Chapter 10 – Control.
Bah – I cannot get this chapter to be as good as I'd like it! It comes close, and the only thing I'm particularly happy about is the fact I got to talk Britpop, rather than the fact that the tool even works particularly well. You'll see what I mean in a bit.
Been a bit of a while since I updated – in that time, have dumped boyfriend (eeeeep), been to Bath for a Gin and amphetamine fuelled four days, with a little time for gaying (Well, perhaps less gaying than watching a friend of mine getting a massive crush on a pretty cat-boy-thing and reminding both of them to sleep occasionally), lost my last job and make a lot of mix-tapes, including one for a pretty boy shape who doesn't like me back. Eh, life is awesome.
I'm sorry this chapter isn't great. I can't get it to work and I'm not sure why. Possibly *because* of the Britpop, but not sure. If you get bored, I would recommend listening to any of the songs listed.
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And she gave away the secrets of her past,
And said I've lost control again,
And a voice that told her when and where to act,
She said I've lost control again.
Joy Division, "she's lost control."
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Aonghuis, with his arms full of potion bottles, bits of plant and animal ran in, panting, and dropped everything in the table.
"Right, I can cut some corners with the potions, so this shouldn't take too long…"
"Cut corners? Are you insane Aonghuis?" Ingmarr exploded, "This is a man's life you're possibly risking!"
"Yes, and a man who would kill us if he knew we had a way to wake him up and didn't take it!" Aonghuis snapped, spreading things out on the table. He then grabbed his wand, brought out a tiny cauldron and cast a spell on it, making it grow to normal size, then lit a fire under it with his wand. "Right, let's see how we do this…"
He pulled a dog-eared piece of paper out of a pocket, which he quickly read before he poured two of the bottles in and then, grabbing a metal rod he'd picked up, started to stir them together. Korrinna looked over his shoulder at the paper, and stood back, considering what had been written.
"Okay, I can see how the skelegrow and the blood replenisher work, but I'm not so sure that you need to put a bezoar in. He's not been poisoned."
"He needs it to counteract the effect of the mandrake root and dandelion milk reacting; they can be very poisonous." Aonghuis said.
"Okay, but what is the Dandelion milk for?" Korrinna asked.
"It counteracts the excessive regeneration of the skelegrow!" huffed Aonghuis, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. He continued to place things in the cauldron, chopping up roots and leaves at break-neck speed, then mixing again, then adding powders and drops of potion as and when they needed it. He moved quickly, fluidly, moving in an odd rhythm that somehow seemed to be in synch with the potion, which swirled and changed colour at every new item added, boiling loudly until Aonghuis stopped, the potion suddenly drifting slowly, as if an indication it was ready, turning a sultry purple-brown, bubbling menacingly.
"well…here goes nothing…" said Aonghuis, and taking a knife out of his pocket, cut his finger. He winced slightly, but after watching a tiny trickle of blood run out of the cut he dipped the digit into the potion. The three of them waited, wondering what would happen.
The finger heeled up instantly.
"Impressive." Ingmarr conceded.
"It won't work for certain, but we've got to try it…"Aonghuis breathed.
"If it does, it'll be a miracle." Ingmarr said.
"Moody doesn't believe in miracles. He doesn't believe in thank you's either." Korrinna added.
"I know. But I believe that he's got the information to save Harry Potter. He must have seen something last night, seen or heard something to make him lose vigilance enough to be hit over the head…and it'd have to be a heck of a lot to allow him to drop his guard." Aonghuis held out his hands. "I'm not trying to work miracles. I'm trying to work 'keeping things together for long enough'. How about you?"
"No, Aonghuis, you're an…" Ingmarr started.
"Tegio!" Korrinna charmed. Aonghuis' hands were suddenly bathed in a dull yellow light, and covered in a fine, jelly-like substance. "It'll keep you safe whilst you apply it."
"Korrinna, what do you…" Ingmarr started.
"…I'm doing the right thing!" Korrinna answered, "Aonghuis is right. Moody would want this. And he's right about Harry Potter…."
"Aonghuis…"Ingmarr raised his wand, then lowered it. "…I'm not taking responsibility for this. "
"I know." Alonghuis placed his hands into the cauldron and then swished them about, as if he were washing them. "This is my responsibility…I chose it…"
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…and Hyacinth stared at her hands, a small pocket mirror cupped within them, and stared into the reflection of her dull grey eyes and wondered what it all meant. She felt as if she knew that Red headed girl, intimately, but she had a mental block…
Hyacinth lay back in the grass, sighing. Could she be…no, no, she couldn't…but it had all felt so real, as if she had been there, during all of those moments, as if she had known everything that had happened in between but now had forgotten them again.
You know this place too, said the voice in her head.
"A playpark?" she said out loud. She loosened her grip on the mirror, and stared out, trying to ignore the voice telling her that something important happened here. The park itself was empty, except for a man and a boy, playing on the swings.
The man, somehow oddly familiar, didn't sound like he was from around here; he had a very southern accent, if she had to place it, she'd waver before saying it probably some kind of received pronunciation from a public school boy's School. He was dressed delightfully shabbily in a brown pinstripe suit which he had matched with a miner's strike T-shirt and shoes with the souls flapping apart. The boy he was with had long dark hair and a nose which seemed a touch too big for his face, upon which balance a pair of round spectacles which didn't suit him at all. He was giggling as he swung high up into the air, waving his feet in their air as if there were no greater pleasure in the world. He whooped with childish joy as he went higher than his guardian, who smiled kindly upon him.
"Lookit me, Remus! I Can fly!" The boy laughed.
"H…Marcus…be careful!" Shouted the man.
But the boy had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched himself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, he soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly1.
"You shouldn't do that where people can see you." Chastised the man, with laughably little conviction.
"I know." The little boy said cheekily, "But no one's around anyway."
"My turn!" the ragged man said, and leapt off, flying through the air through pure momentum, but landed rather lightly himself, attempting to seem more dignified than he was.
The little boy giggled. "You're very silly, Uncle Remus."
She caught the eye of the shabbily dressed man, who smiled a small smile at her, and said, "I'm very old too…I'm going to sit down for a bit…are you all right here on your own for a little?"
"I can get some ingredients for dad!" The boy pipped up, and began running around the park, pulling at various plants growing up through the cracks.
The man then came and sat down beside her, as if trying to ignore she existed for a short while, then turned to her. "Hello, what's a pretty young woman doing in a park like this?"
Hyacinth giggled. "I'm not so young. Or pretty come to that."
"Oh, come on…"he grinned, "Don't do yourself down! You look just like a..a…friend of mine, from long ago. Had all the boys chasing after her. Seems like she picked the wrong one in the end."
"How did you decide that one?" Asked Hyacinth.
"She's dead." The man deadpanned.
"Oh." Hyacinth didn't know what to say.
There was an uncomfortable silence. The man reached into his pocket, and pulled out a chocolate bar, six more tumbling out of his stuffed pockets. "Fancy some?" He asked.
"Whispa bar? I haven't had one of these since…"She knew when, but couldn't place it, so stopped. The man broke the chocolate bar in half, and gave the bigger half to her.
She took it gratefully, nibbling on it as she blushed.
"It's very odd…every time I look at you, I keep getting this feeling I know you." He said, smelling her surupticiously. Hmm, odd, Lupin though, I think I've smelt someone like her before….
"Hmm…the strange thing is…I do too." She replied, staring into his eyes, "But I can't think who you are." For some reason, Hyacinth kept on thinking of Dogs. She tried to push the thoughts to the back of her head.
"Well, I have a common face, or at least that's what I've been told." The man beamed. "Oh yes, my name's…"
"…Remus?" She asked.
The man looked taken aback. "How did you know that?" He asked. He practically felt his ears prick up, trying to figure out where he'd smelt her before.
"I…I think I heard your son calling to you…" She explained, watching the boy.
"Oh, he's my Nephew." The man said casually, "I'm keeping an eye on him for…his father."
"Isn't it a school day?" asked Hyacinth.
"Oh, he's being homeschooled…" said Remus, the lie betrayed in his voice, "and today his Dad has a meeting, so I said I'd take him out for a bit." Remus pulled another bar of chocolate out of his pocket and after fumbling with the wrapper, gulped it down in three pieces.
"Maybe you could tell me more about your friend?" Hyacinth asked, "the one who chose the wrong man…"
Hyacinth would have asked more, but the boy ran up to them, holding out some daisies in a grubby hand, his long, sheet like, black hair moving in the wind. "I found some flowers!" he announced proudly.
Remus laughed. "That's nice! Do you want me to look after them, so we can take them home to your dad?"
"I…" the boy looked a little confused. Then he shoved the flowers in Hyacinth's face eagerly and said, "You! You can have them! You'd look pretty with flowers in your hair!"
She reached out to take them, and caught a view of his eyes. Big, bright, charming green eyes which stood out from the rest of his face, which made him look earnestly handsome, despite the genetic disadvantages of having a slightly hooked nose and wearing glasses. She had the sudden urge to reach out, to grab a hold of the boy and swing him around but resisted as his Uncle was watching. Instead, she tucked one of the flowers into her hair and tried to surreptitiously take another glance at the boy's face again…and saw a scar behind a few strands of hair…
"Hmm, what's that…" She said, holding out her hand to brush the hair away.
Lupin's eyes suddenly grew huge and knocked her hand out of the way.
"Hey…what's…"Hyacinth quickly protested.
Lupin laughing a loud, nervous laugh said, "Wow, look at my wrist! I've got to be going now!" The man, standing up as if his joints were sore and old, motioned to the boy who followed without argument.
"wait…" she called after them, "waiiiittt…"
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…And Mad Eye Moody opened his one good eye left and gasped out. "That hurt, you bastards!"
Alonghuis laughed, Ingmarr hugged Korrinna, who giggled.
"Why do you all look so happy! We have a case to be working on!" Moody grumbled, and launched himself out of the bed. She stood for a second before losing his strength, falling onto Alonghuis.
Alonghuis looked alarmed, but Moody snapped, "What're you looking at! I took a blow to the head! It'll take me a few minutes before I'm ready to start running again, which is why I have you lot. Or so I've been told." Moody fell back onto the bed and said, "Ingmarr, I want you to find a werewolf. Remus Lupin should do…they're able to detect through any kind of charms or potions or such nonsense. Then I want you to tell Dumbledore that I will meet with him as soon as possible. Don't let him take no for an answer."
Ingmarr nodded, and left the room immediately. Moody turned to Alonghuis. "Right, apart from clearing this bloody mess up, though thank you for healing me by the way, I want you to do the paperwork to get me out of this hospital."
"Moody, are you really going to wait…"
"No, of course I'm not! But it should give you something to do. Oh yes, if you get time, can you arrange a meeting with Leonard Smyth? You should find him in orbit around Umbridge, praising her every virtue." Alonghuis nodded, and got to work shrinking his equipment.
"Korrinna…"
"What do you want me to do?" She said rolling her eyes.
"I want you to find me my clothes…" he started as she made a face, "…and come with me to the Ministry. Those records you've found might finally have a use…"
"So, what did you find out last night?" She asked, "It sounds like the last piece of the puzzle is coming into place."
"My dear, the pieces of the puzzle have simply started to look like pieces." He said darkly, "Now it's just to place them all together…."
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An hour later, after fruitless searching across what felt like the entirety of the dismal little town, Hyacinth had found the grand total of…nothing. She'd searched down Spinner's lane three times and nothing, nothing had happened. In fact, it felt as if less than nothing had happened there, because if felt entirely fuzzy and foreign to her, rather than simply like she didn't know the place. It was as if the place had forgotten her….
As she sipped on the dirty mug of tea, she listened casually to the radio and heard it start to crackle, as if the signal had broken.
"It's bin doin' tha' all day!" Snapped the fat woman in an apron who worked at the cash-till, "Give it a good shake Reeeeta!"
The other, equally fat woman waddled over to the small, over-worn looking radio and thumped it. Suddenly it began to sing out, "This is ground control to Major Tom!" it fizzled again before it spat out, "there's something VERY wrong2"
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Remus slammed the door behind him, looking as white as a sheet, sliding down the door as it closed, reaching for another bar of chocolate like a smoker might reach for a cigarette and chewed on the end of it carefully.
"Well, that was the uncomfortable three hours of my life for a long time." Snape said, walking out of the kitchen, "Lucius talks like an old woman at times…" not to mention the slightly uncomfortable linger at the fireplace, Severus thought, as if questioning his decision. He stared at the werewolf shivering by the door, Harry trying to get him to stand up again. "Ah, got the shakes already?" Snape sneered.
"As a matter of fact, yes." Remus answered, "but…Snape, you wouldn't believe it…I swear, I saw… I smelt, I smelt…"
"You saw what, Lupin?" Snape drawled.
"…Lily…"
Snape froze for a second. "Sometimes, Lupin, I think you're capable of being a decent human being. " Snape hissed, a tinge of actual pain hidden behind his venum, "Then you say something like that. " Snape turned away and said, "I'm sure you've had enough of Lupin, H…Marcus…shall we leave him here for a bit?"
Harry didn't nod but said, "What's going on?"
"Oh, Lupin is playing a bit of a joke on me." Snape said bitterly.
"Snape…snivel…I'm not lying! I could smell her!" he pleaded.
"I made a potion to counteract the shakes you would inevitably get; it's on the kitchen table, next to a note from Dumbledore …if you can make it there." Snape said with a certain amount of glee in his voice.
Remus had been cursing Snape, but suddenly realised what he had said. "Note from Dumbledore?"
"Yes, I took the liberty of reading it; he wants to meet up with you this evening. Probably wants to offer you a job" Snape sniffed.
"I could tell him…everything, you know."
"You can't. Trust me, if you even think of it, that lovely little curse I placed on you will come into action."
"I hate you so much right now." Growled Remus.
Snape wanted to walk off and leave Remus to crawl over to the potion and the letter, but looking at the man who right now was desperately sweating and shivering, and remembering how strong and happy Lupin used to be before Lily died…before the war ended, he took pity and sighing said, "Oh for the love of Dumbledore…" before pulling Lupin up, Lupin noting how much stronger he was than his thin frame would usually betray.
Lupin, of course, said nothing, but allowed Snape to help him into a kitchen, slumping him down by the letter and a small cauldron which was still bubbling. Lupin, perhaps a little unwisely, reached for the letter first.
"What's that?" Asked Harry.
"It's a letter from Dumbledore." Replied Lupin.
"Who's Dumbledore?" Harry asked.
"He's…the Headmaster of a Wizard school." Said Lupin, rolling opening up the parchment. The note itself was rather short and curt. He would have ignored it if anyone else had sent it, but the message, Dear Lupin, please come see me as soon as possible, as I have been told it is urgent interested him. Dumbledore still kept in touch with him; not many people had. He couldn't bear to lose his last friendly contact with the wizarding world; in fact, it had been Dumbledore that had suggested he came here when he couldn't afford to pay the shop price for wolfsbaine. He suddenly remembered that he had flowers in his pocket. Pulling out the sad, crumpled weeds he said "Harry, want to go give these to your father?"
Harry grinned and ran over to his father, offering out the flowers, knocking the radio which had been left on the side.
As Harry offered the flowers, the radio suddenly turned itself on and let out a statikly lyric, "We may be dead and we may be gone, But we will be, we will be, we will be, right by your side, Until the day you die3, This is no easy ride"
"Who turned that thing on!" Snape demanded.
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"Oh, find me, find me ! Find me ! I'll haunt you" blasted out the speakers in a little café, after crackling for a full three seconds until the tune changed, bursting out at a different tempo, "Screaming my name through the astral plane…Down through the platinum spires, Down through the telephone wires…4" The radio crackled again and sang, "Spiiiinn5n" crackle, "rn to end
Images linger like repression …6" the music fuzzed out with a high pitched squeak before more words leaked out, "Ever since that night we've been together. Lovers at first sight, in love forever…strangers in the night…7"
Hyacinth stood up and grabbed the radio., ripping it from it's cord in the wall.
"Hey, what do you think…!" shouted the fat woman.
Hyacinth ignored her, and in the street ran out and shouted, "Where do I go!"
"(Go West) Baby you and me, (Go West) This is our destiny (Aah)8"replied the radio.
"West….west…" She muttered distractedly, "West…"
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Though apparating to Hogsmead was easy enough, it took Lupin longer than he thought to get to Hogwarts. He had decided against flooing in, as he really needed an extra ten minutes for the potion to take full effect, so instead he had arranged to meet Hadgrid by the gate, making some excuse about how close to full moon it was and how flooing tended to make him feel worse around this time. Dumbledore had been rather charitable for allowing this, though part of Lupin wondered if Dumbledore knew something was wrong...oh dear, Lupin laughed to himself, I'm starting to sound as paranoid as Snape!
But then again...as much as he only knew vaguely what had happened to Harry, living with his muggle family, Lupin also knew that he didn't want to let the boy go. Even if Snape was lying through his teeth about being the boy's father and the muggle's mis-treating him, Lupin still had Harry back, the one thing from the happiest time in his life that had survived the war. James dead, Lily dead, Peter dead, Sirius revealed for what he was, deatheater traitor scum...who turned on his best friends.
But Harry survived, even if he was Snape's son, not James, he survived, a small part of marauder history in him, regardless of what Snape might claim. Lily may not have been a fully blown marauder, but she had the spirit, which was why James had been so attracted to her. That sort of controlled wildness with a healthy disregard for propriety for the sake of propriety…
In hindsight, Lupin could see what she had seen in Snape, in some way; both intelligent, both knowledgeable about magic, far moreso than their peers. Both from muggle backgrounds; both from the same Northern Town, feeling like the first of their kind in existence…that kind of sympathy Lupin didn't know, but has long yearned for. Lily and Snape had it in each other; even when the people they loved didn't understand what was happening to them, they both did. They couldn't have been the only Wizards in all of Manchester, but it must have been hard not to feel like that.
Yet even so, they kind of…fitted together in an odd way. She was sympathetic to a fault, fierce when her friends were threatened, a tendency to act before thinking and had a knack to make things happen once there was a settled plan. Snape on the other hand was cold, even after you felt he was starting not to hate you, still felt cold, calculating, constantly planning without necessarily following through and always fully in control of himself, a certain kind of cautiousness which allowed him to always be on top of a situation. Lily must have seen that and known that was what she had needed...And now Snape had planned his escape with Harry, Lupin could sense things that had been planned and accounted for were instead running out of control. Things had not gone to plan and Snape was not able to cope with it. It was like watching a duck kicking manically against the current, trying to seem remotely graceful.
Hagrid let Lupin into Hogwarts and walked across the grounds making small talk; Yes, Lupin was well, No, he still didn't have a Job, Yes, it was true he was living with Snape; What? He was Snape's househelp?...how ridiculous a thought!...but also kind of true...
Half an hour across the grounds, avoiding the Woods carefully, as well as any topics of canine conversation and Lupin arrived at Hogwarts, Hagrid letting him in through the Entrance Hall, which he walked through, the halls filling with the noise of his single pair of feet, moving quickly through the Great hall, snaking his way through corridors and along the moving staircases, barely noticing his movement; he knew where he was going, it was like second nature. It felt like returning home.
He arrived at the entrance to the office and said, "Fudge Flies", the door swinging opening and allowing him in. Dumbledore was standing just in front of his desk, Pacing slightly.
"Oh, Hello Lupin…" said Dumbledore, absent-mindedly, "How did you guess the password?"
"In some ways you are rather predictable, Dumbledore." Lupin smiled, "You also sent everyone a box last Christmas."
"Hmm, I should probably try to think of something different. Chocolate Frog?" Dumbledore produced a small toad wrapped up in foil from his sleeve.
"Don't mind if I do…" said Lupin, not noticing the five muggle chocolate bars that fell out of his coat pocket as he lent forward, and after unwrapping it with shaking fingers, practically swallowed it whole.
"Hmm, yes…it seems that there is a storm coming soon." Said Dumbledore, staring up at the ceiling of his office, "but the air has been rather still for a while…"
"What's this about, Dumbledore…."Asked Lupin, trying to keep calm.
"Oh, don't worry. I realize that you have certain…limitations on what you can say, but I am aware of your, changes, as of late."
Lupin tried to look confused, but looked guilty instead. "Why am I here?" he asked.
"I was requested to find a werewolf." Dumbledore replied, "and you fit that description, just about."
"By…who…." Lupin started, but the door swung open and a man stood in the doorway, blocking the light, holding himself up against the doorstep, panting slightly.
"Ha, ha ha ha…" he spoke, between breaths, "Dumbledore, ha, ha, ha…it's all one big…joke, isn't it?"
Moody stood up, Korrina holding him up and walked towards the two men standing beside the desk. Moody gripped at the stone walls and said, "How simple, was it, to make everything go your way?"
"Moody, what's happened to your…" Asked Lupin.
"…accident involving a baseball bat and a botched experimental potion." Moody Snapped back, and drew himself up to his impressive height, meeting Dumbledore's eyes with his one good eye. "No thanks to you, Dumbledore."
"What on earth do you mean, Moody?" Asked Dumbledore, unconcerned about the grimacing man in his face.
"You see, Dumbledore, You are a very clever man, really. Very Clever. But you, like many Clever men, forget that sometimes a less-clever-man can understand what you've been thinking." Moody lent on the desk and let out a Loud sigh. "You see, Harry Potter, as you and seemingly half the Wizarding world knows, is missing. But so far, we've been approaching it from the wrong angle; asking ' why would someone take Harry Potter?' The only answers lead us to Death Eaters and dead men, muggles and mysteries which can't be solved. However, if we think about it, there is a far more sensible question; the question is not "Why did someone take Harry Potter, but rather ' why someone wouldn't have taken him', isn't it?"
"Wouldn't have taken him?" repeated Lupin, stupidly.
"Yes! Wouldn't. let's review the facts as they stand; we have discovered, as have the wizarding and muggle press, that Harry's home life was far from perfect. His Aunt and uncle, instead of showering the boy in affection and love have, well…done completely the opposite. They beat him, they locked him up in cupboards, they told him he was worthless, a freak…Lupin, Dumbledore here has known that the muggles that Harry was placed with had been abusing him, hurting him, lying in bed, watching roaches climb the wall, knowing that you could come and stop them all9, but he didn't, Lupin. He didn't. Dumbledore let this continue, even though he didn't have to let it happen."
"I couldn't do anything…" Dumbledore said, "I didn't think he'd be harmed, and I was wrong; if I had tried to remove him, he would have been placed into the public eye…I didn't know what to do…"
"But you knew one other person who might, Dumbledore, didn't you?" Dumbledore stood silently, staring at Moody as his legs began to wobble underneath him. "You see, and Lupin, you probably are going to want to sit down for this, Korinna found out a few rather interesting things going through the record room. Lily Evans never put a father on the birth certificate for Harry Potter. Which is very odd, as, well, she was married. To James Potter. But then I realized that perhaps there were some things we didn't know about Harry Potter.
When a mythology builds up, even a very new one, things become…blurry. Very quickly. Peasants are suddenly sired by Gods, Princes who save the Princess have their past princesses forgotten, a drunk fool will be remembered as a genius if he tells his own story right; history is written by the winners. And, you see, we found that we had certain…assumptions in mind; who could save the world but the Son of a pureblood? A Pureblood and muggleborn union, it reads like a fairy story, doesn't it? As does the Headboy and Headgirl falling in love and getting married. Life, as well all know, is much more complicated than that."
"My dear Moody, those are fine words, I never knew you were so eloquent." Interrupted Dumbledore, "But what exactly are you flying at?"
"Well, you see, when we were working from the case under certain assumptions, the answer would never be found; seeing a Deatheater take the boy, now, all the deatheaters who have not been found innocent are locked up and all those who aren't are too scared to make a move yet. No one would be that stupid, unless they had a reason to be. The first thought is that You-Know-Who is back; except that this cannot be the case, otherwise we would all be under siege right now. The Second thought is that someone took Harry for his own good, indeed, it was Petunia Dursley who gave me the first real clue in this case; in an interview with one of my people she said, 'And as he grew up, he started to act more and more like her little wizard boyfriend, which would have sounded just like James Potter if she hadn't followed it up with, So calm and quiet, so strange, as if something else was hiding behind those eyes, …does this, Dumbledore, sound like the James Potter you knew? That you knew, Lupin, than anyone knew?"
"Quiet, certainly not." Lupin conceded.
"When I heard this, the thought struck me; who is Harry Potter, really? Is the Harry we know a myth born of wishful thinking and clever lies, or a real boy? There was no evidence to say that what we know wasn't real, I can say that much; no records to the contrary at all; but then again, we only had one person who claimed to know anything about his attacker; Hyacinth Smyth."
"Leonard Smyth's sister?" Asked Dumbledore, "But she's a squib…"
"Oh yes, that's what we knew at the time…but Dumbledore, it seems that…she's not." Moody suddenly went limp, and then changed the subject, "In fact, after much careful deliberation, I have decided there his only one person who could have taken Harry Potter that day, and I will prove this to you with the facts."
"One man?" Asked Dumbledore, as if indulging a particularly precocious child, "Indeed, what man would have taken the boy?"
"The one man who never even entered our heads to accuse, a man who was a death eater, who is powerful and cunning enough to find his way through various Ministry regulations but never seems to have been heard of, but at the same time is known by everyone. Someone who is trusted because nobody ever thinks to not trust him. Someone who we know loved Lily but at the same time, we don't think could possibly have gone after the boy."
"Hmm…who could this person be?" Asked Dumbledore. Lupin suddenly started to look uncomfortable.
"Why…Severus Snape of course."
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Bah, I may re-upload this chapter later.
1 Taken straight from deathly hallows. I hope someone notices…
2 For the interested, this is from David Bowie's "Space oddity." You'll see what I'm doing here soon.
3 Suffer Little Children, The Smiths. A Macurian band around the time, in my timeline, they would have been kids.
4 New generation, Suede. Typical BritPop band. I just like them. And their lyrics can be manipulated for my needs!
5 Alive or dead, Spin me right 'round.
6 Born to End, manic street preachers.
7 A Mildly cut up "strangers in the night", as Sung by Frank Sinatra.
8 Go west, by the Pet shop boys.
9 Okay, this is me being a music geek again – a rather bastardised version of some of the lyrics from "Common people" by Pulp.