Chapter 6: Snakes and Adders

Chapter 6: Snakes & Adders

Thoughts of Rosetta's conversation with Pomona had haunted her throughout the following day, and it did not take too long for Rosetta to corroborate Pomona's theory that she and Snape had attended Hogwarts at the same time. She had managed a brief sojourn to the library during a free lesson in the afternoon and quick look through the year books showed that Snape had enrolled as a first year in 1971. She was still struggling to place him, however. To be fair, she had rarely associated with pupils in higher years than herself from her own House, let alone the other Houses. But still, it did seem odd that she couldn't recall him at all.

Rosetta's curiosity had been piqued and it had not been difficult for her to find records of staff appointments which, she was surprised to see, went back as far as the foundation of the school itself. Her surprise didn't stop there. She discovered that Snape had joined the school as Potions Master on 1st September 1981 – only three years since he had graduated. That seemed awfully young to her, given that he didn't appear to be the type to see children's magical education as an earnest vocation. And something nagged her about the timing of it too. You-Know-Who, if she remembered correctly, was defeated around Halloween of 1981. So Snape had joined Hogwarts before You-Know-Who had been vanquished. He was potentially still one of his followers when he got the job!

Pomona had said that Dumbledore trusted Snape. But did Rosetta trust Dumbledore, and his judgement?

Shortly after her visit to the library, she had received a written invitation from Dumbledore inviting her for an end-of-first-week debrief on Sunday to see how she was getting along. That, she supposed, would be the perfect opportunity to ask the Headmaster straight out what was going on.

The rest of the week had passed by quickly and comparatively smoothly. She had managed to keep her head down and avoid Snape as much as possible, deliberately avoiding his gaze at meal times. So far, it looked like she only had one class which appeared to be troublemakers, and there were no prizes for guessing which House they belonged to. Her seventh-year Slytherins were less than interested in learning magical languages and more interested in actively mocking Goblins and Merpeople. Rosetta had taken them to task quite fiercely, but could tell that they were going to be a handful. She knew she needed to keep a tight reign on them as the last thing she wanted to do was to get their surly Head of House involved.

Rosetta was glad of a much-needed lie-in at the weekend but inevitably Sunday evening rolled around a lot quicker than she would have liked, and once more she found herself in the Headmaster's office, seated opposite the old wizard. After finding out Snape's backstory and still baffled by his appointment by Dumbledore, she couldn't help but feel guarded and slightly suspicious.

"So, Rosetta. Tell me about your first week." Dumbledore smiled and the corners of his blue eyes creased.

"Well, the voluntary uptake from Years 4 and 5 was minimal, as expected. Nine students signed up for Gobbledegook but only two for Mermish," she answered briskly.

Dumbledore inclined his head. "That's more than I expected, to be honest with you. At least smaller classes are, generally speaking, easier to teach. And how are Years 6 and 7?"

The Year 7 Slytherins are entitled little shits, she thought to herself, but held her tongue.

"It's fairly mixed. Some students are keen and some are completely uninterested. But I'll make sure even they know the basics." This came out snippier than she would have liked.

"I have no doubt about that." He smiled again. "What about life at the school? How are you settling in?"

Apart from the Death Eater who seems to have taken a murderous dislike to me, you mean? Once again, Rosetta filtered her thoughts and forced to reply in a neutral tone.

"I've eaten more in the last week than I have in the last year."

Dumbledore chuckled, sitting back in his chair. "I'm glad you have an appetite. But that's not what I meant. How are you feeling?"

Rosetta sighed. How was she feeling? Like she'd made a terrible mistake in coming back here, and that she was out of her depth and potentially in danger. But that was a thought for another time.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't weird coming back here," she admitted.

"I know it must be difficult for you. It's a very different lifestyle to adjust to, let alone the climate. And yes, there are a few familiar faces, but the transition from former pupil to colleague must feel very strange. And as for the job, well children can be unpredictable to say the least!"

Rosetta knew he was trying to be kind, which unnerved her. Yes, what he was saying was all true, but the true reason of her discomfort felt like the elephant in the room. She paused for a moment before replying.

"To be honest, I've heard some information which has made me rather uncomfortable."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Do go on?"

"The Potions Master. Snape."

Dumbledore said nothing, but Rosetta could see his blue eyes twinkle. He knew what she was getting at and wasn't letting on; he wanted her to spell it out for him. This small passive-aggressive act enraged her, and it took all of her willpower not to scream in his face.

"You know the one. Former Death Eater, who you bizarrely think is appropriate to teach children." There. She'd said it.

Rosetta's tone was icy, and any trace of humour left Dumbledore's face.

"It is well-known that Severus was a Death Eater for a short time after leaving school," he said seriously. "I myself attended his trial and vouched for him, and he was cleared by the High Council. He has atoned for the error of his ways at great personal risk, and he is now no more a Death Eater then I am."

Rosetta's face remained impassive at this. She'd left the United Kingdom shortly after graduating, so her knowledge of the Death Eater trials was pretty much non-existence. She had just presumed they had all been rounded up and were banged up in Azkaban where they belonged. She supposed it would have taken a lot for Dumbledore to vouch for someone who, for all intents and purposes, was as guilty as sin and probably deserved a life sentence. But it still didn't explain why he testified in favour of Snape.

"Why do you trust him?" she asked, her tone now much softer.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that. I do have very good reasons. I have to ask you to trust me on this."

"You don't think he's dangerous?"

Dumbledore let out another chuckle at this. "I've heard his teaching methods can be somewhat Draconian, but I would hardly describe that as dangerous."

"He seems like a piece of work to me." That was less than Rosetta wanted to admit, but she didn't feel like she could say the whole truth about the depth of her misgivings just yet.

"I'm not saying he's a likeable person. One doesn't have to be likeable to have some good inside them. Or to perform good deeds." He peered over his crescent-shaped glasses at her meaningfully.

Rosetta looked down. Sitting here, listening to Dumbledore, it was easy to diminish what she felt was a very real threat. Perhaps she'd had read too much into it after all. Perhaps it was just power play, the peacocking of an insecure white man throwing his weight around in front of a black woman. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time that had happened.

"I know," she conceded eventually.

That seemed to satisfy Dumbledore that the subject was now closed, and he swiftly moved the conversation on to thoughts of Parseltongue.

"I admit I have brought you here for reasons other than to discuss your first week. But first, can I offer you a tea? Or maybe something stronger?"

With a flick of his wand he summoned two tumblers of Firewhisky and Rosetta accepted one that floated across the desk towards her. Rosetta took a sip, relishing the burning sensation that spread down into her stomach, quenching her previous anger and anxiety, as Dumbledore continued.

"It seems our little plan to study Parseltongue has come at a very opportune time. I have heard whisperings that Voldemort has been using snakes to mobilise and sustain himself. It appears he has been utilising his language skills very well. The sooner we begin our analysis the better."

Rosetta took another sip as she took this in. You-Know-Who using snakes to do his bidding? It almost made her shudder with revulsion.

"I'll be honest with you, I've really not thought about how we can approach it at all." She suddenly felt bad about this. This was her whole raison d'etre for being at Hogwarts, after all. And all she'd been doing since she got here was wasting her energy on some creepy man.

Dumbledore shook his head, smiling. "No, no. I hadn't expected you to. You've had quite enough on your plate this week! But I have had some thoughts about how we might start, if I may?"

Rosetta nodded her assent, grateful he was taking the lead and letting her off the hook.

"I propose we could begin by comparing the phonetics, grammar and syntax of some of the basic words of the magical languages we already know, to see if there are any patterns which emerge and which could provide clues."

Rosetta drained the last of her Firewhisky. "That seems sensible. I could also check the library for mentions of Parseltongue and Parselmouths too. That could open up some avenues of investigation."

Dumbledore beamed. "Wonderful idea. Off the top of my head, there are a few books in the Restricted Section of the library which might yield some results also."

Maybe it was just the Firewhisky, but focusing her attention back on to researching Parseltongue gave her a swell of excitement. It would do her good to put her Ravenclaw mind to better use than obsessing over some strange man.

"I've always wanted an excuse to rummage in the Restricted Section."

"Excellent. We have a plan. Shall we meet back here in a week's time, to discuss our findings?"

Before Rosetta could reply, Dumbledore downed his as-yet-untouched Firewhisky in one big gulp and burped delicately.

"Pardon me!"

The Firewhisky must have worked because Rosetta felt much less animosity towards the Headmaster and much calmer than she had in days when she left to go back to her quarters. Now all she needed to do to maintain her optimism was to focus on the task in hand and not get distracted by any dark, sinister Potion Masters.