Chapter 18

November 2nd

Flitwick was sitting in his office going over the homework he needed to grade when he was stopped by a knocking on his door. Calling out "enter" he was surprised by the entrance of Severus Snape. "What can I do for you Severus?"

Snape waved his wand casting several security spells and freezing the portraits and sat down. He said "forgive me for casting the security spells but I did not want to take the chance that the Headmaster would gain knowledge of our meeting." Seeing Flitwick nod in acquiescence he continued on with "the reason I came here is to inquire into your actions on the night of the feast. I was intrigued by your actions in verbally dressing down the Headmaster and your vociferous defense of Mr. Potter. I know that he is in your House and you feel the need to defend him, but you have never defended one of your ravens quite so quickly and harshly before."

Flitwick nodded and thought back to his first meeting with Mr. Potter.

Flitwick had asked Harry to follow him almost immediately to his office when he saw the marking on the boy's cheek as he had not seen the marking himself before on anyone but had learned of them from his father's people. His father's people were goblins and they had a long history that they passed down to all of their descendants in an oral tradition. Those markings were only held by those magical beings that had dedicated themselves to magic and the Old Religion. He was surprised the boy had the markings since as far as he knew no witch or wizard still carried out the dedication ritual anymore. When he heard that there had indeed been a Will for the Potter's and that Ragnok himself! had allowed it to be carried out meant that it had been grossly violated. He was further surprised when he saw that Harry had taken Hermione Granger under ward-ship as that meant that Harry had taken on the position of Head of his House. This information, in conjunction with the shocking announcement made by Hogwarts itself, suggested something was amiss in Dumbledore's actions and he resolved to do what he could to protect him from the Headmaster, as apparently Dumbledore was intent on meddling in his charge's life.

Flitwick held a steady look on Severus and said "why do you ask? From the way you carried on when you heard that Mr. Potter was attending here it would appear that you detested the young man sight unseen and wanted nothing to do with him."

Snape clenched his jaw and silently thought for several seconds then said "very well then. The reason I am now showing concern is that we are warded and concealed from any possible actions of the headmaster or the Dark Lord. As you are aware I was a Death Eater turned spy during the previous reign of the Dark Lord. What I tell you now must remain absolute secret as my life depends on it."

Flitwick nodded and said "I assure you that neither the Headmaster nor even the Dark Lord can get anything form me as my heritage will prevent any and all attempts of Legilimency. I promise you that I will speak of this to no one other than you without your permission, on my honor as a warrior."

Snape considered him for a few seconds then nodded. "I turned to Dumbledore against the Dark Lord when he revealed that he was going after the Potter's. Not only did I owe James Potter, my nemesis, a life debt for saving my life but he was also going to kill one of the only two people I have ever cared about in any small way Lily Evans. To my horror the reason for this action was because of a prophecy I reported to him, this prophecy was made by Trelawney to Dumbledore when she was asking for a job here. I was spying on Dumbledore at the time and was discovered by his brother. I only heard the first part but the Dark Lord decided it meant a child of the Potters for some reason. Why he decided to target them and not the other possible child of prophecy the Longbottom child I have no clue, especially considering that the Longbottom child is a pureblood and Potter is a half-blood."

Flitwick interrupted him saying "it is not well known but the Dark Lord was himself a half-blood. His original name was Tom Riddle. Son of a witch and a muggle I believe. He grew up in an orphanage. I taught him for his sixth and seventh years here. He was Head Boy and all around poster boy for Slytherin at the time."

Snape's jaw dropped at this revelation and sputtered saying "you're saying the leader for the pure blood supremacy is a half-blood? That would explain why he went after the Potter's as their son would be considered a half-blood himself." He fell silent for several seconds then shook himself mentally and continued on with "well after he said he would be targeting the Potter's and killing everyone there I went to Dumbledore and begged for him to protect them in any way possible. He told me that they were under the absolute best protection he could devise and they should be safe from all harm. Well you know how that turned out and the one person still alive on this world that I cared about had died because of my foolish actions. Well Dumbledore concocted a story that I would take up teaching here so that when the Dark Lord returned I would be in a position to spy for him. I didn't really want to do so as I detest teaching the younger years as I am a Potions Master and seeing elemental mistakes exasperates me, unfortunately I had sworn an Oath to follow Dumbledore as long as he protected the Potters. When that failed I was stuck in this position as I could no longer leave without risking the ire of the Dark Lord and Dumbledore has the trump card of my being a 'reformed' Death Eater so that if I go against him too much I can 'suffer a relapse into the practice of the Dark Arts' and be imprisoned for trumped up charges."

Flitwick nodded along as Snape relieved himself of his tale of woe. When Snape had finished Filius asked "did you actually kill or torture anyone while a Death Eater then?"

"No not directly at least; I was more of a trainer for combat and brewer of the potions the Dark Lord required. I did take part in some battles but all of them were with Auror's and they fired first. I never took part of the revels or muggle hunting the others took such glee in."

Flitwick nodded then asked "last question. Why in the name of the Old Ones did you sign on with him in the first place?"

"Lucius convinced me that the path of the Dark Lord was the only way to make sure that the muggles and wizards never crossed paths. My own parentage gave me a burning desire to never have another magical child have to suffer what I did. In addition it would be revenge on the self righteous 'Light' that saw no problem in revealing our world to the muggles. In addition I was completely deceived by Lucius in his telling me that all of the horror stories of the Death Eater's activities were just propaganda and sensationalized stories. Lucius said it was also the only way to keep our traditions and the Old Way's alone and unsullied by those that come into this world and immediately want to change things to suit their ideas of what is right or wrong. Being in Slytherin I am ashamed to admit it, but he fooled me completely. And once you joined the only way out was to either win or be killed by your 'comrades' so I kept my head down and did what I could to survive."

Flitwick looked somewhat surprised when he mentioned keeping the Old Ways and asked "what did you take to mean by keeping the Old Ways unsullied Severus? Lucius probably meant that tripe about the glorious leading of our society by purebloods only, but what did it mean to you?"

Severus looked at him then asked "on your honor you will not repeat this to anyone right? Forgive me if this impugns on your honor but my life is definitely at stake now." Seeing Flitwick nod he continued on with "my mother was the last of the Prince's and she was a practitioner of the old religion and a dedicant to magic itself. From what she was able to pass on to me her family was the last followers that she knew of. I studied her books and belongings and have followed the rituals and observances as the best I can, but the only thing I seem to be missing is the ritual for dedicating yourself to magic and being able to receive the mark. The term for those that followed this path was the children of the dark."

Flitwick inhaled in surprise then smiled at Snape and said "well now, that is a surprise. It took some nerve telling me that I wager. Now I need a Wizards Oath not to tell anyone what I am about to. Not even he-who-must-not-be-named or Dumbledore. I suggest you do so as I have some extremely important information for you, but I want to protect the source of my knowledge with the strongest vow possible."

Snape looked at him with cold and empty eyes as his mind worked feverishly looking at all the angles then took out his wand and swore "I Severus Tobias Snape swear on my magic and life that I will not let anyone knows what is said by Filius Flitwick for the next five minutes without his permission."

"So mote it be. Thank you Severus, I know that took a lot of courage to trust me, but I think you will be pleased by the result." Flitwick paused for breath then said "now for my part. As you might have guessed I am part goblin. One of the aspects of my heritage is that goblins have an oral tradition that stretches back for over millennia. So we know of the history somewhat of the so called 'Dark' practitioners. Another thing is that we goblins can see the markings that witches and wizards receive when they dedicate themselves to magic. Now to my main point: that is I have discovered that one Harry Potter has that marking. Now the only way to receive such a marking is by means of the dedication so if you wish to join him I would suggest that you set up an appointment here to ask him. I don't know what he will say but you can try."

Snape leaned back and his jaw dropped in complete astonishment at this revelation. He sat like this for about a minute then asked "why didn't Dumbledore know of this? I know that he has taken an extremely unhealthy interest in the boy and placed him in the care of some of his people. That is another thing that I came here to ask you about as Harry has not shown any of the signs that he is a spoiled prince nor has he shown any of the foolhardy tendencies that he would shown by now if what Dumbledore said is true. In fact the way he took out that troll was downright Slytherin in he took care of the threat in a permanent manner."

Flitwick frowned and said "I don't know all the details but he has become emancipated and is currently living at his ancestral manor. I do believe that Dumbledore doesn't know of this being the case quite yet. I do know that Ragnok, the head of all goblins in Britain, unsealed the Potter's Will for some reason; for this to happen it means that the will was disregarded and violated by a large amount. I've never heard of him or anyone on that level deciding to interfere in matters such as this for any less reason."

Snape grimaced and said almost to himself "that means Dumbledore lied to me and possibly tried to set me up to be harsh and antagonistic toward him, seeing his father and I were at such odds against each other." He thought for a few seconds than a possibility occurred to him and he asked "do you think Hogwarts taking a hand in matters here are somehow related?"

Flitwick shrugged and said "I don't know for certain, but it certainly is a possibility." He leaned back and asked "what were the other things that prompted you to come here now?"

"Well Harry has been spending some considerable time with two of my first year snakes; two half sisters by the name of Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis. I keep a close eye on all of my first years and try and help them deal with and get used to the prejudice against all of Slytherin. This year is rather easier as Dumbledore and McGonagoll can't favor their house so much. It is also harder in some ways as I can't retaliate by docking the lions or awarding points to my snakes." He shrugged as if to say 'oh well what can you do'.

Flitwick grumbled under his breath at the blatant favoritism that Snape and McGonagoll had shown in the past and was delighted that they could no longer do so as Hogwarts had stepped in and this year the points were far closer than they had been for over twenty years. In fact his Ravenclaw's and the Hufflepuff's were tied for second place. He looked at Snape and asked "why are you so concerned about some of your first year's Severus? Isn't Septima Vector the Head of Slytherin now?"

Snape blushed but said "well she is the de jure Head of Slytherin but I am still the de facto Head." Shrugging he concluded saying "it's a Slytherin thing."

Flitwick nodded and said "well I haven't noticed him spending any extra time with anyone, but then again I have been rather busy with helping my charms students catch up with the new curriculum so I have been somewhat busy of late. I do know that Harry, Hermione and Neville have been working out early in the morning and late in the evening and are learning a muggle self defense called Krav Maga under the tutelage of a witch named Patricia O'Shanery, in the future she will also be teaching them the basics of dueling as well. I don't know if they have joined him in dedicating themselves as well or not, but I do believe that the muggleborn, one Hermione Granger, he has taken as his ward will join him shortly if she hasn't already. He also arranged for the teacher we have coming on the weekends, Griselda Marchbanks, to come in as well."

Snape nodded then asked "did he explain why he has her coming here beyond the teaching of etiquette and an introduction to our society?"

"No, his stated reason seems to be the only one there is, but I could be wrong as I have not met the lady myself. Why do you ask?"

"Well it seems strange to me that she would take the time out to come in and do so, just to teach some children for nothing in compensation."

"Well it could be that she likes teaching or she could be getting paid, or she may be somewhat bored with nothing else to do. Who really knows?" Flitwick paused and asked "is there anything else?"

"No not really. I need some time to think this all over and reach any decision. I thank you for your keeping this secret and allowing me to vent some of what I've been holding back."

Flitwick stood up and said "it's not a problem Severus. I did enjoy helping you and my door will always remain open to you. One thing before you leave you might want to consider; how much help are you really able to offer against he-who-must-not-be-named assuming he comes back really? I mean did you have access to timely information or was it only long term goals?" Flitwick saw the last question caused Snape some turmoil but it was quickly masked as the man left his office. Filius sighed at the thought of the way that man could only find the negative things in life and never even looked for the positives and went back to his paperwork.

November 1st through December 2nd

The next month passed with some rapidity. Harry, Hermione and surprising to everyone, but the group of people in the know about the bindings, Neville all started to shoot up in the class rankings. Harry of course, due to his advanced knowledge, coupled with his much better studying habits, was in first place while Hermione was solidly in second place; Neville still hampered by a mismatched wand was in tenth place or so. Daphne and Tracey joined them in studying in the library the first week of November and their class rankings were improving as well, until they were the fourth and fifth ranked students. Harry surmised that the placement for first through fifth places were going to be highly contested between them for quite some time, of course Neville would need to finally got a good match for a wand, and when the others eventually caught up to Harry in their knowledge base it was going to require him to study as hard or even harder in the future. He didn't expect that to happen until their second or third year but he could see it happening nonetheless. Harry noticed some strange looks thrown his way from Snape whenever he was in the man's class but he couldn't figure out why Snape was acting this way so he kept it as a question in the back of his mind until he could figure it out.

Harry had signed up for him to leave the castle along with Hermione for the winter break when the list was passed out. On November 19th Harry received a letter from Samuel Greengrass-Davis saying: