A/N: I know this is somewhat short but I didn't really have anything else to add yet. I have the rest of the fic mapped out now, it's just a matter of writing it. I'm sorry this is taking me so long!
Thank you all for sticking with me.
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Chapter 65Tallis set the paper down slowly and leaned more deeply into Bill's chest.
Severus watched him with barely concealed worry.
"What…why did they stop using his name?" he finally asked quietly.
"St. Bentham's has two sections," Severus explained. "The first is for witches and wizards who have had mental breakdowns and need to recuperate, or who have truly lost their minds but are deemed harmless. Their magic is usually suppressed to prevent them from hurting themselves or others unknowingly, but they proceed with their lives with relatively little change. They can come and go on the grounds as much as they wish. Their lifestyle is quite similar to that of a student boarding at Hogwarts—excellent food, relatively expansive grounds, a great deal of entertainment and stimulating activities.
"The second part of St. Bentham's is rarely spoken of. It is the highest security lockdown in all of Europe and is reserved for violent psychopaths—those who, with or without a magical suppressant, would do severe damage to those around them.
"A series of potions and incantations drain them of their magic which is then fed into the wards themselves to strengthen the wards beyond anything ever seen before. Their own magic is torn from them and becomes, in effect, their own jailer.
"These witches and wizards usually become shells of human beings—worse than those who have endured the Kiss—after a few years. They can constantly feel their magic all around them but they can never access even a drop of it.
"Those who end up in the second section of St. Bentham's by order of the Wizengamot for crimes to society are not only stripped of their magic, they are stripped of their very name. Their crimes are deemed to be so harmful to society that they are removed from society completely—both physically and psychologically. They no longer deserve the right to have a name. They are instead given a number—the number that they will be known as for the rest of their lives."
"What about rehabilitation?" Tallis asked hesitantly. "Are they given their names back when they get better? And their magic?"
Bill and Severus exchanged a quick glance. Bill chose to answer this one. "There is no getting better, love. This step is taken so rarely because it is the point of no return. You cannot separate a wizard from his magic without destroying what is left of his mind."
"How can they do that then?"
Severus winced. His son sounded horrified. "They give such a sentence when they truly feel that there is no cure for these men and women. It is done to protect society from these psychopaths."
Bill stepped back in. Severus was not making this sound any better for Tallis and he could see his lover getting more upset. "Tallie, Dumbledore was completely beyond help. You know that. Deep inside, you must do. Perhaps if he had sought treatment twenty or thirty years ago…perhaps if he had voluntarily gone to the first treatment ward of St. Bentham's he could have been rehabilitated. But he didn't.
"Look at what he did to everyone. Not just to you—look at what he did to Neville, pushing him into an emotionally abusive household to ensure that he never had the self-confidence to excel. Look at what he did to Sirius, claiming that he had no knowledge of who Lily and James' secret keeper was, even though he himself helped to perform the spell. Look at what he did to your dad…"
Bill paused for a moment, knowing he didn't even need to put into words all that Dumbledore had done to hurt Severus. He pushed on once he saw the understanding in his lover's eyes.
"You need to understand Tallis, that a mad wizard is far more dangerous than a muggle could ever be. A wizard's mind is constantly affected by his magic. This is one of the reasons that rape is so extremely dangerous like we explained earlier. Your magic, your body and your mind are all tied together in an incredibly complex and incomprehensible knot that cannot be unraveled or dissolved."
"Think about it this way," Severus interrupted, finally understanding how to make it clear to his son. "You know how when you get really sick you have to go into a magic-dampened room so you don't accidentally hurt someone?"
Tallis nodded slowly.
"This is much the same…except that Dumbledore's mind is always sick. It was sick for so long that it permanently twisted his magic—twisted it beyond repair. His mind and his magic are so intertwined that there was absolutely no hope of treating his mind at this point. His magic would have instinctually prevented it. And even if something could have been done to heal his mind somewhat, his magic is so out of control that, even if he had the presence of mind to use his magic for good, it could come out evil."
"So it's like his magic was sick too?"
Severus breathed a quick sigh of relief. "In a way. There truly was no hope for rehabilitating him. Witches and wizards have tried for centuries to do so and their experiments always end in disaster. Ironically, Grindlewald was one of these failed experiments. He escaped after murdering the Mind-Healers that had been working with him and started a reign of terror nearly equal to Voldemort's today."
"Will people be upset with me? I mean with Harry? …for getting Dumbledore locked up?"
"Why in Merlin's name would they be?" Severus asked, completely confused.
Bill understood. "No Tallie. People rarely question a sentence like that. That harsh of a sentence is extremely rare. I've only ever heard of one person being sentenced to that in my life. We all tend to trust the Wizengamot to know what someone is incapable of rehabilitation. We learned with Grindlewald how dangerous it can be trying to rehabilitate someone who has gone that far."
"Why didn't they just throw him in Azkaban? Or give him the Kiss?"
"When a wizard is mad his magic is extremely unpredictable. No one would ever risk the possibility that someone of Dumbledore's caliber coupled with his psychopathic tendencies might escape from Azkaban," Severus explained quickly. Merlin, he had never thought about his son's potential reaction to such a sentencing. He had personally been relieved.
"And the Kiss? Why wouldn't that work?"
"It is possible that a witch or wizard that was powerful enough and thoroughly insane might be effected differently than the average witch or wizard. We cannot take the risk of what could be, if they were not subdued as expected," Severus explained.
"Why not drain them of the power and then perform the Kiss?"
"Dementors are magical beings. They feel no attraction to muggles or squibs. They would not perform the Kiss on someone who had been drained of their magic," Bill explained.
"And they decided his fate based on the fact that he claimed Harry Potter was still alive? That alone made them decide that he was insane?"
"Hardly," Bill said. "The main issue at hand was his knowing support of the abuse that went on in that house. His claim that Harry Potter still lived was a side issue."
"And they believed me over him based on my testimony?"
"That and the testimony of twelve of your classmates," Bill explained. "Ten of them were those who had taken the potion. Two had the memories implanted. All proved, beyond a doubt, that Tallis Snape attended Veyle Academy. After the tenth one, the Wizengamot decided to dismiss the other students. There was no need to hear even more confirmations that you had attended the Academy."
"How much longer do you think before they'll announce the sentences for the Dursleys?"
Bill shifted nervously this time. He had been attending the trial nearly every day. Tallis knew that he was doing it, but they didn't really talk about the trial very often. "Soon. Perhaps another week. There are only two more days of questioning, then the Wizengamot will break for deliberations. I'm not sure how long it will take for them to come to a consensus."
"They will hand out each sentence as it is finalized. They may announce the boy's sentence on Thursday and take until the following Friday to sentence the other muggles," Severus explained.
Tallis nodded his understanding but did not respond. After a few minutes of silence, he suddenly decided to announce his plans for the next semester. "I won't teach all three classes."
Severus looked up blankly for a moment before his mind could catch up and make the intellectual leap that his son's mind had obviously undergone during the silence. He simply raised an eyebrow in question.
Tallis sighed. "I'll teach either the seventh years or the third and sixth. Not all three. McGonigall can decide. Or the heads of house…whoever makes that kind of decision."
Severus nodded, pleased with his son's decision. He was giving more than he wanted to see him give, but at least he had drawn a line firmly and would not be taken advantage of so completely. "I will alert Minerva to your intentions."
"We might just have to cancel some classes around the full moon," Tallis said. "Make sure she understands that. All of us are picking up Remus' extra classes during those days. We won't be able to teach our regular classes and these added transfig classes and teach his…not to mention that his own load has surely increased with the breakup of McGonigall's old classes."
Severus winced. He did not look forward to the next full moon. It would be hell.