Maude's Secret

Colonel Caelian Lance Snape boarded the train to Manchester at precisely eight o'clock on Saturday morning, one day after he had received a letter from the Headmaster of Hogwarts, asking his assistance in an essentially private, yet uncomfortably official matter. Professor Dumbledore, old and senile though he might be, seemed to have discovered a way of retrieving a person's memory after a level eight memory charm had been used on their brain. Lance had heard of the headmaster's rediscovery of young Maura's secret keeper, of course, if only because it had happened to take place at Mull, the very place Lance visited quite frequently these days.

Luckily, the soldier decided, the headmaster had successfully remembered that experiments of a magnitude such as the one he was about to conduct required two trained officers of the wizarding army for reasons of supervision and emergency control. Not, considered Lance, that Dumbledore thought he actually required assistance in case of an emergency, but the regulations had to be observed.

The train, built and commonly used by Muggles, was exceptionally uncomfortable. It did, however provide a thoroughly non-magical way of travelling from one place to the next and thus served exactly the purpose for which Lance had chosen it. There was a simple trick to getting your performance in emergency prevention to the topmost level. A non-magic environment combined with a willingness to go without magic for several hours prior to the emergency situation helped focus your inner magic – made you 'more powerful', to use the words of students around Severus's age.

The compartment Lance had chosen for himself was entirely empty. The soldier liked his privacy. A lack of chatting and laughing around him would provide for an excellent environment to finish his current lecture – a guide on How to Effectively Prevent Barbarian Attacks by General Elmar Sirkesi. The individual seats were separated by small armrests, which luckily gave way easily when Lance decided to remove one of them in order to be able to squeeze in next to the grubby window. Strangely, he thought, they seemed to be built for the very purpose of being shoved out of the way in the first place.

Several hours later, the train rolled into Manchester station and Lance got off quickly, deciding never to use this means of travel again. A beaming Dumbledore was standing close to one of the barriers between platforms three and four, observing his guest with a welcoming smile on his face.

"Lance!" he said warmly. "Good of you to come so quickly."

"One of my more pleasant duties," the soldier replied, offering a massive hand to the elderly headmaster, who took it gladly into his own, lined ones.

"Did I give you enough details concerning the procedure? I must admit that I was a little uncertain as to what kind of description you needed when I wrote that letter."

"Entirely sufficient," Lance assured. "Where are we headed?"

"A little hostel not far from here," Dumbledore replied. "I'll have to warn you – the owners go out of their way to make it appear as though they were Muggles, but both of them were actually born into wizarding families."

"Squibs?" Lance enquired.

"Alternative lifestyle," Dumbledore replied. "Magicless by choice, I believe."

"Do they know for what purpose you rented a room?" the soldier went on, almost sure of what the answer was going to be.

"Of course. I took the liberty of renting the entire hostel, by the way."

"Why am I not surprised? Is the girl there now?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Robertson is with her," he said quietly. "As you suggested. But I have to say that she is not actually a girl anymore. I am aware that last time we saw her she was quite a bit younger, but she has grown into a magnificent woman. I did get the impression that Robertson was disappointed when he discovered this."

"He is my most capable Sergeant at present," Lance replied. "I also have something to discuss with him. That's why I need him here."

"Of course," Dumbledore said politely. "And he might have been tired of the long travel, of course. It seems he chose to come by Muggle plane. Very unpleasant way of travelling, I happen to know. I hope you had a pleasant journey, though?"

Lance considered for a moment whether to lie, but then decided against it.

"No."

"I know what it is like, of course," Dumbledore sighed. "Our kind really aren't used to methods of Muggle transportation any more."

"Who is going to assist you in this matter?" Lance enquired, wishing to keep the conversation on topic.

Dumbledore grinned. "Since Minerva is busy preparing timetables for the exam week, I decided to ask my dear colleague Professor Sprout to lend me a hand. I believe you know her?"

"A little," Lance said darkly, careful to keep his face unmoving.

"Now now, I would consider that an understatement," came a voice from a few feet away. Professor Sprout had appeared in the doorframe of the corner shop next to them, an undetermined number of sweet items in both hands. "I, at least, am happy to say that I know you a lot more than just a little, Lance, dear. Maltesers?"

"No, thank you," Lance replied sternly, putting his arms behind his back to appear less impressionable.

"Later, perhaps," the Herbology witch remarked. Lance doubted he would get around taking at least some tea with her this time.

"Mandy, were you not going to stay with Maude and the Sergeant?"

"He was too annoying," her friend snorted. "I just had to leave. Maude, though, seems perfectly happy with his presence. She adores him."

"Robertson is an exceptionally capable soldier," Lance said sharply. The reprimand in his voice was very perceptible, he noticed, and so did Mandy Sprout. Her gaze darkened, glided over the soldier's boots and uniform up to his face, and she put her acquisitions in one hand while handing the soldier a Muggle chocolate bar.

"Eat this. It will sort out your priorities."

He was obliged to take it, Lance knew, so he did, grumpily.

They proceeded in silence until they reached a shabby-looking double-door, which led inside an equally second-rate building. Dumbledore had chosen his location well. If it was supposedly Muggle territory, there would not be too much disturbing magical influence from outside and if the owners were not actually Muggles, they would not have to waste valuable time with the application of memory charms. Against his will, Lance was impressed.

Dumbledore led them to the furthest end of the first floor corridor and knocked politely at the last door on the right. They entered one after another with Dumbledore leading the way and Lance not permitting Professor Sprout to follow in his tracks, but instead bowing slightly to indicate that she ought to pass before him.

When Lance had entered and closed the door behind his broad back, Sergeant Robertson jumped to attention while a mid-aged woman rose slowly from her seat to greet them with a handshake. Lance surveyed her closely. So this was the Muggle girl who had hidden in a wizarding family for so long… how she had managed to hide her non-magic state he could only guess.

"Welcome Colonel," she said quietly. Her voice was warm and pleasant – much more mature than last time he had seen her, Lance thought, slightly surprised.

"It is… good to see you again," he managed.

"Some tea?" Maude offered.

"Thank you," the colonel replied. Dumbledore looked from the tall man to the chubby woman and back again, an amused smile playing around his bearded lips.

"I'll show you through the process, Lance," he offered, pointing in the direction of Mandragora Sprout, who had begun to mumble a few basic security spells, obviously quite eager to start.

Maude smiled softly and turned towards a tea tray while Lance followed Dumbledore's recount of how he planned to proceed.

"Aguamenti," he heard Maude's mumbling voice from the general direction of the tea pot. "Thermo Maximum."

Lance turned again, received a steaming cup of tea and nodded politely. Maude turned to the others to distribute more cups, putting her wand back on the coffee table next to the bed.

Lance's brain needed a moment process the information of what was wrong about this. Then, however, when realisation began to dawn, he choked and nearly dropped his tea from being shaken by coughs. Mandy was there at an instant, patting his back – or the part she could reach.

"You have a wand!" he managed in-betweeen coughs, staring incredulously at Maude. "And you use it?"

Maude blushed.

"I am sorry, I… no, it's not a wand. It serves to imitate one to protect my non-magical identity. For… for security reasons."

"And the spells?" Lance enquired, still taken aback.

"It is a habit she has taken up while living with the Lupins," Dumbledore explained, sipping his tea with a good-natured smile. "Seems logical, does it not? If you want people to think you are a witch, you will have to use spells. Or at least pretend to."

"You cannot pretend to use spells!" the colonel snarled, surprised at his own harshness. "Where did the tea come from?"

"It was in the teapot all along," Maude said, still crimson red. "Perfectly hot and all. People often notice things only when their attention is drawn to them. It's all to do with a bit of cleverness and good timing."

"Wait," came Robertson's confused voice from the back of the room, "you mean you aren't a witch?"

"Robertson!" Lance turned, more disbelief in his voice. "Of course she isn't! Don't tell me you were fooled by that… trickery?"

"Well…" Not it was Robertson's turn to blush.

"Ah, forget it," growled Lance, unfolding his arms to wave his Sergeant's idiocy away. "Now, let me see… I am sure this is against some sort of ancient rule…"

A familiar hand clapped the soldier's broad back, again not quite reaching his shoulder.

"Cheer up, Lance. You won't find a law forbidding Muggles to pretend that they're magical, however much you might like it…"

"I find it… uncanny," the soldier eventually said, his teeth clenched. "But I apologise for my harsh reaction. You caught me unawares."

"Maude's certainly found a way to defend her place in the wizarding world," Dumbledore smiled. "She even fooled me a couple of times. We are just so used to everything being done via magic that we don't notice if the spell essentially works or not."

"As I say," Maude added, "it's all to do with attention. "Sergeant Robertson here was quite convinced I'd used 'Lumos' only moments before you came. He didn't realise there was a second light switch, you see."

"And then she told me she was sick of waiting for you and that she'd speeden you up a little," said Robertson dimly. "Which was pretty much a minute before you entered the room…"

"Well, the colonel is hard to miss from here," Maude said timidly, nodding at the room's only window, through which, from her place, wide parts of the hostel's front lawn and the entrance door were visible, all behind Robertson's back.

Against his will, Lance's mouth twitched.

"Well then," he said, "I believe we are here for a reason?"

"Yes, to try and get my memory back," Maude said excitedly. "We prepared everything already."

"And I placed a few security spells," Professor Sprout remarked. "Lance, will you stand here with your back to the door?"

"Certainly," the soldier nodded. "I shall like to see the official document from the Ministry of Magic concerning the new incantation. It is an incantation, I presume? Not a potion?"

"Absolutely right," Dumbledore said cheerfully, handing him a piece of parchment. He then assumed an expression of the utmost concentration and stepped towards Maude when everyone had signalled that they were ready. He and Mandy Sprout had now taken out their wands and despite her previously confident attitude, Maude now looked as though she was not sure what to think of the imminent procedure. Dumbledore put his left hand on her shoulder.

"Ready, Maude?"

She nodded and the headmaster raised his wand at her temple to speak the incantation while Mandy mirrored him at the Muggle woman's other side. The whole process took no longer than two or three minutes. Lance, wand at the ready, surveyed it closely. The smallest sign of something going against the plan would require his leaping action immediately, reversing the new spell's unknown effect. Maude, however, seemed as happy as ever when Mandy finally moved away from her, tiny pearls of sweat gleaming on her short forehead. Dumbledore was not so calm.

"Come on!" he hissed at the spell rather than the woman before him, seeming to intensify the incantation each time he renewed the grip on his wand. His hands, too, were sweaty now and he looked as though any more of this would throw him off his feet soon.

"You have to work," he mumbled. "I personally made sure you would!"

And then, suddenly, Maude began to speak.

"Professor," she said nervously. "Something's happening. I can see things. It's not like remembering, but there are… people… and situations I've never seen before. It's like watching wizarding wireless – not my own memories, at least I don't…"

"Can you see Maura?"

There was a moment's pause before Maude suddenly began to smile.

"Yes," she whispered. "Professor, I know where your daughter is hidden. I'll lead you to her."