"Hello. This is Severus Snape.
...
...
Yes, I know I said I'd call again straight away, but I... couldn't bring myself to do it... somehow.
...
...
I am sorry.
...
...
...
Yes, it does upset me. I've never... done anything like this before. But I intend to continue. If you're still interested, that is.
...
...
...
No, I... honestly, I don't remember very well. Only that whatever he did made my mother hide in her bedroom for the rest of the week. Caused a bit of trouble, because the baby needed to be looked after. That was when Luciana started feeding her with the bottle, I think.
...
Don't know.
...
I don't know.
...
...
Well, I... expect she had some help from Mumary and perhaps some of the house-el- what? Mumary. The cook. We used to have a real cook. Human, I mean. Haven't I mentioned her before?
...
Strange. Well, Mumary was always there when... my mother wasn't, basically. She did all the cooking, supervised the cleaning and all that, but she also... just sat there and listened whenever either of us had a problem. And she looked after the baby when Luciana was too tired or fed up.
...
...
...
I... of course I could, but it will be rather difficult. There's... not much to tell about Mumary.
...
...
She was huge. Or on second thought... she wasn't, probably. I was just very small. But she was black. I am sure she was. Tried to make us believe that if she ever had a baby of her own she'd be able to feed cocoa to it instead of milk. And she was always wearing a tea-towel around her head.
...
A red one.
...
Just red, yes.
...
...
We used to visit her. Luciana and I. We sat in the kitchen... which was underneath the surface. Next to the dungeons, actually, and-
...
Not cold, no. There was always a fire. A cracking fire, gleaming sparks... flickering flames changing from a soft blue to bright orange... yellow... white...
...
There was a kettle on top. A big, black one. Always steaming. Made of brass and copper... very stable. One of those high quality cauldrons which were still available in the early seventies. They stopped making them in 1979, unfortunately, due to some dumb law trying to standardize size and thickness of cauldrons within Britain. Completely pointless if you ask me.
...
Why... I'd never buy a Welsh cauldron anyway. Not to mention a Cornish one. Experts, you see, know exactly which cauldron they want to use. But, of course, they have to serve the needs of dunderheads like that Diggle fellow who couldn't tell the difference between an Irish fire-prove kettle and a Muggle teapot.
...
What? No, of course you had no idea. Hardly anyone has. This just happens to be my area of expertise.
...
...
What do you mean by 'chemistry'? There is no such subject. Not at Hogwarts, at least.
...
No.
...
...
...
I've lost track now. What was I saying?
...
Oh yes, Mumary. The only person on this planet, perhaps, my father's ever listened to. Thanks to her I finally got out of that place.
...
...
Which part didn't you understand? I said 'Thanks to her I finally-' Yes. Yes, it has to do with that stranger who survived the moat. Heavens, you are slow. Haven't you guessed by now?
...
No, actually, he did not throw him in. Managed to make it look like an accident. I don't think he would have outlived the day if the Dark Lord hadn't believed his weak tale. 'Oooh... the drawbridge hasn't been checked for ages. Did you get very wet? I am so sorry, Mylord. Let me take your cloak...'
...
Of course. What else? He had already changed his name at that time. 'Mylord' was the proper way of addressing him. I have never called him anything else, although... although I am no longer in his service, of course.
...
I was sixteen when the Dark Lord took me away from the castle. Luciana had long left us and the baby was... well... not a baby anymore. Father wasn't happy. Shouted after me when I followed my Master across the drawbridge.
'You will never return to this castle, Severus! I will kill you if you dare come near it again! Do you hear me? I WILL KILL YOU!'
...
...
...
I have never seen him again.
...
Glad? I am not sure if I could say that with honesty. Yes, perhaps.
...
...
I... think he still lives, yes. Not sure, though.
...
Yes. Yes, my mother.... too, she... she's in... St. Mungo's. I don't visit her.
...
A hospital, yes. St. Mungo's. Don't you-
...
Well, she... she went insane, so they had to... had to take her, I...
...
...
I am so sorry!"
...
...
Yes, I know I said I'd call again straight away, but I... couldn't bring myself to do it... somehow.
...
...
I am sorry.
...
...
...
Yes, it does upset me. I've never... done anything like this before. But I intend to continue. If you're still interested, that is.
...
...
...
No, I... honestly, I don't remember very well. Only that whatever he did made my mother hide in her bedroom for the rest of the week. Caused a bit of trouble, because the baby needed to be looked after. That was when Luciana started feeding her with the bottle, I think.
...
Don't know.
...
I don't know.
...
...
Well, I... expect she had some help from Mumary and perhaps some of the house-el- what? Mumary. The cook. We used to have a real cook. Human, I mean. Haven't I mentioned her before?
...
Strange. Well, Mumary was always there when... my mother wasn't, basically. She did all the cooking, supervised the cleaning and all that, but she also... just sat there and listened whenever either of us had a problem. And she looked after the baby when Luciana was too tired or fed up.
...
...
...
I... of course I could, but it will be rather difficult. There's... not much to tell about Mumary.
...
...
She was huge. Or on second thought... she wasn't, probably. I was just very small. But she was black. I am sure she was. Tried to make us believe that if she ever had a baby of her own she'd be able to feed cocoa to it instead of milk. And she was always wearing a tea-towel around her head.
...
A red one.
...
Just red, yes.
...
...
We used to visit her. Luciana and I. We sat in the kitchen... which was underneath the surface. Next to the dungeons, actually, and-
...
Not cold, no. There was always a fire. A cracking fire, gleaming sparks... flickering flames changing from a soft blue to bright orange... yellow... white...
...
There was a kettle on top. A big, black one. Always steaming. Made of brass and copper... very stable. One of those high quality cauldrons which were still available in the early seventies. They stopped making them in 1979, unfortunately, due to some dumb law trying to standardize size and thickness of cauldrons within Britain. Completely pointless if you ask me.
...
Why... I'd never buy a Welsh cauldron anyway. Not to mention a Cornish one. Experts, you see, know exactly which cauldron they want to use. But, of course, they have to serve the needs of dunderheads like that Diggle fellow who couldn't tell the difference between an Irish fire-prove kettle and a Muggle teapot.
...
What? No, of course you had no idea. Hardly anyone has. This just happens to be my area of expertise.
...
...
What do you mean by 'chemistry'? There is no such subject. Not at Hogwarts, at least.
...
No.
...
...
...
I've lost track now. What was I saying?
...
Oh yes, Mumary. The only person on this planet, perhaps, my father's ever listened to. Thanks to her I finally got out of that place.
...
...
Which part didn't you understand? I said 'Thanks to her I finally-' Yes. Yes, it has to do with that stranger who survived the moat. Heavens, you are slow. Haven't you guessed by now?
...
No, actually, he did not throw him in. Managed to make it look like an accident. I don't think he would have outlived the day if the Dark Lord hadn't believed his weak tale. 'Oooh... the drawbridge hasn't been checked for ages. Did you get very wet? I am so sorry, Mylord. Let me take your cloak...'
...
Of course. What else? He had already changed his name at that time. 'Mylord' was the proper way of addressing him. I have never called him anything else, although... although I am no longer in his service, of course.
...
I was sixteen when the Dark Lord took me away from the castle. Luciana had long left us and the baby was... well... not a baby anymore. Father wasn't happy. Shouted after me when I followed my Master across the drawbridge.
'You will never return to this castle, Severus! I will kill you if you dare come near it again! Do you hear me? I WILL KILL YOU!'
...
...
...
I have never seen him again.
...
Glad? I am not sure if I could say that with honesty. Yes, perhaps.
...
...
I... think he still lives, yes. Not sure, though.
...
Yes. Yes, my mother.... too, she... she's in... St. Mungo's. I don't visit her.
...
A hospital, yes. St. Mungo's. Don't you-
...
Well, she... she went insane, so they had to... had to take her, I...
...
...
I am so sorry!"
