Chapter 10

Chapter 10

ALBUS DUMBELDORE ( Flash Back)

The headmaster of Hogwarts frowned as he found himself standing in the Hospital Wing, staring at the slumbering form of another student. The same student who had been at the center of a tragedy just a year ago. A tragedy that had resulted in one of the students being forced to leave the institution.

"I am telling you, Dumbledore, it was him. I have never known any other wizard capable of such feet," added the school's potions master from the side as Dumbledore examined the slumbering student. According to Pompfrey, the boy was fine and would wake up soon.

"And are you sure that he now knows about your secret?" Albus questioned his queasy potion master, who nodded through gritted teeth.

"And yet you still haven't explained to me why you decided to use legilimency on such a young mind," Albus added with heat in his voice as he looked towards the potion master, showing hos displeasure at his actions.

No matter what, the mind arts were advanced magic. Magic that could have a drastic effect of used on a mind so young. Severus gritted his teeth, and then sighed and reached into his pocket took out a piece of parchment and handed it to him.

Albus took it from him with a frown and began to skim through the contents of the paper, his face growing paler and his revulsion rising with each sentence he read.

"Where did you get this?" he said, as he looked at his potions, who simply looked towards the young Slytherin lying on the bed. And he frowned as he looked towards the potions master, who simply raised a brow.

"But how? This is an original modification of the amortentia and the Imperius. There is no way a second year could even begin to understand this," Albus argued, and Severus nodded.

"Yes, and that was the same question I had in mind. However, he seemed to not truly understand what he held," Severus said as Albus stared at the bed lying on the bed cautiously, his mind racing as he thought about what he ahd just heard.

"He wanted me to create a potion to negate the effects of whatever is on that paper," and at this, Albus frowned and looked at SNale once again, who nodded.

"Negate?" he questioned, and Severus nodded.

"Yes, he believes that…," and he didn't miss how Severus hesitated before he finally finished his sentence much to his surprise/

"He believes that his mother was the subject to the contents of that piece of parchment."

"Merlin!" Albus cursed, and dread pooled in his heart, horrified that anyone would be subjected to the depravity written there. Severus seemed revulsed as well as he continued.

"I don't know how he got that idea. But when I pushed and asked him about where he had gotten this from, he refused to budge. I feared that he had somehow gotten involved with you know who again, and then he accused me of working for him!"

And Albus nodded at that.

"I used Legilemence on him to probe out his surface thoughts to see how he had gotten his hand on that. Yet it didn't work as expected," Severus said as he wiped the blood dripping from his lip.

When a person uses the mind arts, especially the offensive art of legilimency the magic is said to weaken a person's own barriers, leaving them vulnerable to a subsequent attack. Yet even in that state, for anyone to rip apart the shields of a man like Severus, given his mastery in the field, was nearly impossible. At least for common wizards. He might be able to pull it off, yet there was one other wizard.

Voldemort.

"I have had the Dark Lord attack my mind previously. And it felt exactly the same. I am telling you Albus, there is something wrong here," Severus said, as he looked towards his student with a concerned gaze.

"Yes, indeed I believe so as well," as he took out his wand, and closed his eyes as he cast a number of diagnostic spells on the boy infront of him. Physically, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him, though Albus couldn't say the same of his magic. The magic was in a state of flux, like it was changing, undergoing metamorphosis at a very fast pace. It felt as if his magic was maturing at an astronomical pace.

"Could it be caused by what happened last year? Could it be that he is under the control of horcrux?" Severus questioned before he visible paled and continued.

"Could it be that the person that woke up at the end of last year wasn't Crovus, rathe…"

"No," Albus cut him off as he shook his head. Albus himself had been concerned about the events that had occurred at the end of last night and had decided to keep a close eye on Crovus since the start of the new school year.

And though the boy had changed, Albus was sure that this was not Voldemort. Yet if not that, then what was going on here?

And it seemed like they would be getting their answers sooner rather than later as he saw the boy's body shift as his eyes fluttered open.

Albus motioned for Severus to stay behind, as the boy opened his eyes. And he would be lying if he didn't still for a moment as he saw those red orbs land on him. Yet, he was quick to recover and gave a warm smile.

"It seems like we are making a habit of this, Mr. Lestrange?" he tried to ease the boy, who had become paler upon seeing him.

"Professor, I…." he tried to speak up, and then he saw his eyes land on Severus, who stood behind him, and he gulped down nervously.

"I have chastised Professor Snape for his actions and apologize on his behalf. For clarification, you are not in any trouble Mr. Lestrange," Albus assured the boy and saw the boy's shoulders ease as he began to breathe normally.

"You are in the infirmary. You are fine. Madam Popmfrey has had a look at you, and asked me to relay the message of not making these visits at the end of a year a habit," he said with a chuckle to ease the boy, who had a shadow of a smile appear.

"Now, I want to ask you a couple of questions, and it would be extremely helpful if you were to answer them honestly?" said Dumbledore as he pushed up his glasses, and the boy nodded.

He then took out the piece of parchment that Severus had given him and showed it to him.

"Now, Mr. Lestrange I want you to tell me how you got your hands on this?" he asked and saw the boy hesitate a bit, as he glanced towards Severus, who hung back. Though in the end, he did reply, and Albus hadn't expected that.

"I saw him devise it and then later use it," he replied, and Dumbledore stilled as soon as he heard those words.

"Who?" he questioned after a moment, though in his heart, he already knew the answer.

"Him. Voldemort," he replied as he looked up at him and then at Severus.

"And he used it on my mother, a Bellatrix Black."

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HERMIONE GRANGER (Present)

Hermione Granger frowned as she stood along with Harry as Dumbledore told them about the end of Crovus's second year.

"The remnants of that Horcrux had begun to change Mr. Lestrange, and while the experience was traumatic, it did bring with itself a number of gifts. For all we can say about Voldemort, he was a charismatic and talented wizard," Albus concluded as she looked towards Harry, who had also received a blessing from the Horcrux inhabiting his scar, the gift of parseltongue.

"Mr. Lestrange's magic began to shift as it absorbed all that the soul remnant had to offer. It gave him knowledge and information that few were privy to, propelling him from a smart student to a prodigious talent," and then she saw Dumbledore's expression shift as a sense of sorrow and loss appeared on his face.

"If he knew what Voldemort did to his mother, then why did he join him? He should have stayed away from him and should have tried to help her?" she questioned and saw a look of guilt appear on his face, and she knew that this was where he had messed up.

"Now, as the year came to a close, Mr. Lestrange began to focus all his energies towards finding a cure for the potions that had been used on his mother, and it was around this time that he came to learn about a very disturbing news about someone very close to him," Dumbledore answered in a small voice.

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CROVUS LESTRANGE (Flash Back)

"What do you mean?" Crovus questioned, his face pale as he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

His cousin Draco, frowned and spoke up once again, as he turned to face him.

"I said that Father has told me that Astoria's condition has worsened a lot. The healers don't think she will make it past this year," his cousin answered, and his heart stilled as soon as he heard those words. Astoria was dying. Dying. And he could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he thought about his friend.

He recalled Daphne words from earlier in the year and cursed himself for losing himself in the search for a method of breaking the magic Voldemort had used on his mother.

Astoria was going to die. And it was all because of him. Him. And that very thought nauseated him. He felt guilt bubble up inside him as he looked down at the table, yet he didn't find the person he was looking for. There was no sign of Daphne there.

However, he had a pretty good idea about where she might be. So, he pushed away his plate and rushed out of the Hall. His steps hurried as he rushed through the Halls of the school, as he used the various shortcuts he had discovered through his dreams to reach the place one could often find Daphne Greengrass these days.

The Hogwarts Library. And now it all made sense? Why she would always be huddled up in the library, or why her grades had slipped. Yet he had missed it all in his trance.

He huffed as he came to the front of the library, rushed in, and ran past the columns upon columns of books to look for the person he was looking for. Then he finally found her, sitting on the ground, surrounded by books and tomes with crumbling pages, her cheeks reddened as she sat there weeping silently.

He gulped and slowly walked towards her and saw her look up. And her expression shifted as soon as she saw him. Anger and disgust appeared in her eyes as she looked towards him.

"You! Why are you here?" she snarled angrily as he walked up to her. Thankfully, he was quick to cast a privacy ward around them to stop Miss. Prince from hearing this.

"I…" he hesitated before he continued.

"I heard about Astoria," in the end, he managed to say out loud and saw her expression shift momentarily before the anger returned.

"Didn't you get my warning! I told you to stay away from my sister! Don't you think you have done enough damage!" she shouted, forgetting that this could have gotten her banned from the library.

"I just wanted to ask what happened to her," he managed to get out, but she was having none of it. She stood up and shoved him as she shouted.

"What happened?" she spoke condescendingly as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"You happened, you bastard! You attacked her, and now she is dying! She trusted you, and yet you attacked her!" she shouted vehemently, her words scathing and filling him with guilt.

"It was an accident! I would never ever hurt her. You have to believe me," he tried to explain himself but she was not listening to him.

"Bullshit!" she said, as she took out her wand.

"I should have expected this out of someone like you!" she shouted as she sent a spell towards him, which he ducked under as he heard those words.

BANG!

The spell hit the wall, and he heard the librarian, Ms. Prince, stand up and rush towards them.

"Someone like me?" he questioned.

"Of course. After all, you are her son. How could you ever turn any different!"

And he stilled as he heard those words. He had known Daphne for years now, and though he was never not as close with her as her sister, he did consider her a friend. And yet, those words coming out of her mouth somewhat surprised him.

There was pure vehemence in her gaze, and he realized that no matter what he did, he couldn't change the way she looked at him. The way everyone looked at him. A broken laugh escaped his lips as the Librarian came up behind them and cursed loudly as she saw the mess they had made.

"Merlin! Have you forgotten the rules? No spells in the library! Both of you out!" she shouted. And he looked up and saw her staring at him with sheer anger. He shook his head as he turned away from her.

------

Days later, he would find himself standing inside St. Mungo's. He had snuck out of the school to do something he should have done right at the beginning of the year. He walked towards the room where Astoria was admitted, and just as he was about to enter it, he heard the sound of three people coming out of the room.

"There has to be a way?" and he recognized the voice of Astoria's mother. Ophelia Greengrass.

"I am telling you, Mrs. Greengrass we have done everything we could. Her injuries are extremely severe, we were barely managing her maledictus, but the curse she was targeted with is dark magic, along with the maledictus curse, it is eating away her life like a parasite," the healer answered as he stood outside the room silently and continued to hear their discussion.

"But one of your healers mentioned something. He said that there was a way to prolong her life," he heard her father cut in. The healer seemed to hesitate a bit before he finally answered.

"Senior Healer Chase, was right. There is a way, a potion that could buy us some time. But I don't believe it to be a viable option," he answered.

"And why is that?" her father questioned as her mother continued to sob.

"Because that potion requires Phoenix blood," and he now understood why he had called the option unviable. Phoenix blood was one of the rarest liquids in the world. Even rarer than basilisk venom. First of all, blood from a phoenix could ever only be obtained by a person who had bonded with the magical bird, for if this was attempted on a free phoenix, it would simply burst into flames and teleport away.

And a person bonded to a phoenix would never agree to give away its blood, for a phoenix could only ever give a limited number of vials.

And so, he stood there hearing to their discussion, and then by the time the three people stepped out of the room, he was long gone his mind racing as he thought up a plan to buy time for Astoria.

And so, for days, he would sit alone at school, thinking, planning as he thought of a plan. And then, on the last day of term, he finally reached his decision and found himself standing outside the Headmaster's office.

0000

AMELIA BONES (Present)

The whole court listened in silence as Crovus Lestrange explained how he began having dreams and visions of Voldemrot's memories. The atmosphere of the courtroom had shifted a lot over the proceedings, and even the most dull-headed person now understood that this case wasn't as simple as it had first seemed.

The revelation that Bellatrix Lestrange and how Voldemort had used a special potion to control the witch was a shock to her and most of the wizarding world.

"And though I worked tirelessly over the years to find a counter to the magic Voldemort had used, all my efforts were useless. There was no way to undo the damage that had been done," the boy finished as Daphne Greengrass stood up and approached the bench.

"The defense would like to submit exhibit C, a copy of the magic used by Voldemort to control Miss Bellatrix Lestrange, though I would also like to file a motion to keep the said information classified given its sensitive nature," Daphne said as she handed her a sealed package.

A part of her was tempted to open the folder, yet in the end, she decided against it," and looked towards the prosecution, and Percy Weasley shook his head, showing he had no objection to the motion.

"The motion is granted. Exhibit C shall be sealed and given to the Department of Mysteries for analysis. They are to submit a report about it on the next hearing," she ruled, and the representative from the Department of Mysteries stood up and nodded.

Then as Daphne Greengrass took her seat, Percy Weasley stood up to counter, though she didn't miss his hesitation or his troubled expression, as he walked towards Crovus and spoke up.

"So, we are to believe that you joined Voldemort's ranks to get some revenge for what he had done to your mother, a mother that you didn't even know," he questioned, and though the question was callous, it was true.

Crovus Lestrange had grown up, with Narcissa Malfoy in the Malfoy household since his birth. The boy had never known his birth mother, so why would he go so far for her?

However, before he could answer the question, Daphne Greengrass stood up and answered the question for him.

"NO!" and the court began to murmur as they heard her words. She herself frowned as she saw the conflicted and guilt-ridden expression on her face as she reached forward.

"Then why did he join Voldemort?" Percy questioned, and she saw the Greengrass heiress chew her lips before she answered the question that was the crux of this case.

"The reason he joined Voldemort was because of a deal he made with Albus Dumbledore," and the whole court stirred at her words.

"A deal made to save the life of one Astoria Greengrass!"

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