Team: Pride of Portree
Position: [Chaser 2] Satellites - These man-made objects have helped mankind understand our own Earth. They also connect an otherwise remote world to the internet as well as record weather patterns and several other things. — Write about a character who possesses many talents.
Prompts: [Colour] – midnight blue
[Dialogue] – "Do you wonder if it would be easier to live somewhere where you do not matter?" Main prompt: [Object] – Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night Painting.
Wordcount: 2090

Underneath the Cypress Trees

'Do you wonder if it would be easier to live somewhere where you do not matter?'

'Sev, what an odd thing to say.' Lily looked up at her friend in wonder. They were visiting an art gallery with her parents, like they had done so many times over the years since they had met by the riverbank. As she looked, Severus did not look back. Instead, he was staring intently at the painting on the wall.

'I think magic is involved in these paintings,' he said.

'That is one way to twist the conversation,' Lily responded.

A faint hint of a smile etched onto Severus's lips. 'One of my many talents, I'm afraid.'

'This is boring,' Petunia whined from behind them, and looked up at her parents with pleading eyes. 'Can we just leave, please?'

Whatever arguments Mr and Mrs Evans were using against Petunia's pleas to leave, Severus and Lily had already turned their attention away from it. 'There's a twinkle in the stars, you see?'

Lily shook her head. 'It looks just like any other Muggle painting to me, Sev.'

Severus grabbed her by the hand and pulled her in front of the painting. Vincent van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" was famous for a number of reasons. Reasons that were known to the Muggle world, at least. The unique style, the use of rare colours such as Indian Yellow and Cobalt Blue, and of course its fascinating history. But wizards often knew better than that.

'You are right, Sev,' said Lily. She started smiling from ear to ear. 'There is a twinkle in the stars. Do you think Van Gogh could've been a wizard?'

'Considering his troubled history, more likely a wizard-born Muggle,' Severus explained. 'I think there's a lot more to this painting than meets the eye, though. Are we alone?'

'I think mum and dad dragged Tuney off somewhere,' said Lily as her eyes wandered around the gallery. 'Sev, what are you – no, you really shouldn't touch . . . oh.'

There was a glimmer in Severus's eyes that Lily had rarely seen. His fingers had passed straight through the canvas and had turned into a dark shade of blue. 'I think we can step inside the painting, Lily,' he mumbled under his breath. 'If we do, we must hurry.'

Lily did not need to be told twice. Her inner Gryffindor lion roared in her chest with excitement. 'Alright then. Toss me in!' She latched on to the edge of the frame as Severus took a hold of her legs. With a swift motion she rolled inside the frame and landed softly on her back, facing the night sky shimmering with countless stars she had never seen before.

'Lily, I could use some help here!'

Lily rolled over and looked up at the frame, which appeared to be frozen in mid-air. Severus was struggling to climb through it. 'I can see the curator coming this way!'

Quickly she grabbed both of his hands and pulled as hard as she could, which caused Severus to nearly fly through the frame and land with a loud thud on the ground.

'Subtle,' he said stiffly as he spat out bits of wheat.

'Sorry,' said Lily as she helped him get up on his feet. 'But look at where we are!'

The space around them was much vaster than expected. The moon and stars illuminated their surroundings. Stepping away out of sight from the frame, which showed the corridor in which the painting was hanging, they looked over at the town that was painted in the distance.

'Saint-Rémy-de-Provence,' said Lily, 'along with the cypress trees. It looks like the trees are dancing, painted as they are.'

'And Saint-Paul de Mausole,' said Severus, who was looking in the opposite direction. 'That's the asylum Van Gogh stayed at when he painted this masterpiece. Do you think we could make our way over there?'

'Won't know unless we try,' said Lily, looking determined. 'Let's go!' She grabbed Severus by the hand and dragged him towards the asylum, rushing through the wheat field, her red hair bouncing around her like a painted flame.

The monastery was beautiful in its own right. Its round arches reminded them of the corridors at Hogwarts. Surrounded by fields of lavender, they found the entrance to the inner courtyard, which was adorned by a large collection of flowers illuminated by the moonlight. 'Hello!' Lily called out to the dark. 'Is anyone here?'

'I'm fairly certain we're alone, Lily,' said Severus. 'I doubt –'

'—who's are you?' A strange voice called out from above. From the floor above them, the face of an all-too familiar man was peaking through the window.

'Is that you mister Van Gogh?' Lily asked, barely unable to contain her excitement.

'I'll ask again, who are you?'

'Perhaps he's scared,' Severus mumbled under his breath.

'You're probably right,' said Lily. 'Mr Van Gogh. My name is Lily Evans and my friend here is Severus Snape. We are students at Hogwarts. That's a school for wizards in Scotland.'

It took a moment for Van Gogh to respond, as though he was contemplating whether or not he could trust them. 'Most of the people I know went to Beauxbatons, but I never did.'

'How would you feel if we came up to come and visit you, Sir?' Lily asked.

'No,' Van Gogh replied rather bluntly. 'I'd rather you didn't. I'll come down.'

Severus and Lily looked at each other and shrugged. 'Are you positive this is a good idea, Lily?'

'Only one way to find out, Sev.'

It took a minute or two, but finally the entrance door opened with a creak. Through the crack of the opening peeked a pair of pale blue eyes staring back at them. 'It's been a long time,' said Van Gogh.

'What's been a long time, Sir?' asked Lily as kindly as she could.

'That someone had come and visited me in my painting, of course,' he responded. 'No, I don't remember how long it's been. I don't remember.' His eyes were shifting uncomfortably between Lily and Severus. Lily took notice and shoved an elbow into Severus's ribs. 'Say something,' she hissed.

'Uhm. . . sure. Is there anything we can do for you, Sir?'

'Midnight blue,' said Van Gogh.

Severus's eyebrows drewinto a sceptical frown. 'What about it?'

'I've been trying to recreate it, but I can't.' The disappointment dripped from his lips as he said it. 'I can't do it. I just can't.'

'Perhaps we can help you,' said Lily. 'If you'll show us.'

An awkward silence ensued. A red rim had formed around Van Gogh's pale blue eyes, as if he somehow couldn't believe that two complete strangers were willing to help him out on his strange quest. The door he was peering through creaked open a bit more, revealing the rest of his silhouette. 'Follow me,' he said, and without warning he strutted straight past them and out of the asylum.

Severus and Lily followed him closely at the heel. Van Gogh did not stop until he had reached the cypress trees by the painting's frame and stopped abruptly. From behind his remaining ear he took a paintbrush and painted an easel and a blank canvas out of thin air.

'This is beautiful magic, Mr Van Gogh,' said Lily as she looked at the canvas in awe.

'I don't know about that,' said Van Gogh while shaking his head. 'As a child I was rather jealous of my friends and family who all received wands. I am a Wizard-born Muggle, you see. Or a Squib as they sometimes call it. I used to steal paintbrushes and pretend they were wands. Painting was the closest thing to magic I was able to achieve, so that is what I did. I'd paint and I'd paint and I'd paint. Would you like to try, Miss Evans?' He held up the paintbrush for her to take. 'All you need to do is imagine.'

'I'd love to!' She said with delight in her voice and took the brush from Van Gogh's hand. As Lily went to work on the canvas, Van Gogh turned to Severus. 'Will you come sit with me underneath the trees?'

'Do I have a choice in the matter?'

'Because you seem to have a lot of questions you're not saying out loud.'

Taken aback by the truthful words, Severus nodded in agreement. Stepping away out of Lily's earshot, who had figured out how to paint sunflowers rather than discover the shade of midnight blue, they sat down underneath the cypress trees. 'Just ask,' said Van Gogh, more as a statement than a question.

'Are you really Vincent van Gogh?'

'I am merely an imprint,' he said. 'My body is long gone.'

'Do you know who you are to the people of the living world?'

'I prefer to stay away from the entrance frames. 'But I catch whispers from time to time. People seem to know my name.'

'You are considered to be the most celebrated and talented artist of his time.'

That seemed to silence Van Gogh, as he turned his gaze towards the stars in the sky. 'Do you wonder if it would be easier to live somewhere where you do not matter,' he said eventually. 'I recognised your voice. What made you say it?'

Severus didn't respond right away. Instead, he turned his gaze towards Lily, who had resorted to painting a large number of different shades of blue over the yellow sunflowers. 'I've made some terrible choices over the years,' he said, surprised by how painful it sounded to himself. 'I meant it quite literally. I wish to be in a place sometimes where none of it matters.'

'And would you like to be in that place with her?'

'If only that were possible.'

'I live in a place where I do not matter, Mr Snape. It does not bring me peace,' said Van Gogh, and turned the conversation. 'You speak of my talent, but what are your talents, Mr Snape?'

Severus shrugged. 'I'm rather good at brewing Potions. And I'm book-smart, as they say. And disciplined. According to Lily I'm also rather good at hiding my feelings.'

'What a horrible talent to have,' said Van Gogh matter-of-factly. 'But what about honesty. And being helpful. And the ability to love. You love her deeply, don't you?'

'More than anything.'

'I can tell. It may be your greatest talent yet.'

'Thank you, I –' but before Severus was able to finish his sentence, Lily started squealing in delight. 'I think it got it!' She called out to them. 'Come and take a look!'

Van Gogh and Severus sprinted their way up towards the canvas. Lily had painted layers and layers of different shades of blue, varying between forget-me-not light to royal dark. 'I think this is it,' she said while pointing at a particularly dark smudge on the canvas.

'I think perhaps you're right,' said Van Gogh, whose pale eyes lit up in delight. 'Paint it into the sky for me, will you?'

Lily did as she was told. She pointed the paintbrush up into the sky, adding dark dashes of the blue around the moon and stars.

'It is exactly what I was looking for,' said Van Gogh, and unapologetically had tears streaming down his face. 'Thank you.'

'Thank you too, Mr Van Gogh,' said Lily as she handed the paintbrush back to him. 'How do you feel?'

'Peaceful,' said Van Gogh.

'I think it's time for us to leave, Severus. Mum and dad must be wondering where we are by now.'

Severus took Lily by the hand and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. 'You always know how to make things more beautiful. You're right. It's time for us to go.'

They shared their goodbyes with Van Gogh by the frame and watched him return to the asylum with the easel under his arms. 'I think I learnt something today,' said Lily.

'And what is that?' Asked Severus as he took a hold of her to help her down the frame.

'That most of our magic lives within our inner world. It is how we create, like Mr Van Gogh created all those paintings of his. I think it is the most beautiful kind of magic.'

Severus didn't know how to respond, so he just smiled at her. 'Let's get out of here, shall we? Your arms are still covered in midnight blue. Better get that off before your sister starts asking questions.'