Chapter 69
Over the next few weeks, Severus was in his own head a lot trying to sort out a way...any way to leave when things got tricky between Voldemort and Potter without appearing to leave. At times he was hopeful that he could pull it off. He had a lot of powerful wizards in their little group supporting and backing him. Then there were those other times when he felt nearly defeated by the very idea, which was depressing. It seemed nearly an impossible requirement to survive, though. Voldemort was no fool. He may be insane but he wasn't stupid, and he was just paranoid enough so no sort of illusion of Severus's presence when he was actually far away would ever fool him.
/I bet Grindelfuck would have an idea...You should try brainstorming with him about it at least,/ Nightshade said, after the third week of watching the wheel's in Severus's head go round and round. That simple statement from Nightshade made it all click. "That's it! Nightshade, you're a bloody genius!"
They were in Albus's office alone after school. It was that time between end of classes for the day and dinner when Severus didn't have much to do but think. Though the headmaster's office was technically his now, he still thought of it as Albus's. He had to admit that the stress of the entire thing had hampered his own thinking over the entire matter and caused him to complicate things far too much. Apparently the idea of potentially dying far too young could do that to even him.
"Grindelwald pretended to be Graves and did it so well he pulled the wool over the eyes of the entire American Ministry, or Macusa or whatever it's called. He's the one to help me sort this if anyone can!"
/Yeah probably, Prof, but also consider the fact that pulling the wool over the eyes of any dumbass Ministry really isn't that big of a feat,/ Nightshade pointed out.
"True, but still," Severus replied.
"When he comes to work with Zabini this weekend I'm going to bring it up."
As Grindelwald and Zabini did excel in crafting useful and unusual enchanted items, Severus was allowing them to meet every other weekend to continue to do so. Over the summer they'd provided everyone with an emergency safe hideout as well as wearable Portkeys to use to get there. They'd also constructed and provided their little group with talismans to unravel magic in the wearer's near vicinity. That had eased Severus's mind somewhat when it came to Voldemort killing him. It was his hope that the amulet would unravel any death curse before it struck him. Any comfort provided by the amulet had plummeted with Mag's rune reading, though. There were plenty of ways Voldemort could kill him without using magic, after all.
Why he would do so was another disturbing matter that Severus couldn't afford to allow himself to ponder for too long. This didn't serve to negate the admittedly impressive skills and accomplishments of Blaise and Gellert, though. They'd done plenty to make themselves indispensable. They'd also crafted animated scrying mirrors that were linked to specific parts of Hogwarts so that those professors who possessed one could more closely monitor the school. Severus had two, Filius had one and Minerva had one, mainly because Albus trusted her and it was easier to allow her into the loop than to deal with the headache of keeping her out as he may like. Blaise and Gellert promised to work hard on crafting more useful items to help out in the school if they were allowed to see one another during Blaise's last year. The relationship was odd and a bit obsessive to Severus's mind but with Albus gone, knowing that someone like Gellert Grindelwald was around at least sometimes in case things got out of hand, made him feel better.
Being responsible for the entire school was precisely as stressful as he'd expected it to be, considering Voldemort was in charge of everything now. It always felt as if things could quickly go very badly South on an instant's notice, so taking comfort in the fact that Zabini could call in Grindelwald if necessary gave Severus no shame what so ever. In the end, when it came down to it, it was about keeping the students safe, and he never claimed to believe he could do that alone. For this reason, and for the sake of their continued valuable enchantments, Severus allowed Grindelwald and Zabini to hide out every other weekend in an unused staff room beside Filius's. Aware of the situation, the charms master had crafted wards of silencing around the room so no one would hear that anyone was inside.
The Zabini house elf Apparated them in and out, and Blaise pretended to be spending some of his weekends in Hogsmeade doing nefarious activities. Considering the carefully crafted Zabini family reputation, that wasn't difficult to believe. It was every other weekend, because Severus wouldn't allow them to meet more than that. It was too risky and he wanted to keep Grindelwald as an undiscovered ace in the hole while the world believed he rotted away in Nurmengard. "He'll be here in a week and a half, and I'll bring it up as soon as he arrives," Severus said.
/Good,/ Nightshade replied. /I know we'll all feel better when this shit is settled./
Severus nodded his silent agreement then with a discontented sigh, turned his attention to the pile of reports on his desk.
Or as Nightshade, in his usual colorful and apt way described them, bitch notes. Bitch notes consisted of professors complaining about students or policies or both, and write ups of student's misdeeds, punishments and so on. "There certainly aren't bigger things going on in the world right now," Severus grumbled sarcastically under his breath.
Nightshade made that rough sound in the back of his throat that passed for his version of laughter. /For fuckin' real./
As it happened, Severus saw Wolfgang Adler before Grindelwald so he ended up speaking to him on the matter first. The day after Severus's conversation with Nightshade about brainstorming with Grindelwald, Adler wrote requesting to borrow one of Severus's extremely rare alchemy texts. Not wanting to risk any rare book being accidentally damaged in mail transport, Severus delivered it in person. When he arrived, Wolfgang thanked him graciously for the lending of the book, then politely asked how the year at Hogwarts was going thus far.
Severus shrugged. "As annoyingly as can be expected. My main concern at this point is myself, though." He told Wolfgang of Mag's reading and of his idea to turn to Grindelwald for advice on the matter when next he came to Hogwarts to work with Zabini.
"If you have any suggestions, though, I'm open, of course," he added. Considering the gravity of the situation, he was ready for suggestions from everyone who's opinion he valued.
Adler looked thoughtful.
"So you are going to have Grindelwald transfigure someone else into you in order to take your place? Is that the plan?"
Severus shrugged. "I was hoping Grindelwald could suggest something more subtle...or more complex as long as it escapes Voldemort's notice. Perhaps even transfiguring some object into a semblance of me if I can program it to do certain things."
Adler chuckled, arching brows incredulously. "Like a Muggle robot, you mean?"
Severus blushed, realizing how stupid it sounded. "I just didn't want to involve anyone else. The more complications, the higher the risk."
Wolfgang nodded. "I understand that, but getting too fancy at this point may be something we don't have time for even if it is possible. I think you should stick to what worked for Grindelwald. One person taking the place of another. Because it worked." Severus nodded. It sounded reasonable and as sane as anything else that had happened this year for all that. "Why don't you sit down and have some tea with me," Wolfgang said. Something in the half giant's tone served to comfort Severus when he hadn't even realized he needed it. "We'll start working out a plan to get this substitution in motion."
"Alright," Severus said, feeling his shoulders relaxing. Something was finally getting done. "Thank you."
Wolfgang smiled. "It's what I'm supposed to do." He led Severus toward the library.
Though Adler was around ten years younger than Severus, he trusted the half giant's capabilities on matters like this. He'd managed to kill many of Voldemort's followers without being discovered by the Ministry or Voldemort himself. He had an obvious instinct for working around dangerous situations and Severus was glad to have him at his back along with Grindelwald. The thing that perhaps vexed Severus the most about this entire situation was that were he not the one in the hot seat, he'd have several ideas of how to pull off such a coup. Due to his unexpected relationship with Mag, and his closeness to Nightshade, the fear of new loss had hampered his ability to push his emotions down or better yet simply not to have any.
This, in turn, hampered his thinking, and he didn't like that one bit. Emotions clouded judgment, and got in the way, and right now he really couldn't afford to fall prey to that again. As these self deprecating thoughts raced through Severus's mind, Wolfgang spoke to his kobold about bringing tea into the library. The little blue creature was fast, because in less than a minute, a pot of tea along with a tray of sandwiches and small cakes rested on Wolfgang's desk. When the tea was poured, the Kobold silently left the room. It occurred to Severus then that Bulstrode was nowhere in sight. Perhaps she'd noticed his mood and kindly decided not to add to it. He doubted this, but the thought was pleasing. Likely Bulstrode was simply off bullying someone or stealing Muggle money, which suited him fine as long as it was done far away from him.
"I am thinking the best way to manage this is to transfigure another Death Eater into you," Wolfgang said, taking a sandwich and jovially gesturing for Severus to do the same. "He will already have a dark mark, and as that is how Voldemort identifies his followers, it will help. We will still most definitely require Grindelwald's help on this, though, and likely the help of others besides. Unlike Gellert with Graves, this Death Eater won't be trying to learn everything there is to know about you. He won't be trying to be the best you that he can be, because he obviously won't be willing. The Imperius curse only goes so far, not to mention a basic Imperious curse would be easily visible to the likes of Voldemort...so we're going to need to take this to a far deeper level."
Severus felt himself thrilling at the thought. Deep complex magics were, as Nightshade would say, one of his things. They made him feel alive, and in his element. Thinking of complex magics helped him to put his emotions, if not entirely away, at least on a very high and difficult to reach shelf. "When it comes to a suggestion that reaches deeper into the mind than the Imperius Curse,, I think Regulus Black can help," Severus said. "Vampires can read and effect the minds of mortals on a deeper level that does not depend on magic, at least not the traditional sort that wizards can see."
Wolfgang smiled. "Good. There's at least step one and two taken care of. Only about fifteen more to go. Don't worry, though. We'll manage." Severus nodded, reaching for another sandwich. For the first time this year, he believed that things may just end up alright for him after all. "Give me a few days to think on this and we'll meet again on the matter," Wolfgang said. "Until then, we still have to finish these sandwiches." He grinned and Severus found himself smiling back. Eating with the interesting half giant certainly beat looking at the Carrows while trying to digest his food.