Chapter 9 – Distracted Plans
"There is one at Hogwarts who undoes your Dark lessons, Sartoris," Lord Riddle whispered, stroking the back of Nagini, his favorite python.
The Potions Master stood up even straighter, if such a thing was physiologically possible. "Who, my Lord?" A sick fear began to overspread his dark soul. Someone he missed, perhaps? And right after disappointing the Dark Lord too!
"There are two at Hogwarts who makes young Snape laugh instead of paying attention to his studies."
"His studies, my Lord? He has been at the top of most of his classes!"
Tom Riddle clicked his tongue in a gesture of disgust. "Not the school's curriculum, you fool. I refer to his free access to the Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library. He hasn't been up there in weeks. Instead, he has been flying brooms around and making up silly jokes to please the Gryffindors."
"Sounds like a waste of time, my Lord."
"Indeed," Riddle sighed. "If young Snape has the potential you believe he has, then such things are distractions. They will keep him from joining us once he graduates from that cesspit. You know very well I can't kill Dumbledore, who also smothers him with kindness and keeps him grounded firmly in the Light. Young Snape even calls the Headmaster 'father'."
"Outrageous! I had no idea, my Lord. I will take steps to -- "
"You can take steps to do nothing. I will bide my time with Dumbledore and strike when I am ready. Once I have attained my goal, what the Snape boy calls that old fool will be the least of his concerns."
"Well, who are these persons, then?"
Riddle smirked. "One is a girl with red hair. She is kind to the boy. The other is a boy with wispy hair and glasses, who plays Quidditch with him and has welcomed Young Snape into his home and introduced him to his family."
"I believe I know these students," Sartoris hissed, his own deep voice ominously snakelike. "Shall I please Your Lordship by eliminating them from his life?"
"It is not purely your concern," Tom Riddle said, raising his hand to stop Sartoris in mid-thought. " Originally, I thought that killing them would be unnecessary, but since your thickheaded bungling of my trust in your current position has made me reconsider. Within two days I want you to tell me that you have already set in motion a plan to remove these whelps from Hogwarts. Your prize student's life will then be restored to what it was -- a life devoted to the study of the Dark arts and how to use them against my enemies."
"I will, Your Lordship," Sejanus Sartoris begged. "Within two days!"
And that's another thing," Riddle said, giving the teacher a louring look. "They have taught Snape how to have -- dare I say it --? Fun. When the last great battle comes, 'fun' will do us no good. One does not destroy one's enemies with 'fun'. Do not disappoint me further, Sartoris. You are a hair's breadth from death at this very moment."
The Potions Master prostrated himself before Voldemort and entreated him to spare his life.
"You're cowardly and disgusting, Sartoris," the Dark Lord hissed. "I like that in a servant. Adieu!"
-----------------
Severus had a hard time concealing his grief over the deaths of Aloysius Bede and Sibelius Hammer. Whenever he felt the hot waves of emotion threaten to swamp him and his stern and unwavering appearance, he recited a rhyme his mother had once taught him. She had taught him to sing it, actually – little Severus could sing beautifully and could even play a few musical instruments!
Until, of course, his father came home in a rage and broke the child's lute over his back until it was broken into splinters. The next time Confutatis Maledictis Snape heard his son singing, he threatened to strangle him to death to stop the 'caterwauling' that disturbed his solitude.
Severus was afraid to sing, even now. He simply recited the verse in his head when he needed to distract himself from his true feelings:
"One for sorrow, two for mirth, Three for death, four for birth. Five for silver, six for gold, Seven for a secret, never to be told."
It was especially difficult to keep his solemn mien in front of James and Lily, who usually ended up making the Slytherin boy laugh. They had all met in the library once again at the commencement of their Seventh Year at Hogwarts, already gleeful and thinking up new adventures.
"Never thought I'd make it this far," James sighed.
"Neither did we," Lily said. She and Severus broke into laugher.
"Silence!" cried Madame Pince.
"Sorry, ma'am."
"Hey, listen. Professor Azaki has promised to teach all of us mountain- climbing and will take us up to a local peak!"
"Um, why should I care about that, Snape?"
"Because, um, Potter, if you don't go with Lily and me, you're a yellow- bellied coward."
"Better than being a death-defying dunderhead like SOME people I could mention – "
"HEY," both Sev and Lily replied.
"Silence!" shrieked Madame Pince.
"Sorry, ma'am."
"Bwaak bwaaak bwaaak," Severus clucked. Lily made winglike motions with her arms.
"Shut your heads over there," Sirius Black hissed from three tables over. James popped his head up and turned to give his friend the infamous one- finger salute. He was temporarily disarmed, however, by the spectacle of Sirius Black acting as if he was having a hot and heavy love session with an invisible young lady. James hoped that Lily would not turn around.
"We're to meet with the professor first thing Saturday. No whining out of you, Potter; it isn't even Quidditch season yet. He'll teach us basic mountaineering and even a little rock-climbing." Poor Severus blinked hard. He knew he would be unable to tell the two of them about how Sib and Aloysius had given him lessons. He concentrated hard; "One for sorrow, two for mirth – "
"Thanks so much, Sev, for setting that up. Won't it be fun? Don't worry, James. We won't abandon you on a snow-covered summit, lost and alone!"
Lost and alone. Like his two counselors had been at the end.
Three for death, four for birth –
"I don't get it. If you die climbing a stupid mountain, what do you get once you've done it? There aren't any awards or anything!"
Just like Sib and Aloysius. Nobody gave them any posthumous medals or citations. They were just dead.
Five for silver, six for gold –
"And nobody pays you to do it, either!" James finished, clinching it.
The two young aurors were nearly poverty-stricken at the time of their deaths. Their salaries at St. Mungo's barely covered living expenses. They somehow felt that their jobs carried more worthy compensations.
"Silence!" shrieked Madame Pince. "Mr. Potter, I will toss you out of this library if I see your lips move again!!"
"Sorry, ma'am."
Severus so wanted to tell his friends what he had been through, but he could not.
Seven for a secret, never to be told.
A paper wad hit James in the head. He looked frantically at Madame Pince to see if she had noticed. No, he was still in the clear.
He unwrapped it only to see a crude pencil sketch of a girl with long hair kissing a snake with a big nose.
Grinning now, he crumpled it back up, turned, and pegged Peter Pettigrew with it.
"MR. POTTER! OUT OF THIS LIBRARY RIGHT THIS SECOND! MR. SNAPE! MISS EVANS! OUT OF HERE!"
"Some people just don't have a sense of humor," Lily hissed.
Both boys looked at her, shocked. Then they caught each others' eyes and cracked up.
Sirius and Peter made rude kissing noises as they made their departure.
-----------------
It was a clear and bright Saturday. One couldn't have wished for better weather. The three children and their professor had gone over the various kinds of equipment and the Muggle names for them.
"Wizards and witches also use many of these because of the problems we discussed in class. Such as?"
"Hypoxia."
"Good, Mr. Snape."
"Altitude sickness."
"Right, Mr. Potter.
"Turning into a peanut!"
"More or less, Miss Evans. Excellent. Now, I want you students to imagine you are going on a winter hike. There will be some steep ascents. I then want you to go pick one of the items you would need the most and tell us why it is vital. Mr. Snape?"
Sev stood up, walked over to the pile of equipment hastily put together by Professor Azaki, and picked out a long and heavy coil of rope. "We would want to fix ropes ahead of time for the places we couldn't ascend easily."
"Excellent. Miss Evans?"
She went over and picked up an ice pick. "Not only can you use this to chop hand and foot holds for yourself, but you can also self-arrest with this."
"Tell us what this means, Mr. Snape."
"To self-arrest means to dig your axe into the snow to stop yourself if you start to slide downhill too fast or in the wrong direction."
"Fine. Mr. Potter, kindly make your selection."
"I've got it knocked," James whispered to himself. He ostentatiously removed one of his shoes and fixed it into a metal frame that looked a lot like a shoe sole with teeth. "This is a crampon, which allows you to kick, then step, with the front 'teeth', and to keep from sliding off snow or ice."
"Children, why has Mr. Potter slid down the mountain to his untimely death?"
"Because the stupid git has the crampon on upside down," Snape blurted out. He and Lily laughed and pointed while James tried to bluster his way out of it.
"Next Saturday – and, Mr. Potter, don't fear, Quidditch tryouts aren't for another week – we shall meet here and fly to the base of Mt. Muldoon. It's not a very technical climb. It's low enough to keep you from getting sick at altitude, yet enough of an angle of ascent to give those young muscles a good workout. I will see you then."
Lily and Severus excitedly talked about their plans right before Potions class began on Monday morning. Neither noticed that their professor was taking a keener interest in their discussion than most of those around them.
--------------
Sev spent much of his free time in the Headmaster's office, where it was safe to cry and to talk about his two auror friends.
Dumbledore laid a saucer with three pieces of divinity on it before the grieving boy. "Here, Severus. This will taste good with your tea. Go on ahead; I'll be busy enjoying my lemon crumble square."
Sev's head still hung low. He wiped his streaming eyes. "How is Shonsey doing?"
"She's a mess over it," Albus said. "Of course, she would be the most badly affected among the three of us. Of course, Malfoy denied any knowledge and refused to let aurors into his home to conduct his search – as was in fact his right. A man's home is his castle – even if there are dark doings conducted there. Most frustrating, my boy."
"So they died for nothing," Sev snuffled.
"No, child. They died for the side of the Light. During various times in Wizarding and Muggle history, an evil one – a pretender – attempts to seize power, killing and torturing those who disagree. Those of us on the side of the Light do whatever we can to stop them. Your information was vital to our collective knowledge, Severus. Please know that they did not die in vain, and you did not suffer their loss in vain."
"I never want to go to the Restricted Section or Malfoy Manor again," Severus sobbed, his divinity and tea untouched.
"But you must," Dumbledore said.
"What? Why?" Sev asked, incredulous.
"Because you must act as if nothing has changed. Changing one's activities can tell an enemy as much as words can. You don't wish to do that."
Severus gazed into the Headmaster's blue eyes. "All right," the boy said. "I will act as if nothing happened. Although it's – just – so – hard – "
Albus came over and pulled him into a hug. "You're doing fine, Severus. I'm proud of you no matter if you follow my advice or not."
The old wizard's hand began to inch toward the saucer holding the fudge.
Severus yelled, "AHA! OFF MY FUDGE!" and both laughed.
"Eat it before I do, son," Dumbledore said. "It's good to laugh a little, isn't it?"
Sev nodded.
"Well, backs to my duties and off you go to Transfiguration. Give my regards to Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you for letting me come," the Slytherin child said.
"Why wouldn't I? You're family, after all."
------------
At precisely nine o'clock the following Saturday morning, one professor and three students flew their broomsticks to nearby Mt. Muldoon, roughly seven thousand feet from its base to its summit. Each student showed Professor Azaki what he or she had packed.
"Remember – don't carry even so much as one extra ounce," their teacher and guide repeated. "It will begin to feel mighty heavy once you've hiked up a couple thousand feet. Mr. Snape, I think you've carried two of everything. Why not go through your backpack and see if there's anything you can cull?"
Lily got a nod of approval from the half-Norwegian, half-Japanese wizard. But James did not.
"Mr. Potter! One would think we were going to climb Cotopaxi, the way you've packed! Start culling, my young friend."
In ten minutes, the students all stood. Their teacher pointed toward the summit.
"Let's roll," he said.
----------
"There is one at Hogwarts who undoes your Dark lessons, Sartoris," Lord Riddle whispered, stroking the back of Nagini, his favorite python.
The Potions Master stood up even straighter, if such a thing was physiologically possible. "Who, my Lord?" A sick fear began to overspread his dark soul. Someone he missed, perhaps? And right after disappointing the Dark Lord too!
"There are two at Hogwarts who makes young Snape laugh instead of paying attention to his studies."
"His studies, my Lord? He has been at the top of most of his classes!"
Tom Riddle clicked his tongue in a gesture of disgust. "Not the school's curriculum, you fool. I refer to his free access to the Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library. He hasn't been up there in weeks. Instead, he has been flying brooms around and making up silly jokes to please the Gryffindors."
"Sounds like a waste of time, my Lord."
"Indeed," Riddle sighed. "If young Snape has the potential you believe he has, then such things are distractions. They will keep him from joining us once he graduates from that cesspit. You know very well I can't kill Dumbledore, who also smothers him with kindness and keeps him grounded firmly in the Light. Young Snape even calls the Headmaster 'father'."
"Outrageous! I had no idea, my Lord. I will take steps to -- "
"You can take steps to do nothing. I will bide my time with Dumbledore and strike when I am ready. Once I have attained my goal, what the Snape boy calls that old fool will be the least of his concerns."
"Well, who are these persons, then?"
Riddle smirked. "One is a girl with red hair. She is kind to the boy. The other is a boy with wispy hair and glasses, who plays Quidditch with him and has welcomed Young Snape into his home and introduced him to his family."
"I believe I know these students," Sartoris hissed, his own deep voice ominously snakelike. "Shall I please Your Lordship by eliminating them from his life?"
"It is not purely your concern," Tom Riddle said, raising his hand to stop Sartoris in mid-thought. " Originally, I thought that killing them would be unnecessary, but since your thickheaded bungling of my trust in your current position has made me reconsider. Within two days I want you to tell me that you have already set in motion a plan to remove these whelps from Hogwarts. Your prize student's life will then be restored to what it was -- a life devoted to the study of the Dark arts and how to use them against my enemies."
"I will, Your Lordship," Sejanus Sartoris begged. "Within two days!"
And that's another thing," Riddle said, giving the teacher a louring look. "They have taught Snape how to have -- dare I say it --? Fun. When the last great battle comes, 'fun' will do us no good. One does not destroy one's enemies with 'fun'. Do not disappoint me further, Sartoris. You are a hair's breadth from death at this very moment."
The Potions Master prostrated himself before Voldemort and entreated him to spare his life.
"You're cowardly and disgusting, Sartoris," the Dark Lord hissed. "I like that in a servant. Adieu!"
-----------------
Severus had a hard time concealing his grief over the deaths of Aloysius Bede and Sibelius Hammer. Whenever he felt the hot waves of emotion threaten to swamp him and his stern and unwavering appearance, he recited a rhyme his mother had once taught him. She had taught him to sing it, actually – little Severus could sing beautifully and could even play a few musical instruments!
Until, of course, his father came home in a rage and broke the child's lute over his back until it was broken into splinters. The next time Confutatis Maledictis Snape heard his son singing, he threatened to strangle him to death to stop the 'caterwauling' that disturbed his solitude.
Severus was afraid to sing, even now. He simply recited the verse in his head when he needed to distract himself from his true feelings:
"One for sorrow, two for mirth, Three for death, four for birth. Five for silver, six for gold, Seven for a secret, never to be told."
It was especially difficult to keep his solemn mien in front of James and Lily, who usually ended up making the Slytherin boy laugh. They had all met in the library once again at the commencement of their Seventh Year at Hogwarts, already gleeful and thinking up new adventures.
"Never thought I'd make it this far," James sighed.
"Neither did we," Lily said. She and Severus broke into laugher.
"Silence!" cried Madame Pince.
"Sorry, ma'am."
"Hey, listen. Professor Azaki has promised to teach all of us mountain- climbing and will take us up to a local peak!"
"Um, why should I care about that, Snape?"
"Because, um, Potter, if you don't go with Lily and me, you're a yellow- bellied coward."
"Better than being a death-defying dunderhead like SOME people I could mention – "
"HEY," both Sev and Lily replied.
"Silence!" shrieked Madame Pince.
"Sorry, ma'am."
"Bwaak bwaaak bwaaak," Severus clucked. Lily made winglike motions with her arms.
"Shut your heads over there," Sirius Black hissed from three tables over. James popped his head up and turned to give his friend the infamous one- finger salute. He was temporarily disarmed, however, by the spectacle of Sirius Black acting as if he was having a hot and heavy love session with an invisible young lady. James hoped that Lily would not turn around.
"We're to meet with the professor first thing Saturday. No whining out of you, Potter; it isn't even Quidditch season yet. He'll teach us basic mountaineering and even a little rock-climbing." Poor Severus blinked hard. He knew he would be unable to tell the two of them about how Sib and Aloysius had given him lessons. He concentrated hard; "One for sorrow, two for mirth – "
"Thanks so much, Sev, for setting that up. Won't it be fun? Don't worry, James. We won't abandon you on a snow-covered summit, lost and alone!"
Lost and alone. Like his two counselors had been at the end.
Three for death, four for birth –
"I don't get it. If you die climbing a stupid mountain, what do you get once you've done it? There aren't any awards or anything!"
Just like Sib and Aloysius. Nobody gave them any posthumous medals or citations. They were just dead.
Five for silver, six for gold –
"And nobody pays you to do it, either!" James finished, clinching it.
The two young aurors were nearly poverty-stricken at the time of their deaths. Their salaries at St. Mungo's barely covered living expenses. They somehow felt that their jobs carried more worthy compensations.
"Silence!" shrieked Madame Pince. "Mr. Potter, I will toss you out of this library if I see your lips move again!!"
"Sorry, ma'am."
Severus so wanted to tell his friends what he had been through, but he could not.
Seven for a secret, never to be told.
A paper wad hit James in the head. He looked frantically at Madame Pince to see if she had noticed. No, he was still in the clear.
He unwrapped it only to see a crude pencil sketch of a girl with long hair kissing a snake with a big nose.
Grinning now, he crumpled it back up, turned, and pegged Peter Pettigrew with it.
"MR. POTTER! OUT OF THIS LIBRARY RIGHT THIS SECOND! MR. SNAPE! MISS EVANS! OUT OF HERE!"
"Some people just don't have a sense of humor," Lily hissed.
Both boys looked at her, shocked. Then they caught each others' eyes and cracked up.
Sirius and Peter made rude kissing noises as they made their departure.
-----------------
It was a clear and bright Saturday. One couldn't have wished for better weather. The three children and their professor had gone over the various kinds of equipment and the Muggle names for them.
"Wizards and witches also use many of these because of the problems we discussed in class. Such as?"
"Hypoxia."
"Good, Mr. Snape."
"Altitude sickness."
"Right, Mr. Potter.
"Turning into a peanut!"
"More or less, Miss Evans. Excellent. Now, I want you students to imagine you are going on a winter hike. There will be some steep ascents. I then want you to go pick one of the items you would need the most and tell us why it is vital. Mr. Snape?"
Sev stood up, walked over to the pile of equipment hastily put together by Professor Azaki, and picked out a long and heavy coil of rope. "We would want to fix ropes ahead of time for the places we couldn't ascend easily."
"Excellent. Miss Evans?"
She went over and picked up an ice pick. "Not only can you use this to chop hand and foot holds for yourself, but you can also self-arrest with this."
"Tell us what this means, Mr. Snape."
"To self-arrest means to dig your axe into the snow to stop yourself if you start to slide downhill too fast or in the wrong direction."
"Fine. Mr. Potter, kindly make your selection."
"I've got it knocked," James whispered to himself. He ostentatiously removed one of his shoes and fixed it into a metal frame that looked a lot like a shoe sole with teeth. "This is a crampon, which allows you to kick, then step, with the front 'teeth', and to keep from sliding off snow or ice."
"Children, why has Mr. Potter slid down the mountain to his untimely death?"
"Because the stupid git has the crampon on upside down," Snape blurted out. He and Lily laughed and pointed while James tried to bluster his way out of it.
"Next Saturday – and, Mr. Potter, don't fear, Quidditch tryouts aren't for another week – we shall meet here and fly to the base of Mt. Muldoon. It's not a very technical climb. It's low enough to keep you from getting sick at altitude, yet enough of an angle of ascent to give those young muscles a good workout. I will see you then."
Lily and Severus excitedly talked about their plans right before Potions class began on Monday morning. Neither noticed that their professor was taking a keener interest in their discussion than most of those around them.
--------------
Sev spent much of his free time in the Headmaster's office, where it was safe to cry and to talk about his two auror friends.
Dumbledore laid a saucer with three pieces of divinity on it before the grieving boy. "Here, Severus. This will taste good with your tea. Go on ahead; I'll be busy enjoying my lemon crumble square."
Sev's head still hung low. He wiped his streaming eyes. "How is Shonsey doing?"
"She's a mess over it," Albus said. "Of course, she would be the most badly affected among the three of us. Of course, Malfoy denied any knowledge and refused to let aurors into his home to conduct his search – as was in fact his right. A man's home is his castle – even if there are dark doings conducted there. Most frustrating, my boy."
"So they died for nothing," Sev snuffled.
"No, child. They died for the side of the Light. During various times in Wizarding and Muggle history, an evil one – a pretender – attempts to seize power, killing and torturing those who disagree. Those of us on the side of the Light do whatever we can to stop them. Your information was vital to our collective knowledge, Severus. Please know that they did not die in vain, and you did not suffer their loss in vain."
"I never want to go to the Restricted Section or Malfoy Manor again," Severus sobbed, his divinity and tea untouched.
"But you must," Dumbledore said.
"What? Why?" Sev asked, incredulous.
"Because you must act as if nothing has changed. Changing one's activities can tell an enemy as much as words can. You don't wish to do that."
Severus gazed into the Headmaster's blue eyes. "All right," the boy said. "I will act as if nothing happened. Although it's – just – so – hard – "
Albus came over and pulled him into a hug. "You're doing fine, Severus. I'm proud of you no matter if you follow my advice or not."
The old wizard's hand began to inch toward the saucer holding the fudge.
Severus yelled, "AHA! OFF MY FUDGE!" and both laughed.
"Eat it before I do, son," Dumbledore said. "It's good to laugh a little, isn't it?"
Sev nodded.
"Well, backs to my duties and off you go to Transfiguration. Give my regards to Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you for letting me come," the Slytherin child said.
"Why wouldn't I? You're family, after all."
------------
At precisely nine o'clock the following Saturday morning, one professor and three students flew their broomsticks to nearby Mt. Muldoon, roughly seven thousand feet from its base to its summit. Each student showed Professor Azaki what he or she had packed.
"Remember – don't carry even so much as one extra ounce," their teacher and guide repeated. "It will begin to feel mighty heavy once you've hiked up a couple thousand feet. Mr. Snape, I think you've carried two of everything. Why not go through your backpack and see if there's anything you can cull?"
Lily got a nod of approval from the half-Norwegian, half-Japanese wizard. But James did not.
"Mr. Potter! One would think we were going to climb Cotopaxi, the way you've packed! Start culling, my young friend."
In ten minutes, the students all stood. Their teacher pointed toward the summit.
"Let's roll," he said.
----------