Snape had to admit that he had underestimated the three young wizards now ensconced in the safehouse he created. He had thought of them as students; as handy people to have along but not as full partners. Hermione had proven him near-sighted and patronizing, she had handled herself very well. He was going to have to modify how he thought of them. Through her excited explanation and Snape's careful questions, Snape was able to figure out the gist of what happened.

"When she walked through the door I could barely breathe!" Hermione exclaimed. "I was so startled! And she saw me, and cast the Cruciatus before I could even blink. Oh my goodness, that was so awful. And like I said, I cast the only thing that came to mind."

"She must have been surprised to have you cast at all," Snape told her firmly, his solemn expression incongruous on the form of Umbridge. "Most people aren't able to while under that particular curse."

"I think it was automatic," Hermione confessed. "It wasn't, you know, well thought out. I was almost as surprised as she was when her wand went flying."

"But you thought to grab the wand," Dumbledore smiled warmly. "That shows excellent foresight."

"It was close to me," Hermione confessed. "I just grabbed it and took the port key. It's still kind of a blur to me."

"Is the potion helping?" Snape asked.

"Yes, ma – er – sir," Hermione answered with a blush. "Professor, it is very difficult to see you as that woman."

"I suppose so," he nodded, tapping his clothes and having them return to robes too long for Umbridge. "It is a potent brew, it might be a while before I transform back."

"I'm finding myself wanting to straighten my clothes and walk properly," Ron joked. "Do ya think you could go to the ministry like that and, you know, cause problems?"

"Possibly," Snape smirked. "But she is supposed to be in prison right now. It won't be for much longer, however, as more and more death eaters are getting out."

"She's not really a death eater," Harry considered. "I mean, I doubt she has the tattoo and runs around like Lucius Malfoy in the cape and mask and stuff. But she's certainly evil."

"That she is," Snape nodded. "And actually agrees on a lot of the Dark Lord's politics."

"Oh, and I saw something too," Hermione volunteered. "I meant to tell you. I saw some papers on her desk just a few minutes before she realized I was there. I didn't understand a lot of what I saw, but I saw two names: Griphook and Ollivander."

"That's very curious," Dumbledore contemplated.

"Griphook is a Goblin that works at Gringotts," Harry told them. "He's the one that first showed me my vault."

"Why would Bella have any dealings with a Goblin underling?" Snape wondered, stroking Umbridge's chin thoughtfully.

"Ollivander is the one that concerns me," Dumbledore told them. "It means he is onto the wand."

"The wand?" Harry asked blankly.

"He is looking for a wand that will beat you," Snape explained. "Since it has not gone well for him when he has confronted you. Your wands are brothers, and his seems unable to best yours."

"So he wants Ollivander to fit him for a new wand?" Ron asked, incredulous.

"No, he's inquiring into wandlore," Dumbledore answered. "He's trying to find a wand powerful enough to beat you. I know of only one in existence that can do such a thing."

"I'm not even of age," Harry answered, confused. "Shouldn't I be easy to beat? Even with a normal wand?"

"Apparently not," Snape answered, nodding.

"Are you children familiar with the tale of the three brothers from the Tales of Beadle the Bard?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course," Ron asked. "Everyone's heard that one."

When Hermione and Harry looked at him blankly, however, he coughed a bit. "Well, it's like this," he told them. "There was this super dangerous river that claimed a lot of people, and three brothers built a bridge over the river, and so death felt cheated. Death offered to give each of them a prize for their cleverness, and they each got a magic item. One was a rock to see dead people, and the man used it to see his dead girlfriend, and it made him so sad that he killed himself. One was the elder wand, the most powerful wand ever, and that brother was killed by someone sneaking in at night and killing him for it. And the third was an invisibility cloak so good that it fooled even death itself. That brother lived a full life, and handed the cloak down to his son."

"But surely that's just a story," Sirius chimed in. "Nobody has seen the elder wand for centuries."

"That is not true, sadly," Dumbledore told them.

"What do you mean?" Snape asked, a shrewd look at the headmaster.

"I mean that eventually he will be looking in my grave for the elder wand."

"Your grave?" Snape paled. Surely not . . .

"I have been the wielder of the Elder wand for most of my adult life," Dumbledore told them. "That was a secret I had hoped to take to my grave. If nobody could best me for it, then perhaps the curse would die with it as well."

"Curse?" Harry asked.

"Yes, curse," Dumbledore answered. "Every wizard who has wielded the wand has been killed for someone else to possess it. The wand won't answer to a new owner unless the old owner has been bested in a duel for it. This is the same reason why Bella's wand will now most likely answer to Hermione."

"You kept this secret all this time?" Snape asked, hushed. The elder wand certainly was a whole new twist on things.

"I did and I didn't," Dumbledore answered. "Everyone always knew I was a powerful wizard and had never been bested. I am the only one that Tom Riddle fears, and the only wizard alive who has bested a dark lord previously. They just don't know why."

"The secret to your power," Snape nodded. He felt as if he should have known.

"The elder wand?" Sirius repeated, as if he couldn't believe. "Like, THE elder wand?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered softly. "I realize it's a bit of a shock."

"Undoubtedly," Snape said, though he had to admit to the shock himself. But he was very good at thinking on his feet. "What advantage does the Elder wand give us?"

"Well, it is more powerful than any other wand," Dumbledore told them. "I have secretly tested it somewhat, but I really couldn't test it in a duel without alerting another wizard as to what I had."

"It seems like there's someone you could have trusted," Snape answered, his eyes flashing in his toad-like face.

"It wasn't a matter of trust, but of protection," Dumbledore assured him. "Certainly someone like you, Severus, or Minerva could have been trusted implicitly. But I did not want to burden you with the knowledge."

"Well, we are now all burdened," Snape answered sardonically. "What would you like us to do with that knowledge?"

"Well, I believe for one thing someone needs to disarm me," Dumbledore announced. "My vote is Harry."

"If this wand was such a curse, you want to burden Harry with it?" Snape snapped at him.

"I believe he could handle it well," Dumbledore told them. "But we have time to consider the prospect."

"Yes, consider," Snape answered. "I feel like some of this 'consideration' should be done with just you and me. But for now, what would we like to discuss about Griphook? Surely a Gringott's Goblin being a matter of correspondence is a cause for concern."

"They probably have him," Sirius told them. "He could be one of the Goblins that have been defecting since the ministry has been interfering more at Gringotts. Perhaps they're trying to get something out of him."

"What could a lackey Goblin have what they want?" Snape wondered aloud.

"Perhaps Dobby could help," Harry suggested.

"Perhaps . . ." Snape started, and then stopped at the sudden appearance of the tiny elf.

"Does Master Harry need Dobby's help?" he asked brightly.

"We should be wary of giving too much information in a vessel not meant to contain it properly," Snape told Harry, and the boy nodded in response.

"We were wondering about Goblins," Harry said. "Do you know much about them?"

"They likes elves," Dobby answered. "But not in slavery. Theys run the banks, and are powerful, but don't have wands."

"Yes, but could you apparate one?" Harry asked. "We wondered about a Goblin named Griphook . . ."

"Harry Potter needs Griphook!" Dobby squealed in delight. "I knows him! I gets him!"

"Dobby, wait . . ." Harry called after, but the elf had already disappeared from sight.

"Well, that could have gone better," Snape growled.

"Maybe he will be helpful," Hermione told them. "I mean, maybe Griphook will be the key to figuring out how to get inside Gringotts."

"We have Bella's hair and her wand," Snape said. "It should work; we shall plan the next time I'm free. I've brought some polyjuice we can use, it's in my room."

"The school is definitely taking more of your time," Dumbledore observed. "Are things at Hogwarts as bad as I fear?"

"You would hardly recognize the place," Snape admitted, rubbing his face in a tired way. "I have Draco trying to protect the Slytherins and Longbottom assisting with the others, but it is a truly horrid place. I am am the king of the chaos."

"How bad?" Harry asked softly.

"There have been a few deaths," Snape admitted. "Voldemort is fully in control. I have two deputies, the Carrow siblings, and they are what you might call 'true believers.' They would have been criminals even without the Dark Lord, and he's given them power and false ideals and then set them upon a vulnerable population."

"Deaths?" Ron paled.

"Voldemort uses students as leverage over their parents," Snape explained. "He has set a few examples to keep others in line. If parents don't do what they want their children are tortured, or even killed. I do my best to protect students, but ultimately I don't have much real power."

"What is Draco doing?" Harry asked, grimacing.

"He's head prefect," Snape explained. "He makes a big show of rounding up students while really giving them a chance to escape. He is a natural at subterfuge, he and I are the only ones that knows what he's really doing. Neville is setting up the room of requirement as a refuge and squirrelling away the most vulnerable students. We're all fooling the Carrows and Voldemort as much as possible."

"That sounds terrible," Harry admitted.

"I have had to start caning students," Snape told them while looking at his hands, and they felt the heaviness that implied, though only Harry and Dumbledore knew the extent of the distress this would cause. "It's brutal, but better than the cruciatus."

"I'm sorry," Harry nodded.

"It can't be helped," Snape shook himself. "And it is far from the worst thing I've had to do as a spy. I must appear brutal and unfair to remain in power."

"And you must remain in power to protect the students," Hermione assured him. "The cane is brutal, but it's not going to, you know, cause permanent harm."

"I wonder what your opinion would be if you were subject to it," Snape growled, but without passion. Everyone could see how much it bothered him. "Would that Minerva would be headmistress by September."

Everyone nodded, agreeing, and beginning to wonder how much this war was going to cost each of them. Harry felt a lump in his throat when he saw how much it affected his guardian. They watched as Snape slowly stretched and transformed back to the solemn-faced potions master, and they all felt relief. As snarky and beak-nosed as he was in this form, he was ultimately far less scary than that toad in pink tweed. Ron shuddered at the memory of her.

"I must go back," Snape told them reluctantly. "I have duties to attend to."

"We'll attend to our duties here," Harry told him solemnly.

Snape turned and met Harry's eyes fully. "Don't do anything dangerous without me," he told them in a voice that sounded neutral, but Harry could feel the sternness behind his words.

"We won't," Harry promised him, not knowing yet what a lie that really was going to be.