Concealing Truths

Snape's POV

Severus fretted. This was not something he normally did; however, it wasn't every day he broke a national icon. He whirled on the Bloody Baron, his robes flaring behind him. "This never happened," he snarled, waving his hand to indicate that he meant the whole scene. "You never saw that boy. I never confronted him. As far as anyone is concerned, he never entered the dungeons tonight. Or I will find a way to exorcise you and blame it on the Weasley twins."

"My dear deluded man, that is not a threat to me," the unimpressed Baron stated in his most pompous voice. "Long have I wanted to leave this plane of existence. Besides, I have a duty to tell the Headmaster of things such as this," he stated, then got a sly look on his face as he realized he could use this to his advantage. "However, perhaps we can come to an accord.

You tell me what was in that vial and perchance we can… make a deal, I believe is the current saying. Only if I find it is a Slytherin worthy cause." He was Slytherin after all and any deal that could benefit him was not something to pass up. He had long wanted to have something to hold over this man, who he felt had ruined many children's lives. Now, he could make the man behave and perhaps reap a reward for himself.

Snape thought about it and ran all the repercussions over in his mind. He couldn't think of anything that a ghost could want that would be worse than Dumbledore discovering this potion, or the stupid boy taking it. "I have many enemies amongst the Death Eaters and a few amid the Order. They all are trying to blackmail me. A few are coming close, and oi do not believe Albus could be of help this time. This," he waved to the mess on the floor, "was a bottled Imperius/Obliviate Draught.

It is scentless, tasteless and untraceable. Four drops of this and I can erase their memories of everything I want and make them… pliable. It was yet untested. I do not know what would happen if one overdosed, but judging from the dunderhead that just left, I would say it wipes the entire memory."

"Perhaps, or it was combined with the fact that the boy suffered from a great shock," the apparition stated smoothly, knowing full well that the child was innocent. The teen was not trained enough to do what was needed to charm the Goblet of Fire. The tournament was held in his day, and the Goblet was used even then. There was no way a student could charm the artifact to do what was done. No, someone was out to get the boy, but the Potions Master was too blind with hate to see that. It was one of the reasons the Baron was willing to broker a deal.

"Please, that child is nothing but a glory-seeking Gryffindor. He put his name in the Goblet and is only pretending to be overtaken with emotion," Snape sneered and waved his hand as if dismissing the entire idea.

"I did not know you thought so highly of the boy's skills. If he is accomplished enough to confound an ancient artifact at such a young age, why he could be the next Merlin," the Baron stated with false awe.

"Do not toy with me, Baron, you know damn good and well that he had someone else do it."

"You are letting your past cloud your mind, a very unSlytherin like quality," the ghost sneered condescendingly. "Now, tell me Potion Master Snape, who is it that you work for?" the bloody spirit asked. He had watched this man dance to two masters but wondered if he was really the puppet he pretended to be. He really wanted to know. It would be vital to his plan on blackmailing the professor.

"Myself, like any other self-respecting Slytherin," was the deadpanned answer.

"Well done. I had wondered," he stated, looking down his nose to the greasy-haired man. Then sniffed and looked Snape dead in the eye. "As to our accord, if you try and come from out of the past and start treating the students correctly, along with one other little thing, I will keep my silence. However, if you continue to persecute innocent children because of your memories, then you will find that I have no fear of you or your petty threats. Think well on this, you Obliviated a celebrity; if it were to get out you will wind up in Azkaban. My thoughts are of this school and all the students within it. It is the main goal of all the House Ghosts. You would do well to emulate us," the blood-covered spirit stated as he looked sincerely. It felt good to have a reason to make this man behave. "Now, you will find my other need is simple. The time is late, and we have dallied at the scene for longer than necessary. I will join you in your quarters after you have cleared this… mess," the ghost said as he floated to the ceiling and disappeared.

Snape stood in surprise for a minute. He had no clue that the Bloody Baron was so… protective. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he quickly banished the spilled potion and broken bottle. He secured the cabinet with a few Darker wards than he had had on there before, and left the room as if it had not been touch. He then calmly went back to his study, thanking Merlin that Albus couldn't read the minds of ghosts. He cleared his mind and organized this night in to the deepest parts, hiding it under his hate of all things Potter.

The Baron did join him, and his next demand was easy, yet at the same time hard. All Snape had to do was talk to the Grey Lady and convince her to converse with her murderer. He felt he could accomplish this with few issues. She was merely an overemotional woman after all.

Meanwhile in a dark alley, Harry's POV

Right now, our hero was huddled against the cold winds of the city streets. He had no idea how he got here, but the phrase 'out of the frying pan and into the fire,' kept running through his mind as he took in the shadows of the alley he was currently hiding in. One minute he was escaping from the spooky castle, full of mean men, animated armor and holograms of men covered in blood, and the next he was in the cold streets of a city.

He did wonder what kind of technology that greasy-haired, hook-nosed person used to make all that happened and why. Did the guy do something to make him forget? Is that why he was so mean? What could he have possibly done to piss someone off so much that they'd take his memories? Maybe it was a murder, or a drug deal, or a slave operation. Harry didn't know, there were too many possibilities, and since he had no memory he had no way of proving anything. So, he couldn't go to the coppers, they'd just laugh at him, or throw him into the loony-bin.

But that was for another time; right now, he had to get warm, and stay hidden. He was alone, at night, in the city, and had no weapons or means to protect himself. He didn't know why that was his first thought, but he needed to regroup and deal with it all in the morning. So he hunkered down behind a large waste bin and wrapped his… robe around his legs. In his mind he was chanting, 'get warm, stay safe,' and he could slowly feel the warmth spread throughout his body from the center. Unknown to him, he was using his magic to protect himself from the elements and the excessively bad people as he fell asleep sitting against the wall.

Too bad that didn't include petty thieves.

When he woke the next morning, he was sans glasses and shoes, but for some reason was still a decent temperature. He figured it was the woolen robe, and brushed it off. He looked through the pockets of what appeared to be a school uniform. In them he found some weird paper, a stick, a feather with ink on the tip, and a few pieces of silver and bronze. Thinking this might get him some real money, he threw all but the coins away and hit the streets. Thanking God he had been sitting on these treasured coins, or he might not have them either.