Points Of Authority

Severus Snape sighed as he opened the large oak doors of Hogwarts and walked inside. Albus Dumbledore had called on him for some reason or other, making Severus realize that he had been put in a very uncompromising position. The position, technically speaking, was very difficult. He could not refuse anything Albus asked him to do and yet he found that he did not want to do anything important in his free time.

It was a duel between the two options, Severus mused as he walked towards the Headmaster's office. Somehow in the back of his mind he already knew that the first option would be the one he'd leave with. It always went like that.

"Toothflossing Stringmints."

He sneered inwardly at Albus' insistance to use names of sweets as a password to his office. Severus' own rooms were warded with spells and passwords nobody would know, namely because nobody knew anything about him, and he wanted to keep things that way.

Albus was already waiting for him at the top of the stairs. Though old, Albus still looked as healthy as before with the everlasting twinkle of his eyes visible behind his half-moon glasses.

"Ah, Severus," Albus said with a smile. "It is good to see you again."

He motioned for Severus to step inside his office. Dumbledore's office was, without a doubt, the most interesting office in the world. All kinds of objects were safely stored away behind glass and portraits of previous Headmasters hung on the walls to keep the memory of them alive. The large desk in the room was stacked with parchments and books - there was barely any room left - and Severus had to pick a couple of parchments up from one of the chairs before he could seat himself as well.

"Hullo Fawkes," he said after a moment.

The phoenix inclined his head ever so slightly, as gracious as the one who had mastered him, and looked at Severus with its beady eyes shining. Fawkes was a magnificent bird, very intelligent too, who had the power to judge over life and death with his healing tears.

"I want to be honest with you, Severus."

Albus' voice made Severus jump because he hadn't noticed Albus coming into the room at all. Albus didn't seem to have noticed anything for he just seated himself in the chair behind the desk and began:

"I called on you because I need you to do something to help save everybody who fights Voldemort."

Severus flinched at the name of his old master. He didn't like to be reminded of the things he had done wrong in the past, nor did he like to be regarded as a Death Eater by everybody else. Albus noticed this, but did not stop talking.

"I want you to go to the United States. I need you to pick four girls up, in different cities, and bring them here to us before Voldemort's followers find them."

"The United States?" Severus asked in surprise. "And why, pray tell, will these girls make a difference? Why does the Dark Lord need them?"

"These girls have powers the Dark Lord wants to control," Albus explained. "They hold the fate of the entire wizarding world in their hands."

"Why can't the schools in the United States protect them? Why do they have to come here, to Hogwarts?"

"They do not know about the wizarding community," was the reply. "They do not have any living relatives who can tell them about us, nor do they have friends who live in our world."

"And yet you want me to go to the United States and tell them that they are witches."

It sounded accusatory.

"Forget it, Albus," Severus said after a moment. "I am not doing this."

"You shall do this," Albus said as if he hadn't heard Severus, "because it might be the only chance we have in the battle against Voldemort."

"I won't do it!"

"Runah lives in Boston with her foster parents," Albus continued. "She will be quite easy to convince. One of the other girls, Hayley, lives in a home for orphaned children in New York. She can be very suspicious at times so be careful with her."

"You just do not want to hear the word 'no', do you?" Severus asked in exasperation. "I am not going to travel through the United States with a bunch of giggling teenagers!"

"From there you shall go to Chicago to pick Gabrielle up," Albus said to Severus. "If I'm not mistaken, she lives with some friends she knows from school. This girl will probably accept any chance to get out of the criminal circuit she is stuck in and I expect that you won't experience any trouble with her."

"And what about the other one?"

"Selena lives in Los Angeles," Albus said. "From what I heard she is not going to believe anything without proof and she has the ability to question people so badly that she hardly has any friends. Much like you, come to think of it..."

It was option one Severus left the office with.