49

Chapter 49 Do I Know You?

Lily was miffed. Girls kept annoying Severus about the fancy dress party. Thinking to score a date with the head boy to get him to cast spells for them? They were so stupid.

Mary stayed with Lily. Until someone at Hogwarts came up with something believable about how Sirius Black got in, then everyone was locking their doors, and at least piling the heaviest piece of furniture they could move in front of it. Sev even thought of how to transfigure stone blocks in their stairwells and in front of doors that were removable with passwords. They were similar to the safe corridor used in the dungeons for Mary when she transformed each month.

The situation with the whole school, except for Dumbledore apparently, concerned about how Sirius Black got in gave Severus a brief guilty misgiving, but overall he was amused over all the conjecture. Perhaps they should be more concerned about He Who Must Not Be Named. Severus had never thought the school was impenetrable, nor did he believe since Dumbledore was here that the Dark Lord was too cowardly to ever enter Scotland. With the Prophet's inability to report the truth, that did not mean the murderous dark wizard was on holiday. However, the newspaper did at least print an editorial about Sirius Black being a murderous thug who should be shown no leniency. He supplied a short piece to Lovegood regarding his views, and a brief rundown of the facts from either Regulus or that Severus would admit to publicly. Black was the perfect example of how the failing justice system allowed further crimes to be committed by individuals that were released solely due to their social standing.

Severus was getting used to MacDonald being around. In a way, he was happier about Lily not taking the closeness between them for granted. It was difficult to say how much he liked it because they were no longer sleeping side-by-side which he actually enjoyed. They were not shagging all over their rooms, but it still happened when they suddenly found themselves alone and able to lock a door.

Mary really did believe that Death Eaters could enter the school. Perhaps they'd wait till the full moon and simply send werewolves to Hogwarts to attack the students, or Black, Potter and Lupin would find it amusing to break into the dungeons and set her loose on the school and break off from their friends to go on their own excursion to find her. Would Black escape this time? What had he been planning? Death Eaters were supposed to wear masks and robes, but perhaps in his overwhelming conceit, Black wanted to make an appearance in all his virile glory. What was he supposed to do? Did he expect Gryffindors to aid him? Did he come for Severus, his brother, or Gryffindors? Or just a random killing and cast the Dark Mark?

Mary suspected she knew how Black meant to get away. That dead animal, which looked like a badger, was a portkey. Everyone remembered seeing it, but it was not found in their common room when they looked for it. It would have taken Black right back to his wife, who'd supply the alibi that he never left her side. Thanks to their preparations for the fancy dress party, Mary knew exactly what polyjuice potion was. They'd come to the false conclusion that someone polyjuiced into Black, got into Hogwarts, killed whoever, cast the Dark Mark, and then disappeared.

In addition to Black's conceit, Dumbledore was showing off his again. He had not learned anything about student safety from secretly harboring a werewolf in a school full of curious students, or where a nearby village could hear him carrying on all night during the full moon. Why didn't he care that Black got into the school? Why would he think Black would be the last one? Was Severus right that Dumbledore was unconcerned because he arranged to let Black in?

Then to shut up Severus whose on to his oddly nonchalant behavior regarding a follower of He Who Must Not Be Names boldly showing off how he can enter Hogwarts, Dumbledore steals Severus's Hufflepuff cup because Severus wanted to undo the evil the Lestranges perpetrated. It was no longer a secret who inherited the Lestrange estate. If the family of the prior owner knew the Lestranges stole it, they could write Severus to ask for it. Though if the Lestranges had it a long time with no one bothering them for it, then they stole it in secret and the rightful owners would have no idea that it was taken by the Lestranges. Who would kill for that cup now that the Lestranges were dead? Severus had not put a photo of it in the newspaper, he had been discreet by asking Prof. Sprout about it. Mary felt that was smart. If it did belong to a Hufflepuff family for generations, asking the current head of Hufflepuff to assist in returning it the rightful owner would keep things quiet. The headmaster could be using it as a candy dish, rather than the valuable heirloom he claimed it to be.

Although Severus was a Slytherin, and could turn nasty when someone like Potter or Black attacked him, Mary felt he was a good person. He was not motivated by saving himself alone, lying, cheating others, and pulling stupid pranks to injure or humiliate others. Severus had saved Mary's life, and showed a great deal of concern keeping her safe if she returned to Hogwarts to finish her education.

Even while being brilliant academically, Mary felt he was a flickering candle when it came to girls and love. Severus was dedicated to his childhood friend, Lily, even though Lily did not treat him particularly well. The only romance Mary saw was back when Severus showered Lily's bed with flowers for Valentine's Day months ago. Severus deserved better than that, and now that he had wealth of his own, he needn't worry about people thinking he was with Mary for her money.

As the three of them made their way to Hogsmeade on Saturday, Mary suggested, "If you need any help selecting some new clothes, Severus, I'd be happy to help you."

"New clothes?" he asked with a puzzled look. He wore his uniform most of the time at school, and had two pairs of trousers without extensive mending, and now had three jumpers that had never been worn by his father.

"Sev's got clothes," Lily snapped, as Severus questioned the necessity.

"I know you've got clothes, Severus, but I thought you might like spending that Lestrange money on something they wouldn't approve of. I mean it's only clothes, so you'd have plenty gold left. They have a vault down at the bottom of the bank?"

"Bottom?" Severus inquired mildly, acting like he knew little. MacDonald had enough money now that she needn't bother him about his.

"I heard the old families that have always had money have a dragon guarding their vaults."

"That's silly," Lily commented. Dragons guarding vaults. And why was Mary bothering Sev about the Lestrange money? When Sev was ready to spend it, he'd tell Lily. For now, it was still a shock that the people who killed his father were actually related to him. Anyone that bothered Sev about it, either got ignored or the full range of Sev's insulting tongue unleashed upon them. Between that and Sirius Black, Severus wasn't in the mood to discuss anything but schoolwork.

"I'm not sure of the extent of their wealth," Severus replied. It was the truth since he never counted those mountains of galleons that topped out over his head. The Lestranges must have been slobs for generations the way everything was piled and thrown in there.

"Well, whenever you feel like you'd like some new clothes, I'd be more than happy to join you, Severus," Mary reassured him.

Lily was pleased that Severus remained silent. How much money could there be? Could Severus now be as wealthy as Black or Potter? Were there wizards wealthier than those two families? Some of the Slytherins acted like they were incredibly wealthy, but Severus had explained that for some it was only an act. If it was a lot of money, Lily was pleased that Severus did not immediately start acting like those two and … go buy a racing broom. If there was a house, what would Severus do with it? Would he really knock it down? Were there Lestrange family heirlooms that he'd desecrate with his half-blood hands? Put his filthy half-blood bum on their furniture? Perhaps Severus should loosen up a little in Slytherin to figure out who was impressed by wealth alone and who was firmly into that pure-blood nonsense to continue snubbing him. Knowing Severus, he was probably a dozen steps ahead of her thoughts.

Remus had gone to visit his parents for the afternoon, but could not bring himself to talk about the purpose of his visit. He was still upset by the Wigtown game, but could not talk about it with James. He also could not talk about it with his parents because they were fawning over him and happy that he was not in Azkaban.

True, Remus was happier now then when he was in Azkaban, but somehow he mistakenly believed being forgiven also meant it would be forgotten. Although he had not been involved with the negotiations or even knew how much money was involved, he didn't think those people would say he was forgiven just for money.

Evans and MacDonald always struck him as having high ideals. Neither of them would be bought out. Remus did not know anything about the other Parkins. Rosier and Wilkes were not injured so might have been easy. He also was not so sure about James's appraisal that Snape would sign for any amount of money. If he waived his right to give MacDonald money, that did not sound like he was looking out for his self-interest.

Now that their physical appearances had been practices and finalized for the fancy dress party, Severus and Lily started on the medusa's victims. The house elves said they would take care of getting the statues into the Great Hall for the party.

Lily had made some generic horrified stone students, but felt her work was lackluster compared to the two seated figures that Severus made. They were … hilarious. And irreverent. A very realistic Prof. Slughorn was solidified in mid-speech with a tea cup in one hand and holding out a triangular hunk of cake with one bite missing in a wide gesture. Lily thought the napkin covering his waistcoast was a nice touch. Prof. Dumbledore was worse with his eyes crossed to examine some piece of candy that he was holding in front of his face with his tongue protruding from his mouth ready to receive it.

Severus stored the statues in his empty closet so no one would see them by accident.

"Ah Dumbledore, there's a matter I'd like to discuss with you in my office."

"Barty," Albus replied, "can it wait till the next time I'm in London?"

"No, I'm afraid it cannot."

"All right, uh, I hope it won't take long I was expected back at Hogwarts."

"I want to verify this is a misunderstanding … the details supplied are troubling, and not at all like you."

"Me?" Albus replied, raising his eyebrows. What was not like him? He doubted someone bothered Barty about him eating vegetables yesterday.

"Yes, we can talk about it," Barty said, closing his door. "Have a seat."

Barty went behind his immaculate desk and opened a drawer, removing a file. From the file, he removed the clear photo that the office had obtained from the newspaper office. "This cup," he said as he slid the photo across the desk for Dumbledore to identify, "the Prophet reported you said it was donated to the school. Who donated it?"

"Uh … well, that's a bit of a problem. Voldemort wants this cup so I thought it best to let him know I had it."

"So you admit it's not yours?"

"Well … if it's Hufflepuff's cup, it belongs at Hogwarts."

"Why would you think that? It was witnessed to be in the possession of Hepzibah Smith before her death, and was included specifically in her will. I believe it to be truly hers since she claimed to be related to Helga Hufflepuff."

"I agree with those facts," Albus said, trying to figure out where Barty was going with this.

"Therefore, it was not stolen from Hogwarts. The person Hepzibah willed it to is now also deceased, without children, but has relatives. Which of those gave you the cup?"

"Uh, well, it did not reach me that way. It had been found ..."

" … by your head boy, Severus Snape?"

"Yes."

"Yes, I have the transaction document from records. He claims you stole it the day he inherited it. Mr. Snape said that he suspected it was not the Lestranges' property and asked Pomona Sprout for assistance. When you spotted it, you claimed it as yours and took possession of it, and then purposely publicized finding it to lend credibility to your claim. Did you confiscate it from this student?"

"Well, as he correctly thought it never belonged to the Lestranges."

"Except that they had it hidden away all these years."

"Yes."

"You claimed it belonged to Hogwarts?"

"Barty, you have to understand Voldemort wants that cup at any cost."

"Why would publicly claiming its at Hogwarts keep it safe, Dumbledore? Didn't Black just get in there and cause havoc?"

"It may have been a one-time incident."

"See here, Dumbledore. That's an awfully cavalier attitude to take towards the safety of the students. In addition, you cannot steal valuable objects from students."

"It's for Severus's safety."

"I find his plan for returning the cup to the Smiths acceptable. They have a secure vault at Gringotts to store it. Snape also answered my question regarding Slytherin's locket that Hepzibah Smith also included in her will. He says he did not see it, but would dutifully report if a locket is found. He also mentioned he may be interested in purchasing it, rather than returning it to the Smiths."

"A locket?"

"That isn't yours either. You will bring that cup to me."

"Ah... well, that's a bit of a problem, Barty ..." Albus hesitantly started.

"Problem? It will be a problem if it goes to the Wizengamot, Dumbledore. Just give up the cup. You have no claim to it, and you've admitted to me that you took it from a student."

"I thought you did not care for Mr. Snape?"

"That does not equate to me turning a blind eye to whatever crimes you commit, Dumbledore. I refuse to be a party to theft and whatever else you have in mind. Both regarding this cup and the locket, wherever it may be. I think he may be telling the truth that he does not know where the locket is. He was only in that house briefly to take a brief look around. His solicitor was with him, and he also provided a statement regarding that visit," Barty said and verified by looking at the paperwork, "and was asked to bring criminal evidence to this office. That was Snape's purpose to visit that foul cesspit, the cup seems to have been a bonus." Dumbledore must think him an absolute fool to speak against Snape without any concrete evidence now. A seventeen year old potions prodigy that found a simple substitute for unicorn lung and offered it to the public free of charge to save lives?

"Criminal evidence?" Dumbledore repeated.

"Not regarding your theft of the cup, but the plan to murder his father."

"Voldemort left evidence?"

"Dumbledore, He Who Must Not Be Named is not behind every crime. Additionally, you cannot commit crimes by saying it is an attempt to thwart him. I'll expect the cup here tomorrow morning. I'll keep it locked up till the Smiths decide where to safely keep it."

"Uh, Barty, as I was trying to say, I cannot do that."

"You can't or you won't?"

"It was cursed so I destroyed it with fiendfyre."

Barty Crouch's eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. After a slight shake of his head, he clarified as he held up the article from The Daily Prophet, "It says here … if I may quote you, 'this priceless artifact of Hogwarts most beloved founder'. You expect me to believe you decided to destroy something you call a priceless artifact, rather than attempt to remove a curse? You, Albus Dumbledore, can't handle a little curse?" Crouch's tone changed to one of utmost seriousness as he tapped his forefinger on his desk imperatively, "You are to produce this cup. No stories about curses. Or how it got lost. Or your phoenix ate it. I want it here tomorrow or you will face the consequences."

"I cannot, Barty. Do your worst."

"Do my worst? Dumbledore, have you lost your mind?"

"On the contrary. I cannot produce an item that I have destroyed so irrevocably."

"You have overstepped your bounds, Dumbledore. I will supply a statement to the Wizengamot with this case indicating that you have admitted your guilt in stealing this item to me, and that you claim that you destroyed it. With it destroyed, you cannot return it and thereby ask for clemency."

"If that's the way it must be, Barty."

Crouch narrowed his eyes. What was Dumbledore's game? He couldn't possibly expect him to believe it was destroyed? Why did he have to be so maddeningly stubborn? "Very well, Dumbledore, if you insist."

Severus received interesting mail and not just from Xenophilius Lovegood, with an issue of The Quibbler entirely devoted to the Ministry and Wizengamot's travesty of justice. It was not surprising that Magical Law Enforcement and the court had been making grievous decisions since its inception, and the Minister's habit of appointing favorites to the court for any reason but their legal knowledge or wisdom just so they had a place to nap and collect some pay while doing it.

Lily actually read this issue with an open mind, especially with Mary and other girls raving about it.

Barty Crouch Sr's mustache twitched at the sight of the byline 'by Severus Snape'. At least the boy concentrated on the Sirius Black fiasco. His son had mentioned that Black did attack younger boys in the gents' and attacked older girls to rip open their uniforms with Dumbledore's blessing, which led to him moving on to bigger crimes that involved his department, Magical Law Enforcement. Tormenting muggles was brushed aside. Allowed to flee the country after luring fellow unsuspecting students to a known werewolf lair resulting in the death of one witch and the infection of another. It was entirely correct that the Ministry only held Black in custody for hours before releasing him to allow him to leave England and gain asylum in France. Black corresponded with Death Eaters urging them to kill particular muggles on his behalf. Black was suspected of entering England whenever he cared to, since he was the leading suspect in his father's murder because he had been disinherited. The closer for Crouch was the supposition that Black had traveled to Hogwarts to finish the job and murder his younger brother. Barty Jr. slept in that same room with Regulus Black. Although Black still denied he even purposely traveled to Hogwarts, Barty would at least expect Dumbledore to say something, warn him, and most importantly take action. However, he decided to meander about with his nonsensical plans to lure He Who Must Not Be Named and his Death Eaters to Hogwarts with no regard for the safety of the students.

In addition to Severus's goading of the Ministry in The Quibbler, he received a marriage proposal. He looked at the photo and recognized her as a graduated Ravenclaw. The offer from her parents claimed she enjoyed reading and potions, and she was currently studying in St. Petersburg. Would she call him stupid like Lily did?

His solicitor wrote that his case was now scheduled with the Wizengamot. He had received copies of the additional paperwork and included another copy to Severus. Dumbledore claimed he destroyed Hufflepuff's cup, rather than return it. The deposition was taken by Barty Crouch Sr. himself. Was there some loophole to this? Was Dumbledore so foolish to think that Severus actually cared about a cup? No, Severus cared about bringing Dumbledore down. With that in firmly in his mind, he instructed his solicitor to approach the Smith solicitors. If Dumbledore lied, get the cup and push for a steep fine or a prison sentence for lying to Crouch. If he still refused, get financial restitution. Dumbledore said himself that it was a priceless artifact. Place a value on 'priceless', and ask the Smiths for ten percent for Severus because he brought this matter to their attention.

This week also brought an apprenticeship offer, prior to having his NEWT scores. He'd have to look up Potions Master, Damocles Belby, before penning a tentative reply. If Lily insisted on staying in Great Britain, perhaps this would be the only offer he could accept … unless she tore his heart out of his chest and mangled it as she stomped on it. If that was the case, St. Petersburg sounded far away, but it was definitely not someplace he could imagine Lily bumping into him.

Lord Voldemort's minions had brought him information on this Severus Snape. In a way, it seemed like Dumbledore was placing a flashing arrow above the boy's head. But why? What was Dumbledore up to?

Originally, Severus Snape was no one from no place with nothing. He fought. He was a Slytherin picking fights with Gryffindors, and Snape liked ridiculous odds such as four against his one with students in his own year. Even when Dumbledore sanctioned the Gryffindors and punished Snape, he continued to rebel, rather than bide his time as a Slytherin was expected to do. Eventually, the Gryffindors became so uncontrollable they were killing other students. Oh dear, what a mess that must have been for Dumbledore.

Rather than admitting a Slytherin could be right and his Gryffindors could be bad, Dumbledore set the boy to cleaning lavatories at night. Ugh … add to Snape's detractors that he was unpleasant to look at. However, that move led to this highly entertaining article in Witch Weekly. Not just Dumbledore, but Horace Slughorn. Oh my, Lord Voldemort thought in amusement to himself. Hogwarts was certainly swirling round the bowl with this kind of press. Murders and molestation.

Not happy to escape imprisonment, Sirius Black decided to strike … normally, Lord Voldemort would applaud such a move against troublesome muggles, but Black made the error of giving orders to his Death Eaters. He lost three of his best Death Eaters due to Black. Snape's father was killed, but that was hardly an even exchange, and then the most ironic twist of fate gave Snape access to the Lestranges' wealth. The member of the Magical Law Enforcement community sympathetic to the Dark Lord supplied him with a copy of the letter Black sent to his cousin Bellatrix.

And now, the thing that actually caused Lord Voldemort to laugh aloud was Snape accused Dumbledore of stealing Hufflepuff's cup the day he inherited it. The case was going before the Wizengamot. His man in the Ministry had copies of all this too. Dumbledore claimed he destroyed it. Did he realize what it was? Or was he being a stubborn old goat and refusing to part with it?

Severus Snape's OWL scores were good. Not as good as his, but definitely an improvement over the scores of most of his Death Eaters. He also was head boy. Dumbledore probably arranged that to bring further attention to him.

If this boy knew how to do one thing, it was how to make enemies and he had excellent taste. Albus Dumbledore, Horace Slughorn, and the Ministry. Sirius Black was no longer an issue, unless he became the first wizard to break out of Azkaban.

Dumbledore certainly was not thinking of the 'greater good' when he set up this annoying teen as a target. Unicorn lung substitute with … so simple. It worked? Heck, the Dark Lord would fund this prodigy finding the thirteenth use for dragon blood. That ought to stick so squarely in Dumbledore's craw that he'd choke on it.

The nerve of Albus Dumbledore thinking Lord Voldemort was so simple-minded that he'd take care of his enemy's enemy for him. No one outplots the heir of Salazar Slytherin himself!

Hm, he should create another horcrux, in case the cup really was destroyed.

At last the fancy dress party was here. Severus was relieved since after tonight or tomorrow, it should no longer be a topic of discussion and they could get back to working on schoolwork. Unless Lily went into Christmas mode.

Once Severus saw Perseus the way Lily wanted him, he sneered. His hair was short, medium brown and sticking up and out, and Lily gave him sideburns. The limbs looked nothing like his real ones, and Severus did not have curly chest hair. Lily had transformed his body into some quasi-animal thing. At least she was good at mimicking a self-absorbed idiot as she used the mirrored side of her shield to keep ruffling her hair or his hair. Nah, it was her hair.

At least his transformation of Lily into a bestial display was intentional and agreed upon in advance.

Andromeda was radiant, while helpless. Gryffindors might be breaking character all evening to save her before Perseus.

They had decided beforehand that Perseus and Andromeda would go to the party as a couple with Medusa arriving separately. They even changed the appearance of their wands. In case anyone was paying attention to that. Lily had her supply of polyjuice in a skin, along with a sword, a pouch for whatever notes Lily needed to make to win, a sling and a pouch for the stones to sling.

In addition to the Slytherin court of King Arthur, it looked like at least a dozen other Merlins were attending the party. There were a lot of Godric Gryffindors boasting to each other, Salazar Slytherins steepling their fingers in front of their faces, Rowena Ravenclaws carrying books, and Helga Hufflepuffs carrying various things from the kitchen.

Their statues had made it to the party, and the stone Dumbledore and stone Slughorn were keeping each other company at a fully set table for two. The stone Hagrid that he had produced yesterday was on the other side of the room. Rather than looking horrified like Lily's students, it appeared he was leaning down to get a better look at his curious demise.

He joined Lily and Mary briefly to trade observations. Lily was excited that many of the younger students were in attendance and warned them all not to guess those too early. Since one of the rules of the party was that characters needed to introduce themselves, Severus pointed out that Flora MacDonald was probably Prof. McGonagall. It was difficult to talk with the ridiculous tongue he gave Medusa, but his voice was pitched seductively low by the potion he was using. Lily's was quite the opposite. She had a brash voice that would have fit any of the Godrics.

Severus moved away from the two of them after he saw some other figures taking their own notes. He hardly had to introduce himself as Medusa, but met two Aphrodites. One of the Salazar Slytherins tried to flirt with him which gave him the wicked idea of flirting with some of the male-appearing attendees later when the game got serious.

There were some vague rules they were given about guessing and that there would be some sort of magical tote board for correct and wrong guesses made and received. That board would not appear till later in the evening to give everyone who arrived later a fair chance.

It did not take long to zero in on a suspicious group, and Severus quickly guessed correctly that the ancient bard with mandolin and bright red curly toed shoes who was popping a lemon candy into his mouth was Albus Dumbledore, Jack was Silvanus Kettleburn and his giant friend was Rubeus Hagrid. He suspected the fourth member of their party was Slughorn, but he was not currently eating or talking about anyone in foreign lands, so Severus did not guess him.

In response, Dumbledore deduced, "Miss Medusa is excellent at Transfiguration, and did an excellent job on these charms. I'm going to have to give this some thought."

Severus knew he would since there were a number of fifth year and NEWT level students who may be able to pull this off. It was also possible that Perseus or Andromeda was the one who did most of the work. When he passed them, he found he could not tell them who he guessed correctly. He circumvented that by telling them that the old bard loved his lemon candy, and Jack worked with magical creatures and his giant was really that height. They understood his clues and decided that after those, they might want to stick together so all three could get credit for correct guesses, or spread out the wrong guesses between the three of them.

After circulating and making some educated guesses, including correctly identifying Flora MacDonald as Prof. McGonagall to which she looked at the three of them suspiciously then asked Perseus if he was Severus Snape. She did not guess the ladies based on Perseus telling her she was mistaken. That was interesting. Severus surmised that knowing anyone that did not guess Mary MacDonald might include the real Mary MacDonald in their group, she assumed the group of one male and two females to be the three companions. The male was naturally Severus Snape, and then it would be guessing which of the girls was Andromeda and which was Medusa. They might stand a good shot of placing well in the contest since no one had correctly identified them.

Alas, when the tote board finally appeared, it looked like either people were heavily identified or not identified at all. Those with a lot of incorrect guesses when compared to correct ones were no longer allowed to guess, but could still participate in the contest if no one was identifying them. Everyone was welcome to stay, enjoy the party, and wait till the more sophisticated costumes or groups were asked to do something in character.

Both Severus and Mary started flirting with the men, while Lily offered to rescue any woman in need of it. Severus boldly whispered an inquiry if anything turned to stone at the sight of her into several ears.

The board was divided by house, and it looked like Slytherin was leading with the most unidentified. They were doing all right with guessing, but all four houses appeared equally matched. Severus figured that they would know their acquaintances' mannerisms best.

When the skit or performance portion was announced, that got costumed groups together that none of them realized were a group. Was each group of the four founders from one house, or did they politically ally themselves with an individual from each house?

Severus was worried. Out of the decent costume groups left, there's was the only one with one male and two females. There had been more guesses starting with Perseus, but every one had been incorrect. Not all guessed Severus Snape either. Someone guessed Perseus was Prof. Flitwick. One started with Medusa and guessed Mary MacDonald. Mary studied that individual's costume carefully to pay that twit back later.

They were organizing this part into some sort of showdown. Dumbledore was doing some magic to make sure that everyone who had not been correctly guessed more than two times was present in the performance area.

The assemblage was then presented with an abbreviated list of students. Severus was hopeful the pair of two girls would receive votes as Evans and MacDonald, while the lone males got votes as Severus Snape.

At this stage, everyone still standing was asked to guess on each person left. They would not overhear the guesses of others, and they would have the tote board appear differently to them based on their individual responses.

The founder groups were invited to display their acting skills first. Severus studied them to see if they even displayed something nice about the founder they were portraying. Hufflepuffs waving rolling pins in the air were probably not Hufflepuffs. The pouting Slytherins who claimed everyone hated them before they flounced away never to be seen again were not Slytherins. The Ravenclaws who read while Gryffindor and Slytherin fought besides them were not Ravenclaws. However, the Gryffindor that mooned Slytherin may be a real Gryffindor. It was a gamble, but seeing no true Slytherins, Severus guessed any house but Slytherin and got some correct.

Merlin was more difficult, and the one Merlin stayed with the Knights of the Round Table, and another stayed with a young King Arthur. Severus counted up how many were in the Camelot group and compared it with the number of Slytherins left minus him. It was doubtful any Merlin was Slytherin so he guessed at males from other houses based on magic shown and skill of their disguise.

Young King Arthur gave a hideously toothy grin, so he guessed Lockhart with his Merlin being his unidentified roommate. Both were correct.

He spent the time during the Camelot presentation studying their facial movement and gestures. He picked out Crouch when he stuck his tongue out. Out of the eight of them, Severus got six correct.

There was not a category on the board to tell how many times his name had been used as an incorrect guess. He only knew when someone did not know who he was.

He still had a lot unidentified, but took a lucky guess with Hades and Demeter. He had caught them snogging in the corridor this past week.

Severus also picked up a lot of points among the Gryffindors by guessing they were heroes like Lily.

They had been warned in advance about this presentation, but were prepared. Andromeda went first, screaming in terror about her situation chained to the rock, and then Perseus rushed over, saved her and then got into a major groping session as they celebrated. When they were asked to break it up, Perseus quipped, "I am going to marry her. Don't you dolts read?"

For Perseus and Medusa, it would be easier for Severus to undo his own transfiguration, rather than reversing Lily's so as Perseus made his speech about who he was and how terrible the Medusa was, he backed slowly towards Medusa, using the mirrored side of his shield to find her, then turned it over and put it over his face. Medusa was transfigured into stone, and then returned to her flesh form and took a small bow, while Perseus clasped his hands over his head and shook them back and forth in victory.

A couple people corrected them by mentioning that Medusa's head was cut off by Perseus. Severus did not know a spell to reattach decapitated heads, or at least one that would result in a living subject.

No one guessed him correctly, and he could not overhear how it went for the witches. Dumbledore asked if he was Minerva. Severus felt Prof. McGonagall would have done a more spectacular job than him, and actually felt insulted on her behalf since he did not consider Transfiguration to be one of his strongest subjects.

He looked in the direction of Flora MacDonald and realized that his disguised wand looked just like hers. That was an educated guess … but wrong.

When the presentations were over the true scores were revealed. Two people had guessed Mary MacDonald correctly. Lily and he were still at zero.

The adult staff gathered together to discuss the number of unidentified students.

Dumbledore announced, "Well, we have some students who took this challenge seriously. Let's see I offered a prize to the one who was the last to be 'unmasked' as it were. I think all the students remaining will receive five points each for their house." Severus frowned. He would not have identified any Slytherins if he had known that. In fact, there was a bunch of grumbling now about this rule change. "We also have quite a few students who identified a lot of their classmates. How about one point for their house for everyone they got correct … and so far, it looks like whoever Severus Snape is, he is in the lead at uncovering real identities, so very good Slytherin. Though don't think we're through with the lot of you that are still presenting a mystery to us. Let's see … this needs to be challenging because there's a lot of other students still itching to earn points for their house. All right how about you all line up here."

Severus purposely sauntered over while Lily marched maniacally in her sandals.

"Hm, there's still over twenty of you. All right, so we have some thought going into this rather than a free for all, here's what's going to happen. You lot up here don't get to vote. Everyone else, we are going to gradually eliminate this group but if you guess incorrectly, you have no more chances. You only get multiple chances if you are correct. So if you have no clue, you may want to wait. And let's see, who gets to stay in this group? I'll think I'll have to play that by ear for now, so bear with me."

"Who do you think we should try to uncover first … King Arthur?"

The eliminated Lockhart chose Sir Lancelot from the rival King Arthur's court. Severus had not shared with Lily or Mary that the large Camelot group was formed in Slytherin, so Mary was in the dark. However, looking at the remaining Slytherins, it was possible it was Malcolm Wilkes. That might be why Severus got him wrong since he seemed chummy with Guinevere.

One by one, Dumbledore went down the list of remaining students. A couple people raised their hands thinking it was Severus Snape. Mary raised her hand for Wilkes who was the last alphabetically. She squealed her delight at finding she was correct. Since Wilkes had not guessed Andromeda correctly, he was intrigued, especially by the jiggle of the excited Andromeda's bounces. Many others had not guessed on Sir Lancelot at all so were also still in the game.

"Sir Lancelot, would you like to choose our next contestant?"

"Yes, young Perseus there."

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed and went down the list of students for Perseus. None guessed correctly since Mary kept her hands down. About a dozen were eliminated guessing Severus Snape.

"Perseus, is there someone you'd like us to focus on?"

"Merlin."

Merlin and the next few were eliminated before it was Medusa's turn. Again, Mary did not vote, but had picked up a couple points for Gryffindor since guessing Wilkes. Knowing that Perseus was not Severus Snape, he received no votes for Lily, but eliminated a lot of the remaining guessers since they chose the only remaining female student from Hufflepuff. Someone else was dressed as the other gender. Medusa stared at Andromeda, but was not sure she understood.

Medusa chose the remaining Godric Gryffindor.

Three passed this round. Perseus, Medusa, and the Venerable Bede. That should make it simple for Mary if they went another time around.

The staff talked among themselves, and Dumbledore said, "Well, I'm going to give each of you twenty points each for surviving that. Now uh …" he stood in front of the Venerable Bede and said, "I'm a huge fan of yours, and it's a pleasure to meet you. You're Severus Snape?"

"No, my name's Bede," was the rough-throated reply.

"I meant really," Dumbledore prompted Bede.

"You are incorrect. Please sit down, and let someone else play."

"Miss Evans?" When Bede continued looking into space, Dumbledore repeated, "Are you Miss Evans, Venerable Bede?"

"Do I look like a Miss Evans?"

"I'm not sure."

"Get your glasses fixed. Now begone you lewd rustic. I have weighty matters to think upon."

"Antoinette Summerby?"

"Well spotted, headmaster. Were you just jumping around the list till you were right?"

"So wait, you … so Miss Evans is Perseus and Mr. Snape is Medusa?"

Both of them shared a suffering look with Bede.

Still trying to rationalize the correct answers, Dumbledore asked, "The three of you switched genders?"

"What's beneath a man's robe is his own business," Bede sagely commented.

There was still more party going on, and Andromeda was delighted that Sir Lancelot asked her to dance.