Unspoken
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
A few days later, when the Ravenclaw and Slytherin first-years had Potions during their first morning class, Ronald, Gregory and Vincent arrived fifteen minutes late carrying large heaps of toast in their hands.
"Sorry, Professor, we overslept," Ronald said between two bites of toast.
"Out!" Snape bellowed. "This is a classroom and not a dining room. You will brew this morning's potion tonight after dinner. Seven o'clock and not a minute later."
"Yes sir." The response was simultaneous with small breadcrumbs flying everywhere around the boys, before they fled the classroom.
'Interesting how he didn't take points from Slytherin,' Harry thought, as he looked at the recipe for hand creme on the board in surprise. In contrary to the one which Artemis had taught him, it was lacking drops of moon fern oil, which had an especially softening effect on the salve. The idea 'Perhaps, it is Artemis' invention and Snape doesn't even know about it' did not cross his mind, as he brewed the potion the Unspeakables' way.
"Potter!" The professor suddenly approached his cauldron pointing his wand at his cauldron with an "Evanesco" on his lips.
However, Harry was faster and quickly cast a protective charm at his cauldron that caused the professor to stumble backwards and the spell to dissipate.
"Potter! Detention tonight at seven o'clock."
"No, sir." Harry calmly continued his brewing, causing the teacher to see red.
"Potter!" The professor's voice was dangerously quiet; however, Harry chose to ignore the man in favour of one more step of brewing, before he would be able to place his concoction under a stasis charm.
That done, he turned to the professor, trying his best to keep his voice calm and as friendly as possible. "Professor Snape, I believe that it was our task to brew the potion for hand creme. May I please be allowed to finish my potion?"
Apparently realising that the whole class observed their discussion with apparent interest, the professor merely nodded and returned to his desk. Only when everyone had placed a small phial of their concoction onto the teacher's desk and he had banished the remaining liquids from their cauldrons, did he address Harry again.
"Detention tonight, Mr. Potter."
Inwardly groaning, Harry left the classroom, feeling thoroughly annoyed at the man.
HP
"At least, you don't have a meeting with the Unspeakables tonight." Connie's voice felt soothing to Harry's mind and helped to reduce his anger at the professor.
"Still, I'd rather spend the evening with you. Lucy, will you remain here during my detention?"
The canine replied affirmatively, letting out a huge yawn, as she stretched out on the sofa occupying her own as well as Harry's spot.
HP
Wondering if Snape would make him brew the same potion again, Harry arrived at the Potions classroom punctually at seven o'clock. When he entered the room, Snape sneered down at him holding out his hand.
"Your wand," he hissed upon Harry's questioning look and pointed to a sink filled with cauldrons. "Clean these cauldrons without magic."
Letting out a deep sigh, Harry set to work, hoping that the professor would leave him in peace, so that he could simply clean everything using wandless magic.
To his relief, five minutes into the cleaning process, Ronald and his two roommates arrived, and after a sharp comment about being punctual, the professor made the recipe for the hand creme appear on the board. "Brew. I'll be in my office if you have questions."
'Thank Merlin,' Harry thought and with a flick of his hand cleaned the cauldrons and made them float back into the shelves. Just when he readied himself to time slide an hour into the future, Ronald addressed him.
"Harry, can you help us? What are we supposed to do here?"
Nodding, Harry made his way over to where his classmates were struggling with the preparation of the ingredients. Standing between Ronald and Vincent, he patiently showed them how to prepare the ingredients and led them through the brewing process.
He did not notice that Snape returned to the classroom and watched them for a few minutes, before he cleared his throat.
"Potter! Which part of do not use magic did you not understand? Borrowing your classmates' wand, because I took yours? How stupid do you believe I am?"
"Sorry, sir," Harry replied, thinking, 'Better that he believes I borrowed a wand than to admit that I'm capable of wandless magic.'
However, Vincent spoke up. "Professor, Harry did not use anyone's wand."
"Potter, accompany me to the headmaster's office now. And the three of you…" he cast the three boys a stern look, "… will finish brewing your potions just by yourselves."
HP
Harry slowly trailed behind Snape to the headmaster's office, feeling thoroughly annoyed. On the way, he almost stumbled over Mrs. Norris, who was roaming the otherwise empty corridor.
"Hi Mrs. Norris," he said in a soft voice and took a moment to pet the cat, before he continued walking. 'Whisker, I am so sick of Snape. He's dragging me to the headmaster's office again now, because I used magic to clean a huge pile of cauldrons. How petty is he?'
'Give me a moment. I have a surprise for you,' the Unspeakable replied, however, did not reveal any detail.
'Thanks. I am looking forward to it,' Harry thought back, as he walked on with a small smile playing on his lips.
As before, the professor was waiting in front of the gargoyle, eyeing him with an expression of pure hatred.
HP
"Severus and Harry. How nice of you to visit me on this fine evening."
"Albus, you should know by now that I'd never pay you a social visit together with Potter."
"Is that so, my boy?"
Harry inwardly smirked, as he accepted the offered lemon drop in a vain attempt to drive Snape nuts.
"What has Harry done now?" The headmaster's voice was gentle.
"During class time, he did not brew his potion correctly…"
"It was absolutely correct," Harry interrupted the professor.
"It was not and, as I was trying to say, when I tried to vanish the incorrect potion, Potter attacked me."
"No, sir."
"Harry, my boy, then please tell me what happened from your point of view."
Harry nodded. "Thank you, sir. I realised that the recipe did not mention drops of moon fern oil, but I added it, because it makes the potion much smoother. Professor Snape did not even question me but merely tried to vanish my potion. I did not attack him. I merely cast a protection charm at my cauldron, before he could do anything to it. I then finished my potion, and then he assigned me detention."
"Drops of moon fern oil?" Snape asked in apparent disbelief. "Why am I supposed to question a first-year who believes to know everything better than a potions master? Ah, right, because you're almighty Potter."
A commotion from behind Dumbledore's desk made them all turn to the portrait of Godric Gryffindor in surprise that only intensified, when a female voice began to shout at the adults in the room.
"Severus Snape! Are you really that petty? Harry is also my son in case you haven't realised. Just because he looks like his father, you hate him with a passion and don't even recognise how brilliant at brewing he is? Headmaster, you're not much better, and with you, I still have a bone to pick anyway."
"Lily!"
While the two professors replied simultaneously, their reactions were completely different. Snape's eyes widened in apparent delight, but Dumbledore's expression displayed pure horror.
'Serves him right,' Harry thought, 'for what he did to Sirius and me.'
"Professor Gryffindor, thank you for sharing your portrait with me for a moment. I appreciate it very much."
"Ah, young lady, you're very welcome. I remember you as the head girl of my school from just a few years ago."
Lily nodded, smiling, before her expression sobered, and she turned to the current headmaster.
"Headmaster, how dare you ignore our will and send Harry to my horrible sister? Sirius was his rightful guardian, not you, and as it was you who cast the Fidelius charm with Peter as the Secret Keeper, you knew exactly that Sirius was innocent. Still, you allowed him to be sent to Azkaban, made yourself Harry's guardian and sent him to the Dursleys? I can't believe that James and I were stupid enough to trust you."
"I am sorry, Lily, but it was all for the Greater Good."
Lily let out a scoff. "Rubbish."
Dumbledore sighed, deeply. "Lily, you do not understand. While you saved his life, Harry was cursed by Voldemort. The scar, which he received that night, is not a normal scar."
"Then I suppose that you've taken him to St. Mungo's as well as to the Unspeakables to have them check it out?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No. That would have been much too dangerous."
"Nonsense. At neither place, he would have been abused and neglected like he was at the Dursleys'. Anyway, Dumbledore, you're walking on thin ice. Harry is attending Hogwarts by his own, free will, although there are other schools he could attend, but I won't watch Severus continue making life at Hogwarts another hellhole for him for much longer, especially as Potions is his favourite subject."
"Ah but Lily, as I am Harry's magical guardian…"
"You're not."
"Ah, but I am sure…"
"You're wrong. Neither James nor I are that stupid to allow you to remain his guardian after all you did to him."
Snape had remained quiet during the conversation; however, he suddenly spoke up. "So, it was you who taught him in Potions."
Lily smirked. "I am dead in case you haven't noticed. I am only a portrait. However, who taught him is not my secret to share, but Harry's. Perhaps, one day you'll be able to gain his trust and he might tell you, but that is solely up to my son."
Snape nodded in apparent understanding, while the headmaster contradicted. "Ah, but Lily, you should know that we only have Harry's best interest at mind."
Harry let out a scoff, which he quickly turned into a cough.
"Thanks again, Professor Gryffindor. I hope I won't need to intrude anytime soon again." With that, Lily vanished as quickly as she had appeared.
'Thanks, Dove. You were absolutely brilliant,' Harry thought to her.
"Well, Severus, as you know, Lily Potter is scary. Please try to get along with Harry, especially as you now know that he has already been taught to a certain degree."
Snape shook his head. "Only if he changes his attitude."
"Headmaster, Snape…"
"It's Professor Snape, Harry."
Harry inwardly groaned. "Professor Snape ordered me to clean a pile of cauldrons the muggle way. At the same time, three of my classmates were told to brew a potion, of which they knew nothing but the recipe. I believe that it made sense to clean the cauldrons using magic and then guide them through the process of preparing ingredients and brewing them, considering that Professor Snape was not even in the room to help them."
"That was well done, my boy. Ten points to Ravenclaw and Slytherin."
"Thank you, Headmaster." Harry observed in amusement how Snape rolled his eyes at the old wizard in apparent annoyance.
"Harry, you may leave now. Please try to behave towards Professor Snape."
"Yes, sir. Good night." With that, Harry left the room and, after passing the gargoyle, popped right into his suitcase to tell his friends about his evening.
HP
During the following weeks, Harry and Professor Snape both tried to behave civically towards each other. One day, when the first-years had brewed Pepperup potion, he professor even leaned over Harry's cauldron, sniffed at the liquid that was simmering in it and took a small sip from a spoon, before he nodded, seemingly contented. "Potter, do you know how to magically bottle a potion?"
"Yes sir."
"Then bottle the potion into twenty small phials. I'll take them to Madam Pomfrey for use in the hospital wing later on."
'Has hell frozen over?' Harry wondered, as he used his wand to bottle his potion, knowing that the professor was watching. 'No one is supposed to know that I can simply cast most spells wandlessly.'
HP
"Uh, I hope I'll never have to stay in the hospital wing," Ron said to the two boys, who had become his side-kicks, on their way from the Potions classroom to the greenhouses, "if they use first-years' potions on their patients."
"That's really gross," Vincent agreed, while Gregory made sounds of pure disgust.
'He's probably recalling the brown mass in his own cauldron,' Harry thought, grimly.
"Only Harry's," Neville reassured their classmates. "Because he's very good at brewing."
"That means that he accepts that your brewing is excellent," Connie replied, when he informed her, while they waited for Hermione to begin their afternoon study session. "Well done, Harry."
"Thanks," Harry replied, smiling, just when Hermione arrived, grinning broadly.
"Harry, did you know? Madam Pomfrey gave you twenty points for both your houses for the batch of Pepperup potion."
"Cool." Harry grinned, feeling very happy.
However, he instinctively knew that the peace and quiet between him and Snape was not going to last forever.
HP
The following weeks passed uneventfully, before Harry received a letter from Sirius in the middle of October.
Invitation
To the grand opening of
The Paws & Turtle Brooms shop
Hogsmeade Main Street 11
October 31 at 10:00 a.m.
Owners: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Jamie Smith
Models invented and patents owned by: Unspeakables Paws & Turtle
At the grand opening, the new Paws & Turtle Keeper and Paws & Turtle Chaser brooms will be presented.
Unspeakables Turtle and Paws will be available to answer questions and accept suggestions for a short time.
Harry smirked, as he handed the letter to Hermione, who was sitting next to him, while he pondered his situation.
Since October 31 was a Saturday, the older students were allowed to go to the village; however, Harry knew better than to ask for permission to leave the school, considering that no one at Hogwarts except for Minerva and Artemis as well as Hermione knew about his connection to the inventors of the broomsticks.
"Cool," Hermione breathed with a big smile on her face.
"What is cool?" Neville turned around from where he and Draco were sitting right behind them.
Hermione handed over the letter, and a minute later, Harry heard two simultaneous gasps from behind. He grinned, as he had not expected anything else from his friends, even if they had no clue about the identity of Paws and Turtle.
'Perhaps, we should tell them,' he thought. 'I trust them, and they've sworn us an oath anyway.'
"Too bad that we can't attend the opening. Considering that Harry told us that Snape seems to hate Black and Lupin with a passion, he surely won't allow us to go." Draco sighed, theatrically.
"While we'll be able to go, and I will make sure to attend the opening," Marcus spoke up, "we definitely won't be able to afford such a broom. Considering how inventive and brilliant the Seeker and Double brooms are, they must be really expensive."
"They don't have a Beater broom yet anyway, do they?" Draco's voice was laced with obvious interest.
"No, but considering that they've covered all other positions, it'll probably be the next that's going to come out."
'Perhaps, I could ask Marcus to give me some hints for the Beater broom and try out a possible prototype for me,' Harry thought. As soon as he had finished the Chaser broom, for which Minerva and Sirius had given him valuable advice, he had begun to mull over the Beater position; however, neither he nor anyone else of the extended family had any experience as Beater. 'In return, I could offer him a seventy percent off price voucher for the broom upon its release.'
Right after breakfast, he took Marcus aside. "Please hear me out. It'll only take two minutes."
"Sure." The fifth-year eyed him in apparent surprise.
Harry led the older boy into an empty classroom, casting a series of silencing charms at the door and around the room.
"As you might know or not know, two of the owners of the new broom shop are my godparents. They told me that the developers of the brooms struggle with the new Beater broom, because they don't know anyone who has a lot of experience as a Beater. Would you be willing to support them, means giving them suggestions and hints about the Beater position and its special needs as well as trying out any model they might develop? If you'd be willing to work together with them, they'd surely see to it that you'll receive the broom at a low percentage of its normal price upon its release."
Marcus shook his head in apparent confusion. "This sounds like a big prank, but if you can convince them to work together with me, I'll gladly accept."
Harry nodded in understanding. "Can we meet in our room after curfew tonight? I will tell them to ask Unspeakables Paws and Turtle to come by and meet with you tonight."
Marcus nodded. "All right. I'll be there. Thanks, Harry."
With that, they hurriedly left for their respective classes, and Harry simply popped right in front of the Transfiguration classroom for his first morning class.
HP
'I really have to be careful to not give myself away,' he thought, when he left the suitcase after saying good night to Hermione, knowing that Connie would wait for him wearing her Unspeakable robes.
"Marcus and I are going to have a meeting with Unspeakables Paws and Turtle about the Beater broom," he informed his roommates. "Just so you know why he's going to show up here in a few minutes."
"Are you going to meet them in your suitcase? Wait…" Draco's eyes narrowed. "You once told us that you're an Unspeakable, but you never told us your name."
Harry smirked. "That's for me to know and for you…"
"To guess," Draco interrupted him. "Are you, perhaps, Unspeakable Paws?"
Harry let out a deep sigh. To his relief, Marcus chose that moment to enter the room, saving him from having to respond to his friend.
HP
Unspeakables Paws and Turtle were already waiting for them. 'Okay, that was timed well. I'll have to do that, after our conversation is over then,' Harry realised.
"Hello, I am Unspeakable Paws, and this is Unspeakable Turtle. Lord Black sent us here."
"Good evening, Unspeakable Paws and Unspeakable Turtle. Thank you for coming. I am Harry Potter, and this is Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain and Beater. He offered to assist you with his knowledge about the Beater position."
Paws nodded. He pointed his wand at the nearest wall making an image of what was hopefully going to be the Beater broom at some stage appear. "This is the beginning of our work on the Beater broom, but unfortunately, neither we nor our co-workers have any experience with the Beater position. If you work together with us, which means relaying information about a Beater's special needs and also testing any prototype of our Beater broom, it would be highly appreciated.
Marcus nodded. "Thank you very much for your offer, which I happily accept."
Paws sighed. "Thank you, Mr. Flint. We won't be able to finish the broom on time for the opening of the shop, but I believe that Christmas would be manageable. Do you know when the next Hogsmeade weekend will be?"
Marcus nodded. "On Saturday."
"Can we meet in the shop then? Let's say at ten o'clock in the morning? It is not open, so we can talk in private."
Marcus agreed with the suggested time and place, and Harry inwardly groaned. 'This is too complicated for my liking,' he thought. 'Oh well, if I go in my Unspeakable robes, no one will know that it's me. I'll just have to inform Sirius, Jamie and Remus that we'll meet there.'
Shortly later, they took their leave, and Harry went to bed, readying himself to time slide back to play Unspeakable Paws in the previous conversation.