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Chapter Four: The Mirror

It was already getting dark when Alexandra returned to her small flat in North London. The journey had been long and tedious – one of the disadvantages of being a squib was that you had to rely on Muggle transport, flooing or apparating was out of the question. Not that Alexandra had enjoyed the few times she had used the floo-network or had done side-along apparition with members of her family. This second-hand use of magic had always resulted in headaches and nausea.

She dumped her bag and her jacket on the table, kicked off her shoes and briefly considered what to do next. As she'd had nothing to eat since the biscuits that had accompanied the cup of tea in Professor McGongall's office she was ravenous, but she also felt stressed out and grimy from the journey. Food or shower? She decided in favour of the shower and soon the hot water and fragrant shower-gel made her relax and feel human again.

Wrapped into a towelling bathrobe she inspected her fridge. There was a container with fried rice, the leftovers of yesterday's Chinese take-away dinner. She put it in the microwave and while waiting poured herself a large glass of mineral water. When the rice was ready she took it over to her armchair and settled into it comfortably, her feet on a low stool in front of it. She ate quickly and with her stomach satisfied she felt the tiredness overcome her once again. She stifled a yawn, telling herself that it was time to call it a day and turn in. Her mind, however, was not ready for sleep, her thoughts were restless, revolving around the day's efforts, which, as she had to admit reluctantly, had been a complete waste of time, money and energy. No information to speak of, no further insight into the mystery that was Severus Snape. ..

Suddenly she remembered the mirror. It was still in the pocket of her jacket, somehow she had not dared take it out and examine it on the train. With a deep sigh she hoisted herself from the chair, took the glass and the container to the sink and on her way back retrieved her jacket from the table. She reached into the pocket. There it was. It was beautiful. The filigree gilt frame consisted of the highly ornamented figures of four birds with long tail feathers. She turned the mirror in her hands, admiring the intertwining graceful lines of the tails. Art deco – that was what this style was called. She had always liked it. The glass was dull with age and fingerprints. Alexandra breathed on it and polished it carefully with the hem of her bathrobe until it became shiny again.

Then she looked into it idly and studied her face. It appeared pale and drawn under the damp hair; without make-up her eyes were dull and tired, with dark rings beneath them. She definitely looked every minute of her age tonight…

Suddenly she gasped. The image had changed. The face in the mirror had become much older, had turned into the face of a very old white-haired wizard with a long beard, dazzling blue eyes and half-moon spectacles. A face everyone with some knowledge of the wizarding world was familiar with: Albus Dumbledore. Heavens, what was happening to her? Was her brain so tired that she had hallucinations? She shook her head, blinked and peered into the mirror again. The face was still there, and what was more, it bowed and smiled at her and then she heard a deep and warm voice in her head.

"Ms Moody, I presume?"

Alexandra gaped at the mirror open-mouthed and nodded weakly.

"How do you do?" the voice continued pleasantly, "Nice to meet you, I'm Albus Dumbledore."

"Yes, I - I know," Alexandra stuttered, trying to come to grips with the fact that she was just entering into a conversation with a mirror.

"I'm so glad that you found the mirror, it has been waiting for so long a time. I'm ever so glad that finally someone cares for Severus," the voice said and the old face twisted into a sad little smile. "He needs sympathy and help."

Now Alexandra became alert. Had she understood the old wizard correctly?

"You - what? But he killed you!"

The face nodded sadly. "Oh yes, that's right, I'm afraid he did, but only because I told him to."

"You told him to murder you?"

"Not only told him, but practically forced him," Albus Dumbledore said quietly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand…"

"Of course you don't, dear child, how could you? Shall I tell you the story? Do you want to hear it?"

Again Alexandra nodded, too stunned to find words.

"Now, let me see, where do I begin? You know about Voldemort, I suppose?"

"Certainly," Alexandra replied. What did he take her for?

"Do you know about the Order of the Phoenix as well?"

Order of the Phoenix? There had been statements about an 'Order' in the evidence given at the trial and she had heard rumours of a secret community of wizards whose aim it had been to destroy Voldemort, but she didn't know facts. So she shook her head.

"The Order of the Phoenix was founded to fight Voldemort and to end his power. Severus was our spy. He had become a Death Eater after school and when a teaching position became vacant, Voldemort sent him to Hogwarts to spy on us. But at that time Severus didn't believe in the purposes of the Death Eaters any more, regretted his youthful decision, realized that he had made a terrible mistake and came to me for advice. I recognized that this was an opportunity that would arrive just once in a lifetime. So I persuaded him to come over to our side as a double agent, to return to his Dark Lord and play his role as a spy for Voldemort while actually being our spy within the Death Eater ranks."

He paused and looked at Alexandra enquiringly.

"Can you follow, Miss Moody?"

"Yes, I think so", she answered slowly.

"Severus didn't like the idea at first, but I managed to convince him of the advantages: that by helping us he could atone for the crimes he had committed and that this option was preferable to a stay in Azkaban. So in the end he swore allegiance to the Order and his information proved very useful."

The old face paused with a sigh of reminiscence. Alexandra waited patiently.

"After Voldemort's resurrection, life became very difficult for Severus. He immediately offered to resume his role as a spy and return to Voldemort. I tried to dissuade him because I feared for his safety, but he was adamant, wouldn't take no for an answer, wanted to fulfil his obligations towards the Order, towards myself."

The old wizard stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"As I had anticipated, Voldemort's paranoia had increased tremendously, he was suspicious of his followers and particularly so of Severus who had been living with the enemy for 14 years. He questioned him very painfully, the other Death Eaters didn't accept him, because he had been comfortably at Hogwarts instead of languishing in Azkaban and the members of the Order had never really trusted him anyway because of his Dark Mark."

He shook his head sadly.

"Poor boy, he bore it all very bravely without complaining. Then in the summer before his last year as a teacher he was visited by Narcissa Malfoy and her sister. He learned that Narcissa's son, Draco, a Hogwarts student, had joined the Death Eaters and had been set a task by Voldemort, a task which his mother feared was dangerous for the boy and impossible to fulfil. Hoping to find out more about the nature of this task Severus agreed to take an Unbreakable Vow to help and protect Draco without knowing what that help would imply.

Are you still with me, Ms Moddy?"

Alexandra nodded thoughtfully. She had no idea what exactly an Unbreakable Vow was about, but it sounded quite impressive and dangerous. With a smile she signalled to Dumbledore that she was ready for him to continue.

"When Severus found out that Draco was working on a plan to kill me, he came to me to confess and warn me. I told him there was only one option: To stick to his vow and kill me if the situation arose. You see, I had received injuries when I destroyed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, injuries that would eventually lead to a slow and painful death. So I was dying anyway, Severus would only hurry things up. It wasn't easy to make him concede. He became furious at the suggestion, he destroyed half of the ornaments in my office in his wrath, I had to cruelly remind him of the oath he had sworn to me and the Order before he finally agreed."

The image sighed.

"And even then – that fatal night when it came to the confrontation on the Astronomy Tower, I needed all of the strength that was left to me to make him pronounce the killing curse. I had been poisoned when we retrieved another Horcrux, he could see that my life was fading away rapidly, but he still hated me for it and he hated himself for giving in."

The old wizard closed his eyes for a moment and then polished his spectacles with a large spotted handkerchief before he continued.

"Poor boy. I had intended to make provisions for proving his innocence, but the crucial moment arrived sooner than I had anticipated. So he was convicted."

Alexandra stared at the mirror in horror.

"He's innocent!" she whispered. "Why didn't he tell so at the trial?"

"Who would have believed him?"

She put the mirror on the table and got up. Five years spent in Azkaban as an innocent man! Five years in that hell-hole, shackled and beaten. She paced the room. It was unbelievable. There had to be a way to get him out, to prove his innocence. She picked up the mirror again.

"I'd like to help him, what can I do?" she demanded.

Dumbledore's face lit up with a smile.

"So my hope has been fulfilled. It took so long to find a person willing to help him."

His face became grave again.

"First of all you must convince him of his innocence, you must persuade him to co-operate." "But," Alexandra could not quite follow, "he knows that he acted on your orders, he knows that he is innocent, doesn't he?"

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Severus is a difficult character. He certainly knows that I asked him to kill me, but he still feels guilty of all the crimes he committed in his early Death Eater days and had to commit as a spy. He thinks he deserves punishment, I'm afraid."

"That's stupid."

"That's Severus."

Alexandra bit her lower lip thoughtfully. Dumbledore had to be wrong, nobody would want to go to prison for a crime he had not committed.

"I must talk to him," she finally decided.

Although she dreaded going back to Azkaban there was no other way. The old wizard's eyes twinkled with joy and were buried in a frame of wrinkles when he smiled at her affectionately.

"I wish you luck, Ms Moody."

Thanks to J.K.Rowling for inventing these wonderful characters.