Chapter Twelve: The Stages of Brewing

Chapter Twelve: The Stages of Brewing

Tuesday, 1 September 1998

Severus looked out over the apparently diligent class of third-year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. They had completed the first assignment he had given them, which was simple ingredient preparation...slicing, chopping, coarse grinding, fine grinding, dilution, solution, and a few other basic methods of preparation...and it was obvious to him that the exercise had not been pointless, though it was equally clear that some students had failed in a few of the most basic tasks. No wonder some of them couldn't brew anything other than inert sludge...when they weren't exploding their cauldrons.

Now they were writing essays on the five preparation methods of their choice, describing each one and detailing the effect that ingredient preparation has upon brewing. Since they were only third-years, he expected little depth in their essays, but he had some hope that a few of them might at least be able to describe five of the methods of ingredient preparation, especially as they had just performed several of them.

Severus took a slow breath in, held it a moment, then released it more slowly. Reading any essays he assigned this week would have to wait until he was recovered. He swallowed, then again inhaled and exhaled slowly. He probably should have tried to eat something before teaching, even before he'd taken the Ferron's Elixir.

He'd eaten very little at the Feast the evening before, and when he'd returned from the Slytherin common room, had only eaten one of Hermione's jam tarts, washing it down with vanilla nutritional potion. Going without breakfast was not usually a problem for him, but that morning, his energy was at low tide, and not eating didn't help that.

Somewhere, the low gong sounded, reverberating through the castle and announcing the end of the class period. With great rustling of parchments and scraping of benches, the students deposited their essays on his desk and filed quickly out of the room. When the last one had gone, Twiskett appeared and closed the door.

Severus stood, decided he felt too shaky, and sat back down again.

"Gather up all of the samples," Severus said. "Keep them separate, and make sure that the students' names are on everything." He'd grade that all later, too.

Severus didn't bother watching Twiskett collect and organise the samples. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. Only one more class, sixth-year NEWTs level, then lunch. Except he couldn't go directly to lunch. That Pomfrey witch had told him to go to the infirmary. Severus swallowed. He hoped she planned on feeding him. He opened his eyes and held out his right hand. He was shaking slightly. Whether it was an effect of the potion or from hunger, it didn't matter. He'd taught when he was in worse condition. Of course, he'd been able to use his magic on those other occasions. His head throbbed.

He looked up. Twiskett was sitting on one of the student tables in the front, his skinny grey legs swinging slightly.

"Anything else, Professor Snape, sir?" Twiskett asked after Severus had gazed at him blankly for several seconds.

Severus blinked. "No, thank you, Twiskett. You have been efficient."

Twiskett smiled. "Professor may be hungry?"

"A little," Severus admitted, "but another class will be here in a few minutes."

Twiskett's brow wrinkled, then he said, "I leave for just a minute, be quick quick. Professor Snape not to do anything. I be back!"

The house-elf snapped his fingers, leaving Severus alone for the first time since Minerva had asked him to take special care of his Professor and not leave him alone. True, Twiskett stayed in the sitting room when Severus was in the bedroom, but he kept the door open, and Severus would not have been surprised if he were to wake in the middle of the night to see Twiskett checking on him, perhaps standing on the edge of his bed and looking down at him with his large brown eyes.

The admonishment not to do anything was unnecessary; not only did Severus feel too enervated to do anything more than sit there, but Twiskett was back within seconds of leaving. The little elf held out a short flask. Nutritional potion.

"Thank you, Twiskett." The house-elf had even chilled it for him just as he liked it, Severus noted as he drank the orange-flavoured potion. That should hold him until he could have lunch.

He shivered slightly. The dungeons were cool, and the temperature of the potion did nothing to warm him up. Just as he was about to ask Twiskett to cast a warming charm on his teaching robe, there was a tentative knock, the door opened, and a head peeked around. On seeing Professor Snape at his desk, Jamie Brett opened the door a little wider and stepped in. Twiskett immediately vanished.

"I'm a little early," Jamie said uneasily.

"Sit." Severus was in no mood to engage anyone in conversation about class times.

The sixth-year Ravenclaw stepped forward and found a seat in the front, but off to one side. He could see well if there were any demonstrations or any formulas on the board, but he wouldn't be directly in front of Snape's desk. Jamie immediately pulled out his Potions book and his kit, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact with his teacher.

The open door was an invitation for the rest of the students to come straggling in. It was a larger sixth-year class than he usually had, but, of those who hadn't simply qualified on the basis of their previous years' grades, all had achieved "Outstandings" on their OWLs, and Severus had no desire to quibble about the legitimacy of their test scores compared with their class performances the previous year. Still, that all of the students who had attained the required grade also wished to continue with Potions at the NEWTs-level was unusual, but not a single student had dropped it from their schedule. Perhaps it was a byproduct of his fame, or infamy, and after the novelty had worn off, the class would shrink.

The last two students through the door were black-haired Kevin Harper, who had grown a few inches over the summer but who was still as skinny as a beanpole, and Alice Fellows, a quiet, slightly plump Hufflepuff with straw-blond hair, very pink cheeks, and eyes as blue as Harper's bright ones. She smiled at Kevin as he took the seat next to her. Wonderful. Young love. Best to separate them, give them other partners, or they'd be melting cauldrons left and right. But not that day. Severus blinked. He'd planned to have this class do some brewing, but watching them for errors would require more attention than he felt he could muster at the moment. All of the classes could do ingredient preparation that day.

He cleared his throat. The room became silent. Good. He hadn't completely lost the ability to command their attention.

"Potions brewing is an exacting art, as you all should know by now, having made it into the NEWTs-level class. Be aware that simply because you are here now does not mean that you will be here at the end of the term. NEWTs-level Potions is challenging, and it carries dangers for any who do not take it seriously. I do not permit such students to remain in the class. If you do not apply yourselves, you will find that you have more free time for other pursuits." Severus paused and looked around the room. There were five Slytherins, four of whom were wearing double-snake rings, gold and silver, the metals of the combatants. He would have to remember to speak with them about treating the other Slytherins with respect, whether they had been with Snape's Slytherins or not. "If you find that you are here in error, or if you are thinking that you would prefer the additional hours of free time, you may leave now. Inform your Head of House that you are dropping the class."

When no one made a move to leave, Severus raised an eyebrow. "Very well. So many serious students. As serious students of the art and science of potions brewing, you are all aware of the importance of paying undistracted attention to your potion at every stage of brewing." He surveyed the class. He blinked. The room seemed hazy. Undistracted attention. He blinked again. The students came back into focus.

Not much more, and he could set them to work and just rest. "Every stage of brewing," he repeated. "What is the first stage of brewing?"

The class was still and silent.

"That was not a rhetorical question," Severus said impatiently.

Jamie Brett raised his hand, as did Letitia Pepper, who was wearing one of the gold and silver rings.

"Mr Brett." Severus nodded at him.

Jamie stood. "Potions brewing begins with the gathering and organising of the ingredients required by the formula. Err, of course, knowing what potion you're going to brew comes before that."

Severus kept his eyes on the student. "And after you have gathered and organised the ingredients?"

Jamie swallowed nervously, but his voice was clear and unwavering. "You make sure you have the proper equipment and environment for brewing the potion."

Severus nodded. "Sit." He looked over at the Slytherin witch. "Miss Pepper, what is the next stage in brewing?"

"Laying everything out in order?" she said hesitantly, rising half-way out of her seat.

"Mr Brett covered that. One organises one's ingredients. Anything else to add to that? No?" Severus looked around the room to pick someone at random. Enough of Ravenclaw cleverness and Slytherin show-offs. "Mr Twiffle. What is the next stage in brewing?"

Norbert Twiffle stood. His answer came out in a squeaky croak; either his voice was changing or he was terrified. The Hufflepuff cleared his throat and began again. "Determine the order you need the ingredients in and how they have to be prepared, then begin to prepare the ingredients. Depending on the formula, you might be able to prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time so that they're ready to use at the proper stage."

"What do you mean by 'prepare'?"

Twiffle cleared his throat again. His voice was certainly changing. Severus didn't care if he sang falsetto, as long as the answer was correct.

"Measure them out. Um, cut them up or grind them or whatever you need to do so they're ready to go into the potion."

Severus blinked. He didn't think that students normally turned yellow with fear. White, perhaps, or red with embarrassment. He blinked again, and Twiffle looked normal once more.

"Adequate response, Twiffle." It was far too warm in the room. "Preparation." He paused, taking a breath. "Preparation . . . proper . . . prop . . . prep..." Something was wrong. His hands tingled, his vision was blurred, and he felt as though he were burning up. Something was very wrong.

Severus pushed up on the desk, trying to stand, but he immediately fell back into his chair, his hands trembling uselessly. An electric surge seemed to go through him, and his hands clenched the air spasmodically. A rushing, like the wind or a river, voices calling, then nothing but incoherent noise and internal fire.

Poppy jumped at the crack of Apparition. She turned and immediately ran forward. "Severus!" Her wand was out, and she took the semiconscious wizard from his small companion and Levitated him onto the nearest bed. "What happened, Twiskett?" She began to cast diagnostics even as the house-elf responded.

"Professor Snape is teaching. Suddenly, gasping, he shakes like that, then he falls out of his chair. I bring him right here."

"You did well, Twiskett." Poppy shook her head. "Dear God, Severus, I hope your stubbornness hasn't cost us dearly." She passed her wand over Severus's rigid, though still trembling, form. A pale green light glowed around his body for a moment, then disappeared, and Severus seemed to relax, though he lay unmoving and barely breathing. Poppy took each of Severus's hands and curled his fingers around the ends of her wand, then turned back to Twiskett. "Do you know where Severus keeps his wand? Yes! Excellent. You must fetch it immediately."

The house-elf's eyes widened and he brought his hand to his mouth.

"Immediately. Professor Snape's life and magic depend upon it. There will be no questions about it. Go, go!"

Twiskett straightened resolutely, nodded, and was gone with a sharp crack.

"Perlie! Strilpa!"

Poppy's infirmary elves popped over to her.

"Perlie, go immediately to Melina O'Donald and bring her back. I don't care what she's doing. Check the clinic first, then her home." Perlie was gone in the blink of an eye. "Strilpa, you fetch the Headmistress. If you do not find her in her office, have Blampa fetch her from wherever she is. And then get Dumbledore. He's probably teaching."

Before Strilpa could Disapparate, Twiskett was back, holding Severus's wand in both hands. He held it out to Poppy.

"Thank you, Twiskett...Strilpa, go! Never mind the wand!" Strilpa had seemed frozen, fixated by the sight of a house-elf holding a wand in his hands. "Get the Headmistress! Twiskett, you go to Dumbledore. Bring him here."

"No need." Albus was hurrying through the door. "A quick-thinking, fast-moving student came and told me what happened in Professor Snape's class. I left him in charge of my class." Albus stood beside Severus's bed and passed a hand over the other wizard's head, then took out his wand and repeated the action. "You have his own wand," he said softly as Poppy stepped up next to him. "Very good."

Poppy took back her wand of mistletoe and unicorn tail hair and replaced it with Severus's own hemlock wand. "Melina should be here shortly. Magical drain, as you can see...magical burn-out, actually. I've treated a few children with some degree of magical drain, but this is different. I don't know . . . Oh, Severus! Why didn't I make you come with me this morning!"

"I'm sure it came on quite suddenly," Albus said. "From what Mr Harper said, Severus didn't even know what was happening until it was upon him."

"Yes, but I noticed that there were fluctuations, variations, this morning before breakfast. Ones that were worse than they were when I'd checked him less than two hours before. I should have insisted."

"If he believed he was well enough to teach, he would have been difficult to persuade," Albus said. "I know that beginning the school year in as normal a manner as possible was important to him. Did you report the results to Melina?"

"Yes, of course. I spoke to her just an hour ago. There was an emergency with a curse patient, or I would have told her sooner. Melina was concerned about the readings and said that it was important that she see him at noon. She was going to come then. But now..."

"I am here now," Melina said, reeling and catching herself after a dizzying Side-Along from Perlie. She shook herself and hurried toward the bed, her wand out.

She ran an appraising eye over Severus. "Good, you slowed it some; let's see how much." She cast a diagnostic. "Mmm." She cast a few more, and symbols floated above Severus's body. "Mmmhm. Nnng. Hm. Huh. Mmm."

The symbols rose, gathered, and dispersed far too quickly for Poppy to follow them, and despite Albus's apparently rapt attention to them, she wondered if he was able to understand them, either.

"Will you quit hemming, hawing, and making other noises, and just tell me: how bad is it? Is this my fault?"

"Poppy, let's not even begin discussing fault right now. Unless, of course, you're really Nagini in disguise," Melina said, whishing her wand to erase the diagnostics and begin casting again. "I've seen worse. Not many worse, but worse. And..." She paused as she cast a particularly complex spell over Severus's lower abdomen that involved several intricate twists of her wand. "And they all recovered."

Poppy glanced over her shoulder at the sound of the Floo activating. Minerva stepped out and rushed across the room.

"Severus!"

"Almost done, Aunt Min," Melina said, raising her left hand to keep her aunt from coming any closer.

Melina cast one more spell, then she let out a sigh and dropped her wand. "Poppy, do you have any Takehari Solution?" At Poppy's response, Melina swore under her breath. "Send one of your elves to the clinic for it. Tell her to see Spinnet. She'll get it for her with no delay or questions. I'll worry about signing it out properly later."

Twiskett popped out from under Severus's bed. "I go now." And without waiting for approval, Severus's house-elf Disapparated.

Albus had quietly explained to Minerva what he knew of Severus's condition, and she was now standing at the head of the bed.

"Can I touch him?" she asked.

"Best not to. Not at the moment. Poppy has stabilised him, and he's not in danger of uncontrolled burn at the moment, but best not to have any stray magic touching him."

"I can control my..."

"Yes, I know. Don't argue with me," Melina said. "You will be able to help. Just not yet." She looked around the room, holding up her wand and turning in place. "This isn't the most magically active part of the castle, but I suppose it will have to do. It's better than many I've worked in, anyway."

"Most magically active?" Minerva asked. "We can move him. Either to the Hogwarts Heart or to the Old Grotto." She glanced over at Albus. "The Grotto is one of the major loci of Hogwarts magic, isn't it, Albus?"

"Yes, those would be the two most highly charged locations," he agreed.

"Which is easier to access? I don't want to disturb him. Rather to do it here than to have him go into intense drain again," Melina said. "Hogwarts is already more highly charged than just about anywhere I've treated anyone. Best place to suffer magical burn-off, if you're going to do it."

"The Grotto is hard to reach," Minerva said. "It's in the lower dungeons under the loch, and there are both physical and magical barriers. The Heart . . . we could Floo him through to my office and then Levitate him into the Library and down the stairs."

"No, no Levitation now that we have his drain somewhat under control. We'll need to carry him. The Floo is fine, though." She looked over at Albus, and for the first time since she had arrived, Melina quirked a small smile. "A pity you're not still 'Robbie,' Albus. It'd be nice if you were eighty years younger!"

Albus smiled. "I am not doddering yet."

"Good thing, too," Melina replied. Poppy had already Summoned a stretcher from across the room. She and Poppy, in well-coordinated movements, untucked the sheet from beneath Severus and pulled it up around him.

"I have to disable the charms on the stretcher," Melina explained, "so if you two would take the handles, Poppy and I will move him over."

Albus took hold of the handles at the head of the stretcher and Minerva took those at the foot, and Melina disabled its charm. With few words, Poppy and Melina used the sheet to shift Severus from the bed to the stretcher.

"Keep it level! Level, Minerva!" Melina said sharply. She began to buckle a belt around Severus's chest. "Poppy, you deal with the Floo. This will require very good coordination. The Floo is very large on this end, but not nearly as big in the office. You'll have to move quickly, be careful not to let go, and Minerva, you step in first and then out as quickly as you can. If you don't think we can do this, I'll have to let him be Apparated by the house-elves, but I'd prefer not to disturb his magic that much." She looked at Severus. "Of course, we could just clear the corridors and carry him up, but..."

Minerva shook her head. "I'll take care of the Floo; I'll go through first and fix it so we shouldn't have a problem. Give me a minute to enlarge the fireplace, and then come through. It's a very short trip and you shouldn't have any problem holding onto him. It will take me only a moment to make the change."

Melina nodded, and Poppy took the handles at the foot of the stretcher as Minerva hurried to fix the Floo.

"Let's set the stretcher on the bed. No point in wearing ourselves out or tipping him off," Poppy said.

"Were either of you with him when this happened? I wasn't clear on that point from what Twiskett said."

"No," Albus replied. "He was teaching. Apparently, he was in the middle of speaking when he started to shake and collapsed back into his chair. Kevin Harper told me that Severus began to have a sort of seizure, then ended up on the floor. Mr Harper said that he wasn't on the floor for more than a second before Twiskett appeared from nowhere and Disapparated with him."

At the mention of Twiskett's name, the house-elf reappeared with a snap, a large leather satchel in his hand.

"Spinnet sends Takehari Solution, a diffuser, and other potions for Professor Snape. She said Healer Davis sees your patients this afternoon."

"Thank you. Pop through and tell Minerva...the Headmistress...that we will be along in a minute. She's in her office waiting for us."

The grey elf nodded and vanished with a short, hollow clop.

"Have you ever administered Takehari's Solution before?" Melina asked Poppy.

"No, but I saw it demonstrated when I went on a Mungo's course a few years ago," Poppy replied.

"I have," Albus chimed in.

Melina raised an eyebrow. "I won't even ask under what circumstances." She shook her head and muttered something about alchemists and other dilettantes who all thought they were Healers, too. "All right. Unbuckle the safety belt and open his robes, Albus...take care to suppress your magic as you do so! Make sure that he doesn't let go of his wand. Poppy, get his shoes and socks off. Then if you will hold the diffuser over him as I pour out the Solution, that would make it easier for me."

Melina reached into the black bag that Twiskett had brought, sorted through it, nodding in approval, and pulled out a shiny, almost opalescent disc. "Wish she'd put in the bigger one." She handed the diffuser to Poppy, then took a pair of scissors from her bag and handed them across to Albus, who had unbuttoned the waistcoat and was just finishing with the buttons of the white shirt. "Just cut through the rest. Better if he were naked, but we don't want any more delay. Get his chest and abdomen exposed, and cut away any underwear."

As Albus began to snip through Severus's undershirt, Melina took a long-necked flask from her bag. She raised an eyebrow to see that Poppy was unbuttoning the trousers.

"No point in cutting through these. The fabric's heavy, anyway," the matron explained. She unbuttoned the black braces that held his trousers up.

Albus paid no attention to their conversation, just moving down to cut the elastic waistband on Severus's underpants, carefully lifting them and cutting through the side of the pants down to the thigh.

"Do you need this moved aside more?" he asked, gesturing toward the shorts.

"Don't worry about it," Melina said. "You can leave them for now."

Albus carefully folded the underwear back to cover him.

"That's fine. Go tell Minerva why we're delayed, then have her summon two or three others, whoever she thinks might be useful in reversing this drain, and have them wait in the Heart. Have to be highly magical, familiar with Severus, familiar with Hogwarts magic, and ready to be generous. The Heads of House would probably be best...they know the Hogwarts wards, I understand. Poppy and I can manage the Solution from here."

"The Floo..."

"One of you can come through and wait if you want to deal with the Floo powder for us. We can carry him." Melina was already turned away from Albus and focussed on Severus, and if Albus hesitated in following the Healer's directions, she didn't notice. She pulled the garments further away from Severus's body, fully exposing his chest and abdomen, careful not to disturb the wand around which his fingers were curled.

NEXT

Chapter Thirteen: Breakfire

Tuesday, 1 September 1998

After being whisked to the infirmary by Twiskett, Severus...his life and magic both in danger...receives powerful treatment. It's touch-and-go for Severus as Madam Pomfrey and Healer O'Donald work to save his magic.

Characters: Severus Snape, Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, Melina O'Donald

Yay! I haven't been shouting into the void! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. ;-)