HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
chapter nineteen
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P I T I F U L
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"And why did he fake his death?"
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Hermione screams. Black leaps to his feet. Lily only jumps slightly, but she knows that things will get even more complicated from now on.
"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," Professor Snape says, throwing the Cloak aside, careful to keep his wand pointing directly at Professor Lupin's chest.
"Very useful, Potter, I thank you..."
He is slightly breathless, but his face is full of suppressed triumph.
"You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he asks, his eyes glittering.
"I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your Potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did... Lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."
"Severus--" Professor Lupin begins, but Professor Snape overrides him.
"I've told the Headmaster again and again that you've been helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout."
"Severus, you're making a mistake," Professor Lupin says urgently.
"You haven't heard everything - I can explain - Sirius is not here to kill Harry--"
"Two more for Azkaban tonight," Professor Snape says, his eyes now gleaming fanatically.
"I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin... A tame werewolf."
"You fool," Professor Lupin says softly.
"Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"
Bang!
Thin, snake-like cords burst from the end of Professor Snape's wand and twist themselves around Professor Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalances and falls to the floor, unable to move.
With a roar of rage, Black starts towards Professor Snape, but Professor Snape points his wand straight between Black's eyes.
"Give me a reason," he whispers.
"Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."
Black stops dead. It's impossible to say which face shows more hatred. Lily stands there, paralysed, not knowing what to do or whom to believe. She glances at Harry, who glances around at Ron and Hermione.
Ron looks just as confused as Harry, still holding on the immobilised Scabbers. Hermione, however, takes an uncertain step towards Professor Snape and says, in a very breathless voice,
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Invisible (III)
FanfictionLily's going into her third year at Hogwarts with a headache because her visions have been appearing without warning all summer long. They only show one man. A man that betrayed her parents and got them killed, and is now out to get her twin brother...
