"The work of a Hogwarts professor is demanding enough. You should probably have an assistant too. I do remember recommending one to you."
Dumbledore said with a smile.
"He needs to attend the Potions Conference."
Snape replied tersely.
"Ah, yes… forgive me, how could I forget? You're taking him with you?"
Dumbledore asked.
"…He signed up himself."
Snape said it as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
"Oh, very well, then. We'll say he signed up himself."
Dumbledore smiled.
Snape glared at him, and only then did Dumbledore slowly let the smile fade.
"It's a very good justification. The Board will approve it."
Dumbledore took the parchment, then suddenly paused.
At that moment, thunder cracked across the sky, and rain hammered against the ground with a rattling rush.
"You've changed a great deal, Severus."
Dumbledore said it slowly.
Snape said nothing. The dead fireplace slowly flared back to life.
Apparently the house-elves had finally noticed there was still a fire soaked through.
The rain outside hadn't stopped, but it wasn't the rain that dampened the wizards inside the castle. What soaked them was the heaviness in their hearts.
"Then you've seen wrong."
Snape said with a sneer.
"I may be old now. Ah, yes, that's something I have to admit… but my eyes have not yet grown dim."
Dumbledore ignored the mockery.
"Our conversation stays between us. You know, I know. I want your oath."
Snape said it suddenly.
"You don't want him to know. But I think he ought to know. Even if you don't mean to tell him, he will always find out eventually.
Severus, he's like you."
Dumbledore said it like a sigh.
"Like me? I would never place my life somewhere it could be ended at any moment."
Snape said mockingly.
"You would, Severus. You always have. Up to now, you've been far braver than anyone else. You know, sometimes I think our system of sorting was much too hasty…"
Dumbledore said.
Snape fell silent again. After what felt like a long time, he finally spoke.
"I want your oath."
"You ask it of me again, Severus? That I never reveal the best part of you to anyone?"
Dumbledore lowered his head and looked at Snape's expressionless face, then sighed.
"If you insist…"
The rain was falling hard enough to shroud Hogwarts in mist.
It rang against the castle's spires with a metallic ting-ting-ting, and every window had been shut.
The rain from the sky came down like a deluge of tears.
And yet the tears of the world were nowhere near as muddy as the rain above. Sometimes there was even a sunlight umbrella to keep that muddy rain at bay.
The old wizard walked quietly through a silent Hogwarts corridor, looking toward the hazy horizon, and he knew—
that in this spring, someone would be washed clean by the rain.
…
The exams were over.
Not even the rain could dampen the students' joy. Only Hermione still seemed anxious about the exams.
"It wasn't too bad, was it?"
Hermione asked worriedly in the entrance hall, still clutching her wand.
"I can't say I did well on the dueling part. I just ran out the clock. Did you counter that Dark Magic properly? I don't even know if I said the spell right. I think I talked too much—and then—"
"Hermione,"
Justin said with a smile,
"it's over already…"
"Yeah,"
Ron said grimly,
"none of us wants to retake every exam after finishing it once. Once was bad enough."
"I don't know about that,"
Harry said, still excited,
"but my magic looked amazing."
"Yeah, well, you blasted me across the room, Harry. Since when does Expelliarmus send people flying?"
Ron complained.
By the time Sean entered the Great Hall, Ron was still complaining that Harry had gone too hard on him, Justin and Neville were still discussing the exact Herbology exam procedure, and Hermione was pointedly not looking at Sean.
She could already tell she wasn't getting full marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
And after watching Sean spar with Professor Snape, all she could do was pray that Snape would once again be just a little unfair—not much, just enough not to let the gap between her and a certain young wizard grow any wider.
The days after exams ended melted like butter, and Hogwarts slowly slipped into a brilliant summer.
But even for a Sunday, the castle felt strangely quiet.
Everyone was outside on the sunny grounds, enjoying the relief of exams being over and those last few school days with no revision and no tests hanging over them.
Sean walked slowly through an empty corridor, glancing out the windows as he went.
He could see people wandering around the open Quidditch pitch, and two students swimming in the lake under the watchful company of the giant squid.
He drew his eyes back and quietly looked down at his notes again.
The day Snape had taught him about the Unforgivable Curses already felt like some sort of phantom.
When he returned to the dungeon yesterday, Snape had refused to teach him any more advanced techniques.
Still, when it came to defending against the Unforgivables—or at least against the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses—Snape remained strict and serious.
Sean had no intention of using the Unforgivables, but he had no objection to learning about them.
Just as Snape had said:
"If you're up against something you know absolutely nothing about, how exactly do you expect to defend yourself?"
So Sean continued studying Defense Against the Dark Arts with complete focus. This afternoon, he was heading back to the dungeon again.
In the dungeon—
it was colder than the main castle above. Glass jars lined the walls, filled with preserved animal specimens that always made younger students shiver.
"Potions has always needed an assistant… that's tradition…"
Snape stood in the one spot that actually caught the light and stated it flatly.
Sean held his notebook and looked a little at a loss.
"I don't need idiots desecrating a craft as rigorous and elegant as potion-making…"
Snape continued, staring fixedly at Sean the whole time.
"Professor, I can…"
Sean understood. He "volunteered."
Not completely stupid…
That was what Snape thought. What he actually said, dripping with sarcasm, was:
"Looks like I've no choice but to pick the least stupid one from a crowd of imbeciles."
Sean said nothing.
He understood Snape almost as well as Snape understood him.
"The Potions Conference is coming up soon. You'd better perform well…"
Snape said, turning away, satisfaction nearly spilling off his face.
"Today, you'll be learning a dangerous kind of magic…"
"What?"
Sean asked.
"Fiendfyre."
Snape said coldly.
~~~
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