Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 4The headmistress escorted Harry to her office and went into her sales pitch.
"With younger children, it is easy for them to simply forget all the unpleasantness in their past. With some careful planning, you may even convince them for years that they are yours. I have a couple of adorable little girls with green eyes."
"Well, I was thinking of a boy."
"I'm not sure if we have any with green eyes, but let me see. I have a book put together for prospective parents. At the very least, black hair."
"Um …" Harry replied, stalling for time or even some idea of what she had in mind. Should he come right out and say he wanted Snape? He also had the sudden thought that someone else also connected could just swoop in and grab him. It was really for Snape's protection that Harry adopt him rather than someone like Malfoy or worse.
The headmistress turned her current photo album in Mr. Potter's direction to flip the pages for him so he could find the right boy. She had over a dozen that were daring and would probably take to quidditch, which everyone knew was Harry Potter's favorite sport.
As the pages were turned by the headmistress while she gave a favorable commentary on each possible child, Harry was disappointed that older children were not shown. He was not looking to convince a child that they were his natural child. He just wanted Snape to be safe. He spent so many years protecting Harry that it was the least he could do in return. Once he went to Hogwarts, Harry only needed to see him for holidays, if that's all he wanted. Even if Snape was terrible and hated him, Harry could put up with it till he was eleven.
"This one?" the headmistress asked, finally seeing a bit of a smile on Mr. Potter's face.
"Huh? Oh no. Um, I … I don't know, but I'm not looking for someone as young as these."
Harry should not have been surprised that she had another photo album, but Severus was not among her favored candidates.
With thoughts of Mr. Tibbles in mind, Harry did not want to see another photo album so dared to suggest, "That boy Severus is interesting."
"Severus? Well, you certainly would not have to worry about him turning out to be a squib, Mr. Potter. However, he's a bit emotional. He would be too much for a single man to handle."
Emotional? Harry could call Snape lots of things, but emotional was hardly one of them. Sometimes he was angry, but that did not count. Was that some polite way of talking him out of adopting Snape and picking one of her poor little lambs? Perhaps Snape already had an extensive vocabulary and insulted the headmistress constantly, therefore he was never suggested as a good candidate. Or maybe not, if she wanted nice parents to adopt nice children, it would not do for Snape to insult his new parents and their acquaintances either.
"Maybe it's just a silly whim of mine," Harry admitted. "With his name being Severus."
When the headmistress showed no sign of recognizing why anyone with the name Severus would mean something to Harry, he added, "Like Severus Snape."
"The Death Eater?"
"He was not a Death Eater. Severus Snape saved my life time and again and worked tirelessly for Albus Dumbledore. Without him, we would have lost. He provided me with valuable information and even advised me regarding that final battle."
The headmistress appeared skeptical, but did comment, "A whim is not a valid reason to choose a child for adoption, Mr. Potter."
"Perhaps those black eyes and hair, along with that smirk, are too much for me to resist." Harry decided to gamble, "I was told he's a bright student. At the very least, I would like someone who's that kind of bright both scholastically and magically to make me look good."
"No, not him. Severus has expressed no interest in getting adopted. The poor boy is very persistent in thinking his parents may still be alive. Perhaps you can speak to him for a couple minutes after lunch, here in my office."
"But …," Harry was not sure if the headmistress would be this difficult if someone else wanted Snape. He had looked fine and perhaps happy, so it was not that this place was bad for him, but if anyone that threw a few galleons or even an imperius could waltz in and snatch him, especially with everyone acting so clueless as to who he really was, Harry had to get him out of here, "isn't the orphanage's purpose to find homes for the children here?"
"I would prioritize children that want to be placed in a home. By the way, you have not mentioned anything about yours."
"I was waiting to be asked, or to fill out a form. My current living arrangements would actually be beneficial," Harry replied, laying it on thick. "I don't live on my own. I live with the Weasleys, and I have to say Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are like parents to me, besides raising their own wonderful family. If Severus needs an ear while I'm away for the day with auror training, he won't be alone."
"The Weasleys? I am familiar with them from what I read in the newspaper about Ronald and Arthur. What occupations do their older children have?"
"In addition to multiple Hogwarts head boys, prefects and quidditch captains?" Harry countered, afraid that Weasley Wizard Wheezes might trump the older sons' fine careers. "Percy worked his way up through the Ministry and is still quite young, mind you. He worked directly with Cornelius Fudge, and is still working with the Minister's office. A fine example of where hard work and patriotic duty can lead. Bill is a curse breaker for Gringotts, and may have been a bit wild when he worked for them in Egypt, but now works for the London branch besides settling down to marry the Beauxbatons Triwizard Champion."
Harry was keeping in mind that he was not strictly committing that the Weasleys would help him with Severus, especially since he had not talked to them regarding his sudden impulse to adopt Snape. Ron had tried to tell him that the Severus at the orphanage could not possibly be the one he was looking for since the Ministry could not find him.
The headmistress nodded briefly in response.
When the pause in the conversation grew awkwardly long, Harry asked, "Well?"
"Perhaps you should take some time to think this over, Mr. Potter. Impulsive adoptions are not recommended."
"No, I mean, yes, it is sudden, but Severus is definitely the one I have in mind."
She gave a slight negative shake with her head and commented, "Don't get your hopes up, Mr. Potter. Severus is a bit of an odd duck. There are other boys around that age that would be happy for the opportunity you are offering."
"No, I'm pretty sure. Can I speak to him now?"
"Now? It's lunch. That boy turns surly when his playtime is interrupted for an unscheduled reason. I can get the lot of them to stop and go outside since that's part of the day's schedule, even on the weekends."
"Don't they get to play outside too?"
"They do, but I split the ones that play the history game up to talk to other children. They've made their game increasingly complex as the months have gone by, but they always let someone new play, so they aren't snubbing anyone."
"History game?"
"They're bored and got around to using their imaginations. For the first couple weeks, they played a precursor to this game with a Robin Hood setting, and that's how this game evolved as an improved version. There were students as Robin Hood and all his men, and Maid Marian, then a couple who volunteered to be Prince John and the Sheriff. With the Prince and Sheriff not having anything else to do in the game than to lay waste to Sherwood Forest, the bulk of the players were not enjoying it so much because they could not interact for fun things, and they came to understand that they could not invite their friends as the Prince and Sheriff to join them for a victory feast so that's where the idea came up to play two different characters, one good and the other either neutral or somewhat of a bad guy, so they could still have friendship while having some strategy and conflict activities. They've also learned that if they want to overcome a large obstacle, they need to form alliances."
"Conflict?"
"Yes, the Norse, Picts, Saxons, Celts, Gauls and Romans all love invading Britain or causing some sort of mischief. There is also a Morgaine working against King Arthur and his knights. As I said, their imaginations have made it all quite complex. However, they all research their parts and do put effort into acting appropriately and also schooling their fellow players on their historical significance and what motivates them. On rare occasion, I am Merlin. Any of the staff can be the Lady of the Lake."
"You play?"
"Not really, they do go for a bit of historical accuracy, so it's all right for Merlin to disappear for long periods of time. There are also a group of older children who supervise and render a judgment when there is a dispute or needs to blindly judge the outcome of a conflict. They also felt to balance the game if someone consistently played Merlin, that someone else would need to play an equally powerful character to oppose him. Besides, Merlin is boring."
"Boring?"
"Well yes. If someone was Merlin, they would not have to play anything except to say that they came along and fixed something with magic."
"So they are interested in keeping everything in balance?"
"It's difficult to explain. They play by a sort of consensus, but I've observed a definite ability for them to assume their own roles, without having someone tell them what to do."
"But you said they have conflicts."
"They play it as a continuing story so conflict makes the plot interesting. The major plot elements are announced in advance so players have the option of involving themselves."
"When do they play? At lunch every day?"
"It depends. They do some playing at lunch and during their evening free time, but try to plan an event to occur on a weekend so there's notice to those that might want to be involved or watch."
"So they'll be playing at lunch today?"
"Not much. There is a small group that usually plays every day, but they are polite enough to not pick on someone not present. Participation is optional, and they don't seem to mind if other players want to eat with siblings or different friends."
"Can I watch?"
"If you want to eat with the children, they have empty seats for lunch at the 'war table'. When they play in the evening or plan something like a weekend invasion, they bring more tables and chairs over so anyone that wants to play or watch is welcome."
"They plan for an invasion?"
"Yes, so if someone wants to just happen to have their character in the area when the Norse or Gauls land, that gives them days to announce their intentions to travel or quest in the area."
"What do they do to stop Vikings?"
"That all depends. Sir Galahad and St. Patrick approached them under a white flag and attempted to convince them to leave a monastery in peace and tried to convert them to Christianity last time."
"Really?"
"The Norse insulted the two, Sir Galahad challenged their leader to a duel with the condition that if the Viking lost, he and all his men would be promptly baptized and take the word of God back to their people. The duel was refused and they were threatened. Sir Galahad declared these Norse without honor, defended himself and the saint, and called for his friends that were watching to aid him. That led to Bors, Kay and Palamedes riding down from their vantage point on a hill and between the four knights, the monastery was saved. It sounds a lot more thrilling than it was. That brief summary was actually their entire weekend or two afternoons of playing, followed by an evening at Camelot to inform King Arthur of their encounter."
"Do they have enough time for their studies?"
"Actually, they do. It's surprising how much time a typical child does not spend studying, once you factor in all their other activities. I do send them outside for breaks when they are in the midst of this, and split them up so I don't have the children that play Galahad, Kay, Palamedes and Bors standing around talking over at four squares together."
Harry laughed at the thought of King Arthur's knights playing children's games.
"Lunch is about to begin. Severus usually sits at the 'war table'."
"Why is it called the war table?"
With a rueful shake of her head, the headmistress replied, "All their campaign maps. They've taken over that corner of the room with their props also. Yes, props. They even do a bit of dress-up so they can start each sentence without the name of their character."
The headmistress led Harry downstairs to a room that may have been a ballroom previously because of the high ceiling. If it was an enormous dining room, the ceiling did not have to be that high. There was a railed gallery overhead, about half way up the wall, with doors that opened presumably to the floor above this one.
There was more artwork displayed on the walls, and Christmas decorations were added. There was a montage of about a hundred snowflakes cut out of white paper.
"We'll have more holiday art projects as we get closer to the 25th," the headmistress mentioned. "I'm trying to avoid weeks of Christmas anticipation. Come along, we're allowed to cut the line."
"All right," Harry replied, looking at the far corner, where tables were pushed together to form a big rectangle of seating. Even with his glasses, he guessed he was looking at maps on the walls, along with a lot of other things. The only thing he could make out were banners hung on the base of the gallery. Some had huge lettering so Harry could see ones that proclaimed 'Free Boudica' and 'Camelot is Everywhere', another instructed 'Obey the Emperor', with an opposing one next to it that suggested 'Sack and Burn Rome'.
Besides a couple taller students instructing younger ones to stay in line, there were house elves serving food and drinks.
"You have house elves?"
"Yes, some of our children inherited them. They keep things tidy and running smoothly, which we wouldn't be able to do if we had the children performing all the chores to keep the place neat. The students do minor things like making their beds, keeping their things tidy, sweeping, cleaning black boards and wiping down desks."
What did the Ministry pay for here? The food, robes and salaries for staff, or did Malfoy pay for that too?
Harry was happy he was given a choice between different foods, and none of it looked bad or unidentifiable. Much better than his grammar school lunch, which Harry had actually enjoyed because he was hungry when he lived with the Dursleys. That was back when he thought anything tasted better with a bit of catsup.
The headmistress also got a tray, a plateful of lunch and a beverage and led the way out of the kitchen area. Harry saw that the looks and pointing were at him, rather than her. He saw some teachers at a small table of their own so perhaps the staff also ate meals with the students, even if they were not at a head table like at Hogwarts.
Only the youngest children had teens standing behind them, and Harry observed one elbow in to cut up a pork chop.
Some children had already made it to the table they were headed for, and the headmistress suggested, "If we stay at this end, they won't have to lean forward to talk around us. Nina is at the other end, and they all need to address matters to her, besides Sophie next to her taking notes."
Harry took note of the two older girls that looked about second year and fifth year in age. Other children had put their trays down, but were searching through some of the large bureaus that looked out of place in a cafeteria setting. There was a map of the British Isles, Europe and then one of the entire world.
There were also a lot of things on the wall that Harry supposed were for the individual characters. He squinted to make out everything that was listed underneath 'Roman Emperor Severus ~ Evinco orbis terrarum'.
1. Continue expanding the Roman Empire and maintain a strong, unstoppable army
2. Strengthen the current Roman Empire through building roads and public works such as aqueducts, bringing education to those capable of understanding it, rewarding retired soldiers with farms throughout the empire (including Brittania),
3. Be nice to the Egyptians. They have knowledge that We need.
4. Be nice to the Greeks. They have knowledge the We need.
5. Spy on the Persian Empire.
6. Find the source of the Nile
7. Investigate rumors about the lost civilization of Atlantis
8. Have fun! We are Emperor of the greatest empire of all time and We expect spectacular entertainments.
"What's with the lists?"
"That is in case someone is unavailable, and also to reiterate things they don't feel like repeating every time they get together."
"Severus is the emperor who wants obedience?" Harry asked and pointed up at the banner.
"Yes, but no one does."
Harry saw Severus now that he was not one of the students bending over. He brought an armful of things to a chair in the middle of the table with a tray already placed on it, and put them on the floor. Ignoring him, Severus asked his question of the two older girls, "Knights first or the other way around?"
"I don't think Arthur has any plans right now, so you might as well be Severus first."
"All right," he responded and bent down to retrieve a long length of deep purple cloth, darker than the Ministry robes they wore. He draped it over his chair and then sat upon it.
Harry smirked as Severus put a make-believe helmet on his head that had the bottom of a red bristled broom facing upwards stuck to the top of it.
Others were putting on crowns, cloaks, and headbands before they sat.
Severus saw that Potter was over here with the headmistress. What was going on now? Their silly game did have enough education involved with it, and no one ever got hurt, except that sometimes their feelings were bruised when they felt things should have gone their way. Severus simply played along and sort of liked there was no winners or losers, since even when something went badly for one person, they could try a new idea the following week.
What did Potter expect from him? To sit by himself with only a potion book for company?
The headmistress explained, "Mr. Potter heard about your historical game and wanted to see it."
Harry noticed that Snape was not the only one making a face at him. He was not here to make fun of them.
Nina took a sip out of her glass, before she said, "All right then. Let's begin," she slowly moved her finger down the children seated opposite Severus till one of the girls nodded, "with Morgaine."
The girl reminded Harry of Millicent Bullstrode in looks and build, but not as beefy, if that was appropriate word for a girl.
She looked across the table and asked, "Severus, have you received and considered my proposal?"
When he did not answer immediately, she added, "Yo Emperor."
Severus put up a finger to get a moment, finished chewing and took a drink of milk.
"Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't know I'd be called on. With regards to the proposed alliance with Morgaine against her brother, King Arthur, We did receive your missive. We choose not to answer it since your tribute was paltry, and We see no reason to involve Ourselves in a dispute between siblings. The Roman Empire already has an agreement with King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot."
"You have broken truces and agreements before," was Morgaine's reply.
"A truce is in effect until We say it is not, madam. My word is law."
Morgaine laughed and conceded, "All right."
Nina interjected, "Do you have anything else, Severus?"
"Me? The emperor is bored, I think. Anything out of Boudica to relieve my dull day?"
"You wish," hissed a girl that may be old enough to be a first year this September. "You'll regret the day you allowed me to live, you insipid buggerer of farm animals."
"I guess not," Severus replied.
"I did offer to seduce you," Boudica answered in a pleasant voice.
"No way," Severus replied. "Why would I let you anywhere near my person? You are a filthy barbarian in addition to being a crazed, middle-aged, menopausal woman. If you let me kill you off, you could be Cleopatra. I might let her near me."
"Don't get your hopes up, toga boy."
Nina's finger extended again and continued, when it passed the end of the table, Harry asked, "Can I play too?"
"As …?" Nina asked.
"Uh, do you have a Godric Gryffindor?"
Harry guessed that was not a good idea since every one of them made a face.
Snape stuck his fist out in front of him, extended his thumb and then turned it downwards.
The headmistress laughed, "Mr. Potter said nothing about fighting in the Coliseum."