White Heather for Protection

A Grim Series of Events

"Miss Potter, I was not aware you owned a," he paused, "dog." Heather somehow knew he meant mutt.

"Hello Professor Snape. He's not mine, I found him just now near the forest." Snuffles had subsided to just glaring at the wizard now.

"It does not appear friendly. Surely you have not trained it so quickly?" he said snidely.

Heather hid a smile. "Of course not. Have you perchance any Ruta graveolens in that basket?" The common rue had a scent rather offensive to dogs. Petunia had insisted on some to keep animals away from her precious garden.

The Professor raised a brow. "No, but I do have some Coleus canina. I believe, however, that the scent repels dogs, not angers them. Nevertheless, I shall not linger to find out. Would not want your dog on the wrong end of my wand if it lunges." Professor Snape then left, sneering at Snuffles who eagerly returned the sentiment. Not a dog person, then.

"Snuffles," she said chidingly. "That was very rude." He whined and bared his teeth at the Professor's back.

"I know he looks scary, but he means no harm." He snarled viciously. "Snuffles! Be nice! Professor Snape has helped me out a whole lot. If it wasn't for him, my brother, Hadrian, would be injured more often than he usually is!"

Snuffles lowered his body flat against the ground and bent his ears back. He seemed to be pouting. Heather sighed in exasperation.

~~~

Since meeting Snuffles, Heather continued to visit him occasionally to feed him. Sometimes GredForge (if they weren't having detention) or Hadrian and his friends tagged along. Snuffles seemed to like it best when it was just her and Rian around. It was obvious; he would prance around excitedly whenever he saw them walking towards him.

It was now once again Hallowe'en and Heather had opted to skip this year's feast, much to the twins' consternation. She didn't really get why they were put out; it's not like she could sit with them. Instead, she had gotten a quick dinner at the kitchens before heading for the Den. Rather than party on her parents' death anniversary, there were some new runic potions she wanted to try brewing.

Professor Snape had helped her make a huge breakthrough in her research. She'd been stuck when trying out multiple runes in a single potion. Her Blister Cure had exploded violently when she had tried to add the runes for healing and vitality. She had been confused because the Skelegro had worked fine with the same combination, so she knew it wasn't a matter of incompatible runes. It had been the Professor who had solved her conundrum.

He had hypothesised that the complexity of the potion was proportionate to the number of runes that could be incorporated. Since Skelegro was significantly more complicated than Blister Cure, it could hold more magic in the form of runes. They had tested it out and found that the results supported the theory. Of course, it was difficult to predict the actual number of runes that a particular potion could withstand without actually trying it out. She was currently developing a matrix to calculate the Snape Index for Potions - or Sn.I.P., as she had personally coined it.

Which was why she needed to brew many more runic potions to build a large database to base her calculations on. She was suddenly glad for continuing with Arithmancy despite her busy schedule.

Heather neatly labelled her filled phials with the name of the potion and the runes used. Casting a Tempus, she was surprised at the late hour. Curfew was only half an hour away! She had really lost track of time.

She quickly stowed away her materials and headed towards the dungeons. On her way there, someone behind her grabbed her arm tightly. On high alert, her instincts reacted before her mind could and she wandlessly blasted the stranger away from her. She'd learnt her lesson from the last time this had happened. She pivoted to look at the assailant and thankfully stopped herself before she could further her attack.