Chapter 37: Return to Hogwarts
Outside at last, Severus tilted his face toward the sky and smiled, tired and genuine. Dark clouds still covered it, but they were retreating, pulling back by degrees and letting the moonlight through.
"Are you certain you are all right?" Nagini asked, the anxiety clear in her voice. She had shrunk back to her normal size and slipped under his cloak.
"Completely. I could honestly say I have never felt better." He paused. "Thank you."
"It is. all right."
A moment later, a light gust of wind lifted his hood.
"Time to go home."
"Sev. Your head."
"Hm?" He raised an eyebrow, conjured a small mirror from water, and looked at his reflection in genuine puzzlement.
"One strand of hair has gone grey!" Nagini muttered, flicking her tail just above the centre of his forehead, fairly sure he was about to make a joke of it.
"Is that what you are worried about. I am honestly surprised the whole lot did not go grey. One strand is nothing." He snapped his fingers and it returned to black. "In some cases, after rituals like that, people grow horns. Hiding those is a considerably bigger problem."
"Ah. Your eyes look a little brighter, and your skin. wait. Horns?!"
"There was one documented case. He had to wear a large hat for the rest of his life and file them down regularly."
For a moment Nagini pictured Severus's usual composed expression under a large pair of branching horns. She could not contain it and laughed, at which point he flicked her tail and the laughter stopped immediately.
"That is enough. Home. I still need to understand exactly what the ritual has changed."
"I would have liked to see you with horns, though." She caught sight of his raised finger and closed her eyes quickly, bracing herself. What came instead was his hand, stroking her head gently.
"I am sorry. I made you worry, and made you do things you did not want to do. I will not let that happen again." How selfish of me. Feeling her worry makes me feel more real somehow. And when was the last time anyone worried about me like that?
"It is all right. I am just glad I could help you. You have already done so much for me, and I still have no way of paying any of it back."
"If you keep saying things like that, you will get another flick."
"I am telling you what is in my heart, and you—"
With a playful smile, Severus turned toward her as she poked her head out, and kissed the top of it. Her eyes went wide. She froze completely.
"Thank you."
"W-what are you d-doing?! I-I."
"Expressing gratitude," he said calmly, and winked, and she practically overflowed with embarrassment, retreating back under his robe as fast as she could.
He did not press it further. He glanced back at the cave one last time, checked the surrounding area, and disappeared.
The following day, or rather six hours after he had returned, Lucius appeared with congratulations and a newspaper. On page two, in the Young Talents section, there was a photograph of him receiving his badge from a Ministry employee. How anyone had managed to take it, he genuinely could not work out.
John Macmillan came shortly after, on behalf of the family, bringing a small gift: an artefact that sharpened concentration. He had not come for that alone. He also collected two cubes and introduced Severus to his sister, who had apparently decided at the last moment to come along.
Once they had gone, Severus was finally able to turn his attention to setting up the shop-house. He settled on the interior and arranged for workers to begin the following day. He also spoke with Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, who helped him locate a suitable manager for a modest fee.
The hire was Shafiqi Karner, a half-blood whose late father had left him buried under substantial debt. Severus did not make that decision lightly: Karner only signed a one-year contract after an interview conducted with Legilimency.
The rest of the day was not restful. Someone new arrived every half hour with a proposal, and not just small shopkeepers: the representatives of genuine powers in the field came too. Even the Ministry appeared, offering him a position in the supply department straight after graduation and pressing a letter of recommendation into his hands.
The demand for him was not purely about skill. If a name like his was attached to an organisation, they could use him as an advertisement, and that would draw further clients.
Fame had its other side. He attracted the attention of those who operated at the margins of legality. The Death Eaters came again, this time through Lucius. After them came groups he did not recognise: the Dark Broomsticks, the Grey Wizards, a handful of smaller gangs, and several establishments from Knockturn Alley. He sent them all away politely, and most promised to return, giving him time to think it over. He took that at face value and promised to visit each of them that evening in a more private setting, after putting tracking charms on every one of them.
Around ten o'clock in the evening he finally returned home, where Nagini was waiting, visibly tense.
"What happened? I heard explosions from outside but did not dare go out. I was afraid someone would recognise me from my colouring." She was already looking him over for injuries.
"Nothing to worry about. I went to collect ingredients. The shop will be opening soon and I need a stock of potions brewed in advance." He crouched and held out his hand; she climbed onto it immediately and settled at his neck. "Are we going back to Hogwarts?"
"What else would I do? I still need to explore the castle. Now that I am considerably stronger, I should be able to sense other places like the Chamber. There are a great many legends about Hogwarts: a room that can produce anything you need, Helga Hufflepuff's hidden garden and her cup, a mention I found of Rowena Ravenclaw's secret library where she spent evenings with her students, though the password and location died with her. Probably fiction, but worth investigating. Of all of them, though, what interests me most is Godric Gryffindor's legacy."
"What did he leave behind?"
"The Sword of Gryffindor. The finest work the goblins ever produced, and they want it back to this day." He smiled. "Though I would not say no to Excalibur, or Gram, or Durandal, or Muramasa." He went on listing them with quiet enjoyment, names from books he had read across a lifetime. He turned off the lights and cut the flow of magic to the rooms.
Outside, at that same moment, a crowd of excited wizards was running toward four separate fires. Many tried to break through and help, but it was useless. The flame would not allow it: it repelled spells and water had no effect whatsoever.
Others watched from a distance, simply wondering who had managed to anger those particular people. Many in the crowd knew exactly who owned those buildings and were not especially surprised. Gang warfare was common in times like these, when the Ministry was directing every available resource against Voldemort and smaller criminal operations were largely ignored unless they became impossible to overlook.
Among the observers, grim-faced Aurors moved through the streets, dealing with the aftermath. And in the middle of all of it, with Nagini casting a deeply suspicious look at the entirely indifferent Severus, the man responsible for all of this chaos stepped into one of the public fireplaces, went to Hogsmeade, and from there walked with her on foot toward the castle.
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