Chapter 130 – Mopping Up
Severus couldn't help but notice that Harry was still miffed later that evening. As Severus sat in his usual chair reading a journal, he watched his bondmate sitting stiffly in his usual place on the couch in front of the fire place, arms crossed, a slight scowl still marring his features. Harry spent most of the evening with his friends, and Severus had really hoped his irritation at being denied exit from the castle when that muggle group approached would have dissipated by now. Unfortunately, that did not appear to be the case.
Those inside of Hogwarts Castle when the muggles attempted to attack were hardly unaware of what was going on outside. Classes were kept in progress, but word spread like wildfire. At Albus' instruction, the doors were blocked by the Winter Lands Warriors, who were specifically asked to keep Harry inside for his own protection. Even Arthur Weasley had some talking to do when he asked to be allowed to join the others outside. His grown sons and all the students (including Harry) were unable to talk their way out of the castle, to their annoyance. But magical windows can be expanded to give a broader view than might appear possible from the size of the window outside, and of course, they can also look out over scenes far away, including on the other side of the building. Anyone with a free period and a desire to watch was within reach of a clear view. Harry stood with the Weasleys and a growing crowd of others at the front doors, the small windows of which had been charmed to provide an excellent view of all the goings-on outside on the nearby lawn.
When the Headmaster finally returned from his less-than-satisfying conversation with the Brigadier and led the others with him back into the castle, they were met with a cheer from the assembled ranks of students, visitors, guests and faculty who had waited inside, a few of whom were celebrating what they saw as a victory. At least Albus had the good grace to look chagrinned – that was really nothing more than an intermediate-level Charms practical exam, although technically Leviosa Maximus was a seventh-year spell. The wards were impregnable to the muggle weapons. If the wizards weren't intent on assuring that the muggles weren't harmed in their attempt to attack Hogwarts, they could have simply ignored the whole thing.
The Headmaster had shooed the group off to wherever they were supposed to be, and invited only Hagrid, Minerva and Severus himself up to his office.
Hagrid managed to choose the only chair in the office that was not specially strengthened, and of course it never occurred to him to apply a featherweight charm to himself. There was a brief delay to the meeting, then, while he was helped to his feet and his chair reassembled magically from the splinters that had exploded over half the office when it fell apart under his weight.
Once all were settled and likely to remain that way, Albus took a deep breath.
"That did not go as well as it might," he began.
Minerva begged to disagree. "How on earth can you say that, Albus? The muggles are on their way back to wherever they came from, and hopefully will not be back. It did not appear that any harm had come to any of them. What better outcome was possible?" she asked.
"Um, well, P'erfesser," Hagrid began, looking ill at ease. "One of 'em might have a bit of a problem, actually. The lad I carried out of the forest – he ran inta a wee demon tha's been livin' in the forest."
"A demon?" Minerva screetched, her hand pressed to her chest. "Here, near the school?" She looked as if she might faint.
"Just a little feller – he musta come through with that big one that Neville took care o' in Hogsmeade last summer," Hagrid answered, looking a bit offended by her negative reaction. "Least, I think he's been there since about then. Can't do no one no harm. He's just a baby, from the looks o' him, really. Scared of everything in there, even the unicorns. 'Course, they stay far away from him, but he's terrified of the spiders, and the centaurs. I scared him off, but the lad I found was frightened by it and slipped and fell, and he was staring at the little thing. You never look at demons direct, but o' course, he di'n't know that."
Severus was as appalled as his colleague that such a creature was within miles of him, and at the ease with which Hagrid was willing to adopt the cause of dangerous beings, whether of this world or not. The dragon he'd attempted to foster was nothing compared to his defense of a demon.
The Headmaster was, as usual, far too indulgent of his gamekeeper, who in Severus' opinion, should have been sacked on the spot. He merely nodded vaguely at Hagrid, with a murmured "We'll deal with that later."
"Putting that aside," he restarted his conversation with the group, "I am heartened by the message the Ministry sent over from the muggles. That was a small group, split off from the bigger muggle anti-magic organization, a bit radical. The muggle government seem to have gotten one of their own into the organization now, so they will have better information in the future. For now, we know that was not a credible group, and they've got nothing to show for today's adventure."
Severus could not resist adding, "Except, of course, for the poor muggle who stared down a demon. I can only imagine what his mind is doing right now."
Hagrid gave Severus an offended look, but before he could say anything, Albus spoke again. "We can move their vehicles to a spot near that muggle road a few miles from here. This is an excellent opportunity for the Advanced Charms students to put their studies to practical use – maybe we can even start sixth years on Leviosa Maximus. The muggles can retrieve their belongings there. I suspect Arthur will purloin a few items, for his research, of course, and I'm inclined to indulge him in that."
The mention of Arthur's interest in the muggle flying machines drew a snort from Minerva, confirming Severus' suspicion that the man had been as excited over the helicopters as he was earlier over the arrival of a new son.
"I imagine that a few memory charms, judiciously applied to the vehicles and to the doors of the buildings where the muggles were staying, will cause them to forget whatever they think they recall of today's visit," Minerva offered. "It is a new moon in the next few days, and we've got some cloudy weather coming in. We should have no trouble at all flying in on brooms, if we know where they are – they won't be looking for that."
Severus nodded in agreement. "Excellent idea, Minerva. Who ought we have handle that?"
"I'm sure we'd have ample volunteers but I want this to remain quiet. I'll have several members of the Order handle it," Albus replied.
Albus leaned back and steepled his fingers, peering over his half-moon glasses at his three colleagues. "The fewer people aware of this, the better. I will not be reporting fully on this incident to the Ministry, given the total ineffectiveness of the attack and the lack of lasting harm to the muggles. I don't want to see this have repercussions that can only be a problem to them and to us in the future. I suppose that I will have to alert the Ministry to the fact that one of the muggles who approached the castle might suffer what the muggles usually interpret as something they used to call a "psychotic episode."
"Since I know what caused his problem, I have a few suggestions for treatment that I can pass along to the healers," Severus offered. "Are you going to propose that the man be treated at St. Mungo's or in the Ministry Infirmary?"
Albus looked at Severus thoughtfully, nodding as he stroked his beard. "Perhaps neither, now that I think on this. Either place will make a record of the treatment, one that will not be matched by records elsewhere. Would you be willing to treat the man yourself, Severus?"
In response to Severus' immediate gesture of refusal, Albus quickly continued on. "This is not going to require an actual medical intervention, but magical treatment, and really, who better than you? Let's consider – perhaps when we fly in to put the memory charms on the estate, you and Hagrid can locate the muggle he saved from the demon, and do whatever he needs to have done? And then we all leave together? No one will remember the visit to Hogwarts, and no one will have a lingering condition that cannot be explained."
No, actually, as Severus watched Harry pout about not being allowed onto the lawn of the castle when the muggles approached, he felt that if anyone in this sitting room had earned a good snit today, it was him, not Harry. He heaved a loud sigh in annoyance himself, which broke Harry's concentration.
Harry stole a quick look over at Severus.
"What are you upset about?" Harry asked, not really curious, but suspecting that Severus had caught his look and would be further offended if he said nothing.
Severus really hadn't intended for that sigh to be so . . . loud. At least, that's what he told himself. However, Harry was looking at him quite seriously, so he knew he was not going to be able to brush this off.
"If you must know," he began, "not all went well this afternoon. I learned from your friend Hagrid that one of the muggles might be rather poorly off based on this afternoon's folly."
It wouldn't surprise Harry if one of the muggles got rather banged up when the helicopters fell out of the sky like that. Was one of them seriously injured in a crash, even the slow, controlled crash the wizards enabled? And whenever someone was referred to as Harry's "friend," Severus had a complaint about them. He kept his gaze on Severus, waiting for more.
"The Headmaster wishes to keep this entire misadventure very quiet, since I gather there was just a small, radical group behind it. That means he does not want to deal with this through the Ministry, or the healers who would be obligated to report certain . . . findings to the Ministry."
"And what might those findings be, Severus," Harry asked levelly.
"We learned today that apparently two demons, not just one, answered the summons made by Death Eaters in Hogsmeade last spring. There was the big one that Longbottom took care of, outside of Smithfields, but apparently there was a little one, as well. When Longbottom banished the big one, the little one seems to have escaped into the Dark Forest. Hagrid found one of the muggles with a twisted ankle trying to get away from it, staring at it. Hagrid shooed the demon off, and carried the man out, but he was unconscious. It is likely, well, . . . ."
Severus certainly didn't need to tell Harry about the consequences of staring down a demon. Granted, Harry stared down an Elder Demon, but Harry was a very powerful wizard. The muggle had no defenses at all, even against a baby demon. The consequences could not be pleasant. The two just nodded at each other in understanding.
"Can you extract memories from a muggle?" Harry asked. He still recalled clearly the release from the fog he felt after Severus extracted the horrible blackness that was attacking his mind after his own encounter with a demon.
Severus suddenly realized that he had never discussed with Harry that he chose that approach as the gentlest and least painful means of removing the chaotic blackness that had invaded his mind. His years of service to the Dark . . . no, to Voldemort, had given him ample opportunities to more forcibly remove thoughts and images from the minds of both wizards and muggles. There were actually extremely effective and efficient ways to do this, if one wasn't concerned about the comfort of the person whose mind was being picked at.
"I've never tried, and I'm not aware that anyone has. Of course, I really can't bring along a pensieve on a night raid, and if he has no magic and no wand, there's no reason to expect that the memory will come floating out of its own accord in the presence of the pensieve anyway," he began, with a smile at Harry's reaction to his reference to a night raid. "Albus is going to have a small group pay the muggles a visit on an upcoming moonless night, and while some will place memory charms on doors and other places so they forget they were ever here, your friend and I will locate this poor creature. I will enter his mind myself, and destroy the blackness I expect to find there. Do-able, but rather painful, to have thoughts destroyed like that. I have a potion that I can spell into his stomach, that will knock him out for a few days until the worst of the pain passes. Hagrid did say the demon was a "wee demon, just a baby," so I expect a manageable amount of blackness to contend with."
Harry seemed mollified by the description of the raid, although the description of Hagrid's reference to the demon drew a snort from him. "He's looking after a demon now, is he?" he chuckled.
"Indeed. The Headmaster was, as usual, far too indulgent," Severus observed, censure positively dripping from his voice.
Harry simply smiled back at him. "You know Hagrid. Never met a creature he didn't like. Is it making friends with his Blast End Skrewts?"
"No, apparently it's very timid, even afraid of the unicorns. Assuming the Headmaster hasn't come to his senses and already banished the thing from this world."
Harry tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a few seconds. His voice was strangely calm when he finally straightened up and looked back at Severus.
"I thought for a moment there that this was it – this would be some sort of defining battle. I was furious to be kept in the castle like that," he said softly.
Severus sighed quietly. He had to tell Harry what he knew, even though he did not fully understand why he knew this. "There will be three battles, Harry, and you play a role only in the third. Not before. Do you understand?"
Harry shifted in his seat, his attention captured by that statement. He'd heard predictions and prophecies before, all spoken by Professor Trelawney. There was a certainty in Severus' voice that was not dissimilar to the certainty in Trelawney's voice when she was communicating an insight, but of course, she sounded completely unlike herself at the time. Severus sounded just like himself when he said that.
Harry cast a puzzled look at his bondmate. "What makes you say that, Severus?" he asked, wondering at the statement so out of character for the man.
"I don't really know, myself. I just feel, to the point of being sure that I know, that there are going to be several battles fought here, and this was the first. You will be essential to the third – that will be the final battle – and you cannot be inserting yourself into the others. We can't risk you," he answered, looking rather surprised at himself for having said that.
Severus mulled over in his head what on earth had prompted him to make a statement like that, aside from his absolute conviction that it was accurate. Harry watched him for a moment, amused to realize that he could read on his face the internal conflict that Severus was apparently feeling at having made that statement.
"And what is to become of all that muggle machinery that now sits out near the forest?" Harry asked, to redirect the conversation away from the rather awkward and surprising place to which it had just ventured.
"I imagine that all the more advanced Charms classes for the next day or two will be out there, with the Winter Land Warriors for escort, shrinking things, applying featherweight charms, learning Leviosa Maximus. We'll move all those things off to a place near a muggle road, and get word to them to come and pick it up. There will be memory charms on the vehicles and items we find, so no one will remember why the things weren't where they are supposed to be."
Harry noticed the reference to a spell he'd never heard before, so he asked "What is Leviosa Maximus? Is that related to Wingardium Leviosa?"
The events of nearly a year ago – was it possible that just a year had passed – came back to Severus with that question. He shook his head slightly, marveling at the memory.
"They are both versions of the same levitation spell," he began. "Most wizards would find that Wingardium Leviosa has a weight limit on it; it almost never works for even a powerful wizard when attempting to lift something that weighs more than his body weight. For heavier items, most wizards would use Leviosa Maximus, which strictly speaking doesn't have a weight limitation. That spell relies more purely on the wizard's magical strength."
Harry caught the references to "most" wizards and momentarily wondered what that was about. Severus saw the confusion and continued.
"Last year, at the Winter Lands, when Remus Lupin and I heard you move the capstone over the Well of Despair using Wingardium Leviosa, we were both astonished. We'd marveled earlier when you said you'd been able to lift the monolith, but it never occurred to us that anyone would even think to try to move such a massive object with Wingardium Leviosa. I don't think we remembered that you were not yet in your seventh year and thus would not have learned Leviosa Maximus as part of the regular curriculum. Had that even occurred to me, I suspect I would have assumed that, with Miss Granger's help, you had mastered that, or some other powerful levitation spell that the world hadn't heard in centuries."
Harry smiled at the reference to Hermione's influence. "So, that was a mistake? I ought to have used a different spell?" he asked.
"Well, you said you lifted the monolith and we believed you. We certainly were not about to say anything to make you doubt yourself. But really, I don't think anyone but you could have lifted something the size of the capstone with either spell. If you have the chance to learn Maximus, I think you'll find it easier, at least."
Severus stood, and reached out a hand to Harry, pulling him to his feet.
"You prepare a nice hot bath by the fireplace in the bedroom, and I'll finish up in here. We both could use a relaxing soak before bed, I think," he suggested.
A scant fifteen minutes later, Severus was leaning back in a deep claw-footed tub that comfortably accommodated him and Harry, and was filled with warm-bordering-on-hot water. The darkness of the room was broken only by the candlelight from the sconces on the wall and the soft golden light flickering from the fireplace. Harry was semi-floating in the water in front of him, his head nestled against Severus' shoulder. This was perfection.
Harry sighed contentedly. "You know, I don't know why people insist on putting the tubs in bathrooms; this is so much better. Roomier, lovely in front of the fire. Not all tile and fixtures."
Severus snorted at the always-unexpected direction Harry's thoughts seemed to take. "I imagine the proximity to plumbing would make it more likely than not that most tubs would be in bathrooms."
"That matters to muggles, perhaps," Harry conceded. "And if you had a bathtub the size of a swimming pool, like the one in the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor, I suppose that would make sense. But a tub like this – why not put it against the bathroom wall, just on the other side, if you need pipes?"
"An interesting design concept, Harry. And you have a point – having a bath in front of the fire is quite pleasant. Although, I suppose one might have a fireplace in a bathroom, no?" Severus pointed out.
Harry rolled over in the water, now nuzzling his mouth along the spot where Severus' neck met his shoulder. "Mmmm . . . the steam from the bath and the shower might make it difficult to keep the firewood dry."
Severus always reacted, strongly, to being nuzzled at that exact spot, as Harry well knew. This reaction stopped him from pointing out that, obviously, a wizard could cast a spell to keep the dampness out of the fireplace, if he so desired. Instead, the second part of this evening began, with a long, lingering and passionate kiss.
X X X X X X X X X X
The next morning, over breakfast, the students were paying more attention than normal to the copies of the Daily Prophet that were being passed around, although for once, their interest was more about what was not in the paper. There was no mention at all, anywhere, about the events of the previous afternoon. Given the propensity of the wizarding press to make things up on slow news days, a muggle military action against the premier magical school in England seemed an odd thing to miss.
The Gryffindor table was crowded with a sudden influx of redheads, with all the Weasleys in the castle for the birth of their new brother. The twins planned to take the floo after breakfast to get back to their shop on Diagon Alley, as did Percy to get back to his job at the Minstry. Charlie wanted to sit with Draco as well as visit with his brothers and sister, and he hadn't seen Bill in nearly a year. Harry, Hermione and Draco were the odd ones out in the cluster of gingers, barely able to get a word in edgewise.
Harry had hoped to have a quiet word with Hermione, to share Severus' odd "prediction" last night, and clearly that was not on, at least not at breakfast. He figured he'd have a chance later in the day, maybe a lunch or a shared open hour in the later afternoon.
The burble of conversation in the Great Hall was interrupted by the Headmaster shortly before it was time for those with early classes to depart. As he stood at the podium, the golden eagle unfurled its wings and looked out menacingly at the students who did not quickly pay attention. The room quieted in mere seconds.
"Good morning to you all!" the Headmaster began, his voice full of enthusiasm. "I will not hold you long, certainly don't want anyone to be late to their first classes of the day. But I did want to make you aware of a slight change in curriculum in all of your Charms classes today. Some muggles who meandered too close to Hogwarts yesterday left their vehicles behind, and we need to move them off to a meadow that abuts a muggle road about two miles from the castle. What a wonderful opportunity, then, for us to work on our featherweight, shrinking and levitation spells! Will everyone bring their cloak to their Charms classes today, and meet in the front hall rather than Professor Flitwick's classroom? Thank you all. Have a nice day."
As the old man took his seat again, the room erupted in chatter.
Harry stole a quick look up at the Head Table, where the look of vague nausea on Severus' face told him what his bondmate thought of that story. Severus hadn't mentioned that was how the Headmaster was going to explain this situation, but maybe he was hoping he'd have changed his mind or come up with something better.
The muggle-borns among the students recognized the military vehicles for what they were and it was all over the school that they had been attacked. Did the Headmaster not consider that students would tell their families what had occurred, and word would get out? It looked like there were guns involved. "Meandered" did not seem to fit.
Fred looked at George as they both rolled their eyes at the announcement.
"That looked far too hostile . . ."
"For anyone to buy that it was just a social visit."
Before they could get too far into their trademark back-and-forth delivery, Draco interrupted.
"Actually, I think the Headmaster is going to be able to cover this all up." It was clear from his tone that Draco wasn't entire happy about that – he still had his Malfoy sensibilities and that meant he was not a fan of the oddball headmaster. He looked at his audience, all somewhat stunned by his statement and obviously waiting to hear his rationale.
"Consider," he began, adopting almost a lecture tone. "None of the people who were raised in the wizarding world recognized the machinery that muggles showed up with yesterday. There were some flying things, those were interesting. The bursts of light from them? No idea what that was all about. There were men in several kinds of strange-looking vehicles. No idea why they make such cumbersome things, seems rather difficult to see where you're going, but I suspect it makes sense to a muggle. And the men walking around, loaded up with all sorts of stuff. Hard to imagine what any of that paraphernalia might do. Again, with the bursts of light we saw – no idea where that all came from."
Draco took a breath to gauge the interest of his tablemates, who were craning their necks to hear what he had to say. Liking the attention, Draco added his final observations. "If anything, the scandal, the big issue, if any of this comes to light, is going to be, how on earth were they able to see the castle? Muggles aren't supposed to be able to see Hogwarts, unless they've been told what to look for. That they knew we were here at all is the big mystery."
Bill looked rather surprised with Draco's insights. "But don't you think the Daily Prophet would figure some of that out, about the machinery? Why don't you think they'll follow this up?" In his experience, the press would love something like this, a way to stir up the wizarding world, generate controversy.
Draco waved rather dismissively. "I doubt the Prophet will be interested. None of us inside the castle heard anything, we just saw the muggles approach and some sparkling in the wards. Dumbledore had a small bunch of people out there with him making sure none of the muggle contraptions fell hard, and then he went to speak to them. He's now saying it was a group that meandered too close to the castle. The only people here who think they recognize the machines are the muggle-borns, or at least the ones raised in the muggle world," Draco added with a quick nod to Harry.
Hermione was the first to see where Draco was going with this. "You don't think we have credible witnesses that this was an attack, is that it?" she asked.
As much as he didn't like having to agree with Hermione, Draco nodded. "That's a big part of it. First, only wizard parents would even think to contact the Prophet. If a student here tells their parents the castle was attacked, they'll ask questions. The parents will realize that the idea that this was an attack was all based on what the muggle-borns or –raised were telling their children. The average wizard parent will think twice before contacting the press with that sort of information. Second, if someone does decide to contact the Prophet, we know what the Headmaster will say. The Prophet will figure out where the attack theory comes from, and I assure you, the Editor of the Prophet will not, under any circumstances, take the word of a muggle-born over the word of any witch or wizard, even Dumbledore."
Hermione looked disquieted by that, even though she'd certainly encountered her share of bias because of her non-wizarding background.
Harry had to comment. "I'd've thought the Prophet would jump at any opportunity to attack Professor Dumbledore." That was certainly his experience in the past, anyway.
"Oh, that tosh was the Ministry," Draco quickly answered. "Fudge was a lunatic, and was terrified of Dumbledore, and he pressured the Prophet into taking that stand. I know the Editor – he's been to dinners with my parents many times. He's an old-line pure-blooded bigot. Of course, he's not going to parade that around, but trust me, that's his bias."
Ron was the first to notice that people were starting to leave the Great Hall. "We'd better get going – we have Charms first thing, and we'll need our cloaks."
Hermione gave him one of her "looks" and simply pointed her wand toward the door. "Accio, Hermione Granger's cloak," was all she said. Sheepishly, Ron and Harry followed suit. It was necessary for all to stay in their seats for a few minutes, as cloaks were flying all over, summoned by the members of the various morning Charms classes that were now going to meet outside.
X X X X X X X X X X
Things were a bit calmer over lunch.
The Charms classes outside had been a huge success, to the extent that those who did not have a morning Charms class were not going to have a go at the muggle machinery. Ranks of students, escorted by a dozen Winter Lands warriors, walked out beyond the wards, led by diminutive Professor Flitwick. He spent the first half of the seventh year Gryffindor/Slytherin class teaching the rudiments of Leviosa Maximus, and the students spent the second half of the class practicing and applying the spell to the various machines scattered about. Most of the students mastered the new spell quickly, and paired off with their classmates who needed an assist. By the end of the class, all the muggle machines, including even the helicopters, had been moved into an orderly few rows to be worked on by later classes.
The shrinking charms most students had already mastered in fifth year were easily cast on the tanks and jeeps, reducing them all to toy-size models by the time the sixth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were ready to leave. The fourth year Ravenclaw-Slytherin class then cast featherweight charms on the little machines, making it very easy for Hagrid to collect all the tanks, Land Rovers and helicopters (except for the broken one – Arthur Weasley nabbed that and put it in his pocket, noting that the muggles couldn't use one all banged up like that) into a wheelbarrow.
Hermione noticed as she worked on the Leviosa Maximus spell that there were no signs of any weapons about. She assumed that teachers had been through earlier to remove anything that might cause harm, whether it be ammunition or an actual weapon. That was exactly what had happened at first light that morning.
Hagrid had all that stowed in another wheelbarrow, on which a spell had been cast to make it appear that the contents of the wheelbarrow was a large pile of dragon dung, rather than weapons. He and Professor McGonnagal were going to take a walk right after lunch with the Winter Lands warriors to put the muggle items in the place chosen near a muggle road. She would re-size them and restore their usual weights, and put a short-duration obscuration spell on them to keep them unnoticed until tomorrow. The muggles would be provided directions to find their misplaced items tomorrow morning.
Hermione and Harry had an open hour late in the afternoon, and that was his first opportunity to speak to her more privately. She was busy rifling through a small packet of papers, continuing to annotate her article.
"How's that going, Mione?" Harry asked as they settled into spaces across from each other at the long Gryffindor table.
"As well as can be expected," she answered, not looking very happy. "The editors are fully comfortable with my research, but they are pragmatic. This isn't how the majority of their readers understand things to work, so they want proof, upon proof, upon proof before they are comfortable printing my article. It's frustrating. I've got so much data already, but they always want more."
Harry nodded in sympathy. "I've got something for you along this line, anyway, and I'd like your reaction to it," he offered.
Her interest perked up immediately, and she looked expectantly across the table.
"It's just something Severus said to me," Harry began, feeling a bit guilty that he might have gotten her hopes up over something rather trivial. "Last night, I explained how frustrated I was when I thought perhaps the war was starting and I was being kept inside by the Headmaster. He told me that he is certain that there will be three battles and I am not to engage until the third, which will be the last. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about that, but he was very specific."
Hermione duly noted what Harry told her, but did not look impressed. "You've heard prophesies before, Harry. Did it sound like that?"
Harry chuckled. "Well, the only one I heard making prophesies was Professor Trelawney, and she sounded completely different from her usual voice. None of those dramatics from Severus, I assure you."
Hermione laughed softly at the reference to Professor Trelawney, the one member of the Hogwarts faculty that she regarded as a fraud and incompetent. "I should certainly hope not!" she added.
Harry proceeded to work on his Potions essay while Hermione went back over the packet of notes that had been given to her by Kingsley just that morning, about the man who had tried to kill Harry. It would have been fantastic if he'd had some really odd aspect to his magic, so she could look for it in Harry, but nothing in here provided much detail at all about his magic. She sighed in frustration and finally moved on to her own Potions essay.
X X X X X X X X X X
At two o'clock the next morning, Severus joined the Headmaster, Mad Eye Moody, Kingsley and Hagrid outside the Great Hall.
"Kingsley, you've gotten muggle maps and know where this estate is," Albus confirmed. From the look on Kingsley's face, this was not the first time this particular question had been posed.
"Yes, Albus, I got a map and I've even flown over myself, last night, to make sure I can get us all there. It's a huge piece of land, very secluded and private. Looks like they have tents pitched at the southernmost part of the property, and from the pattern of lights, I'm sure that's where the bulk of the men are. Huge manor house, too. Muggle security all over. I saw dogs and men patrolling along the brick fence that circles the place. I imagine that Sir Harold is in the manor house, not roughing it in the tents, so we have to deal with two separate places."
Albus smiled. "We'll be fine. They expect incursions by land, not on brooms in the air. And we only need to actually see one muggle, the one that looked at the demon. Everything else, we can handle with spells on doors. Might take a while, but within a day or two, everyone will have entered or exited a door, or a tent-flap, and we'll have muddled their recollections of their visit to Hogwarts to the point that they don't even remember having been here."
Moody explained the battle plan, as it were. "Hagrid and Severus, you two will have to go tent-to-tent to look for the lad Severus needs to deal with. I'm sure Severus can handle anyone who wakes or gets in the way?"
While there was something in his tone of voice that might have been a challenge sent Severus' way, Severus simply nodded. "Of course."
Mad Eye continued. "Kingsley, Albus and I will cast befuddlement and short-term memory charms on all the tent doors. Strong enough to last a day or two, and to erase enough memory from anyone who passes through that whatever they've been doing the last few weeks will be very blurry. Certainly, all recollections of Hogwarts and their visit earlier this week will be gone. Then we'll head up to the manor and do the same there."
Albus beamed at the plan as he patted a pocket in his robe. "And I have a letter to this Sir Harold on some left-over muggle paper from the Grangers' machine, on which I told him that his men had left some machinery behind during one of their excursions, and explaining its location. We charmed it to look like it was written on a muggle typing machine, and I think it came out very well."
The little group went out on the castle steps, where their various transports had been assembled by Hagrid earlier that night. Severus and Kingsley had standard flying brooms, Mad Eye had his custom rider and Hagrid had his charmed motorcycle with a sidecar in which the Headmaster would ride. After a bit of shuffling, Mad Eye took the motorcycle so Albus could ride with him, and Hagrid took the rider, with the admonition that he'd regret the day he was born if anything happened to it.
They all followed Kingsley for the half-hour flight over the forest and lakes to the edge of Sir Harold's estate. He gave them a brief circuit to understand the layout, and then they split up, Kingsley leading with Mad Eye and Albus following, to cast the spells, and Hagrid and Severus to land near the tents and look for the injured muggle.
Once on the ground, Severus shrank both their brooms and pocketed them, and carefully cast shields on both himself and Hagrid to protect against the charms the others were casting, as it was likely that they'd pass through a charmed door at some point.
On his own, Severus was capable of great stealth; less the result of his years in service to Voldemort and more the product of behaviors that had been necessary to serve as a Head of House at Hogwarts, making sure students were not up to things they oughtn't do. Hagrid was another story altogether. Even when he refrained from grunting and commenting on things, which he did only after Severus threatened to turn him into potions ingredients, his sheer size and general clumsiness made small branches snap, floorboards creak, tree limbs break and several things the muggles had around the camp be knocked over.
By the time they were in the third tent, Severus had had to cast Petrificus Totalus on three guards who came to investigate the noise. The dogs quieted down with a wave of Severus' wand, and he was fortunate that he was able to deal with the muggles before they saw him, or he'd have even more memory alterations to do.
They found their man in the fourth tent, where he was thrashing about in his bed. He was alone in the tent, and Severus wasn't sure if this was supposedly a medical tent or just the result of others not wanting to hear their companion's nightmares. He stationed Hagrid by the door, to watch out for any nurses who might be attending the muggle, just in case.
Severus had entered the minds of unwilling muggles many times, often with an audience that not only did not mind the screams of the muggle as he did so, but actually enjoyed the spectacle. Tonight, he spelled a sleeping potion into the man's stomach to prevent any noise at all. A silencing spell might have worked, but as he wasn't sure what sort of work he'd need to do to deal with the blackness, better to avoid any issue with the presence of other magic in the area. Once he was sure the muggle would not waken, he aimed his wand and pushed into the man's head.
The man was young and probably undisciplined, given the chaotic mess found among his thoughts. After a few minutes of rummaging through random images, Severus detected a clustering of thoughts that might be trying to surround something, a process he'd observed in Harry's mind. There was nowhere near the strength in this mind as he'd encountered in Harry's, either of the thoughts themselves, their efforts to protect the mind, or, fortunately, in the blackness that was lodged in the mind. But it was still difficult and painstaking work. Severus had to work to free the thoughts from the tangle and push them away from the blackness, all the while shielding his own mind from the blackness as it fought back. After an hour, Severus' face was bathed in sweat, and he was even breathing heavily, but he'd finally been able to isolate the blackness and cast a spell to destroy it.
Severus rested for a moment at the man's bedside, before reentering his mind a final time to be sure all the blackness was gone. His last act, before enlarging their brooms so he and Hagrid could fly back to Hogwarts, was to cast a spell on the sleeping man that would keep him asleep for a full day. It might well scare his friends, but he'd waken in 24 hours even if no one found him, and the worst of whatever pain he was going to experience from Severus' visit would be over.
Severus stifled a yawn as he entered his rooms after the night's adventure, which included a quick chat with Albus, who met him at the castle door, to report on the successful outcome of his work. He was debating with himself whether to undress and get into bed, only to have to arise in less than an hour, or to simply summon a pot of tea and use that hour to grade essays. His debate ended when he heard Harry calling to him.
"Severus, is that you? Where have you been?"
Severus was hanging his cloak on a peg by the door when Harry joined him in the sitting room, pulling a wrapper around himself to keep off the chill that had settled into the room. Harry noticed the cloak, and answered his own question. "You went to the muggles tonight, then? How did that go?"
Severus took a deep breath. "Your friend Hagrid and I found the young muggle who'd stared down the demon, and I destroyed the blackness. That took an hour, so the others were back here long before us."
Harry was still looking at him intently, and Severus realized there was more he wanted to know. He was beginning to know the young man well enough to know what that might be. "No one was injured, us or them, and I put a sleeping spell on the muggle I worked on so he'll be unconscious for 24 hours; he will miss the worst of the pain. Albus, Kingsley and Moody put charms on all the doors at the manor and on the tents that will make everyone who enters or exits in the next day very befuddled about these last few weeks. They won't remember their visit here at all."
Harry stepped into Severus and held the obviously tired man around his middle, relishing the smell of his bondmate. For his part, Severus folded his arms around Harry's shoulders and accepted the comfort. He looked down and idly ran his fingers through Harry's perpetually messy hair, glad this long day was over and thankful that nothing of long-lasting negative consequence had happened.
That was when Harry looked up at Severus with a smile on his face.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley tonight. They said they want to name their baby Harry and they asked me to be godfather!"