The search and finding
“So, do you think you could help me ?” She asked the Marauders.
The boys all looked intrigued again, James, Sirius and Remus all eager to help.
Sirius spoke up first after a brief pause, a slight excitement laced in his voice. "I'm in."
James grinned, his tone sounding excited as he replied. "Me too."
Remus took a second to think, before giving in to his own curiosity, replying with a soft sigh. "Alright, I'll help."
“Okay… so I have a feeling he is in Slytherin…” She said carefully.
That piqued all their interest, James and Sirius both straightening up and sharing a glance. "Really? Why do you think that?" James questioned with interest, while Remus frowned thoughtfully.
“I can feel the familiar magic in my house however something is stopping me from identifying him.” Replied Melania.
“Alright...so we just have to figure out who" James mumbled, his tone a little more serious as he began to think of possibilities.
Remus nodded at the mention of a student in their year, but Sirius' brow furrowed a little as he spoke, looking down thoughtfully.
“Right…Many purebloods could have that familiar magic you’re sensing…”
“No, the Prince’s family magic is very specific to them.” Tried to explain Melania
Remus nodded again, as if he already knew that, but he hummed in agreement, listening to Sirius and James as they spoke amongst themselves.
There was a moment of silence, before Remus spoke up, his voice quiet and soft as he spoke. “Wait…what if it’s not a boy?”
This was a thought that hadn’t occurred to them before, which made them all pause and glance at each other.
“It is a boy. Consort Prince recognized him as a boy before he was kidnapped” confirmed Melania.
A brief moment of silence passed, before Remus spoke up thoughtfully. “How specific exactly is the magic you sense?”
“I can’t exactly explain it…
Sirius, how would you describe the feeling you get when you sense your brother, Regulus, magic?” Tried to explain Melania.
Sirius paused for a second at the mention of his brother, but spoke with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Well…Regulus magic feels like a weaker version of mine. Sort of like an echo but I can feel the difference. I know when there’s someone else’s magic around because I don’t recognise that.”
“But it feels familiar” said Remus understanding what she is trying to explain.
It was James who spoke up next, leaning back against the wall as he spoke. “Right so…we’re looking for a Prince in Slytherin who’s magic feels familiar to you. Got it.” He nodded again, a slight determination in his expression.
“What about the boy who is sometimes with Malfoy?” Asked Melania.
Everyone looked confused at that, Sirius’ brows furrowing as he spoke. “What boy? You mean Malfoy’s friend Crabbe?”
There was a moment of silence after Sirius questioned before Melania answered: “No, he looked thin and his clothes looked a bit old.”
That was strange, most purebloods like Malfoy wouldn’t be caught with someone wearing old clothes. That made everyone frown again, Remus being the first to talk again after a long moment of silence.
“That’s odd...old clothes are a bad sign with purebloods...it’s shameful and disrespectful.”
“Yes. Which is why I wonder why they were hanging together and who is that boy…” said Melania
“What if...” James mumbled thoughtfully, looking over at the others. “What if…and I’m just spitballing here...what if they’re not actually friends."
Everyone waited with anticipation for James to explain, even Remus seemed interested though he didn’t comment as James continued.
“Well…I’m probably completely wrong but…what if Malfoy isn’t hanging out with that kid because he wants to be friendly. It’s Malfoy. Who would want to be around him? And the fact he’s in old clothes? What if Malfoy is threatening him? Or…” He paused briefly, grimacing at the last words he’d said.
“Or even blackmailing him?”
Melania gasped and asked:
“Does anyone know who the boy is?”
There was another moment of silence, as everyone paused to think again. Suddenly, Sirius’ brow furrowed again, his expression hard to read. “That might be a bit tricky. You just said there was a boy that seemed lower on money and was always with Malfoy. You do realise that describes most of the guys from the lower years in Slytherin?” A light chuckle escaped his lips at that, though from the serious expression on his face it wasn’t a humorous one.
“Oh… he also had sort of greasy black hair, which he kept middle long” said Melania
Most of the boys nodded at that, before Remus hummed, a small thoughtfulness crossing his features as he spoke again. “Wait…are you talking about Snape, by any chance?” Everyone looked a little startled at that, obviously not expecting that answer. Sirius suddenly started making gagging sounds at the mention of him.
“That’s the last name of the fake father of the person I’m searching…”
Everyone paused for a moment, a flicker of surprise crossing their features. James was the first to speak, his tone sounding a little disbelieving as he spoke. “Are you saying Snape is actually a Prince?”
“Perhaps… I’m not sure, I haven’t been able to be near him, he almost never is at the table to eat…” said Melania
This made the boys all go silent briefly as they thought. Sirius huffed a heavy sigh, seeming a little annoyed now.
“Snape has been a prick since he stepped foot in Hogwarts. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s Malfoy’s laccy.” He almost seemed to spit each word out, his disgust for Snape clear.
“What’s your problem with him, exactly?” Asked Melania confused
This made everyone pause briefly, James speaking first again. “Where do we start? He’s arrogant and rude, always has some sarcastic remark or something to say to everyone he meets. He’s obsessed with dark arts, he’s a blood supremacist“
Remus spoke next, shaking his head with a sigh. “Honestly he’s just a bad person all around.”
“Did you hate him because of something he said or something other says about him?” Asked Melania.
“Both.” James and Sirius said in unison, making Sirius’ expression turn a little smug.
James spoke first again, shaking his head again. “Him and Sirius have disliked each other from the start, something about Gryffindor and Slytherin being enemies.”
“And I can’t stand him.”Remus spoke suddenly, a hint of annoyance crossing his expression. “He used to bully me, made fun of me for my dad.” Sirius and James shared a surprised look at this, their eyebrows raised.
“He said my Dad was too low in the ministry for him to be worth anything…”Remus mumbled.
James scoffed at that, rolling his eyes as he spoke. “That’s such bullshit, what does that have to do with him picking on you?”
“And more importantly, did Snape sound strange when he said that?” Said Melania, sounding tense.
That question made both James and Sirius pause, sharing a look between each other. “What do you mean by strange?” Sirius questioned, a hint of confusion in his expression.
Melania explained further “Different from how he usually speaks”
Sirius hummed in thought, frowning slightly as he thought. “Well…” He began, his tone becoming a little more thoughtful. “Every time he’s talked to us he’s always had snide remarks. He has a hard time showing anything other than anger…”
James suddenly spoke, his voice firm as he added his own thought. “And whenever we’ve spoken he always had a hint of something behind it, like there’s something beneath the surface. Like he’s faking his attitude…”
“…If it’s what I think it is it is not good…” said Melania
Everyone looked a little startled by the sudden seriousness in her tone, Remus tilting his head to the side. “What do you mean by that? What do you think it is?”
“It could be potions or compelling spells. And the only way to get them out of his system is Gringotts.”
This made everyone pause, looking over her with varying degrees of shock. Sirius’ jaw actually dropped as he stared at her, his eyes widening slightly with disbelief.
“You mean…you think he’s being potioned?” He questioned, his voice holding the same disbelief as his expression showed.
“I wouldn’t put it past his fake mother. When we searched their house, we found a lot of potion ingredients, potion books. The only things missing from her wizard things are her old, outdated school textbooks and uniform. She gave them to him apparently, they are so old that they are falling apart.”
Everyone stared at her, obviously stunned. Remus was the first to reply, his tone sounding a little shocked and disbelieving still. “You’re serious…? You think...she’s been drugging Snape?”
Everyone looked a little worried and upset at this, James frowning lightly as he spoke up. “If that’s true, what has she been giving him? We need to know how bad this is.”
“Well then we need to find a way to get him to Gringotts. Only the goblin nation can help us.” Said a tense Melania.
Everyone nodded slowly, exchanging looks with each other. Sirius hummed to himself, biting his lip as he seemed to think again. “Right…we’ll just have to get his trust then. He doesn’t trust anyone though…”
“We could send him a false letter from Gringotts requesting his presence for an inheritance test?” Said Melania hesitantly.
Everyone looked a little excited at that, a wicked grin spread across Sirius’ face as he leaned forward. “That’s perfect! He’ll have to listen to Gringotts, right?”
Sirius grinned, leaning back in his seats and looking over at Remus with a smirk. “You’re the smartest of us. You know Latin, right? And how to write a professional letter?”
Remus blushed at the compliment, coughing briefly before he nodded. “Yeah, yeah…I do. I can write him an official looking letter.”
There was a pause, and then Sirius spoke up.
“It has to be a realistic looking letter…” He pointed out, Remus letting out a quiet laugh at that.
“Don’t worry, I think I can come up with something convincing.“
Sirius grinned. “Good, that’s perfect. Once you’ve written the letter we can get one of the school Owl’s to deliver it!”
James seemed eager to get started on the plan, looking really hopeful at the possibility of helping Snape get the effects of the potions off of him.