Chapter 19: In Which We Learn A Little Wandless Magic

A small tawny owl landed next to Snape while he had breakfast in his garden. It was early Tuesday morning, and he was just beginning to organize his mind around what he wanted to do today. His task was to get oak leaf oil into a form where it could be added to Murtlap Essence without exploding and then see how the resultant combination changed the time retarding properties of his base potion.

The little owl butted her head against his arm; he detached her scroll and offered her a strawberry.

Severus,

My wandless magic class will be starting their last topic tomorrow. If you would like to see how to create fire out of nothing, please be out on the Quiddich Pitch tomorrow morning at eight.

Hermione

P.S. If you'd like to stick around for a bit of morning tea afterward, I'd be happy for the company.

He sent back a quick letter, and then promptly forgot all about it until ten hours later when he sat down to eat ravenously before collapsing into an exhausted sleep. Time delay potions danced in his head.

The next morning he debated about what to wear. He still owned his professorial robes, but he was no longer a professor. He could have put on his Headmaster's robes as well, but that was just asking to be hexed. Probably by McGonagall, but some of the more skittish seventh years might cast before their brains got the better of them. He had to have some sort of robes. Slacks and a jumper would be too downscale for the Hogwarts' dress code. Finally, he grabbed his plain, black work robes. If he kept them unfastened, his slacks and jumper would be visible, and hopefully that would look different enough so as not to automatically trigger memories of the Greasy Git.

He was almost out the door when he realized Lily hadn't been there to help with his clothes.

I'm still here. But you'll need me less and less as time goes by. Her voice echoed in his head.

"Don't leave me yet," he said as he walked out the door.

No, not yet.

He apparated to the gates of Hogwarts. They opened for him. They recognized a former professor and headmaster and had no misgiving about allowing him to enter. If only the rest of today will be so easy. Seven years ago, he jumped out of a window in the castle, and at that point he had no intention of ever returning. Strange that once again he'd be here.

And now he was walking through the grounds, around the castle, to the Quiddich Pitch. It was a lovely day to be outside. Cool, bright, and splendid. He almost wished he had brought a broom. It would be a great day to get into the air.

As he strode to the pitch, he saw that Hermione was already there. His pace increased. She saw him and waved in greeting. He waved back.

"How does it feel to be back?" she asked him when he finally reached her.

"Strange. I never expected to set foot here again. So, when do the little buggers get here?"

She glanced at the sun, "A moment or two I would think. They usually arrive in one big group. They're very eager students. This is almost an extra-curricular club. They get no grades and no credit. There's no N.E.W.T. to take next week. It's all for the love of magic." Her gaze shifted from him to the far side of the pitch. "Ahhh… Here they come."

A knot of seven students walked toward Hermione. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw her companion.

"Mr Snape will be joining us for class today. He too has an interest in wandless magic."

Severus heard the whispered, "He's got an interest in the professor," but decided to let it pass.

"Gather 'round, all of you." The seven students made a semi-circle around Hermione. Snape stood a few paces behind them and far enough to the left to have a clear line of view. "Now, we're going to begin our last section of this class. Fire!" And with that a small ball of fire erupted five inches above Hermione's hand. One of her students reached a hand forward. "No Dillon, don't try to touch it; this is real fire, and it will burn you.

"As you all know, wandless magic is all about imagination and will. We've created light in this class, and we've created heat, now it's time to put these together with motion to create fire. I've set up little wads of cotton wool about the pitch, since I'm sure some of you will find this easier to do with a physical fuel source to start."

Dean raised his hand, "Won't the oxygen in the air work as a fuel source?"

"Yes Dean, it does. For those of you who had some Muggle schooling, it may be easier to work the spell by drawing together a ball of oxygen and hydrogen, and then igniting that. The tricky bit on that version of the spell is keeping the flame going. For the rest of you, work on seeing, feeling, and hearing the fire burn.

"Now, watch carefully as I do the spell. I learned enough Muggle science that I use the oxygen-hydrogen method. Watch how I use the magic." Hermione's eyes closed as she concentrated. "I'm using the basic teleportation we began with to move the oxygen into a ball over my hand."

Snape could not see the gases that Hermione spoke of, but he could sense the magic swirling around and forming into a ball.

Hermione continued, "When I have a good flow of fuel for the fire, and have my shields set to keep it in the form I want, I add the spark." The ball lit into flame. "I can leave it hovering there or toss it about using the teleportation spells we did earlier." She sent the ball flying toward one of the Quiddich hoops, where it made a perfect goal before burning out.

"Ten points to the house of any other student who can get a goal."

Snape watched her walk among the students as they worked on creating their balls of fire. He wished he had been to an earlier class. He could feel the magic well enough to have an idea of what they were doing, but not how. The feel of the magic was familiar, but he could not place the last time he had felt something like it.

He saw the first student light her fireball. She squealed with glee and sent it flying through the goal post. "Ten points to Ravenclaw. Good work, Amber!" Her students looked like they were having fun. Two were giggling as they worked the spell, not surprisingly they did not produce any balls of flame. Hermione walked by them. "More of your mind on the fire, please." They quieted and began to focus on the space above their hands.

One of the boys was concentrating so hard he looked ready to burst a blood vessel. Hermione went to him, "Relax, Allan. Making your blood boil will not make the air ignite. Here, put your hand on mine and feel what I do." Snape was stunned; she was allowing a student to touch her. Allan had his hand on hers, his eyes closed, and it did look like he was trying to feel what she was doing with the magic. Or maybe he was just enjoying his hand on her. Either way he calmed down, and lit his own fireball a few moments later.

By the end of the hour four of the seven had successfully set fire to the air. "Remember, keep practicing. I'll see you on Friday. We'll spend some more time on lighting the fires; then we'll work on shaping them."

She walked over to him. "What did you think?"

"Very impressive. Your students look like they really enjoy this class."

"Teenagers and fire, it's a natural combination. Most of them were not nearly as happy when we started out back in September and we began working on feeling the magic, and the theory behind how the will can shape the world."

"Will you show me how to do it? During the summer holidays?"

"You'll allow me to teach you?" Hermione looked taken aback at the reversal of roles.

"I can't promise I won't get frustrated and snarky on occasion, but I will try my best to make it a pleasant experience for both of us." As they walked off the pitch he followed her lead.

"So, are you up for a bit of tea? I have another class at 9:15, but if you'd like to wait, I'll be free again by 10:00."

"I have time. Where is your office? It's such a nice day, I was thinking of just walking about the grounds a bit."