East Of Eden

Thanks to Darkwing for beta-reading.

Prologue   Genesis 4.1-16 (slightly abridged)

[...] Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.
But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
[...]
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? [...] If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

The LORD said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
Now you are cursed from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from
your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, [...]; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over."
[...]
So Cain went out from the LORD 's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
 
 
 

East of Eden
Chapter 1
Well maintained lies

“I can’t believe you want to perform it again, Albus !“

Minerva McGonagall was taken aback. She, Headmaster Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and Severus Snape sat in Dumbledore's office, and Dumbledore had just proposed to perform a certain Life Shield Charm on Harry. Professor Minerva McGonagall, known as a controlled and stern person among her students and colleagues, jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair in the process.

Outside the cold December rain was pouring down onto the deserted grounds of Hogwarts. It was the beginning of the Christmas Holidays, and almost all students besides Harry were gone. Their parents wanted to have them around for Christmas in these troubled times of Voldemorts second reign of terror.

After Voldemort's rebirth, which Harry had witnessed in July of his fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort’s power had increased day by day.
In the beginning the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had denied any sign of Voldemort’s return.
He still insisted that the Dark Lord was dead, when Igor Karkaroff's horribly mutilated body was found hanging from a tree in front of the Ministry of Magic in London at the end of September. Officially Karkaroff had committed suicide, but the rumors about Lord Voldemort’s return could not longer be held at bay.

Throughout autumn people had mysteriously disappeared like leaves from the trees, most of them former Aurors and witnesses from the trials against the Death Eaters. Some bodies of were found, but the most victims seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

Voldemort and his followers had started their private revenge on their old enemies.

Professor Snape, who had resumed his role as Dumbledore’s spy among the Death Eaters, now feared for his life every waking minute. His welcome into the Death Eater’s fold had been cold, and his rank among them was low, much lower than it had been once. He could only make educated guesses about who would be the next victim.

The open war against Voldemort had begun on a crisp winter day two weeks ago, when Cornelius Fudge was cruelly murdered while working overtime in his office.

When the Dark Mark hung above the Ministry of Magic the return of Voldemort could no longer be denied.
 
 

Dumbledore had called this urgent meeting at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, because everyone reckoned that Harry would be one of Voldemort's next victims.

Harry had already sat in Dumbledore's office for hours, listening to the exchange between Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. He was bored. He hardly understood their arguments on various inefficient protection charms and spells, and his mind had wandered off.

Now his attention had snapped back to the discussion. Dumbledore’s last proposal, a certain Life Shield Charm, seemed to have sparked horror in Harry’s ever-so-controlled Transfiguration teacher Minerva McGonagall.

“ I’m surely not the only one who remembers what happened last time we used it.” Minerva McGonagall looked over to Snape, who had remained silent for a while now. “I just can’t believe you agree to this, Serverus! This is insane!”

Snape shifted his weight uncomfortably in his chair.
“ Well,”  he began in a low voice, ”it certainly would be a very desperate measure.”

Snape looked at Dumbledore.

“See, even if we wanted to perform it, we couldn’t do so. In our current situation, we can’t spare any wizard from the Resistance Circle and let him or her take such an uncalculated risk. You know that I, for example, would have the necessary magical background and the appropriate training, but I have already done my share of duty for Potter here. And we don’t have time for the necessary preparations. With all due respect, I agree with Minerva. This is not a good idea, Headmaster.”

 Harry frowned. He wished the adults in this room would finally explain to him what in the world they were arguing about. Ever since Dumbledore had mentioned that Life Shield Charm to protect him from possible attempts on his life, the atmosphere in the office had grown tense.

 Harry had understood only this much: there would be two wizards, who essentially would protect the third one by simultaneously casting a charm over him. This charm would build up a shield around the protected wizard, which would block any curse thrown at him. He also understood that this action needed practice and blind understanding between the two casting wizards, and that it was dangerous for all three of them. Also every wizard could only once in his life act as shield wizard for another one.

Harry interrupted Dumbledore, who was calmly defending his proposal against his teachers. “Sir, I don’t understand this. Why wouldn’t Professor Snape be able to perform that charm on me? Did he do it before?“

Dumbledore glanced over to Snape. “ Well Harry, uhm, yes. When you were very young.”

He quickly  turned towards McGonagall again. ”We have a good idea of what went wrong in those days. This time the risk would be minimized. I have done a lot of research in all these years.”

Harry was still pondering over Snape and the charm. “Sir, er, sorry to interrupt you again, but when was it performed? I don’t recall such an event.”

 The room fell silent.

Dumbledore looked pensively at Harry with his ever so blue eyes.

Snape, whose face was unreadable, stared down on Dumbledore's wooden desktop as if seeing the veining for the first time in his life.

Professor MacGonagall looked nervously from one to the next.

The only sounds to be heard were the rain pounding the window, and the crackle of the fire in the fireplace.

In the silence comprehension dawned on Harry.

One of the worst life threatening situations he had been in was when his parents' house was attacked by Voldemort when Harry was still a baby. Voldemort had tried to kill him, but the curse had rebounded and stripped Voldemort of his powers, which until recently he had not been able to restore. The explanation Harry had been given for these extraordinary events was that his mother had protected him with her love.

What if it not only had been her love? What if she had used the Life Shield Charm? Who had been the second wizard then?

Snape?

Could it possibly be, that Snape had been present at Godric’s Hollow that night? He then must have witnessed all the events of that night 14 years ago. Why was everybody pretending that no one knew what exactly had happened?

Harry was confused. “ Headmaster, please, what did really happen the night my parents died?”

A ghost of a smile moved over Dumbledore’s face, as if appreciating that Harry had come to this conclusion himself.

“ I don’t see this moment fit to discuss those events,” Snape said curtly before Dumbledore could answer.

The Headmaster sighed heavily. “Severus, sooner or later Harry must know. He is old enough now. And I might remind you, that despite his youth he is deeply involved in our fight against the Dark Lord. It is time for him to understand the past and learn from it.”

Dumbledore obviously had a point. Snape said nothing. His lips were pressed into a tight line and no muscle in his face moved. Harry could only see a vein in his temple flicker nervously.

“ Well Harry,” Dumbledore began,” 14 years ago Voldemort was on the peak of his power. It was then that a prophecy was made about the son of Aurors being his downfall- the son of the Potters.”

Snape interrupted him harshly. “Rubbish! There was no divination involved.”

“Yes, but nonetheless Voldemort was willing to believe in the prophecy. He was already after your parents because they both were powerful members of the Circle.”

At this point McGonagall got up. “ Excuse me Headmaster, I have business to attend, uhm, essays to mark. And I believe this will be something you, Severus and Harry should discuss in private.”

Dumbledore nodded and McGonagall left the office.
 

After the door fell shut Snape looked at Dumbledore with a wry smile. ” I reckon I’m not allowed ... .” His voice trailed off.

The Dumbledore gave his Potion master a cheerful  look and began anew.

“ Like today, Severus was my spy in Voldemort’s circle. He informed us about Voldemort’s attack plans on your parents. That was the time when we placed the Fidelius charm over your parents’ house in Godric’s Hollow. Only your parents and Sirius knew who James had chosen as their secret-keeper. As you well know, it was the treacherous Peter Pettigrew.”

Dumbledore paused as if to recollect Pettigrew’s betrayal.

“A while after your parents went into hiding the Death Eaters captured a man, who was known as a seer. He was tortured cruelly. And while he was tortured, Voldemort’s men, who enjoyed the power over their victim, taunted him. They asked him for a proof of his divination abilities.
The man took his chance and made up a prophecy. Voldemort’s downfall would come from a child, he said, an Aurors’ child to be precise. He offered Voldemort to help him finding and fighting that child. This was his attempt at staying alive. Voldemort allowed him to live, but he wanted the name of the child. Your parents were the only Aurors the poor man could think of instantly, and he told him their name.”

Dumbledore forced himself to smiled at Harry. “Your parents were quite famous in their time. You shouldn’t blame that man. Many break easily under torture.”

 Snape snorted. “Trading a prophecy for his miserable life, oh yes. He didn’t even live long enough to regret his stupid words.”

Dumbledore shook his head. ”As Severus said, Voldemort killed the unlucky man instantly. And the Dark Lord began to hatch a plan how to kill you. Severus reported to me what he knew about this plan.
We were having a meeting here in this very room, Severus, your parents, and I . Unfortunately your father refused to believe Severus. They had been, well, enemies at school, and at the time of that meeting they were still nursing their childish grudge. Both of them were acting very, very immature.”

 Dumbledore glanced quickly at Snape, who seemed to study the bricks in the wall with great interest.

“ Your father suspected Snape to have invented the new danger to be more believable as a spy, while really working for Voldemort whole-hearted. He called him a Slytherin liar.
Severus on the other hand reproached James with being an irresponsible husband and father, because he rejected to leave the country with you and Lily.
Those accusations on both sides only deepened the trench between them in a situation where we should have stood united against Voldemort. Your father and Severus got into a heated argument, which ended in a fistfight right here in my office.”

Dumbledore shook his head again.

“The meeting was called off without any result. Few days later your mother Lily was sitting again in the chair you are occupying now. She had thought about Severus’ warning and had decided to take it seriously. Without James’ knowledge she came here to ask me about shielding and defense charms to protect you.

"You might find it hard to believe, but amidst all house rivalry and hate, Lily and Severus had managed to stay friends during their school-days. Actually, they grew up in the same village in Yorkshire, where they spent a great deal of time together in the summer holidays.”

Harry frowned. This was new to him.

Sirius had never mentioned that Snape and his mother were playground buddies.Was it possible he hadn’t known?
Or maybe he and James had been very aware of it, and Harry had just come across the underlying reason for the rivalry between Snape and the Marauders.

Harry focused his attention back on Dumbledore.

“Lily trusted Severus and believed in his warning. It was then that the three of us – Lily, Severus, and I- came up with the unfortunate Life Shield Charm plan. It was a backup strategy in case Voldemort would find a way around the Fidelius that protected your parents’ house.
The basic idea was, that Severus would accompany Voldemort to Godric’s Hollow. He and Lily would then cast a spell over you, in case Voldemort would try to kill you.
The charm I had chosen was a powerful yet untested experimental shielding charm, which needed to be cast by two strong wizards. One of them had to be a blood relative –your mother- the other one must not be related to the charge. Hence the need of Severus being present.”

Dumbledore waved his hand in Snape’s direction.

“I also knew that the charm, when effective, would rebound any curse, and I assumed it would rebound it onto the caster, Voldemort in this case. That tragically turned out to be wrong, but I will try to tell you the events in a timely order.

"As I said, we assumed that the curse, possibly a killing curse, would be rebounded onto Voldemort, which would weaken him immensely. Severus was selected to take the opportunity and kill Voldemort in that moment of weakness, while your mother would keep up the shielding charm on you for some more minutes. In his normal condition Voldemort was almost immortal back then, and we all hoped that after all these years we had found a golden way to get rid of him once and for all.”

Dumbledore sighed.

 “This was the theory. Severus and your mother secretly practiced to cast the charm simultaneously for days. Lily had decided against telling James, because she thought it would only fuel his hate for Severus. Too soon came the day on which our plan had to come into action.
Voldemort tried to kill you with the unforgivable killing curse and the shielding charm was placed on you by Severus and Lily. It turned out that I had misjudged the direction of the rebounding curse. It didn’t hit Voldemort- but both casters of the shielding charm. In the very moment the killing curse rebounded, Severus broke his connection with the shielding charm to place his own killing curse on Voldemort as planned. This saved his life. While the rebounding curse affected Severus only lightly, it hit Lily with all its might.”

Harry looked unbelievingly at Dumbledore. ”And where was my father? I don’t understand this. Why did you never tell me that Professor Snape was present in Godric's Hollow ? Why was  no one willing tell me the truth about my parents death?  ”

He raised his voice accusingly. It betrayed more anger than he had intended.

Dumbledore glanced again over to Snape.

“See Harry, that’s all difficult to explain, but I admit you have a right to know what has really happened. But it’s a tale not appropriate for a child. You were not told, because you were not ready. Few people know what really happened that night- only me, Severus, Minerva and a mutual friend of me and Severus. And believe me, it is better to keep it that way.”

Harry’s mind raced.

“Even Sirius doesn’t know? But wasn’t he there, too.”

Dumbledore sighed.  “Sirius, yes. He came later to the scene and met Pettigrew in that unfortunate duel, which brought him into Askaban. Sirius doesn’t know, I’m sorry to say, because he lacks the necessary maturity. And him knowing what you will learn now would only make things worse. I must ask you not to tell him, and also not to confide in your friends or anyone else. No word of this conversation is to leave this room. Do you understand me, Harry?”

Harry nodded numbly. What secret could be worse than the knowledge of Voldemort killing his parents?

 Dumbledore interrupted his musings.

 ”You must know we had a special owl placed at the scene of the events. A transmitter owl.”

 “What’s a transmitter owl?” Harry asked.

“ Well, you can place a charm on an owl and then see through its eyes, even when the owl is located in a great distance. Of course the owl has to be carefully trained to go to an assigned location.”
 

Dumbledore rummaged through a  drawer of his desk and produced a big orb, very much like the crystal orbs Professor Trelawney was using in her lessons.

”In this receiver you can see whatever the owl lays its eyes on. I would suggest we now watch the recording of the events of the night.” Dumbledore placed the orb on a black piece of velvet.

“No!” whispered Snape, his voice suddenly hoarse with emotion.

“ Severus, please. Sooner or later Harry must see the record.”

Snape had gotten up and began pacing the room agitatedly.
“But not tonight, Albus.”

Harry looked at his teacher in surprise. Small beads of sweat shone on his upper lip.

“ Would it make any difference if it was tomorrow or next week? Would you be more willing to let him see it then?” Dumbledore responded.

He stood up and placed  his hand on the shoulder of his Potion master in a surprising fatherly gesture.

“Please stop pacing, Severus. You are wearing out my rug.”

Both men sat down again, and Harry couldn’t help but notice that Snape seemed to be afraid of  watching the record. What scenes where trapped inside the orb, that made his infamous, feared teacher look so shaken?