CHAPTER 6
In the middle of October, Severus was summoned back to Gringotts London for a meeting with Sharpspike and Ironfist. Greetings over, they got down to business.
"Mr Prince, do you know the exact prophecy regarding Harry and the Dark Lord?" asked Sharpspike.
"I'm afraid not. I know the gist of it but Dumbledore didn't want me to know the exact prophecy in case I took it to the Dark Lord. I would prefer not to take Harry to the Hall of Prophecy to collect it but if you feel it's important enough, then we shall take that chance."
"I think it would be advisable to see the prophecy before moving against the final piece of the Dark Lord's spirit," Sharpspike said regretfully. "It would be best if we knew the exact wording, in case there is anything we need to take into consideration."
Severus sighed and summoned Dobby, who promptly arrived with a pop. "Dobby, please can you bring Harry here?" he asked.
When Dobby arrived back a moment later with Harry in tow, Severus turned to Sharpspike. "Can you put goblin glamours on us, please? I believe these can't be detected by wizard magic?"
"That is so but when you enter the Ministry and present your wand, it will register as that of Rennard Prince. I wouldn't put it past the old meddler to have issued instructions that he be informed if ever Rennard Prince enters the Ministry," mused Ironfist.
At Severus' request, Andromeda Tonks had not yet moved against Dumbledore. Severus wanted to wait until after the Dark Lord had been dealt with. With the knowledge that the death of the Dark Lord would kill all his marked followers, this would be the ultimate proof that Voldemort was gone. If Dumbledore tried to claim otherwise, he would look like a deluded old fool who was determined to hang onto his past glory days, thus strengthening Andromeda's position when she tried to oust Dumbledore from the Wizengamot. Therefore, with Dumbledore still firmly ensconced as Chief Warlock, Severus had to agree with Ironfist that Dumbledore would have issued instructions to the security guard to notify him immediately if Rennard Prince should ever enter the Ministry building.
As a disappointed Severus sat back in his seat with a huff, his eye fell on Dobby and his face brightened. "Dobby, are you able to enter the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries without detection?" he asked the loyal little elf.
"Yes, Master Prince. Dobby can do that," Dobby nodded.
Severus' black eyes gleamed. "It never ceases to amaze me how much wizards discount other races," he commented. "Dobby, I want you to go there and find an orb labelled SPT to APWBD, Dark Lord and Charlie Potter. Don't touch it when you find it, just come straight back here."
Sharpspike and Ironfist were both grinning evilly in appreciation for this means of circumventing the official security guards. "Wizards regard house elves as little more than vermin — useful vermin, but vermin nonetheless — and they forget that elves have their own magic and can go anywhere undetected," they agreed.
While they waited for Dobby to return, Sharpspike applied the glamour to Harry. "Before you apply mine," said Severus. "Can you make it so that Harry can see the real me, despite the glamour? I don't want him to be alarmed by seeing me with a different face."
By the time Ironfist had finished glamouring Severus, Dobby was back. "Dobby, please can you take Harry and myself directly to that orb?" Severus asked. Dobby took his hand and Harry's hands and Severus felt the familiar squeezing sensation of apparition. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the stacks in the Department of Mysteries.
"There it is," said Dobby pointing.
Severus picked up Harry and perched him on his hip. "Harry, please can you pick up that ball?" he asked, pointing to the one that Dobby had indicated and holding Harry right in front of the relevant orb. Fortunately, the orbs were always enchanted so that only the people the prophecy truly concerned could pick them up and not the people actually listed on the label, since it was not always immediately clear to whom a prophecy was referring and mistaken assumptions had therefore been made in the past.
"Only that one," he said, as Harry reached out his hand. "Well done," he said, when Harry picked it up and looked at him questioningly. Harry beamed at the praise. Task done, Dobby took each of their hands and popped them back to Gringotts.
Severus walked over to Ironfist's desk. "Harry, please put the ball on the desk," he instructed the little boy. Harry looked reluctant, so Severus conjured a facsimile of the glass orb. Instead of housing a prophecy, the facsimile housed glowing lights in a myriad of colours, almost like multi-coloured fireflies flitting about the orb. This was much more interesting to look at and Harry eagerly swapped the prophecy orb for the new one. Fortunately, Severus had thought to make it unbreakable, as he could see it was going to become a favoured toy.
With a word from Severus, Dobby took Harry back home. Raising his eyebrow in a mute question, Severus withdrew his wand. Ironfist nodded and Severus aimed a finely judged Reductor Curse at the orb. Rather than smashing the orb into smithereens, he only used enough power to break it open. An image of Sybill Trelawney appeared before them.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..." ⁶
After listening to the prophecy, Severus sat back contemplatively. "Well, that was interesting," he commented sarcastically.
"What is the power Harry has that the Dark Lord won't know?" asked Sharpspike. "Harry hasn't shown any unusual abilities, has he?"
"No, but that could mean anything," replied Severus, after a moment's thought. "It could mean having my support or that of the Goblin Nation. Alternatively, the banishment ritual calls upon the gods, doesn't it? The Dark Lord certainly didn't believe in or accept the concept of a higher authority — as far as he was concerned, there was only power and those willing to use it — so calling upon the gods could be the power the Dark Lord knows not. There's also the fact that we don't know how Harry defeated the Dark Lord in 1981; whatever he did then may have been the relevant power, as whatever it was will have led indirectly to the Dark Lord's demise."
Sharpspike laughed a vicious sounding laugh. "That prophecy can easily be taken apart to prove that it has already taken place, should Dumbledore try to publicise it in an effort to prove his case that Voldemort still exists after the banishment ritual has been completed. Both boys have scars from that night, don't they?" Severus nodded. "So it can be claimed that Charlie Potter was marked by Voldemort as his equal. And Voldemort was killed by the Boy-Who-Lived by a power that none of us know of, never mind Voldemort, since no adult was there to witness what the boy actually did to defeat him that Halloween night."
Severus chuckled. "You're right. I was concerned about how to warn Potter senior about Dumbledore's plans for his son when the Dark Lord returns. However, if we do our job right, the Dark Lord won't actually return, so it won't matter if Dumbledore continues to be obsessed with the Potter child. The old manipulator can have the child trained all he wants and if the training is never put to use, well, there's no harm done — just as long as Dumbledore doesn't arrange a heroic death for him, just so he can claim he was right all along." Severus pinched the bridge of his nose as he contemplated the very real possibility of that happening. "All right, the Potters still need to be warned about Dumbledore but it can wait until after we've dealt with the Dark Lord."
"Agreed," said Ironfist.
"Is that the original prophecy orb or did you make a duplication?" asked Sharpspike with interest.
Severus sighed regretfully. "I would have preferred to make a duplication and leave that behind but if I don't know if the protections on the original orb would then settle on the duplicate and didn't really want to hang around long enough to examine the wards in that much detail. The consequences if the wrong person takes a prophecy orb are extreme. I may not like Potter senior but I won't have it on my conscience if Charlie Potter is injured through trying to pick it up. When the Dark Lord's demise takes his followers, Dumbledore, Potter and Black will take Charlie straight to the Hall of Prophecy to try and work out what has happened. Just because the prophecy has been fulfilled, that won't mean that the orb will automatically disappear. As far as I'm aware, they remain in the Hall of Prophecy until claimed."
Sharpspike nodded. From a tactical point of view, he agreed that a duplication would have been better, so that no one would know the prophecy had been taken, but he had to agree with Severus' reasoning regarding Charlie Potter. Suddenly he smiled a very nasty smile. "Dumbledore will probably conclude that somehow Voldemort managed to take it. I doubt it would occur to him that he was wrong about the Boy-Who-Lived, any more than he could be wrong about his assumption that Voldemort will return."
"You're probably right," said Severus wryly.
"Mr Prince," said Ironclaw. "We have determined that the best time to complete the banishment ritual will be on Samhain. It will complete that which was begun on the same night five years ago. I know that wizards regard that night as Halloween but this ritual is better suited to Samhain, when spirits moved freely between the worlds and animals were selected for slaughter for the winter, than it is to modern day Halloween."
Severus nodded in agreement. This made sense. "In that case, the gods we call upon should be the Celtic gods, since Samhain is of Celtic origin," he considered.
"Forest gods will also be important, since his spirit is defiling the forests in Albania," suggested Sharpspike. "As will the gods of justice and judgement, balance and death."
"I don't want to call upon an entire pantheon but a selection of each of those types of gods would probably be a good idea," Severus agreed. "I'll do some research and choose those I think most appropriate."
.o.O.o.
On the eve of Samhain, Severus portkeyed to Albania with Ironfist, Sharpspike, a team of goblin warriors and the goblin priests, the latter of whom were chanting and beating on drums, as they had done for the ritual of the Sacred Blue Moon Fire. Severus did not want Harry anywhere near the evening's events if it could possibly be avoided. Since, according to Sharpspike and Ironfist, he had declared himself Harry's champion in the ritual of the Sacred Blue Moon Fire — he still had no memory of what he actually said during the ritual — he would try himself to banish the last remnant of the Dark Lord on Harry's behalf. However, should it not be sufficient for him to perform the banishment ritual alone, then Dobby was standing by to apparate Harry in if Severus called for him. The goblins had already performed the containment ritual, trapping the Dark Lord's spirit in place, so they did not need to worry about him escaping while they called for Harry.
Severus had taught Harry the final part of the invocation — Begone, foul spirit, begone! — and had practised with Harry what the little boy should do if he were needed. Dobby would apparate Harry to the clearing, Harry would say the words and then Dobby would instantly pop him away again, meaning that Harry would only be present for a matter of seconds. Severus was taking no chances and, although every effort had been made to ensure Harry's safety and well-being, Healer Cutwell also accompanied the team just in case.
Bonfires had been lit around the clearing in which the Dark Lord's final spirit piece had been contained. According to the goblin warriors who had tracked him down and kept watch to be sure he remained in this place until the time of the ritual, his spirit had apparently been residing there for some time. The trees and shrubs, flowers and grass, were all diseased and dying, so herbs, spices and crystals for regrowth, cleansing, purification and protection were scattered around the edges of the clearing, with more burning in the flames of the bonfires.
At a signal from the lead priest, Severus stepped forward. "I call upon the goddess of Samhain, Mongfiohnn on this Samhain night; I call upon Mother Nature, Gaia; I call upon the gods of magic, Cerridwen, Morrigan and Hecate; I call upon the gods of law and order, justice and judgement, Themis, Dike and Thoth; I call upon the gods of balance, the spirits of divine retribution, Ma'at, Nemesis and Adrasteia; I call upon the gods of the forest, Cernunnos, Provata, Medeina, Silvanus and Melikki; I call upon the Lords of the Underworld, Hades, Tartarus and Osiris. Divine Lords and Ladies, hear my words, hear my plea. Before me is the spirit of Tom Marvolo Riddle."
As Severus pronounced the Dark Lord's hated Muggle name, the black spirit glowed red in anger. "You dare call me that? I will destroy you!" the spirit howled.
Severus ignored it and carried on. "Lord Voldemort is the name he has chosen for himself. Voldemort — flee from death. Voldemort — Tom Riddle — is guilty of hubris, of arrogance before the gods. He has chosen to defy the laws of nature. He has chosen to defy death. He has created abominations. He has polluted the forests and defiled the earth with his very presence. He brings nothing but death and disease. His soul anchors have already been sent on to the Underworld. I beg of you, cleanse the forests of his evil. Send the final remnant of his soul to the deepest pits of Tartarus, there to await judgement and punishment. Banish him forever from this earth, never to return. Divine Lords, hear my prayer, grant us this grace. Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort, I abjure thee, in the name of all who you and your followers have harmed, maimed or killed, in the name of all who you and you followers have attacked with malice and hatred, begone from this plane forevermore, never to return. Begone, foul spirit, begone!"
Severus finished the invocation and held his breath, waiting to see if it would be successful or if he would need to call for Harry. An unearthly scream issued from the spirit of Voldemort and the spirit of the Dark Lord pulsed black. The bonfires exploded, the flames reaching up to the sky and shooting sparks which blended together to form a protective dome above the clearing. Winds whirled around the clearing like a cyclone, the swirling mass covering the entire clearing but not affecting Severus or the goblins in the slightest. Instead, the vortex gathered up the spirit of the Dark Lord within it and rose up into the air, beneath the protective dome. Suddenly, it arrowed sharply downwards, penetrating deep into the bowels of the earth. Simultaneously, a flash of radiant, incandescent light blazed around the clearing and the winds abruptly ended. The resultant silence was absolute. Severus and the goblins could feel the purity of the light as it washed over them and when they regained their senses and looked around the clearing, they saw that it had been cleansed. It was once again brimming with life and new growth, with no signs remaining of the taint and rot, the disease and death caused by the presence of the Dark Lord's spirit.
Severus sagged in relief and Sharpspike and Ironfist, who were standing on either side of him, grabbed hold of him, supporting him so that he would not fall to the ground from fatigue. "You have done a good thing here tonight," Ironfist said to Severus.
"We all have," he replied shakily. "I couldn't have done it alone. I owe the Goblin Nation my most grateful thanks."
Cutwell strode over to them. "Take a Pepperup potion before you collapse," he said, abruptly thrusting a vial into Severus' hand, which Severus gratefully drank. Feeling steadier on his feet, he gently shook off Ironfist's and Sharpspike's supporting hold. Bowing to the three goblins who had led the team tonight, Severus thanked them all profusely for their help.
Cutwell grunted grumpily and stomped away, muttering about the foolishness and dangers of heroics and bravado. Severus exchanged a wry look with Ironfist and Sharpspike, before nodding in acknowledgement once more and bidding them farewell. The goblin priests had already left and the warriors were making a final check to be sure that the fires were all safely extinguished and would not ravage the forest; Cutwell was waiting with the team until their job was complete. Sharpspike and Ironfist portkeyed back to Gringotts and Severus portkeyed home, ready to collapse into an exhausted, but relieved, sleep.
Arriving back in Prince Manor, Severus went first to Harry's bedroom. The little boy was tucked up in bed and Dobby was crooning to him. Severus sat down on the edge of the bed and took Harry in his arms, grateful beyond anything that the night's ritual had been successful and that Harry had not needed to be present. Harry stirred sleepily and Severus continued cuddling him until the weary man could stay awake no more. Dobby called for Jibbs and Severus' personal elf popped him off to bed, changing the man's clothes for the pyjama trousers and t-shirt he preferred to sleep in with a snap of his fingers.
Over the next few days, chaos erupted in Britain, as it was discovered that all who had the Dark Mark had died suddenly on Samhain. Relatives and other, unmarked, followers were all crying foul play but the accusation that the DMLE might have arranged this was treated with derision. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch Senior, reacted with scorn to this suggestion, but remembering the ruthlessness with which he had sentenced his own son to Azkaban for being a Death Eater, there were those who wondered if he might indeed be responsible. Amelia Bones, who sat on the Wizengamot as Head of House Bones and was fast rising in the ranks of the DMLE treated the accusations with derision.
"Most of the people who died that night, either died in Azkaban — and I assure you that all the guards have been interviewed under Veritaserum and cleared — or else they died in their own homes, behind their own wards, with no breaches in those wards being reported. How were we supposed to have done this? How were we supposed to bypass the wards? Where would we have got the resources for such a comprehensive act as this? Might I remind you that since the end of the war, the funding for the DMLE has been cut down to an absolute — and untenable — low and the majority of the Auror Office has been fired," she pointed out scathingly when questioned in the Wizengamot chamber.
In the meantime, Albus Dumbledore was in shock. It was clear that the death of all the Death Eaters was somehow connected to Voldemort but he still did not believe that the Dark Lord was dead and vehemently said so. "It has been prophesied that Charlie Potter should kill Lord Voldemort and I assure you he has done no such thing," he pronounced loftily.
"Is that so?" drawled Andromeda Tonks. "So what happened to Lord Voldemort on Halloween 1981 in that case?" she asked, ignoring the shudders from around her at the mention of Voldemort's name.
"Lord Voldemort was defeated temporarily, Madam Tonks," Dumbledore said patronisingly.
"Oh? And how do you know that, Chief Warlock?" she asked with false sweetness.
Forgetting Andromeda's formidable reputation as a lawyer, Dumbledore fell for the act and kindly explained. "Because his followers still lived."
Amelia Bones narrowly beat Andromeda to the punch. "Following that logic, doesn't that mean that if his followers have all simultaneously dropped dead, then he must now be dead as well, Chief Warlock?"
"Well, no. Because Charlie Potter didn't kill him." The condescension was back in Dumbledore's voice.
Andromeda went in for the kill. "Tell me, Chief Warlock, were you in Charlie Potter's bedroom when Lord Voldemort entered it with the intention of killing Charlie Potter? Do you know what it is that Charlie Potter actually did to defeat Lord Voldemort on Halloween 1981? Should you be correct that Voldemort didn't really die that night, can you guarantee that whatever Charlie Potter did wasn't something lingering, which has only now taken full effect? Alternatively, consider this: if Voldemort linked his followers to him so that they would all die along with him, perhaps it has been their life force and their magic that has sustained their Master all this time. Severus Snape, who we all know was marked, recently died. And no, Chief Warlock, I'm not denying that Severus Snape was your spy. It simply doesn't alter the fact that he had the Dark Mark. Another marked follower also died not long before Samhain. Is it not possible that without them, the link to his remaining followers was insufficient to sustain Lord Voldemort and when it was no longer strong enough, it broke and he died, taking his followers with him?"
Amelia Bones was enjoying watching Dumbledore splutter in indignation as Andromeda fired out questions at the Chief Warlock, as though he were on trial. Unfortunately for him, what Andromeda had suggested was all too plausible, especially taking into account Dumbledore's justification for thinking that Voldemort had not died four years previously. It was concluded that Charlie Potter had indeed made the killing blow and that the Dark Lord's death had simply been lingering — very lingering, some might say. Dumbledore was clearly still in denial but the rest of the Wizengamot were happy to put the issue to rest and move onto other matters.
Andromeda also had a quiet word with her cousin, Sirius Black. "The goblins have confirmed that Voldemort died, finally and completely, on Samhain this year. They won't tell me how they know — they refuse to share this information with wizards — but they assure me they have absolute proof. Voldemort isn't suddenly going to come back to life some years down the line. I suggest you warn the Potters. Dumbledore still doesn't accept Voldemort is dead and he's showing an unhealthy obsession with their son as a result. They may wish to protect him from Dumbledore's paranoia."
Sirius took note. For all his faults, he genuinely cared for Charlie and he trusted Andromeda's judgement. When he discussed the matter with James and Lily Potter, they agreed. "There's no harm in continuing to train Charlie to defend himself," said James. "But not to train him to be a pawn on the old man's chess board. Andromeda is a very astute woman and if she feels something isn't right about Dumbledore, then I'm going to heed her advice. Lily and I have both talked about this and something isn't sitting right about it with us, either. It's as though there's something very important that we've both forgotten about but we can't work out what it could be. It's making Lily very scared of the interest the old man is showing in Charlie. We're his parents, not Dumbledore, and we'll make the decisions regarding our son."
Sirius agreed. When Andromeda reported back, Severus thought that perhaps they were trying to remember Harry. The former spy did not think Dumbledore was to blame for the Potters having forgotten the boy but, as they were already feeling uneasy about Dumbledore, it would appear that their unease was inclining them to attribute their impression of something being missing to the meddlesome, old man. Severus did not pass this information on, however. Dumbledore may not be at fault in this instance but if it helps the Potters be wary of the old coot, then it's all to the good, he decided.
Severus did briefly feel guilty about taking Harry away from the Potters when it really did seem that it was not their fault they had forgotten him, although it was frustrating him that he still did not know what had caused that to happen, other than his speculation with Ironfist and Sharpspike. However, Severus also remembered Gillie's adamant declaration that "Harry No-Name is not a Potter." This had been reinforced by the blood adoption and the ritual of the Sacred Blue Moon Fire. Harry truly was no longer a Potter. The magic in my vow led me to Harry and I love him. He is my son now, Severus thought mutinously. In all honesty, Severus could not justify returning Harry to the Potters. It would be too traumatic for the little boy to be moved again and to have to get used to living with new people. It would be too traumatic for me, too, Severus admitted. Deciding that he had to do what was best for his son and not for the Potters, Severus resolutely put it out his mind.
Over the next few months Andromeda Tonks continued to stir up a hornets' nest regarding Dumbledore. Unfortunately, while it damaged his reputation considerably, it was still not enough to oust him from his positions as Chief Warlock and Headmaster of Hogwarts. The knowledge that he had not brought the banning of Unbreakable Vows before the Wizengamot, and was in fact still using them himself, was sufficient for the ICW to remove him as Supreme Mugwump, although the Wizengamot chose to retain him as their sitting member on the ICW — perhaps hoping that his efforts to regain his position as Supreme Mugwump would take his attention away from Britain.
Losing the position as Supreme Mugwump had annoyed the old man but not to the extent that losing either of his other positions would have done, since the international wizarding community did not in any case worship at the altar of the almighty Albus Dumbledore the way Britain did. While the additional title had given him more prestige within Britain, he did not regard it as a great loss in real terms. Certainly, he did not regard it as being as great a loss as the proxy for the Prince seat on the Wizengamot, especially as a new ruling had been introduced that no member of the Wizengamot could hold the proxy or Regency for more than one seat, in addition to their own, and he had been forced to give up almost all the proxies he had held. Although he still held most of his prestigious positions, the damage his reputation had suffered was therefore enough to make him desperate to gain access to and control over Rennard Prince, as he would happily give up his one remaining proxy in order to regain that of the House of Prince.
.o.O.o.
⁶ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 37.