The new team captain, Marcie Briar, a third year second string chaser, had tried to drag Harry into the locker room before the game to give a pep talk, but Harry begged off, promising to speak before a vaguely specified future-dated game. Ginny had called him a coward, and he almost reconsidered when he saw Minerva McGonagall giving him an evil look after overhearing the conversation. Harry tried to redeem himself by giving his former Transfiguration teacher a friendly hug and kiss, but it was a futile attempt and he made a quick escape with Ginny in tow.
This Saturday was also the first Hogsmeade weekend and to the amazement of Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and himself, Harry received permission from Snape for Rudy and two of his friends to spend the evening at Hog House. Snape, who must have been in a good mood from the 480-40 pounding Slytherin had inflicted on Gryffindor the previous weekend, merely signed the release and told Harry to be sure he didn’t, “let Longbottom do any of the cooking.” Harry muttered his thanks and left the new Headmaster’s office before Snape changed his mind.
At 5 o’clock, Ginny met Rudy at the south entrance to the school where he informed her that his two friends were on the way. The fall twilight was casting long shadows on the grounds and the wind was picking up an icy breeze that penetrated even their heavy coats and hats. After fifteen minutes Ginny saw two unidentifiable figures walk up and stand with her and Rudy. The two were so completely bundled up against the bitter evening zephyr that Ginny could not see their faces.
“Well, that’s it, sis. We’ll follow you.” Rudy was acting strangely elusive about the company so Ginny stopped after a few steps.
“Rudy, are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“Oh, sure sis, sorry. Um, this is…” and pointing to one of the two bundles he dug into the scarf and announced “…this is Carol, and that other lump is Lisa.” With the “lump” comment, the second girl pulled Rudy’s hat down over his head and both girls giggled like most eleven year old girls do.
Ginny stood there for a second before she introduced herself, then with a friendly “follow me,” they all headed off to Hogsmeade.
A bit later, with Rudy walking beside Ginny and the two girls trailing a few meters behind, Ginny asked Rudy in a quiet voice, “Rudy, what’s with the two girls? Guys your age usually don’t like to be seen with girls your age.”
Rudy smiled in reply, “I know, but they’re both from my da’s old neighborhood in Dublin. Turns out their parents and my grandparents go to church together. Small world, eh sis?”
Thinking back a few weeks to the first day of school, Ginny remembered the three boy and two girls Rudy had left the Hall with on the way to class. “I remember them, Rudy, aren’t they twins?”
“Yeah, and they’ve really been helping me with my books.”
Turning to the twins, Ginny called out, “Hurry up you two, you don’t want to get lost around here at night.”
Both girls stopped their giggling and ran up to Rudy. “Sooooo-ry!” Both girls said at the same time. All Ginny could think about was Fred and George. This should be a fun dinner.
Harry and Ron had outdone themselves getting the house ready for their guests. Of course, Hermione had put together a list of chores which Ron had promptly “lost.” However, even Ron had to admit that the guest loo was in sorry shape, but after a half-hour of scrubbing he had reappeared smelling of pine and looking faint from the cleaning fumes. Harry took a quick spy into the room and congratulated Ron for his outstanding work. Even Hermione congratulated him, and then encouraged him to keep it up every week.
At 5:30 Neville showed up with a bottle of Muggle Champaign which his parents had given him and a large box of Bertie Bott’s Peanut mix. Not completely convinced that it was a normal peanut mix, Ron volunteered to try a handful; then he insisted on trying a second “just to be certain.” Putting the “bubbly” in the icebox, the mix in a bowl, and finishing touches on the table, Hermione excused herself to pick up a last minute item from the store.
Shortly after Hermione left, Ginny, Rudy, Carol, and Lisa arrived at Hog House. Harry and Ron took their coats and introductions were made. Harry noted that he and Neville were the only ones there without red hair and that he felt like they were at a Weasley family reunion. With the pleasantries complete, Harry showed the guests into the parlor and they all sat down while Ron brought out bottles of butterbeer. For the three first years it was their initiation into the famous amber-gold liquid that was so famous in the wizarding world. Neville told the “kids,” as he liked to call them, that only house-elves could get drunk off the liquid so they should not feel apprehensive about drinking “beer.”
By six-fifteen Ron was getting worried about Hermione and told Ginny that he was running up to the store to hurry her along. Ginny stopped Ron in the front hall before he left and told him that she had seen her walking into the Blueberry Inn as they arrived. Trying to suppress a feeling of dread, Ron headed out, without his coat or hat, for the two block walk to the Inn.
Approaching the Inn, Ron saw Hermione leaving the front entrance, waving good by to someone, presumably Kate, the innkeeper. Stopping for a moment when she saw her fiancé, Hermione walked up and asked Ron what he was doing.
“I was looking for you, Hermione. Do you know what time it is?”
Ron’s voice was accusatory and Hermione let him know she did not appreciate being followed. Hermione continued back to the house and Ron watched her walk away as if nothing was wrong. Ron’s Weasley temper kicked in, and running up to Hermione he demanded to know what she had been doing.
“Ronald, get a grip. I was off having an affair with Colin Creevy like I do every night at this hour.” However, seeing that her attempt to defuse the situation with a bad joke had failed, she apologized and gave Ron a brief kiss on the mouth.
“Ron, I was just feeling up tight and wanted to talk with Kate. I’m sorry.”
Harry saw Hermione and Ron come in and could tell they had had a row, even though Hermione acted perfectly normal and had a wonderful time with the guests. Dinner was a pot roast that Molly Weasley had sent over with cooking directions, an assortment of vegetables and a home-baked apple cobbler that Hermione had made earlier in the day. After dishes were cleared and desert served, Hermione brought out the bottle of Champaign and paper cups for everyone to have a small drink. This seemed to irk Ron further, but Harry did not see any harm with the kids having a very small taste.
When everything was cleaned up, and the guests were talking in front of a roaring fire, Harry asked if they would like a tour of Hogsmeade before they returned to the school. Rudy, Carol, and Lisa jumped up and accepted the offer, knowing that it would be two years before they could go as students. Neville excused himself from the tour; he had to return to school to prepare lessons for the following week. As the rest of the party were about to go, Ron pulled Harry aside and told him that he and Hermione were going to stay behind to talk about wedding plans. Thinking nothing of it, Harry accepted Ron’s excuse and the remaining group of five left for a tour of the town.
After a half an hour walking in the bitter wind, Harry and Ginny took their guests to Honeydukes. Upon entering the shop, and before anyone suggested a sweet, Ginny spoke up and warned “anything BUT ice cream.” Purchasing samples of a number of different sweets, Harry also bought a very large box of taffy to take back to the common room and share with their house mates. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves until Rudy opened a chocolate frog and received a “Dumbledore Card” which he showed to Harry, not understanding the significance of the card. Ginny saw him turn away and walk to an unoccupied part of the store. Rudy was left wondering what he had done wrong. The twins were exploring the soda fountain and ogling over packs of Blubber Gum in two hundred different flavors and missed the entire scene.
“Rudy, you didn’t do anything wrong. Dumbledore was like a father to Harry and, well, I’ll explain it to you when we get back tonight.” Ginny patted him on the back and walked over to Harry.
“You all right, love?”
It took Harry a moment to compose himself but he finally answered, “Yeah, sometimes these things just sneak up on me, almost like it happened yesterday.”
The two stood there for a couple more minutes then called to Rudy, Carol, and Lisa that it was time to be heading back to school. The walk back to Hogwarts was quiet and cold. The first years were talking quietly about the sweet store and Ginny was holding Harry’s hand, but not speaking. She had a strong feeling of deja-vous watching Rudy and the twins, almost as if they were her children, but she did not share this with Harry.
When they reached the school entrance Filch was standing there with his usual suspicious look; Mrs. Norris sat at his feet hissing at Harry. Harry shook the hands of the three “firsties” as they thanked Harry for the evening out. Then giving a brief kiss to Ginny, Harry headed back to town. Ginny suspected that his mind was off in another direction, probably toward the white tomb near the lake.
When Ginny and her guests reached the common room they set the box of candy out with a sign for everyone to help themselves, complements of Harry Potter. The twins thanked Ginny again and ran off to the girls dorm to share their “adventure” with their roommates. Rudy stood, waiting until they had left, then turned to Ginny and asked ”Why was Harry so upset, Ginny?”
“Rudy, take your coat off and let’s get comfortable. If I told you the whole story we’d be here until Monday morning, so I’ll just give you the highlights.”
Harry arrived back at Hog House about an hour and a half after leaving. On entering he was glad to hear nothing but the crackle of the dying fire; he did not want anything disrupting his thoughts. But sitting down and relaxing by himself only made him feel worse. His mind kept flying back and forth between Dumbledore and Sirius. He had wanted to show the kids the shrieking shack after Honeydukes, but Ginny had sensed his emotions and steered him clear of the old wreck. Just as well. His demons were struggling to resurface and Harry was in a losing battle against them.
“Harry, can I talk to you?” Startled by Ron’s voice, Harry jumped, but when he settled down he was relieved that he had been distracted from his growing depression.
“Hey, Ron, what’s up?” Harry knew he did not sound particularly cheerful, but it was the best he could do. Ron sat across from Harry and he noticed Ron’s eyes were red, almost like he had been crying.
“Harry, I think Hermione’s drinking again.” Ron admitted quietly.
As much as he did not want to do it, Harry told Ron: “Grab a coat, let’s walk around a bit. We can stay close to the house if it makes you feel better.” Bundling up as best they could, Ron called up to Hermione that he and Harry would be back in a few minutes. There was no reply.
“Merlin it’s cold out here.” Harry said, as they walked into the chilling night wind. Ron mumbled something that sounded like “it’s cold inside, too.” Not knowing if he was up to anything emotionally heavy, Harry still prodded Ron for information.
“Why do you think Hermione’s drinking, Ron?”
“Harry, when she went out earlier this evening she was at the Blueberry Inn, not picking up something from the store. Ginny told me she had seen her walking into the Inn, so I ran over right before dinner and found her just leaving, waving goodbye to someone. When I asked her what she was doing Hermione said she had been talking with Kate, you know her, the Innkeeper. Then she made a joke about it and kissed me, but she smelled like wine. I know this is not a lot to go on, but, well, I’m worried. What do you think I should do?”
Harry stopped and thought for a minute. “Ron, have you tried talking to Hermione about this?”
“Yeah, a while ago, when you were out. She just avoided the issue and said I was paranoid.”
Continuing their walk Harry made a suggestion. “Ron, I think you should do two things. First, talk to Kate and tell her your suspicion. If Hermione really was just talking to her, as she said, then there may not be a problem. I also think you should talk to Jack Vince and let him know your concerns. He may have some suggestions.” Ron seemed receptive to these ideas and thanked Harry.
“I think I’ll go over to the Inn and talk to Kate before heading back. Thanks Harry.”
“Sure, Rom. I’m going to talk with Hermione.”
Returning home after parting with Ron, Harry put his coat and hat away and called up the stairs to Hermione.
“I’m up here Harry, come on up.”
Remembering what happened the last time he went into Hermione’s room, Harry was reluctant to continue, but he pushed on, hoping for the best.
“Hi Harry!” The cheerful reply Harry received when he entered the room told him he did not have to worry about a repeat of the scene from last month. Upon entering the room he saw Hermione was reclined on her bed reading one of her Runes Translations text books. She wore green pajamas with a warm robe on top and furry slippers against the drafty attic cold.
“Hi, can we talk for a minute?” Harry asked as he came into the room.
Hermione set her book down and invited Harry to sit on the other bed. She had a look on her face which Harry had come to know well over the past seven years. It was the look she wore when deeply into a homework assignment. She even had a pad next to her and had been making notations about something. Seeing Hermione like this, Harry seriously doubted that she’d been drinking so he decided to try to start a conversation and see if something else was causing the friction between her and Ron.
“You look like you’re enjoying the book. Wow, Rune Translation Techniques. Why do you need a ‘technique’ to study runes?”
Hermione gave Harry another familiar look, the one that says yes, I’d love to share this with you. “Well, this new job deals with the cataloging of ancient texts and you have to understand the meaning of the text in order to catalog it properly. Look here.”
Hermione handed Harry he text book, it was opened to a page containing a few lines of runes on the left page and what appeared to be two translations on the right. Harry read the two translations, they were similar but not the same. When Harry mentioned this, Hermione asked him why he thought the translations might be so different. “Look at the three lines on the left, Harry.” Doing so, all he saw was three simple rows of verticle and horizontal lines, some crossing others parallel, dots here and there, no curves as you might see in cursive script.
“Now look at the translations.”
This is an example
of two translations
of the same text
This example is
two translations
of the same text
“Both these translations are correct. We see this all the time in translating ancient texts. Now, Harry, please turn to the page marked with the yellow scrap. Look at these.” Hermione leaned over and pointed at the runes.
Again Harry saw the same type of lines, just more of then. He thought he could tell a few minor differences such as the dots appearing near the top of some symbols, not just at the bottom. There were some symbols that looked like a Roman “V” and a few others with hints of curves. But the most significant change was in the layout of the lines of text. Harry confirmed his suspicion when he looked over to the single translation on the right hand page. Like last time there were two translations, but now one was imbedded within the other and read like this:
This is an example
of pattern text
And it has
no meaning
This is an example
of pattern text
Noting the confused look on Harry’s face, Hermione continued her explanation.
“Harry, this is a very simple example of what we call ‘Pattern Text,’ which means nothing more than one ‘pattern’ of text surrounding another ‘pattern’ of text. In this case it’s just a simple rectangle within two other rectangles. Two lines on top, the message in the center, and two lines at the bottom. If you could read this type of rune you’d probably see the two patterns immediately.”
“Now look here.” Hermione got up and moved to the other bed to sit next to Harry. Turning the pages further to a bookmark with the number “1” on it, Hermione pointed to the next set of translations. “See here, this is another similar pattern, same message as the previous one, but here the outer ‘pattern’ completely surrounds the inner ‘pattern.’” Harry was having difficulty following the subtle changes in the runes text, but the translation showed him what Hermione was speaking about.
This is an example
Of And it has Patte
rn no meaning text
This is an example
Of And it has Patte
rn no meaning text
This is an example
“Hermione, is this what you do all day?” Harry thought that if he had to do this all day he might start drinking.
“Well, Harry, these are really just the very first lessons in runes. Almost all of the texts we have use variations on these patterns, but are a lot more complex. When you get to entire pages with a hundred rows and columns the patterns become much more difficult to pick out.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Harry found the subject interesting, but only from an observers point of view. Also, he had let himself get completely sidetracked from his original reason for visiting with Hermione. As Hermione was moving to the number “2” bookmark Harry heard Ron come in and called down to him. “Hey Ron, we’re up here.” Then turning back to Hermione, Harry made an offer. “How about you and Ron coming to class with me next week? I can always use help with the firsties.”
“Sure, Harry, that sounds fun. When is your next class?”
“How about 3 o’clock Friday, if you can fit us into your busy schedule?”
“Ok, I know Ron is home this Friday, so that should work.”
“Great, well, I’m going down to play a game of chess with Ron.” As Harry got up to leave he could tell that Hermione was disappointed he was leaving so he quickly added, “Why don’t you come down and we can raid the icebox.”
“No thank you, Harry, I still have a lot of reading.” Her tone sounded friendly but Harry thought she was put out with him leaving.
Coming down to the kitchen, he met Ron who had the same idea as Harry; raid the icebox. They both cut chunks of meat and put them on bread for a sandwich. After putting the leftovers back in the icebox Ron asked Harry,
“What do you think, was I right?”
“Well, she was certainly not impaired, the things she was showing me required a sober mind. But I think she had been drinking. How much? Who knows. Did you talk to Kate?” Harry asked, hoping to hear a more useful answer than his own.
“Yeah, I talked to her. She said that Hermione comes over almost every day and they sit around the bar and talk, usually with a half liter of wine.” This revelation seemed to depress Ron but Harry did not see any harm as long as she was controlling the amount she drank.
“Ron, why don’t you talk to Vince next week? I’m sure he knows more about this then either of us.” Then to cheer Ron up, Harry asked him if he wanted to play a game of wizard chess, which for Ron was an easy win.
“You there! I can hear you, stop ignoring me.”
For the third time in an hour Prime Minister Thompson forced himself to pay no heed to the man calling him from the corner portrait. The past six months had been “normal,” and as far as he was concerned, no news from the fellow with the pointed nose was good news. But now the voice was singing an annoyingly stupid song.
You can’t ignore me all day long
Whatever you do you’ll hear my song
And if you have guests who ask you why
You sat there ignoring that funny guy
The excuses you give will do more harm
They’ll take you away to the funny farm
“ALL RIGHT, will you please SHUT UP?” Slamming down his pen, unable to listen to another verse, Thompson resigned himself to speak with the portrait. Rolling his chair back, the Prime Minister rose and walked over to the corner and saw the ugly man waving at him with an obsequious smile.
“WELL? What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything.” The man paused just long enough to see Thompson’s face turn redder, then stated, “It’s Fudge who wants to talk with you, not me.”
“Very well, I shall expect him, do you think it will be soon? I’d so love to have my lunch spoiled by another one of his visits.” Sarcasm dripped off of every word, it was the only thing that made the Prime Minister feel better.
CRACK
“This shouldn’t take long at all.” A voice said immediately after the loud noise. Thompson, who thought he had seen everything on Fudge’s last visit, was turning to look at the fireplace expecting the usual entrance; he saw, to his further surprise, Fudge appear out of thin air. “Please, do sit down, this will only take a moment.” Smiling, Fudge walked to Thompson and escorted him back to the chair.
“I have some information for you, Minister, about that missing boy.”
This was the first thing Thompson had heard in the past hour that made any sense to him. “Yes?” was his suspicious answer.
“The boy, Peter Martin, is at one of our hospitals. He was injured during a bungled arrest of one of our wizards. I’m sad to report that his condition is not good, and may, in fact, be hopeless. I believe you’re medical term for it is ‘brain dead.’” Fudge’s voice was showing emotion appropriate to the news, and he continued. “The situation we’re in requires us to keep the boy under observation until we can find a treatment, or until he dies.”
“What? YOU have Peter, you’ve injured him, and he can’t even go back to his family to die with dignity?” Thompson knew the Martin family personally and, though he had never met Peter, his father had spoken highly about him. “This really is intolerable, Fudge, what should I tell the family? That a mental wizard has the boy locked away. That will not go over well!”
“No, we knew it wouldn’t. I’ve spoken to the Minister of Magic and requested permission to bring the boy’s parents to see him so that they can feel more comfortable and know he’s being well cared for. You will be welcome, too, we feel it may lend weight to the solution we offer.”
“Fudge, you’ve offered no solution, only trickery. What can you do, let the mother or father in any time they want to see the poor lad? I don’t think your Minister would be open to that, do you?”
Fudge was expecting this but also had no other choices. “Minister, Scrimgeour has accepted my suggestion, but that is all we can or will offer.”
Both stared at the other, neither being able to change their stance. Finally Thompson acquiesced. “I will contact the parents. Do you have a date in mind?”
“We are at your disposal, just speak with Pimpleton over there,” Fudge indicated the painting on the wall, “and we will make the arrangements. I don’t think I need to tell you how delicate this situation is. I strongly recommend that you bring the boy’s parents here with no mention of magic or wizards.”
“Very well, Fudge. Please, do not consider my lack of enthusiasm a lack of appreciation.” Thompson held out his hand and Fudge nodded, giving him a brief handshake.
“I shall await your message, Minister. Good Day.”
And the same loud CRACK that had announced Fudge’s appearance, now announced his departure.
By mid November the approaching Christmas holidays were near enough to distract most students from their daily routines. Hallway pranks kept Filch chasing after the latest class of trouble-makers and eventually Snape had to threaten the students with detention after an evening meal. No one wanted to cross Snape so the shenanigans slowed down some by months end. At the Gryffindor table, Lisa and Carol were telling Rudy how they had helped Brian Whittle put a colour charm on a kilo of indigo die, making it look like regular laundry soap, then sneak it into the Slytherin laundry room. Pranks such as this, which Rudy regularly shared with Ginny in the Gryffindor common room, were giving Ginny a welcome mental break from the piles of homework she was constantly facing in preparation for her N.E.W.T.S..
Ginny and Harry continued to meet at Hagrid’s once or twice a week. When she cooked for the two men they would tease her about how she was practicing for married life, but then they helped with the dishes and generally pamper her the rest of the evening. She though it was a fair trade. Ginny was also enjoying getting to know Hagrid personally. Up to this point he had always been just another teacher, though she knew he was much more to Harry. Ron had told her about some of the adventures he, Harry, and Hermione had had with the half-giant, but hearing them from Hagrid made it much more real. Some evenings she would leave and ask Harry if they really did all that stuff. Of course Harry would just laugh or say that Hagrid was exaggerating, but Ginny was learning Harry’s nonverbal cues and she could usually tell when he was trying to hide something.
The Friday after Rudy and the twins had dinner at Hog House, Ron and Hermione attended Harry’s Friday afternoon Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Harry met them outside the door to the room but then escorted them to the Great Hall. Upon entering the hall they saw that the tables and chairs had been removed and about two hundred students were waiting for them.
“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed through clenched teeth, “what are all these people doing here?” But before he could answer some of the students recognized Ron from the Chudley Canons and ran up to him asking for an autograph. This pleased Ron immensely and he made a big scene, telling the students how he had played so well this season. Harry was watching Hermione and suspected she was about to announce that he had only played in one game, but she kept quiet. After a few minutes Harry called the students to order and had the first-year students prepared to work with Ron and Hermione on a few basic defensive spells.
The class was progressing well and for the first hour and Harry was impressed with how much Ron and Hermione had improved without having used the spells since the final battle. Mad-Eye came hopping into the hall for the final thirty minutes to observe Harry, which he tried to do at least once a week. This was fine with Harry, but then Snape entered and stood lording over the last fifteen minutes of class.
When the class was almost over Snape interrupted Harry’s final comments and asked to see a demonstration of what the first years had learned. Moody and Harry traded a look and Harry asked Rudy to demonstrate his disarming spell on Snape.
“Look Rudy, Snape is excellent in duels but I don’t think he knows how good you are with ‘Expelliarmus.’ When I count to three, fire the spell at his wand, NOT his torso. Ok?” Rudy nodded, and even though he looked a little green having to face the Headmaster he prepared for the duel.
Snape walked up to Rudy and asked if he understood the rules of dueling. Seeing him nod yes the two turned their backs and counted off ten paces. Then Snape counted.
“One”
“Two”
“STOP!” Snape screamed loudly as he turned around with a look of fury on his face. “POTTER! MOODY! AND YOU,” pointing to a wide-eyed and shaking Rudy, “in my office, immediately! Everyone else, back to…whatever you were doing.”
Harry looked at Moody, then to Ron and Hermione hoping they might have seen whatever it was that set Snape off, but they just returned his questioning look. Then he heard Moody call for him and he hurried off to Snape’s office with Moody thumping along beside him and Rudy following, completely bewildered.
When they arrived at the door to the Headmasters office, Harry let Mad-Eye and Rudy catch their breath, but said nothing. He then knocked on the door and it was opened immediately by Snape.
“Come in and sit.” Snape told them, pointing to three chairs in front of his desk. After they entered the room and sat, Snape went behind his desk and brought out a small vile of clear liquid and showed it to Moody.
“Do you know what this is, Moody?” Snape asked without malice, but in a serious tone.
“I suspect it’s Veritaserum.”
“And do you know why I’m asking you to approve it’s use with Mr. Keane?”
“I have a good suspicion but I expect you really don’t want me to say.”
“Very good, Moody. Mr. Potter, I’m going to administer this to Mr. Keane and you are not to say a word when I question him, do you understand?”
Harry did not have the slightest idea what Snape and Moody were talking about, but he did not have any choice so he just nodded his acceptance.
“Mr. Keane, this is a truth Potion called Veritaserum, I brewed it myself thirty-two days ago which means it is at its peak potency. I’m forbidden from administering this to any student without their consent, I would like to use it on you. Do you know why?”
Rudy was shaking and had no idea what was going on, but he also knew he had done nothing wrong so he mumbled, “No sir, but I’ll take it if you need me to.”
Harry was watching Snape when Rudy gave his answer and he noticed that Snape’s expression change from anger to surprise. He then walked to a table near the office door and poured half of a glass of water. Returning it to his desk he made certain everyone could see him place a single drop into the glass and hand it to Rudy. Rudy’s hands were shaking so badly he almost spilled the liquid but he held on until Snape pointed at him. “Now drink it all.”
When Rudy had swallowed the liquid he set the glass down on Snape’s desk.
“Mr. Keane, I want you to close your eyes and listen very carefully to my questions. You are to answer each of them immediately and with a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ unless I say otherwise. Do you understand me?”
Rudy had calmed down during Snape’s instructions and look almost as if he were asleep in his chair, but he was able to say a fully audible “Yes, sir,” and Snape began his questioning.
“Is your name Rudy Keane?”
“Yes.”
“Is your mother’s name Albus Dumbledore?”
“No.”
“Do you know what Occlumency is?”
Harry almost said something when Snape asked this question. He thought he knew where this line of questioning was going.
“No.”
“Have you ever been trained in ANY mind blocking techniques.”
“No.”
“That is all, you may wake now.” Snape’s face looked deeply puzzled as he released Rudy from the Potion. After Rudy opened his eyes Snape told him that he was excused, and to Harry’s amazement actually apologized for “wasting your time.”
Snape sat back in his chair when Rudy had left the office and for a moment almost looked like a regular professor to Harry. Then he started questioning Moody.
“How long have you known?”
Mad-Eye was silent for two or three seconds but finally answered. “Potter and I suspected last month, but now I’m sure.”
“Potter, do you know what happened over the past thirty minutes?” Snape sneered at Harry as if he knew Harry was hiding something.
“Not completely. I believe Professor Moody is referring to Rudy’s ability to use the ‘Expelliarmus’ spell with such force, and that it has it’s roots in Slytherin.”
“Well Potter, you do appear to have a brain, or at least half of one. Why was I using Veritaserum to question Mr. Keane?”
Harry did not know, and admitted as much.
“Not up on your Potions, are you Potter? Veritaserum is the only Potion that can open an Occlumen’s mind to probing questions. Even more, at it’s full potency there is no recorded instance in sixteen hundred years of an Occlumen being able to resist it.”
“And that’s why you used it on Rudy? You thought he was using occlumency to hide something?”
“Potter, think it through. Why did I stop the duel?”
“You were trying to read Rudy’s mind and discover the spell he was about to use.” It came out more like a guess than a statement.
“Correct, but there’s more.” Snape sat, peering at Harry, waiting for an answer he could not find. “When I gave him the Veritaserum and asked the questions, Mr. Keane was telling the truth, he has no knowledge of occlumency. He also does not realize what this natural ability…”
Harry suddenly saw where this was going and jumped up. “No, sir! It can’t be, his parents are both Muggles, and he’s not even that good in most of his other classes. He was sorted into Gryffindor and…”
“SIT DOWN POTTER!” Snape roared, but it was Moody who finished the thought.
“Harry, Rudy was telling the truth, he has no knowledge of occlumency, none at all. When Snape asked his questions his shield was not up. But he does have the ability, and it is so powerful that Snape here, who’s an excellent legilimens, was not able to penetrate into Rudy’s mind. Possibly the only other wizard who might have been able to get through was Dumbledore. Is my evaluation correct, Severus?”
Snape looked ill, but nodded in agreement.
“Harry, I expect that Rudy has other abilities like these, let’s hope we don’t end up killing ourselves as we try to discover them.”
Snape spoke up, looking even more ill, “Moody, I believe we shall find that the thread of spells we have to investigate will only be those derived from Salazar Slytherin.” Then in a voice that sounded like it was death itself, Snape filled in the last piece of the puzzle that Harry was missing.
“Even the Dark Lord didn’t have this sort of natural ability.”