Knowledge is Power

Chapter 69

Over the next few weeks, Severus was in his own head a lot trying to sort out a way...any way to leave when things got tricky between Voldemort and Potter without appearing to leave. At times he was hopeful that he could pull it off. He had a lot of powerful wizards in their little group supporting and backing him. Then there were those other times when he felt nearly defeated by the very idea, which was depressing. It seemed nearly an impossible requirement to survive, though. Voldemort was no fool. He may be insane but he wasn't stupid, and he was just paranoid enough so no sort of illusion of Severus's presence when he was actually far away would ever fool him.

//I bet Grindelfuck would have an idea...You should try brainstorming with him about it at least,// Nightshade said, after the third week of watching the wheel's in Severus's head go round and round.
That simple statement from Nightshade made it all click.
"That's it! Nightshade, you're a bloody genius!"
They were in Albus's office alone after school. It was that time between end of classes for the day and dinner when Severus didn't have much to do but think. Though the headmaster's office was technically his now, he still thought of it as Albus's.

He had to admit that the stress of the entire thing had hampered his own thinking over the entire matter and caused him to complicate things far too much. Apparently the idea of potentially dying far too young could do that to even him.
"Grindelwald pretended to be Graves and did it so well he pulled the wool over the eyes of the entire American Ministry, or Macusa or whatever it's called. He's the one to help me sort this if anyone can!"
//Yeah probably, Prof, but also consider the fact that pulling the wool over the eyes of any dumbass Ministry really isn't that big of a feat,// Nightshade pointed out.
"True, but still," Severus replied.

"When he comes to work with Zabini this weekend I'm going to bring it up."
As Grindelwald and Zabini did excel in crafting useful and unusual enchanted items, Severus was allowing them to meet every other weekend to continue to do so. Over the summer they'd provided everyone with an emergency safe hideout as well as wearable portkeys to use to get there.

They'd also constructed and provided their little group with talismans to unravel magic in the wearer's near vicinity. That had eased Severus's mind somewhat when it came to Voldemort killing him. It was his hope that the amulet would unravel any death curse before it struck him. Any comfort provided by the amulet had plummeted with Mag's rune reading, though. There were plenty of ways Voldemort could kill him without using magic, after all. Why he would do so was another disturbing matter that Severus couldn't afford to allow himself to ponder for too long.

This didn't serve to negate the admittedly impressive skills and accomplishments of Blaise and Gellert, though. They'd done plenty to make themselves indispensable. They'd also crafted animated scrying mirrors that were linked to specific parts of Hogwarts so that those professors who possessed one could more closely monitor the school. Severus had two, Filius had one and Minerva had one, mainly because Albus trusted her and it was easier to allow her into the loop than to deal with the headache of keeping her out as he may like.

Blaise and Gellert promised to work hard on crafting more useful items to help out in the school if they were allowed to see one another during Blaise's last year. The relationship was odd and a bit obsessive to Severus's mind but with Albus gone, knowing that someone like Gellert Grindelwald was around at least sometimes in case things got out of hand, made him feel better. Being responsible for the entire school was precisely as stressful as he'd expected it to be, considering Voldemort was in charge of everything now.

It always felt as if things could quickly go very badly South on an instant's notice, so taking comfort in the fact that Zabini could call in Grindelwald if necessary gave Severus no shame what so ever. In the end, when it came down to it, it was about keeping the students safe, and he never claimed to believe he could do that alone.