Demands

Sev was having lunch with his new family at the Sly table.

Ugh… ten past one. Dessert has just appeared, we are running late, and many people from the other tables have left the Great Hall and it is a risk that they see us going to Albus's office. Also, we must prevent the Slys from following us.

"Can you do without dessert?" he asked his new family. "It's to leave before they follow us again. I have an appointment with Dumbledore."

"Of course, of course. Let's go," answered Jack.

"The little ones have to come too."

"Okay, let them form in the center of the six."

"Perfect. Let's go there."

The eight of them got up and walked around both sides of the Sly table. When they reached the back they formed to leave the Great Hall. The whole table noticed the movement but no one followed them, they obeyed their new Head. They already knew where he was going, the Headmaster had left the Great Hall fifteen minutes ago.

They went up the stairs passing some Gryff and Rave students who had already passed by their houses and were probably going to the Library to study. But none of them are malefics.

Those who had participated in the training greeted them with satisfied thought, Now yes, I am famous at school and they feel free to associate with me. It doesn't matter that people find out that I'm in contact with Albus either, and the whole school must smell it if he sent the elves to bring us food this morning. A subtle way of showing that we are under his protection.

So when they reached the third floor they headed down the deserted corridor to the gargoyle, not caring if anyone saw them. Arriving in front of it Sev explained to everyone, "Ariel and Jack must go up with me, surely they will go down in a few minutes, and I will do it soon after."

"So little time?" Deborah asked.

"Five hours. Time Turner."

"Of course…"

"But for you it will be a quarter of an hour at most," he said. "So be patient and thank you very much."

"Of course Prince. Whatever is needed."

They turned and the three approached the gargoyle. He uttered out loud, "Bitter Orange Marmalade."

As it began to move, Jack looked at him in surprise. Sev whispered to him, "The only 'sweet' I like. He read me in the Infirmary to make a wink at me."

"He's funny."

"Don't trust him one bit. He's been doing it all the time with the Gryffs this morning, Lily told me. Hide everything, especially you know who."

"Of course, I always do," his friend replied.

"Well, now even more. Let him find a wall if he tries to penetrate anything in your mind. That he finds out with whom he is seeing his face, that we are not amateurs."

"Okay, Prince."

The three of them climbed the first step and let the staircase lead them to the office door. It was open and they passed. The Headmaster was waiting for them sitting in an armchair. (He's tired, poor man.)

Immediately he got up. "Good afternoon, boys. How are you?"

"Very well, Professor," answered Jack.

"Wonderful, Albus," Sev replied.

"I congratulate you for what you have done today, a true feat," Dumbledore continued. "Only students linked to the opposite side in third year or younger who did not have older brothers in school have remained in Slytherin. They do not pose any danger, you are safe at home. Celebrate it in style tonight."

(With us he has no longer abbreviated the name of the House, he has already realized that we are occluding everything.)

"Thank you Albus. We will do it," Sev replied.

"Perhaps your Head of House will also stop by there."

(Well, after what I'm going to tell you about him, you're going to have to discourage him. I don't even want to see Slughorn at home tonight, I don't want him to make me bitter,) Sev thought.

"I have summoned the three of you because this morning Miss Lily Evans told me that you know Mr. Prince's address," continued the Headmaster. "Is that so?"

"Yes, Professor," answered Jack.

(Ugh… he also told the little one and we didn't check him with Lauren. Ugh… But I'm sure Jack asked him to occlude it when I told him.)

"Very well, you two come to this small room," asked Dumbledore. "Prince, sit down if you feel like it, it will only be a moment."

Sev sat in the chair. I'm going to take the opportunity to read the mediwizard's letter, so I can also talk to Albus about it. He took out the envelope and the letter. It said:

Dear Mr. Snape,

I am contacting you because my colleague Madam Poppy Pomfrey has informed me of the amazing discovery you have made.

I am very interested in meeting you and talking about it in person, with a view to developing it, perhaps this summer, if you have time and your obligations allow it.

I suggest that you talk to your Head of House or the Headmaster of the School so that they can help you go to St. Mungo's by Floo and be able to have an interview with me as soon as possible, to agree on the details of your collaboration if you are willing to do so, because I need time to carry out all the necessary paperwork.

I am giving you the address of my office in St. Mungo's so that you can contact me directly, if you decide to do so, as soon as possible. Send me the owl at night, so that I receive it any weekday in the morning.

With my sincerest appreciation:

Damocles Belby

And then came his address.

Sev thought, Wooow… I have a job in the summer and not only that. From what Poppy told me, this mediwizard must be an expert in Potions and have access to rare ingredients, like the ones we'll probably need to perform the Union of Souls. Two birds with one stone.

And I can also give Albus the letter to read when the subject comes up, because I'm not counting on Slughorn at all. He put the letter back. The others came out after five minutes.

"Very well, you two can go," said Dumbledore. "Wait for Prince a few minutes."

"Thank you, Albus," Jack replied.

(Wow, he has already asked him to call him by his first name as well. Very good.)

"See you in a few minutes, Prince," said his friend.

"See you in five hours, Jack," Sev replied.

They laughed, and Jack and the little one left the office.

"Wow, Prince," Albus told him, "you've already guessed everything."

"Of course, Albus, it was obvious that we were not going to talk for fifteen minutes. And we have a lot, a lot to talk about, very much. I don't think the five hours will be enough."

"Well, in that case we will have to continue another day."

"Let's go with the Time Turner," Sev said getting up. "Do we have to go to another room?"

"No, we'll talk here. I've already been in another room with the Gryffs in the morning."

(With me he does abbreviate the Houses, of course, he has already done it before, he would show his feather duster. It is being seen anyway.')

"Twenty-five minutes past one. Do you have the same time?" asked the Headmaster.

"I do."

"Very good. We'll go back to eight twenty-five."

(Reading Lauren's letter.)

"We'll be able to look out the window at the training," Albus said.

"Brilliant!" Sev replied.

"Let's go there."

Sev moved closer to him and Albus slipped the chain around their necks. He turned the mechanism five turns and again withdrew it. "That's it. In a while you will see me leave the bedroom and swarm around the office. Let's sit down."

They did it on both sides of the desk.

"Never mind, Albus, it's going to be funny," Sev replied. "First of all I am going to offer you a tonic."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, a potion that removes fatigue. It's Medimagic, I discovered it at Christmas."

"Wow… well, I could use it."

Sev mentally Summoned a dispenser on the table.

"Wow, NEWT level also in Transfiguration," the Headmaster commented.

"I also got it at Christmas, it was very fruitful to stay in the castle. I need to know your weight," Sev said taking out the vial of the Stimulan one.

"About 165 pounds."

"For five hours?"

"I don't think I should rest today," said the old man.

"Do it, Albus. Use the Time Turner again or take advantage of the afternoon. Lily will be home and I'll take a nap too, we'll be fine. Maybe at night you'll have to deal with the Daily Prophet. I will give you another potion with which you will fall asleep instantly and each hour of sleep will be worth three."

"And so? I never heard of it," deeply amazed.

"We'll talk about it later, there are more urgent issues. Five hours then?" asked Sev.

"Yes, thanks."

Sev roughly calculated the dose for Albus and poured it into the dispenser. The old man took it.

"Very good. As if I had just woken up," Dumbledore commented.

"I use them combined when I need to take advantage of the night."

(Let him learn about all the effort we have made, but making him believe that most of the things I have done on my own.)

"Now I understand how you have been able to work so much in such a short time," said Albus.

(Of course.)

"Well, yes, let's get to the topic," Sev began. "I wanted to memorize the list of things we should talk about, but since I spent the day in the Infirmary and I didn't have it with me, I couldn't do it, but I left it well warded at home."

He took the folded scrolls out of his pocket. He took the top one, put it on the table, and touched it with his wand, uttering. "Issues to discuss with Dumbledore."

"The same spell that Mr. Lupin uses for the Map," the Headmaster commented.

"Yeah. He gave us the book in which he found it, it is in the Library."

Sev did the same with the second scroll. "Possible questions from Dumbledore. I'm sorry, I didn't think I should use the spell in front of you."

"It's okay, it seems normal to me. But I won't ask you anything you don't want to tell me. You have shown much more cunning, initiative and courage in a few months than I have in my entire life."

(Okay, so I'm keeping it for now, so he won't read it on the table.) Sev refolded that scroll and put it back in his pocket. "Don't underestimate yourself, Albus, you've done a lot of things right."

Sev Summoned quill and inkwell. "I have two lists, Demands and Information. Which do you want to start with?"

"Demands, of course."

"Well, when I deem it appropriate, I'll go to Information, it's very important. The first demand we can cross it out, it was about providing security for me and Stevens in the bedroom, but it is no longer necessary, we are left alone."

"Know that this was already prepared," said the Headmaster. "There is a hidden room in your bedroom that is opened by a ward spell, not as secure as a Fidelius, but similar. I installed it since you started training with them."

Sev thought, (Wow… a hidden space to be with Lauren. I have to find out if it shows up on the map, probably not, because the castle maps he has are fixed. Lily told me he got them out of a folder.) "Wow, Albus, thank you very much. So you do have been caring."

"Yes, but late and badly. I should have contacted you at Christmas, when it was safe. You already gave clear signals by then and you would not have needed to risk yourself in this way. I have done everything wrong."

(Well, luckily you didn't, otherwise you would have read me, discovered Lauren soon after, and we would never have found out about the Ancient Magics. We've beaten you by the hand, Albus.) "Well, now it's done. If it hadn't been like this, we wouldn't have removed Sly's cancer. By the way, since the room is ready, can we still use it?"

"Yes of course," Dumbledore replied.

(Take that! When the subject of the map comes up, I'll ask him if it appears on it.)

"The second demand was security for Lily," Sev continued. "I can also cross it out, you are already providing it."

(The Time-Turner. Although I already know that he is going to give it to me, I'll ask him anyway,) Sev thought. "The third is a Time Turner for me."

"Of course, Prince, the one we have used is for you, and the Gryffs have one too."

"Thank you very much, Albus, I suppose it will not have been easy for you to get them in the middle of the term."

"You're right."

"Do you see how you have done many things and you have cared? I promise you that it will be the best used Time Turner in history, count on it."

"I do not doubt it," Dumbledore replied.

"How wonderful to deal with you, I did not expect it like this at all. Next demand. Dispose of the Room of Requirement for training."

"I have arranged another space in the castle for it. We can't risk word getting out and anyone using it."

"Albus, you have done many things," Sev appraised him. "Don't worry about that, only seven very reliable people know that it is the Room of Requirement, the others have only entered it as a Training Room, they do not know how it works or that they can demand other things. And when they get to know the new space, they will understand the change, because the one that appeared was for about fifty people, we cannot fit the more than seventy that we are."

"Perfect Prince. The one I have prepared is for one hundred, and we can always expand it if necessary."

"Wow, Albus... You think big."

"Of course, people are very worried about the imminent war, and we must prepare ourselves since the Ministry hardly does anything."

"I see we are of the same opinion. We are coordinating perfectly, without needing to have ever spoken. You are already part of the great team that we are. Well, since there's no problem with the demands, I'm going to continue with them and so we can get this out of the way and leave time for the really serious topics."

"Sure, keep going, " Dumbledore encouraged him.

"Creation for the next year of a Duel Chair in charge of a good Auror."

"Of course... how didn't I think about it before?"

(The curse of the Defense Chair, he knows it,) Sev thought.

"I'll have to fight it with the Ministry, but with the war brewing it'll be easier for me to do it," Albus added.

(Am I going all out?) "And in the future, when the three years have passed since I graduated, I would like the position for myself, if possible without having to go through the Auror Academy. I'm telling you now so you can think about it calmly."

"Of course I will, Prince. We will continue talking about it."

(Take that! My dream. The one about the Ancestral Magics I skip for the moment, when we talk about the serious, and also the teaching of all his knowledge.)

"And related to that, being able to take the Defense NEWT even if I don't get the Outstanding in Transfiguration," Sev continued.

"Well, please… If you have a NEWT level."

"Yeah, but I'm not as good at Transforming as Summoning." (Only natural items, because of the Druid Magic.) "It is the subject that I have taken the worst, and I have fallen behind again with all the mess."

"Have you ever come down from Exceeds Expectations?" the Headmaster asked.

"I haven't."

"And do you trust to reach it this year?"

"I do," Sev replied.

"Then there won't be any problem, I'll talk to Professor McGonagall, you'll improve during the NEWT. Ask her for help, she is a very good teacher."

"Yes, I've noticed lately. If I had done it from the beginning, I would have always handled the subject well. Thank you, Albus. And while we're on the subject of Professor McGonagall, one more thing. Lily and I want to become registered Animagi to accompany Lupin in his crisis so that he doesn't need to be helped by the other three." (Although I already know that it is, I am going to ask him.) "Can we register as soon as we are of legal age or do we have to wait to graduate?"

"No. It's enough with being seventeen, as to Apparate."

(Although I already know that he himself can teach us, I'm going to propose that McGonagall do it to relieve him of all the work that he will have to do teaching us Ancient Magic,) Sev thought. "Perfect. Then we'll need help from Professor McGonagall for that too. It's a personal favor, Remus is my best friend since long before I considered him that way and I want to repay him in some way for the great favor he's doing us."

"What a beautiful friendship you have, you don't know how I envy you."

(Poor man, he is alone, has been alone for more than ninety years. Lily has told me that he has never put the Magic of Love into practice despite knowing it by heart. What would his life be like as a young man, at the beginning of the century? Hopefully we'll gain enough confidence that one day he'll tell me, because it's clear he needs a confidante. I'm going to start to subtly encourage him.) "Now you are our friend too, Albus."

"Thank you, Prince, for considering it so. If Professor McGonagall can't do it, I'll do it myself, I instructed her."

(I already knew.)

"Lily's Patronus is a lioness. What's yours?" asked the Headmaster.

"The same, they are twins."

"Wow, how interesting. Also those of Cecile and Remus. I had never seen it until today."

(And so are Lauren's and Jack's. Like I said, it looks like a plague. But they all are for different reasons.) Sev thought. "Yes, it is true that it is very rare. I guess Cecile's is a wolf because of her identification with Remus, but Lily's and mine are twins for a different reason. We initially shared the same happy memory, from when we were children and we dreamed of coming to Hogwarts to study together." (Starting with the confidences.)

"And the Hat separated you into enemy Houses."

"That is."

"The House system should be abolished," said the Headmaster.

"That's what I think."

"But they are a thousand years of tradition."

"Muggles evolve, I don't see why wizards don't," Sev opined.

"You're absolutely right," he sighed. "Just know that if you become Animagi, it will be easier for you to turn into the animal of your Patronus, and they are very appropriate to control Remus in his crisis."

Sev thought, (Of course. The others are a rat, a stag and a dog, buh… And Cecile's is a wolf, three powerful and ferocious animals, perfect. Although it would be nice if Lily and I were male and female, we will have to study the topic.) "Then when you think it convenient we'll begin. We are both turning seventeen in January of next year. We'll use Time Turner and that's it."

"Of course we will. Both Professor McGonagall and I could instruct both of you at the same time."

"Thank you very much, Albus. You'll be doing Remus a great favor."

(And me when I rat on the other three being unregistered Animagi. Ha! Revenge is a dish best served cold.

(The demand for protection against the trio was already offered to me the other day, he is tied hand and foot, so I also cross it out.)

"I have a couple of demands left, but I'll leave them for when we talk about serious issues, since they are related to them."

"All right."