Chapter 20: Traitors' Tales
They ran into the edge of the still-raging battle rather suddenly. A small pocket of seventh-year Ravenclaws was battling four death eaters. Anthony immediately rushed forward to assist his housemates, Hermione following behind. Then all of a sudden there was a whoop of a rocket whizzing overhead that crashed into the death eaters in a dazzling array of colourful sparkles. In the death eaters' place was a pile of flopping fish which jumped around gasping for water.
"We really are brilliant."
"Aren't we though?" the Weasley twins joked from either side of the man currently holding the rockets launcher with wide awestruck eyes.
"These things are charmed to induce Human transfiguration? How did you manage that?!" Percy cried in awe.
"Sheer blood talent." the twins responded with matching grins.
"Percy?" Ron squeaked. The older man blinked.
"Ronnie!" he cried in shock. "What are you doing here?!"
"What are you doing here?!" Ron counter questioned. "I thought you were Mr. big shot ministry operator!" Percy blushed to his ears while Fred and George each propped an elbow on the man's shoulders.
"Perce finally got his head."
"Surgically removed from his own arse."
"And saw the light,"
"As it were."
"Mum was beside herself."
"Dad too!"
"It was revolting." the pair finished in unison. Percy smacked both of them upside the head and they let out identical yelps of pain. Ron took a few steps toward his older brother. The twins stepped away. Harry held his breath. He couldn't quite tell if Ron was going to hex his brother or punch him. In the end, he did neither. He just buried his face in Percy's chest and gave him a tight hug. Percy rose a hand and ruffled his hair with a grin.
"I missed you too Ronnie… sorry I was such as arse to you during your interview." Ron blinked and looked up at him in shock.
"You knew?!" he cried in shock
"Course I knew it was you!" Percy scoffed. "Name anyone else who blushes like a younger Weasley man, and only comes in one!"
"Oi!" The twins cried in irritation.
"Oh shush!" Percy complained. "Honestly, how did you get more annoying?"
"Well, you weren't there,"
"As a guiding, stabilizing influence." the left finished with mock teary eyes.
"You two are gonna guilt trip me until the end of time aren't you," Percy muttered in exasperation.
"Yep." the right asserted.
"Do you know us at all?" the left countered, but his grin was still beaming. Percy sighed and reloaded the launcher with another 'Weasley's Magical Menagerie Rocket'.
"Enough dallying." he cried before a small smile came to his face. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run and use magic in the halls in front of me and not lose any points." then he walked ahead, chuckling as the Ravenclaws snickered and charged ahead, gleefully appreciating Percy's joke.
"Bloody hell!" Fred cried in horror. "George! George did you hear him!"
"I did! He made a joke!" George cried with a hand on his heart. "Bloody hell Percy you haven't made a joke since we were in our first year!"
"Yes I have!" Percy countered with an angry scowl. Harry smiled as he walked along beside the group. It was so surreal. Suddenly he was in first year again. Listening to Percy bickering with Fred and George, who were expertly dodging his criticism with humour, while Ron sputtered behind them. Even Hermione was biting her lip. Then out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw a shadow. For a split second, he was about to warn the trio that Snape was coming.
Then the spell whizzed past his ear.
Draco and Anthony dispatched of the death eaters with a few well-placed spells before turning back with identically looks of shock and horror.
Harry for his part was momentarily stunned. He'd heard the sound before he turned to see who it had hit.
He knew the sound well.
He used that same spell on Draco after all. He turned in slow motion and choked on his breath.
Percy.
Fred was holding him, cheek slashed, but otherwise unharmed.
"F-reddie." Percy gurgled out with a wheeze, lifting one bloody hand to George's cheek, who was leaning over him with horror. "Iss Fre-ddie okay?" Fred couldn't speak. He just nodded his head through his sobs.
"Yeah Perce he's okay." George choked. The mutilated man let out a gurgled sigh of utter relief before his hand fell and his eyes grew lifeless. Harry stared in shock, feeling so utterly hollow inside that he wasn't sure if he was even alive anymore. Ron let out a wail beside him, dropping to his knees and clutching Percy's tater jacket to his face. Hermione had her face buried in Anthony's chest, shaking with grief.
It was too much.
Too sudden.
So Harry turned and walked away. He continued in the direction he was going before. Numbly walking towards the one thing that might end this. He was vaguely aware of a few death eaters trying to attack him. He wasn't sure what he did to them. It seemed bloody. But if it was anger that pushed him to those extremes it was an anger he wasn't feeling. His body was just a shell, drifting through the castle towards inevitability. Then suddenly a sound punched through the fog.
"HARRY!" someone screamed. And suddenly he was tackled to the ground by a pair of strong arms. His first instinct was to flinch and cover his face. He was dragged to his feet and the hands shook him slightly. "The bloody hell do you think you were doing?! Didn't you hear me calling you!?" It was Sirius, looking panicked and periodically glancing from behind their cover for danger.
"Percy." Harry croaked. And suddenly all the pain he'd been pushing away came in a flash. "They killed Percy!" He sobbed before burying his face in Sirius's chest and loudly wailing. Sirius went ashen and was stunned for a moment before wrapping Harry up into his arms. Harry sobbed into him for about a minute before he suddenly pulled away and continued in the direction he'd been mindlessly stumbling, this time with rage simmering.
"Harry!" Sirius called after him, stumbling over piles of debris "Harry where are you going?!"
"I'm gonna go kill Voldemort." Harry snarled. Sirius paled and quickly rushed ahead of his godson with panic in his eyes.
"Harry! Listen to me! I know you're hurt and angry right now, but you can't just walk up to Voldemort! That's suicide! We haven't even-" he cut himself off as a ground of death eaters turned a corner. Harry whirled around and joined his uncle in dispatching them. The way he did it made Sirius a little sick to his stomach. He was pretty sure Harry had nearly sliced one of them in half. Once they were gone Harry turned back towards the hall leading to the boathouse. Sirius growled and rush ahead of him again. "Harry you-" but then he faltered. Harry was giving a glare that left him somewhat stunned in his tracks. Then he let out a huff. "Has anyone ever told you how much you look like your mum?" Harry blinked.
"Wot?" He asked in confusion.
"Only when you're angry beyond all reason." Sirius conceded with a shrug, "but bloody hell is the resemblance uncanny. Creepy even."
"I… no… no one has ever said that," Harry admitted. Sirius's sudden declaration knocked a lot of the rage out of him. He just stood in the hall as the battle raged on, the sounds of screams and explosions cacophonous and horrible.
"Listen." Sirius began, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know I won't be able to convince you not to go down there. But we're not ready to face him yet. We can still go. But for reconnaissance." Sirius instructed firmly. "And before you say you can make it one your own, I fully believe you can, but I don't trust you to keep a level head once you're down there." He grabbed Harry's other shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "This isn't a suicide mission." Harry nodded. "Say it back."
"Thai isn't a suicide mission." Harry parrotted with a slight huff.
"Let's go then." He agreed before he led the way towards the boathouse beyond.
Harry crouched and followed Sirius as he crept down the stairs. As they drew closer to the building they could hear muffled voices talking within. Harry thought recognized one. Then suddenly Sirius passed him a Weasley extendable ear. His heart lurched and all of sudden he was staring into Percy's lifeless eyes again. But he brought the tube to his ear nonetheless.
"Where is Severus, Jugson?" Voldemort hissed coldly. There was a shuffling of feet.
"He's on his way, my lord."
"Indeed," Voldemort remarked. Suddenly a hiss sounded. Harry looked at Sirius with wide eyes. The snake! She really was here with him! There suddenly the sound of fluttering robes.
"You called for me my lord?" The voice of Severus Snape drawled.
"Leave us," Voldemort commanded. The other death eater shuffled out again and left the boathouse with a snap. "Come Severus. Join me." Harry closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he was not outside the boathouse, but sitting at a wrought iron bistro table, a delicate China cup balanced in long pale fingers. He didn't drink. Merely stared at the dour companion across from him. He also didn't drink. They stared at each other for several minutes. "I'm disappointed in you Severus." He spun the cup again, as the massive serpent at his feet hissed sibilantly or death and blood. "You assured me that Hogwarts was a fortress. That security was your number one concern."
"There was a secret passageway I was not aware of," Snape muttered under his breath. "Under the lake."
"Indeed? And did Hogwarts not share her secrets with you as headmaster?" He demanded with a sneer. Snape scowled.
"She kept much from me, my lord. It was incredibly frustrating."
"Indeed." He murmured. Nagini hissed again, calling out for murder. There was nothing but silence for a moment.
"My lord." Snape began. "Let me return to the castle. If I join the battle I can find Harry Potter an-"
"I will stop you there Severus." He said, a small sinister smile blooming across his lipless mouth. "You do not wish to return to the castle for me. No… no, you are the latest of many who have begged for such things. Avery was the first. He promised me Harry Potter. But I know that it is not he that Julius seeks, but his son. As is the same with Lucius. He seeks only to be reunited with his traitorous wife and son when he should only wish for their swift death. But you…" his voice grew somehow colder. "You are the most despicable of them all. You seek Harry Potter in the hopes that the pair of you might reconcile and you can help him in his quest." He spun his cup again. "Tell me Severus… when did you betray me? Was it before, or after you murdered Dumbledore? Or perhaps even earlier. Did your love for that mudblood really run so deep? Or was it by whim alone, when you should have been loyal forever?" He demanded coldly. Snape looked at him, hollowed eyed but still bitter. "Well?... SPEAK!" Instead of speaking right away Snape rose to his feet. He took his teacup and took a long slow draught until he'd emptied the thing, putting it back on the table with only slight gentleness.
"I only have one thing to say to you." Snape finally hissed, leaning into his personal space with a sneer. "Go to Hell." Harry was filled with horror and wrenched himself free of Voldemort's mind. And none too soon.
"Strike!" Voldemort hissed. The command was clear as day thanks to the extendable ears as if Harry was right next to him. Then there was a squelchy thud. Harry shoved his fist into his mouth even as Sirius turned and pulled his head into his chest, threading a comforting hand into his hair. There were three more thuds before Snape's body fell to the ground in a heap.
"I will not kill you outright Severus. That would be too generous. Instead, I leave you here to die, in the slow way you have chosen for yourself, with this piece of knowledge to haunt you. You die alone. Your so-called 'friends' of the order will never see you as anything more than a cowardly snake. The boy wonder you seem to care for most desperately sees you as a monster. Without my support you are nothing. Nothing but an insignificant man, who dies alone in a musty old hut. So may you die. For it is nothing more than you deserve." Then he swept out of the room, the sound of his robes and the snake mixing together. Then he was gone. Everything was silent. Harry let out a strangled sob. That's when Severus Snape groaned. Harry jumped up, despite Sirius hissing for him to stay down and glanced in the window. Snape was slowly, with much effort, clambering to his feet. A hand was clutched to his neck, stemming a particularly deep bite, though not completely. The man slowly crawled toward one of the weight iron chairs before throwing himself into it with a groan
Harry immediately dashed for the door.
"Harry!" Sirius cried in frustration. Snape immediately twitched and slowly turned his head towards the door.
"Potter?" He gurgled in shock. Then he scowled. "Oh. Of course. You're a hallucination." Harry blinked. Then he frowned and picked up Snape discarded teacup, ran his finger around the brim and gapped.
"You drank Witches Bane?!" He cried in shock. Snape scowled.
"Two years ago you couldn't tell the difference between dish soap and doxicide. How could you possibly know that? Except of course by being the most infuriating version of Potter imaginable. Of course, my addled brain conjures that one."
"You taught me everything I know," Harry muttered even as he dug into his coat pocket and withdrew a small vial. "Now drink this."
"And just what are you trying to poison me with in addition to the poison I have already taken?" Snape demanded.
"This will clear your head." Harry countered. But Snape's head was starting to list slightly, despite remaining eloquent as always. As soon as Snape swallowed the potion some of the light in his eyes returned.
"A brew of clarity." He murmured through hooded eyes. "A very good one...I taught you everything you know?"
"Slughorn was a shite teacher." Harry countered matter of factly. "I learned everything from your old potions textbook."
"I knew it." Snape hissed angrily, though his skin was growing paler by the moment. "Where did I leave it?"
"In the potions cupboard. Slughorn handed it out as a spare." Snape groaned. "Oh! Here!" Harry said as he drew another vial.
"A pain reliever… slightly modified?"
"To help with restful sleep," Harry admitted with a slight blush.
"Restorative, and curative," Snape remarked, his eyes glimmering slightly as the tiniest hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Most impressive Mr. Potter."
"Thanks," Harry said with a blush. Snape took it as well, and slowly the tension released in his muscles.
"Why did you bloody poison yourself?" Sirius demanded with awe. Snape grunted at him with a frown.
"The snake." He said slowly. Harry gapped. "I knew the dark lord-Voldemort would use her to kill me. He would never sully his hands with a traitorous bastard like me."
"Witches Bane sucks away your magic," Harry explained with a lump forming in his throat. "It takes all your strength and leaves you a husk. And since Nagini bit him, especially in the neck, she probably ingested it. Even a small amount can kill."
"So you sacrificed yourself to kill the snake…" Sirius muttered with awe. Snape nodded before he let out a sigh. Then he reached into his robes for something. When he couldn't fish it out with his one hand he released his neck as well. The blood began to flow more freely and Harry and Sirius both reached up a hand to stop it. Snape let out a grunt and gave them both a grateful look until he finally withdrew his prize. He shoved the slightly bloody vial into Harry's free hand and wrapped his fingers around it. "I'm sorry." He choked out. And suddenly his face filled with anguish. "So very very sorry… no amount of sincerity will ever be enough to forgive me for all I've done."
"Severus." Sirius cut in, using the man's actual name for the third time in his life. "Thank you." The man gave his an odd look. "For everything."
"Everything…" Snape repeated with a sardonic lilt.
"Well… not everything." Sirius amended with a huff. He was starting to get tired of Snapes and their pedantic nitpicking. Snape let out a gurgled laugh, causing a bit of foam to collect on his lip. Then Harry realise he wasn't laughing, but choking as the man suddenly convulsed and his mouth filled with suds. He slowly back away, eyes filled with horror, clutching the vial to his chest. Sirius pulled Severus to the floor and held him until the man stopped convulsing and went still. There was a moment of utter stillness before Harry let out a strangled sob. That wasn't what he'd pictured when he came in here. He expected to be able to say goodbye. To send him off with dignity. Then suddenly his ears flooded with silence.
You have fought bravely.
Harry chocked. Not now. He couldn't deal with this now.
The dark lord rewards bravery. I have ordered my death eaters to retreat. Treat your injured and dispose of your dead. May this respite remind you of the dark lord's mercy.
Harry looked over to Sirius rearranging Snape's body into a more respectful position and swallowed bile.
Harry.
The boy flinched, which caught Sirius's eye. He said something, but Harry couldn't hear him.
Do you not see the suffering you have caused? Do you not see what your cowardice has led to? You can end it, Harry. I will be waiting in the forbidden forest. Come to me, and face your end with dignity. If you do not come to me before dawns first light when the battle commences, I will join the fray myself. And only when I have slain the very last man woman and child that stand against me shall I give you mercy.
And finally, the sound returned. He could hear the water of the lake lapping the docks. Hear the boast creaking with age.
"Harry," Sirius began with a cold look in his eyes. "What did he say to you?" Harry looked at his godfather. He was so tired.
"It doesn't matter." He muttered. As if Voldemort wouldn't murder everyone anyway once he was dead. In terms of bargains, it wasn't much. Just a promise of a quick death versus a slow one. Sirius frowned. Then he conjured a stretcher.
"We should take him up to the castle," Sirius remarked. "Well have to play devil's advocate I'm certain but this man deserves to die as he was. Not as he appeared."
"And you don't want Eileen Snape to come after you in the middle of the night with a kitchen cleaver," Harry muttered matter of factly.
"That too." Sirius wheezed slightly. And so they walked, with Severus Snape's body tailing behind them. It was so eerily quiet after the rage of battle. Students were wandering around occasionally shifting rubble searching for more bodies. There were a surprising number of dead fish scattered around, proof that Fred and George had been alive, at least within the last hour or so. There were quiet noises coming from the Great Hall. Sirius shoved them open and walked through them with a feeling of purpose.
"Harry!" Susan screamed, rushing into his arms. As soon as she enveloped him she couldn't let go and began sobbing into his shoulder. Then she hit it. "Where have you been?! You can't just walk off like that without telling us?! We thought you'd been captured! What happened, why-is that Snape?!" She finished with a blink. Sirius finished bringing the man's body into the hall.
"Where are we putting the dead?" Sirius asked plainly.
"You want Snape to lie beside the honoured dead?" Susan demanded with a scoff. Harry grabbed her hand.
"He sacrificed himself to kill the snake," Harry explained, a thickness coming to his throat. "He took witches bane so that when she bit him, she'd get poisoned as well." Then the tears came. He covered his eyes and tried to keep his shoulders still, but he could still see the man shuddering on the floor.
"Alright, I'm here!" Pomfrey suddenly cried, "where is the- you captured Snape?!" She cried in alarm. Harry blinked at her.
"He's dead," Sirius muttered.
"No, he's not." Pomfrey declared.
"Wot?!" Harry choked. Pomfrey was already leaning over the stretcher, waving her wand and muttering.
"I have a ward over the door that lets me know whether someone is alive or not coming it. Just in case someone appears dead who isn't." she fluttered around the man before conjuring a bubble over his mouth and nose, not unlike a bubblehead charm. "He's in a poison-induced coma. Which ironically is stopping the poison from finishing the job. Extremely high levels of belladonna in his system. How bizarre…" Harry froze.
"My pain reliever." He admitted making them turn around to him with a blink. "I added valerian and essence of nightshade to help you sleep through the pain. Coupled with the elixir of clarities bicorn horn to strengthen the plant properties of the mint AND the witches bane in his system…"
"You may have saved his life, Mr. Potter." Pomfrey finished with a slight sound of aw. Then she scowled. "Of course, that is not necessarily good."
"It is." Sirius snarled. "This man is a war hero and has shown great bravery in the face of death tonight. So treat him how you'd treat anyone else."
"What do you take me for!" Pomfrey cried with a huff, offended that Sirius would dare suggest such things to her. "Pye!" She shouted. Harry blinked. That name sounded familiar.
"Yes madame Pomfrey?" The young healer who had treated Arthur Weasley all those years ago responded with a grin.
"I take it you have some familiarity with these wounds." The minute Pye saw the bites he scowled.
"I wish someone would just kill that bloody snake already."
"Don't worry," Sirius said with a smile, before gesturing to Snape, "he just did."
Harry stood outside of the Great Hall looking in. He felt so distanced from it all. It was looking through dirty glass or murky water. He could see, but it was distorted. He clutched the vial Snape had given him a little tighter before lifting it to the light. Then he frowned and wiped some f the blood away. His eyes widened as he saw the pearlescent liquid within.
"Harry!" Dudley suddenly cried coming up to his with a. Relive smile. "Bloody hell it's been hours. Anthony and Hermione told me you found the crown thing. So I guess that means all that's left is the snake!
"Snape killed her," Harry muttered thoughtfully. Dudley blinked.
"Snape?!" He demanded. "But he killed Dumbledore… why would he-"
"I think he gave me the answer," Harry remarked as he swirled the liquid around in the vial.
"What is that?" Dudley asked.
"Memories," Harry replied.
"So they come out as a liquid?" Dudley remarked with an intrigued grin. "Barmy."
"Actually they look more like hairs when you first pull them out." Harry explained, "then they sort of coalesce into a liquid after."
"Baarmy…" Dudley muttered in awe. Then he shook his head. "So you need one of those pen-sive things to view them right?"
"I'm going to the headmaster's office," Harry muttered.
"I'll come with you," Dudley remarked. "Kingsley has a message for Neville. He's patrolling the sixth floor."
"Where is Kingsley?" Harry remarked.
"Got hit with a blasting curse," Sirius called from behind them. "Shattered the right side of his pelvis and gave him some right nasty burns. He's scarred up pretty bad and Pomfrey thinks he'll have a limp for the rest of his life. I said I thought it made him look dashing. He said his wife would hate it. Didn't even know he was married."
"Anything else?" Harry asked with apprehension.
"Dora…" Sirius began with a slight hitch. "She got thrown into a wall wrong… healers say it probable that's she'll never walk again." Harry felt his heart constrict. She was alive, thank god, but what would that mean for her future. Especially with an infant son.
"How is Remus?"
"He's distraught. But then I think he's distraught on Dora's behalf. She's rather numb to it all right now. I think once it kicks in she'll be a mess. And that's when Remus will step up." The animagus let out a slight huff. "They really balance each other out. Hence why I set them up in the first place." harry smiled. The trio walked up through the halls with amicable silence. When they reached the sixth floor Neville grinned and waved them over.
"Harry! Good to see you again! How are things downstairs?" Harry shrugged. Neville nodded.
"Kingsley wanted me to tell you to have Godric get the portraits to search for any survivors trapped in the collapsed part of Ravenclaw tower. Also, to organize the ghosts to patrol the dungeons. One of the Slytherins said there was a flood in the lower levels. He thinks the death eaters might take a page out of our book and come in through the lake. "
"And now that the squid is gone…" Neville remarked thoughtfully.
"The squid?" Harry muttered before the full weight of that sentence crashed down on him. "They killed the giant squid?!"
"Yeah. she fought back pretty hard though. Poor thing was missing four tentacles when she dragged herself up onto the shore. Colin is guarding her body with Sturgis and Professor Hooch right now. Grawp is helping gather some wood to make a raft. We all felt like a burial at sea was the most fitting." Neville explained. Then his face grew hollow. "Harry… you should know…"
"What?" harry demanded wearily. This was not going to be good. He could tell by the tone alone.
"Hagrid is dead," Neville said quietly. Harry felt all of his breath leave him in a wheeze. "A whole bunch of those giant spiders you warned us about came into the castle. Hagrid tried to hold them off. I think he thought they wouldn't attack him…"
"It wasn't them who cared for him," Harry said thickly. "Aragog was the one who held them back. Once he died the spiders didn't much care who they ate, provided they caught something."
"He seemed to realize that pretty quickly. He was helping Grawp get rid of them all when a bunch of death eaters attacked him from behind. Hagrid would have been fine if it was just one of them. But six killing curses to the back…" Neville trailed off. Harry let out a tired sigh.
"I'm heading up to the headmaster's office."
"The gargoyle is still blocking the entrance," Neville said matter of factly. "McGonagall and I tried to break in a couple of hours ago, see if Snape left anything in terms of plans or something. We couldn't guess the password." Harry frowned in thought.
"I think I can crack it," he muttered.
"We'll stay down here pup," Sirius said thoughtfully. Somehow he knew this was something only Harry was meant to see. Harry nodded and left his family behind. As he approached the old gargoyle it snarled.
"I'm not going to tell you the password, so shove off."
"Asphodel." nothing. "Wormwood." stillness. "Monk's hood?"
"Go say random words at someone else."
"Lily." Harry tried. The gargoyle remained stubbornly still. "Petunia?" again. "Tuney?"
"I said shove off." the gargoyle grumbled. So Harry stood, staring at Snape's office entrance, wracking his brain. It was so much easier with Dumbledore. All he had to do was think of candies. Wait! Candies! Of course.
"Sugar Plums," Harry said triumphantly. The gargoyle blinked. Then it leapt to the side, giving Harry a shocked look.
"No one has ever been able to guess it before…" the stone statue remarked. "You must know the headmaster quite well."
"Not well enough," Harry responded under his breath before he stepped into the man's office. It was like stepping back in time. Absolutely nothing had been changed from when Dumbledore had been in charge. Even the man's collection of Law and Order VHS tapes was still in place. Well. There was one difference. The portraits were all empty, indicating they had been roused for Gryffindor as well. All of them. Even the one that sat behind the headmaster's chair. But the nameplate was still legible.
Albus Dumbledore.
Harry stared at the empty frame and felt a bit of his anger towards the man flare-up. He had so much he wanted to say to this man. So much he wanted to question him about. So much the man had to answer for. But after several minutes of glaring at the frame, it stubbornly refused to be filled. And finally, Harry gave up. Dumbledore had never been one to give his answers straight anyway. Not likely his portrait would be any better. Instead, he marched over to the man penesive. He opened the cabinet with practiced air then unstopped the bloody vial containing what Severus Snape intended to be his final message to Harry. The surface rippled and swirl before growing still once more. Then slowly Harry leaned down, plunging into the memories of a man who had both saved and damned him.
A/N: Good morning my lovelies!
Terribly sorry about your wait! There was a news worth rainstorm that ripped through my region the other night and power has been unreliable at best.
but its ready now.
casualties are mounting...
Aslan's Princess: Fun fact, Dudley's Patronus was in my notes from the start of this. I knew it was going to be a big ole dragon. I almost felt like it had to be.
so the scene where I showed how Godric's power was used didn't end up working out very well and I felt like it was too long and complicated, so I ended up cutting it out.
but basically:
Godic turns all of the ghosts of Hogwarts into poltergeists so that they can interact with the world. That's why he goes to raise the headless hunt. Hogwarts literally has a medieval arm of ghosts. The great thing about ghosts is they cannot be killed through conventional means. But! As they are the impressions of lingering souls, they can be consumed by dementors, hence their mad dash away from the horde in chapter 19. There was going to be a sweet scene where the bloody baron sacrifices himself to give everyone else a chance to escape and Sir Nicholas was going to showcase the benefits of having one's head slightly attached during the headless hunt.
You know I never understood that. honestly, the idea of someone galloping around with their head flopping down by their shoulder is so much more terrifying and disturbing than being without a head entirely. you'd think the hunt would want to stay on brand!
Draco would never endanger Bella like that. He loves that goddamn cow.
Once again, I am so sorry for the delays! Half my city is STILL without power and hydro is saying it won't be fully back for a few more days, so that's fun.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
See you next week!
Don't forget to keep on reading!
-TTC