Secrets

Chapter 3

'There is a crow sitting on your shoulder, you do know that, don't you?' a quiet silky voice said from somewhere near her office door. Iris didn't need to look up to know who had just made this startling observation.

'I commend you on your remarkable powers of observation and deduction, Professor Snape,' she said expressionlessly and finally looked up. 'Was there anything else, besides this invaluable piece of information, that you wanted to share with me?' He made one step into the room and then froze. His lips tightened, his eyes narrowed and he slowly lowered his head to look coldly down at his feet. Iris followed his gaze to see a fairly large, grey cat, the colour of cold ash, sniffing delicately at the hem of his robes and obviously poised to begin rubbing up against his legs.

Iris's lips twitched, then quivered, then curled up in a grin she couldn't control.

'Hecate, meet Severus, Severus, meet Hecate,' she said, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. The way he had frozen to the spot, one would have thought he had just seen a Boggart. He didn't speak and didn't move, just kept glaring at the cat which seemed totally unconcerned by this. The cat promptly started rubbing up against him and circling his legs.

'She likes you,' Iris observed needlessly. Snape's head rose, slowly, and he glared at Iris.

'Obviously,' he said finally, his voice dripping ice. 'Although I fail to see why.'

'Oh, Hecate is a bit funny that way. She doesn't like male cats one bit, but she likes male humans just fine! I think it's because they have no frivolous demands of her,' she added with another wry grin and saw Snape almost shiver at the very idea.

'No. I should think not,' he consented finally and then did something that took Iris completely by surprise. He suddenly leaned down, scooped the cat up in his arm with one smooth movement and brought her up to his chest, his long white fingers tickling her under her chin. Hecate purred loudly, regarding Snape calmly through half-closed eyes. He gazed back at her and finally his lips curled up, only briefly, in the first genuine smile Iris had seen grace his face since she had met him. The transformation was incredible. Suddenly he had seemed almost ten years younger. The smile was gone as quickly as it had appeared however, although he didn't stop stroking the cat which was now starting to look as if she had nestled quite nicely where she was and wasn't planning on moving any time soon.

'Are there any more animals in here that I should know about?' Snape asked, coldly, his usual self-possessed demeanour back in place.

'Not right now, no,' she replied calmly. His eyebrows rose slightly.

'How many Familiars do you have, woman?' he asked sharply.

'Familiars, only two: Maeve and Hecate. However, animals do tend to come and go quite a lot in here,' she said with a sly smile. 'Professional hazard,' she added by way of explanation. He was staring at her wide-eyed, and it seemed that the second part of the sentence had gone completely over his head.

'Maeve and Hecate? The crow is called Maeve? Any particular reason why your Familiars are both called after Goddesses?' She tilted her head to one side, raised her brows and rolled her eyes.

'The reason does not strike you as obvious then, does it?'

He sneered in amused agreement.

'Your cat is not black,' he observed in a way that was meant as a gibe.

'I'm not that predictable, Snape! For Merlin's sake, what do you think of me!?' His eyes glinted evilly, but he said nothing. 'Anyway,' she continued quite quickly, 'was there something you actually wanted to tell me, or did you just drop in to pet my cat?' His eyes narrowed dangerously, but his slim white fingers never stopped rubbing the cat's chin.

'I was instructed to ask if you have received something the Headmaster was expecting,' he said with such cold precision it made her tilt her head to one side again and regard him curiously, brow furrowed in thought. There was no point in asking if this was the precise wording of the message. If there was anyone in that school that was a stickler for accuracy, then that was definitely Snape. In which case, this message meant that he had no idea what it was he was actually asking for. So, Dumbledore still hadn't said anything to him.

'I have,' she said after a brief, thoughtful hesitation, and she began folding a parchment in front of her into quarters. 'Just now. Do you want to take it to him, or shall I?' she asked as she was finishing her folding.

'It really is of no consequence,' he said coldly.

'Well,' she decided, picking up her sealing wax and sealing the folded parchment, 'I need to be in class in about five minutes, so, if you are free right now, it would be a great help if you made the delivery. He didn't get to reply immediately, because he became distracted by the fact that he saw her picking up her wand. She tapped the sealed parchment once and whispered 'Obsigna'.

'You are magically sealing it?' he asked in disbelief. 'You do not trust me to take it down the corridor without succumbing to the temptations of reading it?'

'Don't be ridiculous, Severus,' she said shortly. 'Would I be doing this in front of you if this was for you?' (that was half a lie), 'You know what this school is like! You never know what can happen in the time it takes to walk down three corridors!' (that was entirely true). She could feel his eyes narrowing as he looked down at her. 'It's private!' she insisted hotly, turning to look up at him again.

'Fine,' he said stiffly, after a short but meaningful pause, and he set the cat down on Iris's desk. The cat meowed once, crankily, for being disturbed, but proceeded to arch its back and stretch its legs pleasurably. Ignoring it, Snape picked up the piece of parchment Iris handed him. He turned on his heel and headed for the door without another word.

'Severus!' her voice stopped him just short of the corridor. He half-turned to look at her. 'Don't you have a Familiar?' she asked, surprising him so profoundly he dropped his guard for a moment, and his eyes seemed to widen into deep caverns of darkness. The answer was late in coming, and it sounded forced, as if he would have preferred the subject had not been mentioned.

'Not right now,' was all he said and he had gone. She was left sitting there, staring at the empty space he had left and making a mental note to ask Dumbledore a question. Something felt a little bit tight around her heart, but she was too preoccupied with thoughts to actually notice. She was starting to see her way around a plan...

*

Actually getting through all her classes the next few weeks proved to be more of a challenge than she could possibly have expected. Her heart (and mind) just wasn't in it. There was simply too much to think about -that didn't relate to teaching teenagers about different Divine archetypes. Not that she underestimated the seriousness of what she was trying to teach, or the usefulness of it, it was just extremely hard to concentrate.

Dumbledore had approved her little plan and now it was up to her to put it into motion. Of course Dumbledore would be helping where he could, but he really couldn't be seen to be active in it in any meaningful way. That would completely defy the purpose. Plus, that report she had received the day Snape had shown up in her office had disturbed her more profoundly than what she had originally anticipated.

It was now the last week of October and she had only three days left to complete the preliminary preparations for her little scheme. If something was to go wrong, it would be going wrong now. All she had to base her hopes of success on were her own efficiency at psychological analyses and some vital information she had received from Dumbledore. Neither of the above were infallible, by any means; although Dumbledore seemed much more confident of success than she was.

The mood of the students was not helping her, either. Anticipation for the Halloween celebrations was running high, and so was excitement. This had the effect of making her job in retaining everyone's concentration during classes much harder than it had been since the beginning of term. She hadn't really planned on having any of her Invocation classes do any practical work till after the Christmas break, but she found herself deciding that it might be a good idea to have them try something simple now, just to stimulate some sorely needed interest.

This was the reason she was now finding herself, on a very chilly Monday morning, surrounded by a large group of fifteen-year olds, on the frosty edge of the lake on the Hogwarts grounds. She was wrapped up warmly in her black winter cloak and she was glad to see that all the students had had the good sense of following her instructions and had also shown up suitably dressed. She looked around sternly at them all and was secretly glad most of them were shivering slightly. Physical discomfort had the welcome effect of sobering the mind, and if there was something all these students needed now, it was a sober mind.

Harry Potter and company were huddling together somewhere near the front of the group, while Mister Malfoy's sinister little bunch wisely hung back, as far away from her and the Potter group as they possibly could.

'We are outdoors today, in this pleasant weather,' she began, loudly enough to be heard, but keeping her tone to the minimum volume required, 'because we need the presence of a natural source of water.' Silence hung in the air after her voice had faded away. She was glad.

'Today, we will be attempting the first -and possibly the last, if you exhibit anything less than absolute sobriety in this endeavour -Elemental Evocation.' Whispers and quiet gasps greeted this announcement, but these were soon stifled as, one by one, the guilty parties met Professor Raveneye's eyes. When she was quite sure she was being regarded in absolute silence, she decided to speak again.

'Don't expect grand and spectacular entrances accompanied by rumbles of thunder, sheets of lightning or any other theatrics of any sort. You will be attempting to summon the spirit of this particular stretch of water. You will be trying to communicate with the power, the energy that makes this lake what it is...' she paused at this point and stared at them all so intently she actually saw some of them shudder. 'I cannot stress this enough,' she continued when she was satisfied her gaze had had the required impact on the class, 'you will not be attempting to control, or use this entity in any way, shape or form. You will simply be requesting the honour of its presence. If you do this properly, with appropriate seriousness and appreciation, chances are that the entity will respond; much in the same way that a human being will probably respond if they are shown respect.' She noticed that the students were all regarding her open mouthed. All, that is, except Mister Malfoy. His eyes were narrowed and brilliantly piercing. He was thinking, considering, analysing. In fact, he was about to ask a question.

'What is the point of this entire exercise if we are not going to be using these things, or controlling them in any way?' Malfoy asked, almost exactly on cue.

'The point, Mister Malfoy, is that this exercise will teach you how to communicate with these beings, and how to summon them. Controlling or using is a different exercise altogether. One that belongs to a different class and a different teacher: such a one that would be willing to teach you how to practise the Dark Arts!' She spat the words out as if something distasteful had touched her lips. Most of the eyes regarding her by now had acquired a striking similarity to cup-saucers.

'Listen to me very carefully, all of you,' she said strongly. 'This is supposed to be a class on Invocation and Evocation and not on Defence against the Dark Arts, which I know your year takes with Professor Snape. However, sometimes, the division between subjects is not as clear as some people would have you believe. When you start learning how to Evoke other entities, whether elemental or from different planes of existence, you also need to learn what practices in this field are acceptable, and which are not. You need to be able to distinguish between the two, and hopefully never ever practice one of them. When a wizard or witch attempts to control, or use an entity against its will, they are performing nothing less foul and despicable than an Imperius curse to a human. I want this made very very clear to all of you. These sort of practices are NOT tolerated; not by me, not by Professor Dumbledore, and NOT by the Ministry of Magic. If the entity is respectfully summoned, it is more than likely to volunteer assistance, if such is required,' she added more quietly in the end. 'They are to be regarded in the same way you regard your fellow human beings. You need something from them, you ask nicely... Have I made myself clear?' Not a single sound came from the many young faces staring at her with enormous, shocked eyes, but most of the heads nodded vigorously.

'And, have I answered your question Mister Malfoy?' she added, staring coldly straight into his eyes. He grumbled and looked down at his hands furiously, but in the end managed to force a very stiff 'yes' from his mouth.

'Good,' was all she said, and then turned back to the rest of the students.

'Now, it is actually possible to perform this Evocation with all twenty of you, but it would be easier if only several of you took part. So, I would like ten volunteers.' A lot of shifting around and mumbling, and looking down at the grass with fascinated interest ensued, but in the end, the ten volunteers were standing in front of her. These included the Granger girl (of course) and Ron Weasley, but, strangely, not Harry Potter. She didn't want to pressure him, so she didn't say anything. Mister Malfoy also had decided to keep well away for the time being and just observe. He was a terrible, obnoxious little brat, but she had to hand to him that he was smart. Observe before you commit, was a motto many people would benefit from adhering to.

'Ok, now, this is what you will be saying. I will give you the English translation first -just so you know what you're actually saying -but it will have to be recited in Latin. Is that clear?' Ten heads nodded cautiously.

'Good. So this is it: All hail to the Element of Water, Ruler of the West/All hail O Creature of Water/We evoke thee in perfect peace and perfect trust... Now, take out your wands.' All ten complied immediately. 'Good. Now, stand in a circle and point all your wands to the centre, as if constructing the point of a cone, but DON'T let your wands touch.' More shuffling around ensued, but finally, everyone was in place. Hermione looked positively ecstatic at the prospect of actually evoking an elemental. Ron, along with most of the other ten students looked slightly apprehensive, if one didn't want to use the word frightened. Iris had to suppress a smile.

'Good. Everyone doing fine so far. Now, this is what you're going to be saying: Ave Elementum Aquae, Imperator Occidentalis/Ave Animal Aquae/In pacem perfectam et fidem evocamus te.' She saw Ron goggling at her and she had to fight very hard to keep her composure. 'Now, don't panic, I will repeat it again, line by line, and you can all just repeat it after me. Keep in mind that it may be necessary to repeat this more than once before we get any results -if indeed we do get any. Ok?' Everyone nodded mutely. Iris smiled and then began reciting quietly. Ten, rather tremulous young voices, repeated her words immediately after her, like a slightly uncertain echo. For a few moments, no one moved, no one spoke, no one so much as breathed. Nothing happened and Iris began again. The young voices mimicking her words sounded a bit more confident this time round. She was speaking about peace, when a small crackle of bright white energy appeared at the tip of Ron's wand.

Despite herself, Iris felt her eyebrows rising in surprise. This was something she had definitely not anticipated. Ron, as far as she had been able to gather in the two months she had been at Hogwarts, was a capable enough wizard, but had not yet shown any particularly impressive talent or even any particular inclination towards any one branch of magic. If Evocation proved to be his strong point there would be no one more surprised than she.

The white crackle was becoming stronger now, and suddenly something white was sizzling at the end of Hermione's wand too. Soon, one by one, all the upward turned wands were glowing white. The energy emanating from all of them coalesced at a point in the centre, then rose up above the children's upturned faces. It seemed to hover for a moment, and then it spread out like a sheet that struck the ground at a rough circle which included the small group and half the lake. It scorched the soil where it struck, and almost everyone thought they heard the lake waters sizzle for a moment. Then, all was quiet again.

'Don't move,' Iris warned them quietly. 'Stay in the circle. You can lower your wands and you can look at the lake, but don't move from the circle.' One by one the wands were slowly lowered, and now every head was turned anxiously towards the water.

'Look!' someone behind Iris hissed, and immediately afterwards she heard someone else gasp. She smiled to herself and no one saw. They were too preoccupied with what was happening on the water. A sudden light mist seemed to have formed on its surface, apparently out of nowhere; and it also seemed to be keeping to the area which had been circumscribed by the lightning circle earlier. Iris saw Hermione gasp now, as she, and a few others, started realising what they were seeing. The mist, was not strictly speaking a vapour. If one looked closely enough, one could tell that it seemed to be composed of infinitesimally small drops of water... which were coming together somewhere off the water's edge, about twenty yards away from the on-looking crowd.

Gradually, a shape was formed. It shimmered in the weak autumn sunlight, as it flowed in and out of focus like a rather bad magical photograph. For a moment, it looked almost humanoid, before its limbs flowed into each other again and it became nothing more than a splash of water. Then it acquired shape again, just as briefly, but this time a part of its streaming mass was raised for a second, in what could only have been described as gesture of greeting. Ron sucked his breath in, sharply.

'Hermione, did you see that?' he breathed, almost incapable of speech from the shock, 'It smiled at us!' Hermione couldn't do anything more than nod. Her mouth was hanging open, as was the rest of the class's. With a soft, delicate splash and a sprinkle of minute drops, the Elemental disappeared, leaving behind it absolute silence.

'You can break the circle now,' Iris thought it prudent to remind her students, since none of them looked like they were planning on moving any time soon. The awe on their faces was something many people would have paid good money to see. Her voice, however, seemed to break the spell. Suddenly, chaos erupted. Everyone started talking at once. She let them get on with it for a couple of minutes, but in the end she was forced to raise her voice more than usual to impose order.

'I'm not usually prone to frivolous praise, but that was exceptionally well done for a first attempt. Well done, Mister Weasley,' she added and shot him a broad smile. 'There might be something there worth looking into,' she said meaningfully and took great pleasure in seeing him blush so brightly his skin became almost the same colour as his hair.

She began leading them back indoors since they were all beginning to feel the cold in their bones by now, but she didn't stop talking to them, or answering questions all the way back.

'Can't we write that Latin Evocation down?' a young, blonde Slytherin girl was asking her as they were climbing the steps up to the main entrance.

'No,' Iris said simply.

'Why not?' a chorus of voice rose up in complaint

'Because I don't want you trying to do this sort of thing on your own. Not yet!'

'Awww! No! But we must. How are we going to practise?'

'You won't. Not yet. You will get to practise when the time comes. There is still much much more that you need to learn before you lot can go off and start practising on your own.'

As the group made their way noisily back down towards their classroom, two pairs of eyes regarded them from the deep shadows of a corner, with profound interest. The blue eyes were smiling. The pair of eyes next to them, blacker than the shadows they were taking refuge in weren't; a strange sparkle shone in their depths instead.

'Looks like we have just discovered Mister Ron Weasley's natural inclinations,' a warm, smiling voice said.

'Yes, so it does,' a very calm, chilly voice agreed with the first, after a moment's hesitation. Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape emerged from the shadows, slowly, still staring in the direction in which Iris Raveneye and her class had just disappeared.

'Come, come, Severus,' Dumbledore said softly, the warm smile never leaving his face, 'you are being too suspicious,' he continued, chastising Snape's unspoken thoughts. 'Iris is a wonderful woman, an excellent teacher -much after your own heart in many ways, if I'm not mistaken -and a very powerful witch.'

'That's what I'm worried about,' Snape retorted shortly. 'She's too good.'

'Oh, balderdash!' Dumbledore exclaimed. 'Would you have me hire someone sub-standard, or did you now just manage to insult your own abilities?

'-And too young,' Snape continued heedlessly. 'Why hasn't she been scooped up by the Ministry already? Why would someone like that prefer to come to Hogwarts rather than have an illustrious career with the Ministry?'

'Some people like teaching you know, Severus,' Dumbledore said mildly, and Snape turned sharply to glare at him. His burst of anger lasted no more than a second though. Almost immediately he was back under control. Besides, he had known Dumbledore for far too long now, and owed him much too much to take offence at an 'innocent' comment like that.

'Oh, yes. I'm sure she does. She definitely takes it seriously enough, that's for sure. But this is not her chosen profession! I bet my life on it!' Snape almost growled. 'Trust me, Albus. That woman would shrivel up and die of boredom if teaching was all she ever did!' To Snape's complete and utter surprise, Dumbledore simply smiled brightly at him, his brilliant blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

'Oooff!' Snape exclaimed finally, almost stamping his foot in exasperation. Instead, he flung his long robes away from his feet, spun around in a flurry of black and stalked off towards his office.

Dumbledore watched after him for a few moments, then he literally rubbed his hands excitedly, chuckled quietly to himself and disappeared into the opposite direction.

*

The Halloween decorations that year were possibly the most impressive the school had seen in many years. Besides the customary floating pumpkins and hundreds of live bats fluttering around the Great Hall, the Ghosts had invited some of their more gruesome looking friends. Greyish, semi-transparent skeletal figures roamed the Hall, clicking along eerily, accompanied by several Ghoulish looking creatures and two ghosts that seemed to consist of nothing more than a white sheet. There were also a number of very large, menacing looking crows sitting perched on pillars along the Hall, or fluttering sinisterly overhead from one corner of the room to the other. What made the crows seem so sinister in a room full of ghost, flying bats and floating, glowing pumpkins was the fact that, by rights, these birds should have been asleep at this time of night.

The feast was as rich and impressive as it had ever been, if not more so. Ron, Harry and Hermione sat together as always, eating their way happily through the sort of quantities of food only fifteen-year olds can.

'This is the coolest Halloween yet,' Ron observed through a mouthful of extremely rich chocolate cake. 'The ghosts and the crows and everything are just amazing!' Harry and Hermione nodded, instead of trying to speak with their mouths very full.

'I'm curious about these crows, to be honest,' Hermione said finally. 'Shouldn't they be sleeping or something?'

'They should,' Harry agreed and bit into a chocolate covered apple. 'Have you also noticed that Raveneye owns a crow? I wonder if it's in here somewhere...'

'Yeah,' Ron said excitedly. 'Is that cool, or what?! Bet she chose it because it goes with her name,' he added and grinned.

'Have you seen how it sits on her shoulder, sometimes?' Harry continued. 'Is it just me or does that make her look even scarier than usual?' Ron and Hermione considered this.

'It does, in a way,' Hermione agreed cautiously, in the end. 'But not always. I think it's just because she seems to have a special sort of relationship with it.' Ron spluttered, almost choking on a mouthful of doughnut.

'Special relationship? What do you think she does with it? It's a crow, for heaven's sake!' Hermione sighed and shook her head.

'Ron, for god's sake, don't you know anything? Some witches and wizards have Familiars!'

'You what?' Harry asked.

'Familiars, Harry! They are, like, more than just pets. They have a very special, close relationship with the witch or wizard. Sometimes they assist in certain spells the witch or wizard casts. It is also said that it is possible for some witches and wizards to perform a Sharing spell and become part the Familiar's consciousness... Like, sharing the same mind for a time.'

Ron spluttered again.

'You mean they can go into the animal's mind and stay there? Like, see what the animal sees, feel what it feels and that? Can they control it, too?'

Hermione nodded sagely.

'Yup! It's very difficult to achieve though and can also be very dangerous.'

'Why?' Harry inquired, now truly fascinated by the conversation.

'I say, Harry, it's a good job Hermione reads all these books, you know; means we don't have to go to the library to find out all these things! It's like having your own personal walking, talking library, always to hand.'

Hermione rolled her eyes, and Ron grinned at her.

'It's dangerous, because, by performing this Sharing consistently the witch or wizard comes to know his Familiar very well, and becomes deeply emotionally attached to it. In fact, from what I read, it becomes a bit of a vicious circle. The more the spell is practised with a certain host, the more attached the host and the witch or wizard become, which makes the spell stronger and more effective. However, if then something were to happen to that Familiar, like if it were to die, the shock and grief the witch or wizard experience is such that some have been known to have never recovered from it. But the worst thing is, if something happens to the animal while the witch or wizard are Sharing, then it is very likely that they too may die from the shock. People have really died like this, you know. They were Sharing, and something happened to the host and it was killed, or it died, and the wizard died too. They need to be strong enough and quick enough to withdraw from the host's mind before actual death occurs, otherwise...' she shook her head. Seeing both Harry and Ron gaping at her wide-eyed, she thought it best to explain a bit further. 'When they Share, they don't just sit there comfortably, looking through the animal's eyes. They become part of the animal's consciousness. If the mind becomes convinced it is dead, then the body dies too.' Ron gulped.

'So, you really think that crow Raveneye has is her Familiar?' he managed slowly. 'Do you think she Shares with it, too?'

Hermione shrugged.

'I don't know. They definitely look very attached. But I think I've also seen her with a large grey cat. It isn't common, but some people have more than one Familiar. It could be the cat, it could be the crow, or both. Whether she can Share or not, is a different story.'

'If I had to take a guess, I'd say she does,' Harry said quite suddenly, making both Ron and Hermione turn to look at him in surprise.

'What makes you say that?' Ron asked.

'I don't know. I just feel that she is the sort of person that could do that. It might be what makes her seem so frightening when, in fact, she isn't doing anything frightening at all.'

'What, you mean, besides behaving like a very bizarre cross between McGonagall and Snape? That does not make her frightening to you?'

Harry grinned, lopsidedly.

'She's as strict as McGonagall, and as intense about teaching as Snape. But she's definitely not frightening because of that!'

'What is it then? You think all this animalistic sharing has rubbed off onto her personality? You think she's a wild, party animal?' Ron asked, grinning wickedly.

'Oh Ron!' Hermione exploded. 'For Merlin's sake! It's a teacher we're talking about!'

'What has that got to do with anything? Don't teachers have love lives?... Well, maybe not Snape, but the rest of them!' he added as an afterthought.

'So, you think it's more likely for McGonagall to have a boyfriend, than for Snape to have a girlfriend then?' Hermione asked dryly.

'Well, I mean, McGonagall is old, but that doesn't even begin to compare with how obnoxious and revolting Snape is!'

'Raveneye seems to like him just fine, however,' Hermione pointed out.

'What are you talking about!?' Ron burst out. 'They can't be in the same room together without exchanging the most horrific insults I have ever heard in my life!' Hermione smirked knowingly. It was amazing, she considered, how girls grew up so much faster than boys.

'It's called repartee, Ron. They are not actually arguing, they are testing each other's wit. People only do that when they like each other. They are flirting!' Hermione said pointedly in the end. Ron and Harry's faces simultaneously twisted into a grimace of disgust.

'Yeeeuuw! Yuck!' they both said staring at each other in horror.

'No! You're just imagining things! You and your dirty little mind! They can't be! She can't be flirting with him!' Ron objected hotly.

'I mean, she's...' Harry began.

' -Hot?' Hermione finished the sentence for him.

'I was going to say, nice!' Harry corrected her.

'Well, hot too!' Ron intervened. Hermione shrugged.

'You can believe what you like and what is convenient for your own little fantasies,' she said calmly. 'However, I know what I see!' Ron and Harry stared at each other in horror again and shuddered. It was too much for them to contemplate so they shrugged it off and decided to concentrate on the food. They didn't manage to do so for long, however, since one of the crows suddenly took off from one of the pillars behind the three of them, swooped down low, over their heads with a loud flutter, making them jump, and proceeded to land on the back of Professor Raveneye's chair.

'There, see?' Ron pointed out excitedly. 'It's her crow, see?' Harry and Hermione had indeed seen and were, in fact, still looking.

'I'm not sure,' Hermione said finally. 'It looks a bit bigger than what I remember her crow to be... Not much, just a bit.'

Harry cocked his head to one side and considered this. He wasn't sure either.

'How can you tell?' Ron exclaimed. 'They all look exactly the same!'

'No. Well... yes. But some are just a bit bigger than the others,' Hermione insisted. 'I really don't think that is her crow. Do you think she got another one?'

'What do you think she's doing, starting a collection?' Ron sneered as the crow hopped off the back of her chair and onto her shoulder.

'It's sitting on her right shoulder. It usually sits on her left. Look, I tell you it's a different one!' Hermione said.

'That doesn't mean anything!' Ron objected.

'No, Ron, I really think Hermione is right,' Harry suddenly joined in. 'It's acting differently too.' Ron snorted, and rolled his eyes. This conversation was losing its interest for him very rapidly.

At that moment they saw Dumbledore stand up and silence gradually descended over the Hall.

'Once again it has been an absolutely magnificent Halloween,' they heard him say, 'and I would like to wish you all many many more likewise wonderful Halloweens to come, here at Hogwarts, and afterwards when you leave, for those of you who are spending their last Halloween with us.' He raised his goblet of pumpkin juice and the entire school followed his lead. Everyone drank deeply and then the students began applauding and cheering. Dumbledore raised his hands in an indication that he hadn't quite finished and that he required silence once more.

'I'm afraid we will have to leave you a bit early this year, since there is a small private celebration we all need to attend; however I hope you all stay and continue having as much fun as is possible in a school,' he said with a grin.

Harry, Ron and Hermione saw Snape look suddenly in Dumbledore's direction, a very distinct look of surprise on his face.

'What was that all about?' Ron wondered out loud as all the teachers, one by one, rose from their seats and followed Dumbledore through a door that led into a smaller room off the Great Hall. Snape was the last to leave.

'Don't know,' Harry said. 'But did you see Snape? He looked really surprised.'

'You think they arranged something without telling him? That would make sense,' Ron sneered. 'Bet they wouldn't want him around! The life and soul of a party he would be, I tell you!'

'It's his birthday,' Hermione said lightly, whilst nibbling on an apple. Harry and Ron turned slowly to stare at her in utter and complete disbelief.

'It's his birthday?' Ron asked, in shock, as if it was impossible for him to believe that someone like Snape actually had a birthday. Somehow, images of birthday cakes, parties and presents didn't quite fit in with Snape as an idea. It was very hard to imagine someone so detestable as ever having been a child. He somehow embodied the concept of an adult. 'Today, is his birthday?!' Ron repeated, seemingly entirely unable to get his head around the idea. Hermione nodded, without saying anything.

'Well, I suppose it figures,' Ron breathed, still struggling to recover from the shock. 'Can you imagine him being born on any day other than Halloween?' he asked earnestly of the both of them. Harry shook his head, partly in agreement with Ron, and partly because he too was having problems digesting this.

'How, in Merlin's name do you know it's Snape's birthday today?' he finally asked of Hermione. 'I mean, I know you know practically everything there is to know about this universe, but somehow, I just couldn't see Snape's birthday figuring largely in your extra-curricular reading!' Hermione shrugged and picked an iced strawberry off a large cake.

'I've read up on all the teachers' biographies. They are available, you know, and I thought it would be a good idea to know about the people that are teaching us,' she said offhandedly. 'Well, they're all available except Raveneye's. I'm guessing that's because she's still very new here. If she sticks around for more than one year, I'd expect her biography will be made available too.'

'So, how old is he then?' Ron asked. 'Presumably the biography didn't actually say 'Severus Snape, born on Halloween!' It must have given a date of birth!'

Hermione nodded and frowned, apparently performing some mental calculations.

'Can't remember,' she said in the end.

'But you remember the day of his birthday?!' Harry asked incredulously.

'It was Halloween. It's hard to forget,' she reminded him, offhandedly.

'True,' Ron conceded. 'So, do you think they're throwing him, like, a surprise party or something?' He grinned wickedly at the thought.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and then at Ron.

'He's not going to like that, is he?' Harry said and his own face broke into a huge evil grin.

'No,' Ron said excitedly, shaking his head vigorously. 'Wish we could get a look at what's going on!'

'You know, now you mention it, he really isn't going to like that,' Hermione remarked, more to herself than to either of the other two, apparently following her own, very different, train of thought. 'They must be aware of that, so if that's the case, why would they want to do something like that?' Harry and Ron eyed her narrowly.

'To torture him?' Ron suggested happily. Hermione shook her head.

'No. It's either something entirely different that's going on, or, if they are doing something for his birthday it's for an entirely different reason!' she concluded. Harry shrugged and Ron grinned at him.

'Personally, I prefer to imagine his face when he realises there's a surprise party in his honour. God, I wish I could see this! Can you imagine them forcing him to wear a party hat and everything?' Harry spluttered hysterically at the image that formed in his mind and Ron joined him. Hermione, however, was immersed in her own thoughts that obviously didn't include Snape in party attire, since her expression was nothing if not sober.

Behind several closed doors and a couple of passwords later, the teaching staff of Hogwarts had congregated. In their large staff-room, there was a table spread out with a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and a few bowls of various peculiar-looking nibbles. Snape was still looking very puzzled and by now, also very suspicious.

'What's this all about, Albus?' he asked as soon as the staff-room door was closed behind them.

'It's what it looks like,' Dumbledore replied simply and headed straight for the drinks. 'I thought that us adults could do with some more... stimulating beverages for the occasion.' He poured himself a large glass of brandy.

'What occasion?' Snape insisted, staying very close to Dumbledore's side and speaking rather quietly. Everyone else was also helping themselves to alcohol and talking amongst themselves energetically. The appearance of alcohol seemed to have improved the mood of Hogwarts's staff no end.

'What, you mean besides Halloween?' Dumbledore asked innocently, as if only half paying attention to him. Snape glared at the back of Dumbledore's head so hard that, with a sigh, Dumbledore was forced to turn and look at him straight in the eye.

'Severus, for the love of Merlin, pour yourself a drink, relax...' he paused for no more than a moment, 'it is your birthday after all!' he smiled broadly.

Snape's eyes widened slowly in what could only have been described as speechless horror.

'You haven't...?' he whispered faintly, his eyes now resembling two yawning black caverns. He turned towards the table so abruptly it even took Dumbledore by surprise, and grabbed the first bottle that looked like it contained something strong. He glanced at the label: Malt Whisky. With his other hand he grasped a glass, poured himself a very generous double shot and downed it in one. He turned back to Dumbledore who was still smiling broadly at him.

'Tell me you haven't told everyone,' Snape hissed stiffly, in a desperate attempt at retaining his composure. Dumbledore shrugged.

'My dear Severus, interested parties can find out on their own without too much trouble. There was no point pretending I didn't know.' Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously.

'What do you mean, "interested parties"?'

Dumbledore gestured broadly to the entire room. Snape turned, very slowly, to see that practically everyone was regarding him and Dumbledore with profound interest and beaming smiles.

He froze.

'We just decided that you have been with us far too many years for us to ignore your birthday one more time, whether you like it or not,' Dumbledore said and his words were accompanied by a chorus of nodding heads. Even McGonagall seemed relaxed, Snape noticed, as she raised a very large glass of Malt Whisky to him, in the manner of a toast.

'Absolutely!' she agreed. 'So just shut up and drink if you can't relax any other way!' she said to him and Snape's jaw practically dropped to the floor. He was starting to think he was hallucinating, because the image of a tipsy McGonagall did not belong to the reality he inhabited.

'Quite,' Dumbledore joined in joyfully. 'There's only one more little thing...' he began, but was interrupted by Snape who was beginning to remember how to use his vocal chords again.

'Albus, just please tell me you were not about to use the words "gift" or "present" in you next sentence!'

'Actually, I wasn't,' Dumbledore said. 'However, that wasn't to say that we did not think about that.'

Snape's hand went up to his face and he lowered his head into his palm. Dumbledore continued undaunted.

'We thought long and hard, and finally, dear Iris came up with the best idea. So, it's only fair that she does the honours!'

Dumbledore grinned warmly at her, and she saw Snape raise his head only slightly, to shoot an absolutely lethal look at her through his long white fingers.

Unfazed, she smiled lopsidedly at him and shrugged. He closed his eyes again and sighed, as if to say 'bring it on!' He fixed her with his flattest, most expressionless stare, folded his arms across his chest and waited.

Her smile twisted into a smirk and her grey eyes twinkled slyly.

'Severus, may I have your arm, please?' she said quietly. His expressionless stare flickered, became surprise, and then returned to its initial state.

'I beg your pardon?' he asked in exaggerated incomprehension.

'Humour me,' she said patiently, staring deep into his black eyes. For a moment he hesitated, then, finally he sighed and extended his right arm.

Without letting go of his eyes for even a second, she tipped her head ever so slightly closer to the enormous crow still perched on her shoulder.

'Vade, Hades,' she whispered. Immediately, the crow leapt off her shoulder and with a loud flutter of wings landed smoothly on Snape's outstretched arm. Snape's jaw slackened and he gaped at the bird that was regarding him coolly with one beady eye. He hardly even noticed everyone in the room grinning broadly at him.

'Hades, meet Severus, Severus, meet Hades,' she said calmly. For a couple of moments, Snape failed to react.

'You are not serious!' he managed finally, his eyes never leaving the crow. The grins turned into chuckles at his words. 'That was not Maeve? I thought that was Maeve!' he blurted out, suddenly turning to look at her. Iris shook her head quietly, a warm smile still on her face.

'You might notice that Hades is quite a bit larger than Maeve... However, he does come highly recommended by Maeve herself!' she added.

With the crow still perched on his arm, Snape collapsed into the nearest chair.

'Are you all out of your minds?' he said abruptly. 'I don't have the time to look after a pet!'

'My dear Severus,' Dumbledore spoke again, 'Hades is much more than just a pet. He has volunteered for this. He has not been bought, and he has not been trained. He is a Familiar; and he has chosen you!' his voice trailed off for a moment, to give Snape time to digest all this, and then he continued. 'He still is a crow, however; which means that he really won't require too much of your valuable time.'

Hades was still staring unblinkingly at Snape and Snape was staring back, a vain hope in the back of his mind that, if he stared hard enough, the crow would change his mind. This did not seem to be working however, since Hades suddenly decided to hop up Snape's arm and perch more comfortably on his shoulder, where he turned around in a manner that could only have been described as regal, and regarded the rest of the teaching staff coldly with its beady black eyes.

'Aw, bless them, they look good together!' McGonagall exclaimed suddenly and wiped a tear from her eye. Snape forgot about the crow for a moment and gaped at her. This was all too much like a bad dream. It just could not be happening. It was far too bizarre, even for him, and that was saying something. Then he seemed to realise something and his eyes narrowed in their familiar way.

'You mean to tell me that this was the reason for the crow invasion we had tonight!? You somehow managed to recruit several dozen crows in the hope that one of them would volunteer to be my Familiar?'

Dumbledore nodded wisely.

'All of them had already volunteered to be here in the first place,' he explained more fully.

'Who on earth...?' Snape began, and then he stopped. 'No, let me guess! Professor Raveneye was the one who actually managed to organise all this. Right?' he asked, glaring at her, but giving a very poor impression of anger. She smiled at him, genuinely, although her eyes sparkled slyly.

'Of course,' Dumbledore said. 'Who better equipped?'

'Of course,' Snape agreed, his eyes never leaving hers. 'So, Hades, is it, then?' he asked rhetorically after a moment's hesitation. This was the cue for everyone else that the show was over. He had no choice but to accept the gift, of both his colleagues and the crow that was willing to dedicate its life to him. Everyone started to scatter, discreetly, talking and sniggering amongst themselves. Only Iris stayed, since it was her that he was talking to.

'How did you come by that name?' he continued coolly. 'No, wait, another God! What a surprise!' She smiled, turned her back to him without a word and headed for the drinks. She poured herself a shot of tequila and a large double shot of whisky for Snape and returned to sit next to him, handing him the glass. He took it without complaint and drank half of it in one go.

'It's a name that becomes his personality,' she replied simply to the question that had been asked several minutes earlier. 'The name of the divine archetype empowers and reflects those qualities of his personality.'

'So he has a personality like Hades,' Snape purred softly. 'I'm sure I don't want to know what that says about me!'

'On the contrary, I'm sure you know perfectly well what it says about you!' she retorted calmly.

He stared quietly into her eyes, the intensity behind their blackness of a quite different kind than what she had been used to up to now; for the first time, it made her look away.

'Why did you do this?' he asked suddenly, his deep hushed voice almost a whisper. The intensity that she had seen in his eyes now resident in the sound of his voice. 'And don't pretend that anyone else in this room had anything to do with this. This was all your doing: from conception to execution!' She looked quietly into his eyes for a moment before replying.

'You used to have a Familiar,' she stated en lieu of an actual answer.

'No one but Dumbledore knows that,' Snape growled.

'Yes,' was all she said. He regarded her in silence.

'You are not answering my question, Professor Raveneye. Why did you do this?' he insisted, danger now lurking in the depths of his voice.

'You know perfectly well why,' she replied. 'You've been without one for too long. Having been chosen by a Familiar once already, says everything you need to know as regards your question.' It didn't slip Snape's attention that she was still not answering his question, but at the same time he was acutely aware of the truth of her words.

'Do you know why I've been so long without one?' he asked her viciously, already knowing she would know the answer to that question.

'Yes,' she answered simply. 'It's a risk we all run. Some of us are only too familiar with it -no pun intended!' She raised her eyebrows meaningfully at him.

'And what makes you so sure you are the best judge of whether I am ready or not?' he said coldly.

'Female intuition,' she replied sarcastically. 'You know as well as I do, Snape, that I wasn't the one that made that judgement. None of those animals in the Hall tonight would have come near you with a barge-pole if you weren't ready.'

'Touché' Snape thought to himself but said nothing. She was right, and if there was one thing he found irritating was when someone else was right when he needed to come out on top. He restricted himself to frowning at her.

'Where are you from, Raveneye?' he asked suddenly. 'And more importantly, why are you here?' Her eyebrows rose slowly. 'These are not rhetorical questions,' he warned her before she could speak.

'You know where I am from; Dumbledore has told you. He has also told you why I'm here,' she added calmly, although she hadn't expected him to confront her openly. It was Snape's turn to raise one eyebrow, in patent disbelief. Iris found she suddenly had to make a very quick and very important decision. He was obviously not believing a word Dumbledore had told him, and although he seemed to like her well enough, he still didn't trust her; and she needed him to trust her. Would she dare give him something? Something small to satisfy his suspicions, but not big enough to put her (and his) position in jeopardy? More quickly than she would have liked, she made up her mind.

'Dumbledore has not spoken a single lie in relation either to my origins, or the reasons for my presence here,' she said in the end. Snape's eyes narrowed and he regarded her very very closely. She looked into his eyes meaningfully. She wasn't sure for how long the silence lasted, but it went on for a good long time whilst Snape analysed, calculated and deliberated.

'I see,' he said quietly in the end, the silky sneering tone back in his voice. 'And this is the best you can do, presumably?' he asked of her answer.

'I'm afraid so,' she replied, a hint of sadness in her tone that was not lost on him.

'And I'm supposed to trust you on that?'

'Unfortunately, yes,'

His eyes, at that moment, seemed as piercing as daggers.

'I see,' was all he was willing to say, in the end; non-committal always being the best policy in the face non-committal. But he had understood. There was something he wasn't supposed to know. That much was obvious. Up until now he had believed that to be because she was the one hiding it. Their brief, cryptic conversation had just served to appraise him of the fact that that was not the case. If it had been up to her, she would have just told him whatever it was that Dumbledore had been hiding from him for two months. He might not have had any reason to trust her, particularly, but he trusted Dumbledore with more than just his life.

He looked down at the half-empty glass he was holding and suddenly drained it all in one. She regarded him for another moment and then stood up slowly.

'Goodnight, Snape,' she smiled at him. Turning she headed for the door. He contemplated telling her that he appreciated her attempt at honesty, but decided against it. Instead, he got up and followed her out.

'Let me walk you back,' he said simply, his voice lacking any trace of emotion.

'Ok,' she said, just as plainly, and watched him as he extended his right arm slightly, a motion that Hades obviously recognised because he immediately hopped off Snape's shoulder and onto his wrist. It was uncanny, the way he seemed able to communicate with the crow already.

'Vade,' he whispered and the crow spread its wings and flew off in the direction they would inevitably be heading.

Behind them, Dumbledore's piercing eyes traced their movements and a small, secret smile broke out on his lips.

*

In front of the concealed entrance to the Ravenclaw tower Iris and Snape stopped, in silence -as they had walked.

'Well, this is me,' she said. 'Thanks for the company... Goodnight.'

He remained silent, which made her turn to look up at him, towering black and sinister over her. She met his eyes and for a moment, she felt mesmerised. The silent intensity in their darkness made something tingle at the base of her spine and, for the first time since she had met him, she felt an urgent need to draw away from him. Or was that just a reaction against her first instinct which was to lean closer?

With an exhibition of immense willpower she managed to stay still, exactly where she was. Forcing herself not to look away from him, she waited, silently.

Was it her imagination or did he seem to have stopped breathing for a moment? Then she saw him raise his right hand, slowly, his slim white fingers reaching delicately to touch a single curl of her hair. Time ground to a halt, for a moment. Then, abruptly, he pulled away with a sharp intake of breath.

'Goodnight,' he breathed roughly and turning, stalked away, black robes billowing behind him.

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(Chapter end)