9 Chapter 9: Portkey

After pacing the floor for a few moments, Severus finally found himself in front of the main offices. To the left is marked on a brass bar "DCMI Director Caspar Crouch."

Suddenly Severus was alarmed to hear that last name, he was struck by a wave of anxiety. He was about to meet with the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, who was none other than the grandfather of probably one of the most despicable and insane future death eaters of all, Bartemius Crouch Jr, the future death eater who contributed to Voldemort's resurrection, although he was now just one of his housemates a year younger in Slytherin who aspired to be a death eater, despite his father being the head of the Department of Magical Security, someone who was known to despise the dark arts and all who practiced them; He had forged a reputation in the magical community for fighting dark wizards ruthlessly, exhibiting the same degree of cruelty and brutality as his enemies.

Before Severus no doubt hated Bartemius Crouch Jr's father, as he represented everything he hated most, he was one of the leaders in the war against the Dark Lord who hated the dark arts and judged anyone who used them, but now he has some respect for the man because he was no doubt striving to fight the death eaters at this time, but he did not realize that his own son was becoming one behind his back, Mr. Bartemius Crouch's future is rather sad as well.

Now, knowing that Mr. Bartemius Crouch's father is the head of DCMI was quite a surprise, Severus had never gone abroad or anything like that so he never felt the need to know who the heads of this department were.

"Mmmmm I just hope the man is more supportive of his son's ideals than his grandson's, because if not it will be hard to keep the fact that I'm going to the USA hidden from death eaters for long, sadly I don't have any kind of information about the man," Severus thought to himself.

Severus never liked Bartemius Crouch Jr, so he never used to talk to him, what little he knew of him was from his fellow Slytherins in common or from his knowledge of future events in this world that he is involved in.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he began to dread the idea that the man might be a Death Eater, and out there he reported this to the inner circle of purebloods who support Voldemort.

Severus shook himself and said to himself "I can't let myself panic, I have to do this and hope that he is not a follower of the Dark Lord, if he is, I will just have to hurry my trip to the USA before they can get suspicious or plan something to make me stay."

He knocked on the door three times.

On the third knock, he swung in.

He could swear he had never seen so many paper airplanes, not even in elevators.

Director Caspar Crouch sat quietly going through the paperwork bit by bit, despite the sheer volume.

No doubt the war had made things difficult for the man.

He looked up and returned his focus to the page in front of him.

"Sit down."

Severus sat down.

A minute later he set the paper aside. "Mr. Snape. I understand you asked permission to have a portkey delivered overseas with the address of the Salem Witches' Institute in Massachusetts USA, is that not so?" He removed his monocle and fixed me with his gaze. "I'm going to need some voucher verifying your request for a transferor to this Institution.

"This is the letter of acceptance to the Institution's SCoP run program, if it is not sufficient I am sure you can contact the Salem Witches Institute liaison to verify my attendance at the SCoP summer program and validate my permission."

He sighed and began polishing his glasses and then looked carefully at the seal on the letter delivered by Severus. "That won't be necessary, the stamp on the letter is proof enough that it is a genuine note. You have my permission to receive the portkey Mr. Snape, you may proceed to the Department of Transportation, they will take care of delivering a Ministry authorized and regulated transfer to you."

He handed Severus a permit.

Severus nodded, took the permit, and thanked "I understand, thank you for your time."

Severus was delighted and relieved to see that the man didn't seem to care about him or his trip to the USA, which was a good thing since he either wasn't part of the death eaters or he just didn't hear them talking about him, so he wouldn't be ratted out at least until before he left.

It was thus that Severus after first passing through the Ministry of Magic went to the fifth level where the Department of International Magical Cooperation was located, which is responsible for communicating with the liaison of the Salem Witch Institute to confirm his attendance at the SCoP summer program and at the same time receive permission from the Director of DCMI to obtain a shuttle that allows him to go safely and directly to the Institute in the USA.

After the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation confirmed Severus' attendance at the SCoP summer program at the Salem Witches' Institute, he referred him to the Department of Magical Transportation on the sixth level of the Ministry of Magic for a legitimate, Ministry-sanctioned shuttle, This department is responsible for various aspects of magical transportation throughout Britain, one of its offices is the one Severus was referred to, the Portkeys Office which is responsible for regulating and authorizing the objects that become portkeys as well as the network in which they are used.

Department of Magical Transportation, Portkeys Office.

Severus slid easily into the chair across from the stern-looking witch with black glasses.

"You must be Mr. Snape," the witch commented, looking at him over the top of her glasses.

"Yes, I am Severus Snape," he confirmed and began to explain. "I come to request a...".

"Mr. Snape." By now, the witch seemed slightly irritated for some reason. "I assure you, I know very well what I am requesting."

"Correct." Severus nodded and showed nothing but his usual cold and dark expression, but inside he was surprised at how irritable the woman seemed, he didn't understand why this could be, thinking of something he ended up saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I hadn't had a chance to introduce myself," she said dryly. "I'm Rebecca Bones. I report to Headmaster Denis Edgecombe, who is, as I hope you know, the Director of the Department of Magical Transportation."

Severus could tell from Rebecca's tone that she wasn't too impressed with him for some reason unknown to him, he only knew Amelia Bones who was from his year at Ravenclaw, he only knew that she had a brother who was part of the Order of the Phoenix at this time, maybe Rebecca is his wife, but why would she hold a grudge against him, Severus had no relationship with Amelia Bones or anyone in her family. Maybe it was just because he was a Slytherin who usually spent time with wannabe death eaters.

"I see, nice to meet you Miss Bones," he said, injecting as much friendliness as he could into his typically gravelly, cold voice. "I don't often come to the ministry, so I didn't know much about the principals, I appreciate you filling me in."

"Let's get on with what concerns us, Mr. Snape." Rebecca's tone was frankly icy now, she didn't seem to like young Severus one bit.

"Sure, let's get on with it," Severus said trying to keep his tone calm, even though he was becoming irritated by the woman's rude behavior in front of him. Severus handed her the permission slip given to him by the DCMI director, then sat down and waited for her to look it over.

"Hmmm." He watched as her eyes moved quickly over the permit. " TCH, Looks like it's all in order," Severus thought he heard her mutter at one point.

"So...?", Severus asked already a bit tired of the woman's behavior, he just wanted to get the Portkey and go.

Rebecca looked at him again, her face an unreadable mask. "Mr. Snape, don't be impatient. You should know that all permission has to be properly validated."

Severus was about to curse, but he calmed himself, cleared his throat, and spoke calmly, he had been through worse things than to let himself be bothered by something so simple "Well, I have a great interest in knowing how it is that a permit given by the DCMI director himself could take so long to be validated, obviously I will consult you later..."

Rebecca looked at him for a few moments, she showed no emotions, but Severus was sure she didn't like his comment, she took out a quill and wrote something. Severus supposed that despite the obvious dislike she had for him, she had no valid reason not to give him the Portkey, so it was safe to say she was just stalling him.

"Very well," she said, scribbling another note. "Here you go, you must sign these papers, and the paperwork would be considered finalized."

"I understand, and when would I be given the Portkey?" Severus took the papers and asked as he read carefully what he signed, lest she wants to play any tricks on him.

"Well, Mr. Snape, once you sign the papers you will obviously be able to pick up the Portkey immediately from our offices." She said this with the air of someone explaining the obvious.

Severus frowned, temporarily perplexed. He knew it was likely that they could give it to him today, but considering the aggressive behavior of the woman, he thought she would try to delay him and waste his time, but no, it seems that her character does not affect his professional work "I see, I would like to know in which specific area around the premises of the Salem Witches Institution would you leave the portkey with me ?. I understand I can't be transferred directly to the Institution and the paperwork doesn't specify the area," she asked.

Rebecca tilted her head slightly, looking a little surprised, as if she expected him not to ask that. "Well, as it is a magical institution, no one cannot be transferred directly due to the protections of the Institution, but there are certain areas where access is given to apparition or portkeys, in these same areas there will be transports that take wizards directly to the Institution."

"Very well, those were all my doubts," Severus said, leaning forward to hand her the papers. "Here you go and thank you for everything Miss Bones."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, but then nodded and took the papers from Severus' hands without a word.

Rebecca Bones took a few moments to look at the papers, but to Severus' delight, the woman seemed not to be looking to delay him any longer, apparently, she was no longer so prejudiced against him, or at least he had managed to leave a modicum of a good impression on her, for in her gaze he could no longer notice the obvious dislike she had for him.

"Well, it's all in order," Rebecca replied. Her expression gave no clues as to what she was thinking, but at least she didn't look irritated.

"Here you go, I must remind you that once the permitted time is up you must turn in the transfer, and in case you lose or break it you must fill out a form explaining what happened in detail. This would terminate your process. Goodbye Mr. Snape," said Rebecca Bones as she handed him an old shoe that was supposed to be the transfer.

Severus knew that portkeys were magical objects enchanted to instantly bring anyone touching it to a specific location and in most cases, a portkey was an everyday object that would not draw the attention of a Muggle, so a shoe was not so strange.

He had never traveled in one, but he heard that traveling by portkey was said to feel like having a hook "somewhere behind the navel" pulling the traveler to their location.

After all the tedious paperwork, Severus finally got the transfer and with nothing else to do in the Ministry, he decided to leave as soon as possible, to avoid running into any of his acquaintances involved in Voldemort's ranks.

Severus left the Ministry feeling considerably more relaxed, luckily he hadn't come across any people who might want to ask him unnecessary questions. His day had just begun but he already felt tired physically and mentally, he blamed this malnourished body and his lack of patience, now he knew he had to start taking better care of his body.

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