Few and Far Between
‘Alina is a what?’ Lois stared at Hermione, her dark-brown eyes wide and shocked.
Snape was struck by how much like her daughter Lois looked. Alina seemed to get her looks wholly from her mother…and her talents just as completely from her elusive father.
It had been decided to keep the incident with the bell quiet, but of course Alina’s mother had to be informed.
Right now tea was growing cold in their cups and the warm sunshine of the afternoon was overshadowed by the topic of their conversation. Severus glanced at Hermione, who had unobtrusively taken Lois’ hand in a gesture of physical reassurance. Uncomfortable as this conversation was going to be, he was grateful that his wife was present. Her friendship with Lois would ease the difficult discussion considerably.
‘A Necromancer.
‘A Necromancer is someone who has a special affinity for Death Magic. Necromancers are able to enter the Realm of Death. They have the power to raise beings and persons from the outer precincts of Death or to bind and banish them into Death, usually by wielding seven magical bells. It is an innate magical talent,’ Severus explained. ‘While all wizards can learn certain necromantic spells, only a Necromancer has power in the Realm Death. There are two kinds of Necromancers—those with the power to raise the dead, and those with the power to bind them. At the moment we cannot be sure yet which of these powers Alina will develop. Time will tell.’
Severus noticed the bright gleam in his wife’s eyes that betrayed how questions and connections formed lightning-quick in their brown warmth. The conversation with Lois Petrel would likely not remain the only uncomfortable discussion that day.
He took a deep breath and went on, ‘Alina will need to be taught how to control her powers, and eventually she will need to be registered as a Necromancer with the Ministry of Magic. Lois—I cannot make light of this. Necromancy is an extremely dark and dangerous talent. It might be very helpful if we knew who Alina’s father was.’
‘Oh God,’ Lois whispered. ‘But I can’t tell you. I explained it to Headmistress McGonagall when she first came to visit me. He told me his name was Prosper Reagan. But that was not his real name…’ She went on to outline the circumstances of Alina’s birth. When she had finished, the room was quiet for a long moment.
Snape had expected some sad and sordid story, of course. But this subtle and unconscionable exploitation of a young girl’s infatuation left him unexpectedly sickened.
‘Maybe he modified her memory?’ Hermione suggested.
Severus shook his head. ‘I doubt it. From what Lois describes, he cast spells only on himself, not on her or any other Muggles. Very clever.’ Turning to Lois, he explained, ‘If he had used magic on you directly, our authorities would have been alerted sooner or later. Or at the very least we could use magic on you now to reveal his identity. I would still ask you to let us try. If your memory has been tampered with, we should be able to detect the intrusion and possibly rectify it. But as I said, I doubt it.
‘Now—I have secured Alina’s bell. She will not be able to ring it again, not by choice or by accident. For the time being, I don’t think that the Necromancy will have any impact on her development or her education.’
Severus straightened and his mouth thinned.
‘Unfortunately, there is another unpleasant matter we need to discuss today,’ he announced wearily. ‘I have to inform you that students from her own House decided to “punish†Alina for a trivial negligence in an inappropriate and unsanctioned way, and—as I might add— against my explicit instructions concerning such matters. I regret that something like that could happen in Slytherin House at this point in time and I can assure you that the offenders have been dealt with to the full extent of my disciplinary competences.’
oooOooo
‘…I see,’ Lois said. ‘What has been done?’
‘The Prefects have been stripped of their privileges. For the rest of the term the Prefects of the Houses Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff will take over their duties. Any point the relevant students ever earned for their House has been subtracted, bringing the sum of House points for Slytherin House down to zero for the rest of the term. Ginevra Weasley lost 100 House points and “won†weekly detentions until graduation.’
‘I see,’ Lois repeated.
Hermione suppressed a sigh. Lois would never truly understand. How could she?
Slytherin House was in a state of hysteria, the rest of Hogwarts was little better. No one had ever known Professor Snape to subtract more than a grudging handful of points from his own students—no matter what they did. The episode with the emerald that had been broken to take away a mere ¼ point from Slytherin House was the stuff of legends.
And now the Head of Slytherin House had eliminated any chance of his own House at winning the coveted House Cup?
The shock was so profound that there was almost no gloating directed at the Slytherin misfortune.
‘Is it possible that I talk with Alina alone?’ Lois asked.
Severus nodded curtly. ‘Of course. I will go and get her.’
oooOooo
‘I’m so sorry, Lois.’
Her friend stared at her, the effort it cost her to keep calm visible on her face and in her tense posture.
‘It’s not your fault, Hermione. Or even Severus’ fault. He didn’t create those Slytherin traditions. And I am sure he did his best to curb them. ’There are bullies at every school. Do you think I don’t know that? I’ve been treating the victims of bullies in my therapy sessions for years! And trust me, teachers like Severus, who admit that something went wrong, who don’t just look the other way and pretend that everything is all right, are few and far between.’
oooOooo
« Chapters 61–70 oooOooo Chapters 81–90 »
Oh, Chartres cathedral! What a perfect destination!
I visited there in high school when on the exchange program. It was the first cathedral I ever visited, and I shall never forget the feeling of amazement!
They are working on restoring the windows at the moment. I think they will be done in 2011/2012 … can’t wait to see it again then, all bright like at the time it was built.
I loved your story… so far. But Severus Snape in a church? Oh my, quite OOC, but OK, he needed someone to talk to, so I drop the topic.
BUt this punishment for Alina is rather brutal. And for what? That a half-Keazle cat disappeared for two days? C’mooooon…. And Ginny was standing there and watching? What happened to your characters? They were sooo perfect! Especially Snape, and now this chatedral, or church, or whatever…
Ok, I’ll read on, just wanted to tell my thoughts.
Thank you for spending time with my story. Thank you even more for taking the time to leave a comment! I’m glad you enjoy it so far.
Why shouldn’t Snape visit a church? And where in canon does it say he wouldn’t? 😉
Re: Alina’s punishment – I’d be shocked if you didn’t think it harsh!
However … even at “Muggle” boarding schools traditions of hazing and punishment among students are incredibly cruel and harsh in real life. JKR chose to ignore that part of public school tradition; I decided against that. The shock and revulsion you (hopefully) feel are quite intentional.
Please feel free to offer your thoughts any time, I’m always curious about what my readers think. Even if I don’t agree with them. 😉
Oh, don’t get me wrong! Of course it is not impossible for him to go a place like a church, I just feel like it’s wierd.
And as for Alina, yes, I felt shock. That was oh, ‘harsh’ is not the right word. But the most shocking thing was that Ginny was standing there and watching, without a word.
So I was relieved when she told the whole thing to Hermione.
And that part with McGonagoll, and keep your stupid cup, LOL 😀 Loved that.
That’s fine, really. 🙂 I am trying to portray Severus as a character with unexpected depths, after all.
I have read your story on fanfiction.net a while back but I really like this version better. it gives a lot more… structure? character? feeling? to the story.. I am unable to describe the exact thing.. but still.
Good work all around..
I am thrilled that you’re enjoying the way I present my story here! And what a wonderful compliment that you came back to read it again. w00t
I love Chartres Cathedral. I wrote a paper on it for Art History class and found that the Masons built many esoteric features into it. When I actually was fortunate enough to visit it in person, it had a spiritual effect on me. I visited many other cathedrals in France that trip, and none of them made me feel the way that one did.
I’m so glad Severus took Hermione there. Still not sure why he would, but your Severus seems full of surprises. I’m sure, given time, he will grow to love her as much as she does him. He is well on his way already.
Great story.
Chartres is amazing. 🙂
Re: Severus – in canon he always struck me as a man of many (surprising) secrets. So I enjoyed giving him a few more in my story!
I have never seen the Chatres Cathedral, but I have seen other cathedrals and can imagine the feeling this one can give you. Loved the pictures.
So, Alina is a Necromancer, whatever that is. I hope I don’t need more information than you give within this story. (I don’t know the books you refer there.)
That punishment was really harsh and unusual, but I can see this within the HP universe, even if it was never described. The HP universe has a lot of really cruel customs. I remember how shocked I was at the outcome of the Triwizard tournament. I think this fits with the feeling the House of Slytherin gave me as portrayed in the books.
What is a half kneazel? You just need to know cats to know they can vanish for days without anyone finding them. The castle is big and Crookshanks had years to explore the thing. It seems the students don’t know cats very well 😉 . But I can imagine how desperate poor Alina was when she noticed the cat was missing. From there on everything just spun out of control. I just hope that this incident plus the bell incident didn’t cost Alina her Slytherin friends. She needs friends in school and not just friends in other houses or among the staff.
Necromancers (the manifestation of Sauron in Dol Guldur was called a Necromancer, too) are wizards with a special affinity for the dead, to put it simply. They can talk to the dead or control zombies … depends on the interpretation, really. I was fascinated with the world-building in the “Abhorsen” books, and in conjunction with some HP death magic (like the Veil), it seemed to me an interesting AU angle to explore.
Re: the punishment, yes, yes, yes, exactly! This is one of the scenes that usually leaves readers totally shocked. But based on what I know about “normal” hazing in Muggle British public schools, I think Slytherin must have been ten times worse. And isn’t it how those things usually go? Good intentions all around and suddenly you’re sitting in a handbasket and it’s getting awfully hot and the air smells of sulphur …
Kneazles: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Kneazle
(I think they show that JKR doesn’t really know cats, because they are like that and do all that stuff without any magic, thank you very much. 😉 )
Beautiful. As is the rest of this novel, but this was so unexpected! Looking forward to the whole unchartered territory ahead of our newlyweds.
20 years? It’s high time I saw Chartres again, and took my son (it’s ridiculously near my usual place).
And I’ll go on minding my h’s 😉
Thank you for reading! And oh, Chartres … you’re lucky to live so close. I’ve been wanting to visit again for years … the windows are supposed to be better than ever after the restoration. But unfortunately I live really, really far away. *sigh*
I’m glad you’re enjoying the story! *hearts*