Chapter 226 - The Failed Sword Heist

"Two plans," Neville said, flipping through the Dumbledore's Army meeting notes. "The first one's still chaos, but we'd need a whole string of trouble, one thing after another, so they can't keep up."

If Voldemort meant to use Hogwarts to hold both students and their parents hostage, he had to maintain a surface of order. Hypocritical soft methods or outright brutality, it didn't matter which. Hogwarts could not descend into chaos.

As long as Dumbledore's Army caused trouble inside the school, Snape would have to do exactly what Umbridge had done: exhaust every option to stamp the students down.

"As far from the Headmaster's office as possible," Ginny Weasley said, her fingers tapping the table. "Ground-floor corridor, Entrance Hall, or the dungeons."

"Not the dungeons," Seamus Finnigan said. "That's Slytherin territory."

"It's Hufflepuff territory too!" Ernie Macmillan wasn't having that.

Seamus raised both hands in surrender before Ernie Macmillan finally pulled his glare back.

Neville pressed on. "Second method: find a reason to make Snape leave his office on his own."

They'd considered impersonating Harry, faking traces of the trio at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Snape would want the credit for capturing Harry. He'd leave the castle himself and search the forest for Harry's trail.

"Part of us disguise ourselves as Harry. Another group uses Polyjuice Potion to pass as Snape's trusted people and report a Harry sighting at the forest edge."

Compared to the first plan, the one Praeris had already shot down, this one needed fewer people and stood a better chance of working.

The only problem: who would they impersonate, and who would do the impersonating? The choice was critical. One slip and the whole operation would blow open.

On the other side of the castle, Slughorn was finally learning just how hard Snape's job really was.

The Carrows had no restraint when it came to punishment, and students kept ending up in the Hospital Wing. Those students, nursing their grudges, ran around causing damage, which only got more students punished.

Round and round it went. More students in the Hospital Wing meant more medicinal herbs, more potions, more draughts of every kind.

Slughorn's suggestion: couldn't Hogwarts just buy supplies from apothecaries outside the school? He was too old for this kind of workload.

The trouble was, things outside weren't peaceful either. The potions market was undersupplied across the board. Prices had shot up. Some potions, money couldn't even buy.

"Poppy!" Slughorn finally cracked. "Was Headmaster S, Snape's workload always like this?"

After Dumbledore's death, Slughorn found it hard to speak of the student he'd once been so proud of with the same affectionate tone.

Dumbledore had been his colleague for years. Someone he admired. He couldn't make his mind accept that Severus had killed Dumbledore, but Minerva said Harry had seen it with his own eyes.

Slughorn's heart was split. Harry lying, or Severus truly the murderer, he didn't want either option.

The only thing he could do was take up the Head of Slytherin mantle again and keep the position out of Death Eater hands. But Potions professor, was that post really meant for a human being?

Last term, with Dumbledore holding the fort, there'd been almost nothing causing injuries except right at the end. Slughorn had handled it all with ease.

No different from my own Hogwarts days!

Slughorn had thought that quite cheerfully, and couldn't understand why Snape always looked so busy.

Who could've guessed? Halloween hadn't even arrived yet this term, and Slughorn was already on the verge of collapse, either teaching or brewing, no end in sight.

He had to count himself lucky he was Head of Slytherin. The other three houses were all out there causing destruction, and their Heads had to run around putting out fires.

Among the Slytherins, nobody was causing problems that needed his attention. Crabbe and Goyle had even been commended for actively informing on student organizations.

"He had Praeris helping him," Madam Pomfrey said, wiping her hands on her apron. "That child alone does the work of several."

Madam Pomfrey gave her wholehearted endorsement, everyone who'd used her swore by her.

HSSS!

Slughorn's face lit with sudden revelation. Of course!

Praeris was the most talented Potions student, Snape's own assistant, and a Slytherin to boot!

Up on the eighth-floor corridor, Snape had just finished reporting to Voldemort and returned to Hogwarts. He was on his way to find the Carrows and relay Voldemort's latest orders.

"Er, Headmaster Snape!" Crabbe shouted. "Something to report — about —"

Snape stopped. His voice was calm. "Crabbe, matters of this sort should be reported to Professor Carrow."

He'd clearly grown used to Crabbe and Goyle tipping off the Carrows by now.

"Headmaster, both Carrows are still in class!" Crabbe said, urgent. "Goyle and I saw someone — looked like Harry Potter — at the edge of the Forbidden Forest!"

"Oh?" Snape spun around, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "Where? Take me there. Now."

Crabbe led the way. Snape followed. They went down the stairs and out of the castle.

The moment the two of them stepped outside, Ginny Weasley, Luna, and Ernie got word through the change on their fake Galleons. They bolted from the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor and ran to the Headmaster's office entrance.

"Dumbledore!" Ginny shouted.

The staircase behind the stone gargoyle spiraled open. Ernie stayed to keep watch. The two girls sprinted up the steps, hearts hammering harder than any Quidditch match point.

They hadn't even reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest when Snape stopped walking.

He narrowed his eyes. "Crabbe. What's the common room password today?"

"Pureblood."

Under the cloak, "Crabbe" was drenched in sweat.

They'd thought hard about who to impersonate. Praeris was ruled out first, too inhuman, in intelligence, combat ability, everything.

Malfoy was ruled out next. This term he'd been silent and withdrawn, completely uninvolved in the Carrows' persecution of students.

That left Crabbe and Goyle. Relatively speaking, Goyle was stupider. Crabbe was more cunning and had shown more zeal in going after Dumbledore's Army, he'd caused them plenty of trouble.

So Neville was assigned to play Crabbe and lure Snape out of the castle. Seamus was assigned to play Goyle, pretending to stand guard at the spot in the forest where Harry had been sighted.

A few other DA members were tasked with impersonating Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Truthfully, Neville had no idea whether Snape would get suspicious, or what might trigger it. All they could do was prepare as much as possible beforehand and improvise in the moment.

Dumbledore's Army certainly didn't know the Slytherin password, and Praeris would never give it to them.

But Neville believed Snape wouldn't bother memorizing the Slytherin common room passwords, they changed too often. As long as he sounded confident and the password seemed plausible, they could bluff their way through.

The guerrilla war between DA and the Carrows had been good training for Neville's tactics and quick thinking.

He was terrified of Snape. He still forced himself to stay calm.

Neville's performance was flawless. Snape only laughed coldly. "Incarcerous!"

Inside the Headmaster's office, Ginny and Luna's entrance startled the portraits awake. The headmasters and headmistresses murmured, trying to work out what the two girls were up to.

Headmaster Devent spoke first. "Children, what are you doing here?"

Ginny didn't answer. Her eyes swept the room and landed fast on the glass case holding the sword.

She raised her wand. "Reducto!"

The case shattered with a BANG, exposing the ruby-studded longsword inside.

The portraits erupted in chaos. Phineas immediately barked, "You little Weasley girl, you've made a grave mistake! Put that sword down this instant!"

"Put it down?" Ginny shot back without a shred of politeness. "You want me to leave a Gryffindor treasure to the Death Eaters? Dream on, old man."

She ran to the broken case, grabbed the sword, stuffed it into her bag, and seized Luna's arm, ready to bolt.

Both of them knew this was no time to celebrate. Getting the sword was step one. Keeping it and delivering it, that was what counted.

They rushed for the staircase and pounded down the steps toward the stone gargoyle exit. They hadn't made it two flights before they were forced to stop.

One step. Two steps.

Ginny and Luna swallowed. They stepped backward without meaning to.

Snape stood at the bottom of the staircase, face cold. Behind him, floating in midair, were Neville and Ernie, bound hand and foot.

Snape drew the words out, voice dripping with mockery. "In second year, someone impersonated Crabbe and Goyle to enter the common room and overheard the Slytherin password."

"From that point on — especially after Draco became a prefect, he never again permitted 'Pureblood' as the password. That habit has been passed down to every prefect since."

A thought surfaced in Ginny's mind, unbidden, something Praeris had said once: Harry, Hermione... they narrowed their own path.

The story was actually funny, looking back. Second year. Draco had let the disguised Harry and Ron straight into the Slytherin common room and held forth at length in front of them.

Praeris, whose relationship with Draco was still fairly ordinary at the time, had mocked him mercilessly. He'd lost so much face over it that he'd brooded for ages.

Draco had gone out of his way to find Marcus and demand that he stop using "Pureblood" when setting new passwords.

Don't ask. His reason: it was too old-fashioned. Too easy to guess.

Praeris, working as underage labor in the office, had told the story to Snape as a joke. Snape's response had been dry as dust: "If you keep putting your mind to such trivial, inconsequential matters, you'll find yourself backtracking too."

Neither then nor now had Snape ever imagined that pointless student nonsense like this would turn out to be anything but inconsequential.

Not long after leaving the castle, Snape had sensed someone enter the Headmaster's office. Unsure whether it was a professor coming to find him, he'd thrown out a casual question to confirm their identity.

Neville's answer had instantly exposed him. So the ones in the Headmaster's office were undoubtedly that group of students with a death wish.

Snape had turned around and rushed back at full speed. He'd caught Ernie at the office entrance, then waited at the bottom of the staircase and intercepted Ginny and Luna.

The DA members stationed at the forest edge never even got used. Snape hadn't been lured to the designated spot, he'd turned back while still on the lawn outside the castle.

Snape pulled the Sword of Gryffindor from Ginny's bag and looked at the four students. "How interesting. Trying to steal the sword for your friend, are you?"

"What a pity," he said, soft as silk. "The meager intelligence you possess is no match for your courage."

"I imagine you can't stand Slytherin. You can't stand me. Naturally, you've never bothered to understand Slytherin either. If you truly understood your opponent, you wouldn't have made such a clumsy attempt."

Ginny struggled with all her strength. It did nothing. "Yes, we can't stand you! We can't stand a contemptible wretch like you! If Slytherin were worthy of respect, we would understand Slytherin!"

Snape's voice went icy. "Miss Weasley, this is not your first detention. It seems previous ones have had little effect. From today onward, you are banned from Hogsmeade. Use the time to reflect."

Ginny's eyes blazed.

"And, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, Mr. Longbottom, and Mr. Macmillan." Snape listed the names like he was ordering off a menu. "From today until Christmas, every weekend, you are assigned to after-class labor in the Forbidden Forest. Supervised by Hagrid."

Ernie Macmillan exhaled. If it was Hagrid, that barely counted as punishment.

In Praeris's eyes, Dumbledore's Army's failure had only been a matter of time. The only possible way they could've succeeded was if Professor Snape, for reasons of his own planning, had decided to let them off easy.

"Crabbe! Not the first time, is it?" Daphne mocked him in the common room. "Better keep an eye on your hair! At this rate, we'll see you everywhere and have no idea which one's really you!"

"Crabbe!" Praeris backed Daphne up. "If you ask me, getting it plucked like this is no good. What's going to come even sooner than middle age is,"

"Baldness." Pansy giggled.

Earlier, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Crabbe had used Amycus's Fwooper to scare Pansy. Now that she had a chance to mock him back, Pansy was absolutely not letting it go.

Crabbe's face went red. "So what if they stole my hair? They still ended up in detention! Headmaster Snape's punishment is way too lenient if you ask me!"

The Slytherins around them murmured in agreement. Handing those troublemakers over to Hagrid really was too easy.

"The Forbidden Forest isn't a tourist attraction!" Praeris said, defending Professor Snape's decision. "It's full of dangerous magical creatures, some at the highest danger classification. Creatures that have killed wizards before."

➤ Next: I Fight Polaris