Harry Potter & The Black Sacrifice
Post 7 : Lupin's Gambit
CHAPTER 5
Lupin's Gambit
Ravenwood was a sleepy little village 12 miles inland from the eastern Irish coastline. Known primarily for it's dairy farms, it was the kind of place where only the most disreputable of people were out of bed later than 8 p.m.
At 9:30, in the town's only inn, Remus Lupin was just finishing off his third mug of butterbeer, and he was getting impatient. Three days previously, he had received an anonymous tip that Severus Snape, and possibly several other Death Eaters, were currently hiding in this town. The tipster had said to meet him at this very inn, The Grey Pilgrim, at 8:45 that evening.
Just as Remus was about to give up and leave, a lone cloaked figure walked through the doorway and motioned for him to re-take his seat. Remus could not see the figure's face, and very slowly brought his wand out of his robes. He would probably offend his visitor, but he was not taking any chances.
The cloaked figure got his Firewhisky from the bar and sat down facing Lupin. Lupin regarded the stranger warily. He still could not make out his face under the cloak's hood.
"I told you to come alone," a voice hissed from inside the cloak.
Lupin looked around in shock. How did he know? "I am alone! What makes you think otherwise?"
"The fact that you, Shacklebolt, and Weasley couldn't hide your thoughts from a first year Hogwarts student, much less from me," said the stranger. "Nervous thoughts are always the clearest…"
The stranger removed his hood. It was Snape.
In an instant, Lupin was on his feet, his wand pointed at Snape's heart. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Charlie Weasley joined him seconds later, from where they had been concealed at the other side of the inn. Snape regarded all three of them with an amused half-smirk, half-sneer on his face.
Lupin gritted his teeth. "I oughtta kill you right now."
Snape's grin grew wider. "Not a very private place for a murder. However, if you think you can get off any curses before I disapparate, you're more than welcome to try. But then you'll never know what I called you here to tell you."
Very slowly, Snape brought out his wand from his robes. The others tensed briefly, until Snape laid the wand down on the table.
"Take it Remus," Snape said. "Until we are done here. Then you may decide if you still wish to kill me."
Lupin spat on Snape's shoes. "Nothing you have to say will change that." But he took Snape's wand and sat down just the same. He motioned for the other two to join him. Snape tented his fingers and regarded the three of them silently for a moment, then began to speak.
"The secret of The Dark Lord's immortality is, at the moment, known only to 4 people. The Dark Lord himself, who acquired the knowledge from Horace Slughorn. Albus Dumbledore deduced the secret in the years before he died…
"In the years before you killed him, you mean?" Charlie asked angrily
Snape paused, a pained expression on his face. He then continued "…and had passed this knowledge along to Harry Potter. During my flight from Hogwarts, I learned the secret as well, quite accidentally. I pulled it from Potter's mind. It seems he was thinking about it a great deal during those hectic few hours."
Snape paused and waited to see if they had any questions. All three men remained silent, so he continued.
"Mr. Potter is currently acting on this knowledge, in an attempt to destroy The Dark Lord himself. I am here to tell you that he will not succeed. Not without my assistance, that is."
Lupin's head was whirling as he tried to make sense of all of this. "I don't know if you've been reading the news Severus, but Harry is dead! We're supposed to believe you have inside knowledge on him, when there's nothing to even prove to us that he's still breathing."
Snape was nodding through all of this. "A valid point Remus. I guess you're just going to have to trust me that I know he is alive." Charlie & Kingsley both barked laughter at this, but Lupin remained silent.
Lupin again pointed his wand at Snape's chest. "You clearly believe yourself to have the advantage over us, Severus. So prove it. Tell us this secret you possess and maybe you won't find yourself waking up in Azkaban tomorrow morning."
Snape looked down at the wand and frowned. "It would not be in my best interest, or yours, to reveal that to you right now. It's one of the few things Potter is doing right – researching the matter in secret. If I were to tell you, you'd start looking in to the matter and draw attention to yourselves. That would only assure Potter's failure."
Kingsley stood up and also pointed his wand at Snape's chest. "I've heard enough," he said. "You've given us zero reason to believe any of this horse dung, and every reason to bring you in. In my mind, the only question is do we let the dementors kiss you tomorrow, or let them draw it out a week."
Charlie stood joined Remus & Kingsley. "I agree," he said. "Just thank your lucky stars we found you before Harry did."
Snape obviously had not expected this, and he began to panic. He looked at Remus, and for the first time Remus saw real fear in his eyes.
"You're making a huge mistake!" Snape cried. "Harry is lost without…."
"STUPEFY!"
Three red beams hit Snape all at once, and he dropped to the floor.
Remus bent down to look at him. "Help me pick him up," he said. Charlie & Kingsley each grabbed one of Snape's arms and hoisted him up.
Remus looked at the other two and smiled. "Do either of you believe a word of it?"
"Nope," they both said in unison. "Not one."
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