A/N: Sometimes I wonder what the people who follow me as an author think of me for having so many opened stories at once... I had this idea one day after watching a hilarious fanvid on Youtube about how HP should have ended and I've tried to keep it aside but... I couldn't wait anymore. The truth is, I'm blocked on my other stories and needed something fresh... don't worry (to those who might hate me for publishing so many new-stories) I won't neglect my late fanfics, I love them and I promise I'll come up with new ideas for them soon.
** I apologize in advance for the grammar and spelling mistakes you will surely find...
A/N: Although I think you can get it though the reading, let me make a few things clear:
The story begins on December 1994 (The Goblet of Fire - The Yule Ball) and will jump to 1943 (Tom Riddle's 6th year - The Horocruxes).
To make things fit I've ignored some details or come up with some others... like... I really don't know when Dumbledore actually began to investigate deeply into Riddle's life, but I didn't wanted the story to be set on the sixth book... Riddle talked to Slughorn at the beginning of the year, not at Christmas, but that's only a couple months of difference :P ; Severus isn't mentioned to attend the Yule Ball in the book, but I wanted and needed him to... and I bet there are more.
I hope you don't mind and that you enjoy this story.
THE FORGE OF MINERVA - 1 - Introduction
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I walked into the Great Hall dressed on my best clothes, like everyone else. I don't usually like these events and have always avoided the few balls I've been invited to but this time the Headmaster said he wanted to discuss something important with me.
The enormous room had been totally redecorated. Where the teacher's table should be there was now a live band, instead of the four long tables for each house, there were about fifty round tables all around the Hall, leaving a void in the center so the people could dance later on.
We (the teachers) were distributed in two different tables. I went straight to the one were the Headmaster was with the intention of having a sit next to him to discuss whatever issue had crossed his mind this time and finish the night the sooner, the better; but both chairs next to Dumbledore were occupied and I ended up sitting next to Minerva, who was sitting on Albus' left, as usual; on his right there was the tall Headmistress of Beauxbatons, followed by Karkaroff. The rest of chairs were still to be occupied.
I tried to get Dumbledore's attention but he was deeply concentrated in the quick French class that Madam Maxime was offering him. Igor's glare at them was the most amusing thing happening on that table.
"I never thought of you as the kind of man who attends balls, professor Snape," Minerva said and it took me a while to realize she was actually talking to me.
"I'll be out of here before the dance begins," I confessed as I filled my glass with some firewhisky, advantages of sitting on the teacher's table.
"So you came up from your dungeons only to get fed and drunk," she slapped with a twitch of sarcasm as she approached her glass to mine so I filled hers too.
"You could put it that way," I replied pouring the caramel-colored liquid on her glass, "What about you, professor McGonagall? What brings you down your confined Gryffindor tower and out of your usual tartan clothes?" I grinned and we both sipped our drinks at the same time.
"As the Deputy Headmistress, attending the Yule Ball is one of my duties," she explained, and took the glass back to her lips.
"Always so professional," I pointed while ironically raising my drink to her. After that, food was served and I realized the other last sits of the table had already been occupied by Hagrid and Madam Pomfrey. During the meal, Minerva and I continued our back and forth of witty observations, stealing a smile on each other's face every now and then, while the rest of the table were engaged on their own dull conversations. Sarcasm was our comfort zone, a way to be nice and rude with each other at the same time and not ending dueling in front of the entire school.
Maybe it was the bottle of firewhisky we finished together, maybe the loud music affecting my brain, or just the fact that we'd been pretending to like each other's company for too long… the thing is that somehow I ended up standing up and offering my hand to her.
"Shall we dance, professor?" I asked gazing at her eyes, which I realized had a very special tone of green on them, like the Greek goddess she is named after.
She raised her hand to mine hesitatingly, our fingers almost brushing; then she glanced up at me and put her hand down on her tight again.
"I'd rather not," she said; no sarcasm on her tone, a clear and plain 'no'.
"You know, it wouldn't hurt to let you hair down for once," I say, bending down so she can hear, and then I reach Dumbledore, eager to do my business and return to my chambers.
The Headmaster and I walk through the crowd to the trophy room. He closes and locks the door behind him.
"Severus, I require you to gather some valuable information," he said, there we go again, I think, "there's no danger involved, yet, you must follow my instruction better than ever."
"I always do," I reply, somehow feeling offended by his words.
"Of course, that's why you're here. You see, I'd prefer to do this myself, but I trust your loyalty more than my own actions."
"What is it this information?" I asked trying to hide my confusion.
"The first year Harry Potter was in the school he claimed to have seen Lord Voldemort, at least, his soul…" he explained. Why do we always end up talking about the boy? I wondered. "That kept me thinking and ever since then I began to gather information about Tom Riddle's life… trying to understand how he became the Dark Lord and how he defeated death…" the Headmaster stopped for a moment and looked at me as to make sure I was following, I nodded and he continued, "A former teacher of this school has given me a memory that could be the key to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named once and for all, but that memory was manipulated… I need to know what really happened…"
"Do you want me to use occlumency on this teacher?" I tried to guess.
"No, what I want is you to go back to that day and witness the moment so we can have the entire information…"
"Go back in time?!" I couldn't hide my surprise.
"Yes, that's the reason why I need you… time-travelling is a dangerous thing because any change could affect a success of events making the world we know completely different… That's why, even it could be easy and tempting, you won't do anything apart than following my instructions…"
"Yes, of course," I said.
"I'll need a better response, Severus, a more convincing one, because you'll be travelling to 1943, when Tom Riddle was only a six-year student of this school."
What? Did I hear alright? I dropped my mouth opened and scowled the old man, who took out from his pocket a silver time-turner.
"It's been modified to go back in years instead of hours… It'll take forty-nine turns to go where you have to, I don't know the exact day where the memory occurred, so you'll may have to stay in 1943 for a few days…" he then handed me a letter with his handwriting, "the first thing you'll do once you arrive will be looking for me (myself back then, I mean), and you'll give this to him, to me… You'll befriend professor Slughorn and attend his Slug Club parties… it was in one of them when Riddle asked him something… I need to know what Horace really told him."
"What about the Ministry?"
"That's why we must do it tonight… I moved strains and got us a free ticket… nobody will we watching, nobody will make questions…"
"You know that being there I could just kill the boy before he becomes Lord Voldemort…" I say out loud what we both are thinking.
"That's why I'm sending you and not going myself," he answers, "I know that if I ask you not to do such thing you'll control yourself better than me."
"But why? It'd mean no war, no dark years, no panic… no innocent deaths…" I claim thinking of Lilly.
"We don't know that, we can't be sure that without Voldemort there wouldn't have been a worse tyrant who he killed during the war… a war that changed all of us, people made choices over it that changed their lives… if the war never occurred there would be couples that would have never met each other and never had the children they do today…" he said, but it didn't really convinced me, "Where do you think you would be if you'd never become a Death Eater?" he suddenly asked, "Lilly would still be married to James, so you'd probably would still be moaning for her love in your loneliness… reaching the bottom line was what made you be who you are today, Severus…" I admit he had a point, but…
"She would be alive," I said.
"She was meant to die so her son could defeat the Dark Lord someday…" he says, "please don't risk it, Severus… do you think you'll be able to do this?"
"I do, Sir. The idea is tempting, but I understand the danger on it…"
"Good," he said handing me the time-turner and taking out his wand, "one more thing," he adds and he touches my face with the tip of the wooden stick. My eyes blink and I feel a strange tickling on the muscles of my face… when my eyes opened again I catch a glimpse of myself on one of the cabinet's crystals and realize the features of my face have slightly changed. "We can't have anyone seeing you as you are, not even me… that would be confusing because I would remember you when we meet in the future…"
"I shouldn't say my name either, then?" I pointed.
"No, that's right… and you shan't tell anything about the future to anyone…"
"Ok, I think I understood everything."
"Great, then… Bon Voyage." He says and I put the envelope on my pocket and begin to turn the sand watch counting outloud… "forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine…" *pop* and I'm dragged through the line of time to almost half a century back… to when I wasn't even born…
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TO BE CONTINUED…