Chapter Nine Snape's Plan
Lupin remained sitting on a boulder with his back to all of them. Harry was still laying on the ground, facing him, looking at the anguish on his face. No one spoke.
Snape glared at them, and snapped, "We cannot afford to rest all day. Everything must be in place by nightfall. We only have a few hours."
"What do you mean to do?" Ron stammered, "What do you mean, 'wake the dragon'? Do you mean literally?"
Snape glanced at him. It was always amazing to Harry how Snape treated everyone. He was looking at Ron as if he'd never met him before. Harry sat up.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, I mean literally," Severus growled.
Sooki stood at Snape's shoulder with the bright light of late afternoon shining through his hair. His skin looked almost translucent. He remained silent surveying the party.
"What is your plan?" Remus asked, still sitting with his back to Snape. His voice was now gentle, almost a whisper.
Snape, sensing a change in the atmosphere and attitude of the people in the cave, glanced at Moses, who was still sitting, watching him. "We are going to try and reach Him through Potter's mind. It will be a two act play, I think," Snape droned and walked over to Harry. The dark eyes looked down at him and Harry thought he caught a glimpse of both fear and concern.
"Sooki is going to help me. We think if Potter can reach Him with his mind, we can persuade him I was bringing Potter to him and got caught by the elves. Sooki will pretend to kill both of us. Hopefully, He will think that is the end to the two of us." Snape snapped his head up and spun on his heel. "We need to do it while there is still carnage below. It will be more convincing."
Harry swallowed hard. Snape was saying that they were going to go down and act out this scene in the same place where the elves had killed the Death Eaters who had landed only a short time below, and he was going to try and enter Voldemort's mind so he can see the whole scene played out. He also sensed Snape wasn't sure of this plan.
"Harry has to enter the Dark Lord's mind?" Remus asked, spinning around to face him.
"Time is now of the essence. Sooki's people may return. We do not want to be caught by any of them. He cannot vouch for us. Nor would I ask him too.""
"And after that?" Ron asked, looking from Snape to Harry. "Are we going after Hermione?
Snape shook his head slowly and stopped before him, "No, Mr. Weasley, not 'we' . You and Mr. Lupin will take a boat to the island and go in by way of the servants entrance. Moses will go with you until you reach the island. He knows the way and will guide you. After that, he has other tasks he will attend to. It will be up to you to rescue Miss Granger."
Ron stared up with a frown and glanced at Remus who had remained very still. "What about you and Harry? What happens if you convince You-Know-Who that the elves killed you?" Ron asked, looking even more worried.
Snape was still standing before him answering patiently, "We will fly the dragon over to the island."
"Fl…fly, " Ron said and raised his eyebrows in astonishment and looked at Harry, "a dragon?!"
"We cannot all be caught on the water in boats. We must split up. I cannot apparate here on this island and he is too weak to swim," Snape said. "Besides there are things in the water that would kill us. Do you have another way to get us both there Mr. Weasley? Because if you do I would hear of it," Snape said and turned away , heading to the mouth of the cave.
"We fly the dragon over and reach the ramparts in the dark without being seen. Malfoy will think we are dead and the Dark Lord will not come to Azkaban unless he knows Potter is there. We will have time to prepare for his arrival. In the meantime, Malfoy's little army is now minus a few," he turned. "We just might have a chance to get the antidote, since he will no longer be holding it out as bait. It will be inconsequential to him and the Dark Lord will have other tasks for him. With any luck we may do all we have come to do."
Harry listened and ignored the not to subtle references to killing Voldemort. Instead he thought of the dragon. He had never considered riding a dragon before. Seeing one and barely escaping with his life during the Triwizard Tournament was his last encounter. Unlike Hagrid he had no great love for them. "How are we going to ride a dragon?" he asked.
Snape turned and said, "Sooki can handle Lamya," he answered. He addressed all of them. "Just so that you know; Azkaban is very similar to Hogwarts on the inside. The prisoners are held in the dungeons and the entrances to the dungeons are the same as it is in Hogwarts. There will be Dementors guarding the entrances to the fortress and there will be other creatures inside."
"Harry's taught us the Patronus Charm," Ron sputtered as if to say, he could handle the Dementors.
Snape stopped speaking and looked at him.
"I taught it to Harry," Remus added. He turned to Snape and spoke calmly, "He used it to save his own life and Sirius' when the Dementors tried to give them the 'kiss'. I think he'll be able to ride a dragon, Severus. He found a way to rescue Buckbeak and fly him up to break Sirius out of that locked room at Hogwarts so he could escape."
Lupin stood and walked slowly over to Snape. " You're always accusing him of being like his father Severus. You know, he is like James, he is very much like his father. And James was a good man, Severus. I think you have misjudged him, like I have misjudged you for so very long."
Remus was only a short distance from the other man. "Sometimes we make terrible mistakes Severus and find that an apology is just not enough to make up for the terrible wrongs we commit." Lupin studied Snape's face for a long time. "Sometimes, an apology is all we have. I trust you will take care of Harry." Lupin reached out his hand in an offering.
Snape looked at the outstretched hand and without glancing at Harry spoke to him. "We must get to the bottom of the slope Mr. Potter, before it gets dark. There is no telling if we can use the connection you have to reach Him; but we must go now if we are to try." Snape turned, leaving Lupin's outstretched hand in the air.
Harry rose to his feet with some difficulty and followed reluctantly. He passed Remus on unsteady feet and touched his arm. "You need to take care of Ron and get Hermione away, Remus." Harry looked back over his shoulder at Ron and said, "We'll have stories to tell when we get to Hogwarts, won't we Ron?" He grinned weakly and turned and left the cave. Sooki and Snape were waiting for him on the narrow trail.
They reached the bottom of the gorge, with Snape holding him under one arm and Sooki under the other. The elf's touch automatically made Harry's head swim and he ended up standing on the bank of a small river staring down into it as if in a daydream.
The elf let go of him and moved ahead. Snape pulled Harry along until they reached a log arching over the stream. With some difficulty Harry walked over it , falling to his knees towards the middle and crawling unsteadily to the other side. Snape was immediately kneeling beside him and whispering, "I cannot give you the potion until we have completed this. You must look as if you are about to die. Even then as you've noticed the effects of this potion are not as beneficial as they have been. Do you understand?"
Harry raised his head and nodded, pushing himself to his feet. "Yes." Snape was telling him he was getting weaker.
Snape reached out and grabbed him once again under the arm, murmuring softly, "Potter, what you are about to see is rather grisly. If you can, stay on your feet. We will try to make this as short as possible," he mumbled and threw Harry's arm around his neck. "If it will work at all."
Harry was feeling the effects of not having the green potion to fortify him. Sweat was running down his face, and he could feel the pain like spikes running through his chest and belly. He wanted desperately to stop and curl up into a ball and hold himself against the waves of pain. His head was pounding and his vision blurring. Still, he could see very clearly what Snape had warned him about.
They marched noisily into the deepening shadows of the woods and followed a grisly trail of body parts and shredded, bloody clothing. There were parts unrecognizable to Harry who assumed that they had once belonged to non-human creatures. They stopped in a rather gory area and Snape dropped him gently to the ground.
"Hang on, Potter," he said, gruffly and turned to speak quietly to Sooki who faded before Harry's eyes into the landscape and disappeared. "We'll wait until Sooki tells us it's safe," Snape said turning to him. Harry closed his eyes to rest for a moment and heard Snape's gruff voice. "Don't you pass out on me, Potter."
A hand shook him and Harry groaned and tried to push the hand away, "Won't… won't pass out," he moaned.
Moments passed in silence and Harry felt the pain crawling up his limbs as if he were on fire. Snape dropped down beside him and spoke, "I don't believe for a moment that we are going to survive this Potter, particularly when the Dark Lord enters our minds. Just for your own information, we will cross into each other's memories just like we did that day in my classroom. He will be there with us and we must persuade him that Sooki is about to kill me. He will know you are dying already."
Flies that were hungrily buzzing over the bodies around them was convincing to Harry. He kept his eyes closed and listened to the insects gathering in force to feast. The sun was setting and hot and he was suffering with a fever and chills and he was trembling uncontrollably. He forced himself to open his eyes and look at Snape. "You didn't tell me that Remus stopped you from rescuing my parents," he said simply. "You didn't tell me that you had even tried."
Snape started in surprise and glanced down at him, the dark eyes hardened.
"Why didn't you?" Harry asked. "You told the Dark Lord the prophecy, not knowing it was about me. You thought it was about the Longbottoms. Then, when you saw Peter Pettigrew go to Voldemort, you knew he was about to betray my parents and that the prophecy was really about me. You set out to save us , " Harry said it more to himself then to Snape. "You really didn't want revenge anymore did you? You knew in your heart that my dad didn't kill your wife and son." He kept going as the thoughts spilled out unbidden from some hidden reservoir of his mind. He continued, "But it was too late. Voldemort knew where my parents lived."
Snape glared at him and snarled, "You must set these thoughts aside Potter. He will cut through your mind like a knife. We must be convincing! Focus on what task we have ahead and forget these things from the past." He turned away as if listening to something in the trees. The late afternoon sun was at the apex of the cone and they were within minutes of being in shadow.
Harry thought about it as they waited. He thought Snape had hated him for being the one who survived; for being the Boy-That-Lived, when his own son had not. Harry thought that Snape had truly wanted revenge believing that James and Sirius had murdered his wife and son. Now, he suddenly realized that Snape had been acting out a role for a very long time.
You really don't hate me do you? Harry thought. All of these years you've pretended to hate me so you could protect me. You've pretended to follow Him so you could watch him. Harry pushed himself up. He was only inches away from the man.
"Everyone had to believe you hated me," Harry said, forgetting his agony for a moment and looked into the eyes turned on him. Harry studied the face and knew instantly that he had found the truth. "It's all been an act."
"Do you understand that these thoughts are going to get us killed?" Snape hissed. This time he looked worried.
"It's not knowing that'll get us killed," Harry replied, matching the tone of his voice to Snape's although it was shaky. "I think I can pretend as well as you. But I've heard the story from you and from Moses. Now, I need to know the truth or I'll never be convincing."
Harry looked into the dark black pools of the man's eyes where he could read guilt and sorrow and sadness. He saw the lines soften in his face for a moment before Snape stood and reached down. "Get to your feet Potter and forget these fantasies!" He grabbed Harry by the vest and pulled him to his feet. The familiar nasty expression was back.
"Why did you try and save my parents and me?" Harry shot back, holding himself against the pain.
"Don't you want him dead Potter? Don't you want to kill him?" Snape asked holding him out like a rag doll, his face contorted in a savage frown. "Aren't we here for the same purpose? Because if we aren't then we are surely dead."
"Tell me now so I can die with the truth," Harry said calmly, hanging limply in his grasp.
Snape let him go so abruptly he almost fell from the lack of support. Instead, he weaved unsteadily on his feet. The man stood back, glanced over at where Sooki had disappeared and then turned back to him. "The truth? I don't know the truth."
Harry studied the confusion on Snape's face. It was there for a fraction of a second and then gone. Sooki appeared suddenly and strolled towards them. Snape turned to Harry, and asked, "We must try this now. Are you ready?"
Harry knew they couldn't wait any longer and nodded. The elf positioned himself with a knife to Snape's throat as he knelt in front of the remains of a body . Harry couldn't remain standing any longer and dropped to the ground on his knees.
Snape whispered the word, "LEGILIMENS."
Harry remembered the sensations from the day he stood in Snape's office. He heard Snape's words in his mind, "I will see what you see, I will feel what you feel. Reach out to him in your mind." Harry searched his memories and stopped in the Ministry of Magic. The day he had fought his way back to the corridor, racing after Bellatrix Lestrange; there, where he had encountered Voldemort.
Harry saw the dark wizard throwing curses and talking to Dumbledore, moving from one hiding place to another, saw his gaunt, bony face and evil eyes. The scar above Harry's eyebrow began to burn and he closed his eyes and steadied himself with his hands. "He's coming," was all he could gasp.
"Don't try to lie to him, he will know," Snape's ethereal voice demanded. "Show him what you see. He will know you are dying and believe he is seeing your last thoughts."
…..
Harry could only remember having the feeling of being invaded by something evil and unclean. His eyes looked out through slits and his mind was filled with Voldemort's thoughts.
"Why Severus, my trusted servant, you have got yourself in a bind now haven't you?" The voice that wiggled out of his mouth was not Harry's. The eyes that saw for two surveyed the area. "It seems the deed is almost done. Alas, so are you," Harry chuckled unwillingly.
"Please master," Snape struggled in Sooki's grip. "Save me!"
"Where are the others?" Voldemort asked Harry ignoring Snape's plea.
Harry felt as if he were under the Imperious Curse. He was floating in the background, watching the proceedings like a bystander. The eyes turned on him and he felt the black wizard searching his mind. He also felt horrendous pain.
"Dead," he whispered truthfully, forcing himself to concentrate on his parents and on Sirius. "I'm dying too," he said nonchalantly and passed out.
"This was soooo easily," the voice said in the darkness. "No fun at all."