II

How Ambrose Sees Too Much

In a small area of Hogsmeade off the main road there lived a group of stout Muggles known by the locals as the "Haveners," after the town they originally came from. They, of course, knew everything about magic; and thus knowing everything also exposed their children to the fact that strange events that occurred in their youths were perfectly normal occurrences.

And of course, since the Muggles never attempted to curb their childrens' belief in magic, the Haveners had inevitably encouraged its development in them. In fact, the majority of Havener families now had children attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

None of that could have been possible without the efforts of one Corey Willowby, the adopted and oldest son of Jennifer Craw and Severus Snape. His house was easy to distinguish from the others on Haven Row, for not only had it grown a third story in recent years, but a very large greenhouse took up a large portion of the back yard. His wife Rose had a particular knack of growing things; herbs and children alike, and there was seldom a moment during the day when one could walk down the lane and not hear the voices of energetic children inside.

Severus Snape knocked briskly on the front door and was answered by thundering footsteps. The rosy face of a curly golden-haired boy appeared in the side window, forcing the curtain aside and pressing his cheek against the glass before running off excitedly. Severus sighed and knocked again. Finally, Rose came to the door with a year old curly-haired girl in her arm, staring at Severus with speculative, serious eyes.

"Oh, I am sorry to keep you waiting, Severus! Do come in! Care for some breakfast?"

"No, thank you. Actually, I came here to see if I could borrow your brother for an hour or two," Severus explained.

"Oh, him," Rose said, suddenly exasperated as she took Amber into the kitchen. Severus was about to follow when the young boy got in his path, holding out a book.

"Not now, Charles. I'm afraid I don't have time for that today," Severus told him.

"I'm Charles the Third," the boy told him proudly. Severus stared at him expressionlessly for a moment.

"Well, you are named after your grandfather and your uncle, yes, but I think Charles is good enough by itself, don't you?"

"I'm Charles the Third," he declared again stubbornly, holding out the book.

"You are the third Willowby to have that name, yes, but I still intend to call you just Charles. Besides, you have a different middle name."

"I'm Charles the Third," he insisted again. Severus frowned critically at the boy.

"You're going to turn out to be a Gryffindor, aren't you?" he said flatly.

Rose chuckled from the doorway.

"Corey has been trying to teach them family history, and I'm afraid Charles has gotten quite adamant on the number. Put the book down, Charles, and come eat. Stop pestering your grandfather. Hope, would you go down to the basement and ask Ambrose to come up? And ask your sister to do us the honor of appearing to breakfast for a change?"

"I don't think she's going to be able to make it," Hope said, peering in the kitchen to see what was on the table.

"What do you mean? Why not?"

"Because Ambrose is playing with his aquarium again. That's what I came up to tell you," she said.

"Don't tell me she's a newt again!" Rose exclaimed.

"No, just an eel," Hope explained. "Can I go ahead and eat?"

"That boy!" Rose said with exasperation, waving her daughter in. "He's already lost every single privilege we can think of taking away from him for casting magic, and still he pushes us to the limit!"

"Care if I go down and handle it?" Severus offered.

"I would be grateful. He actually listens to you, and the situation has gotten out of hand. In fact, we've gotten three letters from the Ministry just this week threatening to suppress his magic if he doesn't stop this," Rose said.

"Draco knows how I feel about that already. I'll not have him stifled when he simply needs discipline," Severus said.

"We hardly let him run wild, Severus. And my mother is even stricter with him than we are," Rose said. "But considering how strong he is for his age, and considering his heritage, perhaps it's necessary…"

"Not until it's the last resort, Rose," Severus said firmly as they walked to the basement.

"We may be closer to that last resort than you think, Severus," Rose said, opening the door for him so he could head downstairs.

There he found a boy who had just turned seven with his head laying on his folded hands and looking into a rather large fish aquarium. Along the bottom were tiny Fomorian houses and even several meticulously carved wrecks filled with chests of Galleons that spilled out and covered the bottom of the tank.

"Good morning, Ambrose," Severus said, and immediately the dark-haired boy whirled around, his blue eyes sparkling with surprise and excitement.

"Godfather! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to ask you to Hogwarts, but I'm not about to do something of the sort when Natalie seems to be missing from the house, am I?" Severus said sternly.

"She's not missing! She just…wanted to go swimming today," Ambrose explained with a grin.

"Really," Severus said, obviously not amused. "Let her out, Ambrose." Reluctantly the boy sighed and reached in the tank, fishing out an eel.

Just as he was pulling it out, it bit him hard and he dropped it. As it hit the floor, the eel immediately turned into a rather damp eight-year-old girl. Natalie scrambled to her feet and was instantly on Ambrose, ignoring the barks coming from Severus ordering them to stop. A second later, the two of them found themselves hanging upside down from their toes.

"Ambrose, apologize to your niece," Severus snapped.

"I'm sorry I turned you into an eel," Ambrose said glumly.

"Not accepted," Natalie said angrily.

"Good enough," Severus said, letting them go. "Come along, Ambrose, we're going for a walk."

"Wait a minute! Aren't you going to make her apologize to me?" Ambrose protested. Severus gazed at him expressionlessly for a moment.

"No, I don't think so, unless she feels you deserve one, which you probably don't," Severus said, turning back upstairs. Natalie stuck her tongue out at Ambrose, and then hurried to make sure she was right behind her grandfather in case Ambrose tried something else.

"I hate girls," Ambrose said, following them upstairs.

"I will be leaving with Ambrose now," Severus told Rose. "But he's promised to weed the Griffonlilies in the greenhouse when he returns. You shouldn't be doing that sort of work in your condition anyhow," he added, ignoring the fact that Ambrose's jaw had dropped at his forced 'volunteerism' while Natalie was grinning triumphantly.

"Well, that was nice of him," Rose said, gazing at Ambrose who slowly closed his mouth.

"Yes, well, if he changes his mind, or starts grumbling about it, or you suspect he's tried to cheat with magic at all, let me know and I'll arrange for him to spend the night at Azkaban…in the Fourth Quarter," Severus said calmly.

"You can't do that," Ambrose said unsurely.

"Try me," Severus said. "Shall we go?" Reluctantly, Ambrose nodded and followed Severus out. Rose shut the door behind them, shaking her head with a smile.

"Typical," Hope said from the kitchen table. "Even when he's in trouble, he still gets to go on an outing with Grandfather."

"I'm sure your grandfather has his reasons," Rose told her daughter.

"Well, at least he'll be missing breakfast," Natalie said, sitting down at the table. It was nice to win a round every now and then.

But Ambrose hadn't really been paying much attention to his stomach. Time alone with Severus was a very rare event, and Ambrose wasn't about to waste it by complaining about missing breakfast or about his temporarily suspended punishment. For as distant as Severus was to the boy, he was the closest thing to a father that Ambrose had truly ever known, and somehow was the key to all the questions that Ambrose often asked himself. Of that, the boy was quite certain, but he was just as certain that it wouldn't be easy to get many answers out of the quiet, taciturn Headmaster.

"Are we really going to Hogwarts, Godfather?" Ambrose asked, hurrying to keep up.

"I need your assistance to test something. It won't take long."

"It can take as long as you like! I've always wanted to see Hogwarts. I can't wait until I can go there to study!" Ambrose said.

"Who says you are going to make it there, especially the way you're going?" Severus asked.

"What do you mean? I think I've already proven I have enough magic…"

"That doesn't mean you should be flaunting it or abusing it," Severus scowled at him. "The Ministry is already on your mother's case about it, and I find myself getting increasingly involved in the matter. If you do not curb this path of self destruction you are on, you are never going to make it to Hogwarts."

"But I have dreamt of being there, Godfather. I know I make it…"

"Ambrose, how many times have I warned you not to accept any visions of yours as fact?"

"Well, they've panned out all right so far…"

"That doesn't mean they will in the future," Severus snapped. "Anything which can be predicted can be changed. I would have been dead a long time ago if it were any different. Now, I must insist that you get better control of that magic of yours before you get yourself into a mess that your family or I cannot bail you out of."

"Yes, Sir," Ambrose said, but he didn't stay quiet for very long. "I bet if I had a wand I would have better control…"

"You will wait until eleven like everyone else," Severus interrupted.

"I heard Aunt Jennifer say that she got her first wand when she was eight…"

"And it proved in many ways to be detrimental to her development. You will wait."

"But that's four years! Bad enough I have to wait that long to go to Hogwarts…"

"You will be seeing it in a few moments," Severus said, gesturing him towards the forest path ahead of them.

"You know what I mean," Ambrose sighed. "The Hogsmeade school is so boring. They never teach anything there I don't already know. Even the teachers there constantly tell my mother that I'm far ahead. There's no challenge in it. Perhaps you can tutor me in magic? Help me get started?"

"Ambrose, even if I had the time, which I certainly do not, you are much too far along as it is for someone of your age. If you want to do something productive, I suggest you work on training yourself how not to use magic so much."

"That doesn't sound like much fun," Ambrose admitted. Severus simply glanced at him from the corner of his eyes before stepping out onto the grounds.

Ambrose forgot all about his arguments then as he stared wistfully at the castle. Just like he dreamed it would be! He imagined in his mind that this wasn't just a quick visit at all and was actually being escorted by the Headmaster himself to join the school in the fall, treated like the prodigy he knew himself to be.

He knew he was; he had heard his teachers say it often enough and even from customers who came into his mother's dress shop. Why was it that the Headmaster himself didn't see it? In fact, in some ways it almost seemed like he took great pains to deny it.

The paintings watched with smiles and curiosity as he was led through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts and into its impressive library. Seeing so many titles of books dedicated to spell craft, Ambrose was aching to reach out and touch one and finally tried, only to get his hand smacked away by his godfather.

"Don't do that again," Severus warned him. He took him by the shoulder back to the doorway. "Wait here a moment." As Severus went inside, Ambrose attempted to see around him and saw only a glittering light beyond, soon blocked as Severus stepped back out with Sirius not far behind.

"Him?" Sirius said in surprise, pointing at Ambrose. "He's only seven!"

"Exactly the point, Sirius," Severus said. "He's young, talented and clever, and if a seven-year-old can do it, then I can definitely state it isn't student proof."

"Do you really think I'm talented and clever?" Ambrose asked brightly.

"He's not a student, Severus," Sirius pointed out.

"Yes, but he will be in four years and I'm thinking ahead," Severus snapped.

"And here I was expecting you to pull Cedric out on me," Sirius chuckled. "I'll go set up."

"What do you want me to do?" Ambrose asked.

"Simply enough, I want you to try to break into that room," Severus said.

"Why, what's in it?"

"It's going to be the staff library when all is said and done. Mr. Black insists it's protected enough. You're here to challenge it," Severus said, glancing up as Sirius came out the door and shut it, nodding to him.

"I see," Ambrose said. "So what's in it for me?"

"I beg your pardon?" Severus frowned. Sirius chuckled.

"I told you, Severus. No one wants to break into a library," Sirius said.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind breaking into this one, but that's not exactly what I meant. Even if I do succeed, you're not going to let me look at anything there, so what's the point?"

"If this is your way to blackmail me into getting out of your punishment for this morning, Ambrose, it isn't going to work," Severus scowled at him.

"Severus," Sirius interrupted. "The point of this whole experiment was to make sure that a motivated student couldn't get in that room. Ambrose is right. We really haven't given him any real reason to really want to break in. So tell us, Ambrose, what would get you motivated enough to want to break in?" Ambrose looked up at Severus, who was glaring at Sirius menacingly. Then he looked back at Sirius again.

"A wand would do it," Ambrose said.

"Did I or did I not already say no?" Severus growled.

"Fine," Sirius said over Severus' voice. "Fine, if you succeed, I will personally give you a wand, and take full responsibility for doing so," he added when he saw the murder in Severus' eyes.

"Promise?" Ambrose said, studying him with his fierce blue eyes.

"Of course I promise," Sirius said as if insulted by the question, stepping closer to Severus. "Now don't worry, there's no way the boy's going to get in there."

Just then there was a blast of bright light and a large BANG which echoed through the room and halls. As Sirius' eyes recovered, he looked over with his jaw agape to see that the door itself had come off its hinges and had slid all the way across the floor to the base of the pedestal, leaving a gaping hole where it once stood. Severus sighed, crossing his arms and looking over at Sirius accusingly

"All right, so I need to work on the door," Sirius admitted quietly.

"And you have just given extra ammunition to a seven-year-old who already had enough on his own to annihilate a small town," Severus added acidly. Sirius shrugged apologetically.

"What is this?" Ambrose said in awe. Severus looked up in alarm and realized that he, too, had made a critical error. For as Ambrose stepped closer to the crystal it began to glow, and before Severus could stop it, images appeared in the mirrors behind them, reflecting carefully placed facets of the crystal.

"Severus, what the hell is that thing?" Sirius demanded.

"Shut up!" Severus snapped, rushing over to the boy's side. "What are you seeing?"

"People dying!" Ambrose said. "I think. Look, there's you!"

Severus crowded just behind him as his image became clear in the leftmost mirror, covered with blood in a dank cavern Severus remembered all too well. The center image held simply a hand flipping Death cards, while the final mirror housed the visage of the Reaper itself, surrounded by grey smoky figures. The image of the first mirror changed, and Severus saw yet another familiar scene…it was Jennifer before Voldemort, falling as two spells hit her practically simultaneously. As she fell, the scene turned to her pale face in a dark, dreadful place with the only the light of a crystal in her hand. At last, it grew hazy and she appeared in the hospital wing of the school, next to death once again, and that time of poison. A brief visage of a baby…and then Aurelius…on and on the images went until the robed hand of an elderly man appeared, carrying a phial and erasing the images into mist. But as he traveled through the mirrors to the last frame, a sieve came up and slashed the image in two; peeling it back as if it were a slashed painting.

Just then, there was a strange noise in Severus' ears, and out of the mirrors themselves sprang out three images of the Death Avatar, hovering above them. Severus blinked twice, and then they were gone.

"Ambrose," Severus said, his voice sounding strange even to his own ears. "Ambrose, what did you see?"

"I saw you dying in a cavern, and a woman's hand waving about as if to stop it, and a black cloud pulling it back," Ambrose said. "I saw Corey too, in a hospital bed with bandages on his head, and then later with a wound in his back, and another bottle being broken by the darkness."

"Sirius?" Severus asked quietly.

"I saw Harry many times over, every time he's ever been near death and…well, one close call of my own, actually," Sirius admitted. "Clouded over by that figure that rose up out of the mirrors. Are you going to tell me what that thing is now?"

"A tool I derived for my personal use," Severus said, pulling Ambrose back. "I don't want you going near it again, Ambrose."

"Do I still get my wand?" Ambrose asked.

"Severus, I'm not about to let you walk out of here without some explanation of what just happened," Sirius said.

"And if I had one I might just give it to you, if you haven't promised the boy something he doesn't deserve. One thing is certain; whatever is causing this can no longer be ignored, and I do not feel comfortable knowing that Jennifer is abroad right now," Severus said, leading Ambrose out of the back room.

"Abroad again? Does she ever stay home during the summer?" Sirius asked.

"I'm hardly going to ask her to stay in an empty castle while I work," Severus said tersely, "She took on a summer job, not that it's any of your business. I would like to go bring her back, if you don't mind staying and watching things here for an evening."

"I do have a door to fix and changes to make," Sirius sighed, eyeing the pedestal with a wary eye. "What about that thing?"

"Cover it for now," Severus said. "I don't yet know what all of these recent events mean, but whatever it is, I am quite sure the force behind it is malevolent. When I return, we'll arrange a meeting with everyone that we've seen involved in this strange occurrence."

"Am I involved?" Ambrose asked excitedly.

"No," Severus said firmly. "You are going home."

"I can do it, Severus. I can get his wand on the way," Sirius said.

"Thank you but I'll take care of that matter myself," Severus said firmly, motioning Ambrose to follow.

"That does include getting my wand, right, Godfather?"

"Yes, but I should warn you that no child is allowed to use a wand until they enter Hogwarts," Severus said.

"What?" Ambrose stammered.

"Sorry, but you should have thought about that when you asked for it," Severus said. Ambrose suddenly felt like he had been had.