Chapter 26: Spy, Spy Again - October 1993
When the others were submitting a description and diagram of a tea-leaf reading, Hermione turned in her first essay to Professor Trelawney about methods of learning more about the present.
She began that essay with an explanation of her chosen topic and the limitations of her research. Then, she addressed the substance in a three-foot essay. An excerpt:
It's possible to use the same methods to consider the present as the future. Moon phases and planetary positions are popular examples that are used to study both timeframes.
The literature makes a distinction between observational and ritualistic divination, the former of which is thought to be preferable for understanding the present. An example of observational divination is apantomancy, the most well-known type of which is ascribing meaning to unexpected sightings of creatures. Weather observation is another type and is considered more relevant to the study of the present than the future.
She got the essay back the next class with a lot of red ink. The curly-haired witch looked through all of the comments. There were some corrections, but mostly the professor had just added in additional information. That's… really nice of her actually.
At the bottom of the essay, Professor Trelawney had written, "Full marks. I can see the fruits of an attempt to broaden your mind!"
Hermione felt a little condescended to, but she tried to take it all in stride. She might be the professor's least promising pupil. Yet, she couldn't say that she wasn't learning.
Lavender asked, "Can I read your essay?"
After a second's hesitation, she said, "Sure."
"That's all really interesting!" Lavender had lots of questions. By the end of their conversation, she had resolved to try out one of the methods. "I'll be on the lookout for any animals that cross my path!"
Hermione then headed off to Defense. As the class ended, Professor Lupin asked her to stay back.
"How do you think classes are going for you?" He asked.
"Well enough."
"Do you think that your friends feel the same?"
Harry was struggling immensely with Runes and Arithmancy, so much that she felt guilty for pressuring him into those. But she didn't want to tell Lupin Harry's business.
"They know to ask for help if they need it, from me or someone else."
"You think Harry would ask for help?"
"Sure," the young witch lied.
"Did he say anything about his summer to you?"
Hermione had heard enough. "If he did, I wouldn't tell you. Ask him yourself." She put her books away and left without asking permission.
She told Harry about it later in a corner of the Gryffindor common room under a light privacy spell. "I think someone's putting Lupin up to watching you." Dumbledore, most likely.
Harry looked a little lost and said, "That would disappointing. He hasn't even tried to talk to me himself."
It occurred to Hermione that Dumbledore probably knew that Harry spent a lot of time with Sirius this summer. Sirius was much more of a wildcard, from the old man's perspective. Petunia and Lupin might be more predictable influences on Harry. Those two are also more likely to do what they're told where Dumbledore is concerned.
Harry needed the freedom to execute the real end-the-war-early plans. She told Harry, "You might have to play along, at least a little."
Harry said solemnly, "Maybe, but I don't think that you do." Please don't talk to Lupin about me.
"Of course not."
Harry changed the subject. "Say, do you think Luna could join your little Potions-Herbology Alliance?"
"My what?"
"That's what Ron calls your study partnership with Neville. I think he means it nicely; he just likes naming stuff."
Hermione tipped her head from side to side, thinking. "I'll talk to Luna about it."
"I appreciate it! Maybe she could help you with your Divination essays or something."
Brown eyes narrowed.
Harry said, "Er, just as like a second pair of eyes, since no one else is writing essays like that."
She mouthed, "You're lying," in case anyone was listening in.
Harry gave what he probably knew was a charming smile. He mouthed back, "I don't make a habit of lying to you." More somberly, he added, "Please don't say anything."
Hermione mimed zipping her lips. Then she scolded, "Don't let your guard down." They had too many secrets for that.
One day when Harry and the other Gryffindors walked into Defense, Professor Snape was standing at the front of the classroom. Right, it's a full moon, Harry thought.
In the other timeline, Snape spent the first part of the class calling Professor Lupin disorganized. He spent the second part of the class trying to get the students to see that Lupin was a werewolf, which are highly dangerous and hard to kill.
This lesson followed those same major ideas with a markedly different tone.
"Professor Lupin is not feeling well today, so I will be covering this particular class. Because he has left me little documentation of your current coursework, I will be skipping ahead to cover a topic from the second semester. He can figure out how he would like to proceed, when he is back."
Hermione put up a hand, but Snape didn't call on her.
"Turn your texts to page 394. Who can tell me how one distinguishes between a werewolf and a true wolf?"
Harry put up a hand, but Snape called on Neville.
"Er, they look like a person most days?"
Snape rolled his eyes. "In wolf form. Miss Patil?"
She had scanned the text quickly enough to give a clumsy if accurate list.
"Which is more dangerous: a werewolf or a true wolf? Mr. Potter."
Harry knew what the book said. "Werewolves. True wolves don't commonly hunt humans. But —."
Snape stared at Harry. "An answer suitable for a textbook. However, it's more important to note that werewolves can make choices. A werewolf can hide and cage themselves over a full moon, or they can position themselves close to a target before they transform."
Snape continued to lecture on how to protect yourself from werewolves. He set the same essay on identifying and killing werewolves that he did in the previous timeline.
Harry might have thought that talking about werewolves was an underhanded way to get back at Snape's school enemy. But the differences between this class and the one from the previous timeline made that explanation seem dissatisfying.
Harry asked Ron later, "What'd you think of Snape's Defense class today?"
"It was certainly something. Not many professors would say that the person inside the werewolf was relevant."
Harry pointed out, "He still seems to hold contempt for them, though."
Ron shrugged. "You can see their humanity and also be afraid. You can still take steps to protect yourself and your family from their attacks."
The green-eyed preteen really wanted to know why Ron thought this class was different than in their past. Too bad for him, he couldn't think of a clever way to ask.
Ron might have sensed this. As though starting a new topic, he said lightly, "If your mum could pick amongst your father's friends as a guardian for you, which do you think she'd choose?"
Harry only had to think about it briefly. Remus. Harry had picked up that Remus and Lily got along better than Sirius and Lily. Though Harry found Sirius more than satisfactory this summer, Remus also seemed more mature overall.
Ron gestured as if to say, There you have it.
In the trio's October secret meeting, Ron told Hermione about the rat. "The twins saw Pettigrew on the map. We told them that he might be serving Voldemort and that they should be very careful. We only shared low-value secrets — ones that the adults know that we know."
Hermione frowned, "If Voldemort's trying to get Harry's blood, that would move up the timeline considerably." She turned to Harry. "Be very careful. Quickly heal and vanish the blood even if it's just a paper cut. Watch the map, too. Ulg, this is so frustrating! I hate just waiting around for him to move. Can we think of a trap for Wormtail or something?"
"No." Ron refrained from rolling his eyes. They'd already talked about this at length. They would be best off delaying a confrontation until either they had good plans to destroy the horcrux or they gave up on that plan and decided to trap Voldemort instead (the Grindelwald approach).
Ideally, they would only engage in a single confrontation with Voldemort. Otherwise, he might learn and adapt. Ron let Hermione run the ineffective Crouch plan, but this was too important to rush into. The redhead reflected, I hate managing my friends like this.
Ron prompted Harry for his updates. He reviewed a conversation with Snape. "He knows about horcruxes. Furthermore, he alluded to the idea that Dumbledore knows about them too."
Ron made a note, but didn't think that changed anything for them. "We'll work on strategies for Hufflepuff's Cup soonish. That's going to be the toughest one."
Harry looked pensive. "I wonder if Snape would help us."
Ron said, "If Snape believed that the diary Lucius told him about was a horcrux… and he agreed that Voldemort might have given horcruxes to other followers… that could point to Bellatrix's vault."
Hermione bit her lip. She addressed her next comment to Harry, "Do you think Snape is trustworthy, to that extent?" She leaned forward in her squashy armchair. "We really don't know what he wants or would do in any extraordinary situation. Forget about Lily Potter. Think about the Severus Snape you knew before that. Would he do things his own way? Would he challenge every word out of your mouth, possibly behind your back?"
Ron was glad that she made the point, but Harry shut down.
Tears slid down the green-eyed boy's face. "It's just stress," he dismissed. "Been happening a lot lately, now that I think of it."
Ron said, "Let's call it quits for today. How 'bout we head to the kitchens?"
Harry asked George for the Marauder's Map on Halloween night. He found it only a small comfort.
Halloween was never Harry's favorite day, but this year he was sick to his stomach with frustration and worry.
Perhaps it was his classes. He made flashcards for Ancient Runes and pulled them out at all hours of the day. He started his homework the day it was assigned so he could produce a second draft. Before he went to bed for the night, he would revise the day's lessons.
Maybe Harry was also a bit tired of all of the secrecy with Ron and Hermione. Not only did that make him feel disconnected from his friends, but also he felt disconnected from himself. He could hardly keep the truth straight for himself when he had to switch between his roles as a student and a spy-thief-assassin. At least he could take comfort in the fact that the meld between his roles as the Boy-Who-Lived and a student was going fairly well.
Still, Harry's biggest problem was his mother.
With the conversations at the end of last school year as well as last month, Harry felt like he was making progress with Lily-as-Snape.
Yet there was so much Harry still didn't know about her. And, his conversation with Ron and Hermione was one of many reality checks he'd received.
Another reality check was Sirius' dedicated support. He wasn't a perfect guardian, but he supported Harry more than any adult ever had. Things with Sirius were as close to easy as he could reasonably hope for.
Sirius built Harry up, whereas the Snape outside of those two office chats were tearing him down. Harry hated how he was treated in Snape's classes and in the hallways. Maybe it was an act for others' benefit, but that didn't fix it.
It was a hundred million drops of acid rain. It could erode him to nothing, given enough time.
Halloween was a Sunday this year, so Harry spent the day wound up. He puttered around futilely. He glanced at the map every fifteen minutes, then every ten. By the time they were about to leave for the Feast, Harry had studied the Map for hours.
It was a good thing that he had, because he finally saw the rat. Harry quickly went to find Ron and Hermione.
Harry found each of them and used an agreed upon gesture: rubbing the edge of their index finger on their forehead.
While maintaining her conversation with Lavender, Hermione mimed pulling her hair out. She or Ron would impersonate Harry using Polyjuice for the Halloween feast while he investigated.
Alibi set, Harry grabbed his notice-me-not-scarf and made his way to where Pettigrew was. He would stun the rat if he got the chance. Otherwise, he would just watch on the Map from nearby.
He saw Wormtail skittering around an unused potions classroom. There was no way for Harry to know for sure what he was doing, but he had a guess after a half hour of particular movements: brewing a potion.
Suddenly, there was an explosion that Harry could feel through the floor. Kaboom!
Thankfully, Harry wasn't very close or using any sort of hearing enhancement. He couldn't tell the direction of the sound in the echoing dungeon, so he stayed put.
Professor Snape was in the Great Hall, but then headed in the direction of the explosion. Harry pulled out an Extendable Ear prototype that he got off the twins and flung it expertly onto the ceiling in the corridor. The inventors hadn't figure out how to make the ears pink yet, but the sickly grayish hue blended in better anyway.
Harry checked the Map again. Pettigrew hadn't moved since the explosion, possibly as both its cause and victim. Harry was safely tucked around a corner from the hallway when Snape appeared. He was probably livid.
Harry saw Severus Snape's dot move into the room, circle Pettigrew. Pettigrew's dot moved a bit.
Despite the weaknesses in Harry's listening device setup, he was able to hear a conversation through the Ear. Snape probably left the door open because of fumes.
"— Fool of a man. That could have easily killed you. What was your intention?"
Harry couldn't hear anything for a while.
In a clearly Veritaserum-induced haze, Pettigrew said, " I was attempting to set a trap that would knock you out. My master sent me to capture you and bring you to him. He wants your help in the brewing of a restorative potion using the boy's blood. He is not strong enough to summon you with your Mark but did not want to call attention to that fact. He said that a kidnapping would set the right tone for the meeting."
Snape asked for details about Voldemort's current condition, location, and plans. Pettigrew gave the answers that Harry expected: a homunculus, Riddle Manor, and to get Harry's blood for the potion.
As the Veritaserum wore off, Snape played with Wormtail a bit. "I could kill you now. Not because of the goals you work towards, but because you are an inept fool who I believe will ultimately dishonor our lord."
Pettigrew's squeaks were shrill. Harry pulled the Extendable Ear away from his own momentarily.
"I will return with you to our master. But first— ." There was a thud of a body hitting the floor. I suppose Snape would want to make it clear to Voldemort who was in control, between himself and Pettigrew.
Harry didn't hear anything more. He summoned the entire Ear and tucked it away.
The messy-haired preteen continued to sit in his hiding place, thinking. Obviously Snape would resume his role as a spy in this timeline, as he did in the last. But did he help brew the potion last time?
Harry didn't know how to feel about that. If Lily-as-Snape had warning about the exact nature of the ritual and location that Voldemort attempted, how could Snape stand to let everything in the graveyard happen to him without interference? Cedric's death…
Harry didn't complete that thought because Snape himself had found him and said, "You're a child playing a very dangerous game. And you could lose, bumbling around with knowledge you have no right to." Snape raised his wand.
A memory charm. Harry ducked and rolled. He caught Snape with an incarcerous, then fled the dungeon.
Harry went to the Room of Requirement, which was on a short list of places Harry didn't think he could be followed. Harry watched Snape on the Marauder's Map. While he had moved from the location of their confrontation, he was still in the dungeons.
Snape and Pettigrew left the Hogwarts grounds twenty minutes later.
Harry walked back to Gryffindor tower fuming but resolved to hide it. Harry was angry and hurt by his mother's attempted memory charm. Combined with her choice to return to Voldemort's service, he couldn't help but think, My mother is a bad person.