HIGHLY IMPROBABLE


Chapter 6: A Note of Disappointment


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One good night's sleep was all it took to convince Clancy to consider Dumbledore's offer seriously. She had been looking for a change. From what she'd observed during the last day, Hogwarts was about as different from Pasadena as any place could be.

Again, she slept late, and a breakfast tray awaited her on her bedside table. There were muffins and eggs as before, but in place of tea, Clancy found a silver goblet filled with a thick, stringy, orange-colored beverage. Curious, she tasted it. It was like drinking pumpkin pie! She happily consumed the rest of the drink, before turning her attention to the food.

Finished with breakfast, Clancy dressed, deciding to go to Professor Dumbledore's office to ask him a few more questions. As she opened the door to her room, she nearly collided with the wizard, who was standing with his arm upraised to knock.

"Good morning, Clancy," Dumbledore greeted her.

"Good morning," she replied, mystified. "Are you seeing into my thoughts now? Did you know I was on my way to visit you?"

Dumbledore laughed. "Pure coincidence, I assure you. Will you come with me, please? There's something I'm very keen to show you."

Clancy followed him down to the Great Hall, then through a door behind the High Table, and along a corridor until they reached the staff room. It was vacant, as classes were in session. Dumbledore led her to another room nearby. "This will be your classroom if you consent to stay on and teach here," he explained, ushering her in. "The acoustics are excellent. Would you care to try them out?"

Clancy trilled a rather hesitant solfege. The acoustics were, indeed, top notch.

"In the Great Hall the acoustics are even better," Dumbledore assured her. "That is where choir performances will take place. If you'll step over here," he said, taking her arm and guiding her to the far side of the room, "this is what I've been so eager to show you."

They stopped in front of a concert grand piano. "I transfigured this for you last night. It's enchanted to play anything you command, or it can be played manually, if you prefer. All you need do is depress the key in which you would like the tune to be played, and speak aloud the name of the song. Then, say 'Colo Porterus'! The piano will do the rest. It will play night and day. Isn't that delightful?"

"De-lovely," Clancy marveled.

Professor Dumbledore beamed. "Have you any questions?"

"What types of songs would I be teaching?" she asked.

"Oh, anything and everything. We like a mixture of traditional and popular, Muggle or Wizarding music. Surprise us. The school library has a vast archive of sheet music and choral arrangements. Our librarian, Madam Pince, will help you find what you need. Have you had enough time to make a decision?" Professor Dumbledore pressed.

Clancy hiccupped.

"Was that a 'yes', or did you drink your pumpkin juice too quickly?"

She hiccupped again, much louder.

"Excellent! The matter's settled, then. You can begin at once. The choir will be voluntary, with practice held after hours. You'll have your days free to plan lessons, work on musical arrangements, or to do whatever else you feel is necessary. You may visit any of the classrooms to observe lessons. The staff will be happy to accommodate you. The sooner you become accustomed to our ways, the better. Now, I must leave you. I'll check back with you later, to see how you're getting along." Without giving Clancy the opportunity to hiccup for a third time, Dumbledore disappeared down the corridor.

Taking a seat at the piano, Clancy reflected upon what she'd just done. Of all the times to get the hiccups! What must Professor Dumbledore think of her? It might have been the pumpkin juice, or a simple case of nerves, but why did she have to hiccup at that precise moment? She felt a complete fool.

The piano that Professor Dumbledore had transfigured and charmed especially for her was most impressive. Clancy tried to trick it by naming incredibly obscure tunes, but each time the piano played the song effortlessly. And such tone! This was one of the finest pianos she had ever heard.

The magical instrument continued to fascinate her for the better part of the morning. At length, Clancy decided it was time to tackle some of those elusive high notes, the ones Aunt Hilly had begged her so often to improve. After a few warming up exercises, Clancy instructed the piano to play "You Are Love" from Showboat. That song had been her undoing for as long as she could remember.

Facing the piano, deep in concentration, Clancy did not notice the man in black hovering in the doorway. She began to sing. All went well until the high note in the last chorus. "You are love, wonder of all the world," she sang. "Where you go with me, heaven will al--"

Her voice cracked, dreadfully, in the exact place it always had. Instead of improving that frightful note, the acoustics in the room only served to amplify its shrillness. This time, she even scared herself!

Disgusted, Clancy turned away from the piano, noticing for the first time, the man brooding in the doorway. She recognized him as the repulsive, agitated man she'd seen in the Great Hall at the banquet. She assumed he must be a Hogwarts teacher.

"Hello," she said, with a friendly smile. She advanced a few paces toward him. "I didn't see you standing there. I was singing."

"Oh. Is that what made the ghastly noise?" he asked dryly. "I thought, perhaps, Professor Sprout had left some unpotted Mandrakes lying about, or possibly a stray Fwooper bird had flown in the window."

Clancy's acerbic critic surveyed the room with a contemptuous expression, and then withdrew before she could reply. She didn't understand his reference to mandrakes or birds, but she was aware that she had just been roundly insulted.

Seconds later, Dumbledore returned. "Getting along all right, Clancy?" he inquired.

"Professor Dumbledore--"

"Albus, Clancy," he reminded her. "We only address each other formally in front of the students."

"Albus," she corrected herself, "who was that man who was just here?"

Professor Dumbledore searched her eyes before he began to speak. "That, my dear Clancy, was...Severus Snape."

A sensation of nausea began to swell in her throat. Clancy staggered backwards to steady herself against the piano. "Is...that was...you mean, he - " she stammered.

"Yes. Tact has never been Severus' strong suit, I'm afraid. I should have warned you. I believe he's on his way to the staff room. I may as well introduce you two properly, now."

Berating herself silently, Clancy followed Professor Dumbledore to the staff room. What had she done? She'd traveled thousands of miles by plane, train, and boat only to be hoodwinked by a crafty old wizard into accepting a teaching position. All for what? To indulge her idiotic, romantic fantasy of the perfect man? What could have transformed the innocent young boy in the photograph into the twisted man that she'd just seen? Severus must have some admirable qualities she had yet to discover; she would have to dig deeper.

Escorting her into the staff room, Professor Dumbledore introduced Clancy to the teachers who were present. Professors Flitwick and Lockhart gave her cheery waves from across the room. Clancy had brief conversations with Madam Hooch and Professor Sprout, whom she particularly liked. Pomona Sprout's laughter and warm personality reminded her of Aunt Hilly.

Finally, Dumbledore led Clancy to where Severus Snape was standing. He introduced them. Snape was distant, greeting her with forced politeness. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Norgard," he said, with no hint of welcome in his voice. "I hope you have a pleasant holiday - before you return to wherever it is you belong."

"Miss Norgard has consented to join our staff as Choir Director," Dumbledore explained. "You are to be colleagues. I trust, Severus, that you will extend to her the same courtesies as the rest of the Hogwarts staff, and do your best to make her feel welcome here."

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape muttered deferentially to Dumbledore. Looking directly at Clancy, he added, "I intend to be the same bubbling font of congeniality as always. Now, if you both will excuse me." He turned away to stalk across the room toward Professor Flitwick. Dumbledore directed Clancy to a nearby table for a soothing cup of tea.

"An elegant pair of legs on that Muggle, don't you think, Severus?" Professor Flitwick queried, as Snape took a seat beside him.

"I'm afraid we see things from an entirely different perspective," Snape replied curtly.

"Well, really, dear fellow!" Flitwick huffed, offended.

"I was speaking of viewpoint, Filius, not eye level," Snape clarified.

Professor Dumbledore went to speak with a teacher, leaving Clancy alone to contemplate her predicament. Surely, Dumbledore wouldn't hold her to an agreement obtained by means of an ill-timed hiccup! And, as for digging deeper into the enigma of Severus Snape, she wasn't sure she wanted to make the effort, after these first two unpleasant encounters.

Her initial impression of Snape was that he possessed a sharp wit, tarnished by the desire to home in on the weak points of his intended victim. Once the target was identified, Snape would attack mercilessly, then withdraw before his prey could parry the blow.

Was this a defense mechanism? Perhaps, anticipating rejection because of his unsightly appearance, Snape felt justified in striking the first blow. But, even his rapier tongue could not fully distract a person from observing his obvious physical deficiencies.

The first thing Clancy noticed was the pasty, blanched complexion. After that, there was the nose: Wherever had that come from? Aunt Hilly's nose had been petite. Snape's teeth, uneven and yellowed, wouldn't win any prizes, either. And, what of his hair and eyes? The hair was shoulder length, limp and oily. Parted down the middle, it made his hooked nose appear even more prominent. His eyes were remote and decidedly unfriendly.

Clancy wasn't one to judge a person solely on physical attributes. She could have seen past those defects easily, were it not for Snape's sarcasm and brusque manner. She remembered Aunt Hilly saying that Severus' life had been unhappy. Dumbledore, too, had alluded to dark periods in the man's past. Perhaps she was being too harsh, Clancy chided herself.

But, then, there was Snape's voice - that insufferable VOICE! It was by far the worst Clancy had ever heard: raspy, hissing, barely audible at times. His voice sounded like air escaping from a leaky tire with overtones of a sputtering lawn sprinkler. A sexy voice was the one thing that could make a man appealing enough to conceal his other flaws, and about this, Clancy was certain: Severus Snape most definitely did not possess that saving grace.