Harry Potter and the Green Snake of Slytherin

14.

Of Deceit And Treachery

Since his arrival in Paris, Dumbledore had tried to find the right words to soothe Pernelle's sorrow. Her husband Nicolas Flamel, one of the 14th century's greatest alchemists, had destroyed the Philosopher's Stone that provided them both with the elixir of life; they had given up immortality and chosen to die a quiet and peaceful death.

And Nicolas had left this world unexpectedly last night.

When he had examined the body, the old, wise man noticed that it had been strangled to death, although the strangulation marks were ingeniously concealed... Who would be capable of committing such a heinous crime? One name and no other came to his mind: Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore could not decently reveal Pernelle the truth about her husband's death.

They were both having a last cup of tea in front of the dimly glowing fireplace before going to bed. Pernelle Flamel slowly started to realize that her husband was no more, and that lamenting would not bring him back to life.

She took Albus's hand and nodded gently, as to thank him for his presence and to show him that she understood what he meant, when suddenly a purple envelope burst through the chimney hearth and slapped Dumbledore in the face. "Gentle, gentle" said the old wizard, visibly disgruntled, and he unsealed the envelope with his wrinkly fingers. The seal he recognized easily. Split in four quarters: lion, serpent, badger and eagle united by a big, capital "H" formed the Hogwarts emblem.

As he began to read the letter, his face turned stern: he realized that he surely had been lured away from Hogwarts to free the path for the Dark Forces.

With an expression of deep regret on his face, he turned towards the old, mourning widow.

"Pernelle, I have to leave you precipitately. I'm so sorry. It seems somebody deliberately abused our feelings - your sorrow and my compassion - to infiltrate Hogwarts with chaos and atrocious misdemeanor." He shook his head.

"But, Albus, who can be cruel enough to forge such a malevolent plan?"

"My dear friend, I've spent my life learning how to deal with the realms of the Dark Arts. You'd be surprised by the villainy of some Dark wizards. Some are highly intelligent, yes, and literate too; some could even be very interesting allies, if they did not use their abilities to pursue evil goals."

"Alright, Albus. If you have to go, I understand," she said, slightly sobbing. "I appreciate that you came here tonight. Take care"

With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore disappeared from Pernelle's living room in a burst of golden sparks.

***

At the same time, in the Hogwarts owlery, a similar plethora of sparks transformed into the blurred shape of the Headmaster, who soon materialized completely. All around, the frightened owls moved aside to make place for the arrival of the old wizard.

Severus Snape was walking back and forth since his letter had left the owlery, plagued with remorse and guilt for what he had consented. The headmaster's presence relieved him swiftly from his burden.

"I hope this is important" said Dumbledore slightly irritated and ill-at-ease for leaving Pernelle alone.

Draped in his black cloak, as to hide from his own ignominy, Snape welcomed him: "Professor Dumbledore, I'm worried about Renatus Troomveld. I think he may be someone else than he pretends to be."

"What do you mean, Severus?"

"Miss von Argentum came to me after she and Harry Potter had finished their homework. She told me that Troomveld had wanted to talk to Potter in private. And since that time, the boy did not show up in his dormitory." He paused, waiting for Dumbledore's reaction, which did not come.

"I'm rarely mistaken," said Snape, "I suggest we have a look at the Hogwarts register".

Dumbledore hesitated. After all, it was not the first time Snape deprecated the newly appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, for he had been coveting the job for ages himself.

"Why should we do that? I've been testing him for two hours; he made me a good impression and seemed to know the Dark Arts and the counter-curses very well, believe me."

Snape, who perfectly knew the bare truth, was confident. "If I'm wrong, you can hire a new teacher for Potions"

"Alright", said Dumbledore, resigned. They both headed to his office in Gryffindor Tower, where he kept the Hogwarts Register. Dumbledore and McGonagall had used it to read the Magical Quill's description of new students before the Sorting Ritual. Avara von Argentum being the only recruit from another wizarding school, they should be able to find something about Troomveld.

To Snape's greatest surprise, there was a "Renatus Troomveld" filed in Slytherin; he was registered fifty years earlier.

"There" said the Headmaster, but before he could finish his sentence, Snape had already moved on to letter "R"

"Look, Professor, said the Potions teacher, the entry for "Tom Riddle" has vanished, exactly what I guessed!"

"Do you mean, Severus, that Troomveld is actually Voldemort?"

"Exactly. Moreover, I can feel it since he came to Hogwarts", he said, rolling up his sleeve. The Dark Mark on his arm had turned pitch black and was glowing more vividly than ever.

"Well, we can't afford waiting any longer." said Dumbledore.

They hurtled down the imposing stairway in direction of Snape's office. The door was locked with a powerful curse but Dumbledore managed to open it with a wave of his wand.

***

Behind that door, Voldemort had kept tormenting his young foe continuously.

"We are so alike, Harry, no wonder your mind reacts perfectly to my little games..."

Harry was convulsing with pain under the Dark Lord's strong psychic attacks.

When Voldemort noticed that Harry's body was merely shivering, unable to resist this agony any longer, he receded from Harry's mind for his victim to become conscious of his imminent death.

Voldemort grasped his yew wand, which he had laid on the bench. He had never felt such intense satisfaction for his time had finally come to exterminate the cause of his past decline. He raised his left hand, aiming the wand at the boy and spoke the cursed words "Avada Ke..."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Dumbledore hit the Dark wizard with a strong Petrificus hex in the back. Lord Voldemort knew how to recover from those simple curses fast. He stood up again, a look of fury flashing from his blood red eyes.

"You can't use Avada Kedavra to kill him, can you?" asked Dumbledore, suddenly worried.

"I can very well use it, if I infect his mind with the Inmentus Potion first to weaken him", smirked the Dark Lord.

At those words, the Headmaster's face turned livid.

Before he could realize what was happening, he heard Voldemort speak "Similis Mutandum".

He knew that the Dark wizard would not try to attack him, but he did not expect him to use such a cunning trick. For before him stood another Albus Dumbledore.

"So, Albus, what are you going to do? Kill me? This would deprive you of your own life. Curse me? The curse would hit you back... You'd better let me go, believe me"

Dumbledore's mind was running at high revs, trying to figure out a way to counter his enemy's plan. But Voldemort was being so completely right. Similis Mutandum worked only within eye-contact reach but it was a bond much more powerful than the Polyjuice Potion, linking the subject and the wizard by fate. He was tempted to try to kill him, but the ignorance of the outcome prevented him from going further.

"Go away Voldemort, you are here unwelcome" he said, a perceptible tone of rage and resignation in his voice.

Dumbledore's replica showed a grin on his face. He left the room walking backwards, in order to keep his model within eye-reach.

When he was close enough to the door, Voldemort embraced his incorporeal form of a silvery specter with gloomy red eyes and escaped, sliding swiftly away. The bodily envelope of Dumbledore collapsed on the floor, gradually transforming into Renatus Troomveld's dead corpse.

The Dark Lord's left a last message, his angular, ethereal voice echoing threateningly from the distance :

"Death Eaters are everywhere. Even in places where you least expect them"

A few minutes later, Snape joined Dumbledore in the office. The head wizard looked despaired: "Poor boy... He's so close to death that we might lose him...The boy must live!"

Thinking about Voldemort's words, he then asked "So the Inmentus Potion really exists? It's not a myth?"

"I fear not, Professor. While I was preparing tomorrow's lesson with the book of Salazar Slytherin, I came across a few lines in Parseltongue dealing with that potion. Unfortunately, no remedy was mentioned., Have you read anything about it yet?"

"Actually, I've been helping Moody on a research about Mind Control, and that's where I read about it first."

Pressing the palm of his hand on the wall , the Headmaster muttered "Per Murum, Accio Spellbook" and went on:

"What you just said, Severus, sounds really interesting. I was not aware that there was a written variant of Parseltongue. If this is what I think, we may find additional information about that draught in that booklet."

He was now holding a tiny, ancient book in his hand. With its torn, green leather cover, it looked like an old diary.

"This," he said "is supposed to be the diary of Salazar Slytherin at the time Hogwarts was founded. I never knew it was in my office until last week. It did not help me much, for I was unable to decipher it, but I guess it is written Parseltongue as you mentioned." He handed the opus to Professor Snape, who was looking fascinated by the book, one of the few Slytherin belongings that he didn't own. "I guess you should have no problem with its hidden meaning, Severus"

"Hmm... Let me see" said Snape leafing through the diary with a perplex glare.

"Potiones Tenebrarum... Compatio... Ah...I have something about Inmentus...Probably my most remarkable and powerful potion ever..." he translated darkly, reading Salazar's writings "infiltrate the subject's mind, possible uses: extreme pain, implied madness, psychic torture... Remedy: why would I need one? But I guess Phoenix tears and Malachite could produce a suitable antidote."

Dumbledore and Snape looked at each other.

"We must try this out," said the old wizard, "but where can we find Malachite now? My old friend Raj must be sleeping now"

"Professor, I think I have some Malachite left in my private chamber. I'll get the stones while you get the tears from your Phoenix. Let's meet here again when we're done so we can prepare the remedy."

Casting his bat-like shadow on the candle-lit walls, Snape rushed into his private chamber. From there, he opened the secret doorway leading to the Slytherin dormitory.

Silently, he approached Avara. Her pale skin was contrasting nicely with her jet-black hair between the sheets. He was troubled for a moment by her breath and woke her up with a whisper: "Avara von Argentum, I need Malachite from your snake, right now. For your own safety."

"Ah Severus, I was wondering when you would be visiting me tonight. What are you going to do? Give me in to Dumbledore? No... It would be like admitting your own guilt", she sneered, her voice strangely intense and crystalline, though she just woke up from deep slumber.

"Enough Avara, we're running out of time."

"Agreed. I'll be right back", she said, taking Malachius with her into the next room. A few moments later, she came back, handing a few greenish stones to Professor Snape, who examined them suspiciously before leaving the room.

"I've always been the one who gets away with it, Severus", she smiled at the black-clad teacher.