Chapter Forty: Detention with Snape
Professor Dewitt’s sly grin greeted the fourth years as they filed into his classroom, late on a chilly March afternoon. The occasional snowflake drifted down past the window, reminding the students of the unusually rigid spring unfolding. “Good morning,” Dewitt said from his desk. With his impish little smile and overextended frame, he resembled a cross between an oddly cheerful dementor and an elf.
Lottie sat down in the back row. Dewitt, even after months, never failed to unnerve her. Andrea sat down as well, her lips pursed as she surveyed the professor’s expression. “Why is he so giddy?” she whispered.
“Wands away,” Dewitt instructed gleefully. “Today will be a lecture.” He flicked his wand and a stretch of straight, neat handwriting appeared on the blackboard. He swept across the room and settled against the front of his desk. “Today, we will discuss the Dark Lord.” Dewitt waited patiently for the class’s murmurs to fade away. Lottie merely exchanged a quizzical glance with Andrea. “It is important,” he went on, “to understand our enemy. Otherwise, how would we be able to defeat him?”
Lottie shifted squeakily in her wooden chair.
“The Dark Lord rose to power in the 1980s. As several virtuous wizards tried to resist his power, others became his followers and soon learned the power and gifts he could give them. The Dark Lord offers riches”oh yes”a wonderful reward for serving him loyally”protection, power, land, connections. Pureblooded families shared his views”many of them had been feeling resentment toward Mudbloods for years.”
The class was silent. After a moment, Lottie realized that her mouth was hanging open in surprise, and shut it hastily.
“A history of this Pureblooded sentiment dates back over a thousand years”Salazar Slytherin, the noble Founder of Slytherin house, created a Chamber that held a monster to kill all of the Muggle-borns crowding the Hogwarts halls.”
Lottie glanced significantly at Andrea who widened her eyes in return. “As the Dark Lord gained power,” Dewitt went on, “so did his followers. They were the most fearsome”the most respected wizards of their time.”
Andrea thrust her hand into the air. “I find that hard to believe,” she said. “Nobody respects Death Eaters.”
“No?” Dewitt slammed his knuckles against her desk, bent low so he was face to face with her. “You do not admire a flawless feat of Dark Magic?” he snarled, a grin visible beneath his words.
Andrea spluttered, her blue eyes moving furiously to keep his gaze. “N-no.”
“How unusual.” With another knock against her desk, Dewitt straightened up and turned to the class. “And the rest of you? Are you opposed to the display of Dark Magic, despite its artistry?”
The class remained silent. Lottie could only vaguely feel a pulse in her hollow body.
“The Dark Lord gained followers”yes”grew an army. And of course”you all know about the famous fall of Harry Potter. After that, the Dark Lord gained an even greater amount of Death Eaters, even more followers willing to carry out his word and create his perfect world.
“With a throng of Death Eaters, the Dark Lord easily conquered wizarding Britain and, only days later, Muggle Britain, which fell as easily as a tower of cards. Foolish Muggles have no means of governing themselves. The Dark Lord imprisoned them”as I am sure you all are well aware. He waited for them to eventually die out, but, as you are also well aware, they just kept reproducing. Now, fifty years later””
“This lesson is better suited for a history class, I would think.”
Heads snapped to the door to see Professor Snape, leaning casually against the wooden frame. Strands of black hair fell into his face, lightly obstructing his piercing gaze.
“Ah… Severus, my old friend.” Dewitt crossed the room and placed a hand on Snape’s elbow as greeting. “I was wondering when you would finally stop by.”
Snape’s smile never faltered; Lottie had the impression that it was fake, but she couldn’t be sure; Snape’s defenses were so on guard, she could sense them from her seat. “Yes, Robert, I apologize for not visiting earlier. Although the timing is unfortunate, I do suggest that you dismiss the class, so we can have more privacy.”
Dewitt smiled this time. He towered over Snape, whose head just grazed the bottom of his short beard. “Dismiss the class?” he repeated.
In Snape’s first few months of teaching, he had asserted a certain authority over several of the other professors. The students feared him”avoided him when they heard the rustle of his cloak or the click of his boots against he ground. By March, every Palmyitor student (and a few from other Houses as well) had experienced his uncontainable power. Rumor had it that nobody had yet succeeded in blocking him, which at least made Lottie feel slightly better about her failures.
The teachers, while not adopting the students’ fear, also possessed a sort of awe in regard to the notorious man. They had all heard his stories from the war. Many of them hadn’t even been alive when Snape was first spying. In fact, the only professors who did not seem at all intimidated by him were the three heads, considering that all three had had him as a professor at Hogwarts. Palmyitor seemed especially close to him.
Come to think of it, Lottie noticed that Hermione had not spoken with him at all. At the staff table, they were always separated by a row of silent professors.
“Forgive me, Severus, but I am in the middle of a lesson,” said Dewitt. “These students are lucky enough to be learning the story of””
“Yes, I am well aware of the lesson plan,” Snape said. “Perhaps you do not understand the importance of my interruption.” As he spoke, he carefully gestured a long finger along his left forearm.
Dewitt’s bushy eyebrows came together as he contemplated this. It was a silent staring contest, a battle of wills, as Snape and Dewitt glared at each other. “Very well,” Dewitt finally said, breaking their eye contact. “Class dismissed.”
The students sat, blinking at the tension between the two professors. “He said,” Snape repeated, turning his oversized nose toward them, “class dismissed.”
Immediately, the students jumped to their feet. Grabbing their bags, they dashed out of the room to avoid Snape’s impending wrath.
Lottie hesitated at the doorway, waiting for Andrea. The door slammed behind them. “Come on,” Andrea urged, crossing a few steps into the hallway. “Let’s get out of here.”
“No.” Lottie held out a hand to tell Andrea to shut up. “Wasn’t that suspicious?” she asked.
“Lottie, it’s Snape. He could be handing out candy and giving hugs and still be suspicious.”
“No, but did you see what he did?” Lottie pointed to her own left forearm. Goosebumps leapt up her skin. “He was pointing toward his you-know-what.”
“No, I don’t.”
“His Dark Mark.” Lottie lowered her tone. “All Death Eaters have one. That must mean he’s a Death Eater.”
“But Lottie, we know he was a spy for them. Of course he would have one.”
Lottie frowned. “But then what about Dewitt?” she asked. “This is proof.”
“It’s not proof of anything, Lottie, though I’ll admit that he seems like the type.” Andrea took off her glasses and rubbed them against the hem of her robe in thought. “I wish we could hear what they’re saying.”
Lottie smirked. “Of course we can,” she whispered. She beckoned Andrea toward the door and pointed at the gap at the bottom between it and the floor.
“Oh, Lottie, come on.” But Lottie wasn’t listening. She dropped to her stomach and turned her head so her ear was next to the crack.
“I see no harm in it,” Dewitt was saying. “We can meld their little minds early.”
Andrea sat down next to Lottie. Her glasses pressed awkwardly against her cheeks as she strained for any wisps of the conversation.
“You are being far too obvious. That is the problem.” Smack. Lottie imagined Snape’s palm slamming against the wooden desks. “If there is not one child left in that class who does not believe you to be a Death Eater, I would be highly surprised.”
Dewitt scoffed. “It does not matter,” he said. “None of these children will survive another year, once we unlock the castle.”
Lottie clamped a hand over Andrea’s mouth to muffle her gasp.
“Speaking of which, have you gotten any closer to finding his weakness?” Dewitt asked.
Snape hesitated only for a fraction of a second. “No,” he said. “Unfortunately not.”
Dewitt roared and, Lottie assumed, slammed his fist against the blackboard. A small cloud of smoke came out from under the gap, stinging Lottie’s eyes. “How could you not?” he asked, ignoring Snape’s hushing noises. “You have been here for over two months. Are you not the most skilled Legilimens alive?”
“Beside one, yes,” Snape said stiffly.
“What?” There was a pause, in which Lottie could imagine tiny gears clicking in Dewitt’s brain. “Ah, of course. Our Lord is, of course, more skilled than you. A foolish thought.” Another pause while Dewitt had to gather his momentum. “But how could you not have found Maelioric’s weakness yet?” he went on. “The old fool wears his heart on his sleeve. The Legilimency of a child could invade his pathetic mind.”
“It is not a matter of skill,” Snape explained, his voice quivering. “It is a matter of discretion. Regardless of his inability for Occlumency, Fornax Maelioric knows far too well the experience of a Legilimency attack. He would know right away if I tried to invade his mind. I have to find another way.”
Dewitt scoffed. “This should have been reported to our Lord,” he said, desperately trying to end the argument. “If you cannot complete this simple task, why are you here?”
“To keep an eye on you.” Snape’s cold laugh cut through the room like steel. “It was reported to the Dark Lord. He gave the information only to his most valuable and loyal followers.”
Dewitt paused again. He had lost”even Lottie could tell. His clunky footfalls stormed around the room while he waited for another idea to strike him. “What about the other attack?” he said finally.
“The… other attack?” Snape repeated. “Ah, of course. Recent information I have gathered makes the castle more vulnerable to us.”
Lottie sat up and glanced at Andrea with wide eyes. “Palmyitor,” Andrea whispered. “We have to tell her.”
The dialogue inside stopped. A pause was followed by a shuffle of footsteps. “Excuse me, Robert, but I believe we have guests.”
“Go,” Lottie mouthed. Scraping her knees and hands, she pushed herself to her feet and tried to scramble out of the corridor. She ran as quickly as she could, almost rounding the corner”when a long, thin hand clamped on her shoulder and stopped her dead in her tracks.
“What are you doing here, Rowe?” Snape’s thin voice cracked.
“Leaving”going to the common room,” Lottie answered calmly. She kept her back to him; if she turned around, he would see the lie”see the panic in her eyes. Andrea was frozen in her tracks a step ahead. Nothing held her back but pure fear.
“You two are always digging your own graves,” Snape said, pushing Lottie away from him. Lottie still stared determinately ahead. “Remember that if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be alive. Think of that next time you spy for anything you are not assigned to.”
Lottie nodded and, a chill creeping up her spine, inched farther down the corridor. “Detention,” Snape said. “Tonight after dinner. Don’t be late.”
Groaning, Lottie turned around to protest, but Snape was gone. The door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room creaked on its hinges.
“We’re lucky,” Andrea breathed, “that he didn’t kill us.”
“Yeah, but I’d say we’re pretty unlucky still.” Lottie glanced back again. “They want to kill us.”
“And we have detention.”
“Honestly, Andrea, is that the worst thing you can think of right now?”
“No, but it certainly doesn’t help, does it?” Andrea sighed and started down the corridor. “Come on, we really do have to tell Palmyitor.”
Lottie glanced around at the corridor in a haze. The students, chattering as they passed by, seemed unusually innocent”they were all blinded by the war; they could not see any immediate threat. The calm surroundings did not match Lottie’s inner panic.
“Lottie?” Andrea’s voice brought her back to the present. Andrea pointed to the door, where they could both here the muffled frustrations of an argument.
“Whether or not you trust him, Naesa,” said a familiar voice, “you should at least question him more thoroughly.” It was Hermione. The exasperation beneath her words was so clear that even Andrea could hear it. “You cannot deny his past is suspicious. It is unsafe to have him near our students.” Hermione lowered her voice. Lottie and Andrea had to shuffle closer to the door in order to hear. “If anything happened to our students, Naesa””
“Nothing will happen to the students.” Palmyitor’s voice was eerily calm and collected. “I trust Severus more than most of the faculty here.”
“How?” Hermione’s voice reached an usually pitchy register. “How can you trust him when you know what he has done? He’s been keeping a low profile for all this time and he suddenly appears out of the blue. Just because you admired him as a professor, Naesa, does not mean he is a good person.”
“He is the most intelligent man I have ever met,” Palmyitor said. “He has gone through extensive questioning and knows what is at stake. And just because you did not know where he was doesn’t mean we all didn’t.”
“You mean you had contact with him?” Hermione asked. “Before he showed up after rescuing Rowe and Woolbright from those Death Eaters, he could have been pronounced dead. You mean to tell me that you had contact with him this entire time and you told nobody? I mean this respectfully, Naesa, but I think you need to reevaluate your loyalties.”
A chair scraped against the stone. Lottie imagined Palmyitor jumping to her feet defensively. Hermione continued to speak. “Look at what you’ve created,” Hermione said in earnest. “Look at what is around you. It’s wonderful, Naesa. If this continues”if we do what we must”we may live to see Voldemort’s demise. I know you like him, Naesa, but is it really worth it to sacrifice all of this for a”a friendship?”
“I am not sacrificing anything,” Palmyitor said. “Severus Snape is as innocent as you or me. I have submitted him to questioning, however; do not forget I have employed Legilimency against him.”
“But he can do Occlumency!” Hermione paused. Lottie could hear her frustrated breathing through the stone walls. “I apologize, Naesa, but I don’t think I can continue this conversation. If you cannot take the lives of your students seriously, I don’t think I can explain. Despite the fact that he can teach and give knowledge that Cormag could not, that knowledge is not worth the lives at stake.” The door cracked open. Lottie and Andrea scrambled down the hall out of view. “Thank you, Naesa.”
Hermione appeared in the corridor, hair frazzled, eyes bugging out of her skull. Lottie could hear Andrea's breath catch in her chest as the professor slowly walked by.
“She doesn’t seem to want to hear anything bad about him,” Andrea said.
“Maybe she’ll listen to us. Come on.” Lottie trotted back to Palmyitor’s door and knocked twice.
“Severus?”
“Er…” Lottie pushed open the door.
“Oh.” Palmyitor frowned. Her hair was not pulled back in its usual bun, but it fell across her shoulders in a tired sort of way. The rings that usually cluttered her fingers were strewn aside, lying across her desk and looking unusually dull. The bags under her eyes were deeper and darker than Lottie had seen them. Wrinkles lined her solemn face. “Yes?” she asked impatiently.
“Oh”er,” Lottie stuttered, beckoning Andrea to follow her into the office. “We were just”erm”coming to tell you about something we overheard.”
Palmyitor’s gaze did not falter. “It’s about Severus, is it?”
“Well”erm””
“Yes,” Andrea said.
For the first time since coming to Alsemore, Lottie could see desperation in Palmyitor’s eyes. “I don’t know why everyone here believes him to be on their side.” Her voice was calm in a way that was deeply frightening.
“Professor, we overheard him,” Andrea said gently. “He was talking with Professor Dewitt. They”they mentioned”” The look in Palmyitor’s eyes stopped Andrea completely.
Lottie took a breath and tried to gather steam. “They were talking about finding Professor Maelioric’s weakness,” she said. “They said they need to get into the castle. They said that they were going to kill everybody. Professor, if that isn’t proof, I don’t know what is.”
“Severus Snape is not a Death Eater,” Palmyitor said. Lottie could see her regaining composure, putting up a block. “He is a spy”a very gifted spy.”
“But, Professor, he mentioned an attack.” Fear poured from Andrea’s voice. “If we don’t do something, people could die. Could you at least check to make sure?”
“I am sure.” Palmyitor got to her feet. Her hair magically readjusted itself as she spoke. “Severus Snape is not a Death Eater. I am willing to stake my life on it. Now”” Her eyes flitted to the window, where an ephemeral silver glow lingered. “If I am not mistaken, you have a detention tonight. I suggest you go to the common room and get your work done early.” The door magically swung open.
Taking the hint, Andrea left the room and pulled Lottie along with her. The door slammed. “Wow,” Andrea breathed, but Lottie interrupted her by raising a hand in the air.
“Listen,” she whispered.
Through the door frame, they could hear Palmyitor hiss an incantation. “Ryan?” Palmyitor’s voice croaked.
Andrea tugged on Lottie’s arm. “Come on,” she said. “We should get out of here.” Without looking back, the pair rushed across the corridor and down the stairs towards the Palmyitor common room.
“I can’t believe it,” Andrea said once they were settled into their favorite oversized armchairs.
“What?” Lottie asked.
“Everything. Palmyitor wouldn’t even try to look into it.”
“Yeah,” Lottie said with a half-laugh. “Must be in love with him or something.”
Andrea frowned. “Not only that,” she said. “About Snape”and Dewitt. Dewitt is being so obvious. How could she not believe us?”
Lottie shrugged wearily. They should just give up trying to figure out Palmyitor’s actions, she thought dully.
“But then why would Palmyitor hire him?” Andrea persisted.
“I don’t know”maybe Snape told her to.”
“And”what”she believed him because she’s so in love?” Andrea scoffed.
“Yeah!” Lottie placed a dramatic hand on her forehead in a delicate pose. “He seduced her just so he could get Dewitt inside the castle”and from there”they can destroy us all! Hah”hah”hah.”
“Lottie, this is serious,” Andrea said. Yet under Andrea’s solemn stare, Lottie could make out a miniscule smirk.
“Oh, what a love story,” Lottie went on, rolling her eyes heavily. “It’s so romantic. If true love isn’t serious to you, I don’t know what is.”
“You know what is?” Andrea pulled a book out of her bag. “This Legilimency essay due tomorrow. Even you’re going to have to work hard on it. If you can’t even block his attacks, homework is all you have to rely on for a mark.”
“It’s unfair,” Lottie grumbled, collapsing into her armchair and pulling out her own textbook. “He is the best Legilimens in the world, he said. We have no chance against him.”
“No, he’s the best except one.”
“Oh.” Lottie rolled her eyes. “Well good thing the Dark Lord isn’t in our class then, because he would mess the curve up for everyone.”
“Do you really think it’s the Dark Lord, though?” Andrea asked. “After all, Snape has been playing spy for this long. He must be tricking You-Know-Who.”
“Not if he’s spying on us. Then he has nothing to hide.” Lottie sighed and dropped her book onto her lap. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” she said. “If Palmyitor doesn’t believe us soon, we’re all going to get murdered anyway.”
Dinner that night was a grim affair. Both Palmyitor and Clynalmoy were noticeably absent from the head table. Maelioric was separated from Snape and Dewitt by Seward, Dyer and Hermione. Lottie and Andrea kept glancing up at the staff table anxiously, as though expecting Snape and Dewitt to leap to their feet and strangle them all.
“I still can’t believe he gave us detention,” Lottie said grumpily over her chicken. “He should’ve known that would’ve just made us want to tell Palmyitor more.”
“Well he probably knows she won’t believe us,” Andrea said bitterly.
The pair glanced up at the staff table, where Snape sneered back over his uneaten food. “I just can’t believe him,” Lottie said, pounding a fist on the table. “He’s our teacher. He betrayed our trust. I wish we had Breckenridge back.”
“Why did Professor Breckenridge leave anyway?” Andrea asked.
Lottie shrugged. “Something about his talents being needed elsewhere.”
“But if Snape is better than Breckenridge,” Andrea began thoughtfully, “why didn’t they send him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Snape ripped his face off or something.”
“Lottie, don’t say things like that.”
“Merlin, I’m only joking. Snape is probably just too recognizable or something.”
“Probably…” Andrea glanced back at the staff table. Lottie did as well. Snape’s plate of food had vanished. He raised his eyebrows at the pair and got to his feet.
“Guess that’s our cue,” Lottie sighed.
“This may not be too bad,” Andrea said as they exited the hall.
“Yeah and Palmyitor may not be hopelessly in love with Snape.” Lottie readjusted her bag slung over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”
They walked in silence. The only sound that followed them was the consistent drip of a pipe overhead. When they reached the Occlumency classroom door, Andrea knocked. The door swung open. Boxes of parchment stacked to almost human height lined the walls.
“Good evening,” Snape said from the desk. “Tonight, I am giving you the most dull and mind numbing task I could create.” His upper lip curled with distaste as he surveyed the pair. “Maybe this will deter you from any further espionage.”
Lottie groaned to herself and stared at the boxes. The Legilimency classroom had once been a place of comfort”a place just for Palmyitors, where Lottie could excel. Now, it just filled her with dread to walk by the door, knowing she would have to further embarrass herself from Snape’s incredible power.
“You will be sorting these various papers,” Snape said. “I want them sorted in chronological order by their dates, but I also want a list of them in alphabetical order”and in which box I may find them. When this is finished, come to my office next door and tell me. You may not leave until I inspect your work.” He turned to the door and added, “And keep in mind that I can hear every word you say. If your conversation deviates from the task at hand, you will get to sort my even larger files tomorrow night.” He gave them one distasteful glare before leaving the classroom. The door clicked shut.
“This is going to take hours,” Lottie groaned.
“Well the faster we get started, the faster we can leave.” Andrea pulled some spare parchment and a quill from her bag. “You make piles by decade and write down the titles, so we can make an alphabetical list.”
Snape’s assessment of how mind numbing this activity was turned out to be accurate. The pages did not even have any writing on them”just the title and date on top. “The rest is probably in invisible ink,” Andrea said, “so that we don’t read it.”
They were only half of the way through the papers when one caught Lottie’s bleary and tired eye. “Er…” She held out the page extra far to get Andrea’s attention. “Summer 2051,” she said loudly. “Written in… 2050.”
With her eyes squinting behind her glasses, Andrea scooted toward Lottie and looked at the page. She gasped when she saw it. Lottie raised her eyebrows significantly. On the page before them, words in invisible ink were just beginning to show through. Only a few were visible.
“Attack…” was printed on the page. Farther down was, “Death,” and “plan…” Lottie squinted and she could just make out a long word. It was still mostly invisible, but she could see that it started with a large B.
“What could it mean?” Lottie whispered.
Andrea cleared her throat pointedly. “No, Lottie,” she said loudly. “Its title is 2051, but it’s dated 2050.”
The door opened. Lottie scrambled to put the parchment in the 2050s pile, while Andrea hastily scribbled down the title.
“How is your progress?” Snape asked from the doorway.
“We’re about halfway done,” Andrea said quickly.
Snape smirked. “I suggest you increase your pace,” he said. ‘You will be here well past midnight if you continue like this.”
Andrea sighed and went back to work. Lottie's attention, on the other hand, was focused more the execution of a particularly rude hand gesture towards the door.
Three hours and several paper cuts later, Snape finally let them go. “What time is it?” Lottie asked Andrea blearily.
“Half past one,” Andrea said, pointing to a grandfather clock in the corner. Ink was smeared across her palm and speckled on her face.
“What was that parchment about?” Lottie asked, suddenly as they rounded a corner.
“I don’t know,” Andrea said. “Looks like they’re planning to attack something this summer, though.”
“But what?”
Andrea shrugged. ‘Maybe we should tell Palmyitor,” she suggested half-heartedly.
“I guess,” Lottie said. “But she won’t believe us anyway. I suppose we’re sort of obliged to try.”
Andrea wrenched open the Palmyitor clock. “Maybe,” she said, “we’ll finally get to prove to her what an evil, cantankerous villain Snape is once and for all.”
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: So... there is absolutely no excuse for this absence. All I can say is that I'm genuinely sorry for how long it took. I took a bit of a personal odyssey away from the computer, but I should be better about posting and not... you know... disappearing for six months. That being said, I am traveling this summer, so I'll do my best, but I'm not entirely sure what my internet situation will be.
A million thanks to TheBird for always helping me out so much, and laughing with me at my stupid mistakes.
This chapter is dedicated to my friend, Adam, who I tend to get into trouble with.