AN: This is nothing ground-breaking. It's just another Harry gets pulled to another world fic. If that's your cup of tea, I hope you enjoy it. =) It's also posted on AO3.

Stunning Shifts

Chapter 1 - 14th of April, 1980

If someone had told Severus that the old barman standing before him would soon cast the spell which would alter the course of the world, he would have laughed—or at the very least, rolled his eyes.

World altering events didn't happen in dilapidated bars. World altering events involved powerful wizards and not someone like this barman.

To Severus, this was just another night; world altering events would come later.

"What will it be?"

Severus internally sighed at the barman's request. He was on a mission and truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted it to succeed or not. Choosing between a year of Dumbledore and the Dark Lord's merciless disapproval was turning out to be a rather difficult choice. Either way though, he needed a drink and a strong one at that. "A glass of Boniface," he answered.

The barman cocked a thick gray eyebrow at him, but thankfully said nothing. He pulled a glass from underneath the bar and set it in front of Severus with a loud clunk. "That will be fifteen sickles."

"Fifteen sickles?" Severus repeated. Was this man out of his mind?

"That's the going rate for suspicious sorts who wander into my bar."

"And how has anything I've done been suspicious?"

The barman snorted. "Look kid, when you come in on a wet night like this and order the strongest wine known to wizardkind, you get labeled suspicious."

"I'm meeting someone here," Severus said tersely.

"Which makes you even more suspicious and gives you a genuine reason not to piss me off, so what's it going to be? Fifteen sickles or that door you just came through and never coming back?"

Severus glanced at the door, tempted. Every fiber of his being wanted to leave. He didn't want to teach snot nose brats. He didn't want to live right underneath Dumbledore's nose for a year. Every part of his mission made him cringe with dread, but he also knew the Dark Lord needed him. To fail meant more than just a torture session, to fail would mean losing the Dark Lord's first rare opportunity to plant a spy inside of Hogwarts—an opportunity to finally bring down Dumbledore.

Severus had to stay. He had no choice.

Sighing, he reached inside his robes for his small sack of coins. "I suppose I couldn't order another drink?" he tried.

"Of course," the barman replied, "but the going rate is the same."

Severus rolled his eyes, then fished out fifteen sickles and slid them across the bar. Satisfied, the barman flicked his wand towards the glass sitting between them and it began filling itself with deep red wine. Severus wrapped his hand around the glass and waited for the barman to turn away before he took a much needed drink, but the barman never did. He just stood there, staring at him in a way that was both unnerving and eerily familiar.

"What?" Severus said, bristling.

The barman shrugged, picked up dirty glass a previous patron had left on the bar, and began scrubbing it with a dirty rag he kept hanging from his front pocket. Scowling, Severus threw back a gulp of wine. He could easily get up and sit in a booth away from the bar, but he found himself too annoyed to care. "I'm meeting Headmaster Dumbledore here for an interview," he said sourly. "Happy now?"

The barman snorted and shook his head causing Severus to bristle again, but his words made Severus have a completely different reaction. "Another one, eh?"

"Yes, I've—What?"

The barman's lips twitched. "Another one," he repeated, jerking his head towards the stairway. "Albus is already here doing an interview. Funny he's not done already. He's been up there for a bit."

Severus blinked, words failing him because this was all wrong. There wasn't supposed to be another interview. Severus was supposed to be the only one.

"Tough luck, kid. I suspect you'll just have to wait down here for him." And without waiting for a reply, the barman turned away.

Severus took a long swig from his glass, trying to ease the panic that was now rising in his chest. When the Dark Lord had given him his mission, he had thought he hadn't heard right—him, Severus, a professor? Dumbledore may have been insane, but the man wasn't brainless. Why would he ever hire Severus for a teaching position at Hogwarts? But the Dark Lord had been confident. Dumbledore had been unable to keep a Defense professor for more than a year for the past decade. There were ridiculous rumors circulating that the position was jinxed and Dumbledore was beginning to have difficulties finding replacements. The Dark Lord had assured Severus that he would be the only applicant—that Dumbledore would have no choice but to hire him.

The Dark Lord, however, had been wrong. There was someone else—someone who was probably older and more qualified and not a former Slytherin…

Severus didn't stand a chance…

Suddenly a bubble of rage burst inside of him. No matter how much he didn't want to do this, this was supposed to be his chance to prove his worth as a Death Eater. The power the Dark Lord would grant him if he were to succeed would be unimaginable. Who had ruined this for him? Who had slipped beneath the Dark Lord's reach and secured an interview?

He had to know.

Severus threw back the rest of his wine and glanced around for the barman—he was distracted, currently talking to a hooded patron on the other side of the bar. And so in a rare moment of impulsiveness, Severus slid off his barstool and snuck up the backstairs. He then crept down the upstairs hall, listening carefully at each numbered door. All was silent until he came to the door marked with a large number nine. Muffled voices could be heard coming from the room. Smiling triumphantly, he knelt down and placed his left ear against the keyhole. A woman's quavering voice met his ears.

"…The wizarding world has always persecuted those who have the ability to See. It is, alas, our Fate."

"I understand, my dear," Dumbledore's unmistakable voice answered, "but you must agree that the Art of Divination…"

'Divination?' Severus thought, taken aback. He inched his ear closer to the keyhole, hope blossoming in his chest.

"…for students. I've been toying with the idea of eliminating the subject from the Hogwarts curriculum for years."

"Oh but I wish you'd reconsider," the woman said. "It is the only way to broaden the minds of generations to come!"

"I understand your concerns," Dumbledore said as Severus suppressed a snort. "And I assure you that I will keep you in mind if the Board of Governors and I decide to keep offering Divination to Hogwarts' students."

"Very well," was the woman's indignant reply. "I, of course, had foreseen this coming, but had hoped I was wrong."

"Of course, but regardless, it has been a pleasure meeting you."

Relief coursed through Severus as a chair scraped along the wooden floor inside the room. He had nothing to fear after all—he was still the only applicant. He hastened himself to stand, but stilled a moment later when he heard Dumbledore's voice again.

"Miss Trelawney?"

His voice was laced with concern and his words were followed by silence. Curious, Severus placed his ear back against the keyhole. He could hear the quiet sound of tentative footsteps, but nothing more.

"My dear?" Dumbledore tried again. "Is everything alright?"

Then there were more footsteps, from where Severus didn't care, he was suddenly too distracted by the deep, harsh breathing now coming from the room. All sense of his surroundings became lost when a loud hoarse voice filled his ears.

"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH…THE DARK LORD…APPROACHES…"

Severus gasped. This woman was making a prophecy—a real prophecy about the Dark Lord! He could hardly dare believe it. He held his breath waiting for her to continue. She had resumed the deep harsh breathing of before, but surely there was more to it…

"Yes, my dear?" Dumbledore coaxed.

Severus leaned into the door to hear her words, but he never would. The very thing he would have never believed happened at that very moment. He barely registered a flash of red light before blackness engulfed him and he hit the floor with a loud thud.