Chapter 12

The first week of term wasn't yet over and Minerva was already stressed out. She hadn't expected to really breathe at all this year, with the Triwizard Tournament being celebrated at Hogwarts, but she had hoped her nerves would not be tried until Halloween. Instead, she had had a bad beginning, with Peeves wreaking havoc in the kitchens and then attacking students with water bombs in the Entrance Hall, and the next day she had almost had a heart attack when she had seen a student transfigured into a ferret by a teacher, and today...

"Care to repeat that?" she asked, her voice coming out in a higher pitch than usual.

"A Prefect just came to tell me," said Pomona. "Apparently everyone in the table was talking about it during lunch. Moody showed the Unforgivables to the fourth years, on spiders."

"That can't be," objected Filius. "The Unforgivables are not mentioned until the sixth year."

Minerva knew that Filius was right, but she very much feared that Moody would not care about the rules. He had already proven so by using transfiguration as punishment even though Dumbledore had explicitly told him it wasn't allowed anymore.

Fourth years were so young, though... There was a reason why the Unforgivable Curses weren't even mentioned at students until their sixth year. At sixteen or seventeen they were more likely to understand the consequences of trying something illegal, and also to being able to cope with the horror. Younger children either didn't take it seriously, or took it too seriously.

She looked anxiously in the direction of the Gryffindor table. The fourth years had DADA this afternoon, and Neville was part of that class... Oh, and Harry, of course. The orphan boys.

As she watched, Thomas and Finnigan walked into the Great Hall, both visibly excited about something. They went to sit next to the Weasley twins and began gesticulating as if telling a fascinating story. If that was their reaction to a demonstration of the Unforgivables, they definitely were too young. Patil and Brown walked after them and began whispering excitedly too. And then there came the inseparable trio. They were much more subdued than the others, and Minerva guessed at once that it was because Harry was so obviously upset. Weasley seemed eager to join in his brothers' conversation with Finnigan and Thomas, but instead remained talking quietly with Harry. As to Granger, she ate very quickly and went away, presumably to the library.

Minerva was trying to determine whether she should go down to check on Harry when she realized that Longbottom was missing. Just as she was getting worried, a house elf popped into existence a note next to her goblet.

Longbottom in Infirmary. Not serious, but maybe you should come. Poppy.

"What happened?" she demanded five minutes later, walking into the Infirmary and looking around in search of Longbottom. She spotted him lying down in a bed by the window, but before she could go to him Poppy came out of her office and hurried to her.

"Severus brought him ten minutes ago," she said in a low voice. "Apparently he found him outside the DADA classroom, incoherent and irresponsive. He realized the boy was in shock so he brought him here for a Calming Draught." Poppy frowned. "I thought someone had bullied him, as usual, but Severus said that Moody demonstrated the Unforgivables... is that true?"

Minerva sighed.

"It seems that way. How is Longbottom now?"

"Calmer. I gave him a pretty strong draught, seeing as he was so far gone, and told him to lie down for a few minutes. I don't think he's asleep, just resting."

The boy was calmer than he was in normal circumstances, no doubt due to the Calming Draught. Minerva was sure that he would have panicked without it, judging by the way his eyes widened at her mention of his parents.

"You won't tell anyone, right Professor? Please... I don't want anyone to know..."

"No need to worry, Neville," she told him gently. "It's your story to tell, whenever you feel ready. Of course all your teachers know, but we won't say anything. You can come talk to us, however, if you feel the need."

Neville nodded, visibly relieved, before almost panicking again.

"And please don't tell my gran!" he begged. "She would be disappointed if she knew I lost it that way. Please don't write to her, Professor!"

Minerva sighed. She probably should write to Augusta, but her first duty was to her students, and if that would make things harder for Neville...

"All right," she said finally. "I won't inform your grandmother of this episode. But I want you to come to me if you ever feel overwhelmed again. You can also come to Madame Pomfrey for a Calming Draught, do you understand?"

Neville nodded gratefully.

"I will also make sure Professor Moody doesn't demonstrate that curse in class again," she vowed, more to herself than to the boy. "You can have some dinner here before you go back to Gryffindor tower."

Minerva talked some more with Poppy in private before making her way to the Headmaster's office. To her displeasure, Moody was already there, so the discussion ended up being much more louder than she had anticipated, and by the end of it she was beyond furious.

Filius and Pomona were talking quietly in a corner of the staff room when she stormed in. Severus had isolated himself in another corner, as usual. She went to sit across from him.

"Outrageous!" she exclaimed in indignation. "Apparently Dumbledore had given him permission to show them the Unforgivables!"

Severus snorted, not looking up from the potions journal he was reading.

"Does that really surprize you? He hired a werewolf last year."

Minerva didn't comment on that. They had already argued about Remus multiple times, and it was clear by now that neither one of them would concede. She probably should admit that he had been right in fearing for the students' safety, considering that Remus had almost killed several of them during the last full moon of term, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"Moody says that they have to know what they will be against to," she continued as she poured herself a cup of tea. "And Dumbledore agrees."

Severus grunted non-committally.

"Well, that's ridiculous!" interjected Filius, levitating himself to a seat closer to Severus. Pomona followed. Severus looked up and glared at them, clearly not appreciating his isolation being disturbed. "They're just kids, they won't be against anything that bad anytime soon. Hopefully never. And it's reckless to show those curses to fourteen-years old, now we will have to be on the lookout for Unforgivables used in the corridors..."

"I completely agree," said Pomona. "Of course students so young won't be able to cast any of them, but it's still reckless. They shouldn't even know the incantations!"

"Not to mention the emotional impact. Miss Turpin's mother was murdered with the Killing Curse, I'm considering to make her skip DADA class tomorrow, just in case..."

Pomona nodded sadly.

"Miss Bones lost almost all her relatives during the war, she looked shaken today at lunch. And I have no doubt I will be receiving a Howler from her aunt." They all commiserated her. No one wanted to receive a Howler from Amelia Bones. "How is Potter doing? He looked pale during dinner..."

"I haven't checked on him yet..."

"Potter is fine," snapped Severus. "He must be signing autographs as we speak. All his first hand experience with the Killing Curse is impressive, after all..."

"Don't be so insensitive, Severus," chided Minerva. "Harry lost both his parents to the Killing Curse, he himself was almost killed with it."

"He looked well enough as to give me an insolent attitude when I tried to take Longbottom to the Infirmary for a Calming Draught," said Severus with the angry tone that he reserved especially for Harry Potter. "He seemed to think I was going to eat the boy."

Well, that would explain the twenty points Gryffindor had lost before dinner.

Pomona and Filius both raised their eyebrows at him.

"You took Longbottom to the Infirmary?" asked Filius with incredulity.

Severus rolled his eyes.

"I considered to crucio him out of his shock, but I figured only Moody has permission to do that."

Filius chuckled, but Pomona was looking at him in an odd way.

"It was nice of you, Severus," she said.

"It wasn't nice," he snarled, his dark eyes quickly scanning the room as if to make sure no one had heard. "Do not go saying such things!"

Pomona exchanged an amused look with Minerva before assuring Severus that she would not suggest anything nice about him ever again.

"I gather Longbottom was affected by Moody's demonstration, then?" asked Filius.

"Yes. Like Severus said, the boy was in shock," explained Minerva. "Poppy gave him a Calming Draught. She said that he was experiencing some sort of flashback, and no wonder!"

"Poor Neville..." Pomona almost sniffed.

"The boy is weak," said Severus flatly. "I don't know what the Hat was thinking placing him in Gryffindor. He should have been lucky to get into Hufflepuff, and even there..."

"Hey! I would have been proud to have him in Hufflepuff!" bristled Pomona.

"Wait," interjected Filius with a frown, "what do you mean by experiencing some flashback?"

Minerva shrugged.

"I don't know. Neville didn't say anything, but maybe he remembers. He was just a baby at the time, but certain things are just too strong to pass by without leaving any sort of mark."

They all stared at her.

"But the boy wasn't there," argued Pomona.

Minerva shook her head sadly.

"He was," she said. "Augusta told me. Crouch put pressure on the Prophet so they wouldn't print that part. Supposedly because the Wizarding Community had already seen too much horror, but if you ask me he was just protecting his son from the Dementor's Kiss. Augusta didn't mind the cover-up, since she didn't want Neville to grow up knowing that he had witnessed his parents' torture."

The staff room went silent for several minutes as they tried to process Minerva's revelation.

"Was Neville also...?" trailed off Pomona, unable to complete the question.

"No," said Minerva firmly. The thought was just too horrible. "He was just a baby..."

Severus snorted. It was a bitter sound, and it drew everyone's eyes to him.

"The Longbottoms were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, amongst others," he said darkly. "They tortured the woman to make Frank Longbottom talk, what makes you think they wouldn't torture the baby too? What better way of breaking them?" He seemed to lose himself in his thoughts for a long moment, but nobody filled the silence. "It never made sense that they had gone insane. The Cruciatus can really mess with the mind, yes, but I had never heard of another case of permanent madness. If one maintains the torment long enough, eventually the victim dies of a brain stroke, or the heart gives out."

He sounded certain about it, as if he had personally seen it happen. Or perhaps he personally made it happen.

They all knew about Severus' dark past. He never talked about it, and they never asked, but it was there, always. Even though no one wanted to think too much about what he might have done, they knew very well that Severus Snape's hands were hardly clean. And he was definitely the authority to go to if one wanted to know about dark matters.

Minerva saw her own horror reflected in Pomona's face. Filius' eyes seemed darker than usual, a goblin trait that tended to come out whenever he was really angry.

"Surely not, Severus..." She almost begged. "Augusta said that the baby was healthy..."

"The Cruciatus doesn't necessarily leave any marks," said Severus with a shrug. "And I'm guessing they wouldn't have needed to torture the baby more than a few times to make their point. Probably Bellatrix would have continued until the brat died, but Rabastan and Rodolphus weren't as sadistic as she was..."

"You always believe the worst of everything," said Minerva shaking her head and wondering whether it was more horrifying the idea of a baby being tortured or the idea of his parents going insane at the sight.

"I believe the worst because I have seen the worst," he answered. "But by all means, keep pretending that there aren't real monsters in the world."

They subsided into silence once again. Minerva didn't want to entertain such horrible possibility, but her mind was betraying her... What could it do to a child to be subjected to the Cruciatus Curse before even learning to walk? Could it affect his development somehow? Could it still be subconsciously affecting him?

"Could that be why Longbottom is... you know?" asked Filius hesitantly, clearly pursuing the same line of thought.

"Retarded?" suggested Severus.

"Longbottom is not retarded!" said Pomona indignantly. "He's just... special."

Severus snorted.

"He melted his sixth cauldron yesterday, and in the most ridiculous way. But yes, I am now convinced that's why. Mystery solved."

He stood up.

"What are you doing?" demanded Minerva.

"I'm retiring to my quarters."

"Absolutely not! Sit down, Severus."

"I will do as I please, thank you."

"In case you have forgotten, I'm the Deputy Headmistress, so you'll do as I say. Sit down."

Severus frowned. Minerva very rarely pulled out the Deputy Headmistress card, but when she did she was always deadly serious, and he knew it. He glared at her for another long moment, but finally sighed and sat back down.

"This is important," she said, pinning him with a severe look. "If what you suspect is true... If Neville..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she felt as if she had aged twenty more years. "We should discuss the implications, and decide how to address the issue."

"There's nothing to discuss," said Severus irritably. "The boy's brain is damaged. No matter what we do he will always be useless at everything. At least now we know that it's pointless to try to snap him out of his dumbness."

"Longbottom is not useless," argued Pomona. "He does very well in Herbology. He has difficulty with certain tasks, sure, and I'll admit his essays are sometimes hard to decipher, but he's a really good worker, very gentle with plants..."

"He's also not too bad at Charms," said Filius with a thoughtful expression. "Terrible aim even at close distance, yes, and it takes him a while to learn each spell, but he has never stopped showing progress, and he really is a hard worker. I agree in that his essays are not always easy to decipher, but that's because he misses words. If you can figure out which words are missing, the concepts are clear more often than not."

Severus made an irritated sound, and Minerva understood. Longbottom's essays always caused her a headache, even though after three years she had become almost a specialist in deciphering the boy's broken style.

"Well, he is terrible at my subject," she admitted. "He has never managed to complete a transfiguration to the last hair. He does try, yes, but..."

"But he's useless," repeated Severus. Being forced to stay and discuss was clearly not helping with his mood. "What part of brain damage are you failing to grasp? Everything makes sense now. Longbottom has trouble staying focused, his memory seems to last seconds, and he has coordination problems. The boy is more functional than I would have expected, I grant you, but all those issues won't go away."

"He does better when he's calm," reflected Pomona. "I think that's why he enjoys Herbology so much. Plants have a soothing quality, although not many appreciate it. And you can hardly notice his coordination problems when he's working with his hands."

"I agree," said Filius. "He works better when he feels... safe. It's fear that triggers his attention issues. Like when he thinks someone is going to scold or hurt him." He directed a hard look at Severus, who scowled back.

"I disagree," said Severus. "Longbottom melts less cauldrons when he's properly afraid. Fear forces him to focus on his work."

"The fear you put into him in your classes keeps him on edge the rest of the time as well," protested Pomona. "And it does not help him. It can't be healthy for anyone to be afraid of his Professor to the point of having his Boggart turned into said Professor."

A dark expression took over Severus' face, like every time any of his school nemeses was in any way mentioned. Pomona seemed to regret at once to have brought up the Boggart, since no doubt it would make Severus defensive even though it was actually a good point. They had already argued about Longbottom's Boggart and what it said about Severus last year, but their colleague simply couldn't get past his resentment towards Remus and so the discussion ended badly every time.

"How else do you propose to keep Longbottom from dying in a potion explosion?" he challenged, sounding far more calm than they all expected. "Because that is what will happen one of these days. He shouldn't be allowed inside a potions' lab at all, definitely not in a fourth year class. And I would not trust him to handle any dangerous plants, if I were you. The paperwork for having a student dying strangled by a Venemous Tentacula must be just as bothersome as the one that must be filed for a potion accident."

"If you must know, I trust Longbottom with dangerous plants far more than I trust any of his peers, especially if he hasn't had potions class right before."

Severus opened his mouth to answer something no doubt scathing.

"That's enough," Minerva cut him off. An argument between Pomona and Severus about Longbottom could go on for hours, and nothing good ever came out of it. "Severus, you were the one who suggested that Neville might have been tortured as a baby. Surely you better than anyone can understand the implications of such a possibility. Even I, without nearly as much knowledge of the Cruciatus Curse as you have, can guess that fear of being hurt might trigger something unpleasant on the boy."

Were they seriously discussing the possibility of a baby having been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse? Minerva felt half trapped in a nightmare. She wanted to hear someone denying it, but all she could see on her colleagues' faces was sad resignation. It did make a lot of sense if Neville had been tortured, unfortunately. And of course it made her feel terribly guilty. She was often too harsh on the boy, losing her patience when he forgot basic things. She had definitely terrorized him last year over the incident of the lost passwords.

Severus sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Did he feel guilty too? Was he capable of feeling guilt?

"What do you propose, then?" he asked at last, looking at the three of them in defeat.