Shaun Snape, Age 8
By Teacherbev
Summary: Part 3 in the Growing Up Snape series. Shaun is now 8 years old and dealing with his father Severus, loose Death Eaters, Merlin and magic.
AN: It is probably necessary to read the first two stories, Snape's Invisible Friend and Growing Up Snape in order to make any sense of this story. I appreciate all those who have read and enjoyed my stories, especially those who have taken the time to post a review.
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I am not a multinational bookselling company, nor am I a multi-million dollar movie company, so I don't own anything that you recognize. I am a retired former teacher who likes to twist plots and play with characters, so enjoy.
Chapter 10: Let the Games Begin
Severus Snape was jealous, there was no other word for it; even though he was loathe to admit it to himself. Minerva, with the help of Remus and Sirius, had taken on the task of teaching his son how to control his animagus transformation into his phoenix form. Severus had never wished to become an animagus before, his interests and passions were in his beloved potions and because of its intertwining knowledge, herbology and magical creatures. His uncle had made sure that he was well versed in the Dark Arts and his mother and then Hogwarts had spurred him to rapidly learn the Defense Against the Dark Arts, if only to counteract the nasty spells his uncle cast upon him in the guise of 'teaching' him. His very proficiency and vast knowledge of them had served him well when his uncle forced him into being marked into Voldemort's service and even more after he began spying on Voldemort for his mentor and eventual friend, Albus Dumbledore.
But now, he was desperate to become an animagus so that he could experience the joys of transforming that his son was experiencing. And he knew he didn't have the normal years of research and learning that were usually required. After all, his son had already transformed once. It was only a matter of time before he would be able to do it again. So Severus was deeply entrenched in developing a potion to allow a witch or wizard to recognize their animagus form and then, if the person had enough will power and magic available, force the first transformation. He had seen in the pensieved memories that Lupin had donated to his project, that even though the first transformation from werewolf to wolf had been forced; it had left the knowledge of how to voluntarily transform behind.
Severus knew that he was close, but he was still missing one key ingredient, what could it be? He suspected that it should be from either a plant or an animal that transformed naturally in nature, but what could he try?
Shaun had enjoyed the rousing game of water tag that the Day school had had for the physical fitness period, but he was now exhausted. It had been a month since his kidnapping and subsequent poisoning, but he still hadn't completely recovered his stamina and his ordeal had negatively impacted his eating and sleeping habits enough that his childhood asthma was acting up and draining him of more energy. He wouldn't admit that there was a problem at all though, he was enjoying playing in the water with his friends way to much to let a little thing like being short of breath and exhausted interfere with his fun!
Severus had joined Remus in supervising the last few minutes of the game, since his last class had been dismissed just fifteen minutes ago and he wanted to discuss the problem of his Slytherins while the day students changed and then left by portkey to their individual homes for the night. He was luckily watching his son as he tried to escape one of the Weasley boys, he didn't recognize which one yet, when he realized that Shaun was floundering and unable to catch his breath. With a muffled yell, barely audible over the screaming of the other children, Severus watched in horror as Shaun's head went under and didn't come back up!
"Remus, Shaun's under!" Severus had started to kick off his boots and dive in when the redheaded boy that had been 'chasing' Shaun dove under and dragged the limp form to the surface. His brother appeared almost instantly and the two had Shaun over to the side of the pool before any of the other children even noticed that anything was wrong.
One of the boys flipped Shaun on his back as Remus and Severus ran around the end of the pool to reach the trio, Remus yelling at the others, "Everybody out and go get changed! Now!" as he followed Severus. The twins had Shaun's head turned to the side and were taking turns pushing up and into Shaun until with a gush of water from his mouth, Shaun started coughing and gasping, trying to sit up.
Severus had slid the last few feet on his knees in the water from the pool before snatching Shaun up in his arms, running his hands over the small form that was gasping for breath in his arms. He looked up at the two ten year olds, a suspicious wetness visible in his eyes as he thanked them before standing up and walking rapidly for the exit on his way to the infirmary and Madame Pomfrey. Remus glanced over at the pool to make sure that everyone else had climbed out and left to go change, before pulling both boys into a heartfelt and bone-crushing hug, uncaring that the two dripping wizards were making him as wet as they were.
A trail of water was the only evidence of the potions master's path through the castle, leading from the classroom next to the Great Hall and leading to the infirmary on the fourth floor. The huge infirmary doors banged open as Severus rushed in, still clutching a loudly protesting but still rather breathless eight year old. "Dad, I'm …fine! I don't… need… Aunt Poppy…, just the… normal …breathing spell …that you do!"
Severus rolled his eyes in exasperation as Poppy rushed out of her office, slipping slightly on the trail of water the two were leaving. "What's the…never mind, I can hear the problem." She veered from her path towards them to grab three different vials from the potions cabinet as Severus sat his son on the bed and began pulling the boy's wet clothing off of him.
Severus looked over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching medi-witch, "He was playing tag in the pool with the others when he went under. The Weasley twins pulled him up and then forced the water out of his lungs, but he's still having difficulty breathing!"
As Poppy forced the first potion into Shaun, his father grabbed dry pajamas from the stock room and started to put them on his son. He had also grabbed a self warming blanket from the shelves and wrapped the violently shivering child with them, adding his arms and chest to the warmth from behind as Poppy continued to treat him. Shaun leaned back into his father's chest, grateful for the warm arms and the comfort of his father's heartbeat under his ear. The last potion swallowed, the breathing spells cast upon him, he lost the battle and fell asleep, unaware that his father simply picked him up and climbed into a dry bed with him, allowing Poppy to cover both of them with the blankets as Severus held his son and rubbed his cheek on the soft black hair.
Shaun walked toward the small cottage, anticipating his visit with Merlin. He enjoyed talking with the ancient mage but he wished he could be old enough for the wizard to begin training him like he said that he would. He hated it when every one said, 'when you're older…or…you're too young!" He wished they would just let him try it once, and then if he couldn't do it he would know that he was too young. 'Sheesh, grown-ups could be so dense sometimes!'
As he sat on the couch enjoying a warming bowl of thick and meaty stew with Merlin's always wonderful toasted bread, he asked the old man again, trying to keep any evidence of whining out of his voice. "When will I be old enough, Merlin? Can't I just try and see if I can do stuff now? I get so tired of having to wait!" to his surprise, Merlin appeared to think about what he was asking before rubbing his beard and nodded briefly at his soon to be apprentice.
"I think that it is time to begin with some training, my boy, especially after the events surrounding your birthday. Be aware that these exercise that I will be teaching you will be very tiring to begin with so I must speak with your father about them."
Severus looked around him in surprise and disbelief. 'Where I am? I was sitting in the hospital wing, again, just holding Shaun and now I'm where?" He spotted the cottage in the center of the grassy meadow and noticed the thin wisps of smoke rising invitingly from the stone chimney. He pulled his wand and walked softly towards the small building, cautiously looking all around for potential dangers. He reached the door without difficulty and leaned close to listen for any clues to the occupants. An older man was speaking and then, he recognized that voice… that was Shaun! He pushed the door open and stopped, the sight of his son companionably sharing a meal with a man older than Albus was the last thing he had expected. Shaun sat his bowl down on the low table in front of him and ran to his father, hugging him around the waist as he buried his face into his father's stomach. Severus had to put his hand under the boys chin and move his face back from his robes to understand what his son was trying to say to him. "How did you get here, Dad? This is Merlin and you're in my mind with us!"
Shaun released the man's waist, grabbed his father's hand and pulled him over to sit beside him on the sofa as Merlin stood and dished another bowl of thick stew, put a thick slab of fresh bread onto the toasting fork and held it over the coals.
It was the matter of only a minute before Severus was seated beside Shaun a bowl of stew and a golden toasted slab of bread balanced on his knee. Merlin refilled his own bowl before sitting before the two on the sofa and introducing himself. "I am Merlin and you are young Shaun's father, Severus Snape; am I correct?"
Poppy reluctantly released Shaun the next morning in time to eat breakfast the next morning before going to class. She and Severus took turns lecturing him on the importance of stopping when he was short of breath or tired so that he didn't return any more than he had to.
And then all the teachers and half the students fussed over him both in the corridors on the way to the Great Hall and while he tried to eat his breakfast. His father just smirked at his irritation before leaning over and whispering in his son's reddening ear.
"Next time, tell Remus or me and we can cast the breathing spell, then you won't have to put up with all of this attention!"
Finally managing to escape all of the well-wishers, Shaun muttered to himself as he pushed the door open to the Day School, 'I hate it when he's right!' before running to greet his friends as they portkeyed in.
Fred and George nervously waited after school that afternoon. Professor Lupin had requested that they wait after the others left. They tried to think what they could be in trouble for, but other that that one sticking charm on the others students shoes as they tried to take them off…well, there was the spider in Luna's desk, but she had promptly made friends with it, so it couldn't be that!
Their nervousness grew as their mother and father came into the room, talking easily with both Professors Lupin and Snape. Oh, boy…the heavy artillery had arrived. Molly Weasley was noted for her lambastic temper and both boys had been on the receiving end of it too many times to take the threat of parental displeasure lightly.
The adults all sat in a semi-circle in armchairs that Lupin had conjured and looked at the two boys in front of them. Fred looked at George with a shocked expression. Mum wasn't mad at them; she actually looked really pleased and proud!
Professor Snape started talking, "I want to thank you again for your quick actions in saving Shaun yesterday. You both kept your heads in a situation that might have caused most your age to panic. I will be forever grateful to you."
Molly and Arthur chuckled at the identical gobsmacked expressions on both boys faces as they looked on the two mischievous troublemakers fondly. For all the twins' faults, they were actually nice boys.
Snape continued, "Both your primary teachers and Professor Lupin have told me that you show great promise in the field of potion making and are keen to learn all about them. If it is agreeable to the two of you, I will offer you training in potion making above and beyond what you will learn here in the Day School. I teach my son every Saturday morning for two to three hours, depending upon which potions we are brewing and I have brought your parents here to ask the two of you if you would like to join him in these lessons?"
The two boys were jumping in their seats in excitement as they stumbled over their words to accept.
"We'd love to…"
"If it's okay with…"
"Mum and Dad…"
"We don't mind…"
"Coming on Saturday…"
"It would be fantastic!" They finished simultaneously.
Remus was looking at the others as he laughingly said, "Perhaps we should have them tested for early telepathy skills, at least were each other is involved! Though I don't doubt the results of the test will be positive!"
After another half an hour of discussions, the four Weasleys left for the Burrow and Remus and Severus left together to walk back to their adjoining quarters.
Severus was shaking his head and rubbing his forehead with one hand. "What have I volunteered myself into now?"
Remus tipped back his head and laughed as he patted Severus' shoulder in sympathy. "They aren't that bad! At least Shaun will have someone to partner with now."
The idea of the three boys brewing together each Saturday morning in his lab didn't help him any, neither did Remus' continued laughter as they separated into their own rooms.
Shaun sat cross legged on the grass outside the old cottage and concentrated on bringing up a ball of light. When he had one about the size of a grapefruit on his palm, he looked up at Merlin and asked. "Okay, now I have a ball of light. What do I do with it now?"
Merlin chuckled, "That's not a ball of light. That's a ball of pure magical energy. Suppose someone tried to take you again and you needed to get away. What could you do with a ball of magical energy?"
Shaun twisted his mouth as he thought. "I could throw it at the door and make the door open? I could throw it at a person and make them let me go, maybe?"
"That's right. Now before you can do anything with that energy, you must focus on exactly what you want it to do. It's all right to explode a door or a wall to escape, but would you want to do that to a person?"
Shaun looked horrified. "Oh, no I don't want to hurt anyone. I just don't want them to hurt me!"
Merlin looked pleased with the boy's response. "That's right! And with your empathy, if you killed someone, you would feel it. I'm not saying that never in your life will you have to kill someone, sometimes, especially when they are hurting others it is the only thing you can do, but remember, my child, any pain that you inflict will also affect you if you cannot keep your shields up. Now imagine that the ball is a big bubble and when you throw it at the target it will make a giant impenetrable bubble that the person won't be able to get out of. Be careful to imagine them still being able to breathe while they are in it. Since you will be casting that at people you like while you learn it is important that you don't hurt them."
Shaun practiced making the ball, then throwing it while it expanded and finally enclosed a small human shaped target that Merlin had conjured. It didn't take long before Shaun was exhausted and Merlin released him back to slumber.
The twins had been carefully following every instruction that Professor Snape gave them the first Saturday brewing lesson, eagerly learning all that they could. They were astounded at the depth of knowledge about ingredients that not only the Professor knew but that his son knew."
Severus had been keeping an eye on the three young brewers, but he knew that Shaun was perfectly capable of brewing the burn paste for the hospital wing without any assistance from anyone. He was patiently explaining every step to his friends in depth, telling them what each ingredient did and why it was added and stirred the way it was.
"So the last things we addare the larva of a Monarch butterfly, wait thirty seconds, stir in the caterpillar with seven counterclockwise stirs, reduce the heat under the cauldron and then add the fully grown and powdered Monarch butterfly before stirring clockwise, forty-nine times." Shaun was explaining patiently as the two followed his directions.
One of the twins asked as the other was stirring, "Why all the different parts of the butterfly, wouldn't just the adult be enough?"
Shaun shook his head, "No, you have to have the three stages of its life so that the skin will re-grow properly. You want the skin that was burned to grow from the inside out, not just the surface. And by using all three of the stages, the skin grows properly without leaving any scars."
Severus had only been listening with half an ear but now he ran up, grabbed Shaun by the waist, pulled him up into a hug and kissed his cheek. "That's it, Shaun, that's my missing ingredient!" Without another word he rushed out, heading for his own private lab.
"Blimey, Shaun…"
"Your dad's as crazy…"
"As our Mum!"
"Who would have thought…?"
"He would do that!"
Shaun just laughed at the two. "You guys are so silly; of course my dad's like that! He just doesn't usually show it around anyone else. Come on let's bottle this burn paste up for Aunt Poppy before it scorches and it's ruined."
It had worked, at least theoretically. Severus had waited impatiently for the next Friday night in case the new potion left him incapacitated in anyway. Poppy and Minerva had made him promise to let them monitor him when he tried his new animagus revealing potion for the first time, and then Albus, Remus and Sirius had demanded the same privilege. Shaun had pouted and pointed out that he had every bit as much right to be there as the others, since his explanation of the burn paste had provided the final clue. So the Snape's living room was rather crowded as they waited impatiently for Severus to return from his lab with the new potion.
Albus had his arms around Shaun who was sitting comfortably in his lap, rubbing the back of his head into his grandfather's beard, something he had loved doing from a very early age. Albus chuckled, remembering how Shaun had started the habit even before he had ever been able to see the boy.
Everyone sat up straighter as Severus re-entered the room, shutting the lab door behind him with a final click of the lock. He smiled at his family and friends. "Wish me luck." He said as he sat down in his favorite recliner and got comfortable before tipping his head back and chugging down the bright violet potion. He grimaced at the taste before his whole body shuddered and he fell back, his eyes rolling up in his head as he passed out. Poppy leaped up and pulled out her wand, swishing it up and down the tall wizard sprawled in front of her. "He's fine; he's just entered the trance that he predicted."
Snape opened his eyes and looked around. Somehow he could see much further than he had ever been before and somehow, he was seeing double, well, sort of…it was hard to explain and even harder to get used to! He looked down and spotted dark brown feathers on his chest and just two feet, clawed feet. He shuddered involuntarily, 'thank Merlin he wasn't a griffin, he would never live that humiliation down.' He was some kind of a bird; that much he knew, 'well that will be handy, and at least I can go flying with Shaun which the wolf, the dog and the cat can't!' He looked around him, pleased with his form.
He stretched his arms, flexing his fingers, watching as his long wings stretched, the edges separating into long fingers as the feathers spread apart. His eyes caught every nuance of shading from dark brown on his outer feathers, shading to almost white underneath. It was hard to tell but it seemed he was rather a large bird, his wings appeared to stretch over three feet to either side of him. He knew by looking at his clawed feet that he was a bird of prey.
He walked awkwardly around for several minutes, getting the feel of his body before he jumped as high as he could, giant wings flapping awkwardly and then with more grace until with a mighty back thrust of power, he was airborne! He couldn't describe the feelings of awe and power as he flew higher and higher, the freedom, the power. He could see the smallest movement of a pair of field mice as he folded his wings together and dove, his speed increasing as he approached the ground. With a swish of air and a joyous loud high pitched cry he opened his wings and skimmed across the ground, his wingtips just touching the grass as the mice huddled, knowing they were lunch for the mighty bird. He flapped several times, gaining altitude in the sheer joy of flying that he had often witnessed on his son's face but never quite understood until this moment.
He flew low over a small, clear lake, interested in his reflection. His head was long with a mighty hooked beak, his wings were almost eight feet across. He recognized himself after glimpsing the short white tail and the feathered wings. He was a white tailed Hawk. The largest bird native to Scotland; he felt a flush of pride and honor at having this form. He knew that they were excellent hunters, fiercely protective of their young and a formidable opponent to any that dared to encroach upon their territory.
He felt exasperated as he felt the pull of his body calling him back to earth as he woke up, back in his quarters, a group of anxious looking friends watching his every twitch and quiver. Shaun was sitting on his lap, a look of intense curiosity on his smiling face. "Well Dad, what are you? I could see you smiling; it must be a good form. Can you fly, that's the best; I can't wait until I can fly."
Severus pulled Shaun up into a squeezing hug as he kissed him on the cheek. He looked around at the impatiently waiting group and nodded at their unasked question. "It worked perfectly. I am a white tailed hawk, and I can't wait to fly with you, Shaun!"
AN: I know nothing about birds, except how to cook a chicken, so if I got anything wrong please let me know. Thanks to Hedwig Edwiges I now know how to change something without losing all the review! Thanks again to all of you who have read and reviewed, it keeps me typing.
