snape and skull

29

Flight of the Raven
O

peration Potter Search got underway at the greenhouse at eleven thirty in the morning, right after the morning classes. The Slytherins were the first to arrive, and stood calmly waiting for the Gryffindors and their professor. They consisted of four members, at their Head's insistence. They were Marcus Flint, Mark Tarrent, Nala Singh, and Jared Winters. About five minutes later they were joined by Oliver Wood, Percy Weasley, and two fifth year girls, Lauren Naylor and Serenity Jones. The two Houses mingled and began discussing how they should proceed.
O

liver and Flint got into a semi-friendly argument about what was the better locator charm to use, each one emphasizing their point with arm waving and finger pointing, until Snape swept down upon them and said in a cutting tone, "Enough, gentlemen! You are here to help me search for Mr. Potter, not engage in arguments."
Both Flint and Wood looked chagrined, and they lowered their eyes and murmured, "Sorry, Professor Snape," in subdued tones.
Severus gave a brisk nod acknowledging their apologies. "Now then, here is how we shall proceed. Each of you shall pair up, and be assigned a section of the forest surrounding the area where Potter was last seen. Each pair shall be given a map," here he paused and handed out several sheets of parchment with the map of the forest. These had been drawn by Hagrid and himself. "Each pair shall cast a Speakeasy Charm upon themselves, in case you get separated and find anything that might lead to Potter's whereabouts, you are to inform me first and then your partner. Do try and stick together, as I do not want to have to search for another missing student besides Potter. Once you have patrolled your designated area—I shall mark your area upon your map—you are to return to the greenhouse, and inform me of your whereabouts. I do not want you lingering in the forest, as it is dangerous and you are not allowed to risk your lives under my supervision." Here he gave a pointed glare to the Gryffindors. "I shall assign the pairs. Listen closely, and when I call your name, stand next to your designated partner. Wood and Singh. Flint and Weasley. Tarrent and Jones. Naylor and Winters."
The students assembled themselves. The professor went around and marked the areas upon their maps with a Quill of Everchanging Ink. The students then cast the Speakeasy Charm about themselves. Then they waited for further instructions.
"We will be using more than a standard Four Points spell," Severus told them. "Standard locator charms, which latch onto a wizard's magical signature have failed to find Potter. Therefore we shall be using a different charm, one that tracks by presence of an object, or the absence thereof. I am going to give you an amulet that belonged to Mr. Potter. Hold it in your hand as you speak the charm and the spell shall attune itself using the amulet. However, you must then specify an object Potter is wearing. This will be a pocket watch. He still has it on him and it is that presence the spell will track. You should feel a firm tug as you encounter places where Mr. Potter has been, it will fade as you go places he never was."
"Sir, what if Potter was taken away by force?" asked Serenity. "Like using Apparition or a PortKey?"
"That is very possible, Jones. In that case, I shall have to formulate a charm that can track Apparition threads, which is painstaking, but Aurors sometimes use something similar to find criminals."
"How would we know if that happened?" asked Flint.
"You will know because the presence spell will lead you right back to the clearing where the unicorn died. But I would like a thorough search attempted first. One other thing, should you find anything suspicious, like pieces of cloth, a button, an object that clearly does not belong in the forest, call me immediately. If a creature happens to come by you or you feel that you are being menaced by anything, call me immediately and then attempt to leave the area. If you cannot, remain perfectly still until I arrive. Under no circumstances are you allowed to play hero and try to fight the creature. Am I understood?"
There were murmurs all around. Severus demonstrated the Presence of a Personal Object charm and once he was satisfied they could all cast it, he led them into the Forbidden Forest. It was ironic, really, that Slytherins and Gryffindors were finally cooperating and the cause of it was the Boy Who Lived. Severus marveled to himself how one green-eyed boy had changed all their lives . . . and he prayed that Harry and he would be reunited soon.