A Cloud Before the Moon

Chapter 26

Snape stood silently, staring down into the chasm. Then he got down on his hands and knees and began examining and poking at its walls, for several minutes. Adams had thought that perhaps it would be a relatively simple task to extract her from the pit with the aid of magic, but it appeared that far more than a mere wave of a wand would be required. He did not disturb the preoccupied wizard, but meanwhile busied himself inspecting the steep, smooth sides of the hole - he could see no way to get her out non-magically without the use of a hoist or some other heavy machinery, of which, of course, none was immediately available. He tried in vain to come up with some practical solution, but had no brilliant ideas. Whether or not she might be alive, he dared not speculate.

Finally, Snape stood up again and took out his wand. He looked at Adams, and commanded, "Do what you can to conceal yourself in that thicket by that last large boulder we passed. You must stay away from this area." Adams did as he was told, kneeling in the center of a patch of brownish-orange nettles. It was not a particularly comfortable spot, but he could watch what happened from between the vines. He saw Snape begin slowly circling the pit, muttering under his breath. Every so often, he would stop and look down, then make some quick movements with the wand, or he would raise his voice, uttering words Adams could not comprehend. Sometimes, this would cause a cloud of dark green smoke to rise from the pit, with a loud hiss. Sometimes he heard voices - terrified voices, pleading voices, screams of pain - and semi-defined shadows would come wafting from the pit - the writhing, agonized figures that emerged reminded him of the damned beings in a Hieronymus Bosch painting. As the images appeared, Snape drew away from them, but his face remained frozen in an impassive mask.

He had slowly circled the pit several times, when one of the shadow-people did something unusual. It rose from the pit, but instead of continuing aloft, it drifted over to Snape and circled his feet, slowly winding its way in an upward spiral around his body. Initially, Snape essayed to ignore it, though his face became more strained and his muscles tensed. The shadow billowed up in front of him and took on a more defined shape, that of a heavyset man with thick features, a hawk-like nose, and an expression of intense hatred. As Snape unavoidably stared into the face floating before him, its mouth formed an unpleasant smile. In a harsh, mocking tone it said, "What brings you here, boy? Have you come to pay your respects?"

Snape did not respond, but seemed quite unnerved.

The shadow-man spoke again. "That's not it, is it?" Let me get a better look at the object of your desire." With that, the shadow stretched itself into a greenish-gray smoky trail and headed back into the pit, reappearing after a few moments.

The shadow again formed itself into a human shape in front of Snape. It grinned hideously. "I've met her before, haven't I? She was a cute little thing, as I recall. But now, there's really no point wasting your time on her."

Snape was having diminishing success at keeping his voice and visage neutral. Yet, his eyes still revealed nothing, as he asked "She is...?"

"Food for the worms?" cackled the shadow-man. "Why don't you find out?" The shadow had begun to circle Snape slowly, in narrowing circles, almost touching him. Snape shrank from it, and Adams noticed that the shadow seemed to be drawing him closer to the edge of the pit. Suddenly the face became very angry. "You lied to me, boy."

"What are you talking about?" Snape spat back.

"She's wearing that necklace - the one the old crone gave you. I told you to give it to me, but you said you'd lost it. I knew you were lying."

"What of it?"

"What of it?" the shadow said mockingly. "What of it?" it repeated. "If you'd done as you were told, I would still be alive. But you were always an ornery, disobedient, miserable child."

Imagine, thought Adams, growing up with a father like that. He decided that, first chance he had, he ought to pay a visit to his own good, kind Da.

The shadow cackled hoarsely. "How pathetic! You had to bribe the little tart, did you?"

Snape turned bright red. He began to take deep, even breaths, endeavoring to control his temper, and withdrew from a pocket a small vial of silver powder. As he opened it, his hand shook so, that he nearly dropped it, but he caught it before much of the powder spilled out. He sprinkled a tiny amount on the tip of his wand, from which began to issue deep red flames. As he raised his wand, the figure again assumed a more mercurial form and resumed circling Snape, continuing to draw him towards the pit. "My dear father," taunted Snape, "nothing would have saved you."

The shadow began to resume a semi-human shape. "You made sure of that, didn't you? It was your duty to stand by me, and you failed, you sniveling coward - you chose to stand by Malfoy. Well, my boy, you will pay for that."

Snape began to stretch out his arm to reach his father with the wand - one more step and he would fall into the pit. Adams brought two fingers to his mouth and let out a loud, piercing whistle. Startled, Snape looked up, then down, and he quickly stepped backwards, away from the abyss. In a rage, the shadow spun around and began heading in Adams' direction. Snape ran after it, and managed to catch it with the tip of the red flames. The shadow dissipated in all directions, and Snape pushed Adams out of the way. Once the last vestiges had vanished, Snape leaned heavily against a tree stump, looking utterly drained

Adams was full of questions, but he kept them to himself. Nevertheless, once he'd regained his composure, Snape offered an explanation.

"That, Mr. Adams, was a shade - something less than a ghost, but more than a wraith." This information was interesting, though it did little to clarify matters. He must have looked perplexed, because Snape rolled his eyes impatiently. "Despite Muggle folklore, ghosts are generally quite harmless. Shades, however, tend to be malignant creatures, and the poison of their spirits is expressed in a tangibly toxic manner. It is imperative that you not allow any portion of a shade to touch you - the results would be quite painful, and possibly lethal. This one was particularly virulent." He did not comment on the fact that 'this one' was his own father. "It will be back, unfortunately, but I hope - I expect - that we will be gone before then. I do not anticipate any more such - disagreeable events, but you had better remain out of sight" Adams returned to his place amongst the nettles, and Snape headed back to the edge of the pit. He resumed his task, continuing until nothing further issued forth at the sound of his incantations.