Dumbledore's Legacy to the Half-Blood Prince

Dumbledore's Legacy to the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter Nine: The Legacy is Revealed

mytab Nagini's severed head made reflexive movements as though still trying to bite the young wizard standing near her. Her body continued to writhe as her lifeblood spattered the ground, and the huge diamond-patterned coils shuddered in agony.

mytabHarry Potter wiped the Gryffindor sword clean with the hem of his robe and quickly brought out his wand, the one he had depended upon since he was eleven years old.

mytab"Luminellus Aris!" A jet of light, so bright it appeared to be made of crystal, hit the two sections of the snake and formed a silvery cocoon around them. The cocoon bulged for a long moment as though restraining a powerful force, but then quickly shrank in on itself until imploding with a shriek.

mytabPotter stood for a moment, breathing hard, and looked down at Voldemort's last Horcrux, now destroyed. Snape heard the quietest of whispers from his lips: "That was for you, Professor."

mytab"Harry, are you hurt? You're bleeding!" Granger's voice was edged with anxiety. She stood shivering to Potter's right, her wand also drawn.

mytabIn the gaslight streaming from the Burrow's windows, Snape walked quickly towards the boy and grasped his right sleeve. It was soaked with blood. After a quick jerk of his wand and muttered "Tergeo," he could see that the skin was marked with two ragged punctures. Potter's face continued to pale even as he tried to shrug off Snape's hand and insisted "I'm fine," in an urgent tone. He sounded almost frantic in his desire to join the battle. It was then that Snape heard the youngest Weasley shout in alarm, and he saw the girl's face in his mind as he stared into Potter's eyes.

mytabSnape kept his grasp on Potter's arm as he began to trace the punctures with his wand tip. This was interrupted when Potter impatiently shook his sleeve back in place and turned towards the moonlit garden, but Snape could see that he was holding his injured arm in a guarded manner. Didn't Potter know that any physical weakness could severely limit his duelling capacity? He let the boy go; they were on extremely uneasy terms these days. He would be only too glad to see the last of that insufferable face after this was all over.

mytabSnape swept after Potter and Granger, and the three ran towards the sound of an ongoing battle. It appeared to be centered on the far side of the hedge bordering the Burrow's garden.

mytabIt was the 6th of December, just two days after the failed ambush in the Riddle manor, and all three had just Apparated to the Burrow. Lupin's Patronus had alerted them to the attack just a few minutes earlier. This was an opportunity they could not afford to waste even though it appeared to be an obvious trap set by Voldemort.

mytabIn the brief slice of time since the ambush, Voldemort had expressed his fury over Potter's narrow escape through a rash of attacks. Two small Muggle children had been poisoned at an ice cream shop. One had died there in front of her hysterical mother, while the Dark Mark was sent into the winter sky. Fenrir Greyback had finally been killed by a pack of mutinous werewolves, but not before he had severely attacked Hestia Jones's young daughter. These recent attacks showed a most brutish violence as they targeted the most helpless-the very young. There was no luxury of time to set up Voldemort for an attack.

mytabSnape was in a highly unusual state. He had exposed himself emotionally to Lupin and others, and had begun to grieve the loss of his family and childhood. He was finally able to see the violent imprint that Voldemort had stamped on his life and that of his family. He had indeed been marked by blood, shame and service, and now Severus Snape was consumed by his final promise to Dumbledore - to see that Voldemort was destroyed. He turned every molecule of grief into an unrelenting drive to see the Dark Lord finished. This determination was untainted by his usual flickering personal resentments towards the world. All else could wait. His disdain of his fellow wizards...his personal feelings towards Potter...his reality as Dumbledore's murderer...all must be set aside for this one great effort. It almost felt as though he was gathering all of his strength - aligning his will towards the same precise endpoint. He had never felt this way before.

mytabSnape and the two teenagers forced their way through the brambly hedge. Potter stopped abruptly just in front of him; Voldemort already had a most effective hostage. The Dark Lord was standing a short distance away from them, holding a dazed Ginny Weasley prisoner in a caustic lariat of light. His laughter sounded with a sickening screech. Arthur Weasley was trying in vain to thrust his wife protectively behind him while keeping his wand trained upon Voldemort. Molly Weasley also had her wand out and was refusing to stay behind her husband. Their courage was matched only by the fear etched on their faces for their youngest child. Snape stilled his own adrenaline overload and carefully searched the battle for Lupin, whom he found dueling with two young Death Eaters alongside Ron Weasley.

mytabFor Snape, the battle was a nightmarish echo of the ambush a few nights before. The air crackled with tension as curses lit up dim figures running through the grass. The outcome looked bleak; Voldemort again held all the cards. There seemed to be twice as many Death Eaters as there were members of the Order, and Voldemort had already secured his bait...bait that galvanized Harry Potter into an impulsive rush towards him. Snape shifted his weight forward to grab Potter and pull him back, but it was too late. He barely touched Potter's collar before it slid through his fingers, and the boy was out of reach.

mytabLupin ran forward to block Potter's way. "Harry, no! This is what he wants - to have you in his power - to have control. Wait...wait until we can cause a diversion - we will separate him from Ginny." His eyes were wide with urgency as he vainly tried to persuade Potter to wait. "Harry, stop and think - you won't be able to help her if you're an easy mark."

mytabBut with a howl of pain, Potter leapt forward, and time appeared to slow to a crawl for Snape. It seemed to take Voldemort a millennium to simply turn his head, smile as if surprised, and open his mouth as if to begin a polite discourse with the Chosen One. Things had gone from bad to worse...much worse.

mytabGranger rushed to follow Potter and received a Cruciatus Curse for her trouble. Keeping his wand trained on her, Antonin Dolohov quickly came forward. He had a look of joy on his face as he watched her flail on the ground, screaming as if she was being torn to pieces. Granger's screams made Snape feel as though his head was splitting apart, and this brought his state of slow motion to an abrupt halt. No student of his - of Hogwarts - would be tortured if he could stop it. He violently Stunned Dolohov, throwing him against a gnarled stump with a thud and ending the Cruciatus.

mytabSuddenly, in his anger, Snape realized that he had made a cardinal mistake and left himself open to attack. And it came: Bellatrix sent a Cruciatus Curse towards his left side, which he was just barely able to block. She laughed shrilly as she deflected his counter-curse, and then he felt his hands pulled irresistibly backwards with an apparent Binding Spell sent from another direction.

mytab"Finally, you dolt!" Bellatrix huffed at Willards, and then turned back to Snape. He could smell her rank scent of sweat as she pushed her face aggressively within an inch of his own. She sneered, "I've always hated you, Snivellus!" just as he bent his body to the side and, using the wand he still cradled in his bound hands, sent a Stunning Spell right at the maniacal witch's midriff.

mytab"I've never liked you either, my dear." As Snape turned away from the fallen witch, he realized in surprise that his hands were once again free, and noticed that Willards was sprawled awkwardly on an uneven hump of ground. The blond Death Eater's eyes were closed and his mouth was slack. A stray stun perhaps? Snape looked around and received a greatly exaggerated bow from Mad-Eye Moody.

mytabWith his immediate foes now out of the way, Snape refocused on the central conflict between Voldemort and Potter. Potter was gesticulating angrily while Voldemort continued to preen by caressing his own bottom lip with a long white finger. Snape began to move determinedly toward the pair, which was quite difficult due to the crowded fray surrounding him. He deflected two jinxes from Amycus until the pudgy wizard was hit from behind by an incidental curse from another Death Eater. This escalated into a brawl between the two Death Eaters, punctuated by numerous hexes, until a furious Travers threatened them with the Cruciatus unless they stopped. Snape continued to rush towards Voldemort and Potter. He had only taken a few steps when Jugson began to aim a curse at him, but he sent the Death Eater whizzing through the air with a forceful jab of his wand. He had to get there in time. Potter was in no shape to duel, not with his injured wand arm.

mytabAs Snape dodged through the chaos, he could see that a laughing Voldemort had now edged Potter backwards. He knew the Dark Lord had been planning for this day since first regaining his sentience deep in the forests of Albania, the day he would humiliate and finally crush Harry Potter. Snape could feel the certainty deep in his bones - the time had come, and only one would survive.

mytabAs the ex-Potions Professor ducked behind a young oak tree, which splintered as it took the impact of a violet jet of light, he thought that the outcome was almost inescapable. Harry Potter with an injured wand arm. Harry Potter blinded by his love for Ginny Weasley and his hatred for Voldemort. Harry Potter with his mind and heart wide open. This was ridiculous; how could Dumbledore have expected this mere boy to be able to defeat the Dark Lord? What a waste - this talk of love as Potter's strength.

mytabSnape was almost upon them when he saw Voldemort aim his wand at Potter and shout, "Avada Kedavra!" His eyes, ominous with their slit pupils, shone red. It looked as though the duel would be over before it began, but Potter suddenly responded to the attack. With a grimace of pain and an unbelievable effort, Potter brought up his wand arm, lifting more from his shoulder than his injured arm, and yelled, "Protego!" Snape came to a stop right in front of the two wizards and watched the green and red jets of energy meld into a rope of gold light.

mytabSnape bellowed, "Lupin.... Quickly!" as he moved to stand next to Potter.

mytab"Get away, Snape!" Potter's voice was a snarl, heavy with effort.

mytabSnape continued to call out names, "Granger, Weasley.... Come!"

mytabHe was acting on an instinctive level. He knew somehow that he had to be there, and that he had to summon the others. He had to do all this before the Priori Incantatem Charm generated its chrysalis of gold around the duellists.

mytabVoldemort appeared relaxed as he held effortlessly to his vibrating wand. He had quickly noticed that Harry could barely keep his own wand upright. "You do know what will happen, my young friend, after I force your wand to spill its pathetic history? You will be helpless for a few seconds while I finish you off. Did you never wonder why you had time to escape to Hogwarts on the night of my rebirth? The true danger of the Priori Incantatem is its refractory period - before the losing wand recovers!"

mytabSnape was familiar with this principle - he had spent some time after the graveyard battle years earlier studying the Priori Incantatem effect.

mytabThe golden stream of light had already begun to splinter into multiple strands when Lupin reached them and ducked underneath, followed immediately by Granger and Weasley. Voldemort's eyes had not left his opponent. Snape knew that Voldemort's concentration would be on Potter alone - his ultimate prize. And Voldemort would know that he and Potter could not be harmed while linked in a Priori Incantatem enchantment. The six of them were as players on a stage now, locked into their roles within this charm.

mytabThree blindingly bright beads of light, each about the size of a Snitch, had now formed on the main strand caught between Potter's and Voldemort's wands, and all three were sliding towards Potter. Snape noticed that Potter's wand was vibrating visibly and appeared slippery with sweat. Despite himself, he was amazed at the boy's tenacity. Perhaps Dumbledore had been correct about Potter's strength of will.

mytabThe beads of light continued to slide nearer Potter and the four wizards that flanked him.

mytabSnape's mind was racing. He felt as if the answer to this crisis was almost within his grasp. Even if he had failed miserably in the ambush, he had to be able to make a difference here. There had to be a reason Dumbledore had wanted him to survive. Hampered by the need to block Voldemort's grasping mind, Snape groped for a way to surprise his old Master - to break his control over this situation. And with that very thought, he suddenly recalled a few lines of slanted writing written in a familiar hand. He remembered reading this message on that memorable morning, one short week after Dumbledore's death.

mytab"...I tell you all this now because this is a time for clarity, a time to know your own strengths and weaknesses... To know yourself. "

mytabQuickly! What were his strengths? Occlumency, the Dark Arts and defense against them, knowledge of Voldemort's strategies, and Potions...Potions...Golpalott's Third Law... could it be applied to this situation? Snape's mind raced. The antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components. When the components were blended, an additional characteristic sprang into existence, adding another dimension. The individual ingredients transformed into more than the sum of the parts. What here fit this concept?

mytabAnd what were his weaknesses? His emotions, his isolation, and his refusal to join others. Snape would not have been able to define the last two as weaknesses before the ambush. He had always blamed his isolation on others, never on his own choices.

mytabA possibility was just beginning to form in his mind - an uneasy blend of potion and wand theories. There was no more time to tease out the details. Potter's wand was visibly drooping with the strain of the vibrating energy of the enchantment, the closest bead almost touching its tip.

mytabSnape caught Lupin's eye, pointed his wand just in front of the nearest bead of light, and shouted, "Protego!" A red jet connected with the gold strand crackling between Potter and Voldemort's wandtips, sizzled for a moment as if in rejection, and then reluctantly joined the gold. Lupin's Protego Charm followed almost simultaneously, followed by Granger and Weasley's. In the next instant, the deep red of the additional spells had changed to assume the unbearable brightness of the main gold connection. Snape noticed that the thickness of the gold strand remained the same - the additional Protego spells had not added any cumulative power.

mytabHe glanced at each of the others in turn. He sensed doubt from Lupin - that this wasn't the way the Priori Incantatem works - mingled with hope in Snape. He could feel fear overridden by a questioning of this technique from Granger - she was trying to figure it out. Weasley was exuding a strong imprint of loyalty and steadfastness. But from Potter he sensed an ebbing of strength and hope. The boy's face, greyish ivory in color now, was beaded with sweat. His face was set in a grimace of determination and pain.

mytabVoldemort grinned in anticipated victory and greedy delight. His skin stretched tight around the cavern of his mouth. He appeared to be holding his quivering wand with almost casual grace. "Severus, I am surprised at your shortsightedness. When you join your strength to another's Priori spell, each of you are proportionately weakened. The five of you together are barely stronger than Potter alone. A mended tear will never be as strong as the original cloth. When this thing is done, each of you will be helpless; each of you will be affected by my Curse simultaneously. You have taken a needless risk, and I will have five more deaths to my credit!"

mytabThere was a stillness among their audience. Both the Death Eaters and members of the Order were helplessly watching this definitive struggle inside the golden cage of light. Their breath formed little white puffs in the freezing winter air.

mytabSuddenly a sound emerged from the silence. Freed when Voldemort shifted his focus to Potter, Ginny had been revived by her parents and spied the battle of wills taking place near her. "Don't let go," she cried out in a piercingly sweet voice. "I love you, Harry, don't let go!"

mytabThe sound of her voice rippled through Snape in a disturbing way. As he turned towards Potter, he almost reflexively flinched backwards. There was an aura of intensity surrounding Potter, an intangible warmth so invasive, so saturated, that it was frightening. Snape resisted it with all the strength he could summon, but it still felt as deadly as standing next to the sun. The beads, though still coming closer, had slowed greatly. Potter had regained some color in his face.

mytabVoldemort seemed unaware of the change. "You have made it much easier than it would have been, Severus!" But his mouth slackened as Snape began to whisper in a hoarse voice.

mytab"What! What is that?" Voldemort strained to hear Snape's words.

mytab"Golpalott's Third Law," murmured Snape. "Blended components transform into more than the sum of the parts. A newly created characteristic...another dimension...."

mytabLupin started in comprehension, and stepped closer to Harry, placing a hand on Harry's left shoulder. Granger and Weasley followed suit, forming a physical bond with Potter. Snape grasped Lupin's shoulder.

mytabThis was right, he could feel it. Along with the rightness, an uncomfortable sensation began deep in Snape's core. His very ribcage ached with the strain of it. He could feel a lightness, a warmth where there had long been cold. And with that, there was a subtle change in the air. It was no longer quiet as an indescribable sound began. A sound so soft at first that Snape wasn't sure he was hearing anything at all. It was song, as tangible and cheering to him as a hot meal to a cold, hungry man. The sound of phoenix song.

mytabThe blazing intensity surrounding Potter had now spread to everyone touching him, even to Snape; it felt as though he would be burned alive with the force of it. It was nearly unbearable.

mytabIt was clear that the crude hybrid spell he had fashioned from Golpalott's Third Law and the ancient magic of unity had been magnified by first Potter and then the catalyst of Fawkes's song.

mytabVoldemort's face reflected his disbelief. He joined both his skeletal hands on his wand and tried to force a last bit of effort in an attempt to repel the beads. Fear flitted across the haggard features for a moment, but then was replaced by supreme arrogance. "You will never kill me, Harry Potter," he spat in tones of hatred. "I am like the very air that you breathe. I will be with you forever. I will hunt you down, and hunt down all whom you love. There will never be an escape for you."

mytabBut just before Voldemort's wand was captured, true terror finally appeared on his features. Snape knew that his old master must have finally realized that his Horcruxes were no more. Perhaps it was a visceral realization, reached as his tattered soul called out for its brothers and found them gone.

mytabVoldemort's eyes widened in harness with his mouth and his angular frame stiffened. The golden rope binding his wand to Potter's spilled like a splash of watercolor pigment on wet paper and slashed out at Voldemort in one broad, green bolt of force. The strength of the Protego spell, fundamentally transformed by ancient Priori magic, blocked even the Killing Curse and sent it screaming back towards its originator.

mytabFor the second time, Voldemort was hit with his own weapon of destruction, while staring into the eyes of a black-haired boy. But this time, there were no Horcruxes available to anchor his essence to earth. With a tiny puff, softer than a sigh, Voldemort's carcass collapsed into nothing. There was no heightened dramatic ending for the Dark Lord, only a forgettable fizzle. Quite fitting, Snape realized, for the man that had destroyed himself long ago with his first Horcrux.

mytabThere were gasps of disbelief from the men and women watching. Tears of joy ran down the faces of several Order members. The Death Eaters showed a great variety of reactions: some sank to their knees in fear, watching the tufts of blighted grass where their Lord had stood, while others ran for the hedge. And a tiny third group, led by Bellatrix, sounded a battle cry and turned to attack with ferocity; the Order members quickly subdued this vain effort. The light of hope shone in every face loyal to Dumbledore's mission as they competently rounded up all the Death Eaters. Ropes snaked out of thin air in every direction. Antonin Dolohov grunted in real terror as he watched the Dark Mark fading rapidly from his left wrist. Bellatrix, her hands now bound behind her, sank to her knees, sobbing hysterically, but she still had the presence of mind to snarl at anyone who approached her.

mytabA reddish-gold blur settled down to sit on Potter's right shoulder. Harry, his left arm slung around a mistily smiling Ginny's shoulders, watched contentedly as his injured right arm was healed with the diamond-bright drops of Fawkes's tears. Snape realized that the phoenix song had stopped; he wasn't quite sure when this had happened. He turned abruptly from watching Harry; this was no time to daydream. He would finish what needed to be done and leave.

mytabHe started to stride forward, but his progress was halted by a heavy warmth on his own arm. Fawkes was gazing directly into his eyes, and he was reminded keenly of Mina. The sound and action of the scene faded to a stillness, and Snape felt caught in the black glitter of Fawkes's stare. A wave of heat came into his face, and he shivered.

mytabIt was then that he realized that Dumbledore had saved him. Snape realized that he had never been an oversight, a necessary casualty, or a mere cog in the machine of Dumbledore's plans. That Dumbledore had never valued him only as a way to assist Potter.

mytabDumbledore's legacy to Snape had been to encourage him to open his heart. Through Fawkes, Snape finally realized that Dumbledore's true legacy was the capacity for love. A final cognitive shift happened here for Snape, which he would spend the rest of his life translating into emotional belief and behavior.

mytabFawkes's shape blurred momentarily, and then cleared as Snape blinked twice. The great bird took flight once more. Snape turned to find Harry, and his eyes locked with a pair of green ones already considering him with a most somber expression.

mytabThe stare lengthened as the two men continued to appraise each other. They would never be friends; there was too great a history of pain when they looked at each other. However, each found the other to be of great courage and worthy of respect. And that was enough.

mytabSeverus Snape groaned as he opened his eyes and shifted his weight on the firm mattress, just as he had done on that spring morning two years ago, when he had first received Dumbledore's letter. There was a little more flesh on his bones now, and the hollows of his cheeks had softened a bit. The shaggy black hair was clean but included a few strands of grey.

mytabHe was back at Hogwarts, but in the guest lecturer's quarters this time. It was amazing that such dunderheads were even allowed into Advanced Potions these days. The elder Creevey boy, now in his seventh year, seemed to not even know which end of his cauldron was up. Although Snape had no real authority, it felt good to threaten the loss of a few House points yesterday. He had had to turn away quickly before the students could see his amusement when a short Ravenclaw girl inhaled a bit too much stewed Hilaris and treated them all to a rousing chorus of "Here We Come A-Wassailing." It wouldn't be fitting to let a sense of familiarity develop between teacher and student.

mytabA knock sounded on the door. That would be the Headmaster coming by to collect him for breakfast. Snape barely had time to utter, "Come!" when a shaggy head came around the door.

mytab"Not dressed yet? You're slipping, Snape. Good luck for us that we don't have to deal with your laziness on a routine basis." Lupin's exaggerated look of censure melted into a wolfish grin.

mytabSnape had been fully pardoned for his actions on the Astronomy Tower by the Wizengamot, based on a majority vote of "extenuating magical circumstances". This vote was finally reached by the high court after hearing lengthy testimony from members of the Order, several Aurors, and an Auror-in-training, Harry Potter himself. Snape had maintained a surly expression throughout the trial, but Lupin, sitting hand-in-hand with Tonks, noticed a tremor in Snape's left hand when the verdict had been reached.

mytabAmidst a great deal of protest from the Ministry of Magic, Lupin had been appointed to the position of Headmaster last year. His opponents had cited everything from his lack of experience to his "wolfish tendencies". These arguments were successfully countered by his decorated war hero status, a full vote of confidence from the wizarding public and the Hogwarts School Board of Governors, and the availability of Snape's new extended-release Wolfsbane Potion.

mytab"And isn't it too bad Minerva wanted to continue teaching Transfiguration to her beloved students, or you would be out in a wooded glen somewhere, readying yourself to howl at the moon tonight," Snape drawled in a biting voice. He peered down at the schedule on his desk. "Oh, joy, the Patil twins will be here at the Old Students Lunch, favoring us with their presence. Is it necessary that I be there for the frivolity?"

mytab"Don't pretend you aren't planning to autograph some copies of your new Potions book at lunch, Snape. It really would be a most amusing sight; we could always refer to you as Gilderoy. " Lupin seemed to make no attempt to keep his laughter to himself.

mytabAs if wild Thestrals could drag an autograph out of him! Snape whirled around from his wardrobe with wand in hand. A moment later, Lupin was no longer laughing as he suddenly became busy with restoring his tongue to its original length.

mytabLupin cleared his throat, and maintained his serious expression. "Molly was wondering if you would like to come for dinner next week - it will be a reunion of the old Order and the new guard. I know you're a solitary old cuss, but before you say no, will you at least think about it? You've never joined us for a meal yet, but...."

mytabSnape groaned as if the idea was torture, paused for a long moment as if trying to think of some plausible excuse...and then accepted.