Chapter 12

Raven stared helplessly into the room, pressing herself against the cold glass in front of her. She could not believe what she was seeing. She had flown all day, had barely rested and was still too late. Why had she not arrived sooner? The wards around Hogwarts had confused her for some time, had made it difficult for her to enter the school. And now?

Now she was just in time to see him arrested. He looked so bitter, so disappointed. And so determined not to let it show. She blinked rapidly a few times as the bulky man informed Severus that he would be going on Askaban. She did not know much about Askaban, but what she had heard had not been good. Was this the danger she had sensed? Was she supposed to safe him from prison? She watched silently as they led him out of the room, determined to follow them. She had to get her little one back. Even if he was already lost to darkness.

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Harry sat cross-legged on his bed, the dark-red curtains pulled together to shield him from the rest of the room. He needed to concentrate, to clear his mind.

Snape had attacked his mind viciously most of their lesson but at least he had explained some basic blocking before that. Harry's lips twitched briefly. Or at least Snape had barked out some orders that could have explained blocking, if any other teacher had been in his stead.

Sighing he forced himself to calm down, to think of nothing and yet everything at once. There was only one thing that still bothered him. He had really tried to shield his mind, had put every effort into blocking Snape and instead had ended up in the other's mind. What if he tried to protect his thoughts from Voldemort and instead ended up in his thoughts, ended up trapped in the mind of a dark lord? Would he be able to free himself again or would he have to wait till Voldemort saw fit to throw him out?

"I am calm and collected," he whispered, slowly folding his hands in his lap. "I will remain calm."

Sighing again he once more he laid down, willing himself to sleep. He had to get some rest or Hermione and Ron would soon start pestering him in earnest.

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"Oh no..." Harry immediately reached for his wand, as he opened his eyes. He was once more in the strange place he had been dreaming of for quite some time now. A relieved sigh escaped him, as his hand encountered solid wood. This time he had his wand with him. Shakily he climbed to his feet, looking around the desolate plain. The bird was nowhere in sight. Where was the raven? Hadn't she said that this was his dream and that she was supposed to be in it? Why wasn't she here then?

"I see you have been missing me." Laughter coloured the bird's voice as she swooped down at Harry, landing on his shoulder. "Why have you come to me again?"

"I did not come to you," Harry protested weakly, squinting awkwardly at the raven. Claws were pressing uncomfortably into his bare skin.

"No?" The bird seemed unpepertubed. "Then why am I in your dream?"

"I don't know..." Harry whispered, wondering why his scar didn't hurt this time. "Does Voldemort know that I am here with you?"

The bird shook its head in an uncomfortably human fashion. "No, not tonight. Do you want him to know?"

"No!" Black dust swirled around Harry's feet as he started pacing over the stony sand. "Why do I keep dreaming of you?"

"Maybe because you need someone to talk to?" the bird suggested, cocking its head. "I am willing to listen."

"You have not even told me your name. And why should I need someone to talk to?"

"You already know who I am," the bird pointed out. "Do you have anone else to talk to? Have you told your friends about the prophecy?"

Immediately Harry's head shot up. "What do you know of the prophecy? I never told you!"

"You did not have to. I know everything that concerns me."

Harry's chuckle was an alien sound in the deserted plain, making him shiver uncomfortably. "Snape would call that preposterous."

"Your teacher is not of concern to me, boy." the bird nipped his ear. "He will not succeed in stopping me."

"So he is trying to stop you?"

"Of course he is. But I already told you that's of no consequence."

"You are Raven." Harry said suddenly, changing the topic. "But you did not say that you would support me."

"I would prefer to be called Morrigan," the bird cocked its head again. "The raven is but one shape I take. I have never supported anyone, who did not support me," she added after a while. "Why should I support you?"

"How could I support you?" Harry laughed bitterly. "I am just the-boy-who-lived-to-be-pushed-around-and-told-nothing."

"I see. And you friends? What do they say? Do they push you around?"

"My friends?" Harry frowned. "No, I don't think so. But they don't really know me, don't know much about the prophecy. No," he shook his head again, "They don't know enough to help me."

Harry jumped, as wings suddenly flapped right beside his ear. The bird flew a circle above his head, finally landing on of the dead bushes and staring up intently at him.

"I could help you," Morrigan said quietly. "There are many things I can teach you, things that could help you defeat this Voldemort."

"Really?" Harry frowned again. "How?"

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"What are his next plans?" the one with the cold voice repeated, aiming another blow at his stomach. Severus groaned, tasting the coppery tang of blood on his lips.

"I don't know." He barely managed to get the words out before another blow hit him.

"This is your last warning, death eater," this time it was the one with the missing eye. "We don't like repeating ourselves. What are his plans?"

"I don't-" this time he did not even get to finish his sentence before they hit him again. The guards had been interrogating him for hours now, but luckily all of them lacked Voldemort's finesse when it came to extracting answers from unwilling prisoners.

"This is useless," the first one said again, spewing at the ground. "We should just kill the bastard and be done with it."

"We can't kill a prisoner," missing eye interjected.

"He's not officially here," the first one insisted. "We can always claim that he managed to flee somewhere along the way."

"No," it was the first time that the third man spoke. Severus shuddered. He knew that voice. "He'll go to Askaban anyway, let them give him the kiss."

The door to his cell creaked. As the key turned Severus dared open his eyes again, glaring balefully at the three guards. They had put him in something which looked a lot like a muggle prison but was obviously run by wizards. Why? They could have brought him to the holding cells at the ministry or to Askaban straight away.

"I still wish we could have killed that swine..." the voice of the first guard disappeared down the corridor.

Severus narrowed his eyes dangerously. He would remember that man. He sighed, finally deciding to get off the floor. His left knee hurt with every step upon the cold concrete as he stumbled to what was probably supposed to be a bed. They had not even let him sleep after his arrest. His cell had no windows, but he could see that the unnatural electric light in the building was slowly being replaced by diffuse sunlight. He had to get some rest before his trial. If there was to be a trial. And when he was out of here, he would make sure that his so-called guards were taken care of.

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"He's not here," Harry whispered with another hidden glance at the head table. "I wonder where he has disappeared to this time."

"I'm sure he has his reasons, Harry," Hermione rolled his eyey at her friend over the rim of her glass. "Maybe Dumbledore sent him on an errand."

"There has to be more to it," Harry stared listlessly at his bread, trying to evade McGonagalls's interested glare. "He did'nt show up on the map today. Don't you think it strange?"

Ron's loud yaw brought McGonagall's stare back to their end of the table, but a kick under the table from Hermione quickly solved the problem.

"What?" Hermione frowned. "That Dumbledore still trusts Snape?"

"No," Harry shook his head, frowning at his plate now. "That our teachers keep disappearing. Trelawney's still gone and now Snape has disappeared as well."

"Maybe they've eloped and have run off into their honeymoon." Ron suggested, briefly lifting his head from the table. "Dammit," he yawned again. "I'm so fucking tired."

"Ron!" Hermione's eyes were incredibly white and her face almost as red as Ron's hair. "That's... just awful!"

"Disgusting more like it," Harry snorted, grabbing the jug of pumpkin juice from Hermione. "Who'd be willing to marry Snape?"

"Trelawney might just be crazy enough," Hermione smiled reassuringly at the still sleepy Neville, who had paled considerably at the mentioning of Snape's name.

"I don't want to think about Snape marrying anyone or going on a honeymoon or anything with anyone," Harry shuddered visibly. "They'd have to have sex."

"Snape and Trelawney sex?" Ron squeaked, suddenly wide awake as his skin colour approached green. He groaned. "Please don't do this to me this early in the morning."

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A grim smile was playing across her lips, as she gave the castle of Hogwarts a last glance. The mortal fools had taken the dark-haired teacher captive, had imprisoned the only one, who dared to openly oppose her. A pity. With a last shake of her head she changed back into her raven form, diving from the arch of the stone-wrought gate. Playing the man had been un, especially since he thought himsel bound to protect the boy - Harry, she corrected herself - but she could not take the risk of the teacher telling the mortal wizards what he knew. She had to do something. And she knew just who to employ to solve this problem.

The crisp morning wind roared past her ears, tugging and twirling at her feathers, which were shimmering mutedly in the morning light. She wanted to sigh. Flying had always been her only true freedom and it was a beautiful day for it. Her wings were flapping faster and faster, almost frantically now, as she dove down into the forbidden forest, evading branches and the nets of Aragog's children as she went.

She was not ready yet to leave this world and move on and thus made sure that everyone, who dared to challenge her, did not live to tell the tale. Severus Snape had to die.

The Morrigan continued deeper into the forest. The emerald leaves above her had long turned into a dark green roof, that was almost black. This was the part of the forest where light was scarce, no matter how much the sun shone down upon it. Ir was certainly a fitting place or condemning someone to death.

Birds, beetles and small animals fled from the clearing as she swooped down, already turning back into her human fom before her claws eached the still dew-soaked forest soil. Mist closed in on her, swallowing her shifting silhouette before quickly fading again. The unnatural grey vapour seemed to run down her cloak in small rivulets and finally disappeared into the damp earth. As the mist had vanished only the still figure of a tall, dark woman remained.

Her skin was white and clear, framed by waist-long black hair that curled around her shoulders. Her dark-brown eyes scrutinzed her surroundings impassionately.

The moss-green dress only emphasized her pale complexion. She did not look dark, but she seemed it. The very air around her seemed to reek of darkness and despair. The oddly sharp angle of her teeth caught one of the few light beams as she raised her arms to the sky, threw back her head with rauceous laughter and began to sing.

The ancient flow of a guttural yet melodic song broke from her lips, seemed to hover around her as the magic gathered in the clearing. The air around her seemed to be filled with some sort of static, with the tingling feeling one gets before being hit by a bolt of lightning.

After what seemed like an eternity the song finally ended, leaving only an empty silence in its wake. It was now even darker in the clearing, if that was at all possible. Morrigan inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of the forest and the magic around her before she finally finished the chant in her head.

"Guards of Askaban!" her voice boomed out, scaring even the last animals, who had been foolish enough to stay, away. "I command you, come to me!"

Leaves were torn from their boughs as the wind picked up strength, danced around the Morrigan's outstretched arms with an enraged, long-winded howl.

"To me I said!" Voice and wind were evenly matched now. "Hear me and obey!"

The wind vanished as suddenly as it had come. Not a sound was to be heard, even the Morrigan's laboured breathing was soundless. A soft breeze ghosted over the clearing, briefly rustling the remaining leaves in a faint memory of a previous storm. She grinned at the now motionless trees, silently daring the world to challenge her. She knew that they would come. It was good to finally get where she wanted to be.

Leaves rustled quietly a sickening crack echoed over the clearing. Seven hooded figures, clad in tattered black robes apperated into the deserted wood. She had known that only the most important of them would came and she had been right.

"Welcome," the Morrigan's brown eyes surveyed the dementord approaching her. "You all kow who I am," she continued, not even trying to make her smile pleasant. "And you also know what I am known for. How long will you survive after the light has won the war? After all dark wizards have been taken prisoner? What do you think will the so-called light wizards do when your hunger overwhelms you?"

The blackness within the hoods shifted. She had their attention. The Morrigan could feel that they knew that she was speaking the truth, but she also sensed that they were not willing to trust her. Sighing inwardly she addressed the dementors once more.

"Yes, I know what mortals say about me, and you all know that I am said to poison the minds of others with the truth and then twist them fit my own plans, but I promise you that this is not the case now." She looked at the seven dementors, letting her gaze linger on each of them till they looked away. "I merely believe that we have a common interest and am willing to support you, should you decide to do me a favour." She paused again. "You know that I am known for always speaking the truth."

The biggest dementor cocked its head, took a step forward and nodded at her. His skeletal white hand crawled out of his robes to break a nearby twig.

The Morrigan grinned. "I knew that we find a way." She nodded at the other five dementors. "Askaban will soon get another inmate, a man called Severus Snape. All I ask from you in return for my support is that you give him the kiss as soon as he arrives. Even if the minister does not order it."

With another nod and another thunderous cracking the dementors were gone, leaving only the Morrigan in the clearing. Her smile was already victorious. Soon the only one who could have challenged her in earnest would be out of the way.