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"Poppy! How nice of you to join us for our Sunday girls time, it's been ages since we had the pleasure of your presence!" exclaimed McGonagall as she welcomed the Matron with enthusiasm.
"It's been ages since I've had so much free time," replied Pomfrey wryly. "I have no patients in the infirmary and I'm caught up in all my inventory and I’ve gotten my Saint Mungo’s yearly training out of the way early. It’s amazing how relaxing a school year can be when the students don’t hurt each other."
“Really?” asked Vector, intrigued. “I had the feeling that fights were less intense this year, but I had no idea it was so bad the previous years. Weren’t the House-Elves supposed to prevent those kinds of injuries?”
Severus refrained from giving a snort. He could not let himself be noticed, he was training to be as silent and invisible as any House-Elf. If he used this opportunity to overhear some gossip, nobody would blame him as long as he was not caught. Eavesdropping was only one weapon among many to protect the students, even from themselves.
He was surprised to hear McGonagall snort.
“They would have if Albus had allowed them.”
“What are you saying, Minerva?” asked Pomfrey, disbelief colouring her voice.
“Hogwarts granted the House-Elves a Defiance against Albus. They now have the duty to protect the students from any harm, even when its source is not dark.”
“That idiotic, stupid, blind man!” shouted Pomfrey. “How could he let the students injure each other because they were not using D ark spells?”
“He thinks it prepares them better for the on-going war,” answered McGonagall.
Severus was surprised by the disillusioned tone of the deputy Headmistress. He had thought the Head of Gryffindor was in complete agreement with the Headmaster’s policy.
“They are only children!” exclaimed Pomfrey, “Merlin, why…”
Severus moved away from the Professors as he Sensed another House-Elf coming toward him. He was supposed to avoid everyone's notice for another thirty minutes.
He smirked, thinking back to Dumbledore’s outrage when he had learnt that the Defiance had been granted. Happy had explained that when Hogwarts had been founded, the Elves had been instructed to only protect the students from Dark Magic, meaning Magic that forced spirits to act against their will. Dark Magic corrupted spirits by binding them to the Dark user’s will. The corrupted spirits then became jealous of the free spirits and turned against them, tried to kill them thus resulting in the loss of Magic. As time had passed, Wizards had changed the definition of Dark Magic to encompass Blood Magic, Sacrifice Magic as well as other spells deemed too dangerous for the common citizens. Every one of Hogwarts’ Headmasters had asked the Elves to conform to the Wizard definition of Dark. The latter had not understood why in this case, they were not asked to prevent all injuries. Only Dark Magic, and Dark per the Elves’ definition, could injure the core of magical beings. Other Magics could only cause harm to bodies and minds, and there was no distinction between them. They had not understood but they had obeyed.
While the House-Elves had been displeased, it had not truly been a problem until the war began. The fights between students whose families did not support the same side in the war had increased to the point that more and more students had begun getting seriously injured, even spending several days in the infirmary. The House-Elves had then asked for the authorisation to prevent all serious injuries, even when not inflicted by Dark Magic, which had been refused by Dumbledore who thought it was the best possible training for the students. The House-Elves had tried several appeals, their incomprehension and anger at the Headmaster growing as they witnessed many students getting hurt. The Marauder’s Werewolf prank on Severus had been the last straw– the catalyst that had finally convinced the Strong to present a Defiance to the Mistress. The authorisation of defending students from all spells was the first request listed on the Defiance to be granted by the Mistress.
Chuckling to himself as he remembered the disgruntled faces of several Gryffindors when at the beginning of the year, they had found their spells quite less effective against the Slytherins than before, Severus moved onto the grounds. Dary had confided to him that the best way to succeed in training to be unnoticed was to manage to avoid detection by the various magic creatures that inhabited the castle’s grounds.
Pushing his thoughts away from the Defiance and its wonderful consequences, Severus let his Magic flow from him, seeking to Sense any creatures he should hide from. He let his Sense wander, curious to see how far he could precisely identify creatures. He struggled to both identify them and position them in his mind map. Happy had insisted that Severus should be able to use this Sense of Magic the same way he did his eyes, to observe and position creatures in space.
Straining himself, Severus refrained from frowning as he noticed that some areas of Hogwarts were almost devoid of Magic spirits, as if they were avoiding those places. He focused on this revelation and realised that a line of Magic void was coming from Hogwarts then crossed the grounds to exit the Mistress’ domain and lose itself outside. Curious, Severus walked back to Hogwarts as he followed the void line. He climbed the stairs up to the seventh level of the castle then stopped short as the line entered a wall. Tilting his head, Severus half closed his eyes to help himself reach the calmness of mind that allowed him to Sense Hogwarts. He asked the Mistress to let him through the wall, which only earned him a light laugh in return and the vague sensation that he only needed to ask for entrance.
Intrigued, Severus put his hand on the wall and willed the wall to let him pass. He waited several seconds, pushing his intent toward the wall, until a door appeared. Smiling in wonder, Severus opened the door. The room was stacked full of objects with no seeming rhyme or reason or relation to each other. However, Severus only had eyes for the diadem resting on a wooden chair. It was the end of the void line, and just looking at it made Severus’ hairs rise on his arms. He needed back-up.
One hour later, the entire clan was gathered for an exceptional council.
The Strong was the one to speak first.
“We are assembled because a Dark item has been found inside the castle.”
Whispers of horrors echoed throughout the room. How had they not noticed? How had it slipped past the Mistress’ defences?
“It was cloaked from our Senses, its corruption hidden from us by several clever spells. However, a youngster in training noticed the presence of a void that should not be. It led him to this Dark item. This Horcrux.”
Full cries of affront and shock rang among the clan. Who had dared put such vile Magic in Hogwarts?
“This shows that we’ve been complacent; our attention so focused on the students and the Defiance that we forgot to look out for the Mistress in her entirety. From now on, the Shields and the Warriors will work together once a week to make a full mapping of the mistress and ensure that she is not the target of another dangerous attack. They will do the first one tonight. Exceptionally, they will be allowed outside of Hogwarts' grounds to find the one linked to the Horcrux, so we may know him as an enemy if he ever puts a foot back on our domain.”
Agreement rose from the assistance, and the Strong smiled.
“We will not fail in our duties again. Everyone, to work!”
Three Warriors and three Shields were sent outside Hogwarts for the mapping. Severus was disappointed not to be chosen, but Dary had teased him relentlessly. Severus had been with the clan for only one year, there were others far more suited for the task than he was, even though he was the one who had noticed the void line.
Severus had to admit that his friend was right. Still, he slept badly that night.
The morning after brought terrifying news. The House-Elves team had spent the entire night outside, getting back to Hogwarts in the early morning, exhausted and anxious. Lord Voldemort was the Wizard linked to the Horcrux. Moreover, he was linked to five other Horcruxes dispersed in the wizarding world. According to Happy, it might be the cause of the civil war. Horcruxes were the darkest Magic. The fact that Lord Voldemort possessed six made it impossible that he was not deeply corrupted. The older House-Elf seemed reluctantly impressed that the Wizard was still functioning.
To Severus’ surprise, this discovery led to a long debate between the clan. Those who wished to destroy all the Horcruxes and Lord Voldemort were opposed to those who wished to reunite the Wizard with his Horcruxes, heal the corruption of his core and have him make amends for his crimes. Most of the older Elves were of the latter opinion. They remembered Lord Voldemort as a student and felt that they had failed as Shields to protect him. Plus, they felt that destroying Lord Voldemort would be to act outside their specified duties to the Mistress.
After one week of heated arguments, the Strong decided that the clan would reunite Lord Voldemort with his Horcruxes and heal his core. They were not to judge Wizards or act in revenge outside of their duties.
Severus was not privy to the details of the clan’s plan, but one month later, it was done.
Two months later, the civil war was over, the Death Eaters officially disbanded with most of them put on trial. Sentences varied from time in Azkaban to time in Saint Mungo with Mind and Soul Healers, with community service in between.
To the surprise of many, Lord Voldemort – now called by his birth name Tom Riddle – pleaded guilty to all his crimes. He admitted to creating many Horcruxes which had diverted him from his first objective of redeeming House Slytherin’s reputation. His claim of being discriminated against from youth because of his House, supported by many other Slytherin Death Eaters, led to a deep inquiry on the bias caused by House sorting. The inquiry lasted four years, and came to the conclusion that the years spent in Hogwarts contributed to the creation of clans and prejudices and were likely the main reasons for the last civil war. In light of this inquiry and depending on their behaviour during the past four years, some of the Death Eaters’ sentences were revised accordingly.
The face of Dumbledore when Tom Riddle was designated to head the committee for Hogwarts improvement was one of Severus’ priceless memories.