AN EXAMPLE OF DUMBLEDORE'S AWESOMENESS
Snape stood on a hill, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. He was waiting for something or for someone. The wind blew harder than ever, whipping Snape's hair around his face, and for a moment he considered a ponytail.
There was a blinding jet of white light, Snape's wand flew from his hand as he yelled, "Don't kill me!"
"That was not my intention."
Any sound of Albus Dumbledore apparating had been drowned out by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes billowing around him, and his face illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.
"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?
"No – no message – I'm here on my own account!"
Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.
"I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please –"
Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though the wind still blew around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.
"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"
"The – the prophecy . . . the prediction . . . Trelawney . . ."
"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"
"Everything – everything I heard!" said Snape. "That is why – it is for that reason – he thinks it means Lily Evans!"
"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July –"
"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down – kill them all –"
"If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"
"I have – I have asked him –"
"You disgust me," said Dumbledore. "Down, Snape!" he said suddenly in a terrible voice. "Down on your belly! How long have you been a Death Eater? What was the promised reward?"
Snape fell to the ground, trembling.
"You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child?" Dumbledore continued. "They can die, as long as you have what you want?"
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore. "Hide them all, then." he croaked. "Keep her – them – safe. Please."
"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"
"In – in return?" Snape gaped up at Dumbledore. After a long moment, he said, "anything."
