White Heather for Protection

Trouble in the Skies

Mind racing, Severus Snape stalked quickly to his personal quarters on his newly healed leg. He was no state to see any of his irritating students right then. Not that he ever wanted to see any of them, but as it was now, he wouldn't be able to muster the self-control to refrain from strangling them.

First, a cup of hot tea. He needed to settle himself. His mind was in disarray, occlumentic training be damned. He did not want to decimate his living room – all his precious tomes were in here.

Steaming mug of chamomile infusion in hand, he allowed the scent to soothe his rattled nerves. It worked rapidly. Obviously – it was his personal blend. Now that his mind was clear, he could think.

Lily's daughter- no. The girl- no. Potter-, no, just no, Lyra -, Heather Lyra. Yes, Heather Lyra. It seemed that with every thing he learnt about her, he got more confused. He hated the feeling.

Wordless, wandless magic? No, surely it was her wand peeking out from her sleeve? That still left nonverbal magic. That was taught in sixth year. It required a considerable amount of practice and discipline to perform. Both of which were not entirely impossible for Heather Lyra. Her stellar marks in all her subjects, even History, attested to that. It was still remarkably advanced, however.

Certainly, it could very well have been accidental magic. Much more plausible considering her age. Her emotional state could have led to her magic reacting autonomously. That it resulted in a flawless healing spell – extremely rare for instinctive accidental outbursts – could have simply been a testament to her knowledge of Medimagic.

But, no, Severus knew better. Heather Lyra was powerful. Very powerful. The only thing her emotional turmoil had done was make her less vigilant about showing her power. She hadn't been shocked. Hadn't noticed anything unusual about casting nonverbally.

He had inspected the troll after everyone had left. She had been honest about her use of the blasting and exploding curses – the cracked skull was proof enough. The binding spell though, was more than it seemed. It did appear like Incarcerous, yet there had been a tight layer of magic – not inherent in a classic Incarcerous – woven into the spell. What that said about her abilities, Severus need more time to puzzle out.

He considered everything he knew about Heather Lyra.

Foremost was her overwhelming protectiveness of her brother. The mangled troll had found that out first-hand, though it wasn't the only example of this. She asked about his Potions progress every chance she got. She watched over him at every meal. Then there was that new bracelet the boy sported. The one imbued with enough protective runes to give even a vampire pause. Bathsheda had marvelled at Heather Lyra's talent with Runes. According to her, the work done on the jewellery had been highly intricate for a student.

Which brought to mind the next point. She was a model student. Top performance in all her classes. All the other teachers adored her. Not a day of detention served or a single class missed.

In contrast, Heather Lyra's social life left much to be desired. Like all of his snakes, she was detested by the school at large. Ravenclaws were jealous of her superior intellect. Hufflepuffs were intimidated by her reputation. Gryffindors just plain hated her. However, even her fellow Slytherins avoided her, tolerating her at best for her seeker abilities. The only friends she seemed to have were those dratted Weasley twins. She appeared to share some camaraderie with Granger and Longbottom, but even Weasley Jr was averse to her presence – though it had diminished marginally since Hallowe'en.

She never appeared bothered by the hostility or enmity. Slurs, whispered or shouted, simply bounced right off her. She was perfectly polite in return, coldly dismissing them in a flawless display of superior pureblood breeding – nevermind that she had been raised by muggles. The consummate Slytherin. The only exception was when kith or kin were targeted. Severus remembered a certain incident with one Rhianna Rowle. Miss Rowle had steadfastly refused to speak of what Heather Lyra had done to her – or speak at all, for a fortnight – for insulting Lily.