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OccasionalBanshee Captain
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 Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:50 pm
While piling food on his plate, Harry looked around at the gathering students that immediately went to their house table. Christmas had ended and today was the day that everyone came back from their homes. Harry had stayed at Hogwarts as per usual, he didn't mind though. He'd rather be here then at the Dursley's. He expected Ron and 'Mione to be any moment because he saw the twins first. They were as identical as before and just as innocent looking though Harry's emerald gaze caught a smirk within those eyes. What had they planned now?
He looked towards Dumbledore, but didn't turn long enough to catch his eyes.
"Hey Harry! How was Christmas?" Ron plopped down in his seat as Harry's attention was brought back to Gryffindor table. Chatter had picked up as more people walked into the Great Hall.
"Hi Ron, yeah it was fine. Like usual, I guess." Harry shrugged indifferently. He'd gotten a small number of presents and, like usual, he got them from some of the Hogwart's staff, Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Hermione. This year was going okay so far, and there hadn't been even a whisper of Voldemort activity lately. It surprised and frightened him at the same time. Harry talked quietly to his friends while also keeping an eye on the head table for more professor's to arrive from their own homes.
Christmas break had ended, and school was again in session. Again, school was packed full of boisterous students, none of which ever seemed to quiet themselves. Carefree, excited and stressed expressions blurred together, and the crowd was mostly a crowd of colours. Every so often, he would focus on a face, and the identity of the young witch or wizard would become clear, but only if they were a student of interest. As usual, Severus joined the line of teachers at the end of the dining hall, keeping a close eye on the students who were gathering, searching for any signs of trouble makers.
Things were the same as they usually were. Break had been a little… less than relaxing. Actually, calling it a ‘break’ was a bit of stretch, for him. He always stayed behind during the winter break, which mean he still had to deal with students, and he still had to see the face of Harry Potter. Now that school had started, he would only have to deal with it more.
Needless to say, he was not enthused. Then again, he never was too enthused about anything. Perhaps that was why he was so unpopular with his students, not that he particularly cared. His teaching methods were effective, and that was all that mattered. For now, the only consequence he was faced with was having to deal with a few disdainful glares, and the latest rumours that were surely being spread about the school, now that all the students were back together again.
Dinner that night wasn't very entertaining as nothing seemed to really happen, it seemed uneventful. Some of the teachers were still just as nasty as when they left for break, and it always seemed that Dumbledore had a tendency to always be looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Though, that could be Harry's imagination. A slap to the back of the head brought him back to his plate, he turned to the person. "What?" He was tired of constantly being interrupted between thoughts.
"You were staring off again and hey, the twins totally are going to make everyone's rest of the year worth while." What had they done this time? There was always prank, a sneaky, devious prank every year played on the school by the Twins. So what had they come up with, it must be good for them not to have been completely shut mouth about it.
Harry shook his head at George and Fred, while they grinned and then resumed a completely innocent persona again. It was like watching two cats playing a game, all of it entertaining. Harry sighed and nodded his head, confirming that he heard his friend. "Hey, are you alright Harry?" Hermione put her hand his forehead, looking to check for a fever though he didn't have one. Harry nodded and told them he was just thinking.
It seemed, at least for tonight that very little was happening. Every teacher had at least one eye on the Weasley twins, half expecting some elaborate prank. The only member of the staff who seemed to not express any concern was Dumbledore himself, who seemed not to care about much. At times, that was rather concerning, but by now everyone recognized the man’s wisdom, and respected him. Severus was no exception. If anything, he respected the man more than anyone else, though he doubted that anyone would have recognized that.
Besides taking part in a few brief conversations, where he mostly picked up on other teacher’s stories, and exchanging a few words with the headmaster, Severus’ night was relatively uneventful. While there was the threat of the usual grand prank the Weasley twins often pulled off was there, it never happened, and by the end of the night, most of the teachers had relaxed more.
The night ended in that sort of mood, where there was still wariness, but also relief. Severus still had his eyes on the crowd, even as it thinned and students began pouring out of the room and continuing on with their evenings. His would consist mostly of him making his rounds and making sure nobody was out of line, and returned to the dorms before curfew.
After returning to the dorms after dinner, the Twins had finally told us what they'd done. "You guys did what?" Harry gasped at even the idea of it. The Weasley's were going to get into so much trouble, not only from their parents, and the headmaster, but really? Snape? Apparently they though it would be hilarious if they'd put a form of de-aging potion on two of the teachers. Snape was included in this equation, but how they did it was a bit tricky. George and Fred had bargained with one of the house elves, the one who serves drinks, and slipped on of their prank potions into the two drinks. The house elf had been specifically told to bring Snape's to him while the other teacher had been absent from tonight's dinner. Lucky him....
Harry sighed, "When is it supposed to take affect? We do have potions class tomorrow." To see Snape as a young adult, a teenager just like them? It was definitely going to be different experience, though Harry had an idea of what he'd look like. Harry had seen a younger Snape through his pensive(sp?) and he had to say that Snape had definitely not been the 'greasy bat' he was now.
"Well, we don't exactly know, but it should take affect when he's asleep tonight." So tomorrow or the next day we'll have a young Snape teaching our classes. Oh, wow is it good to be young and still in Hogwart's to see something like this, and it brought up Harry's mood a good bit. "'Kay, well, I'm going to take a walk. Don't worry, I'm taking the my cloak." 'Be careful's' and 'byes' followed him out through the door, he sported his cloak over his head as he made his way to the West Tower, a place that he could think.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:08 pm
Poor Severus was as oblivious to the twin’s prank as the rest of the teachers that night. Everything seemed oddly calm that night, yet something was out of place. An unfamiliar sense of ill fell over him, and he could hardly say that he was ill, not being sure what exactly was wrong with him that was making him feel ill. There was just something… off about himself. Something that was both unexplainable, and indescribable, but undeniably present. The first thing that crossed his mind that he must have been poisoned, or perhaps hexed, though he quickly ruled out both of those possibilities. He trusted Hogwarts far too much, and he would have noticed if he was hexed. None of the dim-witted students in the school would have been able to manage that. He considered last, that perhaps he was merely just tired. Concluding that this must have been the case, Severus turned in early that night.
The next morning, Severus woke feeling strange. Not particularly ill, but… better than he had in years. He just felt as if he were generally in good health, and a little less tired than usual. There was something strange about that, he felt, and that his clothes felt quite large on him. Severus, however, did not think to look in a mirror for some time. When he finally did, he could only stare, blinking in disbelief, and momentarily feeling that he was asleep. Upon realizing that he was not sleeping, he released a long shout in surprise, and panic.
Within no time, Dumbledore was standing at the door of his private quarters. The man was calm as always, and nearly unreadable, besides the glimmer of amusement in the man’s eyes as he looked Severus up and down. “Has something happened, Severus?” Dumbledore inquired.
“Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed anything!” Severus hissed. “What happened?”
There was a pause between the two, and Severus only managed to look more frustrated as Dumbledore took his time responding. “Ah, yes. I notice you’ve gone through quite the transformation overnight. What a person wouldn’t give to be young again…” The man trailed off thoughtfully. “I wonder how your students will adapt to this.”
“I’m not teaching like this!”
“But Severus, it is your job.”
Severus huffed. “You don’t care that this has happened!”
The man denied nothing. “It could take weeks, even months to determined what caused such a change in your body, and reverse the effects without harming you. I’m afraid we might not find another potion’s teacher to replace you.”
“Give me a week. I’ll figure something out.” Severus pleaded.
“And if not?” Dumbledore inquired.
“I’ll adjust.” The now fourteen(soon to be fifteen year old) decided.
With that, Dumbledore agreed, and the break truly ended.
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OccasionalBanshee Captain
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