Chapter Eight - Waxing

As instructed, Parr had begun the Wolfsbane Potion again. This meant that every evening after its initial creation, she had to check on the potion as it matured, occasionally adding an ingredient as necessary. Her presence was brief at each visit with no acknowledgement towards him.

The after-effects of their little face-off were minimal. Parr seemed to act as if it had never happened. Her attitude was neither bitter nor antagonistic, which was not what he had expected. Considering how many points he had taken from Ravenclaw that particular evening, Snape had thought that Parr would hold something of a vendetta against him.

The results of Parr's detention were varied. Some potions were very solidly made, with a couple being of surprising quality, whilst others were merely passable with one skating close to being of an Unacceptable grade. That had been one that she had made when at her most ill, so it was hard to determine if it were through lack of knowledge or lack of attention. Difficulty level seemed to have no effect on the results. It appeared that she knew some potions, such as the Strengthening Draught, the Toxin Drain and the Bone Fuser, much better than ones like the Forgetfulness Potion or the Shrinking Solution.

He'd actually been rather pleased that she'd finally taken the bait and lost her temper. It was a particularly favourite pastime of Snape's to needle people until they snapped, and she had proved something of a tough nut to crack. He'd wondered whether he'd lost his touch and so had turned his spite on Dian to try and prod at Parr that way. It had obviously worked. She'd acknowledged his use of that tactic and effectively quashed it by threatening to point it out in front of students, and no doubt be more than scathing in her denouncement of it. He grudgingly admitted that he wasn't altogether sure if his responding threats were enough to keep Parr's mouth shut. He suspected that it didn't matter how many points he'd rip off Ravenclaw, she'd still tell him exactly what she thought.

It wasn't until mid-way through the second week after their altercation that Snape started to wonder if there were much more to Parr than he had previously surmised. At first he thought he was seeing things, but by Friday there was no doubt in his mind that Parr had gotten taller... a fair bit taller. She tried to disguise it by crouching slightly whenever she was standing, but it wasn't sufficient to hide the fact that she'd increased at least a foot in height. Now he knew why she had the folded cuffs at her wrists and ankles: to compensate for the increase in limb length. This was obviously something that had occurred before.

This was no Muggle. Muggles didn't change their height once puberty had finished, unless you counted the inevitable shrinkage in old age, and Parr was definitely at least fifteen years out of puberty and thirty from old age.

Thinking back on his conversations with Dumbledore in the previous weeks, Snape realised that the Headmaster had never used the term 'Muggle' in describing Parr. Granted, Dumbledore had never liked using the term and had deemed it an impolite name on more than one occasion, so the lack of his use of it was hardly conclusive.

The other students had noticed Parr's height change, especially in the final Potions class for the week. They cast curious glances at her that had all the subtlety of a poke in the eye. Parr seemed to be pretending not to notice, but considering she kept her eyes downcast, it was possible that she couldn't see them staring.

Snape spent the lesson circling the room like a predator, trying to determine if a downed animal was dangerous or not. It was during one of his circuits that he also noticed that Parr's profile had changed. It was like someone had pulled her nose out further from the planes of her face, bowing them out in a subtly arced silhouette.

Snape continued his circling of the classroom, pausing only to deduct points from a Hufflepuff for scratching a rude symbol in the wood of the table with his knife.

There was no point in asking Dumbledore. Snape had already shown enough curiosity about Parr for the Headmaster to become guarded. He decided to cut out the middleman.

"Miss Parr, a moment, if you please," he requested firmly as the students filed out at the end of the lesson. Parr sighed, her back to him, before turning slowly and making her way back to her seat. She kept her eyes fixed on the floor and her posture bent.

Snape waited until the classroom door had closed and the sounds of the departing students had faded, leaning back on his desk with his arms folded. The silence in the room was oppressive.

"Is there something wrong with your back, Miss Parr?" he inquired, watching her like a hawk.

"No, Professor."

"Then why are you slouching?"

There was a pause. "A bad habit," she replied.

"One not normally associated with someone of your short stature," he pointed out. "And one that, until this week, you haven't previously shown."

Parr didn't respond.

"Is there something on the floor that is more worthy of your attention, Miss Parr?"

She cleared her throat before answering. "My eyes hurt in the light sometimes," she said quietly.

"Curious," he stated and pushed away from his desk. "Another problem not previously displayed." He drifted towards her slowly. "Wouldn't have anything to do with your recent... illness, would it?"

She flared her nostrils before answering. "No, Professor."

"It would be egregious indeed if you were to infect students around you."

"With slouching and sore eyes, Professor? Most of them seem to have that already. They don't need my help in manifesting those."

"Is your condition infectious?"

"No."

"You seem very certain."

"I am."

"I, however, am not."

"Are you a doctor, Professor?"

Smartarse. "No, but I am someone who expects the person I'm talking to to look me in the eye when I am speaking to them." Snape stopped alongside the table she was seated at. "Otherwise I might think you have something to hide."

Parr swivelled her head slowly towards him. He almost took a step backward. Her eyes had changed from grey to a vividly luminous green. "You seem persistently certain that I am hiding something, Professor. Are we to have another talk about prejudice sometime soon?"

"Prejudice has nothing to do with it, Miss Parr," Snape countered after a moment, trying not to retreat from that glare. "When a student changes physical appearance, that alone is enough to make me question the cause behind it."

The woman's jade gaze never faltered. "You may rest assured, Professor, that my condition is not contagious, as Madam Pomfrey will attest to. However, if you require further information, I'm afraid that skirts into my personal business, and I am not at liberty to answer."

Afterwards, Snape wasn't certain what made him decide to do it. Perhaps because the opportunity was too good to miss. Perhaps because non-magicals were notoriously open to Legilimency. Perhaps because he hated it if someone kept information from him. Maybe it was a combination of all three. Regardless, he decided to try and get the answers he wanted non-verbally... and promptly hit a brick wall. At least, the mental equivalent of it. It was like throwing a tomato at a steel door.

Parr leant back sharply, shaking her head like someone had smacked her across the nose. Later, Snape wondered if he had looked as surprised as she had. Her shock didn't last long, though. She unfolded herself swiftly from her chair and reverted her gaze to the floor.

"If that is all, Professor, I must leave if I am to minimise how late I am for my next class." Not even waiting for a response, she loped towards the door in that bent over posture and slipped out of the classroom.

No, this was definitely no Muggle. He'd used Legilimency on a number of them and had never been blocked like that. There'd not even been any kind of struggle. The wall had already been there before he'd made the attempt, but judging from the surprise on her face, she hadn't anticipated that kind of incursion.

The thing was, if she wasn't a Muggle, then what was she?