Chapter Ten: If Dumbledore's an Idiot, We're Dead Anyway
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Note: This chapter's because it's not like everyone didn't see it coming anyway. I mean, I was eight when I first read it and I got it. Also, at this point Hogwarts had less than a year to corrupt Harry and Hermione, so I'm going to try and have Harry's arguments in favor of Snape being evil as logical as possible. It won't be easy, all things considering, but…here goes.
Other Note: The worst thing about anonymous reviews…you can't really respond to them! For instance, this one review I got accused me of being a Snape fangirl when I really don't even like him that much. I mean, I don't dislike him or anything he's just not one of my favorite characters, although I do see him as far more sensible than many other characters. Also, in third year Harry and Hermione didn't know what a Death Eater was let alone that Snape was one and the prophecy didn't come into play until fifth year so that really wouldn't have made any difference in the argument. Also, Ron really wasn't being logical at all. He mentioned chasing Sirius was stupid but everyone and their mother told Harry that and he had to ask about the Dark Mark because Harry and Hermione didn't know about it, coming from Muggle homes. He also had to mention how bad the other DADA teachers were because Hermione was kind of embarrassed about her Lockhart infatuation and Harry's protesting that Lupin was the best DADA teacher they had.
Once Professor McGonagall was out of earshot, Harry turned to his friends. "It's tonight. Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note; I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turn up."
"Eh, not really," Ron corrected. "According to Dad the Ministry's hopelessly inefficient about these kinds of things. It'll probably take a good three hours just to confirm that no one needs him to be there."
Harry, as expected, looked even grimmer.
Hermione, meanwhile, had a look of intense concentration on her face. "But, Harry, about Dumbledore, don't you think-"
"Don't I think what?" Harry prompted as Hermione trailed off, looking nervously over Hermione's shoulder.
"Don't you think it's too nice of an afternoon for students to be indoors?" Snape's smooth voice cut in. "People might think you're…up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?"
"Actually, at this point I don't think it matters what we do as everyone gave up hope for us winning awhile ago," Harry answered truthfully.
Looking annoyed, Snape pressed forth valiantly, "Be that as it may, Potter, be assured that any more night-time wanderings will result in your immediate expulsion. I will personally make sure of it."
The minute Snape left, Ron quickly reassured Harry. "Don't worry, mate, Fred and George have gotten caught wandering around after curfew loads of times. Well, not so much recently, but definitely their first year. They got loads of owls and Mum was pissed."
"Right," Harry nodded distractedly, possible expulsion the furthest thing from his mind. "What were you saying about Dumbledore? Do you think there's any way we can reach him?"
"Let's not talk about this here in case someone else feels the need to come strolling by," Hermione suggested, dragging the boys along to an unused classroom. "Okay, now I don't really know how to reach Dumbledore-"
"Then we've got to protect the Stone ourselves," Harry said, pale but determined.
"Will you let me finish?" Hermione asked irritably.
"Sorry, please go on," Harry apologized.
"Right," Hermione nodded. "I'm not sure how to reach Dumbledore but…I know I've never actually spent any time with him one on one or even really seen him outside of meals or that one Quidditch match he went to, but he's supposed to be this really powerful wizard, right? The only one You-Know-Who ever feared, the head of all these different government systems, even the favored candidate for Minister of Magic. He defeated Grindelwald, worked on alchemy with Flamel, discovered the twelve uses of Dragon's blood…the list goes on and on."
"I get t hat Dumbledore's amazing, Hermione," Harry said, sounding slightly impatient. "But – aside from the fact that it would be really good if he were here right now, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well," Hermione elaborated patiently. "That means he can't very well be an absolute moron, right?"
"We can be fairly certain of that," Ron agreed cautiously. "But, to reiterate Harry's earlier point: what does that have to do with anything?"
"If something bad happened here at Hogwarts, who would be the first person you'd think to blame?" Hermione inquired.
"Malfoy," Harry replied immediately.
"Snape," Ron said at the same time.
They exchanged a look.
"Either or, really," Ron decided, shrugging. "Maybe Malfoy for the littler things and Snape for the big ones."
"Right," Hermione gave them a strange look. Unpleasant and devious though he may be, Malfoy was kind of eleven and should hardly be anyone's first choice of suspects. "Well, if we, three first years, have figured out that Snape is clearly bad news and not to be trusted, don't you think that Dumbledore, one of the most brilliant wizards alive, should be able to also work this out? Especially with people questioning him on it so frequently that he's apparently adopted an 'I trust Snape, stop asking me about it' policy?"
"What are you saying, Hermione?" Harry asked slowly.
Hermione sighed, feeling very tired suddenly. "I'm saying that if Dumbledore's an idiot, we're dead anyway."
"No one would call Dumbledore stupid," Harry admitted. "But just the same…I don't quite think he has grasp on, shall we say, common sense as you or I do."
"I know, I know, a lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, but even so-" Hermione began.
"What are you guys talking about?" Ron interrupted.
"Well…" Harry hesitated. "Think of it this way. Gringott's is supposed to be the safest place in Britain, right?"
"Except maybe Hogwarts, right," Ron agreed.
"Hagrid took the Philosopher's Stone from Gringott's because Dumbledore knew that someone was going to be after it. Sure enough, that very day someone tried to take it. Now, knowing that a powerful dark wizard who could manage to break into the nigh-impenetrable Gringott's is after a magical artifact capable of giving the user unlimited wealth and immortality, what does Dumbledore decide to do? Put it in a castle full of schoolchildren."
"Well, yeah, but it'll be safe here," Ron argued.
"Not if someone's trying to steal it tonight," Hermione pointed out. "And even overlooking that…what kind of Headmaster tells their students that an area of the castle is off-limits or else they are going to die? I mean, Hogwarts is a dangerous place and accidents do happen but…there is a three-headed-dog in our school and that is probably the least imposing of the traps guarding that thing and that is only separated from us by a locked door. At the very least, you'd think they would have warded off the area or something…"
"Not to mention basically announcing to everyone where they could find danger and knowing that we're mostly rebellious teenagers we'd probably end up seeking it out anyway," Harry added.
"So…you're saying that by hiding the Philosopher's Stone here, Dumbledore made all of us targets for You-Know-Who?" Ron worked out slowly.
Hermione closed her eyes and counted to ten in her head. "Very good, Ron." Of course, we JUST said that, but…
"Considering that You-Know-Who is the one who's after the Stone and given how very dangerous and powerful it is, if it's not going to be destroyed and Gringott's apparently isn't safe enough, Dumbledore probably felt he had no other choice than to keep it with him," Hermione defended. "I'm not sure why he couldn't just keep it on him, or in his office, or destroy it, but that's neither here nor there. It may well not have occurred to him. What we know he's heard before are accusations against Snape, if the strength of Dumbledore's defense against him is any indication. According to Hagrid, he has complete faith in Snape and that means he's considered the matter and decided whatever reason Snape has for being on his side is compelling enough to put him above suspicion."
"I know what I saw," Harry insisted stubbornly. "Snape was threatening Quirrell. Twice! And afterwards Quirrell looked like a wreck."
"What EXACTLY did you hear?" Hermione asked.
"I don't remember the first, it was months ago," Harry said dismissively. "Something about how Quirrell didn't want to cross him and wanted to know whether or not Quirrell had worked out how to get past Fluffy."
"What's with Snape's Quirrell obsession, anyway?" Ron asked. "I mean, every time you turn around Snape's threatening him."
"Who knows?" Harry shrugged impatiently.
"Ron…" Hermione trailed off, looked faintly shocked. "I can't believe I'm about to say this but…you have a point."
"I do?" Ron looked thrilled. Confused, but thrilled.
"You do," Hermione nodded. "Think how hard it was for us to get the information about how to get past Fluffy. Or about the Philosopher's Stone. Or about what else was guarding it. Or about Norbert. Or…about anything, really. Hagrid is a really guy, but he can't seem to keep a secret to save his life. Why in the world would Snape waste all this time and effort bullying the answer out of Quirrell, who probably only knew because Hagrid can't keep a secret, and not somehow get it out of Hagrid? It just seems more efficient."
"Point," Harry admitted. "But what else are we supposed to make of the Snape-Quirrell threats?"
Hermione hesitated. "You're going to think I'm crazy."
"Too late," Ron muttered.
"It's not too late for me to take back your point," Hermione threatened.
Ron gulped. "I'll be good."
Looking satisfied, Hermione turned back to Harry. "What if we've got it all backwards?"
"Backwards?" Harry repeated.
"Backwards," Hermione confirmed. "We know that Snape was threatening Quirrell about the Stone. That could mean either one of two things. Either Snape wants the Stone or he thinks Quirrell does."
Ron immediately burst out laughing. "Quirrell? That guy looks faint if you even mention any dangerous creatures. Snape's much more likely."
"That's kind of the point, isn't it?" Hermione pointed out.
"I don't quite follow," Harry admitted.
"What kind of evil villain whose success depends on going undetected would go around acting like such a…such a bloody git?" Hermione posed reasonably.
"A stupid one?" Ron suggested.
"A stupid one who Dumbledore would immediately be onto and not actively defend," Hermione concluded.
"If you think Quirrell's out to get the Stone and Snape knows and Snape is on Dumbledore's side, he must have told him. Why is Quirrell still here then?" It was Harry's turn to be sensible.
"Other than the fact that it's better to have someone working for You-Know-Who here where Dumbledore can keep an eye on him – although probably not good for we students – than wherever doing whatever nefarious deeds he feels like and able to attack at any random time?" Hermione asked. She sighed. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts position has been notoriously difficult to fill for the last forty years."
"That's…awful," Harry finally said.
"Think of it, Harry. Forty years. A new teacher every year. People start thinking the position is cursed after awhile and you have to take anyone that applies. I'm really not looking forward to seeing who our other six teachers will be…" Hermione shuddered at the thought.
"But he just…I can't see it," Harry admitted.
"Because he's good at drawing attention away from himself by acting pathetic," Hermione agreed. "But I refuse to believe he's quite that pathetic. And if he were, it wouldn't have taken Snape months to get the information about Fluffy out of him."
"Fine," Harry bit out. "It could be Snape OR Quirrell. But one of them is working for Voldemort and intend to go after the Stone tonight. I have to go get it first!"
Ron coughed. "Don't you mean 'we'?"
Harry looked confused. "No, I'm pretty sure I mean 'I'."
"Disregarding the fact that there's no way in hell we'd let you potentially face off against a minion of You-Know-Who by yourself," Hermione began.
"Wait, why are we disregarding that?" Harry demanded.
"Because you're outvoted," Ron said bluntly.
"What he said," Hermione nodded. "Now, disregarding that, I think that we can be reasonably sure that the Stone is probably safer among whatever traps Dumbledore set than with a bunch of first years."
"But he knows how to get past all of them!" Harry protested.
"I'm sure Dumbledore set a final trap that he didn't tell anyone about so as to make it harder for someone to get the information," Hermione pointed out. "Besides, wouldn't it be better to just take your Invisibility Cloak and wait OUTSIDE the room Fluffy's in? If we see anyone coming, we can stun them. If we see anyone leaving, we stun them too. Taken by surprise, it should work."
"But if they're leaving and they have the Philosopher's Stone then we won't be able to do anything against them," Harry countered.
"The elixir of life is only temporary. You have to keep drinking it and it will not mean that you can throw off spells, just that you're not going to die." Hermione paused. "Come to think of it, I'm not even sure it means that. If you cut someone's head off and they're under the effects of the elixir, would they die or would they just survive decapitated? That's actually an interesting thought…"
"Focus," Ron snapped.
Hermione jumped. "Right. Even if whoever does have the Philosopher's Stone, there would only be one way in or out, otherwise all the traps could be easily avoided. All we have to do is wait, hope the traps work, and if they don't ambush them."
"I agree with the 'let's not get ourselves killed' plan," Ron spoke up.
"Fine," Harry agreed, looking rather put-out that he wasn't about to get to rush headlong into certain death.
- -
Several hours later, Dumbledore found them on his way to check on the Stone. He went down to find Quirrell muttering to himself in front of the mirror and stunned him, thereby trapping Voldemort. Now, to figure out how to destroy him…
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