In honour of Severus Snape

Ridikulus

‘Ridikulus…’

     Snape’s heart was pounding against his chest as he sprinted away from the hippogriff. Blood was seeping from the wound on his arm where the creature had managed to slash him with its long, sharp talons. Eyes watering in pain, Snape held his robes against the flow as he continued to run towards the edge of Hogwarts’ boundaries where he’d soon be able to Disapparate. Ahead he could see Draco, spinning on the spot and with a blink of an eye he had Disapparated to his Manor- Voldemort’s head quarters. Once Snape finally stepped beyond the protective curses Dumbledore had placed around the castle, he stopped; wondering where he should go. Although he knew the Dark Lord would be waiting for him, he also realised how important it would be to his Master that Snape return to Grimmauld Place to gain as much knowledge as he could about the Order’s plans. He felt sure that Voldemort would not object as he spun on the spot, thinking of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

     Snape opened his eyes facing the silver, snake-like doorknocker, slowly turned the handle and walked into the house. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he closed the door and mended the wound on his arm. Satisfied that his injury was completely healed, Snape looked around the living room and realised that he was not the first to invade headquarters. Everywhere Snape looked it appeared like the entire house had been turned upside-down; apparently someone- Snape had no problem guessing who- had invaded the house, knowing that the Order would be at Hogwarts for a majority of the night. Snape never liked Mundungus much, but after tonight, he was reasonably sure that the Sneak-thief would be the only member of the Order who may consider him to be half a reasonable man.

     Suddenly, the reality of what he had done sank in. In the heat of the battle and with Potter yelling at him, Snape could only defend what he did, but now he wondered how Potter was going to defeat the Dark Lord when Dumbledore was no longer alive to assist him. Snape remembered the things that Potter yelled at him and hoped that everything the boy knew about him was that he told the Dark Lord about the prophecy and nothing more. Snape was sure that Dumbledore would not betray his trust with regard to keeping his secret hidden from Harry, but perhaps he let something slip when they left the castle earlier tonight?

Snape consoled himself: if Potter knew about you and Lily, he would have said something. Then Snape recalled the Potter boy’s words again, echoing heavily in his mind. Snape hated to admit it, but when Potter provoked him with such anger and fury in his face, he was haunted by the look Lily’s eyes were giving him. He hated the boy because he greatly resembled his father, but no matter how many times he tried to deny it, he always managed to see a little of Lily’s love and personality shine through the boy and surprisingly tonight was one of those times. It was clear to Snape that Dumbledore meant a lot to Harry and consequently, Snape would probably never get the chance to explain to the boy what truly happened that night. Because of Potter’s loyalty to his friend and mentor, Snape was certain the boy wouldn’t insult the Headmaster by listening to his killer, no matter how remorseful the killer may be.

     Snape suddenly realised that he had been standing stationary for too long and needed to search the house and return to Voldemort before he became suspicious. Yet, Snape had no idea why he even came to Grimmauld Place because he had no intention of telling his Master or his fellow Death Eaters about the Order’s plans; perhaps it was just his desire to see headquarters one last time because he was certain the Order would soon put up several spells to prevent him and his fellow Death Eaters from entering.

     Walking up the stairs two at a time, Snape sneered slightly at how much Mundungus had taken advantage of the Order’s absence from the house; it appeared that he had stolen everything that was worth taking. Severus realised that he had never been past the first floor, so decided to continue walking up the stairs. At the final threshold he saw two doors. One had a silver name plate ‘Sirius’ upon the door and Snape couldn’t help being curious as he walk into the bedroom of his childhood tormentor. It seemed that Mundungus had tried his hardest to steal most of Black’s belongings from his room, but to no avail. Paper was strewn everywhere, drawers were left open, but as far as Snape could tell, nothing valuable was taken; Black’s sterling silver trophies, heirlooms and valuables still sat on his shelves.