บท 161: CHAPTER {179-181}
****THE-MAN-MOST-UNFORTUNATE (II)****
"Fawkes!!" Severus exclaimed in his last-ditch effort to escape the Malfoy Manor. He might have a huge ego, but he could understand when he was screwed. It was a necessary skill to have and thanks to that, he was able to survive as a spy this long, but once again he was disappointed when Fawkes didn't arrive to save his arse.
Lucius and Narcissa looked around worriedly for a bit, but they also quickly realized that nothing was going to happen. "Hmm…" Harry chuckled at the look on Severus' face. "I expected you to do that, so I already made arrangements to stop that blasted songbird from flaming inside the house" Harry revealed mockingly.
Harry knew how the Phoenix Flash worked, so it was pretty easy for him to come up with a means to stop Phoenix Flash, after all, he didn't want either Dumbledore or his feathery friend from popping inside anywhere he didn't want either of them from snooping around.
The look on Severus' face was completely priceless when Harry revealed that. "So, is there anything else you want to try? Go on… I won't stop you" Harry mocked as he stopped putting pressure on Severus, but Severus didn't say anything. He simply kept glaring at Harry venomously.
"Do you even know what is at stake here?" Severus asked, trying to distract him by using another angle. Since he couldn't win against him with power, he decided to use information to make him drop his guard.
"Enlighten me" Harry knew what Severus was trying to do, but he still decided to humor the man. Then an idea popped into his mind. "Wait, don't start" Harry said, stopping Severus from speaking before he turned toward Lucius. "Lucius, why don't you go and bring the others?" Harry requested, but both of them knew that it wasn't a request. It was a straight-up demand.
"Of course" Lucius respectfully bowed his head before leaving the room to finish the task as he knew better than to argue.
"How is Draco faring, Severus?" Narcissa asked with a hint of concern in her voice. The last time they talked, Draco told her about everything and he was quite unhappy that they weren't trying to help him or solve the problem, and Narcissa told him about Harry, he exploded in anger because thanks to Lucius' teachings, he considered Harry to be beneath him.
"He is having a hard time" Severus answered after a few seconds of silence. He wanted to see if Hadrian would try to stop him, but he didn't.
"I see…" Narcissa mumbled before she looked away. With the Dark Lord back and her husband out of his good graces, Draco was in quite a dangerous position, especially with so many Voldemort sympathizers in school. If Voldemort ordered then they would happily turn his life into hell and Albus Bloody Dumbledore won't even lift his finger to help her baby boy.
Then there was the fact that Severus may not survive the night as Harry was completely unpredictable, as he might decide to keep him alive and torment him just for his amusement, which meant that Severus was no longer in a position to protect her son. With that in her mind, Narcissa decided to pull Draco out of Hogwarts and transfer him to Durmstrung. He would be welcomed there with open arms.
Lucius finally returned with Sirius, Andi, Gellert, Jacklyn, and Violetta in tow. After yesterday's passionate speech, Andi and Ted were the first to join. Both of them were aware of the problems in the Wizarding Community, but nobody was doing anything to solve them and while Harry was still very young, he had the power to change everything. Though that wasn't the only reason why the two of them decided to join Harry.
The two of them were tired of the discrimination… Ted would admit himself that he wasn't the best lawyer out there, but he was better than average, but thanks to his blood status, he wasn't hired much. It was the same with Andi too… She was a Pureblood, but she was disowned, so she wasn't as paid as the others for brewing Potions. Thankfully, that changed after Sirius brought her back into the Family.
Though mostly, the two of them joined the Lost Garden to protect their daughter. Tonks has faced a lot of harassment in school, and even though she never talked about it, they could see how it was affecting their daughter. Then Harry had Gellert Grindelwald working for him and for whatever reason, he was back in his prime. If Grindelwald was working for him, then they guessed that Harry must be, at least, as strong as Grindelwald, which meant his forces were the strongest.
Tonks meekly followed her parents and joined Lost Garden even though she made it clear that she wouldn't be betraying Amelia, and that she would continue to work at the Ministry. Harry wasn't bothered by that… Amelia might be leading the Ministry, but she wasn't a big threat in the first place and Harry was certain that she would work within the system, which made her extremely predictable and harmless.
Though Harry made sure that she wouldn't be able to betray him by revealing his secrets to Amelia… Maybe, he would allow her to reveal a few things at a later date to make things more interesting, but right now, he wasn't worried about her betraying him…
"Snivellus!" Sirius crowed gleefully when he noticed Severus kneeling on the floor. "It is such a good sight to see" Sirius added mockingly.
Meanwhile, Severus wasn't even looking at Sirius. He was staring at the pale man among the group. There was no way he wouldn't recognize the man, but he couldn't fathom how he looked so young. He looked like he was back in his prime. To be honest, he didn't know what to think about this development. Gellert was working with the boy or the boy was working for him. He wasn't sure which was true, but there was one thing for certain. He needed to return to Albus at all costs.
"All of you have a seat… He is going to explain to me… To all of us, what is at stake here" Harry explained mockingly as he looked around, earning a few snorts before he finally turned toward Severus. "Go on, start explaining" Harry offered and Severus looked around with a blank look on his face even though he was seething in anger on the inside.
Alas, he already knew what he had to do. "The Dark Lord has returned" He revealed, but nobody looked surprised in the slightest at his revelation, which led him to realize that they already knew that. "He will be coming after you as you are a black mark on his reputation" Severus said while staring straight into Harry's eyes, and he used this chance to enter his Mind, in an attempt to see what he was thinking, but he was surprised once again when he failed to breach his Occlumency barriers.
"I will ignore that foolish attempt" Harry sniped at him.
"I am working as a spy for Dumbledore and I have already reclaimed that position since he returned. I will be invaluable if you want to beat him" Severus continued to explain after a few moments of silence as he had to regain his bearings after his failed attempt to read Harry's mind. From the corner of his eyes, Severus glanced toward Grindelwald as he wanted to see how the man was reacting to his words.
Though unfortunately for him, Gellert didn't look concerned in the slightest even though he was looking somewhat amused.
"Is that so?" Harry asked, getting a nod from Severus. "So, what exactly did you achieve during the last War? How many people were saved thanks to your actions, or how many attacks were stopped due to your actions?" Harry asked, leaving Severus completely speechless. He tried to remember whether people were saved or attacks were stopped due to the information he passed, but he couldn't remember.
Like a dutiful spy, he always passed on the information to Albus, but the man never acted on it, nor Severus wanted him to act on it as if they did, there was a chance that his position might be compromised…
Severus opened his mouth to say something witty as he couldn't give the boy an answer, but before he could utter a word, his mouth was once again, snapped shut by Harry. "You know what? You don't need to say anything, I will see everything for myself" Harry declared impatiently and a look of horror flashed over Severus' face before it was replaced by an arrogant look. He was more than certain that the boy won't be able to breach his mental barriers.
And even if the boy managed to break through his shields by some miracle, then he was confident that he could fool the boy. He had managed to fool both Voldemort and Dumbledore, so he was quite confident in his skills. The boy might be more powerful than them, technically speaking, but Mind Arts needed finesse, which only came through experience.
Harry wordlessly used Legilimency on Severus and he had to admit, he was facing the strongest Occlumency shields he ever came across, but he managed to break through them after some effort, surprising Severus to his core… He didn't even give the man a chance to create fake memories before he started to rummage through his Mind. The arrogant look on his face disappeared, only to be replaced by a look of complete fear.
Severus tried to show him fake memories, but Harry easily bypassed them with the slightest effort. Severus started to bleed from his nose as Harry was no longer being careful and Severus was trying to actively fight him. After a few minutes, Harry finally came out of his Mind, and raw Magic started to roll off of him. Everyone present inside the room choked under the pressure, but Harry wasn't paying them any mind.
Right now, Harry looked completely apoplectic. "Crucio!" Harry snarled in anger, blasting Severus back. For the first time in his life, he decided to use the torture Curse on a living person and he didn't regret his actions in the slightest…
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****THE-MAN-MOST-UNFORTUNATE (III)****
To be honest, Harry wasn't surprised by the fight Severus was putting on to stop Harry from reading his memories. After all, the man was a spy and spies like him were bound to have quite a few skeletons buried in their closets. Snape's Occlumency barriers were probably the best he ever encountered, not that it mattered to him since he breached through them all the same.
Snape was desperately trying to hide his real memories by bringing up fake memories, but Harry was easily able to avoid the fake memories since they were hastily created, which made them easily discernible from the original memories… Harry finally came across a memory where the so-called spy sold out the Prewett brothers to the Dark Lord to maintain his cover with the blessings of the so-called Leader of the Light.
Harry immediately started to wonder how Molly Weasley nee Prewett would feel if she ever came to learn that Albus Dumbledore regretfully sacrificed her brothers to cement his spy's position in Voldemort's camp…
Then he came across another memory where Severus sold out Edgar Bones and his wife to Voldemort with the blessings of Albus Dumbledore to gain the trust of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. He started to wonder if he could use this information to get an advantage over Amelia… Though for the time being, he decided to dismiss the idea as he wasn't planning to hand over Snape to Amelia in the first place.
After all, Amelia would try to get him convicted and punished through lawful means…
Those weren't the only horrible things Snape had done in his life as a spy… He had killed and r@ped a lot of Muggles during his time as a spy. That was when Harry decided to find out why the man decided to become a spy in the first place and it led him to something significant, he failed to see the memory as the so-called spy started to use everything he had in an attempt to stop Harry, which probably meant that the memory was pretty important to the man.
Snape did put up quite a commendable fight, but ultimately, he was beaten by Harry. He found himself watching how Snape went to Hogshead Inn for his Interview and then how he overheard the damned Prophecy. He saw how Snape was caught eavesdropping by Aberforth Dumbledore before he could overhear the whole Prophecy and even though Harry felt his temper rise beyond imagination, he decided to watch the whole memory.
Then the motherfucker went straight to his precious Master and spilled the contents to him. He could practically feel how proud Severus felt revealing the Prophecy to his Master, but Harry could also feel the shame and guilt Severus was feeling right now… Not that Harry paid his personal feelings any mind as no matter what the man felt, he won't be able to change his past actions.
At first, Severus was truly happy after gaining favor from the Dark Lord for bringing the Prophecy to his attention, but all of that changed when Severus finally discovered that the Prophecy might be referring to Lily's son.
Severus didn't care what happened to James Potter or Harry Potter, so he used his favor and begged the Dark Lord to spare Lily. In fact, Harry could feel that Severus felt somewhat ecstatic over the fact that James Potter and his spawn were going to be killed, but even after the Dark Lord promised him to spare Lily, he wasn't sure if his Master would really spare the woman or not.
That was why he decided to run off to Albus in the hope that the man would be able to save Lily. That was what led him to become a spy in the first place and later when Voldemort killed both James and Lily, Albus managed to trick Severus into swearing an Oath saying that he would protect Harry with his life… Harry wasn't sure if the Oath was still active or not since they used his name and his mother's name while swearing the Oath.
Harry could see that Severus regretted his actions since then and he was no longer the same man who worshiped the Dark Lord, but he was still the same twisted selfish piece of shit. The only reason he regretted his actions was because Lily Potter was dead due to his foolishness… He didn't regret anything else. He didn't regret selling out the Prewett twins, nor did he regret selling out Edgar and his wife to the Dark Lord.
There was very little Severus wouldn't do to ensure his survival…
Yes, Severus might regret revealing the Prophecy to the Dark Lord, but did that mean Harry was planning to forgive him? The answer was a big fat NO!! His regret isn't going to erase his actions… So, by the time Harry pulled himself out of Severus' Mind, he was practically apoplectic. He wanted to hurt the man… He wanted to make Severus feel unimaginable amounts of pain. Then there was the fact that Albus Bloody Dumbledore was protecting this son of a bitch.
"Crucio!!" Harry snarled in anger, blasting Severus back a few feet when the Torture Curse collided against him. He had used the Torture Curse before when he was learning it, but he never used it on a human until now, but right now, he was glad that he saved the Curse of a person like Severus Snape because the man truly deserved it.
Harry unconsciously grinned as Severus started to flail his limbs due to the unbearable pain he was feeling. Harry could hear his mom calling him at the back of his Mind, but he knew that his mom would agree with him after he told her everything he learned from him. The so-called spy arched his back before curling up into a fetal position due to the pain. His eyes started to roll back as his Mind started to black out, but before he could lose consciousness, Harry dropped the Curse.
|Hadrian, are you okay?| His mom asked hesitantly after noticing that her baby boy was much calmer right now. Harry finally reined in his Magic before giving his mom a mental equivalent of a nod. |What happened? What did you see?| Lily asked, sounding really concerned. Even though she lived inside his head, she had rarely seen him become truly angry and right now, he was practically apoplectic.
|Let me show you| Harry said as he realized that it would be better to show her rather than tell her. So, he quickly gathered everything he learned from him and started to show the memories to his mother.
"Kiddo, are you okay?" Jacklyn approached from behind and asked, sounding really concerned. This was the first time she saw him lose control of his temper. She had seen him angry before, but he never lost his temper, neither did she ever see it on his face, but Jacklyn could tell when he was angry. There were some signs she had learned to notice.
"That motherfucker is the reason why Voldemort came after my family in the first place!" Harry spat out and he was loud enough for everyone present in the room to hear clearly.
"What?!" Sirius exclaimed in outrage as he shot up from the couch even though he was feeling somewhat nauseous due to being exposed to Harry's raw Magic.
"Yes and Albus knew, and even after that, he was protecting this son of a bitch" Harry revealed, not to anyone's surprise… Meanwhile, Severus groaned in pain before he rolled over his back. The Cruciatus Curse wasn't as painful as the Dark Lord's, but the power behind the Curse was simply unimaginable… Severus knew that his chances of leaving this place alive dropped close to non-existent.
|That bastard!| Lily growled while seething in rage, but since she was already expecting the memory to be quite upsetting, she was able to keep her temper in check, otherwise, she was even more volatile than Harry. |I want you to make him experience every agony, every misery possible before killing him| Lily demanded angrily while gritting her teeth.
|Of course| Harry immediately agreed with her demand as he also wanted to do the same. The two of them had long vowed to kill the person responsible for revealing the Prophecy to Voldemort in the most painful way possible.
"What did he do?" Andi asked curiously. She always believed that Voldemort attacked the Potters because he was an evil bastard and the Potters had proven themselves to be a thorn in his side, but there was probably something more going on…
Harry flicked his hand and knocked out Severus with a Stunning Charm before turning toward Andi. He would take his time with Severus… He considered the question for a couple of seconds before deciding to answer her. There was no reason to hide the existence of the Prophecy anymore since all the involved parties already knew about the existence of the Prophecy.
"Before I was born, Sybill Trelawney delivered a Prophecy…" With that, Harry started to tell them about the Prophecy while wondering what to do with Severus. Maybe he should send Severus to the so-called Leader of Light piece by piece… Yes, that was exactly what he was going to do. Though Harry decided to keep him alive. Maybe, he should preserve his brain and his eyes in a glass jar.
That would be quite a fitting punishment for the man as his expertise in Potions was simply too valuable to lose…
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****FORGING-ALLIANCES? (I)****
~~Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts~~ (One day later)
Albus continued to pace in his office with a deep frown on his face… It has already been a day, but he has yet to hear anything from Severus. Since yesterday, he has been suspecting the worst and now he was certain that something horrible must have happened to his spy. That is why he found himself in a conundrum… Severus was an extremely important piece, and he couldn't lose him.
That was why he was somewhat reluctant to allow Severus to visit the Malfoys, but at the same time, he needed to know what was going on in the Malfoy Manor, which led him to reluctantly agree with Severus, but now, he was certain that it was a huge mistake. Now, he was trying to decide if he should inform the Aurors about his missing Potion Professor and point him in the right direction or if should cut his losses.
Now, he was completely certain that the Malfoys were under Hadrian's thumb, though what could he do with that information? Nobody was going to believe him either way and then there was the fact that right now, his position within the Ministry wasn't good… There was a very good chance that Amelia might try to undermine his authority and she would most certainly interfere in his plans. He had tried to find the man on his own, but even Fawkes couldn't find him.
No… He could not give her any more power than she already has…
Albus heard a flap of wings and turned toward the window only to find an owl flying in with a package tied to its legs. It was a snowy owl, not an owl he had seen before. The owl landed on his table and hooted at him… Albus moved to untie the package from the owl's legs and as soon as he was done, the owl flapped its wings and flew out of his office, leaving Albus with the package.
He curiously inspected the package before pulling out his Wand. After casting quite a few Diagnostic Spells, Albus was certain that there was nothing Magical inside the package. So, he opened the package and found a small note lying on top…
'May he rest in pieces' The words were neatly scribbled on the paper and the words seemed to confuse Albus quite a bit as he wasn't sure what to think of the words. Absentmindedly he picked up the note and reeled back in horror when he discovered two severed thumbs under the package and his horror only intensified when he recognized the fingers.
Those were Severus' fingers. There was no mistaking it… For the next few seconds, he simply kept staring at the fingers with a blank look on his face before reality finally dawned on him and it also made him realize the horrible fate that has befallen poor Severus… Now, Albus could try to save Severus on his own, but if he tried and failed, then he would become a wanted man, so there was only one option for him, no matter how much he hated it…
Severus was simply way too valuable to lose…
With that in mind, he closed the box and made his way toward the Floo with a determined look on his face. Right now, he was no longer the caring grandfather, but the man who fought and defeated Grindelwald… He was happy to play it safe with the boy, but the boy had overplayed his hand. Hadrian shouldn't have attacked Severus and Albus was determined to make him regret his actions…
~~Director's Office, DMLE~~
Amelia was currently fighting the bane of her existence, paperwork when all of a sudden, the Floo flared up and she internally thanked her lucky stars. She would be finally getting a break from blasted paperwork. She rolled her shoulders and looked up to see who it was and she immediately started to curse her unlucky stars inside her mind.
It was Albus Bloody Dumbledore and she realized that she was in for a massive headache…
"What do you want, Albus?" Amelia asked without beating around the bush. They didn't part on good terms the last time they met and she was hoping that it wasn't anything about his vaunted Greater Good.
"It is an emergency, Amelia. May I step through?" Albus asked and with no other choice, Amelia flicked her Wand in the air, to open the Floo for him. Moments later, Albus stepped through the fireplace and he truly looked distraught and something grave, which was quite usual for the man. The man arrived in front of her table and placed a small package on the table.
"I received this in the mail only a few minutes ago" After saying that, he opened the package to reveal a couple of severed thumbs. "This note was with the package" Albus added as he placed the note on the table too. To be honest, Amelia was too shocked to say anything as whatever she was expecting, it wasn't something like this.
"Do you know…" Amelia began to ask, but Albus interrupted her impatiently.
"They belonged to Severus" Albus revealed and Amelia internally nodded her head in understanding. She finally understood why Albus was acting in such a way, Albus was quite protective of his spy. "We need to find him and save him right away, or we might lose the War" Albus revealed, not intending to play any games of cloak or dagger as Severus was more important to him.
Amelia was shocked by his admission… She never imagined that the old man would ever reveal any information willingly, but here he was… Willingly giving away information, which only proved just how desperate he was.
While Amelia never liked the man… He was way too arrogant for her liking, but she could see how he could play an important role in the upcoming War. It was true that their Factions weren't on friendly terms, but if Severus was truly a spy, then he could prove himself to be a vital asset in the War. Then there was the fact that she was the Director of the DMLE, which meant it was her duty to save the man regardless of her personal feelings.
So, with a no-nonsense look on her face, Amelia pulled out a notebook and a quill from her drawer…
"When was the last time you saw him?" Amelia asked. He was the Headmaster of the school, so he better be keeping track of his staff.
"I talked with him the day before yesterday before he went to visit the Malfoys and I haven't heard anything from him after that" Albus revealed and Amelia, who was taking notes, froze when she heard that he went to visit the Malfoys. She was certain that Harry did something to the Malfoys to keep them under his control, but she never bothered to investigate that since she didn't like the Malfoys and nobody lodged a complaint, but now she had a chance to investigate.
"When did he leave?" Amelia asked, moving on to the next question.
"I am not sure about the exact time, but probably an hour before supper" Albus said unsurely. He really wasn't sure about the time as he had other things to worry about.
"Alright! I will be sending my best to visit the Malfoys, but I can't promise anything. If we find something amiss, only then we will be able to get a warrant to search their property" Amelia said with a sigh and Albus nodded his head in understanding.
"Don't worry about the warrant, I will get you one" Albus declared confidently.
"Okay" Amelia knew that as the Chief Warlock, he could easily get her a warrant. "By the way, why did you decide to work with me? I would have expected you to save him on your own" Amelia asked curiously. To be honest, she never expected him to come to her in the first place with something like this.
"I wanted to, but Severus is much more important than our little games. You have no idea how important he is for our side" Albus revealed gravely. "Then there is the fact that I don't want to become a wanted man at this moment as the school would become vulnerable if that happened" Albus added warily before stepping through the Floo. Amelia leaned back in her chair before rubbing her forehead.
Albus might be a right bastard but he was a deterrent… The only reason Hogwarts was never attacked during the last War was because of Albus' presence. Yes, there were some incidents within the school but the War never spilled inside the school, which was always a good thing. With a sigh, she picked up the note and read it… She had to admit if Harry was responsible for this, then he had guts, but at the same time, he was a fool for doing this.
Amelia pressed the button on her desk to summon her secretary… She decided to send Rufus and Moody even though Moody was no longer on the active roster while she started to wonder if Tonks would know something or not…
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