CHAPTER 9: ALBUS'S DREAM (PART 1)/THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS (PART 2)
INT. THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS TO HOGSMEADE STATION - LATE AFTERNOON (SEPT. 1ST, 2018)
After all the excitement had died down, Albus found himself slowly nodding off, until eventually, he fell asleep. Unbeknownst to Albus however, it was the intention of the man in the black hooded cloak to cause Albus to fall asleep. As Albus began to sleep, the man in the black hooded cloak pulled out a small, glowing, baseball-sized transparent sphere, which looked like a snow globe with no mount and was filled with seemingly nothing but water and snow. It was known in ALPS circles as a Dreamgleamer, a forbidden magical object which allowed one to look into the mind of another as they slept and implant dreams within. Standing well out of sight, the man in the black hooded cloak held up his left arm in front of him and opened up his left palm, revealing the enchanted crystal ball, which began to shimmer and glisten with an eerie blue light. Suddenly, Albus instantly found himself wide awake in a dream, looking all around him at an empty and darkened compartment. Despite this, he could still feel the train moving underneath him and could still hear the faint sounds of the wheels rolling down the rails underneath the passenger carriage.
Wondering where his brother James and the others had gone, Albus opened the door to the compartment and walked out into the corridor, which was just as dark and as empty as the compartment was. Once out in the corridor, Albus closed the door to the compartment and began walking down the corridor past other compartments, looking through the windows of the closed compartment doors. But Albus soon realized that every compartment he looked into was as empty and as dark as his compartment was.
"Hello? Is anyone here? Hello?" said Albus.
But Albus could not see nor hear anyone in any of the compartments he passed and appeared as though he was the only one in the carriage, until he reached the very last compartment at the end of the corridor. He soon noticed that the doors to this compartment were open and that a light could be seen within it. Albus then began to hear garbled voices coming from this compartment and slowly walked up to the entrance and looked in. Inside the compartment, Albus could see Cyrus, Evangeline and Darius, talking amongst each other over a news article they saw in a copy of the Evening Prophet.
"Excuse me, but do you know what's going on? Where is everyone?" said Albus, but Albus's words were falling on deaf ears and it soon became clear that no one in that compartment could hear him.
"Will you look at that?" said Darius coolly, holding up the newspaper in front of him. Upon the front page of the newspaper was an article about the recent rumors that have come out of the North of England about Severus Snape, its title pulsating in bold print. "Mum and Dad are getting to noisy. I thought the plan was not to get noticed. But instead, these rumors are becoming even more frequent then ever before." - Darius then threw the newspaper down onto the seat next to him and began brooding with his arms crossed.
"You can't expect Mum and Dad to stay hidden for very much longer, Darius," said Cyrus nonchalantly, looking at Darius with a withering share as Evangeline sat next to Cyrus, listening quietly. "And personally I find it amusing that Mum and Dad are pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. If only the Wizarding World knew the truth. It would be the story of the century."
Darius scoffed softly as Evangeline spoke coolly, "And besides, Mum and Dad have been in hiding for nearly 20 years now and they are taking a huge risk in letting us go to school to learn more magic, apart from the private lessons that we normally get from them. But fortunately for us, Mum and Dad have cast a Perception Spell over us so that the other students or the teachers won't perceive us as our father's children."
"But I want to go to Hogwarts and be sorted with you and Cyrus, Evangeline," protested Darius, "I've been wanting to be sorted into Hogwarts School for as long as I can remember. And why do we have to take the train back to home? We could have simply flew home and to Hogwarts on Moesdolor's back without having to be seen by anyone. But instead we're taking the train and all because Dad wants Harry Potter's son to have a dusty old book and to know that we are our father's children."
"Control your emotions, Darius, my brother. Calm yourself, your time will come," said Cyrus softly, "There's no need to have an argument over this. And you know the rules of our family. If you have any complaints to bring up to Mum or Dad, use a wand and not your mouth!"
"Well, I can't though can I? Because I don't have my own wand yet. Ever since I was 7 years old, I've been either using one of Dad's spare wands or one of Mum's spare wands. I've never in my life had my own wand, not like you two do now."
"You're lucky that Mum and Dad ever let you use a wand at that age," said Cyrus coolly, "And even luckier that Mum and Dad were so willing to give us private lessons before ever even going to Hogwarts. By Hogwarts standards, each of us has the equivalent magical talent and abilities of a student in their 4th year, and that's saying allot on our part. We know much magical knowledge and are gifted in Occlumency, Potions and Magical Archery, but there are some things that Mum and Dad can't teach us, which is why me and Evangeline are going to Hogwarts and getting sorted. Be grateful of the magical knowledge that you know now and stop complaining."
"But, it's not fair!" hissed Darius once more, "Why should you and Evangeline get sorted and not me? I want to go to Hogwarts and get sorted with you!"
"Please, Darius, my brother, calm yourself. Remember what Mum and Dad said." said Evangeline softly as Darius brought his arms down to his sides and stood up.
"I've had enough of this! I'm going to the dinning car and getting some Boggerberry juice! You two are on your own for now." hissed Darius, and with that, an emotionally roused Darius walked out of the compartment and into the corridor, closing the door to the compartment behind him. Darius then turned and faced Albus, but appeared as though he was not at all reacting to his presence. Then to Albus's utter surprise, Darius suddenly walked forward and straight through Albus, as though Albus was a ghost. Not only was Albus unheard, he was also unseen. Albus quickly turned around and followed Darius with his eyes. Silently, Albus watched as Darius walked to the other end of the passenger car and vanished behind the door at the end of the corridor, closing it behind him.
Wanting to know what was going on, Albus began to follow Darius. But as Albus began to walk down the corridor, the view of the corridor and the compartments began to stretch in front of him, as though Albus was looking down a very long tunnel. As Albus composed himself and continued down the corridor, Albus soon realized that the compartments he had passed earlier were no longer compartments, but had transformed into vastly larger rooms. Though the entrances and the doors to the compartments remained the same, the interiors of the compartments now appeared to be showing scenes cut out of time.
As Albus walked closer to the entrances to the compartments, all the compartment doors before him on either side of the corridor quickly sprang open on there own, startling Albus briefly as he started to walk on. Coming upon the first entrance to a compartment, Albus came upon the sight of a House-Elf standing in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by a vast field of tall yellow grass, which stretched far beyond Albus's point of view. Albus could see the darkened evening sky which shown above the field of grass below. Albus soon realized that this was the large field of tall grass that was located near the town of Little Whinging. It was an event that had happened just after the aerial wand battle that occurred over Little Whinging on July 27th, 1997. Albus then noticed that the House-Elf standing in the middle of the clearing was Treevole, who Albus had met at home earlier. Albus soon noticed that Treevole was crouched over the body of a large white owl that had been killed during the battle.
"Mistress," squeaked Treevole nervously towards the tall grass in front of him, "Treevole has found Harry Potter's owl."
"Good job, Treevole. I knew that you could find her," said an elegant and cold voice of a female from behind the tall grass. The grass near Treevole soon parted, revealing the sight of Verena in dark emerald green robes. Albus had yet to know of her. Verena quickly stepped over Treevole and kneeled down over the body of the owl.
Verena then looked over the owl and spoke silkily, "You found Hedwig just in time, Treevole. And she is certainly in a bad way. But I think...I can save her."
"Treevole is happy to have found Harry Potter's owl. Treevole was concerned that he would not find Harry Potter's owl in time."
"Hedwig, Treevole. Her name is Hedwig. And she needs our help," said Verena coolly. Suddenly, Verena looked up towards Albus and smiled cunningly as though she could suddenly see him. Albus glared back at Verena as she looked back at Treevole and then back down at Hedwig.
Treevole then spoke nervously, "But how are we going to save her, Mistress? I fear that we have come to late."
"Have you forgotten that the potion works slightly different on animals and House-Elves? How do you think I was able to bring your brother Dobby back from the grave in time? The window of opportunity is much longer." said Verena coolly as she pulled out a small vile of the Resurrection Potion from the left pocket of her robe.
"And Treevole will be forever grateful to his mistress for that," - Verena narrowed her eyes at Treevole as he continued, "But how will Harry Potter know that Hedwig is still alive?"
"He won't, Treevole...he can't. At least not right now," said Verena, and with that, Verena turned to focusing on Hedwig. Verena quickly flipped Hedwig onto her back and laid her back on the ground before Verena began to slowly run her wand up and down Hedwig's body and spoke a spell that Albus had never heard of before, saying it three times and speaking it in the form of a melody, "Vulnera Sanentur..."
As Albus watched, Hedwig's mangled body began to straighten up until she appeared to be back to normal. Verena then pulled the cap off the vile of Resurrection Potion with her teeth. She then placed three drops of the enchanted blue liquid into Hedwig's beak and then placed the cap onto the vile once more before hiding the vile back into her robes. She then pulled out her wand from her right robe sleeve once more and placed the tip of it onto Hedwig's body. She then spoke yet another spell that Albus had never heard of before, "Resurgio..."
Suddenly, a blast of blue light rippled over Hedwig's body, which was followed by a long, drawn out screech. Verena then hid her wand away as Hedwig began to stir and stood up, alert and fully healed from her injuries. Albus could suddenly hear a man's voice speak softly and silkily, "Death can be defeated and one given everlasting life, if one wishes of it." - In slow motion, Albus watched Hedwig fluff up her feathers and screech softly, looking all around her curiously.
Albus soon walked on. Soon, he began to hear the moans and cries of a woman giving birth. Following the painful cries and moans, he came upon yet another scene, as Albus once again saw at normal speed. This time, Verena was lying in bed underneath a blanket and holding a newborn in her arms. This was the birth of Darius, which had occurred in the main bedroom of Snape's House in Cokeworth on Oct. 29th, 2008. Darius had been born in the very same bed that Severus had been born in years before. Albus watched as the midwife who had helped Verena give birth left the room through the compartment entrance and vanished into thin air as she walked down the corridor. Albus then looked back and soon noticed a familiar face next to the bed where Verena laid. Much to Albus's astonishment, he was seeing Severus Snape kneeling down next to the bed with a subdued look of joy upon his face. Verena was looking down at the newborn Darius, grinning and cooing over him.
"Isn't he beautiful, Severus, my love?" said Verena with a slight crack of joy in her voice, "He looks just like me when I was born."
Severus looked down at Darius and smiled shrewdly as he spoke, "You did well once again, my dear Belladonna. He will certainly make a fine edition to the Snape family household."
"Are you kidding? He'll be wonderful!" said Ergot, who was sitting in an armchair next to the bed on the opposite side, "And just before Halloween to. Talk about timing."
"It isn't Halloween yet, Ergot," said Severus with a withering stare and stood up again, placing his hands behind his back. "But you're right, the timing is a bit unexpected."
"Darius is our little Halloween surprise, yes he is." said Verena, still cooing over Darius incessantly.
"Uuck, listen to her, Ergot. She's positively glowing from all this, cooing over him. Her Occlumency powers are seriously broken down at the moment." said Severus in mild disgust.
"And yours would be broken down to if you were holding him, Severus." said Verena in a mildly defensive manner, looking up at Severus then back down at Darius. And with that, Ergot gave a mischievous smirk as Severus gave his usual gaunt, nonchalant and cold expression, raising an eyebrow briefly. Just as Albus was about to walk on, Verena looked up at him as she was holding Darius, looking at Albus in a cold and contemptible manner. Once again, Albus felt that Verena could see him, which made him feel rather uncomfortable. Darius then began to cry, causing Verena to look down and smile softly at Darius once more.
Albus quickly moved on once more. Through the entrances to the following compartments, Albus began to see various events of Cyrus, Evangeline and Darius's childhood as well as various events of Severus and Verena, which seemed to span across over 20 years in hiding. There was a scene of the children in a private Potions lesson with their father. In this scene, Cyrus and Evangeline appeared to be 8 or 9 years old, while Darius appeared to be around 7 years old. The room was filled with clouds of fumes, which bubbled up from the small cauldrons which were sitting in front of each of the children, sitting at small desks and writing quietly in black leather bound notebooks with elegant quill pens. Albus soon realized that this was one of several disused classrooms that were located on the 5th floor of Hogwarts Castle, which were only used when the school was overcrowded. Upon a raised portion of the floor, Severus was sitting quietly at a desk reading and feverishly writing in a black leather bound book with a brood pointed quill pen, looking on in his usual bitter and brooding manner.
Cyrus then sat his quill pen down, causing Severus to speak coolly as he continued to look down and write in the book in front of him, "No one told you to stop writing, Cyrus."
Cyrus then slowly and nonchalantly raised his left arm up over his head, further getting his father's attention. Severus looked over at Cyrus coolly, "What do you want, Cyrus?"
"Forgive me, Father, but I need to go to the boy's lavatory. I've been making potions and writing in my notebook for three hours now and I haven't had a break yet." said Cyrus softly.
Severus looked back down at his book and spoke, "Have you finished the page that you are on?"
"Yes, Father," said Cyrus, as he and the other children looked over at their father.
"Then you may go...and remember to take Hedwig with you." said Severus in his usual soft and bitter voice, as Cyrus closed his book and got up from his desk and walked towards to where Hedwig was perched in the far corner of the room, "She will keep an eye out for other students and teachers for you. And make sure that you are not seen by anyone, you know the secret path to the lavatories. Just because you're having private lessons here at Hogwarts doesn't mean that you're in school yet."
Severus then noticed Evangeline and Darius watching Cyrus as Cyrus brought out his arm and called to Hedwig, who then flew off of her perch and landed on Cyrus's arm, screeching softly as Cyrus walked towards a door with her and vanished behind it.
"Hedwig was there watching us when me and Cyrus were born. Now she's always looking out for us. But it's unfortunate that she wasn't there when you were born, Darius." said Evangeline with a soft smile.
"And is there any reason why you two have stopped writing?" said Severus in his most dangerous voice, which prompted Evangeline and Darius to quickly get back to writing in there notebooks. Neither Evangeline or Darius was going to argue with their father, for their past experience of doing so stuck strongly in their minds.
Darius leaned towards Evangeline and whispered, "I'm not about to get smacked by Father's notebook again like last time. We've long since learned that arguing with Dad with our mouths will get us nowhere. I'm telling you, when it comes to teaching students or us for that matter, Dad can be a real nightmare..."
Unbeknownst to Darius however, Severus was hearing every single word from his desk as Darius spoke. Seeing that he needed to give Darius a reminder to keep quiet while in his private lessons, Severus silently walked over to where Darius was siting and gave him a firm smack on the back of his head with his notebook. Darius gave a soft groan of distress and rubbed the back of his head as Severus walked back to his desk with his stark black robes breezing back behind him. It was clear to Albus that Severus's teaching style had changed little since his supposed death.
"You deserved that you know, taking about Father behind his back." said Evangeline quietly, who gave a soft smile of sympathy and went back to writing in her book. Severus himself then sat back at his desk, dripped his quill pen in an ink well and went back to writing in his book. As Severus started to write once more, he suddenly stopped and stared dangerously over at Albus. Now Severus was doing the exact same thing that Verena had done to Albus earlier, which made Albus feel ever more uncomfortable. After a brief moment, Severus looked back down at his book and continued writing.
Albus felt the urge to walk on once more. The next compartment showed a scene of Verena teaching the children Magical Archery. But every time Cyrus or the other two children drew back their bows to shoot the glowing arrows, Verena would hit the back of their legs or the back of their heads with her bow, just hard enough to where it would sting a little, but not necessarily hurt them. This of course, caused the children to miss the targets entirely, which secretly irritated them to no end. Albus slowly started to have an inkling that Verena was possibly the new teacher who was coming to Hogwarts to teach Magical Archery, which made Albus shiver slightly.
"Focus!" said Verena coolly as she stood behind Cyrus, who drew back his bow once more. Verena then brought the tip of her bow up to Cyrus's ear, flicking it gently. This caused Cyrus to miss the center of the target, but just barely. Verena then smacked the back of Cyrus's head firmly with her bow and once again spoke, "Focus!"
Of course, Albus missed the whole point of the lesson entirely and the reason why Verena was smacking the children with her bow as they fired. But Albus would learn the purpose of Verena's relatively mild abuse soon enough as he moved on. In the next compartment, Albus came upon a scene of the children playing in the snow in front of Snape's house on Spinner's End in Cokeworth. They were laughing and giggling as they threw snowballs at one another and ran around one another as if they were playing tag. Both Evangeline and Cyrus then zeroed in on Darius and began throwing snowballs at him. Bringing his arms up defensively to block the repeated barrage of snowballs, Darius giggled softly and spoke, "Hey, no fair...arrgh! No fair!"
"Iactum Rivus Aqua..." cried Cyrus as he used a wand he burrowed from his father and cast a spell over a large pile of snow, transforming it into a stream of snow which he then sent barreling towards Darius. However, it was swiftly redirected back to Cyrus with a counter spell from Darius using his own burrowed wand,"Iactum Rivus Deflectio..." - this caused the steam of snow to swing around Darius and then fly back towards Cyrus, hitting Cyrus and Evangline and burying them entirely. Holding his burrowed wand out in front of him, Darius then giggled softly as he watched Cyrus and Evangeline pull themselves out from under the snow and brushed themselves off, smiling and clearly knowing that they had deserved it.
Albus soon moved on once more. Through the next compartment entrance, Albus came upon the sight of Verena sitting on a bed and quietly sewing a tear in a small wizard's robe. Albus then noticed Severus, who was sitting next to a window in an armchair, cradling a small boy on his lap. The little boy was Cyrus and he appeared to be only 3 years old. As moonlight flooded into the room and shown down upon Severus's face, Cyrus quietly slept in his father's arms as Severus stared out through the window, seemingly content and at peace with himself in a most subtle and brooding manner. Verena looked over at Severus and smiled softly before going back to her sewing. After a brief moment, Severus turned his head and looked towards Albus, as if he had sensed him watching him.
Saying nothing, Severus gave a withering stare at Albus as Albus heard a man's cold and silkily voice in his head once more, "Do you remember me?"
Suddenly, Albus saw a bright white flash, which seemed to show images of when he had met the man in the black hooded cloak, who had talked to him in Diagon Alley earlier. Albus then realized that the man's voice had he had been hearing in his head was the same voice that he had heard from the man in the black hooded cloak. It was this point that Albus knew that the man in the black hooded cloak was the same man who was staring at him, Severus Snape. Albus then found himself back to where he was, where Severus then sneered at Albus and gave his usual cold and dangerous glance. Albus then heard Snape's voice in his head once more, "Tell your pathetic excuse of a wizard father that his old potions master is keeping an eye on you...run along, Albus."
And with that, Severus turned his head away and looked out of the window once more as Cyrus remained sleeping peacefully in Severus's arms. Verena then looked up and glared coolly at Albus, saying nothing as Albus heard her soft and cold voice in his head, "You heard him, dear boy. Run along," - Verena then looked back down at the small wizard's robe and began sewing once more.
Nervous and slightly trembling, Albus glared at Severus and Verena anxiously, then walked further down the corridor once more. As he finally reached the door at the end of the corridor, a cold and dangerous voice of a woman suddenly projected from the door, causing Albus to gasp and step back quickly from the door. Albus quickly recognized that it was Verena's voice, "Where do you think you're going?"
Verena's face then appeared within the door and began staring down at Albus with her cold dark blue eyes. Albus looked up at her face as she began speaking to him coldly and staring dangerously at him, "You're the most pathetic little boy I think I've ever seen," - she then stared coolly at him and then spoke nonchalantly and softly to him, "Never the less, myself and Severus can still see a great deal of potential in you. And I am going to be teaching Magical Archery to you in school and hopes that you won't disappoint me. But until then, I think you have seen enough of mine and Severus's past for now."
Verena then directed her eyes to the corridor behind Albus. Albus turned to look behind him, only to see the doors to all the compartments slam shut and lock on there own.
"I'll see you at school, Mr. Potter." said Verena softly as Albus turned his head back to the door, only to see Verena's face had vanished, leaving a blank space where Verena's face was. Cautiously, Albus then grabbed onto the handle of the door and opened it, revealing a small dinning car covered with elegant selves, cabinets and narrow counter tops full to the brim with herbs, sweets, snacks, drinks and other necessities. Closing the door behind him, he began to walk towards the end of the dinning car, where a pair of voices could be heard. He soon came upon an open space full of coffee tables and armchairs. There was also a small fireplace, where a fire was burning and crackling inside.
"But it's not fair, Mum," said the familiar voice of Darius, who was sitting on his mother's lap in an armchair and drinking a small bottle of warm boggerberry juice, "I want to be sorted into Hogwarts like Cyrus and Evangeline will be. Why can I not go with them this year?"
"You sound just like I did when I watched my elder brother and sister go to Hogwarts, my dear. But you mustn't be jealous of your brother and sister. You're time will come," said Verena softly as she gently stroked Darius's hair and watched Darius drink his boggerberry juice, "And your Father and I have already told you the reason why you can't go with your brother and sister. Just because me and your Father secretly taught you private lessons at Hogwarts doesn't mean that you were in school. They were just private lessons taught within the family. And besides, you'll see them every night when they come to the in-resident rooms on the 5th floor."
"They'll be expected to stay in their Common Rooms, Mum. How can they possibly come to the in-resident rooms every night?"
"You know our methods, my dear. And you know how we alternate between our houses and the places where we live during certain times of the year. It's how me and your Father have been keeping hidden for so long. You will see your brother and sister again soon enough and then they can tell all about the Hogwarts teachers and their classes. It will be alright...you'll see."
And with that, Verena smiled softly at Darius as she gave him a kiss on the forehead, then looked towards the fire in the fireplace as she held Darius close to her, hugging him gently. Darius smiled softly in return and started drinking his bottle of boggerberry juice once more. Albus then felt the need to look behind him. Upon doing so, he came upon sight of the man in the black hooded cloak, only this time the man's hood was down, revealing the face of Severus Snape, who was standing near the door to the dinning car, staring at Albus icily and saying nothing. For a brief moment, Albus and Severus stared at one another.
Then another voice could be heard, "Albus...Albus...Albus!"
Albus suddenly began to feel someone gently shaking him, waking Albus up with a start. Albus quickly pulled out his wand from his sleeve and began looking around anxiously, until he realized that he was once again in his own compartment, lying in his seat and covered over by a blanket. Albus looked up and saw that it was his brother James who had woken him up, who was now looking at him puzzlingly.
"Albus? We're almost at Hogsmead Station. It's time to get ready," - Albus slowly hid away his wand and continued to look around until James spoke once more as he noticed the blanket covering Albus, "I say, Albus, who gave you the blanket? I know I didn't."
Albus looked down at the patchwork blanket covering him a moment, than spoke, "I don't know...but I really don't know what's going on right now."
James than spoke once more, looking at Albus puzzlingly, "Weird...I say, what's wrong, Albus? It looks like you've just seen a ghost!"
"He's alive, James. He's been alive all this time and we never even knew." said Albus, looking around nervously.
"Who, Albus?"
"Severus Snape...he's alive." said Albus, sounding serious and mildly agitated.
CONTINUED...CHAPTER 10...