Chapter Two: The Prize
Snape put one foot in front of the other in the darkness. As he put weight onto his foot, the ground began to shake. He struggled to stay standing, and put his next foot forward, making sure there was ground beneath it. More trembling. He began to walk faster, trying to dodge the shifting motion of the ground. It was nearly impossible to keep his balance, and he could hear rocks falling above him. He couldn't see them, however, nor any paths on the ground. Plus, there did not seem to be any walls he could get to.
The rocks thumped on the ground as the earth continued to shift, and his equilibrium was failing. Twice he stumbled to the ground, and had to pick himself up again. The third time it happened, he gave up, and began to crawl, trying to use his whole body to continue on his path.
Slowly, he became aware of a rumbling and a roaring. It was faint at first, as though somewhere off in the distance, but soon, it became deafening. Between the noise, which seemed to be coming out from all directions, and the shifting ground, he soon had no idea what direction he was going, nor how long he had been in this place. He could only struggle on and hope he was making progress. Finally, he saw a sign. Ahead of him, there was a tiny flicker of light. Was it the way out? As he started toward it, a new tremor caused him to lose his balance, and he found himself facing away from the flicker of light.
Suddenly, there was a booming crash, so loud it was like a thunder bolt, and just behind the crash came the sound of a man's voice. He couldn't make out the words, but he felt his mind go blank, the way it did when he employed Occlumency. A gentle peace settled on him, and the need to move toward the light left him. He felt suspended, as if waiting for something, some kind of motivation, some direction. Severus wanted nothing more than to hear that voice again. To hear the tones unimpeded by thunder crashes. He waited.
"Don't turn around," the voice said. The command triggered a sense of wrongness, much the same way the sight of the wand lying on the floor near the Fwooper had. Something was behind him. Something he wanted. Light. Then he knew what it was he hadn't heard. Imperio. The person behind him, the one he couldn't see, the one he had been longing to hear, was no friend, but an enemy. Though he felt rage beginning to form within him, he schooled it, and used the Imperius Curse's peace to activate his Occlumency. He couldn't fight the curse, not just yet. This was too precarious a place, with the shifting ground and the falling rocks. His adversary had been able to sneak up on him, which meant that he was more at home in this place than Snape was. It would not do to challenge him outright until they were on more equal ground; until his adversary made a mistake. In the meantime, he could protect his mind from further invasion.
"It's good to see you on your hands and knees, Sevvie, so don't get up," the voice drawled, and Snape placed it: Lucius Malfoy. He struggled not to let his anger at the nickname destroy his calm. He could not afford to lose his temper. From the moment they'd met, Lucius had tormented Severus. Lucius was in his sixth year when Severus had come to Hogwarts, and the older boy quickly evaluated Severus' talent and sought to control it. It was effective, for Severus wanted nothing more than friends at the time, and Lucius had been quick to bully some of the other Slytherins into taking him in. Not that they were ever truly friends, not in the real sense of the word. But at times, he almost felt like he belonged. If it meant putting up with Lucius' demands, well at least he wasn't an outcast. Better to have been a free outcast, though, than Lucius' little lapdog! He had been happy when Lucius had graduated and he was free to be his own person again. Then, they'd rediscovered each other in the Dark Lord's service. Severus, with his role of spying on Dumbledore and his ability to track down extremely valuable information, had quickly become one of the Dark Lord's favourites, much to Lucius' discomfiture. Now, it looked as though the tables had been turned once more. "It's been so very long, you know."
Another tremor shook the earth, and Severus was lurched forward. He heard footsteps catch up with him. "Don't worry," came Lucius' voice from out of the darkness. "We're almost past this part. Then, we'll see what you're really capable of."
At that moment, the earth began shifting again, and Severus fell over onto his side, struggling up again, hearing Lucius come closer. Then he stopped, and there was no more motion for several moments. After that, pacing. Lucius began to circle Snape slowly. Once he had finished one circle, he started another.
When were they going to move? What if they didn't? What if he had to try to break away from Malfoy here, in the dark, amidst the falling of rocks and the shifting earth? He knew he was trying to give himself an excuse to say no, to defy him, to avoid the curse he knew was inevitable. He'd only been here a short while though. And Malfoy hadn't given him an opening just yet. He would, he knew it would come. Severus made a deal with himself. As long as I have my wand, I can get out of here eventually. If he asks for my wand, I will take my chances with the shifting earth. If not, I'll wait for a better opportunity. By Merlin, he was going to need all the discipline he could muster. And courage. He let his guard drop briefly, just enough to project a feeling of fear and helplessness, should Lucius choose to look.
He could almost see Lucius smile, the way he had when he had gotten his way at Hogwarts. And then came his cool voice once more. "Crucio!"
Pain exploded out of every nerve ending in his body. There was nothing but pain, excruciating pain. Knives were slitting open his back, his head was splitting in two, right above his eyes, a cold spoon was digging in his chest... No! he screamed silently, Let it end, let me die, please...
The pain ended abruptly, and he found himself shaking and panting with the exertion. His arms were bent, and his head was on the floor, his tongue hanging out and tasting the dry earth. He closed his mouth, then his eyes, willing the scene to disappear. It had been two years since the last time he'd felt that, and then it had been Voldemort, who was slightly preferable to Lucius. If nothing else, everyone else had been subject to the Cruciatus Curse, not just him, and Lucius had gotten a fair number of doses himself. Then, they had been equals. Well, no, not quite. I was the superior in that situation, and I never used that curse on him. Or anyone. The thought that Dumbledore would be proud was washed away by what he had done, and it wasn't nearly enough to take away his current humiliation.
Lucius had walked away from him, his voice calling back in the darkness. "Come."
Severus had to move forward. Aside from the continual compulsion of the Imperius Curse, another shifting of earth propelled him in that direction. He landed on hard stone, and suddenly, a bright light burst upon him. It was so bright, after the constant darkness, that he thought it would blind him, and the pain was nearly overwhelming, particularly after the Cruciatus Curse. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he saw where he was. He was in a cage. Lucius was now behind him, locking the door he had come in. Lucius returned to the front of the cage.
"Come here," he ordered, and Severus did so, still on his hands and knees, since Lucius had commanded it earlier, continuing to feed Lucius the lie that he was completely under his control. Lucius stuck a hand through the bars of the cage, and let a fingernail trace Severus' cheekbone. Then he backed away slightly, and held out his left hand.
"Give me your wand."
Severus began to take out his wand, forcing himself to remain calm, trying to find the voice that resisted. He wanted, so badly, to hand it over, to give it to his jailer, and submit to him completely. But he knew it was wrong, that he really didn't want that. And with all the strength he could muster, he shouted, "NO!"
The feeling of peace left; the compulsion was gone. He immediately followed it up with "Expelliarmus!", gratified to see Lucius tumble backwards, his wand far out of reach. He pointed his wand at the cage door. "Alohomora!"
It opened, and he ran out. He had to get away from Lucius. The light was subsumed within the darkness, and strangely, he ran straight into something moist and tingly. More confounded mist! He felt himself being turned upside down and became completely dizzy before he felt the solid ground once more under his feet. The bell chimed five times, and then the mists cleared. He still had his map, thankfully. Now, where in this forsaken maze was he?
Severus looked down at the map. Everything was suddenly clear on it. He could see the entire labyrinth: the hedge maze, the path to the boggart's dwelling, the cliffs, the area where he'd run into Lucius Malfoy... it was all laid out for him in parchment and ink. Everything was far more connected than he'd realized. And, if the map could be believed, he was now standing just outside the hedge maze.
Sure enough, as he continued forward, he found his hand once more bumping into what was clearly a yew tree. The mists dissipated, and he went through it once more, eventually coming to the branching. This time, he took the branch and followed it to a different stone table. A sack sat upon it, along with many jars and bottles. More Potions supplies? Maybe this time, he'd be able to take some of them with him.
There was also, like at the other table, a book bound in dragon hide. Still, he couldn't help himself. He began to glance at the items in the jars and bottles. There were supplies enough to make Polyjuice Potion, Veritaserum, and the Wolf's Bane Potion, as well as other things useful in simpler potions. Inside the sack, he discovered all the herbs he had gathered the first time through the maze. This time, it bore his name. He hoped that meant he could take it with him out of the maze.
Finally, convinced he was through cataloguing the Potions supplies and their effects, he opened the book. It read:
Quick the word and smooth the tongue,
In final task ‘till you be done,
Here’s your chance, brew your aid,
So if you are by chance delayed
An excuse you might make,
So home the prize you might take.
This explained the odd nature of the ingredients on the table. He wasn't to make Veritaserum, but its antidote. Surely, that was the only potion that would allow one to "make an excuse", and surely no other magical means of doing so would require "brewing". It also reflected back to the original herb task, since lovage, dittany, and shrivelfig were three of the main ingredients in that potion: lovage increased a person's personal will, and had to be used with care, since it also occasionally caused anger and recklessness. Dittany was used in potions that caused hallucinations and those that brought along true visions, for those Seers who had need of such things. As for the shrivelfig, it was essential for the dual nature of things: the leaf was generally of uniform size, but it would grow or shrink to answer yes/no questions when asked by a witch or wizard. Thus, it contained within it both possibilities at all times, and was frequently added to truth potions. Lovage was the necessary balance, since it made will the deciding factor rather than objective truth. But even these three were not enough on their own - they would only allow the wizard to defer the telling of the truth, but the Veritaserum would win out unless the wizard were extremely sharp-witted and calm. Thus, were armadillo bile, ginger, and scarab beetles included along with moonstone. Finally, for the true Veritaserum antidote, Jobberknowl feathers were added to make it respond specifically to Veritaserum, and powdered hellebore, normally used for invisibility, was added to make the truth invisible. All of these were in jars on the table.
Of course, he also needed a cauldron. He could hardly brew a potion without one. At least this one did not also require heat. He decided to look for the cauldron first in any of the more obvious places. It was not under the table, nor in any of the paths he'd already passed through, so he returned to the other table. Sure enough, it was sitting right on top, along with a small bottle that would contain a standard dose, good for a day's ability to lie under Veritaserum. The other dragon hide book was nowhere to be found.
He took the cauldron and bottle back to his ingredients and began brewing. First, he added the truth elements: Jobberknowl feathers were followed by the dittany and shrivelfig, causing the potion to become clear. Next went in the moonstone for calm thinking. He stirred it counterclockwise seven times, causing the solution to become a milky white. Next, the lovage, which turned it bright red at first, but after twenty clockwise stirs, it was a rich burgundy. Then, the ginger, armadillo bile, and scarab beetles, added all at once and stirred feverishly for exactly one minute, alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise turns. Now, the potion was steely grey, and very thick. Finally, a dusting of hellebore powder was allowed to simply become infused in the potion. This was the longest step. Snape waited a good half-hour before the dark, inky black, yet now very thin potion was to his standards. He poured it into the bottle, and, taking his sack of herbs, headed back out to the beginning of the maze. As he saw something in the distance, perhaps a person intending to question him, he drank the potion and continued on his way. Whatever the prize was, it had better be more important than the sack of herbs. Which was now, he realized as he opened it, completely empty. Well, he’d have to worry about that later. Now, he needed to keep his wits and face the person ahead.
As Snape moved forward, he realized that it was not a person, but a Sphinx. Well, if it gave him a riddle, he should be sure to solve it – he tended to do well on those. Of course, it might just want to eat him, but even in that case, it would still want to talk. These thoughts kept him occupied until he was standing right before it. Like most Sphinxes, its human part was female. It stood in front of a door that he was sure had not been there before; blocking a path he was sure had previously been open. He checked his map. Sure enough, he was still on his way from the hedge maze to the entrance of the labyrinth.
The Sphinx continued to look at him calmly, slowly blinking its almond eyes. Finally, it spoke.
"I have no riddle for you. Instead, you are to come up with one for me. If I answer correctly, I will remain here and ask one of you. If I do not answer, you must give me a different one. If I answer wrongly, I let you pass. If I ask you a riddle, different rules apply. Answer correctly on your first guess – I let you pass. Answer wrongly – I attack. Remain silent – you must find a different way out of the maze."
Severus swallowed. It would be sure to guess any riddle he came up with: Sphinxes were excellent at logic. Of course, it would only attack if he then couldn't answer hers, but he didn't want to give it even that much of a chance. The only thought he had was to trick it, to use logic that was outside of the riddle. But was there a riddle he could do that with? He paced for a moment. Finally, he had one. It was about the four founders, but if he changed one of the details...
He took a moment to get the details right in his head, and then he spoke: "This is the Riddle of the Four Founders. The four founders of Hogwarts, the greatest witches and wizards of their day, live on one street. Rowena Ravenclaw has a phoenix feather wand. The yellow letterbox has a wand with a dragon heartstring. Godric Gryffindor lives next to Helga Hufflepuff. The wand with the unicorn hair is owned by the Founder who lives between the seventy-one-year old and the sixty-nine-year old. The Founder who is seventy-one has a blue letterbox. Helga Hufflepuff lives furthest to the east. The red letterbox has a wand with the hair of a Veela. Salazar Slytherin lives next to Rowena Ravenclaw. The phoenix feather wand is not next to the wand with the dragon heartstring. Salazar Slytherin is sixty-five years old. Helga Hufflepuff is sixty years old. The Founder who is sixty-nine years old has a Veela hair wand. Which Founder has a green letterbox?"
The Sphinx closed its eyes for a moment, then opened them and responded, "Salazar Slytherin."
"That answer is incorrect," Snape said, relieved.
The Sphinx's eyes widened. "Incorrect?" it asked.
"Yes. You see, as I said at the beginning, all the founders were witches and wizards. None of them would have a letterbox."
"Oh." The Sphinx looked disappointed. "Very well, you may pass."
The sphinx moved out of the way, showing two doors. However, the doors opened in different directions, and thus, he had to choose which way to go. It was possible that they went to the same place, but Severus had the distinct impression that one of them would lead out of the maze, and one would lead deeper into the maze. There was no indication on his map: it merely showed the original entrance. Finally, he chose the door to his left, hoping it would lead him to the end.
He stood in a round chamber. Like the chamber before he met the boggart, this one had fascinating pictures painted all over its walls. The colours here, however, were blacks, greens, and violets. They showed plants, cauldrons, potions... A black door stood at the other end of the room. And in the very centre of the room was a wooden bench, with a very large cauldron sitting on it.
As he approached the cauldron, he heard the bell again chiming ten times. Words in gold, ornate lettering, the same that had been on the entrance to the maze, read: Severus Snape, Potions Master. Was this the prize?
He looked into the cauldron, and could scarce believe his eyes: the sack of herbs he had collected in the garden and hedge maze were there, along with vials of all shapes and sizes, silver and gold knives, smaller cauldrons, instruments to help him measure all ingredients precisely... There were even some rare and extremely expensive ingredients nestled among some that were illegal to trade, supplies like Unicorn blood that were only used in the darkest of potions... He was overwhelmed.
Then, wasting no time, he Shrunk the cauldron and headed out the door with it. The path was now clear, free from all mist and darkness, and soon, he had come to the entrance. The words on the lintel had changed, however. They now read: The Labyrinth of Dreams Achieved. He passed under it and out into the area he had fallen into. Now, steps led up to the trapdoor, making it easy for him to exit into the open air.
The sun was very bright outside so bright that he could barely see after his sojourn in the darkness. A dark shape, no two, were coming nearer. Soon, through squinted eyes, he recognized them as Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and Vindictus Viridian, Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. He glared at the latter, and turned his attention to the former.
"I see you have finally found where you belong, Severus," Albus said to him, gesturing at the cauldron.
Snape stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"The labyrinth shows our true dreams. Come, then. We have much to discuss. But first, Vindictus will let you know how your classes have been going."
"My classes?"
"Yes," spoke up the young professor. "You've been gone for a week. I've taken your classes, since you normally take mine when I cannot be present. I considered it only right to repay the favour."
"A week?" It hadn't seemed that long to him, maybe a day, or several hours, but a week?
"Yes, and how do you deal with it? With my class, it's relatively easy to make sure disasters don't occur, but I think I spent more time cleaning up explosions than actually teaching," Viridian said. "You've got a whole lot of dunderheads!"
Dunderheads, yes. He filed the word away for future use.
"Anyway," the other man continued, "I've put all the assignments on your desk to grade and I've given you a list of particularly troublesome students. You may wish to give them all a talking to when you get back."
"That I will certainly do. Now, then, what day is it?"
"Saturday. As I said you've been gone a week. Well, a week and a day, I suppose."
"Indeed."
"Well, Vindictus," Albus said as they neared the castle, "unless you have anything else to add, Severus and I have a long talk ahead of us."
"No, Headmaster, that's all. I'll take my leave."
"Until later."
Viridian separated from them, and the two men headed up to the Headmaster's office.
"Have a seat, Severus. I imagine you must be very tired, but before you retire, there is much for us to talk about. First of all, surely you can have no doubts now that you are truly meant to teach Potions and not Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
"What do you mean?"
"The cauldron, Severus, the cauldron. After all the trials of the labyrinth, you chose the cauldron, and not..."
"And not what?" Severus asked, angry now, feeling as though he had been manipulated in some way.
"Well, I don't know. But I do know how that labyrinth works - at the end, you were given two choices, and you chose the path that led to the cauldron. What the other prize was, I know not, but there are always two."
"You know about that maze?"
"Of course I do. It is required for all Headmasters to pass through, as well as various other individuals who are at turning points in their lives. I suspect that it was a joint effort of Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, but we may never know. All I do know is that it shows the seeker the path they truly desire, amidst a number of alternatives they may have been considering. The prize is always something that symbolizes that path."
"You mean..."
"I mean that your choice at the end, the one that led you to the cauldron, was not an arbitrary choice, but was built from all the other choices you made, all the other dangers you passed. I must say, I am relieved. I was worried you might be right after all, that you were truly more suited for the Defence position."
"Why, because of the curse?"
"Yes, precisely, Severus. I must admit, I'm somewhat surprised that you know of it. I would not have expected Lord Voldemort to cue you in."
Severus stared at the man. It had been the Dark Lord who had originally sent Snape to Dumbledore, not realizing that Snape had been manipulating him into it. The Dark Lord had told him to apply for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, which suited Snape’s plans perfectly. Snape hadn't realized that the Dark Lord knew about the curse. "He knew?"
"Of course he knew," Dumbledore replied, "seeing as he's the one who put it there in the first place. He must have only had use of you for one year. I imagine he thought that I would discover you and then kill you. Either that, or he intended you to kill me." The Headmaster shrugged. "In either case, I can hardly let you take the post."
Severus was furious. How dare the Dark Lord use him in such a fashion! He was well aware that if he had attempted to kill Dumbledore, he would not have succeeded. The Dark Lord was sending him to his death! Plus, he had ruined any chance he may have had to prepare students against the Dark.
"There is more," Dumbledore continued. "Voldemort may be gone, but he is not gone for good. His curse is still active, and I doubt it would be if he were really dead. Plus, as you know, there is a prophecy that he will be vanquished by the Potter boy. So, I'm asking you two things."
"They are?"
"One: you will continue to apply for the Dark Arts position. That way, when he appears again, he will have less reason to doubt your loyalty. I, we will need you to resume your former position as an insider. Two..." Dumbledore looked terribly sad as he spoke. "I know one of the tasks in the labyrinth is to face your worst fear. I do not know what it is, but I must ask you this: if I ask you, will you do that for me?"
Snape's mind flashed back to the scene of Dumbledore pleading, begging... "No," he said, shortly. "Never."
"Even if everything depends on it?"
"No, I will not kill you, sir. Find someone else."
Fawkes came to him then, singing his phoenix song. A song of beauty beyond this earth. Tears appeared in Dumbledore's eyes.
"That was your worst fear?"
"You were like that woman I told you about, the Muggle woman whom Lucius tortured... You wanted..." he couldn't go on.
"Severus. I value your loyalty more than you can possibly know. That this is your worst fear says more than anything I could possibly have come up with. However, you value me too highly. When the time comes..."
"That time will never come!"
"When the time comes, it may become apparent that you are more important, that your status as a Death Eater, who is trusted, albeit only slightly, by Voldemort will be the crucial point in the war against him. Will you truly fail me in that, allow him to rule all because of foolish sentiments? I would rather die than see him win this. You know what it would mean, Severus. I am not saying you will have to do that. I'm saying that it may be the only thing we can do. I hope, desperately for your sake, that it will not come to that. But if it does, will you abide by my wishes?"
Severus glared at Dumbledore. How dare the man ask him that? "I –" he cut himself off. "I need to think about it."
"Yes, do think about it. After all, Harry is still a babe. You have at least a decade in which to prepare yourself. Remember this, though: I trust you, Severus Snape. I trust you completely."
"You take too much for granted!" he snapped. "But I will think about it."
"Good. Well, then. Will I be seeing you at breakfast tomorrow?"
"Perhaps."
"Until later, then."
Snape let the door close behind him, and returned to his chambers. Lost souls indeed...