Severus Snape went out of the way when the painted cauldron started to smoke and waited for his concoction to cool.
His mind was on other matters, but he went through the security protocol without a concrete thought.
"What is on your mind?"
Severus looked from his cauldron to the painting on the other side of the room.
"The Potter boy."
The older wizard nodded, he expected this when Madam LeCroix told them what was happening to their youngest portrait.
One of the best secrets in the wizarding world was the portrait room with the Unspeakables.
Just because somebody was dead was no reason not to use their skills. And the Unspeakables had no problem recruiting portraits when they had useful skills and where capable of this kind of work.
With Severus there were 5 of them.
Severus himself was a genius in potions, dark arts and spell inventing. And this was without his role as a spy. They didn't even think twice about offering him employment after his death. And Severus didn't want to end like most of the other heads that slept through the day after a few years. The average life of a portrait was very long after all.
The second in the portrait room was Madam Le Croix. The former Ravenclaw Headmistress was an Arithmancer through and through.
For 4 centuries she was the eyes and ears in the Head office of Hogwarts. With Snape she wasn't the only former Head of Hogwarts anymore.
From time to time the both of them needed to be in the portraits room at the same time. They both had their work after all.
The other Heads of Hogwarts thought that the two of them had an affair and both Madam LeCroix and Snape had nothing against using this. It gave them time to be away and to speak with each other in private. They ignored the teasing of the others. And the other Headmasters found it downright fascinating when they flitted together out of their canvas or occupied just one canvas to talk to each other in private but to call the other one with title and surname in an unemotional respectful tone.
The wizard on the other side of the room was a historian. Historian Wenning-Thorne saw the changes in the magical world and why they had a happened. His direct neighbour was Madam Hertz. She wasn't a seer in the strict sense but clairvoyant and kept this gift even after her death. She saw possible futures.
The 5 was the former Medi-Witch and former Head of St Mungos Lady Carlisle.
They had a discussion about the request of Al Potter after Madam LeCroix had told them of it. They had waited for Severus next trip to the library of Alexandria so they had time without him. They didn't want to dictate him what he should do. He had had enough of that when he was alive.
