Team: Holyhead Harpies
Position: Keeper
Prompt: Jurassic Park (inspiration)
Word Count: 2681
The Pure-blood Initiative
Decree Number 402 Passed
Under new laws passed by the Ministry of Magic late last night, all pure-bloods and half-bloods are required to submit their DNA to their nearest Deposit Centre within the next forty eight hours.
Families across the country should be receiving owls this morning with the date and time for their deposit.
When asked by this Daily Prophet reporter further about this new decree, Dolores Umbridge had this to say: "The Ministry has to keep track of those with magical blood. Under this new decree, the Ministry will be able to use the DNA to find suitable matches for unmarried witches and wizards in a much more efficient and orderly way."
Severus Snape scrunched up the newspaper and cast it aside. 'Find suitable matches' indeed—he knew better about why the Ministry wanted to harvest DNA and it was not for the reason provided by the toad-faced woman.
It was the whole reason he had wanted to resign from his position at the Ministry—a position The Dark Lord had bestowed upon him seven years ago after he had sealed his victory—a position he had only accepted and kept because of his loyalty to Dumbledore, even after his death five years ago—a position he soon found out went against human nature and created monsters.
The worst part of it was no one seemed to care even with the high death toll.
~o~o~o~
Pure-blood Initiative: Trial 1 - Day 7
Severus bowed down over his notes, his quill in hand as he scratched down the successful start they had had to the start of The Pure-blood Initiative trials.
In the first week alone, they had managed to successfully extract DNA from their subjects, and from those cells they grew a clone to the size of a newborn baby.
Whilst Severus did not agree with the whole idea, he was excited about how far they had managed to come in such a short space of time.
The newborn clone had been placed into a stasis chamber which had been enchanted to provide it with everything it needed to grow and thrive until they were ready to enter the next phase.
For the team though, their focus would now turn to genetically modifying pure-blood DNA so they could create female clones only. The methodology behind it being that if there are more female pure-bloods in society, they would be able to breed and repopulate the wizarding community with pure-bloods.
And once they made the breakthrough with that, the final focus would be splicing the pure-blood gene of two half-bloods together to create new pure-bloods.
It was an exciting time even though Severus did not agree with the concept. He had only agreed to be part of the team because Dumbledore asked it of him.
~o~o~o~
Seven Years Later
"This is madness! It's out of control!" Severus yelled, throwing himself against the wall and out of the path of the angry cloud of smoke. "We have to stop it before it gets out—kill it if we have to."
A look of horror crossed his face as Yaxley was thrust up into the air. The dark and powerful force smothered the wizard, and as soon as he was flung into the air, he was falling back to the ground with a thud.
"Snape, we just have to contain it," Rookwood shouted back.
Severus grimaced. Containing this being would only solve the imminent threat. He knew from his reading the dangers their creation posed. Whilst they had succeeded in creating clones to enable the pure-blood society to thrive, they had managed to create a new breed of obscurials.
The obscurus zoomed around, and Severus was only able to watch as more of the personnel in the room were flung into the air and met the same fate as Yaxley.
His grip tightened on his wand and he finally nodded in agreement with Rookwood. Whilst containing the clone was not his idea of a solution, now was not the time for arguing about what to do for the best-especially when with every second that passed more of their men were being killed.
"Stunning charms on three, men," Rookwood ordered.
The remaining men moved into position, surrounding the young girl who had let loose the obscurus.
"One, two, three."
"STUPEFY!" they all yelled in unison.
The angry cloud of smoke disappeared in an instant, returning to the child's body.
"Place her back in the stasis chamber," Rookwood instructed. "Snape and I will take care of the casualties."
~o~o~o~
After all they had gone through in those trials. The many witches and wizards who had been lost, Severus couldn't fathom why the Dark Lord had approved this project to go ahead into the next phase. His own report on the matter clearly outlined the dangers of going ahead.
Every single clone they had created in the Department of Mysteries—whether it be a direct clone, the male to female clones, or the combining of two pure-blood genes from half-bloods—every single one had the same outcome.
They were all obscurials. Dangerous, uncontrollable obscurials. A danger to their very society. History could tell them as much.
Pure-blood shortage or no pure-blood shortage, the project could not continue, and if no one would listen to his concerns there was only one route left open to him—the mere thought of which left a sour taste in his mouth.
~o~o~o~
Severus drew the hood of his cloak closer over his head as he swept through the streets of Hogsmeade. Even though he wouldn't look out of place in the quiet village, he didn't want word of his presence here to reach his superiors—especially considering who he was about to meet.
He turned the corner onto the side street and continued on down the cobbled street until he was greeted by the familiar shabby exterior of The Hog's Head Inn, where the person he had arranged to meet would be waiting inside.
Severus discreetly cast his eyes around, double checking that he had not been followed before pushing the door open and entering the pub. He scrunched up his nose as the heavy scent of goats filled his senses as he approached the bar.
After he ordered himself a butterbeer, Severus observed his surroundings and soon noticed the hooded figure sat in a booth at the back of the inn—the distinctive grey eyes and shaggy black hair poking out from under the hood indicated that this was the very person he had arranged to meet.
He picked up his bottle off the bar and took measured steps across the dusty floor towards the booth, and sat down across from the man.
"Black," he said, setting his bottle down on the table.
The man's head shot up and he drew his wand, pointing it squarely at his chest.
"Snivellus," he hissed. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you sit?"
"Because I have information," Severus replied, keeping his voice as even as he could in spite of the use of his long hated nickname from school. "Because, and I cannot believe I am saying this, I have to come to ask for your help."
The dark haired wizard across from him let out a bark of laughter. "Why in the name of Merlin's beard would I help you?"
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, already regretting coming here but he was desperate and the safety of the wizarding world was more important than petty school rivalries—he only hoped that Black could see that too.
"I don't like the idea any more than you do," Severus told him. "You've no doubt seen The Daily Prophet and heard the Ministry is collecting DNA."
"I have, but I fail to see what this has to do with you needing my help," Black answered, taking a sip from his glass.
"If you let me finish, I'd be able to tell you," Severus snapped. He glanced around him once more, making sure there were no prying eyes or ears before he proceeded to explain the reality of the situation. "The reasoning is all a lie. The Ministry are creating pure-blood clones, altering males to create more females, and splicing the DNA of half-bloods. It's called The Pure-blood Initiative—the sole aim is to create more pure-bloods. The problem is, every single trial which has been done created obscurials."
"Say I believe what you just said," Black replied. "There are just a couple of things that don't quite ring true. One: why would he even entertain the idea of something as Muggle as genetics and DNA? Two: the whole concept is far fetched. Three: you're Death Eater scum. So why should I believe a word you say? Why should I believe that this isn't some elaborate trap?"
Severus sighed. This was a waste of his time. In truth, he hadn't been completely certain Black would show up since his letter had been unsigned.
"Dumbledore," Severus eventually said.
"Dumbledore has been dead for five years," Sirius remarked. "The only good thing to come from it is that we no longer have to listen to him prattle on about trusting you."
Sirius drained the remaining contents of his glass, stood up, and swept away from the booth in the pub, leaving Severus alone with the realisation that he would have to put an end to The Pure-blood Initiative alone.
~o~o~o~
"Staying late today, Snape?" Rookwood asked, taking him by surprise as he stared at the glass stasis chambers, containing the latest in a long line of trials—and with any luck, the last.
Severus glanced over at the unspeakable. "I had an idea on how to work out the kink with trial subjects," Severus lied. "I'd like to do some initial tests before I leave."
"Always with the work," Rookwood chuckled. "You need to get out more. There are plenty of Muggles and Mudbloods out there just begging to be tortured."
Severus kept his mask up, despite wanting nothing more than to express his disgust at Rookwood's use of the term Mudblood. His heart panged as thoughts of Lily came to the forefront of his mind, and how he was the reason she died.
He offered his colleague a tight smile. "Maybe some other time, Rookwood. The Pure-blood Initiative is my top priority right now."
"Very well," Rookwood replied. "But you're missing out. I'll make sure to kill a Muggle on your behalf."
Severus laughed, feeling sick to his stomach as he did. After all, he was the reason all this was happening. If only he hadn't been in The Hog's Head that day and heard the prophecy.
Rookwood opened the door and left the room before Severus could reply. He looked around the silent room. He was finally alone. It was time to put an end to The Pure-blood Initiative.
Using his knowledge of all the security measures in place within the facility, Severus set about casting numerous spells to counter them so that his activities within the room would remain undetected.
He gazed up at the clone within the stasis chamber immediately in front of him. She was the first they created seven years ago, and he felt little sympathy for her. She was just as dangerous as the woman her DNA came from—Bellatrix Lestrange—probably even more so because of her obscurial nature, and when you factored in the unnatural control she had over hers, she posed the biggest threat of all the clones they had created.
Severus cast his gaze along the line of cubicles, each containing familiar faces. His eyes finally reached the one at the end—the cubicle which contained a perfect mix of his and The Dark Lord's pure-blood DNA. Everyone thought it was the highest honour, but for Severus it was a source of the highest disgust. It looked exactly like The Dark Lord, except for the eyes and the hair—the clone had inherited those traits from his DNA.
He tore his eyes away from the clones. After today they would no longer exist. They would no longer be a problem.
Severus set about levitating all the filing cabinets containing the years of research that had been carried out, and all the storage boxes containing the DNA which had been collected over the last week into the middle of the room.
There was only one thing which would be powerful enough to cause enough destruction to render the entire contents of the room useless—fiendfyre. It wasn't his favourite idea to use such a spell, but since he was devoid of all other help and time was of the essence, he was left with no other choice.
He pointed his wand directly at the mass of containers and filing cabinets. Severus focussed his mind as he spoke the incantation and an endless stream of fire shot from the end of his wand.
Soon, everything in the room was alight and burning brightly. He coughed violently as he inhaled some of the smoke, and dropped his wand.
As he reached down to pick it up, the flames engulfed it. Severus flinched and pulled his hand back as the fire burned the tips of his fingers.
Knowing there was no way he could stop the fire, he moved towards the door and soon found his way blocked by the flames. He was trapped with no way out and no way to stop the fire.
Resigned to his fate, Severus watched as the fire burned. If he had to die then at least he was going to die for the greater good.
~o~o~o~
Rebel Minority Attacks Ministry
Late last night, rebel minorities broke into the Ministry of Magic and worked their way into The Department of Mysteries, seemingly with only one mission in mind—to cause havoc and destruction as the great leaders of our community seek to enable pure-bloods to thrive and find suitable matches.
Inside sources report that much of the DNA which has been submitted under Decree 402 has been destroyed beyond all repair and, had it not been for the efforts of one brave man, they may have destroyed the lot. The Minister for Magic himself is hailing Severus Snape as a hero who took on these rebel forces, and gave his own life to protect the good, honest hard work of our leadership.
The Ministry is working hard to establish whose DNA was destroyed in this radical act of terrorism, and will be owling those concerned within the coming days to arrange a time and date to submit their DNA again.
Rest assured, my dear readers, your Ministry remains strong and is committed to bringing the traitorous individuals to justice.
Sirius Black placed the newspaper down on the table in front of him after reading the last line. He looked up at the faces of the last remnants of The Order of the Phoenix, knowing that he had no choice but to reveal his encounter with Snape only a week earlier.
"I have to tell you something," Sirius muttered.
He waited to see the judgement on their faces as he regaled them with the contents of his discussion with Snape—waited for someone to say that he should be replaced as the leader of the Order—but no one said anything.
"I'll be the first to admit I might have been wrong in not investigating his claims," Sirius admitted, placing his hands on the table and leaning forward. "I should have brought it up at our last meeting. His claims just seemed to outlandish to be true and he's never given us a reason to trust him, despite what Dumbledore used to say about him."
"What is done is done. You can't change the past," Remus said, speaking for the first time. "The question is: what are we going to do now?"
Sirius straightened up and smiled at Remus.
"We're going to find a way to stop this once and for all," Sirius told them. "We are going to finish what Snape started before they can carry out their so-called Pure-blood Initiative."
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Summer Seasonal Challenge: Fire Element: (quote) "From the little spark may burst a mighty flame." - Dante
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Insane House: (location) Ministry of Magic