Fiendfire
Sev woke up fully rested, but very restless from having to face the Fiendfire that morning. I fear for my life, but not for what could happen to me, but for how all the people I love and who love me will be if something happens to me, especially Lily, Lauren and Mum.
I know that Lauren will resist, she was confident yesterday and she knows that the fate of the Wizarding World will be in her hands, but she would have to deal with the old man if something happens to me and not to him. No matter, she'll know how to do it, through Deborah, she's the consummate tactician.
Lily's thing is more complicated, she at least has to resist her exams until she can be with her family in the summer and not lose a year of school. I have to ask Lauren to be as supportive as possible until then. Let her do it now with Sirius if she wants and put Potions ahead of Defense, so that she continues with the plan and is protected during the war.
The worst thing is Mum, she would be left completely alone, she would fall back into my father's networks. That Lauren also tells Lily that her parents invite her to live in her house, at least until she recovers from it, and that they help her find a partner, difficult, at her age. Maybe working not for families, but for single men. Violet knows a lot of people in Cokeworth through her work on the council, and Peter also has a lot of colleagues. Mum can Apparate anywhere and work for them.
I'll discuss all of this with Lauren at breakfast, it won't take long. I also have to talk to Lily about what we're going to talk about together with Albus, I'll think about it in the shower, I've calmed down a bit. I have an idea to finish doing it, I'm going to bond with Ariel, who's still sleeping, to see what he's dreaming about.
He got it right away and watched his dream. Oh… how cute, he's dreaming that he's with Lily and me on the Cokeworth riverbank, the distant memory of our first Patronus that he saw in the Pensieve when I taught him Occlumency.We are small and he is as old as he is, and the three of us do magic with our hands together.
He stayed for a quarter of an hour watching his dream so he could show it to him later, and then he got into the shower, a long, warm shower, because he had a long day ahead of him. During it he made two mental lists, in order of priority, of all the topics he had to discuss with Dumbledore, with and without Lily.
During breakfast, already completely relaxed, he first chatted with Lauren about the most pressing. She responded perfectly, just as he expected, leaving him completely at ease in that regard and giving him great self-confidence again.
He then talked with Lily about the issues that the two of them were going to discuss with the Headmaster. She had also made a mental list in which they agreed, so they still had time left over and he apologized to her to continue chatting with Lauren, because he had felt great, and she continued to boost his spirits.
"Severus, nothing has happened to you. If either of you had died at six in the morning, a time paradox would have been created, you couldn't be having breakfast right now," she told him.
"You're right." I'm ready.
After breakfast he used the Time-Turner from the dungeon bathroom three hours back to go to the Headmaster's office. (He is not wearing his typical robes, he is dressed in a shirt and trousers, how strange. He receives me more seriously than usual, we are going to carry out a crucial and difficult operation in which we are both risking our lives. Only one other person knows that we are doing it at this precise moment and she cannot intervene in any way. He have not realized the paradox, I am going to tell him to reassure him.) "Cheer up, Albus, if we had died in ten minutes we wouldn't have been able to be having breakfast at half past eight."
"You're right, boy. Thanks for telling me, I hadn't realized it."
"Let's go to work."
Dumbledore had created a new room adjacent to the Dueling Room, with fireproof walls and no windows, totally empty and very spacious. And not only that, he had gotten hold of Muggle fire-retardant suits similar to those used by firefighters, he had sent Professor McGonagall to get them. (Of course, that's why the trousers, I'll take off my coat.)
While they put them on they talked. "So Minerva also knows we're doing this," Sev deduced.
"Of course, I have learned to work as a team thanks to you."
"Have you told her about the Horcruxes?"
"No, not that, not until she learns to occlude," Dumbledore replied.
"And she hasn't asked you for explanations?"
"None, she has absolute confidence in me, just like I do in her. Our relationship is very long and we know each other very well."
"Great, then when you Bond your Bond will also be very powerful," the Sly said.
"There is a third suit for your collaborator. Since we didn't know his size, she bought it something bigger than yours. Will it do? If it doesn't, she'll go for another."
(It'll do, I'll wear the larger one and let Lauren wear mine. This doesn't need to be snug.) "It'll do, Albus."
"I'll give it to you after Lily leaves, so she doesn't suspect anything at the moment," the Headmaster said. "Do you have a place to store it safely at home? Will both fit in your trunk?"
(I'll keep them in the Room of Requirement, which is where I plan to create an appropriate space to teach Lauren how to handle the Fiendfire.) "Yes, Albus, don't worry, I don't have many clothes, although perhaps it would be better if we cut the session short and I take them to a safer place. It won't take me long, I'll do it running."
"To the Room of Requirement?"
"Yeah," Sev replied.
"Alright."
Dumbledore explained how to control the Fiendfire as they finished changing into their suits and went into the fireproof room. Sev was lighting with his Lumos. (It is a mental process, I have to be able to contain it, shape it and direct it where I want, with enormous effort.)
Albus did it several times by himself, announcing what he was going to do each time, he did it perfectly. He confessed to him, "I have been practicing these days since I set up the room, it had been many years since I tried it."
"That is to say, you have been risking your life by yourself, without notifying anyone."
"Not at all, Professor McGonagall knew and she was out."
"And how would you have warned her if something happened to you?" Sev asked.
"I would leave the room every so often so she would know I was okay."
"All right, Albus, but you've still been taking a serious risk. I have a person who will replace me if something happens to me, but you are irreplaceable, remember the basilisk. What would have happened to us right now if you had an accident?"
"You're right, but there was no other way to do it," answered the Headmaster.
"True. I'm going to tell more people about Horcruxes, Deborah right now, I should have done it by now, and Lily this summer."
"Is Deborah the one you are going to teach to handle Fiendfire?"
"I'm not going to tell you that," the Sly replied.
"Know that I could have demanded a space in the Room of Requirement to do this, it would have saved me a lot of work, and I have not done it because I have respected your way of doing things, I did not want to suggest the request that you should demand to do it for not knowing it."
(Very good, very noble of him, but I am going to take this opportunity to make a couple of things clear to him.) "Thank you very much, Albus, you have to understand that our relationship will never be one of absolute trust, since we both have different interests and very different objectives in life. You have lived to defeat Voldemort for many years. I live for many more things, it can be said that I have just begun to live and I want to do it to the fullest."
"I understand you, my boy, I had that same feeling at your age," Dumbledore said.
(Now let him go out and not see what I'm capable of doing, let's see if I cheat him again with dying.) "Very well, Albus, let's not waste any more time. We can't both die at the same time, not right now, and you even less than me, so get out of the room and let me try it myself. I'll knock on the door repeatedly so you know I'm okay. If a minute goes by without me doing it, a bad sign. Do what you can for me without risking yourself."
The Headmaster walked out and Sev laughed. (I tricked him, he's so dumb. I really want to tell Lauren.)
He concentrated deeply, when he went into a state he knocked on the door. He Summoned the Fiendfire and overpowered it at once. He held it for a few seconds and turned it off. (Take that! I'm a wonder, I'll be the most powerful wizard in history!) He knocked on the door again.
He repeated the operation many times until he controlled it perfectly for almost a minute, each time he knocked on the door. (I'm not satisfied with this, and I have to hide that it cost me so little, it's barely been ten minutes.) He continued practicing it for another half hour, testing different forms and intensities.
He managed to fill the entire room with it except for the small space where he stood, roasting in the heat. (Luckily I used Valerie's deodorant for the first time today, because I'm sweating like hell, I would have had to shower again.)
When he was satisfied, he opened the door. "Ready. Do you want to see it?" Sev asked.
They both passed and Sev gave the Headmaster several demonstrations, not nearly as perfect as what he had achieved before, but enough to safely destroy the Horcrux.
Dumbledore told him, "In forty minutes, you are a true wonder. It took me weeks to get it and I did it outdoors so as not to be in danger."
(Take that! And he hasn't even seen what I'm capable of. I surpass him in everything, I'm going to be the most powerful wizard in history by myself, without the need for a Deathly Wand.) "Well, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to do it like that, to go to some inhospitable place Apparating, you would have saved so much work and risk for both of us."
"But every time we leave school Apparating we take a long time."
Sev fought not to laugh. (Look how silly he is, he has never thought, in all these years, to demand a natural space inside the Room of Requirement. Lauren and I came up with it as soon as we discovered it.) "Albus, now we could do it on a broom, and in any case, it would be enough for us crossing the gates, there's no reason to go to Hogsmeade. Well, now it's done. Let's chat for a while until Lily gets here."
They left the premises, while they undressed they talked. Sev began by asking him, "Do you have something urgent to tell me in private?"
"Yes, ask you if you are going to make your will."
"No, I'm not. Before I leave school I'm going to communicate to one more person the demand for where the Horcrux is and as soon as we get home also to Lily."
"The two people who will know it apart from Lily, are they going to be part of your escort?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not one of them, Albus. One of them will be totally safe."
"Is they the one you are going to teach to master Fiendfire?"
"Indeed," Sev replied.
"I see you know how to do things well, my boy. And are you going to bequeath the demand for the books?"
"Neither. That is going to be known by all the occlumants, both those who are going to form the escort and those who are not."
"I would like to recover at least those of Dark Arts, which are the ones I don't know thoroughly, to be able to study them during the summer," the Headmaster said.
"It's okay, Albus. But you are going to have a lot of work during the summer, will you have time?"
"Yes, I'm old, I sleep little, and even less in summer."
(Ugh... what a danger that he catches Lauren and me moving around the castle at night. I have to teach her to become invisible in the hidden space of our bedroom. We will start the night we meet between exams, when we Bond as a Couple, and thenext year, in September.) "What a nuisance, isn't it, Albus?"
"Well, it has its advantages, more time, I usually take a nap."
"Of course, otherwise you wouldn't last all day," Sev said.
"That is."
"I also take it when we have Time Turner."
"But you have very little time," Dumbledore said.
"With the potion I served you the first day."
"Oh! Sure…"
"I sleep for half an hour, which is worth an hour and a half," Sev explained.
"Great. If you can also return the books on Mental Arts and Beneficial Magic they would be good study material for Professor McGonagall. She's going to be less busy than me, and that way next year there will be two of us teaching."
"Of course, I'll return all the books, they are all together and in a very appropriate Room of Requirement demand to study them. Although I would appreciate it if you would stop using it often when we came back in September, so that all of us occlumants have access to it."
"Of course, we will take them out and let you know when we are going to go for a new book," the Headmaster said. "We have good offices to study."
"Thank you very much, Albus. And while we are talking about the books, could we also have access to the translations of the Beneficial Magics that you have managed to do?"
"Of course."
"One more question about the books," said Sev. "When we discovered Druid Magic at Easter, we realized that the spells are in Old Gaelic. Lily's father thought of looking for an expert on the subject at the Muggle university, so that he could teach us how to pronounce them. Do you know how to pronounce them?"
"Of course I know. I learned many years ago."
"Wonderful, because we thought we would learn this summer. Will you teach us?"
"I'm teaching you now," the Headmaster replied. "The invocation you use to make yourselves invisible is Old Gaelic."
"Of course… you already told us. Druid Magic."
They left the fireproof suits on the seats in the meeting room, where the third one was also, and went out to the office while they continued talking, it was five to seven. They sat on both sides of the table, on Sev's side there were already two seats prepared.
Dumbledore told him, "I think it's better to wait for Lily for the rest of the urgent issues. Ask me now for those you have for me in private."
"Alright. Have you gone to the Ministry again?"
"Yes, yesterday."
"You're working hard too, Albus."
"I have to rise to the challenge."
"News of the malefics?" the Sly asked.
"None."
"Wonderful. About the exams?"
"Nothing to do in terms of changing dates or times from morning to afternoon," the Headmaster answered. "The only remedy left is to delay lunch to half past one, as much as possible, since the theoretical ones in the afternoon start at three and the Great Hall must be prepared."
"But the theoretical ones depend on us, we could start them at four."
"You're right, so we'll do it like this. We will have lunch at two, so you also have a good rest after lunch."
"Will it not affect the rest of the years?" Sev asked.
"We will change everyone's schedules. The essential thing is the OWLS, you are going to graduate in the middle of the war."
"Thank you Albus. You will also have work with the rest of the teachers this weekend."
"It's nothing, it's just delaying the schedules."
"Wonderful. What time do the practical ones start in the morning?"
"At ten, there must be time to prepare the Great Hall," the Headmaster answered.
"With which they would last less than two hours, then it will have to be prepared again for lunch."
"That is, and even so I suspect that they will also do it in a hurry, to be able to go home as soon as possible."
"Yeah. Well, we will have done everything on our part," Sev resigned. "Something more about schedules, which occurred to me, for next year. Since we eat breakfast half an hour later on the weekend, we could also delay lunch time by half an hour or an hour and make Army training longer."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too. This is how we will do it, to take advantage of the morning light. And those of Mental Arts and Ancestral Magic will be in the afternoon, in rooms lit by candles and torches, so those who are not yet learning will not suspect the absences of others. We can also delay dinner time."
"Great, Albus, I haven't thoguht of that."
"What a miracle, you are always one step ahead of me."
Sev smiled at him, Dumbledore smiled back. (If you only knew, Albus… I am quite a few.)
"And since the issue of lighting has come up, yesterday I also started the issue about electrifying the castle in the Ministry," the Headmaster said. "They accepted it without any problem."
"Wonderful!"
"I should have done it thirty years ago."
"Yes, Albus. Never forget who suggested it to you. You will go down in history for that too."
"Of course I won't forget it."
(Honest, he really appreciates me. When he proposes to me to be a double agent, he won't try to manipulate me.) "Well, I have a few more suggestions for you."
At that moment there was a knock on the office door.
"There's your girlfriend. Well... one of many," Dumbledore said. They laughed.
"The influence of the Ancient Magics, Albus."
"Of course. Let's get up, first we'll do the session and then we'll talk."
"Alright."
They stood up as the Headmaster opened the door with a pass. Lily walked in, Dumbledore closed the door, and Sev greeted her with a warm hug.
"I don't know how you manage, but no matter how much I hurry, you always arrive before me," she said.
"Honey, because I live in the dungeons and you live on the seventh floor, and now you also have to hide it, go home calmly with the others, I don't."
They separated. Lily greeted the Headmaster with a shake. "Good morning, Albus. You are in a very good mood."
"Yes, everything is going very well," Dumbledore replied.
"Glad to hear it. What are we going to do first? The session or chat?"
"The session. Let's go now."
They preceded him into the Dueling room. In less than an hour they succeeded, becoming completely invisible. They had achieved it in two and a half sessions, they were true wonders. They practiced for fifteen more minutes.
"You've got it, guys," said the old man. "Now you just have to keep practicing it by yourselves when no one dangerous sees you between now and the end of the term. You are freed from Time-Turning during exams. After them we will have another talk to give you the instructions during the summer and Bond you."
"Albus, we're going to Bond on our own, also with the escort, a job that we'll take away from you," Sev said.
"Great."
They went to the office. Dumbledore took out the correspondence that he had had with Sev's mother and let them read it.
In the first letter, dated before the mess, a week after Easter, Eileen reminded the Headmaster that Sev was a scholarship holder, that they were Lily's neighbors, and that the year before they had both received a warning letter from the Ministry at their home, without actually suggesting that he should do everything possible to eliminate their tracks. She also asked him if it was appropriate for her to suggest to Lily's parents that they install Floo Network at their house for the summer.
Sev thought as he read. (Okay, Mum gets to the point, she doesn't seem trusting, she doesn't tell the old man anything he didn't already know, and she doesn't let on that something serious could happen to me. The Floo Network is presented as a comfort for Lily, not somethingurgent or cannot be dispensed with. Wonderful, cunning snake.)
In the second letter, from Dumbledore to Eileen, the next day, he reassured her that their tracks at the Ministry had already been erased months ago, and that yes, it was appropriate for Lily's parents to install Floo Network at their home. Other than that, he told her that he would keep her informed as much as possible of what was happening at school.
(Albus speaks clearly, that must have alarmed Mum, he should have been much more subtle as she had known how to be, let a few days go by and think better what to answer her. ButI also have to understand, he understood that Mum was worried, thatthere was a trip to Hogsmeade that same week, April, and I could have received Lucius' letter any day. They must have been very tense days for him and he wanted at all costs to avoid Mum finding out from the Daily Prophet and not from himself about anything that might happen. In that case, he didn't do too badly.)
The next letter was from the Headmaster, from Thursday the thirteenth of May, the day Sev broke his arm and they made contact. It was very short, he only told her that they had already done it and expected good news soon. (Very good, he didn't tell her that they broke my arm and discouraged her from going to Diagon that same weekend, for staying at home waiting for his letter. Now he did it perfectly. Of course, with time to think.)
The next letter was also from Dumbledore, dated Saturday the fifteenth, so Eileen must have gotten it early Sunday morning, in time to go on a hike with Lily's parents. In it he told her what had happened, the rise of the new Army, that all the malefics in Slytherin had left and therefore Sev was safe at home, that they had the rest of the school on their side, that Sev's name was not Snape anymore, but Prince, he had become his close collaborator and probably a future teacher at school.
That he was going to protect Lily, him and all their relatives with all the means at his disposal both at school and outside it and to collaborate behind the Ministry's back in everything they required, as he had been doing for months. Lastly, he told her that his son might have a job that same summer and suggested that they coordinate between the two of them so that when she went to the Ministry to register the Floo Network at Lily's house, he would erase her tracks as soon as possible, preferably that same day or the next one, but that there was no rush for it, they had until the summer.
(Perfect too, the promised good news, he did not spare any, not even the change of my last name, to encourage her not to return to my father. And he did it as soon as he had the chance, surely as soon as he woke up from his nap, he took his time, the letter is very long. The only mistake is that he should have told her that last thing in his first letter, because by then Lily's parents might have already finished the reform at home.
(Luckily Mum isn't stupid, she herself would have written to him again when the holidays approached. A small concern that must have remained, what happened to Lauren. Mum remembered her in the one she sent me, in the one I'll send her I will tell her.)
The next letter was from Eileen, from the next day. Dumbledore told them, "She sent it to me with the same owl, I sent it waiting for an answer so that your mother wouldn't have to go to Diagon, in case she doesn't have an owl."
"You did well, Albus, she doesn't have an owl, the serious incident last year at my house, at Christmas, was caused precisely because Lily sent her owl to my house," Sev explained.
"Oh…"
"Another day, with more time, I'll tell you stories about my father, if you want."
"If you want, I can already imagine them," said the old man.
"No. You don't imagine them."
(He imagines them well enough,) Lily thought.
They read. Eileen's letter was much shorter, kindly and politely thanking the Headmaster for all he was doing for them, both helping her son and Lily and keeping her informed. In response to the coordination that they had to maintain to solve the Ministry thing, she told him that there was no problem on her part, that her work allowed her to be absent for a while in the morning and even the whole morning, that he should be, the one who had to be a lot busiest, who chose the date to go and she would do it that same day first thing in the morning.
(Take that! She gambled, she cheated him well, she went the day before so she wouldn't meet him. How smart is Mum! And another great motivation for not letting my father into the house. Having her wand available in case she had to Apparate or Floo at any time of day.)
The next letter was from Dumbledore, also long but not quite as long, from the previous week. He also told her the good news, that they were both completely safe at school and they were taking proper care that they were also safe in the summer, at home. How well the training sessions were going, he was satisfied with the excellent dumbbell they had formed and that his son not only aspired to be a teacher, but also Head of House, who was already acting and Lily was going to be a teacher with total security, that she would continue to live at Hogwarts after she graduated, protected from the strife. Finally, he told her the date he was going to go to the Ministry, Tuesday of the following week, and that it was not necessary for her to return the owl immediately, that she should keep it until she knew if she was going to be able to go.
(Perfect, with plenty of time for Mum to plan the ploy to trick him.)
The last letter was from Eileen, from the next day. (She didn't need to think too much, she already had it all figured out.) Once again, she thanked him for the good news he was giving her and for everything he was doing for them. She told him that the reform at Lily's parents' house was already ready and that she would certainly go to the Ministry first thing Tuesday morning, without any problem on her part, since she only would lose an hour of work that way.
When they finished reading, Dumbledore said to him, "And yet she went Monday late in the afternoon."
"Of course, Albus, my mother works cleaning houses and they probably didn't give her permission for the one she has on Tuesday morning, but they did for Monday afternoon. You, in a previous letter, told her that you could also come one day apart."
"Yes, of course, the risk was minimal. There was a lot more with your fellowship at St. Mungo's, maybe they've been able to track that down, you're going to take a risk."
(I already know I don't,) Sev thought.
(Well, yes, because Malfoy is protecting him too, otherwise he should have given up the scholarship. Let's see how he lies to Albus,) Lily thought.
"I'm telling you what Professor Belby told me, who is asuming it too," Sev replied. "In the situation we find ourselves in, we all have to take some risk, otherwise we couldn't take a step, and St. Mungo's is something which I do not intend to give up. It is one of those personal interests apart from all this that I was talking about before, apart from the fact that I want to earn a living for myself as soon as possible."
(Perfectly and without even thinking about it,) Lily thought.
"Of course, and I understand perfectly. I'll also give you his report, you'll read it with time," said the Headmaster handing him some scrolls, which Sev carefully folded to the size that they fit in his coat pocket, just like the letters. "Now I'd like to know your opinion about my letters."
Sev told him his impressions honestly. Then he asked him, "Is it safe for me to write to her?"
"Of course," Dumbledore replied. "Your address no longer appears in the Ministry. Your house is safe and so is the school. It would be quite a coincidence if the owl got lost and was found."
"Is it safe for me to write to Professor Belby when he tells me I've been awarded the scholarship? I must tell him what day I'm going."
"Not to St. Mungo's, better to his house. If he doesn't give you his address, ask Madam Pomfrey for it, or better yet, have her write to him and include your reply in her letter. In any case, write to him without return address."
"Okay, Albus, thanks for the advice. It's past half past eight, we should start thinking about saying goodbye. We have many issues left in the pipeline, we will have to discuss them in the Great Hall."
"Yes, it does not matter. Lily, go away now." The three got up at the same time. "We have left to talk about a topic in private."
"Give me a kiss, honey, see you soon," Lily said.
They kissed on their lips. Lily shook Dumbledore's hand. "Thank you for everything Albus." She left.
They no longer sat down, Sev told him, "Don't move, Albus, I'll get the suits."
"Okay."
He hurried into the Dueling room, leaving the door open, ran through it and into the conference room, put on his coat, put the letters and the Damocles report in a pocket of it, and folded the fire suit that he had used. He took both in his hand, his and the one that was brand new, and ran out again, without closing the doors.
"We'll talk, Albus."
"Go through the passageway to the seventh floor."
"Of course."
The Headmaster had already opened the door and the gargoyle for him. He ran to the seventh floor through the passage, saw Lily from behind, who had also climbed that way, stopped dead and waited for her to disappear around the curve of the corridor and followed her out of sight, stealthily, until he reached the portrait of Barnabas.
He demanded the Espionage Training Classroom, made the closet appear, opened it, and put the suits inside. He did not resist opening the drawer and taking a look at the Horcrux, nor did he resist picking it up and carefully observing the Resurrection Stone. Wooow…!Half of Voldemort's soul in my hand and now I'm capable of destroying it!Take that!