Hi All,
As you well know Harry Potter and his world belongs to Rowling and i only do this for fun, making no money, only gaining joy.
And a joy it is to read the reviews and see more of you to check the box for favourite story. It feels wonderful, thank you!
Here we go.
Chapter 42. A boy with a dream
Severus Snape turned onto the Infirmary's corridor, gnashing his teeth. There were five more floors to inspect, not including the towers and the dungeons, and it was already almost noon. He paged through Hogwarts: A History two additional times before breakfast, and first, his only impression about Ravenclaw was the irony of her daughter turning out what seemed like a disappointment.
He decided he couldn't like Rowena. The old witch basked in her belief in her own intellectual superiority, even if Severus supported the idea to teach all witches and wizards the alphabet and founding Hogwarts' library, her disposition seemed it must have had been hard to suffer. So even if he might be grateful for her efforts, that didn't stop his malicious glee about Fate's indecent humour, which gave the high and mighty Rowena a daughter who wasn't exactly the sharpest quill near the inkwell. Salazar would have agreed with his assessment, he felt. Not that it mattered, he didn't especially like the old grouch either. Good gods, no wonder they all fell into such pits of doom when even the Founders couldn't hold it together!
He slowed down and peeked behind all the suits of armour, examined the tapestry, and cast different revealing charms to inspect the castle's original walls. The Infirmary belonged to the oldest part of Hogwarts, with a part of the dungeons, the kitchens, the Great Hall, and generally all rooms and towers about the main staircase. There was also a part contemporary with the Founders behind the most frequently used facilities, and possibly a similarly old underground corridor, probably built as an escape route towards the Forest. The rest were later additions, making the castle the colossus it currently was.
There! - Severus triumphantly peeled the tapestry off the wall behind the sculpture of Elizabeth Blackwell, surely a relatively new addition to the corridor, especially compared to the Hufflepuff crest he'd just found behind it!
This proved his hypothesis! The thought formed in his mind sometime between sunrise and breakfast time. Of course, he found nothing at all about any artifact of Ravenclaw, but it finally occurred to him for the first time that the rounded room Godric Gryffindor allegedly built with windows to all directions must be still the Headmaster's office.
How very Gryffindor-ish to keep their founder's room, who was accidentally the first headmaster of the school, and make all later generations accept their choice! But then again, Salazar could also have had a better idea than to make a Secret Chamber under even the dungeons, just to hide a bloody basilisk for future entertainment! The idea struck then – all the Founders must have had their own chambers. One for accommodation, one for their students' needs – which later generations expanded –, and one for their own goals.
The Hufflepuff crest on the Infirmary's corridor proved his theory about Helga. She had in mind not only the nourishment but also the ailments of her students. She seemed like an old-timer Red Cross nurse with a serious calling as a peace-fighter. Of course, she founded the Infirmary!
Gryffindor wanted time to don his leather shirt and infamous sword with his borrowed Roman armour pieces, to march headfirst into whatever fight – so the rounded rooms with the excessive windows; and Salazar was a man of many secrets and all-round malice, especially after the break. But what could Rowena have wanted? He needed to find out, and soon, so he might be able to find her quarters, her secret room, and with those – he hoped – that silly diadem, or at least some traces to point him towards it.
As for he had no better idea, Severus relied on his rare luck, and the rest of the day saw him walking through and through Hogwarts, in hope to find something – anything at this point – to direct him in his quest. He swooped through the castle multiple times from the forgotten depths of the dungeons up to the hundred and three turrets and side-towers (only hundred and one, actually, since he wouldn't bother to inspect the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. Those were for student accommodations, nothing personal could be hidden there). He missed dinner, but Umbridge couldn't be cross about the matter as she ran into the Potion Master at least three times that afternoon. The students didn't find the occurrence convenient at all.
Professor Snape turned up from around corners no one expected to see him, driving all mischievous students to the edge of insanity and making the rest hide and cower. Two hours before curfew even he got tired of the distant cries that announced his presence at different parts of the school only to turn onto deserted corridors.
He cast Revelo so many times he began to expect his wand to do it without his guidance or intent, but he came up with little more than rancid food, toys, and, by some reason, a legion of old armours singing cheesy drunk songs in a Welsh dialect, appearing from a rarely used side-tower, covered in gods know how many years of dust and cobwebs, just to evaporate on their jolly march down towards the main stairs.
Of course, there were other peculiar findings. Like the rope ladder that seemed as if it had been made of human hair and was long enough to get someone from the top of the Owlery to the ground. Also, he found a surprising store of forgotten wine in a well-covered pit under the courtyard. Nothing useful for his particular quest.
He managed to learn that twenty-seven of Hogwarts' hundred and three towers changed places following the aspects of the Moon, and four of them followed the wind shift; that student mischief was even more ageless than he had thought; and that most stone walls and sculptures should be left undisturbed.
This last piece of knowledge was derived from finding transfigured food and other goods from past centuries as nails and hooks randomly left around. The castle was a disgusting junkyard hugging them all within slowly mouldering arms made of their festering past mistakes rotting all around! The sculptures did nothing to divest him of this cheery thought. They rarely had a chance to answer questions and were now prone to endless and inconclusive chatter.
He finally got sick and tired of the whole endeavour not long before midnight. The last straw was revealing a goblin skeleton in full armour and a matching sword in one of the side-towers. An empty bottle and a plate of cheese lay by its side, all of those transfigured into a rolled-up rug. The cheese plate was moving of its own will, but instead of further dark magic, he only encountered an unimaginable number of worms, all of them gaining rapid interest in the goblin skeleton. With a quick wand move, Severus reversed his revealing spell and admitted failure.
The potion ingredients he worked with daily prepared him for a great amount of gross and spookiness. Most of those didn't even touch his threshold of awareness anymore, but now he was forced to agree with Sage who'd once declared his stomach weak.
Sage…
Fuck, he shouldn't even be here!
Severus leaned onto the doorframe before he left the hexagonal room in the small side tower and felt so frustrated and contrite, he could have sobbed. The castle was enormous, there was nothing to it, and he had exhausted all options that seemed moderately sane.
He began to toy with the idea of giving it up and leaving to get to her. He might risk Azkaban if he deserted, but the Dark Lord would kill him much sooner. Maybe it was unavoidable anyway, why shouldn't he decide upon his way of exit? He would rather die seeing Sage once more than wasting his time before slaying a pet!
He almost decided to risk it, when he realized he couldn't decide for her, and the Dark Lord would kill them both. They stood no more chance than Karkaroff, and the tosser couldn't manage more than a few months on the run. Severus punched the stone wall and regretted his loss of control as soon as he heard the ominous crack.
Shite! He hissed in pain. Goddamn Albus Dumbledore, this was also his fault! A quick Episkey helped to moderate the pain and swelling, but he knew he would need pain-potion and Skele-gro as soon as he could get them in his system. He was way too proud to cast Firula. Pain was good anyway, it chased the weariness away, and cleared up his mind.
He shouldn't dismiss Flitwick's knowledge just because he disliked him, and the Ravenclaw Head would have relied upon the ghosts. Maybe it was time to try that so-called anything… Professor Snape summoned the Bloody Baron.
Just the way he supposed it would play out, the ghost took his time. When the Baron eventually swam through the side tower's wall, with all his usual haughtiness and contempt, he willingly appeared behind the Slytherin Head's back, aiming his chains to carry through him. Severus ducked in the last moment and narrowly escaped the freezing encounter with the ghost's attempt at throwing over the power balance he struggled long to establish.
The Baron levitated in front of him and produced a measured bow, without a word.
"You are presented with a chance to serve your House," – Severus began carefully with a decade-worth of experience in dealing with this hateful monster. "I will question you about your student years and the school back in your time."
The only reply he got was the ghost loudly shaking his chains. Severus rolled his eyes. He hoped they were already through this phase; the Bloody Baron always had the bad habit to feign muteness.
"You will answer me with your spoken words and aloud, Baron. Don't tempt me again, or by Hades, I will exorcise you this time!" – to make his point clearer, he already conjured his personal notebook with a snap of his finger, that contained the needed spell.
"You wouldn't dare, half-blood!" – The Baron roared and lifted both arms as if he wanted to consume his opponent, but Severus only opened the notebook, his lifted wand stopped the ghost's attack hovering above him.
"The Headmaster forbade you to exorcise me!" – the Bloody Baron stared at him with what Severus could only understand as bewilderment.
"Pity he's left the school,"- Severus looked at the spell with practised nonchalance, secretly focusing on the ghost hovering above him.
The Baron levitated backwards and a notch lower as if he decided to take a step back.
"You were one of the earliest students within these walls," – Severus went on, acknowledging the change in his stance. "You will talk about those times. The rooms of the early castle, the quarters of the Founders and any rooms that are now forgotten."
"The living is doomed to forget, half-blood," – the Baron proclaimed.
"That may be," – Severus allowed. "So we have house ghosts to refresh memory. Talk about the chambers of Rowena Ravenclaw!"
"I was the first student of the great Salazar Slytherin!"
Severus waited for him to go on in vain. "Anything besides the obvious?" – he impatiently asked.
The ghost turned his face away.
"Answer me!"
The Bloody Baron lifted his chains to casually inspect them and looked anywhere but at Severus.
"Why should I, half-blood? In my time, you wouldn't have the good fortune even to scrub our threshold. The great Salazar–"
"The great Salazar who begot the line from which his House's downfall arises," – Severus lost patience and bellowed at the ghost. "Or didn't you know that? I am the Head of Slytherin's House, I have the keys to his secrets, and I hold the power above your imprint. You will answer me or get lost till the Second Coming!"
"You wield no power on me, mortal!" – the Baron roared back and attacked, emerged above Severus, rattled his chains and swam through him, chilling his bones with the cold of the dead.
Severus stepped aside, trying to hide the shiver that ran along his spine.
"We both know that is untrue, so Spare. The. Show!" – He commanded the ghost. "I am your Head of House, Baron, you are bound to obey me. Now you're trying my patience."
Not entirely surprisingly, the ghost got down a peg. They'd been dancing this dance macabre for almost fifteen years for power, and Severus couldn't be more tired of it by now.
"You have no power to ask about my life, mortal, I only serve my House."
"And that is what I command you to do now, whether you like the way of it or not," – the Head of Slytherin clarified. "The latest heir of Slytherin has lost the way of the Founder. His acts endanger the students within these walls. We are to protect the students of Slytherin's House, not any of his descendants or self-proclaimed heirs. And now, you will answer me so I can protect them. What rooms and chambers did the late Rowena Ravenclaw use?"
"I received no teachings in those chambers. My master the great Salazar–"
"But did you know where they were?"
The Baron doubled his height but neither attacked nor answered. It was disturbing and encouraging at the same time. Severus knew he was onto something even if the ghost's reluctance rivalled his initial distaste for a half-blood after he'd become the Head of House fifteen years prior.
"Rumor has it that you knew the Founder's daughter–" – Severus pushed. "Surely you knew where she lived–"
Now the Baron lashed onto him with rattling chains and all the cold his swimming through Severus' body could induce.
"You know nothing, you scapegrace living thing! Don't you dare to take her name on your mouth, you flagitious, baseborn half breed!"
"So it's true," – Severus stated steadfastly.
The ghost turned and seemed ready to leave through the wall, which was disturbing on a whole different level. If he, as the Head of Slytherin, lost his influence upon the house ghost, that would have severe consequences. Not the least of them losing his authority in the castle, even upon Peeves, who would notice. He shivered to imagine what the poltergeist could come up with without the Baron checking his nature.
There was no spell he knew of that could keep a ghost in place, however, there were wards to keep them out of places or to contain them…. It suddenly came down to being the quicker, and Severus let his magic free with a breath, it hit the walls behind the ghost and carried his intent to establish the wards. Severus enforced his intent by chanting up the wards, and for his intense gloating, the Baron stuck in the wall.
"If your memories are relevant in helping your House, you're bound to help me. And I deem them relevant," – Severus informed the house ghost. "I am the Head of Slytherin, so I am your master. Talk to me about Ravenclaw's daughter!"
"No!"
"Have it your way then," – Severus lost patience. "Mind you, it's unlikely I would ever return here, and this tower is out of use since–" – he lifted a wine bottle he found earlier and read the label – "oh, since the seventeen hundreds! You are into a long time of introspection."
His steps led him almost through the threshold when he heard the whiny voice behind him.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Watch me," – Severus sneered, and the ghost gave in before he could leave:
"The chambers… they were hidden. Even in my time. Not only Slytherin's own, no one had been allowed in, but the chosen few."
"Where?"
"The seventh floor. The esteemed Madame Ravenclaw didn't like the noise. She had had her chambers and rooms only for herself and for her own. Only the student quarters survived the times, but those had been, and are, in a different tower."
"Have you ever been there to see how to enter?"
A short silence ensued before Severus heard the Baron's voice from the wall. It sounded defeated.
"Yes."
Severus returned to the hexagonal room and waited. This time the Baron didn't disappoint.
"The rooms declined with the Founder's failing health, but before her demise, she invited me in to assign me a task. Her chambers are hidden still in the seventh-floor corridor. The castle shows them to those who know how to ask. Later generations had marked the place with an abhorrent tapestry, the esteemed Madame Ravenclaw would have found it heinous. There is the place to ask for entry three times, and the castle would show the rest."
"What was your task?"
The Baron's silence was long enough for Severus to contemplate if he should eventually leave him alone indeed.
"The Founder graciously asked me to retrieve what had belonged to her."
"The diadem?"
"That diadem is lost!" – the ghost roared from the wall.
"Quite obviously. What did you have to retrieve for her?"
"What's dearer than life itself," –the Baron announced. "Her daughter."
"Why would she have sent a Slytherin to do that?"
"Because… because I was the only one…. I am the only one who knows. Her." Now the Baron's voice sounded distant, carrying a different kind of struggle than before. "You living these days don't understand the magnitude of the honour and respect that should befall on the fairer. You take no time to marvel at the true miracle that one's simple presence holds. The true charms, the delight, and the honest appreciation…. My times had had the patience to adore what had only admiration it's due. Helena was a pure soul, living in the shadow of one-sided greatness. She never truly recognized how magnificent she was."
"But you did."
"I had," – the Baron said wistfully. "And I marvelled upon it. She wished for what she could never have, and she'd failed to see herself the way I saw her. She ran away and took her mother's vain attempt at glory. The Founder wished I could retrieve them both."
"Did you ever find her?"
"Yes."
Severus found it strange how much this softly expressed pain influenced him. The Bloody Baron was anything but emotional. At least he would have a hard time imagining the ghost anything but crude and haughty. Even among the Hogwarts ghosts this was his trademark.
Not unlike him amongst "the living" – Severus reflected on himself for a second. Possibly for his greatest luck, maybe the only, no sane man would ever think he could somehow convince such a witch as Sage to ask him to wait upon her in her chambers at midnight…. Sod it! The urge to get all his tasks over with as soon as the day before came back with a vengeance, and he almost scolded the ghost to speed up the process. Severus only regretted he couldn't perform Legilimency on a mere imprint, when the Baron silently went on, taking his words away:
"She… Helena honoured my worthless soul by reflecting my feelings, making our love mutual, and I began to hope. However her mother…." The Baron's voice suddenly dripped with disdain. "The esteemed Rowena Ravenclaw never appreciated her daughter for the wonder she was. She made her suffer negligence and ridiculed her minor flaws. I was weak. Too insignificant to step in. My temper… my temper was my fall. My pride.
"With the distinguished Salazar as my mentor, I lost my benefactor with the argument of the great. What had I had to offer after such a breach and loss? I denied our agreement, and Helena ran away with her mother's diadem, hoping to achieve the shadow of greatness that might have endeared her to at least one of her beloveds.
"I lost my heart that night, and I know she had lost hers. The acceptance among the two of us couldn't possibly have been replaced with her strife for her mother's approval. I took under the task her horrendous mother had bestowed upon me to correct my error. I followed her through land and through the sea, and when there had been no traces, I followed my heart…. I arrived on my ship on the shores of those islands the Greeks lived and traded, and on the landside across them, deep in the forests, I finally encountered my Helena. As beautiful as the wood nymphs, and as sad as Pothos –"
"The ancient god of yearning," – Severus recognized, but the Baron didn't seem to hear him.
"She couldn't achieve the wisdom the object of her mother's vanity encased and was terrified of returning. She escaped from our embrace and ran into the woods. Wild with fear and distress, she ran blindly. It wasn't hard to catch her. I pled. I begged. I even cried but to no avail. She wouldn't return for her mother's sake, and she wouldn't return for me. In an effort to avert my advances, she finally ridiculed me. She questioned my faith, my prowess, my intentions, and claimed I hadn't changed. I swear I would have been her rock for the rest of the time! I swear I was a changed man, but my temper….
"I' lashed out, hearing her words, not realizing what I was doing," – the Baron continued after a wall-shattering sigh. "I lashed out again, and again, having from her whatever I could get… her blood was warm and its smell mixed with that of her skin and hair… her cries subdued and quieted… finally died away. I thought she'd finally surrendered to me… she had surrendered in her death!" – the ghost cried out in agony. "I couldn't live with what I had done, and I couldn't live without her! I still cannot, whatever she thinks…. I followed her into death and this half-existence to prove my repentance ever since."
Feeling as if he'd just witnessed thousand years-old murder, Severus gave them both a minute of silence, so both he and the ghost could gather their thoughts.
"So she'd left the diadem in Albania?" – he eventually asked the Bloody Baron, and an affirmative hum responded from the wall.
"She doesn't even speak to me…" – the surprisingly whiny voice of Hogwarts' most feared house ghost mumbled. "Not until some decades ago, when she thought she saw her mother's heirloom returned to her quarters, but I had nothing to do with that! She still wouldn't believe me… I've lost her forever…."
Returned?
With breath caught in his chest, Severus lifted the wards and left the ghost for its silent wallowing. He hurried down the stairs towards the seventh-floor corridor, determined to find a 'hideous tapestry Rowena Ravenclaw would have found abhorrent' – whatever that might be like.
It was already after midnight by about an hour or two, and the castle was silent. Way too silent not to give in to unwelcome thoughts and nameless emotions. Severus walked along the corridor for the umpteenth time without recognizing anything even remotely useful and his mind kept turning back to the Baron's tale and that misguided feeling of familiarity. He was NOT in any way similar to this ancient, murderous, insane, pretentious, arrogant… - his next word would have been toerag, and Severus flinched.
That one used to be Lily's favourite invective. Strange how witches could define one's life so completely. Doubly so, when one didn't even count himself especially 'a wizard of the world' or by any means a charmer…. Not that the Baron was even remotely charming in any way, and here, he comes out with a tragic love story, telling him there was no way any living could understand his so-called feelings. Feelings about having a love he should have better never had and screwing it up in epic proportions. Not to mention being responsible for the death of a woman he loved or losing her from sight to travel to the edge of the known world to find her.
Check, check, check – although Severus had two very different witches to think about. Not that it made it better, possibly only worse. How come a proverbially ugly and worthless wizard, like he knew himself to be, think he understood this ancient piece of work? He wished he didn't but there wasn't much to do about it but swipe the disturbing thoughts away. Here, this tapestry was undoubtedly ugly enough.
Severus stopped on the more abandoned side of the seventh-floor corridor, facing a tapestry where Barnabas the Barmy was teaching some trolls to dance. He searched for additional clues in vain. What did the Baron say? The castle will show the rest? Severus looked around, and mentally tried to prompt the old building to do so, but the only thing he heard–
Footsteps.
Severus rushed to the staircase to see who was around at this unlikely hour.
"Ah, Severus! I had my doubts, but it looks like this… map… may work just right."
Severus tried to get rid of the bothersome thought about living a long and contented life without ever seeing McGonagall's night-attire again and focused instead on the piece of parchment she held. It looked disturbingly familiar.
"May I see?"
After a faint noise, which might have been a subdued gasp somewhere, McGonagall handed him the parchment.
"Potter!" – Severus looked around, lifting a hand to try and reach the boy's hidden form, but Minerva stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Don't you find this premature in plain view of anyone lurking around? What are you doing here anyway, Severus? We've been looking for you in the dungeons, knocked on your lab's door, your office, even your private quarters–"
"The map is flawed," – Severus grumbled without wasting time answering. Potter's newest mischief could wait until he found Rowena's chambers… He could see no one 'lurking around', but unsurprisingly the parchment showed Potter standing beside his Head-of House. "There should be a room here…." Severus touched the wall under the tapestry but nothing happened.
"Do you mean the Come and Go Room, where Mr. Potter and his friends got caught about a month ago?" – Minerva asked readily, to his surprise.
"Could it be?" – Severus mused with an eyebrow sliding up involuntarily sliding to his hairline. "Have you found the entrance to the lost quarters of Ravenclaw, Potter?" – he asked the thin air around them with confidence.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the air answered with the boy's bodiless voice: "I don't know. Sir. I heard it was called the Room of Requirement, or the Come and Go Room. And it is here."
"You heard," – Severus repeated, and without better option, he turned that inquiring eyebrow towards Minerva.
The old witch pushed her lips together in a show of discontentment and gestured to the air to hurry up.
"Erm… Yes, I heard. Sir."
"Maybe this is not the right time to discuss architecture, Severus. Harry had–"
"I couldn't care less about the time, Minerva, I have a task to finish and I will–"
"A task?" McGonagall stopped him again. "Could you perchance reach Albus?" – she whispered with an expression Severus could only describe as a shock. When he nodded the witch turned back to the air beside her: "Potter, open that room immediately, your vision can wait."
However, this time Snape was the one who hung upon the word:
"What kind of vision, Potter? You were practicing, were you not? Or should I believe we all are already betrayed by your egomania and baseless curiosity?!" – he made to step by McGonagall and judging by the loud gasp and tap of footsteps, his aim must have been reasonable, while he already heard the stammered reply:
"I– I haven't opened my mind! He projected a scene, just like the corridor I saw, I haven't, I promise… aand you cannot get into the Room without me anyway! You're searching on the wrong wall, that's not the way it works!"
"So how does it work?" – Snape asked still suspiciously, but he stopped reaching for the boy.
"You have to walk three times in front of the opposite wall thinking about what you need," – Potter explained, now with confidence. "I cannot open it for you unless you tell me what you need! Sir," – he added as an afterthought.
Severus wasn't in the mood to waste any more time with explanations, he already began pacing in front of the wall, thinking about Rowena Ravenclaw's lost personal quarters and diadem. He hoped for Potter's sake that the boy didn't try to fool him this time.
Minerva gasped with surprise when a tall and delicately ornate door grew out of the wall opposite the tapestry. Severus wasted no effort to glance at her, just turned down the latch. He found himself on a broad corridor, and as he entered the candles lit up in their holders placed evenly on the walls. They seemed shorter than what he was used to and emitted much more smoke than the floating candles or any other light source he already knew in the castle. The floor and the walls were different too. Roughly carved of matching stones, covered with heavy rugs and tapestry for comfort.
After he heard two sets of footsteps following him onto the old corridor, the door closed behind them. Severus cautiously moved forward and saw three smaller doors opening on the sides, one on the right.
"Whoa… what did you wish for?" – Potter's bodiless voice whispered behind him.
"Mr. Potter, I'm sure you may dispose of that cloak for now," – Minerva's voice answered him with annoyance, but she soon admitted being lost by adding: "Where are we, Severus?"
"According to the Bloody Baron," – he answered absently, already examining one of the side doors, "we are probably the firsts in a millennium to enter the late Rowena Ravenclaw's private quarters."
"Merlin's balls! Filius would wet himself!" – Minerva let it slip, obviously before she thought.
"Well, don't let me stop him–" – Severus murmured and fiddled with the doorknob of the first door on the left until it finally turned.
They entered into a rounded room with a high ceiling, windows opening to the cardinal points and tall enough to let in the most of light all day. They still could sense some residual charms which Severus supposed should have kept the draft at bay. A gigantic, engraved heptagram lay sprawling on the floor, symbolizing Creation and warding off evil. The seven arms were differently coloured giving additional meaning to the unusual floor carving, and it all pointed toward a surprisingly simple escritoire, made of walnut wood. It still held an inkwell and fraying parchments on the top.
Severus deduced that they must have stepped into Rowena's study. All furniture – the escritoire, a high-backed chair, and a walnut wood chest which held some textile, possibly rugs for warmth as Minerva's inspection soon revealed – held the Founder's insignia, just like the window-tops. It was impossible not to marvel at the sight, but he quickly gathered himself and hurried to the escritoire. Neither that nor the chest held anything resembling a headpiece.
"Severus, why are we here?" – McGonagall finally asked before he could turn back to the corridor to attack the next room. Her voice seemed strained with deliberate patience, which alerted Severus of his probably curious haste and much more revealing expression than he intended.
"We are searching for an… artifact," – he decided to say. Of course, it wasn't enough for someone like McGonagall!
"You don't mean Ravenclaw's lost diadem, do you?" – She stared into his face with less and less humour. "Do you?!"
Severus grimaced.
"Of all the delusional…," – she began but must have realized her tirades would only chase her colleague away. "We have more pressing matters to attend to, Severus. Potter saw–"
"Forgive if I must contradict you, but there's nothing more 'pressing' on my list. If Albus hadn't completely lost his precious mind, that wretched diadem is more important than anything else on the bloody world, and now–"
He tried to sidestep the witch, but Minerva caught his arm.
"Have you reached Albus? Did you talk? Is he around?" – she urged him to talk by every means possible. Severus had the impression she might have been afraid. His nod seemed to placate her. "All right…. So a diadem. Is it here?"
Despite the circumstances, Severus almost grinned, probably for the first time in four days. Yes, Minerva was most certainly afraid, but there was nothing under the sun to lessen this old witch's pragmatism! She already moved to the corridor to turn the quarters upside down and give them a good shake, hoping for a thousand-year-old diadem to plop out.
"We will talk about my case after this, young man," – she added as she stepped away, perhaps only to prove to Severus that nothing ever changed at Hogwarts.
He followed her with a sigh, now a little less enthusiastically. The simple mention of the Headmaster's name was enough to make Minerva change direction. What would she say if she knew about Severus wanted to leave the circus to find Sage? She had always been friendly with the younger witch, would she worry more about her than Dumbledore? What if he told her about the Headmaster's plans with Potter? Would she believe it?
Just two days ago Severus thought about intercepting Dumbledore's plan by showing his cards to Minerva, but after her quick reaction now, he lost confidence. Why would she believe him? Why would any of them believe him against Albus Dumbledore? The chances seemed as narrow as for a thousand-year-old diadem to survive in a Mediterranean forest. Which suggested what he was searching for must have been goblin work. And knowing Ravenclaw, it must hold something blue.
Severus just stepped inside the next room to recognize a modest bed and a fireplace when he heard a cry from the corridor's right side, and Potter's familiar hasty steps soon followed it. Severus rushed out to hear the boy's anxious voice:
"Professor McGonagall!"
"What happened, Mr. Potter?"
"Erm…" – the boy pointed a finger toward the room on the right. "It just appeared!"
Severus examined the door, which had no latch, however, the knocker stood out of the wood, and it shaped a sphynx's head?
"Repeat the question!" – Snape grumbled, and the sphynx smiled smugly.
"If you wish… I am crawling in my dawn, walking by noon. I am thudding with my stick at dusk, forgetting my youth.
The voice was melodic, the look piercing. He shouldn't have been surprised to hear such an old riddle; the knocker must have been as old as Hogwarts.
"You're human," – said Severus. The head turned to look him in the eye.
"And so are you," – it said, and the door opened without a creak.
This room was square-shaped and contained multiple seats, three pews and additional stools, and tables. It was easy to recognize multiple items for transfiguration. The back wall held various rolls, which proved to contain early theories on charms and some healing potions. There also was a corner with two iron cauldrons and a short table with a bowl-hole.
Severus searched through the objects without much hope to find what he was looking for while McGonagall discussed with Potter the obvious use of the place as a multifunctional private classroom. Flitwick would be surprised his forbear had cared to hold private classes and had obviously been into tutoring even in her private hours. The small wizard was not famous for spending additional time in his House's quarters. Maybe that explained the outrageous amount of bullying the Ravenclaw students had to conquer.
"What do we know about this artifact?" – Minerva asked him, leaving the boy to his own devices. "It's lost for centuries. It would help to know what we're looking for–"
"Well, maybe for even longer," – Severus admitted, absently upending one of the heavy cauldrons just to satisfy his curiosity about its state. He thought it would be rusty after so many years, but the corridor must have been sealed away with a peculiar kind of magic for it almost looked usable. He shook his head to refocus his attention. "I found out that the diadem got lost when the Founder's daughter took it to Albania. It seems to have spent the last millennia there, and then recently – well, whatever is recent for a ghost – it returned. I believe into Hogwarts…."
"How?" – Minerva demanded as if he naturally had to have all the details of an ancient tale no one heard about! Severus sighed.
"That's a little obscure. However, if something survived that long in a forest in Albania, it must be goblin-made. And knowing Ravenclaw's House colour I expect something blue, but–" – he spread his palms helplessly. "All I know about Albania is that the Dark Lord was there, and he isn't especially cordial in sharing experiences."
Minerva snorted. "I imagine. Do you believe He returned it from Albania?"
Severus hesitated. He was looking for a Horcrux which the Dark Lord made, it was reasonable to assume… "Possibly, yes," – he agreed. "Although if he didn't hide it here, where it had belonged, it could be anywhere."
"Well, if I had to hide something, I would hide it where the rest are hidden," – Potter blabbed in. As annoying as it was, Minerva still asked back:
"The rest of what, Mr. Potter?"
"Well, the rest of the things people hide…" – the boy's voice sounded as if he talked about something trivial, which called now even for Severus' attention.
"And where would such a place be?"
"Erm…well, here. I mean not here, but the other here," – he explained, and Snape had to think of his eloquence in his classroom. "It is here in the Room of Requirement, but first we have to close this corridor and wish for that room instead."
Minerva's glance mirrored Severus' feelings about the matter, some hesitance, some surprise and a healthy amount of skepticism. Potter must have recognized that one.
"It's easier if I show," – he said and walked back to the corridor, through the ornate entrance, and held the door for his professors to join him.
As soon as they all left Rowena's quarters behind and the door closed, it disappeared, and Severus could only see the empty wall opposite Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry. Potter was already pacing, and soon they spotted a different door.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Mr. Potter," – McGonagall advised before they stepped inside.
"Yes, Professor, this time I do."
The place he showed with confidence was as big as a cathedral and rows and rows of junk filled it in every direction. Minerva asked again the question which was foremost on Severus' mind: "And how does one find here anything at all?"
"Well, I guess you don't, Professor… This is about hiding things, not finding them," – Potter answered, involuntarily ascending to levels of philosophy Severus doubted he was ready for. The irony almost made him smirk.
"Accio Ravenclaw's diadem," – Severus tried.
Exactly nothing happened. He tried to call a book from the closest pile just to make sure it wasn't an enchantment on the room against magical attempts to find something. Thankfully it wasn't, the book flew into his hand lightly.
"Maybe it has a name," – Minerva deemed. "These ancient objects often acquire one through the ages…"
Severus grimaced and performed a mockingly exaggerated wand move.
"Accio Ravenclaw's lost diadem?" – he uttered with an arched eyebrow. Unfortunately, McGonagall didn't find amusement in his impudence. "It's probably cursed," – Severus elaborated to placate her. "Similar objects that the Headmaster wanted to find were heavily protected. The protection against the collecting charm should be the least," – he theorized.
Minerva looked around and sighed for Merlin's help.
"However…" – Severus stepped deeper into the rows and thought about the curses he encountered. "It must be the darkest item in the whole room. Which means…" – Severus thought quickly about his options. He knew he could find something to navigate him to the darkest object in the room with some research in his private library, but he felt way too impatient to finish this up. Sage – even the thought of her quickened his breath. No, he had no time for research. "What is that you can follow, and reveals darkness?" – he mumbled, and to his surprise Minerva replied.
"Light, of course. You seem to have spent too much time with a Ravenclaw doorknob, Severus, you begin to sound like one."
It was such an easy solution, Severus didn't even waste time grumbling against the mocking. If he made all objects show their true colours… if he made them shine as much light as they had inside them, the darkest one would be the diadem. There were spells which let the magic show… although… he would have been better off using the opposite, and somehow making the darkest item shine the brightest. There were no such charms he knew about, but he knew the spell of true colours. Could he reverse that?
"Step back to the wall," – he warned the others and with a quick move of his wand Severus blinded the tall cathedral windows, thrusting the giant room into darkness. "Verumbra Illuminata!" – he cried the known spell but let his magic roam with his honest wish for it to invert the effect and make the darkest item shine the brightest… Letting free felt reassuring and almost better than he remembered.
One heartbeat… two… and the piles of junk and clutter began to emit light. Less than he anticipated, although here and there the light was strong enough to navigate among the rows. Severus cautiously started among the piles, and sooner than he anticipated, blinding light filtered through a rickety cabinet… Could he be this lucky?
Ending the spell and opening up the windows, Severus found a filigree arch of goblin silver with what seemed to be sapphire inlay and one oval stone in the middle. That could be the thing! He suddenly wished if he had Sage with him instead of McGonagall when he prepared to make sure about the curses and the piece of the damaged soul.
"Minerva, you'd better take the boy away," – Severus cautioned, but couldn't give mind if they heeded his advice. He was too eager to get this over with. Finally… a step closer to going after her… He let his magic examine the diadem.
It proved dark indeed. Cursed savagely and throbbing with the now well-known depravity. He wasted no time. The basilisk fang he took on his search only in vain optimism, now quickly found its way into his anxious hand. When the protection charm began to work, and he saw the shadow of a silhouette emerge he only shook his head and looked the other way.
"Severus," – he heard Lily's voice.
"Ow, not again!" – he grumbled and lifted the fang, but an entirely different shriek stopped him.
"Mum?!"
The boy's voice came from behind his back, and Severus didn't feel ready to destroy the shadow in her son's plain sight… a fatal mistake. He heard Minerva trying to pull Potter away and the boy's replying pleas to "let him see her". Fuck.
Curiously the phantom didn't go on, which made Severus cautiously lookup. As if it didn't know whom to address, the form became almost transparent. He had to focus to see her… and as soon as he gave his full attention, it dissolved into smoke.
Potter halted in his cries, but Severus couldn't tear his eyes from the shaping new frame.
"It is all your fault that she died! Don't you delude yourself!" – Mira Rasical's voice seemed harsh compared to Lily's. "You didn't keep her close! I trusted you! She trusted you, but you failed her! You failed again! You cannot keep them! You cannot have them! You don't deserve it. Because you're weak! You've always been a failure," – the phantom laughed. "You couldn't save her, even if you only had to keep her close. She didn't want to be close, who would want to be close to you? You're a disgrace and you killed her! You–"
"Lie!" – Severus shouted and crashed the diadem. "She's alive!" – he stabbed, again and again, hardly aware of the despair in his voice until there wasn't much that remained than some detached fragments of silver and shattered rock. "She's alive. You're a liar," – he panted and threw the fang onto the debris. He only got to his senses when he heard the boy's despair:
"Where is she?"
Potter obviously shouldn't have seen any of that, but Severus felt too tired to question Minerva. Actually, he even felt too tired to turn and face them.
"What did you do to her?! Where is my mother?" – Potter worked himself into a frenzy, not that Severus couldn't understand. This time he could. He was still grateful when Minerva stepped closer.
"Come, Mr. Potter, you should calm down." McGonagall's voice was far from calm, but she obviously did her best. "That was not your mother."
"But I saw her!" – The disturbing high-pitch subsided in the boy's voice, now he sounded more confused than devastated. "What did that woman say? What is your fault? Did she know my mother? Did you hurt her?"
"Mr. Potter, it would be better if you–" – Minerva couldn't finish, Severus was turning to face them just in time to see Potter tear his arm out of her gentle grasp.
"I can recognize my mother!" – Potter now faced him with a challenge in his eyes, and Severus simultaneously felt pity, rage and shame.
The outrage won out.
"But you obviously cannot recognize a protection charm," – he informed the brat with silky coldness. "The artifact was cursed and enchanted to protect itself." His eyes slowly found Minerva's as he admitted: "By recognizing fears."
McGonagall took a step back as their gazes met. Whatever she understood, her eyes softened as she watched him.
"Why would you fear my mother?"
"That was not your mother, Potter, and I have no reason to fear her. This discussion is over," – Severus announced and tried to sidestep them.
Of course, Harry Potter would never in his life have him have his escape!
"I want to know! You did promise answers, it does behoove to me!" – the boy seemed ready to fight. "Why would you cry if you have no reason to fear her? Who was that other woman? Did she talk about my mum? Did you fail her?"
Severus stared at the boy. He couldn't do much more. Never in his darkest nightmares had he imagined the brat questioning him in a way he had no base to refuse.
"Yes," – he replied almost inaudible, holding the child's gaze. At least he tried.
However, Potter didn't look into his eyes. He was looking in his face, but lower… Severus had a curious feeling as if his look burned streaks on his skin, and absently reached there to touch drying traces of tears. He swiped at them angrily with his robe sleeve and turned away, embarrassed, to hurry out of the room.
"A hell of a protection charm," – he heard McGonagall behind him. "I wonder what it protected."
"The Headmaster gave no permission to reveal that," – he distantly replied.
"I don't mind not knowing as long as it's destroyed," – she wisely told him. "You did well, Severus. What a nasty piece of work!"
The roughness in her voice and the traces of their summer camaraderie were encouraging and helped Severus' balance. With some use of his occlumency skills, he almost felt normal when they reached the tall door.
"But what did my mother have to do with it?" – Potter asked now, curiously subdued. Severus couldn't place his change of heart. Usually he had a hard time understanding anything about the brat. Still, he remembered their bargain, and as long as the boy kept his end and protected his mind…
"Nothing," – he told the truth. "It used the feelings and memories of the one that attacked it. I do have memories about your mother, as you well know it, Potter, however, it was not me looking at the phantom when her form emerged."
"Do you mean it used me?" – the boy stared at him.
If Severus was honest, he wasn't sure, but it was convenient enough to let Potter assume.
"I did have my own set of visions if you care to remember," – he told him with a snarl. "And there's nothing about that that would behoove to you! I suggest you return to civility, Mr. Potter, before we leave this room behind. It would also be advisable if you returned to your common room, all these hours after curfew."
"We tried to track you down, Severus," – McGonagall took up the word before the threat in his voice could have any effect. "Mr. Potter recently had a vision, which, as I understand he should have discussed with you on the Headmaster's order. Is it true then? Albus didn't share what you were doing on your private sessions in these last months."
"Potter shouldn't have had a vision, on the Headmaster's order" – Severus' stance turned a little more threatening, but Potter didn't step back.
"It wasn't like the others, I didn't follow, and I didn't let him in my mind!" – he hurried to reassure. "He wanted me to believe he had Sirius at the Ministry. I am still Occluding. He's trying to reinforce the vision. I remembered what Professor Moody told me, and I went straight to Professor McGonagall to tell you. Sir," – he finally added, signalling that requested return to civility. Severus almost grimaced.
"What does Professor Moody have to with any of this?" – McGonagall looked at them perplexed, and she probably also noticed Severus' gaze turning angrily on her charge. "I was only aware you needed remedial classes from Professor Snape, Mr. Potter!"
"I…that is…" - the boy at least had the decency to show some shame. "I meant to say that at Christmas she told me I could turn to you anytime, Professor," – he finished unconvincingly in Severus' opinion. Somehow Minerva couldn't find fault in the performance.
"Well, if she said so, she was right. Although I cannot fathom why you would need anyone to tell you that after all these years" – she shook her head. "I have already contacted the Order, Severus. Sirius Black is safe and sound at Grimmauld Place, as he should be. We thought to talk to you about the pain in Mr. Potter's scar. You are a hard wizard to find, I have to say. If it was not for that strange map–"
Severus had to bite back a snarl when his thoughts turned back to that damned piece of dark magic! Oh, the hypocrisy of Gryffindor superiority again! However, he had no time for a rant right now. If the boy's scar hurt, that meant the Dark Lord tried to breach his defences. And if he was unsuccessful, he must have known by now that someone prepared the boy in Occlumency. Did he manage a peek into Potter's mind to find out who that was, or was he still attacking to find it out?
For the first time, Severus was grateful Sage was out of reach. If her safety relied on Potter… Merlin, how could he ever agree to such a horrible plan?! Of course, even if the Dark Lord couldn't figure out her involvement, the question was still down between him and the Headmaster. Severus absently touched his left arm, but no, the ominous pain was yet to come. Which either meant that the brat indeed Occluded, or he was in for a very nasty surprise.
"If the Dark Lord entered your mind, you would experience pain even without the scar of his curse," – he told the boy. "Which he undoubtedly did, if you experienced a vision. However, about the true extent of the damage, we cannot be sure at this point." – he leaned closer to Potter to highlight the urgency of his words. "You must empty your mind of all thoughts when he attacks again!"
"I do! I do as she… as I was told!"
"Then he already knows you tried to shield your mind and must believe he could break it anytime," – Severus assessed. "If you don't reply to his call, he will repeat it."
"Are you suggesting You-know-who tried to entrap Harry with a vision?" – Minerva asked with such alarm she didn't even recognize her slipping into familiarity.
"I am quite sure that is exactly what he did," – Severus nodded, it didn't escape his notice that Potter nodded too. That was a hopeful sign, it looked as if the boy finally had an inkling about what he was about. Maybe not all was lost just yet… "Minerva, I'll try to find the Headmaster. Please make sure if Mr. Potter dreams again, I get to know about it," – he began plotting already.
"Of course, I only need to find you if–"
"I'm sure Potter will be happy to offer his wonderful map…" – Severus suggested, and he was gloating to see the boy's reluctance.
"Why?!" – he tried to argue. " What good would that do if you cannot help it? I cannot close my mind any more than this, and if he really plans to kidnap Sirius…"
"Your godfather always had better instincts for survival than what you've ever shown," – Severus told him, maliciously thinking about Black's tendency to avoid real trouble. "But if you fail to answer the Dark Lord's calling, he may become… insistent."
"So he would try again," – the boy nodded with uncharacteristic understanding. "He would keep trying until I fail."
Severus couldn't deny his assessment, so he only looked Potter grimly in the eye.
"You are saying, Harry may be in danger," – Minerva was slower to comprehend their words.
"As you have so frequently rubbed it under my nose, he has always been in danger," – Severus explained to the witch impatiently. "The difference is, that this time he may understand what and whom he risks with his endeavours."
"I do," – Potter quickly replied. "I haven't forgotten," – he added, probably to remind Snape of their discussions out of time and space. It was unnecessary but nonetheless welcomed. Unlike his next thought. "But if he will break my defences anyway, shouldn't we… I don't know… do something against him? At least we know what he is doing right now and what he expects–"
Severus turned on him horrified.
"You will not under any circumstance attempt to try and pry into his mind! Do you understand me?" – he warned the boy.
"Why, of course, he wouldn't!" – McGonagall cried out in horror. "Severus, go find the Headmaster if you know where he is! We will wait for your return."
It would have been so nice to believe she could ensure the wonder boy would keep his right mind, alas Severus dared not hope.
"Potter?"
"I will shield my mind," – the boy promised, and he tried to believe him.
"Alright. To your common room then," – Severus commanded. "I hurry if I can," – he assured McGonagall. "Try to act naturally," – he added, not knowing anymore with complete certainty which one of them.
They wandered out to the seventh-floor corridor and the boy donned his invisibility cloak, to return to the Gryffindor tower under Minerva's watchful eyes, and Severus hurried down the stairs to have his escape through a sixth-floor window, disillusioned, and flying down to the gates.
It felt curious to escape Hogwarts this time in search of the Headmaster and not answering the Dark Lord's call. Severus had never been in charge to decide on tactics in the war, but all his instincts suggested taking on the boy's ridiculous advice. If they wanted to attack the Dark Lord any time, it was now, or maybe never. However, he knew he had never been more ready to fight than now when he wanted nothing else but to get over with everything that held him away from Sage.
He knew he couldn't think clearly and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He had no high hopes about the boy's ability to keep all their secrets under persistent pressure, but at least he could count down the remaining number of Horcruxes. He wondered if the Headmaster had similar success robbing the bank.