severus finally asked the question that had been nagging at him since they had left the Headmaster's office.
"What do you require from Diagon Alley?" Well, he'd intended to ask how she'd fooled the Headmaster into thinking it was her opening the door, or perhaps her age, but apparently his mind had copped out and gone for a question unlikely to offend and likely to be answered.
"Well, first a quick trip to Gringotts," Alison replied, thinking of the small golden key she'd found in her bag last night. "Then a visit to Ollivanders." Snape knew of that visit, for he had been quite personally involved with the preparation of one of the core ingredients she planned to use. "Madam Malkins, the Magical Menagerie, Knockturn Alley, and finishing with a trip into muggle London." There was a moments pause.
"Is Knockturn Alley a wise idea?" There was no answer, not that he had really expected one.
"Oh, and, um…" They had reached the edge of the wards, and Snape wasn't convinced that Alison's flushed cheeks were entirely due to the brisk breeze. "I can't apparate…"
Rolling his eyes, and mentally wondering at the fact that she was of age but hadn't immediately gone to get an apparition license – as most newly of-age wizards and witches seemed to do – Severus clamped a hand firmly on her shoulder, ignoring the flinch and the slight squeak of surprise, and apparated them both to London.
----
The queue in Gringotts was unusually large for a weekday, and it took nearly half an hour before they – for Severus wasn't about to let Alison out from under his suspicious watch – finally reached the goblin teller.
"I'd like to withdraw some funds from my vault." She stated, placing the key she had found onto the counter. The goblin's eyes widened marginally, and she wondered for a moment whether she was about to be arrested for theft, but instead it gestured for another goblin to join them. A brief, whispered conversation took place between them, and then they both turned to face her. Feeling particularly apprehensive now, Alison prayed that she looked more imposing than panicked.
"Griphook will escort you to your vault milady." It was only the sudden and complete detachment from the fact that this was really happening, that enabled Alison to keep her shock from showing plainly on her face, and by the time she realised that no, she wasn't dreaming, they had reached the carts.
Alison blanched. There was a reason she didn't like rollercoasters.
----
Fifteen minutes later – although it felt like an eternity, a hellish eternity, to Alison – and they were, thank all the Gods, leaving Gringotts. Her small black backpack, which had been the only other thing, besides her clothes, that she had arrived at Hogwarts with, now contained a small, plain-looking purse that was anything but ordinary. It was bottomless, or rather, it could hold anything that fitted through the mouth; something to do with pocket dimensions that Alison thought she understood, but couldn't have explained for the life of her.
Now, standing on the wide steps leading up to the bank, sucking in great, refreshing breaths of fresh air – that wasn't travelling past at God knew what speed – Alison decided it was time to place her wand order with Ollivander.
They hadn't passed the wandmaker's shop on their way to Gringotts, and Diagon Alley being a straight-ish street along which even she couldn't get lost, Alison had no difficulties in heading in the opposite direction to the Leaky Cauldron. Glancing to her side to check that Snape was still, as he had been since their arrival in London, hovering just behind her, she pushed open the door and stepped into the shop…
…and promptly sneezed as the dry air tickled her nose. The sound, as though the bell over the shop door hadn't already done the job, alerted Ollivander to the presence of customers, and he emerged quietly from a backroom to stand behind the counter.
"Professor Snape." Ollivander greeted him politely before turning his attention to Alison. "Ah, dear lady, I don't believe we have met before."
"We have not." Alison agreed. "And please, call me Alison." Ollivander merely smiled slightly.
"How may I be of assistance to you – a new wand, yes? But not just any wand I think, not for you dear lady." Snape was quite sure, given the expression on Alison's face, that she knew she would quickly grow – if she hadn't already – tired of Ollivander's manner of addressing her. But she also looked resigned to the fact, as thought she also knew that she was unlikely to get the wandmaker to call her anything else without giving him – and thus giving Severus as well – her surname. He wondered why she was taking such pains to keep her surname a secret – was it that recognisable? Surely not; so maybe it would be recognisable to certain people… That narrowed down the list of who she might possibly be.
"No, not just any wand. I would like a custom wand, made of whichever wood and dimensions you see fit, containing," Alison turned to look at Snape over her shoulder. "Professor?" Severus quickly withdrew the small vial from his robes. Overnight and this morning the thestral hair had absorbed all of the blood and now lay tangled at the bottom of the vial, looking, unsurprisingly, wet and bloody. It almost, he thought, placing the vial carefully on the counter, looked like an extremely long and well-fed leech.
"Ah…" Ollivander's slight noise of surprise and intrigue was accompanied by a widening of his eyes, and he leaned forward to peer at the vial's contents.
"And also containing, this…" She pulled a dark green scale from her bag; some sort of very large snake, Snape thought, or perhaps a very small dragon – he didn't recognise it, which was unusual, so it had to be rare. Ollivander's eyes widened even further. "Can you do it?" Ollivander glanced up at her, then almost possessively pulled the core ingredients across the counter towards himself.
"Oh yes, yes, and quite the challenge it shall be. Dear lady, I am almost tempted not to charge you, simply for the pleasure I shall gain in creating such a masterpiece." Alison merely smiled.
"I assume it will take a few days for you to craft. I will be at Hogwarts if you wish to owl me when it is complete." Ollivander nodded almost absently, lips moving as he silently calculated whatever it was that wandmakers calculated to do their work.
Leaving the preoccupied man to his work, Alison turned and led the way back out into the street once more, pausing a moment to gain her bearings before heading towards Madam Malkins.
----
Two sets of plain robes later, and Alison was considering cloaks. She knew, for her planned trip into Knockturn Alley, that she would need a cloak to cover up her obviously-muggle clothes – there was, after all, no better way to say 'mug me' in Knockturn Alley – but that left her with the issue of what to do with her bag. Finally she decided on a long black cloak with a silver Ouroboros pin.
After pulling out her purse to pay for the clothes she had purchased – the robes were being sent direct to Hogwarts – Alison placed the purse into her right trouser pocket, drew the cloak on, and then turned to Severus, an expression he recognised all too well on her face.
"Could you shrink this for me, please Professor." Merlin help him, but she even sounded like one of his Slytherins begging a favour. Scowling he complied, expression not lightening in the slightest as she put the shrunken bag into her left trouser pocket and pulled the cloak around herself. He had to admit, however, that she didn't seem to be unaware of the dangers of entering Knockturn Alley in muggle clothing.
Knockturn Alley, however, wasn't quite the next stop on Alison's list. Passing Gringotts again – how many times was that now, Snape wondered – he resignedly followed her up to the doorway of the Magical Menagerie. The raucous cacophony from inside was enough to convince him that he did not, under any circumstances, wish to enter the shop with her, or at all for that matter.
"I shall remain here." Severus stated, casting a disdainful look into the shop as she opened the door.
"Okay." Alison cheerfully agreed. Snape wondered what she was hoping to hide now.
----
Barely five minutes later, and he had just begun to wonder whether something in the shop had eaten her, when Alison reappeared, conspicuously lacking in familiar.
"Did nothing find you to its taste?" He enquired, almost morbidly curious. The bright grin she flashed at him warned him that she had, and he guessed that she'd had whatever it was sent direct to the castle.
"Ferrets." She sniggered in answer. Snape failed to see quite what was so humorous about ferrets, but he reasoned that even magical ferrets were unlikely to pose a threat to lives, and thus had no objections – as long as she kept them away from him, his offices, living quarters and classroom of course.
They halted at the entrance to Knockturn Alley, and Severus was pleased to see that Alison's humour had vanished beneath a somewhat forbidding expression. He was also slightly confused as to how her moods could change so quickly, for although he had been a spy – and might yet be again - his underlying nature had never seemed to change the way hers did.
"Are you sure you wish to go there?" Severus asked again.
"Quite sure." Alison answered. Discretely she flicked her hand, muttering 'Incommodia' as she did so. They both felt the slight tingling as the magic took hold.
"What was that?" Severus hissed, looking confused and slightly worried, for whilst he understood the Latin, he didn't know the spell and was thus uncertain what it was supposed to do.
"Think of it as a mild notice-me-not spell." Alison explained. Internally crossing her fingers and hoping that the minor Dark magic wouldn't be registered by the Ministry. Severus, wondering what sort of 'mild notice-me-not spell' would use Dark magic, never mind dark magic, remained silent as they then entered the dark and grimy alley.
----
They spent an hour in Knockturn Alley, passing from small shop to small shop as Alison made several borderline-illegal purchases of a variety of small items. They then made their way out of Knockturn Alley, up Diagon Alley, through the Leaky Cauldron and out into muggle London. They spent half an hour shopping in London – mainly for clothes and other…feminine…things, much to Severus' dismay – at which point Alison realised it was a quarter past twelve, and almost literally dragged Severus into a muggle restaurant for lunch. Fortunately, from Snape's point of view, after eating she acceded to his insistence that he needed to return, in order to salvage what remained of his potions classroom.
----
Two days passed, most of which Alison spent holed up in her room, reading books that she had borrowed from the school library, absently petting her ferrets as they presented themselves for attention, and occasionally wandering down to the kitchens – book in hand and nose in book – for something to eat and yet more coffee to drink.
On the third morning, however, she was once again present at breakfast, sitting between the Slytherin seventh years and the Durmstrang students. She looked more like a Ravenclaw, what with her nose being in yet another book – one of the seventh year transfiguration texts if the title on the spine was genuine – but the way in which she promptly closed it as the post owls entered the hall, suggested that she hadn't been entirely unaware of her surroundings.
----
The note that she had been expecting, and received, was from Ollivander, to inform her that her wand had been completed, and was now ready for collection at whatever time was convenient for her. It was a Wednesday, and since she knew that Snape would only brush her off with the excuse that he had classes to teach, Alison instead decided to wait for the weekend – and then remind him whose blood had been involved as a core ingredient; she was not the only one who would have to test their compatibility with it.
----
Her second visit to Diagon Alley was much more purposeful – and coordinated – than the first had been, since she now had a much better idea of where things actually were. Ollivanders had been the first stop, of course, and it was difficult to say which of the three of them had been more amazed by the results of the wand testing.
For starters had chosen quite an unusual wood – if Snape's expression had been anything to judge by – for the wand; laburnum. From what Alison remembered, the tree had quite beautiful yellow flowers when in bloom, but its seeds were highly poisonous. Ollivander had been quick to expand on her knowledge, explaining that the darkness of the wood – from the centre of the trunk – had made it a substitute for ebony in the past, and that its hardness was legendary. He had also explained that it was not native to Britain, before Snape had jumped in, demanding to know how an intrinsically non-magical wood could be used in a wand.
Ollivander had looked slightly sheepish at that, but there was an excited gleam in his eye as he'd explained that, had he not used a non-magical wood to balance the core components, the first time either Alison or Snape – the two people who could actually use it – had touched the wand, it would have exploded due to sheer magical overload.
After the explanations, they had moved on to the actual testing, which, to put things mildly, had gone very well. Through her choice of core ingredients Alison had managed – purely accidentally – to ensure that not only was she able to access all of her magic – rather than being limited to Severus' level, which was slightly lower – but to ensure that Severus' magic was correctly focussed – rather than being spread too thin down a wider channel. Ollivander, needless to say, was quite ecstatic at the discovery.
When they finally managed to get away – and Alison had both forced payment upon, and a confidentiality oath from, Ollivander – Snape was somehow unsurprised to find himself being led back into Knockturn Alley.
----
As with Diagon Alley, Alison was now much more certain about where she was going for the purchases she obviously intended to make. Snape found himself slightly disconcerted by the realisation that she had no qualms about letting him observe transactions that were likely to be quite a bit more questionable than the last time she'd been there. He wondered whether she was truly blindly trusting him on this – there was no way she could know that Dumbledore had told him to spy on her activities after all – or whether it was actually a test, to see whether he was willing to let her prove that she could keep her end of their bargain; should he agree to it.
He still hadn't made his mind up by the time she had finished buying a large amount of Scribble and Scribe's Dark Arts books.
----
Books, however Dark, turned out to be the most innocuous of the items that Alison went on to purchase. Not only did she acquire a formidable arsenal of bladed weapons, but she also purchased battle robes – along with, inexplicably, a good length of the material that it was made from – wand and weapon holsters, a combat potions belt, and a large assortment of both legal and illegal potions. It seemed, now that she had a wand and could hide things more effectively, that Alison was less concerned about the schemes of nosey headmasters – or other teachers sent to observe what they would.
----
The day ended with Severus once again, despite his scowling expression, being dragged into muggle London for lunch, before Alison someone reluctantly allowed him to apparate them back to the Hogwarts gates. Watching her disappear down the corridors into the dungeons – and presumably to her rooms – Severus couldn't help but think that life at Hogwarts was going to get a lot more…interesting, from now on…
AN: As my dear friend admits the length is all fault her fault mutters bloody co-authors making me work mutter anyway thank you to the one person who reviewed it was really appreciated and we are flattered by the high compliment that was paid. A couple of things first the pin on Alison's cloak just in case you don't know (like I didn't) is a snake eating its own tail, she just used the fancy word for it and secondly sweets for anyone that can guess the reason for Alison's sniggers when she leaves the Magical Menagerie.
Final note on the bit outside Dumbledore's office. Alison could confuse him apparently because of the detection charms placed on the gargoyle and his door are separate and so switched places in between just after getting off the stairs.
BN (Beta Note): eh, well, as beta and co-author, I'm afraid I'm to blame for the length of this one, gomen, but as anyone who's read my work may realise, I don't do short chapters :p Zephyr5 (ps. If anyone's wondering, this chapter was about 4 pages long when it was sent to me for betaing, I'm now sending it back to V.d.Mouse at about 14 pages Oo) pps. The main plot points behind this are all V.d.Mouse's – I just fleshed them out (sometimes considerably) in places, so credit to her
Information on laburnum trees from:
http/www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/trees/laburnum.htm