Chapter 6

Severus was happy to see his grandfather's owl arriving at breakfast, and carrying with it a small parcel as well as a letter. He broke open the letter first.

"My dear grandson,

Merlin's bollocks, you have enough ambition to be in Slytherin! Hasn't it occurred to you that in all wizarding history nobody has ever come up with a solution to furry sorts of problems? But then, I don't think anyone has ever tried a runic solution before. The runes you have picked are from Heimdall's Aett, as you are of course aware, and I think you are wise to discard Raidho, which is from Freja's Aett and might conceivably solve the problem in an embarrassing way for a boy by giving him female characteristics instead. I think you need Tiwaz and Mannaz, from Tyr's Aett as well. Tiwaz has powers of analysis and rationality and stands for the hero god; the boy will have to be something of a hero to resist the change. Mannaz, or man will preserve his humanity, especially if he has friends to meditate upon. I am not sure that an amulet on its own will be sufficient, but if he holds it and chants the runes on it as he feels the start of the change it should hold it off. I believe that enough repetitions will be sufficient to keep him in man form for the duration, but he may have to chant for as long as the moon is full.

Please find enclosed a rune-engraver's kit to fit over your wand, some better quality moonstone than you may hope to get by mail order, and a six hour potion to change you into a falcon. If the chant does not work, he will not attack an animal, and that will protect you since I know better than to forbid you from watching over your friend. I know how deep your loyalties are, Severus Prince!

Your mother has written to me. She has sent no word of apology for her defiance but she has written to me that she is proud of how you are doing and thanked me for preparing you for school, which is probably as far as the stubborn wench will go. I am wondering whether to collect her and bring her home rather than make her ask, and whether I should hex that misbegotten oaf whose best part was lost to him when it made his son, or merely obliviate him into forgetting he ever had a wife and son. You are a meddler. However doubtless I will be able to teach you a level of Slytherin subtlety in your future meddling. You are only eleven, after all.

Your grandfather, Tiberius Prince

Head of the House of Prince."

Severus raised an eyebrow. Much depended on what his father said and did when his grandfather turned up, he suspected. He opened the package with trembling fingers, and opened the fastening of the leather case within, which was inscribed with his initials, STP. He grinned wildly. Not just any rune-engraver's kit, but a really good set. And the potion! He pocketed that quickly.

"What is that, Sev mate?" asked Sirius.

"It's a rune engraver's kit," said Severus. "These cones fit over the end of my wand, and when I concentrate my magic through it, it will direct it to engrave stone in the shape and size of the nozzle. Square ones, round ones, from coarse to fine! Just look at this, so fine I could write a runic verse on jewellery if I wanted, let alone inscribe Remus' amulet. And a piece of decent moonstone! I'll practice on odd chips first though," he added. "No point making a mess of it, and carving rocks isn't like writing it on paper." He ran his finger down his wand lovingly. Some of the other Gryffindors had made a point of teasing him for having a wand as short as seven inches, but it meant he would have much finer control. It had been difficult, there had been two wands which had whispered to him in Ollivander's shop, the vine one which murmured of hidden depths, and the willow, which gave him flashes of insight. He had felt most comfortable with the willow, and Ollivander had said it was capable of healing magic. Well, that made it appropriate for carving runes for Remus, though at the time of accepting it, he had been thinking purely of potioneering.

"That's going to be pretty hard to learn," said Sirius.

Severus shrugged.

"I'll learn," he said. "It's like learning to use a quill; takes discipline."

"And we're jolly glad your grandfather included us in your lessons in how to do penmanship," put in Lily. "You'll soon learn, Sev, for Remus."

"I will," said Severus. Remus gave him a worried smile.

"It … it doesn't matter if it doesn't work," he said.

"It does, but it won't make me give up, and weep," said Severus. "My grandfather thinks you will need to chant the runes, so you'd better familiarise yourself with the ones I chose and the ones he added."

Remus nodded.

"It's worth a try," he said. "Thank you, Severus, and thank your grandfather too."

"He likes a challenge," said Severus.

Which, he reflected, was just as well, because persuading a muggle-reared grandson that penmanship was important, to teach discipline and application and to be a first step towards perfectly inscribed runes had been an uphill struggle for the old man until he had lost his temper and demanded how a budding runemaster planned to make perfect runes if his handwriting looked as though it was the result of an acromantula under the tarantallegra curse. Severus had demanded to know why he hadn't said so in the first place, and had buckled down to writing pages of single letters perfectly formed. Lily was equally keen to learn runecraft and had cunningly mentioned to Petunia that she was customarily so neat that it would be a shame to spoil that record. James and Sirius had been drilled in penmanship from an early age, though Sirius was inclined to scrawl rather. It had take some time to get Peter up to speed, though Remus learned fast, but they could now all turn in legible essays and did not, other than Sirius, lose marks for legibility. And Sirius lost marks for slapdash work anyway. The only thing that would make Sirius pull up his socks, thought Severus, was if Peter stood above him in the class rankings. Sirius had raw power and was very clever, and thought he and his pure blood were above doing any work. He could be a pain at times, thought Severus! He had no great liking for Peter, who was a bit of a quitter, but the point of being a gang was to be strong enough to stand against any bullies, and that meant all of them being as good as they could be, and he took infinite pains to coach Peter in the correct intonation of the spells, and the right movements of his wand.

"You are so patient with Peter," said Lily, when they wandered out for a walk, just the two of them, the way it had always been.

"He gives up easily," said Severus. "And I'm afraid of him giving up if cornered by a creep like Mulciber, and squealing all our secrets to save his own hide, and if they find out about Remus, he's toast."

Lily nodded.

"But if he knows he is good enough to defend himself, he will trust us to rescue him and hold out?" she said. "I know he was brave momentarily to defy Malfoy, and to warn us on the train, but I'm not sure he's a true Gryffindor."

"He must have the potential or the hat would have dumped him in Slytherin," said Severus. "The coward's house where his propensity for hearing and passing on gossip would have stood him in good stead, especially if he'd attached himself to a powerful patron like Malfoy, and fagged and spied for him. So there must be an inner core of courage to Peter, so long as we don't let James and Sirius and Tuney rag him too much, and we keep him as high up the class as possible, so he has confidence in himself."

"That's clever," said Lily. "James and Sirius and Tuney ought to know better than to rag their own, and I've told them so."

"Me too; they just like the sounds of their own voices," said Severus. "I … I don't think they are dark, though I wondered a few times about Sirius, but some of the japes they wanted to pull have been a little cruel. I mean, I don't like Farty Fenwick any more than they do, he's a bit of a one-trick pony with his arithmancy, studying with the third years, already, and so proud of himself, and thinks people who aren't arithmancers are nothing, but it's not on to spill ink on his work."

"I'm glad you stopped them doing that," said Lily.

"Me too, but I had to think fast to come up with something that wasn't a cowardly trick like that. Making him attractive to flies was the best thing I could think of, and being surrounded by a swarm of them is unpleasant and inconvenient, but as he's always going on about his superior concentration it shouldn't interfere with his school work."

"It was also pretty funny seeing him followed lovingly by his horrid harem," said Lily. "And it's getting colder so they should all die off."

"The spell will wear off before then anyway," said Severus. "Merlin, I can't manage something of that complexity to last for more than two days! And as it's the weekend, his attendant nymphs aren't going to wind up the staff. Lily, I'm tempted to ask if I can test into the rune elective class; I'm well ahead in everything else, and I was looking at their homework and I could do it, and so could you; shall we go and see Professor Babbling?"

"I … yes, why not? What about Remus?"

"If we can get rid of his furry little problem, then all well and good, but he is most awfully unwell before the full moon, even if it's the effects of changing that make him ill after it," said Severus. "I don't want to put him under more pressure, he struggles to keep up even though he's heaps cleverer than anyone except you and me."

Lily nodded.

"Yes, it wouldn't be fair," she said. "Very well, let's go and see Professor Babbling right now."

Professor Babbling frowned to see two first years.

"What can I do for you?" she said, neutrally.

"Please, Madam Babbling, my great grandfather is a runemaster," said Severus, "And he has been teaching Lily and me, and we wondered if we could test out to see if we could take the elective from this year, not wait until the third."

"Good gracious!" said Professor Babbling. "Of course, everyone has heard of Tiberius Prince, and a few things said about his rune lore which … dear me, yes, you had better test out, so I can teach you something of the ethics of rune use."

"If you mean the demonology, he's more interested in banishing than summoning," said Severus. "Granddad said that anyone who deliberately invited in any being from one of the nether planes, or even a great form fae spirit has to have erumpants loose in their top paddock, but you need to know how the gates open in order to close them. He told me that I wouldn't even be touching those books until I approached rune mastery on pain of pain."

"I can hear him saying it," said Professor Babbling dryly. "I am glad; you relieve my mind no end. I had heard disturbing rumour."

"The only thing that lies more readily than rumour is a Slytherin who hasn't done his Transfigurations homework," said Severus.

"An interesting simile," said the professor. "Well, there is no time like the present, so if you would care to come along to an empty classroom, I will give you the end of term test from last year's class."

Severus found it easy. He knew the theory, for Tiberius had been thorough, and he recognised the runes inscribed to read. He was glad of his penmanship to write them too. Lily was sighing a little over the Ancient Greek, but seemed to be holding her own. Severus finished early, and sat quietly as Lily continued to scribble.

When the time was up, Professor Babbling took their papers.

"I'll get these marked before supper so I can see about talking to Madam McGonagall to schedule your classes if you have passed well enough," she said.

"Thank you, Madam Babbling," they chorused.

Naturally they trooped into supper with their friends, and looked to the staff table; and the professor of ancient runes gave them an austere smile and a quiet nod. And after the meal, in the common room, their House Head sought them out.

"I hear ye wee sumpfs have been branching oot," she said.

"It seemed a shame not to carry on with what Sev's grandfather had taught us," said Lily. "And I like runes, though Tuney doesn't."

"Weel, ye're tae join the third years in their classes," said McGonagall, "and here are your timetables. If yer marks in Trrrransfigurations suffer, I'll aye be pullin' ye frae extracurricular classes."

"Did Madam Babbling say what marks we got?" asked Severus.

McGonagall fixed him with a steely glare.

"She said ye were ahead o' her current class but that ye were no' tae tak' that as a reason tae slack," she said. "Ye both scored 'O' and Miss Evans scored 92% and ye made a pig's ear o' one rune and dropped tae 99%, Mr. Prince."

"I shan't do that again," said Severus seriously. "How embarrassing!"

McGonagall laughed. "Och ye wee perfectionist!" she said.