Alec followed the Headmaster apprehensively as they descended into the dungeons. Dumbledore was insistent on speaking with Severus even though Alec explained what his father had said just before kicking him out. The Headmaster just assured him that everything would be fine.
The portrait of Salazar opened for them after Alec spoke the password and inside on the couch was an aggravated potions master, grading essays. Severus looked up, with a scowl on his face, at the sound of approaching steps.
“Headmaster,” Severus greeted, removing the scowl as he gazed up at older wizard. He was about to say more when his son stepped out from behind the Headmaster.
Severus’ scowl reappeared. “What’s the boy been telling you?” he demanded. Alec looked down at his feet rather than facing his aggravated father.
Albus frowned as he peered over his half-moon glasses to study his potions professor. At first glance, it looked as if the man was just stressed out but upon closer inspection, there was a very slight glazed look his eyes. These were not the signs of the Imperious curse since the eyes would have been fully glazed over, but it was now obvious something was affecting him.
“Come Severus, I’d like Poppy to give you a check over,” the older wizard requested.
“What for?” the professor demanded.
“Just a general checkup since you look unwell,” Albus answered vaguely as he motioned for the man to follow him.
“I’m perfectly fine and I have too much work to complete,” he responded stubbornly.
“Then I’m sorry to have to do this.” Severus glanced up from the work he’d resumed grading just in time to see Albus pull out his wand. “Stupefy.”
“Well, I can’t seem to find anything wrong with him,” Madam Pomfrey explained. “The only thing I can tell is that he hasn’t been eating too much lately and appears to be exhausted.”
“That unfortunately does not explain his recent behavior,” Albus murmured.
The Medi-Witch turned and picked up the list that appeared next to a blood sample and studied it.
“I tested his blood and the results don’t make much sense. It appears he has something in his system but I am unable to determine what it could possibly be.” Poppy then handed the list over to the Headmaster.
“Hmm…” Albus’ blue eyes quickly scanned over the list. “What an unusual combination of ingredients. I’m afraid I do not know what this could be either.”
“What’s going to happen to my dad?” Alec spoke up.
“I will have to keep him in the infirmary until we can find something to counter the potion that is in his bloodstream. Since he will presumably try to leave immediately upon awaking, I’ll have to keep him sedated as well.” Madam Pomfrey replied.
“How long will it take to find the cure?” the young boy asked as he gazed at his father’s still form.
“That depends,” the headmaster began. “Do you know if your father has gone anywhere recently like a pub for drinks? Someone may have slipped something in his drink then.”
Alec shook his head. “I’m pretty sure it’s been a while since he last left the castle.”
“Can you remember when your father first appeared to be acting a bit odd?”
The young boy thought back before remembering one incident. “I’m not sure if this counts since he might have just been cranky then. Well, I had brought Lisa and Josh down to my room just after Christmas break ended and I guess we were being loud because he kicked us out. He snapped at us and at the time I thought he was just cranky but he may have already been affected by the potion. I’m sorry, I don’t know for sure,” Alec added.
Dumbledore patted his shoulder in reassurance. “It’s okay. If you think of anything else, do not hesitate to let me know. It’s getting late so you should head back to your dormitory. You may visit your father tomorrow if you wish, but for the time being he will be sedated.”
Alec reluctantly left the Hospital wing and retreated to the common room, where his friends were waiting for him.
Lisa immediately picked up on his dejected demeanor and asked what was wrong. Alec went on to explain what had happened, starting with the latest attack and concluding with his father ending up in the infirmary.
“Why don’t we do something to take your mind off all this stuff?” Josh suggested.
“Like what?” Alec asked as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I’m really not in the mood for homework right now.”
“I wasn’t going to suggest that. I was thinking,” Josh leaned closer to Alec and Lisa and whispered, “we could practice our transformations.”
“Alright. Let me get my cloak and we’ll go.” The dark haired boy quickly disappeared up the stairs.
Lisa turned to Josh. “Do you think he’ll be alright?”
“I don’t know.” Josh shrugged. “He’s probably going to be miserable for a while with his dad in the infirmary and then we’ve got this whole Chamber of Secrets stuff going on.”
Alec reappeared with a cloak in hand, halting their conversation. The three left he common room, quickly huddled beneath the cloak to avoid being seen this close to curfew and then they made their way to the Room of Requirement.
The three Ravenclaws began practicing with vigor to hopefully forget about all the bad things happening, even if only for a short while.
The following day, students everywhere seemed to know something was wrong with Professor Snape since he hadn’t been seen and another student claimed to have spotted him in the infirmary. Students with NEWTs and OWLs were currently panicking because they needed the professor to help them prepare for the upcoming tests.
The Headmaster stood and the hall quieted. “As you have noticed, Professor Snape is not with us currently. He is ill and will not be able to teach his classes. Until he is well, Professor Lupin will be taking over his classes.” It was then when most students noticed the sandy-haired man sitting at the head table.
Remus looked up and smiled at the students before returning back to his meal. Whispers began as students speculated about the new temporary professor.
Soon after breakfast ended, the second year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs made their way to the dungeons to have potions with Professor Lupin. They took their usual seats and pulled out parchment and quills while waiting for the final bell.
Professor Lupin appeared from the office just as the final bell sounded. He placed his notes on the desk before turning his attention to the students.
“For the time being,” he began. “I will be substituting for Professor Snape until he is able to teach again. Do not ask me what is wrong with him, because I am unaware of his exact condition. Now let’s begin by turning to page 189…”
“We haven’t been able to find anything on the Chamber of Secrets,” Josh complained. “So why do we keep spending hours and hours in here looking?” Alec and Lisa both rolled their eyes and continued to flip through the books.
“There’s got to be something written about it somewhere,” Lisa said. “And I want to keep searching until we find it.”
“Why is this so important?” Josh complained as he returned a book to the shelf.
“Haven’t you heard?” Alec asked. “They plan to close the school sooner or later if there’s no stopping of the attacks.”
“Oh, I hadn’t heard that,” Josh replied. He sighed and plucked another book off the shelf to begin flipping through. “We should just bring Slytherin back to life and ask him where his stupid chamber is,” Josh muttered sarcastically.
Alec’s head shot up as a thought occurred to him. “Duh! How could I forget about that?” The Ravenclaw placed his books back on the shelf and motioned for his friends to come with him. Other students looked at them with mistrust as they exited.
“Why were they staring at us like that?” Alec asked once they were walking through the corridors.
“Um…” Josh began hesitantly. “Rumor is you might have something to do with all the attacks.”
“What?” Alec rounded on his friend. “Why would they think that?”
“Well you did have that argument with that Gryffindor in the hallway just before he was attacked,” Lisa pointed out logically.
Alec frowned and kept walking towards the dungeons.
“So what are we doing?” the dark-haired boy asked. “You weren’t seriously thinking about trying to bring Slytherin back to life just to talk to him, were you? Because I was just joking, you know…”
“I know you were joking. We are going to talk to him though.” Alec halted his steps in front of the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, in hopes that this would reveal the secrets they desperately searched for.
The End.