Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 24: An Unusual Request
Deep in the dungeons was the office of Severus Snape.
Usually, after dinner, he liked to relax here, working on some personal project at a time when no one would bother him.
He was about to begin stirring his potion when he heard a loud banging noise on his door.
This caused him to move the ladle in the wrong direction, ruining the delicate process that was so necessary for this particular potion.
A deep frown appeared on Snape's face as he saw black smoke rising from the cauldron.
This was followed by another loud knock. "Severus, are you there?"
He recognized the voice of Minerva McGonagall.
This made him react differently. She was not someone who would bother him for no good reason.
Snape turned off the fire beneath the cauldron and placed a lid on it, to prevent too much smoke from coming out, before turning around and walking to the door.
He opened it up and found the professor waiting for him on the other side. Behind her were three Gryffindor students he was very familiar with.
"What is this about?"
McGonagall noted the smoking equipment at the end of the room before returning her attention to Snape.
"I'm sorry, Severus. But this may be very important."
Giving them all one more glance, Snape moved out of the way.
"Come on in then."
He didn't have enough chairs for four guests, since he rarely got even one. So only he and McGonagall sat down in front of his desk, while the three students remained standing up.
"What happened?"
McGonagall looked at Ron, Seamus, and Neville.
"I believe it's better if they say their version of the events first."
Ron looked terrified of speaking with Snape directly, but he knew this was something that had to be done, so he took a long breath and began speaking.
He related what had transpired earlier that day with Harry and Hermione, and how they all believed that Harry had placed their friend under some sort of brainwashing spell.
Snape listened to all of this with skepticism. As much as he hated Harry Potter, he didn't truly believe that the boy would be capable of doing something so vile, and even more so, to someone he considered a friend.
"This is a very serious accusation, Mister Weasley." Snape said before turning his attention to the other professor.
"Have you brought this information to the Headmaster already?"
"Not yet, no… as you said, this is a very serious accusation. I don't want to involve the Headmaster until I can be sure that it's true."
"Of course it's true." Ron snapped.
"Yeah! He definitely did something to her." Seamus agreed.
"It's true, Professor. She was acting very strange this afternoon. We believe he could have given her a potent love potion or something like that." Neville added, as much as he didn't want to believe it.
McGonagall gave them a gesture to keep quiet.
"Regardless… before we go accusing Mister Potter of something like this, we need some evidence." She returned her attention to Snape.
"I see." Snape understood what she wanted. He then stood up from his chair and walked to his personal cabinet of potions, where he kept most of his creations.
"A normal love potion that one would find in shops would not be enough to make someone turn against their friends… perhaps Amortentia, but that is a restricted substance, not something you would find while shopping in Diagon Alley."
He picked up a small vial with a clear liquid inside before returning to them.
"A small sip of this should clear any residual effects of potions from her system. If she truly is under the effects of a potion, that is…"
"And if it's not a potion? What if he used some nasty curse?" Ron asked.
"And what curse would that be, Mister Weasley?" Snape asked.
"I… I don't know." Ron looked away from the professor, feeling intimidated by his stare.
"There are few curses capable of bending the will of individuals in the way you describe," Snape said. "All of them are considered extremely dark pieces of magic and are very much illegal to use on another person. I don't see any way for Mister Potter to have learned how to use any of them."
"W-what about the Imperius, Sir…" Neville commented.
"Professor Mood—well… who we thought was… he demonstrated the Unforgivable Curse in class."
Snape glanced at McGonagall.
"Mister Longbottom," McGonagall started, "Seeing one of those curses and actually using them is very different. Unforgivable Curses are not something that one can cast by just saying the words and moving the wand correctly; they require extreme levels of negative emotions and determination to perform the curse."
"Besides that, individuals who remain under the Imperius Curse for long periods of time begin to show telling symptoms. The most obvious one is in the eyes, as these begin to lose their normal luster and become… dull. I'm sure Professor McGonagall would be able to immediately tell if this girl is under such a nasty curse when looking at her."
"I would, indeed." McGonagall nodded and took the glass vial.
"Thank you for your time, Severus. We will take our leave now and go see Miss Granger."
Snape watched them leave his office. Once he was alone again, he didn't return to his experiments, instead, he just sat back down on his chair and began to think.
The mere idea of Potter making use of the Imperius Curse was just ridiculous. That's exactly what he thought while he was saying it.
But there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind.
The more he thought about the recent events, the more he felt that something was off… the pieces were not fitting together as they should.
And more specifically… something was wrong with Harry Potter.
He picked up a quill and began to write on a piece of parchment, thinking back to the day after the tournament ended, when he answered the call of the Dark Lord and finally spoke with him in person…
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