Chapter 4: The Great (Almost) Escape
(Clell's original)
Albus Dumbledore's eyes narrowed when he spotted Hermione Granger being escorted into the Great Hall by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, with a clearly concerned Harry Potter and an even more clearly amused Ron Weasley trailing behind. The sight of the Slytherin pair having apparently shifted their allegiance to the Granger girl seemed to lend credence to the story Severus had been telling since he had returned from a Death Eater meeting reporting that the Dark Lord was no more.
Of course the Lestranges being turned over to the Aurors by Augustus Crabbe and Millicent Parkinson for attempting to attack Harry Potter at his Uncle's home had already served to confirm his Potion Master's tale. It struck Albus as being particularly odd that Severus showing no interest in the number of young women in his house who had seemingly decided to emulate Miss Granger's hair style. That was just the sort of thing Albus had come to expect to drive Severus into a rant.
Albus directed his attention to the Slytherin table, where so many of the young women were suddenly emulating Miss Granger's hair style.
Did this sudden mass change of coiffure mean something? Was it important? He would need to speak with Minerva about that. The minds of young women had never been understandable to him.
The Welcoming Feast completed, the serving platters and dishes had disappeared, the Headmaster finished his welcoming speech, and was about to release the students to their prefects when he was interrupted in a most unexpected manner.
"Headmaster," Severus Snape said, "if I may address the students?"
Albus really was not sure what to make of this. Other than that horrible woman Umbridge the year before, no member of the staff had ever asked to address the students at the welcoming feast. Still, Severus would not be asking without a good reason.
"Of course, students, your attention, if you please. Professor Snape."
"Over the holidays," Snapes said in his normal sneering tone that carried to every corner of the Great Hall, "it was pointed out to me that I lacked certain… attributes of a successful teacher. It was also suggested that I might be treating some students… unfairly."
Severus paused for a moment while the students and staff digested this announcement. Albus was mildly surprised to see that not a single student was surprised in the slightest by either of the Potions Master's points.
"As such, I have decided to tender my resignation, effective immediately."
The room erupted into chaos with those words. Albus blinked away his surprise at Severus' unexpected resignation as the Gryffindors rose to their feet and began applauding. He would have to speak with them about that.
"I have contacted my predecessor, Professor Slughorn, who has agreed to take my place for this school year. He arrives in the morning."
Again Albus looked out over the students, many of whom appeared to be only seconds away from a massive celebration, only to have Severus continue. "And finally, I would like to recognize the change of status of Miss Hermione Granger, and express my hope that she accepts my apologies for how I have treated her over the last five years and that she isn't moved to use her new position to enact bloody vengeance upon me."
(My Original)
Severus Snape breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the confirmation from the Ministry of Magic..
He was sitting within his home on Spinner's End. Just three days before, he had preferred an apology toward the Swot of Hogwarts and turned over all of his duties to Horace Slughorn. Somehow, someway, he had successfully escaped the castle without drawing any more attention than necessary toward himself than was strictly necessary.
He had heard directly from Lucius Malfoy exactly what had occurred back in July when the Dark Lord was summoned by the Council of Evil and was summarily executed for daring to incur harm on the little know-it-all.
The pensieve memory had been very educational.
Unlike most whom Lucius had shown, he did not watch Dolohov and the Dark Lord. Nor did he spend time looking at the six members of the Council. He himself was very familiar with pain and torture and every bit of unpleasantness that could be inflicted upon another person. He knew that the other Death Eaters had been very impressed – and terrified – with the casual power of the Council of Evil to inflict such pain.
No. He, spymaster that he was, watched the really important part of the memory: The utter boredom with which the muggle, Philip Granger, regarded the screams of pain and violent deaths which had been produced for his and his family's benefit.
He had kept his new understanding to himself when passing intelligence along to the Headmaster as well as in his talks with the other Death Eaters. He knew that almost no other could truly comprehend what he had derived from the experience: To view such an occurrence with such dispassion meant that the Dentist was used to inflicting far, far more painful and terrifying experiences upon others.
And THAT, more than anything else, had set his plans in stone.
He had quietly been consolidating his resources over the previous two months, ensuring that he could withdraw from Magical Britain with only a minimum of fuss. Some things had had to wait until he announced his intentions, but for the most part he had been ready by September 1st. Immediately after the feast, he had spent a good deal of time – after getting away from Dumbledore's protest and other such rot – doing a final briefing to Horace Slughorn. By 8:00 AM he had been away.
After arriving at Spinner's End, he had spent the next two days ensuring that no surprises would occur before taking the Portkey nor immediately after. All his efforts had come to fruition with the final word being received by a trusted source.
His International Portkey would be the very next day. He would be, by this time tomorrow, safely ensconced in the Magical Enclaves of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceanica.
His bags were packed and shrunk. He had one outfit prepared for his travel. This house would be sealed immediately upon his departure. He had emptied his cupboards. He had one lone bottle of brandy left out – which was almost finished – and some small toiletries for temporary use.
Everything else he needed before his departure could be conjured and then banished (pajamas, cup for the brandy, etc. etc.
He considered the room he was in even as he sipped his brandy. He would not miss this house, nor all it represented in his life. He could forget about the Swot, the Dentist, the Red-Headed Menaces, the Manipulator, the Bespeckled Spawn of Evil (he really disliked Potters), and everything else.
He should have known that the absolute worst was yet to come.
Just as he was finishing the last of the brandy, he heard a slight knock against the window. Startled, he looked up and saw an owl peering at him through the window. With some trepidation, he moved to open the window to allow the beautiful snowy owl through. He recognized this owl.
The owl landed on the empty roost and gazed imperiously at him. He was tempted to make a comment about the owl's owner – but the look upon the bird's face warned him that such would be a poor choice. He sighed as he took the letter – clean white muggle envelope with his name printed neatly on the front of it, a return address somewhere in Crawly.
He murmured a quiet 'thank you' to the bird and was surprised to get a sound that almost sounded like approval from it.
He sat down and gingerly examined the envelope both with his senses and then with his wand. It appeared to be exactly what it looked like: A muggle letter. He cautiously moved his finger to release the flap and then carefully set the envelope aside after retrieving the paper.
He opened the letter and cautiously began reading it.
Mr. Severus Snape
Greetings and Salutations.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Philip Granger, Doctor of Dental Science (DDS), Member in Good Standing of the British Dental Association (BDA).
In a recent letter from our daughter, Hermione Grander, Gryffindor, she mentioned that you recently resigned from your position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry immediately after publicly acknowledging your possible shortcomings as a teacher.
It takes great strength of character to recognize one's own limitations and I can say that, as a parent AND as a professional who has, upon occasion, had to teach others my craft I applaud your self-honesty.
In previous conversations and letters she has mentioned that, regardless of teaching ability, you are one of the foremost recognized masters of your field. She also mentioned that, due to changed circumstances within your community, your previously necessary position within both sides of the recently conflict were no longer adversely affecting you. From my understanding, you – possibly reluctantly, but effectively nevertheless – held a most difficult position as regards said conflict.
Congratulations on becoming free of such onerous obligations.
Now, to the reason I, at my wife's suggestion, am contacting you.
My wife, Elizabeth Granger, also a DDS and a member in good standing of the BDA, recently suggested to me that there seems to be a lack of proper dental care within your community. With the aid of our daughter we attempted to research such care as is currently available and it seems to us that there is a great lack.
Knowing that our daughter does plan to live and work within the magical community, we felt it was incumbent upon us to ensure that she, her friends and family, her fellow magicals, even those who might disagree with her, should have access to proper dental care.
It is with that in mind that I am contacting you. When discussing this with my wife, it was fortunate, perhaps, that such a ready means of contacting you was available to us in the form of her friend Harry's postal own as she had just delivered Hermione's most recent letter to us.
I am aware that you are a master of Potions, including those that might be applicable in Health Care. Knowing only non-magical procedures, we felt that it would be proper to ensure that any resources available could be put to use to research possible uses of magical solutions toward issues that might arise within the application of our expertise.
I am certain, for example, that if your godson (Hermione mentioned that you had such in a random comment recently) should require Dental Care should he, perchance, have an unfortunate accident requiring services such as we provide, that you would not want him to experience unnecessary suffering to correct such problems as might result from such unfortunate circumstances.
Knowing that you have left your previous position and, from the information gleaned from what our daughter has provided, guessing that you have might not obtained a new position yet, I and my wife thought that you might be open to negotiations.
With proper research and application of our skills as well as your own, we might just prevent that aforementioned unnecessary suffering on the part of your family, friends, and other fellow magicals.
With an interest in the future and in expectation of your consideration, we await your reply to our request for a meeting to discuss our proposal.
With best regards, I am
Philip Granger, DDS, BDA Member
Severus Snape shuddered as he considered the implications of the letter he just received.