Corvus | By : LadyFreak Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > General Views: 23963 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 7 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor to I make any money from this story. These characters are JKR's, I just play with them. |
Disclaimer: I don't, and never will, own Harry Potter.
::Parseltongue::
/mind-to-mind with Huginn/
'thoughts'
"Normal Speech"
(21) Cerspicions
The trio met every other night to study their various subjects, but outside Ravenclaw you were hard pressed to see them as anything but acquaintances.
Once a week, randomly, they would get into discussions on Dark Magic and why it was banned. All three students agreed that the Ministry just banned what they feared. Dark Magic and Blood Magic were powerful branches that not everyone could master, therefore it had to be evil.
Morag’s Occlumency was coming along slowly, but it was good enough to keep someone out for a few seconds. She would be safe and have time to look away if she accidentally made eye contact with the Headmaster.
“The Ministry is so discriminatory,” Morag stated one evening towards the end of November. They had all been finishing their Potions and Herbology essays, when the off subject topic came up.
Corvus and Mandy put down their quills and waited for the discussion to start. Morag seemed to not know how to continue with her statement, so Corvus decided to push her a bit more. “Why do you say that?”
The brunette’s jaw dropped. “How could I not? They discriminate against dark witches and wizards just because they... we... can perform certain spells which they cannot.”
“Like every creature on the planet, witches and wizards fear the unknown. Why do you think the burning times happened? Most muggles don’t, and never will understand magic. They fear it because of that. The Ministry is the same. They discount branches of magic because of the power behind them and because most cannot perform the rituals,” Corvus said.
Morag nodded and let out a breath. “I know this, it’s just so... frustrating. Magical Britain is behind all other countries because of their closed minded views. And whats so annoying is how hypocritical the Ministry can be. They make dark magic illegal, but gleefully hire pureblood supremacists who are known practitioners of the arts. They only hire pureblood people as head of departments. Half-bloods have a hard time getting jobs and muggle borns are only seen as being suited for cleaning work. It’s utterly ridiculous! And don’t get me started on creatures! How they treat goblins is so disgusting!”
Corvus agreed, but really had nothing else to say on the matter. Mandy spoke up, suddenly changing the subject, “Any idea what’s on the third floor corridor?”
“No, I’d rather not die a painful death, thank you,” Morag stated dryly, making Corvus snort.
“Do you think the old man was serious?” he asked curiously.
Mandy spoke up, “Well, I heard the dumb duo talking about running into a creature after being chased by Filch. Apparently Malfoy didn’t show up for a duel and had set them up to be caught.” After the Troll incident, Granger had been keeping clear of Potter and Weasley. She hadn’t exactly become best friends with Corvus, but they did study in the library together every now and again.
Corvus smirked, “Oh I remember him telling me about that. He was a fool for doing that, but it’s still hilarious to think of those two waiting there only to hear Filch coming by. So they ran into some creature? Did you hear anything else?”
“They said it was a three headed dog”
“A Cerberus? Damn,” he muttered, surprised.
It was Mandy’s turn to smirk. “They said,” she started before falling into laughter. “They said... it’s name is... Fluffy!”
Corvus’ jaw dropped, “Got to be a pet of Hagrid’s then”
“But get this, apparently it’s standing on a trap door. So the three are trying to figure out what is there. Apparently they’ve been scouring the library for information on Flamel,” Corvus head shot up and Mandy nodded. “Yeah. They have no idea who he is at the moment.”
“So... Dumbledore is hiding the Philosopher’s Stone... possibly... in Hogwarts, guarded by a carnivorous Cerberus. Seriously?” The girls nodded. “That’s a good thing they don’t know who Flamel is yet. With Granger they would have figured it out in no time,” he paused for a moment thinking, that’s probably why he had her sorted into Gryffindor. He probably instructed Potter to befriend her.... He then spoke aloud “Why the old man trusts the giant is beyond me. He’s a nice guy and all, but can’t keep anything to himself. Why hide something that important and have someone who is likely to slip information about it?”
“Maybe he’s not trying to hide it? Maybe he’s trying to lure someone to it?”
The three fell into silence and returned to their studies while also thinking about what Mandy said.
When Corvus returned to his room, he penned a letter to his godfather.
()
Severus sat in his classroom grading papers, thinking about how the school year had progressed so far. The old man was already starting his manipulations, and keeping track of them were tiring. Just keeping track of what he wasn’t supposed to be remembering because of obliviations was tiring!
Albus Dumbledore would NOT be getting his claws into Corvus, that was for sure. Not only would he protect his godson with all his being, but he knew Bellatrix wouldn’t stand for it at all.
Then there was Quirinus. There was definitely something off about the man this year, but Severus could not figure out what it was. He was sure that the Defense teacher let in Troll somehow... and the fact that he was found outside the room with the Cerberus only confirmed this belief. He did not fall for the excuse of checking on the stone...
But why?
Then there is the stone itself.
The ‘obstacles’ set up to access the stone were ridiculously easy. His own was the hardest because it was a logical challenge which most Wizards could not complete. How would they keep a grown witch or wizard out? Let alone the Dark Lord? Why even post challenges to begin with? Why not just guard it? The challenges were so easy a first year could do it!
Severus froze in his musings after his last thoughts. So easy a first year... But he wouldn’t, would he?
It could be a test, a challenge. But then why risk a school full of children on the off chance the boy could save the stone?
He’ll probably be watching from the shadows... Damn it old man!
A knock at his door, broke him of his thoughts. He opened the door to find no one... until he looked down.
Huginn stood on the stone floor in front of his door. When he saw Severus had noticed him, he cawed once and stuck his foot out, showing a rolled up parchment.
“Greetings Huginn,” Severus said as he leaned down and allowed the bird to perch on his forearm. He rubbed the bird’s head affectionately while closing the door and sitting at his desk again. The raven loved the attention but knew the missive was important, so he hopped off the dark arm and stuck his foot out again. “I got it, will you wait for a response?” the bird nodded and Severus conjured a bowl of water and some seeds for his godson’s familiar.
He unrolled the letter and had to read it through a couple of times to be sure he read through it right and caught on to what was really being said.
Greetings Severus,
I hope this letter finds you well. I find I miss our potions discussions. We really need to make time to meet up again. Maybe we can play some chess? I heard a few tales from some friends of mine involving the school, but you know how I like to confirm my cerspicions. Apparently a few doors down that way were unlocked when they should not have been.
Anyhow, we should really meet up soon. Tea after classes tomorrow?
Corvus
Severus shook his head. The spelling mistakes were humorous, especially coming from Corvus.
So the boy knew about the Cerberus and heard about it from some friends. And this knowledge was gained because of certain ‘doors’ being unlocked... or is it doors unlocking? Gryffindors unlocked the door... And he wants to play chess? Or is he thinking of the old man’s chess? The potions master smirked. He would definitely be meeting with his godson. He knew he would have to tread carefully with this. If the old man knew he was involved in any way, it could cost him his role as spy...
Taking out a spare parchment, he wrote a short note and handed it to Huginn. With a wave of his hand, his door was open and the bird soared from the room.
()
Corvus welcomed Huginn with a piece of a scone and read the letter from his godfather. They would meet for tea and chess tomorrow. Finally something exciting.
He burned the missive quickly and returned to reading his ‘Blood Magic’ book. The art was truly interesting and there was a lot of power behind it. There were no ritual life sacrifices, only sacrifices of blood- meaning some drops of blood. Most of the power came from the magic of the blood used. Only powerful witches and wizards would get proper results.
He finished his essay and placed it in his vanishing box for Durmstrang, then crawled into bed for the night. Huginn flew to his perch and tucked his head under his wing while Véurr was already hissing in her sleep.
()
The classes the next day crawled by slowly, leaving Corvus impatient and snappish. Everyone kept their distance from the angry Ravenclaw, used to his volatile moodswings.
He met with Severus after the last classes and decided to have dinner in the professor’s rooms.
They waited until they were done eating to speak about anything serious, spending dinner speaking about classes and the upcoming holidays.
When the dinner was finally gone, Severus put up strong silence and privacy charms and turned to his godson, eyebrow raised.
“It’s a test, isn’t it?” he asked, his head cocked to the side.
“I didn’t think so until right before I received your letter,” he replied carefully.
“And...”
“And I’m fairly sure it is. Even though Potter had his parents, Dumbledore convinced them to send him to Diagon Alley with Hagrid on his birthday.”
“Let me guess,” Corvus drawled, “that’s when the stone was taken from the vault.”
Severus nodded his annoyance, “How did you find out about all of this?”
The younger wizard snorted. “Morag heard them talking about a three headed dog on the third floor corridor named Fluffy who was standing on a trap door.”
It was Severus’ turn to snort. “Bloody genius Gryffindors,” he muttered. He narrowed his eyes at Corvus. “Stay away from this, Cor. The old man is starting his manipulations already and I want you to stay far as possible from him.”
“But...”
“No, Corvus. Keep away from him... and keep away from the Potter brat.”
“I’ve had no contact with the Headmaster since last month and I keep away from Potter fine, it’s he who decides to corner me with his group of cowardly lions,” he snapped. Lately it wasn’t just Potter and his Weasel, but the other first year boys as well. Severus went to open his mouth, but Corvus cut him off. “The idea I had was to use a mixture of Parsel, Egyptian and Ancient runes to create a non-detectable ward around the door. It would keep all under age wizards and witches out. I could also set it to trap those with ill intent.”
Severus raised his brows. “I’m sorry you have to deal with Potter, but you will avoid him and this whole mess-” he started saying, ignoring the bit about the wards, but was cut off as his godson moved.
Corvus stood quickly and summoned his bag to himself. “Are you even listening to me? Do you think I want to seek him out and get some brotherly memories to the surface? No! Being here with him is hell. Oh, the memories are fresh. Everything is my fault. I seek out the trouble. I make the problems. Right? All the other professors lick his heels and believe him as the innocent party, but you... you know me better. Or at least I thought you did.”
With that Corvus left, leaving a gaping Snape sitting in his rooms. By the time he processed all that was said, the younger wizard was long gone. This was very unlike Corvus. He really wanted to keep the boy out of this test set up by the Headmaster.
But if he did get the wards up, but Potter still got through, they would know for sure that it was a setup.
{edited 9-24-15}
A/N: I know it's pretty short at just over 2100 words and it's not my favorite chapter, but need it posted. So please be kind lol
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