Big Big World

Chapter 5 Hogwarts, here we come!

Before Snape could even make sense of what Hermione meant, she had disappeared into the fire. When he finally understood what was happening, he could only sigh. He was left to deal with a young woman and a baby dog.

Snape went over to the couch. "Mobilicorpus" He levitated the young woman in mid-air, when Snowball jumped onto her shoulder and snarled at Snape, as if she were asking, "Where the hell are you taking my lady to?"

Strangely, Severus had this urge to calm the baby dog down, and he did. "I am just getting her outside." Before taking them outside, he went back inside the living room and grabbed the blanket on the sofa, to wrap it carefully around Allison. This was when Snowball had jumped up and rested himself between Alison and Snape. Snape was a bit surprised, but only shot her a look and continued moving. He made sure that there was no one outside before opening the door and leaving the house. He closed the door behind him, and then turned back again to confirm whether it was secure. Then he mounted his broom, positioning Allison in front of him. He made sure that she was securely in his embrace before he kicked off, and headed for Hogwarts.

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It had been hours since they started the journey, but they were not that far from Hogwarts anymore. They would be there in approximately half an hour. He didn't fly too fast. Not because she was heavy (she wasn't), but because of her constant stirring. He was afraid that he would wake her up if he flew too fast. If she woke up, he would have a difficult time explaining the situation. On the other hand, he was wondering how much sleeping potion Hermione had given her. It was possible that Allison was not under the effect of the sleeping potion anymore. He just hoped they would be there before she awoke.

"Woof... woof..."

Snape looked down at the dog, where Snowball had been resting since they left Hermione's home. "What is it?"

Snowball didn't answer but kept snarling softly, which alerted Snape to the surroundings. Suddenly, someone on broom was heading this way. Before he could cast an invisible charm, he was stopped by the voice. "What took you so long?"

"Remus?" He was the last person in the world he had expected to meet here.

"Headmaster was worried why it took you so long, so I volunteered to come and look for you." Remus looked at the woman wrapped in a blanket. "So, is this the reason why Hermione needs to go back to Hogwarts early?"

"Yes, and keep down your voice," Snape snarled at Remus, who had straightened up at the sudden stirring of Allison and was eyeing her warily. "Do you want to wake her up and give us a hell of a lot of problems?"

"I am sorry Severus. I didn't know that." Remus apologized, while looking at Snowball, obviously puzzled. "Severus, where did you get that? I am sure that you don't have a familiar."

"It's not mine. It's hers." Snape looked at Snowball, who was still clinging onto his shoulder, and said, "If your curiosity is satisfied, can we continue the journey?"

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"So, Poppy, when is she going to wake up?" Snape asked, while finding it quite amusing that Snowball was still glaring at Lupin for reasons he couldn't quite make out.

"Severus, I have no idea. The young lady obviously is not under the effect of any sleeping potion. She would wake up if she wanted to, but I would rather have her resting a little longer," Poppy said, while leading them into her office, and closing the door behind her. To their astonishment, Dumbledore and Hermione were both there, sitting at the desk. As there were no more chairs left, Lupin and Snape remained standing.

"Well, Poppy, how is Miss Lowe?" Dumbledore asked.

Poppy sighed, "She is fine, Albus. Aside from her exhaustion which I still couldn't find the source of, she is fine for now."

"For now?" Lupin asked, puzzled.

"Miss Granger, do you know that she has asthma?" Poppy asked.

Hermione nodded. "I have her nebuliser with me."

"She will need a lot of it." Poppy replied. "From the test I have run on her, it shows that her asthma is normally caused by the change of weather, and I am afraid the environment here would be a problem for her. It is cooler and more humid than Central England. She will need a lot of strength and precautions if she is going to stay for the rest of this school year." Poppy replied.

"Any other things we need to keep an eye on?" Dumbledore asked.

Poppy shock her head. "That's all."

Poppy turned around to get a small vial of sleeping potion from the shelf, which reminded Snape of something. "By the way, Miss Granger, how much sleeping potion had you given her?"

Hermione was afraid to tell him as she had actually given her more than enough. Dumbledore patted her on her shoulder, "Remus told me that Poppy said she was not under the effect of the sleeping potion half-way through the journey."

Hermione was more than shocked now. "There is no way... Did she wake up halfway through?"

"Fortunately, no. Now, Miss Granger, could you tell me now how much you had given her?"

Hermione was sure that Snape was thinking about deducting marks from her, but he obviously couldn't when she told him. "Two vials."

"How much did you say, Hermione?" Lupin choked, "Two vials?"

Hermione could only nod. "I just wanted to make sure that she slept. She hasn't slept since she realized she could read the empty book. But how come she... "

"Miss Granger, it is fine. You have done this for the health of your friend." Dumbledore interrupted. "We all had a really hectic night, and I suggested that we leave to rest till tomorrow."

Chapter 6 Peace before the storm

Although Snape was marking the 5^th Year Ravenclaws' essays, his mind was not really there. He was thinking about what Granger had confessed. Two vials of sleeping potion. It was far too much for making anyone sleep through only one night. He was sure that the milk couldn't have weakened the effect of the potion, as milk had no such properties. So what could possibly have lead to this effect?

"Severus?"

Snape looked up from the essays he was marking, and saw Dumbledore standing in front of his desk. "Headmaster, I didn't..."

Dumbledore waved his hand and said, "It's fine, Severus. I can see you are deeply in your thoughts. Would you mind sharing them with me?" He took a chair and sat in front of Snape on the opposite side of the desk.

Snape was pondering whether he should disclose his doubts. Obviously, he should be correcting the students' homework, but instead, he was musing about the unknown muggle. "I was trying to find a reason why the sleeping potion has weakened Miss Lowe so much."

When Dumbledore voiced his astonishment at Snape believing Hermione, the Potions Master arched an eyebrow at him. "Miss Granger wouldn't lie, not in this case. This is about her friend, and I trust she wouldn't tell anything but the truth in this matter, especially if she did give her two vials. So, assuming that Miss Granger really did give her two vials of sleeping potion mixed with milk, why did the effect wear off so soon?"

"Have you come to a conclusion yet?" Dumbledore looked at Snape, amused by what he suspected to be the reasons for Snape's interest. It had rather surprised him.

"No, the only possible conclusion would be that she, Miss Lowe, is not just a muggle. But I don't really think she is a witch or even psychic, as I couldn't feel any magic in her." Snape shook his head slightly, "Or Miss Granger did not make her potion correctly, but that seems impossible."

In a very serious tone, Dumbledore said, "Severus, what I am going to tell you must remain between you, me, Remus, Sirius, Minerva, and also Poppy, as she is needed to monitor her health. I will try to find a credible reason for her staying for the rest of the staff, as the matter is so delicate that we have to prevent any news from leaking out as best we can."

Snape was a bit alarmed by what Dumbledore was about to tell him. "She is not just a muggle, is she?"

"No, she is a muggle, but she has a twin called Bianca Emer Janney, who is a witch. She attended Hogwarts for her first two years, but then transferred to The Salem Witches' Institute later on when the family migrated to the States."

"I don't remember having a student of that name. Also, are you sure she is a twin to 'Bianca Emer Janney'? Miss Granger said her surname is Lowe."

"The reason why you didn't recognize her twin's name is that you were not yet teaching here before she transferred." Dumbledore said, "She used her mother's maiden name after her parents' divorce fifteen years ago. She left her mother once she turned eighteen, and moved back to England to run a bookshop in Richmond, West London for the next ten years."

Snape was amazed by how many details Dumbledore knew about Allison. So, she was not at all unfamiliar to magic.

Dumbledore clasped his hands together, and then continued. "Severus, have you ever heard about a book that Merlin wrote, about all the natures of Magic?"

"Natura." Snape continued, "Said to be written by Merlin with all his knowledge on the nature of magic. The legend said Merlin destroyed the book before his own death." This lit up an idea in Snape, "She couldn't possibly..."

Dumbledore sighed, "The book isn't destroyed, or there is another copy of it. And yes, she has got the book, and she is the only one who could read it, at least for the time being."

"What do you mean by that?" Snape had a really bad feeling. Allison was a muggle! And how come she could be the only one who could read that book?!

"Only she can see the words that appear on the pages. No wizard, witch or other muggle could read it." Dumbledore took a piece of folded paper from his pocket, and handed it to Snape. "Miss Granger told me Allison was immensely frightened when she noticed that she could read words from the 'empty' book. She thought she was going crazy."

Snape read the note quickly, while cursing under his breath. He would have been frightened too had he been in her place. Strangely, reading that note brought a rare smile to his lips. He expected that Miss Lowe was quite... a strict and responsible person, but it seemed that she was more strict and responsible than he had expected. He wouldn't possibly give up such an 'artifact' to the authorities so easily. Let alone to the Ministry. He would possibly have locked it in the Restricted Section in Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's protection. Strangely, he would have liked to see her facial expression after she had first read the letter. It would have been rather entertaining.

"Did I miss any amusing details?" Dumbledore was rather curious what made Snape smile.

"No, Professor." Snape replied, and the smile disappeared. "So, what are we going to do with her?"

"We'll leave it till tomorrow, Severus."

To Be Continued...