Free Will and Fate

"May I be of assistance?"

Snape jumped and turned at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice, frowning as she and Hermione approached the office door. "Your password has changed," he said.

"Well, yes. Though I don't see why that concerns you," she said. One eyebrow lifted in question as she watched him push his wand back into his sleeve. "You have no reason to be in my office. Or near anyone who is inside it." She offered him a small smile. "Did you need something?" McGonagall asked again.

Snape shook his head. His eyes darted quickly to the door and back. "I just wanted to see how you were getting on with the punishment. I know how frustrating it can be to deal with difficult students." He tilted his head towards Hermione, who stood behind the Headmistress balancing a cauldron, a box of potions ingredients and a large book.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and I are doing quite well, Severus. The students are learning how their past and current actions will affect their future." She smiled faintly again and stepped closer to her door. Snape took a slow step backwards. "Is there any business that needs my attention?"

"No, Minerva. I believe I have everything under control," he responded.

"Good. I am putting the students' lives in your hands. I would hate if you were to disappoint me," McGonagall said.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but isn't your class waiting for you, Professor?"

Snape frowned at Hermione. "You're right as usual, Miss Granger. Good afternoon to you both." He nodded and walked down the hall at a brisk pace, disappearing around the corner as the Headmistress gave the password to her office.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Miss Granger," she said, stepping onto the stairs. "I am suddenly quite glad the Founders saw fit to give this office stronger protections than the Ministry itself. Mr. Potter may owe his life to it."

"A Ministry employee?"

In spite of the serious nature of her question, Harry nearly laughed at the expression on Professor McGonagall's face. As he'd begun explaining what had been happening his fifth year at Hogwarts, she'd continually interrupted him to ask questions about the various Educational Decrees and had expressed nothing less than a near-comical level of shock at what had happened in the school as a result. His urge to laugh, he knew, was probably a sign that his own mind was near the breaking point.

"Fudge's insecurities had gotten the better of his judgment. He didn't know everything she was doing, but he didn't have a problem with any of it as long as it kept me and Dumbledore under control. After the Minister basically made her more powerful than the Headmaster, Umbridge took over the school and made it hell for all of us."

"And not just because she banned you from playing Quidditch for life," Hermione said.

"That was almost the worst thing," Harry joked in response to her small smile. "We couldn't even complain to anyone outside the school because she was monitoring the fireplaces and mail. It was like being in a Muggle prison." He looked down at his hand and leaned forward to show yet another person the physical scars he would never recover from.

McGonagall frowned and used a word Harry was sure she had never spoken in front of a student, or at all, if he had to guess. She colored lightly and apologized, tracing one finger lightly over the words permanently etched into Harry's hand before releasing him.

"The night we left the school, I didn't think we had a choice," Harry said. "Dumbledore had disappeared when the Minister tried to have him arrested. You had tried to stop Umbridge from getting rid of Hagrid and ended up in St. Mungo's for your trouble. Snape..." Harry frowned. "I know Dumbledore trusted him to work for the Order, but I never did. Every time I questioned it, one of the adult members would always tell me to trust him because Dumbledore did."

He lifted his eyes to take in his girlfriend and Professor McGonagall. "I trusted Dumbledore to keep me alive and help me fight Voldemort. He trusted someone who you already know I don't believe wanted the same thing. Dumbledore also kept a lot of things from me, including the reason he felt Snape could be trusted at all."

"The help he gave the Order before your parents' attack," McGonagall said.

"Yes," Harry said. "But why couldn't he have told me that? Snape has hated me from the first day of class and he never made a secret of it. He made a point of comparing me to my father when he tried to justify why he hates me. I don't understand why Dumbledore never saw what I did--that no matter if my father saved his life, or whatever information he gave all those years ago, his feelings never changed. In that time or this one." Harry shook his head. "I had to open up my mind to a man who would like nothing more than to see me suffer the way my father and his friends went after him. I know my father wasn't perfect, but I don't see why I have to pay for his mistakes. Professor Lupin told me my father grew up a lot after all the stupid things he did, why couldn't Snape?"

Hermione put a hand over his, silently offering her comfort and willing him to continue.

"The night we left, I'd had another vision of the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort was torturing Sirius about getting something for him. And, like I said, there was really no one there to help." He looked at Professor McGonagall. "When Umbridge caught us trying to use her Floo, she cornered me and Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny. We were being held in her office when Snape came in. I tried to hint to him what was going on, but he ignored me and left. We managed to get away from her and, against my wishes, everyone followed me to the Ministry." Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was hard thinking about all of this again. Though it had happened less than two weeks ago, it felt like he could still see the battle being fought out, see the bruises on his friends and feel the certainty that they would all die that night and it would be his fault for falling into the trap.

"Voldemort had purposely lured me there to get the prophecy because he couldn't come himself. Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy were both there. The other Death Eaters had their faces covered, but I'm sure it was the same group who met Voldemort in the graveyard at the end of fourth year. During the battle, we hid out from the Death Eaters in a room filled with clocks and other time pieces. That was where they trapped us. I don't even know exactly what happened with the Time-Turner, but one minute I thought they were finally going to get me, the next, a cabinet had broken and I was hit just before I passed out. When I woke up, the room was empty.

"I went upstairs to check the date and I couldn't believe it was just before the one night that had started everything. For me, at least." He looked at both of them and voiced something he hadn't wanted to admit. "I have no idea if that was a coincidence or not. It's strange that the night I'd go back to would be the one that could change my life the most."

"Perhaps it wasn't by chance," McGonagall said softly. "Did you hear what kind of spell hit you?"

"No," Harry responded. "But, I assume it was a Stunning spell or something else harmless. They wanted to get the prophecy from me, they weren't trying to kill me yet. Well, Malfoy wasn't. You should view the memory to see what Bellatrix Lestrange is really like," Harry said, gesturing to the last in the row of labeled bottles. "I don't know if all those years in Azkaban changed her or what. It was strange enough having to go to her class last week, but when she was pretending to be nice to me...it made my blood run cold."

"I can imagine," Hermione said. "The way she was looking at you in class was quite odd. I wonder what Professor Snape had her doing over the summer to get you to open up to her."

"Not enough, apparently." Harry turned and craned his neck to peek into the cauldron at the far end of the table. "What is the potion supposed to look like when it's done?"

"Clear," Hermione responded. She glanced down at the book page quickly for confirmation. "It should turn light gold just before it's finished and be clear when it reaches the final stage."

"I think we're there," Harry said.

Professor McGonagall stood and walked over to the cauldron. She put out the flame quickly and cooled the potion with a quick flick of her wand. She quickly conjured one large clear glass and siphoned a measure of the potion into it. Placing it in the center of the table, she sat and pulled a book in front of her, searching for the first spell they would test.

"It looks perfectly harmless," Hermione said.

"It is for now," Professor McGonagall said. "Ah, here we are." She pointed her wand at the glass and said, "Venenum Verto Aqua."

As Harry and Hermione watched the glass, the potion inside took on no visible change. "What was it supposed to do?" Harry asked.

The Headmistress smiled. "You'll see." Pointing her wand again, she said, "Specialis Revelio." Again, there was no change in the potion's appearance. The spell didn't seem to have affected it at all.

Harry frowned and his brow furrowed in confusion. "So--?"

"I don't believe it!" Hermione reached forward and picked up the glass. She sniffed the contents. "It's taken on the properties of water. That's what you did, isn't it Professor?"

She nodded. "Not only can the potion appear as another substance, it is undetectable even before it is given to someone. If I wasn't so sure about the food supply at Hogwarts, that would be a major concern."

"So how can we know if this can be used to cure me?"

"We have to determine exactly which ailments you're currently suffering from. I'm positive the Senium Curse is the most complicated. Once we find a way to cure you of that one, the rest should be fairly easy to identify and eliminate," McGonagall said.

"Which only leaves us to unravel a Death Eater conspiracy to restore Voldemort to a body and possibly take over the Ministry," Harry said. "Right. Easy going from here."

Hermione put her arms around him and leaned onto his shoulder. "It really is easy going from here, Harry. This was the hard part. The Ministry can take of everything else. You don't have to stop them yourself. I think giving the Minister all of your memories and our notes will be enough of a contribution."

"I agree with Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said. "You've had more than enough direct involvement. Once we're sure this possible cure works, I think you should leave school and take refuge somewhere until the entire situation is resolved."

"Leave school?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Once the Minister has all the information he needs to make arrests and your counterpart is recovering at St. Mungo's, there's no reason for you to continue attending classes." She picked up the glass and brought it close to herself again. "As a matter of fact, you should be able to return to the right date if this cure works."

"Oh, that's right," Hermione said. "You won't be stuck doing the entire school year's worth of homework again."

"But wait, how is that going to work?" Harry asked. "In this time, I would have no reason to use a Time-Turner next June or even access to one. So, what's going to happen to me on that date when I'm supposed to go back in time? Am I going to just disappear from existence and all of my memories along with me? Or will the other me suddenly not be here anymore and I will take his place?"

"Yes, it is rather complex," McGonagall said. "I suppose someone from the Department of Mysteries will answer that question when the time comes. In the meantime, I want to run a few more tests on this potion." She summoned the pitcher of pumpkin juice leftover from their dinner and refilled it with a tap from her wand. Pointing her wand at the glass in front of her, she said, "Muto Substantia" and poured a measure of it into the pitcher of pumpkin juice.

Before Professor McGonagall could do anything else, Hermione pointed her wand at the pitcher and said, "Specialis Revelio." She gasped as nothing happened to the liquid inside the pitcher. "It looks and acts like plain pumpkin juice! This is so exciting."

"An exciting new way to murder someone?"

Hermione frowned at Harry. "No. It's a new way for Healers to cure people. What we've found could lead to a whole new branch of medicine. Can you imagine the time it will save them administering cures repeatedly or attempting to reverse spell damage from nasty curses when they can use this potion?"

"Assuming the cure works," Harry said.

"Yes, Harry." Hermione sighed. "Assuming your lovely attitude has led to us finding a way to save your life."

"There's nothing wrong with my attitude, I'm just not getting my hopes up until I have a definite reason."

"I noticed," Hermione said shortly. "I'll be glad when you have nothing left to complain about and you can stop moping around."

"Students." Harry and Hermione looked up to find Professor McGonagall regarding them over the tops of her spectacles. "As you are both weary of the subject matter, perhaps we had better end our session early today. Get some rest." She reached over and closed the copy of Magick Most Evile. "Think about something else."

"What about the potion?" Hermione asked. "I thought we could go to the hospital and try to cure Harry tonight. If we've found the solution--"

"Then Mr. Potter will be most glad to receive it in the morning. Visiting hours at St. Mungo's ended a little while ago," she said. "Besides, I don't think either of you should be seen going to the hospital."

"The Invisibility Cloak," they said together.

McGonagall nodded. "In the morning, just after breakfast. We'll try a few more tests and then get the Minister to escort us to the hospital to see if our cure will work."

"But Professor--"

"Get some rest, Miss Granger." The Headmistress stood and pointed towards her door, not relaxing until both Harry and Hermione had left her office. She sat back into her chair and sighed. She hoped this was the solution they had been searching for. For her own sake as much as Harry's. If those two kept going back and forth that way, she'd lose her patience entirely before week's end.