Chapter 112 – Aftermath of the Attack
It had been such a long day, and, really, the last thing Severus needed at this point was having to deal with "company." Why on earth had they chosen tonight, of all nights, to get together?
Harry spoke right up, answering Severus' unspoken questions.
"Severus, I know we've had a long day, but I asked Hermione and Ron to stop in for just a few minutes so I could tell them about my magic problem. I wasn't sure I got the whole thing from what Madam Pomfrey said to you and the Headmaster – at least it seemed like you and the Headmaster had been talking about it before and were factoring in what she said, so I don't think I have the whole story."
Severus was a bit taken aback, first that Harry had drawn such accurate conclusions from the conversation about him, and that he wanted to share such, well, intimate details with these two. He nodded, very cautiously, directing a very questioning look at Harry. If the young man was getting so good at reading into things, maybe he'd understand why Severus found this request concerning.
Whether he understood Severus' thought process or not, Harry went on as Severus walked over to his comfortable chair and slowly took his seat.
"Hermione had volunteered to do some research for me on this whole "magical transference" thing. I picked up the ability to speak Parseltongue from one wizard, and seem to have acquired some magical familiars and another new ability through a magical artifact linked to another wizard." Severus' elegant eyebrows arched dramatically at that. He and the Headmaster had speculated on the ravens' arrival, and, yes, assumed it had something to do with the explosion of the Eye of Odin, but they'd not discussed a pattern going back to the day Harry got his scar. Very interesting, indeed.
Harry continued, "I got worried about how I went around attracting this loose magic. Why does it happen? Can I control it? Will it hurt me? I wanted to understand it better, if I can, and she offered to look into it for me."
Severus looked at Hermione, wondering if she'd be picking up the story at this point, but she was still looking at Harry, so there must be more.
"Anyway, when Madam Pomfrey mentioned "magical spillage" today, I started to wonder: do I have capacity for a certain amount of magic, and when I added more from other wizards, did that make it spill over? I want Hermione to know about that, so if she comes upon anything in her research that might connect to that, she can call it out for me."
"An admirable undertaking, Miss Granger," Severus allowed dryly, with a look that might have been disbelief. "With only one day of research, have you found much?"
She nodded eagerly, either not recognizing or choosing to ignore the possible dig in the Professor's comments.
"There is more out there about magical transference than I expected. As I told Harry over dinner, most wizards have magic that's just like everyone else's, so I think it is possible that this actually happens frequently but no one notices anything different. There have been some cases where someone suddenly demonstrated a skill or talent they'd never had before, and those were the ones that have gotten attention and been written up. I was about to tell him about this at dinner, when he told me about the magical spillage situation, and asked that we speak with you."
She took a moment to find the notes she'd made on one of her ever-present parchments, while Severus watched her with patient interest.
"OK. I found four separate records of cases in which magical transference seemed to have been identified. The cases were actually regarded as instances where a witch or wizard suddenly acquired a new talent that they'd never demonstrated before; I don't believe the idea that magic was transferred was ever considered. However, I think that's what happened."
Severus was initially inclined to scoff at this whole exercise. Trained mediwizards had seen cases and NOT thought about magical transference, and Miss Granger spends a day in the library and rewrites the entire field of inquiry? However, his experience today with the Ministry's mediwizards had lowered his opinion of at least some of them, and he had to acknowledge that Harry's friend did seem to have a unique and create way of looking at things. It would be interesting to see how she managed to reach her conclusions.
"The mediwizard who documented each case seemed to be focused on the magical skill or talent – someone was suddenly gifted with the ability of a seer, or someone suddenly had remarkable skill as a legilimens. When they found no other reports of someone developing that particular new magical talent, it appears that they concluded they were seeing the first expression of the phenomenon. The facts of the four cases I found are actually quite similar, if you take out the magical talent involved: a witch or wizard was physically near to another witch or wizard who was killed by some sort of powerful burst of magic. The witch or wizard who acquired the new magical talent was impacted by the burst; some were nearly killed themselves, others were just brushed by the burst, but there was a contact. Shortly after the event involving the burst of magic, the one who survived found that they had a new magical talent, and then consulted their mediwizard."
Severus felt he had to comment. "Interesting, indeed, Miss Granger, to find that common event in every case. But that doesn't establish that magical transference is the explanation for the sudden arrival of a new skill. The shock of the event – being close to someone who had been killed, or the connection to the burst of magic – might just as well caused a latent talent to come forth, no?"
Severus noticed the Weasley boy glaring at him – he had a look on his face that suggested he'd have taken Severus' words as a reason to start an argument if he was actually part of the conversation; typical Gryffindor. Harry seemed interested in his friend's response – that was a weakness in her case, but one it was possible she'd considered.
Naturally, she had considered it.
"Of course, that's a possibility," Hermione acknowledged as she continued. "As I said, the records prepared by the mediwizards were focused on the new talent, not on the events that preceded its arrival. All but one report did not even give the names of the wizards involved. However, the report about the wizard who became a seer did give his name. I found the obituary in the Daily Prophet about him – he died about 75 years ago. The obituary mentioned that he was the wizard who captured a notorious murderer. I looked for articles about the notorious murderer, and sure enough, the Prophet had articles about him and the murder he committed. Supposedly, the murderer suspected his wife of having an affair with some prominent person, and he cast an Avada Kedavra spell at this man at a big gathering. The wizard in the obituary had been standing right next to the murderer and was the first one to subdue him after he cast the spell. I tracked down some articles about the wizard who was killed, and one of them mentioned that he had once made a famous prophecy."
She stopped and looked around. The Professor still looked a bit skeptical, Harry looked cautious, and Ron looked confused.
"Not the strongest case, I know, but that was the only instance where I could get information about the person who was killed in front of the wizard who got the new skill. Now, let's look at the events where we assume Harry got his two new skills. He was obviously right there when Voldemort was hit by the rebounding Avada Kedavra spell that he'd lobbed at Harry. Voldemort didn't actually die, but he was severely damaged by what hit him. Yes, we don't know for sure that Harry wasn't already a Parselmouth when this happened, but I did look over that book Sirius gave you" she added as she gestured to Severus "and there was no mention of anyone in Harry's lineage being a Parselmouth, and that is usually an inherited skill."
Severus was ready to protest the invasion of Harry's privacy. Those lineage books were for family only; how dare she? But then he realized the only way she'd have been able to look at that book was if Harry gave it to her. He did have to speak to that young man about where he should have boundaries!
"Then we look at the Eye of Odin. A magical artifact, but the legend says it was really a part of Odin's body and it contained his magical signature, so I'm going to assume that its destruction would work for these purposes the same as the destruction of the actual wizard himself. The artifact blew up in Harry's hand, and Harry was lucky to survive that. We do know that Harry was not able to see Paths of Fate, nor did he have ravens as familiars before that, but he did after. Again, legend tells us that Odin could see those Paths, and his familiars were ravens."
There was silence when she finished, as everyone digested this.
Harry spoke first. "Were the wizards who suddenly had a new talent harmed by that? Any indication that it happened more than once to one witch or wizard?"
Hermione paused for just a beat to mentally review her sources before she answered. "Nothing was said about this being a negative. People were puzzled about their new talent, maybe worried about where it came from, but harmed? No. Most of the reports explained how the mediwizards tested the talent, verified that the witch or wizard really had it, that sort of thing. But they just were a witch or wizard with that talent going forward. And, no, it happened in a very disjointed way, which is why the incidents seemed to never get connected. I guess, when you think on it, most witches or wizards just aren't in position that someone would be killed like that in front of them. Add to that the fact that the person who got killed would have to have an unusual talent that they'd notice if it was transferred to them." With a slight shrug, she ended her report.
Severus shook his head at Hermione. This one was a wonder. "Most impressive work, Miss Granger. Congratulations." She beamed in surprise and pleasure at the compliment. "I am not sure that the transfer of a magical talent involves the transfer of a volume of magic, but was there anything in any of the records you consulted that suggested that anyone had any problems with their magic, any at all, after manifesting a new talent?"
Again a pause as she reflected on all that she'd learned. "I didn't see any mention about that. If anyone had a problem, it didn't reveal itself, at least, while they were doing the testing and writing the reports. That doesn't mean something didn't happen later, of course."
Severus ran a finger across his chin as he thought about that. "Miss Granger, I would like to propose that you spend just a bit more time to see if you can add any other incidents that might involve a transfer of magic, just to broaden the research base. Four is not much of a sample. See if you can get the identities of the wizards involved. Then see if you can find out more about the talents of the wizards who died. Can we validate the notion that something in their magic might have transferred the skill to the other wizard? Try to determine if there were any reported magical issues of the wizard with the new talent, as well. If you need access to medical journals," he asked with a question in his voice, "I'm sure we can arrange something suitably private, possibly through Madam Pomfrey or a private library."
"Actually, I found a number of medical journals in our library, not even in the restricted section. I'll finish up the research there tomorrow, maybe one more day, and then ask Madam Pomfrey for access to a medical library to pursue my research, to see if I've missed anything of note."
"Thanks, Mione. I appreciate your work. I really hate to ask you to spend what's now your summer vacation stuck in the library," Harry offered, with a real tone of regret in his voice. He suspected it really wasn't such an imposition on Hermione – he and many others in Gryffindor suspected she lived in a library when she was at home, anyway. However, he was sure Ron wasn't happy about this, so the regret was as much for him as for her.
As expected, she waived his regret off. "It's not an imposition, Harry. You know I love a good puzzle, and I'm so happy to help you."
Severus looked at Harry with a look that he hoped conveyed his concern about sharing too many of his private details with others. Harry was having none of that.
"Severus, I don't keep secrets from Hermione or Ron – they are my best friends, and I trust them. I want you to tell them – us, actually – what you can about the magical spillage situation. You've asked Hermione to look for any reference to trouble that these witches and wizards had with their magic after they got a new skill, but maybe she'll spot something that wasn't regarded as "trouble" if she has a fuller understanding of exactly what seems to be going on with me."
Severus took a deep breath, and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head at Harry. Not what he'd advise, but it was clear that Harry had made up his mind. In truth, the Granger girl was quite the researcher, so giving her more information about Harry's condition might well yield insights. But Weasley – ! Again, not what he'd advise.
"We have two frames of reference about this. Madam Pomfrey did a thorough scan of you when you returned from the Ministry, and reported that your magical pathways were frayed. That happens sometimes. We have a potion to strengthen the ends of the pathways, and you've already been dosed. That is almost assuredly the result of the burst of wandless magic. We'll deal with that by having the Headmaster work with you on learning to use, and thus control, wandless magic. I think that will be fine."
Severus couldn't help but notice the look of intense jealousy that appeared on Ron's face on hearing that Harry was going to be tutored in the use of wandless magic. Almost against his better judgment, he added "Generally, no one under the age of 40 even attempts wandless magic, because it requires very mature magical pathways to avoid the risk of fraying. Since you're doing it anyway, controlling it is better than just hoping it doesn't happen anymore."
Ron did seem mollified by that.
"She also reported that you have more magic within you than she's ever seen before. She mentioned her concern about a potential for spillover when you have more in you that would seem could fit into your pathways. What she has proposed is that we expand your capacity to control your magic so it always proceeds into your pathways. The Headmaster and I are going to work on some approaches to expand your pathways and strengthen them, as well as help you to develop your control."
Hermione pointed out, "You said you had two frames of reference. I assume Madam Pomfrey's evaluation is one. What is the other?"
Ah, the big question. What to say? Severus thought quickly; he was not going to describe the frightening sight in Albus' memory in any detail, but he had to say something.
"The Headmaster and I believe that Harry experienced spillage this afternoon. Harry probably sent out a burst of magic that was more than could fit into his pathways, and it spilled out over him. It took him just a second or two to control it, but it happened. That validated Madam Pomfrey's concern about a potential for spillage, in our eyes. We do believe that the various approaches we have identified will enable Harry to control this in the future."
None of them seemed particularly frightened or disturbed by what he'd told them, which Severus suspected was more a function of not appreciating how potentially serious this could be for Harry, if he could not control it.
Ron cleared his throat. "Actually, my mum said that she dropped to the floor as soon as she heard Harry shout for everyone to duck, but as she was on the ground, too scared to lift her head, she heard a crackling sound. It lasted just a second or two. She didn't see anything when she raised her head, but she did hear something."
Oh. While it was good to get confirmation of Albus' belief that it was unlikely that anyone saw anything, they had not considered that this phenomenon was audible. He would speak to Molly first thing tomorrow about not sharing this detail further.
"Likely, your mother did hear the effect of the spillage. I would imagine that it did produce a crackling sound, before Harry brought it under control," Severus responded. "I'll mention that to the Headmaster; he did not say anything about it making a sound, but he was possibly distracted at the time."
Severus was thinking fast. He felt that he needed to be sure that these three understood that this was serious, but it also would not be good to terrify them, although in truth, based on their shared history, this trio might not be capable of being terrified. They did need to see how others might react, however.
"This phenomenon, this magical spillage, will likely scare others if they witness it. Harry's magic is massive, as you no doubt imagine, and the sight of it coursing over his skin is frightening to behold. What that will mean to Harry is not clear, if others are terrified of him. Our objective is to control it before it becomes an issue for Harry at all."
Harry looked stricken again, and Severus' heart ached at the sight. Despite the audience, particularly this audience, he could not control his impulse to say more. With a steady gaze right into Harry's eyes, he said "We will find a way, Harry, to prevent this from being a problem. I swear that to you."
Hermione could not control herself either. "Oh, Harry, we will solve this. We've dealt with everything else that's come your way, our way, since we got to Hogwarts. We're not going to leave you on your own at this point, not at all!"
Harry's eyes were locked on Severus' and did not waver. Hermione noticed this, and suddenly realized that it was time for her and Ron to leave. She quietly took Ron by the hand and stood, muttering as she pushed him toward the door, "We'll see ourselves out, Harry. Good night, Professor."
Neither Severus nor Harry seemed to notice that Harry's friends had departed, not for long minutes as they sat in chairs opposite each other in front of the fire, staring at each other, communicating without words.
At long last, Harry's need for the comfort of touch overwhelmed him. He stood up from his chair and closed the space to Severus' chair quickly. His expression was blank, but his eyes betrayed the distress he felt. He lowered himself onto Severus' lap, his legs tucked to one side as he wedged his head in the crook of Severus' neck. Severus gently held Harry in place, as they sat in continued silence.
Severus' heart ached for the distress of his young bondmate, and he knew at that moment he would do whatever it took to prevent Harry from finding himself an object of fright. He knew, absolutely knew, that Harry would never hurt him, so no matter what happened with Harry's magic, he would be safe with him. They might have to remove themselves from society, not that being part of society necessarily meant all that much to either of them. They had each other.
And at that thought, the oddest , almost misplaced feeling of joy swept through Severus. They had each other. And Harry once again had chosen him to provide comfort, this time over his two friends of longest standing. He was thrilled for the confirmation of the place he held in Harry's heart, and vowed that he would be deserving of this remarkable trust.
Finally, Harry spoke, his voice just above a whisper.
"You remember what you promised me, don't you, Severus? You will not let me hurt anyone I love."
Softly, Severus answered him, around a growing lump in this throat.
"Of course, I remember that. And I will not let you hurt anyone. I firmly believe that we will find a way to render this entire discussion moot, you realize. But. . . but, if the unthinkable happens and you are not able to control this and you become a risk to others, you and I will go away. You will not be alone; I will be with you. We will go to a place where you will not be a risk to anyone, and we will live our lives."
Tears pooled in Harry's eyes as he clung even tighter to his bondmate. Severus had spoken directly to his deepest fear. He was not going to have to return to the cupboard under the stairs, a place where he would be all alone. Severus would be with him.
A certain moistness appeared in Severus' eyes, too, as he held Harry, in response to the feeling that Harry was clinging to him for his very life.
More long moments passes. Finally Harry broke the silence.
"If you don't get a full 10 hours of sleep, I suspect that Madam Pomfrey will have some way to tell, and we'll both be in big trouble."
With a chuff, Severus agreed. "She probably will know. Come along then, up you go." He helped Harry get untangled off his lap, and then stood himself, straightening his robes as he did.
They were both ready for bed in just a few minutes, with Severus sitting up on his side of the bed, and Harry perched on top of the blankets facing him. Harry offered Severus the vial of sleeping draught that Madam Pomfrey had give him.
"Here you go. Sleep well."
With a look of resignation, Severus accepted the vial and drank it down. Harry helped him stretch out on his back and get comfortable, and could see the that the potion was having its intended effect, as Severus was growing visibly sleepy. Just as he slipped completely into slumber, Harry covered him with a light blanket.
As had become his custom, Harry moved right next to Severus and put his head on his chest, pressing his ear down to hear the steady beat of his heart. That was the most comforting sound in the world to Harry. As he was about to drift off to sleep himself, he pressed his hand against Severus' chest to check Severus' magic one more time.
Definitely Severus' signature, maybe the magic had gotten a bit jumbled, but it was still definitely Severus.
X X X X X X X X X
At Malfoy Manor, Lucius enjoyed a snifter of his most precious vintage brandy. He was seated in a dark blue velvet dressing gown, in one of the tapestry chairs next to the fireplace in his bed chamber. A genuine smile teased at the edges of his lips as he reflected back on the events of this most remarkable day.
Everything had gone exactly as planned at the Wizengamot. His presentation had been impeccable; he had achieved exactly the tone he wanted, and felt that he had made the maximum impact on all points. He'd seen some of the looks of surprise on the faces of some of his fellow Wizengamot members, suspicion on the face of his old friend Severus, but Harry Potter seemed interested. Edward Aventine had been most lavish in his praise after the session ended, too.
All in all, a most excellent outcome.
And even Narcissa had been there! He hadn't even dared ask her to come – he could not imagine the size of the opal he'd have to find in order to entice her to sit through a session at the Wizengamot. And yet – at breakfast this morning, she'd appeared in a very stylish (and quite expensive) robe with some sedate (but also quite expensive) jewelry, and announced that she'd sent an owl to Draco that morning asking him to be her escort to the Wizengamot!
And she'd sat through the entire thing, looking quite enthralled. She'd also readily indicated that she planned on joining Lucius and Draco at the luncheon after, where she'd taken his arm and been exceedingly gracious and charming to everyone. Of course, that meant she was also present at the Order of Merlin ceremony for Severus, but she'd even been very warm in her congratulations to him, and almost motherly in her greeting to Harry Potter.
Lucius pondered the brazen attack. What on earth was someone thinking in doing that? He was relieved, he supposed, that Severus had survived – an owl after dinner from his son had confirmed that Severus had actually appeared at dinner at Hogwarts that evening. What was this world coming to that such an attack could be made right in the Ministry offices, under the nose of the Minister herself? Who stood to gain by such an action?
Even the attack, though, brought about a surprising reaction from Narcissa. He, of course, had immediately sought to shield her from harm with his own body, but she was worried about Draco and was calling out to him rather desperately, even trying to get out from the shelter Lucius had created for her to get to Draco. It painted quite the picture of family affection and loyalty for the other attendees, but goodness knows, Narcissa had never done anything remotely like that before.
What had gotten into her?
One room away, in Narcissa's own private bedchamber, she was seated at her vanity, combing her hair in front of the mirror. She was wearing a pale pink satin and lace nightgown; it was purchased with the seduction of someone else in mind, but never used; it was very beautiful and did look quite fetching on her, so she wore it this evening for a different seduction.
When she was satisfied that her hair was perfect, Narcissa applied some tinted powder with a downy puff, giving her skin an ethereal glow, and she finished off her face with a few dabs of a deep crimson stain on her lips. She cast an appraising look at her reflection before determining that it was time to move.
She'd been mesmerized by her husband's performance at the Wizengamot this morning, and began plotting this seduction as she sat in the gallery next to her son. Everyone in the room was watching Lucius closely, but she was paying no attention at all to the words he was speaking, just absolutely stunned by the power of his conviction and the emotion with which he pled his case. Goodness, it had been years since she'd been so positively smitten by Lucius or anyone else.
She'd endured the dreary luncheon, being sure to be especially charming to anyone who seemed to have her husband's favor or attention, and she'd even managed to sound sincere and warm when greeting people at the reception for Severus.
And the attack! Her husband had quickly thrown her to the ground and tried to cover her and protect her with his own body. She felt she might almost lose control of herself at that point, with his firm body pressed to her as he attempted to shield her from harm. She had to do something to distract herself, and calling for Draco came to mind. When they'd finally stood up, when all was safe, Lucius had been so attentive, having a house elf bring her a brandy. She could not recall the last time she'd felt so cared-for, for herself. Of course, whenever Lucius needed her to do something, she was cared for – her jewel box was overflowing with little baubles he'd felt compelled to offer her to secure her presence at various events that were not of interest to her but that her husband wanted to attend. This was just about her, though, not what he wanted her to do for him.
Slowly, Narcissa opened the door that separated her bedchamber from her husband's and she floated in, satin and lace gown swirling around her, hair glistening, skin glowing and slightly fragranced. The surprise that was on Lucius' face when the almost-never-used door between his and his wife's bedrooms opened quickly gave way to a look of pure lust.
It was not more than a few minutes later that Narcissa's plan to seduce her husband was realized.
X X X X X X X X X
Voldemort sat at the large dining table in Riddle Manor with a copy of the special edition of the Daily Prophet open before him. He'd had an early dinner and was about to retire to his study to refine some battle plans when one of his minions arrived with the newspaper.
He read the entire paper, and was frustrated by the fact that nothing in there confirmed that the traitorous Snape had in fact been killed. Gone were the days when he knew almost as soon as the Minister did (and sometimes, before the Minister knew) what was going on at the Ministry. He did miss Lucius and his connections.
At least one of the Death Eaters had seen the paper and thought to bring it to him!
The Death Eaters who'd formed up again around their Dark Lord were just not of the same caliber as most of them were in the old days. Several good witches and wizards were killed when that damned Potter stole the Eye of Odin from his hand a year ago. More recently, many of his former associates had simply not gotten around to speaking to him when he'd tried to locate them after he'd sent out the sleeping spell. That was unfortunate, but after all, the smarter ones figured out what his action meant. They were either quite insulted that they had not been brought into his confidence in planning the attack, or fearful that they might have been among those who would not have been favored with either an awakening spell or a stasis spell.
As much as he now truly hated the traitors, he had to admit that they had been among his most valuable Death Eaters. Severus always had remarkable insight and offered sage advice, to say nothing of the man's absolute genius at potions. Lucius was a font of information, having agents and spies literally everywhere.
And now, here he was, reduced to getting important news from the Daily Prophet, of all miserable sources, and not even complete or current information at that!
With a sigh of irritation and a slowly-developing headache (another point of anger at Severus, who had brewed the only potion he'd ever had that could stop one of these headaches as soon as there was any sign a headache was coming), Voldemort stood and stormed off to his study.
His plans were just not going well. He had been so confident of his original plan that he'd made no effort to build any alliances, and he was having difficulty finding allies. The kind of war it now appeared that he'd have to wage would require people or creatures willing to fight for him and those seemed to be in short supply. The trolls always said yes to requests that they support his cause, but who trusted trolls? The question of the missing vampire clans was solved when Voldemort learned that they'd been cured – there were no more clans.
This was proving to be a much slower process than he'd hoped.
The Daily Prophet mentioned that the muggles were likely to be awakening in the next week or two. Voldemort had truly hoped to have conquered the wizarding world before the muggles were part of the equation. That wasn't going to happen. Maybe there was some way that the muggles being awake could work into a strategy that would help him against the rest of the wizarding world? An interesting thought – he'd have to spend some time looking at that tonight.
[A/N It was pointed out to me, by readers who are absolutely right and have much better memories than I do, that I made a mistake in the prior chapter. There is a very brief reference in Chapter 22 of The Marriage Stone to the fact that Harry had begun to invite Ron and Hermione to his rooms to study in the evenings in mid-October. Thus, the visit with which I ended the last chapter could not have been Ron's and Hermione's first visit to the rooms Harry shared with Severus. I have decided not to rewrite my chapter. I like the description of that first visit, whenever it occurred, and hope no one minds the license I took here.]