Silver Snake

Silver Snake

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Chapter 6:

Stupefy

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"Good morning, my dear friend," said a cool voice in greeting as Remus finally forced his eyes open. "The morning is bright, your health is good, and the victims are few -- by now."

"How charmingly amusing, Tom," the werewolf said dryly. "If I didn't know better, I might even mistakenly assume that you didn't spend all your time last night torturing infants and invalids."

"Actually, I didn't," the Dark Lord told him. "I just thought you'd like to know in advance that I'm going to call a meeting tonight. There's a special magical artefact I've just managed to obtain that I think my loyal servants will find most interesting." At this, he patted the pouch he was carrying on his belt. "I will introduce you to it on breakfast. Assuming that you are joining me for breakfast, of course," he added with a smirk.

Remus nodded tiredly and pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I am," he said. "Just give me a moment, will you?" As the other wizard smirked, nodded, and left, he then flung his legs over the edge of the bed. Getting up to his feet, he then headed for the wardrobe.

Let it never be said that Lord Voldemort hesitated too much. As soon as he had got Remus's approval of the snake-decorated robes, he had arranged for three new sets to be made for the werewolf. So, he now had four sets of robes to choose from, all identical. Shaking his head, Remus reached for the nearest.

Soon he was dressed and heading for the dining room. The few Death Eaters he met in the corridor avoided his gaze. Everybody knew by now that he was in the Dark Lord's special protection. Therefore, nobody dared to risk offending him in any way. So, he was undisturbed on his journey.

When he entered the dining room, Voldemort was already sitting by the table. He greeted Remus with a small nod and a smirk as the werewolf took his usual seat opposite to him. A Death Eater who smelled of fear brought them their breakfast, leaving as soon as she dared. For some time, they just ate in a relatively comfortable silence, neither saying a word about one topic or another.

At last, however, Tom finished his breakfast. "So," he said, the icy blue eyes glinting, "let's see just how powerful you are." With this, he took the pouch from his belt and opened it. Then, he let a small crystal ball fall from to pouch to the table. Drawing his wand, he tapped the ball with it. The ball flashed momentarily with an almost blinding white light. Smirking satisfiedly, he nodded at Remus. "Your turn."

Remus sighed, already knowing what the result would be. Still, he drew his wand and touched the crystal ball, not at all surprised at the dim light that rose from its depths.

His companion, however, frowned. "You are holding back," he accused. "Try again."

"I'm not!" Remus said defensively. "It's just that I'm not very powerful with magic."

"I see." For some time, Tom looked thoughtful. Then he stood up. "Follow me."

Remus did so, not seeing any point in refusing. He was led to a room ha had not seen before. It was large, but empty of any furniture. There were several burn marks along the walls.

"What kind of a wand do you have?" asked the Dark Lord with mild interest.

The werewolf shrugged. "Thirteen inches, oak, werewolf hair," he said. "Like with all werewolf hair wands, only a Lycanthrope can use it." He glanced down at his wand. "It's sometimes hard to control, though."

"So, even before it was put on the shelf of the shop, they knew that its user would be a werewolf." Smirking, Voldemort murmured a quiet charm, then handed him the ball. "Try it."

Remus did so, only getting the same dim light. As he glanced up, frustrated and annoyed at the repeated humiliation, he found to his great surprise a wand being extended to him. Tom's own wand. "Try it," he heard again, and, after some hesitation, he took the wand.

Not understanding the purpose of it, Remus raised the borrowed wand. Then he reached it out and tapped the crystal ball with it. In an instant, a lightning-like flash of bright light erupted from the ball.

Remus Lupin was definitely not a stupid man. So, Voldemort was soon glad that he had casted a shielding charm around himself, as the werewolf practically exploded. Having lost any hold he'd had on his temper, he let wild magic fly around, causing even more burns and marks to join the previous ones on the walls of the room. Oh, well. That was the very purpose of existence for that room, anyway.

At last, however, the attack of wild magic was over, and Remus stood still, his breath heavy, his head hanging down. When he raised his eyes at Tom, however, the Dark Lord saw a fierce light in their amber depths. "They lied to me," the werewolf said softly. "They lied to me, all of them. The Ministry. My parents. Ollivander. Even Dumbledore. They always keep saying that one's magic is one's birthright, and yet they denied me mine! And only because a Dark Creature decided to bite me when I was a child!" The rage began building up in him again, but he fought it down with admirable determination.

"Exactly," Voldemort said smoothly. "They didn't want any werewolf to gain full access to their powers, and especially not you. You are extremely powerful, Remus, so much that it's almost frightening. With enough practice, your power might one day even surpass mine." With a bit of a smirk, he added, "That day won't be coming for a while yet, though. In the meantime, you need to practice."

"Indeed." Remus smirked dryly. "But to do that, I would need a new wand."

The Dark Lord raised one elegant eyebrow. "Not necessarily." Raising his hand, he stared at his fingertips, concentrating. After only a moment, a ball of light appeared on the tip of his forefinger. Seeing Remus's surprised expression, he smirked. "Wandless magic is not Dark Arts," he said quietly. "Even Dumbledore himself uses it, not that he would admit it. It's thought to be Dark because it is hard to control and often leads to destruction. However, if one has enough power, they can do magic without a wand just as well as with it -- some even better. I'm better with a wand, so I use that. However, no matter which way you're better, you will certainly get more access to your powers wandlessly than with that limited stick you have now. The restrictive charms on it are too strong to let you use even a reasonable amount of your power."

Remus nodded thoughtfully at this. Then he, too, raised his hand and looked at it, his brows furrowed in deep concentration. And, after some time, a ball of light appeared. The werewolf gasped, then looked over at Voldemort. To his great surprise, he found the Dark Lord smiling at him.

*

The Death Eaters eyed their Master nervously. Voldemort was sitting on his throne, menacing as ever. On the fingertips of one of his hands he was balancing a small crystal ball, which was shining brightly. The light suddenly strengthened so that it almost blinded them, then faded away.

"My loyal Death Eatersss," hissed the Dark Lord. Severus shivered in the back of the group. He knew perfectly well that Voldemort was drawing out the s's only for the effect. "It has come the time for you to prove yourselves worthy -- or unworthy, whatever." He glanced down at the ball in his hand. "Each of you will come, one at time, and lay their wand at this ball. From the brightness of the light we will see your powers." With a satisfied smirk, he nodded at one of the hooded figures on the front "You may begin."

So, one by one, the Death Eaters all stepped forward, tapping the ball with their wand. Some only got a dim shade of light, shivering as their Lord casted them a cold, calculating glance. Most got just a mild light, but some, like Lucius Malfoy, got a much brighter light. These were much more confident as they returned to their places. They were taken aback, however, when Voldemort himself tapped the ball with his wand in the end, and it again took its blinding brightness.

"Oh, and let'sss not forget my dear companion," said the Dark Lord then, smirking. "Come here." He nodded at the hooded, grey-and-silver-robed man sitting on the chair next to his throne. Obediently, the man rose to his feet, walking over to him. Then, not hesitating one bit, he laid a hand on the ball.

The light that now flashed from the depths of the crystal was bright. Almost too bright. It was not as bad as Voldemort's, but certainly bad enough. Severus cursed under his breath, knowing all too well what this meant. So Lupin had discovered his true powers -- and that those powers had been hidden from him.

Severus himself hadn't originally known of Lupin's powers. Not, before he expressed his wonder about the man's obviously weak magical status to Albus. Weren't werewolves supposed to be extremely powerful? So, he'd heard of the restrictions on the lycanthrope wands, and he'd been sworn to secrecy. It had felt like a betrayal, to keep such a secret, but he would not betray his word to Albus Dumbledore. Well, at least he would not have to worry about that anymore.

However, he would have to report to Albus. If the werewolf now gained access to his full powers, it might very well push him over the edge to either insanity or evilness. Of course, just as well he might stay as he was. Still, the possibility existed, and thus, Severus would have to inform Albus.

Oh, no, that was a wrong statement. He would not inform Albus.

He would warn him.

*

Tom rolled the small crystal ball between his fingers before dropping it into the pouch on his belt. "Some were holding back," he said coolly to his companion. "Severus, for example. I wonder why."

"Well, Severus would want to be known more for his skills with potions than those he has with a wand," Remus said. "Besides, he's not that good with a wand anyway. Fewer expectations this way."

Voldemort shrugged. "Maybe you're right." Then, he smirked. "Well, at least their expressions were worth seeing after your turn," he said dryly. "I do hope they realize that possibly attracting my wrath is not the only reason for them to avoid offending you. It'll be easier if they fear you as well."

"They already do fear me," replied the werewolf. "Now, they'll only fear me for myself." He glanced around the room and then spotted his book lying on a small table in the corner. "Accio book." In an instant, the heavy leather-bound book flew to his hand. He grinned, satisfied at this.

The Dark Lord smirked. "A fast learner, I see," he said, vaguely amused. "Very well. I have a feeling that I will be enjoying instructing you. Teaching fools has never been my favourite choice for spending some spare time. Fortunately, I see that you are not a fool at all."

Remus shrugged. "I've been told that I'm quite intelligent," he said, not like one who's bragging but like one who states the simple truth. "I'd think that qualifies as 'not a fool at all'." With a bit of a grin, he then added, "Of course, it also does help that I'm not very bad-looking, doesn't it?"

"It does," Voldemort said, a small glint in his eye. "It definitely does."

He didn't say anything else. However, there was a flash of something in his eyes that Remus couldn't quite identify. This unidentified flash made him feel quite uneasy.

Shaking his head, more at himself than at anything else, he then began studying his book.

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