The Ivory Backbone

Ch. 2: Be Careful What You Wish For

 

Tonight was the night. The past five years of watching and waiting and researching were about to pay off. Victory was so close, and Severus could almost taste it. Nothing was going to stop him tonight.

Nothing, that is, except Lucius Malfoy. Lucius clung to his brilliant scheme to the point of exhaustion. Despite his initial reaction, Severus decided against that love potion and love potions in general. They were very tricky things, often granting lust instead of love. Anybody stupid enough to use a love potion deserved what he got. Be careful what you wish for, he thought as he flipped through his charts. When you get it, you get it in spades.

According to his records, Remus would be transforming that evening. If he was correct, the sickliness that hung around Remus was due to lycanthropy. And he knew he was correct. Years of research can't be wrong.

He first became suspicious of Lupin his second year. During one of Remus' many 'illnesses', Lucius made a passing comment.

"Loopy Lupin's on the rag again!"

The more that comment stirred in Severus' mind, the more connections he made. He began charting Lupin's illness. Sure enough, he noticed a monthly cycle. A few books later, he ran across the clinical symptoms of lycanthropy. The perpetual tiredness, the unease around other humans two days before and after the full moon, the pale and shabby appearance. Everything about Remus fit lycanthropy, including his unusual name.

It took a little more thought and research to figure out where Lupin went during his attacks. The forest? There was nothing to keep Lupin in the forest once he transformed. An empty classroom? Too easy to escape. The broken girl's bathroom? Severus certainly hoped not. He examined the campus very carefully for something out of place. There were many things that were odd and unusual in these hallowed halls, and he had researched all he could find. He passed most of his third year in the library. He tutored older Slytherins in potions class in exchange for books from the restricted section. He could quote long passages from Hogwart’s: A History. He followed every lead, including the rumored Chamber of Secrets. Lucius called his efforts a waste of time, all except for the Chamber of Secrets. (That particular subject intrigued Lucius terribly, even today.) And then it all paid off.

During his fourth year, he figured it out. The Whomping Willow was dreadfully dangerous, and highly out of place in a school full of children. It was common knowledge that the cantankerous tree was planted during Severus’ first year. But why would Dumbledore plant something so dangerous on Hogwarts' grounds? Simple. To protect the students from something much more dangerous, like a werewolf. Builder's plans of Hogwarts were hard to come by. For once, Lucius' connections came in handy. The plans, secreted in with a box of sweets from Lucius’ mother, showed a passage from the school to Hogsmeade. The passage went from the Whomping Willow right into the Shrieking Shack.

"Ghosts indeed," he muttered.

Sirius Black provided the last detail. He mentioned to Potter in the halls (where it was so easy to overhear) that there was a strange knot on the root of the Whomping Willow. If one were to poke this knot with a very long branch, the tree froze up for a minute.

"Sirius Black, you phenomenal idiot," Severus said with a slight smile. "What a mixed blessing you are." He examined his silver dagger.

The dagger was very plain and very sharp. His grandfather had given it to him when he was three. Severus remembered how Grandfather kept his own silver blade in his desk, along with several very sharp pencils.

"Keep a silver blade for werewolves, m'boy," Grandpa said grimly. "An' keep your pencils sharp for vampires. A stake's a stake. Even if it's got graphite in the center." Grandpa was an old hand at hunting werewolves and vampires. He kept vampire fangs and a stuffed werewolf in the attic.

Severus had hoped that he wouldn't have to go hunting for Remus. One of the books he read, Dancing With Werewolves, said that werewolves might transform when extremely angry or frustrated. The idea had merit, considering that other demi-humans had similar powers. Veela and banshee powers were amplified by anger. Indeed, the Veela showed their true forms when upset. Succubi and incubi had mind control abilities that manifested during moments of passion. So Severus decided to provoke Lupin and see what happened. No change, even after popping his ears off in Charms. Not even after he exposed Lupin's long time crush on a very pretty Ravenclaw by anonymous owl. Severus had even paid Crabbe and Goyle to beat Remus bloody. No change, not even tufted ears or slightly sharper teeth. He eventually dismissed Dancing With Werewolves quackery and moved on. Strategies for Hunting Man-Beasts was his new favorite (and rather dog-eared.) Despite this campaign of terror, he felt no malice toward Lupin. It was merely a detached curiosity.

Severus hoped he wouldn't need Grandpa's knife. It would be a horrible shame to kill such an interesting creature. He had never seen a living werewolf before. Tonight that would change. As long as Lucius didn't ruin everything.

He looked out the window of the classroom he was preparing in. The sun was setting and Hogwarts' grounds glowed orange. Below him, a flash of red caught his eye. Lily and Potter walked arm in arm from the Quidditch field to the castle. She tossed her hair and laughed at something Potter said. She was such a pretty girl, especially with the sun playing in her hair like that. Severus sighed. There was no way he'd put Lily through a love spell. He did have a few morals. (Lucius chided him that such nobility was worthy of a Hufflepuff.) Such a shame she had to be Muggle-born. And a Gryffindor.

Lucius watched Severus pack his gear from an empty closet in the back of the classroom. He knew that Severus' interest in the Dark Arts bordered on obsession, but he never believed him capable of murder. But now in the empty classroom, meticulously checking and rechecking his equipment, Severus looked the part. This was a startling development.

Severus Snape, an assassin. The idea had merit. Even at such a tender age, Lucius wore the Dark Mark and Lord Voldemort was always looking for new talent. Perhaps he had underestimated Severus.

As for the werewolf, Lucius had known that for years. His father was a school governor and vehemently opposed such a child entering the school. But Dumbledore was a stubborn old codger. He'd had his way and Daddy fumed and blustered for weeks. The Dark Lord was sympathetic, filling his ears with sweet words of vengeance. And his forces were gaining power.

'Who knows?' Lucius thought. 'Maybe Daddy's vengeance is closer than he thinks.'

He would let Severus have his little outing, but only because he wished to measure his pawn's potential. If Severus could kill Lupin, good for him. One less Gryffindor in the world. If the werewolf killed Severus, that was too bad. He'd miss the amusement Severus often provided him with, as well as having a walking encyclopedia of the Dark Arts.

Severus pulled his pack on and watched the sun slip below the horizon. Hagrid and Dumbledore would be escorting Lupin to the Shrieking Shack soon. He watched them cross the grounds, Hagrid and Dumbledore with Lupin between them. Remus always looked small, but now he was absolutely dwarfed by Hagrid’s bulk. The pale-haired boy twitched slightly now.

“When the full-moon draws near,” Severus recalled from his readings, “the werewolf becomes anxious, especially in the presence of humans.”

The Whomping Willow swung its gnarled fists at Dumbledore, who performed a maneuver with his staff that had so puzzled Severus since his fourth year.

‘Dumbledore tapped the knot,’ he thought.

And they descended through a passage to the tunnel, and then the shack. The full moon glowed its muted blue-white when Hagrid and Dumbledore returned. Severus waited for them to part ways. Hagrid walked with his usual heavy step to his little hut. Dumbledore walked to the castle.

Lucius was dozing slightly when Severus finally moved. He yawned and stretched lazily before pulling his invisibility cloak over his face and opening the cupboard. Severus would undoubtedly take the passage beside the kitchens that opened near Hagrid’s hut. He stepped lightly onto the stone floor of the hallway, remembering that an invisibility cloak could not mute the sounds of one’s footsteps. His friend was nowhere to be seen. That was just fine with Lucius; he knew where Severus was headed.