Standing Against the Tides

Last time I looked at my driver’s license, it did not say J. K. Rowling. Yep, it’s just me, an unpaid and unknown aspiring writer. The characters of the Potterverse do not belong to me and I am making no money from this endeavor.

A/N: Spoilers through OotP. As I am still in denial, I refuse to acknowledge the events of HBP or DH at this point.

Unbeta’d as BabyGurl is busy with her own life.





Chapter 27 No Rest for the Wicked


Minerva slowed as she approached the Headmaster’s tower office. They had earlier returned to Hogwarts, via Severus’ quarters, in order to escape notice of their comings and goings. Straightening her hat, she prepared to meet the latest challenge. “Madame Pomfrey,” she greeted the medi-witch who appeared to be in the middle of listing every sweet known to wizard-kind to the unresponsive stone gargoyle.

The obviously frustrated matron turned around to face her colleague and old friend. “Minerva, thank Merlin you’re here,” she sighed. “I can’t seem to find the correct password to get past this gargoyle, and I need to speak with the Headmaster immediately about an incident.”

“I am sorry to say that the Headmaster has been called away on urgent business and he couldn’t say when he would be able to return. As the Deputy-Headmistress, perhaps I can help you?” Minerva offered as she gently began leading the medi-witch away from the gargoyle.


Once the two women had settled comfortably in the Transfigurations Professor’s own office, Minerva dove into the subject at hand. “Now, Poppy, would you kindly tell me what has happened that requires my assistance?”

Relaxing for the first time that afternoon, Poppy began her explanation. “Neville Longbottom was brought to the infirmary earlier today. It appears the poor boy was practicing some spell work for his Charms homework. What should have been a simple summoning spell ended up hurling the pillow at him with some force and throwing him into the stone wall, knocking the dear boy unconscious.”

Sighing as she poured a couple of cups of tea for her and her guest, Minerva dryly observed, “Mr. Longbottom is well known for his sloppy wand work. I hate to say it, but the child is little more than a squib. We have long ago learned to expect such disasters from the boy. As such, I am confused as to why this matter merits such urgent attention.”

Poppy gratefully accepted the hot cup of tea before answering. “That’s just it, Minerva. The power it took to cause a pillow to throw the boy half way across the Gryffindor Common Room was immense. My medical scans revealed that Mr. Longbottom’s magical levels are easily ten times greater than I had ever previously recorded from him. I was so taken aback by my findings that I first believed that my medi-wand must surely be faulty. However, a second wand showed the same results. It is my belief that somehow a magical block has been removed from the boy. Why would anyone do that to him? And who? That is the reason why I needed to see the Headmaster so urgently, Minerva.”

Taking off her glasses, Minerva closed her eyes. Was this also Albus’ doing? And if so, what else had Albus done that they had yet to discover? Resigning herself to the idea that she would again need to meet soon with her cohorts, the witch opened her eyes and attempted to reassure her colleague. “Is Mr. Longbottom well now?” Upon hearing that he indeed was and already back in Gryffindor Tower, the Deputy-Headmistress nodded. “Very well then. I will attempt to reach the Headmaster with this information, but until then, we will need to help Mr. Longbottom adjust to his new magic levels. Perhaps in time we will find the cause for this rather unusual phenomenon, but for now, I would like for this information to stay between us.”

“Of course, Minerva. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me,” Poppy said as she stood. The medi-witch trusted that the other woman would not rest until the matter was solved, but for now she still had an infirmary to run and errant school children to mend.

Once she was sure the medi-witch had left, Minerva warded her office door and crossed to the fireplace. Throwing a handful of Floo powder into the flames, she clearly said, “Severus Snape’s quarters.”

A moment passed before the dour man’s head appeared in the flames. “Minerva,” he smoothly remarked. “Did I hear the pleasant tones of your voice?”

Leveling a reprimanding look at her long-time friend, Minerva ignored the Potions master’s droll comment. “Severus, there has been a new development. May I come through to your quarters so that we may speak openly?”

Severus acquiesced before pulling back out of the flames so that his friend could come through the Floo network. Straightening up, the tall man brushed the soot out of his robes and stood back from the fireplace. After just a moment, the witch stepped neatly from the flames and greeted her colleague.

After sitting in her usual chair, Minerva began explaining what the medi-witch had told her. She happily took the glass of brandy her friend handed her as he sat back down in his own chair. Both were silent for a moment as they allowed this new information to sink in.

A loud snort brought Minerva back to the present and she looked enquiringly at the dark haired man. “Longbottom is more powerful now. Just wonderful,” Severus dryly remarked. “Imagine how much more effectively the boy can destroy my classroom now.”

Valiantly struggling to contain a snicker at the unexpected quip, Minerva attempted a weak glare at her friend. “Really, Severus. Give the boy some credit.”

“Oh, I do, Minerva, I do,” Severus solemnly intoned. “That child alone has blown up more cauldrons in my classroom than all my other students combined. I consider that to be no small feat.”

The stern Transfigurations Professor ultimately lost the battle with her wayward sense of humor. Finally releasing the ball of mirth lurking in her belly, the witch gave into the hilarity of the moment. After a few blissful moments of spirited giggles, Minerva was able to eventually tame her laughter. “Severus, please do attempt to be serious,” she snickered.

Rearing his head back, the former Death Eater raised a hand to his heart. “Minerva, I am wounded to the core. I could never, would never, be Sirius.”

Catching on quickly to the pun, the witch raised a hand in supplication. “Please, Severus. Let’s leave dead rivalries behind us.”

Wryly acknowledging his colleague’s coup d’état, Severus raised his glass to his friend and schooled his emotions back into line. He had just opened his mouth to ask the witch a question, when…

Harry burst into the door and gasped, “Sev – oh, excuse me, Professor McGonagall. I didn’t know you were here.” Stopping to gather his senses, Harry bashfully grinned at the adults. “It’s just that, um, I found out something I thought you should know,” the teenager explained.

“Is this something you wish Professor McGonagall to hear as well, Harry?” Severus asked his young mate.

“Yeah, I mean, sure. In fact, I was going to go find you, ma’am, after I talked to Se - Professor Snape,” Harry politely addressed his Head of House.

Nodding, the witch waited for the young man to gather his thoughts. She had had more than enough experience dealing with teenagers to know that some things just could not be rushed. And the thought process of such creatures was definitely one of those things.

Nervously running his hand through his unruly locks, Harry hesitantly began, “I was reading a book Hermione found for me on the care and upkeep of Phoenixes so I could take better care of Fawkes. One of the first facts mentioned in the book says that Phoenixes can go for years and years between their burning days. Well, I remembered that Pro – Dumbledore said once that Fawkes regularly burned every few months. So I thought that maybe the book was wrong, but when I looked in other books in the restricted section of the library, they all agreed with the first book. Something has been sapping Fawkes powers, making him burn far too often.”

In their amazement at this new development, both professors opted to ignore for the moment the fact that the young man had free access to the restricted section. Much later, each would independently decide that perhaps that was as should be for the new Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Now, however, more important, and indeed disturbing, facts needed to be addressed. First the news that Neville Longbottom had suddenly gained a great deal of power, and then the revelation that Fawkes had experienced entirely too many burning days in his lifetime, was pointing to one troubling conclusion. Severus sighed; no doubt many hours would need to be spent in the library in order to solve this puzzle.

His colleague, however, had no problems putting the clues together. Minerva gasped. “Severus,” she exclaimed, “this simply cannot be coincidence. Obviously, Mr. Longbottom’s sudden surge of magical power along with the news that Albus has been draining Fawkes of his powers surely must be connected. We must fully investigate just how much Albus was drawing on others’ magical reserves.”

Severus thought for a moment before responding. “Indeed, Minerva. This would seem to confirm some of our worst fears regarding Albus. Now we must see if we can determine all points of power acquisition which he might have utilized in his quest to appear omnipotent to the wizarding community,” Severus stated.

Harry sighed; really, was it too much to ask that the adults would just speak plain English? Honestly, these two would make anyone to feel that they needed to carry a dictionary around constantly. Shaking his head, he decided that this new problem sounded like a job for their resident bookworm: if anyone could help them figure out just what Dumbledore had been up to; it was Hermione. But in the meantime, Harry had a magical castle to speak to.