Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my thoughts of AU and OC, the rest all belong to J K Rowling. Thank you, Moonvale for the wonderful beta work! 😊

Chapter 11

Severus found himself trapped in a corner and thought to hiss at anyone who dared to speak next. He was never comfortable with getting noticed and scrutinized under the public eye. The war, his prolonged recovery, his short yet extensively published trial- each one of those episodes kept crashing against his mind. He was used to getting abused, threatened, bullied, tortured and toyed with but compassion was something he still had trouble associating with. He gritted his teeth in silent fury.

Knowing that he would lash out because he was inherently attuned to function that way, Minerva, who was sitting beside him all this while, placed her soothing hand over his stiff fist. Harry noticed they were vibrating in tension and growing white at the knuckles by the passing minute.

"Headmaster… Severus, before you judge things harshly, I do have some confessions to make."

The younger man flashed her a threatening look, clearly warning her not to play with his sentiments. Too angry to say something in reply, Snape tilted his head in acknowledgment.

"You may think we are all singing praises of Miss Granger, glorifying her unnecessarily. I think you find it quite strange how students from all the houses, given their differences of opinion and varying sets of judgment, are all agreeing to the same fact. Hermione has turned their lives towards a better path. She has consciously strove towards giving each one of them a purpose. You are bothered because you find yourself functioning as an unsuspecting catalyst in all this or an added inspiration. Severus, remember how all those former students of Hogwarts pooled together and worked to help you recover. Miss Granger reached out to each one of them. She shared her thoughts and observations, went through past yearbooks, hunted those students and pursued them to come back."

Healer Assistant Fred Mason politely added, "Sir, while at Hogwarts, we truly never appreciated what you had done for us. Even when you anonymously worked for the Spell Damage Ward, I was skeptical of your loyalties. Thus, when Hermione had approached me, I was ready to reject her. She simply looked at me and asked, 'Give me one time when professor Snape has not stood by any of you. When you think about all this, remember to look past his scowling, snarling and biting comments. Points only matter as long as you are a Hogwarts student. The man you have become is due to teachers like Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Headmaster Dumbledore and, most importantly, Professor Snape; who traded his very life to see to it that you got educated and most importantly stayed alive.'"

"Yes, Severus, it was Hermione who had got in touch with the acclaimed Japanese Kokoro no masutā, Yūkan'na sō, though I am not sure how she managed all that in such a short time. Initially, I might have classified her behavior as hero-worshipping, but now, I really cannot. She has always respected you. It's funny, I did ask her in those days, mind you Mr. Malfoy, I did not grow grey hairs in one night…whether she truly loved you or not Severus. She had broken down like a child carrying the weight of the world. The girl had firmly replied, 'Oh Professor, I truly care and respect Professor Snape, and I do love him, but not the way you are thinking.'"

Minister Bones spoke up next, "This is true. When I received her letter three years back, I was a bit confused. She had just written she wished to see me. When she arrived, she looked like a seasoned warrior. She had come across some immensely valuable information. I confess, I was quite alarmed back then to see her act so beyond her age. I would have consulted all of you but she forbade me. One of her conditions was that present Hogwarts staff should be kept away from whatever she was proposing."

Professor Flitwick shouted, growing restless by the minute, "Please, out with it Amelia!"

"This gets complicated actually, but I will try to explain. Miss Granger, from a very reliable source, had come upon a truly dangerous piece of information. She had come to me with substantial proof that there are more Horcruxes…"

Potter was up on his feet, resting his palms on the table as he exclaimed, "What! We made sure there were none left. Why didn't Hermione come to us right away? I mean, who would have known about those things better than Ron and me!"

"Mr. Potter, please sit down. And no, she could not have gone to both of you. She was being mature and reasonable and it was one of the very first demands of her reliable sources. She would have to work it out by herself, no Harry Potter or Ron Weasley. You were not to be involved."

Mr. Finnigan asked the very question Snape wanted to ask, "Why Ma'am? Why keep two-thirds of the golden trio in the dark? And who's the source?"

"I am not privy to tell that to anyone. I know of this source and you can rely on my judgment that the people I cannot mention have the same interest as we, the wizarding community, have in our hearts."

"Minister, you used the words, wizarding community. I am presuming your sources are magical folk, but not witches and wizards. The fact that Granger was working with me in the Protection of Magical Creatures department…she was dealing with a lot of magical creatures on those extensive field trips." Blaise Zabini's silky voice added a new edge to the milieu of growing disquiet.

Minister Bones spared Zabini a glance. Turning her head to Snape, she smirked, "Under you, these snakes have learned well. They are truly shrewd and cunning Headmaster; you have trained them well indeed," then looking back at a curious Blaise, she replied, "Mr. Zabini, I will acknowledge your line of thought, but I cannot say any more about the identity of the "source."

"You talk about Horcruxes, but as far as we know, there were seven that Voldemort had made. Does your information suggest there are more?" The DADA professor drew their attention to the most glaring factor.

"Professor Lupin, yes there are more Horcruxes, but Lord Voldemort didn't make them. I assure you that vile wizard is truly and most certainly dead. As for what these newer ones are and how Miss Granger knew about them, I cannot share much of that. This much I can tell you, the sources with whom we are working on this shared mission perhaps would like to change their outlook about the wizarding community. They have a special connection to Miss Granger, as far as I can tell, and with her life in jeopardy, we might as well get ready for some truly good surprises."

Two things had simultaneously happened. Two owls, one official and the standard one that Gringotts would send, swooped into the Great Hall. The ministry owl approached the Minister of Magic while the one from Gringotts stuck its claw out to the Headmaster drawing his attention to a small envelope.

As both of them were quickly reading through their brief contents, Luna, in a very singsong manner, turned to Harry and asked, "Why isn't Ron here?"

Harry looked at Longbottom, who blushed and mouthed, 'Sorry, didn't tell her.'

"Ahh Luna... he is not here because…" Harry looked around and found both the Minister and the Headmaster were looking at each other over the rim of their letters. He narrowed his eyes when the two shared a mutual smile. Minister Bones spoke aloud first, "The Goblins have expressed a desire to become a part of this investigation."

And Severus Snape, in his baritone voice, added, "And they would like to meet all of us tomorrow, here, after dinner."

Dear Lucyole- You wish my command!

And iNiGmA- Remember our conversation about writing a fic without thorough planning. Well, I am trying that out with this one. Till now, my boat is sailing fine. But I am afraid of those storms lurking around the horizon.