Mask of Oblivion

MASK OF OBLIVION

Chapter 3 - The Unspeakable

The night after Sirius Black's visit Simon had another one of his crazy nightmares.

He was standing in a dark dingy room. The only furniture he could see was a large four poster bed with dusty hangings. Collapsed on the bed was a red headed boy clutching a wand? His leg was bleeding and he appeared to be in pain. Standing next to him were two more teenagers, a girl with brown hair and a boy with black hair and glasses, both with angry expressions on their faces.

Lying on the floor between them was a thin man with fair, graying hair who appeared to be bound with ropes. On the other side of the room backed up against the wall was someone who looked strangely familiar. Despite the gaunt hungry face the long unkempt hair and the ragged clothes Simon recognized the man as a younger Sirius Black

As he was staring at Black he could feel his dream persona's own intense hatred for the man. His attention and anger was completely focused on Black, so he did not notice immediately when the three children all pointed their wands directly at him and yelled as one, "Expelliarmus." There was a flash of light and then he felt a force like a punch to the chest, fell backwards, hit his head on something hard and everything went black.

He woke with a start. This was the first time he had ever recognized someone in his dreams. Maybe, they were just normal crazy symbolic dreams like everyone else's? What else could it be? That thought tormented him and he could sleep no more that night. The two faces of Sirius Black, the dream and the reality, haunted him all week.

The following Friday he arrived home to the sound of excited squeals coming from the living room. For a moment he was afraid to enter in case Sirius Black was there. But a man should never be scared to enter a room in his own house. So he strode bravely into the room and noticed thankfully that Black was not there.

Simon then noticed the smooth stick in Bella's right hand. "What are you holding there, Princess?' he asked, as a small tingle of apprehension ran up his spine.

"It's my wand Dad. Isn't it great? Look!" She lifted it up and waved it sideways through the air. A gentle trailing nimbus of green and silver light appeared to trail from its tip. Without conscious thought Simon cringed backwards in horror holding his arms up across his face. "Dad are you OK?" Bella dropped her arm and the wand stopped glowing.

He turned on her angrily. "Never, ever, point that cursed thing in my direction again." With that he turned on his heels and stormed up to his study. He sat there, with the curtains shut in the dark, trying unsuccessfully to squash the unexpected feelings of terror.

It was a very tense evening in the Smith household. Simon came down for supper, but did not speak to either his wife or daughter. As soon as he finished eating he retreated back to his study. He tried to read, but could not concentrate on anything. He heard the others go to bed and still he sat there. Eventually after several hours he came to a decision.

Opening the door very quietly in order not to disturb his sleeping family he made his way to the back of the upstairs hallway where a narrow set of steps led up into the attic. He climbed up and closed the hatch. Then he turned on the light and started hunting for something very specific. He found it eventually right in the far corner. It was a very ordinary medium sized cardboard box covered in years and years of dust with a printed label stuck on the side. When he wiped the label clean he could read the following words -

"St Thomas' Psychiatric hospital - Personal property: S.S."

The sticky tape on the top was old and perished and peeled off easily. Simon hesitated for a moment before opening the flaps. There sitting on top of a pile of old clothing was a small ring box and a smooth stick. He realized now that this strange piece of wood had to be a wand. It was identical in shape and form to the wand that Bella now owned, but it was of a darker wood and about an inch longer.

He picked it up gently with both hands and as he did he could feel a slight tingle like a gentle surge of static electricity. He sat back on his heels and looked at it for several minutes, then took a deep breath. There was something he needed to try. Holding the wand in his hand exactly the way Bella had he waved it gently sideways. The prickling energy instantly increased and a silver and green light started to form around the wand. "Bloody hell!" he yelled in fright and dropped it immediately back into the box. What was he doing owning a wand?

***

Minerva McGonagall was sitting at her desk waiting patiently. The soft summer evening sunlight filtered through the windows into the beautiful circular room. Most of the old headmasters were dozing in their frames. She noticed that the exception was her immediate predecessor, Albus Dumbledore. He seemed to be leaning forward in his frame in anticipation. Had his painted image read Sirius's note over her shoulder? She heard the stairs stop moving and the door opened.

"Good evening, Sirius. How are you?" she smiled warmly at her young deputy who had entered the room. He appeared to be flushed and a little excited. "You said you wanted to see me about a matter of some urgency?"

"Good evening, Minerva. Yes, there is something." He sat down facing her and then hesitated with a worried expression on his face,"it concerns Isabella Smith."

"Ah, yes? One of the new muggle born students. You were sent to do her induction weren't you? Was there a problem? Are her parents being difficult?"

Sirius shook his head vehemently. "No, nothing like that. They have given their consent," he hesitated with a pained expression on his face and then spoke in a mad rush, the words falling over each other, "Isabella's father is the spitting image of Severus Snape. Looks like him, walks like him, talks like him, even sneers like him! And he would be the right age."

"The age he would be if Severus was alive? We know he is not."

"The body was never found."

"But there were eyewitnesses."

"The witnesses were all Death eaters."

"They had no reason to lie about something like that," she looked at him her face suddenly soft and sympathetic, "Sirius, it is not uncommon for people to strongly resemble other people and it has been over fifteen years."

Sirius sighed, "I know. That's what I told myself. But then today I took Miss Smith and her mother shopping for her school supplies. When Mr. Ollivander gave her the right wand it produced a green aura. This seemed to surprise him and he told me that no one hundred percent muggle born ever had a green wand aura before."

Minerva raised an eyebrow, "is that why you are bringing this to my attention?"

"Yes. I think we need to find out more about Simon Smith."

"Sirius. I think we need to wait until Isabella comes to school and I have seen her and more importantly, she has been sorted. Then we will decide if further investigation is needed."

***

When Simon eventually went to sleep that night the nightmares came again.

He was standing in a small room like a prison cell facing three men. The man in the middle was the skeletal red eyed demon that appeared in so many of his dreams. Standing to the demon's left was a small rat faced man with balding sandy hair. One of his hands seemed to gleam unnaturally in the dim light as if it were silver. The man on the demon's right side was tall with a long mane of white blond hair. He held in one hand a wand and in the other a walking cane topped with a silver serpent's head.

They were all looking at him with expressions of contempt on their faces. Then the demon spoke. "After some thought I have decided you may yet be of some use to me, oh faithless one. But do not think to betray me again as I will not be so kind next time." He raised his wand hand, sneered and muttered one word, "Crucio." Simon could feel the intense pain searing through flesh and bone forcing him to collapse to the floor.

He woke screaming in pain as he had so many times before.

The next few weeks were very trying for Simon Smith. And because of the nature of the man, this meant they were also very trying for his family. If he saw any of Bella's school equipment or books during the day it seemed to trigger a nasty painful nightmare the following night. Simon forbade her from bringing any of it out of her room, but children are children, and the ruling was not always followed. So Simon tried to sleep as little as possible. Between the nightmares, the pain and the lack of sleep his temper got shorter and shorter. Much as he loved his daughter and she loved him, by the time the first of September dawned, they were both very happy that she was going away.

He kissed her goodbye in the morning, before she had brought her trunk downstairs and went to work as normal hoping that things would calm down now that the magical paraphernalia was leaving the house.

***

It was the Hogwarts School start of year feast and sorting ceremony. After all these years Minerva still found this an impressive event. She sat in her seat in the centre of the teacher's table and looked out on the returning students already seated at the four house tables. The room was full of noise. Excited chatter and laughter as friends who had not seen each other for two months caught up on each other's news.

With a loud bang, the large doors at the far end of the room opened and Sirius Black led in the new first years. The student numbers had been increasing steadily over the last few years. Once the wizarding community had been sure that Voldemort was gone, they had felt free to live normal lives and that included having children. It was not a massive increase, because so many young wizards and witches had been killed, but it was steady.

This year there were fifty-two new students. Minerva cast her eyes over them as Sirius produced the list. She could see a couple of Weasleys including of course the transfiguration teacher Fleur's second son Matthew. Next to him was a girl who matched the description of the one Sirius had mentioned, but Minerva thought to her self, "I don't know for sure that is Miss Smith. I am probably looking at the wrong girl."

Slowly Sirius and the sorting hat worked through the list until -

"Isabella Smith."

The black haired girl that Minerva had noticed stepped forward with her head held high and a look of fierce determination on her face.

"Damn," Minerva thought,"she does look so much like Severus did when he came here."

The sorting hat took a long time. It was probably the longest one that night. But eventually it cried, "Slytherin!"

As Isabella stood up, turned and took the hat off, Minerva could see the puzzled look on her face and that it was reflected on the faces of several of the other first years including a couple who had already been sorted into Slytherin. Minerva glanced at Sirius and he shot her back a smug look that seemed to say, "I told you so."

Once everyone else had started eating Minerva left her seat and went to the end of the table where Sirius was sitting. "Professor Black, A word in private if you don't mind." She walked out into the next chamber and Sirius quickly rose and followed her.

Sirius was practically bursting with excitement. "Do you agree with me now? I want to check up on this so called Simon Smith."

Minerva raised her hand to stop his flow. "Yes Sirius, but I think it needs to be handled by the proper authorities. You are a deputy head master and DADA teacher, not a private investigator."

"So what do you suggest?"

"I will be writing an official letter to Bill Weasley, which I will give to him personally and I will send a copy to Mundungus Fletcher of course, requesting an investigation by Department of Mysteries into the supposed muggle Simon Smith."

"D.O.M, do you think that's necessary?"

"I think it is the most appropriate agency. Bill's unspeakables are trained for covert surveillance and have information channels that the rest of the ministry cannot access. If anyone can find out the truth about Simon Smith, they can."

***

In the rambling buildings that house the British Ministry of Magic, far away from the areas where the general wizarding public may go, are the offices of the Department of Mysteries. The entrance is through a carved stone portal at the end of a long dingy corridor. The space under the arch glows with an unearthly white light. The portal only allows authorized personnel through and can not be fooled by Polyjuice potion, charms, glamours or even muggle disguises.

Few people go this way without good reason. Hermione Granger strode down the corridor as if she owned the place. As she moved under the arch, she stopped for a moment. The light surrounded her like a mist and glowed golden, and then she stepped out the other side into the spacious and well appointed reception area of the Department of Mysteries.

The middle-aged witch at the front desk looked up and smiled at Hermione as soon as she entered. "Good morning, Mia. Go straight in. The boss is waiting for you."

"I'm not running late. Am I?"

"No, not at all. I think he's just a bit anxious about your new project."

At that piece of information Hermione raised an eyebrow and headed straight to the furthest door. It was bright red with a golden rampant Gryphon in the centre. As Hermione approached, the gryphon turned its head and looked at her. The door instantly swung open by itself and as soon as Hermione stepped through it closed behind her. The man at the desk stood up, walked over and wrapped her in a big hug. "Good morning Mia. Have you had a good break?"

"Not too bad, Bill. But two weeks is more than enough. What have you got for me?"

Bill Weasley wore his forty-five years well. He was tall like all the Weasleys and still lean despite his desk job. His long red hair had receded slightly and started to grey just at the temples. He still had a taste for extravagant clothing. Today he was wearing a red robe with black and gold starburst patterns clustered at the neck, hem and sleeves. Beneath this he wore tight black trousers shot through with gold thread and black knee-high dragon hide boots. He was of course wearing his favorite dragon's tooth earring and matching pendant.

He had been recruited to the Department from Gringotts shortly after Voldemort's return and had quickly worked his way up to head of the Department. He was still in charge after ten years.

They dispensed with the small talk and then sat down in two lounge chairs by the fireplace. "Accio, file." A slender folder flew over from the desk into Bill's hands. "I have a slightly different project for you this time Mia. It involves mostly research, a little covert surveillance, no real undercover and has a very low danger rating."

"What are you doing to me Bill? I am your best undercover agent. The danger just adds spice as far as I am concerned. This sounds like something you've concocted to sideline me temporarily."

Bill smiled. "No. Although I do think you need a break. The last couple of projects were pretty rugged. But you actually are the most suitable agent for this job. Otherwise, I will have to do it myself."

Hermione looked up sharply. "You rarely do active projects anymore. What is so special about this one?"

He handed her the file. "Have a look."

She took the file and opened it and read each of the two pieces of parchment twice. Her eyes widened as she did so. "Snape is alive?"

"Sirius thinks so. Minerva is more cautious."

"But then she didn't actually meet this Simon Smith, did she?"

"What the project involves is to find out everything you can about him - whether he could be Severus Snape. Then if we decide it's a possibility you will need to do surveillance. Check out the man's appearance, behavior, habits and way of speaking. You need to be personally satisfied that it is Snape."

"Why me, Bill?"

Bill held up his hand and counted on his fingers. "One, you are my best active agent when research is required. Two, it is a low risk project and you do need a rest."

Hermione snorted, "No, I don't!"

Bill ignored her and continued, "Three, during your last year at Hogwarts you spent a significant amount of time assisting Snape on potion projects for the Order of the Phoenix. Apart from me, no other active agent knows Severus Snape well enough to make a positive identification."

"But how did he survive. What happened?"

"We have no idea. When you are confident it is him, then you make contact and if he is willing to assist then we can investigate what really happened."

Hermione closed the file, shrunk it, and tucked it in a pocket of her robe. They both stood up and hugged again.

"I think I'll start by having a chat with Sirius."

"That's a good idea. Be gentle with him."

She smiled. "He's a tough old dog. He can handle a DOM interrogation." As she walked to the door, she started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"I have this mental picture of Severus Snape as a bank manager. That is just too crazy."

***

Things had calmed down a little in the Smith household once the school year started. The nightmares were less frequent and less intense so Simon was getting more sleep and his temper started to improve.

About two weeks later after dinner, Anne looked up at Simon with a very serious expression. "I phoned Dr Saxon's office at St Thomas' today. I made you an appointment for next Wednesday."

"You did what!" He sprang to his feet so suddenly that his chair fell over backwards on to the floor. "What did I tell you, stupid bitch? No psychiatrists!"

Anne clenched her hands together so tightly that her knuckles went white "I know what you said. But I thought now that Bella is away at school, you might reconsider."

"I was never comfortable with your damn shrinks and I don't see that Bella's schooling is an improvement," he sneered down his nose at her. "Oh, excuse me Doctor, not only am I dreaming about wizards, but guess what, my daughter is now training to be a witch!" he said sarcastically, "that will really convince them of my sanity."

He started to leave the kitchen, stopped in the doorway and turned. "Since you think it is such a good idea you keep the appointment. After all your sanity must be questionable. What totally sane woman falls in love with a man with no past?"

Over the next month the condition of Simon and Anne's marriage see-sawed from furious arguments, to cold war, to tense civility and all the way back again with alarming speed and regularity. Their sex life became non-existent and Simon started to wonder why he bothered to stay.

Then he started to get the weirdest feeling as if someone was watching him. When sitting in his usual lunch bar, he felt like there was someone staring at him. When he looked up there was a haze or dark shadow in the corner where the feeling was coming from. One day he thought for a moment he could see a young woman there, but by the time he made his way over to the corner table, she was gone.

The nightmares now returned with increased intensity and frequency. Simon was already tense and irritable because of his relationship problems so the aggravation was compounded. The tension and lack of sleep started to affect his work. Two weeks later he moved into the guest bedroom. It annoyed him even more that Anne didn't seem to care.

It was one week before Halloween. Simon and Anne had another blazing row the minute he got home, sparked off by a letter from Bella. Simon stormed out of the house and went down to the small corner pub opposite the train station. This was starting to become a habit. Simon went in, bought a Scotch and sat at a small table in the back corner, trying to make sense of the way his carefully constructed life was falling down around his ears.

"Do you mind if I join you, Simon?" a female voice sounded near his ear.

He glanced up quickly. "Yes, I do mind."

"Too bad."

He looked up at the woman who had just sat down opposite him as she put her glass of vodka on the table. She was reasonably young, about thirty Simon guessed. Very attractive with wavy dark brown hair cut short so that it sat like a cap on her head. Her hazel eyes looked almost golden, rimmed with black eyeliner and enhanced with russet eye-shadow. Her lips were colored dark blood red and her long fingernails were the same color.

She was wearing a tight red top with a low scoop neck under a black leather jacket which matched her black leather pants. Simon could not help thinking how very attractive she looked. Then he remembered where he had seen her before.

He reached over and grabbed one of her wrists. "You can sit here, but I want to know how you know my name and why you have been following me?"

She looked at him calmly. "That's why I'm here."

"Oh." He let go and leaned back in his chair.

She pulled a packet of cigarettes and lighter out of her jacket pocket. "Do you mind?"

"If you must. It is a very dirty habit."

"Yes, I know." She shrugged and lit a cigarette.

"So why have you been following me?"

"Have you been in touch with your parents lately, Simon?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What has that got to do with it?"

"Everything. You don't even know who your parents are nor whether they are alive, do you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"I know quite a lot about you, Simon Smith." She looked at him intently and continued speaking. "Fifteen years ago on the fifteenth of June a man was discovered lying unconscious in a roadside stop on the M1 motorway about 100km north of London. He appeared to have been severely beaten up or tortured and awoke suffering from total amnesia. When found he was wearing old-fashioned clothing and clutching a slim baton of wood in his hand. The only ID was a gold signet ring he was wearing with the initials 'SS' engraved on it. Two months later he was released from St Thomas' Psychiatric Hospital with a new identity and the name Simon Smith. You then took up an adult traineeship with Barclay's Bank and eventually married the social worker assigned to your case. You have one daughter, Isabella, who is presently a first year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

At that last statement Simon's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise and he gave the woman a questioning look. "You certainly do know a lot about me."

"That's my job. The Ministry is very interested in you, Simon Smith."

"The Ministry?"

"The Ministry of Magic," she smiled and her eyes flashed mischievously, "You gave Sirius quite a scare."

"Professor Black? What did he say?"

"Sorry, but that's confidential. But he is convinced he knew you before you lost your memory."

"And that is worth an investigation?"

"Your daughter was sorted into Slytherin."

"What is so noteworthy about that?"

She shook her head. "You have no idea, do you? No child with two Muggle parents can ever be sorted into Slytherin. That was one of Salazar Slytherin's prime sorting specifications. He didn't like my kind much!" she smiled wryly.

"Your type?"

"Witches or wizards from non-magic families."

"So are you saying you believe I was a wizard?"

At that she stubbed out her cigarette butt in the ash tray and finished her drink in a single swig. "Simon would you like us to help you find your past?"

Simon leant forward, put his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his hands. "What makes you think I really want to know?"

She looked at him with a look of cool appraisal. "So your present life is that good?"

"It suits me."

She looked at him skeptically and produced a business card between her fingers out of thin air. As she stood up, she handed it to him. "Well, if you change your mind give me a call." At that she walked out of the pub.

He watched her walk away, and then when she reached the door he decided to follow her. When he came out of the pub, she had already completely disappeared.