Eighteen: Helsinki to Inari

The lake stretched and shimmered a ghostly blue. Beyond lay a bushy park, grown over and around a large house with windows like gloomy eyes.

Harry still thought it was weird for a lake to lie so close to the seashore: he'd always thought places were one or the other. But what Snape wanted from him was even weirder than that.

'It's summer,' Harry reminded him. 'Lakes don't freeze over in summer.'

'No,' Snape agreed, a sigh of impatience in his voice, 'but like I've said, the lake is held under a season spell that responds to magic. If a muggle were to step onto the water now, they would fall in, but you will find yourself right in winter wonderland. Look.'

As he said it, he took a step forward. Harry's breath hitched.

Snape disappeared.

A moment later, he stepped back onto shore, straight out of nothing. 'See?'

'You went invisible,' Harry told him, 'so no.'

'Yes, well, I didn't drown. Come on, it's a bit of a walk, and I am in dire need of coffee.'

Harry had been excited to be near magic again, now that they were in Finland and the Ministry wouldn't be able to trace him. And he'd been excited to visit the magical island in the middle of a lake, because it sounded, well, magical. He would only have preferred it if they could do the normal thing and rent out a boat.

He had seen a film like this on TV one time: Dudley and his friend got bored during their pyjama party and left it on as they went upstairs to play on the console. To get the treasure, the hero had to have the faith to walk straight over an abyss, and he managed that alright in the end. Harry supposed with a lake instead of an abyss, he didn't have it quite as bad.

But Snape had had enough of his dawdling. He grabbed Harry under the armpits and swung him right over the edge of the lake, until Harry felt—his eyes were screwed shut and in his ears he heard only the thumping of his heart—solid ground under his feet, and breathed in the sharp scent of frost.

He was standing on ice so thick, you could not hope to glimpse the water underneath. The lake had transformed into a stretch of white, the snow light and tinsel like glazing on a cake. The opposite shore with the creepy house was still all summer, and the ground Harry had just stood on dusted with fresh grass, but between the two lay a bone-deep chill, the sun so sharp it was blinding, the ice creaking dry and firm.

'That wasn't very nice,' he complained to Snape. 'Just because I'm smaller doesn't mean you can just pick me up and put me wherever you want.'

'I think it does mean exactly that, actually.'

Snape pulled out his wand, which he directed at Harry's chest. A blanket of warmth cocooned him like an embrace. Snape shut his eyes for a moment, like he was focusing on the magic flowing through him. Then, he aimed the wand at his broken arm.

Something inside crunched. They both winced. 'Alright, let's go,' Snape announced, shaking it off.

The island was visible now, and they headed that direction, lips clamped to protect their teeth and breaths coming out of their noses in huffs of condensation. It wasn't so much an island as a bunch of buildings, Harry thought, erected seemingly right on the ice, red-roofed and painted a pale yellow.

A wooden pier grew out of the raised cobblestone and cut into the ice, supports buried under the surface. Though the spell Snape had cast kept Harry warm in the chest and stomach, his toes and his cheeks were freezing over, and his fingers were lame and uncooperative as he wrapped them around the wooden fencing to help himself up. His foot slipped backwards on the ice and he would have knocked his chin straight into one of the beams if Snape hadn't caught him by the scruff of the neck.

The trees were wintery-bare and threaded through with strings of golden fairy lights. The chill was less here, air warmed by the fires burning merrily inside: through foggy windows, Harry glimpsed someone's living room, a clothing store, a bookshop and a wand shop. The houses were pushed close, the few streets between them gate alleys and narrow passages cramped into the breathing spaces, and they all leaned over the heart of the island, where a conservatory sat precariously on the cobblestone, filled to bursting with lush greenery of all shapes and sizes.

Snape paused by the entrance. The tip of his wand lit silver, and then a shape emerged and fell onto the ground, moulding and shimmering until it grew into a doe, translucent like a ghost but glowing with a cool light that made something in Harry ache.

'I have Potter. We've arrived in Helsinki,' Snape told the doe. 'We're both well. We're waiting at the agreed location.'

The doe ambled away, leaving behind a glittery trail, before they were both swallowed by the wind.

'What was that?' Harry asked without thinking.

'A Patronus,' Snape said. 'It will carry the message to the Headmaster's friend in Inari.'

'It's very pretty,' Harry commended him. 'Are we going to learn how to do that at school?'

'When you're much older.'

As soon as Snape pulled open the conservatory doors, warm air blew into their faces. Inside, smells of clove and cinnamon intermingled with the heady scents of wet earth and exotic flowers. The dark wooden benches by the tables were covered with reindeer skins, and the witches and wizards sat astride were drinking from large glass mugs. Just beneath the high glass ceiling, fairies darted from tree crown to tree crown.

Snape led Harry to a table in the corner, just off-side of the large fireplace burning purple. Directly above stood a tree with long, thorny garlands of viciously orange flowers, like the arms of an octopus. They moved, too: one stole their menu, then another wrapped around Harry's wrist and Snape had to slap it away.

They were halfway through their drinks—Harry's was a red sort-of juice served hot and spiced, which did wonders for his stiff hands and aching teeth—when the flames in the fireplace blared higher, and two women stumbled out, one supporting the other, who was coughing ash.

'You're alive,' the first woman said evenly when she saw them. 'I should have been more optimistic.'

The woman with the stain of ash on her chin rubbed at it, then gave Harry a toothy smile. She was that odd age Harry could never put a finger on: sort of older than Snape, but not yet granny-like. Her brown hair was pleated back loosely and she wore a shirt and trousers patterned with flowers.

Snape stood up to greet them. The ashless woman, fair and tall and stiff, introduced herself as Leeni Huhtala, and the one who'd smiled only as Kauko.

'I'm Harry,' he said meekly when Kauko leaned over the table to shake his hand. At Snape's glare, he got up as well. 'Nice to meet you.'

'You need to send word to Albus,' Leeni was telling Snape. 'He kept telling me he was confident you're alright, but I think he was lying. Are we going then?'

'Let them finish their coffee,' Kauko said in a half-whisper.

'Alright, yes. We'll wait.'

Leeni sank to the bench at Snape's side, brushing invisible flecks of dirt off her straight-cut dress. Kauko sidled in next to Harry, tossing him another happy smile. Everyone was very quiet. Harry started chugging down the rest of his drink, wanting to cut the awkwardness short.

'What happened?' Leeni was playing with one of the branches, twining it around her fingers, and kept her eyes steadily on the flowers. 'We know you Apparated away when they found you in Berlin.'

'We had to make a substantial detour,' Snape said without feeling. 'And we lost the mirror during the scuffle.'

Harry appreciated Snape saying we when it had been Harry who'd lost the mirror. And he hadn't even lost it, actually, he'd exploded it with his wild magic or something—not that Snape knew that. But he found Leeni odd, all quiet and poker-faced and with an intensity behind her eyes, and he didn't want to give her any reason to become angry with him.

'You must have seen a fair few places all over Europe then,' Kauko said cheerily. 'What was your favourite, Harry?'

Harry thought about it. 'Zakopane, I guess. That's in Poland, in the mountains.'

Snape stared at him. 'We were nearly murdered in Zakopane, Potter.'

'Yeah, but before that, it was nice.' At Kauko's inquiring look, he explained, 'The mountains were pretty, and we played board games and table tennis mostly. And the food was good, and there was a cool dog.'

A ghost of a smile flittered across Snape's face. 'We stayed in a four-star hotel in Tallinn,' he said, 'but I see now why people say there is little point taking children anywhere nice.'

Harry had already felt horribly guilty about the hotel—he was sure Snape would get in trouble over it if Dumbledore ever found out—and now he felt even worse for making Snape think he didn't even appreciate it. 'I liked Tallinn, too!' he said quickly. 'It's got like, second place.'

Once Snape finished his coffee, they queued up in front of the fireplace.

'Huhtala, Inari,' Leeni told them. 'That's what you say. Can the little one repeat that?'

Harry coloured. 'I'm not little,' he said. 'I'm not deaf or stupid, either.'

Leeni remained unaffected. 'If you can't say it right, you'll have to travel with an adult or you'll get lost.'

'Don't worry, Harry,' Kauko grinned, 'I have to hold my adult's hand, too.'

'You do?'

'I'm a muggle. If I tried Flooing alone—well, I don't actually know what would happen.'

'Death by immolation, I imagine,' said Snape.

Harry watched as Kauko looped her arm around Leeni's and stepped into the fireplace without a second's thought, like she'd done it countless times before. His Aunt or Uncle would never trust Harry enough to follow him into the fire like that. But Kauko was a muggle and she wasn't at all scared; how? Would it be very rude to ask her?

'Alright, your hand, Potter,' Snape ordered as he grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the mantle.

'I can do it on my own,' Harry reminded him.

'I'm sure you can, but you will not.'

The fireplace spat them out onto the worn floor in a living room. Leeni and Kauko were there already, waiting by the window. Kauko was rubbing at her chin with a tissue, trying to get the ash out of skin.

'I'll show you the bedrooms,' Leeni announced into the air.

It was odd, to arrive in a house without first seeing the outside of it. The wooden floors crinkled and tapped under their feet; golden light poured through the west-side windows. On the first floor, they went into a miniature library, fit snugly between the bathroom and storage, and now half-heartedly converted into a guest room. Books lined every surface; a reading chair sat pressed so close to the bedframe that it would have been impossible to sit in it unless one put their feet up on the pillows. Snape would be sleeping here, Leeni said.

For Harry's bedroom, they had to climb up a precarious ladder to the attic. The wooden beams that held up the roof brushed the tips of Snape's and Leeni's heads. There wasn't a bed, only a bare double mattress on the floor, and an armoire that creaked when you stepped close to it.

'You'll be giving him sheets, I imagine,' Snape's eyebrow was high up his forehead.

'There are some in the top drawer,' Leeni waved a hand at the armoire. 'I'll bring him a duvet later.'

'Well, could you bring it now?'

Leeni threw him a glare. Harry felt a stab of sympathy: she was a bit eerie, but he understood how annoying Snape could get. But she didn't even try to argue, and went instead to climb down the ladder and do as asked.

Harry kneeled in front of the window that sat at the lowest point between the joists. The bare mattress and the dark smell of the attic weren't great, sure, but the view more than made up for it: he saw a dark, sprawling lake, peppered in the distance with what looked to be islands. A pine branch brushed the window pane and a large spider dangled from its web just beneath the rusty handle.

Then, with no sound at all, the spider vanished.

Harry turned around just in time to see Snape putting his wand away.

'What did you do to the spider?'

'I got rid of it.'

This is why no one likes you, Harry thought, temper rising. 'Why? I didn't ask you to get rid of it—it could have been my friend.'

Only once he'd said it, he realised how incredibly childish he sounded. But he'd been reminded of the spiders he used to befriend back in his cupboard at the Dursleys'. He would often pretend they could hear him as he told them about his day.

He prayed no one would ever find out about that.

'I was kidding,' he corrected quickly. His heart beat heavy in his chest.

Snape hummed his doubt, then looked around the attic again and sighed. 'Would you prefer to swap rooms?'

Harry stared at him. 'Why can't I sleep here?'

'You won't be scared?'

Harry followed Snape's gaze around the room. Try as he might, he couldn't imagine what it was that Snape thought he might be scared of.

'I'm not afraid of spiders if that's what you mean,' he said slowly.

'No, Potter, all I mean is—ah, never mind,' Snape grunted, looking away from Harry like he was suddenly embarrassed. 'You want to sleep here, you'll sleep here, why do I even bother.'

Harry was still mighty confused by the time Leeni returned with the duvet and a pillow. Snape dressed the bed for him then as if Harry was an invalid. That was what Aunt Petunia used to say whenever he didn't know how to do something in the kitchen, or when he was being slow. Are you an invalid? Or do you suppose I am your servant?

Watching him dress the bed, he pretended that Snape was his servant. He slaved his days away doing menial chores and getting rid of every spider that Harry pointed out to him, and never received a word of thanks—in this fantasy, Harry was a selfish and cruel master.

'Kauko will take the boy out to pick cloudberries,' Leeni said. 'You can get in touch with Albus in the meantime.'

Harry wanted to stay and eavesdrop on what Snape talked to Dumbledore about, but he also thought cloudberries sounded rather special.

Snape was opening his mouth, but then his eyes snagged on Harry's face and he seemed to reconsider. 'May I speak with you both downstairs for a minute?' he asked tightly.

He'd meant Leeni and Kauko, Harry knew, but he still followed them down the ladder. On the second-to-last-rung, he stopped and put his hand out for Snape to take.

'Can you help me down?' he asked, significantly more politely than imaginary Harry did when he ordered his servant around. Still, both fantasy Snape and real Snape took his hand and lowered him onto the floor, which was entirely unnecessary and made Harry feel like a prince or something.

He'd meant to try and eavesdrop, but the porch distracted him. You could see the lake from here, but different: from the lower vantage point, it looked almost like the ocean. A rocking chair sat to the side of a table covered with a crocheted napkin in deep blue. Mosquitoes buzzed around his head as Harry swung back and forth, watching the sun peek out from behind the treeline and disperse in the needlework. It sat so low in the sky that it seemed like it should be setting any time now, only it had been like that since they'd arrived and still hadn't shown signs of budging into dusk.

When they reappeared, Leeni and Kauko were carrying large woven baskets.

'Change of plans,' Kauko announced resolutely. 'We're all going. Are you ready, Harry?'

Harry jumped down from the chair to indicate his readiness. 'Professor Snape's coming, too?'

'Oh, no, he needs to stay and talk to Albus—Professor Dumbledore,' Kauko explained. 'We'll bring him lots of cloudberries though, won't we?'

Harry nodded, trying to hide his disappointment. He would have been fine going alone with Kauko, but he found Leeni intimidating, and would have preferred to have Snape there to run interference.

The forest deepened quickly, and soon Harry lost all sense of direction. They jumped over some thorny bushes, balanced on a wooden beam thrown across a nettle minefield, and emerged eventually onto a wide clearing where the cloudberries lived. Kauko showed him: they looked much like raspberries, only they were a light orange and tasted like honeyed apricots with something tart and odd underneath. Harry had to try a couple until he decided he liked them.

They picked in silence for a while, the sun cross-hatching on their hands and faces. The air smelled crisp, like a note of winter in the middle of summer, and Harry couldn't make up his mind whether he was warm or cold.

'He's very protective of you, your Professor Snape,' Kauko spoke up, her tone conversational. She hadn't looked up from her picking.

'Kauko,' Leeni said with a note of warning.

'I'm just saying,' she grinned. 'You must be a real teacher's pet in his classroom, huh? What does he teach?'

Harry choked on a laugh. 'I'm not a teacher's pet.' The very idea made him shiver. 'He teaches Potions and I'm horrible at Potions, so—besides, I'm in Gryffindor and Professor Snape's head of Slytherin.'

Kauko gave him a blank look.

'Uh, we have these houses at Hogwarts, and Gryffindors and Slytherins are enemies, kind of. It's difficult to explain, but yeah, he doesn't like me.' That seemed unfair, so he adjusted, 'At least at school.'

Kauko hummed, unconvinced. 'Are Potions hard then? Leeni, are you any good with Potions?'

'It's all handling icky little worms and slime. You know these mud soups you said you made when you were little? It's like that—disgusting.'

'It's not like that,' Harry disagreed, chest flaring with offense. 'It's really difficult and you need a lot of skill and precision to do it, or you can blow yourself up just like that.'

'Oh my,' Kauko laughed. 'I was going to say that maybe Professor Snape could give you some extra lessons while you're here—there's not much to do around, you know—but I don't think I want to risk the house blowing up to pieces.'

'It's summer anyway,' Harry pointed out, watching Leeni's disinterest from the corner of his eye. 'I'm not going to do extra Potions work in summer.'

But it did give him an idea. Sure, Snape had hated him even before Harry proved himself useless at Potions, but he seemed okay with him now; so perhaps if Harry studied a bit harder, he could keep this new, nice Snape when they got back to Hogwarts. It made him anxious to even consider working extra on Potions of all things, but if feigning an interest meant Snape would continue being decent to him, it was probably worth it.

'The reason I started talking about it, actually,' Kauko continued, 'well, the Professor's told us that you've had some bad experiences with muggles who didn't like wizards. That's why Leeni came with—'

'That was a private conversation,' Leeni hissed.

'I just think it's best to talk about things like that,' Kauko shrugged. 'I want you to know, Harry, that I don't have a problem with magic or anything—God, I think it's really fun, actually. But if I ever say something that upsets you, you can come tell me, right? I won't be offended.'

'Oh,' was all that Harry managed at first. 'No, I don't—I'm not scared of you or anything like that.'

'Okay, good,' Kauko smiled. 'But keep me posted.'

He concentrated on the berries for a while, mulling it all over.

'So, you're not afraid of magic, right?' he asked, throwing her a quick glance.

'I mean, I guess that depends. If I met some strange wizard in a dark alley who pointed his wand at me, then probably yeah, I'd be afraid. And I know that there are some wizards out there who don't like muggles very much. I guess they'd scare me, too. But other than Leeni, I've only really met wizards and witches who are friends with her—I know none of them would hurt me.'

That made sense. 'Well, Professor Snape and I wouldn't hurt you either,' he assured her.

'Thanks, Harry,' she said.

They didn't talk much more after, but it wasn't awkward, just quiet. Mosquitoes buzzed and grass crunched under their feet. The bushes pricked his fingers.

Harry wouldn't mind staying here until that elusive sunset, he decided—and then for hours still after that.


A big thank you to all those who've reviewed or followed the story! And to any readers hailing from the States, I'm sending positive vibes your way- and hope you're taking care of yourselves in this insane time.

We're still in Inari on Wednesday, and Dumbledore makes a reappearance. See you then.