Neither during breakfast nor later in the day did Harry, Ron and Hermione exchange a word about their trip to Snape's dungeon. They seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement to entirely avoid the subject. Fred and George kept winking conspiratorially at them from across the table and pointing furtively in the direction of the professor's table. Snape was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed incredible that they managed to sit through the morning classes, let alone to face the Transformations exam. Performing difficult spells under the watching eyes of Professor McGonagall was pure torture. Harry was sure the word "troublemaker" was written right across his forehead, but neither the teachers nor anybody in his class seemed to notice.
He and his friends arrived to the Defence classroom long before it started to fill with students. The Slytherins entered in a loud crowd chatting happily, knowing they had nothing to fear from their favourite teacher. Gryffindors came in one by one, most with their noses still glued to the books, trying to catch the last bits of information before having to face the inevitable.
Unable to sit still Harry too opened his copy of Dark Curses and Countercurses, feeling like the Defence exam was the least of his worries. Time passed. The bell announcing the start of classes rang through the corridors. Professor Snape still wasn't there.
It was so unlike him that a hurricane of whispers swept through the class after the echo of the bell died and the door remained closed. Hopeful looks appeared on the faces of many of the Gryffindor students.
"Maybe he stepped on Mrs. Norris, fell down the stairs and broke his leg," Seamus suggested gleefully.
"And is now lying somewhere, helpless, crying for help, and nobody can hear him," Dean added with much enthusiasm. As unreal as that train of events was, it was gaining a lot of weight on Harry's side of the classroom.
Harry exchanged a worried look with his friends. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. The day before, Harry would have never imagined that he would be looking forward to seeing Snape coming through the door to start the examination, but now he was barely able to sit still.
He was having serious doubts about their little prank, and he knew that Ron and Hermione both shared that feeling, though nobody wanted to admit it to the others. He also knew he was the only one of the three who had the whole picture of the disaster they could produce, or maybe had produced already. The twins were completely in the dark, having no idea about the conversation between McGonagall and Snape in his office. Ron knew of the conversation, but even he didn't hear Hermione's later remark about the Voluntariatum being prepared for three people instead of one. Hermione may have been better informed than Ron, but Harry was pretty certain that the name Avery meant nothing to her.
Bottom line was that only Harry was able to put the whole picture together: as a result of their joke Snape could be facing a meeting with a Death Eater while under the effects of a strong will-altering potion.
It didn't help matters that Snape's imaginary injury had, in the meantime, gone from a broken leg to brain trauma with an emergency trip to St. Mungo's. Harry could think of things much worse than that, things that he would never wish his worst enemy to face. And Snape was supposedly on their side.
Suddenly the door opened. Everybody was immediately in his or her desk, quills in hand. All talking died at once. Harry was about to breathe freely when the air froze in his lungs. It hadn't been Snape who had entered. It was Dumbledore, and his face was everything but smiling.
"Professor Snape had to leave Hogwarts and wasn't able to come back in time for this class. I'm afraid there will be no Defence Against the Dark Arts for you today." The announcement was met with cheers from all but three students. Harry's heart stubbornly refused to start beating again.
"However, as we can't have a group of students running around school during class hours we'll all stay here and have a small discussion on a subject as important as the actual training: legitimacy of fighting Dark Arts… with Dark Arts."
The classroom was instantly filled with heated discussion and Harry groaned. Couldn't any of them see the gravity in Dumbledore's eyes? It wasn't the Dark Arts at all what he was worrying about at the moment, though he had to admit that a small smile crossed the headmaster's face when Parvati heatedly proclaimed that no normal person would even want to start learning dark curses. He couldn't avoid noticing that Dumbledore's eyes kept turning in the direction of the door.
Harry searched for his friends' gaze, and their eyes told him just what he had expected.
"I'm telling him. At the end of the class."
A shadow of fear crossed Ron's face. Hermione nodded resolutely.
"We're telling him together."
Dumbledore's worried face tormented Harry through the rest of the class. The short looks he was sending in the direction of the door were becoming more frequent. He was clearly waiting for something. Then, suddenly, it came.
Without any forewarning the door flew open and Professor Snape burst into the room, causing Dean Thomas to cough with surprise in mid- sentence. Everyone stared expectantly back at him, but he didn't seem to acknowledge them. He went directly to Dumbledore.
"You are late." The headmaster's inquisitive look attempted to pierce the otherwise impenetrable features of the man in front of him. Snape only shrugged his shoulders.
"You can't predict everything."
"Everything…"
"…Went smoothly, but we need to talk."
Receiving Dumbledore's accepting nod he turned around and barked to the class: "Everyone dismissed."
"But Professor, what about our exams? Our grades…" Draco Malfoy hadn't been feeling well under the close scrutiny of Dumbledore, and was now celebrating the return of his favourite teacher. Snape stared at him as if he just noticed his presence.
"You'll receive your grades according to your essays on strangling curses. Now get out of here!"
Malfoy was certainly not accustomed to that kind of treatment, but Harry and his friends didn't celebrate his humiliation for long as the meaning of Snape's words sank in.
"So much work for nothing!" Ron fumed quietly. "We go through all the trouble and he goes and disappears for the whole lesson, and then remembers those foul essays! Imagine the fools we'd have made of ourselves going to Dumbledore with the confession!"
Anyway, there was nothing they could do. Having enough common sense to recognise Snape's anger for what it was everyone quickly hurried out of the room. Harry privately thought he was glad everything ended that way, even if he had to attend to extra Defence lessons with Snape for the rest of his life. He was quickly packing all his things back in his bag when Snape's next words, spoken a little louder than necessary, caught his attention.
"He's a pathetic, miserable rat. He's very afraid of his master, but I managed to persuade him it was wiser to be afraid of us. He'll do as we tell, but he has a lot of petitions."
To Harry, poisoned Snape didn't sound any different from the normal Snape. Acting more out of instinct than on decision he kneeled under his table and pretended to tie his boots. Afraid of us - was that what Snape had meant by promising McGonagall not to use the Unforgivable Curses?
"I think we can arrange it." Dumbledore's words were calm and serene, and it surprised Harry a good deal that Snape seemed to shudder at hearing them. He shifted a little to get a better look.
"He's playing with us, looking how much he can get out of the deal. When I came to you, I didn't put any conditions." Was it Harry's imagination, or was there something uncharacteristically frantic about the way Professor Snape was speaking?
"That's why I trust you the way I'll never trust Avery."
"I," Snape struggled with the words, "well, he wants too much." There was almost a note of desperate plea with the headmaster in his voice.
"He has already lost everything that was really important. He's a broken man, Severus. Don't judge him too severely only because he doesn't have your strength. I'm sure you can work out his conditions…"
"Petitions."
"Whatever. Give him what he wants. Sometimes it works better than any threats."
"Yes, Headmaster."
Harry had already tied and untied his boots several times, and it seemed a good moment to exit the scene. He reached for his bag and stood up, jumping back when the menacing figure of Snape appeared before him. Then he noticed the look in his eyes. It was such a contrast to his normal expression that Harry dropped the bag and stared at him. He looked as if he had just lost the most important battle of his life.
"Potter, to my office. Now." The look was gone as soon as it had appeared, leaving Harry to wonder if it had been there in the first place. Harry gave a start at Snape's words and broke into a thousand worried thoughts. "We have things to discuss."
Dumbledore patted Snape on the shoulder and strode from the dungeon, leaving Harry to follow his teacher out of the classroom. He caught Ron and Hermione's shocked looks as he obediently followed Snape in the direction of his office.
"Sit." Snape pointed to a chair and Harry sat down, looking around the room he had already visited less than 24 hours before. The crocodile glared at him from the ceiling. Snape stood in front of him, looking positively intimidating. Harry searched his face for signs of anything, from any indication that the Voluntariatum had worked to a twisted smirk that would confirm that their prank had been discovered. The expression on Snape's sallow face was unreadable.
"Your essay on Strangling curses was especially good, Potter. I don't understand why you got such a low mark on it."
Harry blinked several times before looking back at the Head of Slytherin house. Snape had neither disappeared nor transformed in somebody else. His disdainful voice was still the same, his dislike for Harry written all over his features. It was his actions that had changed. Sirius' potion worked, but in a different way than he had expected. Harry tried to recall the letter that accompanied the Voluntariatum; it was supposed to be a mood-changing potion that made people act nicely. Harry couldn't see any changes in Snape's mood, but then again, maybe even triple dose wasn't enough to improve it. Maybe it was more about the "act nicely" bit. Holding his breath Harry used the opportunity and played along.
"It's possible there was a mistake correcting it," Harry said as casually as he could. Asking Professor Snape a favour was one thing he never wanted to do, but acting nicely only worked when two were playing the same game. "Could you take another look at it?" He stopped, but than another thought came to his mind. If he could pull this out, maybe he could talk Snape into taking another look at all Gryffindor's essays. After more than three month of low marks and degrading remarks it would only be fair.
Harry wasn't sure what part of his babbling caused it, but Snape's face turned a shade of grey. A terrible suspicion crossed his head. What if he realised he was being manipulated, but couldn't do anything to against it? He shuddered at the thought.
"I don't have time for that, Potter. I have a meeting. Surely you don't want to make your godfather wait?" The teacher seemed to choose his words with great care, never letting Harry from under his scrutinising gaze.
"Can't you do it afterwards? Wait! You're going to Azkaban to see Sirius?" Harry jumped from his seat. He hadn't heard anything from his godfather since they said good-bye last Halloween.
"Headmaster Dumbledore thinks it does him good to be near people instead of Dementors once in a while." There was no sympathy in Snape's voice.
Harry stared at the floor, not wanting to show the teacher that his words had stuck a nerve. It had been bad enough for Sirius last year when he had to live in a cave, and there weren't even Dementors around.
What if you get caught?
Can happen.
And I'll never see you again.
Harry looked up and was met by Snape's look of expectation. A decision formed in Harry's mind.
"Would you mind if I came along?" He held his breath and waited for an answer. The Voluntariatum was working; otherwise Snape would have kicked him out of his office at the sole suggestion about his essay. But what if he was asking for too much?
"If that's what you want." Snape answered indifferently, showing with all his body that he wasn't excited about the prospect in the least. Harry would have believed him if it wasn't for a strange look that crossed his face once again. Was it relief?
Snape went to one of his numerous cabinets, opened it and extracted a wooden box with several little stones similar to the one Sirius wore around his neck. He selected one of the portkey and threw it on the table.
Everything was too easy. Snape was acting too strangely. Harry brushed the thought aside with determination. Not everything in his life had to be difficult. He'd make a quick trip, see his godfather and be back for dinner.
Harry extended his arm and grabbed the Portkey, wondering how Snape managed to touch it without being transported somewhere. At his touch, however, it had worked. Instead of the stale air of the dungeon, the fresh smell of the sea and the sound of powerful waves assaulted his senses. He opened his eyes not being aware of having closed them and stared at the infinite water in front of him; Harry had never seen the sea before.
Around him there were only lifeless rocks; sharp peaks were hiding the view of the rest of the island. Harry turned away from the water and began to climb. He was drawn to the sight he knew was going to meet him once he reached the top of the cliff and dreaded it at the same time. He was only partly aware of Professor Snape appearing from nothing behind him.
Imperturbable and menacing, the fortress of Azkaban grew in his view as he reached the top. It was maybe a mile away; too far for anyone to notice him among the stones and yet near enough to give him chills. Instinctively he tried to stay as close as possible to the ground. He was about to turn around and go ask Snape where the hell Sirius was when a hand came down on his shoulder.
"Seen enough? Come." A voice called gently in his ear. He turned around and was greeted by the sight of his godfather motioning to follow him back to the shore. Sirius lost no time by climbing down. A black dog jumped soundlessly down from the cliff, and seconds later Sirius was standing up and crossing the space between him and Snape. Harry, if not so gracefully, followed.
"Why the hell did you bring him here?!" Apparently Sirius considered the bay under the cliffs safe enough to risk slightly raising his voice.
"He asked to come along," was Snape's docile replay.
Sirius drew a deep breath and shot Harry a reproachful look, but eventually decided to postpone his lecture until they were out of Snape's hearing range.
"And what have you lost here?"
"I thought you would like to know that you plan is working."
"I'll know it's working when I see the results." Sirius snapped. "Those are emergency Portkeys, I can't believe you used them…"
A sudden realisation that Snape wasn't paying him any attention made him shut up and study his face with anxious awareness. "What's wrong?" He asked, suddenly dropping his voice to a whisper. Snape's haunted face convulsed in a painful grimace and his lips moved silently. Sirius's face went white.
"Wands out." He ordered in controlled detached voice, slowly turning his back to the sea. His left arm went to lie protectively on Harry's shoulder.
It was Harry who saw it first, though he had no idea what he was seeing. Something was moving through the air in their direction. It looked every bit like a little silver moon and for a fraction of a second he wondered wildly why a Boggart was attacking them and why it took the form of a moon if Professor Lupin wasn't anywhere near. Than his reflexes kicked in. With no better plan he shouted "Impedimenta," slowing the object's hasty projectile.
It worked only for a second, during which the moon that wasn't really a moon hung motionless in the air. There had to be more than one wand controlling its course because it trembled, changed its path, and hit the ground right under Harry's feet. He jumped back in the time he heard Sirius yell "Stupefy!"
He followed the path of the curse and finally saw their attackers. Several figures clad in black appeared behind the rocks surrounding the place where they stood. There were at least three that Harry could see and he realised there had to be another one when a fire hex from behind almost burned his ear.
Something distracted him from the attackers. The earth trembled a little under his feet. Had he not been staring at the ball when it hit the ground he wouldn't have noticed anything. What he saw was the earth moving up and down under the impact, as if the sphere had fallen into water instead of onto the ground and created a wave that spread in every direction.
"Get down!" Harry threw himself on the ground, partly because his instincts screamed at him to get down, partly because Sirius tackled him unceremoniously moments before the rock behind them was annihilated through a shower of hexes. The cloud of dust that was left of it made it difficult to see anything. Harry crawled blindly until he reached a secure spot behind another rock. His tunic was already torn apart and his arms and hands bleeding from the sharp-edged stones he had been crawling on. Without seeing where he was aiming he extended his arm and sent a couple of the nastiest curses he knew in general direction of the Death Eaters. A sickening sound of metal scratching against metal filled the air.
He felt more than saw Sirius kneeling beside the rock near him. His curses, too, were more of a distraction than an actual attack. He was having too much trouble maintaining the contra-spells in front of them. 'It's impossible,' Harry thought to himself, 'there are only four of them, how do they manage so many curses?! And where the hell is Snape?'
Harry fired blindly once again, and once again the resulting thunder resonated around him. From the corner of his eye he saw Sirius rolling over to his side. He shifted and prepared to fire again.
"Harry, wait!" Sirius' hand twisted his in a late attempt to stop the curse but only succeeded in changing its direction and sending it into the sky. Harry twisted furiously to get free. "I think we're…"
Harry's curse didn't get very high; with a gut-twisting sound he couldn't place before, it hit against an invisible barrier, rebounded, and flew back in their direction. The force of the impact lifted Harry from the ground. His shoulder was the first part of his body to connect with it again, making him dizzy with pain. Next thing he knew Sirius was pinning him down, his body shielding him from the flying incandescent debris.
"…In a Moebius Wrap. It doesn't…" Sirius was stopped by a fit of cough from the smoke around them "let anything out, curses or objects or people. Are you hurt?" he asked guiltily, realising that Harry was clutching his shoulder and shifting away from him to get some freedom of movement. Receiving a negative for an answer he continued: "It does let everything in, though." As if to stress his words several curses struck the ground not far away from them.
"How can we get out?" Harry asked.
Sirius' silence answered his question better than any words. Curses continued to soar over their heads for a few moments before the attackers realised they were receiving no response and then everything went quiet. Harry realised he was clutching his wand so hard he risked breaking it. It couldn't have mattered less. All of a sudden his beloved possession was nothing more than a useless piece of wood.
Everything had been planned to the finest detail; they were given no chance to fight back. But how, Harry thought desperately, how could they know he would be there if he himself only decided to come along half an hour ago? Unless it was Sirius they were after. Unless it was an awful coincidence they attacked exactly when he was there. Exactly when Snape came to visit…
The masked figures got closer. There were effectively four of them, two who seemed to give orders and two bulky bodyguards that dutifully followed their lead. They didn't need to hide anymore. The opposing curses could no longer reach them.
One of them waived his wand and fine silver traces marked the limits where the Moebius charm wore off.
"Don't make us wait, Black! You know you don't have a chance!"
Sirius swore under his breath.
"You are loosing time, Avery. I know their kind, they fight until the end." Another one answered. Lucius Malfoy tucked away his wand, took his mask off and dried the drops of sweat on his forehead with a fine gesture. The second man winced at the mention of his name.
"We are hardly fooling anyone. In fact, there's hardly anyone around here whom we need to fool, and anyway it's too hot under those stupid disguises." He continued irritably. Grudgingly, his companions discovered their faces. Malfoy took out his wand again and pointed it lazily in the direction of Harry and Sirius.
"Am I right? You are going to fight. Gryffindors always do." Harry was sure Malfoy couldn't see them, but pressed his body even closer down to the ground. He was stunned when Sirius, far from doing the same thing, rose up to his feet and faced Malfoy.
"And of course, only a Gryffindor would hope to win a duel tied up by a Moebius cage. After all, they are invincible." Sirius' only answer was to level his wand protectively in front of himself.
"Obliterus!"
The curse flew in Sirius' direction, was blocked and whizzed into the ground. Apparently the wrap didn't prevent the countercurses from working as long as they didn't leave its limits.
"Petrificus totalis! Obliterus! Ilusio Sensoria!"
Harry had actually believed Malfoy would fight Sirius one by one. He had been wrong. He watched his godfather block another hex, avoid the next and stumble back under the force of Avery's paralysing curse. Harry snapped out of his paralysis, jumped to his feet and produced a protective shield like the ones he had learned in class. It didn't hold long, but bought Sirius enough time to recover.
"Do you plan on keeping that up much longer? Maybe some Dementors will be the enforcement we need." Lucius Malfoy's voice resembled Draco's lazy and teasing droll in every aspect. He played with his wand, pointing from Harry to Sirius and back to Harry. "But I think we can solve this all by ourselves. Nihilo!"
A huge globe of glowing flames surged from the point of his wand. Harry saw Sirius take a step forward and take the impact on himself while pushing him aside with his left hand. The fireball stopped at the point of his wand, faltered for a moment but didn't disappear. It started to grow bigger, overcoming the countercurse and burning them with its closeness. Sirius' wand snapped under the pressure of the flames, its pieces instantly consumed by the wild fire. Without anything to stop it the fireball exploded, enveloping first Sirius and then Harry in a burning mantle while the world was slowly coming apart around them.
I'm not evil. I just get kicks out of leaving people hanging for a couple of weeks. Everyone has fun the way he/she can, right? To my defence I'll only say I'm working on this as fast as I can, and the next chapter will probably come out sooner that this one.
If you enjoyed this have some decency and leave a review. Every one I get will be an hour of late night stay in front of my computer.
P.S.- I have been thinking about changing the title. Harry Potter and
the Order of Phoenix isn't bad
(it is about the Order of Phoenix, after all), but there are too many
stories with that title around here, and I hate it when I can't find my
own in that mess. I still don't have any better substitution, so any
ideas are welcome!