Yay! I work tonight! That always means updates!
"Why was Theo less angry at me?" Harry asked suddenly.
He was sitting in the Potions Classroom during Easter Holiday, hiding from the Gryffindors, absolutely sure they knew what he'd done. Snape was correcting papers while Harry flipped between the masses of homework he'd been assigned over spring break and reading 'Forming the Connection.' As he worked, he kept thinking back on the last Hogsmeade visit and then his last few encounters with Theodore.
"When was this?" Snape asked coolly.
"During the Hogsmeade visit." Harry replied. "Right after I'd chased the...group away...he looked irritated, but he wasn't nearly as angry. The explosion had happened only the day before. You'd have thought he would be fuming still."
Snape looked over at Harry and then down at the book cracked open on Harry's desk. With a sigh, he relented, "Well, as it'll take you too long to read all three books before you'll need them, I'll share some information."
He set aside his quill and folded his hands on his desk.
"It is nearly impossible for a person to remain angry at their particep, especially when their particep is sorry for what they'd done. It takes a lot of energy to be mad at them and Theodore effectively wasted all his energy for anger at you during that Potions Lesson when he blew up his cauldron. He had hoped, no doubt, that you would take the hint and run for it, but you didn't. Now, he's wasted his energy and he can't remain angry at you."
"But why?" Harry furrowed his brows.
"It's simply how it works." Snape responded calmly. "It is natural to want to please your particep, therefore it is impossible to hold negative feelings towards them. Particeps have done terrible things to each other...stolen incredible valuables from each other, physically lashed out at one another, and even killed the other's family members and yet they forgive each other and continue to want to be around each other. Only distance or words can break the bond...powerful words."
"But connections form between everyone, right?" Harry questioned. "Like Ronald and me."
It was strange. He didn't feel sad and didn't have any reluctance in saying his old friend's name.
"Only with those who can connect." Snape replied. "Muggles and Blanks can form no connections with anyone. With Squibs, it's a fifty/fifty chance, but they won't have a particep."
"You can't connect with anyone?" Harry was baffled by this.
"Only with whoever gives me their name." Snape's features had chilled. "Any other questions?"
"Why is it me who has to lose everyone?" The question had slipped out before Harry could stop it and he stared a bit frightened at his Professor, but Snape didn't look the least bit fazed.
"Because you're the fighter."
"The what?"
"The fighter." Snape repeated. "In each pair, there is a fighter and a sacrifice. These are the actual terms. You are born as one of these. Blanks are always fighters and therefore can only pair with a sacrifice. A sacrifice is the shield. In dueling, they can cast protective charms and other such things with greater proficiency than a fighter, who is better at jinxes and hexes. There is a more important factor however to differentiate the two. Fighters are completely subserviant to sacrifices."
"What?" Harry stared at his teacher, bewildered.
"No one else will tell you this so bluntly." Snape gave him a warning look that told Harry he wasn't permitted to run off to McGonagall and tattle on the Potions Master for his too honest an answer. "Sacrfices are the leaders and fighters the followers. You will chase Theodore and there is a chance he won't ever return the favor. However, as a wizard you will have more potent magic. You will be more powerful in general. He may learn more things than you as there is no doubt in my mind that he is smarter than you."
Harry rolled his eyes at the insult.
"Regardless, a spell he cast will not be nearly as powerful if you had cast it. Some believe this is a fair trade."
"You disagree?"
"Not...entirely." Snape hesitated, eyes moving to stare at a shelf of his as if it'd suddenly drawn his attention. "For some people this relationship works fine. For others, not so well. In the case of you and Nott, I am uncertain. Nott is a dominating personality, but he likes to be alone. He fits his name well. Unbound to others, he can expand his borders. He does not live in a box like everyone one else. He sees life from a different angle as well. He's far more complicated a person than you might think at first glance."
"You seem to know him pretty well." Harry muttered, spikes of jealousy rushing through him.
Snape seemed to notice this because he gave Harry a smirk. "Don't think that he doesn't get jealous at others knowing you better than he does."
"He acts like he doesn't want to get to know me at all."
"Nott is in a difficult position." Snape stated. "Most of it, I don't even know the full story of. What I do know is that his father is every bit a Slytherin and sees blood purity as the most important thing to learn about a wizard or witch. His own family tree boasts, as his family has ensured, only those of the purest of blood, disowning and even killing those who try to venture off of this path. Nott Sr. also boasts a line of purely Slytherins, something no other family has ever been able to claim. His son has grown up hearing about how important he is for his purity of blood and his entirely Slytherin line. He was also under the impression that he would then be paired with a Slytherin as this is fairly common amongst the family. Landing you has been a blow to his ego, if nothing else."
"Great..." Harry grumbled.
"His father also has high expectations of him." Snape continued, ignoring Harry's interruption. "As the only son of a dying line, Nott is expected to be as powerful and great as his line has been. At this moment, I know he is under a lot of strain. He cannot tell his father what has happened here at Hogwarts. As it's school policy to ensure that confidentiality be kept for those who wish it, a spell has been cast around the castle to ensure that even his friends cannot tell without him first speaking it to his father. If it was not for this, I'm sure Nott would have already been disowned and would have to fall under extreme Ministry protection."
"But, they'd catch his father if he tried anything, right?"
"Perhaps." Snape mused, but he didn't seem like he believed it was a contest. "But Slytherins are very cunning and as Nott Sr. embodies Slytherin entirely it would not surprise me if he managed to get away with murder. In fact, I know he has in the past."
Harry felt a rush of fear and focused down on his book. "S-so...what does his mother think of all this?"
"His mother passed away when he was still very young." Snape's words brought Harry's eyes up again. "Even before this, she had little if any influence over her son. I understand that Nott Sr. is rather controlling, like his son."
"Was she Nott Sr.'s particep?" Harry asked after a long silence.
"No. It is my understanding that Nott Sr. was disconnected from his particep, but I know little else on the matter. As I've told you before, I have no influence over Nott Jr. and his father doesn't much care for me."
"Why is that, sir?"
"Not a reason I need to share with you, Mr. Potter." Snape's eyes slitted eyes commanded Harry to drop the subject.
Harry stared at his book again, questions swimming through his mind, but he wasn't sure which one to pick.
"Er...is his father the only thing holding him back?" Harry asked apprehensively.
"No." Snape ran a finger over his bottom lip thoughtfully. "He also has his entire House to deal with. While Goyle is already coming around, Malfoy has had plans of destroying your popularity since the start of your first year. Zabini never took part in Malfoy's wishes before, but he has changed his mind of late."
"Who's the fighter there? Zabini?" Harry was suddenly curious.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Snape's eyes were amused at the look of disappointment in Harry's eyes. "Nott must also deal with your Gryffindor friends."
"He hasn't had any troubles with them." The boy looked up at the teacher who was giving him a critical look. "Uh...has he?"
"Being the quiet loner type, Nott has never really had many run-ins with the Gryffindors or really anyone. Most didn't even notice that he exists. This was something he saw as a benefit. He could sneak around, do what he needed to become more powerful, and no one would even glance his direction...no one who wasn't a Slytherin. He used his nearly invisible existance to his advantage and the other Slytherins reveled in it. They were always on his good side and it was getting on his side that was important because he wasn't going to be on anyone's side, but his own. He's the type that people who are drawn to power are drawn to. Becoming a particep with you, who is famous and infamous and popular in your own way has put a lot of unwanted focus on him. People are paying attention to what he does and they're not liking what they see. He's no longer considered quiet, but brooding and deceptive. He is no longer a loner, but a deviser of horrific plans. They do not see him as an invisible unthreatening wall. Instead, they see someone who is potentially dangerous and this frightens them. Where there is fear there is misunderstandings and when there are misunderstandings there are outbreaks of violence and where there is violence there is always a Slytherin one-on-four-or-more."
"I thought Slytherins stood by each other?"
"They do, when they can." Snape twiddled with his quill and Harry found it very strange as he'd never seen the man fiddling with anything so absentmindedly before. "But often we are called cowards. We're not. We're survivors."
Harry smiled. "Theodore told me that. He said that if we were left on an island together with no means to make an end, he'd live and I'd die."
"This is true." Snape mumbled. "He would kill you."
"That's...what he said." Harry's smile had gone. "But why?"
"You would be in the way." Snape answered coolly. "You could be a threat. It is also more difficult to feed two mouths than one."
"But two people could watch each other's backs." Harry stated. "Two people could work together to find food. They could put their heads together and they wouldn't be nearly as lonely."
"Lonely isn't a bad thing."
"Yes, it is." Harry's voice was sterner than he had meant it and he expected the glare Snape cast him, but he noticed something about the man scowling at him. His entire body had gone rigid and his hand was pressing hard on the desk as if to steady himself. He didn't seem...right.
"Professor Lupin is looking for a new particep, you said." Harry knew he was speaking out of turn, but he couldn't help himself. "He wouldn't have happened to have asked you, would he?"
"This is none of your business, Potter." Snape snarled threateningly.
"You said no?" Harry asked, worry coming to his eyes. "But why? You know much more about particeps than any of the teachers, it seems. I would think this would mean you'd want to connect."
"Each of the teachers knows plenty about particeps. You are deluded."
"Professor McGonagall doesn't seem to understand any of it."
Snape hesitated here and then finally muttered, "She has never had a particep. Her own particep passed way before she enrolled at Hogwarts."
"That's...sad..." Harry whispered.
The Potions Master gave a feeble shrug. "Unlike Professor McGonagall, I've always had the option of forming a connection if I wanted, so, unlike Professor McGonagall, I have researched the connection more deeply than she has. Furthermore, I have a greater understanding of people than she does, as, being a Gryffindor, she expects things to be more straightforward than they really are."
"Can't they be?" Harry asked with a sigh.
Snape didn't answer and changed topics. "You have more questions, I assume?"
"Are Theodore and I going to disconnect?" Harry was surprised he'd gotten up the gall to ask this question.
"No." Snape told him. "Not at this point. You must simply spend more time with him and remember that words are power."
"Don't actions speak louder than words?" Harry tried to be witty, but all he got was a scowl.
"Pathetic Muggle sayings." Snape snorted with disgust. "In the magical world, words are enough."
"All right...but how do I create a bond with someone who is 'unbound'?"
Snape's eyes flashed with what seemed to be joy, but Harry was sure he was mistaken. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that question."
"R-really?"
"Pay attention, Potter." Snape's smile was making Harry nervous. "Because this is probably the most important thing you are going to learn for this year."
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