Author's note: There are a few teaching positions that were directly influenced by reviews/messages. In fact, one reviewer is directly responsible for the new DADA Professor, (You'll know who you are, and thank you for the idea.) I felt they would be perfect for the job.

It took a surprising amount of tweaking to get this chapter close to acceptable. I threw in a lot of set up and foreshadowing, so it almost feels like filler to me. Either way, enjoy!

As always thank you for reading. Huge thanks to those who comment, critique, or leave any sort of review. You guys really make writing this story a genuine pleasure. Keep letting me know what you think. :)

-o-o-

Chapter 12

Sorting the child of woe.

-o-o-

As Harry walked down the aisle of the Hogwarts Express, he reflected on how different this year was going to be. Wednesday followed closely as they searched for a place to sit. If having a girlfriend wasn't enough of a change, who they would share a compartment with was an unknown, which hadn't been the case since his first year.

Looking through the glass of each compartment they walked past, revealed one that held his old friends. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were talking in hushed tones about something important, if Hermione's expression was any indication. The bushy-haired girl looked up as Harry was looking in, and he smirked as he saw her notice Wednesday beside him. Hermione paled and looked upset, but Harry didn't bother sticking around to see any further reaction.

Eventually the couple found the compartment that Luna had taken. Seeing no reason to look any further, they slid open the door to join their friend. They noticed as they entered that Luna was talking with Neville, who appeared pleased to see them both.

"It's good to see you again Harry. I'm sorry I didn't stop by at all this summer." Neville apologized. "Gran wouldn't let me leave the manor. After Professor Lupin stopped by, she decided it was too dangerous for me."

"That's ridiculous Neville." Harry disagreed as he and Wednesday sat down next to Luna. "You wouldn't have been in all that much danger. Luna spent the entire summer with us, and she managed just fine."

The girl in question just gave a dreamy smile in response, and pulled out an issue of her fathers publication, the Quibbler.

Neville shook his head. "No, Gran wasn't worried about that. It's funny really, she's proud of me for facing Death Eaters, so she wouldn't stop me from doing anything dangerous. Not that either of us think visiting you would actually be dangerous or anything. What she was worried about was Professor Dumbledore memory charming me."

"A reasonable fear." Wednesday nodded. "The body heals so much easier than the mind."

"I don't know, that potion fixed me up well enough." Harry pointed out.

"You were fortunate enough that Grandmama's special potion didn't kill you when it fixed your mind. Come to think of it so was the werewolf, but then maybe being a werewolf helped... I'll have to ask Grandmama." Wednesday trailed off as she pondered that line of thought.

Harry chuckled softly. "So... how many times have you guys tried to kill me that I haven't even noticed?"

"Hmm?" Wednesday abandoned her musing. "Grandmama wasn't necessarily trying to kill you, though wouldn't you prefer death over the way you were? You were trying to kill yourself when we met."

Seeing that Neville was starting to grow uncomfortable, Harry shifted the conversation back to him. "So I guess you and your grandmother are getting along better now?"

"Uh, well we've always loved each other, I mean we are family and all, but yeah. Until recently we didn't exactly see eye to eye. I talked a lot with Gran over the holiday. There's so much about her I didn't know." Neville looked at Wednesday and gave a rueful smile. "I had always thought Gran despised dark wizards, but it turns out she's actually good friends with quite a few. She was even best friends with Malfoy's grandmother. I nearly choked when she told me that one."

"Light and dark are just two sides of the same galleon." Luna said dreamily without looking up. "Hogwarts is a very light oriented school, so we're taught to abhor the dark, even though roughly half of the students are from dark families." She tilted her head and her voice grew clear for a moment. "I wonder if there would be less house rivalry if both perspectives were taught?"

"Gran said something like that." Neville agreed. "She told me how one of the things she missed most was arguing politics with her friends. She says the Wizengamot hasn't been the same since Dumbledore was elected chief warlock way back when."

"I assume this means I no longer frighten you?" Wednesday asked with mild interest.

Neville laughed. "No offense, you're one scary witch, but my Gran scares me a lot more. She says I'd be a fool to let a friend like harry go just because he's a dark wizard. Anyway, Harry's not a wanker like Malfoy."

The compartment door slid open, and the blond boy in question stood in the doorway with his customary sneer. "I'm heartbroken Longbottom. I truly don't know how I'll cope without your friendship."

Draco looked at Harry, the sneer sliding off of his face. Wearing a blank expression he said, "Black, we need to talk." Looking around at the others he added, "In private."

Neville stood up, confidence and determination showing on his face. Gone was the timid boy that was afraid of his own shadow. "What're you up to Malfoy?"

Harry slowly stood up, and placed a calming hand on Neville's shoulder. "Relax Nev." Facing Draco, he simply asked, "Family business?"

Draco nodded, and backed up into the hallway as Harry moved to join him.

-o-o-

Draco led Harry down to his own compartment, where Crabbe and Goyle were talking quietly as Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott were debating something rather heatedly.

Opening the door, Draco ordered everyone out. "Clear the room, we need privacy for a few minutes."

Crabbe and Goyle dutifully got up to leave without comment, Pansy looked confused, but Nott was annoyed.

"Sod off Draco. Just because those two will wipe your arse if you ordered them to, doesn't mean all of us will follow you blindly." Theodore said with disdain. "What could you possibly have to talk about with Potter anyway."

Draco looked sidelong at Harry who was calmly watching, perhaps wondering what Draco would do. "I wouldn't talk with Potter except to taunt him, but then this isn't Potter. If you actually paid attention to what goes on in the world, maybe you'd know that the Potter line is dead."

"Are you feeling alright Draco?" Pansy asked with concern mixed with confusion. "That's definitely Potter, but... Why's he just standing there smiling? It's kind of creepy."

Her eye's widened in understanding. "You've imperiused him." She whispered while holding her hand to her mouth in shock.

That was more than Harry could take. He started laughing, and slapped Draco on the back, nearly sending the blond wizard sprawling. "Go ahead Draco. I'm surprised you haven't already told your friends."

"He's the head of the Black family now." Draco said, unable to prevent his scowl. "Changed his name and everything. Now get out! We have family business to discuss, and neither of you are Blacks. I'll explain what happened after. This should only take a few minutes."

Reluctantly, Pansy and Theo joined Crabbe and Goyle in the hall. Draco shut the door as soon as Harry followed him in, and cast an imperturbable charm to prevent eavesdropping.

Disgust apparent on his face, Draco spoke. "The Dark Lord has given Aunt Bella and Uncle Rod leave to start a family. It's sickening the way they've been acting. Thankfully they've been spending most of their time at Lestrange manor, only showing up every now and again to help train recruits and torture some poor sod."

Harry smiled. "That's good, I wasn't sure if Voldemort would give Bella that sort of time. She is his best wand after all."

"Things have been going well for our cause." Draco said with a genuine grin. "Father says that the ministry is almost completely infiltrated, and Dumbledore's idiotic order has been in disarray ever since the Weasels lost their home."

"I don't really care about all that. I'm happy to hear that Bella is going along with my suggestion. How about you and your mother?" Harry asked, interest showing clearly on his face.

"You don't seriously expect me to be finalizing wedding plans already do you? I don't even have a girlfriend, despite Pansy's desperate wishes." Draco said carefully, remembering the feel of Harry's knife on his throat.

"No, of course not, but are you and your mother going to help expand the family?" Harry explained with a roll of his eyes.

Clearly uncomfortable, Draco nodded. "Yes, Mother insisted that I should bring it up as soon as I start getting serious with a witch worth my time. She uh, also mentioned that I should be getting a baby brother or sister just as soon as she can convince Father."

Harry smiled widely. "That's fantastic. Now I just need to hear from your other aunt. Hopefully she's been able to convince Nymphadora. It'd be a shame to have to kill her."

Harry canceled the charm on the door, and stepped out into the hall. "He's all yours. Family business is over with."

Pansy glared at Harry with her arms crossed. "What are you playing at Potter? Nobody changes this much over just a few months time."

Harry set his hand on Pansy's shoulder. "Draco can tell you all about it. You have no idea just how much has changed."

Harry squeezed her shoulder, driving his thumb into the muscle, and the girl gave a short cry of pain. "And the name is Black now, Potter is dead." He said calmly, despite the manic grin he sported as he walked off.

Unnerved, Pansy rubbed her shoulder and hurried into the compartment to confront Draco.

-o-o-

The Great Hall was filled with conversation, even more than usual. Many of the students were aware that change of some kind awaited them this year, but no one knew exactly what. Even the most well informed students only knew the identity of the new headmaster. There were even plenty of students, mostly muggleborns, that didn't even know that Dumbledore had lost his job.

Conversations ranged from speculation about what had happened to Dumbledore, to the new lineup of professors. Harry was pleased to note that almost nobody was talking about him. So far it seemed that only his friends, both current and former, had any idea that he had changed even more drastically than the faculty had.

Slowly the room grew silent as everyone noticed the new headmaster standing by the sorting hat. He was talking quietly to a girl who was clearly new, but just as clearly not a first year.

"I can't believe they let HER into Hogwarts" Hermione said quietly with a tinge of fear and loathing in her voice.

Ron nodded in agreement. "Looks like they're going to sort her. Don't know why they'd bother. She's a snake, it's bloody obvious."

"You sure about that mate?" Seamus asked after overhearing. "She's kind of cute in a weird way. I wouldn't mind seeing her in Gryffindor."

Both Hermione and Ron turned to look at Seamus disbelief apparent in their features.

"She's pure evil Seamus." Ginny said from nearby. "Trust us, you don't want anything to do with her."

Next to Ginny, Dean looked around. "Hey, where's Harry anyway? He always sits with you two."

Hermione's eyes darkened. "Because of HER. Harry's changed, and not for the better. I don't know where he is, but he wouldn't want to sit with us now anyway."

"Really? I just thought he was sitting with Katie Bell because of quidditch." Seamus said as he pointed to where the seventh years sat. Harry was chatting quietly with the veteran chaser, while Neville sat on Harry's other side. "Didn't really think why Neville was with them though."

Headmaster Tofty cleared his throat to capture the attention of the few who were not already watching. "As you all no doubt have discovered, there have been many changes to Hogwarts this year. I will save introductions for after the first years have been sorted, but before that we have a transfer student to sort."

All eyes fell on Wednesday who scanned the hall with a blank face.

"Professor McGonagall will be along shortly with the first years, so to be succinct this is Wednesday Addams. She has been home-schooled until now, and will be joining us for her final two years." He picked up the sorting hat, and hovered it over Wednesday's head. "Now let us see which house will gain this bright young woman."

The hat barely had time to touch Wednesday's mind before it called out in a clear voice, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Unsurprisingly, the Hufflepuff table burst into applause, while the other tables clapped politely. Wednesday silently walked over to the table of badgers, and sat in a space that opened up for her between Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, mouths agape. "Hufflepuff?" They both said softly in disbelief.

-o-o-

Neville turned to face Harry, only slightly surprised that he was smiling broadly. "I would have thought you'd want her in Gryffindor. I didn't really think of where I thought she'd go, but I can't say I was expecting Hufflepuff."

"I was." Harry said with a knowing grin. "If you knew the Addams family as well as I do, then you'd have known it was a sure thing." He looked thoughtful for a moment. I guess she could go to the other houses as well, but I can't see her as a Gryffindor at all."

"Why's that?" Neville asked curiously. "I doubt she's afraid of anything. Seems like a Gryffindor quality to me."

"For the same reason I doubt I'd be a Gryffindor if they resorted me." Harry explained with a shrug. "It's impossible to be courageous if you literally aren't afraid in the first place."

-o-o-

"Those poor Puffs." Ron said shaking his head. "I don't know what she did to get sorted there, she probably bribed the hat to keep her out of Slytherin. You know, to make people think she's not dark."

Seamus looked at his housemates questioningly. "I don't know, she looks a bit weird, but I have a real hard time believing someone dark could ever be a Puff."

"Yeah guys, she just looks like a goth to me." Dean pointed out. He elaborated when it was apparent that the Weasleys were lost. "It's a muggle thing, they dress up in black clothes and sometime wear makeup to look pale and vampire-like. I don't get it myself, but it is a thing."

Their conversation was interrupted as Professor McGonagall led the first years in for their sorting. The hat sang as usual, once again preaching unity of the houses, followed by a brief description of each house's qualities.

Once the sorting was finished, Headmaster Tofty drew everyone's attention back to him by clapping as he stood. "There are many announcements to be made, but for now I believe dinner is the greater concern. Tuck-in"

It felt odd to hear someone other than Dumbledore start off the feast, but the food that appeared was no less delicious. Soon everyone was sated, and Tofty once more rose to address the students.

"As some of you know, I am Professor Solomon Tofty. Headmaster Dumbledore has decided to retire, and I have been given the honor of being his successor." He motioned to either side of him. "As returning students can see, there are many new faces among the faculty as well. Professors, if you'd please stand as I get to each of you."

"Rejoining us after coming out of retirement, is Professor Horace Slughorn, who will once more teach potions and be head of house for Slytherin. Many of your parents were taught by Professor Slughorn, and hopefully remember him fondly."

Applause filled the room, but Slytherin's clapping was somewhat subdued as many of the students wondered what happened to Professor Snape. The other houses more than made up for Slytherin's lack of enthusiasm, as they celebrated the absence of one of Hogwarts most hated teachers. Gryffindor in particular was energetic in their support of the returning professor.

"Joining us this year to teach defense against the dark arts is Professor Augusta Longbottom."

All of the students clapped politely, but as the position was always filled by a different professor, few could bring themselves to be too excited. Neville's expression was a mixture of pride and concern, thought whether he was concerned for his grandmother's safety, or having her as his professor was unclear even to him.

"Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank has agreed to join us full time to teach care of magical creatures. In addition, due to his profound talents, Professor Rubeus Hagrid will be staying on to assist Professor Grubbly-Plank, as well continuing his duties as groundskeeper."

The students as a whole seemed to approve of Hagrid's demotion, much to the half-giants discomfort. There were several conversations that sprang up, wondering why he was remaining as an assistant professor. No other course had one, and very few students actually enjoyed Hagrid's less than safe teaching methods.

"Taking time off from his career as an unspeakable, Professor Saul Croaker will be teaching history of magic."

There was silence for a few seconds as the implications set in. As the students realized that Professor Binns would no longer be trying to bore them to death, the Great Hall erupted with applause and cheering. That the new professor was an unspeakable just added to their enthusiasm.

"Joining us from America, Professor Esmeralda Frump will be taking over divination."

There was a mixed reaction. While many felt that the position could use a new teacher, others were loyal to Professor Trelawney or previous year's Professor Firenze. Some who took the time to look at the new divination professor were taken aback by her hag-like appearance. The applause trailed off almost completely when she smiled at the student body. There was something disturbing in how she looked out at everyone, and her yellowed grin only worsened the effect. Only Harry and Wednesday remained clapping, the former enthusiastically, and the later sedately.

"We have one final staff change. Madam Molly Weasley will be taking over as caretaker here at Hogwarts."

If the applause for Professor Croaker could be considered thunderous, Molly Weasley receive a standing ovation that was deafening. She could be seen at the side of the room, blushing at the enthusiasm that she knew was less for her, and more for the firing of Argus Filtch. Those who bothered to look, could see that both Ron and Ginny Weasley were blushing as well, out of embarrassment.

-o-o-

"Why didn't you mention that your grandmother was our DADA teacher?" Harry asked as he and Neville worked their way toward Gryffindor Tower.

"I was going to on the train, but then Malfoy showed up. After that, I just forgot about it." Neville responded with a shrug. "I don't know how this year is going to be with her teaching. I learned so much from you last year, I'd hate to do poorly just because of nerves. Not to mention, I really don't want to disappoint Gran now that she's proud of me."

"What about you?" Neville asked. "Did you know that Wednesday's grandmother was teaching?"

"I had no idea." Harry said as he shook his head. "That sneaky witch keeps surprising me. One of these days I'm going to get her, but I don't know how. Wednesday might have known, it's hard to tell with her though. You have to really surprise her to get a reaction."

"How come she's here anyway? I mean I get that she's your best friend now, but shouldn't her brother be here too, or is he a squib?"

Harry laughed softly. "You'll have to ask her for her reasoning, but you've got a couple things wrong Nev. One, she's my girlfriend now, not just my best friend; and two, they're all squibs, technically anyway. Granmama... Professor Frump would be able to explain it better than me."

"You've been living with your girlfriend?" Neville looked shocked. "What do her parents think of that?"

Chuckling deeply as he remembered the talk Gomez had given him, he answered with a grin. "Oh, I'd say they approve."

"What's this now, did I hear right?" A seventh year asked as he sidled up to Harry. "That cute little Hufflepuff is your girlfriend Potter?"

For a split second, a scowl flashed across Harry's face, only to vanish as he smiled once more. Only now, the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Black."

"What?" The seventh year looked puzzled.

"My name is Black, not Potter." Harry turned to look at Neville. "Maybe I should make an announcement in the common room, or maybe at breakfast tomorrow."

Turning back to the seventh year, Harry confirmed his relationship. "Her name is Wednesday, and yes she's my girlfriend. I wouldn't call her cute though. Who are you anyway?"

"Cormac McLaggen." The seventh year said with pride. "Just so you know, I'm going to be trying out for keeper this year, you should let your friend Weasley know that he's lost his spot on the team. Oh, and Potter... Black... Whatever... Not considering your own girlfriend cute is just poor form. If you're not careful, someone could steal her away from you."

As McLaggen walked off, Neville shook his head. "What an arse. I'm surprised you didn't react when he threatened to steal your girlfriend."

Harry laughed. "Let him try. It's his funeral if he tries to call her cute."

-o-o-

"What brings you to Hogwarts?" Hannah asked as she and Susan led Wednesday down to the Hufflepuff basement. "Wouldn't it be easier for you to go to Salem, or another American school?"

"Normally Grandmama teaches me everything I need to know, but my boyfriend and I were discussing magical creatures, and a friend of ours, Luna, brought up Professor Hagrid." Wednesday explained. "After hearing some of Harry's stories about Hogwarts, I decided I wanted to see it for myself. There's no rush for us to return home, so I tested into a few courses."

"Harry, as in Harry Potter?" Susan asked, unable to think of another Harry around their age. "You're dating the boy-who-lived?"

"No." Wednesday denied immediately. "His name is Harry Black now. He particularly dislikes that nickname as well."

"Black?" Both girls questioned at the same time, nearly blocking the entrance to the common room as they paused in shock.

Wednesday nodded. "Yes, he wanted to honor his godfather. There are other reasons, but I don't believe it's my place to explain."

The girls led Wednesday down to the sixth year girls dorm as the processed this new information.

Hannah chewed on her lower lip as she decided how best to phrase her next question. "Um, you do know it's dangerous to be too close with Harry right? I mean, he has told you about you-know-who, right?"

"It's also probably the worst time for you to be in Britain right now." Susan added with a strained smile. "With you-know-who back, it's super dangerous. Hogwarts should be safe, even without Dumbledore, but your family might be in danger. Are you pure-blood or Half-blood?"

"You mean Voldemort?" Wednesday managed the smallest of grins as the other two girls flinched slightly. "I doubt my family has anything to worry about. Besides, as far as dark lords go, Voldemort is fairly tame."

"I don't think you understand." Susan said, unintentionally raising her voice. "That... evil wizard wants to kill Harry, and will hurt you just to get at him. He'll kill anyone he thinks is in his way... and their whole family..." She trailed off, and just turned and walked away to sit on her bed. Swinging her legs up onto the mattress, she drew the privacy curtains closed around her.

Wednesday watched Susan retreat, and then looked at Hannah questioningly.

"You-know-who and his Death Eaters killed her entire family." Hannah said softly. "He killed half of them personally, including her aunt who raised her. He's killed a lot of families, wiped them out because they opposed him."

Wednesday frowned as Hannah left to go comfort her friend. She would have to have words with Voldemort. Killing an entire family, but leaving a single survivor, that was uncalled for. Sloppy work like that made her wonder about his competence, both as a killer and as a leader. He'd made the same mistake with Harry.

On the plus side, at least Hufflepuff wasn't as disgustingly cheery as she first thought when they entered the common room earlier. She still had to find out more about the house though, before she passed judgment.

-o-o-

"Is it just me, or is Loony even weirder than usual?"

"She looks like she's finally lost it completely."

"Are you kidding? She never had it to begin with, she just stopped pretending, that's all."

"C'mon, while she's busy reading that stupid magazine, lets go make sure she has a proper welcome back to Hogwarts."

Luna quietly sat in one of the comfier reading chairs, attempting to read her copy of the Quibbler sideways. It was challenging, but well worth the effort. After all, Luna was a true Ravenclaw. Learning how to do anything was a worthwhile goal in and of itself.

A pair of shrill screams could be heard coming from the girls dorms, followed by a seventh year witch, Emily Fairchild, running down the stairs so fast she nearly trampled a couple second years.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor Flitwick demanded, as he turned his attention from the first years he was addressing.

Emily pointed an accusing finger at Luna. "She's brought dark artifacts into the school, and I think Rachael is dead because of her!"

"Everyone stay put." Flitwick ordered as he cast a silent spell at the stairway to allow him to ascend to the girls dorms.

The entire common room was silent while they waited for the professor to return. Emily glared hatefully at Luna, who merely continued to read, completely unconcerned.

After what seemed like hours, but was closer to a few minutes, Professor Flitwick helped a witch descend the stairs. She was clutching a bloody handkerchief to her forehead, and wincing with each step.

"Miss Patil, If you could, please escort Miss Bellamy to the infirmary." Flitwick requested. "She should be fine, but it would be best to have Madam Pomfrey check her over just to be safe."

"Yes professor." Padma nodded, and took Rachael's arm to help her limp her way to the infirmary.

Flitwick's face grew stony, and he turned to Emily. "Miss Fairchild, would you care to explain what two seventh year witches were doing rummaging around a fifth year's belongings?"

Emilt paled slightly, but she quickly thought up an excuse. "We thought we heard something. We were afraid that someone had accidentally locked their pet in their trunk, so we unlocked it to let the poor thing out."

"Miss Lovegood, do you have a pet?" Flitwick asked, while still staring at Emily.

"I have some mice I suppose, but they're at Harry's house. I don't have any pets here if that's what you mean." She replied serenely as she folded her magazine in on itself and continued to read.

"I didn't think so." Flitwick shook his head. "Miss Fairchild, I found Miss Bellamy on the floor, bleeding from where she had clearly run headfirst into one of the bedposts. Now I checked, and the closest thing to a dark artifact in that room is a sample pack from the Weasley twins' joke shop. Care to tell me what actually happened, or shall I guess?"

"Honest, just like I said, we thought we heard something." Emily said, sticking to her story. "After we opened the trunk, we noticed a wooden box with a weird design. The box opened all by itself, and something came out of it, I don't know what. Rachael just started screaming, so I started screaming. She ran around and must have hit the bedpost. I just thought she collapsed from whatever was in that box."

"That almost matches up with what Miss Bellamy told me." Flitwick said as he folded his arms, and his frown deepened. "Except she said that you opened the box."

"Here's what I think happened. For whatever reason you two decided to search through Miss Lovegood's belongings. You found an expensive looking box, and wanted to see what was inside, again the reason does not matter. What does matter, is the box was clearly at the bottom of the trunk originally, so you had to have been intentionally searching through her personal items. My guess is that Miss Lovegood kept a joke item of some kind within that box. Your jostling it set it off, and the result frightened Miss Bellamy into injuring herself. Messrs Weasley are both talented wizards, and their products are well known for vanishing without a trace if that is the point." He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Emily to provide an explanation.

"Very well." Flitwick said with an exasperated sigh. "You can inform Miss Bellamy that the two of you will serve detention with me tomorrow night immediately after dinner. We can then discuss your conduct further."

Flitwick then raised his voice to address the entire common room. "If I find out about anyone else invading someone's privacy for any reason, the punishment will be severe. I will not tolerate this sort of behavior in my house."

The professor tried to apologize to Luna for what had happened, but the blonde girl merely smiled at him with unfocused eyes. "It's alright professor. Everything in my trunk is coated with Weasleys' 72 hour itching powder. According to the box there's a delay on it, so the itching should start in the next five minutes or so."

"But, then what do you plan on wearing. Aren't all of your clothes in there?" Flitwick asked in concern.

She tilted her head as her eyes focused on him. "I'll wear my clothes of course, what else would I wear?" She said with the same serene smile she'd had all evening.

-o-o-

Author's note: So, what do you think of the staff changes? For that matter, I can already hear the cries of WTF? from some of you regarding Wednesday's sorting. A couple of you called it, but I'm sure I caught a lot of you off guard. :)

To anonymous reviewers who have expressed their enjoyment: I'm glad you're enjoying my work, and I hope you continue to do so.

To Mizu reviewing chapter 11: Grabnach not only survived, but managed to gain quite a bit of respect from Gomez for nearly disemboweling him.

To justafan reviewing chapter 11: I'm just the author, ultimately my characters decide what they are going to do. Granted I must be somewhat twisted to be able to write about such things, but Voldemort's the real monster here, I'm just the messenger.

Snape can be written in many different ways. He can be the hero JKR tried to make him out to be, he can be the villain that many author's prefer, he can even be a mixture of the two, which is more realistic. Snape's fate in my story is completely irrelevant to what kind of person he actually was. He clearly betrayed Voldemort, and for that he is being punished in a manner the Dark Lord finds appropriate. After Harry showed by example that the cruciatus was not the end all be all of torture, he decided to hand Snape's punishment over to Bella and Asclepius on essentially a whim.

I made references to the Addams family being opportunistic cannibals, but I highly doubt Voldemort, or even Bella an Asclepius, would find eating Snape appealing.

To Guest reviewing chapter 11: Not everyone can have a happy ending, especially not in a story like this one. Snape is just getting one of the more miserable ends. Though things are going pretty good for Harry so far aren't they?

To any Snape fans out there: Remember, Snape is not the actor who played him. If not for the late Alan Rickman's performance, I doubt Snape would be half as popular as he seems to be. Alan Rickman was a fantastic actor, who will be missed terribly. Severus Snape was a fictional man who made a lot of poor choices, who only was missed because canon Harry is an overly forgiving, sentimental pushover.