1971-1972 - Tricking the Trickster

Thursday morning found Severus at the end of the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, clutching at the letter he'd just received from his mother. Apparently, she was expecting him and Sev for Christmas and had sent a few coins for a train to Manchester and a bus to their own village. The boys hadn't expected this. Not only going home for the holidays, but also wasting money on transportation, when their mother could easily just apparate them home. And for fuck's sake, why are we even going there when Mother doesn't have enough money to feed herself, let alone Father and two kids!

His musings were interrupted when someone snatched the letter from his hands and he turned in time to see Potter open his mouth to read the message aloud: "Snivellus, I'll be expecting you for the holidays. I have sent-"

"Give it back!" Severus shouted and tried to grab his letter, but Potter turned so that he couldn't reach it.

"-you money for tickets," the Gryffindor continued and stopped for a second to glance at the few coins in the envelope and hand it to Black, who was standing beside him. "Your father is not yet employed, so you should be careful to stay out of sight. Even your father doesn't want to look at you, Snivelly! There-"

"Alarte Ascendare!"

Potter was sent flying about ten feet into the air before falling to the ground with a painful thud.

"Mr Snape!"

"He attacked us, Professor!" Black was shouting before Severus had so much as looked in the direction of the advancing Professor McGonagall.

"They stole my letter!"

His words, however, were in direct contrast with the letter Potter had dropped in the Slytherin's feet, when he'd been hurled into the air, and the envelope Black had hidden from view as soon as he'd caught sight of McGonagall's approach.

"Twenty points from-"

"It's true, Professor, they stole it," a few of the Slytherins, who'd been giggling until now, tried to save their House Points.

The Gryffindor Head, however, only glared at them over Severus' shoulder, threatened to make it thirty, and turned her scowl back on the unfortunate first-year.

"Mr Snape, I will be expecting you at seven o'clock for detention in my office," she said and turned to Black, "Mr Black, escort Potter to the Hospital Wing and go to class."

Before Severus had had the chance to get his money back either from Black, or through McGonagall, they'd both disappeared behind the doors. Grunting in frustration, he grabbed his bag and stormed out of the Hall.

He was practically vibrating from anger by the time he reached the Charms classroom. His fury only subsided somewhat when he heard two passing Ravenclaws joke at Potter's expense. A few minutes passed while he waited for class to start, sitting on the floor and trying to cool his temper.

As the door clicked open and the little Charms Professor ushered the group of first-year Slytherins inside, Severus felt the man's small hand on his shoulder.

"Quite the handiwork there, Mr Snape," Flitwick chirped. "Not that I encourage such behaviour, of course, but the execution of that spell was commendable."

"What the hell was that?" Lily exhaled as she approached the tree beneath which Severus was currently sitting with a Transfiguration notebook on his lap.

Sitting a bit straighter, the boy replied proudly, "Alarte Ascendare."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The spell? Wasn't that what you were asking?" Severus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"No. I meant, why? Why would you hex that pompous prig in front of the entire school? You said you were going to try and avoid things like this!"

At the disapproving look on her face, the boy's hands started shaking as he replayed the events from breakfast in his head. A feeling of hurt and betrayal settled in his chest.

"Why!?" he shouted. "Because they fucking stole my letter and tried to make fun of me in front of the whole bloody table! Because Sirius fucking Black still has the money Mother got from God-knows-where so that I can go home for Christmas! Because I'm-So-Equitable McGonagall wouldn't even hear anything I or anyone else in Slytherin says and gave me a detention while Potter and Black only got a pat on the back!"

As he continued to pour out his frustration, Severus scrambled to his feet and tried to put his things in his bag with trembling from fury hands. Once he was done, he threw the bag over his shoulder and went to step past his friend, only to be stopped when she grabbed his hand.

"Severus, wait! I- I understand you're upset, it's just... I only saw you throwing Potter in the air, I didn't know what happened!"

"And so you assumed it's my fault because I'm the Slytherin, is that it?" he snarled as he tried to yank his hand from her grasp.

"No! Will you just stop for one second and calm down?" she said in a strained voice as she guided him back to the tree.

"Ay, Mr Snape, yeh wouldn' happen' teh know-" a loud shout reached their ears and both students turned to see Hagrid standing about ten yards from them.

"Oh, for god's sake!" Severus muttered as he grabbed hold of Lily's hand and ushered her in the direction opposite the gamekeeper.

They ducked behind a relatively big rock for cover, and after making sure the man wasn't following them, both leaned their backs against it and exhaled in an attempt to calm their breathing. Severus ran his hands over his face and shook his head lightly.

"Damn it, Lily! I'm sorry! It's not your fault." The boy released another shaky breath. "Sorry. I just... I guess I'm a little peeved." He giggled nervously. "And I have Transfiguration in 20 minutes, and McGonagall is probably the last person I want to see right now. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's alright," said Lily as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'll get whatever it is Black took from you and give it to you tomorrow, okay? You should speak with Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn about it, though."

"Thank you."

"You haven't eaten, have you?"

At the shake of his head, Lily pushed a sandwich in his hand and both slid to the ground.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what that was about?" Lily gestured in the direction of Hagrid.

"Hagrid. He's been trying to speak with me since Sunday, and I really don't want to do that right now. It was rather awkward on Saturday."

"Well, I doubt it's everyday Dumbledore brings a promising Quidditch player such as yourself to his doorstep," the girl teased, earning herself a playful slap on the hand.

'Speak with McGonagall.' Yeah, sure, I'd rather kiss Hagrid's monster than complain to that hag. With that cheerful image in his head, Severus knocked on said hag's office door and pushed it open.

"Oh, Mr Snape, good evening," McGonagall greeted, barely lifting her gaze from the papers on her desk.

"Good evening," the boy muttered, and sat on the chair the woman had pointed him to.

Severus only hoped she wouldn't try to talk to him. It had been bad enough having to sit through her entire class, and it didn't help that his performance today had been abysmal. Really, the only one who'd done a worse job with the practical was Mulciber and that guy didn't know his arse from his elbow. And if McGonagall started lecturing him about what had happened in the Great Hall, Severus couldn't guarantee he wouldn't snap at her like he'd done with Lily.

"Well, before you begin, I want you to know that I've informed Professor Slughorn of what has occurred."

Ah, praise the lord. Why do Gryffindors think talking to that fool would solve all problems? Severus had heard, of course, his housemates commenting on the Gryffindors' lack of brains, but he hadn't expected the latter to broadcast it like that.

Meanwhile, McGonagall had opened the bottom drawer in her desk and had extracted a few stacks of papers. "These need to be sorted by year, House, and in alphabetical order," she told him and turned back to her marking.

They were papers of NEWT results of people who'd long graduated, so nothing that could prompt Severus to look at them for longer than was needed to skim the names at the top. The task was not exactly monotonous, but easy enough that he could let his mind wonder.

Strangely enough, being here with McGonagall reminded him of Peeves. He wondered if the poltergeist would still answer if he called him. Lily had practically wasted the opportunity to use him on students as soon as she'd stumbled upon a lone second-year Hufflepuff. She'd been scared Peeves would start tormenting her if she didn't hold up her end of the deal (which, though he didn't admit it, Severus was as well). The poor boy had been tied to a chair in an empty classroom for an hour before Lily had finally been sure the poltergeist was nowhere to be seen, and had gone to untie him. She'd kept apologizing for a week after that, much to the Hufflepuff's immense confusion. Gryffindor though she was, Lily hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him she'd been the one responsible for his misfortune.

Severus, though, thought Peeves to be the perfect secret weapon one could use against Potter and Black. If Peeves agreed to it, however, Severus would have to negotiate a deal that didn't include any singing on his part.

Whether it was good or bad luck, Severus couldn't decide, but two days later, he stumbled upon the poltergeist on his way to the Entrance Hall. No, that's not a good way to put it. 'Barely escaped a brutal attack of flying china' might be more like it, for he'd been met by a rain of plates and cups as soon as he'd set foot in the Hall. The poltergeist, however, seemed to be doing this just to cause havoc and not because Severus was there. He hadn't even noticed him before the boy called after him, "Peeves!"

"Ah! A firstie!" Peeves shouted as though meeting a first-year was the most incredible thing imaginable.

"I could give you an autograph if you wanted," Severus muttered and was quick to continue before the little man could interrupt him. "I have a question. Or a... a proposition, more like. Like the one before, but we could switch that lullaby for something less noticeable. People tend to notice things like this, you see. They'll figure it out if you appear every time they hear the song."

"And you call yourself a Slytherin!" (Well, the Sorting Hat did say I'm more of a Ravenclaw...) "You're up to something, I can see it. Why shouldn't I tell Filch?"

And before the boy could answer, Peeves was flying toward what Severus was pretty sure was Filch's office, knocking to the ground as much of the torches on the walls as he possibly could. Turning on his heel, the Slytherin went straight for the staircase to the dungeons and slid into the common room where the caretaker wouldn't be able to find him. No doubt Peeves would blame the shattered plates on him.

"That thing's a menace!" he exclaimed as he descended into the trunk.

"Peeves?" asked Sev, not bothering to look up from the History of Magic text he was reading.

"Jackpot!"

Severus extracted the Backgammon board from the only bookshelf inside and perched on the bed next to his brother. Only, this time, he turned the board upside down.

"Leave that, I'm sure Binns won't mind too much," he said, pointing at the battered textbook. "Play a game of chess, 'cause I'm bored to death. Lily's been up in Gryffindor Tower all day!"

Snorting, Sev closed the book and started arranging the chessmen on the board.

"So," he said as he pushed forward one of the pawns. "What's Peeves done this time?"

Severus moved his own pawn.

"I found him doing regular Peeves things, so, naturally, the whole floor was covered in shattered plates ..." and he went on to explain exactly what had happened, as though Sev wouldn't see it for himself in a few hours.

"I've got an idea," said Sev some time later, while capturing a bishop. "Would he agree if we keep the part about the singing, do you think? I bet he thought of that because he knows it's embarrassing, and he sees it as a two-birds-with-one-stone situation when we call him."

Severus glared at him, both because of the game and because of his stupid question. "We ain't singing anything, I'll have you know. I don't care if you'll be the one to do it, we'll both suffer after- What?"

Sev was grinning at him.

"I was just thinking... Did you know... Well, you do, of course, but... Concealing charms work on all living beings. But then, Peeves isn't exactly living, is he? He's amortal, which means he was never even alive to begin with."

"Checkmate!"

"That was not fair, I wasn't paying attention."

"I fail to see how that's my problem. Anyway, you were saying?"

"I was saying," said Sev, returning his brother's earlier glare, "I'm going to check the Library tomorrow for concealing spells. Or better yet, you could do it now."

It was... definitely a weird idea. It seemed impossible that concealing spells wouldn't work on poltergeists, but perhaps it was worth a try. Severus put the board back in its place and went for the exit.

"By the way," Sev called after him, making him turn back to the room. "Did you by any chance count the money Mother sent us before Black took it?"

"No. Why?"

"I'm not sure it will be enough to get us home."

It was strange, that was for sure, that after the twins had spent about 3 hours in total searching through the Library, they still hadn't found what they were looking for. There was no way it didn't exist, a spell preventing eavesdropping was perhaps one of the most useful spells Seuthes could think of.

"What are you doing?"

His head snapped up to meet the curious gaze of one Lily Evans.

"Looking for a spell that stops others from hearing what you're saying."

"Really? Why? Don't tell me it's for homework!"

Seuthes couldn't help the quizzical smile that played on his lips.

"Breathe, no. I just heard Flitwick mention something like that to Newtwig and got curious."

Lily seemed to accept the explanation and set on helping him without further questions. Meanwhile, Seuthes was musing over whether he should've just told the truth. Lying to Lily always felt wrong. It wasn't as though this was the first time he'd done so, he couldn't even remember how many times he'd told her everything at home was fine. Not to mention he was lying about his identity practically every time he spoke with her. But he was pretty sure, if he told Lily the truth, she'd try to convince him to leave Black and Potter alone. She'd already tried to do so more than once.

"Well, would you look at that! Many have tried to develop a spell that would allow witches and wizards alike to keep their conversations private, to various success. Perhaps the most successful attempt was made in 1783 by the Prussian Labrenz Littman, when he managed to combine the 'Mutanobis' incantation with a rather complicated wand movement," Lily read half an hour later. Below the text was a sketch of said wand movement.

The author hadn't exactly been exaggerating, for this was one of the most twisted patterns Seuthes had ever seen, and he did know quite a few of the more advanced Dark Spells. Maybe he couldn't perform them, but he'd read all about all kinds of different jinxes and curses.

"This is the best they've got!?" he exclaimed disbelievingly, earning himself a warning glare from the librarian. Lowering his voice, he added, "You'd think they'd come up with something easier in two centuries..."

Too exhausted to keep looking for something else, Seuthes had decided that it would have to suffice. And so, the Snapes had now been practicing the Mutanobis Charm for the better part of a fortnight. By now, they'd almost mastered the wand movement, but had come across the unexpected problem that was the pronunciation of the incantation. Not for the first time, both thought it might be a good idea to learn Latin.

Severus was on his way to the Library in search of a Latin dictionary to translate the damned spell, when all too late he spotted Hagrid chatting with Professor Lochty, the Astronomy teacher.

"Ah, Mr Snape!" Hagrid beamed at him, his chat evidently having come to an end, seeing as Lochty was retreating down the hall. "'ve been looking for yeh for a cup o' tea, eh?"

Well, might as well make the man stop following him once and for all... Maybe look up the spell, and then go see what the gamekeeper wanted?

"Erm, alright? I just have to check something for a Charms-"

"Rubbish!" Hagrid interrupted, and placed a hand on Severus' back, forcing him to turn toward the exit and pushing him forward. "I heard what Flitwick said abou' that spell you did."

Evidently, arguing with the man wasn't going to get him anywhere, so Severus decided to follow him without further complaints. Soon, they reached the cabin; Hagrid pointed the Slytherin to the couch, while he himself went to the fireplace to fix some tea.

"What, erm, is it you wanted from me, Mr Hagrid?"

Hagrid whirled around to look at him through bushy eyebrows, a look of shock on his face.

"Never mind tha' Mister business. Call me Hagrid," he said, placing a mug in front of his guest. "Tell yeh the truth, Dumbledore said yeh needed someone to talk teh."

"Dumbledore- What?"

Hagrid took a gulp of his tea and looked awkwardly at the boy before him.

"Said not many've showed yeh love an' all that." Severus sat stunned in his spot, feeling the anger rise in his chest. Hagrid must have caught onto that because he muttered to himself, "Maybe I shuldnta said tha'."

Severus had half a mind to storm out of the hut, but something about the expression on Hagrid's face made him stay in his seat. He looked... genuinely concerned - something Severus had only ever seen with Lily and his mother. He should probably at least tell the man he'd rather be left alone.

"Well... Thank you, Hagrid, but really - I don't need your help. And you can tell Dum- Professor Dumbledore I'm perfectly fine."

Hagrid looked skeptical, and for a moment Severus thought the man might need more convincing. But then the gamekeeper nodded and lifted his cup to his lips. Severus sighed with relief. He was about to stand and bid Hagrid 'goodbye', when tha man cleared his throat and spoke again.

"I was meanin' to ask yeh fer some help. Somethin' fer the third-years, Nadelft said. Have me a couple o' little beauties teh look after. "

Too uncomfortable to refuse, Severus inclined and spent the next two hours feeding Billywigs and fighting to put them back in their tiny cages.

"Don't tell me the Slytherins are at it again?" were Sev's first words as Severus finally reached the trunk. He was looking at the many red spots on his brother's hands, where the Billywigs had stung him.

"Hagrid," was all Severus said, as though that explained everything.

"Hagrid cursed you?"

"Don't be silly! I doubt he'd be able to if he tried. No, nitwit, it was his stupid beasts that confused me for their dinner. And on top of all, Hagrid wasn't the least bit sympathetic. Said I should be more careful where I put my hands!"

Sev was staring at him, dumbstruck. "You mean to tell me... You went to that oaf... and played with his beasts?"

"You're saying it like I had a choice."

Whatever he might have said, Severus had actually enjoyed the time he'd spent with Hagrid and so had Seuthes the following day, when he'd been the one to help the giant man with his 'butterflies'. Hagrid might not have been the perfect company, but it was a good enough way to pass the time when Lily was doing homework or whatever else up in Gryffindor Tower.

It was easy, see, to keep up with schoolwork, when you spent half of the week locked up in a small space with not many better things to do. And so, Snape could often be seen wandering the corridors while everyone else was in the Library, doing research, or in their common rooms, furiously scribbling essays because they were running out of time. The homework they had to do seemed to have doubled in size, now that the holidays were fast approaching.

One thing the twins often did in their free time - something they've also been doing in their not-so-free time the past few weeks - was practice the Mutanobis Charm. By now they could probably cast it in their sleep.

Right now, Seuthes was standing in the door frame of a hopefully deserted classroom on the fifth floor. Wand outstretched, he entered the room. It was, in fact, empty. Closing the door behind him, Seuthes repeated the plan in his head and began to recite the text of the lullaby. First things first, he needed to know if Peeves would still respond to it. And sure enough, just as he was about to count it as a failure, the poltergeist's head popped through the wall.

Peeves looked around. He must have noticed the room was empty, safe for the boy who'd summoned him because, as the rest of his body appeared in the room, he was wearing a frown.

"Interrupting a perfect topsy-turvy and for what?" the poltergeist was saying, but Seuthes was too preoccupied with waving his wand to notice. He pointed it at himself and whispered, "Mutanobis!". A wave seemed to wash over him, and then the air became still once more.

"Peeves, can you hear me?" called Seuthes, but too late. Peeves was already retreating through the door, shouting at the top of his lungs for someone to catch the 'little useless firstie'. Around Seuthes the floor was covered in shattered glass. The chandelier had fallen from the ceiling.

Tuesday, December 21st, 1971

The last class of term was Potions, which was why Severus was currently resting his head on his arms folded on top of the desk. Ironically, he thought this class to be the worst of them all. Not only did he have to stand for Potter and Black's - recently joined by Pettigrew's as well - 'witty' remarks, but also Slughorn's unbelievably tedious lectures. One might think the actual brewing would make these periods a tad bit more interesting, but they'd be wrong, for there was no brewing done at all. The closest the first-years had got to brewing was when Slughorn made them light a fire under their cauldrons.

Even worse still was Slughorn's constant encouragement of Potter and Black as well as of most of the Slytherins (Snape not included). There was something called 'Slug Club'. Supposedly, it was a group of Slughorn's favourite students, though the Snapes suspected the more suitable definition would be 'a group of the children of Slughorn's favourite parents'.

Perhaps the only good thing about Potions was that Lily took the class with him. But then... she sat on the other side of the classroom with the rest of the Gryffindors, so that didn't really help Snape's misery.

At last, the bell rang and excited chatter filled the classroom. Fighting to keep his eyes open, Severus packed his quill and the notebook he hadn't touched since the beginning of term, and stepped out of the room.

"Did you find a way yet to become invisible, Snivellus? Or would your family be forced to look at your ugly face all week?"

Black was leaning against a wall with his hand casualty placed in his pocket. From the other side of the hall, a shy first-year Gryffindor, Remus Lupin, was watching the scene unfold uncomfortably.

"Really, Black!" said Lily, as she came to stand beside her friend. Severus didn't pay her a mind, too busy glaring at the boy in question.

"Rich coming from you, Black. Your family wouldn't have you even if you were invisible and mute."

At least that was what he'd heard from the other Slytherins. It must have held at least some truth because in an instant the brat had gone for his wand. The spell was fast, but Severus, having seen it coming, was even faster as he grabbed Lily and jumped out of the way.

A yelp came from Black's direction, and Severus looked up to see Filch twisting his ear.

"See what McGonagall has to say about you, eh?" said the caretaker as he dragged the Gryffindor down the hall.

AN: Thank you to everyone who's left reviews. It prompts me to write more (and makes me feel better about myself). I know it's going slow, but I was excited for some future chapters and wrote those first... But hey, that means I'll update more frequently when we get to them, yeah?