Chapter 11 - Confronting Gryffindors
Severus Snape stormed angrily through the halls of Hogwarts, students leaping out of his way as he passed them. His only consolation was that Sirius Black was stuck back in his dog form and banished from the hospital wing like he was. The rabid mongrel never could hold his tongue! And if Black knew Harry even half as well as Severus did, he would have known the crazy Gryffindor would throw himself on a sword to protect his godfather; he should have known he'd try to keep them from fighting. Ripping open his own wound like that. . . .
Severus shook the memory away, not wanting to think on it any more. That foolish boy was his own worst enemy sometimes! And now thanks to Black he couldn't watch over him.
Poppy would calm down eventually, he told himself. And Lupin was still there. Lycanthropy aside, Lupin was decent enough.
"Professor?"
Snape turned in surprise, shocked that one of the little brats in the hallway actually had the gall to speak to him - despite the scowl on his face warning them all off. Hermione and Ron stood behind him, and he stifled the angry words that sprang to his lips.
"Yes?" he bit out instead.
"We were just on our way to see Harry," Hermione explained. "Is he doing any better?"
"If you can manage to keep that rabid dog away from him, I'm sure he'll make a full recovery," Snape informed them, noting the flush that crossed both their features. He signed inwardly - they were all Gryffindors of course - loyal to the bone, and sadly that included Black.
"He loves Harry!" Ron protested, leaping at once to Black's defense. "And he can take care of him better than-" Hermione elbowed Ron hard in the side, shutting him up before he could finish his statement which Snape would no doubt have to take him to task over. He wondered if it was worth bothering to remind the idiot that Black had broken Ron's leg in third year.
"Ms. Granger, I want to talk to you about something," Snape dismissed Ron from his notice, turning his attention entirely on Hermione as something the Headmaster had said last night came back to him.
She started to protest, but he held a hand up to stop her. "Potter will still be there when we're through. Mr. Weasley, you can run along and visit him if Madame Pomfrey allows it. Ms. Granger can join you later."
They both looked as if they were going to argue, but said nothing, Hermione just motioning Ron to go along without her. Ron threw a resentful look back at Snape as he headed off toward the hospital wing.
Severus led Hermione back to his office, motioning her inside before closing the door and sitting down behind his desk. She sat in the chair opposite him, staring at him curiously. She had never had quite the same fear of him as the other students, though he'd certainly been cruel enough toward her. Hard to maintain the fiction of loyal Death Eater who favored his Slytherin allies when faced with such a brilliant Gryffindor. Giving Draco Malfoy marks equal to Granger's had galled him to no end - he'd met very few people who could match the girl's intellect.
"You and Potter researched spells last year?" he asked, reminding her of the conversation they had with the Auror yesterday.
Hermione frowned pensively, but nodded her head.
"For extra credit?" he asked, already suspecting the answer she would give.
She stared at him thoughtfully, as if trying to come to some sort of a decision. Finally she shook her head. "No, sir, it wasn't school work exactly. We just thought that Harry should have some extra help with some things."
"Go on," he prompted.
Hermione sighed. "Defense Against the Dark Arts classes haven't exactly been overly helpful," she pointed out, sounded somewhat irritated. "Professor Quirrell and Lockhart were useless. Professor Moody turned out to be a Death Eater in disguise and he spent all his time teaching us the Unforgivables, which Harry doesn't want to use. And all Professor Mackrel taught us last year was how to recognize poisoned food. Professor Lupin's been the only decent teacher we've ever had." She didn't bother hiding her resentment of the fact that he was responsible for Lupin's dismissal. At the time, he hadn't had much of a choice. Lucius Malfoy had insisted he find a way of getting rid of him, and exposing him as a werewolf had been the only thing he could think of. And truth of matter was, Lupin had screwed up - his failure to take his potion had nearly cost them several lives.
"In any event, sir, we just figured that if Harry was going to survive Voldemort's attacks, then it was up to us to prepare him," Hermione continued, and Snape had to admire her for her initiative. "So we began studying on our own."
"That was good thinking, Ms. Granger," Snape said grudgingly, noting the look of surprise in her face when she realized he had complimented her. "What can you tell me about this King's Voice spell?" What ever it was Albus had discovered about the spell had startled him - and very few things startled Albus Dumbledore after over a century and a half.
"Well, it's like I said yesterday, sir," Hermione explained. "It was a precursor to the Imperious. But it doesn't seem to be as powerful as the Imperious, but it's just as effective if it works."
"If it works?"
She nodded thoughtfully. "That's just it, sir. It doesn't seem to work very well - I never got it to work. Neither did Ron when he tried it."
"But it worked for Mr. Potter?"
"Yes, sir," she agreed. "We figured it required someone really powerful to use it, which is probably another reason it fell out of favor."
"Did you find other spells that had fallen out of favor?"
"There were a number of them," she admitted. "Though most of them weren't any use to us. It's not like you can practice demon banishing spells on your friends. You sort of have to summon a demon first."
Severus paled at that. "Ms. Granger, I hope to God you haven't been messing around with demon summoning?" That particular area of knowledge was considered perhaps the darkest of all the Dark Arts, and there was no way to play at it without tainting your own soul irrevocably.
"Of course not, sir!" Hermione exclaimed in shock, and the look of outrage on her face relieved him far more than he cared to admit. The thought that Harry Potter of all people might have dabbled in such darkness alarmed him in ways he didn't want to think about. "Contrary to your preconceived notions, we aren't stupid! And if Harry won't use the Unforgivables even in his own defense, why would you think he would mess around with something like that?"
"Ms. Granger, you are laboring under a number of misconceptions. It is not your intelligence I question, but the Gryffindor nature to rush in blindly."
He saw by the flicker of amusement in her eyes that she recognized his backhanded compliment. Smart little witch; he could almost grow to like her. "You know, sir, Slytherins do not have the market cornered on guile."
"So the Headmaster likes to inform me," Severus agreed mildly. "Thank you, Ms. Granger. That will be all."
She stood to leave, but paused at the door, glancing back at him. "Professor, why doesn't the Headmaster do something about our Defense Against the Dark Arts classes? Professor Dubloise this year is just as bad as Professor Mackrel was. Surely he could find a better teacher?"
Severus frowned at her. "You mean why aren't I teaching the class?"
She nodded.
"Because it wouldn't make any difference, Ms. Granger," he informed her. "It is a little known fact, but the majority of all wizards and witches have absolutely no talent whatsoever for the Dark Arts or the Defense Against them. It requires a very specific temperament. It's one of the reasons the requirements are so strict for becoming an Auror. Very few people are suited to it. And pointing out their lack of defensive ability to the majority of the public generally causes panic. Those with the proper temperament - such as yourself and Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley - will learn what they need to in spite of anything else."
"But everyone learned the basics when Professor Lupin taught the class," Hermione protested.
"I didn't say they couldn't learn the spells, Ms. Granger," Severus reminded her. "I said they lacked the temperament. Despite Professor Lupin's brilliant teaching, do you have any idea how many students still suffer from nightmares about boggarts and kappas from those classes? Being the one who brews Dreamless Sleep Draught for Madame Pomfrey, I do."
He could see his words shocked her. "But we defeated the boggarts, and we learned how to escape from kappas! Why would they still be afraid of them?"
"Why indeed?" Severus agreed, finding the idea as ridiculous as she did, despite the fact that it was nevertheless true. "Yesterday you were surrounded by adult wizards and witches who are perfectly capable of throwing shielding spells and hexes, not to mention a number of seventh-years who studied under Lupin. And certainly any proprietor of a bookstore should have known a spell to at least freeze the fire that threatened to burn down his business. And yet not one of them raised a wand to help you. I can assure you that the best teachers in the world in Defense Against the Dark Arts would not change that pathetic little fact. It will always be a select few who are called upon to defend the masses. Why else would the entire Wizarding World put their hopes in the hands of a boy who has not even finished school yet?"
"I always thought that was a little ridiculous myself," Hermione admitted.
"Indeed," Severus agreed.
She smiled suddenly. "Then I guess we're all just lucky that Harry has been up to the task." Intellect or no, she was still a Gryffindor and her loyalty to Potter wouldn't waver.
Severus had to admire her for it. "Perhaps Mr. Potter is simply lucky in the friends he has chosen."
She looked startled again - this compliment less subtle, and about as close as he was going to come to thanking her for what she had done yesterday. She smiled at him, seemed about to say something, then changed her mind. "Good day, Professor," she said instead, pulling open the door.
"Good day, Ms. Granger."
Left alone, Severus turned his attention to the puzzle Albus had left for him. The King's Voice. He found it highly unlikely that Harry Potter could do a spell that Hermione Granger was unable to manage - which meant there was something more going on here. Albus had said that Harry shouldn't have been able to use the spell either. It looked like he had some research to do.
He returned to his own chambers, deciding to try his own private library first for references to the spell. But as he approached his chamber door, he realized immediately that his research would have to be delayed a while yet. Standing in front of the portrait to his room was a Grim.
Severus stopped and stared at the large black dog that was gazing balefully back at him in the darkened corridor. Sirius Black in his animal form was intimidating, though Severus would never admit that out loud. He was the size of an Irish Wolfhound and possessed a menacing air, eyes gleaming with the cold killing gaze of a wolf. All things considered, he and Lupin were well matched.
Severus fought the impulse to go for his wand, standing instead stock still in the hallway, meeting the dark gaze with one equally dark. He had a decision to make he realized, and like it or not the next move was his. Sirius had made his move in coming here in the first place.
He wanted to hex him, or at the very least drive him away. But he couldn't help think of the smile that had lit up Harry's face when he'd seen his godfather beside him. Harry loved Sirius Black, completely, utterly, unconditionally. And the facts were simple - if Severus drove Black away, harmed him, hurt him, or attempted to keep him from Harry's life, then Harry would hate him forever.
He thought sometimes that Harry's feelings for him had softened just a little - that while there was no affection or fondness, the boy did not dislike him so completely as he once had, despite his numerous declarations of hatred. And though Severus was loathed to admit it, sometime in the last few weeks, Harry's opinion had come to matter to him. Somehow, despite everything that stood between them and against them, despite every reason he had to despise that boy and all the annoyances he brought to his life, Harry had succeeded in capturing Severus's admiration as completely as he had the rest of the Wizarding World. He was not willing to dwell on the fact that perhaps admiration wasn't all he had captured.
Thus the decision.
Sirius Black. His rival. His enemy. His tormentor. The man his bond-mate loved.
Severus Snape walked forward, spoke his password, and for the first time in his life let Sirius Black into his home.