Chapter 2- Talks with the white rabbit that wears the cat's grin

In hindsight, this was rather obvious.

Severus stood beside Albus and Minerva as they stared, mouth agape at the being before them, yet strangely the only thing Severus could think was how so many of his previous questions had been answered. How did this master know of the spiritual arts? How could he reign in such a hotspot of spiritual activity? How could anyone possible guard another's mind? All so simply answered now that he wondered how he had missed it, but then again, who would actually believe themselves the focus of a god. He had read the tales, heard the legends of the great time master of the Nevernear, who wove the … wait the Nevernear?! Severus's eyes widened further, he remembered what Mr. Lancer had called this place, the clock watcher's tower, but that would mean that they were …

"In the Nevernear, why yes Professor Snape, you are indeed."

The time master's smirk grew as his two companions snapped their heads to him and back to the spirit in surprise as Severus schooled his features, and started to mentally panic. How had the being enter his mind?! He had no doubt that time's warden could easily breach his defenses, but even then he would have still sensed the intrusion. But no, Severus realized, the spirit didn't enter his mind, he just simply knew. He wasn't one fooled by Albus's act, the old man may appear omniscient but he knew the subtle gestures and careful machination that made his ruse. But this, this was no act, this was true omniscient, this was a being who knew everything from his birth to his death and it left Severus feeling the one thing he could not stand, vulnerable. There was so much of him that could be undone by the being before them, so many lies, so many fronts, so much that made his character that on the spirits whim could be destroyed. Severus gave an almost unnoticed wince as he remembered bad mouthing the time master multiple times both in his head and out loud over the course of this trip. The creature's smirk grew into a full grown grin as he looked straight at Severus before shaking his head and chuckling. It reminded the potions master of times spent in the office of the man next to him after a confrontation with James Potter and his ilk; it was both familiar and unnerving. Finally Albus seemed to gather enough of his wits to speak; he walked a few steps and with a look of calm trepidation said,

"I suppose asking how would be pointless, but I must ask…" Albus left a pause clearly on purpose, as if testing time's warden.

"Why?" The spirit finished, with a soft, ancient voice and an otherworldly echo, "I suppose that's fair."

The spirit sat up in his seat and grabbed the odd staff floating to his side and gave a quick tap on the floor. The moat of fel energy started to glow brighter as the green pools of the cogs lining the side of the platform started to shift and twirl, each showing an image of bizarre creatures. They were tall and inhumanly thin, draped in log white robes with no legs discernible beneath them. They had large black cloaks and were covered in green glowing skin, with long green claw like hands, each having one large eye in the center of their faces.

"For millennia, since the fall of the tyrant Pariah Dark, the Nevernear has been governed by an enigmatic and vigilant group of ghosts known as the council of Observants." The image changed again, with various scenes involving the strange spirits, some regulating trade between spirits; others were issuing decrees to a large collection of other spirits and some images of an entire group of the strange, single eyed beings deliberating the nuances of law.

"They filled the gap of political power after Pariah's fall and despite a few personal biases'…"

"Or a few blatant miss uses of power and authority."

A small grumped mumble came from Severus's side as he turned his head and remembered the two Fenton children were still in the room. The elder sister gave the boy a swat on his head for his rude interruption, but Severus noticed the gesture was half-hearted at best as even the time master seemed to make no motion to correct his young pupil's outburst. Apparently the authority of this otherworldly governance was not well respected, Severus noted as the time master continued,

"… They have been effective, at least, in terms of local affairs." The spirit taped his staff again as the pools of green started to swirl again. "But unfortunately, they don't have much power in regards to foreign problems."

The pools held new images, ones of wizards binding spirits to their will, of destroying and harvesting them ectoplasm and of others forcing spirits into dark rituals. The images were gruesome, never truly showing any gore details, but the implications were clear. The pools swirled again; dispelling the horrid imagery as the eldritch voice of the time master spoke,

"The council had to have some way of regulating our interaction with the mortal plane, but they themselves had little power outside of their sphere of control to lend to such a task." The spirit again taped his staff and said "so the council turned to me."

The pools all settled on the scene of a large council chamber filled with the one-eyed spirits. In the center were the time master and three cloaked figures, each carrying a staff and each bowing before the council. Time's warden spoke again,

"I trained a few choice wizards and witches and founded the Coven of Cronos, teaching them spells and techniques to effectively deal with renegade spirits and spirit binders." The scenes shifted, some of cloaked wizards banishing spirits, of wizards researching and testing their craft in the same stations on the ground floor below, and of cloaked wizards capturing and obliviating struggling spirit binders. The images swirled into green again as the spirit spoke, "for countless ages, I have guided the Coven as they maintained balance between the realms, some remained at my side, moving from location to location as deemed necessary, while others took my lessons and set up shop in set locations, handing down their knowledge to the next generation." He eyed the Fenton children for a second before turning to Albus and speaking again "which I suppose brings us to the here and now."

Albus nodded his head before turning it to eye the children himself and said "Seeing as it is fruitless to ask your master this, I will ask how much either of you know of the reason of our visit."

The two children shared a quick glance before the sister spoke, "We've heard the stories, the Covens don't exactly have structured news system but it's impossible to have missed this." Severus gave a small nod of understanding, after all the horror the dark lord incurred, it would be rather hard not to at least hear of his possible resurrection. The sister paused, turning to her brother who looked at the time master, who in turned nodded to the boy as he nodded to his sister. She turned and continued "but before the stories even hit, we had a major clue that something was going on."

Severus eyebrows rose ever so slightly in intrigue as he shared confused looks with his companions before turning again to the children as the younger brother spoke up "not too long ago, I sensed a dark presence emerge somewhere in the UK." The boy turned his head to each one of them before frowning in focus "it was faint, clearly shielded from detection, but I could still sense enough to feel chills. It felt disturbing and retched, like an open grave." That certainly sounded like the dark lord, and the time frame was correct, Severus nodded his head again as he saw his headmasters face contort into determined intrigue.

"So you could sense his return then, do you still feel his presence?" Albus inquired but unfortunately, the boy shook his head and said "no, shortly after I felt its aura, the presence disappeared, I've tried actively sensing the area, but it's not exactly easy to do so with an entire nation." The boy gave an annoyed huff and Severus gave a silent sigh, he couldn't help but slightly sympathize with the boy. Despite entering the dark lord's ranks as a spy, Severus still had no clue as to his true location. Whenever he met with the dark lord, it was always in preapproved locations and never in the same place twice. The one location he knew Voldemort spent any great amount of time was in the Malfoy manor, and even then he didn't know for how long at a time. Severus was about to speak up, asking if the boy had some clue as to the general vicinity, but the boy cut him short,

"But not pinpointing the aura wasn't the worst part." The boy lowered his head ever so slightly as a look of focused caution flashed across his face and Severus could swear he saw a soft blue glow emanating behind the boy's blindfold as he said "along with darker magic, I sensed a buildup of ectoplasmic energy mingled within."

Once again, Severus's eyebrows shot up in shock, he heard Minerva gasp as he turned his head looked at his headmaster as Albus's eyes widened before his eyes hardened and a concerned frown set in place. That was certainly news to him, nothing in his interactions with the dark lord even hinted of such a development. But then again, he wasn't exactly with the dark lord for any extended period of time. It seems Voldemort had become wary of Severus since his return into the dark lords ranks, understandable considering his closeness with Albus. But still, the implications of the dark lord developing some form of spiritual energy… He took a step closer to the boy and asked,

"This energy you sensed, did it originate from this dark presence? Perhaps it flared into being from a separate source."

Severus took a silent breath; it could be that the dark lord summoned and bound a spirit soon after Potter's escape, it was unlikely but a better alternative then what they feared. But the boy shattered their hope for an alternative solution,

"No, they were both defiantly coming from the same source, whatever ritual this Voldemort guy used to revive himself; it had to have had both magical and spiritual sources."

Severus steeled himself; if he was being honest it was sensible, at least when considering whom they were dealing with. While others would be aghast at altering themselves in such a way, the dark lord only saw power and a means to obtain it. It didn't matter if it left him in a less human form, so long as he could gain triumph, the dark lord would do anything; offer even his humanity to obtain it. He gave another silent sigh, things were spiraling out of his expectations and Severus found himself more and more out of his depth. Still, he could ground himself in a little satisfaction knowing the one of the day's biggest mysteries was solved. Given what the time master had said, it was clear as to the coven's motive now, to fulfill their ancient charge. And while the news of the dark lord's dabbling in the spiritual arts was certainly distressing, the fact that masters of said art were lending their aid was more than a little comforting.

"As you see," the deep and ancient echo of the time spirit spoke up and drew the attention of the room,

"We have a common enemy, but one I'm afraid we cannot reach alone," The ancient being rose from his chair and slowly walked around his desk,

"The political situation in Britain is one far too unstable for an open operation, I'm afraid even my influence cannot excuse what could be misunderstood as an act of war,"

The time master smirked as he reached the front of his desk, "but this is not the first time we've meet with such restrictions," the spirit grabbed a few sections of parchment from the top of dark wood and walked down the steps of the central device to the group as he spoke.

"While we can't openly support your order, we can take advantage of a few loop holes."

The spirit stopped before Albus and presented the documents; his headmaster raised an intrigued eyebrow and took the papers, giving them a quick read. His eyebrows shot up and said,

"Student transfers?"

All heads turned to the young Fenton siblings, whose expression ranged from mild annoyance from the boy and ecstatic shock from girl. The boy gave a soft, mocking groan and said

"Great, we're never going to hear the end of this, are we Jazz?"

That apparently knocked the girl from her excitement as she turned to give her brother a glare before once again giving him a half-hearted smack to the head. Severus looked at the boy intrigued and said,

"You don't seem all to surprise about this revelation Mr. Fenton."

The boy merely shrugged and said in a dry sarcastic tone

"When I heard that the group we'd be talking to would be led by a school's headmaster I figured this would happen, for being an ancient enigmatic spirit of time, master clockwork has a habit of putting people out of their comfort zone for his own amusement."

The spirit in question didn't even look at the boy as he raised his now free hand and with a simple twirl of his fingers levitated the boy, spun him upside-down and dropped him on the floor below. The boy gave a surprised "oomph" as the spirit spoke up with a noticeable smirk on both his face and in his voice,

"I assure you, that despite Mr. Fenton's youth and dry wit, he is one of the most highly trained and capable combat operatives in the coven, having participated in numerous operations around the globe and has traversed much of the Nevernear itself."

The boy had risen from the floor, rolled his eyes (or at least it looked like he did, Severus couldn't be sure with the blindfold in the way) and gave a small, polite bow at his master's words. The spirit turned to the boy,

"while he still has much still to learn, I can promise you that he has more than enough training to handle the task, as do the others."

Albus once again looked at the papers in hand, shuffling through them and giving them a quick read as the time master continued,

"Along with young Danny here, I have written transfer requests for a Miss Samantha Manson, another young prodigy from our combat division, the one you heard from Jazmine on the way here."

Severus hummed in contemplation, in truth the fact that their needed ally seemed to be giving them children for the task was a little aggravating. But he supposed that if the children were as developed in spiritual arts as their master suggested, he couldn't really complain.

"Along with these two is the request for a mister Tucker Foley whom you might know as having a hand in upgrading the Fenton wondrous technology."

The children looked at each other confused, but simply shrugged, apparently use to their master referencing conversations that no one but himself could know about.

"And, as for Miss Fenton here…"

The spirit gave a small wave of his hand to Albus, undoubtedly aware of what section of documents he was about to read. Once again Albus gave a quick scan of the parchment before his eyes widened in confused surprise,

"Hmm, this certainly is … unorthodox," Albus said lifting his head from the parchment as the time master responded,

"True, but not against the rules, certainly a first, but I believe it is a marvelous solution." The time master gave a small grin as Albus beamed,

"Yes! You're quite right, from what I have gathered she certainly has the qualifications, and the precedent this would set is far too beneficial!"

Severus quirked an eyebrow before he moved closer to Albus, it was time to break up this hidden little dissection.

"If I may ask headmaster, but is this marvelous solution?" he said in as dry and flat a tone as his natural sarcastic nature could produce (Severus swore he saw a nod of respect from the young Fenton boy, but it was irrelevant). Albus turned to him and Minerva with a large grin and the ever frustrating twinkle in his eye. Severus had many things that he found personally disastrous, but the blasted twinkle in his headmaster's eyes counted among the worst. It meant crazed old wizard had an "unconventional" idea pop into his head, and given the size of the smile on that old wrinkled face, it was one that would turn many a head. Albus turned to the children and walked a few feet from the elder sister. He cleared his throat and said,

"Miss Jazmine, while it would be an honor for you to attend Hogwarts as one of its students, I'm afraid that would be quite impossible."

The girls face fell into a disappointed frown, she tried to put on a strong face, but the way her eyes glistened it seemed she would be soon asking to politely leave the room. But despite this, Albus kept that insufferable grin as he spoke again as he held up a few pages from the stack of parchment,

"Yes, based on this transcript here you have far exceeded our academic expectations, so enrolling you would be a fruitless endeavor for you I'm afraid."

The girl dropped her frown as she gave the headmaster a look of confusion, as did everyone in the room besides the aggravatingly all-knowing spirit, who simply gave small smirk.

"So, after evaluating your records Miss Fenton, I would like to offer you a position as assistant professor of transfigurations at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry."

Severus nearly dropped his chin, but reined it in. Albus and the time spirit were right, it certainly was a first, but he couldn't really find a reason to argue against such an appointment. From what little he had herd of Muggle education indicated that a similar system was used for many gifted students, and while he would never admit this aloud, the girl did seem qualified for the job. Severus turned to the children, and again nearly lost control of his cool temperament, but this time from amusement rather than shock. The boy had slapped his forehead and groaned in a way very reminiscent to his younger sister, while the girl had clasped her hands to her face as a startled gasp escaped. But that didn't last long before she dropped her clasped hands held a face of such exuberant joy that it made the ever present grin of the children's father look depressing by comparison. She looked ready to launch into a thousand questions before Albus held up his hand and spoke with obvious amusement,

"Now before this offer becomes official, I would like to ask my transfigurations instructor if she approves, after all, it would be she you would work under."

The group turned to Minerva, The young woman looked at the older cat animagus looking both shy and hopeful. Minerva donned her usual air of professionalism and said,

"Well, this is certainly unprecedented, why I've never herd of Hogwarts ever offering such a position such as this before."

She paused for just a second before smirking just a touch,

"But Miss Fenton certainly seems more than qualified."

Her smirk gave way into a small smile and said,

"I would be delighted to work with you my dear." The Eldest Fenton child beamed as the younger gave a soft sigh and a small smile of his own.

"Yep, defiantly never hearing the end of this." Albus gave a quick chuckle before addressing the girl again,

"Yes well, before all of this, we do need to speak with your parents, if they allow it, you more than welcomed to position."

"Oh, that won't be much of a problem." The ancient echo of the time master spoke up as all heads turned to the spirit.

"While the assignment will officially be manned by Daniel and Samantha, the doctors Fenton will be more than willing to hop across the pound to aid the order, so long as or good headmaster has no objections."

The spirit smirked at Albus who in turn gave a small amused chuckle, carefully folding the stack of parchment and placing them into his robes as he spoke "None what so ever, they would be a welcome addition to the order."

Severus's already present frown drooped lower as he found himself tempted to mirror the boy. These two where becoming insufferable, being far too much like potter and his little troublemaking gang when they were about to do something horrible foolish. He was tempted to break the little party of conspiracy again if he hadn't noticed the tension in the headmaster's hands. Normally, when he felt safe, Albus had a tendency to let his hands wander. Whither shuffling through his paperwork or petting his phoenix or just gripping a nearby handrail, he always seemed to calm himself with something to do with his hands. But when he felt guarded, He would simple clasp them, just as he was now. Over all his demeanor wouldn't change, a still ever present smile and warm Countenance so well placed that not even Severus well trained eye could spot the difference, But all action outside a few steps would cease. He would do as he did now, keep his hands clasped, his feet firmly planted and even while keeping a warm front, would barely even blink. It was a masterfully crafted stance; both open a friendly while being ready for any provocation, an ever present reminder of just how dangerous a man lay under that foolish exterior. But Severus noted a bit more tension in those clasped hands; something about the spirit still unnerved Albus. Severus could understand, this was an ancient being of near limitless ability, who wouldn't remain on guard? But he could tell there was something more, something that Albus couldn't reconcile. He turned his head around the room to gauge if any others picked up on the underlining tension. Minerva, if aware, did as he and made no outside acknowledgement, but Severus knew her sharp eyes wouldn't miss such a development. And if the Eldest Fenton girl held any kind of suspicion, it was dashed by her new appointment as she wore an ever present grin. But the boy, while seemingly still exasperated by his sister enthusiasm was different. To the untrained, the boy seemed to simply just standing there, but Severus could see he was still on guard himself. He held a firm grasp on his staff, ready to use it at any time, while his feet always stayed at shoulder width apart, and his attention always shifting between the three as his head moved only the slightest amount to focus on them. It was decently hidden, but anyone with a keen eye wouldn't miss the signs, but then again they were in the office of a time god, perhaps the boy didn't see the necessity of subtly.

"Speaking of which: Jasmine, Danielle." The spirit turned to the two Fenton's and with a small smile,

"Would you be so kind as to collect Danielle, as well as Miss Manson and Mister Foley? You will find them in the training hall." The spirit tilled his head just enough so that Severus could see the smile turn back into a smirk "just bring them outside the office door, we will be along shortly, after I finish answer a couple of professor Dumbledore's questions."

The boy gave a small quirk of his brow, but gave a small bow to his master as Ms. Fenton gave a smaller respectful nod before both children walked across the platform, across the walkway and to the steps that descended into the sea of cogs. As they descended the stairs, the boy turned to the group and once again a soft blue glow seemed to shine through the black cloth over his eyes before the head disappeared from their sight. Severus turned to his headmaster, who before held his usual soft a gentle smile of disarmament now wore a serious of focused frown as he faced time's warden. His expression was not openly hostile, but certainly grimmer then he'd ever seen the old man wear outside the confidence of his council. It was an odd thing to Severus that he should see Albus with probably the most genuine look he'd ever given to another, but then again, the time master had proven that such hidden front were pointless before him.

The sound of a door closing signaled the children's departure, well and truly out of earshot as Albus simply stared at the spirit who in turn never dropped his smirk, neither making a sound. For several seconds the two simply stared, as Severus stood, still ever present frown in place, with only the tiniest for beads of sweat appearing invisibly on his brow in anticipation. It was clear that Albus had unfinished business with spirit, but he seemed reluctant to openly question, already pointing out the redundancy of asking an omniscient being. But the spirit himself seemed content to wait for the question to come, apparently trying to coax Albus into ask his question anyway, as if accepting the sign of weakness. The spirit chuckled gave Severus a brief look as his smirk widened and a chill again ran down his back. Before, much of the conversation was focused on the children and their placement in the sorted affair, So Severus did as he always did, sequestered himself in his own mind as he keenly watched the situation unfold. But now with the children gone, he was left thrust back into focus, which wouldn't be such a problem if not for their present host. Severus gave an inaudible gulp of air as he clasped his hands behind his back and again felt so very vulnerable. After a few more seconds, Albus finally gave a soft sigh and said,

"I haven't felt like this in the longest time, not since facing the other side of my desk after throwing that "essence of vibrant color" elixir into my charms instructor's hair my fourth term."

Albus gave small chuckle at the memory as Severus could help but level the most deadpan stare at his headmaster, wondering how Albus could have ever made head boy. The spirit gave a similar chuckle before speaking himself,

"Yes, the good Professor Hudglepin never could take a good joke." Time's warden chuckled again as he rose again up the steps of the platform's central device. He stopped a few steps from the middle and turned to the group.

"But you Albus always did remember your lessons, one if recall was 'the only way you'll gain the answer to your question, is to ask it in the first place.'"

Albus's face again drew into a grim frown; he stared up the spirit and said,

"You entered stating the limited power of the watchman; correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not your vocation as well."

Severus couldn't hope to stop his eyes from widening, while still not open hostile, there was an undeniable tone of accusation in his headmaster's tone. Had the old man gone mad? The spirit simply stood there, smirk still present as Albus continued,

"You may dabble here or there, but only with a hidden hand, and only to prevent things from veering from their intended course."

Albus paused again and pulled out the unmistakable time turner necklace from somewhere in the old mans robes,

"many a young witch and wizard misunderstand the nature of this device, some come to believe that with this, horror's such as Tom Riddles rise to power could be prevented, but if that were possible, if it was allowed…"

Albus's brow dropped as his eye's came closest to a glare that Severus had ever seen the wizard's face. Albus dropped the hand that held the time turner and swiftly placed the small necklace back into the inner pocket of his robe as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Time's warden and caretaker, to preserve its safe passage from any bias, including your own."

A heave silence filled the room as Albus let his words hang in the open, only the sounds of the great clock above them made any notable sound. Severus himself looked at his headmaster in contemplation, never had he seen Albus so accusatory. It was as if his headmaster took the manipulations of the time master as some personal insult. The spirit himself however, seemed unaffected by Albus's sudden reprimand; in fact the time master seemed even more pleased, slowly shaking his head as he gave an echoing chuckle.

"Forgive me…" Time's warden said, his chuckle dyeing again behind soft grind of gears above them,

"I do not wish to make light of your anger, considering its source..." the spirit turned ever so slightly, just enough to full face Albus, staring the headmaster down with his red, pupiless eyes,

"You are a powerful man, Albus Dumbledore, and in your time you've learned that when powerful men make steps forward, tremors of consequence follow. And so you've moved with an ever cautious step, always mindful your surroundings, for you have learned that even the hand guided by the purest of intent can so easily crush meant to be guarded."

Albus's remained neutral as the spirit spoke, and would seem unfazed by the spirits choice of words, but Severus could see the almost invisible twitch of the headmaster's hands behind his back. Apparently the Time master hit a nerve, and intentionally, judging by the look the spirit gave.

"And now, here comes an enigmatic group with resources you could scarcely imagine, led by an ancient power whose motives you couldn't begin to fathom, all offering aid to defend against a looming horror only you and your closest allies seem even aware of. I must admit, it certainly enough to leave one uncomfortable."

The spirit once again chuckled before continuing,

"But I am afraid, dear professor that you do need some correcting,"

The spirit leveled his staff vertically, keeping in ever so slightly off the ground.

"You unfortunately share with my employer's, the Obervants, a very greaves misconception of my work."

Time's warden brought the staff down to the ground with a familiar clack as the swirling pools of fel energy within the cogs again turned into a variety of images, from the construction of the pyramids of Giza, to address of a roman emperor, to the crowing of the king Arthur, and even a scene of the four founders of Hogwarts overlooking the construction of the castle.

"The Observants view time like a parade…"

The images started to change, constantly changing from scene to scene, from the great fire of Rome, to the mounted elephants of Hannibal charging into a roman legion. From the muggle American revolutionary war, to the coalition of American covens that meat in secret soon after the war and so on, each showing a different historical event taking place.

"Each key event happening one after another in a set sequence..."

The spirit once again tapped his staff on the floor as the images again swirled into green and black as the time master spoke,

"I view the parade from above…"

The spirit raised his free hand and gestured around to each cog,

"To see which turn it might..."

The swirling pools settled again, and Severus for once gave an audible gasp. Each scene had changed, one held Hannibal of cartridge storming the streets of Rome, another held an image of Salazar Slytherin seated in the headmaster's office with a chained Godric Gryffindor before him. One held the image of a man in Serbia holding an article talking of the failed assassination of Archduke Ferdinand a few days prior and another was of Morgan le Fay burning a medieval London to the ground. But none of these held his focus, only one brought him to gasp. He looked at the one directly to his left as it held an image of his beloved Lily, dancing in front of a large park fountain, much like that insufferable picture the werewolf handed potter, but with a tremendous change. Instead of James potter, her partner was undoubtedly Severus himself, looking significantly less pale and with a true smile on his face. Like that, his strong front, his cold indifference melted as he felt a few tear prick in his eyes, his right hand unconsciously lifted and drifted to the cog raised above his head. His logical side, the side that usually held so much sway in his actions told him the likelihood of this merely being an illusion, a trick conceived by the spirit to confound him. But any and all reasoning left him as he stood in saddened awe of the image before him, basking in just how real in seemed,

That there could … that there just might actually be somewhere … in some distant time… the pool of fel energy swirled again as the heavenly scene that so haunted him dissolved, and Severus found himself nearly crying out for its return. He turned to the Time master, who in turn tilted his head ever so slightly to Severus, his still ever present smirk morphing into what might be a look of sympathy for a second before Turing again to face Albus,

"… or might not take."

There was a heave pause, the reality of the situation set in as Severus schooled himself back into as much of his cold indifference as he could. He looked to Albus and found his face pale, seemingly trying to collect himself as well from whatever the pools reflected, to his side he saw Minerva as she dried a few tears of her own. Apparently they were all shown a scene of what could have been, though what the others saw, he didn't know, he was too … preoccupied. The spirit spoke again,

"Know this, time may have a powerful flow, but the direction and destination of its flow is beyond any power to direct, whither by my hand or another's."

The spirits smirk morphed into a gentler smile,

"But that current is set by those who reside in its pull, even one such as I cannot escape its flow."

The spirt began to descend the steps of the raised device, speaking has he moved

"All I ultimately have power over is the same as anyone; prepare the best I can with whoever finds my cause worthy to bare."

The spirit reached the bottom of the steps and stopped before Albus,

"Now I believe we have some spectral scientists to meet, the children should be arriving just about now."

The spirt quickly walked past the group and towards the catwalk the child had taken to leave,

"Whoever finds your cause worthy to bare."

Albus echoed as he turned fully to the time master across the platform, who had paused in his walk, keeping his back to the group. Gone was the edge of his voice, while sounding outwardly strong, Severus couldn't help but think that Albus felt more and more tired.

"Like the young mister Nightingale?"

Now Severus knew Albus was tired, wither mentally fatigued or physically, his headmaster had never seemed so fully bereft of energy. Whatever Albus had seen in the pool of chaotic energy had certainly left its toll, as the contrast of his mood seemed so drastic. Where before laid a note of fire and anger, now Albus sounded so melancholy, almost remorseful in tone.

"You have a great amount of faith in the boy, but that could be a dangerous thing."

It seemed speaking was reinvigorating to Albus as his tone grew less saddened and more defiantly neutral,

"Such pressure could harm the boy, you may have trained him, but if he is not ready, you could break him."

The spirit didn't respond at first, but then came a echoing chuckle, similar in tone as his others but held a greater power, seemingly echoing even greater than before,

"I know…"

His voice took on a whole new unworldly quality, bouncing off the wall in an echoing choirs and holding a power in it that left Severus feeling slightly nervous,

"But then again…"

The spirit turned his head ever so slightly so that the group could see his face, the spirits smirk took on a dangerous edge, seeming almost playfully yet threatening, and it put a chill down Severus's spine.

"I know everything."

Ok, first off, I would like to apologize for the grammatical mistakes, as well as any in this one. One thing I haven't mention before is that I actually have a form of dysgraphia, not enough to prevent me from writing, but enough to have to rely on spell check more than I'd like. Another thing is I'd like apologies for the spacing of the last chapter; again I'm new so I wasn't quite sure how to structure this. And Finally I'd like to appetize about the much shorter length of this chapter compared to the first. Looking back I realized I might have put WAY too much into the first chapter, I was really just aiming to get as far as I felt along so we don't have like 6 chapters to sit through before they actually get to London. Again, I hope you like this and I really appreciate your feedback, please enjoy.