People!
Thank you for the comments and kudos on the last chapters!
Here are more.
I had to make a correction that in some of my last few chapters I had written Professor Rachel instead of Professor Raquel, which was wrong. I have corrected the mistake, where ever I found them.
So, I apologize for that.
IT'S CHANGED! (SNILY)
CHAPTER 43 The survivors
His eyes twitched as did his fingers. He drew in a breath, that seemed quite a foreign thing to do, as if he hadn't breathed for long. He shook his head, feeling the fluffy cushion under his head and letting out a sigh. That didn't seem as a good idea, because even the air in his throat, felt like piercing needles, making him clench his eyes in pain.
When his attention shifted from his throat, he observed a dead weight on one of his arms and the memories came back, filling his mind. Was it the Grindylow still stuck to his body? He jerked his eyes open to find the worst. There on a chair beside his bed -that he had just noticed, to be in- was Tvora Rebecca, sitting with her feet resting on Severus' arm while she seemed to be examining a wand. His wand.
Before anything, his instinct, ordered him to jerk back from her but her feet suddenly became tightly clawed to his arm, as she turned to him, making him freeze. His eyes grew wide with the worst anticipation as Tvora's eyes shone up with a tiny smirk on her lips.
"Ah… you are awake, Severus" she said in a sweet voice, that Severus so damn knew was fake after so many encounters with her. "Are you even aware where you are? Hmm?"
He blinked and shifted his body away from her, just then noticing the rush in the room. He looked around and realized that he was in the Hospital Wing. Again. What else did he expect? Wait! Had Tvora saved him after he had blacked out? His eyes grew wider with only the thoughts of the usage she could have taken of him, while he was unconscious.
Tvora smiled again, way exaggeratedly. "Oh, don't worry, Severus…" she ran a finger, with a long nail on his cheek, sending horrific shivers to his spine. "You are safe" she whispered, making him believe in the exact opposite. "Yes, I was the one who saved you… you were there lying on the grass, out of the castle gates… I was about to go to Hogsmeade, and you know what? Saving you saved my life too…"
His turned to her sharply. He wasn't actually paying attention to any of her shit but this had caught it, immediately. He tried to speak but no voice came out, just his lips moved and a piercing pain shot in his throat again.
Tvora chuckled, taking her feet on the ground and leaning on to him, so that her face remained only a couple of inches apart from his. "There was an attack at Hogsmeade. And no one who went survived"
Severus' fingers clutched the bedsheets. He didn't want to hear the dreaded statement. He kept staring at her with wide eyes. All of his friends had gone to Hogsmeade. And none were alive! Why did Merlin do that?! His head turned away from Tvora as his lower lip trembled and tears began slipping down his eyes. Why did Merlin not kill him too?! What was the purpose of life now?!
Couldn't he had been polite with everyone for the last time?! Couldn't he had given Lily their last kiss?! Couldn't he had hugged Charm for the last time?! Couldn't he had sat with Austin to study for the last time?! Couldn't he had accepted Shane and Selene's offer for Hogsmeade?! Couldn't he had died too?! Couldn't nothing would have happened?! His mind screamed at himself making his frame wreck with sobs. Each one piercing his throat as if with glass but he didn't pay any heed to it.
"Ah… sorrow, already, Severus… cry it out, how can I help with that, anyways?" Tvora spoke in her fake-sympathetic voice.
"Go away!" he screamed as much his throat allowed, throwing anything that came to his hand on her.
"Whoa!" she moved to escape the flying things he threw, then turning to him with rage filling her eyes and grabbing his hair in one of her hands. "As low as your wretched race could be! Stop that!"
He turned away as soon as her grip on his hair loosened, burying his face in the pillow again, and letting out all tears that were there in his body.
"You can do simply that! Cry!" she screeched cruelly.
"TVORA!" a voice spoke that had just arrived, that also made Severus pause from his grief. "Leave. NOW!"
"Ah… of course, with honor" Tvora replied again in her overly saccharine voice. "We'll meet soon, later"
Severus turned just enough to see who it was, that made his breath freeze in his lungs and his mouth hang. Shane and Selene stood there. Selene with an ugly sneer, most probably directed to Tvora, while Shane seemed anxious with one her arms clutched by his hand.
Severus jumped and sat up on his knees, and before he knew what he was doing, he had engulfed both of them in a hug, soaking their shoulders with tears.
Shane and Selene looked at each other confusedly. What had gotten him so upset? They didn't understand it, but still, rubbed his back gently, before pulling away and making him look in their eyes.
"Severus? What is wrong?" Shane asked softly, holding him by his arm, to keep him steady.
He broke into another sob and hugged Shane tightly. "Y-You aren't dead" he said with happiness in his voice.
"Oh…" realization seemed to dawn over them. "So, Tvora told you"
Severus pulled away and nodded, wiping his eyes with his sleeves, before smiling. "Yes, and you both are alive"
Selene rolled her eyes and smacked his head. "Of course, we are"
"And the others…?" a sudden panic rose in Severus' chest.
Shane and Selene looked at each other and sighed, before shaking their heads. "We don't know-"
Severus gasped. "No, no, no, please, don't tell me…" fresh set of tears formed in his eyes.
"But" Selene interrupted him. "We didn't see their names in the people who are dead either"
He sighed in relief and sat properly on the bed. "There was a Death Eater attack, didn't there?"
"Not very explicitly" Shane said taking a seat at the edge of the bed with Selene.
"How did you two survive?" he asked, looking in his lap and twiddling with a lose thread of his pajama bottoms.
"Well…" Selene began.
*Page Break*
"You both still aren't talking, are you?"
Lily froze and looked at him. "What do you know?" she whispered.
Shane shrugged. "Nothing at all, just that you two are being ridiculously stubborn"
She sighed. "I-I know… but he doesn't understand what exactly was I trying to say. He is making his own conceptions and then getting upset over it…"
Austin looked back and frowned. "Well, I asked you to try to talk to him, did you not?"
Lily shook his head. "I didn't get the chance; he doesn't even want to stay in the same room as I am"
Charm nodded, sympathetically. "Only if he listens once. When even tried to leave you both together, but Mister had to walk away every time. Stupid idiot" she muttered.
Lily chuckled. "I agree. But I hadn't been very good at explaining either"
"Well, we see the consequences" Shane gave her a pointed look.
"But then, I believe he doesn't understand purposefully" Charm mused.
Austin turned to her. "How so?"
"Don't you see? He is smart in knowing everything about… almost anything. But he still doesn't understand anything that Lily would have said"
Lily chuckled hollowly. "It is not his mistake, just the situations and his surroundings. His father… better not say about that. And the Marauders… better not talk about them either. Then me" she sighed sadly. "I wasn't very understanding either. And that makes him so repressed. And I again did something to upset him… he would have wished on never meeting me"
"You know him well" Austin pointed out, making her chuckle again.
"I have been with him since we were nine, Austin, even though I had turned a blind eye many of his hardships for long"
"He'd perhaps, come to the Hogsmeade…" Shane winked at her. "A nice opportunity to snog, missy"
Lily smiled. "I hope he comes"
They were in the middle of the path to Hogsmeade, when Selene, who had been silent for long, gasped. She grabbed Shane's hand and placed it on her lower abdomen.
He looked back, frowning. "Selene? What are-?"
"Shush" she silenced him. "Can you feel her?" she whispered.
"Feel?" Shane crouched beside her. "Did you feel something?"
The others looked back too, confusedly and saw, Shane crouched beside Selene, who seemed bemused by something.
"What is it?" Charm asked.
Selene turned to her and breathed a laugh. "I felt her"
"Her?"
"Our kid" Selene bent to kiss Shane. "I felt her. She is alive… and I know she is there"
Shane kept staring at her. "You actually felt… the kid?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes, Shane! I did! Her touch is beautiful"
Shane chocked on emotion and leaned towards her to kiss her belly. "You know she is a girl?"
"I do! I so damn know she is a girl! We are about to be parents in a few months, Shane!"
"We are. I'll be the father of a girl. I hope she is like you are" he whispered, standing up.
Selene kissed him. "I hope she is like you"
"She'll be like us" Shane pronounced.
"Us" Selene repeated, caressing her slightly bulged belly.
"A kid to call me Aunt!" Charm looked at Selene. "Isn't that exciting?"
"Actually" Lily breathed. "It still feels surreal"
"It does" Austin rustled. "It so very does. We are growing up, aren't we? We'll soon have responsibilities"
"We'll think about that later" Selene shut him down, speaking excitedly. "Is going to Hogsmeade necessary? Can't we two, meet Madam Pomfrey? Tell her about this?"
Shane smiled, caressing her hair. "Sure. I'd love that"
"That means you aren't coming?" Charm slumped down. "Then who is free for today, when we have got chance to visit the village after a long time?"
"I agree" Austin pouted. "First, Severus have to do work. Now, you both aren't coming. We can go and celebrate this"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Let them go. We'll be fine, and drink their part of butterbeer too"
Selene and Shane grinned. "Cool! We'll come with Severus perhaps. So, keep a butterbeer for us. Don't drink them, Lily" he gave a mock-warning look.
"Okay" Lily said meekly, when she was not at all close to being serious about it.
"We'll meet later then" Shane waved at them before he and Selene turned to the castle again, walking happily back.
*Page Break*
"… and that is how we never made it to Hogsmeade" Selene completed.
Severus had listened to every word, patiently, that she had said and he had ended up with a gaping mouth and chest filled of emotions. They had survived, was the corner now. She even said that she had felt the baby. The baby was real and it was a girl. Somehow, it all seemed as a lie by now.
"You actually felt the baby?" he breathed, taking one of her hands in his. "You, said she is a girl? How do you know? Is she fine? Are you fine? Or is something wrong? What did Madam Pomfrey say? Is everything alright? How much more time is left for her to come? Tell me!"
Selene laughed while Shane chuckled. "If you give me the chance to, Severus" she looked at her teasingly. "Now, to your questions. Yes, I felt her. Yes, she is a girl. I know because perhaps, magical mothers know. Yes, she is fine. Yes, I am fine. Nothing is wrong. Madam Pomfrey said it is a good sign and she is growing well and I should be happy. Yes, everything is alright. She'll take more than six months to come"
Severus blinked at her and flushed. Had he actually asked so many questions? "How did it feel like?" he whispered.
Selene placed a hand on her stomach. "Like a flutter- as I have something rolling and trying to get free inside me" she smiled to herself.
He turned to Shane. "Did you feel her?"
Shane smiled and shook his head. "Right now, I can't. I am just taking joy in what Selene keeps repeating. Part of me is inside of her. I would perhaps, go crazy thinking about that. Am I talking like an old dad?" he chuckled.
Severus chuckled too. "She'd be beautiful"
"Our kid, after all" Shane banged his head to Selene, making her glare at him.
"She saved you two today" he voiced meaningfully, looking at both of them.
"She did" Selene smiled at herself again.
The earlier anxiousness came returning to all of them together, making worrisome creases on their foreheads.
"You have no idea about the others" Severus muttered.
Shane and Selene shook their heads. "No, we don't… I hope, we had asked them to come with us. We would have at least known that they were alright"
Severus leaned backwards, hearing the commotion of the Hospital Wing. Watching people running from a corner to other, through the gaps between the privacy curtains. They all would have thought of spending a nice day, today, when their lives came crumpling down. He felt numb, thinking about everything he had lost till now. How much he'd lose if the others were dead. He wouldn't be able to live if even one would be in danger.
He drew in a shaky breath before wrapping the blanket around himself. He had almost forgotten about the cold that he was feeling, that was making him shiver till the bones. That is when he even noticed, Selene looking at him weirdly. He frowned. She was scaring him like that.
"What's wrong?" he whispered, as if talking loudly would destroy the eerie silence between them.
She leaned forward, grabbing his jaw. "Open your mouth"
"What?" he breathed. Had she lost it? What did she see in his mouth?
"I said open your mouth" she hissed.
He did it, out of fear, still not understanding the reason. She moved his jaw from side-to-side to see whatever she was. Then, left him and looked at him in eye, making him cower back.
"Can't you taste it?"
"Taste what?" he began trying to taste whatever she had seen in his mouth, when a sharp metallic flavor hit his tongue.
"Your throat is bleeding, foolish!" she got up and filled a glass of water for him. "Drink!"
He obediently took it, seemingly thirstier than he had realized. That felt so good to his burning throat. He had probably injured it too much after crying like that and then talking too.
He kept it on the side table and turned to Selene who was still glaring at him. "Better?" she thundered.
"Yes" he answered meekly.
She nodded. "Hinsey!" she called, making an old house-elf appear at her feet with a pop, immediately.
"Miss Selene called Hinsey, ma'am" the house-elf bowed deeply, making its flapping bat-like ears touch the floor.
"I did, Hinsey. Would please be so kind, to get me a bowl of vanilla ice-cream?"
"For certain, Miss Selene" the house-elf said. "I'll be right back" and she vanished with a pop and reappearing with a bowl of vanilla ice-cream. "Here it is, Miss Selene"
Selene took it. "That will be all, Hinsey. Thank you"
The house-elf bowed again and disappeared from view.
Selene turned to Severus and thrusted the bowl to him. "Here, this would make you feel better"
Severus looked at her as if she had lost her head. "I am already shivering and you are giving me ice-cream on top of that. I don't need it, anyways"
She glared at him, making Shane in another corner chuckle. She swiped her wand on the bowl. "It is half melted, now and so wouldn't harm or make you feel cold"
He rolled his eyes and took it, taking a spoon in and leaning back on the bed. It felt so good to his throat. It would have practically ripped off, if Selene wouldn't given him any water in the first place. It didn't take him long on finish it… he didn't even notice when he had started and when it ended. He placed the empty bowl on the side-table that vanished on its own.
"Thank you" he said to Selene before, leaning back on the headboard.
Selene raised an eyebrow. "Felt soothing to your bleeding throat, didn't it?"
He nodded, getting the blanket off his shoulders and placing it on his legs, stretching it till his neck. "It did" he whispered closing his eyes.
Looking at the blanket, Shane and Selene's first instinct prompted, making them place their legs under it too and sighing at the warmth.
They sat like that for a few minutes, before hearing someone run. More people running like earlier, perhaps. But Severus sat up straighter at the noise, waiting for a news or anything of others, allowing his blanket to slid down to his waist.
Happened what he was waiting for. The curtains around the bed slid open, showing Charm and Austin coming, panting. Austin's face split into a grin at seeing Selene and Shane there, while Charm sunk to the ground, hiding her face in her hands.
"You both are fine… I was so scared" Austin hugged Selene and Shane. He seemed to have played with mud a while ago as he was entirely covered in dust and dirty clothes. He turned to Severus and ran a hand in his hair. "So good that you didn't come to Hogsmeade… there was an attack, though not very clear that Death Eaters made it. But I know, it was them. No one who went there survived, Severus. I feel like Merlin himself helped us, asking us not to go there-"
He was cut as Severus had engulfed him into a hug. "I am so glad you aren't dead. I am sorry for all of that to you… s-so sorry. I'd never talk like that to anyone. I need to learn how to value, what Merlin has given me to. I am such an idiot"
Austin smiled and rubbed his back, before pulling away. "Well, you are an idiot, but I hadn't taken anything you had said to me on heart. So, it's all fine"
"I am still sorry" he bowed his head, and then looking at Charm who was still on the ground. "Charm?"
She peeked up a little before hiding her face again.
Selene rolled her eyes. "Charm would you please, stop whatever you are doing… we have an empty chair here, you are invited to fill it"
Charm stood up on crawled up on the bed, throwing herself at Selene and Shane. "Have you any idea how scared I was?!" she shrieked, in their shoulders, making both of them roll their eyes.
"Well, Charm, it was you we were worried about, because we were already safe at Hogwarts" Shane said.
She pulled away, her tear-stained face. "But you said that you'd come back after some time. How am I supposed to know, you never did?!"
"We were actually going to go back to Hogsmeade to search for you, but Professor McGonagall stopped us" Austin told them.
"Good she stopped you! Are you both mad, going to Hogsmeade, searching for us?" Selene chastised.
"But you are alive…" Charm grinned and then looked back. "And Severus is alive" she breathed, throwing herself at Severus too.
"I am sorry to you too, Charm" Severus whispered, caressing her blonde hair from the back.
"Forgiven" she snickered, gaining a light swat on the back of his head.
He pulled back. "So, how did you two get here? And not in Hogsmeade?"
Charm made space for herself, between Shane and Selene while Austin took the empty chair.
"Long story… but am happy that all of us are alright" Charm leaned back, on the edge on the bed.
Severus hesitated and looked around. "L-Lily is still not here"
Charm and Austin both jerked their heads up. "What?! But Lily left before us"
"She didn't go to Hogsmeade for any prefect duties, did she?" Severus asked anxiously. She couldn't be dead. If all of them were alive, she had to be alive too. She couldn't be leaving like that! He wouldn't let her.
"About the other, yes… but to Hogsmeade, I didn't see her doing that. We thought she was here at Hogwarts" Austin muttered.
Just then, the curtains slid open again, bringing the auburn red hair and the green eyes, Severus loved. Lily. Her face was flushed and she was panting as if came from a long run.
"Charm? Austin?" she looked at both of them. "Merlin, you both didn't go to Hogsmeade"
They both smiled and shook their heads. "No, we didn't"
Lily ran her fingers through her hair. "How could I thank Merlin enough?" she held on both Charm and Austin's hands and kissed them. "I had been roaming around the entire castle to know about you two and I found that you are alive" she let out a sob.
Severus kept watching her, with his mouth agape. It wasn't a dream; she was actually alive and seemed well other than the few scratches on her arms and face. Just as beautiful as always. He looked into his lap, covering his mouth with a pressed hand, to not make any noise of happy weeps.
Lily looked at him, but didn't say anything. He was at least worried for her. He hadn't stopped loving her. She smiled and went to sit beside him on the bed, startling him. But he didn't protest, though not said a word of affirmation, either.
"You can stop crying. I am fine" she whispered cheekily in his ear. "Tears don't suit you; you know?"
He wiped his eyes hastily with his sleeves, sniffling and looked away from her. "I am not talking to you" he said matter-of-factly
"I am aware" she replied. "But that doesn't mean you still don't love me"
"I said I am not speaking to you" he muttered grumpily, not wanting to make any kind of conversation.
"Fine, don't talk… or speak. But we can have a little kiss, couldn't we?" she smirked.
He blushed a little but dismissed it soon. "I don't want to do anything with you. Go. Leave me"
"That will be my choice" Lily smiled and leaned a little on him, that he didn't protest about even one bit.
Severus didn't notice when his hand had snaked to grab Lily's fingers. He had to make sure that she was alive and well, with his own hands. He wished to kiss her, but he didn't. Couldn't he simply forget the little fight they were in? No. He couldn't. She had hurt him and he wouldn't be able to unless he knows that she understood her mistake.
Lily smiled to herself as she felt his warm but a little shaky hand on her fingers. He was melting perhaps. Probably after some time, he'd even allow her to talk to him.
"Now, how did you all, escape Hogsmeade?" Shane asked.
Lily chuckled. "I don't know about Charm and Austin but I was…" she began.
*Page Break*
They had just left Shane and Selene behind, who had returned to the hospital wing to check for the baby. Sometimes they were jealous of that unborn baby, who gets all the attention before she is even born.
"Why are we even going?" Austin whined. "Let's just stay back. No one is agreeing to come"
"You want someone cumming, Austin" Charm cracked his own stupid joke on him, gaining a bored look by him.
Lily raised her eyebrow. "Wouldn't Marlene be there?"
He flushed. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because, if she were there, you wouldn't be suggesting about going back. Instead, you would have even gone if the entire world was coming to an end"
He flushed even further. "Yeah… fine. She is not coming"
Charm frowned. "Why, did she get a new boyfriend?" she teased.
"No! Absolutely not!" he looked down, thinking about such a scenario and shaking his head. "She simply has a stupid detention"
"Ah…" Lily took the information in. "A stupid detention? It's a bummer, isn't it? Detention on Valentine's Day"
"Sure, it is" Austin agreed before going red, at the realization that others were aware of his plans for today.
They all turned their heads sharply, to the starting of the path to Hogsmeade. Someone was fighting there. They all squinted to make out the faces but couldn't. They were too far from the fight to actually see them, all they could do was hear.
Lily's prefect's-duty side tingled as she began walking in the direction of the commotion.
"Where are you going?" Austin asked, tiredly.
Lily looked back. "I need to see what is going on, Austin. Prefect duties"
"Lily…" Charm groaned. "You are going back too?"
"I have to simply see and send them to their heads. I'll be back after that, I promise. Perhaps, with Selene and Shane… and Severus"
"Okay" Charm and Austin muttered glumly.
Lily gave them a helpless look before walking towards the castle. The people began coming in view. She huffed and rolled her eyes. Potter and Black, were snatching something from each other's hands. What in the blazes were they up to?! She ran to them.
"Potter! Black!"
*Page Break*
"… and they both were fighting over the golden egg which James had gotten in the first task" she completed.
"On the golden egg? Why?" Selene asked.
Lily shrugged. "Sirius said that an egg must be dropped in hot water to boil it, and James was ranting against it"
"So, Potter is still finding the hint for the egg?" Shane's brows furrowed.
Lily shrugged again, side-glancing Severus, who pretended to listen, though his full concentration was on what she was saying. "Don't know, because I took them to Professor McGonagall after I saw them behaving like animals"
"So, Potter saved you from not coming to Hogsmeade" Charm mumbled matter-of-factly, keeping her pupils on Severus, who again pretended to not hear her at all.
"Well… it was because Sirius was playing that egg and James trying to get it away from him… so, you could say" Lily adjusted herself better beside Severus, who even shifted to give her space.
"How did you get those cuts on your face and arms then?" Selene frowned.
Lily laughed. "I got them, while I went searching for you all back to the same path we came from. Professor Slughorn urged me to return, though"
"Oh…"
"Well, now another story time" Austin said, sitting straighter.
"What another story?" Selene narrowed her eyes.
"What? Does no one here want to know, how I and Charm survived" he said, as if a little offended, by nobody asking them for it.
They all rolled their eyes and nodded their heads in affirmation. "Tell us how you both survived, Austin"
He smiled and began. "So, we were…"
*Page Break*
"Now, Lily isn't coming too" Charm groaned. "Why are we actually going?"
Austin was the one to raise his eyebrow, this time. "Why isn't Elias coming?"
Charm rolled her eyes. "Don't use Lily's tactic on me"
"Well, it was simply a question" he shrugged. "So, is he not coming?"
She huffed. "No. He isn't coming"
"Has he got a new girlfriend or something…?" Austin smirked.
"Don't use my own words against me, Preston" she snarled.
"Whoa" Austin held up his hands in surrender. "Again. Simply a question"
"No. He is busy with something. Stupid idiot" she cursed Elias.
"Uh… busy? On Valentine's Day?"
"I. Don't. Know" she huffed and looked away, when a grumpy man went walking past them.
He was muttering something, only a few words out of many incoherent ones met their ears. "Abysmal people… magical mismanagement… no heating charm… no butterbeer… extra galleons… charges increased… hell of a world… what do they think?!"
Austin and Charm looked at each other and groaned loudly. Out of what the person had muttered, they were able to make out that, there was no meaning of going to Hogsmeade, now. They had thought of roaming around and sitting in the warm comforts of Three Broomsticks, but now, it seemed to have crushed down. First, no one had time to come to the village and now, there was some sort of mismanagement and no butterbeers. What was the point now?!
"Let's just go back now" Charm grabbed on Austin's hand and began walking fast back at the castle.
"I am actually ready to go back and bury my face in the pillow because of all of this disappointment" he followed her, slumping.
"Fools, we are surrounded with"
"Severus not coming was an ultimate sign of no one being there"
"We must have caught that. Wasted time till here for nothing"
"I agree"
*Page Break*
"… and then we came back" he completed.
All of the others, except for Charm and Austin, were trying hard not to burst out laughing, but failed miserably.
"What's the laughing matter in that?" Charm hissed, crossing her hands on her chest.
Shane patted her back, still laughing. "You actually came back because there were no butterbeers and heating charms"
"So, what is wrong in that" Austin huffed.
"Nothing at all" Selene said soberly before bursting into laughter again.
"But did you notice?" Severus asked seriously.
The laughter resided and all of them turned to him, frowning. "Notice what?" they asked.
"Magical mismanagement" he pronounced. "Don't you think someone was causing it?"
Lily nodded at him, thoughtfully. "Actually, otherwise, why wouldn't be people able to cast simple heating charms?"
"Death Eaters" Selene voiced. "It was already evident. They were sucking up energies because of which students weren't able to fight back and all of them died"
All of them nodded. "That's true" Charm said. "And only other person we know who can do that is…"
"Professor Raquel" Severus completed, thoughtfully. "A dark magnifying charm on top that, would have done the job"
There was silence after this was uttered. All of them deep in thought about what all had they recently noticed suspicious around themselves. Voldemort had proved himself clever again, by fitting one of his men in Dumbledore's territory.