The Silver Cauldron

I woke with a jolt. It took me a moment before my mind registered where I was. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window. I could just see the wide, sprawling grass that led to the lake above me. Fingers of sunlight danced invitingly through the panes as I looked out. It was a pity Potions classes took place in the dungeons. It meant my room offered only a glimpse of the panoramic view I supposed must be visible from the towers.

The room itself was sparse but welcoming. A colourful tapestry covered one of the grey stone walls and the room was lit with the cheerful glow of a blazing fire. A door revealed a tiny office, in which a wooden desk and a selection of instruments had been placed. I washed myself in the cold water from a pitcher and began to unpack my trunk.

In pride of place, I stood my silver cauldron. It had belonged to all the witches in our family for generations. It was covered with creatures and flora. A spider made a web across the shining backdrop and a lithe snake wound it's gleaming way around the cauldron's lip. If I looked at it in the candlelight, it seemed to me as if the creatures were moving, writhing within their solid silver frames. The cauldron lit the office like an orb and radiated comfort.

A soft knock at the door made me jump, sending the quills I had been holding cascading onto the floor. I dumped them on the bed before opening the door. It was Snape. He looked even more sinister in the semi-gloom of the corridor.

"Good morning Professor" I said.

"Quite." he said sharply, as if answering a question. "I trust that you are finding the room...comfortable?" His eyes darted disapprovingly around my room in its varying state of disorder.

"Yes" I answered. "Very."

He stood in the door, silently staring at me. I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

"Won't you come in?" I asked, breaking the awkward pause.

"No. I came here to fetch you. Dumbledore wishes to address all the teachers in the staff room. I assumed you would not know where the staff room is, so I thought I would show you."

"Oh." I said. "Thank you."

Well, are you ready?"

We climbed a narrow fleet of stairs. Snape was walking so quickly I almost had to run to keep up with him. As he walked, he told me where the various rooms were.

"If you go down those steps you will find my office. The Potions laboratory is on the right. This corridor leads to the Slytherin common room, but I trust that if you need to see any of the students you will do so through me. He paused to wait for me to catch up. "If you turn left here you will get to the charms classroom, although why anybody would want to go there is a mystery...EVANS!" he suddenly shouted at a short second year scuttling past. The boy shuffled over to him looking scared. Professor Snape bet down so that hi face was level with the boy's. "Where is your essay?" Evans muttered something that sounded like 'upstairs'. "I expressly asked for your work to be on my desk before the end of the feast did I not? Five points form Hufflepuff. And if I don't have it by lunchtime you'll be sorry." Snape watched the boy walk away with an expression of intense dislike upon his face. "See" he said softly, "The scum we get in here?" He looked so frightening at that moment, I didn't dare disagree.

The staff room was a large room furnished with chairs, tables and pieces of parchment. No two pieces of furniture in the room seemed to match. Snape led me to a hard mahogany chair. "Sit" he said, and I did so, wondering vaguely why I felt like a disgraced schoolchild. Snape stood behind the chair, his hands resting on its back. It was like being in court. I half expected chains to wrap themselves around my arms and bind me there. Trapped.

The door opened again and Professor McGonagall entered. "Ah, Severus. Thank you for showing Miss Almanay here. Dumbledore has an announcement to make on a matter of extreme importance." A shiver ran down my spine when she said this. I wondered with foreboding what this matter could be. As the other teachers began to arrive, I realised that this was a feeling I shared. I began to feel as if the tension in the room was suffocating me. At last, Dumbledore arrived. His eyes swept the room, and there was a seriousness in them that had not been there during the gaiety of the feast. He raised his hand and the quiet murmur of voices died instantly.

"Colleges. I need hardly remind you of the atrocities that took place in this school last year. You know as well as I do of the danger that threatens to engulf us all. Voldemort (I felt, rather than saw, everyone in the room flinch at the name) is getting stronger. I therefore need to ask you all for your support this year. Your duty is to your students, to lead them in the right direction. Old prejudices must be laid aside (here he looked rather pointedly at Professor McGonagall and a misty - eyed witch in glittering robes). We must work as a team if we are to stand a chance. I hope I can rely on you all to right for what is good should the need arise."

There was a general murmur of assent and I shifted uneasily in my chair. The Dark Lord - alive? I had heard rumours of course - students killed, disappearances - but now I was brought to face the harsh truth. Voldemort was alive and Dumbledore knew it. As the other teachers dispersed Dumbledore asked Snape and I to stay behind. As if in a dream I listened as he told me everything that had happened in the previous term. It seemed so unreal. I waited outside while he spoke to Snape, feeling numb and lifeless.

When Snape returned his face was impassive, but I noticed his hands were clenched tightly beneath his robes. He touched my arm.

"Are you all right Miss Almanay?"

"Yes" I replied. "I think so."

"Accepting the truth, whatever pain it may cause you, is far better than living in ignorance" he said quietly.

"Is it?" I was already beginning to wish Dumbledore hadn't told me.