The Power Known Not

Chapter Twenty Two

-0-

Harry shook his head and rubbed the grit out of his eyes. Perhaps it would be a good idea to find out what was going on. He walked over to the librarians desk and asked "Is there a way to find a book about a specific thing without having to search the entire library"

The librarians eyes glimmered and her face turned up into a smile. "Yes, Harry, if you'd just follow me." Amerane's blue waistcoat, marking her as a first assistant librarian, kept Harry's gaze as she twisted through narrow shelves.

"How do you know my name?" Harry asked.

"Kirel told me. My name is Amerane. We're going to the fourth study room, I've been experimenting with muggle things, and I've found that computers are a lovely way to keep track of things."

"You use muggle technology here?" Harry asked.

"Of course. It's much more efficient than a card system. We do still have that though, as some of the older residents aren't apt at adapting to newer things."

"Fascinating." Harry replied, ducking a cobweb. "How often does this area get used?"

"Not very often, I'm afraid, and the last librarian was very lax with her spells. I've been renewing them, but it's difficult, as the spells are meant to last for many years, so they require power, time, effort and concentration."

"Yeah, I'd learned something about that in Charms." Harry muttered.

"How was your time at Hogwarts? I heave heard it is a beautiful place, you must very much miss it."

"It was nice, there were a few times when I came close to dying. Claudia had a dispute with the Headmaster, so I'm going to be learning back here for now."

Amerane opened a door to a small study room with a gold 4 on the door. Nestled into a corner was a small desk and chair with a welcoming blue glow from the computer monitor.

"There you go." Amerane said. "It has an internet connection too, and it's all set up to search the library, but you can always search online, sometimes that is good to get a different viewpoint.

"Thank you." Harry replied, sitting down at the desk.

"I'll just leave you to it. If you need any help, just ring the bell." Amerane said, as she shut the door behind her.

Harry set in for a long research session.

-0-

"The Graveyard Hag is the patron goddess of Carthak. She chiefly holds power there, and in certain cases can overrule Mithros. In other lands, she holds power over graveyards, hence the title "The Graveyard Hag". She typically appears as an old woman with a knobbly staff to support her weight. She has a penchant for dice, and carries a silver cup with her. Playing dice with her is unadvised as she will cheat. A notable feature is that she has intertwining lines tattooed on her wrist.

Hyenas and rats are associated with this goddess and have been known to serve the Hag in the past. Associating with this goddess and doing favors for her is inadvisable, as the outcome is nearly always favorable for her, but not necessarily for you.

Most notably when Carthak's Emperor Mage Ozorne Muhassin Tasikhe took the favors for the Gods and put them upon himself. The Graveyard Hag tricked Veralidaine Sarrasri of Tortall into assisting her to throw the Emperor Mage out of power and bring his heir, Prince Kaddar into power. By the time the Hag had reestablished her place as patron goddess, Carthak's palace was in shambles, costly ancient artifacts had been destroyed, and The Graveyard Hag's tool was a fugitive of the law in that country, and she barely escaped with her life intact.

-0-

"I need to claim my blood. But how? " Harry mused aloud.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken," floated through Harry's head.

"How do I reclaim something that was stolen?" He muttered.

Harry sighed and turned back to the computer, trying to find something about reclaiming lost and stolen things. Hopefully he was on the right track.

-0-

"Severus Snape, what did you do this time?" Vanessa asked, the irritation evident in her voice.

"Potions accident. Veritaserum went wrong, and she inhaled some of the fumes. She'll be alright, but the antidote has to be tailored to the individual." Professor Snape replied. "Will you be able to house her here? I can't bring her back to Hogwarts."

"Why is that?" Vanessa asked, her dark eyes rivaling Snape's best glare.

"Dumbledore cannot know that she was brewing with me. She has been out of bounds for most of the school year. He probably is aware of that fact, but he is most definitely not aware of the fact that we were brewing together. He cannot find out."

"And what is so wrong with Hermione assisting with potion brewing? Unless there was more than simply brewing going on." Vanessa leveled her gaze upon him, and she appreciated that she could still make him uncomfortable.

"I assure madam, that there was no inappropriate behavior occurring between Miss Granger and I. I am an honorable man. If Dumbledore finds out, he will want her services for his Order, and she does not need that added stress. I remember how my sixth and seventh years went."

"Understandable. I will keep her. How long is your estimated recovery time?"

"Not more than a week. It depends on the specific antidote she'll require. Miss Granger should regain consciousness within a few hours. I can begin the bases for the antidote now, and return when she wakes to diagnose what she'll need.

"So go." Vanessa said. "I'll keep watch on Miss Granger. Do you want her in a closed room?"

"That would be preferable. I'd rather keep her presence as unnoticeable as possible." Professor Snape replied.

"Okay." Vanessa replied, as she levitated Hermione into a private room.

Professor Snape nodded his farewell and made his way down to the communal lab at the house. The labs at the house were set a ways away from the main building, mainly due to the amount of researchers and scholars who had found their way to the house throughout the centuries.

-0-

"Class dismissed." The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been reduced to Professor of Defense of the Dark Arts. "Please put any essay's assigned by your former Professor on the desk as you're leaving. I'll expect your essay by next week's class."

As the last student, Jeremiah Dobbs, third year Hufflepuff filed out, Dumbledore sagged into the chair at the head of the classroom. He had forgotten how much effort teaching took. After that, there were the essays and then on top of that his duties as Headmaster to fulfill.

Lightly tapping the ink pot with his wand, Dumbledore pulled the first essay to him and shifted his glasses and he began the grading.

What I expect to learn in defense this year

Susan Derkins

Third Year Ravenclaw

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, I hope to learn how to truly defend myself, and to be able to call for help if I am in a situation where it is needed. Professor Umbridge, in my second year was very strict and taught solely from the book. I know that in the coming times, with the threat of You-know-who looming in the shadows, I want to know that I will have a good number of hexes, shields, and such that I can use to defend myself and any others with me. What I truly want to learn this year is how to be able to survive the war that many are sure is to come.

Also, learning to be able to defend myself from projectiles, such as slushballs would be a bonus, particularly being able to have them magically sent back to their point of origin.

Professor Moody demonstrated that you should always be on your guard, even when you least expect that, as he proved by being overtaken and impersonated for an entire year.

I want to know more than what the ministry says in their pamphlets.

Based on the introduction lecture, it looks like we will be learning how to capably defend ourselves, and to survive the coming years.

Dumbledore looked up from the essay and sighed. Miss Derkins is right, we will have to teach them, even the youngest, how to defend themselves and to call for help. Perhaps something like Miss Granger devised for the Defense Association would be wise to give to the younger years, so they can call for help if they need to. It seems that I have quite a reputation to live up to. Defeater of Grindelwald indeed.

Professor Neinhaus was the first and only applicant for the job this year. I'm lost with what to do about a Defense Professor this year-

"The essays do seem to have lowered in quality over the years, don't they Albus?" Minerva asked, stepping into the classroom.

"I suppose that they do Minerva." Dumbledore replied, "I haven't been behind a teacher's desk in a long time then, for the work to have decayed to such a level as it is."

"I know. They do tend to improve once the first month has gone by. The students need time to settle back into the school life." Minerva replied. "What is to be done about the lack of Defense Professor, Albus?"

"I suppose that an as will have to be taken out in the Prophet again, perhaps the Quibbler as well."

"The Quibbler?" Minerva asked, eyebrows raised.

"Where else would I be able to find a competent teacher in such short notice." Dumbledore asked.

"What truly did happen to Professor Neinhuis? Claudia suddenly up and leaving doesn't seem like her, at least like the impression of her that I got."

"We had an altercation." Albus sighed. "She claimed to have an urgent situation at home with her family. She was leaving for the night. I told her to stay. She cited the Hogwarts Charter that I had forgotten in my old age."

"I see how that could happen. Professor Neinhuis is very protective of her rights. If it was within her rights to step out of the castle for a time, then she would fight you tooth and nail on it." Minerva replied.

"I understand. I had first thought that she was heading down to the Hog's Head; Aberforth has seen her there a few nights a week." Dumbledore replied.

"Albus, just because someone has gone there before doesn't mean that they'll go there again. Even your eyes cannot be as old as to miss the filth that clings to your brothers bar." Minerva snapped. "Why don't you owl her and see if she'll agree to return, provided that she can come and go when she isn't teaching or patrolling? That's not any different than the privileges that you grant the rest of the staff."

"But not for a first year Professor." Albus replied, having gone up and looked up the significant bits in the Hogwarts Charter. "A first year Professor can only leave the grounds Thursday through Monday evenings. Then only after dinner."

"Albus, when will we have a defense Professor who lasts more than a year?"
Minerva replied. "Write her a letter, apologize, lay out the terms I told you and ask. The worst that will come of it is you get a howler. It's not like you don't get a dozen of those a day."

"And they make such a lovely cacophony," Albus said. "Minerva, when she was leaving she said that she was forfeiting her position at Hogwarts for the second time. In my recollection, the hundred years of it, she has not passed through these halls, as staff or as student. She appears young enough that she would have to have been here recently."

"And?" Minerva asked, eyebrows knitting together in thought as she wracked her brain for a forgotten memory of a professor.

"She stormed off to her rooms, and they were sealed. She left before I could get in. Minerva, the magic they were sealed with had a distinctly vampiric feel. If Professor Neinhuis is a vampire, I don't know if I want her around the students."

"Pish-posh. You're trying to reason your way out of admitting that you were wrong. If she is a vampire, that means that she has been around at least longer than you. You know that not very many will make it more than a hundred years without slipping up and getting hunted.

"If Claudia Neinhuis is inflicted with vampirism, she is old enough to be able to take care of herself and to control her urges." Minerva replied.

"True." Dumbledore conceded.

"I expect to have that letter in my outgoing box by tomorrow morning Albus." Minerva replied, getting to her feet.

"Of course." Dumbledore replied. "What would I do with another as my deputy head?"

"Retire." Minerva snorted and strode out the door. Not as if I don't practically run the school as it is. Has that man even looked at the financial records in the past decade? Or scheduled a re-warding? I believe that I have been the one who has been taking care of that, leaving him to play chess and eat his sweets in his head's office. It will certainly do him good to be out of his tower for a short while, and away from his portraits.

-0-

Harry set up the scrabble board and cringed. "Only one language this time?" he asked.

"Poor Harry dear, having to restrict us all to only English for this fine word game." Claudia teased.

"It's an unfair advantage that you have." Harry replied, grinned as he went through the mock-argument that was fast becoming ritual after the first game where Claudia had won by using a dead language.

"Harry, you should take up golfing, at least in that game you'd be able to get a handicap." Claudia told him.

"Of course-" Harry began but was interrupted by an owl at the window. Padfoot got up from beside the fireplace and nosed at the window latch. After a couple of tries, while the owl looked on superiorly, he got the window open.

The tawny owl glided over to Claudia and presented her with a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. Claudia swore and asked the owl if it would just take the letter back. Not getting a response to the positive, she took the letter and opened it. After skimming it quickly Claudia tossed it down on top of the scrabble board.

-0-

"Severus," Vanessa's voice echoed through the floo from the office. "I've gotten the remedies she'll need established."

"I'll be there in a moment." Snape replied, adding the final herbs to the potion and beginning the cycle of stirring.

When Snape walked into his office, he found Vanessa seated on the visitor's chair.

"She appears to be having a hallucinogenic reaction, and that has her put to sleep. I'd recommend Ling's method to most effectively heal her." Vanessa informed him and sat a folder of papers on his desk. "That's Miss Granger's test results and my observations."

"Thank you Vanessa. I'll look over these and hopefully have the first round to you by this evening." Professor Snape replied.

"Of course." Vanessa replied. "Are you going to keep Hogwarts out of this? She is supposed to be under their care." Vanessa pointed out.

"And have the inquisition at my door? Certainly not. Miss Granger has been absent from Hogwarts a great deal this year. I doubt that any of the dunderheads would actually notice now." Professor Snape said.

"The staff or the students?" Vanessa asked.

"Both." Professor Snape said as he walked out the door.

-0-

Severus stood over the steaming cauldron and gently stirred it in the figure-eights that Ling's method required. Thank Gods that I managed to get Hermione out in time. Albus would have been furious with me if I had allowed her to die.

Not that I have ever had any student of mine die in my classroom in all my time teaching. Which is more than any of the other potionmasters can say for themselves. Although I'm relatively surprised that Longbottom hasn't managed to blow us all up yet. At least Hermione has finally realized how to assist him without half of us noticing. I've got to teach her how to be more subtle. She has the intelligence, the entire staff knows that. Gods, they've had a betting pool on her owl scores since the beginning of the year. We are all well aware that it'll be straight O's all across the board.

I am rather surprised that she hasn't plateaued yet. Draco has, and in fifth year. I wonder if he'll be taking NEWT classes with me. Lucius will probably force him, of course, and I'll be forced to pass him. Hopefully he'll fail his Potions OWL. That boy is on a fast track to hell. Albus sees it, and wishes for me "to steer him towards the light, my boy, see if you can save his soul."

I wish this war would come to a head already so Potter can kill the Dark Lord and Albus can scurry off to his office to enjoy his Lemon

Severus added the chopped ginger root to the potion and watched it froth with satisfaction. That's just about right. Now I've just got to let it cool so it will be drinkable. It can cool in a vial on the way to the Infirmary. After ladling the proper dosage intoan unbreakable vial he set off back towards the infirmary.

Severus enjoyed the walk back to the House. Rather smart of them to set the labs off away from the main building like they did. I suppose that a few centuries old bored vampires tinkering around with potential explosions would make for an uncomfortable living situation.

-0-

"That was rather quick." Vanessa said as Severus strode into the dimly lit infirmary. "Want to get her back up on her feet as soon as possible?"

"Of course, as soon as she is up and about she can go back to school. I informed you that the Headmaster is uninformed of the little off-campus jaunts that Miss Granger takes." Professor Snape snapped.

"Severus, you've got to learn to lighten up a little." Vanessa said, looking at him with a searching look on her face. "You'll wear yourself to death."

"It's not like I see myself living that much longer anyways. War grows closer, we all know it but for the so called "Ministry of Magic"."

"And how does that effect you Severus?" Vanessa asked, glaring at him.

"We've been over this before Vanessa. It's a closed subject." Professor Snape said.

"I remember healing you last time that sycophantic accident of birth was trying to rule the world. I remember how bad it was. Half the time your portkeys were triggered by your own unconsciousness! You know that we'll offer you shelter. Let that old man take care of it himself! Nobody knows where this place is. It's been unplottable since we were as far north as we could go." Vanessa snapped at him.

"I know." Professor Snape replied, rubbing his temples with one hand. "My mark ties him to me. Unplottable for eons doesn't matter. He'll find me here and try to take over. I'm not willing to do that to all of you."

"Severus, he'll try. He'll try and either die in the trying, or give up. We've been becoming more and more involved with human affairs lately. The wizard's war is beginning to concern us. It may come to our door yet." Vanessa replied.

"Vanessa. Let it go. There are more important things right now than reopening a 15 year old debate. I stand where I stand and that is not going to change." Professor said with a sense of finality.

"Where you're standing is tearing you to pieces. Can you not see that?" Vanessa asked.

"I know." Professor Snape replied. "Here is the first stage of Hermione's antidote. You'll have the second and the third by tomorrow morning." Professor Snape said before turning and walking towards the door.

"Thank you." Vanessa replied. "I'm here if you ever need me."

A/N- See profile for explanation on updates in the future.