Disclaimer: The fine tapestry of plot and characters belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am merely pulling threads at will and weaving my own design in counterpoint to hers.
Chapter 24
Debriefing
“Tell me you really didn’t say that!” the headmistress demanded.
“I assure you, I did -- and it apparently hit the mark because he rounded on me like a crazed hornet and challenged me to duel him,” replied Harry.
“Did it occur to you to refuse to do so?” she inquired pointedly. “Severus is no longer your teacher, you are not compelled to follow his orders.”
“Considering he had already disarmed us, it didn’t seem like I could very well refuse,” Harry admitted.
“But to call him out like that…” The headmistress shook her head in disbelief. “He would have given you detention--”
“”until the day I died,” Harry supplied. “But, that’s just it, Headmistress, outside of the classroom, what’s to keep him from just killing me instead? He’s already proven himself fully capable.”
“Your point is well taken,” conceded the headmistress. “Yet both you and Remus contend that was not his intention.”
“That is our consensus, yes; but nothing having to do with Severus Snape is ever clear.”
“I tend to agree with that.”
“Which is why Professor Lupin did his best to draw Snape out at the beginning -- to get him to give us any hint of his current situation.”
“I take it he was less than successful,” the headmistress surmised. “What then did you conclude that Severus’ intent might have been? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
“I think that in his twisted way, he was trying to impart a N.E.W.T. level dueling lesson.”
“You can’t be serious!” gasped the headmistress. “Does Remus agree with your assessment?”
“I’m not entirely sure about that.” Harry was candid in his response. “But to me it had all the hallmarks of Snape’s unique teaching style.” She was clearly waiting for him to elaborate; could it be that she really didn’t know? “The arrogance and total disregard for anyone else’s feelings but his own. He’s always been totally contemptuous about the consequences of his actions.”
“Yet I can’t say that the safety record in his Potions classes has been anything but exemplary,” observed the headmistress critically.
“Of that I have no doubt; he was absolutely obsessive about the potions themselves. It’s the actual students “ the human element”that he disdains.”
“Harry, these are monstrous accusations…” cautioned the headmistress.
Harry shrugged and replied, “Perhaps so, but I endured six years of it. How else, Headmistress, can you account for the fact that Neville’s deepest, darkest fear manifests itself as Severus Snape?”
“Yes, I heard about the boggart “ and I suspect that Severus resented the fact that Remus had Neville dress it like his grandmother, also. But you have to admit, Harry, it was extremely amusing,” the headmistress smiled in spite of herself. “I almost regret not having been an actual witness to the event.”
“But that’s just it, Headmistress, Professor Lupin understands the healing power of laughter and Snape resents anyone who has an ability that he himself was denied at birth!”
“Harry, your use of hyperbole is going to slay me,” admitted the headmistress as she shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to hide her smile. “Did it occur to you that Severus may have been trying to assess your strengths and weaknesses in order to make a full report to Voldemort?”
“Yes; but as Professor Lupin pointed out, Snape could have cut us down from the very beginning. Even if his handlers had prohibited him from actually killing us, he would have had little trouble in taking us captive.”
“What if his assignment had been to ascertain your location, to determine how your education had been progressing? You gave him a demonstration of your dueling abilities.”
“Then I don’t think he was very impressed,” Harry concluded. “There’s one little bit of the story that Professor Lupin was missing when he gave you his report yesterday, Headmistress. At the point that Snape had me disabled, helplessly pinned at wand point “at the moment that I finally realized that it was likely that he was going to kill me right then and there -- he got in my face and gave me a critique of my dueling. Professor Lupin didn’t hear those words as Snape always lowers the timbre of his voice when his wishes to be at his most intimidating.”
The headmistress silently weighed the import of Harry’s words for a long moment before venturing, “Is it possible that Severus was feeding you false information, luring you into using methods that would backfire?”
“It was a very insightful analysis; Professor Lupin agrees that the advice was sound.” Harry sighed; he couldn’t deny that he knew what was coming next. “This is the point at which the Professor threw up his hands in frustration. You see, it all comes down to the question of where Snape’s true loyalties lie. Without that little piece of the puzzle, it’s impossible to place any of his actions in context. He has been maddeningly consistent in that respect.”
“So we’re back to the beginning, aren’t we?” The headmistress could not hide the weariness in her voice. “It’s been nearly six months since Albus’ murder and we still know next to nothing.”
“I’m sorry, Headmistress, I wish I could have given you more,” Harry lamented.
“I can’t fault you, Harry “ or Remus, either. You both comported yourselves admirably under very trying conditions. I gave Remus express permission for both of you to leave the school grounds that day; I know that it’s his habit to hold many of your lessons outdoors. I’m also aware that Madam Pomfrey has mandated that he exercise on a regular basis, preferably in the fresh air. Should I fault you for having an impromptu dueling session within view of the road to Hogsmeade village when that is part of the lesson plan? None of your actions were reckless in my estimation.”
“Thank you for being so understanding.”
“Nonsense, neither of you did anything wrong. However, this situation has the potential to snowball if we are not careful. For the time being, I am restricting all activities to the school grounds “ that goes for teachers as well. Remus will just have to hike within the boundaries. As far as controlling the actual version of the events, Harry, I want you and Remus to be as vague as possible, generalize all over the place, claim a false modesty that you do not feel “ whatever it takes. There is to be no play-by-play recitation of the events, and particularly, I do not want any of the actual words that were said by any of you including Severus, to be repeated -- regardless of how amusing they may seem in the retelling. Is that clear?”
“Yes, but I already retold some of the events in the common room on Saturday. I may not have been as vague about things as you seem to be suggesting,” Harry admitted guiltily.
“Was it the small group that I saw: Neville, Ron, Hermione and Ginny? Then swear them to secrecy as soon as possible. In the future, do not admit or deny anything regardless of how outrageous the allegation may be.”
“Forgive me, Headmistress, but what are you hoping to achieve?”
“I intend to lure Severus into making a mistake.”
Harry hurried back to Gryffindor Tower in order to make sure that even the few details that he had confided to his closest friends would not become common knowledge. Not that he really doubted them, but he couldn’t dispel the feeling that the stakes were higher than ever before.
He found Ron, Hermione and Neville lounging in the common room, concerned about the results of his meeting with McGonagall. He gave them a brief summary, especially about the few conclusions that he and Lupin had worked out. The seriousness of the situation had a sobering effect on everyone.
“Harry, I want to practice dueling with you,” Hermione offered tentatively, only to be instantly echoed by Ron and Neville. “I don’t think any of us can afford to be unprepared any longer.”
“That’s a reasonable request,” acquiesced Harry. “How about we start tomorrow evening after supper?”
“Will we be training in the Room of Requirement?” Neville asked hopefully.
“I don’t see why not,” Harry replied. “But right now, I need to find Ginny so that I can relay the headmistress’ instructions.”
“She’s probably back in the other common room right now,” suggested Neville. “Would you like me to go check?”
“No, I should probably go myself.” Harry sighed in resignation. “Would it be out of line for me to ask you for the password, Neville?”
“Of course not,” Neville assured him, “you’re still a Gryffindor, aren’t you? Let me just get my trusty dictionary….”
“Why ever would you need a dictionary for that?” Ron scoffed.
“You’re going to regret you asked that question,” predicted Hermione.
Neville returned, holding a paperback French dictionary aloft as if it were a prize. “Just give me a moment to look it up,” he said and he quickly thumbed through the pages. “Here it is. Today’s password is pamplemousse.” He held out the dictionary so that Harry could see the spelling.
“Since when are the passwords in French?” Harry asked as Hermione sardonically held up two fingers to indicate that was the second question they were going to regret.
“The Fat Lady’s learning French,” Neville replied as if the absurdity of the statement did not register with him.
“Whatever for?” Ron scoffed. “She and her friend, Violet, planning to owl themselves to the Riviera this summer?”
Harry laughed in spite of himself, then saw that Hermione was now holding up three fingers.
“It never hurts to learn another language,” commented Neville. “That’s what Professor Lupin says, anyway. Besides, it’s not as hard as it seems. I just remember the English word and look it up in the French dictionary.”
I should have known Lupin was behind this, Harry thought wryly.
“Besides,” chimed Hermione, “who’s to say that the Fat Lady might not be able to do a portrait exchange with another painting at the Beauxbatons school?” She held her hands up to protect herself from the sofa pillows that both Harry and Ron lobbed in her direction.
Harry pointedly turned his shoulder to Hermione before continuing, “Neville, what would happen if you lost the dictionary?” Almost immediately, he cringed inwardly at the thought that Neville would be offended by the implications.
But Neville’s face beamed as he replied candidly, “Professor Lupin assured me not to worry. He showed me a whole shelf of dictionaries in his office. There was Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, even Russian “ although I’d hate to have to learn a whole new alphabet.”
Still shaking his head over the absolute devilry of Lupin’s password scheme, Harry made his way around Gryffindor Tower until he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. He pulled out the borrowed dictionary and locating the entry for ‘grapefruit’, looked up at the Fat Lady and intoned, “Pamplemousse.” Sensing that she was about to make some snide remark, he held up a warning finger. “No critiquing my pronunciation, either.”
With a shrug and an exaggerated pout, the Fat Lady allowed her portrait to swing forward to allow Harry into the main Gryffindor common room. He had forgotten how tiresome her overblown theatrics could be; but at least this was better than when she convinced herself that she could sing. He reached the end of the short corridor that marked the entrance and straightened up as he stepped down onto the carpet. The room was a riot of activity with many voices laughing and talking at once, not to mention the group of first years that were chasing each other around one of the sofas. Were we ever this young and immature? Harry asked himself even though he already knew the answer.
He scanned the crowd for Ginny as little by little the other students felt the presence of a stranger among them and turned to stare in his direction. Suddenly, Harry regretted having come down here himself as everyone present was bound to assume a connection that he was doing his utmost to deny.
He cleared his throat and announced, “I’m looking for Ginny Weasley.” His voice wasn’t much more than a whisper; his mouth felt like it was filled with cotton.
“I’ll find her,” offered a dark haired girl that Harry recognized as one of Ginny’s friends from the Hogwarts Express. She dashed up the stairs to the girls dormitories.
Harry leaned up against the wall and waited as unobtrusively as possible while the conversations slowly started up again around him. One of the first years that was now bouncing on the sofa cushions whispered rather loudly to his companion, “How did he get the password anyway?”
“Shhh,” replied his companion, sneaking a shy peek at Harry. “He’s a Gryffindor, too; look at his tie.”
Harry smiled in their direction but that only made them duck behind the sofa cushions. His attention was diverted by Ginny’s entrance. She looked up at him in surprise, unsure how she was expected to react. Harry put a finger to his lips and motioned for her to precede him through the portrait hole. From the collective “oohs” that he heard as the portrait closed behind them, he realized that he had just given rise to the sort of speculation that he most wanted to avoid. Why hadn’t he just let Neville go after Ginny when he’d offered?
“I’m sorry, Ginny,” he whispered as they stood in the corridor, “that was probably the worst thing to do in front of a group like that--”
“I don’t care what they think,” Ginny quickly replied. “Besides, they react that way to just about anybody “ even Neville. Although he usually blushes which only makes it worse,” she added with a small giggle. “How did your meeting with the headmistress go? I’ve been bombarded with--”
“You didn’t give out any details, did you?” Harry asked apprehensively.
“No, the headmistress made it pretty clear that she wanted to hear the complete story before anyone else. Besides, it’s your tale to tell. Why is that suddenly so important?”
Opening the nearest door, Harry found an empty classroom where they would not be overheard. He quickly cast a muffliato charm as a back-up and sat down across from her at the closest desk. Taking a deep breath for courage, he told Ginny everything that had transpired, leaving out nothing but the part about the new wands and the conversations he had overheard outside the headmistress’ door. He knew that he was going against McGonagall’s express instructions; but if he was going to have to swear Ginny to absolute secrecy, he reasoned that she might as well have the whole story.
The next day in Lupin’s office, the Professor surprised Harry by not wanting to address the issue of Severus Snape at all.
“I assure you that we have not finished with Severus,” Lupin began, “but I want to review the duel that you and I fought before the details are totally eclipsed in our minds.”
Harry shifted mental gears and offered, “I was about to thank you for a well-fought match when Snape interrupted.”
“Isn’t that is a courtesy that is extended to the victor? I hardly--”
“It’s also customary in the case of a draw, Professor,” Harry clarified.
“All right, I’ll accept that. But I don’t think that was Severus’ assessment.”
“We have no way to know what Snape’s true opinion was -- I think he would’ve done just about anything to get a rise out of you at that point,” Harry admitted candidly.
“You may be right about that,” Lupin allowed. “Personally, I was quite impressed with your innovative approach not to mention the fact that you had obviously been training. So tell me, who was your sparring partner? Hermione?”
“Ron, and then later, Ginny,” Harry offered.
“Really? Tell me then, where did you come up with the one-two approach”the two spells fired back-to-back? That takes a fair amount of practice.”
“That was actually Ginny’s idea. We’ve been practicing those a lot. Her inspiration was a Quidditch move used by Seekers to misdirect their opponents: it’s called the Wronski Feint.”
“Of course,” Lupin nodded. “I forgot that both of you have played the same Quidditch position. What did you learn from Ron, then?”
“He applied charms to objects for which the spells were not originally intended with rather spectacular results, especially with projectiles. We nearly brought Gryffindor Tower down around us when the rain forced us to practice indoors. I knew I was never going to get a chance to practice that technique unless I was dueling outside--” Harry caught himself, belatedly realizing that he had probably already said too much.
“Ah yes,” Lupin nodded sagely, “the finale with the tree branch.”
Harry had known from the beginning that it was too much to hope that Lupin would overlook that. He could kick himself for having drawn undue attention to it, though. He smiled and nodded, hoping in vain that would satisfy Lupin’s curiosity.
Harry’s heart sank as Lupin asked, “What spell did you use?”
“Sectumsempra,” surrendered Harry, knowing that he would have preferred to wait until Lupin had more fully recovered before embarking down that road. “Professor Lupin, please, that path leads right back to Severus Snape and I really think it’s best if we save that for another day.”
Something in Harry’s plea must have convinced Lupin, for even though his expression registered a slight surprise, he agreed to leave the subject for now. Not until after jotting down the name of the incantation, Harry noted with dismay -- but at least it was a temporary victory.
“Professor, I would very much like to learn the technique you used for practically soundless Apparition,” Harry ventured.
“That might be a bit more difficult due to the current restrictions, but I’ll see what I can do for a temporary lift of the anti-Apparition charms within the school grounds. But I will warn you, the technique requires an inordinate amount of concentration and will drain you of strength surprising quickly… I, on the other hand, would like to learn the -- what did you call it? Wronski Feint? I’m thinking it would be a good idea to invite Ginny to practice with the two of us -- using the regular wands, of course. What do you think?”
Harry smiled and replied, “I think that would be a great idea! I should tell you that Ron, Hermione and Neville have already asked that I help them train in the evenings as well.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea, also. Just don’t over-tax yourself. Cut back on the sessions, if you need to. I am counting on you to let me know if I start pushing you too hard, understood?”
“I will. When will you and I begin training with the new wands then?” Harry asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
“How about tomorrow at three? Only an hour at a time, though. I don’t want to get busted for over-doing it too soon.”
Harry Potter and the Hero's Lament by L A Moody
Chapter Notes: The headmistress initiates a subtle plan of action; the other seventh-year Gryffindors seek Harry’s assistance.