“Good work, Severus, very good!”
Severus looked to make sure they weren’t being spied on, turned back into a man and put some spells on the building so that no one could see or hear them inside. “I hate you.”
“Cheerful as ever. Now, what do you suggest?”
“You tell them the rooster is tainted by dark magic – that’s not even a lie – and I will return to my laboratory to figure out a cure. Where is the sample?”
Dumbledore handed it to him, and Severus smelled it. Ah. “When creating their potion, the twin brats obviously didn’t take into consideration that bicorn horn would interact with the daisy roots to create a more permanent transfiguration. An antidote will need to contain wormwood and -” He stared at Dumbledore, who had conjured a pergament and quill. “Why are you writing this down?” Such unusual behaviour didn’t bode well.
„I will attempt to brew the antidote. You do remember that I am rather adept at potions myself, do you?”
“You do not trust me with Potter’s health?” It stung, to know that Dumbledore still didn’t fully trust him. He hated Potter, yes, but he was a man of his word, Dumbledore ought to know that by now.
“Quite the opposite, dear boy, I trust you to come up with an antidote much faster than I ever could, which is why I write down your suggestions to use in my work. In the meantime, I think I can leave Harry in your capable hands. Respectively, wings. You are the only one I trust with his safety.”
“You can’t be serious!” But he knew well that Dumbledore was entirely serious. “That girl tried to pet me!”
“I am sure you can cope. Now, where were we?”
Severus reluctantly dictated his theories to Dumbledore. “It would be much easier if you just let me do the brewing.” Dumbledore was a genius at everything he put his mind to, but he had admitted himself that he got his results with potions by experimenting, not intuition, and something Severus achieved in days could take him weeks. And, worst of all, Dumbledore wouldn’t know intuitively when he had found a cure that worked. He would have to experiment. “Mrs. Weasley has been keeping chickens for years, she is perfectly capable of taking care of a chick by herse-“
“HELP MEEEEEE!”
Severus didn’t even think before charging for the door, only turning into a rooster on the way.
“He is perfectly harmless”, he heard Dumbledore say as they entered the house. “What did you do to Harry?”
The Weasley girl looked shamefacedly at Dumbledore. “I just took him out of the box, and everything was alright, until Percy came down, and ...”
Perched on Percy’s shoulder was a large owl. One that wasn’t Harry’s pet and might have an appetite for chick.
“Help?”
Severus would never admit to the relief he felt in that moment. Harry was hiding under the sofa.
He sat down next to the sofa. “Cease this nonsense and come out at once!”, he demanded, knowing that everyone else would just hear chicken noises.
Something else he would never admit to was that Harry was actually rather agreeable in chick form. Obeying immediately, the chick came out and slipped under Severus’ wing.
Must be the instinct, Severus decided while he herded Harry onto the sofa cushion which the Weasley girl then put back into the box.
Turned into a chick, Harry behaved like one, which included obeying adults.
Yes, it was rather satisfying to have the little brat do as he was told, for once. It really was a blessing people turned into animals by anything but the animagus spell didn’t retain their human minds, or this chick would probably already have gotten it into his head that he was the chosen one who had to end the garden gnome threat, or something similarly foolish.
Yet here he was, warm, fed and safe, making happy little noises. Just as it should be.
“See?” the Weasley girl said smugly. “I told you he’d come out. We ought to keep them together.”
“I concur”, Dumbledore said, and Severus could hear the amusement in his voice. “It is best for Harry’s safety. I trust we will be able to turn him back, but you must keep him safe in the meantime.”
Over the following days, Severus grew somewhat bored. He didn’t dare move outside the kitchen, and any time he stayed away from Harry for too long, the chick would complain about being cold.
Keeping watch over Harry while he explored the house didn’t provide a lot of excitement, as at least one Weasley would be there, too, if they let Harry out of the box, and Severus needed only make a disapproving sound and the chick would keep away from whatever danger it had approached, be it the fire or Mrs. Weasleys magical knitting needles.
Gratifying as it was to have Harry obediently hide under his wings every time an owl entered the room, it didn’t provide Severus with much excitement.
‘Spying’ on the Weasleys didn’t provide much entertainment, either, as their secrets were disappointingly mundane.
The twins wanted to start a joke shop. Little surprise. Percy was sweet on Miss Clearwater, which Severus had already suspected at school. Mrs. Weasley had a tiny crush on Gilderoy Lockhart – mildly embarrassing, and she would be cured of it if she ever met him in person, Severus was sure. Mr. Weasley’s illegal flying car he already knew of, and the rest of his experiments with muggle technology were just as harmless.
As for Ronald, he didn’t even seem to have any secrets. He was a rather decent chess player, which was a surprise considering his poor performance in Potions. Apparently he just didn’t choose to use his brain in lessons.
Ginevra obviously had a crush on Potter, which Severus supposed wasn’t really a secret to anyone with eyes.
One night, when, for once, everyone was sound asleep and there was no threat of Mr. Weasley returning from night shift early, Severus decided to turn back into a human, stretch his legs, and get some decent food.
After he had refused worms and the like – chicken or not, there were limits! - the girl had taken to feeding them scrambled eggs and meat in addition to grains, but being a chicken meant he couldn’t chew, or really, taste any of the food. That apparently too much salt was dangerous for chickens made for an even blander diet.
Some toast with marmelade would do, and considering they were willing to feed him anyway, it couldn’t be considered stealing, could it?
Severus had just left the box – fortunately his animagus form was able to fly a bit better than the average chicken – when he saw a rat.
A rather small rat. Not one of the large sewer rats he had seen in Spinner’s End occasionally. No, this one looked like a pet rat.
Now that was interesting – Ronald had said his pet rat was fat and lazy and didn’t like to move much, yet here it was, sneaking about as if it knew exactly that this was a good opportunity.
He moved closer. If not for the full moon, he wouldn’t have seen anything at all, the chicken’s eyes weren’t really good in the darkness.
The rat squeaked and ... grew.
Severus retreated. The rat turned into a man.
“Quiet”, the man hissed. “Good chicken, go back to sleep.”
He instantly recognized the hated squeaky voice. Pettigrew! Peter Pettigrew! Oh how he hated that man! He was supposed to be dead, no one would miss him and Severus would end him!
Without even meaning to, he made an angry hissing noise.
“I’m cold!” Harry cheeped. Or at least, he cheeped and Severus got the impression he must be uncomfortable.
Oh well. Pettigrew could wait. Having hidden for so long, he wouldn’t run away now.
Severus flew up to the table and returned to the box.
„See? Your baby is calling. Good mother hen …“ Pettigrew whispered as he tiptoed towards the kitchen, doubtlessly with the very same intentions Severus had had.
Severus was seething, but there was nothing to be done, Harry was cold and as Mrs. Weasley had implied, that could be lethal for a young chick.
Shortly after Severus had returned and spread his wing over Harry, the chick made a happy trilling noise and went back to sleep. Good.
Pettigrew returned from the kitchen, became a rat again, and went up the stairs to where Ronald’s room must be located.
He didn’t seem to suspect a thing. Good. That gave Severus more time to figure out the best course of action.
Why had Pettigrew faked his own death? And why had he become an animagus in the first place? There were many questions to be considered.
Severus spent several sleepless nights watching over Harry. With Pettigrew in the house, he couldn’t afford to take any risks.
And finally, finally, a whole week after his arrival, Dumbledore returned.
“Professor Snape had some urgent business to attend to, so he could not finish research”, he claimed. “We have, however, five potential antidotes I have tested on actual chicks. None of them does any harm. Perhaps Fred and George will know which is most likely to succeed?”
The boys were, as was to be expected, clueless, but it gave Dumbledore an excuse to explain exactly what he had done for each variation.
Versions one and two were useless, three might work, number four, Severus suspected would have, albeit mild, side effects, and five would turn Harry back into a boy but leave some of his chick instincts intact.
A difficult choice. Severus had become rather used to this obedient version of Potter. A Potter who arrived for lessons on time, used exactly the ingredients Severus told him to use, never left his dormitory at night ...
“No guesses? We shall have to try them out. No worries, as I said, I have tested them on actual chicks and none does any harm.”
Mrs. Weasley was very much against experimenting and insisted that they should wait until they could consult Professor Snape, but in the end she gave in, as she didn’t want to risk Harry arriving late to school.
Dumbledore filled five tiny bowls with portions of each antidote and put them all in the box.
Harry made a move towards version number five.
“Stay away, idiot boy!”
Obediently, the chick went back under Severus’ wing.
Severus dipped his beak into the bowl with antidote number three. It would not affect his animagus form. “Drink that.”
He would miss the chick, but there was nothing to be done about it. Back to bratty Potter it was.
For now, Harry was obedient and drank the antidote.
Severus just so managed to get out of the box before it was full of boy.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
Good. Very good. He didn’t remember anything.
Severus perched on the back of an armchair and watched.
Ronald helped Potter step down from the table.
“What is the last thing you remember, Harry?”, Dumbledore asked.
Potter looked around. “Uh, I arrived here and … I was hungry and it was a while until breakfast, so Fred gave me some toffee and ... after that, I don’t remember anything. What happened?”
“You tell him, Fred“, Mrs. Weasley demanded.
Potter didn’t show much of a reaction to learning that he had been turned into a chick, and seemed much more upset at the thought of having done something embarrassing in his time as animal.
Severus, in his place, would never have believed the twins’ claims – despite apparently accurate – that it had been an accident.
“So the rooster saved me?”, Potter asked.
“Kept watch over you all the time. Such a sweetie. He must be so confused that his chick is suddenly missing, poor thing.” Ginevra looked at Severus as though she considered petting him again. “Mum said he might belong to the Lovegoods, but Luna says her mother never got around to getting Swedish black chickens.”
Potter frowned. “Hagrid kills his surplus roosters”, he said slowly.
What? Did the brat seriously mean to suggest –
“So ... can he stay here? Mrs. Weasley? Please? His owners will probably kill him once he’s too old or something and I just can’t ... I’d keep him as pet but I don’t think it would be allowed, or that he’d be happy.”
Severus shuddered. A pet! How could they have gotten the impression he would make a good pet?
“Of course dear. I would love to keep him. But I am sure his owners will want him back. Well behaved roosters are hard to come by.”
“I wanted to pay a visit to some of the neighbouring families, anyway”, Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling with amusement. “If I find out he hasn’t been missed, I will be sure to return him.”
“Thank you!”
“Well, time to leave.” Dumbledore held out his arm and Severus perched on it. “Make sure to do your potions homework properly, boys – I daresay you owe it to Professor Snape for getting you out of this mess.”
“We’ll send him a box of chocolates”, Fred promised.
Dumbledore chuckled. “I rather doubt he would appreciate that. However, I know for a fact that he is very frustrated at having to teach a bunch of dunderheads, as he likes to put it, and you would do him a favour by studying harder. You too, Harry.”
Potter paled. “Oh no! Don’t say … Sna- Professor Snape knows what happened? That I got turned into a chick?“
What was going on with the brat now? Even Severus had to admit that it hadn’t been Potter’s fault.
“Why, of course he does, or how could he have thought of an antidote?”
“I don’t know, I hoped you had just told him Fred and George messed up ... he’ll tell Malfoy! Everyone will laugh at me!”
Tell Malfoy? Why would he tell Lucius that … ah. Draco. Still, why would he? „Don’t be an idiot“, he said. Out came a humming noise that sounded much happier than Severus felt.
“No need to worry about that, Harry”, Dumbledore said, chuckling. “Professor Snape will certainly respect your privacy in this matter. You have my word.”
“Stupid brat”, Severus said as soon as they were in the Forbidden Forest and he could turn back. “Why would I tell Draco, or any other student at that, about his predicament?”
“I dare guess that you made a habit of embarrassing Harry in front of the class”, Dumbledore said mildly.
“It is his own fault he cannot answer my questions. If he is ashamed of that, he ought to pay more attention.” Had he ever humiliated Potter in any other way? No, he was sure he had not. “Don’t tell me you never picked a student who wasn’t paying attention to ask him a question you knew he wouldn’t be able to answer.”
“We all do that, certainly, but I do think Harry might have noticed that your dislike of him is not merely due to him being inattentive in class. Does his lack of trust hurt you?”
“It is no skin off my nose”, Severus replied coldly. “There are much more important things to discuss right now. Did you know Peter Pettigrew is alive?”
“Peter lives? How?”
“As Ronald Weasley’s pet rat. He enjoys a lazy life and raids the kitchen at night. My theory is that he is a Death Eater. His penchant for licking the boots of bullies would have served him well in the Dark Lord’s service.” It had taken him days to come to that conclusion. Having joined the Death Eaters, himself, in pursuit of power, Severus had found it hard to imagine that someone like Pettigrew, who had been happy to be the butt of many of his supposed best friends’ jokes, would do likewise.
But in the end ... in the end, Severus had found that he had not wanted power so he could dominate others, but so he could be free himself, and that the cruelty and bootlicking involved in being a Death Eater didn’t suit him.
Whereas Pettigrew enjoyed both cruelty and bootlicking. His personality was perfect for a Death Eater.
“Of course”, Dumbledore said slowly. “If they changed secret keepers without telling me ... that would mean Sirius is innocent ...”
“I don’t care about Black. Pettigrew is, right now, in the same house with Ha- with Potter. What do you intend to do about that?“ Potter was likely safe during the day, as Pettigrew was a coward, but they could not afford to wait for too long. They didn’t know what Pettigrew’s plan was, and as such could not predict if or when he would strike.
„That is what I am thinking about. It needs to be done in such a way that Peter does not suspect anything before we catch him. His survival would prove Sirius’ innocence.”
“Black can rot in Azkaban. I have not endured days of boredom and humiliation just so that Pettigrew can kill Potter now. If you haven’t thought of a plan to take him alive in five minutes, I will go back and end him.”
“Patience, Severus. One might almost think you had become fond of Harry.”
“Nonsense.”
Chapter 4