Elemental Magic

THE MISSION

The next day blossomed in a very different way from the usual alarm clock wakening. The first thing I saw the moment I woke up was a jet-black owl tapping at my window. I got up to let it in, and to my surprise, the owl was not carrying a letter. Curious, I stepped forward with my wand raised, eyeing the bird warily. It was staring at me in a strangely determined manner. I took a cautious step forward, and was about to touch it when, with a loud bang and a puff of black smoke, the owl changed into a house-elf. I jumped back and barely managed to bite back the curse that instinctively flew to my lips.

What the hell do you----------------------- think --" I snarled.

"I is sorry, master Snape. Master Transfigured Dobby because Dobby over pressed his robes," explained the elf. I is here because master Malfoy wants Dobby to tell master Snape, 'When are we going to do it?'"

"Tonight. Tell your master to meet me tonight at nine near the Muggle antique shop on High Street," I snarled. I had had enough of the scared house-elf, so I Transfigured it into a falcon and threw it back out the window. As I was now fully alert after such an unexpected awakening, I decided to eat breakfast before meeting the new recruits to tell them about tonight's plan. I took out the plan of the area in which the Muggles lived, and was going over it for the umpteenth time, over a cup of black coffee, when a loud banging jolted me out of my seat.

"Magical Law Enforcement. Open up!!!"

No one except Lucius knew where I lived, so I panicked. Wiping the piece of parchment clean, I blasted the door down and directed my wand at the charred doorway. "Serpensortia!" A black snake appeared on the threshold before the robed figures. I pointed at it and shouted, "Engorgio!" Without stopping to admire the impromptu door warden, I fled the room.

Since I joined the Death Eaters last year, I had begun looking over my shoulder constantly. Sometimes I worried I was getting too paranoid, but now it seemed to have paid off. As I made my way to my room, I flicked my wand, and all my belongings leapt into my trunk. I quickly reduced the trunk, put it in my pocket, and Apparated to my father's flat in Muggle London. Just before I Disapparated though, I heard Aurors breaking into the house past the snake.

The first thing I did when I arrived was fire call Lucius, explaining what had happened, and asking him to meet me right away. As I waited for him to arrive, I pondered how the Aurors could have discovered my whereabouts. I could not fathom how they got past my wards without setting them off, or at least alerting me. I was not on the Ministry's wanted list of known Death Eaters; in fact, I did not even believe that they suspected me. Who would suspect a half-blood? Had I been a fool to react as I did? Perhaps it had been just a routine Ministry enquiry. No, that knock had meant business. The only explanation I could come up with was that there was a traitor amongst the Death Eaters. I was just beginning to consider the consequences of being wanted by the Ministry, when Lucius arrived looking shaken.

"Who the hell betrayed you?" he shouted, not waiting for me to say something.

"One of the new recruits, I think, though I can't guess how he knew where I lived, or how he got past my wards unnoticed. Not even the most powerful Aurors could have managed such a feat."

Lucius was worried; I could see it in his face. There was no telling what other names the traitor had given the Ministry. If Lucius had been betrayed, he was better off than I, with the wealth and power of the Malfoys behind him, but there was a limit to the protection such things would give him in these paranoid times. "I can assure you," he said, "none of the ones I brought knew of your whereabouts."

That made the list of suspects very short, as I certainly had not told any of my recruits where I lived...unless someone had followed me. But that was impossible. I'd always Apparated to the house, and that was untraceable. I spent the rest of the morning proposing and discarding possible traitors with Lucius, to no avail. We agreed that despite this complication, the plan would continue as normal.

It was only after he left that I really looked around at the place I hated so much -- the disgustingly Muggle place where I was born, where I was abused, and to which I had hoped never return. I had vowed that I would never step into this house again under any circumstance...but here I was.

I got up from my chair and started to unpack my trunk. I hoped that this mission, this last uninterrupted mission, would be a success, and the Mudbloods would not put up too much of a fight. I hoped that this mission, if it were successful, would be my ticket into the Dark Lord's inner circle. I was new, and a half-blood, so I knew gaining the Dark Lord's trust would take time, but I hadn't taken the Dark Mark to serve as a lowly flunky. I wanted to rise to the top. I wanted be feared. I wanted power.

.............................................................................................................

I Apparated near the antique shop, and was pleased to see that the others had already arrived before me. The six of them stood dressed for action in black masks and deep-hooded cloaks. I signaled them to follow, and quietly made my way to the Mudbloods' house, which we were to destroy. The street was empty and the house, dark. As we carefully made our way through the front garden, our footsteps against the leaves and grass sounded unnaturally loud. Then, to my horror, there was a loud crack followed by a muffled shout. One of the new recruits had stepped on a branch and tripped. I quickly put a Disillusion Charm on myself so that the Muggles would not see me if they looked out of their window; I heard the others do the same. After a tense moment, the house remained dark and silent, so I mounted the stairs to the front porch.

I pointed my wand at the door and thought, Alohomora. The door opened soundlessly to reveal a teen, her eyes wide with surprise. The moment she saw me, she fumbled for her wand, but the Stunning Spell had already hit her squarely in the face and she tumbled forward.

The other Death Eaters and I quickly entered the house and set to work. I gave the teenage girl to Avery and Nott. The new recruits went in search of anyone else who might happen be in the house. I joined Lucius in the master bedroom where he had already started on the Mudblood mother and Muggle father. I turned towards the mother of the teen and shouted, "Crucio!" She screamed, but nobody would hear her as I had already put up a Silencing Charm around the house. I held the curse until she snapped into unconsciousness. It was disappointing to see her break so quickly, so I pointed my wand at her again. "Enervate!" She woke up as artificial energy poured through her body. Again, I started torturing her. These Muggles-lovers are so helpless, I thought with contempt, in the face of true magic...in the face of my power. It was intoxicating. Finally, about ten minutes later, after the woman had fallen into unconsciousness for the third time, I directed my wand at her and said, "Avada Kedarva!" The green light that filled the room was blinding, but the woman stopped screaming and twitching the moment the green light hit her in the chest

I looked around to see Lucius watching, enraptured. When I meet his eyes, he smirked. "You kill them too early, my friend. Let me show you the finer points of Muggle torture."

"As if you could teach me anything," I sneered. "And it's too risky to linger much longer."

Lucius only nodded. He slashed his wand through the air. The Muggle screamed, and a series of cracking noises rent the air, bones breaking. Then he slashed again shouting, "Epicurimomento!" and a series of deep cuts appeared on the Muggle's chest. One couldn't help but admire his technique, technique learned from the Dark Lord himself. The curse had not done the worst possible damage, though. I could have done better, I thought. I'm better at Dark Arts than most of the inner circle, even the ever so pure-blooded Lucius, and the Dark Lord will soon see it. Lucius looked up and smiled at me, then moved on to the Cruciatus Curse, which, when finished, left the Muggle almost dead. Once more Lucius flicked his wand. "Conflagrate!" A purple flame, which I could smell burning the insides of the Muggle, shot out of the end. Just as Lucius was going to put another curse on the Muggle, Nott called from downstairs. "Snape, we have a problem here!"

I exchanged a look of fear and frustration with Lucius, who quickly dispatched the Muggle. We rushed downstairs. I commanded the new recruits, who were just idling on the couch (having found no work), to Dissaparate and followed Lucius out the door. We ran outside to see a blond boy running full pelt towards the neighboring house. Nott and Avery were already giving chase, but none of their curses made contact. I was a step ahead of Lucius, and used it to my advantage. I pointed my wand at the running boy and shouted, "Incendi Imensius!" The result was instantaneous. The boy burst into a giant fireball, sending off a heat wave that knocked both Avery and Nott off their feet. Disaster averted, I turned towards the house, pointed my wand at the door and shouted "Annihilatans!" The whole building collapsed on itself. I pointed my wand at the sky and shouted for the whole neighborhood to hear, "MORSEMORDE!"

The Dark Mark slithered out of my wand and hovered over the house, bathing the whole yard in a green light. Just as I turned to smirk triumphantly at Lucius, I saw a shadow hurrying towards the street. "There's another one!" I shouted, and took off after the figure. It was a girl. Just as I was about to cast the Killing Curse, several things happened. First, the girl put out her left hand and jumped onto a triple decker bus that just appeared out of nowhere. Secondly, a six-man Auror team Apparated ten feet from where Lucius and I were standing. We immediately jumped for cover behind a Muggle car as Avery and Nott did the same behind a dumpster. I slid my shaking wand out from behind the Muggle car and thought, "Avada Kedarva! Evabero! Sectusempra! Crucio! Incendi! Imensius!" Even though I knew I wasn't hitting anything, at least the Aurors would be distracted by the flurry of curses.

Lucius was staring at me questioningly, so I signaled to him and he nodded. The Aurors were firing spells at us at a rapid rate, as if they were desperate, but our car held. On my mark we both left our cover and attacked. "Stumpefy! Incendio! Sectusempra! Inferio! Rockevotus! Impedimenta!" The Aurors immediately fell down, seriously injured or stunned, all except one, who I thought I recognized -- James Potter. I signaled to the others and, without hesitation, the Death Eaters Disapparated. I pointed my wand at the Auror. "Dextrus negatum!" A large blue light left my wand and hit the Auror, whose arms went instantly limp. I turned around just as I heard a loud pop from somewhere behind me and, without waiting to investigate, I Dissaparated.

I arrived at the graveyard out of breath and very weak (wordless magic takes more power from the user). When I looked up I saw, to my surprise, that all the Death Eaters were present to witness the report we had to give. I cursed inwardly as I saw the Dark Lord waiting in the middle of the circle, his continence stormy. I fell to my knees and kissed the hem of his robes shakily.

"How did the mission go, Severus? Did you succeed?" I could tell that he was mocking me, but I knew we had succeeded, so I confidently started to tell him everything. The moment I came to the part where the Aurors interfered, I remembered the girl who had escaped; a small mistake, and not my fault, but I knew I was going to pay for it.

"Did you say, Severus, that the Aurors knew of the attack before you left?" the cold voice snarled. I wanted to say obviously, with the Dark Mark blazing in the sky, the Aurors were going to find out about the attack eventually, but I refrained.

"Did you say, Severus, that you failed to eliminate the entire family, that you let a witness escape?"

"Yes, master," I said, fully expecting to die for this failure. I grasped for the only excuse that might sway the Dark Lord. "We were betrayed. Someone sent Aurors after me this morning, and I believe he may have warned the Aurors of tonight's attack."

The Dark Lord scanned the faces of his followers, as if he could identify the traitor on sight and, for a moment, I hoped that his wrath had been successfully diverted. Then his glittering eyes met mine once more.

"Yet you carried on with the plan."

I remained silent.

"Yet you lingered, sporting with the Mudbloods, giving the Aurors time to arrive. And now you have the audacity show up here and admit your failure?"

"Yes...no, master." I gave Lucius a death glare. I was truly going to die now.

"You have failed, Severus. I am disappointed, and for that you will pay." I could not believe it. I was the only one taking the blame?

"Crucio!"

I screamed in spite of myself. I screamed as I had never done before, and it felt as if all my nerve endings were trying to tear out of my body in their agony. Suddenly, the Dark Lord lowered his wand and the pain stopped, but I continued to twitch. Why had I been singled out for punishment, while Lucius, the Dark Lord's pure-blood favorite, was spared even a reprimand, I thought as I lay on the dead grass.

Instead of the Killing Curse I expected, the cold voice said, "Let that be a lesson to you all. I will not, from this moment forward, accept failure as an option or incompetence as an excuse." Then he was gone.

I got up shakily and Apparated to my father's flat. I thought of the Mudblood woman, writing under my Cruciatus Curse, earlier that evening. I now knew the feeling of being on the receiving end of such torture. Shakily I got onto my bed and thought about the day, which had been red-letter, even for me -- I'd been betrayed, forced to return to my childhood home, tortured a Muggle family, been attacked by Aurors and Crucio'd by the Dark Lord. I considered again the unknown person who had betrayed me, as I fell into an uncomfortable dream in which I had succeeded, and the Dark Lord had accepted me into his inner fold.