READ THIS PLEASE: this story will be VOLDEMORT BASHING, and I am not a good basher to begin with, is there anyone wiling to help me? Suggestions on HOW to do it will be appreciated, Pm or Review, Thank you ^ ^.
Subliminal message: take the challenges in my profile...take the challenge in my profile...take the challenge in my profile...peanut butter?
" Alohomora" – spells/Parseltongue
"Let's finish this" - dialogue
" Can it get any worse? " - during flashback/ Creatures
" Not so easy after all " - thoughts/Legilimency
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other part of the franchise...otherwise the last two books would have been TOTALLY different nor I get money for this.
Chapter 4: Hermione VS The Troll: THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN OF ULTIMATE DESTINY!
Gaunt Shack – Trees near the house -
A lonely raven was silently watching the decrepit, decaying house once home of the Gaunt family and current hiding place of the Ring Horcrux containing the Death Stone.
Moving to a lower branch the animal narrowed its eyes as it looked left and right before nodding in satisfaction.
"KRAAAA!" the raven screeched loudly to the sky before falling silent.
Few seconds after its call an anonymous-looking owl flew on the scene carrying a silver-furred cat with black spots on its pristine mantle, the feline leaving the bird's talons as both landed on the same branch as the owl.
"Kraa!" the raven said moving its head towards the house
"Hoot?" answered the howl and receiving a new nod in answer
"Meow" said the cat as it jumped down, followed by its two flying 'friends'
An instant later and three Hogwarts students were in place of the three animals.
"I forgot how good it feels to fly with your own wings" Harry, former crow, said smirking while dusting himself
"Yeah, it helps clearing your mind" Ron, the owl, answered nodding
"Not that you need a lot of time to clear yours" Hermione answered glaring at him
"I am sorry if my talons actually moved too deep in your fur" the boy said sighing "Happy now?"
"Better, pay more attention next time" the girl answered as the three moved towards the house.
"Why an Egyptian Mau of all the cats? I thought you would have chosen one more similar to Crookshanks" Harry asked
"Because they are cute and it's said that Pharaoh Ramses had been a cat-animagus with that same form, that's why" she answered
"If you are happy like that, it's a pain carrying you around though" Ron said
"You mean that I am fat?" Hermione asked growling
"He means that it's difficult to carry you without risking to hurt you" Harry said rapidly to disarm her anger.
"Why a raven, by the way? I choose an owl so to not attract too much attention"
"Same reasons actually, I was torn between a grim like Sirius and a raven, I choose the latter because it's small, pretty common and able to fly, an owl is still an animal one usually see at night except when delivering mail, a raven at least can remain unseen thanks to the black feathers...and it sounds cool saying 'I am a raven-animagus'...it has that Cool Bad Boy feeling to it" Harry answered
"Bah! Boys..." Hermione muttered rolling her eyes, blasting the door open and starting to throw counter-curses left and right in case the ring had other protections.
"Anything important we need to know?" Harry asked to Tom
"Nothing...if Voldy's memories are complete...the ring should be around here somewhere" The smoky head of Tom said looking around.
"No traps around, the compulsion Charm around the house we removed before was the only thing he used"
"I thought that after removing it some Death Eaters would have appeared to check, instead no-one came to 'kill the intruder'...I find it a little insulting, we wasted an hour waiting in the trees for nothing" Harry commented sighing.
"It was a powerful one at least, it took the three of us and a lot of power to counter it, try consoling yourself with that" Ron said grabbing the other's shoulder
"Yeah...what a great consolation..." the boy said sighing again
"Quit the self-pity party you two and come here, I found it" Hermione called out as she levitated the ring, a big frown on her face
"Yep, I feel the need to wear it from here, a strong compulsion indeed" Ron said narrowing his eyes
"Harry? Do you mind? It's kinda hard focusing enough to keep it up with a voice in my head screaming at me to wear it" the girl said with clenched teeth
"Coming" The boy answered taking her place, whistling at the sensation
"A strong one...Tom? Any idea?" Harry asked worried
"Try using some counters while speaking Parseltongue, if I remember correctly I used that when adding the protections" Tom answered
"Got it!" Harry said letting the ring fall down, pointing his wand at it he started hissing several spells helped by Salazar, the 'little' basilisk suggesting few spells itself.
While the boy was trying to cleanse the ring, his two friend moved outside on request of the bushy-head of the group.
"Okay, what is it? You have been gnawing your lip since this morning, me and Harry are starting to get worried, if you don't start talking I fear we will be forced to force-fed you Veritaserum" Ron asked crossing his arms
"...It's about what happened with the potion book years ago" Hermione said looking down
"AGAIN!?" the Weasley yelled before the girl's hands covered his mouth
"Ssssh!"
"Again!?" he whispered while glaring at her
"...Yes..." she answered meekly
"How many times does he have to tell you that he forgive you? Really! You keep telling him how sorry you are for that! Don't you think that MAYBE after all those years he simply stopped caring for that?" Ron asked seriously
"But...he had just lost Sirius and I tried to take distance! I refused to listen to him whenever he had doubts about Malfoy and Snape...I...I...I acted like-like an arsehole!" Hermione said nervously
"Sigh!...yeah, we didn't try to see if he was actually right or not and just decided to treat it like a "fantasy" of his and it came back to bite us in the ass as a result...big time too actually" he said sighing
"Thinking about it, after all those years evading death one shouldn't be surprised if Harry developed a 'sixth sense' when it comes to Dark Plots" she answered sighing herself
"Eh! With Trolls, Basilisks, Dragons, Dementors, Acromantulas and what not, we too collected some nice memories for that, we too should have smelled Troubles when the blond ferret started acting strangely...what were you thinking this time?"
"Some sort of gift? Something to tell him how sorry I am?" Hermione asked
"It would be pretty repetitive, you did that several times already" Ron answered
"Then what? I am afraid that he will start resent me for that someday"
"You can try talking about it, resolve this thing once and for all, he had already forgive you, you can at least put your mind at ease once and for all" he answered
"Maybe you are right, let's go, looks like he finished" the girl said pointing at the waving Harry showing the ring safely in his hand
"Before we go...I need to know something" Ron asked with red ears
"Hu-uh? What?" she asked
"I never asked but...when I left you two behind...in the tent...did something happened? I mean...you know..." the boy asked
"What do you...Oh! Oooh! I got it" Hermione asked curious, before realizing what he meant and walking towards their friend with a mischievous smile on her face without answering.
"No, really. What happened?" he asked again
"Well...you had leave me and I was desperate, then the cold caught us by surprise and...well, we had to share the warmth, a thing leads to another and..." the girl answered smirking at his horrified face
"HARRY!" Ron yelled in anger "YOU SHAGGED HER IN THE TENT!?" he then asked
"Five times...shite!" the boy answered automatically before realizing
"Traitors! The both of you!" the other said glaring at the two
"It was years ago, and had you been more reasonable I would have told you before, I thought you left me for good so I tried to console myself" the girl of the three said crossing her arms
"One thing is being reasonable, another is discovering that you two went behind my back like that!"
"Listen...I am sorry okay? We were both exhausted, angry and/or sad at you leaving, we were also within an inch from freezing to death, it wasn't something planned, it just happened" Harry said
"I MIGHT accept that, but going so far as to Fake her virginity was too much" Ron said
"What!? We did not fake her virginity, I never took that out of respect! Even if in that moment I was all but ready to 'respect' you I would have never took that away from her without being the one she was interested in at the moment" Harry said glaring at the other
"But...you admitted to have had sex with her!" the boy said pointing at the girl
"There are...other ways..." Hermione admitted
"What other ways? The only other way would be...noo! You didn't!" Ron said growling
"Couldn't sit for three days..." she admitted blushing
"HAAAAARRY!"
"In my defence I can only say...KRAAAA!" the boy started saying before rapidly turning into a raven to fly away as fast as he could
"COME BACK HERE! We didn't finish talking! HOOOT! HOOOOT!" Ron yelled as he started chasing his fleeing friend
"HOOOT! Hoot-HOOOT! KRAAAA!" both Owl and Raven were flying around and battling with the larger form of the Weasley boy trying to take an hold of the other
"WAIT FOR MEEEE!" Hermione yelled turning into a cat to chase the two, mewling in rage at being left behind.
Meanwhile – Malfoy Manor – with Lupin and Sirius -
Two men stood watching the imposing manor from distance using a pair of charmed binoculars, a frown on both their faces as they observed where the Diary horcrux was located.
"You are sure that we can't simply trick him into giving that thing to us?" Lupin asked lowering the binoculars.
"What should I tell him? Hi Lucy, we were told that a piece of Voldemort's soul is inside a diary hidden in your house, can we have it? We would really like to destroy it..." Sirius answered in sarcasm
"We don't even know if he was informed of the actual nature of the thing, if you remember what Harry showed us, he used it to open the chamber of Secrets back at Hogwarts" the other answered
"I think he just knew about it being some Dark Artifact Snake-face gave him to keep safe, had he knew the truth I don't think he would have just gave it to Arthur's daughter so uncaring, I think he just hoped to have the girl expelled for having a DARK object in her possession, hoping to completely destroy the Weasley family with the resulting scandal, probably hoping to damage Dumbledore too with their being part of the Order" Sirius answered
"It kinda blew out of scale, I bet he was surprised when the first attack of the Basilisk became knew" Lupin said
"His son is a Pureblood, he knew what his master thought about that so he was calm about it, that beast won't have attacked Draco thanks to his heritage" Sirius answered
"We still need a plan to take it though, we will need to pass wards and traps if we want to enter there uninvited, any plan?" The werewolf asked while fixing the entrance of the manor
"Uuhm..." the other hummed with eyes closed and scratching his chin in thought
"What if we ask Dobby? In the past he was ready to go all the way to Harry to alert him and even blocked the entrance to the platform so to protect him, and he was still property of Lucius at the time" Lupin said
"I don't think it will work, Lucy may have ordered to the elves to NEVER get closer to that or grab it without him ordering them first...maybe, I am not sure"
"Right, he may not even answer to our calling him at all" the man said sighing
"What about...maybe I got it!" Sirius said happily
"You have a plan? Why not, let's hear" Lupin said with a raised eyebrow
"It's simple...in the dead of the night, you and I,"
"Uh-hu"
"Enter the house, grab the diary and then we run back to Grimmauld place like there is no tomorrow!"
"Back to Grimmauld Place..." Lupin muttered
"Yup!"
"Running on foot..." he then said
"You got it!" Sirius said nodding
"Great, Sensational...and that, THAT is your plan, is it?"
"That's pretty much it" the other answered
"And how we pass the wards, open the door and find the Diary without Malfoy or the others noticing?" Lupin asked looking at him
"...In the dead of night, you and I, Enter the house, grab the diary and then..."
"Ugh! You are an idiot!" Lupin growled before returning to his binocular.
"Okay! What's your idea Smart Guy?" Sirius asked glaring at him
"What? Don't ask me! It was your idea coming here plotting!" Lupin answered with a growl
"I don't know, okay? I am just now free to go around without Aurors popping out to arrest me, it's not like I can pull out of my arse some hidden knowledge or friendship with someone that CASUALLY has the knowledge or instruments for us to use" he said angrily
"Same for me, with my condition I have not exactly contacts I can use, I am good DADA professor material, not a ward expert, expert in contraband or something like that"
"You know what? I'll just walk to the door, have Lucius come to me for some gratuitous insult and then Stupefy his socks off, then I will just drag outside him and Narcissa (that I will stun too) and burn the whole damn thing down to ashes" Sirius replied annoyed
"Sounds good to me, do you have any preference for the Dementor dear Lucy will use on you after the trial? I can try and see if they can find a female one just for you" Lupin answered
"That's not helping, Moony"
"At least I am not sprouting an idiocy after another, Padfoot"
"We need Prongs and Lily, like that he can have a plan and she can write down a list of all the thousands of ways it can go wrong and scold us for it"
"We can always ask to Prongslet and his friends for that, they are not exactly kids" Lupin said
"Yeah, Bushy kinda remembers me of Lily too" Sirius said nodding
"By her temper I suggest you to not call her like that when in earshot, she seems kinda sensible about her hair"
"You don't say..." at that both shared a brief laugh
"Let's go back, we'll try to see if some Less-than-respectable shop have what we need to force ourselves in"
"Let's go to a pub first, I think we worked enough for today" Sirius said cracking his back
"We were here for just half an hour" Lupin said
"Yep! That's a lot of work, I need a nap and a pint"
"If you say so..." he answered shrugging.
Hogwarts – the next day – third floor – Fluffy's room -
"So? How do we act?" Harry asked watching the trapdoor
"I say we go down now" Ron answered while sitting down, his legs dangling from the opening on the floor.
"Better wait until after Harry's discovery of the Mirror, Dumbledore probably has the stone already there, but he won't risk Harry taking it before the time as he still needs to subtly instruct him on how it works, so he will probably retrieve the stone, keep it on his person and watch as Harry learn how the Mirror works before moving the two back down there" Hermione answered, hitting the snoring Cerberus with another Sleeping Spell for good measure and checking that the harp they charmed was still playing by itself.
"How do you think they feed the Troll?" Harry asked
"Probably the elves...I am more curious about the rooms themselves" the girl says
"You mean?" Ron asked
"Well...five rooms hidden under the school, barely big enough for the traps and that can be reached only by a trapdoor situated all the way up to the third floor...isn't that a waste of space? Or the professors have just 'add' those rooms for the stone alone or when the founders built the school they didn't notice they were leaving behind some rooms and had to add the trapdoor at the last moment" Hermione said scratching her head.
"Eh! Who knows, I won't put it past Dumbledore to just close every entrance and then create the trapdoor so to have a 'monitored' entrance to the stone" Harry said shrugging
"And, by the way...what about the protections? Why making them so damn easy to overcome?" Ron also said
"Yeah, it buggered me too every time I thought about it after school ended" Harry answered
"I can understand Fluffy and the Devil Snare, you pass them and you think every other trial will be easy, then you reach the keys and discover that the right one is not even there and the door is charmed against the Alohomora spell and the various exploding hexes" Hermione said
"The chessboard too...other than being a pretty stupid defense to begin with, why forcing one to play? Just have the pieces jump the intruder, or if you really HAVE TO make someone play, there are various ways to make the game impossible to win, even by cheating, they were protecting The Philosopher Stone, no one expected them to play fair" Ron added
"We can also rule-out the Troll since it was a Voldy-possessed Quirrel to put it there making the lacking defence somehow justified, but Snape? Come on! You are the Head of Slytherin! Put poison in every bottle and then have the Headmaster carry the antidote on his person at all times, if someone need to check then he would just give the vial to someone and be happy with that" Harry said
"Professors always play surprised when they hear about us, three first-year kids, passing them...they seem to forget that Quirrel was already there trying to pass the Mirror's test, the only protection actually working" Hermione said
"Don't forget how casually every trap was 'tailored' for the three of us, Flying-keys for me (the youngest Seeker in a century) a chessboard for Ron (one of the best in the first year) and a riddle with potions for Hermione, probably Fluffy too was there for you" Harry said
"Put it like that..." Ron said
"Well, they weren't challenging me a lot if I have to say...do you think the Devil Snare was there for Neville?" she asked
"To test their spare Chosen One Child? Sounds like Albus, yeah...too bad we petrified him before coming here" Harry answered
"Add to the fact that the required potion to pass Snape's test was for a single person that would have OBVIOUSLY been Harry...SHITE! Why did you not check if it refilled? If Quirrel had already passed then maybe it would have been charmed with a replenishing spell" Ron said before cursing
"Well, Sorry!" Hermione said glaring at him "I was just a young girl that was watching her best friend walk alone to face an evil wizard while my OTHER friend was unconscious in another room, sorry if I was not lucid enough to think rationally!" she then said
"Come on! It was better like that, Voldy only needed me so he would have probably killed you once you entered, it would have been too dangerous for you to come with me" Harry said hugging her
"I know that! I just hate the fact that someone may describe it as me being dumb or not interested in helping you" the girl answered
"Whatever...hey, what was the password for the secret passage to Honeydukes?" Ron asked getting up
"Dissendium, why?" Harry said
"I am on a bad case of Chocolate-Frog-withdrawal, want something?" he answered
"Some frogs and liquorice-wands would be fine, since when you are this hungry?" Harry answered
"Don't ask me, since we are back I can't have my bloody stomach to stay filled, what the hell I was back there?" the Weasley boy said in dismay
"At least you eat like a civilized human now" Hermione said
"Don't remind me, you two spent years joking on that"
"At least you are properly fed, I spent weeks to try and have my stomach return to a proper functioning, I lost counts of how many Nutritional potions I had to drink" Harry said sighing
"You never told me what have you done to the Dursley the first time" the girl of the trio said as they left the room
"Bah! Nothing, I had other things to think about so I just forget they existed, the worst I did was making Vernon lose his job and make sure he could not find another, no matter how degrading or under-paid" Harry answered shrugging
"You should do something instead, even just for all the trouble they caused you" Ron said
"I'll think about it" the boy answered
"Well, I'll go shopping, see you later" Ron said using a disillusioning Charm on himself
"Take some frogs for me too since you are there" Hermione said as the vanishing red-head nodded
"Remember that we have Quidditch practice later, do not forget" the disembodied voice said
"Yes, don't worry and just go" Harry said chuckling.
"What do you think? Will Voldy try to curse your broom again?" she asked
"Probably, if he does, would you be so gentle and shot a bludger at him?" he said
"I can do that, but then I will need a good excuse as to why I did that, he may be possessed, but he is still a professor here" Hermione countered
"That is also true, I'll just use a counter myself" the boy said
"Besides, we still have something more important to do" the girl said sneering
"Yeah-yeah...your rematch against the Troll, you think he will still use it?" Harry asked
"He better, I will curse him myself if he don't, he owes me that troll!" she answered with narrowed eyes, scaring Harry a little
"Let's just go back to the dorm, okay? We will plan your revenger there" he said guiding the girl towards the dungeons
Albus' Office – sometimes later -
The old wizard was worriedly walking up and down his office deep in thought, stopping from time to time for a brief glimpse inside the Pensieve resting on his desk before starting pacing again.
"The wards at the Dursley house collapsing are not a problem since I can just re-cast them with the monitoring ones on the boy, I thought that just by being blood-related those would have been enough though...I will need to convince Petunia to act differently with Harry, how could I have imagined that the Love in said link would have been a fundamental part of the whole power, Blood Magic is considered 'Borderline Dark' so one can't find enough texts about it, especially if after Grindelwald wizards tried destroying everything to stop new Dark Lords from surfacing..." Albus said before moving a new memory inside the basin to review it
"Then there is the Scar on Harry's forehead, it's too pale...if a 'Link' with Tom is there I expected a more vivid colour, as if it was still fresh...maybe it is not there? It still would mark Harry as the Chosen One...but until I find a good excuse to test it I won't be sure...Legilimency is a bad idea since Severus refuse to look inside his head, but he doesn't want to tell me why actually...probably he fears that Tom will notice..." he mused
"Maybe...maybe I can use the Mirror...I planned to just hint about it when talking about illusions and dreams...but maybe seeing the thing in person will be better, that way I can test if he is hiding some Dark intentions or if he is the selfless boy I need him to be, if only there was a Charm to see what the reflection was showing him without reading his mind, it would have been a lot easier" the old man then said sighing.
Hogwarts – Snape's quarters – in the meantime -
The lonely Potion Master was sitting in front of the fireplace, staring intently in the flames as if looking for an answer, using one of the brief pauses between lessons to actually try and relax.
He had the Potter spawn in his House while Draco had been sorted into the House of the Lions, he still remembered how many curses Lucius threw around at the news and going so far as to blame Severus for it, as the Sorting Hat kept refusing to re-sort the boy the Head of the Malfoy family grew angrier until he too had to admit defeat and accept that his son was the first of the family to wear the Red-and-Gold colour of the rival house.
The problem was that even if son of James, Potter was a talented potion-maker, even Weasley kept surprising him at every lesson, and it was the trio (since Granger, a Muggleborn sorted in an House with an history of Pureblood members only, was there too) overall knowledge that was driving the professor mad.
He admitted that he may have accidentally dropped few wrong ingredients in Harry's cauldron one or two...dozen times, and yet, the boy kept correcting the potion at record speed and with an astounding calm, as if expecting Snape to actually try and sabotage him.
"I can understand that after the fifth time he learned to stay on guard whenever I am close to him...but to actually charm the vials against breaking and locking the spell on his Magical Signature is just too much, did he know that I planned to accidentally drop them? Even then...carrying a Bezoar on his person at all times is simply ridiculous, I expect that from Mad-eye Moody, not a brat" he said to the fire as he summoned a bottle of sherry and a glass.
"And those three are simply too good at flying, a Muggleborn girl and a Muggle-raised boy can't have that much talent, Weasley at least comes from a Pureblood family, so Quidditch is kind of requested at his age..." he mused versing himself another glass.
"Potter looks at me as if knowing something, those are not the eyes of a young boy, his Occlumency Shield is over-developed as well, no amount of training can have someone that good at his age and I am sure NO-ONE trained him...there is something fishy here" Snape said getting up, few seconds before collapsing face-first on the floor thanks to the drugs in the liquor.
"Emerald eyes" a young voice said from outside as the door slowly opened
"For a spy master, to use such an easy password was almost insulting"
"Since he is still obsessed by the woman he loved and that he actually killed with his being a spy, I am not surprised actually"
"The Spying Spheres Fred developed also helped in confirming the password"
"Good thing I helped him with the charms and was able to re-create them"
"Let's take the greasy idiot to The Base, at least we will finally see what he is hiding since the dear Hat was so adamant in us checking"
"Why I fear that at the end of this we will feel like utter arseholes?"
"Because we maybe are, Ron"
Somewhere undefined – time unknown -
Severus was feeling rubbish, his head pounded, his tongue seemed three sizes too big for his mouth and coated in a thick slime tasting like sewage while his arts felt like weighting tons.
He was barely registering what was happening around him as his vision was blurred and the world seemed to move at slow-motion, he could only understand that he was sitting somewhere and had his arms and legs restrained.
"He is awake" a 'shadow' said with a distorted voice and moving an hand(?) in front of his face
"Yeah, but with all the Numbing powder I gave him I doubt he is actually lucid enough to understand" another black silhouette said
"Guuuh" Snape moaned trying to answer
"Ugh! He is drooling" the third 'shadow' said in disgust, this one sounding more high-pitched
"My fault, I used some Sleeping Honey to have him fall asleep, maybe I used too much, at least he won't talk with his mouth half-paralyzed" the first 'shadow' answered
"Whatever...let's just start and remove that Dark Mark and then we will think about the rest, your turn now, you are the one that Studied it" the high-pitched voice said moving to the side
"Where am I? Who are those people? How MANY are there? They can't remove the Mark..." the barely cognitive Severus thought as a 'shadow' moved closer, the man unable to say if there were more than three persons in front of him, the only way he could think that there were more than two was that one of them had a different voice, the rest was just too confusing.
"I may have studied it, but I had no intention to replicate it on a living being to just Test my Cure, everything I know it's just pure theory"
"Theory? You never tested it?"
"Sorry if I didn't go around marking random people, I took few Death Eaters in Azkaban and cast few Medical Charms on them to see what was different about them and basic my research on that, the rest are pure suppositions"
"It may be dangerous then?"
"Probably, other than this there is only cutting off his arm in a non-magical way and then run the Tests on the severed thing, at least like that it won't be dangerous for the whole body...or so I hope"
"I may hate the git, but that may be too much even for him, no matter what an arse he is" a new 'shadow' said as two others entered Snape's blurred field of vision, the one talking had a deeper tone of voice and bigger body.
"Then let's just hope that I can remove it without amputating"
A sound similar to a whimper escaped Snape as his marked arm was freed from the restrains and the sleeve of his robe yanked up to uncover it.
Room of Requirement – HrH Base -
The 'Base' was a replica of the Gryffindor Common room with the various tables covered in diagrams and potion ingredients with various small cauldrons filled with potion slowly cooling off and ready to be used.
In a corner was the Ring Horcrux, immersed in a viscous clear liquid, black bubbles leaving the little object as it was being slowly purified by the Soul Fragment previously made 'dormant' thanks to Tom.
"Bah! As I remembered it, nasty, foul and hideous" Harry said watching the Dark Mark on Severus' arm
"Which one? The Mark or the greasy idiot?" Sirius asked
"The mark...really, you should at least try and see beyond the past" Harry answered sighing
"I find it difficult when the one responsible of James and Lily Potter and many others being dead is in front of me" the man answered
"He was a young bastard, and growing up playing Spy Master had him becoming a bitter bastard, but you know the details, there is a possibility that deep, DEEP inside he is a man decent enough to not make us hex him into oblivion" Ron said taking the first potion on the desks and forcing the trapped professor to drink it.
"Okay, let's see...Voldy uses a 'layered' Mark on his followers, the closer to him a follower is the more 'layers' he add to their arms, luckily Hook-nose here was needed to play Spy for both the faction so he was left fairly free to move compared to members of the Inner Circle like Lucius Malfoy...now the problem is understand how actually remove each layer..." Harry muttered looking closer to the arm, Salazar too moving from his neck to around Snape's arm to watch closer.
"A purifying solution? The base is Dark Magic, maybe we can have the 'structure' of the Mark weakened enough to actually separate each layer" Hermione
"It may be a good start, can you pass me the blue goo, Number 2?" Harry asked
"Why I am the 2?" Ron asked passing a vial to the boy
"Drugged or not, Snape here is listening us, can risk discovering who we are, and since I am the one you two actually Tasked with the removal, I reserve myself the right of being Number 1" he answered
"Getting cocky aren't we?"
"I can act a little like that too, it's a free country this, Genius didn't argue with her codename" Harry answered
"That's because of the Nelotism between you two..." Ron answered
"Actually, the right term is Nepotism, and yes, I have special treatment and you know actually WHY" Hermione said smirking and kissing Harry's cheek
"Show off, come on, let's start, I don't want to spend all the night here" the Weasley boy answered sticking his tongue out.
"Yeah-yeah, stop whining" Harry answered moving a cloth drenched in the blue paste on the Dark Mark earning a sizzling sound from the tattoo.
"Let's see..." the boy muttered moving his wand to touch the skull, muttering few spells in Parsel to try and have a reaction
Frowning slightly at the Silent Treatment he was getting Harry moved towards the second potion, this one deep-red in colour, and mixing few leaves in it until it turned bright orange.
"Let's see if the little bastard likes this, I think that part of it comes from the Slave Mark used in ancient Egypt, this stuff should burn right through it..." he said letting few drops fall on Severus' arm
"Guuuuuh!" the Potion Master gave a strangled moan as his eyes went closed tightly
"Bear the pain, it's for your own good if I am doing this, ingrate" Harry said without looking up and versing few more drops, this time making the Snake of the Dark Mark retire in the skull's mouth.
"At least it changed slightly, the colour seems faded of two...three grades" Harry said as Ron kept taking notes.
"It means that the part coming from the Egyptian magic was seriously damaged, the rest?" Hermione said checking the thing with various Healing Spells
"Uhm...I need some Phoenix Tears and Basilisk Venom, I want to see if I can 'Cut Off' Voldy's link in the Mark before completely removing the thing, just in case" Harry said as Fawkes appeared in the room with an happy trill in its voice
"I love magic" Ron muttered smirking at the Phoenix that immediately set on crying in one empty vial Hermione presented to the creature
"Thank you, won't the Old Man notice you are missing?" Harry asked, watching the animal shake its head
Meanwhile – Dumbledore's office -
"Fawkes looks like rather stiff today, don't you think?" Albus asked curious
"You sure? I don't see any difference" the Sorting Hat said watching amused the sack of potatoes resting on the phoenix' perch with a sign with Fawkes written on it.
"He is strangely silent too" the Headmaster said scratching his head in thought
"Just go to bed Albus, you evidently need some sleep" the Hat said dismissively
"Maybe you are right, goodnight my friend" Dumbledore said with twinkling eyes.
Back to the Time Travelers -
"This should be enough, thank you" Harry said as the Phoenix was sent back
"How's the patient?" Lupin said as he neared Snape
"Still conscious I hope" Ron said preparing his wand to wake the man up if needed
"No, he is awake" the werewolf answered shaking his head
"Okay, now...the basilisk venom" Harry said presenting a cap-covered jar at Salazar.
"As you wish" the reduced snake answered biting the plastic cap and making the pale-yellow venom slowly drip inside the jar in reinforced glass.
"Perfect, like this I should be able to have some serious progresses" the boy said patting the snake's head.
"Who are they?" Snape thought as his mind was once again turning sluggish with the new dose of drugs entering his system.
"Let's see if the little bugger can handle that, that stuff can corrode almost anything" Ron said taking the jar with reinforced gloves
"I'll take care of the Tears, you tell us what to do" Hermione said taking the Phoenix Tears and moving at Snape's sides
"Okay, we'll alternate a drop of Venom with few of Tears, with brief pauses where I'll try few counters and exorcising spells both normal and in Parsel" Harry said
"And us?" Sirius asked
"Be ready with Healing Spells, pepper-up and blood replenishing potions and any other remedy you can think off should he go into shock" the boy answered
"We are ready!" Lupin said with the two adults moving behind Severus.
"First, the Basilisk" Harry said as Ron versed few drops of venom on the mark.
Almost immediately the skin started to redden and swelling, making the bounded man start trashing in his seat and forcing Sirius and Lupin to keep him down.
"The skin with the Mark must have been weakened by the other potions, the venom has not this effects on skin..." Harry said in wonder and taking notes
"H...Number 1?" Ron asked worried
"...And look at the muscles...those are contracting just like if under electric stimulation, his pain receptors must be literally on fire" the boy muttered as blood started flowing freely from several gushes that opened on the arm
"Harry!?" Hermione said with wide eyes as Snape started suffering a major seizure attack
"The blood is running a bit too fast...the various concoctions must be slowing down the thrombocytes from stopping the bleeding...fascinating" he kept muttering in interest.
"HARRY!" the other four yelled as one, luckily Snape was in too much pain and almost unconscious.
"Uh? AH!? S-sorry!" the boy said rapidly taking the Phoenix Tears and using most of the vial content on the bleeding arm, stopping the bleeding and making the wound close slowly.
"You could have used them yourself, by the way" he said looking at Hermione
"I was actually waiting for the expert in our group to tell me, but apparently he was too engrossed into taking notes to actually care!" the girl answered with narrowed eyes.
"I am fascinated by the way humans react to magical and non-magical treatments, okay? After years spent studying every dark and/or unknown book around the globe I think I developed a love for medicine...or for human experimentation at least" Harry admitted
"Those are the times you REALLY scare me" Ron said shuddering
"That's why we are here too, to actually stop him from going 'Mad Scientist' on everything and everyone" Hermione answered sighing
"FOR SCIENCE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Harry answered with the perfect rendition of a mad laugh.
"The scary thing is that the madness in the laugh seemed FAR from being 'fake'" Remus said shaking his head
"Can you make a buddy's...buddy grow bigger? I have a...friend...that asked me" Sirius said uncertainly
"Does your friend" Harry asked smirking "Have preferences? Longer, thicker, harder, both temporary and irreversible...I even have a way to have a man temporarily grow a second one, Gi...my ex-wife loved that especially" he then said to Ron's utter disgust
"TWO!? You sick maniac!" the Weasley boy yelled, biting down the need to puke
"She asked me actually, it was all her idea...it's...odd to have two" he answered
"Let's...let's just go on with the removal...please" a beet red, sputtering Hermione pleaded, she was actually relieved that her younger body was still not in the 'hormonal stage' or she was fairly certain that she would have not had the same self-control.
"Yes...let's just go on" Lupin said looking at his childhood friend in suspicion
"We'll talk later" Sirius mouthed to Harry who nodded in answer
"Let's see, the wound is now closed while the magical properties of the Basilisk venom should have burn through the several layers weakening if not outright destroying them" the boy said moving his wand over the scarred patch of skin, the faint trace of the Dark Mark was still there, but it was almost invisible with how pale it had become.
"By the looks of it, it seems like we have almost done" Lupin said checking the mark himself
"Yes, few more rounds of exorcising potions and we should have done, luckily Moldishorts is at his weakest now, otherwise doing this would have been almost impossible" Harry answered as he passed again a cloth drenched in the orange coloured potion on Snape's mark, the man had fainted long ago and they decided to keep him like that until the end of the treatment.
"What about Lucy's home? Any progresses?" Ron asked adding few tears from time to time to stop Severus from going into shock while Hermione stored the venom away in favour of continually check on the patients conditions and vitals.
"That man has some of the worst wards one can find around, both in the 'Legal' and the 'Illegal' world of Warding" Remus answered sighing, taking possession of a chair
"Moony and I asked around, the few who wanted to talk knows maybe one or two of the ones he uses, the rest are a complete mystery, he had probably Obbliviated or downright killed whoever may have known" Sirius added
"Smart move, kinda surprising considering the level of inbreeding-derived idiocy that plagues that family" Harry said nodding
"Draco is an exception, Lucius and Narcissa used to be two very bright students when at Hogwarts" Lupin said
"Then what do we do, Harry? You used to live at Malfoy Manor back in the future, any changing in the wards?" Hermione asked
"After the Final War against Voldemort and the subsequent fall of the Malfoy Family those had already started degrading, by the time of my acquiring of it most of the old wards had just collapsed since it was Lucius himself to actually take care that those kept working, he didn't want people he don't trust handle them, by the time Draco became the Head of the family he had not the slightest idea of how the wards worked or how to sustain them so he had to use 'normal' ones instead of the originals...I decided to tamper with them a little with the help of few goblins and ward experts instead, we were almost certain that some of those wards could absorb the magic from the intruder and use it to strengthening themselves, other simply vaporize whoever not keyed in them" Harry answered
"So if we force our presence there..." Sirius asked worried
"The wards will just rip your magic out of your Core by force before incinerating your body until nothing remains, among other things, it depends on which Ward reach you first, you may even get beheaded or drown by the air...I MAY have seen something about turning an human body inside-out, but I am not completely sure of that" Harry said nodding
"Then we have no idea of how to actually enter there and we can't exactly wait for him to try the Chamber of Secrets trick next year, what about you three?" the Werewolf of the group asked groaning
"We may try to..." Ron started saying as the Diary Horcrux fell on his head, Fawkes signing happily in the air before landing on Hermione's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek on hers.
"Ask the Phoenix? I wonder why Dumbledore never thought of that, wards against Phoenixes are really rare and tricky, no-one use them because those usually enter in conflict with any other ward around, but I suspect that even with all his money and connections Lucius didn't know about them" Harry said smirking
"Albus probably thought that it should have been the 'Choosen One' to actually risk his life entering the house of a Death Eater to steal the Horcrux, but I think that his whole theory about them was only centred on the Founders Objects since the Old Fool is almost as full of himself as Voldy, the Great Dumbledore would have never used such a normal thing to contain his soul, so he thought that Voldemort too would have done the same and so he acted accordingly" Hermione answered while petting the fiery animal
"I bet it was a nice slap to the face for him discovering that the first he ever saw was just a Diary" Lupin said snarling
"Serves him well, the problem is that from there he started molding me, and I don't like the fact that he managed" Harry said
"Do I need to remind you that I was actually killed thanks to him?" Sirius asked annoyed
"You took the thing pretty well" Ron commented
"I am alive NOW, and I plan to stay like this for a LOOOONG time" the man answered
"Whatever, let's destroy the thing, after this we should have done with them, I take you destroyed the Locket?" Harry said as Salazar drove his fangs in the thing, the group ignoring the black ooze and the agonizing scream erupting from the Dying Horcrux
"The first thing I do after we left Hogwarts last time, we had to petrify Kreaker to do it, but he was glad we finished the mission my brother gave him" Sirius answered
"The smile he had on his face when we told him of the mission being a success was REALLY creepy" Lupin added shivering
"What about Dobby? We forgot about him!" Hermione asked worried
"That's easier, I'll just swap him for a pair of my late mother's earrings and a necklace I know Narcissa would kill to have, I am pretty sure she will gladly part from the elf for those, the vane arse" Sirius answered snarling.
"You okay, Salazar?" Harry asked worried
"No...it taste awful, halfway between old blood and ink, disgusting" the Basilisk answered with a pitiful hiss
"I'll give you some purifying potion, just in case" the boy answered petting him
"So we have Harry gaining a Basilisk and Hermione a Phoenix since Fawkes is clearly showing interest..." Ron said watching the magical bird nod eagerly
"What about me? Where is my Badass Magical Companion? Hedwig was already cool herself but now there are Salazar and Fawkes too...I feel cheated" the red-head said grumbling
"When this is over and we have the Stone we'll look for something for you too" Harry said
"Like a blast-ended skrewt?" Hermione proposed smirking
"Ah-ah! Really funny! Hysterical! What about a dragon?"
"Ron, it's already illegal to have a dragon in your house garden, is not something they decided in the future" Harry answered
"A small one? Just a Night Fury" the boy pleaded
"Do you know how much one of these costs?! The expenses to have one shipped from the Hiccup Dragon Studies Association alone will be a fortune! Can you please aim a little lower?" Hermione said shocked
"Come on! Those are so cool and cute at the same time!" Ron said
"No dragons please, after the Triwizard Tournament and the incursion at Gringotts I had my fair share of angry fire-breathing monsters" Harry pleaded
"FINE! I will find something else to bond to"
"Remember that one CAN'T force a bond with a magical creature" Hermione said sternly
"Don't worry, I am not THAT stupid...not anymore at least" Ron answered rising his hands.
"What now?" Sirius asked
"Now we will drop dear Severus back in his office and then prepare ourselves, next month we will have the Troll visiting the school, we need to make sure everything is ready for our girl's revenge" the boy answered
"I can't wait!" Hermione said with a dark smirk.
"Shite...you better see this..." Harry cursed pointing his wand at Snape's head.
"What?" Ron asked
"Traces of Compulsion Charms, two different ones actually, one was inside the Dark Mark and I found the other when checking for Brain Damages, that one was Hidden very well, the Magical Signature is identical to the one of the various Charms I had on me when I entered Hogwarts, making Albus the one to cast it" he answered
"Two Compulsions? Can you tell what those two are about?" Hermione asked
"Albus' one was about being his spy inside Voldemort's group, and since between the two his is the older, I guess that after seeing the git here join the Death Eaters he wanted to be sure to have a pair of eyes and ears inside their HQ" Harry answered
"And then Mister Snake face must have add a layer to Snape's Dark Mark with a Compulsion about being HIS spy in the Order of Phoenix" Ron added with narrowed eyes
"Exactly, it may explain WHY he ran to deliver part of the Prophecy even knowing that Harry's mother would have been a possible target along the Longbottom family, I am surprised the two Charms did not go into conflict" Hermione said with eyes closed in deep thought
"Once Voldemort added his Compulsion he must have made sure to also add 'exceptions' so to let Snape make oaths that prevented him from talking, had he not his Spy would have lost his magic at the first occasion...I bet Dumbledore too modified his to do the same once found the traces left by Voldy's magic, they must have spent quite some time adjusting the whole thing, it's a miracle Snape did not come out with his brain reduced to shreds" Harry said
"So after all he too was a victim of those two Leaders of Light and Dark just like us...I knew we would have felt like arseholes at the end of this..." Ron said sighing
"Yeah, kinda regret pulling that prank with Albus and the illusion with Lucius" Harry said looking down
"But those were pretty funny! And he was an arse when we were young!" Sirius said
"Using Cutting Curses is barely justifiable, we used to prank him fiercely that's true, but he also retaliated in brutal and sometimes lethal manner at those jokes, he may have had those Charms on him that made him act as a spy, but other than just 'reporting' he still had his free will, both when he joined the Death Eaters and after when the war ended and your parents died, he had always made his choices between his missions as spy" Lupin said
"What now then?" Hermione asked
"He has no more reasons to follow Albus or Voldemort, we'll keep an eye on him and see how he acts, from now own he is free and we will judge what HE will do with that freedom, for his sake I hope he will understand what happened here and try to better himself, otherwise we will take precautions" the Werewolf answered
"Let's take the greasy idiot back to his office" Ron said levitating the unconscious professor
"I say we leave him a letter explaining about the Charms and the dark Mark, at least he will have a starting point for his recovery" Hermione said sighing
"Let's hope he won't just go crazy with the revelation and hex everyone on sight" Harry added
"That's why once we'll have left him there we will rapidly bolt out and hide in the Cerberus room" Sirius answered
Hogwarts – Severus' Office – few hours later -
The groggy Potion Master was slowly lifting himself from the floor after being dumped unceremoniously back in his quarters, stumbling dumbly towards a couch he sat down trying to recompose himself, deciding to keep his eyes shut until they stopped burning as if on fire.
"Ugh!" he muttered as phantom pains from his arm made themselves known.
"WHAT!?" remembering few flashes of what happened after being kidnapped Severus moved his attention to his Marked Arm, finding a patch of scarred flesh where the Dark Mark once stood in its terrifying glory.
"Gone..." Severus said with a raspy voice, passing a finger on the still tender flesh, a shiver running up his arm as the reality of his freedom asserted itself
"They did it" he said out loudly, barely remembering how the Shadows had done what people thought 'Impossible'
"They used...Basilisk venom...and...Exorcising Draught...but that was sky blue instead of deep blue, a variation? They called it 'Purifying Solution' and some paste to scrub it away" the man tiredly got up to move towards an hidden bookshelf, taking out one of the most ancient tome he started flipping through the yellow pages to try and understand what he was subjected to, his eyes still burning and watering, probably bloodshot too he thought.
"Sleeping Honey, those damned fools tried to kill me, they even had access to Phoenix Tears to counter the Basilisk Venom, where did one find that? Phoenixes are rare and the Headmaster's one won't have helped them without the old fool being present to supervise everything so that is out of the question since he needs my being his Spy in the Dark Lord circle" Snape muttered while scanning the book, trying to remember what the mysterious group used on him
"...Useless, I can't find a solution with an headache, magical exhaustion and the after-effect of drugs...I need to sleep" the man said groaning, leaning on the bookshelf as his swaying was getting worse, dropping the book in place he dragged himself on his bed, barely missing the letter that those people had left in his pockets.
"What's this...Two Compulsion Charms? Both to make me act as a spy for the respective Sides of the war...too tired...I'll check tomorrow..." Snape trailed off before falling deep asleep without even registering whatever he had just read.
The next morning the Potion Lessons were cancelled after a rage-filled scream echoed in the whole school, Severus had just decided to seclude himself in his lab after applying a Fake Mark on his arm to avoid suspicion and to stop himself from murdering Albus in his blinded wrath, a black eye and an Obbliviate later Madame Pomfrey would have not remembered confirming to the Potion Master that he had traces of recently-removed hidden Compulsion Charms on him, leaving the medi-witch wondering how she found herself with a swelling eye while the resident 'Dungeon bat' was yelling himself hoarse right out of the Infirmary's door.
When Dumbledore tried to seek out his professor to ask what happened he too had to rapidly retreat to avoid the rain of Blasting Hexes, Stunners, Bone Braking Spells and even Reducto Spells that the furious man unleashed on him once his head peaked in from the door-frame with the patented Grandfatherly Smile Albus was famous for.
It would take two days for Snape to finally calm down, no-one knew how that happened but almost everyone in Slytherin was certain that it had something to do with Professor Sinistra and the Silver Trio.
Hogwarts – Great Hall – next month – Halloween -
After the Potion Master was dropped back in his quarters the Silver Trio had focused on choosing what kind of spells using for the imminent fight during the Halloween fest, both Harry and Ron keeping themselves at distance since their female friend was gaining a always darker smirk at every passing day, reaching the point where the Bloody Baron too preferred leaving the room whenever she entered.
"This is the night!" the girl said giddily, lightly bouncing on her seat
"Can you please calm down? You will make the professors suspicious!" Harry hissed with a low voice while stealing glances at the main table.
"I can't! I need to do this!" Hermione answered
"We better hope Old Turban does that, otherwise we'll need to go Troll Hunting until she is satisfied" Ron said sighing
"Well...Quirrel is not at the table, so maybe he is organizing everything" Harry answered
Outside the school – in the meantime -
"Graahw?" the huge Troll drawled as he followed the possessed professor
"Yes! This way my smelly friend, I need you to distract everyone" Quirrel said nodding
"Raaah! Guaaah!" the beast answered following him (Trad: "I hope it's worth it, Sir, My Shakespeare won't read itself so let's be fast!")
"Yes, yes! Slowly...like that! Follow me inside" the professor said opening the huge doors of Hogwarts silently
"Humph!" the Troll slowly inched closer, almost slipping on the low staircase when entering
"Grauuuh!" sniffing the air the creature left out a low growl that reverberated in the corridors (Trad: "Kids? Oh dear! I hope of not meeting any of them! They could get scared of my presence!")
"Good! Now just make acquittance with the place while I move to the next step of the plan" Quirrel said nodding, rapidly moving towards the doors of the Great Hall and clearing his throat
"Remember what to say! We practised for months so you better been convincing when you faint" Voldy's voice echoed in the man's head
"Of course, Master" the man answered
"Can't wait to see the brat's scared face, I will show everyone how their saviour is nothing else than a coward, ah! Chosen One of my bollocks!"the spirit said snarling
Hogwarts – Slytherin Table -
"Here it is...any moment now..." Hermione whispered glaring at the door
"What is wrong with her? Did she snap or something?" Theodore Nott asked curious
"Boss has some kind of plan, we don't know" Goyle answered shaking his head, Crabble near him motioning them to not ask further questions about it
"Granger, please tell us if we should be worried for our health at least" Daphne said sighing
"Nothing of your concern, I have my reasons to act like this" the girl answered with an ice-cold tone "He is late!" she then hissed angrily
"Calm down" Harry said taking her hand and squeezing it harder than what it looked like
"Bugger, she is getting frustrated" Ron said worried
Luckily for the two and the rest of the students in the Hall the huge doors of the room went slammed open as Quirrel marched inside.
"TROLL! In the dungeons!...I though you wished to know" the professor said before fainting in a theatrical fashion that elsewhere would have gained him an Oscar.
After few instant of absolute silence the students of every year started screaming as one, terror flowing from each one of them until Albus got up from his seat
"SILENCE!" the Headmaster yelled, managing to making the whole Great Hall fall silent
"Prefects, escort the students to their dormitory! professors, come with me" Albus then said calmly
"Ehm! Headmaster?" Harry asked rising his hand "Slyhterin dormitory IS in the dungeons and Hufflepuff students would be forced to pass near the dungeons' entrance to rapidly reach their...what should we do?" he then asked
"Ah..." Albus said surprised, blessing his long beard that was now hiding his embarrassed blush before clearing his throat to address the two Houses.
"Prefects, please follow the ghost and guide the students through the emergency passages to the Dormitories, they have my permission to use those secret entrances" the old man said trying to ignore the glares Snape and Sprout were giving him
"And they say I am the one showing favoritism, he doesn't even took in consideration that detail just because not concerning his 'precious' Gryffindors" Severus muttered with a snarl, already planning how to check the Stone without the blasted Cerberus using him as a chew toy.
"Slytherin, with me, we'll pass through the portrait of Samvise the Poisonous on the first floor, please follow me and the Bloody Baron, he will open the passage for us" the Green-clothed Prefect said calmly while guiding the students outside.
Remaining on the back of the long trail of students the Silver Trio silently slipped towards the Dungeons to find the smelly giant, Hermione almost sniffing the air like a blood-hound in her haste to find the creature.
"Where are those three going?" Flitwick muttered looking the bushy-haired girl march determined towards the depths of the school
Before he could call them back he heard the faint angry hiss of Granger.
"Where is he? I'll teach to that brute what it means to scary a little girl!" she said as the three turned a corner
"To scary a little girl? Can it be that she had an encounter with a Troll before coming here and got scared? Maybe I should stop her, she risk getting herself and her friends injured" the little professor muttered, stealthily leaving Albus group and disillusioning himself.
Hogwarts – girls' bathroom -
Following the scent of human the Troll found himself in the small room, reaching the last seat he peeked to see who was there.
"Gruar? Ruuuff!" the beast muttered with a low growl with a scratch of his small head (Trad: Hello? Anyone there? I mean no harm!)
The answer to that grumbled question was a powerful Blasting Hex that made him stumble forward
Turning to glare to his attacker the Troll found himself locking eyes with a furious-looking first year girl.
"Here we go...what do you think? Fire or Water?" Harry asked sighing as Hermione marched towards the monster, her wand blurring as she assaulted the Troll with several charms and hexes
"Water, way less collateral damages, we can justify them as the Troll going mental, the fire wouldn't be that easy" Ron answered as the first sink flew between the two unconcerned boys.
"Okay, I'll do the distraction, you take the restraining" Harry answered taking his wand out of the cane
"May as well" the other said nodding, both rising their wands towards the rapidly pooling water coming out from the broken sinks and toilets.
To the invisible professor's awe the water rose to follow the two boys silent commands, whips of water grabbing the Troll's limbs and his club pulling him back whenever coming to close to the girl following the Weasley boy that was moving his hands like guiding an invisible orchestra with a serene smile on his face and muttering a slow song.
The Potter boy instead was completely opposite with his feral smile accompanying the sharp movements of his wand as for him the water took the form of clawed hands to scratch, punch and pierce the tough skin of the beast making the giant howl in pain even more as he was slowly pushed with his back against the wall.
As for Granger...Filius had problems suppressing his flinching at the sheer rage he could see in the girls' eyes, he was thinking that whatever happened between the girl and the Troll species must have been pretty bad as the girl was unleashing several bad, borderline Dark, curses on the beast with brief intervals where she insulted the actual specimen in front of her and his family members by implying their propensity at selling themselves to everyone able to afford their services and going so far as to add possible favourite positions during the resulting intercourse to her insults.
"This is for scaring me! Deleo! (destroy), vulnus! (wound) This is for trying to kill me! sectumsempra! Reducto!" She chanted glaring at the beast as gushes opened on the chest and arms of the Troll, the beast still waving around the pitiful rests of his club the girl destroyed in her mad casting.
"GRAAAAH!" roaring in rage the giant charged forward (Trad: You brute! I shall teach you to respect the others!)
Dodging the Troll that then impacted loudly with the wall almost tearing it down Hermione raised once again her wand
"Not enough? TAKE THIS! Sanguino! (bleed) perfringo! (smash) terebro! (drill/perforate)" the girl said as greenish blood started coming out from the giant's chest where the first spell hit, the other Hexes slamming the beast again against the wall with little holes opening on his back
"A medical spell to clean wounds by bleeding and two mining spells to drill caves used for battles? Interesting" Flitwick muttered surprised, he feared to think what a 'more experienced' wizard could do with those spells if a first year could use them so efficiently against a Troll.
Howling in absolute pain the giant took a piece of the fallen toilets to throw it at the girl, gaining a devious smirk from his target
"Sore loser, Uro! (Burn/incinerate)" Hermione said launching an orange-coloured spell that melted the improvised weapon making the creature growl in annoyance and charge again at the girl
"Help her, she is getting reckless" Ron said calmly while sending other whips of water to stop the Troll's charge
"Fine...let's see...Ah-ha! I have the right one!" Harry answered before rapidly moving his wand upward to point it at the ceiling
"Kirigakure!" the boy said closing his eyes in concentration and lifting a dense mist in the bathroom using the water flooding the floor (Hiding in Mist)
"Okay-okay! I'll pay attention, now drop the spell!" Hermione growled as the mist slowly disappeared
"Then focus and be fast, the professor will be here any moment" Harry answered
"FINE!" she growled while pointing her wand at the Troll that was now completely drenched by Ron's water whips.
"Glacius Maxima" she chanted turning the giant creature into a statue of ice
"Can I have the honour?" Ron asked gently
"No, it's my revenge!" Hermione growled making the red-head hide behind Harry
"Bombarda Maxima!" the girl yelled rapidly turning towards the block of ice and obliterating it with a deafening BOOOM! sending ice fragments everywhere.
"Remember me to never anger her" Harry said
"Yeah" Ron said nodding, both had wide eyes as they watched the smirking girl watch her work in satisfaction
"Let's go before the professors find us" Hermione said grabbing both boys hands to run out of the bathroom, passing the shell-shocked Charm Professor that could only remove the spell from himself as the others reached the room.
"Filius!" McGonagall yelled nearing the small professor to shake him, slightly disgusted by the bits of Troll Flesh dripping from walls and ceiling
"You went a little overboard, my friend, even just incapacitate the Troll would have been enough" Albus said calmly, he too surprised by the gory spectacle and yelping at seeing the beast's head watching him from a pile of rubble with a terrorized expression fixed in place.
"Disgusting" Snape muttered while a green-faced Quirrel fainted again, this time for real.
"I swear Albus...I...I wasn't..." Flitwick tried explaining as the Headmaster's hand grabbed his shoulder
"You were just worried about the students, there is nothing wrong in that, we understand" Dumbledore said smiling
"I am actually glad you stopped that beast, Filius, thank you" Minerva said with a smile herself
"I...I don't..." the Charm Professor sputtered
"Don't be modest now...for once that a problem was dealt with efficiently don't spoil the moment" Snape said snarling, calmly stepping over Quirrel while leaving the bathroom to go check where Potter and the other two went.
"Listen Albus, the Troll..." Flitwick tried once again
"We'll have the elves clean and repair everything, don't worry, and yes...you can keep the head as a trophy for your office, I'll have it stuffed and mounted on a nice plaque for you to show, you will be able to brag about it all you want" Albus said chuckling
"You know what? Fine, I'll go to my office" the minute professor said sighing
"He tried to play it cool and minimize the deed, I didn't know he was so modest" McGonagall said surprised
"He is still a Master Duellist, I had no doubt he could defeat a Troll...but I would have preferred a less messy method" Albus admitted
"He got a little Happy in his casting apparently" Minerva said nodding
Hogwarts – Corridors -
"I wonder where those three learned those spells, they used charms and hexes above fourth year and wordless magic at a master level...what's happening here..." Filius muttered while moving towards his House Dormitory to check on the students.
When something was dropped on his head he panicked and draw his wand
"Calm you impulses, Filius, we need to talk" the Sorting Hat said from the man's head
"The Hat?" the professor asked aloud as Fawkes flashed him away in a ball of fire.
It was apparently the thing's turn to make "Damage Control" to cover the Girl's avenger moment, he actually thought it would have been Harry the first to make a mess, always the quite ones was apparently valid for everything.
End of the Chapter 4
Extra scene 1 – Ronald's despair -
Hogwarts – shore of the Black Lake -
"Sniff! You were so young...you did not have to die, you were so pure and innocent..." Ron muttered between sobs as he left a bouquet of flowers slowly drift on the water of the lake, trying to stop his eyes from overflowing in tears with the sleeve of his school robe.
"Every year he pays his respect to Her, no matter what happens he has to do this in the anniversary of the day he saw the girl die" Harry said shaking his head, saddened by his friend's pain.
"How many times we tried to explain to him? her death was inevitable" Hermione asked looking around, grateful no-one was there to see the red-haired boy crying his eyes out
"I lost count, but he refuse to understand that no matter what he tries she HAD to die" Harry answered sighing
"WHY YOU KILLED HER? WHY!?" Ron yelled as he fell to his knees sobbing even harder, his body shaking under the fierce sobs
"I admit it was a touching moment and all...but Aerith is still just a character from a videogame" Hermione said huffing in annoyance
"I CURSE YOU SEPHIROT! I CURSE YOU TO HELL!" Ronald screamed in rage
"Who could have known that he would have liked Final Fantasy that much, being so ignorant of the Muggle world and all...I still prefer Final Fantasy VIII though" Harry answered shrugging
"The tenth is WAY better than that rubbish pile of dung" Hermione said glaring at him
"Don't start again with that! The only thing good with that game was Auron so your argument is invalid" Harry answered with narrowed eyes
"OOH! Having a main character incapable of showing emotion instead is SOO cool! The correct term is not 'cool' is 'Emo'!" the girl said planting her feet down hard
"Emo!? How dare you! At least MY game is not..." the boy answered giving start ONCE AGAIN to the two eternal struggle about 'The BEST instalment of the Final Fantasy series'
All the while on the background Ron kept crying in despair for the death of his favourite character.
Extra Scene 2 – the Silver Trio apologies -
Hogwarts – Severus Office – the day after the Dark Mark removal -
The Potion Master was still pacing around his office while dividing his time between reconstructing what his kidnappers had done to remove his Mark and deciding what to do now that he was finally Free of any obligation towards the two Leaders of Light and Dark.
"First thing first, I need a way to sense when the Dark Lord is calling me even without the Mark, if he really returns and I ignore his call it will spell disasters, in the meantime I also need to strengthen my Occlumency Shields to re-direct his and the old fool probes, having them discover that I am free can lead to too many problems..." he muttered halting his walking in front of the fire.
"For the call it's easy, Goyle Sr is not exactly a bright mind, adding a tracing charm to know when he move is easy to cast, use one on other members will help me understand when a meeting is taking place, I just hope it would be enough" he then said opening the bottle of cherry and stopping.
"Last time it was drugged..." Snape said checking the bottle for drugs and poisons before nodding and pouring himself a generous glass.
"Then there is Dumbledore, the meddling fool may still insist for me being a spy even if he discovers the removal, as if the Dark Lord is such a forgiving soul to let me in because I Casually lost my Mark." he said with an imitation of the Headmaster's voice.
It was during that expressing his displeasure towards the two figures that someone knocked at his door, determined to tell whoever it was to Piss off he marched towards the door, ignoring the strange heat he was feeling in his stomach.
"Who's there? I am busy!" he growled opening the door to find professor Sinistra in front of him
"I think we need to talk instead, Severus" the black-skinned woman said showing him a piece of parchment
"What do you want?" Snape asked
"I want you to explain to me why you wrote this letter to me declaring your Love and Desire for me" she said giving said letter to him
"What letter? I have never..." Severus said reading the piece of paper before freezing.
It was an old letter he wrote to the woman when both were still students at Hogwarts, he had admired the older girl that Sinistra was back there and he had considered a valid 'alternative' to Lily Potter...then successive choices stopped him from actually going on with his choice, but he actually was certain that he destroyed the letter back in his days as students.
It was incredible what three Time Travellers could do with some extracted memories and a girl's talent at forging handwriting with a properly-charmed quill.
"What I want to know.." Sinistra asked leaning closer
"I have no idea how you came in possession of this" Severus tried saying
"Is why you never send it instead of leaving it around for one of your students to find" she said ignoring him
"I...what?" the man tried again to explain before stopping
"Let's say that when I was young I had a thing for brewers, both in liquors and potions...I still have it by the way" the woman answered smirking
"Listen, I am not looking for a relationship" he said
"Someone here says otherwise" the woman said pointing at his lower regions
"The bottle! It was drugged with a Lust Extract! But why?" Severus thought sweating as he finally recognized the after-taste of that potion
"I waited and waited for you to come and ask me out, back there you were a little Stalker when it came to girls, the others found that creepy, I instead found that kinda cute since you did a bad job at staying hidden" Sinistra answered laughing at his offended face.
For a Spy Master like him what she said was kinda insulting after all
"So? What now?" Snape asked
"Now? Now I am tired of waiting, and since your letter praised my mind and manners, I think that showing you that I have also a nice body to match..." she said slamming the office door closed.
"Sinistra, listen I think that you..." he tried saying before she pounced
"Never saw the adult magazine Kinky Witches?" she asked purring
"No" he said "Yes, I have a subscription" he thought
"I was the centrefold of the issue of April last year" the woman answered smirking at his awed face
"THAT was her!?" he thought in wonder, the face was obscured, but the rest was not and he LOVED that issue.
"Pity" she answered as she descended on him like a vulture.
Few Hours later – Slytherin Common Room -
"Do you think he will be mad?" Ron asked as the trio sat in one of the couches
"We are helping him getting laid, after all those years he should be happy to finally lose his virginity" Harry answered
"He was a virgin? Really?" Hermione asked surprised
"With his appearance and manners? Only Bellatrix could have helped him, but I am not certain since I didn't want to see THAT kind of memories" Harry answered shuddering in disgust
"Why Sinistra?" Ron asked
"She was the second crush of Professor Snape back when he was a student, if we had to get him with someone..." Hermione said
"And she kinda developed a crush herself during their job here as professors, she liked the idea that all that time spent brewing could have given him strong arms" Harry added with a gagging noise of disgust
"Legilimency?"
"Sometimes is not as cool as it sounds" he answered with a groan
"Potter, Weasley, Granger..." Snape said entering the Common Room
"Yes, professor?" Hermione asked, the three discretely getting on the defensive
"Next time you choose to deliver a secret letter remember to not being seen by the one receiving it, Professor Sinistra told me she saw the three of you turn the corner after the wards on the door of her office triggered, ten points from each of you lack of discretion" the Professor said walking out
"And also...fifty to Slytherin for...I'll explain it to you when you three are older...thank you though" he then added before hurrying out.
"He got laid" Ron said surprised
"Enough times to forgive us" Hermione added with wide eyes
"He did not even insult me or my family...not even once" Harry said in absolute shock
"If Love is the strongest...then Sex must be the second most powerful magic" Hermione commented making the other two nod in awe.
The end! I kinda wanted to try redeeming Snape too, but not too much since he IS still an utter bastard, but at least for ONCE I wanted to play nice with him too.
It doesn't mean that I won't be a little mean to him, just that now the three Time Travellers will focus on someone else.
Next time, Quidditch game and Christmas, what Harry will see in the mirror this time? Who knows! You'll need to wait and read the next chapter ^ ^
See Ya!