More Surprises

Chapter Six – More Surprises

The summer flew by quickly. Severus spent his days reading, skydancing, and getting used to the world he’d joined. Lucius had persuaded Headmaster Riddle to let Severus resit the OWLs that he’d missed, and he’d done well. Not surprisingly, his highest score was Potions, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts. His Charms work, on the other hand, was barely passable. Lucius had simply raised an eyebrow and suggested he work on it. Severus was determined not to let his “cousin” down.

For Severus’ fifteenth birthday, they’d gone to London to see the Windriders perform, and he’d been stunned by the caliber of the show. There was nothing sissyish about these skydancers; most of their stunts were done at high speed and fifty feet up. A fall would almost certainly result in serious injury. They flipped back and forth between brooms as if they were on level ground.

Four days before the fall term started, a large dappled horned owl swooped into the dining room while they were eating breakfast, and dropped a green envelope on Lucius’ plate. He picked it up and glanced at the seal. “From Tom – Headmaster Riddle, that is.” He tossed the owl a piece of bacon. It hooted gratefully and perched on the windowsill.

“What’s the Headmaster want?” Severus looked up. “He’s going to let me go to school isn’t he?”

Lucius slit the envelope with a silver dagger and extracted the letter. “Whatever he wants, he wants an answer since Artemis is waiting.” He read the note swiftly. “He wants to come over and see how you’re doing before term starts. I’ll invite him to come over this afternoon and stay to dinner.”

“Cousin, how do you think I’m doing?”

“Quite well.” He looked the young man up and down. “You’ve put on some weight and some muscle, and you did well on most of your OWLs. As for adjusting to this … timeline… what’s important is how comfortable you feel, not me. For what it’s worth, though, I haven’t heard you slip in the last month.” Lucius scribbled a few lines on a sheet of his own letterhead, sealed it, and handed it to the owl who flapped off.

Severus thought about it. “I’m fine here, but school is going to be different.”

“Yes – but knowing that it’s going to be different is half the battle.” Lucius mopped up the sausage gravy on his plate with a piece of toast. “What do you want to do today? If we leave the skydancing till this afternoon, the Headmaster may join us.”

“The Headmaster skydances?”

Lucius grinned. “He tries, but he’s a Quidditch player. You’ll fly rings around him.”

Well, it wasn’t quite that easy, Severus decided later that afternoon. Tom Riddle was no slouch on a broomstick. He was fast and he was strong, but he lacked the regular practice that Severus and Lucius had been getting. After his fourth or so tumble, he laughingly called a halt.

“Maybe we should start offering skydancing as an alternative to Quidditch,” he said as they headed back to the mansion, brooms over their shoulders. “Perhaps limit it to the fifth-years and up, due to the control it requires.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Lucius replied. “I have enough to do with managing the Dueling club. I am not going to teach skydancing – even as an option.”

“A pity, that.” Tom smiled. “I haven’t had a workout like this in far too long.” He handed over his broom to one of the small army of house elves who descended on them. “As much as I’d like to talk brooms and such, we’ve got some more serious subjects to discuss. All three of us.”

“The library then.” Lucius replied, graciously leading the way. “It’s comfortable and private.”

Severus settled himself in his customary chair, though he didn’t prop his feet up. Lucius sat next to him, and the Headmaster in a third chair brought in by one of the house elves.

“So,” Tom said, when they were all seated, “what have you discovered?”

“We didn’t find out exactly when things changed,” Severus began. “But it looks like it was between sixty and eighty years ago. The furthest back we know things changed is about sixty-five years – my grandparents on my father’s side never had children. They did meet, and they did marry… but my father was never born. So I don’t exist here.” That had actually been a relief; he’d been wondering what would happen if he met himself. “What we don’t know is what exactly kept them from having children.”

“The last major event in the wizarding world was Grindelwald’s defeat in 1945.” Lucius added. “That happened in both timelines. However, in this time, you helped defeat him…”

“But in my old time, Albus Dumbledore is credited with his defeat,” concluded Severus.

Tom’s eyebrows rose. “For all he’s a fool at times, Dumbledore is a powerful wizard, that’s true. He and I worked together with many others to defeat Grindelwald. Do you know if I existed in your timeline, Severus?”

“I’m not sure, sir. I mean, you were way before my time.” He stared up at the ceiling for a moment. “Now that I think about it, I think I’ve seen your name somewhere around Hogwarts – maybe on a plaque or something. But I don’t remember exactly where. So you probably existed, but…”

“The world of a grown man wouldn’t intersect with that of a boy.” Tom nodded. “That was purely a question for my vanity. It’s actually good that you never existed in this time – Professor Flitwick thinks it would be extremely dangerous if you were to meet yourself.”

“You had Filius looking at that time-turner, didn’t you Tom? What did he find out?”

“Oh that was most interesting. Besides the original magic that made it what it was, there were four sets of intertangled spells applied to it.”

Lucius’ head came up sharply. “Four sets? As in…”

“Four different people casting spells on it at the same time, intertangling them. A singularly foolish thing to do.”

“What kind of spells?” Severus asked. “And what are intertangled spells?”

“We can’t tell precisely what kind of spells without using it again – and no one wants to volunteer to be a test subject.” The Headmaster’s voice was dry. “Intertangling occurs when more than one person casts a spell on a magical item at the same time. The innate magic of the item takes a few minutes to absorb each new spell. It has to unravel itself, absorb the new spell, and then knit itself back up again. In this case, there were seven or eight spells cast by four different people in a very short time. Each unraveled the original magic a little more, and interrupted the current healing process. Only the final spell could be identified: Inversus.”

“Which might explain why I went forward in time instead of backwards.” Severus mused aloud.

“I don’t suppose the effect could be duplicated?” Lucius asked.

“Not likely. The four people who cast those spells were quite lucky that they stopped when they did. Time-turners are quite powerful artifacts, and they had almost unraveled the magic in it to the point where it would’ve been unable to reknit.”

“What would’ve happened then?”

“The magic would be released in an explosion and anyone within the area would’ve probably been killed.”

Severus let out a breath in a long whistle. “Let me guess – the more powerful the artifact, the bigger the explosion?”

“Exactly. So the upshot is,” Tom looked directly at Severus, “we don’t think we can send you back.”

“Sir… sirs…” Severus looked back and forth between the Headmaster and his “cousin”, “I wouldn’t want to go back anyway. I’m happy here.”

“Well then…” Lucius said into the silence, “let things continue as they are.”

And so it was decided.

“Cousin Lucius, can I ask you something?” The Headmaster had departed, and they were back in the library as had become their custom in the evening.

“Certainly. I may not answer, but you can always ask.”

“What do you think of Muggleborns?”

“That’s an interesting question.” Lucius replied, setting his book down to give Severus his complete attention. “Muggleborn wizards and witches bring new blood into the wizarding world – and that is both a good and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because it provides challenge. It prevents us from stagnating. But they can be terribly pushy about forcing their ways and their customs on us. They are like rude guests; we can’t throw them out, but we don’t have to associate with them until they learn sense. Usually in two or three generations.”

“So they’re not inferior to wizards?”

“Not at all. They’re just immature. They need to grow into our world. Remember – if you go back far enough in any wizard family, you’ll find at least two Muggle ancestors. What brought this on?”

“There was a boy at my old school who thought they were inferior. He used to call them names.” Severus decided it would not be polite to tell this Lucius it was that Lucius who had said such things.

“Some people do feel that way – rather strongly. But look at Tom Riddle! He’s a half-blood, and he’s one of the most powerful wizards alive today.” He took in Severus’ astonishment. “Oh yes. His father was a Muggle. His mother, though, was a pure descendant of Merlin.”

“But all wizards are descended from Merlin – aren’t they?”

“Yes, but some more closely than others. Didn’t you go over this in History of Magic?”

“Not in a lot of detail. Professor Binns just said that Merlin had five sons and five daughters who became the ancestors of all wizards today.”

“That’s true as far as it goes. But when you look at the entire tree, you’ll see what I mean.” He picked up their much-thumbed copy of Marston’s and unfolded a particular page. “Look here. Each of Merlin’s children married a different person… a Muggle. Of their forty-seven children, eighteen married among themselves while the others married Muggles. The children of those eighteen married among themselves as did their children. Marriages were, and still are, arranged to keep the family lines intact. So, a pure descendant of Merlin is one whose only Muggle ancestors are the spouses of Merlin’s original ten children.”

“And it’s these pure descendants who think that Muggleborns and half-bloods are inferior?”

“Some, yes.” He thought for a moment. “But its families who have had unpleasant experiences with Muggles who are worse. They infect their children with disdain and contempt, and begin a legacy of misunderstandings. Often it takes generations before the rot works itself out. Sometimes it never does.” Lucius looked up at the clock. “It’s getting late. We need to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and get your books and supplies for the year.”

Severus got up early the following morning and dressed with extra care, prompting Romalg to tease him about going on a date. He laughed and threatened to hang the mirror in the back of his closet.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Romalg sounded quite certain.

Still laughing, he seized the heavy frame and lifted the mirror from its brackets, turning it around to face the wall. “Should I make you stand in a corner instead?”

“MMRRPRPHSP!”

As Severus bent to lift the mirror again, his attention was caught by an inscription carved into the back. He grabbed a parchment and quill and copied it:

Eblli wuoys auoyw ohsl liwid na

Emot em anru oyka epsdn ahtro fdna ts.

He set the writing materials down and carefully rehung the mirror. “Did you know there’s an inscription on the back of your frame?”

“Of course I did,” Romalg huffed. “It’s part of me after all.”

Severus patted the mirror’s black walnut frame in a gesture of apology. “What’s it mean?”

“No idea. Try asking Lucius.”

“I will.” A thought struck him. “Romalg, we’re going to Diagon Alley today. Is your sibling mirror still in the junk shop?”

“Buried in the back, stacked against the wall behind portraits and other mirrors.”

“How would I know which one is the right one?”

“Turn it around and say my name. You’ll know.”

Severus nodded, patted the frame again, and went downstairs for breakfast after making sure his Hogwarts letter was safely tucked into a pocket. Lucius wasn’t up yet, but Blitz and Skiffy were more than happy to bring him bacon and eggs and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. He spread out the copy of the inscription and studied it as he ate. Halfway through his second serving, Lucius came in.

“I don’t see how you can rise so early,” the older wizard grumbled as he took his seat and poured himself a generous mug of Darjeeling tea. “It’s not natural.”

“A benefit of youth?” Severus teased. Lucius was not a morning person and made no bones about it.

“Must be. Maybe I’ll have Black create a Youth Elixir for me. On second thought, maybe not. He’d probably poison me.” Lucius looked a little more awake as Blitz brought him a plate of hotcakes and syrup and more tea. “What’s the parchment? Surely you aren’t trying to memorize your book list!”

“I meant to ask you about it.” He passed it across the table. “It’s a copy of an inscription on the back of the mirror in my room.” He explained about the teasing and how he’d turned the mirror around.

Lucius picked it up and studied it. “I never knew Romalg had an inscription! Not a normal language – maybe a code of some kind. I’ve no idea what it means. Perhaps we can look into it over the holidays.” He finished the last of his hotcakes. “We’ve got a lot of shopping to do today. Shall we be off?”

They took the Floo network to The Leaky Cauldron, nodded to Tom, and went through the brick wall in back. Diagon Alley was larger than Severus remembered, with three other streets intersecting the main road, and many more shops. Fortunately, they were all well labeled. Indeed, some shopkeepers seemed to be having a contest to see who could have the largest sign. All the shops he remembered were there – Flourish & Blotts, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Madame Malkin’s… Gringotts had relocated to the far end of the street; now shoppers had to pass virtually every store to get to the bank. A shrewd move, Severus thought. As they walked down the street, he noticed that what had been Eeylops Owl Emporium was now Eeylops Magical Menagerie – apparently the two stores had combined into one larger one in this here-and-now.

The people were much the same. Wizards and witches haggling over prices with shop owners or their assistants. Street-vendors hawking their wares. He smiled slightly and began to enjoy the excursion. Many witches and wizards nodded to Lucius and regarded Severus with outright curiosity. Several times, Lucius stopped and introduced his “cousin”. Each introduction would be followed shortly by a quiet commentary.

“Evan Brown – the younger brother of our tailor. Slytherin, but only because he’s too stupid for Ravenclaw, too cowardly for Gryffindor, and too lazy for Hufflepuff.”

“Fenrir Greyback – one of the most dangerous men in the wizarding world today. Trust him not, if you value your life.” There was cold condemnation in the older man’s voice and Severus decided not to pursue the subject at that time.

“Aberon McGaven – retired Auror. He does spell research for the Ministry now. Some of his papers are absolutely fascinating; the man has a gift for making complex magic seem easy. If you’ve any inclination to become an Auror yourself, you should read them.”

“Rita Skeeter – writes for the Daily Prophet and loves nothing more than scandal. Good ally and dangerous enemy. Best to stay on the good side of the press.”

Lucius stopped for a moment outside Flourish & Blotts. “I saw the Potters go in here a moment ago. Remember, he’s not the boy who made your life miserable – and neither is his son.”

Severus nodded, determined not to embarrass Lucius. He squared his shoulders and entered the shop. It only took him a moment to spot James. The black messy hair and glasses were a giveaway. He was standing with one arm around his wife – a tall slender woman with reddish blonde hair, and the other around a boy about Severus’ age. Severus snorted to himself as he looked at the boy. Same hair, same glasses. He hoped the boy wasn’t in Slytherin and then remembered what Lucius had said.

The Potters were standing directly in front of the shelves that held the Transfiguration text for sixth year Hogwarts students. Severus walked over, intending to simply get the book and leave – and incidentally get a better look at his old nemesis.

“Excuse me,” he said politely, “I need one of these.”

“Are you new to Hogwarts this year?” the younger Potter asked. “I don’t recognize you.”

“Yes.” The boy sounded friendly enough, but Severus was wary.

“Ah, Mr. Potter,” Lucius smoothly cut in. “and the family. Allow me to introduce my cousin Severus. Severus, these are the Potters – James, Petunia, and Harry.”

Petunia? Wasn’t that the name of Lily’s Muggle sister? Wonder what happened there! James and Lily were quite the item… He nodded at all three of them politely. But that was then, this is now. I will not embarrass Lucius by starting a fight. I’ll ask him about it later.

James smiled and handed Severus one of the Transfiguration texts. “Sixth year?”

“So’m I,” Harry said as Severus nodded. “I’m in Gryffindor.”

“I’ll be in Slytherin.”

“I guess we’ll see each other in classes then. Do you play Quidditch at all? Slytherin’s desperate for new Beaters. Both left school last year.”

Whatever reply Severus was going to make was lost as two other boys ran over and tackled Harry almost sending him into the bookshelves. One was tall for his age and lanky, with bright red hair and a generous helping of freckles. The other was short and stocky with thick blonde hair and a round face. They were introduced as Ron Weasley and Remus Pettigrew – Beater and Chaser for Gryffindor respectively.

“These’re my best mates at school,” Harry told Severus. “Ron and I co-captain the Quidditch team, but Remus here actually comes up with a lot of our strategies.”

“Dad got us tickets to the Cannon’s games over Winter break,” Remus said, “front row seats, up high.”

“And ‘us’ means Ron and Harry too,” said a chunky blond man who’d waddled up.

Severus nearly jumped. That voice was far too familiar. He looked up at the face of Peter Pettigrew. He hadn’t changed much in twenty-one years. Taller, of course, and his sandy-blond hair was thinning, but the fat round face was the same. Then he looked at the slender, blonde Mrs. Pettigrew and started again. Merlin’s teeth and toenails! Pettigrew married Narcissa Black?