After a brutal Transfiguration exam the next day, Severn and Lillian headed down to the greenhouses for N.E.W.T. Level Herbology. They could always count on Professor Neville Longbottom to give them a break; while he was a dedicated professor who truly believed his subject was worthwhile to all witches and wizards, his assignments were nowhere near as challenging as Professors Valenti and Finklestein’s were.
Plus, the professor was so enthusiastic about Herbology that his attitude was contagious even to those not passionate about plants.
“…and that’s how the Poison Dart Root gets its name! Isn’t that fascinating?” Professor Longbottom said, unable to hide an elated grin.
A student in the front row raised her hand.
“You don’t think there are any Poison Dart Roots around Hogwarts do you? I don’t think my shoes are thick enough… What if I stepped on one?”
Several of the other students laughed, but Professor Longbottom quieted them easily with his calm voice.
“That is a legitimate concern, Phyllis,” Professor Longbottom said, affirming his ‘there are no stupid questions’ belief. “But you needn’t worry. Poison Dart Roots thrive only in tropic regions, and inside greenhouses if they are well cared for, of course.”
He looked proudly over at the pot that appeared to be filled with soil and have no plant growth at all, knowing that a deadly root grew just inches below the surface.
“Erm, but that’s not to say that you should have one of your own in a greenhouse. As you know they are very dangerous. I don’t recommend you try to buy one,” he added quickly.
“Don’t worry,” a boy in the middle row muttered, eliciting laughs from everyone in the room “ including Professor Longbottom.
Another hand went in the air.
“Sir?” a short girl with long, straight blond hair asked. “If we were to have a plant of our own to study, perhaps as a start to our own greenhouse collection, what would you recommend?”
Professor Longbottom beamed at the girl. His N.E.W.T. Level class was small by any standards “ averaging nine students per section “ so it was even rarer that one of his students was interested in continuing Herbology after Hogwarts.
“Well, you know when I was in Hogwarts, even younger than you, I had a Mimbulus mimbletonia. They are fairly hard to come by, but not dangerous in the least.”
“Hey,” Lillian whispered as she nudged Severn in the side. “Did you hear what he just said? He was a student here. That had to have been ages ago, judging by the smile wrinkles around his eyes. Maybe he…”
“…knew Remus Lupin!” Severn responded, suddenly more alert.
They nodded knowingly to each other. When class was over, the two seventh-years held back, pretending to take an extra long time packing their supplies so that they could have a private moment with Professor Longbottom.
“Professor?” Lillian said, initiating the conversation. “Do you mind if we talk to you for a second?”
“Not at all!” Professor Longbottom replied. “Are you interested in finding nice house plants, too?”
Lillian averted her eyes guiltily, afraid to disappoint her teacher.
“Not exactly, but maybe next time. I “ we “ actually just had some questions about a past Hogwarts professor that you might have known. Have you ever heard of Remus Lupin?”
“Have I heard of him? Professor Lupin was my Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor in third year! He taught me how to dispel a boggart and ward off a dementor. I wasn’t very good at it so Harry really had to… Well, anyway, that’s another story.”
Severn’s interest was piqued. He could have the best project in the class now that he could get first-hand accounts of his subject, Remus Lupin, from a man who actually knew him!
“Yes, Professor Lupin was a very gifted teacher. He was the first Defense teacher I ever had who really knew what he was doing. In fact, he was one of the best teachers at Hogwarts. Back in those days the professors here weren’t held to quite the same standards as they are now. Boy, I remember my Divination Professor, Trelawney, a little off her rocker, she was. And my Potions Professor, Snape, made my life miserable every chance he got.”
“Sorry to interrupt you, Professor, but what did you just say? About Professor Snape? Who was he?” Lillian asked.
It could have been the first significant piece of information Lillian had discovered since being assigned the research project, so she had to pursue her lead.
“Severus Snape, that’s right. Personality like a Tangle Vine. If you were even the least bit vulnerable he attacked and didn’t let go until you were completely humiliated. He was brilliant, though. I did learn a lot about Potions, but I’m not sure if it was worth suffering through years of his class.”
Professor Longbottom did a quick double take to Severn’s face. He thought he saw a familiar flash of resentment in Severn’s dark eyes. He shook it off and continued talking.
“During my seventh year he was my Defense Against the Dark Arts professor “ the last year he ever taught. He…he was murdered that year.”
Lillian gasped.
“Why so interested?” Professor Longbottom asked.
“Our research project for Professor Finklestein,” Severn replied. “I was assigned Remus Lupin; Lillian was assigned Severus Snape.”
“And I can’t find a single book in the library about him. No biographies, no authored works, nothing. Just a few old annuals with a single picture from each year he attended school,” Lillian said, sounding rather frustrated.
“You’re right, there wouldn’t be any biographies on Severus Snape, and certainly no autobiographies. He was a very private person, reserved, and kept to himself nearly all the time. And he didn’t technically write any potions manuals or research findings, either.”
Lillian leaned on the desk, intently listening to Professor Longbottom’s information. Severn sat beside her and took vigorous notes so she would have a permanent record for later. He knew she would thank him for it later.
“You say technically. What do you mean by that, Professor?” Lillian pried.
“Oh, erm,” Professor Longbottom stumbled, wondering how to divert her interest.
He knew he probably shouldn’t have said anything about the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions text, but now how could he avoid it?
“It’s not much, really,” he said, trying to brush Lillian off. “Just an old Potions text that Snape had written in. Lots of that dangerous stuff, though. It wouldn’t be kept in the general section in the library for just anyone to stumble upon “ if it still exists at all. Snape was no dunderhead when it came to Potions, even though everyone knows all he wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“Really? Why would anyone want to do that?” Lillian asked, desperate to know everything she could.
Professor Longbottom looked at a row of potted plants that sat against the wall of the greenhouse, which had just turned from pale yellow to a darker orange.
“Oh, look at the Hour Herbs. I’m afraid I have a faculty meeting in twenty minutes. Might we continue this conversation later?” he said, stacking papers and haphazardly stuffing them into a brown leather satchel.
“But sir, the projects are due next week,” Lillian told him. “Is there anything else you know that might help us learn more about him?
He considered for a minute what piece of information he might tell them that they could use but that also wouldn’t require hours of explaining Snape’s life story.
“Snape had a portrait in the Headmaster’s office. Whether it’s still there, I don’t know, but if you found it you could talk to him,” Professor Longbottom said as they headed out into the warm spring air. “Make sure you get permission, of course.”
Lillian and Severn watched their professor walk away, their minds spinning with all the new information about the previously unknown man named Severus Snape. There was something intriguing about Longbottom’s account. Lillian knew there was more to the story than the cryptic hints Professor Longbottom had dropped; she needed to know more.
“So, what now?” she asked Severn.
“Now, dinner. Later…the Restricted Section.”
The library closed at ten o’clock each evening, with the exception of Fridays, on which days the library closed at six so that Madam Lazarus could enjoy at least a few hours of peace and quiet in her sanctuary. Today was Thursday, which meant students were constantly occupying every table, cramming for Friday’s exams.
“Well, it wasn’t very realistic for us to sneak into the Restricted Section at this hour anyway,” Severn whispered to a disappointed Lillian. “We’ll just come back tonight.”
They walked slowly around the mountainous shelves of books, pretending to be keenly interested in every title they came across. Madam Lazarus asked once if she could help them find something, and when they refused her help, she tutted under her breath and clicked her heels all the way over to a confused-looking first year. Lillian and Severn didn’t want to dray any attention to themselves. Their object was to scope out the Restricted Section “ since neither had ever paid much heed to it before “ and begin devising a plan for entry.
To their surprise, they found the Restricted Section wasn’t heavily guarded at all. Only a thick rope, the kind that can be found at Muggle motion picture theaters, blocked off a section of bookshelves.
“That’s a little absurd, isn’t it?” Lillian said, trying not to laugh.
“Yeah,” Severn agreed. “How do they expect to keep someone away using a single rope? Especially after labeling it ‘Restricted.’ They’re just asking for someone to break the rules.”
The sound of clicking heels echoing around the library grew louder, so Severn and Lillian hastily turned on the spot. Lillian found herself staring at books about vampires and Severn had already disappeared by the time Madam Lazarus intruded.
“Excuse me,” said Madam Lazarus.
She reached across Lillian to grab a book titled Vanquishing Vampires: A Defense Manual for Beginners, and then walked away without another word.
Lillian strolled through the shelves and met Severn just outside the library entrance. She explained, with a laugh, how Madam Lazarus wasn’t suspicious of them and had hardly even acknowledged Lillian’s presence.
“It’ll be much easier when we come back tonight,” said Severn as the two friends headed to the Great Hall for dinner. “No nosy librarians or studious underclassmen.”
“Do you really think so? I mean, yes there was just a rope keeping us out of the Restricted Section, but it can’t actually be that easy. What if the rope is under some sort of Disillusionment Charm and it’s actually an impenetrable door, or what if there’s some sort of alarm!” Lillian said, now beginning to panic at the thought of being caught and getting in trouble.
Severn shrugged it off and reassured her they would be fine.
“We’ve been given the finest education that Wizarding schools can offer, haven’t we? If we come to something like that, we’ll be able to handle it. Between us we make the highest marks in all of our classes. There’s nothing we can’t handle,” he said, laughing.
“Yeah, but I don’t think your high marks in Potions will really make much of a difference. Everyone knows Potions is the least useful class at Hogwarts,” she replied, grinning facetiously.
“Not true at all!” Severn argued, playfully defending himself. “Except in this case.”
Lillian laughed and Severn’s heart fluttered. He loved when Lillian laughed, especially if it was because of something he had said to intentionally case that response. The way her smile brightened up her entire face captured Severn’s eyes so that he couldn’t look away.
“Your skills at Charms might be useful, though,” he added, making her feel more confident and flattering her at the same time. “Just don’t worry about it. All we’re doing is borrowing a book. If they really didn’t want us to have it, the book would have been destroyed.”
“And I wouldn’t have been assigned to research Severus Snape,” Lillian added, feeling more determined than ever to get the book and solve the secret of this mysterious man.
At eleven o’clock, when all students had been herded out of the library and they were sure that Madam Lazarus was finished re-shelving used books, Severn and Lillian skulked through the shadows of Hogwarts towards their destination.
“Alohamora,” whispered Lillian, and the large doors made a resounding clicking noise.
The two students flinched at the sound; surely someone would have heard it and come to investigate. They entered stealthily and locked the door behind them.
“Okay, here goes,” Severn said, bravely volunteering to enter the Restricted Section first.
Holding two book cases for support, Severn lifted his leg high above the rope and put it his foot across the barrier. Lillian held his robes at the back so that there was no chance of any object touching the rope and setting off an intrusion alarm.
Severn, now straddling the rope, let out his stale breath.
“Nothing happened,” he whispered in relief.
It was an odd sight to see Lillian hunched over so she could hold his robes, but Severn enjoyed the closeness.
“Now the next.”
Severn made it safely over the rope with no disasters. Now came the hard part “ getting Lillian over the rope.
“Maybe I better just look for the book myself, since I’m already here,” Severn suggested.
“Don’t be silly, this could take hours! We need both of us to be looking for the book or we might never find it.”
“But, erm…” replied Severn, unsure how he should hold her robes without accidentally touching her inappropriately.
Before he protested Lillian had already discarded her outer robes, revealing a form-fitting t-shirt and long pajama pants underneath them. The shirt scooped lower than any shirt Severn had ever seen her wear, and he tried hard not to stare at her breasts. They had a mission. He had to focus.
“It’s all right, you won’t have to hold my robes,” she said, and already had one leg over the rope.
But at she went to lift the other leg, Lillian found herself suddenly off balance and began to tilt too far to her right. She nearly screamed but Severn caught her around the waist with one arm and lifted her left leg over the rope with the other. They stumbled back against a bookshelf, Lillian pressed up against Severn and still in his grasp.
Lillian was breathing heavily with fear, imagining what might have happened if Severn hadn’t saved her from kicking the rope, and put her arms around Severn’s neck. He could hear her breathing and repeating ‘thank you’ as she hugged him; Severn hugged her back and never wanted to let go.
As Lillian pulled away, her cheek brushed against Severn’s and she let her face linger just centimeters from his lips. A moment’s hesitation left Severn still standing against the bookshelf, angry with himself for a missed opportunity, while Lillian perused the book titles.
“Lumos,” they muttered, and instantly their wands lit up the black pathways of bookshelves.
“We’ll never find that book!” Lillian said dejectedly after skimming the shelves for nearly twenty minutes.
The tall rows of shelves seemed to go on forever, and they didn’t even know the title of the book they were looking for.
“Sure we will. Just keep looking,” Severn said, trying to convince himself as much as he was Lillian.
And then Severn saw something. A book larger than most around it, bound in a cover of worn black leather. It rested on the bottom shelf amongst manuals and texts that appeared to be classroom issue.
Advanced Potion Making by Libatius Borage.
Severus Snape’s name was nowhere to be found on the spine, cover, nor anywhere else on the book, but Severn knew this is what they had been searching for.
“Lillian, come here! I think I found it!”
They sat side by side on the floor and leaned against the wall, the book open across their knees.
“What a nasty old book,” Lillian said in disgust. She almost hated to touch it; the cover was so sticky with potion ingredients and caked with dust.
Severn flipped idly through the pages, quickly becoming bored with the Potions text all scribbled upon.
“This is exactly like our Potions book, just a little older. There’s no name in it or anything. How do we even know this belonged to Snape?” Severn said, let down after thinking he had finally been able to help Lillian with her project by finding the right book.
“No, it’s not like our book. Look,” Lillian told him, pointing to the instructions for a potion called the Draught of Living Death.
The potion’s ingredients list was identical to the list in the updated edition Lillian and Severn used, but the procedure was drastically different.
“There are steps missing from the printed instructions,” Severn realized.
“But they’ve been re-written in ink just beside the original instructions!”
Severn stared at the page a bit longer. “All well and good, but we still don’t know who this guy is. Maybe he was just good at Potions.”
“So good, perhaps, that Oscar Galleyhawk took a leaf out of Snape’s book when he re-wrote Advanced Potion Making? That must be Snape’s contribution to modern day magic.”
Severn stared at her.
“Don’t you remember the publication page? You’ve only used the text twice a week for the last two years. Severus Snape’s name!”
Lillian finally remembered where she had seen the name. Things were starting to make sense now.
But Severn didn’t remember the last time he had ever read a publication page in any kind of book, let alone a school text.
“I don’t know,” he replied skeptically. “Didn’t Professor Longbottom say this book was dangerous? If this is Snape’s book, and it was used to update a Potions text, why is it still here in the Restricted Section when the new texts are in the hands of mischievous children?”
“It could have been edited…” Lillian replied uncertainly.
Research on the details would come later. For now, the two decided to continue searching the book for any other information they could find. Severn began reading the changes penned in, while Lillian was more concerned with how they were penned.
“Severn, look at this.”
Lillian pointed to an added instruction that read, “Stir twice clockwise.”
“Do you notice anything weird? Look at the S.”
“He writes his S’s like me,” Severn replied, astonished that he had missed it. “A lot of people could write that way though…”
“But look at the C’s…and the E’s… And he doesn’t dot his I’s, just like you,” Lillian said.
“What are you saying, that I wrote in this book?” Severn said, frustrated because it felt like the whole night had been nothing but another dead end.
“Oh, come on, you know that’s ridiculous. I just think there’s something strange going on.”
Severn closed the book and shoved it back into the open slot in the bookshelf.
“That’s probably all we’re going to learn from this book. He fixes potions and he writes like me. Let’s get out of here.”
Reluctantly Lillian agreed with Severn; most likely they wouldn’t learn anything more from the beat-up Potions book “ at least nothing that would help clarify the link between her and Snape that Lillian felt so strongly.
Lillian took Severn’s hand to help her stand up, and they quietly exited the Restricted Section. For a brief moment as they walked through the library, she thought she saw a glimmer of Snape’s sixth year annual picture flash across Severn’s face.
She shook the delusion out of her mind. “No, it’s just the shadows playing tricks on me.”