Chapter Twenty-Eight

Differing Points of View

Jennifer nodded to the Azkaban Enchanters as she slipped into the back room of the hospital wing, pausing at the door. Severus was sitting by her father's bed, talking quietly with him. Well, at least they seemed to get along, she thought to herself with irritation. Before he had 'died,' things had hardly been smooth going between Jennifer and her father. She knew the tension was mostly out of concern, a disagreement of how to do things that had developed as she grew up. She also knew that he cared a great deal about her, and somehow that made the arguments and tension between them worse. And now here he was, very much alive… although what sort of life it was going to be for him now she wasn't sure.

Somehow it seemed wrong to think of her father imprisoned beside the likes of Pettigrew and Malfoy; but in her heart she understood why he belonged there. How many lives had he destroyed? How many more had he been prepared to kill? How was he any better than Voldemort, really? But he was better to Jennifer, and things weren't as simple as that. Her black and white world was coated in grey, and she was quite sure it was going to take a long time for her to sort her feelings out. Gathering up her courage, she went over to them. Severus offered her the chair, standing behind her.

"Good morning, Dad. How are you feeling?" Jennifer asked.

"Like I got spelled in the back and nearly killed by my own daughter," he grunted disapprovingly at her.

"So what? You were going to kill yourself anyway," Jennifer retorted. "Again."

"No! I was going to kill Voldemort, which you had failed to do yourself! No one wears this Mark without having caused death. Had we all died, it would have meant wiping out the entire Death Eater scourge. Anyone Marked who had later turned against him would have understood!"

"You are not a judge, nor do you have the right to speak for others," Jennifer snapped angrily. Severus put his hand on her shoulder.

"Come now, you both need to calm down. This is no way to act after…"

"Severus, you would be willing to die if it insured Voldemort's death, would you not?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, however…"

"And what about all the families who would have lost loved ones, Dad?" Jennifer asked angrily. "Did you even care to think about that for one split second? When you kill fifty wizards, you affect hundreds of people! And don't try to tell me for one instant that you would have even considered going ahead with it if Mother had been down there with that cursed thing on her arm! As for me not killing him when I had a chance, thank the stars that I didn't! I'd have lost Severus without knowing the price, not to mention several parents of students of this school and not a one of them I don't care about. It doesn't take courage to kill people, Dad. It takes a lot more courage not to. And family mantra or no, revenge isn't worth the price of a life, let alone a soul!"

Jennifer got up and turned around to walk out only to see Dumbledore standing at the door, his arms spread out to block Poppy and the two Azkaban guards from rushing in. He stepped out of the way, still keeping the three others back with a gesture.

"Audi should be here in a half an hour, Jennifer. I trust you'll meet us in my study," Dumbledore said calmly. Jennifer nodded and left, quickly disappearing down the hall.

"I should go talk to her." Severus said, glancing at Dumbledore, who nodded. "If you'll excuse me, sir." He bowed slightly to Thomas before heading after her. Thomas leaned back, looking disagreeable.

"She reminds me of her mother. She even has the same taste in men," Thomas grunted.

"Perhaps similar in some ways," Dumbledore mused, turning to Thomas. "But in other ways, quite different. Severus took my advice when it was offered… you chose another path."

"I'm too old for lectures, Dumbledore, and too old to change my ways. Not that you'll ever have to see me again after I'm well enough to get out of this bed," Thomas replied.

"Oh, I wasn't going to lecture. I think your daughter did a good enough job of that already, if not a bit louder than I would have. She definitely has some of her father in her as well… your courage, your stubbornness, and perhaps even a bit of your temper," Dumbledore chuckled. "I would not have her any other way. She's one of my best teachers."

"You say that about every teacher you have," Thomas pointed out.

"Well, yes, this is true enough," Dumbledore smiled. "If I didn't think so, they wouldn't be here."

"So, are you going to tell me to what I owe the honor of this visit if you're not here to lecture me?" Thomas asked grumpily.

"I only came to check up on a former student who has gone on a very long and dark journey. I'm not even sure if he's quite finished with it, but in the event that he has, I just wanted him to know that I am always available to talk and would be quite happy to visit him on occasion," he smiled at him.

"You would visit a murderer?" Thomas asked skeptically.

"You have committed many murders. You have committed unforgivable crimes. You have brought unspeakable pain to many who didn't deserve it in the name of justice that you had no right to bestow. However, I have a feeling that there will come a day when I will think of you as a friend." Dumbledore got up and Poppy came over with a steaming cup, fussing over Thomas getting overexcited and handing it to him.

"Perhaps you were right, Professor. Perhaps I should have listened to you all those years ago. But it's too late now," Thomas said, drinking down the potion.

"It is never too late to listen, Thomas, so long as there is life. You have your daughter to thank for that chance, of course. And, if you don't mind me saying so, you could learn a lot from listening to her as well. I know I do," he smiled, exiting the room.

Jennifer was comfortably seated in the red high-backed chair with plush pillows behind her back, while Severus sitting at her feet, talking quietly to her. He got up quickly as Dumbledore entered with Harry close behind. A moment later, Minerva escorted Audacious in and closed the door behind them.

"Come sit down, Audi. Shall we take it from the top?" Dumbledore suggested after waiting for everyone to settle. "I assume, if I'm not mistaken, that you have always known that Thomas Craw had never died… the first time, or the last."

"Yes, Albus, of course I knew. I had kept an eye on the Craws from the moment they left England, him especially," Audi said with a sigh.

"I admit when I asked you to keep an eye on them, I had not really meant for you to go as far as all that," Dumbledore said, ignoring Jennifer's stare.

"Since when have I ever done anything half way?" Audi laughed.

"Perhaps, but you could have at least told me he was alive," Albus chided her. "I had not become suspicious until after the wand was taken. I had heard rumors of a wizard hiding with the Giants once before, curious enough in and of itself, so I had Hagrid go to find out more about it. It was only then that I concluded that he was indeed alive and that you had taken up with him."

"Now, Albus, I wouldn't exactly call it taken up with him. Alice's husband or no, I wasn't about to help him on his killing spree. Rather, I had gone to try and persuade him to stop his quest for vengeance and try to talk some sense into him."

"Had I thought for an instant your reason had been any different, Audacious, I'd not have spoken on your behalf in front of the Ministry. I don't necessarily approve of how much you ended up getting involved, but I'm sure you had good reasons for stepping in."

"That came on account of these two, actually. I had been tailing Thomas the night he got it into his head to kill Professor Snape here. Apparently he'd found out that Snape often took the evening patrols and thought to catch him alone. I suspect the last person he expected to see was his daughter, and he was even more surprised when it became obvious to him that Jen-girl wasn't under any charms and came out of his attempt at dispelling her ready to fight. So he decided it might be best to wait and kill Severus later. I am certain that at that point he still had every intention of killing him, as well as anyone else he knew had any dealings with Voldemort, no matter what the circumstances. All he could think of was trying to avenge Alice's death, and I don't think he realized what he was doing. That's when I finally stepped in and approached him.

"He'd already established the Camden identity and got into the Ministry, impressing them with his knowledge and making a few quick connections with some of the Death Eater sympathizers still left in the building. I met him there and we had a long talk, and I told him about Severus and Jennifer, hoping he'd change his mind and leave Severus alone. I don't think I convinced him, to be honest, but after that whole fiasco on Halloween, he finally came around. Severus ended up having to cover for him that night because as Camden, he had once again become a Death Eater so that he could get closer to his prey."

"You've known since Halloween?" Dumbledore peered quizzically at Severus.

"I didn't know it was Thomas Craw," Severus scowled. "If I had, I would have never agreed to keep it quiet. At the time I hadn't even realized they'd taken the wand, only that he and someone he was with had saved Jennifer. Later on, I kept silent hoping it would earn me enough trust so that I could get the wand back from Audi."

"I didn't have the wand. Thomas took it the moment I came back from escorting Jen-girl home. Had it been anyone else but him, it would never have left my side until I returned it, Albus, let me assure you of that. But both of us thought that Jen-girl was acting extremely irrational that night. Had she been killed, Voldemort would have gotten the wand, and Thomas didn't want to take the chance that it might happen again."

"He's one to talk about taking about…"

"Jennifer, I understand the circumstances on why you handled that situation the way you did, but in their minds they had a valid point," Dumbledore told her gently. "Audi, the second staged death was because of the trial, was it not?"

"Right in one, Albus. If an inquiry came up about the wand on either side, it may have led to who had it and that Thomas was the Ivory Skull. The Ministry had declared him dead, so we were covered. I even made sure that Thurspire was the one to investigate so I could talk him out of a toxicology report," she smirked. Severus smirked as well, but quickly changed his expression when Dumbledore glanced at him with a frown. It was obvious that he didn't approve of Severus' part in that.

"And what of those that had died alongside him?"

"That was his own doing. I had no idea that he had planned to kill anyone that night, although he had mentioned wanting them dead after they'd killed that couple in Elmsborough. I didn't know he was going to use that murder to cover his own death. We argued after that… well, I don't have to tell you that both of us are rather opinionated people. I wanted him to go ahead and turn himself in but he would hear none of it and threatened to disappear again if I tried to stop him from going after Voldemort. I decided it was best if I kept him at hand so I could perhaps talk some sense into him. I had some limited success; he agreed to lay low for a while until things cooled down. He used the time to try to find out where Voldemort was holing up during the day. Voldemort wasn't even telling his own people that. Anyhow, last night I happened to be on my way to talk to Sirius, who'd been trying to get a hold of me for a while…"

"Since the trial, actually," Dumbledore nodded.

"I came across Thurspire and Harry, who had somehow managed to figure out that 'Camden' was still alive. I knew this would be the end if I'd let them go, and probably would be the end even if I kept them. I brought them with me to the old abandoned Corsiva house, which is where Thomas was staying. Thomas and Harry talked for a long time in the other room," Audi glanced at Harry, "and when they were done, Thomas had decided that Harry should come along, and that we should try and take Voldemort at the Chalk Downs that night. Thomas knew that was his last chance. Either way, he had already made up his mind that if he survived, he was going to turn himself in. I'm quite convinced of that."

"What was it that the two of you talked about, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"We talked a little about my parents, but mostly about what's happened between Voldemort and me since I came to school. He also asked about the night the wand was broken. He also didn't seem to think my parents cared much for him," Harry said.

"And what did you think of him, Harry?"

"I don't know, really. He was angry, obsessed, and hurt at the time, but I think under different circumstances we'd have gotten along all right," Harry admitted with a shrug.

"And what happened when you got to the downs?"

"He'd cast the sunlight spell to put off the dark creatures that were there and a couple of harpies came up, so we tangled their wings. But after that, they didn't seem to be paying attention to us; that's when we found out that Professor Craw and Snape were down below. Things got really out of hand after that, especially when Mr. Craw cast the Cruciatus Curse at Voldemort and all the Death Eaters felt it like it was cast on them. Mr. Craw and Professor Snape talked about trying to kill him anyhow, even knowing it would probably kill them as well. That's when Professor Craw took over and disarmed her father and I… er… helped her." Severus scowled at Harry but didn't comment. "After that, then she started casting what she called the Forbidden Death Spell, and got a good-sized cloud going. Voldemort tried Mortification on her but it didn't work and she kept on going. It seemed to have everyone else worried that she was actually going to cast it."

"Oh? Weren't you worried?" Dumbledore asked, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"No, not really. Professor Craw always seems to have a handle on things, and it wouldn't be like to her murder anyone unnecessarily," Harry reasoned. "Anyway, after the cloud covered the whole area, she switched wands and cast Familiar Rain at the cloud. I suppose you know the rest."

"Ah, so you switched wands, did you?" Dumbledore said with a sparkle in his eye. "That would explain why you got such a remarkable response from the school's familiars. I'd never seen so many answer a call before, let alone pulling every familiar from Hogwarts, including mine."

"Some of the ones in Hogsmeade ended up there as well from what I heard," Jennifer admitted, a little embarrassed. "I had hoped for quite a flock, and perhaps call the owls our of the Owlery plus Ratfly and Rasputin, but I'd not counted on that many."

"It's just as well that it had, or I might have had to try and replace another Defense Arts teacher… that isn't something we want to do at the moment, is it, Severus?"

"Severus is just as irreplaceable, which is why I did what I did." Jennifer said, looking up at Severus who gazed at her thoughtfully in return.

"I wholeheartedly agree. You've done well, Jennifer." Dumbledore smiled between them. "And anything that you or Harry had to do to make sure everyone got out alive, I'm sure will be overlooked and forgiven," he added, giving a sideways glance at Harry. "Although there is a matter of someone being out of the castle after hours that will need to be addressed later."

"But what can be done about the cursed Marks?" Jennifer asked worriedly. "Can they be removed?"

"Your father and I have already talked to Poppy about that," Severus said irritably. "It'll mean an amputation and a limb grown back, but it'll be done. Poppy wanted to get your father's started this afternoon so it would be done before he left."

"You'll need to wait until the students leave for the summer, Severus. It'll take some time for both of you to get used to your arms again," Dumbledore said.

"I'll look after Thomas after he's transferred, the old fool. It was bad enough that he had the Mark on him once, but then again when he came back as Camden," Audi shook her head and clucked her tongue.

"Audi, how come you never told me my father was alive? And why didn't you tell me about looking after us before last summer?" Jennifer asked.

"I wasn't looking after you well enough to save your mother, so please don't give me credit for that," Audi said saddened. "I should have moved when you both went to France, but I was quite established in America by then, and with you all grown up, I thought the two of you would be safe now. As for not telling you about your father, I had to swear not to. Your mother had known and she begged me not to tell you, to leave it for him when he was ready. But damn it all, if I didn't throw you hints left and right last summer! Making you look over your thoughts hoping you'd see something that didn't add up, or perhaps notice a look in your mother's face in your old memories that would tip you off. I began calling you by your childhood name until it felt natural to me… and then I'd thought for certain that the fact he could use the wand would give him away!"

"The wand, at least, is gone now," Dumbledore said. "I convinced the Ministry that they were better off destroying it as quickly as possible. There are plenty of records already about that wand and how it was used, not that Thomas would ever fight the charges."

"Dad will not be happy about the wand being destroyed. It was one of the few heirlooms we actually took with us when we fled," Jennifer sighed. "Of course, Dad's never too happy about anything."

"He'll come around, Jen-girl," Audi said. "You did the right thing getting us all out of that mess. It could have turned out a lot worse."

"We still have the problem of how to defeat Voldemort now that we know he's done this," Jennifer said. "It seems to only affect spells that are cast directly at him, but he's not likely to go anywhere alone regardless. He's going to keep using his followers as shields."

"Perhaps the curse placed on the Mark is something we should go public with," Dumbledore suggested. "I believe that now that it's uncovered, the fact that he has taken such a precaution is going to backfire on Voldemort. He will have a much harder time finding people willing to join him no matter how silvered his speech, and there will also be more that currently follows him who will wonder how to get out of their predicament. Audacious, would you make sure that the option to have it removed is offered to the Azkaban prisoners as well? I will be very interested to hear who takes up the offer to have it removed and who does not."

"I've got a galleon on Malfoy being the first," Jennifer said after a short pause.

"Wormtail fears Voldemort too much to have it taken off," Severus smirked. "But I'll put one on Crabbe."

"Fine, I guess I'll get Wormtail then," Audi said disappointed. "But I get to tell them, so I'll tell him first," she added cheerfully.