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Not As It Seems	By : SailorSol Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 4953 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
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Not As It Seems

Chapter 16

Hermione carefully entered the room, feeling as though she were going to her own execution. As she entered the room, she realized that there were four other people in the room that had not been part of the conversation: Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rudolphus Lestrange, and Rabistan Lestrange.

�Do sit down, Miss Granger,� Voldemort said from where he was near the fire. �You are in no danger here. You told Severus that you needed to speak with him. Apparently, the need is still great, or you would not be breaking school rules by coming down here.�

Hermione hesitantly advanced, and cautiously sat in the chair that was indicated. Aquila poured a cup of tea for her and handed it to her. She took it and stared into it for a long moment, gathering her scattered wits.

�Professor Snape,� she said. �I saw something odd today in Diagon Alley. When everyone else was fighting, there were two wizards that were there and were not taking part in the fighting. One of them was Dumbledore. I�ve never seen the other one before, but I�ll remember his face now. I firmly believe that he was the man I heard in the library.�

�What makes you think so?� Snape asked, sipping at a tumbler of firewhiskey.

�The look in his eyes,� Hermione said. �Cold, like I said before, cold and predatory. Begging your pardon, but like a snake in that there was no emotion whatsoever. You expect to see that in a lizard or a snake, since they can�t make the same kind of expressions that humans can. You don�t expect to see it in a human.�

�Can you describe this wizard?� Snape asked.

Hermione reached into a pocket and pulled out a phial with a silvery memory strand in it.

�Better than that, sir,� she said. �I copied the memory for you. I was also kind of worried that Dumbledore might try to make me forget. I was looking directly at them. They were standing together in a second story window, watching the fight.�

�He might be the one that attacked Pollux,� Aquila said. �Certainly none of the aurors were paying attention to the boys. They were after the Death Eaters that showed up.�

�As any parent would,� Malfoy said. �If they knew that their child was in danger.�

�Aunt Narcissa wasn�t there,� Aquila said. �Was there a reason?�

�Narcissa�s magic is � unreliable at present,� Voldemort said. �She was unable to apparate to her son�s defense. I am certain that Lucius reassured her regarding her son�s welfare.�

�I don�t understand,� Hermione said, looking at Voldemort. �Why aren�t you intent on killing me? Who attacked in Diagon Alley today, if the Death Eaters were there to defend their children?�

�Your last question is the reason we are here,� Voldemort said. �Dumbledore was called away by the Minister, so it is safe for me to be here. As for being intent on killing you, I would consider that to be a terrible waste of a brilliant and gifted witch.�

�We have several theories,� Aquila said. �If you are correct about the identity of the wizard you saw, then we may be closer to answering our questions.�

�It�s only a hunch,� Hermione said. �Professor, do you have a pensieve handy?�

�I have one,� Aquila said. She got up and left the room.

Hermione suddenly felt much less safe than she had before.

She never heard Bellatrix move, and she jumped with a cry when something touched her and she stared at the madwoman.

�Don�t be afraid,� Bellatrix cooed. �I wouldn�t hurt a child. Your hair could be very pretty, if you used a couple of simple spells.�

�Why would you help me?� Hermione asked, her eyes wide as she looked into Bellatrix� eyes.

�Pollux likes you,� Bellatrix said. �You should look your best for him.�

�How do you know Pollux?� Hermione asked, looking from Bellatrix to Snape and then to Voldemort. Her eyes lingered on him for a few moments, and then they widened.

�She is very smart, my Lord,� Bellatrix said, turning to smile at Voldemort.

�So she is,� Voldemort said. �Yes, Miss Granger, Castor and Pollux are my sons.�

Someone knocked on the door, Snape rose to answer it, and then stepped back to admit Draco.

�Harry�s awake,� Draco said. �He was asking for Aquila, and for Hermione. I came here first.�

�Harry?� Hermione asked, rising from her chair. �He�s asking for me?�

�I will go with you, Miss Granger,� Aquila said. She put the pensieve down on the table. �Leave the memory strand here.�

Hermione put the phial with the memory strand on the table next to the pensieve and turned to follow Aquila out of the room.

~*~*~*~

In the hospital wing, Harry was weak but his eyes were hard and cold as Aquila and Hermione came in. He was glaring at Madam Pomfrey, who was standing nearby with a potion in one hand.

�Need some help, Poppy?� Aquila asked cheerfully.

�Mister Potter is refusing to take his potion,� the nurse said. �Perhaps you can persuade him to be reasonable.�

�I�ll do my best,� Aquila said. She held out her hand for the potion and they both waited while the nurse left.

Aquila sniffed at the potion and then reached into her pocket for a different potion. She handed her bottle to Harry and kept hold of the cork. She corked the nurse�s potion and put it in her pocket.

Harry looked at Aquila for a few moments, and then he drank the potion without comment. Within moments, he looked stronger, and he reached out for Hermione�s hand.

�Is Pollux going to be alright?� Harry asked softly.

�Hermione found something to stop the bleeding,� Aquila said. �Pollux will be fine. Did you see who hexed him?�

�The same git that hexed me,� Harry growled. �I saw the hex. The energy was yellow-orange. I heard Pollux scream. I saw Castor go for him. I looked in the direction of the hex, and I looked right in that bastard�s eyes and down his wand. I saw his lips move and I saw the light coming at me. Blue-green, and I felt like I�d been picked up and shaken.�

�By Fluffy?� Hermione asked, smiling.

�About like that,� Harry said. His eyes started drooping.

�I�ll tell Father what you said, Harry,� Aquila said. �May I extract the memory?�

�If it will help,� Harry said. �I think he�s the same one that Stunned Hermione, too.�

Aquila pulled out her wand and deftly extracted the memory and put it into a phial.

�I�ll return it later, Harry,� Aquila said. �In the meantime, if anyone asks, you can honestly say you can�t remember what he looks like.�

�Thanks,� Harry said. �Am I supposed to be tired?�

�Yes,� Aquila said. �I suspect that the spell drained your magic somehow, and you need to recover your strength. Just let yourself sleep, Harry. I have a monitoring spell on you, now. I will know if you are in danger.�

�Is that why the Death Eaters showed up?� Harry asked, his voice slurring. �Because of monitoring spells?�

�Yes, Harry,� Aquila said, smoothing his hair. �Now go to sleep. I�ll get you moved elsewhere in the morning.� She kissed him on his scar and beckoned Hermione to follow her.

~*~*~*~

Downstairs, they entered a room full of uniformly somber wizards and a frightened looking witch.

�I take it that you�ve identified the wizard Hermione saw,� Aquila said. �Does someone wish to inform me?�

�I know him,� Lucius said. �He�s a Russian wizard that teaches at Durmstrang. He was a visitor during the Tri-Wizard tournament, and he asked me if I had any information on the Von der Lippe twins. He knew they were Parseltongues and he wanted to know how common it was here. I made the mistake of pointing out Mister Potter and relating the incidents of his second year. I pointed out that Mister Potter had no family members who were Parseltongues, so it was impossible to predict the appearance of such a gift. I was � trying to protect them.�

�You could not have known that he would come after them,� Voldemort said. �I believe that the attack in Diagon Alley could have been an attempt to flush me out. Fortunately, I am of a suspicious mindset.�

�He was targeting Castor and Pollux?� Hermione asked. �Why would he do such a thing?�

�There are obscure and rare spellbooks that can only be read by someone who is a Parseltongue,� Voldemort said. �There are many powerful and destructive spells in those books, and some people believe that the ability to do something is automatically followed by doing it.�

�That�s ridiculous,� Hermione said. �Everyone knows the difference between knowing how to do something, and doing it. I mean, I know how to blow things up, but I don�t just go around doing it.�

�Well said, Miss Granger,� Snape said. �Many wizards, however, would do it themselves, so they believe that others have as little restraint. What they do not understand, being of lesser power themselves, is that with the power that makes such things possible also comes the discipline to control it.�

�So Dumbledore was allowing students under his care and protection to be put in danger, just to see if this Russian wizard was right about who Castor and Pollux were?� Hermione asked. �That�s mad!�

�As have been many things Dumbledore has done,� Voldemort said. �As mad as telling Harry�s aunt that neglecting him and nearly abusing him would make him a stronger wizard, that affection would weaken him. As mad as arranging Lily�s marriage to one of his supporters, along with a matrimonial potion to control her.�

�Those are illegal,� Hermione said, her eyes wide. �Dumbledore did that?�

�That and more,� Voldemort said. �He made it appear that Lily was killed by me, and not by her own husband. He made it appear that Harry survived because his mother died protecting him. Lily was dead before Harry. I was the one protecting him when he received his scar. Dumbledore planted false memories in Harry�s infantile brain to emerge at the right time. Dumbledore made the suggestion that Dementors guard the school after Sirius Black�s escape.�

�What about the TriWizard Tournament?� Hermione asked. �It was a Death Eater that put Harry�s name in the cup.�

�Barty Crouch was mad,� Voldemort said. �He hid it well. Had I known how unstable he had become, I would have kept a closer eye on him. I did not need Harry�s blood for the spell, but time was running out. I needed a young, powerful witch or wizard. Whoever won the Tournament would have the necessary qualities. The spell also made me quite mad, as well.�

�That makes sense,� Hermione said. �What about last year, in the Department of Mysteries?�

�We needed that prophecy,� Voldemort said. �We needed to know what it actually said. Now, we will never know. The only one who heard the entire prophecy was Dumbledore. Prophets never remember what they say, and Dumbledore has altered the prophecy to serve his own ends.�

�I see,� Hermione said, her mind racing. Getting the actual prophecy would prove, once and for all, who was telling the truth.

�Time turners don�t go back far enough,� she finally mused aloud. �Mirrors and crystal balls are too unreliable. I wonder if there�s a spell that goes back that far. Postcognito only goes back twenty-four hours. We�d have to go back sixteen years � � She stopped when she realized that she was thinking out loud.

Voldemort smiled indulgently, and nodded to Snape.

�You were correct about her, Severus,� he said. �She has an analytical mind, a rare thing in the magical community. Most witches and wizards can�t use logic to save themselves, or anyone else.�

�When she defeated my trap in her first year,� Snape said. �I knew she would bear watching. I have been harder on her than others because I expected more of her.�

�What about Harry?� Hermione asked.

�Harry is in no danger from me,� Voldemort said. �He is the child of one of my followers. He was only in danger because the loss of my body and the trials necessary to recover it caused temporary madness. Harry has been told everything, and he has made his own decisions.�

�I see,� Hermione said. �I think I should go to bed. I have classes in the morning.�

�Take this,� Snape said. He held out a phial containing an orange potion. �This will allow you to stay alert, and will wear off by the evening meal. Put it in your pumpkin juice when no one is looking. Under no circumstances allow Dumbledore or Poppy to see it. They do not know what this is.�

�Thank you, professor,� Hermione said. �I�ll return the phial in Potions.�

�See that you do,� Snape said. �I will escort you to Gryffindor Tower. It would not do for Mr. Filch to give you an undeserved detention.�

TBC
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Not As It Seems