-THE CURSED POSITION
CHAPTER 8 : Making plans
Kali Nox was glaring at Snape throughout the entire breakfast and for the first time, Snape was amused about it. Her anger was a sign of weakness. Finally he had somehow made her plans a little harder, whatever her plans were.
He and Hermione had two big advantages on it. They couldn't be controlled like the others and they knew what she was and, in a way, what she was looking for.
Since it was Saturday, he would have more time to plan what to do next. He went through the book one more time to see if he could find something else to help figure out Nox, when there was a knock on the door. "Enter!" he yelled.
Hermione came in with an uncertain look on her face. He hadn't called her there, but she thought it would be a good idea to be around in case he needed. Deep down she knew the reason was she felt safer around him, especially after what happened the night before. The truth was she couldn't count on her friends' help anymore. She had brains but not the abilities to fight a full grown witch like Nox. That was where Harry and Ron usually came in, and without them she was no more than an easy target.
Snape sighed. He didn't want Granger to be tagging along everywhere, but he had to admit she was helpful, and another head to think was welcomed. He just waved a hand for her to come in, "Sit down, Miss Granger."
"Any new ideas to get into the Ministry, Professor?"
"I have some, but it's not going to be easy."
"Oh... are you planing to sneak in there during the night?"
Snape narrowed his eyes looking at her and his lips thinned. He was hating every minute of this. What kind of example was he setting here? That it was OK to break the rules? Would he be able to impose any authority after admitting to a Gryffindor that he was about to sink as low as Potter, and sneak into a building in the middle of the night?
As if sensing it, Hermione said, "I'm not going to tell anyone, I know it is necessary."
"If you've got any ideas of coming, just forget it. I'm going alone!"
"But we're in this together!" she said.
"Together is not the right word, Miss Granger. I thought I made myself very clear, that even if you're helping, I am still your teacher, not one of your little classmates," he said getting up and bending to her with both hands on his desk, "This is not another one of your so many adventures! This is serious and dangerous and It would be helpful enough, if you could at least keep yourself out of the way!"
"Fine! I didn't think that when I found that book for you I was on your way!" She stood up and faced him, as her voice raised shakily.
"Miss Granger!"
They stood there glaring at each other for some good long seconds. Hermione looked down and relaxing a little bit she said,
"Look Sir, with all due respect, I know it was way out of line for me to yell at you just now, and for that I'm sorry. But this woman is roaming around the school free, God knows what she's capable of doing and two minds act a lot faster when they work together!"
He slowly sat back and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Then looking up at her, he nodded, "What do you suggest we..." He flinched when he said the word 'we', "what do you suggest should be done, Miss Granger?"
"First we should work on a strategy to get pass the warding spells at the Ministry."
"I've thought about that, there's a very complicated potion... it can't break the wards, but it should be able to let us in during the day when the wards are not on," He paused to see if she could figure it out.
"You mean an invisibility potion?" she asked.
"Yes, once we're inside, all we have to do is wait until everyone is gone and start looking." He said.
"But if we're going to be invisible, why can't we just look for it during the day?"
He looked at her impatiently, "The ministry has many powerful wizards and witches. Even if they can't see us, they will most definitely sense us. And it's not like one can walk into a room full of people, and start opening and closing drawers and files, without them noticing."
"But after they close the doors and put the wards on, how are we going to be able to get out?"
"That kind of spell, won't let anyone in, but it doesn't keep one from getting out. It's not like the ones we have here in Hogwarts," he said, "We can easily apparate anywhere from the Ministry."
"Then it's set, we could go this afternoon," she said.
He looked at her with one eyebrow raised but said nothing.
"Oh... you don't have that potion in your stock, do you Sir?"
"It's not the kind of potion you can stock up in a school, it would be downright stupid," he said with a cold glare, "I can only imagine the things your little friends would do, if they laid their hands on something like that."
Hermione snorted, "They would hardly need it...." her eyes grew wide and she brought one hand to her mouth.
Snape's lips twisted up. He had caught her, "I've always had my suspicions..."
Hermione was looking down muttering, "Stupid.. stupid... stupid!"
"Now this is turning out to be more fruitful than I thought," he said with a smirk.
"Please, Sir... "
"Let's focus on our problem, I'll deal with that later," he said coldly, "Although I must say, you leave me some doubts wether I should trust you or not..."
"Why?"
"Well, I was about to confide something very important on you, and if you can't even keep your friends' secrets..." he said scowling at her.
"No Sir, I promise, I... even if I wanted to, it's not like I can talk to anybody of what's been happening," she said panicking.
"Miss Granger, you have to understand that what I'm about to tell you can, not only, save all our lives in the future, but it can also kill us all. If this information falls in the wrong hands, nothing we do will make any difference!"
"Yes Sir," Hermione answered still looking down.
"Come with me, you're going to assist me on the invisibility potion, it takes 24 hours to be ready, so the earlier we start, the better." He went to a little door on the back of his office and she followed.
Hermione spent the next hour chopping and slicing and gathering ingredients for Snape. They worked quietly and Hermione was glad to work without the pressure and yelling that was common in his classes.
Snape was glad that even if he had to get landed with a Gryffindor for a partner in this, at least it wasn't Longbottom or even Potter. Incompetence would be unacceptable in a situation like this.
The potion had to simmer and be checked every two hours, so Snape moved on to sit in front of Hermione.
"Now what I'm about to show you, I haven't shown even to the Headmaster. I've come to the conclusion yesterday, that this is what Nox is looking for. I don't know how she has come to find out, but it's very important that you do not tell anyone about it!" He looked deadly serious and Hermione suddenly felt the weight of the responsibility, that this revelation would bring her. She nodded and let him continue.
"It's basically finished but it needs testing. I have been developing a potion which will be able to neutralize a person's power to such an extent that he or she can be easily captured or... killed. Since the Dark Lord's return I have started to do do some research and I've come up with a complex formula that at first seemed impossible. The Dark Lord's life is indestructible, he has gathered so much power and has gone so far into the dark arts that it is practically impossible to destroy him. However, if you approach it from a different view, and instead of simply acquiring more power to destroy him, you alter the properties of it, you can actually weaken him."
"So this potion will reduce the strength of his powers?" Hermione was feeling the excitement running through her.
"Not only reduce, but neutralize it, make it inefficient!" He said intensely looking at her.
"Then he could be easily captured!"
"Yes, but not for long," he said, "The potion will wear off after one hour or less, in his case it's hard to tell, his body doesn't function as a normal human being anymore. We're not dealing with a human."
"So he will have to be killed as soon as the potion works its way..." She was fascinated with the prospect of having Voldemort completely extinguished, "But why didn't you use it? what are you waiting for?"
"First I have to test it, I've just completed the formula and then all this happened. I didn't want anybody to get their hopes up in case it didn't work. This is a big thing... " he got a worried look, "If I go straight to the Dark Lord, find a way to make him drink it and it doesn't work, he'll know and he will kill me."
Hermione shivered.
"Nox is here to put her hands in this, that's why she's been searching my office and bedroom." He stood up and went to the corner of the room where he tapped his wand three times and opened the little entrance. He stood up and handed her the long parchment.
Hermione took the parchment and scanned it intently. It was like looking at child with a new toy, she had that expression of wonder and joy. Only it wasn't a toy and no one would ever get that excited looking at potion instructions. Except for Snape, who was studying her reaction with some level of admiration.
He was glad he had made the right choice and showed her, no student would ever understand or get remotely excited with something like that.
Hermione looked up at him and despite his thoughts, his expression was emotionless and cold.
"This is brilliant! There are ingredients here that I've never heard mentioned anywhere!"
"I've created some of them, I mean, it's a mix of new substances and magic... that's why it's not possible for me to memorize it. We have to find another place to hide this. It's not safe here anymore."
"Some of you calculations remind me a lot of muggle chemistry," she said still looking at it amazed.
"Miss Granger, as much as I'd love to hear all about muggle chemistry, we have to focus on hiding this at least until we can find out Nox's background. Until then we don't know how to deal with her," he said with a tone of irritation in his voice and Hermione got the hint. He didn't know how to react to praise.
She handed him the parchment back and asked, "I can't think of a safer place to hide anything than Hogwarts, and if it's not here... where then?"
He shook his head with an expression she hadn't seen on his face before, "I haven't a clue."
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CHAPTER 8 : Making plans
Kali Nox was glaring at Snape throughout the entire breakfast and for the first time, Snape was amused about it. Her anger was a sign of weakness. Finally he had somehow made her plans a little harder, whatever her plans were.
He and Hermione had two big advantages on it. They couldn't be controlled like the others and they knew what she was and, in a way, what she was looking for.
Since it was Saturday, he would have more time to plan what to do next. He went through the book one more time to see if he could find something else to help figure out Nox, when there was a knock on the door. "Enter!" he yelled.
Hermione came in with an uncertain look on her face. He hadn't called her there, but she thought it would be a good idea to be around in case he needed. Deep down she knew the reason was she felt safer around him, especially after what happened the night before. The truth was she couldn't count on her friends' help anymore. She had brains but not the abilities to fight a full grown witch like Nox. That was where Harry and Ron usually came in, and without them she was no more than an easy target.
Snape sighed. He didn't want Granger to be tagging along everywhere, but he had to admit she was helpful, and another head to think was welcomed. He just waved a hand for her to come in, "Sit down, Miss Granger."
"Any new ideas to get into the Ministry, Professor?"
"I have some, but it's not going to be easy."
"Oh... are you planing to sneak in there during the night?"
Snape narrowed his eyes looking at her and his lips thinned. He was hating every minute of this. What kind of example was he setting here? That it was OK to break the rules? Would he be able to impose any authority after admitting to a Gryffindor that he was about to sink as low as Potter, and sneak into a building in the middle of the night?
As if sensing it, Hermione said, "I'm not going to tell anyone, I know it is necessary."
"If you've got any ideas of coming, just forget it. I'm going alone!"
"But we're in this together!" she said.
"Together is not the right word, Miss Granger. I thought I made myself very clear, that even if you're helping, I am still your teacher, not one of your little classmates," he said getting up and bending to her with both hands on his desk, "This is not another one of your so many adventures! This is serious and dangerous and It would be helpful enough, if you could at least keep yourself out of the way!"
"Fine! I didn't think that when I found that book for you I was on your way!" She stood up and faced him, as her voice raised shakily.
"Miss Granger!"
They stood there glaring at each other for some good long seconds. Hermione looked down and relaxing a little bit she said,
"Look Sir, with all due respect, I know it was way out of line for me to yell at you just now, and for that I'm sorry. But this woman is roaming around the school free, God knows what she's capable of doing and two minds act a lot faster when they work together!"
He slowly sat back and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Then looking up at her, he nodded, "What do you suggest we..." He flinched when he said the word 'we', "what do you suggest should be done, Miss Granger?"
"First we should work on a strategy to get pass the warding spells at the Ministry."
"I've thought about that, there's a very complicated potion... it can't break the wards, but it should be able to let us in during the day when the wards are not on," He paused to see if she could figure it out.
"You mean an invisibility potion?" she asked.
"Yes, once we're inside, all we have to do is wait until everyone is gone and start looking." He said.
"But if we're going to be invisible, why can't we just look for it during the day?"
He looked at her impatiently, "The ministry has many powerful wizards and witches. Even if they can't see us, they will most definitely sense us. And it's not like one can walk into a room full of people, and start opening and closing drawers and files, without them noticing."
"But after they close the doors and put the wards on, how are we going to be able to get out?"
"That kind of spell, won't let anyone in, but it doesn't keep one from getting out. It's not like the ones we have here in Hogwarts," he said, "We can easily apparate anywhere from the Ministry."
"Then it's set, we could go this afternoon," she said.
He looked at her with one eyebrow raised but said nothing.
"Oh... you don't have that potion in your stock, do you Sir?"
"It's not the kind of potion you can stock up in a school, it would be downright stupid," he said with a cold glare, "I can only imagine the things your little friends would do, if they laid their hands on something like that."
Hermione snorted, "They would hardly need it...." her eyes grew wide and she brought one hand to her mouth.
Snape's lips twisted up. He had caught her, "I've always had my suspicions..."
Hermione was looking down muttering, "Stupid.. stupid... stupid!"
"Now this is turning out to be more fruitful than I thought," he said with a smirk.
"Please, Sir... "
"Let's focus on our problem, I'll deal with that later," he said coldly, "Although I must say, you leave me some doubts wether I should trust you or not..."
"Why?"
"Well, I was about to confide something very important on you, and if you can't even keep your friends' secrets..." he said scowling at her.
"No Sir, I promise, I... even if I wanted to, it's not like I can talk to anybody of what's been happening," she said panicking.
"Miss Granger, you have to understand that what I'm about to tell you can, not only, save all our lives in the future, but it can also kill us all. If this information falls in the wrong hands, nothing we do will make any difference!"
"Yes Sir," Hermione answered still looking down.
"Come with me, you're going to assist me on the invisibility potion, it takes 24 hours to be ready, so the earlier we start, the better." He went to a little door on the back of his office and she followed.
Hermione spent the next hour chopping and slicing and gathering ingredients for Snape. They worked quietly and Hermione was glad to work without the pressure and yelling that was common in his classes.
Snape was glad that even if he had to get landed with a Gryffindor for a partner in this, at least it wasn't Longbottom or even Potter. Incompetence would be unacceptable in a situation like this.
The potion had to simmer and be checked every two hours, so Snape moved on to sit in front of Hermione.
"Now what I'm about to show you, I haven't shown even to the Headmaster. I've come to the conclusion yesterday, that this is what Nox is looking for. I don't know how she has come to find out, but it's very important that you do not tell anyone about it!" He looked deadly serious and Hermione suddenly felt the weight of the responsibility, that this revelation would bring her. She nodded and let him continue.
"It's basically finished but it needs testing. I have been developing a potion which will be able to neutralize a person's power to such an extent that he or she can be easily captured or... killed. Since the Dark Lord's return I have started to do do some research and I've come up with a complex formula that at first seemed impossible. The Dark Lord's life is indestructible, he has gathered so much power and has gone so far into the dark arts that it is practically impossible to destroy him. However, if you approach it from a different view, and instead of simply acquiring more power to destroy him, you alter the properties of it, you can actually weaken him."
"So this potion will reduce the strength of his powers?" Hermione was feeling the excitement running through her.
"Not only reduce, but neutralize it, make it inefficient!" He said intensely looking at her.
"Then he could be easily captured!"
"Yes, but not for long," he said, "The potion will wear off after one hour or less, in his case it's hard to tell, his body doesn't function as a normal human being anymore. We're not dealing with a human."
"So he will have to be killed as soon as the potion works its way..." She was fascinated with the prospect of having Voldemort completely extinguished, "But why didn't you use it? what are you waiting for?"
"First I have to test it, I've just completed the formula and then all this happened. I didn't want anybody to get their hopes up in case it didn't work. This is a big thing... " he got a worried look, "If I go straight to the Dark Lord, find a way to make him drink it and it doesn't work, he'll know and he will kill me."
Hermione shivered.
"Nox is here to put her hands in this, that's why she's been searching my office and bedroom." He stood up and went to the corner of the room where he tapped his wand three times and opened the little entrance. He stood up and handed her the long parchment.
Hermione took the parchment and scanned it intently. It was like looking at child with a new toy, she had that expression of wonder and joy. Only it wasn't a toy and no one would ever get that excited looking at potion instructions. Except for Snape, who was studying her reaction with some level of admiration.
He was glad he had made the right choice and showed her, no student would ever understand or get remotely excited with something like that.
Hermione looked up at him and despite his thoughts, his expression was emotionless and cold.
"This is brilliant! There are ingredients here that I've never heard mentioned anywhere!"
"I've created some of them, I mean, it's a mix of new substances and magic... that's why it's not possible for me to memorize it. We have to find another place to hide this. It's not safe here anymore."
"Some of you calculations remind me a lot of muggle chemistry," she said still looking at it amazed.
"Miss Granger, as much as I'd love to hear all about muggle chemistry, we have to focus on hiding this at least until we can find out Nox's background. Until then we don't know how to deal with her," he said with a tone of irritation in his voice and Hermione got the hint. He didn't know how to react to praise.
She handed him the parchment back and asked, "I can't think of a safer place to hide anything than Hogwarts, and if it's not here... where then?"
He shook his head with an expression she hadn't seen on his face before, "I haven't a clue."
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