Chapter 15: "Three Wizards"
"Enervate!" a familiar voice hissed. Severus Snape opened his eyes. Lord Voldemort was sitting in front of him. He was holding his head and drinking the last of the sweet wine. Lucius Malfoy had his wand pointed at Snape.
"What happened?" said Snape, drawing himself up slowly. "Oh! Ah!" he groaned. He rubbed his head, too. "Lord Voldemort was killing one of the hobbits, and…"
"And what?" sneered Malfoy. "We'd all really like to know. I came in here ten minutes ago, found you both out cold. What happened, Snape? Did you curse his Lordship and take the Ring?"
"Come, now, Lucius," said Voldemort wearily, with a wave of his hand. "Suppose he had cursed me and taken the Ring. I would be dead, and so would you, Lucius. No, I had the Ring in my hands. Set it on fire. Saw the Elvish script. It was the One. And then, Lucius, it melted. Yes, the One Ring melted." He took another sip of wine. "Guess Sauron's old Black Magic isn't what its cracked up to be, eh Severus. But you know, I could have sworn that Ring had some power left. I could feel it, as I was torturing that wretched Hobbit. Some powerful force, egging me on. But…perhaps not."
Voldemort threw his glass down in frustration. It shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Snape pointed his wand at the shards, and they magically reassembled. "Thank you, Severus," said Voldemort, as Snape waved the glass over to the sideboard. "No, Lucius, I hit the Hobbit with a killing curse, but I was tired; and I forgot about his Mithril shirt. The backlash threw me down."
"Your curse rebounded? You weren't injured?" asked Snape.
Malfoy and Voldemort looked at him quizzically. "Ah, yes," said Voldemort, finally. "I forget sometimes what you have and haven't been told, Severus. But there's no harm, I believe, in revealing this to you. I've taken precautions against being injured or killed by my own curses. What those precautions are I think I will keep a secret for the moment. All you need to know, dear Severus, is that it would take far more than ordinary magic to kill me now."
"As I suspected," thought Snape. He nodded but said nothing.
"Speaking of rebounding curses, one good thing did come out of this," said Voldemort, brightly. "I finished things with Harry Potter." He looked at Harry's lifeless body and smiled. His expression changed as he turned towards Snape. "Which reminds me—where in hell did he and those teen-agers come from, anyway, Snape?"
"My Lord," said Snape, carefully. "I believe that he may have overheard my conversation with Lucius. I had given Harry a detention this morning. He should have reported for it at four o'clock, but the business with Fudge and the Dementors taking the Hobbits evidently put it out of his head. Put it out of my head, too, actually. It would have been helpful if you had warned me about that ahead of time, Lucius."
"As you know, we are only just starting to trust you again, Snape," sneered Malfoy. "We thought it unwise for you to know the whole plan."
"Harry then remembered his detention and came down to my office at eight o'clock or thereabouts. I saw the firelight change, and told him to go. He may have listened at the door. His friend, that Granger girl, is insufferably bright, and perhaps deduced the existence of a Port-Key to your house, Lord. Armed with an invisibility cloak, they were able to slip in unnoticed."
"So what are you going to do about these children? They will accuse you, no doubt. You're no use to us as a spy if you're in Azkaban." said Voldemort.
Snape stood up quickly and shook out his robes. "Albus Dumbledore is the only person they would trust to tell. And he is still in London. A memory charm would do the trick. I'll bring Harry's body back and leave it in the forest; his death will be a mystery. I should leave immediately."
"Not quite immediately," said Voldemort, rising and wincing a bit as he put weight on his right leg. "I think you have an hour or so to spare yet." He gazed fondly at Snape. "Oh, Severus, my old friend. How I want to believe you. But, for the sake of neatness, I need to check a few things. Give me your wand."
"Lord?" said Snape.
"Give it to me." Snape reluctantly handed his wand to Voldemort. Pointing the wand back at Snape, Voldemort said, "Prior Incanto." The wand shot out a weak Immobilis spell. "You froze the Hobbit's feet with that, I think," said Voldemort.
"Yes, Lord," answered Snape, reversing the spell and turning to go.
"One more thing." Voldemort blocked his way. "Take off your outer robes. I want to search them."
"What…what are you looking for?" asked Snape.
"I don't know; something. Are you hiding anything from me?" asked Voldemort. A dangerous red flicker had come into his eyes.
"No, Lord, I…"
"Then take them off." Snape did so. Voldemort searched them, then tossed them aside. He walked up to Snape and laid his wand on Snape's chest. "You can leave us now, Lucius."
