A New Spell

Chapter 3: A New Spell

After a moment, Severus broke the silence. "I believe you wanted to know about his symptoms. The situation is very grave, indeed." He went on to tell her what Poppy had said about Dumbledore's condition.

Her expression grew more worried as he spoke, and he found himself mentally approving her apparent understanding of what they were up against. When he had finished explaining what he knew, she asked wryly, "I don't suppose you know of a spell that would do all that off the top of your head?"

He smirked without humour. "No, unfortunately, Miss Granger, I have never seen such a hex or jinx or curse before. Furthermore, I am undecided as to whether I ought to be flattered or insulted that you think I might have."

Turning pink as she realized her gaffe, she said gamely, "Oh, flattered, sir, most certainly. I have a tendency to assume that you know more than most wizards about most things."

He wasn't truly offended – insulting teachers had really never been Granger's style – and they had more important things to focus on, anyway, so Severus changed the topic. "I believe I shall focus on trying to learn more about the identities of those individuals none of us recognized."

She seemed to take that as a dismissal, standing and beginning to gather her things. "All right, Professor, I'll leave you to it. Shall we meet in a few hours to discuss our progress?"

Severus forestalled her, though, as another idea occurred to him. "Actually, before you go, you might assist me with making sketches of the individuals I'm trying to identify."

"All right. How?"

The opening was irresistible, really, Severus thought. "Something the know-it-all doesn't know?"

She turned pink, but all she said was, "There are many things I don't know, sir, which is why I always ask so many questions."

Severus nodded, sobering as he refocused on the task at hand. "All right, the spell to do this requires two people. One goes into the Pensieve, and signals the other when the target individual is directly in sight. That individual holds a wand to the back of the skull of the individual in the Pensieve just here –" he demonstrated the correct location – "and taps the parchment with a second wand, using the incantation 'duco'."

"All right," Hermione said slowly. "Does this mean one of us must use the other's wand? I don't carry two."

Severus smirked. "I do, as it happens." He leaned over to retrieve it from its location inside the buckle of his dragonhide boot, then murmured the spell to enlarge it to its usual size. He had never lost the habit of carrying a spare, even all these years after the end of the war. He had the thing – it had been a necessity during his spying years, as he could never have risked being caught wandless – so he may as well keep it handy, he reasoned. "So, if you'll trust me to perform the spell, you can look in the Pensieve."

"All right," Granger said. He was a bit surprised at the ease with which she agreed. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Make sure you're focused on the face, Miss Granger. The spell will transcribe whatever you're looking most intently at."

"Yes, all right," she agreed. "Ready, then?"

He Summoned a small stack of parchment; at his nod, she entered the Pensieve. After a short silence, she said, "Now."

"Duco," Severus intoned, and one of the foreign men appeared on the first piece of parchment. He quickly moved it aside, then said, "Next one."

"Now." The next face appeared, and they repeated the procedure several more times, until each of the relevant persons had been sketched and added to the pile. Granger exited the Pensieve and looked through the stack. "Nice spellwork, sir," she murmured, sounding impressed.

He was tempted to snap at her – what sort of world was he in where one of the Golden Trio expressed anything positive toward him? Instead, he forced himself to be courteous in the interest of Dumbledore's health. "Thank you. Now, I shall escort you to the library to ensure that Madam Pince doesn't give you any resistance. We shall meet in my office after dinner to discuss our progress."

Hermione agreed, then pulled a coin from her pocket and tapped it. At his questioning look, she explained succinctly, "Protean charm. We'll need to know what Harry and Ron have discovered, too." He nodded reluctantly; though he wished he didn't have to see them again anytime soon, they did need to keep one another informed about the course of the investigation.

Hermione spent the remainder of the afternoon in the library. She forced herself to exhaust all its resources, but as she had expected (having read most of the books in the Hogwarts Library at least once already over the years), she found no references to a spell that would create the sort of symptoms Dumbledore was exhibiting. She had focused initially on spells that cast in blue light, even though it wasn't entirely clear if that spell had actually hit Dumbledore or if he had Apparated away a split second too early and been missed entirely, or perhaps caught just a part of it.

Of course, it was also possible that one of the other individuals had cast something – maybe the foreigners who had knocked him over had hit him with a spell as well. Or possibly someone else had found a way to disguise the light of the spell, or from their angle, they had missed seeing it entirely.

Closing the last of the books in her stack, Hermione sighed and stretched. She had taken a lot of notes, of course, but the most useful things in them were the titles or authors of other books where she might find information to assist her. Unfortunately, they were rare or obscure books that Hogwarts didn't appear to have, even in the Extra-Restricted Section – a magically concealed alcove behind the Restricted Section that housed a number of the more rare, obscure, or dangerous texts. Apparently, the wards only revealed the existence of that section to those who had both the power and the control required to ensure they could use the books contained therein without damage either to their own persons or to the books themselves.

Sighing again, Hermione was surprised to see how late it was. She was actually at risk of missing dinner. She quickly used a Shelving Charm to return the books to their proper locations. If she hurried and the stairs cooperated, she might just make it to the Great Hall before the meal ended.

Severus glowered from the Head Table at the overly boisterous students at Gryffindor's table. As usual, the other three houses were all better behaved than Gryffindor. He decided to ignore them for the moment, as he had more important things than ill-behaved pupils to worry about. He had spent the afternoon Floo-calling a number of contacts to see if they recognized any of the individuals from the Pensieve. He hadn't learned much, except Viktor Krum knew both of the foreigners. They were former members of the Bulgarian Quidditch World Cup team, and since retiring nearly a decade earlier, they had been liaison officers from the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic. Krum thought their job involved 'something in sport,' but he wasn't sure what.

Weasley and Potter hadn't appeared at dinner, which didn't surprise him much as they would likely expect to be able to get refreshments at their meeting later. Well, he had no intention of going out of his way to feed their arrogance. Let the prats fend for themselves.

Neither had Granger appeared, which likewise wasn't a shock, as she had probably got involved in her research and lost track of time. Now, he had to decide whether to provide refreshments for her. He wouldn't even consider it, except his limited experience with women suggested it was best not to allow their blood sugar to dip too far – they had a tendency to become irrational and emotional, which he preferred not to face if he could possibly avoid it. And anyway, she had provided refreshments at the earlier meeting, hadn't she?

He reluctantly concluded that he ought to at least bring her a sandwich. Just as he was about to request one of a house-elf, she hurried into the Great Hall. She glanced around and, spotting him, she made her way to the empty chair that separated him from Filius. "May I sit?" she asked.

He nodded acquiescence. "You're late," he said tersely. "You nearly missed dinner."

"I know," she sighed. "I got caught up in research and lost track of time." She tucked into the plate of roast chicken, potatoes, and carrots that appeared before her. "Unfortunately, I believe I've exhausted what Hogwarts has to offer without learning anything useful."

Severus looked at her thoughtfully. "Perhaps if I accompany you tomorrow, you'll find some additional resources."

She took a sip of water and looked at him sidelong before saying quietly, "If you're concerned that I missed the Extra-Restricted Section, I didn't."

He was only a little surprised. She was, after all, an Unspeakable, so she had to be reasonably powerful. Still, few people attained the necessary control before reaching their thirties or forties; by his calculation, she was no older than twenty-three or four. He nodded impassively. "All right. We'll discuss the next step at our meeting, then." He was hoping to speak with one more contact before their meeting, so he took his leave. "I shall see you in my office in half an hour. I have some things to attend to beforehand."

When Hermione arrived at Professor Snape's office, she found him in the midst of a Floo call with Lucius Malfoy. The professor nodded a greeting and gestured vaguely toward a chair, so she took a seat.

Malfoy didn't acknowledge her presence; whether he didn't see her or he considered her beneath notice, she couldn't have guessed. He was saying, "All right, Severus, if you're certain she can handle it, you may bring her along. But it's your responsibility to ensure that she doesn't get hurt; I won't have you leaving her alone and then blaming me if you were overconfident."

"Don't worry so much, Lucius. You're turning into a mother hen in your dotage."

"My dotage?!" Lucius sputtered. "I'm not yet fifty! I'm in my prime, I assure you." Hermione smirked at how affronted he sounded.

The professor was smirking as well, Hermione saw. Interesting dynamic between those two, she thought. "If you say so," Severus conceded mockingly. "In any event, you may expect us first thing tomorrow."

"Fine," Lucius said, then took his leave.

"What was that about, Professor?" Hermione asked without preamble.

"We shall be visiting Malfoy Manor tomorrow, Miss Granger."

"What?" Hermione asked, surprised and a little anxious. "Why?"

"Because the Malfoy library is certain to hold a number of texts that will be useful to you in determining the nature of this curse."

"Oh," Hermione said in a small voice. "All right."

The professor fixed her with a stare. "What's the problem, Miss Granger?"

"Oh ... er ... it's nothing, really," she hedged.

"Obviously not nothing," Snape replied. "Your Gryffindor recklessness appears to have completely deserted you. Out with it."

She sighed. "Well, it's just ..." she paused, steeling herself. "I haven't been back there since the war."

"And?" Snape sounded impatient.

Hermione found herself irritated by the total lack of compassion for her situation. She snapped, "And it's just a little daunting to go back to a place that holds such bad memories for me, all right?"

He frowned, looking confused. "What on earth are you on about? The war didn't take place at Malfoy Manor."

Hermione stared at him. Could he really not know? She said tersely, "But Bellatrix Lestrange's gleeful and excessive use of Cruciatus on me did."

A/N: According to an online translator, 'duco' is Latin, meaning 'draw'.