Knowledge is Power

Chapter 13

As soon as they arrived back at WestCraven manor for the summer, Mag told her parents everything that had happened with Professor Snape taking her name out of the triwizard tournament. She told them how angry she had been then how relieved she was after understanding just how right he was. As she spoke, her father's expression grew increasingly sad and her mother looked as if she would cry.
"He's a good guy," Raislen said thickly as tears spilled down Heather's cheeks.
"Oh I miss him so much sometimes," she sobbed, slender shoulders slumping as her face dropped into her hands.
"I just wish he'd not done that, Raislen!"
"I know," Raislen said, rubbing his wife's back as he gave a resigned sigh.
For her part, Mag gaped silently while her mother struggled to pull herself together.
"Um...Are you ready to eat?"
The soft hesitant voice had come from their house elf Mira. She stood in the doorway to the library where they all sat, a sudden burst of color to the somber mood. Mira covered herself in very brightly colored silk scarves, each tied and draped so that they covered her from neck to ankles, flowing and fluttering as she moved. She looked adorable and had always been part of the family.

Heather and Raislen had gotten her upon their marriage and freed her at once, saying they'd rather pay a family friend than keep a slave. Mira quickly rose from family friend to part of the family. She worked hard and enjoyed her freedom. She had her own bedroom and full access to anything she wanted in the house. Her freedom had changed much about her from the way she chose to dress to the way she eventually began to speak in first person rather than in third person as other elves did.
When strangers commented on the way she spoke, Mira didn't mind explaining that no one else around her spoke like an elf so it became more natural for her to speak in the way she heard others speak. When she came to WestCraven manor she was a young elf, so beginning her new life had been exciting rather than threatening as she wasn't truly set in her elf ways.

Mag thought Mira was quite unlike any other elf she'd ever seen, indeed an elf of her own making.
"Hi Mira," she said, rising to embrace the little elf.
"I missed you. I'm so glad to be home to enjoy an entire summer of your cooking!"
Laughing, Mira hugged her back.
"Um...Is everything alright," she asked, peering past Mag at Raislen and Heather, who still weren't quite themselves.
"Yes," Heather said.
"We were just speaking of an old friend. Someone to whom we were once very close until we parted ways unpleasantly."
Mira looked perplexed until Heather added, "Before you came to live with us."
"Ah," Mira said, nodding in understanding.
"Well is everyone ready to eat, or should I wait?"
"No, we're very hungry," Raislen said with a ready smile at the elf.

As they headed toward the dining room, Mira suddenly started and turned quickly to Mag.
"Oh I almost forgot to ask! How did you do on your end of term exams?"
Mag blinked, then laughed, shaking her head.
"Well. I did quite well. If you can believe it, things were too stressful for me to even fret over them this year."
Mira looked surprised.
"Really? What else happened?"
So Mag had to start the story all over again, telling Mira of the Triwizard fright. Mira was properly impressed and horrified. Even as she relayed the events to the elf, Mag's mind was mostly on the conversation her parents had been having around her about Severus...Professor Snape, before Mira came in. She understood that they felt her knowing would be dangerous, but her need to know was beginning to override that understanding.

Once they were all seated around the large round dining table, Mag looked hard at her parents.
"Look...Mum and Dad. I really think it would be a good idea if you told me the situation with you and professor Snape. He warned us about Voldemort, and he's kept me out of danger and due to Nightshade yearly picking Potter's tiny little brain we all know enough. If I'm going to be in danger from knowing things, I doubt knowing whatever about the two of you and professor Snape can make it much worse.

Raislen and Heather exchanged a long look that practically had Mag ready to shake them both until words came out.
"Alright," Raislen said with a resigned sigh.
"We'll tell you."
Mag leaned forward eagerly and Mira put down her fork to give the upcoming narrative her full attention.

"Your Mum and I were in our third year when Severus Snape began at Hogwarts. I met him first. It was on the train," Raislen said with a slight fond smile.

"He was sitting with his nose stuffed in a book much as you do," he told Mag.
"I asked if I could see the book because it looked interesting and he gave me this hostile look and asked if I planned to take it from him if he said no. I said of course not, and that I'd just assume he was a prat from then on instead. He laughed and tossed me the book and we became friends. I got the impression from his initial reaction to me that he was used to being bullied so I sort of looked out for him after that."

"So why aren't you friends now," Mag asked.

"I'm getting to that," Raislen said.
"He and your mum and I all hung together, being in Slytherin, and she and I defended him against those Gryffindor gits whenever they started trouble with him. We even helped him escape from his dreadful grandfather Prince's house one summer."

Heather chuckled.
"Your father's great uncle got this flying carpet and we borrowed it to help Severus sneak out of his bedroom window," she told Mag.
"He hung at Raislens for the rest of the summer. Controlling that carpet was tricky and at first I was terrified we'd all fall off!"

"But we didn't," Raislen said with a grin.
"And I got to spend time with two of my favorite people."

He turned to Mag.
"Your mum only came along to help Severus. She didn't like me too much back then."

"Yes yes I know," Mag said, impatient to return the story to Severus.
"From the first day at Hogwarts when you saw Mum before the two of you boarded the train, you pulled her hair and called her HeatherToy so she hated you."

"I barely tugged the very ends of her hair and I only called her HeatherToy because she'd spin around so fast every time I did it like one of those fun spin top toys," Raislen said with a chuckle.

Heather glared.
"You were mean and I hated having my hair messed with."

"I wasn't mean. I only wanted your attention," Raislen said, grinning.

"So back to Severus...Ur Professor Snape," Mag interjected firmly.