Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Franco DiGregorio was a master. He'd been painting for over one hundred years now, and he understood what it meant to bring a portrait to life. He gazed at the photo of Severus Snape, which continued to frown at him. Looking back at his own work, he added a brush stroke to Snape's rather prominent nose. Moving back a little, he nodded in approval. The portrait was nearly finished. Severus Snape, with his jet black hair and brooding eyes, was now staring back at him. It had taken six weeks to get to this point, and finally just a few more brush strokes and the painting itself would be complete. Once done, Franco could cast the spell that would instill the portrait with movement.

His eyes went back to the frowning photo of Snape. He frowned a little to himself.

"Look, Professore" he told the picture in his flowing Italian accent. "You'll have to do more than frown if you want me to get you right in this portrait. I need to see all of your emotions, not just the negative ones."

Snape huffed and folded his arms in front of him.

Franco shrugged. "It's up to you. If you want this portrait to really reflect who you are, then you will have to show me who you are. Otherwise the magic will only conjure up a poor representation. You don't want that, now do you, Professore?"

Severus motioned up to his face, which was still frowning.

"Yes, I know. You didn't smile in real life. I also know you were a spy and probably couldn't smile or you'd be killed. Ay! Just because you show me a smile and some other positive emotions doesn't mean that your portrait will be happy all the time. It just helps to give a more complete view of who you really are... I mean were."

Snape scowled at him for another moment, then his lips curled up in what Franco assumed was a smile. It looked tense and forced.

"Well, that's a start. How about a laugh?"

Severus scowled again.

"I'll tell you a joke. Why did Professore Snape stand in the road?"

Severus' eyes narrowed.

"So no one could tell which side he was on."

This elicited an actual smile from Severus Snape.

"Ah, very good. Here's another one. What do you call a Hufflepuff with one brain cell?"

Severus raised his eyebrow in question.

"Gifted!"

This time the joke worked, and Franco saw Severus Snape actually break into a silent belly laugh. He was amazed at how the act lightened the man's face. Franco immediately began adding little touches to his work.

Half an hour later, the artist sat back again and looked at the portrait. His eyes went back and forth from photo to painting. He flipped to another photo and compared. When he'd done that with all four photographs, he nodded to himself.

"It is done."

He rose and went over to his bookshelf, pulling a thin book from it. The spell to give simulated life to a portrait was intricate and had to be done exactly right. Franco quoted it straight from the book each time he enchanted a painting. The results had always been spectacular.

Even though he'd performed this spell hundreds of times, he took the time to read through the entire section once again.

To enchant a painting, one must be very precise with the incantation. Even the slightest error in inflection could cause the spell to fail. Practice the spell carefully to ensure success.

Dare vita at non cor ad hic effigies宥ive life but not soul to this portrait.

Franco pulled out his wand and made the wand movements silently, practicing them several times before he was ready. He looked to the portrait of Snape.

"Are you ready, signore?" he asked in his heavy Italian accent. "Well, you must be, for I am ready."

Lifting his wand, he began the movements and started to say the spell.

"Dare vita at..."

At that moment, an owl flew into his back room, startling him. His wand movements hesitated as he lost his train of thought. It only took him an instant to recover, and he completed the spell.

"Cor ad hic effigies!" he cried and cast the spell. Golden light flew from his wand and covered the painting. Franco frowned as he lowered his wand. He knew better than to leave the door to his private studio open when he was enchanting a portrait. The owl had distracted him, and he hoped beyond hope that the spell had been correct. If not, he'd have to begin another painting: for once the spell was ruined, the portrait could never be enchanted.

Walking up to the portrait, he gazed upon it with trepidation. The magic of the spell was still surrounding the picture, slowly seeping into the colors on the canvas. Finally, all the golden light was absorbed, and Severus' eyes moved. Then his head looked from side to side.

"What's going on?" he said slowly.

"Ah! I thought I had made an error, Professore! It looks like everything is as it should be though! Welcome back to the wizarding world!"

Severus' eyes narrowed. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I have painted you. You are a portrait to be hung in the Headmistress' office at Hogwarts."

"But... I was just under a tree... reading. What did you do?"

Franco looked at the portrait curiously. Never before had a painting expressed knowledge of the time after death.

"I cast the Enchantment Spell upon you to give you life. You say you were under a tree? Perhaps that's a memory from your previous life?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. "No, you dimwit. I was just reading under a tree. I've been doing that since I died. It's amazingly relaxing, not having to deal with anyone. Now you've brought me here where I'll have to... speak... with people."

Franco looked at the painting with concern. Perhaps something had happened when he'd cast the spell耀ome odd combination of factors that gave this portrait a bit more awareness than others he'd created. Still, the painting was doing what it was supposed to do, mirroring what Severus Snape would normally do.

"A bit of extra self-awareness probably won't hurt," he muttered to himself.

"Send me back," Snape demanded.

"I am sorry, Professore. I can't do that. Once the elements of your personality are in the portrait, they cannot be removed."

Severus balled his hands into fists. "Do you mean to tell me I'm stuck in this tiny frame forever?"

"Well, it's not really tiny. It's three feet by four..."

"I don't care how big it is, you sorry excuse for an artist. I want to get out of it!"

Franco smiled then. "Oh, once I've hung you in your rightful place at Hogwarts, you'll be able to wander throughout the castle from portrait to portrait."

"Will I be able to read under a tree?" Severus asked caustically.

Franco shrugged. "I'm sure you can find a tree in one of the paintings, and there are books too. There are lots of paintings with bookshelves. And there's the painting of the library in the library."

"I am not interested in imaginary books! I want to read real books."

Franco shrugged again. "They'll be real to you. You'll be able to remove and read them just as if they were real."

Severus seemed slightly appeased. "How long since I died?" he asked.

"It's been twenty years, Professore."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "Twenty years?" he spat. "McGonagall is just getting around to having me commissioned now, after twenty years?"

"The Headmistress isn't Professore McGonagall, signore."

"Who is it then?" he ground through his clenched teeth. His hand came up, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, seemingly awaiting bad news.

"It's Hermione Granger, signore."

Severus shook his head, all the while squeezing his nose tighter and tighter. "You've brought me from heaven to hell," he muttered at last.

Disclaimer: All jokes cited above were taken from a Harry Potter joke website: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090605192745AAoUwtY