Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Most Loyal
AN: Back to Deathly Hallows Chapter 36, The Flaw in the Plan. So you'll recognize JKR's words again.
Chapter 3
Severus was ready for what happened next. At least he thought he was. There were too many variables. However, he was perched atop the castle wall, with omnioculars and an unconscious Yaxley with his Dark Mark exposed and ready to be exploited. He had always wanted to try some spell casting through this link. Severus could not use his own because a loyal Death Eater would never try to harm his Lord or brothers.
Predictably, the Dark Lord was not quiet about his triumph. "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself wile you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."
An undumbledorish sneer passed over his face as he adjusted the focus on the Forbidden Forest. The Dark Lord and his followers were emerging. Nagini was no longer confined to her cage, and was draped on her master's shoulders. Searching for the 'proof', Severus found it in Hagrid's arms. Potter's body. Even knowing from Dumbledore that Potter must die did not make it seem any less wasteful. All those years of keeping him alive, for this? It seemed to make no difference if he died today, or back on Halloween, 1981.
Should he flee? There was nothing more for him to do. Potter was dead. The Dark Lord was asking those inside the castle to surrender. If they chose to give up and not fight, Severus alone could not help them.
Longbottom. What was that moron up to? He had exhibited a degree of creativity in his defiance against him in the past year, but throwing himself at the Dark Lord so his head could be set on fire? Potter moved and disappeared … Severus cast one of the nastiest Dark Arts spells through the Dark Mark. Not terrible in its overall effect, but difficult for the average wizard to counter. The only reason it was labeled as Dark Arts was its biblical scope. This should give someone near the snake the opportunity to strike, while the Dark Lord countered the effect of being turned into a pillar of salt.
Pandemonium broke out everywhere at once, and only one person was wise enough to use omnioculars to view all the action. Of course, Severus Snape would have to find the time to go back and replay it. He didn't have time for that right now because the forest erupted with creatures and a tidal wave of arrows. If Severus had known that was coming, he would not have protected the Death Eaters by transfiguring them.
Severus saw Nagini was attacked by Longbottom, of all people, who chopped its head clean off. Zooming in, it appeared that he wielded Gryffindor's sword.
The Dark Lord resumed his normal snake-like appearance. His mouth was open, but there was no sonorus spell for Severus to know what he was yelling. He doubted the Dark Lord was shouting confirmation that the snake was the last bit of his soul that existed outside of his physical body.
Trying to find Potter in the melee, Severus readjusted the view to pull back and see more. Thestrals and a shorter giant were under attack by other giants.
The defenders were retreating back to the castle with only a handful of Death Eaters skilled enough to perform a wandless self-transfiguration to follow. Unfortunately, Bellatrix was one of them. None of them thought to help out their still frozen fellows either. How predictable.
Spinning the dial to zoom in, Severus placed his other hand on the castle wall and informed the structure where to turn the cobbles into a vicious and hungry liquid. The Dark Lord levitated and looked around. Severus knew he was sensing something unseen and unknown was working against him. The pillars of salt were no fluke. The ground choosing to turn to quicksand at his follower's feet wasn't either. Even if he only cared about himself, the Dark Lord was not entirely witless and saved one person from going under, Bellatrix. With annoyance, Severus considered Bellatrix was as lucky as Potter when it came to escaping death.
He saw Lucius and Narcissa crossing also. Rather than waving their wands, they were holding hands. Severus wavered a moment in indecision then decided to let them pass.
Concerned that the Dark Lord might think to resurrect his frozen troops, now that the sharper and mobile ones were eliminated, he concentrated on an illegal spell and altered it to target the magic in Dark Marks, using Yaxley's fine example of the salty version, and braced himself since he could not move far from Yaxley and still use him for the spell. Weather magic may be illegal in Britain, but that did not necessarily mean that no one knew it.
There was only one loud crack of thunder as everyone was blinded by the sudden forked lightning. It was another test like the salt pillar transfiguration. The only difference was it effected both sides equally. Who knew how to rectify their vision with a rare charm, or who was left blinking away the absolute yellowed, glowing whiteness followed by bright spots that occluded their vision for long, valuable minutes? The advantage went to the defenders since many had reached the castle before the attackers, and they were inclined to help each other.
Severus would have been able to see, since he knew the charm, if he hadn't been so close to Yaxley that he too had been struck. Proof against elemental spells is fine and dandy, but getting struck by lightning still takes a toll. Yaxley and his salinated comrades weren't as fortunate to have protected themselves against such an unlikely event so all that was left was the charred and smoking spots where they once stood.
Voldemort did not know such a worthless spell, but he was able to improvise one for himself and Bellatrix. None of his other Death Eaters were nearby. Some of his other followers were like Greyback and Thicknesse were visible, so he restored their sight too. They were useless without it, and Voldemort planned on putting an end to even the slightest inkling of resistance tonight. If he needed to crush these under his bare foot to set an example, so be it. Dumbledore was dead. Potter was dead. No one stood in his way of ruling Britain, or at least for very long. He tried to show them mercy, but they threw it back in his face. The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile. Lord Voldemort generously gave and he could also take away.
Pius Thicknesse blinked. He was at Hogwarts? What was he doing here? Wasn't that He Who Must Not Be Named standing right over there? What in Merlin's name was going on? Wait … he was Minister of Magic and publicly talked complete lunacy … he had been imperiused. Damn it all. And damn Yaxley to whatever hell he belonged in. Well, he had his wand in hand and his mind back.
Someone grabbed Thicknesse's arm and growled, "Move it, ya lump. We're going in, and their blood will run in all its sweetness."
He was horrified to have Fenrir Greyback, of all the disgusting and reviled wizards there were, address him and furthermore he was licking his lips in anticipation. The students. "Stupefy. Incarcerous." Where were the aurors, Magical Law Enforcement, heck, anyone from the Ministry? He didn't care if it was the maintenance wizards or the blokes that weighed wands. This was all-out war.
Obviously, others understood that, since Thicknesse saw centaurs galloping past, and was that Horace Slughorn wearing emerald green satin pajamas? He followed the crowd inside, trying to discern who was the enemy other than Voldemort and his whore, Bellatrix Lestrange. Some of these people could be imperiused as he was. Wait, there was Kingsley.
He ran after him, calling, "Shacklebolt. I'm no longer under the imperius."
Kingsley Shacklebolt turned, gave Pius Thicknesse a good look, then said, "About time you came to your senses, Minister."
"I'm pretty sure it was Yaxley."
"Something wiped out most of the real Death Eaters. We still have a few running about and then legions of his followers to contend with. Potter's dead."
"Potter?" Pius repeated, distraught that the one person who surely could kill Voldemort was gone. What were they to do? He bolstered himself and exclaimed, "What are we standing around jawing for, Shacklebolt? Let's get the bastard."
"Quite," Kingsley replied, glad that his old colleague had returned.
Meanwhile, house elves were pouring out of the kitchen waving sharp objects. Harry Potter, under his invisibility cloak, was reaching the Great Hall in pursuit of Voldemort, Narcissa and Lucius were screaming for Draco, and Severus Snape sat up and stared at the smoking ends of what was left of Dumbledore's beard. He smirked at the dream of doing this to the real man's luxurious growth of hair.
Two mesmerizing duels broke out. Voldemort was engaged with Slughorn, McGonagall and Flitwick, while Bellatrix was fighting against Ginny, Luna and Hermione. Molly Weasley claimed Bellatrix as hers, and took her on single-handedly, surprising everyone, except Arthur of course.
Voldemort screamed when Bellatrix fell, her mouth still stretched in a grin but the insane glint gone from her eyes. He cast something which knocked back all three of his opponents, sending them flying through the air, and turned on Molly Weasley.
Harry yelled, "Protego!" to shield Mrs. Weasley, and then pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, exposing himself.
The crowd was shocked. Harry Potter was alive. Voldemort and Harry began circling each other as the volume grew, and then suddenly everything went quiet as there was a flash of light and Albus Dumbledore and Fawkes appeared next to him. Jaws dropped.
Forgetting himself, Harry asked, "What happened to you?"
With a slight shrug, Dumbledore light heartedly replied, "I was caught up with reducing the odds. I see I have not arrived not a moment too late."
"No, I mean your beard is almost gone."
"Ah, Harry," Severus replied, using his first name in such a convincing manner that Harry's chest tightened, "There is nothing so agonizing to the fine skin of vanity as the application of a rough truth. "
"Huh?"
"That's Bulwer-Lytton, you unread ignoramus. I was struck by lightning because I was touching Yaxley when I unleashed nature upon them."
"You saved me!" Pius Thicknesse cried out. He had not been a fan of Dumbledore's until this moment. If it weren't for him, he could be cavorting in the blood of children with Greyback right now.
Voldemort took the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb. Perhaps it was a fake. Perhaps this wand was a fake too. He had come too far to let doubt set in now. He'd kill them both. Personally, so this time there would be no mistake.
Voldemort called out, "Tired of pulling the strings from behind the curtain, Dumbledore?"
"Don't you talk to him like that," Harry responded.
"Shut up, whelp, and go back to sniveling behind the skirts of greater men."
"Manners, Tom," admonished Dumbledore. Severus was unsure of how the Dark Lord would be defeated. Why wasn't Potter dead? Did he still need to really die, or had something changed when the Dark Lord believed him dead? His very presence as Dumbledore was a distraction. Would that be enough to aid Potter in whatever he needed to do?
"And you," Voldemort sneered at Dumbledore, "all your planning. I am the master of the Elder Wand now. I killed Snape three hours ago."
Harry laughed, "You got it wrong. That wand won't work properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore because he had been Dumbledore's all along. The headmaster's plan worked perfectly."
Severus stopped the white bushy eyebrows from shooting up his forehead, or the thin upper lip's corner from raising in a sneer. Perfect plan, his arse. When was everyone going to realize that Gryffindors told the most outrageous lies?
"He ..." Voldemort stopped. Albus Dumbledore was standing before him and calmly smiling. Dumbledore had another wand in his hand. It was white and glowed with an inner power. The opposite of the Death Stick that he held, and still did not master.
"Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, and I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I am the true master of the Elder Wand," Harry stated.
Voldemort knew Potter was lying. This was a trick. Why would Dumbledore allow himself to lose his hold over the Elder Wand? No. Never. He'd prove it by cutting Potter down. "Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!"
There was a loud boom, the two combatants were swept up in a golden, flickering light as their spells met, and the wand Voldemort had been holding flew up into the air towards Harry. The spectators were in awe since the result was like the perfect ending to a heroic tale. Harry deftly caught the second wand in his left hand, and the bad guy fell backwards to the ground dead, leaving behind a pathetic looking corpse.
Severus felt a sharp stabbing pain in his, or Dumbledore's, lower abdomen and before he could bring his hand to the area, fell unconscious with a barely audible grunt amidst the cheers of jubilation and the rush of everyone trying to reach Harry. Only Fawkes prevented him from getting trampled, by perching atop him, spreading his wings and challenging everyone to stand back.
From between Ron and Hermione, and Ginny, Neville and Luna, hearing the odd noises Fawkes was making, Harry asked as he pushed through, "What happened?"
Hagrid was on his knees wailing next to Dumbledore's body, "No, not again."
"Um, Hagrid, we didn't mean to hurt you like this," Harry said sympathetically, while patting his large shoulder, "but that's not really Dumbledore. It was a trick for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Not to be mean to you, or everyone that admired Dumbledore. What happened?"
"He just fell," Hagrid replied. "After I saw a pink light flash from Him," he said with a head jerk towards Voldemort's corpse, "to the headmaster's tummy. Or whoever this really is. It's just seeing him again laying dead."
"He's not dead, Hagrid," Hermione explained, already observing the slow rise and fall or respiration. She'd take a closer look, but Fawkes looked a bit dangerous to them all, except Hagrid. "Can you get Fawkes to let someone take a look?"
"Hm, aw, Fawkes is just protecting … wait a minute, if this is not Dumbledore, than what is Fawkes doing here?"
"It's all a long story, Hagrid, and if he did not need to hide that he was the most loyal person to Dumbledore, we would have seen Fawkes sooner."
There was a murmur of speculation. Who was more loyal to Albus Dumbledore than Harry Potter?
Hagrid sniffled then pulled out a large, stained handkerchief and blew. "Phoenixes are strange. Usually they go back to the wild. Not even spouses are devout enough to gain their trust all the time." Hagrid scanned the crowd – McGonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick, Harry, himself … Hagrid hated these kind of thinking puzzles, and he hadn't even started having a drink or two yet to calm his nerves after the long night he had had.
"Whoever it is, has my thanks," Pius Thicknesse announced. "I must have seemed the biggest, ruddiest fool while that … well, I mean it. If he or she got rid of most of the Death Eaters saving our lives, and freeing those of us that were under imperius so we could help you lot out at the last minute …"
"That's good to hear, but we need to make sure he lives to appreciate your feelings, Minister," Harry explained. He suspected his tune would drastically change once he found out who his savior was. "Hagrid, can't you get Fawkes to let someone in there? And does anyone know a spell that sounds like what Hagrid described … a pink light?"
Hermione was already furiously thinking. She had spotted the Malfoys, all together sitting at a table. None of them was affected. It wasn't targeted at Death Eaters. Just Dumbledore or Snape. Harry had been standing closer. If she could think of why target him, then maybe she'd have a clue as to the type spell. Pink … that was an odd color. She had seen pink spells, but they were for girl things like cramp relief or the time she tried out a contraception charm on herself, just in case she needed it one day. And Voldemort, Dumbledore and Snape were definitely not female.
The adult females all wore a puzzled look, but none blurted out anything ridiculous. Until Luna Lovegood, suggested thoughtfully, "Maybe he's pregnant?"
Kingsley, as an auror, knew the kind of illegal spell she meant to continue on a family when the last member died. "I thought He was interested in keeping himself alive, not passing along his legacy to children?" By his reckoning, Voldemort was seventy or eighty years old. If he was interested in that sort of thing, he should have been working on it while he was alive. Impregnating someone who commanded Fawkes' loyalty after Dumbledore's death was the most ill thought out way of getting an heir for a dark wizard.
Arthur answered, "It lasts for generations so he may not have cast it. He was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin."
"What?" Harry asked. Legacy, children, generations, descendants ... and Snape was male. Only Luna would suggest something so daft. Harry hadn't checked personally, but uh, Harry was willing to swear that Snape was a guy. Besides, Ron probably would know better. It may take a while till that was ready for joking around with, but it was filed away as future taunting material now that he and his best mate had survived. Though Snape surviving would be good too. There were too many dead in here. He saw earlier, but … Harry really was too sensitive to this sort of thing. He hated it. He hated what Voldemort had done.
As a head of house, Minerva had frequently cast this charm to put to rest any doubts, and she was not afraid of Fawkes. It was scurrilous scuttlebutt to speculate about such a subject when the possible victim was laying here … oh … well, um, that answered that, but who was she? Minerva thought she knew Albus well enough that if he had some woman he saw and that obviously meant so much to him that Fawkes was fond of her, that she'd have some inkling that she existed. Was Albus leading a secret life? And for this spell to work, how much younger than Albus was she?
She had been leaning over the person, trying to ascertain if there were any injuries, when the blue eyes opened and whoever it was, knew her, since the first question was simply, "Prof. McGonagall?" Had this person been a student of hers? The rutting, old goat.
"Are you hurt?"
"I don't know," was the reply, and the person tried to sit up to look downwards. Minerva tried to assist, but whoever it was flinched and Fawkes snapped at her with his beak. A very odd look crossed Albus Dumbledore's face, directed at her. It seemed familiar.
Harry fell to his knees, ignoring Fawkes' jab at him, and grabbed an arm. "Are you okay?"
"Stop molesting me," Severus complained. He was sore, but nothing truly painful.
"When Voldemort," there was an uncharacteristic flinch from non-Dumbledore, but Harry continued, "died, you got hit with some spell from him and passed out."
"Luckily famous Harry Potter was here to hold my hand while I recovered," was the sarcastic reply.
"Cut that out. I know you don't mean that."
"I think I do. Get your smelly hands off of me."
Harry smiled, kept his hands were they were, and asked, "So … you're better than?"
"Don't you ever quit fishing for compliments, you fat-headed, conceited, ill-mannered weed? Yes. Yes. Whatever magic you performed has left me miraculously recovered. Harry Potter is my hero. Now shove off to go spread your famous good cheer and concern elsewhere while doing cartwheels on your ridiculous Firebolt."
Other than Ron and Hermione, some of the group surrounding this tableau were suspicious of the real identity of Dumbledore's most loyal friend. However, it was soon cleared up as Harry threw his arms around the person and exclaimed, "You are my hero, Severus Snape."
"I find you repulsive, Potter. And stop drooling on this robe. It was probably prohibitively expensive."
The name of Snape was repeated by a crowd of gobsmacked witches and wizards before Kingsley Shacklebolt said, "You should come back to the Ministry for questioning, Snape."
Pius Thicknesse was already considering his retraction. He was imperiused to claim he was no longer under the imperio curse? No one would believe that.
"You guys don't get it. Snape was always on our side. He was working for Dumbledore. Dumbledore was dying from a curse that Voldemort put on a ring, and it was Snape that kept him from dying then, but it was slowly spreading. Remember his hand? Anyway, Dumbledore planned his death with Snape. And then left information with me, and information with Snape on how to defeat Voldemort. Snape also gave me Gryffindor's sword a couple months ago to defeat something of Voldemort's, but I didn't know it at the time. And he was here at the school to keep the students safe from people like the Carrows, but he couldn't do too good a job, or Voldemort would have tried to kill him sooner and then he wouldn't have been able to tell me anything," Harry explained in a rush. If he could understand it, everyone else should be able to.
Out of seemingly nowhere, a solicitous voice commented, "I would be intensely interested in hearing the whole and exclusive story."
Harry, Ron, Hermione and others stared in shock at Rita Skeeter. Unbelievable.
