Severus Snape left the Slytherin common room with a sneer on his face. 'That was a nightmare,' he thought. 'Far too many of them are following the path of their parents. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle certainly want to follow in their fathers' footsteps, Nott and several others too.' Moments later there was a sharp burst of pain from his left forearm. 'The Dark Lord is summoning me. I must go.'

Snape left the school as quickly as he could so that he could get outside the reach of the anti-apparition wards. The look on his face ensured that everybody avoided him. Half an hour later, Snape was in the presence of his former master. Voldemort was in a large hall sitting on a throne that faced away from Snape, while on one side was Nagini and on the other Wormtail. 'That rat,' Severus thought. 'He is never far from his master's side. Likely he knows what even his fellow Death Eaters think of him.'

"My Lord," he called out to Voldemort. "Why have you summoned me?"

"You are still loyal to me, Severus?" Voldemort's cold voice responded. "You still serve me over all others?"

"Of course, my Lord. I would never desert you."

"Then would you care to prove your loyalty, Severus?" Voldemort asked, a cold smile on his face.

"As you wish, master. How do you wish me to prove myself?"

"We have managed to secure custody of several Muggles. Dispose of them for me."

"Of course, my Lord. Where are they?"

"Lucius, bring in the Muggles." At Voldemort's command, Lucius Malfoy entered the room with four Muggles being dragged behind him, three adults, one man and two women, and a teenager. To his shock, Snape realised that he knew who they were. One of them looked like an older Hermione, while the teenager and the other woman were recognizable from Hagrid's tales of when he went to get Harry from his Muggle relatives.

"You want me to kill them?" Snape asked.

"That would be advisable, Severus," Voldemort said. "Unless, that is, you want me to believe I can't trust you anymore."

Snape tried his hardest to keep calm, trying not to give anything away to Voldemort, all the while trying to come up with a way to salvage the situation. 'I can't kill them,' Snape thought. 'Granger would never forgive me if I killed her parents and killing Potter's aunt and cousin would possibly please him.'

"Shall we stop pretending, Severus?" Voldemort asked. "I know you are no longer my servant. You now serve that Mugglelover Dumbledore."

"You are mistaken, my Lord," Snape said. "I serve you and only you." Inside, however, Snape was near panic. He knew what Voldemort might decide to do if he believed Snape no longer served him.

"I have my sources, Severus," Voldemort hissed. "You have recently returned to Hogwarts and now Dumbledore knows my plans. You are the only one of my Death Eaters who could have told him. I have never fully trusted you since you did not rejoin me the instant I returned, even more so since you tried to prevent my tool Quirrell from getting the Philosopher's Stone, so you were never in a position to fully betray me until it no longer mattered. I want Dumbledore to know we are coming. I want him and his followers to know fear. But now, Severus, I must punish you. The Muggles too." As he said this, previously concealed Death Eaters emerged and surrounded them, wands at the ready. Voldemort smiled cruelly, then gave a signal. In response to his gesture, the Death Eaters as one cried out "Crucio", and the Cruciatus curse was directed against Snape and the Muggles. Within seconds they were jerking in extreme agony as the curse took effect. Voldemort signalled his Death Eaters again, and they released their victims. He nodded again and they reapplied the curse, and then released it after a minute. They continued this pattern for nearly half an hour before Voldemort was satisfied. Finally he ordered the Death Eaters to leave him alone with the prisoners. "Go back to Dumbledore and tell him we are coming. We will be there very soon. And as a gift, I am going to let my old teacher have you intact. These Muggles can go with you." The last thing that Snape heard was his former master whispering "Crucio", then he lost consciousness.