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Serena Snape: Love of Magic - chapter 25
🕑 Added 2024-10-11 16:39:01 +0000 UTCAuthor's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
snap I filled the entire chamber with fire and put on my hood while creating my copper cloud to cover myself; it was instinctive. I felt my heart pounding, a cold sweat ran down my back, and my hair stood up uncomfortably. However, I still dashed while hitting Aria twice to cover myself once again. I stayed hidden underneath her just in time when Dumbledore practically made all the flames disappear with a couple of wand movements.
"Impressive, Miss Snape." Let him rot! "I must admit that I was surprised. I had no idea that your handling of fire was so extraordinary." I winced, as if he didn't just undo my flame alchemy almost instantly, it was annoying but I didn't respond, I just stood completely still in a corner, I swallowed metals and started burning it and decanted my metal minds "unbelievable, I can't find you" Dumbledore sounded jovial as he looked around, his eyes shining with magic "I could always see under Mr. Potter's cloak, which is why I didn't think of it as anything special, but here you are, hiding perfectly, I'm surprised"
copper cloud I love you, but I knew that if this kept spreading, it was more likely that he could find me, my copper cloud hid me from magical views yes, but someone really powerful could get through them. Albus freaking Dumbledore counted as powerful, even more so since he could apparently wield ancient magic and had the cursed Elder Wand. My options were few: face him or escape.
BAM! I flinched hard. The door had slammed shut, old bastard. Now that I had only one option left, I took a deep breath.
"That wasn't necessary, Headmaster ." I stepped out of my hiding spot as Aria returned to her mistcloak form.
"Ah, Miss Snape." The headmaster turned to me and smiled, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. He paused momentarily. "What... happened to the cloak?" His smile was shaky now, and I shrugged.
"It was not so much a cloak as a sheet; it needed an urgent adaptation." The Headmaster stared at me without any expression. I matched his gaze before he sighed.
"Why are you here, Miss Snape? How is the question that interests me most.""Pretty obvious, don't you think. Why?" I shrugged, "and how? I followed the traces." I lied again, Dumbledore narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not in the mood for your games, Miss Snape, you shouldn't have been able to find the Athenaeum, though I must admit, you did a good job, none of my alarms went off on your excursion, even when you entered this Chamber, if it weren't for Niamh warning me I wouldn't have had a clue." I perked up slightly at the praise. The copper clouds were impressive, and I was glad to know that despite the situation. My gaze fell on the former Headmistress, who was still silent. I grimaced when I saw that the rest of the Guardians were watching the confrontation.
"Retrocognition." I couldn't tell the truth, but I had to give an explanation.
" A seer?" Rackham asked curiously. I grimaced.
"Something like that, I looked back, I saw, I guess it was your life now, your fifth year, the Keeper trials, the fight against Ranrok, everything relevant, I knew where it all was because I saw it." The Keepers' eyes, Dumbledore included, widened slightly.
"You never cease to amaze me, Miss Snape, but if you'd seen everything, you wouldn't have been surprised that I was here." I grimaced.
"I saw the past, yes, but… something interfered with my sight, I saw all the events, but I didn't see who did them, it changed every time I tried to look at it closely, sometimes it was a boy, sometimes a girl, their skin color, their hairstyle, their eyes changed constantly, even the house that had been sorted was different every time." I licked my dry lips "but even if all that changed, everything happened exactly the same, it starts with the death of Eleazar Fig's wife, the mysterious box and the key to vault 12 and ends with the battle for the final repository in the Hogwarts caverns and Eleazar's death." I saw Dumbledore's expression fall slightly.
"Impressive, you saw a whole year, one that passed almost 80 years ago, it is a truly incredible ability," said Dumbledore honestly, "and it seems that my own ancient magic interfered with your sight."
"Yeah, I thought the same thing," I said dryly, and we both fell silent.
"I find myself… conflicted." Dumbledore hummed. "On the one hand, I always hoped I would be able to pass my job as Keeper on to someone else, certainly not while I was alive," Dumbledore confessed. "On the other hand, it's you, Miss Snape." I snorted.
"You know how to make a student feel special, Headmaster." I spat, annoyed, "But that won't be necessary, I'll figure out on my own how to use my gifts if I have to." I turned towards the door and tried to open it, only for the doors to not budge.
"I can't let you go, Miss Snape." I shuddered violently and gritted my teeth.
"Headmaster, I want out of here." I looked at him over my shoulder angrily, and he continued to stare at me. "What do you expect from me, headmaster? For me to make an unbreakable oath on your behalf? A blood pact? No thanks, I learned from your mistake with Grindelwald." Was it a bad idea to rub things in his face? Was she definitely upset and outraged enough to do the same? Yes. I saw Dumbledore's face harden.
"I thought my magic was interfering with your vision." I sneered.
"Because I didn't know what to look for, I was just trying to find out about ancient magic, not about anyone in particular, but it's different when I look directly at your past, it's more direct, easier." I lied. "Know your enemies and all that, of course, I would look at your past."
"We're enemies now?" Dumbledore raised an amused eyebrow, his teeth gritted in contempt.
" Well, you don't have another sister to murder by mistake for you to take me seriously, do you? " I screwed up, damn my big mouth, I screwed up big time. The magic that erupted from Dumbledore was so powerful that I felt it physically. If I wasn't using my metal arts to enhance my body, I would have surely fallen to my knees due to the force, and even though I was standing, it was still unbearable.
"Do not speak of what you do not know, Miss Snape." I shuddered at the coldness of his words, his magic did not seem to stop, I could not move, I gritted my teeth and let all my magic emerge as Baiser and I could finally breathe properly, unfortunately that came with all of Baiser's changes, the dark magic, my horns and wings protruding from Aria "what... what have you done Miss Snape." Dumbledore looked horrified as he looked at me. I glared at him.
"You have no right to judge me, Headmaster. I'll say it again, I want out of here." Dumbledore didn't answer immediately; he just sighed.
"Now, more than ever, I can't let you go." I gritted my teeth.
"You can't keep me locked up here all the time." Dumbledore shook his head.
"Not all the time, just long enough for us to… come to an agreement."
"A Deal!?" I spat, "You’d rather force me to accept your demands!" Dumbledore fell silent; that said it all. I tried to apparate only to feel a blockade. I glared at Dumbledore, who was standing impassive in the middle of the chamber. I didn't want to use it in front of him, but I had no other way. I tried to open a portal, it began to form behind me, and... it vanished. My eyes opened wide.
"Space magic? You really never cease to amaze me," I looked at Dumbledore, who had his wand in his hand, "a few seconds later, and whatever you were trying would have worked." I clenched my fist tightly, feeling my sharp nails dig into my palm.
"I'm not making any vows with you," I growled.
"I'm afraid... You have no choice," okay, fuck it all.
snap I set the room on fire once again. I could hear Dumbledore sigh. I took the moment to consume more metals and rise into the sky. Flying with Baiser's wings was easy, too bad they easily stuck out of my cloak, so turning invisible was pointless.
By the time Dumbledore easily eliminated the fire again I was already on top of him, I increased my weight, my wings were powerful, they could support me even if I increased my weight several times, so I took a handful of coins out of my inventory and pushed them with all my might, Dumbledore barely looked up to form a shield that dryly stopped all the coins and gave me an unimpressed look, I grimaced, grabbed my wand tightly and began casting spells.
I wasn't as good as the future Severus, not even close. I could use his spells and curses, but that didn't make me a good duelist, certainly not on Dumbledore's level. It was horrible to see him lazily stop everything I threw at him with a bored look on his face.
I gritted my teeth. What else did I have? Did I have hand-to-hand combat at my disposal? I hated it, I was a bloody witch, not a front line fighter, but I had no choice, I dropped to the ground and swallowed metal minds of steel, pewter, tin and zinc and burned them all immediately, I hit the ground beneath me and was instantly beside Dumbledore, I saw his eyes widen in surprise, I lowered my center of gravity, leaned down and lifted my foot, my musculature had increased to match my physical strength, I burned my iron mind to increase my physical weight.
Dumbledore's wand blurred, fast, even with my enhancements, I could barely catch the movement, my leg collided with Dumbledore's shield, and with an explosion of shock, it was stopped. I gritted my teeth, bastard, his shield barely cracked, but I could see Dumbledore getting more serious. I hit the ground again and walked away from him.
I tried to hit him more than once. Still, his shields were abnormally strong. I'm sure I could easily break the walls of Hogwarts with my strength; a human would certainly explode if I were to hit him. Still, it seemed impossible; my speed was fast, I was sure, I even tried to increase it, but it turned out exactly the same. Dumbledore already knew what to expect, so I was prepared. However, I couldn't get past his shields, which was annoying, given his already high reaction level.
"Is that all?" Dumbledore asked boredly once I stopped several feet away from him. I growled in his direction. Damn, damn! What else could I do? Duralumin? The combustion enhancement could power a blow strong enough to destroy his shield, perhaps. La Verità? I grimaced, my entire enhanced magic arsenal as Baiser was easily disposed of by him. I don’t think increasing the power output would change the outcome. I couldn’t think of anything else. I guess it’ll be duralumin. I didn’t expect the recoil, but it was… the only thing?
Alchemy, I still have alchemy left!
How could I be so stupid!
Roy Mustang saw the Truth; he wasn't limited to flame alchemy! I had been so focused on metal alchemy and flame alchemy, that I had forgotten one of the most essential parts of Roy Mustang, although, in my defense, Roy only gets to use circleless alchemy in literally the second to last chapter, usually it's associated with Edward Elric, but now it was a blessing, let's see what I can do.
I was about to applaud when I noticed the wand in my hand. I grimaced. This was a problem. I needed both hands free. I was about to put the wand away in my inventory when… I stopped and lowered my arms.
"Are you finally giving up?" Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow. I glared at him, braced myself once more, and… stopped again, I…
…Was there anything I could do?
Realistically, was I able to stop Dumbledore or convince him to let me go? I doubted that alchemy would allow me to achieve it. Several ideas went through my mind to end the fight, but I couldn't see any of them working: delay him, annoy him, and maybe hurt him? Yes, if I gave it my all, I was sure I was more than capable of achieving it.
I just had to increase the oxygen around Dumbledore, that would make him dizzy enough to get in a clean hit, or change the ground into highly flammable substances, use my La Verità webs, and then what? Hurt him or kill him? If I managed to do it to begin with, it meant I couldn't stay in Hogwarts, much less in Britain, not with Niamh as a witness; her other portrait was still in the headmaster's office, and I doubted I could get in to steal it or break it in time.
But I don't want any damn vow that literally ties my neck either, I could use the company, use a mission to get a portal and go to another world, leave this world until I was stronger, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth when I thought about escaping, but what option did I have?
I hated him, I hated him fervently, for putting me in this position. Could I break the vow later? There were magics, tools, and objects that might allow me to do so; Fate's Rule Breaker, it quickly came to mind, was capable of breaking a Master/ Servant bond.
I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t going to let him win, I wasn’t going to let him chain me up! Canon Severus already did it; for almost 20 years, he was Dumbledore’s lapdog, forced to do things he hated, all to end up with his death. No, I refused to end up like him! Dumbledore had the upper hand; he was able to negotiate a higher position because he knew I couldn’t stop him, or… maybe yes, it was a stupid idea that had just occurred to me, maybe. Still, I couldn’t think of any other option that I hadn’t already reviewed.
"You know what, if you want to lock us up good, I'll do exactly that." I licked my chapped lips. I was nervous; this was possibly the stupidest thing I'd done yet. I pulled out a jar of cadmium beads and held it up to my wand. "I don't need to win, I just need you to lose." I growled at Dumbledore, "You know, I'm good at manipulating time, I can lock us in a time bubble, I can push it as far as I want, a few seconds in here, just you and me, and outside it'll be years, decades, centuries." I was bluffing…
Well, not really; I could easily do it by burning some cadmium, and it would create a bubble that did the opposite of my bendalloy bubbles. If the latter were any indication, then I could push the time bubble really far; years outside the bubble could be a few seconds inside, all in a matter of moments. But I would never do that; I still have things to do in this time, and it wouldn't solve my problem. Dumbledore would still be upon me, alive and kicking. My best option was to escape to another world if he wouldn't let me go.
"Impossible," Dumbledore said firmly, his brow furrowed. I smirked at him.
"Even if it was, would you risk it? Tell me, Headmaster, what do you think will happen to the school in 50 years? In 100? " I gave him a crazed look. "Everyone you know will be dead, and what do you think will happen to the school?" Dumbledore's gaze hardened. I uncorked the vial. " What do you think will happen to Voldemort if you're not around? If you disappear for decades?" If you give him free rein to do what he wants?
"…That's assuming it works," Dumbledore drawled.
"Believe what you want." I shrugged. "I just have to swallow this-" I shook the flask "- so open the door, you have 3 seconds." Dumbledore stood still. I grimaced. "...three." Still not moving. "...two." I narrowed my eyes. "...one." Still not moving. I raised my hand to swallow the beads and...
...
...
…Where is my hand?
