The Last Sanguimagus

Severus was exhausted. It had been a long first day of term, and he'd had little sleep and more worry. His allies were getting scarce. The Minister of Magic had become more and more distant to him since the moment he had shown the Dark Mark in the infirmary a year and a half ago in front of witnesses. Lucius had been sent to Azkaban, thereby unintentionally withdrawing his support. There was a general hysteria in the air following Potter's article, and all of this was beginning to alarm Severus. He knew, of course, to whom his loyalties were bound; but to others his past was suspicious, and he knew instinctively that no one truly trusted him besides Dumbledore. Balancing all of this was beginning to take its toll. Fudge was merely another iron in the fire in some ways, but he certainly had the ability to cause more trouble. And if Severus had guessed correctly about Sarah, then there would be trouble for her as well, and he could only stand back and watch.

He wished for the infernal dinner hour to be over. He wanted nothing more than to return to his rooms and hope for a dreamless night. He was so fatigued he might not even bother with the potion. The students were laughing and carousing as always, supremely unaware of the dangers that surrounded them. Minerva was questioning Dumbledore intensely about Fudge's visit, and who would chaperone him, and was it really wise to have him poking about in the wards. Severus couldn't agree more with her. There was simply too much at stake here to let an absolute idiot mess about with ancient, delicate spells. He desperately wanted to rub his eyes, but there were appearances to keep up. He settled for masking a yawn behind one hand.

Aurora looked at him. "Tired, Severus?" she asked enigmatically.

He turned towards her. "Obviously," he responded curtly.

Dumbledore and Minerva were rising from their chairs. Minerva was wishing him a good night's rest. He nearly sighed in relief--he was free. Giving the student population one last sweeping glare for good measure, he was going to stand up as well, until he heard Silas's voice. A covert glance, and he could see that the new Defence teacher was speaking to Sarah.

Subtly, he murmured an old Slytherin trick, an eavesdropping spell, and Silas's voice became clear.

"...and, you see, to have such quality letters of recommendation from so many of the top schools in Britain...well, certainly this position was a given."

Sarah made no reply, and Severus dared not look to see her expression. Severus hoped that Aurora had not noticed the spell; there was no doubt that she knew it as well, being Slytherin herself.

Silas continued. "Ah, Minerva and the Headmaster have left. Too bad, really, I had a rather witty story that I thought would amuse them involving a chimaera and a phoenix and the logical outcome therein..."

There was another long pause.

"You know, I've had many encounters with Dark Wizards and Witches alike." His voice dropped in volume. "And you most certainly have that...look about you."

"Really." Her voice betrayed no emotion.

"If I am not mistaken...you carry some amulet...some dark artefact with you." He said in a rather mild tone, but Severus had heard enough subtle threats in his life to hear the menace in it.

"Do you really think that the Headmaster would hire me to teach children while carrying on my person some evil relic?" she asked. Severus admired her flat tone.

"When children's lives are at stake, care must be taken."

"I assure you, the children have nothing to fear from me."

"Perhaps." There was a scraping as he pushed his chair away. "I will be seeing you, Sarah." Footsteps trailed away.

Severus turned to see that Aurora had left as well, and he nearly heaved a sigh of relief. He would not have wanted the Astronomy professor to overhear that conversation as well. But he could not help but wonder to which dark artefact Silas was referring. He turned and looked at Sarah, who was struggling to stand up without betraying her condition. She returned his gaze, and there was an odd look in her pale eyes. He nodded to her, and she left the table slowly, keeping to the shadows on the side of the hall.

He suppressed a yawn again and stood up. Time to return to the dungeons and hope for the blessed oblivion of sleep.

***

"I can't believe Sprout assigned us so much homework," grumbled Ron as the walked through the entrance hall towards the Talismans classroom. "And Flitwick as well...it's our first day back. Couldn't they have waited a bit before dropping it all on us?"

"Just be thankful you don't have Arithmancy," said Hermione crisply as they entered the side corridor where Firenze and Professor Tanner taught. She looked worriedly again at Harry.

"Hermione, I'll be fine," he said.

They stopped in front of the classroom door and knocked. Professor Tanner opened the door and ushered them in.

"Go into my office. I'll join you in just a moment." She shut the door behind them and began to murmur. Hermione lingered as they walked towards the office door, trying to see what she was casting.

Professor Tanner's office was quite spare. There was a desk and chair, and facing them were a couple chairs and a couch that had seen better days. A small bookshelf held a collection of reference books about talismans and amulets. Harry sat in one of the chairs while Ron collapsed on the couch, still muttering under his breath about being crushed with schoolwork on the first day back. Hermione began to study the bookshelf intently.

Sarah entered and closed the door behind her, yet again murmuring a spell. She finished and turned slowly to face the three of them. "Are you ready, Harry?" she asked.

No chitchat, just straight to the matter at hand, thought Harry. "Yes," he said.

She picked up a polished stone that hung from a simple leather cord. "This is the amulet I have prepared. It will block some of the connection that passes between the two of you. Note that I say some. You may still feel certain rushes of emotion, or pain, but it is my hope that the visual interchange will cease. I will bind it to you here, and you must wear it at all times for it to work." Harry nodded. "Very well. As Dumbledore no doubt informed you, I will need a few drops of your blood."

"What?" blurted out Hermione. "Why do you need that?"

Professor Tanner turned her face towards Hermione. "It is part of one of the spells."

Hermione turned red, but continued. "I've read Amulets: a Defence Tradition and Specialised Talismans and nowhere do they mention blood!"

"I do not have all evening to debate the particulars of this amulet and this set of spells," said Professor Tanner evenly. "Time is of the essence here. The sooner Mr. Potter wears his amulet, the sooner he will find some relief from his current worrisome condition."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something else, but Harry cut her off. "Hermione, it's okay," he said. "Dumbledore trusts her." Hermione apparently thought better of saying anything else. She looked troubled as she sat down on the couch next to Ron. Harry looked back to Professor Tanner.

"I am going to nick your finger, and I will need you to let a few drops fall on the amulet at the proper time," she said. "I will let you know when." In her right hand there was a small silver knife. The blade looked like half of a crescent moon. Harry could see a smooth shiny area on the hilt where her thumb must normally rest. He walked to the desk and held out his hand over the amulet. "Yes, like that...hold your hand steady for a moment..." She murmured something and suddenly the tip of his ring finger felt numb. Quickly she held his arm steady and pierced his fingertip lightly with the sharp blade. He felt nothing as a bright drop of blood appeared. She put her knife on the desk and pulled out her wand, murmuring again, and the blood on his fingertip began to...quiver. It was a strange feeling. The numbness meant that he could see it quivering and pulsing, but he couldn't feel it. Another murmur and a spark or two from her wand and she breathed, "Now, Mr. Potter."

It was rather anticlimactic. The drops of blood fell, drip drip drip, and the amulet vibrated for a moment on the desk, and then was still. He had expected glowing, noises, some sort of magical spectacle. Professor Tanner was leaning heavily against the desk, her eyes closed, her face pale. "Professor?"

She opened her eyes. "It is finished," she said softly. "Put it on, and we'll see if anything changes."

"I thought you knew what you were doing--" interjected Hermione hotly.

Professor Tanner looked exhausted. "This is not a Feather Levitation Charm, Miss Granger. It is a complicated..." She lowered herself slowly into a chair and looked as if she was about to pass out. Harry picked up the cord and looked at the polished stone critically. It was a dull dark bluish purple. "Go on. You can touch the stone, it won't hurt you."

"Give it a go," urged Ron. Harry undid the clasp and put it around his neck.

The clasp clicked into place. For a moment nothing happened...and then, abruptly, he felt as if he was miles away. He could vaguely hear Hermione's voice...Ron's urgent shouting...a maniacal, high-pitched shriek...

"Harry! HARRY!" yelled Hermione.

He was looking up at the ceiling of Professor Tanner's office. Ron and Hermione were hovering over him, frightened. "What happened?" he asked, his scar pounding dully.

"You just went limp," said Hermione, her hand clutching his arm so anxiously she was leaving bruises. "And we caught you as you fell--oh, Harry--it must not be working--you should take it off--"

"Mr. Potter," said Professor Tanner, completely ignoring Hermione. "Have you noticed any difference?"

The floor was cold beneath him, and he sat up. Now that his fainting spell was over, he began to notice it.

Voldemort was gone.

He could not feel the serpent that had so often wrapped itself in the shadows of his mind. It was as if his connection to Voldemort had been muffled in pillows. Still there, somewhere, but unable to penetrate. He had not realised how strong it had become, how much Voldemort's anger and venom had twisted within him. He was free, and it felt--incredible.

"Well, Mr. Potter?" She was looking at him, obviously waiting for a reply.

"Thank you," he said fervently. "It's...he's...I can't feel his thoughts anymore!"

"Brilliant!" crowed Ron exuberantly. Hermione still looked worried. Ron turned to Professor Tanner. "Listen, Harry's got this club...the DA...we meet whenever we can to practice spells. But we need a teacher to watch us this year, and a classroom, we can't use the old one--"

"What exactly are you asking?" said Professor Tanner at the same time that Hermione said angrily, "Ron, what are you doing?"

"I'm asking Professor Tanner to be our chaperone, isn't it obvious?" asked Ron.

"We need to discuss it first! You just can't go and ask--"

"Look, if she can cut out--er, who she cut out, then hosting our group'll be easy!" said Ron defensively.

"You should be returning to your dormitories," said Professor Tanner. She looked even more drained. "I will think over your request and give you an answer tomorrow." She flicked her wand and the door opened.

Hermione stalked off without another word. When Harry reached the open door he turned back again. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome, Mr. Potter. And please remember--do not take it off."

He followed Ron into the corridor. "What was that about, Ron?" he demanded.

"Well, I just thought, she was...er...I mean..." He took a deep breath. "She made an amulet that blocks him! Not many people can say that."

"We still should have talked about it first," said Harry.

"Yeah, but she has loads of free time, and a classroom...and she's not the sort to stand over your shoulder...can you imagine McGonagall watching us? She'd ask a hundred questions. We'd never get anything done!"

"Yes...but still...we should have talked..." He was beginning to see Ron's point, though, and he had to admit that it made sense, but honestly, he felt like he was somewhere else altogether. It felt wonderful to be entirely himself again.

That night, for the first night in over a year, his head hit the pillow without fear. For a moment he simply laid still and cherished the wonderful feeling. He closed his eyes and sank happily into sleep.

***