CHAPTER 4
Quite a Surprise
"What do we say? What do we say?" Ethan asked panicked.
"He... I don't know." Harry said hesitantly... though he wanted to say many other not very nice things. "How exactly did we get into this mess?"
Ethan stated solemnly, "I think he means what he's saying. He really regrets it. What do we do?"
"I don't know! Oh, he looks so sad." Blaire, ever so kind hearted said. "Should we say it's alright?"
"Should we?" Harry said sounding a little annoyed. "Do you forgive him? That's our parents he's talking about!"
"Everyone makes mistakes, Harry." Ethan said. "And it looks like he does feel pretty bad...I don't think he is a person who speaks of his mistakes to strangers like this...You think I don't know what a wonderful life we'd have had if our parents were still alive? I do. And I also know that if the Professor hadn't told him the information, Voldemort would have found out some way or the other. I think we should forgive him. What say you, Blaire?"
"I really don't want to hold a grudge. But you could say he made up for some of his mistakes..." Blaire said thoughtfully.
"But-" Harry began.
"What will you do once you tell him to bugger off, Harry?" Ethan said. "We'll all land back in that cupboard, schooling in Stonewall, dressed in elephant skin..."
Harry let out a soft huff of exasperation.
"Just say something, Ethan." Blaire said. "I think we've delayed long enough."
After what seemed like a long silence, Ethan said, "I think it's a good thing you told us, Professor. That was nice of you and very brave."
Harry said, "Yeah. If we found out later, then..." he shuddered.
The professor looked very startled at first, he looked up at them as though seeing them for the first time and then he looked back at his cup, a complete picture of misery. Blaire had no idea what made her do it. Call her mad or stupid, but she did it. She got off her seat and walked around the table to the Professor and patted his hand.
"It's alright, Professor." she said when he looked up at her, his black eyes open wide in shock. "You made amends and that's what counts. We forgive you, right boys?"
She look at her brothers. Ethan and Harry looked at her.
"I don't know what just came over me, but please say yes!" she said to them mentally.
They then looked at each other.
"Should we?" Harry said still hesitant.
"Yes!" Ethan declared.
And then at the Professor and they nodded and smiled.
The Professor's eyes became bright for a moment and then he gave them all a small smile.
"Thank you." he said quietly, putting his arm around Blaire and giving her a squeeze before letting her go.
Blaire declared, "Let's not talk about this again."
Then she returned to her seat, feeling happier. The Professor looked decidedly happier too.
"He probably needed to hear us forgive him to make him feel better." Blaire mused. "The poor Professor must have been miserable for years."
The Professor let out a small relieved laugh and took out his magic wand and waved it over their plates and tea. Immediately, the food warmed up.
"I don't suppose, I told you," he said and held up the magic wand, "but this stick is called a wand. You will be purchasing that from Diagon Alley too."
It was when Ethan asked whether they should tell him about their mind chatting, that Harry and Blaire outright refused. That was their secret and theirs alone...a secret meant for them to keep.
The Professor cleared his throat and continued his description of the houses with very little elaboration, "Ravenclaw is the house for those who seek knowledge. Hufflepuff is the house for the loyal kind-hearted and honest hardworkers. Whereas, Gryffindor is the house for the brave and courageous."
Ethan said "Which houses were our parents in, Professor?"
The Professor stiffened but he answered nevertheless.
"They were both in Gryffindor... But that doesn't mean that you will be Gryffindors too. Personally, I don't think any of you will make it to Gryffindor. You are brave, very brave indeed. There is no doubt about that. But you have other qualities that will be developed if you are put in other houses. However, I can assure you that, though I have no right to talk about them, your parents won't be disappointed...
"I must warn you that there has always been some rivalry between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Your mother and I have been friends no doubt, but your father and I never got along. We have never been in good books and he wasn't happy when Lily made me... when Lily forgave me for my mistakes."
The Professor was hiding something, but it wasn't in the triplets nature to pry.
There was another pause in their conversation and everyone focussed on their meal, until a horrible thought struck Ethan.
He said, "Professor, will we be sorted into the same house?"
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"That depends on the sorting ceremony." Severus wasn't going to tell them about the hat.
Blaire's eyes opened wide, "Will we be separated, Sir?"
"Who knows, Miss Potter." Severus said calmly. "You may. But that doesn't stop you from keeping in contact with each other. You will merely be spending your nights elsewhere. Besides, how will you learn to cope in life when your siblings aren't by your side.
"If you happen to be sorted in a different house, use it as a learning experience. Make a friend or two if you wish, but be careful of the company you keep. Don't let anyone get in between the three of you. I have seen your unity and the way you look after each other and I must say I'm impressed. Don't let it stop."
They ate the rest of their breakfast silently for a while before Harry said, "Professor, you said Voldemort would return, when he does, won't he come after you, now that you've turned against him?"
Severus sighed. That boy was clever. "He does not know yet that I have turned against him. When he returns, I will be a spy for Dumbledore. And on the other side, Voldemort will believe me to be his spy, but if he does find out the truth, I will be killed."
The children paled and Severus cursed silently for his lack of tact. But then how exactly was he supposed to sugar coat the truth? Why exactly was he having this conversation?
You started it, said the snide voice in his head. Hippocrate aren't you? For one who tells the others to think before they act...
Severus sighed and said, "I usually am not so easy to get along with at Hogwarts. I am a very stern, mean professor who hates the students he teaches. That helps me maintain my cover, for I am the most hated professor amongst all students who aren't Slytherins.
"I'm known by various names - Bat of the Dungeons or the Greasy Git or the Snarky Professor, and some other unkinder ones, but I've heard those three the most often. I am terribly biased and I need to warn you that I will not be so easy on you as I am now. I have a reputation to maintain...
"The Professors at Hogwarts will expect me to be mean to you because of the history between your father and me. Most of the Slytherins are the children of Voldemort's supporters and they will expect me to be mean to you because of Voldemort's fate. I will be forced to treat you with more hate than I do with the other students. It is going to be difficult for both, you and me. And it is, most unfortunately, for the best."
The triplets looked at each other before nodding.
"But, if you ever are in need of my help, you can approach me after your class with me when everyone else has left. I will make an appointment for you, under the pretext of a detention with me later that day, in which we will resolve your problem. Be sure to approach me as discreetly as possible."
Severus wasn't sure if they understood the system of detention, but he didn't bother to elaborate. That was Minerva's job.
He went on to tell them about the different subjects they taught at Hogwarts and gave them a brief overview on potions. He hinted not very discreetly that he was not going to tolerate any laziness from them.
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After they finished their breakfast, the Professor asked the waitress to pack some sandwiches of ham and cheese and chicken and a few bottles of lemonade. Then he paid the waitress and they left the cafe.
They travelled to London by train. Then they walked through very crowded the streets of London. The professor kept a hand on Harry's and Blaire's shoulder the whole while and let Ethan happily skip in front of him so he could keep an eye on him.
They walked for fifteen minutes before they arrived outside a grimy old pub.
He looked at them and said quietly, "We are at the Leaky Cauldron. This is a place invisible to Muggles. I am going to change my appearance to my customary one. I will cast a charm on you, known as the Notice-me-not charm, before we go across the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the Bartender happens to be very sharp and when he sees you, his expected surprise may attract the attention of the other customers around.
"Notice-me-Nots are those spells that need to be applied by the wizard himself and use up a lot of energy when someone does places it on another person and hence, once we get into Diagon Alley, I will take off the charm. From then on, my horrible behaviour towards you shall begin. This is for your protection and mine."
Professor Snape moved his wand in a circular motion above the triplets' heads and Ethan, Blaire and Harry felt a warm tingle on their skin. Then the Professor tapped his coat with his wand and his coat began to lengthen towards the ground. As it got longer, the buttons started to dissolve and the gaps were covered with fabric and in no time, Professor Snape stood with a billowing black attire - "Those are robes." - Blaire told her brothers.
"No wonder the students referred to him as a bat." Ethan said.
"That was mean of them." Blaire said indignantly.
"He did say he is pretty mean. And using meanness as your disguise will surely make you more hated." Harry pointed out, still a little wary of the man.
The Professor tucked away his wand and said, "Follow me. Refrain from colliding into anything or anyone and you will go unseen."
He put on an impressive appearance as he strode into the bar, the children followed. The place was dark and dull-looking and noisy, but it did have a lot of strange customers sitting in the darker corners of the room, smoking, drinking and gossiping.
"Professor Snape!" said a bald, toothless old man who stood behind the bar, wiping a glass with a rag. "Would you care to stop for a drink?"
The Professor halted for a moment and looked at the man at him coldly, "I have more important things to do, Tom."
Tom the bartender shrugged, "Oh, well, I tried."
The Professor strode ahead and the triplets kept up. Tom the bartender kept watching the Professor but failed to notice Ethan, Blaire and Harry right behind him.
"S-S-S-Severus!"
Professor Snape stopped short and spun around to face a young nervous looking man. He was pale and his hands shook as he approached the Professor.
"What is it, Quirrel?" Professor Snape snapped. "I am in a hurry."
"I-I was j-just w-w-wondering what y-you were d-d-doing h-here."
"I believe it to be none of your concern, Quirrel."
"B-b-but, you t-t-told m-me that y-y-you would be b-b-busy inv-v-venting a new potion."
The Professor sneered at the man, "Well, if it means so much to you, I ran out of a certain ingredient and I am on the way to have it ordered. And if you must know, it will take a few hours for it to be prepared."
"I c-could o-o-o-order it f-for you.' Quirrel said.
Professor Snape gave Quirrel a haughty look.
"As much as it is a waste of a day for me, I desire to supervise the concoction myself. What are you doing here?"
"T-t-to b-be honest, S-Severus, I-I w-was w-waiting to m-meet the P-Potter tr-tri-triplets. I-I h-heard that th-they were r-re-receiving th-their let-t-ters today."
The pub became silent at once.
"The Potters?" Tom the bartender cried out. "Harry Potter and his siblings? They're coming here today! Oh my goodness! We must welcome them!"
The pub began buzzing with agreements and plans.
The Professor rolled his eyes.
"Ah, yes," he sneered coldly. "I'm most certain those attention-seeking brats will enjoy being in the spotlight. A chance to get more spoilt than they already are is all that is needed to get their heads to swell."
As the Professor said these hurtful words, he moved his hand, almost imperceptibly and placed it on Ethan's shoulder, giving it a slight reassuring squeeze and then let go.
The hurtful words didn't seem to hurt that bad now.
"He just needs to keep his cover." Blaire reminded them unnecessarily.
He turned on his heel and traipsed away from the twitchy man and led the triplets through the pub and into a small, walled courtyard with a trashcan just in front of the wall.
"Pay attention to this." the Professor muttered to them. "You will need it when you return to this place in future."
He pointed at the bricks on the wall with his wand, "Three up and three across. Then he tapped his wand trice on the last brick he pointed at and it wriggled and trembled and developed a hole in its middle. The hole expanded and kept getting bigger until the Professor and the triplets stood in front of an archway.
"Diagon Alley." Professor Snape muttered as he stepped on the cobbled street in front of the archway. The children followed and immediately, the archway turned back into a wall.
As the Professor put his leg foward to take another step when an owl, a big brown owl flew up to his face, clutching a small, thin package in its talons. The triplets watched open mouthed as the Professor gently took the package from the owl.
It hooted and flew away.
On the box, written in big, neat handwriting was a message.
To Prof. S. Snape.
Bill already payed by the person who placed the order.
- P. Stump.
"Follow me." the Professor said in an urgent voice and quickly led the children to the shop nearest to the wall. It was selling some vessels called, "Cauldrons! I think their cauldrons!" Harry said excitedly as he limped with them after Professor Snape.
He didn't lead them into the shop, but to the side of it. There was a small dark space between the wall of the shop and the wall of the Leaky Cauldron's courtyard. He entered it and they followed.
It wasn't as cramped as they had expected it to be. The Professor pulled out his wand waved it around them and the entrance to that gap.
"I have taken off the notice-me-not charm." he said. "And I have added a protection around the entrance to prevent nobody from entering. Nobody enters this place, though."
Then he conjured a chair out of nowhere and got Harry to sit. Then he opened the package and pulled out something black. It was a - Harry blinked his eyes and shook his head - a sock!
The Professor's face flashed surprised for a second or two. He shook his greasy hair away from his face and looked at it again and then his expression became neutral.
He put his hand into the flat package and pulled out a piece of parchment and read it and with a sigh, he wordlessly squatted down in front of Harry, magically took off his shoes and put his useless leg on his knee and very carefully, he put the sock on Harry's foot.
The sock felt too large on Harry's foot, but the moment the Professor adjusted it, it shrunk to fit his feet perfectly. Then, it began to grow up Harry's leg, covering it with a soft material and the black colour was replaced by the colour of Harry's skin, camouflaging it.
While one half - the inner potion - of the sock, stopped growing at Harry's knee, the outer side grew up to his hip and molded over it. Then it grew no more. And though Harry felt the soft soothing material around his leg, all he saw when he looked at it was his leg.
"This," the Professor stood up and declared, "is the Magical Limb Workshop's finest product yet. Why don't you try it, Mr. Potter."
"Er, how do I try it, Sir?"
"Stand up and walk." he said simply.
Harry stood up hesitantly on his left leg and gripped the chair with all his might. Gingerly he placed his right foot on the ground and put some weight on it.
Neither his knee, nor his leg collapsed.
Harry let go of the chair and took another step and soon, Harry felt confident enough that he wouldn't fall. He walked to the inside end of their little passageway and turned around and jogged back to the others and then he ran to the end back again and shouted in fright as he saw two identical faces grin at him from a dark corner.
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"What is it?" Severus said as he rushed forth. "Are you hurt?"
"N-no Professor." Harry said as he backed away from the wall.
Wondering what was there that could spook the boy, Severus moved forward and what he saw made him fight hard to hide his surprise.
Luckily the barrier prevented those two miscreants from running away before he finished with them.
"Weasley!" He barked with a mixture of anger and malice. "Come out this instant!"
The two grinning brats came out of their hiding place with twinkling eyes.
First, Severus gave them the barging of their lives, knowing fully well that they weren't paying attention. But then, when their eyes fell on the three Potters, one of the boys let his eyes open wide.
"Are those the Potter triplets?"
Severus was interrupted in mid rant.
"Yes." he bit out and then as though after a moment of consideration he said, "And I hope you know the danger you put these three in if you ever mention anything about seeing them here...or anything about my being around them.
"I will give you two options, either I place a jinx on you that will make you refrain from mentioning about the Potters or my involvement with them or I obliviate you. What do you wish me to do?"
Both boys seemed taken aback. They exchanged a smile with each other and then with the triplets and turned to Severus.
"Jinx us, Professor." one of the twins said.
"It's a simple one." Severus said after placing the jinx on them. "You will simply burst out laughing anytime you attempt to mention anything about this incident to anyone. But this will not stop you from interacting with the three."
Severus felt an idea pop into his head. He didn't trust the twins, but he did know they were loyal when they put their mind to something.
He turned to the triplets and said deliberately, "Potter, Potter and Potter, these two boys and twins called Fred and George Weasley." Then he turned to the Weasleys and said, "Weasley and Weasley, these are Ethan, Blaire and Harry Potter."
"Pleasure to meet you." came five responses at once and Severus was forced to bite back a laugh. A pair of twins and his life was already a misery... Add triplets to that and he was most probably going to go mad, but this was for the best.
"I want you to see to it that you help these three with the best of your abilities and whenever you can, whenever they need it until you pass out of Hogwarts. You will not mention this to anyone, but you will remember to leave your pranks out of the picture."
Severus turned to the almost indignant triplets and said, "They will be good allies. I don't usually recommend them, but I am forced to admit that I've learnt from teaching them for two years that they can be loyal when they want to."
"Gee." the other twin said and Severus couldn't make them out yet. "Thanks Professor!"
Severus took off the barrier he set up and said to the twins, "Now run along and let this be the last time I see you for today."
With a hearty laugh and a handshake with the triplets, the twins ran off.
Severus then took the Potters to Gringotts, ignoring the wonderment with which they gazed at anything and everything around them. He introduced the place to them and gave them a brief grounding on the nature of goblins and he led them into the great building.
The place was empty save for them and the goblins. He then led the three to one of the counters and said to the goblin sitting behind it. He asked Blaire for the wallet and took out one of the wad of bills.
"Good morning. I would like to exchange this for galleons, sickles and knuts."
The goblin looked rather disgruntled, but he grabbed the money and placed a heap of an appreciable number of coins on the counter.
Smoothly, Severus divided the money into three and placed it into separate money bags and handed it over to the triplets.
"You will have to make do with this for the year." and they nodded happily.
Severus continued, "The golden coins are galleons, the silver are sickles and the bronze are knuts. Twenty nine sickles make a galleon, whereas seventeen knuts make a sickle."
Severus took out another wad and gave half of it to the goblin who grabbed it again and gave them another heap of wizard money which Severus put together in another bag.
"We shall use this this money," he held up the bag, "to do your purchases. The rest will go into your -"
"Why, hello there!" boomed a voice, interrupting Severus.
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Blaire had never seen such a huge man in her life! He was almost double Professor Snape's height! He was just exiting a cart followed by another goblin from a stone passageway.
"The last time I saw yeh, yeh were this 'igh."
Seeing their confused faces, the giant said, "I didn' 'troduce meself, did I? I'm Rubeus Hagrid, th' keeper o' keys o' Hogwarts. I brought yeh out of th' ruined house at Godric's Hollow meself!"
He shook hands with all three of them and that was saying something. To be honest with herself, the triplets had almost their entire arm shaken.
"And a very happy birthday to yeh three! I hope to see yeh -"
"Good morning, Hagrid." Professor Snape interrupted the nice big giant. "What are you doing here?"
"Mornin' Professor Snape." Hagrid said with a collosal grin. "Bin runnin' an errand for th' headmaster!" he said giving his pocket a fond pat. "Gotta go now. I shall meet yeh soon, I 'ope."
With a final wave and a beaming smile, he turned and left the bank.
"He was humongous!" Ethan said with awe.
Blaire and Harry merely hummed in agreement.. The professor sighed and gave the goblin the rest of the money and got that exchanged for a huge pile of wizard money.
The professor collected that in a bag and took out a key from his pocket and gave it to the goblin. He put the other half of the wad he'd split earlier into Blaire's wallet and returned it to her.
"Please take us to the Potter vault."
The goblin held the key closely and check it thoroughly and then called his fellow goblins, "Griphook! Take these customers to the Potter vault."
The Professor said to them, "We shall place this money," he held up the second bag, "in your vault."
The goblin Griphook whistled and a cart trundled up towards them and Ethan waited for Blaire and Harry to climb in before he did. Then the Professor followed and Griphook hopped in and they were off through the intricate tunnels in the underground.
"Why are we going underground?" Ethan yelled over the howling icy wind that stung their faces.
"That's where the vaults are, the underground of London." Professor Snape replied.
"Wow!" Ethan said in awe.
They talked over the wind for a good few minutes until they got deeper and deeper and the speed of the cart increased. The cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall and everyone got off. Griphook unlocked the door and a lot of green smoke rushed out which when cleared gave the triplets the view of their forture hidden underground.
And here they thought they hadn't had any money.
As the professor emptied the bag into the vault, Harry let his eyes travel around the room and what caught his eyes were two smiling figures sitting on armchairs on two separate but large portraits on the wall.
There was a woman in one who had the same hair and eyes as Harry and the man in the other portrait had black hair and his eyes were just like Ethan's. Harry was always one to jump to conclusions and now he could think of only one thing.
"Mom, Dad?"
Ethan and Blaire and even the professor gasped out loud. And to Harry's utmost consternation, the two people in the portraits blinked and then yawned and stretched and rubbed their eyes and looked at Harry and Blaire and Ethan.
"Hello my darlings!" their mother said with a lovely smile on her face. She was really beautiful.
"We've been waiting to see you for a very long time." their father said.
tbc...