Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: If it were mine, man I’d be flying high.
Chapter 11

And then, where Harry had been, there was a tiger. Jerome and Severus gaped at it, and the tiger gave a piteous little growl and sat down.

“Severus, is that Harry?” Jerome asked quietly.

“Yes, Jerome, it would seem that way. You could transform and ask, of course.”

“No! If it’s not, he’ll eat me!”

“Coward,” Snape sneered.

“Okay! You transform then,” Jerome said loudly. “At least you could fight him off!”

“Fine,” Severus hissed, immediately morphing into a white tiger that looked very similar to Harry’s form.

Immediately Harry’s voice protruded into his mind. “Severus, you’re an animagus?”

“Yes, Harry, and I think you are too, now.”

“Thought so. Now how the hell do I get back to my human form?”

“Good question,” Severus growled slightly to punctuate his sarcasm.

“Severus would you mind if I ran around in your lab?”

The tiger that was Harry stood and ran past Severus without waiting for a reply. Severus turned quickly back into a human to tell Jerome what he’d learned. “Yes, it’s Harry. He currently is trying his new legs out, obviously.”

“Alright,” Jerome said nervously. “Now how do we get him back in human form?”

“Don’t panic, Jerome,” Severus scowled slightly. “Acting like a blithering little Hufflepuff. Just be calm. Let’s wait fifteen minutes like the potion was made for and then we can start worrying.”

“Ah okay,” Jerome said, pacing back and forth in front of Severus.

“Seriously! Jerome, be still. It’s not a big deal. Anyway, I know the spell to get him back in human form if the potion doesn’t work.”

This seemed to soothe Jerome’s concerns, and he leaned against a table and stared at Harry, running around the lab. “He looks a lot like your form, Severus,” Jerome said sneakily, looking sidelong at his friend.

Severus glared at Jerome. “Silence, you ignoble.”

“Eegnoobley?” Jerome wrinkled his nose.

“Thought you knew French, Hufflepuff,” Severus smirked, poking him in the ribs.

Jerome mock-scowled but bit back his laughter when Harry’s tiger form walked over to him. “Harry?” He said tentatively. “You ready to come back to us?” The tiger gave a funny little growl and cocked its head. “Oh...you don’t know how, do you? Severus? Would you do the honors?”

The dark man scowled. “Are you mad? Look at my students. Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

Jerome smirked and transformed into a mockingbird.

“Harry?”

“So what do I do?”

“In a hurry are we,” Jerome said in a mocking voice.

“I’m getting claustrophobic. Don’t be an ass.”

“Fine, fine, just concentrate on being human. You have to want it. Remember that if you don’t transform after too long, you lose your human nature.”

“That’s inspiring,” Harry’s voice seared through Jerome’s mind. Jerome mentally flinched at the caustic voice so much like his best friend’s. “Here goes.”

Jerome transformed back himself, knowing he probably wouldn’t want to feel Harry’s wave of concentration. In a moment, his transformation was followed by Harry appearing sprawled in the middle of the lab where the tiger had been.

“Ow,” Harry groaned, rubbing his knees where he had landed hard on them.

“Told you not to panic,” Severus murmured to Jerome, moving towards Harry to help him up. “You still hanging there, Gryffindork?”

Harry took his proffered hand and nodded shakily. “What is it with the houses, snake-in-the-grass?”

“Seemed fitting. Congratulations, though. I think you’ve just discovered an alternative to the extensive process normally used to become a animagus.”

“Wow, big words,” Jerome interrupted. “Anyway, Severus, Harry mentioned feeling slightly claustrophobic. Any idea what that was all about?”

Severus frowned. “Not really. We can, of course, check the extensive library...”

“Oh gods no,” Jerome muttered. “Harry, run while you still can! He’ll suck you in; he’ll trap you in the ancient scripts of millions of books!”

Severus allowed himself a tiny smirk, then beckoned to the two men with him. “Come along, children.”

Harry instinctively grew quiet as he entered the silent library. It was, again, in an area of the house he hadn’t seen yet- behind the dining room and through the room where the back door was. The ceiling was very high, and Harry saw that there was another level of shelves clinging to the library’s walls. There was a long set of stairs leading to a narrow walkway that followed the shelves above them so that the books on the higher shelves could be taken off, but the painted ceiling would remain visible.

“Wow,” Harry whispered, his voice echoing slightly. “Hermione could be happy for years in here.”

Jerome looked curious, but Severus cut him off, saying, “One of his friends, Jerome. Hermione Granger, muggleborn, know-it-all Gryffindor. Yes, she would be thrilled, wouldn’t she, Harry? I have more books than Albus, the Malfoy’s, and Hogwarts combined. Knowledge is power- so Salazar Slytherin said, so I say.”

Jerome rolled his eyes slightly and looked critically at the surrounding shelves. “Transfiguration section,” he pointed to a long row of shelves with a triumphant smile. “Let’s go check that out, Harry. Severus, how about you look for stuff on the Polyjuice Potion and bring it over?”

Harry nodded, and Severus disappeared down another row of shelves.

“Books on Animaguses,” Jerome muttered thoughtfully, running his finger along the fading titles. For a few minutes, Harry leaned against the shelf and watched as Jerome carelessly flipped through a thick book with notes in the margins. It looked like Snape’s spiky handwriting.

“Jerome?”

The studious man glanced up. “Yes?”

“Do you care if I go up there?” The teenager pointed to the shelves above them.

“Go ahead,” the Slytherin said nonchalantly, turning back to his book.

Harry rolled his eyes, thinking of how Hermione acted when she was absorbed in her research, and walked towards the narrow staircase. He climbed it carefully, peering down at the lower level of the library when he reached the top. Harry turned towards the books, reading the titles with interest. It seemed he had stumbled upon the Dark Arts section of the library. Dark Child of Incest, Blood Magic, and Plots for Pain were a few of the titles he saw.

After a moment of horrified scanning, Harry heard a slight rustle behind him. He turned to see Severus, leaning casually against the low rail.

“There is a balance, Harry. Dark is just as necessary as light. Besides, if you look at it, you can’t classify magic. Light spells can be used to cause harm, and dark spells can cause good. Surely you see that. The shades in between black and white.”

“How come you aren’t falling?” Harry asked, gesturing towards the man, who seemed to be supported by air.

The potions master smirked. “I set up charms so you can’t fall off. One can lean against them.”

“Oh.”

“Well, Jerome thinks he has a lead, so you need to come down now. And you can borrow any of these books at any time. Just ask me if you have any questions.”

Harry nodded dumbly and followed the taller man down the stairs.

Chapter End Notes:

Ignoble: french for despicable

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