A/N: Hey, I haven't read book 6 yet but I know that this fic just became AU. I've already guessed that Hermione would end up with Ron and Harry with Ginny even before book 6 came but I just feel like making a different pairing so please don't hold the Harry/Herm pairing against me.
By the way, does anyone know why nedvedisno1 is missing from If you know what site he's in now or what nick he's using, please let me know. Thank you for those who reviewed and I apologize if I can't respond to them yet... maybe later when I can use the computer for a longer time...
Thanks again and happy reading ;-)
Chapter 22 - Dumbledore's Gamble
Matt was idly leafing through the Marauder's Journal as he made himself comfortable in front of the fireplace. Eversince their arrival at Slytherin's Haven, he had done nothing but stare in puzzlement at the journal. He and his friends had already finished reading all the entries and he couldn't quite accept that those adolescent idiosyncratic rantings were the ones they had risked their lives for. It was just simply... unacceptable... Why would the 'enlightened marauder' go to so much trouble to give them the journal?
Admittedly, it was full of crap and the betting part about their mothers was really cruel... but they were mere teenagers then... and teenagers often make stupid and impulsive decisions. Surely there must be something more ... something that all of them had missed before --- a hidden message perhaps... How he wished Billy had already finished brewing the antidote for Chuck's wound - he really needed their input now.
He pondered some more then with a sudden stroke of brilliance, he pointed his wand at it and whispered "Revelo!" To his dismay, the pages shimmered for a moment before everything went blank. And nothing he did could undo what he had done.
'Great...all for nothing. How will I explain this to the others?' he muttered angrily to himself and almost threw the journal to the roaring inferno but something held him back. Instead, he stared at their green-eyed companion who seemed to be suffering from the after-shock of their meeting with the founder. Harry was confused, depressed and anxious about all his friends at school and there they all were, just whiling away the time at Slytherin's Haven until the ghost could gather enough information. Matt knew that it was only a matter of time before Harry explodes. What he didn't know was that they were very fortunate that Harry had learned to control his emotions a little or he would have burnt the Haven by then.
"What?" snapped Harry, taking Matt by surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you staring at me?" replied Harry in annoyance.
"Oh, that... nothing... just thinking." Matt replied carefully. He knew better than to get into a pointless fight with a confused person. "Just wondering actually at what seems to be so fascinating about that piece of parchment. You've been staring at it nonstop since we've arrived here so what's the deal?"
Harry scowled at that. "I charmed this parchment so my friends could communicate with me in secret but they aren't using it."
"Have you explained to them how it worked?" asked Matt cautiously.
If anything, Harry scowled even more. "Well, no, I forgot but Hermione should be able to figure it out." he said sourly, berating himself for his own foolishness.
"Why don't you send them a message then and explain?"
"I can't. What if their captors has it? No, they had to send a message first." he replied with a snarl and went back to his pointless brooding. Then, on second thought, he turned once more to Matt. "Can you please explain to me again why we are sitting here, doing nothing, while Hogwarts was under siege?"
Matt eyed him coolly but replied with all the patience that he could muster. "As we've all witnessed, Hogwarts is hardly under siege. It is not in immediate danger right now. We cannot rescue anybody without knowing the extent of the situation. And obviously, since Billy's still brewing the antidote and Chuck's still unconscious, the two of us can't just barge in and say 'boo! you're surrounded, surrender or else...' We need to be realistic and systematic in our approach. We're not invincible, you know."
"Really? The way some people are acting, one would think that that's the case." commented Harry sarcastically which Matt just promptly ignored as two figures appeared in front of them.
One of the figures was wearing a black cloak and a white mask concealed his face. Matt hastily stunned that one. The other figure was transparent, floating and was currently donning a typical smug expression. Clearly, Salazar was pleased with his capture and whatever information he had gathered.
"You may rest assured now. For some reason, the fraudulent creature is being easy on Hogwarts. Aside from locking up the staff, everyone appears to be safe and normal. Classes are still being held as usual. However, it's strange that no house has the same classes as the others and some of the subjects are simply ridiculous -- imagine 'Household Management' and 'Recreational Arts' for Gryffindor? -- It's like they're being trained to replace the house-elves."
"Hmm... that's alarming news. Students can't meet with those from other houses and the subjects aims to restrain their magical capabilities." Harry muttered to himself but clearly heard by the others. "So who's that clown?" He asked with contempt as he magically bound their unknown guest for security purposes. Salazar may be adept at transporting people but he couldn't perform spells anymore, especially offensive ones. "Does he know anything?"
"But of course! What do you take me for? It appeared that this 'clown' is one of the inner circle of that fraudulent creature so I brought him here for questioning." replied Salazar indignantly.
At that moment, an exhausted and highly temperamental Billy joined them followed by Chuck who was still weak even after he was given the antidote. Billy narrowed his eyes immediately as he noticed their 'guest' and before anyone could do anything, he extended one hand and transformed the 'guest' into a small tree except for the head part.
"WHOA! Good going, mate. You never got that one right before." commented Matt to lighten the situation.
Billy nodded distractedly as he strode in to remove the white mask from the guest's face. "Yeah, must be the fumes..." Then all of them froze as they identified their surprise guest.
"PROFESSOR SNAPE?" They all exclaimed in unison.
"Do you know this idiot?" Even Salazar was surprised by their outburst.
They all nodded in a daze and Billy quickly returned his uncle to his original state.
"He's the Potions Master at Hogwarts. Don't worry, he's a spy for the light side." stated Harry hastily as he ennervated the man.
The severely scary Severus Snape, Potions Masters of Hogwarts, rubbed his head and glared menacingly at his 'hosts'. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? I SHOULD BE THERE TO ENSURE THAT THE DARK LORD'S MINIONS DON'T STEP OUT OF LINE? HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW TAXING IT IS, NOT TO MENTION DANGEROUS, TO STOP THEM FROM DOING UNSAVORY THINGS TO THE STUDENTS ESPECIALLY THE FEMALE ONES?"
The others slightly cringed at his insinuation but they did not acknowledge his outburst.
"Do you know why Voldemort was going easy on Hogwarts?" asked Salazar with only a slight hint of curiosity.
"Yes, I do." came the curt reply from the Potions Matter as if he was almost dreading the reason behind. Then his eyes widened as he recognized the ghost hovering before him. A flicker of fear crossed his face but upon recognizing that he was not in danger, he visibly relaxed.
"And?" prompted Harry, slightly amused by the professor's temporary loss of composure.
For the first time, Harry witnessed the sharp-tongued professor almost speechless but not quite.
"For some unfathomable reason, the Dark Lord was obsessed with recruiting the four of you so the Headmaster made a proposition to ensure the safety of Hogwarts. He issued a challenge -- SSPEW versus Hogwarts in a no holds barred battle of skills. The four of you against any four from SSPEW to be handpicked by the dark lord on the day itself..."
"What are the stakes then?" asked Billy with an aura of doom.
Snape gave the four of them a calculated look before he replied cautiously. "Should you win, the intruders, including the Dark Lord, would leave Hogwarts alone..." he paused as if waiting for an explosion. When nothing came, he continued his report.
"...should you be defeated, Dumbledore would personally convince you to join the Dark Lord... but until then..." Snape was unable to finish his sentence as the dreaded explosion came.
"IS DUMBLEDORE MAD? WHY THE HELL WOULD HE MAKE AN AGREEMENT WITH SOME BLOODY DARK LORD!" roared Harry with little balls of fire literally leaping from his fingertips.
The younger three winced at the uncontrolled burst of power emanating from Harry but Salazar remained nonplussed. In fact, he seemed quite pleased about it.
"IS HE SO BLOODY INSANE TO KNOW THAT VOLDEMORT WOULD NEVER HONOR THEIR DEAL? MY GOD! HOW COULD THE HEADMASTER BE SO NAIVE!"
"Face it, Harry. Hogwarts is not ready for an attack of that magnitude. He played his cards that way in order to save the school. Let's just hope that he still has some aces up his sleeve..." stated Snape in an even tone.
"... or else we will be the ones to suffer... manipulative old coot!" replied Harry angrily. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore would put everybody's lives at stake with a gamble. And come to think of it, it was not even a game of chance because they had no chance of winning the face-off at all. SSPEW would definitely emerge victorious due to their experience and training. It was a situation with nothing to gain and everything to lose... Dumbledore was too naive if he really believed that Voldemort would leave Hogwarts just because they had an 'agreement'. Dumbledore may be honorable but Voldemort certainly did not reach the Dark Lord status by being one.
"You're all skilled in dueling and have sufficient elemental capabilities. What are you afraid of? Have you so little confidence in yourselves?" asked Snape with a well-placed sneer meant to challenge the four.
"Of course we do, but have you seen the SSPEW students fight? Especially the older ones?" commented Billy. Snape shook his head in reply. "No? Then observe them well and perhaps you'll understand our hesitation."
"Maybe... it would be easier if you have succeeded in retrieving the beacon but I reckon you did not since you're so nervous about the face-off..."
Harry signaled the others not to say anything. He was not yet ready to reveal that he was Salarar's true heir. He, himself, had not even recovered yet but Salazar had a different idea.
"My heir has the beacon. It just needs to be activated." commented Salazar, his expression hard to read. "... unfortunately, things are not as simple as it was before..."
"What do you mean?" asked Chuck in confusion. In all honesty, they had forgotten about that. "I thought you could just activate it, being its creator and all."
Salazar paced the room in contemplation. "Yes, yes, I know but that creature had decades to think about it. I had to admit that he is indeed very clever and resourceful. Though he failed to procure the beacon, he had discovered a way to make it difficult for me to pass it on to my true heir. Whereas before I could just do it whenever and wherever I please, now I need someone from the Slytherin house to serve as conduit."
"What must the conduit be like?" asked Harry.
"First of all, the conduit's blood must be pure; the purer, the better. Secondly, he must be loyal to the true heir and thirdly, he must be untainted with the mark of the charlatan."
Snape looked bewildered. From what he could gather, Voldemort was an imposter, so who's the true heir? But before he could ask anything, Salazar silenced him with the 'look'. "Though these young men seem to trust you, you are still tainted. It's dangerous for you to know who the true heir is. That is a highly classified information."
Snape nodded in agreement.
"So, does Draco bear the Dark Mark now?" asked Harry nonchalantly, as if it had no bearing to their discussion.
Snape eyed Harry curiously, a suspicion beginning to form on his head. He's not a spy for nothing. "No, Draco is still untainted."
The others sighed with relief. Not everything was lost yet.
Snape smirked at his discovery and reverted to their earlier discussion. "So, I believe you still have three days to decide. Are you going to do it?" When the others did not reply immediately, he tried a different approach. "Think of it this way...would you rather all the Hogwarts students and professor be the ones to suffer?" The moment he uttered those words, he knew it was not the right thing to say.
Harry glared at him. "Don't even begin to give me that load of crap. I already have enough guilt trips to last a life time... One more might just make me immune to its effects... Well, that's a good thing for me but maybe not for the rest of the wizarding world if the prophecy is true."
Something clicked in Snape's head as Harry mentioned the word prophecy. "So, I guess you remember everything now." He paused briefly as if trying to recall something important. "Funny, the 'enlightened marauder' mentioned something strange to me regarding that prophecy. He asked me to tell you that the 'Marauder's code' is the key."
"The key to what?" asked Matt curiously.
Snape eyed him as if he was being stupid. "How should I know? I'm not a marauder and from the way Pettigrew said it, he's confident that you, or at least one of you, knew what he meant."
Matt thought for a minute then summoned the blank journal. He was not sure but he had a feeling that the code was meant for it. After all, it was the only thing that came from the 'enlightened marauder'. He shared his suspicion with the others and they all agreed. "The only problem now is we don't know the Marauder's code."
At that, Harry thought of the Marauder's Map and hoped that the code was the same. He tentatively stepped forward and pointed his wand at the journal. "Maybe I do. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." he whispered and everyone watched as the journal shimmered in diverse colors before settling for gold. When they opened it, the pages were not blank anymore but the adolescent rantings were gone. What they found instead were pages hastily written by a single person and on the first page, written in blood, were the words --
In the name of the Marauders, whose friendship I cherished, whose trust I betrayed, I solemnly swear to atone for my transgressions by protecting and assisting their descendants in whatever way I can ... should I succeed, may the descendants find it in their hearts to forgive me, the Marauder who strayed from the path of the light ...and should I fail, claim my life instead...
... May this humble journal aid the descendants in their quest to emancipate the wizarding world from the tyrant who had done nothing but continually destroy every good thing that the magical world has built...
...May this humble journal be the first step to my redemtion...
'The Enlightened Marauder'