11. Beastmaster
Albus Dumbledore came back to Hogwart the same evening and at once he hurried to the hospital wing. Vega was still unconscious but she was breathing steadily and the wound on her arm had scabbed.
'She will be fine, Headmaster' informed him Madam Pomfrey, still slightly paler than usual 'It was only a scratch but the curse was extremely powerful. Luckily, Vega drank Vivimortis at once. But if the curse had hit several centimetres further, nothing would save her...' she shook her head with a heavy sigh.
Dumbledore was looking at Vega silently. His bright eyes were full of a deep concern. He also looked tired and depressed.
'It's still hard to believe that it happened in our school,' said softly Madam Pomfrey, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief 'Student attacked the teacher...with the Killing Curse!' her voice broke off, she whimpered 'How this boy could do that?!' she pointed at something in the other part of the room.
Several beds farther Draco Malfoy was laying motionless. According to Snape's order the Stunning Spell hadn't been lifted. Dumbledore was looking at him thoughtfully.
'I can think of only one explanation, Poppy' he said softly 'But I'm afraid you will not like it...'
* * *
(January 11th, 1996)
Vega woke up about the noon. Apart from a slight stiffness in her right arm she felt quite well. She got up and, ignoring a reproachful look on the Madam Pomfrey's face, she left the room.
The castle was quiet and deserted. At first it surprised her a bit but then she remembered that this day the first winter match of Quidditch in the school history was going to take place. It explained why on the way to the Dumbledore's office she didn't met any student.
She stopped near the stone gargoyle and said the password. The sculpture moved aside with a silent grind, revealing the entrance to the long, winding stairs. Vega climbed up hastily and knocked the door.
'Come in,' the voice of Dumbledore came.
The witch entered the office. She wasn't surprised when she saw Snape, sitting in the armchair by the large desk.
'Vega!' Dumbledore sprang to his feet 'What are you doing here ?! You should be in the hospital wing.'
I'm fine' she said impatiently 'Beside, we don't have time. I'm sure you already know what happened yesterday?'
She cast a fleeting glance at silent Snape. Dumbledore nodded.
'Yes, Severus told me everything. I also inquired some students. Vega,' he came near the Auror and looked at her with a concern 'I don't dare to think how it could have finished. It's a miracle you are alive.'
Vega laughed gloomily, steel twinkles in her eyes.
'It's a miracle that young Malfoy is alive,' she said harshly 'When I heard the incantation I reacted spontaneously and if I hadn't restrained myself in the last moment...' she shook her head as if driving away some dark visions 'I could have killed him...' she whispered.
Snape stirred. His black eyes expressed first surprise, then disbelief. He was staring intently at Vega as if he wanted to read all thoughts from her face.
Dumbledore sighed and nodded.
'I suppose we all realise,' he said in a weary voice 'that the boy didn't invent it himself.'
'Of course!' snorted Vega angrily 'But even if somebody had put the idea into his head, Malfoy wouldn't be able to cast Avada Kedavra on his own. He could perform it only under the Imperius Curse, controlled by a powerful wizard.'
'Lucius...?' asked Snape doubtfully.
'No,' Vega laughed nastily 'somebody much more powerful. The curse must have been cast during the holidays and we didn't notice anything for the whole week. And it's not easy and requires a great power. I think,' she looked piercingly at Dumbledore 'the Draco has been controlled by Voldemort himself.'
The silence fell. The Headmaster started to pace along the desk, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully.
'I'm afraid you're right,' he said finally stopping near the fireplace 'Severus warned us that He had asked about you and had been plotting something. Indeed,' he sighed 'he got a devilish idea. Only Voldemort could use a child in his plan.'
'I'm sure Lucius Malfoy was also involved,' drawled Vega icily 'But I will be even with him yet...' grey eyes flashed vindictively 'However, that's not the most alarming point here' she stressed.
Snape and Dumbledore looked at her, disturbed.
'Do you understand what does it all mean?' Vega asked softly 'Draco casts the Killing Curse in the classroom. But the DADS doesn't allow to use any Dark Arts at Hogwart...'
The wizard understood immediately.
'Somebody has cheated the system,' said Snape slowly.
Vega nodded glumly.
'That's what it looks like,' she muttered 'As any system, this one also isn't completely safe. There is a way to go round the restrictions of the DADS. The enemy curse has to be cast by somebody who dwells at Hogwart. And that means a teacher...or a student.'
She reached to her pocket and pulled out a black plate, lightened up by hundreds of the crossing lines.
'This is a wizards' matrix,' she explained 'Every connection corresponds with a definite person inside the school grounds. The DADS automatically prevents from using the Dark Arts by somebody from the outside but in the case of the teachers and students it can be regulated. Sometimes it's necessary to use an advance dark curse and then I can temporarily cancel the restriction, totally or in part.'
Severus was watching the black plate with a great interest.
'Now I understand why we could use the Offensive Spells during the duel,' he muttered.
Vega nodded. She pulled out her wand and brought it closer to the matrix. The colourful lines rose over the lustrous surface, forming a three-dimensional, shining gossamer. The witch separated a bright-green bunch and began to examine single fibres. Finally she found the one she was looking for. She waved her wand and the lines stuck to the matrix, except the one, oddly dark, which was still vibrating in the air.
'Look,' Vega showed the fibre 'This is the line of Draco Malfoy. It should shine green, like the lines of the other Slytherins. But it has been disconnected. And it means that for the DADS Draco Malfoy doesn't exist. That is why the system didn't detect the Imperius Curse and the boy could perform Avada Kedavra.'
Dumbledore nodded.
'I see... I supposed that it's not easy to disconnect the line?' he asked, looking at Vega with a slight smile.
The Auror gnashed her teeth.
'Not necessarily,' she muttered 'If you know how to do that. A fibre can be inactivated in two ways, either on the matrix or directly in the system. The problem is that only I have authorisation to do that... or rather I had' she said mournfully.
'What do you mean by authorisation?' Snape couldn't suppress curiosity.
Vega hid the plate in her pocket.
'To make any change on the matrix, one has to cast an activating spell,' she explained 'Unfortunately, it cannot be too advanced since it would disturb the connections. It means that all the Identifying Spells are excluded. So if the matrix got into the wrong hands it would be quite easy to use it. That's way I always have it with me. If necessary, I could destroy it immediately.'
'And the other way?' asked Dumbledore.
Vega scowled.
'One can perform changes directly in the system' she said 'Of course, it must be done here, at Hogwart. And, the most importantly, one has to give around a dozen of the access codes. The trouble is they are too complicated to learn them by heart so I had to write them down...' she looked piercingly at Dumbledore 'I think somebody stole them.'
The silence fell. Fawkes, dozing on his perch, opened one eye, looked around and fluttered its golden wings. One long feather fell slowly on the floor and dropped at the Severus's feet. The wizard followed it with his eyes, twinkling and full of hatred.
'DEVILSON!' he hissed ominously.
Vega looked at him attentively.
'Magnus Devilson...' she repeated slowly, staring searchingly at Snape's face 'That's right, he was here during the holidays. But it's not the reason to accuse him.'
Snape didn't say anything, his eyes fixed in the floor, but his lips curled in a nasty smile.
'Vega is right, Severus,' said softly Dumbledore 'I believe you have reasons to suspect Magnus but I must admit,' he sighed 'that I don't understand it. He never had anything to do with Voldemort, hadn't he?'
Snape began to laugh, coldly and mournfully. He slowly rose his head and looked at the Headmaster with the glowing eyes.
'Devilson was a Death Eater!' he spat 'Then I knew him.'
Dumbledore frowned. It was clear that Snape's words thrilled him.
'Magnus was a Death Eeater...' he muttered 'I would never suspect...'
Vega hit the table with her fist.
'The next one who slipped away,' she snarled 'And surely not the last one. I'm afraid there will be many such the unpleasant surprises in the nearest future. Nevertheless,' she added lengthily, fixing eyes at Snape 'the fact that Devilson was a Death Eater doesn't mean he works for Voldemort again. People can change...can't they, Severus?' she smiled ironically.
Snape didn't react. He approached the window and fixed his gaze on the grey sky, heavy with the clouds. His dark eyes were cold and glum. They expressed weariness and a sort of resignation.
'I'll tell you an interesting story,' he began softly, his flat voice seemed to proceed from a deep abyss. 'One summer night, sixteen years ago, a group of the Death Eaters met at the yard of an abandoned house. There were seven of them, five men and two women. They sat at the feet of a wilted oak, somebody took out a beer. They were drinking as if it had been water. Only one of them, called a Beastmaster, didn't touch the alcohol. He knew that soon they would go to play in a different way. And he wanted to be sober. He claimed that only than he could feel fully the taste of death.'
He stopped talking as if overwhelmed by the memories. He lent against the window and clenched his fist.
'They Apparated in a small village in the southern England' said Snape in a emotionless voice 'Holidays, many people with children... Muggles. That was they were looking for. They came near the door of an old pension, situated in the forest, at the lake, a few kilometres from the village. Dogs started to bark but the Beastmaster spoke to them and they calmed down immediately. He had a rare gift for taming the creatures... In the pension lived several families and a group of children from London. The Death Eaters were delighted. They were running through the corridors, laughing and calling in the hoarse voices. The dragged out the terrified people from their beds and gathered them on a glade by the lake. They didn't even put the Quieting Spell. Nobody could hear Muggles' desperate screams and without them they didn't have a real fun...'
He put his forehead to the cold window-pane. Below, at the school yard, first groups of the students have just appeared, coming back from the match.
'They began with a "teach-you-swimming"' continued Snape 'They cast a Paralysing Spell on a Muggle, threw him into the water and counted off loudly for how many seconds he would keep above the water. Then the competition started: whose Muggle would swim longer. One Death Eater wanted to win awfully and...he overdid a bit. A fat owner of the pension has never emerged from the water. They were completely drunk, began to cast different hexes on the people. Only the Beastmaster kept amazingly calm,' an ominous tone sounded in Snape's voice 'He was barely considering his spectacular performance...'
The wind howled outside the window and the snow-flakes fell from the dark clouds.
'He came near the children, crouched under the tree, and began to tell them about the animals,' said Severus 'Nobody could speak about them as he did and though the children were very scared, they were listening to him fascinated. The Beastmaster described them the habits of the wolves: as they prey, as they track the animal and as the whole pack attacks it. Finally he said that even the tamest dog had something from a wild beast... He whistled melodiously and five enormous hounds of the pension's owner stormed on the glade. The could feel fear and madness in the air and they were running around restlessly, foaming at the mouths and baring fangs, nobody knew whether at each other, at us or at the petrified Muggles. The Beastmaster dragged a little boy from the group, posted him on a stump and pulled out his wand. The Death Eaters were watching him greedily. The Beastmaster smiled devilishly and shouted the incantation. In an instant there were not boy but a white rabbit sitting on the stump. Well, the transformation wasn't completely successful...the rabbit still had the human palms instead of the claws. But it didn't make any difference. The Beastmaster called the dogs again and showed them an animal encouragingly. For several seconds the hounds were running around the stump and suddenly, in unison, they attacked. They were whirling amongst the horrible howl that drowned even the screams of the Muggles. At last the dogs finished and scattered over the glade, blood dripping from the mouths, nostrils sniffing a new prey. From the rabbit remained only a red stain and a few white flocks. The Death Eaters leapt to their feet, staring at each other uncertainly. Even they didn't expect anything like this. But the Beastmaster was in heaven. Still laughing he shouted that the young meet is the best. He pointed his wand at the horror-struck children. Immediately the bleeding wounds opened on their bodies and a sour smell of blood and sweat rose over the glade. Howling weirdly, the dogs were running around the screaming pupils like five large, black shadows of the death. The Beastmaster was watching with a mad twinkle in his eyes. And suddenly he yelled out, uttering a truly bestial howl. And as if they got a signal, the dogs sprang at the children...'
Snape's voice turned into a hoarse whisper. He ceased talking and clenched his fingers at the stone parapet. He breathed heavily.
'The Muggles bolted in panic' he said softly 'Nobody pursued them. The Death Eaters were staring hypnotised at the howling turmoil under the tree. Every now and then bones and some torn pieces of meet were falling out from it. Barking of the dogs mingled with a demoniacal laughter of the Beastmaster. And suddenly, without a word, one by one, the Death Eaters Dissapparated. The furthest from that infernal shriek an the smell of blood...'
The last words vanished in a dead silence. Nobody moved. A snow-storm raged outside the window and the office plunged in a gloomy darkness. The minutes were passing. Finally Dumbledore stood up with effort and approached the fireplace. The bright flames rose up. In their flickering light the face of the wizard looked old and worried.
'Horrifying...' he said in a subdued voice 'Magnus Devilson...And I trusted him...I give him a job in Hogwart...' he shook his head glumly.
Snape stirred.
'When I saw him here, among those children...' he whispered 'I remembered it all again...I told him to leave at once...and he did it. He had too much too lose,' a note of a cold sneer sounded in his voice.
'That's why he resigned so unexpectedly,' muttered Dumbledore.
'But how was it possible that no one has never accused the Death Eaters of that crime?' asked Vega 'I even didn't know about it.'
Severus sighed heavily.
'When it was over, the Beastmaster caught all the Muggles and modified their memory. Exact and calm, from the beginning to the end,' he whispered venomously 'They witnessed that the children had been killed by the dogs of the owner, who then committed suicide. Everything fitted. The body was found in the lake and the dogs were of a very dangerous race...'
The silence fell again. Dumbledore was looking at Snape with a strange pain.
'Severus,' he said softly 'Why have you never told me about it before? Why have you concealed, for so many years, that Devilson had committed such a hideous crime?'
Snape turned from the window. He looked terribly. His face was grey, as if all blood had run out from it. His eyes were like two fathomless chasms of the death. He gazed at Dumbledore.
'Because I was the Death Eater who had drowned that poor Muggle,' he said dully.
. . .
Severus was sitting in the darkness, lost in the dreary thoughts. He didn't feel anything, neither relief, nor anger, nor grief. Only a cold, exhausting, infinite emptiness.
'That's how the prisoners in Azkaban must feel' he thought but he denied himself at once 'No, they had their fear and despair. But I have nothing...'
Somebody knocked silently at the door. Severus didn't react. The knocks repeated, much louder. The wizard was still motionless. But the guest seemed to be decided to get in. He muttered something and the door opened. That finally made Snape move. As far as he remembered, he had put a quite powerful spell on it. He looked at the man who entered.
It was Albus Dumbledore. The light of his wand brightened the darkness of the office, revealing Snape in his armchair and a travelling trunk on the floor.
'What does this suitcase mean, Severus?' asked Dumbledore with surprise, closing the door.
'I'm leaving,' announced Snape dryly, getting up 'I quit the teacher's job.'
Dumbledore was staring at him with disbelief.
'For Merlin's Beard, what are you talking about?!' he exclaimed.
Severus approached an old wizard and looked at his eyes.
'For the second time I disappointed you, Headmaster,' he said softly 'For all those years I didn't tell you the truth...the truth about me. You believed, that though I had been a Death Eater, I had never killed anybody...' an expression of a deep grief flitted through his pale face 'But now...I'm not better than Devilson!' he laughed with a gloomy sneer.
Compassion twinkled in Dumbledore's blue eyes.
'Severus,' he said gently 'I trusted you because I believed that you were a good man. It wasn't a mistake, many times you had proved that you were loyal and noble. Everyone deserves a chance of reformation but not everybody can use it right. You did it, Severus,' he said firmly 'I would trust you with my own life...'
He was looking at Snape gravely, his bright eyes shining. The Potion Master slowly rose his head.
'Thank you...' he said dully.
Dumbledore cheered up.
'Well, don't get back to this any more,' he said with a smile 'And let's turn on the light!'
He waved his wand and several candles blazed up, filling the room with a warm, yellow light. Dumbledore sat comfortably in the Snape's armchair.
'Vega has just came back from the Malfoy's manor' he informed 'As we had expected, our dear Lucius disappeared. His wife has no idea where he is. She was very unpleasantly surprised when the house was surrounded with the Special Forces. I'm sure she imagined all the hiding-places where Lucius kept his Dark Arts stuff. When she heard what Draco had done she nearly fainted. Vega explained her that her husband had to participate in casting of the Imperius Curse.' he smiled ironically 'I suppose no one has ever called Lucius Malfoy the names his wife gave him. She was really furious. If I were Lucius I wouldn't come back home for a long time...But what is the most important, Narcisa remembered that during the holidays Lucius had taken his son on a day trip. Draco returned very tired and somehow seedy, but next day he seemed to be completely ok. '
'A visit at Voldemort...' muttered Snape.
Dumbledore nodded.
'And what about Draco?' asked Severus 'Is he awake?'
'Yes,' said the Headmaster 'His mother visited him. Vega was against but at last, at my request, she agreed. She is furious that Malfoy escaped.' he sighed 'But knowing her she will catch him, sooner or later.'
'How is she?' asked Snape softly.
Dumbledore looked at him attentively from above the glasses. In his blue eyes twinkled a strange melancholy, as if the question roused some distant memories.
'I think she's pretty well,' he said 'Still has some problems with moving her right hand but it will cease soon. When I think about it...' his voice sounded very seriously 'Only Vega could escaped such a tight squeeze.'
Snape nodded silently. The fire light reflected in his dark eyes.
'Will she ever forgive me?' he asked the flames softly.
The flames hissed but gave no answer. Instead, Dumbledore spoke.
'Vega trusts you, Severus,' he said gently.
Snape looked at him astounded, as if he had forgotten that there was somebody else in the room. 'Does she...?' he repeated doubtfully 'No, I don't think so...She ceased to trust me once for all that night at the Lupin's house.'
'You're wrong,' said Dumbledore calmly 'Would Vega, trained by Alastor Moody, the most suspicious Auror I know, have consigned the Hogwart to your care if she hadn't trusted you?'
He looked inquiringly at Snape but there was no answer. So he kept talking.
'She could call McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid. But she called you. And you know why?' the blue eyes glittered 'Because Vega knows that, in spite of all that happened in the past, YOU will never betray her.'
Severus was staring silently at the bright flames. The clock rasped and started to ring the midnight. The twelfth bell had died away and the silence fell.
'She trusts me...maybe,' whispered Severus 'But will she forgive me?'
The flames were silent. Dumbledore sighed and fixed his eyes on the quivering fire.
Albus Dumbledore came back to Hogwart the same evening and at once he hurried to the hospital wing. Vega was still unconscious but she was breathing steadily and the wound on her arm had scabbed.
'She will be fine, Headmaster' informed him Madam Pomfrey, still slightly paler than usual 'It was only a scratch but the curse was extremely powerful. Luckily, Vega drank Vivimortis at once. But if the curse had hit several centimetres further, nothing would save her...' she shook her head with a heavy sigh.
Dumbledore was looking at Vega silently. His bright eyes were full of a deep concern. He also looked tired and depressed.
'It's still hard to believe that it happened in our school,' said softly Madam Pomfrey, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief 'Student attacked the teacher...with the Killing Curse!' her voice broke off, she whimpered 'How this boy could do that?!' she pointed at something in the other part of the room.
Several beds farther Draco Malfoy was laying motionless. According to Snape's order the Stunning Spell hadn't been lifted. Dumbledore was looking at him thoughtfully.
'I can think of only one explanation, Poppy' he said softly 'But I'm afraid you will not like it...'
Vega woke up about the noon. Apart from a slight stiffness in her right arm she felt quite well. She got up and, ignoring a reproachful look on the Madam Pomfrey's face, she left the room.
The castle was quiet and deserted. At first it surprised her a bit but then she remembered that this day the first winter match of Quidditch in the school history was going to take place. It explained why on the way to the Dumbledore's office she didn't met any student.
She stopped near the stone gargoyle and said the password. The sculpture moved aside with a silent grind, revealing the entrance to the long, winding stairs. Vega climbed up hastily and knocked the door.
'Come in,' the voice of Dumbledore came.
The witch entered the office. She wasn't surprised when she saw Snape, sitting in the armchair by the large desk.
'Vega!' Dumbledore sprang to his feet 'What are you doing here ?! You should be in the hospital wing.'
I'm fine' she said impatiently 'Beside, we don't have time. I'm sure you already know what happened yesterday?'
She cast a fleeting glance at silent Snape. Dumbledore nodded.
'Yes, Severus told me everything. I also inquired some students. Vega,' he came near the Auror and looked at her with a concern 'I don't dare to think how it could have finished. It's a miracle you are alive.'
Vega laughed gloomily, steel twinkles in her eyes.
'It's a miracle that young Malfoy is alive,' she said harshly 'When I heard the incantation I reacted spontaneously and if I hadn't restrained myself in the last moment...' she shook her head as if driving away some dark visions 'I could have killed him...' she whispered.
Snape stirred. His black eyes expressed first surprise, then disbelief. He was staring intently at Vega as if he wanted to read all thoughts from her face.
Dumbledore sighed and nodded.
'I suppose we all realise,' he said in a weary voice 'that the boy didn't invent it himself.'
'Of course!' snorted Vega angrily 'But even if somebody had put the idea into his head, Malfoy wouldn't be able to cast Avada Kedavra on his own. He could perform it only under the Imperius Curse, controlled by a powerful wizard.'
'Lucius...?' asked Snape doubtfully.
'No,' Vega laughed nastily 'somebody much more powerful. The curse must have been cast during the holidays and we didn't notice anything for the whole week. And it's not easy and requires a great power. I think,' she looked piercingly at Dumbledore 'the Draco has been controlled by Voldemort himself.'
The silence fell. The Headmaster started to pace along the desk, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully.
'I'm afraid you're right,' he said finally stopping near the fireplace 'Severus warned us that He had asked about you and had been plotting something. Indeed,' he sighed 'he got a devilish idea. Only Voldemort could use a child in his plan.'
'I'm sure Lucius Malfoy was also involved,' drawled Vega icily 'But I will be even with him yet...' grey eyes flashed vindictively 'However, that's not the most alarming point here' she stressed.
Snape and Dumbledore looked at her, disturbed.
'Do you understand what does it all mean?' Vega asked softly 'Draco casts the Killing Curse in the classroom. But the DADS doesn't allow to use any Dark Arts at Hogwart...'
The wizard understood immediately.
'Somebody has cheated the system,' said Snape slowly.
Vega nodded glumly.
'That's what it looks like,' she muttered 'As any system, this one also isn't completely safe. There is a way to go round the restrictions of the DADS. The enemy curse has to be cast by somebody who dwells at Hogwart. And that means a teacher...or a student.'
She reached to her pocket and pulled out a black plate, lightened up by hundreds of the crossing lines.
'This is a wizards' matrix,' she explained 'Every connection corresponds with a definite person inside the school grounds. The DADS automatically prevents from using the Dark Arts by somebody from the outside but in the case of the teachers and students it can be regulated. Sometimes it's necessary to use an advance dark curse and then I can temporarily cancel the restriction, totally or in part.'
Severus was watching the black plate with a great interest.
'Now I understand why we could use the Offensive Spells during the duel,' he muttered.
Vega nodded. She pulled out her wand and brought it closer to the matrix. The colourful lines rose over the lustrous surface, forming a three-dimensional, shining gossamer. The witch separated a bright-green bunch and began to examine single fibres. Finally she found the one she was looking for. She waved her wand and the lines stuck to the matrix, except the one, oddly dark, which was still vibrating in the air.
'Look,' Vega showed the fibre 'This is the line of Draco Malfoy. It should shine green, like the lines of the other Slytherins. But it has been disconnected. And it means that for the DADS Draco Malfoy doesn't exist. That is why the system didn't detect the Imperius Curse and the boy could perform Avada Kedavra.'
Dumbledore nodded.
'I see... I supposed that it's not easy to disconnect the line?' he asked, looking at Vega with a slight smile.
The Auror gnashed her teeth.
'Not necessarily,' she muttered 'If you know how to do that. A fibre can be inactivated in two ways, either on the matrix or directly in the system. The problem is that only I have authorisation to do that... or rather I had' she said mournfully.
'What do you mean by authorisation?' Snape couldn't suppress curiosity.
Vega hid the plate in her pocket.
'To make any change on the matrix, one has to cast an activating spell,' she explained 'Unfortunately, it cannot be too advanced since it would disturb the connections. It means that all the Identifying Spells are excluded. So if the matrix got into the wrong hands it would be quite easy to use it. That's way I always have it with me. If necessary, I could destroy it immediately.'
'And the other way?' asked Dumbledore.
Vega scowled.
'One can perform changes directly in the system' she said 'Of course, it must be done here, at Hogwart. And, the most importantly, one has to give around a dozen of the access codes. The trouble is they are too complicated to learn them by heart so I had to write them down...' she looked piercingly at Dumbledore 'I think somebody stole them.'
The silence fell. Fawkes, dozing on his perch, opened one eye, looked around and fluttered its golden wings. One long feather fell slowly on the floor and dropped at the Severus's feet. The wizard followed it with his eyes, twinkling and full of hatred.
'DEVILSON!' he hissed ominously.
Vega looked at him attentively.
'Magnus Devilson...' she repeated slowly, staring searchingly at Snape's face 'That's right, he was here during the holidays. But it's not the reason to accuse him.'
Snape didn't say anything, his eyes fixed in the floor, but his lips curled in a nasty smile.
'Vega is right, Severus,' said softly Dumbledore 'I believe you have reasons to suspect Magnus but I must admit,' he sighed 'that I don't understand it. He never had anything to do with Voldemort, hadn't he?'
Snape began to laugh, coldly and mournfully. He slowly rose his head and looked at the Headmaster with the glowing eyes.
'Devilson was a Death Eater!' he spat 'Then I knew him.'
Dumbledore frowned. It was clear that Snape's words thrilled him.
'Magnus was a Death Eeater...' he muttered 'I would never suspect...'
Vega hit the table with her fist.
'The next one who slipped away,' she snarled 'And surely not the last one. I'm afraid there will be many such the unpleasant surprises in the nearest future. Nevertheless,' she added lengthily, fixing eyes at Snape 'the fact that Devilson was a Death Eater doesn't mean he works for Voldemort again. People can change...can't they, Severus?' she smiled ironically.
Snape didn't react. He approached the window and fixed his gaze on the grey sky, heavy with the clouds. His dark eyes were cold and glum. They expressed weariness and a sort of resignation.
'I'll tell you an interesting story,' he began softly, his flat voice seemed to proceed from a deep abyss. 'One summer night, sixteen years ago, a group of the Death Eaters met at the yard of an abandoned house. There were seven of them, five men and two women. They sat at the feet of a wilted oak, somebody took out a beer. They were drinking as if it had been water. Only one of them, called a Beastmaster, didn't touch the alcohol. He knew that soon they would go to play in a different way. And he wanted to be sober. He claimed that only than he could feel fully the taste of death.'
He stopped talking as if overwhelmed by the memories. He lent against the window and clenched his fist.
'They Apparated in a small village in the southern England' said Snape in a emotionless voice 'Holidays, many people with children... Muggles. That was they were looking for. They came near the door of an old pension, situated in the forest, at the lake, a few kilometres from the village. Dogs started to bark but the Beastmaster spoke to them and they calmed down immediately. He had a rare gift for taming the creatures... In the pension lived several families and a group of children from London. The Death Eaters were delighted. They were running through the corridors, laughing and calling in the hoarse voices. The dragged out the terrified people from their beds and gathered them on a glade by the lake. They didn't even put the Quieting Spell. Nobody could hear Muggles' desperate screams and without them they didn't have a real fun...'
He put his forehead to the cold window-pane. Below, at the school yard, first groups of the students have just appeared, coming back from the match.
'They began with a "teach-you-swimming"' continued Snape 'They cast a Paralysing Spell on a Muggle, threw him into the water and counted off loudly for how many seconds he would keep above the water. Then the competition started: whose Muggle would swim longer. One Death Eater wanted to win awfully and...he overdid a bit. A fat owner of the pension has never emerged from the water. They were completely drunk, began to cast different hexes on the people. Only the Beastmaster kept amazingly calm,' an ominous tone sounded in Snape's voice 'He was barely considering his spectacular performance...'
The wind howled outside the window and the snow-flakes fell from the dark clouds.
'He came near the children, crouched under the tree, and began to tell them about the animals,' said Severus 'Nobody could speak about them as he did and though the children were very scared, they were listening to him fascinated. The Beastmaster described them the habits of the wolves: as they prey, as they track the animal and as the whole pack attacks it. Finally he said that even the tamest dog had something from a wild beast... He whistled melodiously and five enormous hounds of the pension's owner stormed on the glade. The could feel fear and madness in the air and they were running around restlessly, foaming at the mouths and baring fangs, nobody knew whether at each other, at us or at the petrified Muggles. The Beastmaster dragged a little boy from the group, posted him on a stump and pulled out his wand. The Death Eaters were watching him greedily. The Beastmaster smiled devilishly and shouted the incantation. In an instant there were not boy but a white rabbit sitting on the stump. Well, the transformation wasn't completely successful...the rabbit still had the human palms instead of the claws. But it didn't make any difference. The Beastmaster called the dogs again and showed them an animal encouragingly. For several seconds the hounds were running around the stump and suddenly, in unison, they attacked. They were whirling amongst the horrible howl that drowned even the screams of the Muggles. At last the dogs finished and scattered over the glade, blood dripping from the mouths, nostrils sniffing a new prey. From the rabbit remained only a red stain and a few white flocks. The Death Eaters leapt to their feet, staring at each other uncertainly. Even they didn't expect anything like this. But the Beastmaster was in heaven. Still laughing he shouted that the young meet is the best. He pointed his wand at the horror-struck children. Immediately the bleeding wounds opened on their bodies and a sour smell of blood and sweat rose over the glade. Howling weirdly, the dogs were running around the screaming pupils like five large, black shadows of the death. The Beastmaster was watching with a mad twinkle in his eyes. And suddenly he yelled out, uttering a truly bestial howl. And as if they got a signal, the dogs sprang at the children...'
Snape's voice turned into a hoarse whisper. He ceased talking and clenched his fingers at the stone parapet. He breathed heavily.
'The Muggles bolted in panic' he said softly 'Nobody pursued them. The Death Eaters were staring hypnotised at the howling turmoil under the tree. Every now and then bones and some torn pieces of meet were falling out from it. Barking of the dogs mingled with a demoniacal laughter of the Beastmaster. And suddenly, without a word, one by one, the Death Eaters Dissapparated. The furthest from that infernal shriek an the smell of blood...'
The last words vanished in a dead silence. Nobody moved. A snow-storm raged outside the window and the office plunged in a gloomy darkness. The minutes were passing. Finally Dumbledore stood up with effort and approached the fireplace. The bright flames rose up. In their flickering light the face of the wizard looked old and worried.
'Horrifying...' he said in a subdued voice 'Magnus Devilson...And I trusted him...I give him a job in Hogwart...' he shook his head glumly.
Snape stirred.
'When I saw him here, among those children...' he whispered 'I remembered it all again...I told him to leave at once...and he did it. He had too much too lose,' a note of a cold sneer sounded in his voice.
'That's why he resigned so unexpectedly,' muttered Dumbledore.
'But how was it possible that no one has never accused the Death Eaters of that crime?' asked Vega 'I even didn't know about it.'
Severus sighed heavily.
'When it was over, the Beastmaster caught all the Muggles and modified their memory. Exact and calm, from the beginning to the end,' he whispered venomously 'They witnessed that the children had been killed by the dogs of the owner, who then committed suicide. Everything fitted. The body was found in the lake and the dogs were of a very dangerous race...'
The silence fell again. Dumbledore was looking at Snape with a strange pain.
'Severus,' he said softly 'Why have you never told me about it before? Why have you concealed, for so many years, that Devilson had committed such a hideous crime?'
Snape turned from the window. He looked terribly. His face was grey, as if all blood had run out from it. His eyes were like two fathomless chasms of the death. He gazed at Dumbledore.
'Because I was the Death Eater who had drowned that poor Muggle,' he said dully.
Severus was sitting in the darkness, lost in the dreary thoughts. He didn't feel anything, neither relief, nor anger, nor grief. Only a cold, exhausting, infinite emptiness.
'That's how the prisoners in Azkaban must feel' he thought but he denied himself at once 'No, they had their fear and despair. But I have nothing...'
Somebody knocked silently at the door. Severus didn't react. The knocks repeated, much louder. The wizard was still motionless. But the guest seemed to be decided to get in. He muttered something and the door opened. That finally made Snape move. As far as he remembered, he had put a quite powerful spell on it. He looked at the man who entered.
It was Albus Dumbledore. The light of his wand brightened the darkness of the office, revealing Snape in his armchair and a travelling trunk on the floor.
'What does this suitcase mean, Severus?' asked Dumbledore with surprise, closing the door.
'I'm leaving,' announced Snape dryly, getting up 'I quit the teacher's job.'
Dumbledore was staring at him with disbelief.
'For Merlin's Beard, what are you talking about?!' he exclaimed.
Severus approached an old wizard and looked at his eyes.
'For the second time I disappointed you, Headmaster,' he said softly 'For all those years I didn't tell you the truth...the truth about me. You believed, that though I had been a Death Eater, I had never killed anybody...' an expression of a deep grief flitted through his pale face 'But now...I'm not better than Devilson!' he laughed with a gloomy sneer.
Compassion twinkled in Dumbledore's blue eyes.
'Severus,' he said gently 'I trusted you because I believed that you were a good man. It wasn't a mistake, many times you had proved that you were loyal and noble. Everyone deserves a chance of reformation but not everybody can use it right. You did it, Severus,' he said firmly 'I would trust you with my own life...'
He was looking at Snape gravely, his bright eyes shining. The Potion Master slowly rose his head.
'Thank you...' he said dully.
Dumbledore cheered up.
'Well, don't get back to this any more,' he said with a smile 'And let's turn on the light!'
He waved his wand and several candles blazed up, filling the room with a warm, yellow light. Dumbledore sat comfortably in the Snape's armchair.
'Vega has just came back from the Malfoy's manor' he informed 'As we had expected, our dear Lucius disappeared. His wife has no idea where he is. She was very unpleasantly surprised when the house was surrounded with the Special Forces. I'm sure she imagined all the hiding-places where Lucius kept his Dark Arts stuff. When she heard what Draco had done she nearly fainted. Vega explained her that her husband had to participate in casting of the Imperius Curse.' he smiled ironically 'I suppose no one has ever called Lucius Malfoy the names his wife gave him. She was really furious. If I were Lucius I wouldn't come back home for a long time...But what is the most important, Narcisa remembered that during the holidays Lucius had taken his son on a day trip. Draco returned very tired and somehow seedy, but next day he seemed to be completely ok. '
'A visit at Voldemort...' muttered Snape.
Dumbledore nodded.
'And what about Draco?' asked Severus 'Is he awake?'
'Yes,' said the Headmaster 'His mother visited him. Vega was against but at last, at my request, she agreed. She is furious that Malfoy escaped.' he sighed 'But knowing her she will catch him, sooner or later.'
'How is she?' asked Snape softly.
Dumbledore looked at him attentively from above the glasses. In his blue eyes twinkled a strange melancholy, as if the question roused some distant memories.
'I think she's pretty well,' he said 'Still has some problems with moving her right hand but it will cease soon. When I think about it...' his voice sounded very seriously 'Only Vega could escaped such a tight squeeze.'
Snape nodded silently. The fire light reflected in his dark eyes.
'Will she ever forgive me?' he asked the flames softly.
The flames hissed but gave no answer. Instead, Dumbledore spoke.
'Vega trusts you, Severus,' he said gently.
Snape looked at him astounded, as if he had forgotten that there was somebody else in the room. 'Does she...?' he repeated doubtfully 'No, I don't think so...She ceased to trust me once for all that night at the Lupin's house.'
'You're wrong,' said Dumbledore calmly 'Would Vega, trained by Alastor Moody, the most suspicious Auror I know, have consigned the Hogwart to your care if she hadn't trusted you?'
He looked inquiringly at Snape but there was no answer. So he kept talking.
'She could call McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid. But she called you. And you know why?' the blue eyes glittered 'Because Vega knows that, in spite of all that happened in the past, YOU will never betray her.'
Severus was staring silently at the bright flames. The clock rasped and started to ring the midnight. The twelfth bell had died away and the silence fell.
'She trusts me...maybe,' whispered Severus 'But will she forgive me?'
The flames were silent. Dumbledore sighed and fixed his eyes on the quivering fire.
