Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World-Chapter 84 - 79: Conversation with Dumbledore

After lessons the next day, Severus made his way up to the eighth floor, walked the length of a long corridor, and stopped in front of the gargoyle.

"Lemon drop." The statue’s eyes flashed and it stepped aside, revealing the spiral staircase that began to rise the moment you set foot on it.

A few seconds later the headmaster’s office came into view. Dumbledore was there, stroking a phoenix’s back with one hand.

"Hello, Headmaster."

"Hello, my boy. What brings you to me?" Dumbledore asked with a kind smile. He lifted his hand from the bird, and it fluttered down from its perch, crossed the room in a few wingbeats, and landed on Severus’s shoulder. It began rubbing its head contentedly against his cheek. "He has missed you very much."

"As I have said before, animals tend to return what you give them."

"You remind me of a dear friend of mine." Watching Fawkes tuck his left wing under Severus’s hand and press into the stroking, Dumbledore saw, just for a moment, another image in place of the young man standing before him: someone younger, curly-haired, in a blue coat, surrounded by all manner of creatures and smiling with an openness that had nothing guarded in it. "He loved studying magical creatures, whatever their nature, however dangerous. He gave me this phoenix, in fact. How quickly it all goes."

"I would like to meet a wizard like that one day," Severus said with genuine mild interest. He gave Fawkes one last stroke and the bird returned to its perch. "I imagine we would get along."

"I have no doubt, my boy. No doubt at all. Now, what brings you here?"

"I came with a request."

"Speak. If it is within my power, I will do what I can." Dumbledore took a lemon drop from the dish on his desk and tucked it into his mouth, squinting with satisfaction. Severus’s expression went slightly odd.

"I would like to study Healing Magic. Madam Pomfrey declined to teach me without your permission."

"Healing Magic?" Dumbledore looked genuinely surprised. No one had ever come to him with a request quite like that, least of all a Slytherin student.

"Yes. I want to be capable of helping the people I care about if they are hurt, rather than standing there watching."

"Commendable. Commendable indeed. Of course I have no objection." A sheet of parchment rose from the desk and a quill followed, moving without being touched. A few seconds later Dumbledore signed it, pressed his seal to it, and held it out. "There."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Severus scanned the permission quickly and looked back at Dumbledore with something bright in his eyes.

"Study hard. Madam Pomfrey has a great deal to teach. She has considerable achievements in Healing Magic, and she is a very experienced healer."

"Of course. Good evening, Headmaster!"

"And a good evening to you," Dumbledore replied, watching him go with the same warm expression. Whatever changes on the outside, the child underneath is still the same.

But Severus stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Something else, my boy?"

"Um."

"Take your time. Speak." Dumbledore watched the hesitation on the young man’s face with patient calm.

"I have a proposal. Regarding additional classes for the fifth-years."

"I am listening."

Severus cleared his throat once, then again, and lifted his gaze.

"As you know, these are very difficult times in this country. I want to suggest introducing first-aid lessons into the curriculum. Wizards do not always have a restoration potion to hand, and in the time it takes a healer to arrive from St. Mungo’s, a victim’s condition can deteriorate sharply, or become fatal entirely. Knowing what to do in those first minutes is simply necessary, and that is true beyond the current situation. Anything can happen in life." He touched his chest, and a small stack of textbooks appeared in his hand. One of them drifted across the room toward Dumbledore, who caught it with mild surprise.

"’Life Safety Skills,’" Dumbledore read. He flipped through the contents page and looked up with open puzzlement. "This is a Muggle book, is it not?"

"It is. The idea came from studying the Muggle school curriculum. They teach this from the third year, so from roughly age ten. The early stages are only the basics, of course, but by the end of school they cover stopping bleeding, applying bandages and tourniquets, dealing with broken bones, emergency procedures: what to do if a building is seized, what to do in a fire, how to put one out. I believe this kind of knowledge is necessary for children’s safety, and so that at any moment they can help a friend, or even a stranger."

"Enough, I understand your thinking," Dumbledore said warmly, setting the textbook on the desk. "And since you have raised this topic."

"I understand you cannot make a decision like this alone, which is why I wanted your support when I bring this to the Ministry. I have already spoken with Professor Slughorn and Professor McGonagall, and they will both support it." Severus said it with the confidence of someone who had planned this conversation several times over, then added, with a slightly embarrassed quality that sat oddly on him: "I actually meant to approach you later, once the textbook I am writing is finished, so you could look it over and correct anything I have wrong."

A silence settled over the office. Dumbledore stroked his beard, turning it over. He found nothing objectionable. The war would not last forever, and this did not interfere with anything he cared about. It might even be useful, in its own way. After a moment he nodded.

"Of course. I am prepared to support this, and I will back you when you begin at the Ministry."

"Thank you, Headmaster. That is a genuine weight off my shoulders. With your support as well, it will definitely come to something. The moment I finish the textbook, you will be the first to see it."

Dumbledore laughed, caught off guard by the brightness on the young man’s face.

After a few more questions, Severus said goodbye and left, heading back toward the Slytherin common room.

"I did not know you were such a good actor. I am giving you a standing ovation." Nagini’s voice came from somewhere under his collar, cheerful and pointed. She had been there the whole time and had heard every word.

Severus did not acknowledge the remark. His thoughts were already running ahead.

That went far easier than it should have, but I cannot let my guard down. That old man is very sharp. For now: Healing Magic, and during the holidays I start at the Ministry. He reached into his robe and the Grimoire appeared in his hand. He opened it. How is the compilation going? Is there enough data?

A few seconds later a short "Yes" appeared in the centre of the blank page.

"Good. Let me know if anything is missing and we will go to another Muggle library."

Before he had even finished the thought, a second line appeared beneath the first: "THAT IS ENOUGH."

"If you are certain. Still, write if something comes up. I will be glad to help." He closed the book and slipped it back into his pocket. He was not concerned about anyone spotting it. He had already disguised it as a book on Apparition.

"And now the second floor."

"Will you stop ignoring me!" Nagini snapped, appearing directly in front of his face. Severus came very close to tripping on perfectly level floor.

"What?" he asked, looking at her with weary patience.

"You still have not answered me. Why are you doing all of this?"

"Glory."

"I do not believe that for a second. You would never go to this much trouble for that."

"You know me well, which is unfortunate for you, because I am telling the truth. I need a reputation, and if I manage it, I can qualify for membership in the Teachers’ Guild through special contribution to education," he said, stepping onto the moving staircase.

"The Teachers’ Guild. I have never heard of it. And I still do not see what you want from it." Nagini slipped back under his robe as Professor Flitwick appeared on the staircase above them with a group of students.

"Slughorn mentioned it. It is where outstanding teachers and the foremost experts in every field come together each year, along with anyone who has made a significant contribution to education. The best minds from every country, and the meetings are open to attend. Though none of that is what interests me." He paused to let a pair of third-years squeeze past. "What interests me is the largest library in the world, which sits on the Guild’s grounds."

"Now I believe you," Nagini said, with what might have been relief.

"So in your view, I am simply incapable of wanting to help someone? That is how poorly you think of me?"

"Yes."

"Not surprising, given how much poison you carry in that tongue of yours," Severus said pleasantly, and finally reached the second floor. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." The moment he stepped inside, Madam Pomfrey, in her bonnet and white apron, looked up from behind the desk with a tired sigh. "Mr. Snape. I cannot teach you." Before she could finish, the sheet of parchment with the headmaster’s seal dropped onto the desk in front of her. She looked mildly surprised, and still visibly reluctant. "I will not ask how you managed that."

She rose, went to the bookcase, and pulled out a heavy volume somewhere between seven and eight centimetres thick.

"Are you trying to kill my enthusiasm before we even begin?" Severus asked, a half-smile forming.

"No. This book contains only what every self-respecting healer should know by heart: basic spells, the most common illnesses and their signs, and how to treat them."

"And if I master all of it, you will teach me yourself?"

Pomfrey answered with the same small smile.

"The moment you have covered this material, yes. Think of it as an entrance test. Bear in mind that even a single mistake is a failure, because a healer has no right to make mistakes, especially when a life is in the balance." Her expression hardened on the last few words.

"I understand. I will cover it as quickly as I can." He took the book and nodded. "Good evening, Madam Pomfrey."

"Good evening, Mr. Snape. And please do not damage the book."

The moment Severus was back in the corridor, a smile crossed his face.

"She thinks that is enough to put me off. Charming."

"You are only missing the sinister laugh. In certain circles you would fit right in."

He did not reply to that. He opened the book and began to read, saving everything into the Grimoire as he went.

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