Chapter 14: Times are changing
Harry registered a movement on his right, almost out of his visual range. Ginny was gesturing towards them, mouthing something soundlessly. Obviously she wanted to join in again, as curious to find out how the story continued as everyone else in the room.
As they carefully eyed the group of grown-ups downstairs and waited for the right moment to let Ron's sister slip under the cloak again with them, Harry felt a twinge of shame.
They shouldn't be watching this. As a matter of fact, none of this should be happening. Snape should have stormed out in his usual arrogant way, maybe thrown a sneer back at everyone and ignored Dumbledore's request. Moody should have been too slow to get to him. Or someone should have interfered. And, definitely, Dumbledore shouldn't be doing what he was doing right now. It severely disturbed the picture Harry had come to create of the kind, gentle and caring headmaster.
He realized he had been lured into believing that all of this was acceptable, because none of the people he considered to be responsible adults had interfered. The Weasleys were clearly shocked, but hadn't moved to prevent what had happened. Moody was in full Auror-mode, hot on his prey's tale and oblivious to the damage that the hunt might cause. Tonks was apparently too interested in the role her family had in all of this to even comprehend that this was not Saturday-Night Entertainment. As for Lupin – somehow Harry hadn't really expected anything from the man who had never been brave enough to stand up and draw attention.
Should Harry then … do what? Jump out from under the cloak and yell "Stop this!" dramatically? Try to distract Dumbledore and hope that Snape found a way of breaking the spell? Yeah, sure, like he could do that.
Maybe Dumbledore was right. Maybe all this was necessary and useful in the end. Somewhere inside Snape's head information about the Death Eaters might be buried, information that he hadn't shared with the Order yet, information that he maybe wasn't even aware he had.
Or maybe all of this was just an excuse for cruel curiosity which in this case didn't kill the cat but might break a man's spirit.
Taking a concerned look at the two wizards facing each other with closed eyes he noticed that Snape seemed a little less tense. He was leaning against the wall, still flanked by Moody and Bill Weasley, his breathing deep and even. The frown between his eyes was beginning to ease out a little, even though his hands were still clenched into fists. The headmaster, on the other hand, looked stressed, sweat pouring down his forehead and little beads dripped from the tip of his nose from time to time. The frown that slowly disappeared from Snape's face appeared to have found a new home on the headmaster's features.
Harry decided to keep an eye on the present-day Snape as well as the past one and, if necessary, act on instinct. After all, that was what he was best at.
The 12-year-old Snape was slowly making his way up from the dungeons towards the entrance hall, his nose buried in a book, his feet finding their way effortlessly, when a girl bumped into him.
"Severus", she panted, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him along behind her. "I was looking for your friend … the blond guy … Malfoy, but I couldn't find him, so you are the next best thing."
He raised an eyebrow before answering in a voice thick with sarcasm:
"I feel deeply honoured, Alice. If you would please be so kind now and let go of my arm, I'm capable of walking on my own, you know."
She chose to ignore his words – or maybe she really didn't hear him, which would have been no surprise with her breathing coming so fast and ragged. She sounded a little bit like the Hogwarts Express leaving the station and her flushed face didn't help to lessen that impression.
"Narcissa is sitting by the lake crying her eyes out", she went on, fighting for breath with every step now that she didn't only have to move her ample frame but also had to drag her confused classmate along.
"We don't know what's wrong and she won't tell anyone."
Snape finally decided to cooperate and started jogging through the entrance hall towards the door, overtaking her easily.
"Thanks, I'll try to talk to her. Just stay here, Alice. You probably won't be able to help anyway."
He fell into a full run while mumbling under his breath:
"And you'd probably have a heart attack, if you had to run all the way there."
He found Narcissa sitting on a tree trunk by the lake. She was hugging her knees, her face buried in her arms, and from the way her whole body trembled it was obvious that she was crying fiercely. The boy slowed down and approached her carefully.
"Narcissa?" he asked softly, apparently not daring to go near her without having her consent. She looked up at him and her beautiful face was flushed with tears, her eyes red and puffy, and her shiny blond hair clung to her in tangled tresses. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but another wave of tears flooded her before the words had a chance to come out. With a heart-wrenching sob she hid her face again.
After a moment's hesitation Snape sat down beside her and started to stroke her back clumsily. The look on his young face was one of deep concern.
After a few more minutes of crying on her part and sympathetic stroking on his she suddenly threw her head back, pressed the palms of her hands under her eyes and started to blink away the tears.
"Thank you, Severus. Really, thank you."
He removed his hand from her back, looking at her from the side with a worried frown while she did her best to restore her usual stunning appearance.
"Do you want to tell me what has happened or do you want me to go and find Lucius?" the boy asked after watching her running her fingers through her hair and wiping at her face frantically for another minute.
"Lucius knows", she answered. Her hands finally stopped moving as she rested them in her lap. Her gaze wondered out onto the lake as she started speaking in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Andromeda has fallen in love with a Muggle and is going to marry him. She told father and mother about it in the hope they would accept it."
Narcissa let out a very unattractive snort.
"Sure, like anyone in our family would ever be able to accept something like that. A Black having a friendly relationship with a Muggle, let alone marry one! Naturally father disowned her. He would probably have killed her, but she had the mind to apparate from the grounds immediately. Bellatrix swore she would hex her into a thousand little pieces should she ever get the chance."
The look of worry on the younger boy's face had chanced into one of utter confusion.
"What is so bad about her marrying a Muggle?"
She looked at him in disbelieve.
"You still don't understand it, do you? All this time you spent with Lucius and us, all the stories we told you, all the things we taught you, and you still have no idea what is going on."
She grabbed him by the arms, shaking him violently and shouted into his face:
"Wizards and Muggles don't mix! We can play with them and laugh at them and have fun with them, but they are not our equals, they are way below us. Andromeda with that Muggle-boy is like … like … like you having a relationship with your cat. She will spoil the line of pure blood. She will endanger our heritage!"
She pushed him back, away from her and he fell off the trunk, hitting his head painfully against the ground. When he had managed to get to his feet again she was facing the lake. Her face was set and no traces of the tears she had cried could be seen.
"Don't ever say something like that to Lucius, he will not take it as well as I did."
He eyed her suspiciously, rubbing the back of his head and his arms where she had grabbed him in turn. When she turned around to face him again she managed a weak smile.
"If you really want to help, Severus, then study with me. The final exams are hard enough as it is without me worrying about a lost sister. Will you do that for me?"
She held out one of her long-fingered hands to him and he took it without any hesitation.
"Of course I will."
Mrs. Weasley had moved over to stand behind Tonks who was literally shaking with anger. The older woman rested her hands on the younger one's shoulders and started making comforting little noises like she would have done to a small child.
"Shh, shh. It's all right, dear. Don't get all worked up. This is all over now. Your parents are happy and safe together. They have survived through all of this."
Only that not everything was over, Harry thought bitterly. Bellatrix Lestrange, formerly Bellatrix Black was still out there. Only last spring she had proven that she was entirely capable of killing a relative. No mercy for the cousin. Why should she have mercy for a sister? Or an unwanted niece?
Harry remembered the face of the young Bellatrix out of Snape's memory, tears of laughter rolling down her face, and he remembered the Bellatrix he knew, remembered her cruel and shrill voice, remembered how she had killed the only person he had ever really felt close to – apart from Hermione and Ron. No, nothing was over. Everything was starting all over again. He only hoped that next time he would be better prepared.
Redirecting his gaze towards the bubble Harry wasn't sure if he had missed something, having been lost in his own unpleasant memories, or if they had just jumped into new and unknown territory, for the scenery definitely didn't look anything like Hogwarts or Malfoy Manor.
The dusky room had a high ceiling but no windows. Candles lined the walls, rested on small tables and sometimes just hovered in the air, magically supported. They shone their lights on the faces of at least five dozen witches and wizards, all in elegant robes, drinking from exquisite goblets. Most of them seemed to be in their early forties, some of them maybe already in their fifties. Lord and Lady Malfoy were chatting animatedly with a handsome young man whose age was hard to tell. He had an enticing smile and a lock of his soft brown hair kept falling into his eyes.
In a corner close to the entrance door a group of teenagers held a respectful distance from the adults. Crabbe and Goyle were there, Avery, McNair, Bellatrix Black and the boy called Rastaban and someone who looked like young Bartemious Crouch junior. Snape was, as usual, by the side of Lucius Malfoy who was, also as usual, accompanied by Narcissa. The blond girl was careful not to look in the direction of her sister who threw menacing glances her way.
Snape was by far the youngest in the room and seemed to be a newcomer in this well worked group. Ever so often he would tug at Lucius' sleeve, point to someone and require that person's name. The older boy answered all the questions patiently, but he also seemed to be nervously waiting for something. When the young man who had been talking to his parents moved to the far end of the room and positioned himself behind a small table the blond teenager grabbed his younger friend by the collar and shoved him forward a little, his hands resting on the boy's shoulders. There was an expectant smile on his face and an odd spark in his stunning blue eyes.
The young man raised his goblet to the assembled crowd.
"Welcome."
His voice was surprisingly deep, soft and full. It seemed to fill the room completely, stretching out into the farthest corner. Snape straightened up and tried to stand on tiptoe to get a better look at the face that belonged to that startling voice.
"It fills me with great joy to see that our number has once again increased. The truth shines its light brightly and it gets harder to close ones eyes upon it by the minute."
The silence that followed this cryptic statement was almost deafening and the eager tension thick enough to slice with a knife.
Harry knew this voice. Not the sound, not the deep resonance that echoed off the room's walls. He remembered the peculiar melody, the way one word seemed to glide effortlessly into the next one. It made each sentence sound logical and coherent, gave him a deep inner meaning that might not always be there.
Voldemort.
He looked more like Tom Riddle, aged only slightly, but obviously the wizard standing in front of all these people had already passed that state, had already left behind his father's name, for he already spoke with the authority and conviction that had nearly numbed Harry on that graveyard where he had held the dead Cedric Diggory. Where he had seen Voldemort rise again with a face so unlike the one of the handsome young man in that memory. Not even the eyes were the same. Would these people have followed him had he already carried his current features, Harry wondered. Would they have found the courage to stare so attentively into the red gleaming eyes that haunted Harry's dreams?
He finally noticed that Hermione was staring at him intently as if waiting for some sort of reaction. Obviously she had drawn the right conclusions and even if she couldn't recognise the orator by his look or his voice, she knew who he was. Harry nodded gravely to confirm her stare which he presumed to be questioning. Then, suddenly, it hit him. His scar didn't hurt. He was looking at Voldemort and his scar didn't hurt. He hadn't thought about it, but now he felt a surge of relief pass through him. It would have been more than unpleasant to feel the searing pain every time Voldemort appeared in Snape's memory – which would be rather often from now on, he guessed. He pressed Hermione's hand and gave her a half-hearted smile.
"To my deepest regret I have heard about the troubles that the Ministry has forced upon some of our group. Noble wizards, coming from a long line of equally noble wizards, who were doing nothing else but protecting their grounds against Muggle-intrusion."
He nodded towards the Malfoys who bowed their heads slightly.
"How can it not be just to protect house and family?" he continued, his hands pressed flat on the table in front of him, his fiery eyes flying from one face to the next.
"How can it be errant to protect the border that nature itself erected? None of us wishes a Muggle ill. None of us denies them the right to live. We respect their rights and their living space. We do not intrude upon their houses, their grounds. In fact, we have been retreating for years, granting their growing population more and more room. On what grounds, I ask you!"
He wasn't shouting, however his voice had reached a level of intensity that was almost painful. Snape tried to cover his ears, but Lucius grabbed his arms and pressed them to his sides.
"It's no use shielding your ears from the truth", he whispered into the younger boy's ear, his eyes still on the man in front, an expression of rapture on his face. He wasn't the only one. All over the room people were listening intently, their eyes wide open, some nodding in accordance. The man who was to become the Dark Wizard called Voldemort drew a deep breath.
"Respect should earn respect. Protection should earn thankfulness. The wizarding community has played the part of a guardian for centuries now. We are the stronger ones, so it is our duty to look after the weaker – the Muggles."
He spat the last word out in disgust.
"That's what they keep telling us. That's what the Ministry replies every time someone dares to ask for some sort of compensation. That's what great and wise Albus Dumbledore answers to everyone who inquires after the 'Why'. But that is not an answer. It's an excuse."
He took a well-placed pause, taking his time in glancing around the room.
"Society today functions solely on one principal: that the stronger protect the weaker. It's an outdated principal, suitable for insuring survival when our numbers were still small. Back then we needed them, for we were not enough. We needed to mix our blood with theirs, hoping that our strength would survive that infestation. We are still paying the price today, still have magically crippled children born to powerful wizarding families."
Several of the adults hung their heads, either in shame or in pain.
"We have long ago reached the point where we don't need them anymore. We are spread all over the world, leading the world's destiny without ever receiving gratitude or even acknowledgement. It's time to recognise the future and to welcome it with open arms. It's time change a system that will always leave us in the position of a servant to those who are beneath us. The world is changing and we will help her through her pains of growing."
His voice had dropped down to a whisper. Instead of finishing with a loud exclamation or one of the famous rhetorical questions he had decided on phasing his speech out. He was successful nevertheless.
All around people started applauding, pressing towards the table to shake his hand and utter their agreement. Lucius clapped his hands together frantically, elbowing Crabbe and Goyle to do the same. Bellatrix was standing close to the future Voldemort, seemingly bathing in his presence, Avery and McNair right beside her.
Snape turned to look at Narcissa who was applauding politely and suppressed a yawn at the same time. He grinned at her.
On the way out Lucius wrapped a long arm around his younger friend's thin frame and pulled him to his side affectionately. His face was flushed with excitement still and his eyes gleamed in the twilight of coming dusk.
"He is inspiring, isn't he?"
The young boy by his side shrugged his shoulders.
"To be honest, I didn't understand everything he talked about."
Lucius gave him another bone-crunching squeeze and pulled Narcissa close to his other side.
"Don't worry, Eagle nose, we'll explain everything to you once we are home. If we are lucky he might even come around to dinner sometime during the rest of the holidays. He fancies my parents, you know."
Narcissa craned her neck to look at the dark-haired boy across Lucius' shoulder. She looked pointedly at her classmate and rolled her eyes. Snape laughed.
AN: Sorry again for the long delay. I write in the little pockets of time that the currently very stressful combination of job and husband leave me and when there is a moment of peace I try to put together all the little notes that are scattered around my various bags and folders.
As you might have noticed I tried to answer some of your questions as to why nobody interferes. If you have ever seen the large group of spectators near the site of an accident you will know that unfortunately curiosity is one of the strongest human drives – and sometimes it even outruns common sense. To those of you who find Dumbledore unbelieving: I'm sorry about that, but right now it can't be helped. I do have an explanation for why he does what he does, but I cannot possibly give it right now, because that would kind of ruin the plot scheme that I made for myself. If it bothers you so much you will just have to stop reading – which you have probably done by now anyway, so this is useless rambling. *confused grin*
I'll be in London over the weekend and had to promise my husband not to take a laptop with me. He didn't say anything about pen and paper, though. *grin*
So please, forgive me for taking so long to update and keep on reading and reviewing. Your comments are very helpful and inspiring. Special thanks here to Mara, Cloudshape, Snape coolgirl and the ever helpful Barbara Kennedy and Lilith11.