Where Do You Go After Hogwarts?

The Birds of a Feather Series:

An astonishing number of Potter fans — unless you mostly hang out with Snape fans, then you won’t be astonished at all — are firmly of the opinion that Severus Snape got a very raw deal from his creator.

Considering that by the conclusion of the story arc the whole universe seemed willing to warp around Harry Potter in order to hand him the answers to questions that it never occurred to him to ask until it was practically too late, and to ensure that he would just happen to be in just the right place at just the right time, with just the right piece of information to fulfill Albus’s master plan, it's hard to disagree.

Especially when — as early as Book 2 — that universe declared that Harry Potter would be spared from death solely because of his loyalty to Albus Dumbledore, while Severus Snape — who was loyal to Albus to the very end, just… wasn’t.

It really doesn’t seem very fair, does it?

It lacks consistency. It lacks symmetry. It smacks of favoritism.

Well, that’s the thing about creating characters, and putting them in stories, and turning them loose for the world to read. Sometimes they get away from you and go off and have adventures of their own.

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Voyage #1:

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Given his response to Harry’s encounter with a basilisk, It’s safe to conclude that Fawkes might have had something to say about going off and leaving Headmaster Snape to die alone in the Shrieking Shack. He wouldn't stand for that for a moment.

True, he does miss his Albus. But Albus is gone now, and he thinks it’s time he adopted another wizard

Fawkes doesn't understand why more phoenixes don't adopt wizards. Wizards can be so entertaining.

Voyage #2:

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The crew of Knight Boat #6 consists of; Captain Clark, his First Mate, Katfish, Seabiscuit, the Cook, and Security Officer Solomon Slade.

Additional permanent members of the company are Cosmo, the ship’s kneazle, Mavis, the Captain’s parrot. and Mr Slade’s companion, Fawkes.

Yes, that Fawkes.

The Knight Boat picked up Mr Slade and his phoenix companion one morning early in May of 1998. Mr Slade was in very bad shape. However, he almost immediately made his way into the Captain’s good graces by ridding the ship of a troublesome lot of doxies which had infested the hold for far too long.

Besides, any man who has a phoenix that follows him around is bound to be a good man to have aboard.

In fact, Mr Slade proved to be a very good man to have aboard after the ship picked up a quartet of would-be pirates a few weeks later. (That adventure is recounted in ‘Birds of a Feather: Voyage No. 1’.)

Now, some months later, the ship has been called upon for assistance in a family matter. Katfish’s sister Angie, an Agent in the American equivalent of the DMLE, has sent her brother a call for help after she and her partner had a run in with something unknown and highly dangerous lurking in the swamps in the vicinity of their old alma mater, The Bayou Academy of Magical Arts.

Captain Clark thought that Katfish could probably do with Mr Slade's assistance.

Not to mention that of Fawkes.

Voyage #3:

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Security Officer Solomon Slade is adapting well to the life of an active seaman. His health has improved, he is gradually unlearning a number of bad mental habits. And he has friends. People that he likes. But recovery is slow, and now he is being plagued by disturbing dreams of his former life. Dreams that are all the more disturbing because they are so unaccountably pleasant.

Meanwhile, back in Britain, Lucius Malfoy is trying very hard to restore his family’s damaged reputation. To this end, he is sponsoring a charity ball, to be held on New Year’s Eve, at Hogwarts. It is a masquerade ball, so he suggests that it ought to be possible for his school friend, the former Headmaster, to attend, incognito.

And in the background, Rita Skeeter, Celestina Warbeck, and a new band made up of of former Slytherins (and one Ravenclaw) calling themselves Parselmouth, are determined upon turning the late Professor Snape into a cultural icon.