Eleanor Snape- Book 3

Trying Out the Cloaking Spell

I slipped out of the Common Room, fully dress, wand in hand. It was around  three o'clock in the morning, so the corridors weren't lit very well. Not that I was complaining. I needed it to stay concealed. The last thing I wanted was to be caught by Filch.

I creeped down the hall practically tiptoeing. If Uncle Severus held up to his promise, I would be doing this a lot, so I should get used to it. I turned left to be met by a door. I opened it and pitch blackness greeted me. But this is where he said to go, so I pulled out my wand and whispered,

"Lumos." Light illuminated the tip of my wand, allowing me to make my journey down the slick, stone steps. A small speck of light around the corner at the bottom grew bigger and bigger as I came closer. I was halfway down when instead of feeling stone beneath my foot, I felt air. A moment later, I found myself sliding down the steps, on my backside, unable to stop myself. It wasn't until I hit the bottom with a hard thud that I realized what had happened; I had fallen down the stairs. For a moment or two I laid there, stunned, then a figure same around the corner and stopped in front of me.

"You need to be more careful." Uncle Severus taunted, offering his hand. I took it, remembering the time when I first met him. I had ran into the sitting room to meet him, only to trip and fall over the coffee table. He helped me up, just like he did now. I brushed myself off and retrieved my wand.

"If you hadn't picked such a stupid place! Why wouldn't you have done this in your office?" I stopped talking when he shot me his looks that usually meant 'shut up and don't doubt me'.

"Because, there would be a chance of getting caught. Anyone could barge in and-"

"At three in the morning?" I skeptically asked.

"Don't interrupt me, Eleanor. You would be surprised at who visits me when. And I do not want to hear any more outbursts. You are aware I do not have to do this, aren't you?" He led me into the empty dungeon, stopping in the center of the room. I stayed silent. "Please just watch your attitude. It would be a shame for me to ground you from going to Hogsmeade later today."

"You're still letting me go?"

"As of right now." He got out his wand. "But that could change." He paused. "Never mind that. We must start training. Stand there and don't move." He stepped back to the edge of the room and used his wand to make several objects float up into a perfect circle around me; a couple boxes, a big rock, and a rat. I turned to ask him why, but he stopped me. He started waving his wand in a pattern I didn't recognize. Then he started chanting a spell that I had never heard. His chanting lasted a minute or two, and when he was finished he left a silence that pressed against my eardrums.

"Now nothing can enter or exit the area." He broke the quite.

"What area?"

"Look closely around you." He instructed. I studied my surroundings closely, looking around me carefully. finally, I saw it. A force of some sort of barley visible waves seemed to wiggle and reflect in the light was around me in a perfect dome. If I hadn't been told to look for it, I never would have noticed it. I must have made a face when I found it, because Uncle Severus said, "Try some Dark Magic." I slashed my wand at one of the boxes,

"Sectumsepre!" It fell to the ground in two pieces, sharply sliced.

"Very good." Uncle Severus commented. "Try the other." I did the same to the other box. When I got to the rock, I blew it up with a curse my father had taught me, that, by the look on Uncle Severus's face, my uncle didn't know I knew. Finally, I came to the rat. It looked at me with wet, fearful eyes.

"I...can't." I lowered my wand.

"Eleanor..." Uncle Severus stated. It wasn't really a warning, and it wasn't really a pressing statement either; it actually sounded more like a beg. But that couldn't have been what he was going for, so I raised my wand again. This time, my hand was shaking.

"C-Crucio..." I muttered, but nothing happened. I looked at Uncle Severus, who nodded. "Crucio..." I softly said again. Still nothing. Now I was getting frustrated. I could do this... I could... "Crucio!"

Suddenly, the rat fell to the ground, withering and twitching. Helpless squeaks escaped it's mouth. I couldn't take it. I had to do something. Make the pain stop. "Avada Kedavera!" I yelled and all at once it stopped moving. Now it was stopped....everything was stopped. I starred at it, my eyes getting watery like it's had been. I looked over at Uncle Severus, who started waving his wand and doing odd chants again. When he was finished, he came to me; he had taken the spell off.

"So it worked?" I asked, getting a hold of myself and wiping my eyes.

"I hope."

"What?!" I exclaimed. I did Dark Magic and he wasn't even sure if the Ministry could detect it or not? "What if it didn't?!"

"The Ministry will come for us by tomorrow night." He saw me tense, so he added. "Don't worry about it. Go back to the Common Room and get some rest. You wouldn't want to be tired when you go to Hogsmeade." I smiled. For a moment I thought he smiled back, but if he had, he quickly took it away.

"Really?"

"Yes, but if you do anything stupid, I will revoke the privileged again."

"Thank you." I nodded, stepping towards him a bit. I didn't know why, but my body was pulling me to do it. My mind felt it was needed. I wrapped y arms around him for one quick moment, giving him a small hug.