Disclaimer:

All characters in the story are the property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, with the exception of Eleanora Sterling and a few supporting characters, who are my own creations. This story is created purely for the entertainment of myself and other like-minded readers and no copyright infringement is intended.

By mentioning J.K. Rowling in this story I do not intend to present her as a fictional character or to imply that the Harry Potter books are not her own 100% original works.

Any opinions, political or otherwise, on world events, personages or governments expressed in these pages, are the opinions of the characters speaking them and not necessarily those of the author.

Chapter 12: Weapons of Mass Destruction

After his latest conversation with Lupin, Snape at least felt he had piqued the man's interest. Regardless of how he might feel about him personally, he did know that Remus was a man of honour and he had given his word not to divulge their conversations to Dumbledore or anyone else he didn't want knowing about them. So on that score, at least, he trusted him.

But before he could reveal his plan to Lupin, he had to have formed one. Part one was finding a sure fire bait to entice Voldemort to go through any one of the portals in London; part two was creating their very own mole to take the information to the target. This would be the most difficult part.

Voldemort could probably be convinced to pass through on any pretext that would promise him additional power at no risk to himself. But whoever carried that knowledge to him had to be someone the Dark Lord trusted implicitly. This meant that a known loyal follower of his would either have to be turned to their side, or be convinced that whatever story Snape concocted about the Mundane dimension was true. And since Snape was now a known traitor against Voldemort, he could not be the one to do the convincing.

Attempting to turn a loyal Death Eater was probably too risky if not downright impossible. Tricking one into helping them unwittingly would be difficult also, since passing disinformation to that person would have to be carried out either by someone whose loyalties to the forces of Good were in question, or who could appear to have been forced to divulge "secrets" under duress.

The idea of what to use as bait was already forming in his mind. During their stopover in London, Severus and Nora had visited the Museum of Science. The visit had been an eye-opener for Snape: a glimpse into marvels of technology that had almost seemed like magic.

The most disturbing revelation was the existence of weapons of mass destruction. Atomic bombs had first been used in World War II, and had effectively ended the war, but millions of people had been killed in the process. It sickened him to learn that nuclear weapons had progressed past their infancy and had proliferated around the globe at an alarming rate. He was certain that nothing like this existed in the Muggle/Magical dimension.

In addition to nuclear arms, biological weapons also existed that could wipe out a population with a dreaded disease and leave property, material goods and technology intact. This might also appeal to Voldemort: all that wealth at his disposal with no one left alive to hinder him from taking and exploiting it—unless enslaving living Muggles was part of his plan.

Would the promise of such a weapon be enough to lure Voldemort into the Mundane dimension? Would he be pleased to possess a weapon capable of wiping out an entire city or small nation? Even the threat of using such a weapon would surely be more effective at spreading terror than a handful of Death Eaters waving wands about and destroying a few houses. In fact, it might be enough to terrorise vast armies of Muggles into doing his bidding. But would he trust non-magical technology enough to want to use it?

Or could Voldemort be convinced that great magical power existed here in the Mundane dimension and that these weapons were actually evidence of a web of dark magic which existed here, greater than any dark forces he had ever had at his disposal?

Proof would have to be provided that the information was true. It was going to take something very convincing. Obviously he couldn't trigger an actual nuclear explosion; that would be far too devastating. The mark could be should archival footage of nuclear tests, but that would not be enough to convince Voldemort.

Some sort of demonstration would have to be given that terrible dark magic existed in the Mundane Dimension that Voldemort could draw upon. And since no form of strong magic actually existed here, something would have to be rigged up using some sort of Mundane technology that would appear to be magic.

So the question remained: how to do it?

Snape confessed to himself that, for once, he was at a loss. He had the seed of an idea but not enough knowledge of this dimension's technology to carry it forward. He had grown accustomed to bouncing ideas off Nora, who had a quick mind and, obviously, a far greater knowledge of the Mundane world than he had. Her input and perspective were always valuable to him, but because of the fight they had had about his plans to return to London, he was unwilling to discuss this particular problem with her. Besides, she simply didn't have the intimate knowledge of Voldemort that he had, so it would be impossible for her to make any sort of prediction as to how the evil wizard would react in a given situation.

He was shocked to find himself actually considering bouncing his ideas off Remus Lupin in order to get things moving along. He was certainly going to need Remus' help, and if engaging him in solving this particular puzzle was a way to get him involved in the plot, then perhaps talking things over with him was the best course. Besides, with Remus' connections in London, he just might know someone who could build some sort of device or effect that would serve as a demonstration of power.

But Snape realised with a sardonic chuckle that his old rival would never accept that he would willingly admit that he didn't have a fully formed solution to this problem. In any other situation, he'd have bluffed in order to make the other man think he had all the answers. How was he going to convince Lupin that he really did require his help, or the help of someone he knew? Any such assertions would probably be met with grave suspicion and very possibly, amusement or derision. And frankly he had to concede that being put in the position of admitting his own deficiency to Lupin, of all people, was not a very comforting prospect.

Still, if this was what it would take to get the wheels in motion, perhaps it was time to swallow his pride and ask for help. Hopefully, he'd find a way to do it without losing too much face.

NEXT: Up To Something

A/N

Snape losing face... now there's a nasty prospect! Hopefully the part of his face that he loses won't be his lovely nose! ; )

Thanks for the reviews! To see the word "wonderful" in connection to one of my chapters warms my heart!

-Grey Lady