Haunted Memories
-Chapter Twelve-
The Potion Master's Quarters
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within J.K. Rowling's story.
Tentatively, Hermione sensed the wards dissolve as she stepped through the doorway. The darkness of the room was overwhelming. Pointing her wand high, she cried out, "Lumos!" Nothing happened, as Hermione peered about her, still in the darkness. Checking the lantern, by her side, Hermione sighed. There must be a ward in the room preventing any light from being shed in the room, as the fire in the lantern had mysteriously burned out. Stubbornly, Hermione set the lantern down and pointed her wand at it. "Lacarnum Inflamarae!" Her favorite bluebell flame sputtered to life, but before Hermione could celebrate, it burned down to nothing in a matter of seconds. Biting her bottom lip, Hermione set the lantern aside and decided to trust in her senses.
Feeling the rough stone floor with her feet and respectively the wall with her hands, Hermione came across what must have been a well used candle holder about three feet away from the doorway. Her fingers touched a waxy substance and to her surprise, she found a small box. Taking the box which fit easily into her palm, she headed back towards the lighted doorway to examine her findings. As she walked, she counted her steps so that she would remember where she had left off.
Taking the box closer to the light, Hermione saw that it was rectangular, about seven centimeters in length and two centimeters in width. The box had faded paper which was so hard to read, that Hermione gave up after four minutes. But looking at the box, she felt that it was quite familiar and shaking it, she felt even more suspicious as to its contents. Bringing her wand over the small box, she was comforted to know that no spells were cast upon it and finally, Hermione set to the task of opening the box. Only to find that it slid open from the side, which she did. As it slid open, Hermione was greeted with a box of… matches. Yes, Muggle matches. The kind that only muggles would use, because normal wizards would have cast a spell by now to start a fire. Muggle matches…the kind where you have to fumble and strike the phosphorus match head against sulfur…
Hermione stared at the familiar object and deadpanned. Why would a wizard keep a muggle object? She had thought it would be something more important, more magical, and full of power to give her an idea of where to go next. She raised an eyebrow as she did the obvious thing…light the matches and find the candle holder.
Three minutes afterwards and six matches, as the darn match heads kept on breaking or would burn out before she could light the old candle; Hermione found herself standing within in a circle of light. Taking the old candle from its spot, (thus having to hack away all the wax which had dripped over the candle holder and molding the two objects together), Hermione set to the task of finding the other candles and hoping that it would light up the whole room. Sticking to the wall, she continued her trek until she was back in the doorway and Hermione turned around and gasped.
The path that she had taken was about two feet wide, luckily Hermione didn't stray from her path, or she would have found herself meeting the dark murky waters of the indoor moat. Black water lay undisturbed bordering the path around the room. Hermione saw that the only way to cross the moat was to step on a stone path leading from the doorway, to the middle of a small stone island. Wondering what else she would find on her trek, she stepped cautiously onto the path and headed towards what seemed like an iron doorway.
Hermione held her breath as she stepped cautiously across the path, hoping to all the gods that she didn't fall into the water. Something told her that if she did, she would not be able to return back to the surface. Facing forward, she concentrated on the iron door, wondering what it would lead to and whether or not there would be more traps. Slytherins were cunning and Snape was truly trying to hide something.
As she reached for the crystal door knob on the iron door, Hermione drew out her wand and held it at the ready. With all her Gryffindor courage she turned the knob and pushed the heavy door open… finding a brightly lit small corridor. It seemed like she was back in the main part of the castle, it was warmer here and there was a window which seemed to look out into the Forbidden Forest. Hermione frowned, wondering whether or not this room held enchanted windows. Stepping through the doorway, Hermione came face to face with a painting, supposedly a portrait of some wizard or witch, but the occupant was currently out on a visit. Hermione sighed, wondering if there were any clues as to where she was.
Heading to the end of the corridor, she was faced with a decision to make. One she could go through the door to her right, two, she could go through the door to her left. Hermione sighed. Would it lead her to yet another set of traps? Another corridor? Without waiting for her brain to register the question, Hermione rushed towards the left door and swung it wide open. Her face set in grim determination.
Rows upon rows of books and potions ingredients littered the many bookshelves which were located all along the walls of the spacious room. A single window let in the soft moonlight and several cushions were scattered in one corner of the room, beside a comfy looking green couch covered partially with a soft looking black quilt. A dark walnut table stood to the side, piled high with books. On the other side of the table, Hermione saw a beautiful black marble fireplace with a pot of floo powder present in a black jar. Settled on the other side of the fireplace, Hermione saw a fine emerald ottoman which sported numerous vials and potions ingredients sitting precariously near its edge.
Her gaze continued on to the middle of the room, where she was immediately curious as to why there was a set of stairs going down towards another level. Carefully, she trudged down the worn stone steps and made sure that her wand was held high, to give her enough light to walk by. Not for long, Hermione found herself in what looked like an advanced potions lab. Numerous stone top tables were lined up against the wall with half a dozen vials and empty cauldrons. A single larger cauldron stood in the middle of the room on a pedestal. Surrounding this lone cauldron was steel topped tables which were set in a circle for easier access to ingredients. The room was lighted with magical candles which floated in the air, much like those in the Great Hall, but there were fewer present in this one small room. Hermione saw many instruments lying on the steel tables, which she had never seen before. The place looked more like a chemistry lab…
Walking slowly towards the center of the room, Hermione looked up and was surprised to see that there was also an enchanted ceiling in this room. Overhead, Hermione gazed in wonderment at the beautiful full moon which shone brightly down at her. Billions of stars sparkled in the dark mysterious shadows of the sky. Hermione couldn't help but smile at such beautiful scenery. It calmed her and made her feel relaxed.
Touching some of the newer instruments, Hermione marveled at the numerous cupboards and wondered what was inside. Hopefully no boggarts, she thought as she set to task of opening the cupboards. Five minutes later, she found herself cursing silently as she tried various spells to break down wards but could not find a suitable one. Hissing as a spell backfired; she grabbed her now singed robes and stepped backwards in haste, nearly walking into another table.
Hermione knew the muggle saying, 'Curiosity killed the cat.' She wasn't going to venture further than she possibly could. There was always a possibility that she will find the right spell later on, and Severus Snape may have been looking for something down here, but there was so much more to explore right now.
Heading back up towards the main room with the bookshelves, Hermione mentally reminded herself to check through the books for anything on breaking down wards. There were numerous books on different studies of potions and Hermione was interested in quite a few which were not available in the library. 'Snake-skin : The Many Uses', 'Fewer Known Practices of the 13th Century', 'Dark Magic in Lighter Potions', 'Potions Made in the Dead of Night', 'The Right Equipment for Potions Masters', 'Rare Ingredients and Where to Find Them', 'How to Grow your Own Potions Lab', 'Herbs and Poisons', 'A Rarity in It's Breed'. Hermione sighed as her hands ran through many more titles; maybe she'll just stay in this room a little longer…
A few hours later, she found her eyes growing tired. Too soon, she would have to leave and go back to her room. Hopefully she could find her way back without any problems. But before she left, Hermione decided to explore the room that she had left out. Wondering if it leads to more rooms, Hermione left her books on the table, making a larger pile on the already abused table. She smirked as the table seemed to groan under its weight.
Walking swiftly out of the room, she turned the knob on the opposite room and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark. She could just make out the dark shadows of a four poster bed, a fireplace, armchair and more bookshelves. Off to the right of the bed, she found a closet which probably held all his black clothing. For a moment, she considered opening the closet and wondering if the man owned anything but black. She shook her head with a sly smile. No it wouldn't do to ruin the man's image. But she wouldn't be surprised to see only black in there. Finally she decided to shed a little more light on the situation. Taking her wand out from her inner pocket, she held it fixedly pointing at the fireplace, where suddenly a blue flower erupted and spread a warm fire throughout the room. Her bluebell flame burned endlessly and strongly to rid the room of every possible shadow. Hermione then headed towards the desk and wondered if Severus Snape had left anything of importance in there.
Rummaging through the drawers guiltily, Hermione came across a black leather bound book. Her fingers trembled slightly, hoping that the book was not about to surprise her with any Dark Magic. Nevertheless, she made sure her wand was by her side. Tapping the book lightly, she found nothing overly suspicious of the material and decided to open it up to the first page. Right on the first page was a familiar writing from a certain, Headmistress.
'Dear Severus,
I hope you enjoy your gift this year. A journal for all your thoughts. Merry tidings and a Happy New Year.
Minerva.'
Hermione stared at the lettering with apprehension. Severus Snape's thoughts? Was she ready to handle that? Debating on whether or not she should continue on reading, images of the Potions Master flitted through her mind. Involuntarily she smiled. This was a once in a life time chance. Why not?
Sitting comfortably on the black leather chair across from the desk, Hermione flipped to the first page.
'December 31, 1990
Unnecessary precautions have been put up over the Great Hall. Albus believes that something is amiss…'
Hermione scanned through the entries, most of them putting down the students or how incompetent the other professors were. Severus Snape was not a happy man. She was however surprised to find that he enjoyed the solitude of the library and often stood amongst the shadows watching the few students and professors browsing around. She had even caught on how much he enjoyed scaring students when they were found doing something other than studying. Shaking her head as she smiled, she noticed her name in one of the entries.
'The Gryffindor Know-It-All was in the library again today. She almost noticed me while snooping around the potions section of the south corner. Miss Granger was so entranced by a book that I must admit I was curious. Why must the muggleborn get on my nerves so much? 'Standard Practices in Potions Filtration --- Apprentices Issue'. She believes she can understand this?'
Hermione laughed merrily. Her eyes twinkling. He had noticed! Hermione remembered that day; she had been studying for her OWLs and had come across a certain section of the library reserved for apprentices studying specific areas of magic. It has been years since the last apprentice and Hermione wondered what kinds of books there were. Making sure that no one saw her, Hermione headed into a dark corner and grabbed the book, trying to hide from the other students as she skimmed through the potions textbook. It was advanced and held many secrets and new concepts which were not offered to her as of yet. Hermione felt herself being absorbed in the book and couldn't tear her eyes away. Eventually she had sneaked the book out of the library and returned it a few days later, but Snape had noticed!
Flipping more pages, she came across rants on 'The Potter boy'. Hermione frowned a bit as he mentioned the 'Golden Trio' over and over again. Obviously the man was getting obsessed with them. A bit further into the journal, she found numerous potions which were not listed in books. She gasped as she saw the familiar scrawl cross out some ingredients and sarcastic comments set into the pages.
Pages upon pages were on potions upon potions. Sometimes there would be the usual corrections; sometimes there would be a huge red cross over it all. Eventually Hermione found herself feeling tired, even though her mind wanted her to stay awake. Pinching herself vigorously on the forearm, she grimaced in pain and cursed herself for being stupid. Eventually her eye lids were so heavy she couldn't keep her eyes open. Promising herself that she would only take a nap for ten minutes, Hermione settled down on the bed and laid her tired body to sleep.
Hermione awoke with a start, her bluebell flame had kept itself burning during her nap but there was a noise coming from outside the room. Hermione tensed and watched as a shadow crossed the doorway. Getting up silently from the bed, she pointed her wand at the doorway and a jet of sparks surrounded the door momentarily before being flung open wide. Instantly a man in black robes rushed through the doorway and Hermione found herself bound tight with magical ribbons around the arms and legs.
Her mind screamed for her to move, to do something but Hermione tried and tried and her body would not obey. She looked up with fear and inwardly screamed as a hand reached to grab her.
A/N: Thanks to all you fabulous reviewers who have kept with this story for so long. I know I'm building a lot of tension here by making this really slow, but I must admit you guys have been great. So far, I'm proud to announce that I haven't gotten a negative comment yet, so I'm pretty happy. :P I look forward everyday to your comments, cause they keep me going. The next chapter will hold a lot more on our 'bat of the dungeons' so please bear with me. I am trying to work out a few kinks in the story and keeping this story's unity, so hopefully I can keep to my schedule and update in two later days. You guys bring a smile to my face, reading your reviews. Thanks again!
(excessivelyperky: Thanks for reviewing so much. I would like to thank you that you have pointed out something very important to me...I never explained about Horace Slughorn's leg injury! I'm such a git. LOL, well here's the thing, I have something up for the professor but he sustained a very serious injury during the Final Battle, the thorn curse upon his leg, cut off circulation for a long time and he lost a lot of blood and had lots of nervous tissue damaged...probably through some poison leaking from the thorns...I have to add that, he has been keeping the poison dormant but it is still affecting him and he limps about considerably after that. Umm...I might have a better explaination in later chapters. With some input from our favorite Potions Master. What do you think? What does everyone think? Input anyone?)
Love you all and keep on reading.
Akiko-Chan