CHAPTER 10
OF TROLLS AND CHRISTMAS
Dear Dee,
It's the last day of September already, and no, Harry's attackers haven't been found. Though, I have some good news. Harry has stopped having nightmares! Isn't it great? He's still a bit twitchy and trusts just a handful of people, me included, but that's it. His nightmares are stopping because Blaire insisted that he practice clearing his mind before bed. It's one of the major rules to learn Occlumency.
As you know, we've been practicing Occlumency for a couple of weeks already and we're getting better at it, though we can't really know unless we ask the help of an expert. But Occlumency isn't something well heard and spoken of and aside from Dumbledore, it's impossible to know if anyone else knows this art. And Harry doesn't want to risk getting caught, so we simply can't go for help.
Harry's scar still hurts and Blaire and I find it very frightening. Is something terrible happening to Harry? Had something already happened to him that no one was aware of?
Blaire - I think I forgot to mention this earlier - has started taking down intricate notes from those books on a charmed piece of parchment for future reference. She is really determined to help Harry (I am too, but I wouldn't be able to help him even if I tried).
Quidditch practices went well today. Cedric told me today that I'll be an excellent chaser in the team next year. But that was exactly what Roger Davis told Blaire. They'll both be captains next year and I couldn't be happier for Cedric. He's a good friend. Marcus Flint put up a bit of a show today, demanding that their seeker be replaced by Harry immediately. But Professor Snape refused and gave Flint a detention.
Neville doesn't want to have anything to do with Quidditch. Right now, he's in his common room listening to Harry rattle out his Herbology essay in mindchat, so he could give a perfect version of it to Professor Sprout. The only problem is that Blaire and I have to listen to it too and I've already mixed the importance of proper plant preening with that of my transfiguration homework (importance of precise wand movements).
Oh never mind all that, did you know that Hogwarts was housing a three-headed dog? Neville says so. He, Hermione, Tilly and Ron Weasley happened to cross it last night! I had a headache the next day, thanks to Blaire who began lecturing Neville from her place at the Ravenclaw table. I think she frightened Terry by scowling at him for absolutely no fault of his... Poor bloke was sitting opposite her today for breakfast.
Neville has a problem remembering things. That's what he told us today morning and today, we tried to find something help him remember what needs to be done. It was Harry who gave Neville a small charmed pocket diary in which he just needed to jot down things that needed remembering.
And all in all, we're not worried about the monster in our school, because... It's not our problem now, is it?
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Severus had hit a dead end. He had already interviewed all the students of his house, Harry too, three times... And with the permission of Dumbledore and the other Heads of House, he had a talk with the other students of the school as well. He even included Blaire, Ethan and Neville but in vain.
He still hadn't the faintest idea who Harry's attackers were.
So after a lot of consideration and taking advantage of the fact that Harry said he could recognise the person's voice if he heard it again, Severus decided on another plan.
He called Harry on Sunday and placed a disillusionment charm on him and got him to sit on a stool silently in one corner of his room, with a few instructions and a bell. Then he had a house-elf call in his students one at a time.
He started from the oldest, the seventh years.
Severus explained to each student that it was a simple talk on carrier guidance so the students knew exactly what they would be doing once they finished their NEWTS. This, he explained, would help prevent confusion once he was done.
All was going well and he had nearly gone half way through his list of seventh years. But the moment the Slytherin seeker, a burly boy called Terrance Higgs stepped into the classroom and said, "Good morning, sir.", Severus heard the bell ring. The bell was charmed so only he and Harry could hear it.
It looked like Higgs was the culprit after all.
" Mr. Higgs," he said, "Sit...Are you willing to give me your word that you had nothing to do with Harry Potter's attack?"
The boy frowned ever so slightly and said, "Yes sir."
Severus discreetly magicked three drops of Veritaserum in the boy's system and waited for the boy's eyes to glaze and his head to loll to the side.
"Are you positive you weren't involved in Harry's attack?"
"Yes." the boy replied in monotone.
Harry gasped and Severus put a finger to his lips.
Then Severus said, "Tell me about all your doings that day."
The boy went on to give the usual... Getting out of bed...taking off his pajamas... Going for breakfast... Getting into a fight with a Gryffindor...bullying a first year...Library... And while he ranted on Severus legimitized him.
Now, as the boy stopped talking, Severus could see a disfigured shadow approach him or rather the boy and the boy's memory was then blurred... It almost felt like the mind of a victim hit with both, the imperius and the obliviate."
Severus sighed and put the counter serum into the boys system and he awoke not remembering anything that happened and Severus wasn't going to let him remember. To avoid any suspicion, he said, "Alright." as though nothing had happened between the time he first asked him about Harry's attack and now and he began to give him the career guidance talk.
After the boy left, Severus gave Harry an explanation, took off the disillusionment charm and sent the exasperated boy on his way. He fell back into his chair with a groan and placed his head into his hands with a sigh. This was not good. These indirect attacks were a sign of pure cowardice and unimaginable evil. Imagine what could happen if this mysterious, unidentifiable, brutal beast... it was better if he didn't think about it for the moment.
Then, he cancelled all the other talks and told his Slytherins by way of an explanation that it was useless giving them the talk for they already seemed to have their minds set. But, he added, if they really were indecisive, then they could meet him before the end of the week.
Now stuck at another dead end, Severus could only increase the protections around the triplets and Neville.
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Halloween came sooner than expected and their pumpkin juice tasted better than usual. And besides the usual, they were also served pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles and even pumpkin scones.
And the delicious smells wafting through the air simply wouldn't help them concentrate.
The day went by and Ethan learnt his first charm with Harry... The wigardium leviosa. It took a few tries until just a few of them succeeded. When they all happily arrived at the Great Hall for dinner, Ethan was surprised to see Tilly scowling at Ron Weasley who seemed to be trying to get back into her good books.
"Don't worry about them." Neville said. "They got into a fight."
"Tilly can fight?" Harry asked with a bit of amusement and surprise. "I'm glad to see that's she's begun to get a bit of backbone. What did they fight about?"
"Ron insulted Hermione." Neville said. "And now, Tilly's decided to give him the silent treatment until he apologizes to Hermione. Not that it's any of our business really."
"Troll in the dungeons!" came a terrified shout just then, and Professor Quirrel came dashing into the Hall, his turban askew...he reached the head table and fainted in pure terror.
The chaos that followed was ended with the help of Dumbledore's purple fireworks. The headmaster then sent them all back to their common rooms to enjoy their feast while the teachers found the troll.
The food was delicious and Blaire wished the boys good night and headed off to bed.
The next day, they heard that Hermione was in the hospital wing with several broken bones. Apparently she hadn't been in the Hall and hadn't heard the announcement. The troll appeared in the bathroom and managed to strike her arm and leg before she could hit his club with the wigardium leviosa.
Blaire was certain Hermione had been there since the time Ron Weasley insulted her.
In two days, Hermione was out of the hospital wing and she was flanked by Tilly and Ron. It looked like Ron apologized to her after all. And since that day, the three were inseparable. Ron didn't seem to be that bad a person after all. It was just the fault of his narrow-mindedness. But Harry insisted that they kept their distance.
Now winter set in and it started getting chilly outside. Harry found his magical support getting a little stiff with the cold in the dungeons causing him to decrease his pace while he moved. Professor Snape, as expected, noticed and when Harry told him the problem, the Professor immediately cast warming charms around Harry that not only softened the support but also kept Harry warm.
The first Quidditch game approached and the news that Tilly had won the spot in the Gryffindor Quidditch team soon spread around. Apparently the team had been in need of a seeker for a while and now that they had Tilly (who was quite good according to Neville), Oliver Wood, the captain and Keeper of the same team decided to keep it secret. But secrets could never be kept at Hogwarts.
The next thing that happened was Harry's weakening Occlumency shields. The eyes behind Quirrel's head as they called it, tried to invade Harry's mind with even more vigour than before at every opportunity they got and all in all, Harry's shields seemed to be failing all of a sudden.
"I give up!" he said one day in frustration.
"Absolutely not!" Ethan said at once. "You've already got the hang of it and so have we. You aren't going to give up on a new talent just because you need to use it most! Don't be stupid."
Harry argued back and Ethan pushed Harry's arguments aside leading to them getting into their first fight and turned their backs to each other... Their fall out, however, lasted for exactly six minutes after which both of them, who had each been feeling very guilty, made up to each other. Vowing to never fight again, because it didn't feel right.
And in the end, Harry went back to focus on Occlumency.
The day of the first Quidditch match of the season arrived. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin and the triplets wished a very nervous Tilly good luck. She blushed her thanks and headed off the the pitch with the rest of the team.
The match certainly was worth watching and Harry didn't know whether he should've been happy or sad when Tilly caught the snitch. And Gryffindor won and Professor McGonagall was as pleased as a kid with a Christmas gift and Professor Snape just scowled.
Two weeks later, Blaire had finished taking down notes from the Occlumency books and she returned them. Her card simply popped into her hand the next day! Well, if they found that strange, it wasn't as strange as finding Ron Weasley in the library. It seemed as though he, Tilly and Hermione planned to move in there. They seemed to be searching for something, but weren't able to find it.
The Christmas holidays were getting closer and closer and Ethan, Blaire, Harry and Neville were separately planning on what they would get each other and their friends for Christmas. This was something they didn't want to get anyone else involved in. They would be going home for Christmas, but via Professor Snape's floo.
Christmas was approaching and this was the triplets first true Christmas without any Dursley restrictions. Harry deftly wrote down a list of gifts he wanted to buy for his siblings and Neville. Then he split the list into letters and sent around four owls with orders to the respectful shops in Diagon Alley.
Little did Harry know that Blaire, Ethan and Neville too were doing the same thing. But that weekend the four of them sat together and decided what they would give to their grandparents and Professor Snape...in the end, they decided to make as many gifts as possible because it so much fun!
Then, Harry spent most of his night wrapping the gifts up and labelling his siblings' gifts and he cherished the happy feeling in his chest. He had got an easel that stood firmly on any kind of terrain for Ethan, A needle that changed it's form on command for Blaire and a watch which would remind Neville whenever he needed to do something or go somewhere (Neville's memory was awful and it was swell of him not to take it to heart whenever the triplets mentioned it).
...
Quietly in her dormitory, Blaire was examining the gifts she bought for her brothers and Neville. Several owls arrived at the Ravenclaw tower that night, bringing a lot of attention to herself. The first was a high quality camera for Ethan. Blaire felt it necessary because Ethan loved to capture moments on paper and having a camera would certainly help him not miss out the finer details that he always said he couldn't recollect. He would be really happy.
For Harry, she bought a ring and a collapsible, unbreakable cane. Now this had been the trickiest. With a lot of effort, she managed to charm the cane into the ring, both, which wouldn't be seen by anyone but the four of them. The cane would also help Harry defend himself in times of need and the ring would help him out whenever he got lost. All he needed to do was to squeeze the hand he wore the ring on... Once for the cane, twice whenever he needed directions, thrice if he needed both.
And for Neville, she bought a set of seven books on fantastic and rare plants from Flourish and Blotts. She was almost positive he would like them. She too was very intrigued when she read through their pages of contents, but she didn't delve further because she wanted him to be the first to do so.
...
Ethan had been deciding for days about the most appropriate presents for Blaire, Harry and Neville. There were so many things he wanted to buy, but he didn't think it would be very useful. Finally, inspiration struck him one night and now he sat on his bed with everything the owls brought him. How they managed to get into the dungeons was a wonder.
Right on top was a huge book on different stitches and patterns for Blaire... she was going to love it. The box of all-round carving tools was for Harry and Ethan decided to wrap it up first. The third gift was an empty herbarium for Neville. Everytime he found a new plant be it, magical or not, he would get a chance to preserve it in the herbarium which provided a separate page on which he could write something about the plant he collected. Neville would be happy.
...
Neville had three brilliant friends who never ever let him feel left out so far and he practically felt like one of them. They deserved nothing less than the best Christmas gifts. But the problem was there were too many things to choose from. So after acquiring the advice of the Weasley twins, he ordered three books of sudoku, crossword and word search for Ethan.
He bought a bottomless purse for Blaire for all the books she carried around and a bottle of high quality, never-ending polish-for-every-surface for Harry that couldn't be taken off unless a special polish remover, that came along with the polish, was applied.
...
Then, the Christmas holidays arrived and the triplets headed back to their beloved room at Number four, Privet Drive. Now was their time to put together the presents they jointly made for their grandparents and Fred and George. Their present for Professor Snape, who they considered to be rather lonely was on its way.
For Fred and George, they decided to fix a frame (Harry and Neville did a marvelous job) with a perfect painting (That was Ethan's bit) of the twins. Back at Hogwarts, Blaire had charmed the paintings of the twins to move around and perform antics and they were sure to love it. However they didn't know how long the charm would last, so after three days of discussion, they decided against the charm and took it off.
For their grandparents, Harry, Neville and Ethan made several potions ranging from a cure for boils to a strengthening potion. They even made sure they made a large amount of pepper-up too (which was extremely hard. But after restarting it nine times, they were able to do it right. No wonder it was a fourth-year potion).
Each vial had the instructions on how to use the potions. Blaire, for her part, crocheted a tablecloth for them. She had begun making it in September without any particular goal in mind until Neville gave her the idea of making it for the Evans'.
Everything was made in that cave in the dungeons in which Harry had been locked up. He was no longer afraid of it and they used it as their secret meeting place. Now, back at home, almost everything was set. So, they went about decorating the Christmas tree Hagrid sent them and enjoyed themselves immensely.
And then the only thing remaining was Professor Snape's gift which they would have to personally floo to his quarters if they wanted to give it to him. They didn't trust owls to carry out such a delicate task.
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Another Christmas was approaching and another year was coming to an end. But Severus couldn't see the joy in presents and feasts. They were a waste of time, if his opinion was ever taken into consideration.
He was drifting off to sleep on Christmas Eve when he was woken up with the sound of the flaring floo in his living room. The only persons who knew this were the triplets and Neville. Had something happened? Did they need help? Were they hurt?
Severus leapt out of bed immediately and headed for the door only to hear the address of the Potter Alcove and the password followed by the familiar woosh. Frowning in confusion, he headed to his living room and was more than surprised to see a basket by the side of the fireplace.
They had brought him a gift!
And he hadn't got them any. Severus groaned in annoyance. He was never given presents after Lily stopped talking to him in their fifth year and he never wanted presents anymore. The next and last time he got a present after that incident, was from Lily herself, for the Christmas before she died.
He was a teacher for goodness sake! He didn't exchange presents with his students. He'd have to tell them that the next time they met. Right now, he was on a mission. He needed to think.
He needed something that was useful and special and could be bought at this hour. Mind, it was nearing midnight. He dressed quickly and took a pinch of floo powder in his hand and dropped it into the fire.
"Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Hogsmeade ." he said clearly.
Once he reached his destination, he woke up and threatened the confused yet grumpy shop owner and began hunting the place down for the appropriate quills. By twelve thirty, he had found his choices.
A great blue turant feather quill for Neville, a rare long-tailed willow bird feather quill for Harry, an Arfak astrapia tail feather quill for Ethan and a tundra swan feather quill for Blaire. Feathers of unique, beautiful birds alone weren't exactly appropriate. So he paid the grumbling man and flooed to Honeydukes and followed the same procedure.
By one o'clock, he bought four huge slabs of Honeydukes best chocolate, four packets each of Exploding Bonbons, Pink coconut ice and Liquorice wands. Yes that would do. And for the Evans' he bought two boxes each of crystallized pineapple and treacle fudge and a bottle of expensive wine that Honeydukes sold as a side business. The owner was more understanding than Scrivenshaft's. He happily sold his products with Christmas discount and everything and Severus flooed back to his quarters. There, he charmed each quill to never wear out and wrapped everything up in six packages and sent them to the Potters and Evans.
Now, sitting in an armchair in his quarters, Severus wondered what was in that basket. And now, sitting besides it was another present that was most probably from the Evans. Severus felt a familiar strange feeling similar to what he used to feel as a child when he received a present.
Maybe that child in you hasn't died after all, said a voice in his head.
With a growl, Severus suppressed the urge of opening the gifts and went back to bed. He fell asleep as soon as his head touched his pillow and sweets and quills waltzed through his dreams. He woke up next morning wondering why exactly was his mood so good.
As he put on his slippers, he caught a faint whimper from the living room. With a small frown, he moved to the door and opened it. He heard the whimper again and it seemed to be coming from one of his presents. Knowing that there couldn't be anything dangerous in there, he decided to open the Evans' present first, which to his amazement, contained a leather jacket and a three novels, one by Agatha Christie, the next by Erle Stanley Gardner and the third by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Severus didn't even realize that he was smiling... It felt so nice to be remembered, appreciated even.
Another whimper, now coming from the basket brought his attention to it again. Carefully he put away his new jacket and books and turned to the basket. It seemed to have been made of polished bamboo cane and its contents were covered by a baby blue soft cotton cloth. He heard the whimper again as he gently pulled off the cloth and saw a fuzzy ball of black and a little white cozily lying on a blue mattress.
Severus blinked and took a closer look and then he looked up to the Heavens in exasperation when he realised what his present was. In the basket lay a tiny black and white puppy, looking at him with...puppy eyes?.
Severus gently lifted the pup and inspected it carefully. How exactly was he going to care for it when he hadn't the patience to care for himself? If he gave it away, the triplets and Neville wouldn't be happy...And strangely their happiness had suddenly become important to him. But what was he going to do once Voldemort returned? The puppy would be a sure target if he messed up!
No. He couldn't afford to keep it, for its own safety. The pup whimpered again and looked at him with woeful eyes, as though it knew what was going on in Severus's mind. Severus's resolution broke. He growled in annoyance...maybe, he could look after it for a few days... If he got attached to it, he would probably keep it for a longer time. If Voldemort returned, then, he would have to give it to the triplets for safekeeping.
If his Slytherins sneaked to their parents about the pup, he'd simply have to tell Voldemort (after he'd given it away, of course), that he'd done away with it now that he, Voldemort required his full attention. Something red caught his eye in the basket and Severus realised it was a booklet. He carefully transfered his tiny pet into his left hand and picked up the booklet.
'How to care for a Border Collie.' was the title.
In the hour that passed, Severus had read the booklet, fed the puppy who he called Venn (meaning friend in Norwegian. Severus wanted her name to relate to companion, but he couldn't find anything short enough), with the help of a feeder bottle, cleaned up her basket and put her back into it. She was barely a month old and it was necessary for Severus to elevate the temperature of his quarters.
He had his breakfast at the Great Hall and went back to his quarters. He fed Venn after every two hours and by midday, he flooed to the Potter Alcove and found the triplets and Neville all facing the fireplace.
He looked around, hoping to find the Evans' and Harry, apparently understanding him said, "They just left, Professor! They'll be coming for dinner tonight. Grandpa wasn't feeling too well this morning. Merry Christmas Professor!"
He moved forward and gave Severus a hug and Blaire and Ethan followed. Severus smiled when he released them and held his arms open to Neville who hesitantly moved forward. Severus shook his head in amusement and pulled the boy towards himself and gave him a hug.
"Merry Christmas to you all." he said quietly. "And thank you for your gift. I must say, I could do with the company. Venn's her name and I may not be in a position to look after her on some occasions and during those times, depending on where you are, I may ask either you or your Grandparents for help.
"And another thing... Please, I repeat please, do not give me gifts again. Giving your teacher Christmas gifts or vice versa may be interpreted as favouritism by certain students. And if these students turn out to be the children of the Dark Lord's followers, we could both be in terrible danger. Do you understand?"
They nodded, however, Severus noticed a glint of disobedience in Blaire's eyes and before he could open his mouth to repeat his request, his eyes fell on a shimmering material... An invisibility cloak.
He bit back a groan and a curse and nodded in the direction of the cloak.
"That is an invisibility cloak and it belonged to you father."
They nodded.
"It has probably been given to you by Dumbledore."
Now they looked surprised.
"I urge you to not bring that cloak to school. It's more trouble than it's worth and Dumbledore knows that. I don't know what's going on in that old, well-oiled mind of his, but I don't want you unknowingly getting involved in his plans. Leave the cloak at home here, or place it in the hands of your grandparents, and live a happier, honest school life."
The children were hesitant, almost as though they were having a silent discussion. Then they nodded.
This time, Severus let his curiosity get the better of him. It wasn't the only time he'd felt that they had a way of speaking to each other while no one was watching. He performed Legilimency, on Harry, in the hope of just taking a peak, but the boy's mind was well shielded and Harry looked at him in surprise.
"Where'd you learn Occlumency?" he asked surprised.
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"Tell him." Ethan said, immediately. "Please Harry, he has already proved himself many times till date. Trust him."
"But-"
"Either you do it Harry, or I will." Blaire said sharply. "I don't like Quirrel messing about with your head and I'm worried. We're all worried."
"Yes, Harry." Neville agreed with them. "I have never heard of constant aches in one's scar only in the presence of a specific person. I've never heard of hurting scars at all! Just tell him!"
Harry sighed and, after a long moment, gave in.
He started talking and slowly, told the Professor everything except their mindchatting. Professor Snape looked horrified at the end of the tale.
"... And that was why we began to learn Occlumency."
"You should've told me!" he scolded. "Do you know the danger you could have been in? Harry, I know you don't trust easily and don't blame you, but have I ever hurt you?... I won't, I'd die before I let something happen to you and I mean it. I have made mistakes in my past that I truly repent and I will try my best not to mess things up again. Believe me.
"You are free to come to talk with me whenever you wish. And I would like to help you enhance the skills you've taught yourselves regarding Occlumency. I want you in my office every Sunday after dinner and we will practice Occlumency. It's a skill not many can learn and now that you've already begun learning it, you might as well know everything there is to know of this talent."
tbc...