The Prophecy Renewed

CHAPTER ONE:

STRANGENESS AFOOT

A cloak of blackness covered Shantiel as she pressed her way through it. The dark had a depth to it which seemed to rival wet pitch. She rubbed her eyes sleepily. A slight chill in the air touched her bare arms and caused her to shiver. Why didn't I bring a blanket? Shantiel thought to herself. She turned back to go fetch one from her room when something soft and fuzzy rubbed passed her leg, and she realized it was the cat.

Now distracted, she instead followed the animal deeper into the darkness. Muffled noises and angry sounds caught the girl's attention. Before she could find out what they were, she saw a glowing green light...then her vision became distorted...she felt as if she were on fire...she tried to scream with the pain...

"Wake up!" A man's voice ordered from somewhere in the darkness. Wake up? Shantiel thought in a daze. But she wasn't even sleeping...what in the world was going on?

"You lazy sack of filth, I said wake up!"

After that, Shantiel was instantly aware of where she was. She felt herself being shaken as her home tutor, Matilda, repeated one of her most choice names for her. It wasn't the voice of a strange man at all.

Without even thinking, Shantiel abruptly stood up out of the chair she'd been sitting in. A book that she had on her lap fell to the carpeted floor with a thud. She must have accidentally fallen asleep at her desk again.

"Wake up, you little prat!" the other woman barked in irritation.

"Yes, sorry, Matilda," Shantiel said obediently, the dream vanishing from her mind.

"And pick up that book!" Matilda snapped with the same domineering tone.

"Yes, ma'am," Shantiel said as she bent down and picked up the book.

She tried in vain remember the dream that she had she'd just been jerked out of but nothing came to her. Sighing, she decided it was better to just give up; it wasn't like nightmares like this had never happened before. It had been explained to Shantiel that her nightmares had first started due to a serious illness she had been stricken with in childhood. She'd long had a sneaking suspicion her parents' protection of her was an illusion, as was her frail health. She felt perfectly fine. Yet whenever it came to her having contact with the outside world, it was strictly forbidden. Therefore, the only conclusion she could come up with was that they were ashamed to have her.

"Go tidy yourself! You look horrid!" the older woman replied with open disgust.

"Yes, ma'am," Shantiel muttered quietly and left the room. A few house-elves passed by her as she made her way to the bathroom.

Angry voices erupted from downstairs. Making sure all the occupants of the manor were out of eyeshot, she crept down the stairs. She stopped just inches outside the door to the large library as a shadow moved from inside. Shantiel heard her father's voice saying her name.

"Hogwarts! Are you mad?! You know what will happen if Shantiel goes there!" exclaimed Nathan Biggs in open shock.

Shantiel slowly inched to the crack in the door as another voice replied to her father. It was one she didn't recognize.

"I would highly, ah, recommend she attend Hogwarts, Nathan. I shall have constant watch over her. I'll make sure she gets sorted into Slytherin," the voice said coolly. The voice had belonged to another man, but what was he doing there?

"That's madness--you can't make sure she gets sorted into Slytherin," protested Nathan. "I just think until the Dark Lord has completely risen, she shouldn't go." Nathan protested.

"Do you not have enough common sense to not mention the Dark Lord?" the other man hissed at Shantiel's father dangerously.

"Severus, you know the child is very ill and going to school would upset her system greatly," Lucretia's voice intervened. So her mother was in on this as well. "It's in her best interest to stay where she is. Why send her there now?"

"It would be in her best interest to attend Hogwarts," Severus replied coldly. Clearly, he felt the issue needed no more debate.

"It would be a risk we are not willing to take!" Nathan argued heatedly.

"Not letting her go would be an even bigger risk," Severus warned, "as things out of the ordinary rarely escape the notice of Headmaster Dumbledore or the Master. Then again, I'm sure you know all about risks, don't you, Nathan?" he added with a touch of darkness. There was a brief tense silence, but it was soon broken by her father sighing in aggravation.

"See how we've really no choice, Lucretia? Fine...Shantiel will attend Hogwarts," Nathan said, regaining his normal overbearing composure. Suddenly, Lucretia let out a noise that sounded as if someone were trying to strangle a bird.

"You are just going to go along with this!" she shrieked in protest, not at all hiding her fury. Her mother didn't often lose control, but mercy on the soul who foolishly stood in the way of what she wanted.

"There's nothing else we can do," Nathan replied, with a bit of desperation. Another moment of silence followed, and Shantiel knew her mother was trying to figure out a way around this. But the young woman's heart leapt--she was actually going to go to school--boarding school!

Lucretia's footsteps came closer to where Shantiel stood with her voice following, "But know, Severus, this was your idea, so you are taking the child out! If you think I'm going to be seen out in public with her, you're sorely mistaken!"

Shantiel quickly dashed back upstairs for the bathroom as she heard Severus saying in a loud, yet bored tone, "Very well. Bring me the girl."

Shantiel had just barely entered the bathroom and begun to throw her long blonde hair into a tight bun when the library door flung open downstairs and Lucretia screamed, "Matilda!"

Matilda called out, "Yes, Madam?" and Shantiel heard the tutor rushing towards the library as fast as she could.

School...she couldn't believe that her parents were grudgingly letting her go. Why now though? What did Severus mean by her father knew about taking risks?

She soon heard the sounds of someone coming her way and then came a hasty knock on the door.

"Your parents request your presence in the library," Matilda ordered briskly as Shantiel opened the door.

"Yes, ma'am," Shantiel said obediently. She smoothed out the long grey skirt she was wearing, while following the woman into the library.

"Here she is, Madam," Matilda said. She curtsied before she left the room, leaving Shantiel standing in the doorway.

"You called for me, Ma'am?" Shantiel asked tonelessly, spotting the other man in the room. Her parents didn't even like her to address them as mother and father.

"Yes," Lucretia said with barely repressed fury, gesturing to the man standing next to Nathan. "This is Professor Severus Snape, and he is going to be taking you to get your things for you to be able to attend Hogwarts." She offered no other explanation, absolutely nothing. Then the agitated woman stomped angrily out of the room, leaving the double doors swinging behind her. "I hope you're happy!" Lucretia screamed down the hallway behind her.

Professor Snape was a very dark-looking man with black greasy hair. He had hawk-like features, deep-set eyes and a hooked nose that sprouted beak-like from his face. The whispy black cloak he wore seemed to billow out around him in a non-existent breeze.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Snape," Shantiel said as she smiled politely, curtsied, and tipped her head down. Her apprehension of the man grew steadily. His dark piercing eyes slowly surveyed her, and his gaze sent cold shivers trickling down her spine. Professor Snape was clearly not a friendly person.

"I presume that you are ready to leave?" Professor Snape questioned Shantiel, his gaze not leaving her. Leave now? thought Shantiel. Of course, she wasn't ready--Matilda had come upstairs merely to fetch her from the bathroom. The professor's off-putting gaze notwithstanding, she was not going to spoil this chance to leave for anything.

"Yes, I am, sir," Shantiel replied. Then she turned to her father. "May I please go and fetch my cloak?" She wanted to get out from under Snape's staring down at her as quickly as possible.

"Matilda can fetch it for you. There is no need to keep Professor Snape waiting longer then he has to," Nathan said, characteristically annoyed with anything Shantiel said.

"Yes, sir," Shantiel responded trying to ignore the settling uneasiness inside of her.

Matilda appeared again at the door holding Shantiel's cloak in her hand and hastily handed it the blonde girl.

"Thank you, ma'am," Shantiel replied before she was rushed out of the library and into the foyer.

"You will also be needing this," Nathan said, handing the professor a small brown pouch.

"I shall return the girl when we are through," Professor Snape said, inclining his head. "Farewell. Follow me," he barked at the blonde girl, he made his way towards the door. Shantiel followed him with some reluctance.

A light and warm wind blew around her; it was rather warm, even for mid-July. The professor stopped just outside the row of houses and lights that lined the sidewalk on both sides.

"Hold on to my arm and do not let go," Professor Snape ordered.

She hesitantly grabbed on to his arm and soon after the street suddenly gave away to pitch darkness.

Within seconds, colors and shapes formed, and Shantiel found herself clutching the professor's arm as if a lifeline, gasping for air with tears streaming from her eyes. It felt to her as if she'd just been sucked down a drainpipe. This must be what Disapparating was like. Shantiel instantly decided she didn't like it one bit.

With barely any assistance from Professor Snape, Shantiel kept her balance, caught her breath, and looked around. They had left her neighborhood and were now standing in an abandoned alley. The austere professor pulled open a door in a brick wall, gestured impatiently for her to enter and followed her inside. She waited for him inside the entrance as he strode straight through the building, with Shantiel gawping around at the surroundings of patrons and wizard folk deep in their conversations and drink. Scarcely managing to keep up with the tall Professor Snape, she followed him out the back of the shop and he stopped walking so abruptly, she nearly ploughed into him. He faced the wall, pulled out his wand, and tapped a few bricks. Shantiel watched in confusion.

After the professor had tapped the last brick, all the other bricks surrounding it started moving and separating. A large archway stood before them in moments. On the other side was a winding and twisting street lined with different shops. At one end of the street sat a large white building. Shantiel stared, mesmerized by the sight of hundreds of people on the street, streaming in and out of dozens of shops that lined the cobblestone pathway.

Professor Snape handed her a piece of parchment of a list of items and the small pouch that her father had given him, saying, "You have four hours. I will meet you again here."

"Yes, Professor," Shantiel said breathlessly, as she entered through the archway. She had never been shopping before, never experienced such a crush of people in one place and was immediately overwhelmed. Then she heard more people barreling in from behind her. At that moment, she felt so small an insignificant, that she bowed, hunched her shoulders, and covered her head as if she thought she might get knocked over.

*~*~*~*

The Knight Bus pulled up just outside the Leaky Cauldron. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were to meet up at the twins' joke shop that day. Harry couldn't wait to be back in Diagon Alley. The winding crowded marketplace never seemed to lose its appeal as many times the young man had been there. After arriving, their group quickly entered the Leaky Cauldron and the conductor called out to the just as the door swung closed. Stan tipped his hat and gave a quick cheerful, "See you 'round, 'Arry!" before the bus pulled away and vanished.

Laughing, joking, and making a general ruckus, all four of them pushed passed the other noisy patrons in the pub on their way to the entrance to Diagon. Thankfully, they didn't even have to open it, as somebody else was conveniently already passing through.

"Wait, you guys," Ginny called over her shoulder as she ran back in the other direction. She stopped in front of a blonde girl and asked her with concern, "Are you okay?"

Harry saw that she was scared and her trembling. Was she afraid of crowds?

Hermione walked up behind Ginny, saying, "Nobody ran into you did they? Are you all right?"

"A man...called Snape...gave me....these," the girl managed to utter, clutching a small bag in one hand and a parchment list in the other.

"You mean...Professor Snape?" Ron asked in utter horror.

Harry saw that the blonde girl was dressed quite severely, almost as if she'd walked out of the Victorian era. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun, which resembled Professor McGonagall's.

"Come to think of it... I saw him walk away from her as we walked through the Leaky Cauldron," Harry said. Most people who hang around Snape aren't to be trusted, Harry thought to himself. "Glad nobody hit you and you're all right then," Harry said hastily, trying to separate everybody else from this new girl. But Hermione and Ginny were both rooted to their spots.

"Let's go, guys," Harry urged them while he tugged at Hermione's robes to try to get her to follow but only resulted in Hermione giving Harry a stern look as she shooed him off.

"Harry, don't be rude," Hermione said with a mothering tone that annoyed Harry a bit. Why didn't Hermione realize the same about this girl that he did? He tried again, but only received an odd look from Ginny.

"Look, Hermione, she's with Snape. For all we know she could be related to Malfoy," Ron said as if reading Harry's mind. "She's got that blonde hair and pale look."

Ron's response didn't stop Hermione from chiming in, "What's the matter with you? Stop being a prat, Ron! Not every blonde person in the world is a Malfoy," she said, as if explaining the matter to an especially daft simpleton. "And according to this," Hermione gestured to the letter in the blonde's hand, "she's going to be a new student at Hogwarts!" The boys gaped at her as this caused wild ideas to emerge in Harry's head.

"Pardon me, but who is Malfoy?" the blonde girl finally said haughtily.

"Hogwarts?!" Ron said, getting more appalled, as if Shantiel hadn't spoken. "She's a teenager, why would she be starting just now? She's a bonafide sneaky Slytherin if she's with Snape, something strange is afoot, I'm telling you, Hermione."

"What wrong with that?" replied Shantiel, annoyed with Ron's aspersions. "I do know Hogwarts is a prestigious school. Professor Snape did mention something about making certain I'd be in Slytherin, but I don't even really know what Slytherin is, though. Who cares, anyway? Hogwarts is Hogwarts, right?"

The four stared at her, causing Harry to wonder, she knows so little of Hogwarts....is it possible she was raised Muggle until recently? A person who didn't know the Malfoy name was no Slytherin, but she did have an air of acting like she was better than some of them.

"But Snape shouldn't be able to put you in Slytherin, nobody can do that!" Ron said but was cut off by his sister.

"Oh just shut it, Ronald! She's obviously new to this and doesn't understand it!" Ginny said shortly. "Not everybody at Hogwarts is able to have a traditional seven-year education."

Hermione continued, "That's right! There's all type of exceptions, especially with the secrecy mandates. People don't openly discuss the differences, and just because you don't personally know of any doesn't mean they don't exist. For example, not all parents of Muggle-borns readily accept the magic world and need some time to let their kids go to such a school," Hermione agreed with Ginny.

Ron went to retort but Ginny beat him to it and shouted, "Just stop it! I'm sure there's a perfectly sound explanation!"

"Well I was...I was quite ill, actually," Shantiel stuttered softly. "This is the first time I've ever been able to leave home, much less go shopping..."

"Well no wonder you were terrified, with stupid Snape leaving you all alone like that!" Hermione said, adopting the tone of Molly Weasley.

"Right then, you're coming with us and that's final," Ginny said, grabbing the blonde's hand.

The girls started off, Ron muttering incoherently as he walked next to Harry. Harry couldn't help being intrigued over how this girl was so clueless about the wizard world but at the same time being watched over by none other than Severus Snape.

"By the way, I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said, she gestured to the others as she continued, "this is Ginny Weasley, her brother, Ron, and this is Harry Potter."

Harry expected the usual double take and the slow glance to his forehead that the mention of his name and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't happen.

"I'm Shantiel Biggs," the blonde said and curtsied automatically. The four of them glanced at each other again, not sure what to make of her formal introduction. But the girls chatted rapidly about classes...it seemed that she and Ginny were in the same year at Hogwarts.

"I think you should try out," Ginny suggested with a reassuring tone as they started up the steps to Gringotts. "I think you would enjoy it." Ron let out a muffled "Hmph," but Ginny shot him a look from over her shoulder.

Everyone stopped at Flourish and Blotts and bought what felt like half the shop. Since Shantiel was a new student, it seemed as if she had to drop in at every single shop along the street. Though they didn't say it, it seemed to please the boys that Shantiel was fascinated by the concept of Quidditch and had fun explaining it all to her at the Quidditch Quality Shop.

Shantiel was pleased to have already made some friends...maybe going to Hogwarts was going to be better than she thought it would. Before she knew it, her four hours had flown by.

The group left Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and started back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Never having owned a wand before, Shantiel couldn't help but admire her 11-inch rowan wand with its fairy wing and unicorn hair core. For once, she felt truly happy but also knew it would all end too soon. As they approached the archway, Snape stood wearing a most displeased look.

"If that is all," Snape snapped, his eyes burning into the dark-haired boy standing next to Ginny.

Shantiel tossed her hair that now hung over her shoulder and said, "Well, I do know my father said something to Snape about not wanting me hanging out with 'Potter'. It's a shame I never realized he meant you." She walked briskly up beside Snape but looked back to see everyone's shocked expressions.

The blonde girl followed the professor back through the tavern, halfway regretting her brief display in front of what would have been the first potential friends in her life. Now, out of fear of more disapproval from Snape, she would probably not see them as friendly again. One thing that puzzled her was what Ron meant by saying nobody can be forced in Slytherin. But just how they get into their houses if professors couldn't do it?

*~*~*~*

"Good riddance," Ron said as the professor and the blonde vanished inside the tavern. "See, Hermione, what did I tell you? Just like the rest of that lot, but you wouldn't listen."

"That could have been a front, you know. She never mentioned avoiding Harry before." Hermione said in rebuttal, "You are just too ready to judge."

Ginny agreed, "She did behave quite unfairly during that last part, but to me it seems she was more terrified of Snape than anything. And who, besides a few Slytherins, hasn't been terrified of Snape?"