Unspeakable Things Chapter 34: Fortress, a harry potter fanfic

A/N-Chapter 33 review responses are in my forum. The forum has been renamed as well. Thank you.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Fortress

On the day before school was to begin, two things of note occurred.

The first occurred that morning, when a ragged man in black robes appeared with a pop on the edge of a hidden estate. To the uninitiated, the estate was nothing more than an unattractive bog, but to those marked and initiated, the bog transformed to a Jacobean manor house and an exquisitely tended garden teaming with peacocks and other decorative fowl.

Standing just within the ornate, gold-plated gates that marked the boundary of the property stood two figures in black robes wearing silver masks. Both figures carried their wands in gloved hands which were pointed at the new arrival.

"Snape," one intoned. "You have not been summoned. Why are you here?"

"Rowle," Snape gasped, recognizing the voice, "I must see the Master. Beg him if you must—I'll beg if I must. But I must see him."

"Come, then," Rowle said. Snape was not considered part of the Inner Circle because of his proximity to Dumbledore, but he was also one of the Master's most important spies. To Rowle's practiced eyes, the Potions Professor appeared to have undergone hours of torture. He was more pale than normal; his hair was knotted with lack of care; and the man reeked of sweat. However, there was also a gleam in his eye that reminded Rowle a little too much of Bellatrix.

As it happened, Voldemort lounged in the back rose garden of the manor. It would have shocked many to see the Dark Lord at ease, but when not planning Voldemort took most of his time in the back garden, drinking strange potions Snape himself brewed while reading obscure works that his agents scoured the globe for. In fact, his first efforts after his rebirth were to restore his old book collecting network.

He was speaking at that moment with Narcissa Malfoy, who wore a light summer dress and a broad white hat while sipping her morning tea. The two were calmly discussing their overseas recruitment efforts when Rowle led Snape to them. "My Lord," Rowle said with a bow from the waist, "Snape begs permission to see you."

Reptilian red eyes regarding Snape frankly. "You don't look well, Severus."

"I am not well, Master."

"Very well, I will see him, Thorfin."

"Yes, My Lord." Rowle left, thankful to avoid punishment for interrupting his morning. Snape meanwhile remained where he stood, hunched and spread-legged, breathing in angry, short gasps.

"Tell me, Severus, what has happened that made you come here so quickly?"

With obvious effort, Snape said, "I have come to confess my sins, My Lord. I have betrayed you. I have been betraying you since I learned the prophecy would mean Lily's death. I turned spy for Dumbledore, and I served as his man."

Narcissa sat up, her voice caught in a soundless "O" of surprise.

Voldemort deliberately reached across his table, took his glass of pitch-black potion, and sipped it while regarding Snape. "And you have come expecting what, Severus?" he said after he swallowed. "My gratitude for the confession, and a hug perhaps?"

Snape shook his head violently. "If you were to kill me, I would understand," he said. "I came to you because…because I know what he did. What they did. I've recovered my memories, and I want them dead."

This elicited a response from the Dark Lord at last. He stood up from his lounger, straightening his black robes as he did so. "What memories, Severus?"

"Before you were reborn," Snape gasps. "The year Black escaped. I was attacked in the castle. My ear was severed, as were my fingers. It was someone Polyjuiced as Potter, but Potter managed to have a perfect alibi. Pomfrey fixed me well enough, and Dumbledore believed it was Black. But later…I caught them, my lord! I caught Black, Lupin, Potter and his two whores in the shrieking shack. I caught them conspiring, and we fought. And the girl—Lovegood—she threw knives at me. The same knives used to cut my ear and fingers earlier that year. It was Lovegood who attacked me! And she, Potter and Weasley all fought me in the shack. They fought too well for one third year and a pair of second years. They'd had training, my lord. Training easily as good as anything I gave to Draco. I beat them still, but with Lupin and Black helping them, I was overcome. But I was avenged—the Dementors came. Somehow, they were driven off, but not before they were all taken into custody."

Voldemort stood frozen like a statute, his red eyes peering intently at the gasping, upset Snape. "Then what happened, my friend?"

"Lockhart!" Snape gasped. "He was the one training them. He obliviated me! When I woke up, Black had somehow escaped and everyone who should have been interrogated had been obliviated. Lockhart! I thought the man was just a fool, but he had Potter and Weasley in detention all year long. He was training them!"

Dark eyes finally rose to meet red ones. "I have betrayed you, My Lord, only to be betrayed. Potter and his whores attacked me—the life debt I owed to his father is gone. I will not protect him any more—I want the little bastard and his whores dead! I confess this so that you know I serve only you now. My shields are down, take the truth from me!"

Voldemort did not hesitate, and Snape's screams of agony were due payment of his crimes. When at last the Dark Lord had what he wanted, Snape fell to his knees gasping for breath while clutching his head.

"If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" Voldemort said with a strangely satisfied smile.

Coughing and gasping, Snape looked up at his master. "I will better the instruction, Lord. I swear to you."

"Yes, you will," Voldemort said. "I forgive your betrayal, Severus. Let it not be said that Voldemort is without mercy, for you have been wronged heinously. You shall have your revenge, but you must not underestimate the boy. I did so, and look what happened. Potter is growing more powerful with each day of his life, and is obviously being trained by elements of the Ministry. Do you not remember, at the end, how many times his parents vexed me?"

"They fought better than any other Aurors you faced," Narcissa said, since he spoke the last to her.

"Yes. There were a few paired fighters that truly caused us heartache. The Unspeakables whose names were never learned, though I suspected Dorcas Meadows was one of them, the Longbottoms, the Prewitt twins, and the Potters. I wonder…" Voldemort fell silent; while Snape remained at the dark wizard's feet, clutching his head from the vicious mental rape he just suffered.

"Severus, you shall test Potter. I want to know just how powerful he is. I shall devise my own tests as well, but you are in a position to test him sooner. Recruit your house to assist you. Do this for me and you will find a favoured place within my Inner Circle."

"I will do it, Master," Snape said without hesitation. "Thank you!"

~~Unspeakable~~

The second thing of note that occurred the day before school started took place an hour before midnight, when Hit Wizards received an alert from the Ministry about offensive magic being used between the Channel towns of Folkestone and Saltwood.

The Hit Wizards apparated to what appeared to be a golf course where they immediately came under spellfire. The squad of three men ducked for cover and raised their shields, and only then did they try to see what was happening.

What they saw was a startlingly beautiful woman with silver-blonde hair, bleeding from multiple curses, fighting alone against a group of four wizards in Muggle clothing. The fact she appeared to be winning just added to her beauty, as far as the Aurors were concerned.

Being men, the Hit Wizards acted with predictable results and immediately started casting into the muggle-dressed attackers. The attackers seemed to realize quickly that the odds were no longer on their side, and quickly disappeared with loud apparation cracks.

The witch spun around until her wand was trained on the newcomers. "Qui etes-vous?"

It just happened that George Harringford spoke a spattering of French. "Nous sommes de la police magique."

"Your French is terrible," the girl said in perfect, unaccented English. "My name is Fleur Delacour. I am requesting asylum."

~~Unspeakable~~

In an unusual turn of events, Hermione was the last person to join the group on the train. Ron, who spent the few minutes they had in the cabin nervously twirling his thumbs, was first to jump to his feet, leaving Hermione little choice but to greet him first. She did so with a genuine smile; Harry noticed their hug lasted a second or so longer than normal, but said nothing as he too stood to accept a hug, followed by Ginny.

Luna did not look up from her copy of the Quibbler and Hermione seemed content with that as she sat down next to Ron, opposite her other friends.

"Well, how was Spain?" Ginny said.

"Amazing!" Hermione said. "The beaches were just fabulous!"

Ron stammered a little before he said, "You look good."

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said with a bright smile. The smile faded a little though as she looked back at Harry. "How about you? Your letters didn't say much of anything but…"

"We're doing okay," Ginny said. Hermione's eyes flickered to where Ginny rested a hand on Harry's knee, and as she did so she noticed how Harry accepted the contact without any reaction. "It was hard at first, but Harry's always been a part of the family, so in a way this was like him coming home."

Harry for his part nodded, but didn't seem to have any desire to talk about it.

"So, I'm dying to know who the other fifth year prefect is!" Hermione announced, changing course abruptly. "Is it you, Harry?"

Harry snorted, while Ron flushed and looked down at his twiddling thumbs. "Er, no, it's me, Hermione."

"Oh." Hermione blinked in surprise, and then tried to recover herself. "Well, that's wonderful news, Ron! I hope you set a good example for the first years. The prefect's meeting is going to start in about an hour. I…I supposed I was just expecting…"

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, me too."

Hermione felt a grin spreading across her face. "So, Ginny, you're fourteen now."

Ginny stared at her for a moment before her own grin appeared. "Yes, I am."

"Anything I should know about?"

"Yes, Harry's dating Luna."

Ron choked on spit while Hermione stared. She then started laughing hard, thinking Ginny was pulling her leg, and continued laughing right up to the point that Luna stood, leaned over, and gave Harry the most sensuous, passionate kiss Hermione had ever seen in real life. Not even her parents kissed like that.

Harry and Ginny scooted over and Luna sat on his other side before she casually resumed reading the Quibbler. The entire time, Ginny kept her hand on Harry's knee. Hermione felt her cheeks blooming. "That's, uh, nice."

"Harry," Ginny said in a conspiratorial whisper, "I think we broke Ron."

Hermione turned and indeed noticed Ron staring slack-jawed. A moment later, he blushed so hard he turned puce, got up and left the cabin. Hermione snickered. "That was mean, Harry."

Ginny laughed. "And Ron should have known better. Yes, we're officially a couple."

"And you let Luna kiss him like that?"

Luna looked up at last from her paper and fixed Hermione with a steady stare. "Are you upset because you wish to kiss him too?"

"What?" Hermione's cheeks blossomed a bright red. "No, for goodness sake!"

"Too bad," Luna murmured. "Then Harry could say he got a good snog from three girls all in the same cabin."

"I'll have you know that I have no desire to kiss Harry Potter," Hermione declared.

"That's good, because I don't intend to share," Ginny declared as she took Harry's hand.

Hermione could not help but notice a brief tightening around Luna's mouth. "What about Luna's kiss?"

Ginny gave the blonde Ravenclaw a long look. "Hermione, you know Luna. Can you imagine what she'd do to me if I didn't let her snog him once in a while? We're a team, all three of us."

The crease around Luna's lips seemed to relax. "Does that mean sharing Harry?" Hermione asked, sensing there was more going on between the three of them than they wanted to admit.

"Within reason," Ginny said after a long, thoughtful pause.

"Well, it's not up to me to tell you how to live. Just, please don't break Ron any more. It's hard enough with him as is."

Ginny smiled brilliantly. "You admit you like him, then?"

"Well…he is quite handsome, really. And he has such a lovely smile."

"Rather like a besotted, ginger puppy," Luna noted.

"Not at all!" Hermione said quickly. Luna simply stared back until the older girl finally shrugged. "Well, okay, maybe so. But he's such a cute besotted puppy! And a little ginger can make life spicy."

Even Harry had to groan at that one.

~~Unspeakable~~

Harry noticed that throughout the opening feast, Snape was staring at him with a hungry smile, as if he knew some secret that would delight him and torture Harry. Beside him, Hermione said, "Who's the new DADA professor?"

"I have no idea," Harry admitted.

"That's a first," Ron muttered. "Not one of ours, then?"

"He seems a little old and…soft," Harry said, looking at the elderly gentleman sitting to Dumbledore's left.

"Harry," Hermione said softly, "don't you think it's odd that we don't know who he is?"

Harry nodded, understanding exactly what she meant by that. "Dumbledore controls the Board now."

Finally the first years were sorted and Dumbledore stood to make the opening remarks. "Now that we have all been watered and fed, let me welcome all to yet another year at Hogwarts. I know that many of you have heard the news of what happened last summer and are worried. I do not wish to lie to you—as the Minister for Magic has confirmed, Voldemort has returned. Accordingly, new security measures have been taken. First and foremost, many of you may be aware of secret passages around the castle, some even leading out of the castle. These passages have been sealed. No one can enter of leave the castle without my permission—as you can imagine this is a great boost in security."

Harry felt Ginny's hands gripping his knee hard and he returned the grip—within the next day or so they were going to have to test the passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.

"Additionally, the number of Hogsmeade weekends has been greatly reduced."

This produced groans and mutters, to which Dumbledore raised both hands. "This is for your own protection, and something both the Governors and even your own parents agree with. Those Hogsmeade weekends we do have will be very closely supervised not just by castle staff, but also by Ministry Hit Wizards to ensure everyone's protection.

"And finally, as many of you have noticed, we have a new staff member. You are all too young to remember Horace Slughorn, but Professor Slughorn was once upon a time the head of Slytherin House and a Potions Master of some renown. I am most especially pleased that Professor Slughorn was willing to come out of retirement to resume teaching potions this year. Professor Snape, if you are wondering, will be assuming the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. Professor Snape holds a Masters in Defence Against the Dark Arts as well as in Potions and has in the past shown himself most capable in the subject. I'm sure you will all welcome Professor Slughorn and congratulate Professor Snape in his new role."

Harry understood the smile then. He looked across the room as every Slytherin, including even the first years, stood to applaud Professor Snape. The rest of the students muttered in dismay.

"What does this mean?" Ron asked.

"It means," Ginny said bitterly, "they know that all Harry has to do is pass his OWLs and turn 16, and he can seek emancipation."

"And so," Hermione concluded, "they're going to make it as hard for him to do that as humanly possible."

Fifth year was already shaping up to be the worst year yet.

~~Unspeakable~~

They confirmed every passage out of the castle was sealed their first night, including the passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack. Harry sighed in frustration as he and Ginny barely beat curfew back into the common room. They stayed under his invisibility cloak while testing the passages, but once that was done they hid his father's cloak in his school robe and walked hand-in-hand back to the Common Room.

He found holding her hand helped him control his temper. They were still holding hands when they walked into the Gryffindor common room, but did not realize anything was amiss until they became aware of the sudden silence that filled the room.

Startled out of their thoughts, Harry and Ginny realized everyone in the Common Room, from First Years to Seventh, was staring at them—more importantly, at their joined hands.

Finally, Ginny said, "Oh come on, does this really surprise any of you?"

That elicited a few chuckles from the upper years and broke the unspoken tension in the room. Almost immediately a pack of giggling girls descended on Ginny—her Fourth Year roommates all but swept her away from Harry. Grinning despite the frustrations of the day, she managed to wave briefly at Harry before disappearing.

Harry found a similar group in his dorm room when he walked in. Dean and Seamus were both playing exploding snap while Neville simply stared at him. It struck Harry then how very little time he spent being a friend to his roommates. Other than passing them at night and in the mornings, he rarely spent any time with them at all, and they deserved better.

"Hey, guys," he said with a nod. "Have room for a third?"

"Sure you want to, 'Arry?" Seamus said. "Not a tit 'tween us."

"Merlin, I hope not," Harry said fervently, which caused some laughter. The boys moved and Harry sat in the middle of the floor with them.

"So, Ginny, huh?" Dean asked carefully.

"Yeah," Harry said.

Dean nodded. "You living with her?"

Ron snorted as he plopped down, forcing his way into the game. "You have no idea. Dad warded all our rooms so we can't have girls in them with the door closed."

Dean shook his head, but Seamus laughed. "Least he told you. Me mum didn't tell me and my girlfriend this summer broke up with me cause o' the spots she got from the ward."

He was obviously already over it, and the story evoked the laughter he was looking for. Finally, Harry looked up at their lone friend and said, "Come on, Neville. When's the last time we all played?"

"You'd know," Neville said, not unkindly.

That quieted the other boys down a little as they stared between the two. Harry, in a melancholy mood, merely nodded. "I know. Got caught up in Boy-Who-Lived crap and forgot what's important. Come play a hand or two?"

Finally Neville nodded and sat between Harry and Dean while Seamus dealt the hand. For the rest of the night, Harry was able to forget the plots and mysteries of his world and just act like a fifteen-year-old boy hanging out with his friends. No one mentioned Cedric or Krum, or the Tri-Wizard Tournament at all, and for that he was more grateful than any of his dorm mates would ever know.

He had Potions early the next morning and discovered that Professor Horace Slughorn was a thousand times nicer than Snape ever was. The old man was also patently creepy. He seemed to gravitate toward Harry like a hippogriff to a ferret, eying the Fifth Year with a hungry gleam in his beady old eyes that made Harry profoundly uncomfortable. On several occasions he wished that Luna were there to protect him, since he couldn't think of anyone else who would be better equipped to handle creepy.

"Mr. Potter, stay a moment, if you please," the old man said at the end of class.

As she was leaving, Hermione said, "Good luck, Harry."

Ron added, "If he touches your bum, scream like a girl and run away."

Hermione responded to that by flicking Ron's forehead right between the eyes. "Prat," she announced before taking his arm and leading him out of the room. In the following silence, Slughorn motioned Harry to walk forward until the young teen stood at the Potion Master's desk.

"Yes," he finally said, "I see why Albus is so conflicted about you, my boy."

Harry blinked in confusion. "Sir?"

Slughorn pushed himself to his feet. "I'm a very old man, Harry my boy. Albus has a few years on me it's true, but not many. I've seen many, many students through these halls. I've made a hobby of getting to know them and following their careers. I'm on a first-name basis with many important people not just here in the UK, but across the world. And in all those many years, my boy, I've only met two others like you. Albus, and of course, You-Know-Who."

Harry tried to still his beating heart—did Slughorn somehow know that Harry was a…

"Yes, I know you're a Sport, Harry," Slughorn said with a chuckle. "Dumbledore confessed why he thought he was the only one who could fight You-Know-Who during the first war. You might have been able to hide it before, but no longer. You've begun your magical maturity, and any wizard or witch with any sensitivity to magic will be able to feel you the moment you walk into a room. Albus has that same effect. Oh, he's tried to pretend over the years that it's just his presence and leadership, but between us that's codswallop. It's his bloody magical aura. Damned thing can be quite distracting—just like yours was today. Come, my boy. Let's get out of this draughty classroom."

Against Harry's better judgment, he found himself led into Slughorn's personal quarters just off the Dungeons. He was surprised at how spacious and well-appointed they were. The old professor walked toward a well-stocked liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of brandy. "Anything for you, Harry? A little young for a real drink, but I'm sure I have some butterbeer around here somewhere."

"No, thank you, Professor," Harry said. "Sir, could I ask why I'm here?"

"You can always ask, Harry. Have a seat by the fire, if you will." Slughorn settled himself into an oversized plush chair and leaned back. "I didn't want to come back to work, you see. I knew eventually You-Know-Who would come after me. I was his professor too, you see. But Albus is a manipulative old bastard, whatever else can be said. He waved the ultimate enticement to me."

Harry knew he shouldn't, but still he said, "And what was that, sir?"

"Why, you of course. I was going through your class record—rather ordinary your first two years, really. But something happened your second year. Your grades steadily improved until you actually surpassed your friend Ms. Granger in class standing, before they dropped back down to fifth standing. And you have maintained that standing, without an ounce of variation, throughout the following two years year despite that dreadful tournament. You know what that tells me?"

"What's that, sir?"

"That you're much, much better than anyone realizes, and that is exactly how you wish it to be." Slughorn sipped his brandy. "I was quite close to your parents, you know. Well, I take that back. I was quite close to your mother. She was one of the two most promising pupils I ever taught. When she died…well, I can tell you I've lost many pupils over the years, my boy. But there was only one loss that made me weep."

Harry sat very, very still, unsure how to process this information. So, he chose silence. Slughorn for his part simply stared into his brandy, as if lost. "Albus is going to come after you this year, Harry," the old man said finally. "He is not an evil man, I hope you understand that. He is not dark. But he is stubborn, terribly so, and determined to have his own way. And because he is unwilling to do evil things, he makes sure he has a tool on hand that will."

"Snape."

"Snape," Slughorn agreed. "It will be a difficult year for you, my boy. Watch yourself. And know that you're not as cut off as you think."

"Thank you, sir."

"Well, enough for the ramblings of an old man. I'm sure you have another class to get to. For that matter, I suppose I do too. Needless to say, I expect your grade in Potion will improve to fifth standing as well, if for no other reason than to offset the hit your DADA grade will most certainly take."

"Yes, sir, I expect it will too. Thank you."

That night, with his bed curtains closed and charmed to silence the conversation, Harry had a four-way conversation with Adonis, Ginny in her dorm, and Luna on magical mirrors. Adonis was surprised by the new staffing, but also grudgingly impressed. "He just cut Amelia's legs out from under her," Adonis said. "Damn. The poor potions grades were what she was going to use to exert more control over the Board of Governors, but whatever else can be said about the man, Slughorn is a very good teacher. And Snape at last gets the DADA position he has been craving for years."

"Do you think Slughorn is trustworthy?" Harry asked.

In the mirror, Adonis pursed his lips in thought. "Your mother adored him, but I can't say how much she actually trusted him. Slughorn is an influence peddler—he collects people like trophies and treats them in much the same way. He has never shown much interest in overly abusing his contacts, but rather maintains his network for the sheer joy it brings him in having a network in the first place. Still, his warning was well-worded. Keep your head down and your temper under control, Apollo. This may be the greatest test you face—a quick fight is easy to get through. You win or lose. But this year will be a test of endurance, and I think you'll find that much more difficult for your temperament."

"We could always just kill Snape," Luna noted.

"Yes, we could, but Zeus and I believe that would be a grave mistake. Right now, however slight it is, there is still the hope that we might be able to work with Albus in at least a semblance of cooperation. If we kill his attack dog, though, we will have made an enemy of him. And right now Albus is in a much better position to do you harm than Voldemort. Now, have you given thought to your training requirements?"

"I inquired of the elves in the kitchens," Luna said. "I believe we may have a satisfactory location to continue our training. However, I would appreciate it if you could smuggle a second invisibility cloak to me to aid in after-hours access."

"Consider it done," Adonis said. "Have any of you had DADA yet?"

"I had it," Ginny said with a shudder. "He must know Harry and I are dating. I lost twenty points because I didn't answer all his questions fast enough."

"Just keep your heads down," Adonis warned. "If it becomes dangerous, then one of you should contact us as soon as possible and we will share our concerns with the Ministry."

"We will," Harry promised.

Author's Note: Special thanks to Teufeul1987 for Beta reading and Brit Picking, and to JR and Miles for additional beta reading! They kept me from making the dreaded they're/their mistake, thank goodness!