16
Chapter Eight-Out of the Shadows
Author's Note:
I would like to take the time to honor a good man and a great actor, Alan Rickman. From what I heard, he was a person of decency, wit and integrity. I pray that he and Paul Walker, of " Fast and Furious" fame were judged with the loving kindness of the Creator in their afterlife and that their families will cherish their memories in their grief.
You are missed.
Lord Voldermort was not a happy wizard. The halls were littered with moaning, bleeding, victims of this morning's Cruciatus Curses. That was somewhat normal for a Monday after a weekend of magical carousing. But this time many of the battered and bruised were house elves. They were the magically enslaved staff for the wizards who could afford the family binding spells. But, if they were useless due to extended torture, their witches and wizard masters ended up having to clean, cook and take care of themselves. The Dark Lord sat back, sneering at his followers' discomfort. Most of the so called Death Eaters were lazy, soft living louts who followed him fueled by fear of his power along with a lust for the twisted rewards of dark magic. The idea of hard work gave them more nightmares than a pack of roving Boggarts. So it gave him a perverse sense of pleasure to watch his witches and wizards try their hands at making him breakfast with outdated spells that destroyed most of the food and utensils, as well as a great deal of the kitchen.
After watching them bumble about with no meal in sight, Voldermort gave up.
"ENOUGH!" He roared, jumping to his feet.
They all jumped most satisfactorily.
The Dark Lord glared at them from his platform.
"Do any of you know how to cook?" he demanded,
The entire group stared at the floor, trembling. No one spoke.
"You, Yaxley,"
The silver haired wizard studied his shoes, shaking his head. "No, my Lord. I-I'm sorry."
"I'm NOT!" Voldermort waved his wand, "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted. The wizard was swept off his feet and slammed up into the ceiling and then down into floor until both areas were cracked. The Dark Lord then threw the unconscious wizard into a corner.
"I will ask again," he purred in his silkiest voice. "Is there ANYONE who knows how to cook? Bellatrix?"
The crazed, dark eyed witch shivered, staring at him in adoration. "I haven't cooked in years, my Lord. But-"
Voldermort's eyes narrowed into blood red slits. He was tempted to curse her, but knowing her rather kinky sensitivities he refrained. Probably just turn her on, he thought with a sigh. Instead he threw a small hex her way that turned her hair into snakes that bit at her face and throat. Bellatrix shrieked and ran around the room, screaming with terror.
Actually, it was a bit of improvement on her usual hairstyles. Hmm.
He quickly apparated the sobbing witch to his bedroom and sealed the door. Bit of entertainment for later, he grinned.
"I will not ask a second time." The room was silent. "We have no working elves. Someone needs to cook. It will not be me. So any one of you can make me breakfast?"
He stared around at each frightened, sullen face-except for-
"Ahem."
"Oh Gawd," he muttered, rolling his blood shot eyes.
"Excuse me."
Voldermort sighed, "Yes, Miss Umbridge?"
The former headmistress of Hogwarts simpered as she lowered her chubby hand. "Well, My Lord, Perhaps I can help-"
The rest of the room looked up with hope.
She giggled. "I've been told that I make a most satisfying cupper ."
Everyone groaned.
"Nagini!" Voldermort shouted.
The huge snake slithered down the hall to his master.
"At least one of us shall have breakfast," he said, pointing his wand at the pink clad witch.
Umbridge trembled and looked away, wetting herself in the process of trying to run.
"Avada-"
"Perhaps, I can help?"
Voldermort smiled and turned. Severus Snape, his most loyal lieutenant, stood behind him, a vision of smooth calmness in this palace of fear and ineptitude.
"What would you like, my Lord?" he asked gently.
"Whatever you can make from the smash up these fools left," Voldermort snapped.
Snape looked over at what was left of the kitchen. "I think I can salvage a few things," he said slowly. "How about a nice fry up?"
"Ah, lovely!"
"But I fear we'll to skip the beans. Someone smashed the cans trying to open them," he glanced at the elder Malfoy.
"My Lord, I-" Lucius stuttered.
Snape looked at Malfoy. Shut up, he thought at him.
He did.
"Never mind, that," Voldermort shouted. "Just get it done. I'm hungry. "
"Yes, My Lord."
Severus glided smoothly through the wreckage, sweeping bodies out of his way, levitating various foodstuffs into magically repaired pans to settle on the stove. The other wizards watched in amazement as a perfectly executed Standard British Fry Up cleared their heads and appeared on the long table complete with fork, knife and spoon. Voldermort found himself almost drooling at the sight. He forked the first mouthful up to his thin lips and suddenly noticed the rest of his crew staring hungrily at the bounty before him.
'Severus," he hissed.
Snape looked up from the kitchen stove. "Yes, My Lord?"
"Can you duplicate this meal for these pitifully inadequate creatures?"
The former Potions Master looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "That should be easy enough."
Voldermort's thin mouth twisted. "Then replicate this meal for everyone."
Severus whispered the correct spell as the Death Eaters watched and practically wept with joy. The Dark Lord hadn't allowed anyone food since yesterday's measly lunch of reheated fish and chips. The air was suddenly filled with the smell of fried eggs and sausages. Toast, various jams, ham pieces and hashed potatoes with onions flew through the air.
"I think I speak for all of us," Lucius Malfoy said, as he bowed. "When I thank you for your bounty to us, Dear Lord"
The Dark Lord laughed. "That almost sounds like a prayer," he chuckled. "Yes, yes, a prayer to your gracious Lord who gives you life, food, health and the very air you breathe. Come on now. Stand to your feet and speak my praises for giving you such a banquet!"
The entire bunch of able bodied wizards and witches sprang to their feet and bleated what Lucius had said with few more flowery expressions thrown in to complete it. The tone was a bit subdued due to hunger, pain and fear but Voldermort accepted it as his due.
"Almost feel like a chorus of "Jerusalem" after that, I do," Fenir the werewolf muttered. A few low giggles ran round the room.
"Oh, you find that amusing?" Voldermort snarled. He pointed to the Dark Wolf. A huge dog collar snapped around the werewolf's neck, dragging him to the floor. Fenir howled as he landed face first.
"Bad doggie! You can watch them eat and gather their scraps when they're done."
Voldermort glared at the rest. "Kneel down now. Go on."
The group knelt down, eyes averted from their master.
"Severus, is the food hot?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Of course it is. Such a precise wizard, aren't you? Alright, place their meals-"
He smiled.
"In their hands."
Snape glided the waiting food into each pair of cupped palms. Some of them whimpered at the heat. But the majority caught their food and ate the dripping masses without protest.
"Not you, Severus," Voldermort said, reading his hesitation for humility. "You come have your breakfast here, beside me on my right hand, as it were."
Snape nodded, set up utensils and ate in silence as he watched his master cram food until the Dark Lord finally leaned back into his chair with a satisfied sigh.
"Well done, my servant. That was lovely." He gazed around the room. "The rest of you louts can go clean the kitchen."
The wizards and witches got up and shuffled grumbling towards the other room, leaving them alone.
"Stupid gist,"
Snape noted that The Dark Lord's posh accent went a grateful South of Cambridge when he was relaxed; probably his mother's influence.
Now's as good a time as any, he thought.
"My Lord, I appreciate your promotion of me to the post of Headmaster-"
Voldermort smiled . "Well, you certainly deserve it after putting up with Albus Dumbledore for so long. Tell me again." Voldermort chuckled "Tell me how he looked when you struck the final blow. It so does amuse me, doesn't it, Nagini?" He stroked the huge head, purring with delight.
Severus dutifully recounted the moment his Avada Kedarva spell slammed into Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, hurling him off the top of the tower at Hogwarts down into the dirt.
"Oh, I love it," Voldermort interrupted. "Just the thought of his suffering, his humiliation-He DID suffer, didn't he, Severus?"
Snape stared at the floor and nodded, head down. "I'm sure," he said.
The Dark Lord giggled. "Oh, I hope Bellatrix is unwilling. I am so in the mood right now and I love it when she fights me. Rape is glorious in itself. But murder is oh so sensuous, even when it's second hand, don't you think so, Severus?" The Dark Lord was practically levitating with joy." The blood, the smashed flesh, the smells of fear-"
Snape heard the scream, the sickening green light that flashed in the window.
Too late. Too late to save her.
Again.
His hand fluttered unbidden by his wand.
It would be so easy...
"Umm, what did you say, Severus?"
The Potions Master glanced up, his face set in its usual calm mask.
"I said, we can all breathe a lot easier now that your plan is almost complete, my Lord."
"Umm, yes. My plan..."
"I was wondering, when I could return to Hogwarts."
Voldermort raised an eyebrow. "Are you bored of my company, Severus?" He pressed a rail thin hand to his chest. " You wound me!" he sighed, giggling.
Severus smiled. "Never, my Lord. I find your company most stimulating. It's just that the students at Hogwarts need looking after. There aren't many teachers left at the school and I need to be there to coordinate your new curriculum. "
"Ah, yes," Voldermort stood up, rubbing his hands together, "We mustn't forget the future! There's the breeding program to rid ourselves of our Mud Blood scum. Then there's the new book I'm writing on the Dark Arts-under a pseudonym of course-"
"Of course"
"Until we can all come out of the closet, as it were. That should be soon, don't you think?"
"Well , we may still have to proceed with caution, until the Muggle population is properly subdued."
The Dark Lord sneered.
"What can they do against our Magic?"
"But you want the cities intact, my Lord." Severus said. "That takes skill, cunning and charm-all things that you are most noted for."
Snape gazed wide eyed at his Master, deliberately ignoring the egg stains and dried blood on the front of his Voldermort's robes.
The Dark Lord preened for a moment then grinned. "Yes, that is true. We Snakes know all about patience and stealth, don't we, Severus? But we still need to push the process along. How did your little photo bombing go with those Muggles at their Ministry?"
"They're terrified and confused," Snape said. "Their petty mundane minds were unable to cope with the power we displayed. I hear that the head of MI6-"
"What?"
"Their version of Aurors-"
Voldermort scoffed. "Pretentious prats."
"-Sent their chiefs and families into hiding."
"Hiding like vermin," he cackled and paced rapidly." Ready to be crushed under foot."
"That leaves you free to concentrate on the last part of your plan, my Lord."
"Yes, yes. The destruction of Harry Potter and his little playmates once and for all. But we must first destroy the wizards who are hiding him. The Weasleys, first and foremost. They have chosen him over me and mine. They should pay the price. And they will."
Voldermort raved on for a moment about the 'traitors" and filthy turncoats among the many witches and wizards who refused to follow him. Snape had heard it all before-many times over. Other than keeping silence and nodding at the right places, there wasn't much else for him to do during these rants. But then it ended as abruptly as it had begun. He glanced up.
The Dark Lord had his hands folded with a thoughtful scowl on his face.
Severus waited.
"The last census of our people showed almost 250,000 witches and wizards living in the so called United Kingdom."
Snape nodded. "Yes, my Lord. The few thousand we see at Hogwarts or around in the shops and Quidditch matches are the ones who have identified themselves as a part of our world. The rest-"
"The rest, where are they?"
"There are many witches, wizards and other magical folks who are in hiding, my Lord."
"Why is that?" he asked quietly.
Severus shrugged. "Around the end of the 19th century, the laws against our kind were repealed for the most part. People didn't believe in magic any more. They opted for science, something anyone could learn and do for themselves. Magic, as you know, is more selective."
"Yes, that's what gives these Muggles and Mud bloods their false sense of superiority. They think their inventions, their bombs, their guns can protect them against the reality of who we are and what we can do."
"Yes, my Lord. As you well know, many wizards watched the Muggles bring the world to the brink of utter destruction. After that ended, many of the survivors decided that we needed to control their ignorant, violent ways with Magic. But in secret; always from the shadows where we would be supreme but protected from their, er, objections."
Voldermort hissed. "Always the epitome of diplomacy, aren't you my slippery snake?" He laughed grimly. "The truth is that the last war was marshaled by my predecessor , using several willing Muggles with a taste for the Dark Arts. As usual these tools were unable to handle even the semblance of real power. They imploded and took most of our best Dark Masters with them. But Grandfather escaped and hid along with other wizards and witches too cowardly to be who and what they were. They feared persecution; the old days when magic was a crime against the state, God and Nature. Oh a few charms or two were harmless; read a few tea leaves, slap together some love charms, whether they worked or not."
"I remember that, " Snape said. " They kept their children at home, teaching them what little they know; refusing to even register their children. They're decided to drop out of sight and live their own lives, away from the politics. They didn't want to get caught in the cross fire, so to speak."
"Your mother was of that mind, wasn't she, Severus?" Voldermort said smugly.
Snape flushed. "Yes, my Lord. At first, she didn't let anyone know about me. She feared persecution since we came from an old family."
"A DARK old family, en, Severus? Prince was a name that was respected and feared far and wide in the magical world, much like my own family-the Gaunts. They certainly ran in the same circles."
"I never knew that."
"Oh, yes. They met several times. I believe they used the same mid witch. Both of them married badly, though away from the scorn of the wizarding world that wanted peaceful co-existence."
Snape said nothing.
"Twins run in your family, don't they, Severus?"
The Potions Master frowned. The Dark Lord's red eyes had a slightly calculating glint to them.
"I wouldn't know, my Lord. My mother died young."
"As did mine. Same cause, I'm afraid. A fatal case of Muggle fever." Voldermort sat abruptly on the edge of the table, hovering several plates to the floor. "That's why you must never love anyone, Severus. Keep your heart to yourself at all times. That's the only way to be stay safe. Be alone."
Snape nodded mutely.
Voldermort stared. Severus could feel invisible fingers brush across the back of his mind, like passing ghosts of long ago. He shuddered in spite of himself.
Nothing to see, he thought.
"Yes, my Lord. I guess I was meant to be alone. I'm one of a kind." he chuckled ruefully.
The Dark Lord smiled.
"Yes, there is only one of you as there is only one of me. We are unique, you and me. Such a pity, you know. Twins possess a certain power that can be utilized if properly harvested. All in the service of the greater good, of course."
Snape nodded. "Of course."
Voldermort went on quite happily twin harvesting; something that Snape had heard about years before from some of the older Death Eaters. Severus hurriedly tuned him out once the Dark Lord got to the particular magical uses of unborn baby marrow before his breakfast could make a second appearance between his boots on the already filthy floor.
That is how he almost missed the last part of his Master's monologue.
"That is why they need a lesson, Severus."
Snape blinked.
"Lesson, my Lord?"
"Yes, yes, do I have to Cruciatus your ears or your brain, man? I said that these hidden wizards and witches need something to drive them out into the open. Too long have they shielded themselves behind my gracious protection. They need to understand the true malice of the Muggles, and how their so called tolerance is nothing but a mask for their fear."
"And they should fear us! They have no defenses against us and our power. Everyone needs to see this. Everyone needs to understand who is in charge!"
Snape swallowed.
"What do you propose, my Lord?"
"Something that will terrify those hidden cowards into the open. If I am to succeed in changing the face of magic forever, we need to force these fence sitters to make a decision. We need something that shakes them out of their false sense of safety; something that shows them my and power and that it's time for them to choose sides. Something for everyone to see, Muggles included"
Snape stared, shocked into momentary silence.
"But, but, my Lord. What about the Law?" He finally stuttered.
Voldermort barked a laugh. "What about the Law?"
"The International Law of Secrecy," said Snape. "Since the 17th century, all of us agreed to keep magic secret, revealed only to Muggles in the most dire circumstances or to relatives by marriage." His voice trembled. "We already had some close calls with your giants destroying bridges and our weather curses. Both Ministries was able to cover that over-"
"The fools!"
"If we violate that- if we openly use Magic as a weapon of destruction-"
"It's called terrorism, Snape." The Dark Lord's red eyes glistened with excitement.
"I've been studying Muggles politics, you see," he said happily " It's a mishmash of idiocy, of course. But the latest wave of war and division holds promise." Voldermort waved a map on the far wall over and down to the table. "Look at this. The Muggles in the Colonies had an attack against their largest city back in 2001."
Snape nodded. Everyone in the world with a newspaper or radio of any sort knew about this. "Several witches and wizards helped with the evacuation after it happened. The papers had all sorts of stories about flying angels saving many of those trapped on the upper floors. No one believed them, of course."
"No, they didn't, the stupid Muggle lovers. The public around the world bought whatever cock and bull story their Ministries were able to sell them about the magical rescues. But the end result of that attack was a long, drawn out war and the Department of Homeland Security. " Voldermort patted the upper part of the map between the United States and Great Britain. " They have a division that works here as an anti-terrorist support. The UK was supposed to be next on the terrorist list. That's why they co-operated."
Voldermort leaned into Snape, his snake breath rattling between his stark white teeth.
"The world governments started keeping an eye on the magicals. They devised a list in America, based upon some mathematical formula devised nearly a hundred years ago. It pinpoints potential threats to national security," he sneered. "Many of the names on that list are witches and wizards. The Muggle government here has one too."
"Now, you tell me what would happen if there was an open, magical attack on the government; something so daring and deadly that it destroyed the back bone of the British way of life. Whom would they blame, Severus?"
Severus stared, speechless.
"Whom would they blame?" he repeated.
"Us," Snape whispered. "They would blame us." He thought a moment. "The government would use their list to round up every witch and wizard in this country; maybe around the world."
"Just think of the government hauling away the likes of Arthur and Martha Weasley or McGonagall. They'll be at the mercy of the Muggles they profess to love as a threat to national security. Those witches and wizards outside of our world would be yanked out of their quiet little lives; exposed as a hostile, hidden force out to destroy the government. They would neutralized, placed into camps or worse. The Old Days would return. .No one would harbor a wizard or a witch anymore."
The Potions Master nodded. "They would be desperate, cut off from the Muggle World-"
"We will remain hidden, like the good snakes that we are buying their loyalty with our underground protection-until the time is ripe for a full takeover. They would finally see a future with me, once their governments have turned against them.
Voldermort held out his arms. "They will be my people! My witches and wizards!"
A wave of power rolled off the Dark Lord, smashing dishes against the walls. Nagini ducked and hissed, as he threw back his head, choking with laughter.
"My ARMY!"
Snape shivered. It had taken all of his training and control to get out of the mansion in one piece. The rest of the dark wizards served as a distraction of sorts since Voldermort had to explain his grand plan to everyone. There were the enviable questions that rolled on forever, until the Dark Lord lost patience, cursed a bunch of them and then roared off to his bedroom to celebrate his Master Plan with Bellatrix.
No one had noticed him leave.
He arrived at Hogwarts' gates late that afternoon. McGonagall was in her tower. He could feel her green eyed gaze following his back as he walked past. The contempt and hatred from her and the other teachers was almost tangible but nothing he couldn't cope with.
The headmaster's office was nearly silent, unlike the days of Dumbledore. Most of the portraits of the earlier headmasters were turned to the wall with silencing spells on them. Snape had gotten tired of the multi-choruses of "Traitor", "Filthy Quisling!" that greeted him every morning since his appointment to this position. One portrait did remain as it was. For that one, the silencing spell was around the picture, not on it.
"Rough day?" the familiar voice was gentle.
Snape closed his eyes, as he took off his cape, draping it over the chair.
"You could say that," he sighed.
"Severus-"
He held up his hand. "No, shower first. I need hot water, hot tea and hot food-in that order."
"I'll see to it."
"Thank you," Snape said softly.
The water was set at exactly the right temperature when he got into the shower. Like so many who had grown up poor, Snape liked his showers blazing hot, as if it could wipe away the years of frigid flats and thin blankets. Of course, it couldn't. Any more than it could wash away filth in and around his soul. Potions were a dirty business down in the dungeons. Hard on the skin, even harder on the hair. But this-this was something else.
Nothing like a bit of rape to give a spark to the day, Snape sneered. He had heard her screams as he left, echoing through the hallways. Bellatrix was a bitch but no one deserved that. No one deserved him.
I can't do this, he thought for the hundredth time. I can't. His hands shook as he turned off the water and stood dripping in the silence.
"Food's here."
Severus toweled himself off and dressed in clean, black clothes. He left his boots off to air his feet. His hair hung in straight, damp locks marking small wet patterns on his shirt.
Angus Filch stood by the main desk, holding a covered tray.
"Put it down, man."
The caretaker complied. Snape sat at the desk taking off the cover, pulling out some of the kippers on the plate with silverware.
Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat ran her head under Severus's palm, purring. He absently fed her part of his rasher of bacon.
"You'll spoil her, you will," Angus said.
"I know." Snape nodded at the plate. "Do you want any?"
"No. I've had mine."
Snape ate for a bit, then stopped.
Angus frowned.
"It's bad, isn't it?"
Severus nodded.
Filch pulled up a chair across from the headmaster's desk. Mrs. Norris nuzzled in Snape's lap. Angus patted his hand.
"Tell me about it, Brother."
