Chapter 57: Changing Plans
Mr Cohen and several of the teachers were waiting on the dock at the Bayou Academy of Magical Arts when the Knight Boat surfaced and pulled up. Ms Larose had predicted their arrival time quite accurately.
"Welcome back!" Cohen said as he shook hands with each of them. "Angie and Greg are waiting for you in the teachers' lounge. But first we want to tell you the good news: Vic Armstrong and Petal Larose are engaged to be married, and you're all invited to the wedding!"
"Petal?" Severus thought. He'd never heard her first name before.
"Yes, we're so happy!" Ms Larose said. "Mr Slade, please join us in my office for a few minutes when you have a time. We want to thank you for everything you've done for us. Vic and I could never have been sure that our love was true if you hadn't made that Veela-cancelling potion for me."
"I'll stop by as soon as I can," Severus told her, "after I find out what Angie wants."
Fawkes flew off to see if he could find his two young friends. Maybe they would show him more cartoons about the tall thin bird and the luckless coyote. Or maybe the ones about the little yellow bird with the big head and the stupid black and white cat. He liked those, too.
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Severus and the crew arrived in the teachers' lounge to find Angie, Greg, and several of the teachers surrounded by piles of books and scrolls. Greg announced that he had been working for the American Advanced Wizarding Research Agency. "It turns out that I have quite a knack for research," he told them proudly.
Severus frowned and was about to say something nasty when Angie shot him a look that strongly suggested that he should keep his mouth shut.
"I found part of an old scroll in the archives," Greg said, "and it seems to be a recipe for a potion that cures lycanthropy. It's supposed to be a permanent cure, not a temporary fix like our current werewolf potion, so if it works it would be a major advance."
Severus stopped scowling. An ancient potion? A possible cure for lycanthropy? This might be interesting. However, Greg was a proven idiot and the scroll would probably turn out to hold an ancient recipe for cauldron polish.
"The scroll is written in a weird version of ancient Greek," Greg continued, "and there are some strange hieroglyphics and magical symbols scattered throughout it, so it's really hard to translate. We were hoping that Mr Slade could take a look at it and maybe give us some pointers based on his expertise."
Severus didn't want to admit that his curiosity was piqued and he was itching to take a look at the scroll. "Perhaps," he drawled.
Greg unrolled the scroll. "We've worked out some of the text," he said. "There's wolfbane and moonstone, like you'd expect, and we think this squiggly symbol means the Mariphasa plant – the Tibetan wolf flower – but we have no idea what some of these other symbols mean."
"Oooo," Biscuit said, looking over Greg's shoulder, "I love puzzles!"
"Give me that," Severus said. He snatched the scroll from Greg and looked it over. "There are symbols that I don't recognize, but the circular symbol with the jagged gash is an obsolete sign for bloodstone. However, the part of the bottom of the scroll, which would have described how to prepare the mixture, is missing."
"Yeah, that's kind of a problem," Greg admitted.
I must not say anything terrible, Severus reminded himself. I must not do anything terrible. He conjured a copy of the scroll and shoved it at Greg. Then, without a word to anyone, he took the original and marched off to find a quiet place to study it.
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Severus hadn't gone far when he remembered his promise to stop by Ms Larose's office. He found her there with Vic Armstrong, working on their wedding plans. Severus had little interest in weddings, but he had to admit that Vic was a lucky man. Petal Larose was as beautiful as ever, even without her hereditary Veela allure, but Severus suspected that Vic would have loved her no matter what she looked like. He felt a small pang of jealousy in the pit of his stomach, but he ignored it.
Petal moved the wedding plans off to the side and placed her Tarot deck on the table. "I'd like to read the cards for you to show our gratitude," she said. "I'm very skilled with the cards and many people have found my readings helpful."
At one time Severus would have declined her offer by saying something extremely caustic about divination, but these people were his friends so he'd have to try to be diplomatic. Having friends could try one's patience at times.
"Thank you," he said. "I appreciate the offer but I'd rather avoid divination. There was only one prophecy in my past that proved to be accurate and it caused untold harm. Subsequent events might have gone better if no one had known about it." If I'd kept my mouth shut, he thought. And if Dumbledore hadn't heard it and worked so hard to make it come true.
Petal tried to hide her disappointment. "Whatever you'd prefer," she said. "I realize that sometimes it's best not to know what might be coming and just deal with events as they arise. But if you change your mind, or if there's anything else we can do for you, please let us know. We'll be happy to help."
Vic nodded in agreement.
"I appreciate that," Severus told them. He picked up the Tarot deck and spread the cards out on the table. He took a quick look at their colorful pictures and then he pushed them together in a neat stack and excused himself. "I'll see you at dinner," he said.
Petal sighed. "He's probably right," she said after Severus had left. "History is full of tales of prophecies that caused nothing but trouble. Greek mythology abounds with them." Then she looked at the deck. "Two cards are sticking out a bit. Do you think they mean anything, Vic?"
"Which ones are they?" he asked.
She pulled out the first one. It was The Chariot. It showed a figure standing in a chariot that was hitched to a grinning sphinx. "The Chariot can indicate triumph over adversity, vengeance, conflicting influences, or rushing to a decision. It could mean any of those things, or even all of them." She looked at the way the deck was sitting. "I can't tell if it's reversed or not, but it would be pretty bad if the card is reversed."
"How bad?"
"Sudden collapse of a project, disaster snatched from the jaws of victory, defeat, failure, things like that."
Vic looked worried. "And the other card?"
"It's the Page of Cups," she said, pulling it out and looking it over. It showed a figure standing in a garden, looking into a bowl of water that would have reminded Fawkes of his birdbath. "That could be almost anyone. Not somebody as important as a king or a queen, but someone who's important to the subject of the reading. I can't tell anything more than that, I'm afraid. But if it's reversed it could indicate obstacles or deception."
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The owl arrived when Severus was sitting in an empty classroom and examining the scroll. There were several circular punctures near its bottom edge. It looked like something had bitten into it and then ripped away the last part. It didn't take much imagination to realize what that "something" must have been.
The owl dropped the letter and hooted at Severus to get his attention. How do those birds do it? he wondered as he picked up the envelope. How do they know where to go? A British owl had probably taken the letter to a portkey office in the UK, and then an American owl must have picked it up in a US office and brought it to the school. Or perhaps an owl had crossed the ocean by stowing away on a ship. Fawkes would probably know all about it but wouldn't really care. Fawkes took a rather dim view of owls.
The letter was obviously from Rita Skeeter. The envelope said: To Captain Hook, wherever he may be. Severus hesitated for a moment. What could Rita possibly want now? He sighed and opened it. It said:
My dear Captain,
I've come into some very exciting information during my research about Severus Snape, but I'm not sure how to proceed. It seems that Holly Runcible, a girl that Snape probably dated while at Hogwarts, was murdered by the Nameless Assassins, as was her father, after she fled an arranged marriage to the son of Frederick Pilkington. The elder Pilkington was very embarrassed by her flight and he must have commissioned the murders.
This could be a major story but I hesitate to pursue it further because those Assassins are extremely dangerous. I'll never forget our close call with the Assassins at the Masquerade Ball! I hesitate to admit it but I've had nightmares about that incident.
Any advice that you can give me will be greatly appreciated,
Yours always,
Rita
Severus was stunned. Holly had been murdered? That explained why he'd never heard from her again after she finished at Hogwarts! He had tried to send her a letter several times but the owls had always been refused. In fact, the owls had looked very disheveled and were quite grumpy when they came back – one of them had given him a vicious nip when he offered it a treat. But perhaps it wasn't Holly who'd turned them back.
He'd assumed that Holly had become bored with him or had found someone else, but maybe that wasn't the case. If she hadn't been killed, maybe … But there was no point in thinking about what might have been.
He would avenge Holly! He would visit Fred Pilkington, terrify the vicious old fool, and then finish him off!
But then he realized that he couldn't do that sort of thing any more. What would the crew think of him? He could neglect to mention it to them, of course, but he was done with lying, at least to them. And what would Fawkes think of him? The phoenix would know and would leave him. No, he'd have to find a different, if less satisfying, way to make Pilkington pay for his crime.
He thought quietly for a few minutes. Then he conjured a quill and paper and, disguising his handwriting with a spell, he wrote:
Dear Rita,
Please do not endanger yourself! Those people are indeed extremely dangerous. Please leave this matter with me and, acting through intermediaries, I will see to it that justice is done. And, of course, I will make sure that you get exclusive rights to the story.
Please be patient. I will have more information for you soon.
How should he sign it, he wondered. How personal should he make it? Then he decided on the following:
Your good friend,
Captain Hook
The owl was still waiting and looking at him expectantly. "Somebody find me some owl treats!" he shouted.
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Perhaps as the Tarot had predicted, Severus was rushing to a decision.
"An important matter has come up and I'm afraid that I must leave you and attend to it," Severus announced to the group in the teachers' lounge. "Please carry on with your work on the scroll. I will take a portkey from New Orleans and return when I can."
"Wait a minute!" Captain Clark said. "You can't just go flying off on some mysterious mission without us. As your Captain, I forbid it. We will take you wherever you need to go, and we will stand by to help you as needed. The werewolf potion will have to wait. It's been waiting since ancient times anyway."
"I think we were making pretty good progress toward decoding it," Biscuit said sadly.
"Don't worry," Angie told him. "Greg and I can come with you on the boat and then we can all continue to work together."
"Yes!" said Greg.
"No! said Severus.
"Sure," said the Captain. "We can make room for the two of you. Pack up all those scrolls and books and stuff and let's get going."
Severus gave the Captain a scowl that would have cracked a cauldron.
Captain Clark just smiled.