Chapter 48. Arrest. Part 1. An Adventure
Over the next two weeks, Severus mainly brewed potions and trained the house-elves. Nellie helped immensely: she learned the recipes for the beauty and strength potions, cutting the production time from a month down to two weeks. He could finally breathe easier for the entire next year, because thanks to her he no longer had to touch a cauldron at all. He did not even have to look at it. He could leave everything to her.
But Slughorn's private sessions were not canceled. Slughorn truly tried to teach him everything, and for two weeks now they had finished the school curriculum and moved up a level, into more complex potions requiring not only precise recipe knowledge, but also specific magical manipulation.
Hogwarts, from the beginning, did not aim to turn students into geniuses. It provided core knowledge in each subject so a witch or wizard could survive in the magical world, and later choose their own path. That was why by sixth year students could enroll only in the subjects they liked most, and which would help them qualify for specific jobs.
Even Aurors, whom many top-scoring graduates aspired to become, underwent extra training lasting two or even three years. Only after that could they truly fight dark wizards. And they did not take everyone, only a few, which was already a testament to the quality of most graduates.
Of course, no one forbade extra study. The library was always open to those who truly wanted to learn, and nothing stopped a person from devoting their life to a single craft, like the original Severus, who spent most of his time on potion-making and had already completed sixth-year material by fifth. Not to mention teachers who were ready to help, recommend extra reading, and answer questions at any time, many of them masters of their craft.
That was also the main reason Slughorn allowed Severus not to attend his normal lessons: he understood he could not learn anything there and would only waste time.
Severus also did not forget the door he had found on the eighth floor. But he still could not figure out how to open it. He did not use brute force; he did not know whether Dumbledore and the professors were aware of the place, and he did not want to destroy the wards or the door itself. Besides, he did not know what was behind it, or whether the risk was worth it.
Still, after studying the runes more closely, he understood one thing: to open it, you had to think about something. The rest was encrypted and required deeper analysis.
As for Gryffindor's sword, no matter how he thought, he still could not come up with a way to slip into Dumbledore's office unnoticed. After two visits to Dumbledore's domain, he had detected about twenty different alarm wards attached to various places, but those were only the ones he could sense without drawing Dumbledore's attention. How many there truly were, only Dumbledore knew.
So there was nothing left but a last resort, a method he did not want to use.
Diagon Alley. Potion Shop "Half-Blood Prince."
Sitting in an armchair, Severus read a newspaper thoughtfully. The headline screamed:
"FIRST DEATH EATER DEFEAT! VICTORY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!"
They beat a couple giants and already they are shouting like this, he snorted contemptuously, flipping the page.
"Giants are very strong," Nagini said.
"Big targets for wizards, nothing more. If it were werewolves, I would agree, but giants? Please." He waved it off lazily, folded the paper, and burned it. "Ugh. nothing interesting. And I am tired of waiting for them."
He sighed, left the room, went down to the first floor, and watched Karner bustle among customers. People came in every minute, though the massive crowd from two weeks ago was gone. Still, they came often and bought other potions; the main four sold out completely within the first half hour.
The sales of other potions were largely thanks to Shafiki, who had invented a membership card: if you bought ten potions of any kind, you got a twenty-percent discount on one of the four main ones, redeemable anytime. That was why Severus had to work hard these two weeks.
Noticing him come downstairs, Karner nodded, but did not stop, continuing with customers.
Not bad. Severus checked the clock and tilted his head. He said seven. It has been half an hour. Did they change their minds?
As if hearing his thoughts, ten men barged into the shop, wearing slightly worn three-piece suits with Ministry badges on their chests and dark cloaks. Shoving aside ordinary shoppers, they marched up to Shafiki.
"Where is your boss?" one of them demanded in a rough voice laced with threat, while the others began driving the shocked customers out.
"Do not scare my worker," Severus said, pasting on a smile as he stepped forward, instantly pulling all attention to himself. "So, what do my friends from the Ministry of Magic want with me?"
They exchanged quick looks. Two sealed the entrance; the rest surrounded him.
"You are accused of aiding the Death Eaters. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"Hm. I could tell you I am not doing anything of the sort," he said mildly, "but I doubt you will just let me go."
"Take him. The rest of you, search the building."
"If you are hoping to find my potions here, you will be disappointed. They are stored elsewhere, along with my other belongings," Severus said. He did not resist when they took his wand and snapped shackles onto his wrists. His smile never left his face, and after his remark made two of the ten Aurors flinch, it widened.
When three of them went upstairs, his expression did not show even a trace of worry.
Shafiki, watching it all, felt genuine shock. That morning, the moment Severus returned, he had removed most of the stock, leaving only enough for two days, as if he had predicted this.
When the search ended, they came back down with sour expressions and shook their heads.
"I see. Take him," the commander muttered darkly.
"Yes." Two grabbed Severus by the arms and started dragging him out.
"Karner, you have got the next two days off. Rest properly and send a letter to the school saying I will not make classes." he said, smiling. At the same time, the two Aurors hauling him stared in disbelief as they realized they could not move him at all, no matter how they tried. ".Actually, never mind. I already wrote to Dumbledore. He will be at the Ministry soon. So just rest, but do not relax too much!" he added sternly.
Shafiki, half out of his mind, could only nod. Then they left the shop.
They did not touch Karner. He was clearly just hired help and probably knew nothing. Still, they left two Aurors in civilian clothes to watch him.
After a small adventure, they finally reached the Ministry. Severus was taken to a separate gloomy room. They covered his eyes with cloth, chained him to a chair, and left, shutting the door with him alone.
They are trying to scare me, he sighed. Idiots. Fine, if you want to play, let us play.
He yawned loudly, lowered his head, and a few seconds later the room filled with steady, peaceful snoring.
Next door, in the observers' room, hands trembled and faces sagged with exhaustion. This simple task, bring Severus Snape to the interrogation department, had dragged on for three hours.
They had expected anything, even Death Eaters storming the shop. But not twenty failed Apparitions.
Because the first time they Apparated, targeting the Ministry, they landed in a swimming pool. Eight of the ten fell straight in. The second time: a men's bathhouse, where naked Muggles gawked at them until the Aurors had to Obliviate everyone in a hurry. The third time: another bathhouse, women's, full of elderly ladies in steam, and somehow Severus's group was outside again.
At first, they suspected him, but he had no wand. And at his age, wandless magic on that level, during Apparition training, was impossible. So they started suspecting each other: someone must be joking.
Next time they appeared crammed into a single toilet stall, eight of them in one, and once again Severus and two Aurors were outside alone.
And that kept happening another sixteen times: right on the stage of a huge opera house; in a hipster café; in a chimp enclosure; then among skunks; on the bottom of the Thames; in a psychiatric ward where orderlies nearly strapped them down, thank Merlin the wands were still on them; on the edge of an active volcano.
And at the end of the long path, they achieved zen and understood the futility of existence on a seaside cliff.
A lovely trip.
Even when they finally made it into the Ministry, they ended up, all together, inside yet another toilet. And only Severus appeared outside, smiling as he waited for his escort.
//===================//