The Spellcrafters

Chapter Seven, Cauldron Bubble, Double Double, Toil and Trouble.

Dumbledore had remained a guest of the Croft's for two days, absorbing all their accomplishments and discoveries of the last fifteen years. When he finally left, he carried a Portkey and a list of ingredients with him. The Portkey would take Professor Snape back to the Croft compound, to assist Max in working out the last kinks in his Potion. Snape would also bring along an ample stock of the Potions ingredients to make a large batch before returning to Hogwarts.

Max and Alex weren't really thrilled that they would have to put up with the ominous Potions Master, that was Severus Snape for one week, at least until school started up again, and were dreading his arrival. Alex had set the Portkey to go off at eight o'clock that night.

"Hun, one thing is for sure, he won't be able to screw up dinner," Max said with a half smile. They were sitting at the dinner table, with their plates empty before them.

"I know, but I don't know how I'm going to deal with that prat. You always tell me such horrid stories about his behaviour, when you come back from your Potions conventions. I was almost beginning to think the man wasn't human. And now I have to live with him for a week," she said with a sigh. "I'm almost tempted to go live in the winter apartments for the week, just to stay out of his way."

She got up, petted Orion on the head and walked out into the meadow. The sun would be setting soon...

*****

Severus Snape arrived with his travelling bag in one hand; a bag of ingredients in the other and a school owl perched on his right shoulder. He found himself in the middle of a meadow, in god knows where exactly, at exactly eight o'clock. He thought to himself, 'Who the hell am I supposed to help that would choose to live way out here in nowheres-ville'.

He internally cursed Dumbledore for giving him his marching orders without specifying what he would be doing it, with who he would be doing it, or where he would be doing it for a week. He had also felt particularly embarrassed when he saw the Portkey he had to use. It was a silly old baseball cap (Alex's idea of a joke), because he had to wear it for the Portkey to be activated.

He heard a male voice behind him. "Good evening, Professor Snape. I am Maximilian Croft and this is my wife Alexandra. You will be staying with us for the next week, I believe."

"Yes, indeed. Those were my orders," Snape answered the man, thinking to himself; 'I hope Albus knows what he's doing'.

'Maximilian Croft', he thought, 'didn't he disappear with his wife fifteen years ago? The story had been all over the Daily Prophet for weeks, at the time. It had been so strange, Voldemort had been vanquished, or so everyone believed. Next, out of the blue, a couple disappeared into thin air. Even their employer, the Ministry, didn't know where they had gone off to.'

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost?" asked Alex, when she saw the distant look in the grim man's eyes.

"Nothing really, except perhaps, that you've been considered dead for fifteen years," he replied with his trademark sneer, trying to hide his apprehension.

"Well not exactly, we've lived shut off from the Wizarding world for fifteen years, but the rumours of our death were greatly exaggerated as you yourself can clearly see," Max stated. "Now if you'll follow us inside, it gets cold out here after dark." He pointed at the sun that was just setting the west.

Snape followed the couple into the building. He looked around attentively. Once inside, Alex disappeared down the corridor, taking the owl with her, and Max gave Snape the grand tour.

He followed Max into the corridor from the kitchen and learned that the Potions lab was the first door to his left. The pantry was the first door to his right. The room where the couple kept their Potions store was the second door to the left. The living room, that connected straight through to the guest room, where he would be sleeping for the rest of the week, was the second door to his right. The couple's bedroom was the last door on the right, the bathroom was the third door to the left, and the library was the last door on the left.

Max then left him alone, to settle in. Snape put his bags down in the living room and walked down the corridor to the library. Alex was seated at a desk in the far corner, but what caught his eye was the animal that was sitting beside her.

"A-a Demiguise!" he shouted.

"Indeed," replied a disgruntled Alex. She didn't appreciate being disturbed by this apparently inconsiderate man. "This is 'Orion', our resident Demiguise and pet. Now do you mind, I'm working."

"But, but, Demiguises aren't pets, they never have been! What did you do to it, to make it so docile?" he uttered incredulously.

"We were nice to it. Now if you don't mind, I would like to finish my work for this evening."

"Yes, of course. I will let you work in peace. I just wanted to inspect your library up close," Snape said, suppressing the excitement he felt. He wondered what had really happened, that a Demiguise was freely and happily wandering around this house.

"Go ahead, but in silence. If you please," Alex said still unnerved by the Potions Masters' presence. "You might find the volumes on the reading table next to the stairs the most interesting," she added at the last minute.

'Now why did I do that?' Alex wondered to herself, when she saw the tall greasy hared man walk over there. 'Why did I, so easily, hand over all of our work over the last fifteen years, to that complete and utter stranger?'

She shrugged her shoulders and returned to her notebook. Nothing could be done about it now; the cat was out of the bag.

The rest of the evening passed calmly. By ten o'clock, everyone had turned in. Severus Snape in the living room, which had been hastily, converted into a spare bedroom and Max, Alex and Orion in the master bedroom.

*****

When Orion woke up that morning, very early, he went exploring. He walked to the door, opened it and left the master bedroom. There was a new human in the house and he wanted to get to know him. This might have been a bit naïve of him; after all, the last 'new' person he had met, Dumbledore, had been a wonderful man.

He reached the living room, walked through and opened the door to the guest room. He trotted over to the bed, which Max had transfigured from a chaise lounge and jumped up on the covers. He crept over to the sleeping man and hovered over him, their noses only millimetres apart.

A few momnts later, Severus Snape woke up; a strange smell had coaxed him to wake from his deep slumber. When he opened his eyes, he saw two multicoloured eyes looking back at him, where the ceiling should have been. He would not have admitted it to a single soul, but at that moment, he was scared out of his wits and pushed whatever was on his chest off with a panicked shove.

Orion landed a few feet away from the odd man and turned a silvery grey. The older man hadn't reacted like this; he had smiled and patted him on the head. No, Orion decided that he did not like this human and haughtily strutted out of the room. He went to get a banana in the kitchen and was growling a bit at his undeserved harsh treatment.

Snape watched the disgruntled animal walk out of his room. He was amazed at its demeanour and at its colour. He distinctly remembered that yesterday its pelt had been a light beige colour, not this rowdy, dark patched green. The animal truly had him fazed. Apparently, the creature had wanted to say hi; unfortunately, the manner of greeting was quite unexpected, and Severus did not like unexpected things.

At breakfast, Snape commented on his wake up call that morning. Upon hearing of it, Alex burst into a fit of laughter. She could almost picture the situation; Severus Snape waking up with a Demiguise on his chest. She knew from Albus that Orion had come to say hello on his first morning with them as well. According to her however, the ancient Professor had reacted to his wake up call in a much more acceptable and grown-up fashion.

After that one occasion, having a guest around the house really hadn't generated much reason for joy. Except for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Alex barely saw the men, which had its up and its downsides. One of the downside being that she didn't see or speak to her husband nearly as much as she wanted to.

Furthermore, she still saw too much of her guest to be comfortable, every occasion that required them to share a room was qualified by complete and utter silence. As if Mr. Snape did not want anyone to disturb the intricate workings, of what he considered his superior mind. This behaviour certainly did no good to further a good relationship with the Crofts. Alex who had already received a rather bleak picture of the mans' social skills, got affirmation of her husbands detailed descriptions.

Two days into his stay, Snape and Max had already figured out what triggered the black colour and rectified the problem. They were now brewing the new potion, which had been named the 'Crenellation Coal' Potion, because of its protective properties and the one nasty side effect (even though it had been rectified) it had once presented.

They had tested the potion, that now left the rats as white as the day they were born, several times. Snape however was not convinced that the potion would work equally well on humans. He convinced Max to hold any celebration, until he returned to Hogwarts, where he would create a human Simulacrum and test the potion to confirm its effects.

Alex was pleased when breakfast was done, and her husband and Professor Snape locked themselves in the Potions lab for the day. She cleaned up the kitchen, washed the dishes and walked out the kitchen door. Orion followed her into the meadow; where she watched him frolicking around, jumping, sniffing and climbing the occasional tree. She liked having Orion around, couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he would ever leave. She loved how he always made her smile.

A few days later, Alex was relaxing in the meadow before she had to prepare for another nice but quiet dinner, when she watched Severus Snape burst out of the kitchen door and Apparate to some unknown destination. A few minutes later, Max walked out the door as well, with a puzzled look on his face.

Severus had gotten out of the Crofts house as fast as he could. He didn't know if they had anti-Apparition wards in place and didn't want to take the chance; because if there was one thing his Lord hated, it was tardiness. When he Apparated at the spot of the meeting, he was one of the first to arrive on the scene. He quietly waited, trying not to attract unwanted attention while watching the circle become more complete with each passing heartbeat.

After a few minutes, the circle was practically complete, not counting those people that were captured last summer and in Azkaban, leaving a conspicuous gap where Wormtail should have been...

"Where is Wormtail?" bellowed an incredibly angry Voldemort to his Death Eater congregation, once he was satisfied that all members who were able, were in attendance. "Nott, does anyone at the Ministry have an idea where that little rat is?"

Voldemort looked around at the circle of Death Eaters, the attack at the Ministry had cost him dearly. It had been a strong blow to the inner core. The empty spots, where their co-conspirators were supposed to stand, were blatantly obvious. None of the useless fools he had left dared to utter a single word unless spoken to.

"No my Lord, Fudge has been looking for him for months now, Sir, I am sure that he would know if they had. Which means, that he has not been apprehended by the Aurors," the cowering man replied.

"My lord, the wife of Lucius Malfoy sent us a notice, that a considerable amount of money has been placed upon the head of Wormtail at the reading of Sirius Black's will, for his capture, Sir," said Bellatrix Lestrange. "Perhaps a bounty hunter has stumbled across him and captured him?"

"Idiot, that stupid blithering idiot, isn't he even capable of evading capture. I should have fed him to Nagini years ago, that little snivelling rat." Voldemort said, thinking 'I hope that little rat has the good sense to kill himself before divulging any of my secrets, or I will have to send him one of my presents.'

"My loyal followers, this year it is imperative that we capture Harry Potter and end his miserable life. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long already. When we failed yet again, to attain the prophecy earlier this year, I started to doubt all of your abilities. We lost many high ranking followers," Voldemort continued, his voice bellowing, " This behaviour is unacceptable! The first order of business this year is to free our people from Azkaban, Goyle see what you can find out about that. Soon, or else ... . I also wish to make an alliance with the Dementors, they are our natural allies after all.

"Leave me now, all of you! Except you Snape and you Bellatrix, I need to talk to you both in private."

The Death Eaters Apparated away one by one, until only two were left standing before the Dark Lord. Severus Snape tentatively approached and bowed before his master. Bellatrix inched away, upon seeing the little hand movement of her Master that meant he intended to have a private conversation with Snape, until safely out of hearing range of whatever her master had to say to the Potions master.

"Severus, I need a series of lethal Poisons and I want you to find out whether Wormtail might be hiding at Hogwarts. He has been known to do that before. On the table near the door is the list of Poisons I need. Do not disappoint me, I will send for you when I require them. Do not dawdle in brewing them, for it might be soon."

Snape got up, walked to the table, and put the list in his pocket. He bowed farewell to his master and Apparated to Hogsmeade, relieved that he did not have to endure punishment for once, at a Death Eater meeting.

Once Snape left, Bellatrix approached her Lord and bowed at his feet, kissing the hem of his now discoloured robes.

"What can I possibly mean to you, my Lord, what assignment have you reserved for me?" she tentatively asked.

"I must be sure of Wormtails' fate. He knows too much to be captured and if he is captured, knows too much to remain alive. My assignment is that you find out by all means possible where he is located. If he is hiding from me, kill him. If he has been apprehended, kill him. If he talked to anyone, torture him and then dispose of him. Do not disappoint me, Bellatrix. Not like last time!" Voldemort barked. "Or you will live to regret it..."

When Bellatrix looked up to her master, all she saw was the end of a wand trained at her. She didn't even have time to prepare for the gruelling pain her body was about to receive, when she heard the word 'Crucio' being uttered.

All hell broke loose at Grimmauld Place, when suddenly, about an hour after supper time, Harry collapsed in the living room, clutching his hands against his scar, rocking back and forth. Everybody that was in the house at the time, flocked into the living room to support and comfort him. He was screaming in agony. Usually his connection to Voldemort was the clearest when he slept, but now that Sirius guarded the portals to his dreams, that access route had been cut of.

Now, Harry was directly exposed to every sordid detail floating around in Voldemort's diseased mind, a torture to anyone with the slightest hint of morality. He could clearly feel all the hatred and loathing Voldemort felt, as he cast one of the Unforgivables at one of his followers.

*****

When Snape arrived at Hogwarts, out of breath and totally discouraged, he immediately made his way to the Headmaster's office to report...

...Only to find him talking to the head of Remus Lupin in the fireplace. Remus had floo-ed Dumbledore only seconds after Harry had started seizing. When Severus walked in, Professor Dumbledore was getting ready to floo to Grimmauld Place himself, for the second time that week.

"Professor Dumbledore, there has been another meeting..." Severus reported.

"Yes, Severus, I know. I realised as much, when Remus told me that Harry started seizing a few minutes ago. Could you tell me who was still there after you left?"

"Only Bellatrix, but she is his favourite, he wouldn't hurt her..." the Potions master replied, astounded.

"Well apparently, Voldemort is very disappointed in her, because Harry was feeling an enormous amount of hatred coming through the link. Directed at only one person, beside himself, at the moment. Severus let's continue our conversation at Grimmauld Place, I want to know exactly what Harry saw, the moment he is able to tell me."

"Yes Sir, I will be right behind you."

Alex had started to write an extremely important letter. She had had dinner together with her husband; both relieved and concerned at his sudden disappearance. Now even more so, that four hours had passed, and he had still not returned.

She had decided to write only to her superior, rather then writing an open letter to her entire department, based on Dumbledore's guidance. He had knowledge of spies inside the Ministry who used the information they gathered for further Voldemort's cause.

This, with the help and guidance of Professor Dumbledore because he knew that the Ministry was riddled with spies, who only used the information they gathered to further Voldemort's cause. What was more important to Alex was that Dumbledore trusted Mr. Ogilvie, Alex's former mentor and superior.

By any means possible, they needed to prevent knowledge of the potion getting in the wrong hands, because it would eliminate the advantage of this defence against the killing curse, and diminish the element of surprise surrounding it.

Dearest mentor,

Yes, you are not imagining things; Max and myself are still alive and kicking. The news of our demise was gravely exaggerated. When we disappeared fifteen years ago, that was for a very specific reason. We wanted to fall off everyone's radar, so no one would come looking for us while we fulfilled the contract offered to us by the Ministry - a task we completed only a few weeks ago.

The reason, I am writing this letter to you and not to the Minister himself, is that we heard from Professor Dumbledore. (Don't be angry, he is the only person we were sure of who could be trusted), after fifteen years of staying out of the magical community.) We heard from him, that the Ministry is not a place that can keep secrets for very long.

Moreover, the discoveries that we have made surely warrant keeping them a secret, because of the major impact they will have on the whole community.

I will not dare (describe them in a medium that is so vulnerable to interception. Instead, I inform you that I have accepted the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. My husband, Max will assist Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall with their respective classes. We cordially invite you to come stay with us there, and learn of these developments from our own lips, in a few weeks.

Honourably,

Alexandra and Maximilian Croft.

She called the owl that had been with them for four days now to her. Alex let it settle on her shoulder and walked out of the library, down the corridor, through the kitchen and out into the meadow. She then tied the letter addressed to Mr. Morris Ogilvie, Dangle lane 12, Mirth town, Kent to its leg and watched it fly off.

Orion, who had followed her out, watched the owl leave with a little regret. Unlike the rats, he had never wanted to hurt or eat the magnificent animal. He felt its significance to his humans, its purpose, to deliver the letter that would release his humans from this self-imposed exile. The regret he felt came from realising, that he wouldn't live in this forest, in this place for very much longer, now that the letter had been sent.

Alex patted Orion on the head, turned around and walked back into the house, a slight spring in her step. Snape still hadn't returned...