Disclaimer: Everything is J.K.'s
A/N: Check the author's note at the bottom of chapter 1 for my update on Lia's special abilities
Thanks to all reviewers!
ScienceGeek101: Haha yes, damn cliffhangers indeed…unless you're the author of course winks
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Chapter 3
The journey across the lake was quite eventful, to say the least. After Hagrid knocked the four first years into the lake, the rest of the bunch were much too scared to approach the half-giant, let alone sail across the dark, glittering lake with him. It wasn't until Lia demonstrated her prowess with the levitation charm (pulling the first years out of the lake) and made use of her Gypsy persuasion skills (much like the Veela charm in a different way) that they followed her meekly into the boats.
The evening air was still except the occasional splashing of water against the sides of the boats. Once, Lia thought she saw a giant tentacle lazily waving at them, but she didn't mention it for fear of scaring the first years again.
"Hogwarts, righ' there!" Hagrid called out.
Many of the first years oohed and aahed, their previous fears forgotten. Lia gazed up at the towering castle with its many turrets and towers. For a split second, her Gypsy senses picked up on something out-of-sorts, but the feeling faded as quickly as it came. Lia frowned. She made a mental note to ask Harry if Hogwarts had a particularly dark history.
"C'mon firs' years, jus' a l'il climb left," called Hagrid encouragingly as they clambered out of the boats into a dark passageway that was obviously under the castle somewhere.
They trudged slowly up the passageway until they were greeted with the great oak front doors of Hogwarts Castle. Hagrid raised a fist the size of a large rock and knocked sharply on the doors. They creaked slowly open and a stern-looking witch with square glasses gazed out at them, her lips pressed in a thin line.
"You're late, Hagrid," she said in clipped tones.
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall. Ran into a bit o' trouble at the lake, see…" explained Hagrid sheepishly.
Professor McGonagall gave Hagrid a particularly severe frown.
"Head on into the Great Hall, Hagrid," she said, curtly. "See that this doesn't happen again."
Hagrid managed to squeeze his massive form past Professor McGonagall. He waited till her back was directly to him, and gave Lia a tiny wave. Lia grinned back.
"Attention, please," said Professor McGonagall sharply. Heads snapped towards her immediately. "You will be Sorted into your Houses before the feast begins. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin…"
Lia drifted off as Professor McGonagall led them to the doors of the Great Hall while explaining the Sorting in as concise a version as she could. Lia knew all about the Sorting, of course. She'd heard her mother's account of it at least a dozen times already. Her mother…Lia felt a lump rising in her throat at the thought. Stop this! You're being ridiculous…stop thinking of her right now, she scolded herself.
"Miss Snape," Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut through Lia's thoughts.
"Yes, Professor?"
"You will stay out here in the meantime. The Headmaster wants to announce your presence publicly."
Lia couldn't stop the wicked grin that spread across her face.
"Is something wrong, Miss Snape?" Professor McGonagall frowned. "The Headmaster gave me the impression that you are aware of this situation."
"Everything's fine, Professor," Lia said quickly.
Professor McGonagall gave her a final piercing stare before leading the first years into the Great Hall. Lia caught a glimpse of a beautiful dining hall with numerous floating candles and a starry, twinkling ceiling before the door shut and blocked her view. She heard the faint slivers of the Sorting Hat's song floating through the gap between the doors. Just as she was about to convince the doors to become permeable to sound with her Gypsy singing ability, strong hands wrapped themselves around her waist and whirled her around.
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"Daughter of Gypsies, what are you doing here?"
Lia gaped at the face of her captor in surprise. He had an extremely handsome face with deep azure eyes, as well as the gleaming, palomino body of a horse.
"Son of Stars, I greet you," said Lia, awed.
She couldn't believe she was meeting a centaur in the castle. She'd heard stories about them from her mother of course, who had spent half her time at Hogwarts chasing after the centaurs in the forest. Gypsies and centaurs were natural allies and there were many residential centaurs in the community where her mother had grown up. She couldn't remember centaurs ever living at school though.
"I am Firenze, divination teacher along with Professor Trelawney," said the centaur. "Daughter of Gypsies, this world is not safe for you these days."
"I am not leaving until I discover the truth," said Lia quietly.
Firenze gazed at her with a slightly mournful air.
"Daughter of Gypsies, the dark forces are gaining power once more. The stars have foretold a new dark rising and the signs are now clearer than ever. Return home, before you are hurt."
"I have my own mission to conduct in this castle," replied Lia even more quietly.
The centaur stomped his hooves and snorted nervously.
"Daughter of Gypsies, I am deadly serious! Normally I am not allowed to share our secrets with two-leggers, but this new darkness is heading straight towards you!"
There was a stunned silence. For once in her life, Lia found herself speechless. A new dark force coming for her? Could this have anything to do with her mother's murder? Lia opened her mouth to voice the million questions whirling through her head. Unfortunately, the doors of the Great Hall chose that moment to swing open and a sea of faces glanced towards her with avid curiosity.
"Go," said the centaur, quietly. "We'll talk some other time."
He trotted away, his hooves resounding in the vast emptiness of the Entrance Hall. Lia scowled slightly at his back before schooling her features into smooth neutrality and striding into the Great Hall with an air of confidence. Every face from each of the four House tables turned in her direction eagerly, curious as to the looks of the daughter of the "greasy git." Some of the younger students looked frightened, some admiring, some envious, and in the case of Hermione Granger, extremely hostile. Lia looked towards the head table and her heart gave a funny lurch. That was him. Her father, who she had only seen in wedding pictures. At the moment, he was wearing a ferocious glare and appeared to have pumpkin juice splatters all over his robes. The thin man with a kind face and graying hair next to him was patting him genially on the back. Lia couldn't hold back a tiny smirk. It appeared he was quite…surprised…by her appearance after all.
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Snape spent an amazing minute trying to cough up the last of the pumpkin juice while bestowing Dumbledore with his heaviest scowl. Apparently, it was hard to intimidate someone when one is in the fits of choking, as Dumbledore merely smiled innocently. Even worse, all attention had turned towards him and a few (especially those Gryffindors) were openly sniggering at his predicament. Snape gritted his teeth and mentally promised to reduce Gryffindor to negative points within the week and to send Dumbledore Canary Creams disguised as lemon drops.
"Damn…Dumbledore," Snape growled finally as an amused Lupin reached over to pat him on the back. "No warning whatsoever! That old meddler…"
Thankfully for Snape, the doors of the Great Hall creaked open and the sniggering faces turned towards the entrance in expectant unison. Against his will, Snape ceased his death scowl in favor of his own curiosity. He sincerely hoped the prevalence of the Snape nose skipped this generation. A tall, slim girl stepped confidently into sight. She was quite pretty, with wavy black hair and those stunning blue eyes, although by Gypsy standards she was merely average. Snape noted with relief that she took after her mother in looks, though her carriage, her walk, and her expression were clearly Snape. The girl's eyes zeroed in on him and seemed to sharpen almost immediately. Her gaze traveled over him and to Snape's extreme discomfort, she smirked slightly.
"The Sorting Hat, Miss Snape," said Dumbledore politely.
"Yes sir," said the girl smoothly.
Snape clenched his fists and watched with bated breath as his daughter slipped on the Sorting Hat and sat on the stool with an air of indifference.
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Truth was, Lia felt anything but indifferent. From what she heard, this hat could actually see inside her head and sense her thoughts and feelings. Lia felt slightly apprehensive about this breach of privacy. Her father was, of course, a Slytherin, but her mother had been a Gryffindor. Lia smirked as she thought of how her father would react if she was placed with the rest of the "bloody foolish dunderheads."
"Oh dear, you are a difficult one indeed," said a tiny voice, making her jump slightly. "Daughter of Camilla and Severus! Well, you are definitely a clever one…you would do nicely in Ravenclaw…you would be amongst the top in that house…although you have unshakable loyalty when it comes to your closest friends…Hufflepuff would be another choice…"
"Dear me, the Sorting Hat has clearly lost both its touch and its mind," whispered Lia indignantly.
"There, there, calm down," said the hat soothingly. "Let's see what else is in your head…oh my, what extreme sneakiness and cunning! Just like your father, you are! Oh yes, you'd do very well in Slytherin…very, very well…you'd be able to navigate the politics of the house and come out on top! Although…ahhh, what's this I find? Willingness to do anything to protect the ones you love…willing to fight to the end for them…this is what motivated you to come, am I correct? Well, it's as Gryffindor a trait as there ever was. Of course, you would do best in Slytherin…but as you chose to come here for that particular reason…and choices are really the determining factor…guess it had better be GRYFFINDOR!"
Before Lia could even lift the hat from her head, she heard the telltale crash of a goblet breaking.
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A/N: Next chapter – Snape and his daughter finally have a little chat!