Bloody hell, Hermione thought, even the charwomen have gone. If I'd known it would take this long I'd have popped home for supper....
She wished she'd never agreed to Snape's conditions for breaking-and-entering the Records Room. It had been absolutely nerve-wracking all week, waiting for her illicit appointment with some unknown agent on Thursday evening: it had even overshadowed the relief she normally felt when Corcoran was scheduled to be out of the department. And there was the uncomfortable feeling of putting her fate in someone else's hands, of not being the one making the plan, not knowing the specifics; for in the past, even as early as Second Year, the mastermind behind most illicit plots had been Hermione herself.
It's not that I don't trust Severus, she thought uneasily, and scribbled over an inaccurate footnote phrase in the next report due. It's that I don't necessarily trust his contacts. I mean, who the bloody hell can he know in the Ministry who can get me in there? Now, if it were him, I'd --
She paused for a moment, and assessed that last thought.
Good Lord, Hermione, only weeks ago you were reminding yourself to be on guard against him....
I trust him. I'd trust him with my life. In fact, I am. The man only blackmailed me into a sexual relationship I didn't want, insists on shagging me no matter what I say -- well, except for the week I had my period -- he mucks about with my flat, and he orders me around and argues with every damned thing I want to do. When the hell did I begin to trust him?
She set down her quill, gave it some serious thought, and came to the conclusion that it was because Severus Snape was a man of his word. It wasn't necessarily a word you liked -- often wasn't, in fact -- but if he said he'd do something, he did it, even if it was something nasty. You mightn't be able to tell what he was feeling (she'd been surprised last week-end when he'd admitted to irritation rather than anger, for example, because you bloody well couldn't tell the difference with him), but his actions were consistent with his word.
Hermione hated to admit it, but consistency was a character trait she found very attractive. Consistency was, after all, the logical and ethical counterpart to constancy of affection, and probably as close to loyalty (an attribute that appealed quite strongly to her Gryffindor sensibilities) as anyone had the right to expect from a dyed-in-the-wool Slytherin.
One can't say he's particularly honourable, though. I mean, the whole mess in October....
But she found herself unwilling to make that conclusion definitively, not now that some time had passed and she had a better perspective on October's events. "Honour" was a highly subjective matter, after all, totally dependent on the views of the assessor: Severus' former associates among the Death Eaters had undoubtedly branded him dishonourable because of his defection, while Dumbledore might have insisted precisely the opposite. (Presumably Arthur and Molly felt the same, though that apparently wasn't enough to induce them to associate with him.)
Hypothesis: when faced with a larger issue and the well-being of the group, many Slytherins (Severus, for example) are quite capable of acting honourably (per the subjective parametres of the situation) and ignoring their own best interests. In purely personal matters, however, the same Slytherins (especially Severus) will almost always choose what benefits them most, irregardless of considerations of honour or ethics....
Well, that bloody well covered most of the population of the world, didn't it? The only difference was that Slytherins seemed to be more ruthless and sneaky about it. Or at least Severus was.
Not fair, she reminded herself. He offered to let you off the hook, you just weren't willing to face the consequences. And that brings me back to his consistency, that he does what he says. Even that stupid warding on the flat -- he'd said back in October it was his job to protect me and he is, even when I act like a cow about it.
Consistency. So much nicer, in the end, than that generally-careless Gryffindor attitude.
That had nearly driven her mad about Harry and Ron, she remembered, those casual promises made that had then been forgot or swept aside in favour of extra Qudditch practise or loafing about with Hagrid, or any number of distracting things that turned out to be more fulfilling to the adolescent male Gryffindor than studying or practising spells and charms. (The casual assumptions drove her wild as well, as when Ron had decided she was his fall-back date for the Yule Ball without ever asking her.) It was a sweeping generalisation to claim that of all Gryffindor males, of course: it was simply an unfortunate truth that Ron and Harry had both possessed the trait, and as one of their closest mates she'd put up with it on far too many occasions.
But Severus.... Barring that one slip the night he didn't show up, when I'd bought that God-awful beef for his dinner, Severus is terribly consistent.
Good Lord, I've found something praiseworthy about Severus Snape --
"Report's not getting done with you staring at the wall, is it?" Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice rumbled softly from the door.
Hermione nearly gave herself whiplash, her head snapped toward the doorway so suddenly: then she blushed and muttered, "Not due for two weeks anyway," and shuffled the papers into a drawer, too embarrassed to ask how the hell Severus had got hold of Shacklebolt, or how the man had stepped into her office without her noticing.
Shacklebolt's lips twisted into grim smile. "Come along, then," he said. "I've bought you an hour, hour and a half at most, so best not waste it."
"How --?"
He put a finger to his lips to shush her. "No talking in the corridor. Something's gone wonky with the Sneakoscopes on this floor, but the Elucidating Ears are still on. Follow me, and don't make any noise."
Hermione grabbed for her wand and put a dampening charm on her shoes -- that had come in handy several times since she'd run across it -- and then she followed Shacklebolt out of her office and down the corridor to the charwoman's cupboard: he opened the door, wincing when the hinges squeaked, and shooed her inside before stepping through and closing the door. (She was suddenly aware in the confined space of just how large a man Shacklebolt really was, and if she'd trusted him less she'd have been quite uncomfortable.)
"Toward the back," he said under his breath, and she groped for the back wall. "No, to the right -- there you are, hang on. Give us a Lumos, would you? I'll need to do something else."
Hermione did as he asked, and Shacklebolt reached around her and tapped the wall with his wand: a hidden door popped open, revealing a grimy, twisting stairwell.
"Aurors' secret access to all levels," he whispered. "Put in when they renovated after the Grindelwald business. We've been trying to get a lift for years, but they're too cheap to install one."
"What's it for?"
"Internal Affairs Division of the Auror's Service. Let's say Corcoran's not the only Ministry employee requiring a bit of supervision. Play your cards right and stick it out, and you might have his job soon."
"Don't bloody want it," Hermione muttered back as she started down the stair, free hand clenched about the rail: the stairwell didn't seem to have been updated since the place was built.
Shacklebolt laughed quietly. "Could be handy for us, having someone that far up."
"Fudge wouldn't have me, hates my guts. The only reason they took me for this job was because I was the only damned applicant. Corcoran's said so on many occasions."
"Not quite the only one," Shacklebolt said. "Funny, that. The other applicants' letters got mislaid, somehow, soon as they hit the mailroom."
Hermione stopped dead on a landing, turned, and glared up at him. "Are you saying the Order rigged ...? Now isn't the best time to tell me that, Kingsley. At the moment I'm tempted to hex someone for getting me in this mess, and you're closest. You never know what horrific things I might've picked up from Severus."
"Yes, I do -- we were within a year or two at Hogwarts. Bastard hexed me twice, but then I deserved it," Shacklebolt retorted, his smile visible in the light from Hermione's wand. "Besides, you didn't have to take the job, so it's on your own head. Go on, we're wasting time."
Well, that explains that, Hermione thought, disgruntled, as she started down the next rickety run of stairs. Severus must have spoken to him. I wonder what else they've talked about? Or if Severus is still active in the Order?
It took them nearly ten minutes to reach the bottom of the stair, and when they had Shacklebolt pulled her back with a hand on her shoulder and bent to whisper in her ear.
"We're just outside the Records Room. I'm going out first as it isn't unusual for one of us to patrol and check in on certain areas when the Sneakoscopes are down," he explained. "There's a guard. He had his tea-break at nine-thirty and we'd put a sleeping potion into it, but he mayn't have had enough yet to knock him out. You stay here until I come for you."
Hermione nodded and doused her wand's Lumos: Shacklebolt opened the door and slipped from the stairwell, and she waited in the dark for several interminable minutes before Shacklebolt came back to fetch her.
"Come on."
"But the Sneakoscopes --"
"Like I said, non-op at the moment on several floors including this one, as are the ward alarms and the Elucidating Ears on this level," Shacklebolt muttered as he chivvied her out of the stairwell. "Happens all the time, and the company won't send the repairman outside business hours. Or rather, the Ministry refuses to pay for emergency after-hours repairs, so we're safe."
Hermione glanced at the sleeping guard, a fat, gluttonous-looking specimen who'd demolished half a tin of biscuits with his tea: he'd nearly slid off his chair in his sleep, and his wand had dropped from his fingers. "And he's --"
"Pot's empty, so you're safe for at least an hour and half," Shacklebolt said, "but I wish you'd keep it to one. Have you ever been down here?"
"No."
"It's not warded nearly as well as the Department of Mysteries, but you may still run across the odd ward that needs breaking. Most of the paper records aren't high security any longer as the more sensitive things are now recorded in spheres. Those are in an anteroom off to the side -- and that room is bolloxed, so don't even try it even if you're certain what you want is in there. If there's not a summary of the proceedings on paper, you're not going to get at it tonight, and probably not ever."
"Okay."
"I've unwarded the main door, but you're on your own inside -- I need to stay here and keep an eye on him. If he stirs at all, I'll poke my head in and you're to drop everything immediately and get out before he wakes. Understood? Because my orders are to get you in and out, but not to put myself in any danger. I can justify staying here while he's asleep, but not if he wakes, and I will walk off on you if you muck about too long."
"Got it. Thanks, Kingsley."
"Go on, get to it," Shacklebolt whispered, settling himself in the shadows of the nearest corner, his wand out and ready: Hermione glanced at her watch, noted the time, and slipped past the snoring guard and into the Records Room.
She stumbled in the dark and barked her shins rather badly on a piece of furniture which turned out -- once she'd charmed the lamps lit -- to be the archivist's ancient and grotty desk, piled high with files and thickly-bound ledgers (someone wasn't doing their job at all efficiently): a forbidding-looking door behind it was, she assumed, the anteroom Shacklebolt had mentioned. (He was right -- she fancied she could almost sense a nasty vibe coming from the wards about the door, and heavens knew what she'd set off if she tried to break in.)
She knew better than to even think about cracking a sphere, in any case. They had come into use in the mid-70s, just in time for Trelawney's prophecy and other sensitive items: the Wizengamot had apparently decided they were useful for word-for-word recording of judicial hearings as well. She didn't know exactly how they were protected: it might well require the archivist to access a particular sphere, so it was a dead avenue. She'd have to hope the Flaherty matter wasn't considered enough of a high-security risk to warrant a sphere alone.
The Records Room itself was vast, and it seemed to stretch the length of the Ministry building -- nearly an entire city-street length -- and was packed with rows of modern filing-cabinets at the near end. Hermione could faintly make out a point at which the cabinets gave way to wood shelving with cubbyholes for parchments and scrolls, and she was tempted to trot down and see what came after that. (It was a fascinating thought, that the Wizengamot records might actually go as far back as hides, bark-paper, and ogham or runic stones....)
But there wasn't time for that, so she cast another Lumos (the lighting was predicatbly atrocious), and made for the cabinet-row signed "F," peering at the scribbled labels until she found "Fi - Fo." She fumbled with the latch on the cabinet, finally got it open (it shrieked as the drawer slid out, maw gaping, and she dropped her wand and had to scrabble for it before throwing a Silencing Charm on the damned thing), and thumbed through the file-tabs before finding the only Flaherty.
It was the wrong one, unfortunately: she could tell before she even pulled it, because the file was so old that the stock was foxed and torn. Flaherty, Bartley might well be Martin Flaherty's grandfather, but it had nothing to do with her inquiry.
Shit.
It certainly looked interesting in other circumstances: a quick scan of the indictment at the top of the papers said that Bartley Flaherty had been accused of performing magic during the Muggle Easter Rebellion and otherwise meddling in Muggle political matters. But Hermione couldn't afford to indulge, so she quashed her curiosity, shoved the file back in the drawer and closed it, and stomped back over to the archivist's desk as it was the next most logical place to find any file on Martin Flaherty.
You'd think they could be bothered with a card system, she thought grumpily, pulling over one of the huge ledgers.
The ledgers proved to be Indices: documents were logged in, cross-referenced, and then put into a bin to be filed at a later date. She scrabbled amongst the other ledgers littering the desk and found the "F" index.
There was no Martin Flaherty logged in.
Bloody fucking antiquated systems -- There's absolutely no need for this, really, so inefficient....
It was quite easy to charm a quill to record these things immediately as they hit ones' desk: the archivist must be one of those ancient wizards who refused all newfangled gadgetry and methods. Hermione cast a desparing glance at the tottering stack of files on the floor next to the desk -- probably the new arrivals -- and then began slogging through them none too carefully. (If they hadn't yet been logged, no-one would likely notice if they were out of order.)
Flaherty's was somewhere in the middle of the pile, with a cryptic designation 2007, ref. s07.29.12b, which Hermione interpreted as the filing number of the sphere.
The full proceedings are out of reach, then. Have to hope the summary is accurate and truthful....
Luck was with her. While there was no literal transcription of the Wizengamot's proceeding in the file, there was a copy of the French inquest, including the Coroner's report (thank God her French was up to the task). And someone had instructed the court scribe to make notations on the French transcript as to the British conclusions.
Decedant's Effects:Clothing consistent with passing as a Muggle (Charmed; noted in Procedurals as it was removed from body.)
Umbrella
Pocket contents:
Muggle train ticket, Eurostar, return to Calais-St. Pancras.
Muggle ticket-stub, St. Pancras-Calais.
Muggle identification (forged), in name of Marcus Flannery, Southwark, London.
455 Muggle Euros (Brit. Wiz. exchange rate unknown).
6 Galleons, 3 sickles, 5 knuts (Charmed to resemble sweets).
Muggle business-card: 'Valois Perfumerie, 13 Boulevard La Fayette.' Writ. in hand: 'O, L'Heure Bleu. Parfum, lotion, bath salts. Ask for gift-wrap.' Auror's note: interview w/Mrs Flaherty prior to Autopsy results bears this out -- she supposed gift purchase was his purpose for travel.Other: also found near body:
Empty vial (analysis pending).
Wand, 22.225 cm, beech. Core undertermined.
Thank God François's people got the letter and key out before the body reached the mortuary, Hermione thought, and flipped through the rest of the report looking for other notations or interesting findings.
Abrasions consistent with a glancing blow against brick wall (FAS reports Deceased was disarmed by Expelliarmus before death -- may have been blown into wall by backlash, see Site Forensics Report.) No other wounds found. Trace evidence on body of ingestion of a substance immediately prior to death (see Autopsy, Section B, G/I Tract for further information; and Toxicology report [pending]).
There was very little notation on the Autopsy report proper: the Wizengamot apparently trusted the French coroner, for there was no effort made to question the results or to order an autopsy by a British coroner.
There was apparently, however, some debate (as there should have been) over why the bloody hell Martin Flaherty had defied the Ministry's travel ban, and why the bloody hell he had a vial of poison with him when he did so: three pages of notes were tacked on to the end of the French report.
MLE can find no compelling reason for F.'s defiance of travel restriction, save excuse of procuring toiletries for wife. Int. Fiddlewink asks, available elsewhere? Aur. reports yes, exclusive Muggle shop in London, at huge markup -- less expensive to travel to Calais, even with Galleon-Pound-Euro exchange.
Int. Watkins notes family history of trouble-making; Wiz. records indicate criminal incidents several generations prior to immigration to England, but MLE reports a spotless record for both M. F. and his parents (deceased). Aur. interviews with associates (see MLE file) unilaterally claim outstanding reputation, a few eccentricities (fondness for Muggle travel, as evinced by Muggle identification), dedicated to wife, no history of political activism or anti-government attitudes or actions, including no known association with Death Eaters or the Isolationists. Well-respected, spotless work record, no financial difficulties or recognisable emotional/mental problems. Int. Watkins asks, if not political, then industrial espionage?
Minister Fudge offers that MLE already investigating this angle: a survey of office at M&M revealed nothing untoward; all records intact. Exceptionally orderly individual, trusted implicitly by President of company, though could demonstrate exceptional stubborness if felt company was going in wrong direction. Exceptional loyalty to company demonstrated throughout career. No evidence whatsoever of malfeasance.
Int. Finch queries poison. Did F. expect to be detained/arrested? Why such a drastic measure if nothing to hide?
MLE confirms that F. received notification of ban and returned confirmation several weeks before his trip -- not a case of a mistake or lost notification as with Mortlake incident of September last. Opinion of MLE that F. knew might be apprehended and did not wish to take consequences, but had hope of slipping through -- no need for expense of return ticket otherwise. Appeared to have every intention of returning. Reason for "drastic measure" unknown.
Conclusions: with no evidence of wrongdoing other than defying restriction, Martin Flaherty deliberately chose to flout the ban for purely personal and frivolous reasons. Eccentricity = mild mental imbalance? Cannot be determined, but probable, given evidence of poison. (This in itself leads several Int. to lean toward mental imbalance [extreme and unreasonable paranoia?] and Suicide.) Possible that F. simply panicked when confronted by FAS? No witnesses to testify as to how FAS approached F.; possible heavy-handed approach frightened him.
Given no evidence of deliberate attempt to undermine Ministry, Wiz. directs a verdict of Death By Misadventure, with Minister Fudge directing that no mention of mental imbalance or Suicide to be made to Mrs Flaherty in the interests of compassion. Reports to be witheld from media until further investigation into FAS method and FAS report of the incident can be examined by MLE.
'Compassion' my arse, Hermione thought indignantly. Fudge is afraid that if Olivia Flaherty thinks they're blaming Martin, even in a roundabout way, she'll get suspicious and start asking nasty questions. He's planning on blaming the FAS for mucking up the arrest, I bet.
All in all it was fairly inconclusive, with the exception that Hermione was pretty certain that at least the entire Wizengamot couldn't know what Fudge was up to: if the whole body knew what was up, there would be no need to conceal concerns about the possibility of 'industrial espionage' (assuming Fudge told the truth about the state of things at Flaherty's office at Mangel and Mortars). And if some of the Wizengamot were unaware of Fudge's agenda, she thought it likely the ICW wasn't, either. Several of the Interrogators were members of the ICW as well -- Finch, certainly, she recalled, remembering that she'd seen him listed on the full roster in her conference packet.
She doubted that supposition would be enough for Severus, though. And he wasn't going to be thrilled that they'd gone to such effort -- and danger -- for so little evidence, and inconclusive evidence, at that.
She slipped Flaherty's file back into the pile and glanced at her watch. Surprisingly, it had only taken thirty-five minutes from start to finish...
...and this was unfortunate, because the thought of having twenty-five minutes -- or nearly an hour, actually -- to kill before she absolutely had to get out gave her ideas.
Foremost among them being a test of Severus' trustworthiness.
After all, it's prudent, she argued with herself. I'm still rather squicked that I trust him -- that's really unforgivably careless and naïve of me, especially when I don't have any proof that he's telling me the truth about everything, just a feeling.
Besides, the alternate explanations were that she was barmy or going Stockholm Syndrome-ish over Severus Snape, and she wasn't sure which of the two was worse.
I need to think of something I can check, something verifiable, here in the records, that he's told me....
The rapes. Lavender Brown.
That wouldn't be conclusive, either -- Severus had never named names during his diatribe, not that she could recall. For all Hermione knew Lavender could have got herself in the club and been sent down or called home; she might have cracked under the pressure of preparing for NEWTs, along with the escalation in hostilities and the nastiness in Hogsmeade. But she didn't think so. While she'd always thought the girl a bit silly, Lavender had grown steadier and more mature during Sixth Year. If she was right and Lavender had been assaulted, it would at least prove that Severus had been truthful in general about at least one thing.
She made her way over to the B aisle, found the right cabinet, and thumbed through a depressingly long row of Bl through Br tabs before she finally located one labeled Brown, Lavender (1997, ref. s97.19.11c); she pulled it from the drawer, and, rather than trudging back to the desk, she charmed Lumos, flipped the file open one-handed, and began to read.
The file's contents nearly sickened her.
Severus is telling the truth.
Lavender, at least -- Hermione couldn't bear to check for other familiar names, not yet -- had been physically assaulted, abducted, and tortured. Like Flaherty's, the file didn't go into specifics; it was merely a summary, not a full transcription. There were, however, copies of the supporting evidence in Lavender's file, including a written statement from a healer at St. Mungo's. After her abduction from Hogsmeade, Lavender had been sexually and physically assaulted -- by which he meant, he explained, subjected to non-magical torture and abuse -- as well as hexed with Unforgivables.
Oh, bloody.... And she's an obvious one, one who couldn't face coming back.... How many others came back to school and hid it?
The other frightening notation was the name of the rapist (the only one of several Lavender had been able to identify). Rupert Skellington. Hermione vaguely remembered him, a Ravenclaw who'd Left two years before she.
Skellington? That awful, bookish weed who.... Skellington, a Death Eater? He always looked as though his worst crime in life would be overdue library books.
Further reading confirmed that yes, Skellington had been apprehended and was a Death Eater, and at the time was being held pending trial by the Wizengamot for "other crimes, including but not limited to assault on Muggles, unauthorised use of Imperius, and several counts of rape."
Well, at least they caught the bastard. Should be a file on him, as well....
Hermione stuffed Lavender's file back where it belonged and trotted down the long row of cabinets to pull Skellington's file: it was one of many slender ones shoved in before a very thick, dog-eared folder.
She pulled Skellington's file and scanned it in the light of her wand's Lumos.
Convicted as a Death Eater.... Twelve counts of Use of Unforgivables, yes, fine, where's the.... Ah. Three counts of rape.
But there wasn't a list of his victims' names included; the précis of the hearing quite inconveniently said "Victim 1" or "Victim 2" to protect their privacy, though presumably they were named in the testimony documented in the sphere. There simply wasn't any other useful information, save the further notation that Skellington had been condemned to a life term in Azkaban in January 1998. But there was a scribbled bit of marginalia dated almost two years previous, in Latin as awkward and crabbed as the handwriting, that Skellington was "animus et anima exstinguentur ab Dementorii 21/4/05 et Sk. in genera redescribimus 'animal tenebricosus.'"
What the bloody.... 'Reason and Soul extinguished by Dementors and "reclassified" as a dark creature.'
Not dead. 'Reclassified as a dark creature.'
Skellington's soul had been sucked, and he was now a Dementor himself (or as good as). And he was very probably being used within Azkaban to guard and torture others.
Hermione shoved the file away from her across the top of the cabinet, and tried to still the shaking in her hands.
This is what you get, my girl. If curiosity didn't kill the cat, it certainly drove it mad....
For that's what it was -- curiosity, and nothing more. She'd come here to try to find files on the Flaherty matter, and instead of leaving it at that she'd meddled in other things and put herself at further risk of discovery, wasting another precious fifteen minutes poking about where she didn't belong.
Severus will kill me if he finds out. If I'm caught, he is too....
Hermione gathered up Skellington's sick little file and hurried to replace it, her trembling fingers fumbling with the tabs and overshooting the proper spot. She promptly dropped Skellington's papers to the floor, though, when she found the huge folder that had been jammed in a bit further on.
It was obviously mis-filed, for the names Slocombe, Smart, Smedley marched along behind it....
The name on the tab, in age-faded ink, was Snape, Severus (1970).
Of course she pulled the file. She didn't even think twice, and she allowed herself the luxury of returning to the archivist's desk to read it, where the light was better.
In for a penny, in for a pound....
The file had certainly been compiled before the spheres were developed. (If it wasn't, then Severus Snape had been in trouble with the Wizengamot many times, quite young in a relatively short life, and Hermione didn't want to think about the possibilities.)
Please don't let it be Death Eater information.... I don't think I.... Well, it wouldn't be, would it? 1970. Unless he was the youngest known Death Eater ever.
She took a deep breath and opened the file. The first document was an indictment.
Holy shit.
The Prosecutor for the Wizengamot charges that on or about the 20th July, 1970, Severus Snape, aged 9, did wilfully and with malice aforethought commit murder upon his father, one Julius Snape (a wizard in his majority), Apothecary, at the family home in Knockturn Alley.
The Prosecutor shall show that this was a deliberate act on the part of the Defendant; that the Defendant has confessed to said murder; that the Defendant has offered the Prosecutor no exculpatory evidence or compelling reasons which might satisfactorily explain his actions; and that the Defendant has expressed no remorse for committing this most grievous and unnatural crime, and should therefore pay the maximum penalty possible under the laws of the Wizengamot....
'Maximum penalty possible' -- My God, they were going to send a nine year-old to Azkaban?
She flipped though all the blasted legalese until she came to the trial transcript -- an actual, physical transcript of the entire mess, thank God -- and began to read.
August 5th, 1970, afternoon session
All present with exceptions noted below:
Absent: Prosecutor E. Umbridge (holiday leave). Chief Warlock shall assume the duties of Prosecutor.
Chief Warlock (Minister Stump) begins the questioning.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Severus Snape, you have been charged with a very serious crime. Do you understand the charge?
(Defendant [Severus Snape] does not respond.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Speak up, boy. Do you understand what murder means?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Tell me.
DEFENDANT: It means I killed my father.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Yes, precisely. Do you understand what killing is?
DEFENDANT: It means I... It means he's dead.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Yes. Do you understand that means that you took a human life?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
CHIEF WARLOCK: And do you understand what a terrible act that is?
(Defendant does not respond.)
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Snape, if you do not at least attempt to answer the questions, we shall direct the Bailiff to administer Veritaserum. Do you know what that is?
DEFENDANT: Of course.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Don't be impudent. What, then?
DEFENDANT: A potion that will make me answer all questions truthfully.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Got it in one. Finally. So, do you understand how horrible an act murder is, much less when committed upon one's father?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: And you understand that your refusal to cooperate with the Prosecutor and...
(Interrogator Crouch questions the Court Scribe)
... and with Auror Moody in his investigation leads us to believe that you have no excuse for having committed the crime?
DEFENDANT: No.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: What the devil do you mean, boy?
DEFENDANT: (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Speak up, boy.
DEFENDANT: I told him.
CHIEF WARLOCK: You told the Prosecutor why you'd done it?
DEFENDANT: Yes. The other one, I mean.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Auror Moody?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Then suppose you tell us why.
(Defendant does not respond.)
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Bailiff, if you would fetch the Veritaserum --
(At this point in the proceedings, Interrogator Dumbledore requested of the Chief Warlock the favour of examining the Defendant. Request was granted.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Good afternoon, Severus -- may I call you Severus? I don't see a need for formality, really. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am also the Hogwarts Headmaster. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions? Just to clear a few things up?
(Defendant did not respond.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Severus, you told Auror Moody why you killed your father?
(Defendant did not respond.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: It's quite all right to tell us, Severus. We're here to find out what really happened, and you shan't be in any more trouble, no matter what the reason was. I hope it will help you, in fact.
DEFENDANT: (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: What?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: He said he told Moody and that other man -- the Prosecutor, he must mean -- and he doesn't wish to go over it again.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: He doesn't wish --? Does the boy understand that this is a Court of Law?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I would respectfully remind the assembly that the Defendant is very young, and appears very frightened. Might I suggest that we confirm this information with Auror Moody before proceeding further?
(A vote is taken, and the majority concurs. A short recess is taken to summon Auror Moody.)
(The Court has re-convened. Auror Moody has been sworn in as a witness, and Chief Warlock has granted Interrogator Dumbledore the right to examine him.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Auror Moody, as Chief Auror you were in charge of the investigation into the death of Julius Snape, is that correct?
MOODY: Yeah.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And you were present at the Snape home on the 20th July?
MOODY: 21st. Evidence says the death occurred on the 20th.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you. At that time, did you question the Defendant, Severus Snape?
MOODY: Yeah.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Was he forthcoming about what happened on the 20th July?
MOODY: Oh, yes. I asked him who did it, and he said he'd done.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: To your knowledge, was there anyone else in the home on the 20th July who might have committed the murder?
MOODY: I believe the mother -- Mrs Snape, that is -- was also on the premises.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: You believe?
MOODY: She had been removed to St. Mungo's by the time I got there.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Owing to what?
MOODY: Owing to injuries suffered the previous day.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Injuries suffered how?
MOODY: Undetermined for certain. The woman's unable to respond to questions.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Very well, we'll leave that for the time being. Did you ask Severus Snape why he might have chosen to harm his father?
MOODY: I did. He said his dad hurt his mother something terrible, and he'd had enough of that.
(Chief Warlock has to bring the Interrogators to order.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Ah, let me clarify. He stated quite clearly that he... killed his father, Julius Snape, because the man had hurt his mother?
MOODY: Yeah.
(Interrogator Crouch requests that he be allowed to question the witness. Request is granted.)
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Yet instead of reporting the event immediately, he waited an entire day? How did the event become public knowledge?
MOODY: The lad's mum was in a bad way, Mr Crouch, and he tried to take care of her himself. By the morning of the 21st she didn't respond to him, so he flooed St. Mungo's from a neighbor's house. The healer contacted us when he arrived at the apothecary and discovered the state of things.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Auror Moody, was all this written up in your report?
MOODY: Every word, and more besides.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And it was submitted to the Prosecutor?
MOODY: Yeah, that's normal procedure. Handed it over to him myself.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I'd very much like to know why Prosecutor Umbridge didn't include that information in the Indictment.
MOODY: Don't ask me. No bloody idea.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Quite. Minister Stump, I should like to have a copy of Auror Moody's report submitted into evidence, since lack of mention of this information in the Indictment is an apparent... oversight.
(Chief Warlock grants the request.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Before you return to your duties, Auror Moody, I should like a description of the scene, to the best of your recollection.
MOODY: I found the Deceased, Julius Snape, in the back room of the apothecary -- the home is above the shop, you see -- with his head bashed in by a large mortar. There was some evidence of a struggle. Jars of herbs and such swept off the shelves, things like that.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: 'Bashed?' Did this appear to be a single blow, or --
MOODY: No. The perpetrator continued to hit the Deceased after he fell, several times. In my estimation, at least.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Which do you think might have been the killing blow?
MOODY: I've no idea. Ask the bloody Coroner.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Quite right, sorry. But -- given the evidence of a struggle -- you would agree that there was perhaps a first blow which did not totally incapacitate Julius Snape, and that one or more followed?
MOODY: That's reasonable, though the struggle might have occurred first, before anything else.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Would you characterise the force used as extreme? As egregious force?
MOODY: Not necessarily. In my experience, when a perpetrator hates the Deceased's guts, they'll keep at it until the Deceased is nearly unrecognisable. This seemed enough to make certain the man out of commission, but no further. That's how I read it.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Ah. Meant to immobilise --
ITERROGATOR CROUCH: Oh, come now, Moody -- the accused is a child. He couldn't possibly have the strength to do that kind of damage, to beat someone to a pulp. You can't possibly make an assumption about his intent based on that. He did his best, it was a lucky blow and enough to kill, but not enough to cause the damage you assume.
MOODY: It was a bloody big and heavy mortar, sir. If he could manage to lift it, as he says he did, it'd do far more damage than you'd think. And I think he called a halt to it before he got to that point.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: May I continue, Barty? Thank you. Force meant to immobilise, but not to kill?
MOODY: That's my interpretation given the evidence, and that's what I got from the boy's statement. But I only have the boy's word for that.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Of course. Was there evidence that the Defendant was injured in the struggle, or at any point before?
MOODY: Yeah, the whole left side of the lad's face was blackened, and his left eye swelled shut -- you can still see, there, where it's a bit greenish yet.
(Auror Moody indicates the Defendant, whose face does appear to be slightly bruised.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Did the Defendant admit to using that method, striking his father with the mortar?
MOODY: Yes. Lad said it was the nearest thing to hand.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And did he express why?
MOODY: He said -- I remember this quite clearly, word for word -- he said, 'I wanted it to stop.' Said that over and over.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And he confessed this when? After he was taken into custody?
MOODY: No, right then and there.... That is, Mrs Snape had been removed to St. Mungo's, but the boy was still upstairs, in the back bedroom with two of the Sisters from hospital to watch over him. I asked him in their presence what had happened, and he said, "I hit him," and I said "With the mortar?" and he said "Yes, it was there, it looked like it would work." And when I asked why, he said "I wanted it to stop. He kept hurting her, and I wanted it to stop." That simple.
(Chief Warlock has to call the Interrogators to order.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Was there evidence of further violence in the house?
MOODY: Yeah, up in the flat itself. There was blood on the hearthstones, on one corner. It looked like the lad's mum had fallen and struck her head.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: How can you be sure it was her blood?
MOODY: The hair. There was brown hair in the blood, some of it still attached to a bit of scalp-skin where it caught on the stones. The Deceased's hair was as dark as the lad's, so I know it wasn't his. I've since learned that Mrs Snape is a brunette.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Minister Stump, I should like to have statements from the hospital staff involved submitted into evidence, as well as any medical documentation regarding the injuries to Mrs Snape and a statement as to her current condition.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Very well. The Court Scribe shall see to it.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Furthermore, I should like to call Prosecutor Egbert Umbridge to answer as to why this information was not included in the documentation along with the Indictment and the Coroner's Report --
CHIEF WARLOCK: Yes, yes, I'm sure we shall get to that eventually, but it's a separate matter entirely. Let's get through this first. Are you quite done with Auror Moody?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: For the time being, yes. Thank you, Moody.
(The Court is adjoured until the morning session to allow for collection of statements, and the Defendant remanded to custody of the Aurors.)
August 6th, 1970, morning session
(The Defendant is brought in and restrained in the chair. Chief Warlock brings the hearing to order.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Interrogator Dumbledore has requested that he be allowed to continue with the questioning and the examination of the statements, and I have agreed. Proceed, sir.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you. If the Scribe would distribute the documents brought to light since yesterday --? Thank you. As you can see, the first document concerns Mrs Snape's current condition. She is absolutely unable to testify in the matter, I'm afraid, so we shall have to go by the available evidence alone, and young Severus' testimony --
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: What we can prise out of him.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Ah, of course, Barty. He is, as I stated before, quite young and possibly traumatised by the events, and I'm rather dismayed that this fact has been unacknowledged.... But no matter. The Interrogators will notice that the Healer's Report includes evidence that the abuse Mrs Snape suffered on 20th July is not an isolated incident. That is, there is evidence of fractured bones and lasting damage to the soft tissues, such as tendon damage, which might indicate abuse of rather long-standing -- damage which appears not to have been properly treated. In addition, I, ah, took the liberty of requesting that a healer examine Severus Snape last evening, and he has found similar damage, though possibly of less severity and duration.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Hang on. Why is the woman unable to offer testimony? It's in defence of her child, for Merlin's sake.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I'd rather not say, Barty, in the presence of --
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: This is a Court of Law, Dumbledore, and the Law requires it.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Very well. Mrs Snape only just woke from a coma a few days ago, and her thoughts still appear to be.... disordered.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Explain further, please.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I really would prefer not to say in.... Very well. She is utterly incapable of responding to questions on the matter without becoming hysterical. She is in restraints, in fact, and the healers feel they have no recourse but to transfer her to St. Alwych's in Nottinghamshire.
(The Defendant became distraught at this point and had to be removed from the Court. Interrogator Dumbledore would not continue until such time as the Bailiff returned.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Is he --? Is someone with him? Thank you, Bailiff. In short, the woman is mad, Minister. It's unclear yet whether it is a result of this event, whether she was unstable to begin with, or whether she will fully recover.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Thank you. Bailiff, could you return the Defendant to the --
(The Bailiff confers with the Chief Warlock.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Oh. Well, calm him down. Get him... get him some tea, or chocolate or something. I want him back in as soon as possible, you understand, the docket's full.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I can, of course, ask the healers involved to testify personally, but as you have sworn statements in your hands --
CHIEF WARLOCK: No, no, I'm certain it's all quite correct. Let's get on with it.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: 'It' appears to be a gross error, Minister, given the information now before us. The Indictment is obviously invalid, given that there is indeed exculpatory evidence.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: I'm quite certain Prosecutor Umbridge had good reason to submit the Indictment as is, Dumbledore.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Then he should be here to refute the evidence and defend his decision, should he not, Barty?
CHIEF WARLOCK: Not as a matter of course, Dumbledore, as you know. There's no precedent for dismissing a charge of Patricide or questioning the validity of an Indictment if the Prosecutor deems the evidence sufficient.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I'm not advocating that it the charge be dismissed, Minister -- the boy has plainly admitted that he is responsible, though frankly I question that as well.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Whatever are you playing at, Dumble--
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: For all we know his mother might have done it herself, and the child has chosen to take the blame to protect her. If he's willing to put himself at physical risk to protect her, he's certainly capable of lying to protect her from the legal consequences of a murder conviction -- in which case, convicting him is a gross travesty of justice. We simply cannot tell at this point without subjecting him to Veritaserum, and given his condition that is, as far as I'm concerned, a last resort. I shall be happy to call back the healer who examined him last night to testify to that effect.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Very well, very well, let's just --
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: What do you propose we do, then? Pat the little blighter on the head and send him off?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: What?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Nothing, Minister, nothing. Let me clarify the situation, first, and see if we are all in agreement on the likely explanation -- assuming that young Severus himself did indeed do the killing. On the 20th of July, Julius Snape battered his wife in the flat above the shop, leading to a severe head injury when she fell as a result of the battery.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: We have no proof of that --
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Circumstantial evidence, but it's a reasonable argument from Moody's testimony and the description of her condition in the Healer's Report.... Have you got that far? Have you seen the extent of Mrs Snape's injuries? Very well, I'll assume I may continue. Furthermore, Julius Snape continued -- again, per the Report and Moody's statements -- to batter her once she was incapacitated. He then left the flat and went below to the back room of the shop. Young Severus -- who, we know from his statements in Auror Moody's report, witnessed the entire incident -- then descended the stair to the back room, picked up the mortar, and bludgeoned his father several times in an attempt to 'make it stop.'
INTERROGATOR MCGILLICUDDY: That's a rather damning admission, Albus. He didn't try to stop the beating itself -- he acted after the fact. Definitely forethought.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: True. A -- what, an eight- or nine-stone child, would you say? he's rather thin -- chose not to attempt to stop a....
(Interrogator Dumbledore pauses to consult the Coroner's Report.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: ... a twenty-seven stone man in the middle of a violent assault. A child who's been on the receiving end of abuse from that man, and whose mother is left lying bloodied on the floor of the sitting-room. He attacks his mother's abuser, incapacitates him -- but does not, apparently, take special care to take out what must be his rage or fear on the dead or unconscious man -- and then drops everything and returns upstairs to take care of his injured mother. And when he realises that she is wounded beyond his ability to help her, he calls the appropriate authorities, despite the knowledge that he will surely bear full blame.
(The Bailiff returns to the court and consults with Chief Warlock.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Oh, good. Glad we caught him before he left.... Bring him in, and let's get this over with.
(Prosecutor Umbridge is admitted and is sworn in.)
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: What's all this about, then, Minister? We were just ready to leave, blast it. My little girl's quite upset she shan't have her whole holiday abroad. Eighteenth birthday present, you know.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Interrogator Dumbledore appears to have objections to the Snape Indictment, Umbridge.
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Why? Clear case of Patricide, cut and dried.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Clear case of Patricide, quite possibly. Not necessarily cut and dried. Could you explain to the us, Umbridge, why there was no supporting documentation submitted into evidence?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Not required, of course. Not when the Prosecutor feels it's a clear case.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: You didn't feel that the statements in Auror Moody's report clearly indicate that there was exculpatory evidence in this case?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: No, that evidence is based heavily on Moody's interpretation. Besides, Severus Snape admitted it. Interviewed him myself, and he said it bold as brass. Doesn't regret it, either.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And you didn't feel an investigation was required as to why a child might feel it necessary to take such a drastic measure?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: The Law's the Law. Look, Minister, what's the problem, here? I've paid for two full weeks in Corfu, and it's not fair to --
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Were you aware of recurring physical abuse to both Mrs Snape and Severus Snape?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: What has that got to do with it?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: What do you mean, what has that got to do with it?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: All right, then. You obviously don't understand the laws involved, here, so I'll explain it in layman's terms. Murder's murder. The only possible excuse for it is self-defence. Severus Snape was not acting in self-defence. That's the Law.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: There's Law, Umbridge, and then there's Justice. You, apparently, are fulfilling the letter of the former and ignoring the spirit of the latter.
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Now hold on, here --
CHIEF WARLOCK: Dumbledore, that's quite enough.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I beg the Court's pardon. My point remains, however. The purpose of the Wizengamot is not only to see that the law is observed, but that justice is carried out as well. And in this system, it is the Prosecutor's job to determine not only the legal strength, but the justice of a charge before submitting it to the Wizengamot for trial.
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: There's no precedent for letting the accused go on the basis of anything but self-defence.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: What?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I said, then there bloody well should be.
CHIEF WARLOCK: That's out of order, Dumbledore.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: No, it's not. What good is a legal system if it can't address extraordinary circumstances? Why should Severus Snape -- a child -- be sent to Azkaban simply because there is no precedent for a child trying to protect his mother in the only way he can see how?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: That's not my problem. He knew right from wrong, and he knew it was wrong. He committed the crime, and he shall have to take the consequences.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: A crime committed in the interest of saving another life.
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Nonsense. The woman's alive. It's not a question of that.
(Interrogator Dumbledore hands documents to Prosecutor Umbridge.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: For the record, I have just turned over the Healer's Report on Mrs Snape's condition to Prosecutor Umbridge. Turn to page three, if you please -- yes, the photographs, thank you. Do you see that damage? Do you realise... well, I assume not, since you've been preparing for your holiday... that the woman was left in a coma by that beating? That she has quite possibly been driven mad by the abuse, and presumably by the lengths to which her son had to defend her? That there is evidence of many prior beatings? The question is not one of her being alive, Umbridge, it's a question of when and how Julius Snape would have managed to kill her, and why he hadn't already.
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: The Law had no basis on which to make that judgement, blast it, there were no reports --
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: No it didn't, because you didn't bother to request them. I have. Justice, however, now has basis, given the entire body of evidence. And Severus Snape as a witness to it all, did.
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: -- and how was I supposed to know that this was going on? The child might have gone to the authorities, damn it, and all this would have been avoided.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: We don't know that. We don't know that he or his mother didn't try, and were perhaps ignored or hushed-up. We don't know what kind of coercion Julius Snape put on either of them to keep them quiet, or to what lengths he went to conceal the abuse.
(Auror Moody rises.)
MOODY: I do, blast it.
CHIEF WARLOCK: Sit down, Moody, you've already been examined --
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Yes, and he's still under oath. What do you mean, Moody?
MOODY: I mean the floo wasn't on the Network, and there was a bloody Silencing Charm over the entire flat. Permanent, like. The neighbors I could get to talk couldn't say anything was wrong, because they couldn't hear anything to begin with, and they said the woman and child rarely left the flat.
INTERROGATOR CROUCH: Oh, surely someone would have --
MOODY: No, no-one I could get to admit it. This is Knockturn Alley, Mr Crouch -- it's a different world entirely than yours. You don't grass, expecially not on someone like Julius Snape. You turn a blind eye and a deaf ear because a wizard's home is his castle, and that particular wizard was a nasty piece of work to begin with. (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: What was that?
MOODY: Nothing, sir.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you, Moody. And I quite agree. Now, Umbridge.... Are you willing to admit that the battery detailed in that report is extraordinary, and required drastic action to prevent further abuse?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: No, not to the extent of Patricide.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Perhaps not to a deliberate and cold-blooded murder, agreed, but an accidental Homicide due to extenuating circumstances is something else entirely. Take a closer look at the Healer's Report, if you would. At all of it. And at the report of the evidence of abuse inflicted on Severus himself.
(Prosecutor Umbridge reads the report.)
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Uh, I, ummm.... Might I have a few moments, to.... I'm not feeling terribly well, actually.
(Chief Warlock calls for a recess, with the Court to reconvene at the afternoon session.)
August 6th, 1970, afternoon session
(The Defendant is led in and restrained, and Chief Warlock calls the court to order.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: You may proceed where you left off, Dumbledore.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you. Now, Umbridge.... With the knowledge you now possess, would you still say that Severus Snape had no valid reason to defend his mother?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: No, I... I wouldn't.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: You would perhaps rescind some of the statements you made in the Indictment?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Yes.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: To wit, that there is 'no exculpatory evidence or compelling reasons which might satisfactorily explain his actions'?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: Yes.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And you might be convinced -- given the evidence that we now have -- that it is unreasonable to expect a child of nine to deal with such a traumatic and dangerous situation in a rational and totally lawful manner?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: I, uh.... Yes.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Would you, in fact, still recommend that imprisonment in Azkaban is a reasonable penalty for his actions, and that it is in the best interest of Justice -- not Law, but Justice -- to impose that penalty on him?
PROSECUTOR UMBRIDGE: No, I.... I wouldn't.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you. That is all, I think.
(Prosecutor Umbridge is dismissed from the Court.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Well, that solves the objection to the Indictment. However....
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: However, you still want to hear the child's testimony?
CHIEF WARLOCK: Of course.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: What?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Nothing, Minister, nothing. Technically another Indictment should be presented if the Prosecutor feels it warranted, but....
(Interrogator Dumbledore approaches the Defendant.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Are you feeling better, Severus?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Good. I think I ought explain to you what all the.... Might we dispense with the restraints, please? He's an unwanded child. Really....
(The chair loosens the Defendant's restraints.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you. Now, Severus. What all that means is that you shan't be sent to Azkaban. We've examined the evidence -- after finally having it admitted -- and we think you may have had good reason to act as you did. But we should like to hear you explain the whole thing, in your own words.
DEFENDANT: (mumbles)
CHIEF WARLOCK: What?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: He said, he wants to see his mother. You shall, Severus, I'll see to it myself, I promise you, but we've got to get through this last sticky bit. Do you feel up to it? Would you like a glass of water, first?
(Defendant indicates 'yes,' and the Bailiff brings a glass of water.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Now, Severus.... Do you remember what happened the day your mother was hurt?
DEFENDANT: (mumbles)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: No, my boy, I... I mean the last time. Do you remember your father striking your mother?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And when he struck her, she fell?
DEFENDANT: Not right away. She... she'd dropped a jar of Graphorn powder in the shop, and he started yelling. It's very expensive. I heard him hit her down there.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: What happened then?
DEFENDANT: Then she... she came upstairs for the dustpan, and he followed her up, and he... he started....
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: He hit her again?
DEFENDANT: Yes. He started hitting her, a lot, and then she stumbled and fell and hit her head, and she... she couldn't get up. And he just kept hitting her....
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Did you try to stop him, Severus?
DEFENDANT: I yelled at him. And then I tried to pull him off, but he shoved me away. And then he... he went back downstairs.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And what did you do then?
DEFENDANT: I tried to help m- mother to her room, but she couldn't move. And then she had a, a... some kind of fit, or something.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: A seizure?
DEFENDANT: I don't know. Her head and arms went like... like this --
(The Defendant demonstrates.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Yes, a seizure, that's what it's called, Severus. What happened then?
DEFENDANT: Then he... he yelled for her to come down and clean up the mess, but she couldn't, so I went down instead. And I asked if I could fetch a healer for her after I'd cleared away the.... That she was really sick. And he said no, and yelled for her to come down, to stop faking, and then he started for the stairs, and....
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Yes, Severus?
DEFENDANT: I knew... I knew if she couldn't get up that he'd hurt her more. That's when I saw the mortar. When I thought of it. So I stopped him.
(Chief Warlock calls a ten-minute recess at the request of Interrogator McGillicuddy, who leaves the chamber.)
(Interrogator McGillicuddy has re-entered, and Chief Warlock reconvenes the session.)
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: All right, Severus, you've done very well, been very brave. Just a bit more, and we'll be done. So, you struck your father with the mortar? Was it just the once, or did you do more?
DEFENDANT: More. I mean, the first was while h- his back was turned. He... he tried to hit me, but he missed and stumbled into the shelves. So I hit him again and he fell. And he... he was still moving and saying awful things, so I hit him again, and then he stopped.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And then you went back up to your mother?
DEFENDANT: Yes. I... I couldn't.... I don't have a wand yet, so I had to... I had... to dr- drag her to the bedroom.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: And you tried to take care of her all day?
DEFENDANT: Yes. But she couldn't.... She woke up for a while, but she couldn't eat or drink anything, it all came back up. And in the morning I couldn't wake her at all.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: I see. Severus, are you certain that this is how it happened? It's.... Your mother shan't be in any trouble if she did it, you see, you don't need to protect her from that. Are you certain that you and only you struck your father?
DEFENDANT: Yes. I did it. Sh- she couldn't, she was already....
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Thank you, Severus. I think that clarifies the matter. Are there any questions from anyone else? Very well. Minister Stump, I think, owing to his age, that it would be kinder to have the Bailiff take him out before we delib--
DEFENDANT: He's really dead, then?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Yes, Severus, he's dead. He can't hurt either of you any longer.
DEFENDANT: Good.
INTERROGATOR MCGILLICUDDY: Mr Snape, do you understand that what you did was wrong? Yes, there were extenuating circumstances, but it was wrong.
DEFENDANT: Exten-- ?
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: You had good reason, Severus. You were trying to protect your mother. But it was still a terrible thing to have to do. Ah... what we call the lesser of two evils. It isn't... good in that sense, is what Madam McGillicuddy means.
DEFENDANT: Oh.
INTERROGATOR DUMBLEDORE: Do you have any other questions, Severus?
(Defendant indicates 'no.')
CHIEF WARLOCK: Very well. Bailiff, would you escort the Defendant to the anteroom while we deliberate?
(The Defendant is taken to the anteroom.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: The scribe will now cease recording the proceeding until we reach a verdict.
(Recording ceases at 3:08 pm.)
(The Chief Warlock reconvened the Court at 4:23 pm. The Defendant is brought in.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: The Defendant will stand.
(Defendant rises.)
CHIEF WARLOCK: Severus Snape, you have been found guilty of Patricide by unanimous vote of the Wizangamot. This would usually carry the strictest possible penalty available to this Court. However, due to extenua-- Due to evidence which shows you were trying to protect your mother, and that your intent was not to kill your father but merely to prevent him from further commission of a terrible act, the majority of the Interrogators direct that the punishment be waived.
The Wizengamot further directs that as there are no other family members to care for the minor Severus Snape, he shall be remanded to the custody of the Bertie Botts Home for Troubled and Recalcitrant Boys until such time as he shall be of age to enter Hogwarts -- assuming that Headmaster Dumbledore consents, given his history -- or until his mother shall be able to care for him.
Lastly, owing to the Defendant's youth and the extenuating circumstances, the Wizengamot directs that the court record be sealed and all mention of the regrettable incident, whether past or present, be stricken from the public records so that it shall not be held against him. This Court is adjourned for the day.
(Scribe ceases recording at 4:28 pm.)
Hermione's flat
Friday, January 20th
12:48 a.m.
Hermione had no idea how she'd got home. She barely remembered leaving the Records Room nearly a half-hour late and slipping past Shacklebolt (who'd looked furious at the delay and relieved that she'd finally got her arse out). She could only pray that somewhere in the tearing rage that had possessed her while reading the transcript -- and especially after viewing the medical reports, including the horrid, fading photographs of the injuries to Severus' mother -- that she'd had the sense to tidy up the file and cover her tracks.
She opened a bottle of wine first thing, flung herself on the sofa, and neatly downed the first glass before allowing herself to think coherently. (Marginally coherently, she corrected herself.) She could hardly remember ever being so enraged. She wanted to hit someone or something, commit palpable damage: anything to rid herself of this horrid, gut-scorching anger.
How could they? How could they consider summarily sentencing a child, a child, to Azkaban? Skellington only lasted eight years. How long would a child have survived?
Well, true, Umbridge's father was the idiot responsible. Like father, like daughter, only stupid and callous rather than vicious.
I hope the son-of-a-bitch was sacked when he got back from Corfu. Crouch should have been too, the cruel bastard.
It was all so... so barbaric. She'd known that the accused didn't have an automatic right to Counsel in the Wizarding World: she hadn't known how bad it really was, though, that the Prosecutor wasn't required to submit all the evidence. Harry hadn't spoken of his own hearing, much -- mostly what the room and the Wizengamot were like, but not about how easily the evidence could be dismissed or how it had felt. He'd been rather older than Severus, too, able to understand what was going on; but Sseverus had been so young that he couldn't possibly have defended himself competently.
Thank God for Dumbledore. And I never thought I'd say that again, not after Seventh Year.
For the Prosecutor and Interrogators to assume that there couldn't possibly be a good reason for what Severus had done.... It was truly appalling, that unfeeling, misogynistic assumption that an adult wizard's life was somehow more important, or his death more compelling, than the welfare of another who just happened to be his wife. Not to mention the welfare of his child.
And they still sent him to the Bertie Botts Home. Jesus Christ, they.... I know bloody well those boys weren't counseled. The place was little more than a workhouse, absolutely horrific conditions when they shut it down, I remember the article in The Prophet....
Of course Snape had learned more curses by the time he entered Hogwarts than the average Upper-Former (if it were true, as Sirius Black had claimed). Take a child and put him in the kind of environment the Bertie Botts Home had provided -- living cheek-by-jowl with older and deliberately criminal youths -- and it was no wonder: it was a form of self-defence to perfect as many nasty hexes and tactics as possible.
Severus is right. The values and mores of this world are far different than the one I left behind....
No, that wasn't precisely true. More like the Muggle World had advanced a bit further than the Wizard, at least on this particular score. Or she hoped it had, but the more pragmatic part of her brain told her to stop kidding herself. The Law, whatever land or culture you were from, still had far more to do with Property and preservation of the rights of the favoured class -- the adult male, in this instance, and the wealthy and powerful -- than with Justice or morality.
She thought again of the battering Severus' mother had taken -- she hadn't really needed to read the Healer's Report, the photographs were quite enough -- and shuddered.
I wonder if she's still.... Of course she is. Yule, he thought perhaps DeLaine's owl was from her. Well, that's something, then -- she recovered. Perhaps he didn't have to stay in that rotten Home for long.
I don't suppose he'll ever tell me. I don't dare ask him, he'd kill m--
...he'll be terribly upset if he finds out I snooped.
Oh, God. No wonder he doesn't touch people, why he uses words when he's angry. Why he was so angry with himself when he bruised me.... He's afraid he'll be like his father. That's why he barely touches me, except for....
He must have loved her very much to do that, and been very desperate. To sit up with her all night trying to make her better, and then to floo St. Mungo's even though he knew everyone would find out and blame him....
Oh, Christ.
Hermione finally gave up thinking and wept for a dark-eyed, skinny little boy she'd never known, and who'd seen the Thestrals far too soon.