AILF(An Interesting Little Fact): Voldemort, in French vol de mort, means theft of a dead body.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything afiliated with Harry Potter, the only thing I own are the thoughts in my head and the Sorting song in this chapter:)
As evening arrived, teachers began to filter into the Great Hall. The house elves were preparing the feast, and double-checking the teacher's orders. The hall itself was decorted in all the splendor that marked the beginning of a new year; candles in the air, tables set, and an anxious silence; though soon the Great Hall came to life. Second to Seventh years came noisily in and sat themselves at the appropriate table, talking animatly about the coming year and, in some cases, new pranks and how to get past Filch and Mr. Norris. Silence went over the hall as Proffessor McGonagall led in the first years. They looked around wide eyed, marveling at the sight of the Great Hall, a couple experiencing the magical world for the first time. Flitwick came in and place a stool and ragged looking hat in the middle of the hall. Most of the first years glanced nervously at the hat, wondering what was going to happen next. A few looked around smugly, their older siblings having told them exactly what would happen. The hat then began to move, startling all the first years. It began:
For those that are now here twice.
But for those new to things,
Here is some sound advice.
Four houses there are before you,
Their members seated at four tables;
One of these you will go in,
So I will tell no fables.
The first table on your left
Was founded by Salzar Slytherin;
They are now led by Severus Snape,
Those with great ambition.
The next over are Serena Sprout's,
Hard workers they are true;
Founded by Helga Hufflepuff,
Could you belong there too?
Then comes the house of Godric Gryffindor
For those of you brave at heart;
Their fearless leader, Minerva McGonagall,
Is sure to set their house apart.
Now comes the last, but not the least,
Their Head of House is Ferdinand Flitwick.
It is Rowena Ravenclaw whom they represent
And, be assured, they are not nitwits.
Now is the time for you to be
Sorted in the house that suites you.
Do not be afraid, I do not bite,
Step forth and I will sort you.
Everyone clapped and McGonagal began to read the list of names. Each house cheered when they received a new member, congradulating them when they reached the table. The first Gryffindor, Abigail Abbot, recieved a deafening cheer, led by the Weasley twins. It was then that Severus noticed an empty chair at the Gryfindor table. If it hadn't been for the fact that Harry missed half of his sortings already Severus would have been worried, but now he gave up his thoughts to the plate of food sitting in front of him. The others in the hall followed suit as tempting aromas filled the entire castle. As deserts began to appear, and Severus and Albus were attacking the cheesecake, two owls suddenly flew in. They swept up to the head table so fast they seemed to be but blurs. One owl, a bit overexcited, landed directly in the cheesecake, spraying it all over Dumbledore. It extended its leg to him and dropped a peice of blue cloth. Albus picked up the cloth and turned it over. A large red spot, unmistakable blood, covered the fabric. After the first owl landed, a larger one came beside it, though steering clear of any food. It looked at Dumbledore, saw he was busy with the cloth, and turned to Snape. It walked up to him and looked into his eyes. After a second it gently laid its load in front of him. Snape lifted it and what he saw startled him. It was a picture of a young lady with an infant in her arms. He easily recognized the woman as Lily, but the woman standing beside her he didn't recognize. He glanced over at the cloth Dumbledore was analyzing and put two and two together. The look on his face at that moment would make Voldemort himself run with his tail between his legs. Snape lept from his chair and was through the doors before anyone could so much as bat an eye. He ran at full speed off the Hogwart's grounds and apparated.
I apparate at the end of a typical suburban street. I feel something dig into my shoulder and look up to see the large owl looking down at me. With a hoot it takes off down the street and I run after it trying to keep up. Everything looks to be calm, though I draw my wand just in case. It stops in front of a house and gives a loud hoot before flying around to the back of the house. The house looks exactly like the others on the street, the only difference being the color. I run to the door and blast it off it's hinges, expecting to find at the very least a Death Eater or two. I stalk into the entrance hall and am soon accompanied by three pathetic excuses for people. The lady I recognize from the picture, she must be Lily's sister. This thought only works to make me more angry than I already am.
"What is going on here?" All I get is blank stares.
"Where is Harry?" I almost shout.
"Who are you?" the man stutters out.
"No one, is Harry ok?"
"What do you know about him?" The man begins to advance on me, I fixed him with a glare.
"I want to see him, now."
"He is sick and resting. You will not be able to see him." the woman says, taking a step forward.
"Take me to the boy right now!" Nobody moves, so I raise my wand. This earns a frightened squeak from the whale of a boy in the corner.
"He's upstairs!" The boy hollors, diving into the next room. I run to the stairs, square my shoulders, and quietly ascend them. I am prepared to find Death Eaters, or even Voldemort there; I can protect Harry from them, even if it means giving up my life for him; but, what I come across nothing could prepare me for. I head to the only room with the door closed. The window has a blanket over it, so the room is completely dark, except for the penatrating hall light. I send light from my wand and look to see if I can see anything amiss, but can see nothing. I make my way to the window and jerk the blanket down. Behind it is prison bars, though they are somehow bent open enough to fit a pretty large object through. I look around to see the room filled with broken muggle toys, as well as various other things. A small flutter of wings brings my attention over to the bed. The owl is sitting atop a small lump, looking at me with a saddness I thought no animal could posess. I approach the bed and cautiously put a hand on the figure, jerking it back when the figure moves. The man, haing plently of time to get over his initial fear, steps forward.
"Get up boy, you have a visitor." he says rufly as he advances towards the bed. I turn to him and tell him to stop, not wanting him anywhere near my child. He freezes mid step and I turn my attention back to Harry. He must be badly injured, so apparation is out of the question. I will have to fly him back on a broom. I ease him out of the bed, being careful not to hurt him. I turn to see the woman in hysterics trying to get the man to move. Telling him to get out of the way, I quickly make my way past them and down the stairs. As soon as I get out of the door I accio my broom to me. Just I am about to take off, the man yet again appears, holloring something about 'your people'. That is the last straw, I turn to the man.
"I have had it with your people; those who think they can treat people like trash just because they think the people are freaks. Did it ever occur to you that you are the freaks? What made you think that you could hurt my child? Curse you and your pathetic family." I glare at them. "Inlaudatum infortunium temet!" I turn immediatly and get in my broom, positioning Harry so I can fly better. It takes about thirty minutes to get to the castle, even though it would normally take close to three hours. The moment I land at Hogwarts, I hurry up the stairs with Harry in my arms. I bust through the doors and run straight to the infirmiry. Laying Harry gently on the bed, I drag Pomphrey to him. She hastily goes to work pulling potions and various instruments from the shelves. She pushes me out of the door before beginning. Not knowing anywhere else to go, I head straight to Dumbledore's office. I enter to find Albus and Remus deep in conversation.
"We cannot let a soul know about what happened." Dumbledore said while sipping his tea.
"How will we explain it? You saw the look on Mrs. Granger's face when she saw that picture; we have to tell them something." Remus pleaded.
"I trust Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Granger will be able to keep this secret, but it is up to Harry as to whether they will know or not."
"Yes, but what if Skeete..." At this point they looked up to see Severus standing there.
"Did you get him?" Dumbledore asked, ushering the man in.
"Yes, he is down with Poppy." Severus fell back into the nearest chair. "You should have seen it, he was sleeping in a junk room. When I found him he was unconcious, and from the looks of it he was very sick." Snape buried his face in his hands. Dumbledore walked behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"He will be fine." Severus shook his head.
"I should have known, I should have gotten him out of there sooner."
"There was no way you could have known what was happening." There was a knock at the door and Pomphrey walked in.
"Harry is going to be fine. He was a bit dehydrated and malnutritioned but he will get over that in a weeks time; however there are more serious injuries. He had several broken ribs and his ankle was fractured in three different places. The ribs are fine, just a little sore, but the ankle will take longer to heal; it has been hurt for quite a while. He will have to be in bed for at least two weeks, and after that he will have to walk with a cane for a month at most. At the moment he is sleeping and he will not be able to have visitors for the next 42 hours." Dumbledore thanked her as she walked out of the door. Severus stood, his hand clasping his left wrist.
"I need to go." He made his way out of the door and onto the grounds, and apparated as soon as he was able.
Snape joined the circle of Death Eaters already present. Today they were in the middle of some forest, though he didn't know which. This was only the second meeting after the Dark Lord came back, so it was bound to be brutal. Voldemort raised his hand and the crowd quieted and turned their attention to the thin man in the center. He slowly looked around the crowd, his eyes lingering on Severus a little too long. He turned to the others and motioned for them to pay attention.
"I am still very disappointed in all of you for not helping me in my hour of need. Some of you I am not sure I can trust. Others, I know I can't trust you." He turned toward Snape, the red eyes burning through his mask. "Some of you decided to go crawling to my enemies, begging for forgiveness. 'Crucio'." Pain coursed through Snape, though his screams were soon joined by several others. After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided, leaving Snape panting for his breath.
"Some of you went about your life as though nothing happened, forgetting your master. 'Crucio'." Several other screams rang through the air, though they didn't last as long.
"I have decided that I need to test your loyalties. You will receive your orders the day I want them performed. Until then, give me no reason to doubt you. I will be watching."
I grin as I watch my servants bow to me. No one will dare cross me now that I'm back to full power. It will be rather amusing weeding out, and disposing of, those unloyal to me. But until then, there are other ways to pass ones time. I lift my wand, close my eyes, and point. My favorite game. I open my eyes to see where it landed. Ah, Severus Snape. He is always fun to play with. I lift my wand and whisper 'Crucio', awaiting the screams that will follow. Severus immediately falls to the ground, though it will be a minute before he screams. He was always a tough one. Its a pity I can't keep him. After a couple of minutes, the novelty wears off, and I watch a pathetic Snape do his best to crawl into the trees.
Severus had no idea how he was able to apparate to Hogwarts. He tried to stand up, but fell as soon as he go to his knees. Finally giving in, he preceded to crawl towards the gates. As soon as he was in, he gave in to the darkness surrounding him, he was safe at Hogwarts, Dumbledore would take care of him.
Lee Lee Potter, Caytin Lowe, Ankha: No More Poking! *runs away from the evil pokers*
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Gil-Celeb:
I am soo happy you have read my story! I am a big fan of your GSFI MST. It is so funny!
I have read GSFI; in fact I hear/read each chapter three times...when it is just an idea, when Ankha reads what she has written, and when I read through the finished product. It is an extremely good story.
The only reason the genre is general is because I didn't know what else to put. I will not torture my characters that bad, I don't think, but with Ankha here to influence me there is no telling what will happen.
I am sorry about any mistakes I made, I barely got the chapter finished and even had to get Ankha to post it for me. I will go back and fix that, thank you for pointing it out to me, and feel free to point out any errors you see, it would be helpful.
I have a group set up for ASA at yahoo. I sent an invitation to you today.
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Gablock the Hated, josepotter, tracev, tima, Alana, UniversalStar87: Thank you for reviewing!
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