Chapter 137. First Lessons and Conversation with Dumbledore.
The next day began with Transfiguration. The first half of the lesson was devoted to setting out the year's syllabus and explaining what everyone could expect from their N.E.W.T.s. The second half was a standard lecture covering Animagi and Metamorphmagi, the differences between Polymorphism and Animorphism. Severus found very little of it new. When he had been wading through books on Maledictuses, these terms had come up in almost everything he read. He had absorbed enough to understand that none of it could help Nagini. He had considered trying to graft a Metamorphmagus gift onto her and then enhance it so she could shift into any form at will. It hadn't worked. The curse was simply too strong. He had been forced to keep looking for plants and persist with his own method.
Divination came next, taught by the elderly woman he already knew. This time, however, she kept her sharp tongue firmly to herself. Apparently she had decided that if she spouted any more nonsense at him, she would find herself back in St. Mungo's. His reputation had long since preceded him. She didn't so much as glance his way, praying quietly that he wouldn't bring up the prediction she had made last year.
And with that, Severus's official school day was done. There were additional classes through the evening, but none were compulsory. Nor was the mountain of homework: four ten-page essays requiring a complete analysis of the terms covered in Transfiguration, all due by Friday. After an assignment like that, most students had no time to breathe. Severus finished it in fifteen minutes. The Grimoire helped enormously; most of the time was simply spent copying what Tom had already written, and even that he delegated to a charm.
He hadn't grown lazy. He had far more important things to do. First, a visit to Slughorn, and then to the school Healer, where he stayed until dinner. She was eager to find out whether he had worked through all the books she had sent him for the holidays.
The questioning was lengthy, but over tea and biscuits the next five-odd hours passed without him noticing. Watching her expression grow steadily more astonished with each correct answer was quietly satisfying. He did get a few things deliberately wrong, of course. He didn't want to crush her entirely. If he had let slip that it had taken him a single week to get through all twenty-odd volumes, she might well have had a heart attack on the spot.
After dinner, Severus paid Myrtle a visit. They hadn't spoken in a long time, swamped as he had been, and he spent the remaining hours before lights-out in the ghost's company, telling her how much the outside world had changed in the thirty-odd years since her death.
He was usually tactful in moments like this, but she had asked him directly, so he told her honestly about both the magical and Muggle worlds. She asked a great many questions, and he answered all of them. And on that note, his first day of the new school year came to an end.
Over the following week, Severus decided to keep his head down and move quietly. That proved difficult. After Defense Against the Dark Arts, every student in the castle seemed to be staring at him and pointing, yet no one dared approach. His personal guard, as they called themselves, a cluster of half-bloods from his own year, kept a close watch and allowed only Regulus and the prefect to approach him. It was complete madness. By the end of the week, things had calmed down somewhat, but he could no longer search for the Founders' legacy during the day. He found himself forced to work on the Cloning Potion instead.
Unable to move freely through the castle, he turned his attention to a new objective: the Forbidden Forest, which ran along the school's edge. He had never paid it much attention before. According to every book, the Acromantulas were at the top of the food chain there, enormous venomous spiders that had built a colony deep in the trees. After the jungle, that struck him as laughably naive.
The wizards of this world, out of sheer ignorance, were incapable of recognizing what was really there. He wanted to walk through it himself, to study it, to collect spider venom and unicorn blood, though those were secondary goals.
Beyond that, he was after specific ingredients he had read about in one of the books discovered in Helga Hufflepuff's office. Among them was the White Lotus, which grew deep in the heart of the forest. It was a component of the Elixir of Life, the version that used the Heart of the Ent King. He didn't consider Flamel's method, the Philosopher's Stone, to be particularly elegant, though he respected the alchemist for having kept himself alive for over six centuries in such an underdeveloped magical world. The same applied to Herpo the Foul, who had devised Horcruxes. Not true immortality, but a workable way of extending one's life, assuming one didn't mind being permanently capped at the peak of Magister rank.
As for Voldemort himself, the so-called greatest Dark wizard of the age, Severus felt nothing but contempt, and not because of his fear of death or his appearance. It was the stupidity, the pride. Everything the man had was borrowed from his predecessors. His only genuine original contribution was a spell for flight, and even that had limited range. And then there were the Horcruxes: the book stated plainly that creating more than two would fracture the mind. In his terror of death, he had ignored that and made five. He had paid for it with his sanity and his face. There was nothing deserving respect. He hadn't earned the title.
The forest also housed centaurs, strange creatures with horse bodies and human torsos where a horse's head would normally be. The moment Severus learned they were diviners who read the stars, all curiosity evaporated. They might be physically powerful and skilled with a bow, but he had no interest. He'd had quite enough fortune-telling, especially after the old woman who had predicted he'd be impotent by fifty. That had destroyed any trust he might have placed in the diviners of this world.
He spent a week gathering information on every type of magical creature in the forest and mapping any strange anomalies. Then he began preparing for the expedition. The potion was finally ready, but he didn't want to attract Dumbledore's attention. The Headmaster might work out that the person wandering the forest wasn't really him. He settled on Thursday evening. On Friday there was only one lesson, and the Headmaster was leaving for the Ministry first thing in the morning. Nelly had learned that from the house-elf who cleaned the old man's office.
Toward the end of the second week, just as Severus was preparing to leave the castle, a knock came at his door. It wasn't unexpected. His rat locator had already told him that a certain elderly wizard was heading in the direction of the Slytherin common room.
"Mr. Severus. Am I disturbing you?"
"Not at all, Headmaster. Come in." Severus put the right note of mild surprise into his voice. As Dumbledore entered, he found the young man stretched out on his bed with a book, Nagini coiled on his chest and apparently asleep. "Forgive me for not getting up, but..." He glanced at the snake with a slightly embarrassed expression and left the rest unspoken.
Not at all. I won't be long." Dumbledore smiled pleasantly, studying the snake with genuine interest. She had changed considerably over the holidays and was now magically several times stronger than before. Remarkable.
"This happened abroad, while I was with my teacher. After examining her, he concluded that the curse is still active, but the rate of progression has slowed tenfold because of our bond. We decided she needs to evolve, so that her snake body can properly sustain a human mind. There's no longer any risk of her degrading into an ordinary animal." Severus noticed where the Headmaster's attention had settled and offered the explanation calmly, stroking Nagini's head.
"I see. A wonderful idea." Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Your teacher must be a truly extraordinary wizard to have managed something of that kind. I should very much like to meet him, perhaps over a cup of tea."
"He's already gone back to Brazil. He's currently studying the Magic Jungles there. I couldn't say when he'll next be in the country, but..."
"But?"
He's looking for several specific potion ingredients. I don't think he'd object to meeting you, if you happened to come across one of them." Two parchments appeared in Severus's hand, each depicting one of the two remaining plants. He already had one of them, but getting a potion right on the first attempt was nearly impossible. He needed practice runs, and two complete sets of ingredients would be ideal.
Dumbledore studied the drawings and began stroking his beard with considerably more gravity. Severus knew that habit. It meant he was thinking seriously about something.
"I asked Professor Slughorn, but he didn't recognize them either. That's why my teacher went to Brazil, hoping to find them there," Severus added. Dumbledore gave a slow nod. He knew how extraordinarily rich that country was in potion ingredients. Were it not for the rampant lawlessness, where magical authority counted for next to nothing, it might have become a haven for every potioneer and alchemist in the world.
"They're unfamiliar to me as well." The old man shook his head with what looked like genuine regret. "But I'll make some inquiries among my contacts. Would you mind if I kept these?"
"Not at all. I have more copies. But if I may ask, what brings you here this evening? I have an extra lesson with Professor Slughorn shortly, and I'd rather not be late."
"I'd forgotten how particular he is about punctuality." Dumbledore's smile turned briefly nostalgic, as though something from his own past had surfaced. Then his attention returned. "I wanted to ask about your new potions."
"Of course. You could simply have asked at any time, you know. You've been a great deal of help to me at the Ministry, and I'm already in your debt. The only difficulty is..." Severus hesitated. "They're considerably harder to brew. I won't be able to supply them in the same quantities as the simpler ones. Four a day at most. I'll also give you a thirty percent discount. I understand your pockets aren't bottomless. Standing against the Dark Lord costs time and Galleons in equal measure."
"Thank you, my boy. This will make a real difference." Dumbledore's voice softened. Thirty percent off a potion at one hundred and twenty-five Galleons would save them four thousand five hundred a month, a very substantial sum. As Severus had pointed out, their resources were not unlimited.
"Headmaster, I have a small request of my own."
"Speak."
"I'd like to be excused from Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Both teachers are entirely incompetent in their subjects. I can work through the books on my own. Potions are where my real interest lies, and I'd rather spend that time on them."
Dumbledore considered this for a moment. "Let me propose a compromise. I'll turn a blind eye, as I did last year, on the condition that you come to an agreement with the teachers themselves."
Cunning old man. Severus kept the thought from showing on his face. If they complain, he'll blame the teachers. He'll take some criticism himself, but not much. They won't dare come at me directly, that much is obvious by now, but the teachers will certainly face consequences. What else would you expect from someone who has been swimming in this political pond for decades?
Dumbledore was not merely Headmaster; he was also a member of the Wizengamot, the supreme court, presided over by Barty Crouch Senior. And the old man had been positioning himself for the post of Chief Warlock for years. Any stain on his luminous reputation could derail that ambition. This was his way of keeping his hands clean. Severus was perfectly satisfied with the arrangement.
"Thank you, Headmaster. I'll do exactly that."
"If you need anything else, my door is always open." Dumbledore glanced at the clock on the wall. "I won't keep you any longer."
"Good night, Headmaster."
"Good night, my boy."
The moment the door closed, Nagini raised her head and stared at it.
"Every time I see him, I feel ill."
"Is that why you pretended to be asleep?"
"I didn't want him talking to me." She coiled around his neck as he stood up, her voice thick with distaste. "I simply don't like him."
"We'll talk about him later. Right now, it's time." Severus produced a small vial of grey liquid, uncorked it, and drank it down.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then a white aura began streaming from his body, gathering a meter away, slowly assuming human form.
------------------------------------------
"Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 248
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 173
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 250
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 100
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic"