Late Arrivals and Lifetime Rivals: Snape's Worst Halloween
Chapter 21: R.S.V.P. & Away With Thee
"Severus Snape and guest?" roared the Dark Lord. "Wormtail, are you quite sure there has not been some misunderstanding?"
"No, my Lord, he contacted me and confirmed as you asked," replied Wormtail cowering.
"Alecto?" queried the Dark Lord.
"No, Master."
"…some woman from Knockturn Alley?"
"No."
"Not the girl that threw a butterbeer at him in school, perhaps?" Voldemort had heard about this from Bellatrix.
"No, Master. I am not sure who it is. Should I tell him you are displeased and…"
No, Wormtail. I am not displeased, merely surprised."
The Dark Lord was confused and thought he had read the return card wrong. No matter, their cause could always utilize new contacts, he thought.
However, Snape? He pondered the idea again. If this was Wormtail's idea of a joke, the Dark Lord did not find it humorous.
Professor Snape and Professor Vector made their way from the dungeons to the Great Hall.
Professor Vector had transfigured herself into a hag, as promised. Dumbledore had insisted that anything that could encourage Snape to socialize was warranted, much to Vector's chagrin. She had browsed through Holidays with Hags knowing that there would be many glossy pictures of hags that she could use to help her transfigure. There were more photos of Lockhart, but she just quickly breezed through them. Any relevant or useful written information, she could find in other books that were not "penned" by Gilderoy. She had told Snape that she researched her disguise in the Hogwarts Library. If he knew she had used Lockhart's book, she would never hear the end of it. Actually, she would like to keep the peace. She had been in his presence for less than 15 minutes and he had not asked why she had even bothered to transfigure into a hag.
Vector's hag costume was horrible, thought Snape. Snape never believed he would see the day where he would thank Merlin on bended knee (not on bended knee exactly in this costume) that the snake headpiece fairly blocked his vision.
Dumbledore had also seen them leaving the castle. He coughed and tried not to smile too much, as he waved cheerily at both professors and wished them a grand evening. He lingered a little long in the Great Hall and hoped they had not noticed.
"Vector, I need to use the lavatory facilities." Snape wished that he hadn't had anything to drink before putting on his costume. However, firewhiskey was the only way he could block out the visions of last year. Occlumency had its limitations.
Vector grinned. He noticed she only had three teeth. "Snape, if you do not come back, I am going without you. Remember, last year, you have no luck with loos."
The snake neck smirked and headed off to the lavatory. How he would like to forget the incident. That would be very hard to do this evening. Hopefully, the costume caused no further embarrassment.
However, how could he turn down the Dark Lord? And Dumbledore could be pushier than a goblin at times, hence their jaunt to The Three Broomsticks, before the Dark Lord's party.
Professor Vector, on the other hand, had wanted to leave quickly. She glanced into a mirror in the hall and fixed her greasy, gray hair and patted her warty nose. She hoped nobody saw her leave with Snape.
She also reached into her pocket and felt for the mirror. They were meeting the teachers and a few acquaintances. Sirius was at 12 Grimmauld Place with the children this evening. However, if they needed them he had given her a mirror to contact them immediately. Professor Vector did not tell Snape about it yet. She felt Sirius had an alternative reason as well.
