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A Seer Named Rosemary Snape by PlutoLovegood

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Sylvester Snape's day kept on becoming more interesting by the minute. He had begun the day expecting that Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter might indeed prove to be real wizards. But the thought had never crossed his mind that he might meet a person of another species, especially someone like Sparkles, who immediately made him feel as if he were making an awkward beginning to a very intriguing blind date. I must make a good first impression, he said to himself.

Sylvester spoke up, studying her tattoos. Whoever Dobby was, Sparkles was clearly of the same species, only much better looking. "The pleasure is all mine, Sparkles, though I'm somewhat at a disadvantage. It would seem that my reputation precedes me. I see that, ahem, real elves are not much like the Middle-Earth variety."

"Of course not," said Sparkles, approaching Sylvester and touching her hand lightly to his forearm. "We're much more fascinating than that."

"Indeed ..." Sylvester replied with a steady gaze. "If you don't mind me saying so, you look more like Yoda with a skirt."

"Mind I do not, but much better than Yoda in a skirt, I look, don't I, hmmm!" Sparkles answered, not missing a beat. "One of my favourite Muggle movie characters he is. Very pleased I am!" she said in an artificially gravelly voice that still sounded flirtatious.

Everyone laughed, including Neville, who for once wasn't completely left out by a Muggle cultural reference. He felt quite confident that Yoda was a character from something called Star Wars. Or was it Star Trek?

Sylvester spoke. "Ah, how delightful. A lovely lady who likes the best movies. I would love to get better acquainted." Sylvester could hardly believe he had just said that, only moments after the initial shock of meeting a real live person who wasn't a human. But Sparkles was awakening feelings he hadn't felt in a long time. He continued, "I realize, though, that you've come to work on some important police matters with Mr. Potter, so please feel free to proceed. Let me know if I may be of help in any way."

"Why of course, Mr. Snape," Sparkles replied, touching Sylvester's arm again and allowing her hand to slide down to his fingers as she drew back.

Sylvester said, "Would you please call me Sylvester, or Sly."

"But of course! I think I like the sound of Sylvester, if that's okay with you."

"Most definitely, Sparkles." Sylvester turned with a nod to Harry, who had been grinning at the whole exchange. For all the juicy rumours that followed Sparkles around, Harry had never seen her actually flirt with anyone in all the nine years since she had become the first elf employed at the Auror Office. In the new era of fully dressed free elves, Sparkles was not only a pioneer but something of a fashion icon, with her stylish and occasionally provocative outfits, not to mention her confident and outgoing personality. Indeed, a number of human men had made advances, which she always ignored politely. But the instant connection between Sparkles and Sylvester was so palpable that Harry had wondered for a moment how soon the subject would return to the Scar-Maker investigation. Harry was grateful to Sylvester for taking the initiative in changing the subject back.

Harry spoke. "Mr. Snape has informed us of something highly significant: that his late wife, may she rest in peace, had the Scar-Maker's mark on her neck, indicating that her death was a precursor to the recent attacks." Harry paused for a moment in respect, then continued. "He also informs us that Rosemary Jane's great-grandfather was a Squib from the Malfoy family, known as Nick Rickles, but at birth named Nicodemus Malfoy."

Sparkles' large eyes widened in recognition of the name. "Oh, really? Nicodemus Malfoy ... That's very interesting. Most highly fascinating."

"Have you heard of him?" Harry said.

"Yes, I have." Sparkles paused. "To this day he is well-known amongst goblin metalsmiths, unusually well-regarded by them considering that he was a human."

Harry said, "That is very interesting indeed." Harry and Sparkles had an understanding that he would never ask about her mysterious connections within the goblin community. She was known to make prolonged visits to Gringotts, which was enough fodder for Rita Skeeter to insinuate, in Sparkles: Freedom Fighter Or Femme Fatale?, that Sparkles had engaged in amorous encounters with as many as half the goblins at Gringotts. Most people knew better than to take Rita's expose seriously, but it was enough to make the whole subject of goblins a sensitive one for Sparkles.

Sparkles spoke, "Well, then, let us get going with the investigation. Sylvester, I am so very sorry for the terrible loss of your wife. She was truly blessed to have you for her husband. All we can do is to to seek for answers, and for justice. All we need to get started is to know the correct address."

Sylvester paused, looked down for a moment with a look of wistful sadness, then said, "Our home, our last home all together as a family, was at number seventeen Magnolia Road, Little Whinging."

Harry replied in surprise, "Magnolia Road! We were practically neighbours! When not at Hogwarts I grew up with my aunt and uncle at number four Privet Drive, less than a mile away. Surrey is seeming like a smaller place all the time. Thank you, Mr. Snape. We will do our best to find answers."

As Sparkles and Harry prepared to Apparate to number seventeen Magnolia Road, they were interrupted by Rosie’s excited voice, as she was no longer sleeping soundly, but was sitting wide awake upon her futon, staring at Sparkles.

"Wow! You're real! That's amazing! I saw you too, in my mind's eye, but I thought you were imaginary! Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm Rosie, I mean, Rosemary Snape! And who are you? And what are you?"

Sylvester opened his mouth to reprimand Rosie for being so blunt, but Sparkles smiled at him, silenced him with her glance and a firm hand on his shoulder, then turned to Rosie and replied, "Hello, Rosemary! I'm Sparkles, and I'm an elf. I'm very much enjoying meeting you and your grandfather. In a moment Mr. Potter and I are going to do a police investigation of the site of your grandmother's death, but when we return, I would love to get to know you better. Does that sound suitable to you, Rosemary?"

"Why, of course it does, Miss Elf, I mean, Miss Sparkles! And you may call me Rosie!" Rosie could hardly say anything else. It was barely four hours since she had first arrived and met Mr. Potter and Professor Longbottom, and her day kept on getting more and more amazing.

"I should alert Teddy to our plan," said Harry, who turned to Sylvester and explained, "We've been concerned for the safety of your friend Dr. Sapoora Dasari, so a young member of our staff named Teddy Lupin has been assigned to provide her with covert security."

"Ah, don't tell me," Sylvester said, smiling, "Mr. Lupin must be the remarkably handsome young man whose hair is a different colour every day, and sometimes even later on the same day. Am I right?"

Harry nodded sheepishly, and Sylvester added, "If Mr. Lupin is trying not to be noticed, he should know that he needs to change his tactics."

"Indeed," Harry replied, then took out his slate once again, and put it to his ear. "Hello, Teddy ... Yes, we're at the home of the Snapes. Sparkles and I will shortly investigate a new site designated as Site Ninety-Eight Alpha, at number seventeen Magnolia Road, Little Whinging ... no need to change your position for now. Keep on watching over the Doctor, and until you hear from me, report any new developments to Neville, as he's here with the Snapes and I'm giving him Code Sirius clearance for Auror communication ..., yes, thank you Teddy." Harry put away his slate, shrugging at Neville, who was smiling broadly at their inside joke. Neville always had Code Sirius clearance anyway, but Harry enjoyed bringing it up anytime someone new might be impressed by the sound of it.

Neville walked over to Sylvester's side and beckoned for Rosie to do the same. The three watched as Sparkles and Harry moved to the centre of the room. Harry was quite good at Apparating, but it was always easier to catch a ride with Sparkles. Harry reached out and took hold of her arm, and Rosie gasped as Sparkles and Harry disappeared into the whirlwind that briefly surrounded them.

Harry and Sparkles found themselves in the large living room of the home where Sylvester and Rosemary Jane had once lived with their son Sam. Sunlight streamed through the large bay window before them. To their left a staircase rose up to the second storey, where the massive wooden handrail curved continuously into the railing in front of a mezzanine where the family bedrooms were located. To the right a door led to the dining room and kitchen. But their search started at the centre of the living room, as Rosemary Jane's music studio had been located near the bay window. But where? Harry and Sparkles nodded to each other, and Harry began systematically inspecting the doors, windows, and walls. Sparkles concentrated on the floor, and began by slipping off her shoes. After inspecting each section, she slid her bare feet in graceful circles and cross-motions through each section of floor she had just looked at. It looked much like a traditional dance, but it brought her feet systematically in contact with every spot on the floor. Suddenly she stopped and drew her foot back slightly, exploring a certain small area more slowly and deliberately.

"Did you find something, Boss?" Harry said.

"Yes, Handsome. Something a bit warmish, just like I felt at the other sites." Warmish was the closest English word to the sensation Sparkles felt, a type of latent energy detectible by elf-sense, and only fully describable in elf language. It was a sign that Fiendfyre had once been present near that spot. She rested her foot upon the spot she had found, and said, "Would you please tap this spot gently with your wand?"

Harry produced his wand, smiling at the recollection of the indignant look on his wife Ginny's face the first time she had heard Sparkles call Harry "Handsome." Ginny had soon realized that Sparkles meant nothing by it, but Harry enjoyed the memory of that particular look on Ginny's face. Harry found the spot on the hardwood floor, tapped it with his wand, and stepped back. From that spot arose something like winding ethereal tendrils, soon filling the room with smoke-like spirals which hung in mid-air. Close to the floor the spirals blended into a haze, but the haze could not penetrate a certain elongated space on the floor, instead drifting around the space like fog over water. Soon it was clear that the vacuous space that the haze could not enter had the shape of a human form, the form of a woman. It was the form of Sylvester’s wife Rosemary Jane Rickles-Snape, in the very place where she had died twenty years previously. The spot on the floor which Harry had tapped was just below Rosemary Jane's neck.

As Harry and Sparkles investigated the scene of the crime, the trio of Sylvester, Rosie, and Neville continued a lively conversation back at the hospice suite. Rosie was asking Neville many questions about elves. She was rather shocked to learn that there were still elves kept practically as slaves, though the practice was increasingly falling out of fashion. Sylvester leaned back and listened silently. As a teacher he was used to speaking for hours at a time, but as an introvert he enjoyed the chance to step back from the conversation and be quiet. Besides, his thoughts were on Sparkles. Though he knew she was an experienced and talented officer, he found himself worrying about her safety at the crime scene. Certainly after twenty years the perpetrator isn't around? He consoled himself with that thought.

Neville suddenly said, "Pardon me" and reached for his own slate. He listened to it and said, "Hello, Teddy ... oh, I see. Thanks for letting me know." He put it down and said, "It seems that Dr. Dasari has left the hospital earlier than usual and appears to be coming this way. He expects her to arrive here in minutes."

Sylvester smiled. "Splendid! I don't know about you, but I think that Sapoora should be let in on the secret."

Neville replied, "Yes, we actually had been planning on that after we made contact with you."

Sylvester grinned fiendishly. "You wouldn't suppose that Mr. Lupin could make the same type of dramatic appearance as Sparkles? If so, I think it would be splendid if he did so shortly after Sapoora arrives."

"Yes, he's actually one of the best at Apparating, after Sparkles herself." He put his slate back to his ear and said "Did you hear all that, Teddy? Jolly good! I'll tell you when to come."

It didn't take long before steps were heard ascending the stairs, then a knock on the door, and after a moment the door swung open and a voice said, "Good afternoon!"

"Do come in, Sapoora," said Sylvester. "You've been missing out on a splendid party, but it's not over." Sapoora walked in. She looked much like her mother Lakshmi, except with thick dark hair instead of grey, and she wore a physician's white smock.

"Well, hello, Rosie!" Sapoora said as Rosie came and hugged her. "Say, that fish is truly lovely! But why is it in a lab flask? Rosie, did you have a nice party?"

"Yes, Auntie Sapoora, but you're not going to believe this!" Rosie almost shouted, nodding towards Neville. "Meet Professor Longbottom! He's one of my new teachers at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"Ah, that's very nice, Rosie dear!" Sapoora chuckled, looking very amused, then turned to Sylvester and was stopped short by his enigmatic smile.

Sylvester said, "You don't believe Rosie, do you, Sapoora?" Sapoora looked quizzically back at Sylvester, and said nothing. Sylvester replied, "I didn't think so. Professor, now would be a good time to welcome Mr. Lupin to our happy gathering."

Neville put his slate to his ear and said, "Teddy, you may come and join us any time."

Sapoora looked back at the door for a moment, then looked back and saw that everyone in the room was looking back at her and smiling. Sylvester said, "Perhaps you should stand closer to the wall."

Sapoora had a bewildered smile, wondering what this was all about. A sudden wave of air pressure stirred everything in the room, and the canary started a nonstop excited song. The breeze subsided, and in the middle of the room stood Teddy Lupin, whose thick, wavy hair today had a subtle greenish shade.

Sapoora stared at Teddy, mouth open but unable to speak. Rosie exclaimed, "That's just wicked!" She had been fast asleep when Sparkles Apparated into the room, so this was the first time she had witnessed anyone arrive in that fashion.

Sapoora finally turned to Rosie and said, "Rosie dear, what did you say was the name of this school of yours?"

Rosie replied, "The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"I see," Sapoora replied, looking somewhat sternly back at Teddy. "And I'm guessing you're some type of wizard, then." She turned back to Sylvester and said, "What is all this about, and how long have you known about these ... these people?"

"Only for certain since today, though I've been noticing clues about them all my life. Sapoora, listen to me. You know better than I do that the Scar-Maker's weird scars can't be explained by the ordinary laws of nature. The strange events we’ve been seeing are part of a battle going on beyond our ordinary field of vision, and our new friends Mr. Lupin and Professor Longbottom are on our side."

"Okay, then," said Sapoora. "You've never once misled me, Mr. Snape, and I'm going to trust that you know what you're talking about now." She turned to Teddy. "Well, I'm guessing you know all about me, sir, especially since I've seen you following me around for weeks. I nearly called the police a time or two. Please tell me about yourself."

Teddy gave Sapoora his most winning smile as he said, "My name is Edward Lupin, but you may call me Teddy. I work with the Auror Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and I am your bodyguard."

"I see," said Sapoora. "For now I'll go with Mr. Lupin, if you don't mind. But do, please, tell me more." Rosie listened intently, feeling a bit indignant at Sapoora for being curt with Teddy Lupin, because she thought he was the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen.


Meanwhile at number seventeen Magnolia Road, Sparkles was following the hazy tendrils through the air to see where they led. "No sign of entry or exit, I suppose, Love?" Sparkles said, and Harry nodded in reply. As at other scenes where the Scar-Maker had attacked, the tendrils did not lead to any window or door. Perhaps the perpetrator habitually Apparated to the scene of the attack, Harry and Sparkles had surmised.

Sparkles and Harry were suddenly stopped in their tracks by a voice which filled the room. The voice seemed to be coming from nowhere, or perhaps from everywhere. It was the voice of a woman who spoke with a calm, elegant tone.

"How delightful, and just in time. Have you come to bring me my afternoon tea, scrub-elf?"

Sparkles bristled inside, but spoke with an equally calm but pointed tone. "It seems you'll have to wait for someone else to bring your tea. And my name is Sparkles."

"Yes, yes, of course. I know your name. Every scrub-elf has a name, and you've made quite a name for yourself, if I may say so. May I ask, Sparkles, have you made a visit to Gringotts today?"

Indeed she had, but Sparkles replied, "That's none of your business, whoever you are. Who are you?"

"Temper, temper! Getting under your skin, are we?" The voice spoke with a sickly sweetness, which reminded Harry of Dolores Umbridge, yet the voice also sounded like someone else whom he could not place. "Not satisfied with gents of your own species, eh? I know you all too well. But perhaps indeed you've had your fill of goblins. What masculine creatures might strike your fancy now? Giants? Centaurs? Or worse yet, a human Muggle. Yes, I know you've at last met the delectable Mr. Snape, the bastard brother of the Mudblood Prince. I'm sure you'll find him to be quite a dish ... Oh, Sparkles, you're so small, yet so very hungry, I know ..."

Sparkles' eyes narrowed. "You would speak of him that way, when it was you who murdered his wife ..." In a low, dark tone she muttered "You vile bitch."

The voice laughed derisively. "And a fine day to you, too, my darling scrub-elf. "

Harry and Sparkles continued their investigation without pause. Indeed, it seemed that the more rudely the voice spoke, the closer they were to finding important clues. They observed that the smoke-like tendrils were gradually forming a path that led to the staircase. Had the attacker approached from upstairs?

The voice continued. "Oh, I'm so sorry to have ignored you, Mr. Potter. I must apologize for my manners. May I offer you sorely belated congratulations for your handy victory over the insufferably pathetic Tom Riddle some years ago?"

"You may offer them if you wish," said Harry, "but if you will not speak respectfully to my friend Sparkles, I will not accept your congratulations. But I ask the same question that she asked. Who are you?"

"Ah, wouldn't you like to know! I rather like the name the Muggle press has given me, the Scar-Maker. But I don't suppose you'll be satisfied with that. All right, Harry Potter,, just because you did away with Riddle, I'll riddle you with another name. You may call me The White Queen."

Harry feared for a moment that The White Queen knew that he and Rosie had seen her in their vision of the life-sized white queen chess piece. Yet he continued to feel the same reassuring sense that their thoughts were somehow being shielded from her by an unseen Occlumens. What does it mean, Harry asked himself, that this Scar-Maker calls herself The White Queen?

The voice continued. "You and I have this in common, Mr. Potter, that we have each met Tom Riddle in battle, though in my case the arena of battle was much smaller. If he had only listened to me as he was fighting his losing battle with me, he would have known everything he needed to know to escape his ignominious defeat at your hands."

As they pondered the words of the White Queen, Sparkles began to inspect the staircase, first the railing, then the stairs. Something drew her attention back to the heavy wooden railing, even as the White Queen's voice resumed speaking.

"What is your game, White Queen?" Harry asked. "I take that as an allusion to chess."

"Why yes, very good, Mr. Potter," she answered with a patronizing tone. "And not only that, a game of knowledge and deduction. Perhaps even your friend, the impertinent scrub-elf, has some knowledge to contribute, a clue as to the significance of our meeting here today. I understand she is especially fond of Muggle cinema."

Sparkles said nothing, irritated because the White Queen was speaking about her in the third person instead of addressing her directly, but also because it was unnerving that this unknown person knew so much about her. She had the sense that the Scar-Maker, the White Queen, was deliberately trying to distract her with insults and irritations, which deepened Sparkles' resolve to concentrate on her search for clues.

The voice continued. "I wonder if Sparkles has seen a Muggle film entitled 2001: A Space Odyssey?" Sparkles nodded yes without moving her gaze from the inspection of the wooden handrail, and the voice said "The real year 2001 turned out much differently, I would say. Silly Muggles! Sparkles, resident expert in Muggle cinema, what would you say is the kernel of the plot of the film?"

Sparkles didn't feel much like speaking, but in hopes that the conversation would reveal clues to the White Queen's motives, she answered, "I recall that in the film an unknown alien civilization interacts with a group of prehistoric hominids by means of a monolith, teaching them to use tools. Ages later in modern times, astronauts unearth a similar monolith on the Moon, and when the sunlight hits the monolith it signals the aliens that humans have advanced enough to be capable of space travel."

The White Queen interjected "Excellent, Sparkles! Indeed, when the aliens received the signal, they knew the time had come for the next step. What do you think that has to do with our encounter here today, my elfin nemesis?"

In a dark tone Sparkles replied, "I think I see where you are going with this. You attacked and killed Sylvester's wife twenty years ago, and you've waited for us ever since to find the scene of this crime and realize its significance."

"Ah, yes, good ... good good good ... and now that you've found me here, the time has come for me to begin the real game. I've waited for this for so many years ... this is a splendid moment, and you should feel honoured to be a part of it," said the unseen White Queen.

Sparkles was standing at the foot of the stairs, looking lengthwise up the wooden handrail, which was made of handsome knotted wood. At the bottom end of the railing it curved downward into a scroll, and as Sparkles inspected it, she noticed two especially dark knots, one on each side of the scroll, looking like a pair of eyes. A chill came over her at the sight, and without averting her gaze she clapped her hands together, and from her hands sprang forward the forms of three white luminous squirrels, which immediately darted back and forth and up and down around her. Harry took notice of it. They were her Hero-Spirits, an advanced elfin charm akin to the Patronus. He held out his wand in readiness.

"Heads up, Harry!"

As Sparkles watched, the two dark eye-like knots suddenly opened up into a pair of glassy serpentine eyes, and the whole railing abruptly lurched loose from the banister and burst into flame, taking the form of a huge fiery serpent. The scroll turned into the face of the serpent, which reared its head, then lunged at Sparkles. But Sparkles leapt out of the way just in time. Out of the serpent's mouth flickered a tongue which looked like a ghastly bolt of jagged orange lightning, and one of the luminous squirrels darted into the path of the tongue of lightning, preventing it from reaching Sparkles. The squirrel convulsed momentarily when struck by the serpent's tongue, hung motionless in mid-air for a second, and then returned to motion along with the other two as the fiery serpent raised its head once again.

Harry looked on with horror as the serpent kept on lunging at Sparkles. She was holding her position, repelling the serpent with blasts of elfin magic, and the squirrel Hero-Spirits kept on leaping into the path of the serpent's dreadful lightning tongue before it could reach her neck. But how could they advance upon the monster? Clearly the serpent was animated by Fiendfyre, and something decisive needed to be done quickly. Harry recalled an Eastern Tradition counter-curse he had learned from none other than Viktor Krum. They had been sparring partners during a symposium on the Dark Arts at the Durmstrang Institute, which they had both attended several years previously. The counter-curse would transform all the Fiendfyre into ordinary fire and prevent any Ashwinders from rising up from the ashes, but Harry doubted that he could control it well enough to prevent the whole house from burning down, so they had to time their escape very precisely.

"Sparkles, on three" Harry shouted as he reached to Sparkles with one hand and aimed his wand with the other. "One ... two ... Anathema Phlox Anathema!" Sparkles managed to grasp Harry's hand as he incanted the last Anathema, and they Apparated out just as the serpent of Fiendfyre exploded and the whole house burst into flame.

Back at Sylvester and Rosie's hospice suite, Teddy Lupin was slowly but surely winning Sapoora's trust as he patiently answered her polite but pointed questions. Rosie was positively delighted when he demonstrated his abilities as a Metamorphmagus, and thought his hair looked especially dashing in a light rosy colour which he produced in Rosie's honour. Suddenly, without warning, Harry and Sparkles tumbled out of mid-air in the middle of the room, and before the whirlwind of their Apparation completely disappeared, everyone saw the tip of the serpent’s lightning tongue flash out of the hazy cloud, barely missing Sparkles as she tumbled out of the way. Then it was gone.

The room was silent as Rosie, Sapoora, Teddy, Neville, and Sylvester watched Harry and Sparkles pick themselves up off the floor and brush themselves off. Sparkles turned to Sylvester and broke the silence with a smile, "Don't worry, Love, we're all right, and I do believe we've found some answers, haven't we, Harry?"

Harry nodded, put his slate to his ear, and spoke, "Muggle secure mode, Little Whinging Fire and Rescue ... yes, I would like to report a fire at number seventeen Magnolia Road ..."
Chapter Endnotes:

This chapter contains references to several fantasy, science fiction, and space opera franchises, including Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. Yoda is of course an iconic character from Star Wars, created by George Lucas, and Middle Earth is a reference to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarrilion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The reader has no doubt noticed the resemblance of Harry and Neville's "slates" to Muggle Smartphones.

The counter-curse Anathema Phlox Anathema is entirely my own invention. The phrase, composed of Greek words, means "Let the cursed flame be cursed."

Chapter Six will be entitled "Rosie and Sparkles Do Diagon Alley." (Update 27Feb16) I hope to submit the next chapter sometime within this next week. (7Mar16) Still working on it ... I do appreciate the interest readers are showing. (16Apr16) Now the next chapter is entitled "The New Normal," as the buildup to Rosie's visit to Diagon Alley has turned into a chapter in itself. I have submitted it and hope it will be approved soon.