Mrs Steadfast had explained to Snape prior to the trial that politically this spring, Kingsley Shacklebolt met with his first downswing since stepping into power. One year after Voldemort’s demise, several ambitious opponents had gathered enough effrontery to challenge the Prime Minister on his way of ruling the wizard community and the Ministry was buzzing with intrigues. And somehow, Snape’s fate had become intimately connected with Kingsley’s future as a Prime Minister.
Mrs Steadfast was concerned that the Wizengamot might not judge Snape on his own merits, turning the trial into a vote of no confidence on Kingsley. Snape himself had no illusions, because other than the fact that intelligent people of inquiring minds like the witches and wizards of the Wizengamot were not exempt of prejudices about Death Eaters, they would certainly not be satisfied with only half the story. Snape’s refusal to speak about the first war would most probably be his undoing.
***
Sitting on the chair of the accused in the courtroom at the Ministry, with a sense of déjà vu, Snape met nothing but grave faces on the morning of the trial as the members of the Wizengamot stared down at him. The majority of the dignitaries’ faces bore sour or suspicious expressions, only a few showed more frank curiosity than open hostility.
On both sides of the dungeon, the sections open for the public were full of people with non-committal gazes. Mrs Steadfast was seated alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt on the first row reserved for special guests, on Snape’s right side. Behind and above him was a rather large stand crowded with journalists who had been boisterous until Judge Forceps raised her hand in sign for the trial to begin. Formalities were cleared and the judge stated that Professor Snape would conduct his own defence.
Unlike at the inquiry there was a rather lengthy presentation of the accusations with witnesses and expert statements. Snape retorted sententiously at some of the most irrelevant, or downright false assertions, commenting sarcastically on one occasion that the Daily Prophet was not a reliable source when you looked for facts. This brought about laughs with some people and disapprobation with others. When it was Snape’s turn to present his defence, he brought out a bottle from inside his cloak.
“Your Honour, I’m aware that this Veritaserum is not yet approved of by the Ministry. It is the same potion that was used at my inquiry and I would like to volunteer to dose myself with it again today. I know that you have no obligation to take this into consideration. My belief is that this draught will be widely used in the future, so my point in taking it is to be able to prove, at least retrospectively, that I have spoken the truth in front of you today. Is anyone willing to take it along with me to be able to testify to its effects?” No one stirred. The colour on Snape’s cheeks heightened slightly. “In that case, I’ll ask you to keep the bottle in your archives in order to be able to prove later, should there be an appeal, the nature of the potion. I don’t want you to think that I’m fooling you.” There was a general murmur, a compound of doubt and appreciation.
At this moment, Judge Tempatino rose from one of the benches among the members of the Wizengamot.
“I’ll be happy to drink your health, Mr Snape, and taste that well-balanced draught invented at Hogwarts by some students of yours. It was recently published in the Journal of New Potions, you know.” He beamed at his colleagues. “Among the authors you noted a certain Harry Potter…”
A new buzz travelled through the room as Judge Tempatino made his way down to the balustrade that separated Snape from the Wizengamot. Judge Forceps looked disapprovingly at her elderly colleague.
“This means you’ve taken a stand, Amos, and you’ll consequently be detached from the trial.”
“I thought you might say so, Marilyn,” he answered and peered at her over his round glasses. “My deputy will step in for me.” He bent over and whispered to Snape. “She’s very loyal, she’ll vote exactly as I’d have done, so you won’t lose by the change. You probably don’t stand a chance today, given that your evidence is weaker than at the inquiry, but it would be a shame if you didn’t put on a good fight. You never know what will happen,” mused the tiny old judge and Snape raised his eyebrows.
“I thought I would repay my spiteful treatment of you at our first meeting after the Paris incident,” the judge went on. “My prejudices got the better of me. Mr Potter made me realise I had some ingrained ways of thinking. Fascinating when the young ones are able to teach us things at this advanced age, isn’t it? That young man intrigues me.”
Snape grunted in response.
“Now, I really thought that Mr Potter should be mentioned today. Having him on your side is your strongest asset, you know. It’s outrageous you won’t use it. I still think that you should have let him testify. I’m sure you could’ve counted on him to mind his P’s and Q’s. It’s not as if he would have been given a conventional Veritaserum by the court. And he seems loyal to you. Do you really trust him that little?”
Snape frowned more to himself than at the judge.
“I used to... have no faith in him... at all,” he said slowly.
“Very well, you’ll stick to your assessment. They all say that Death Eaters are stubborn to the verge of stupidity.” The judge winked again at Snape who seemed slightly thrown off balance. ”I thought I’d help you go down with due honours, though. I’d like to cast a doubt in my colleagues’ prejudiced minds. Might get you a shorter sentence. Let’s toast with those vultures over there so they can show our picture in the paper tomorrow.
“It might provoke my enemies to retaliate,” said Snape quickly. “I wouldn’t want you to be exposed to...”
“Sometimes you need to trust people to be able to decide about such matters themselves. Albus Dumbledore was a dear friend of mine and I do this because I think he would have wanted me to.” There was a tone of finality in Judge Tempatino’s voice that made it clear there was no room for objection. Snape handed him a cup and took one himself. They turned to face the stand behind them and the cameras started to click. Snape dosed the potion and they emptied their cups in one draught.
Snape told his story clearly and simply, in a fluent, steady, although at times tone-less voice. The only thing that made him lose his thread for a while was when Mrs Steadfast suddenly rose and sneaked out of the room. Snape frowned and followed her black figure out of the court, but regained control of his narration and spoke in detail of his actions during the second Voldemort era. Additionally, he displayed a copy of the visualisation of his wand history that Harry and Hermione had set up in the Great Hall at Hogwarts for the inquiry.
Snape was questioned at length by different members of the Wizengamot and in spite of the word ’Death Eater’ echoing in their questions, the former spy endeavoured to explain things to his very best. At times, bouts of weariness seemed to come over him, however, and Snape’s customary sarcasm would shine through in his answers, as if he wondered what all this was good for, wavering in his self-control the least little bit, nearly abandoning his self-imposed politeness towards the hostile Wizengamot.
Mrs Steadfast returned to her seat eventually, causing Snape once again to falter and stare at her for a second, as if he was hoping she had some news - that she maybe miraculously would produce Healer Frankiss all of a sudden to testify.
Finally, Judge Forceps resumed the official tread of the trial and declared it ready to proceed. Mrs Steadfast fidgeted in her seat and cast glances at the door leading to the corridor. Snape looked inquiringly at her, she returned his gaze, shook her head and waved her hand in an incomprehensible way. Snape frowned. Judge Forceps was about to propose that the Wizengamot withdrew for deliberation talks and Mrs Steadfast had half risen in her seat and opened her mouth to speak, when a Ministry employee, someone from the Magical Law Enforcement Department, stepped through the door, went up to the Wizengamot and bent down to Judge Forceps to hand her several parchment rolls. The judge raised her eyebrows and exchanged a few quiet words with the employee, finally nodded and he disappeared again.
“Someone has stepped forward on the side of the defence, a person who wishes to vouch for Mr Snape,” she said. Snape looked confused and rose cautiously from his chair.
“Who...?”
“We’ve checked on the formalities concerning vouching procedures and there’s nothing that hinders this person from going through with it. You must not, Mr Snape, address this wizard in any way, in order not to influence him at the last moment, and the strength of his conviction will be measured in the Mirror of Faith.” She gestured toward a monstrous, heavy thing in the farther corner of the room that looked like an ugly rusty sculpture with a lot of iron flues.
Snape consulted Mrs Steadfast with suspicious eyes, but she made gestures for him to stay calm. Judge Forceps nodded at the Auror who was guarding the door to open it and let the person waiting outside in. Everyone present drew their breath and the dungeon was completely silent as the lanky figure entered the dungeon, crossed the room and turned a composed face toward Judge Forceps.
“Harry Potter, welcome to the trial of Severus Snape where you have declared your intention to vouch for the accused.”
“Thank you, Your Honour.” Harry did not look at Snape who had frozen, staring at Harry in utter stupefaction, before he sprung to life again, schooled his features and approached with barely contained agitation.
“You’re not allowed to speak to Mr Potter, Mr Snape, or we’ll have to recommence the entire trial,” Judge Forceps repeated warningly.
“But the threats...” Snape whispered hoarsely, “...the danger connected with...”
“The court is aware of the fact that there have been threats and that many witnesses have withdrawn. I assume that Mr Potter is well-informed of the situation. Are you afraid of retaliations, Mr Potter?”
“I’ve been a target of the Death Eaters and their associates since I killed Voldemort,” Harry said calmly. “They attacked me this Easter but I defended myself. There is a constant price on my head, so I’d say that vouching for Professor Snape makes no difference when it comes to the risks of my being attacked.” He had spoken without looking at Snape who was clearly affected by his presence and struggled continuously to compose his features.
“It’s remarkable of you to step forward with such short notice, Mr Potter. Did you have difficulties making up your mind?” asked Judge Forceps.
Harry frowned at her.
“Not really,” he said shortly. “I want to point out, though, that I do this not to repay anything to Professor Snape, nor in order to claim anything back from him later. There is no obligation attached to it, in either way. It’s a question of principle. I don’t think that an innocent man should be sent to Azkaban. That’s all. No debts,” he emphasised and almost turned his head to Snape.
“You might act on principle, but it’s your personal faith in this man that will be assessed. I hope you’ve thought this through seriously. You’re aware, are you not, that the strength of your conviction as you vouch will be measured in the Mirror of Faith? It will on one hand produce a live reflection of your conviction and on the other hand, through advanced Arithmancy, transform it into a number.”
“Yes, I‘ve read about it. There is Ancient Magic involved,” said Harry with interest, looking at the great lumping thing that had been brought forward. “There was even a question at the NEWT exam referring to...”
“Ah, yes, no one really knows exactly how it works. It was constructed a millenary ago,” the judge interrupted dismissively. ”But then you probably also know that we use the chart of magical numbers and that the position in the pyramid of the number your vouching produces will determine the importance we attach to your contribution when deciding upon Mr Snape’s fate.”
Harry was a little pale, but he nodded composedly. The judge flicked her wand and in the middle of the room, behind the chair of the accused, a golden pyramid appeared with numbers written on each block.
“If your number appears on the two bottom rows, I’m afraid we cannot take your vouching into account, it’ll be too weak. The nearer the top stone, the stronger your conviction, the more importance we will allow it in our deliberations for the final verdict.”
Harry nodded in understanding.
Snape had resigned to sit down in his chair again. He was shaking his head and arching his eyebrows disbelievingly. The judge narrowed her eyes as she viewed him, but did not say anything. Instead, she went on explaining the procedure to Harry. Snape leaned back in his chair and tried to assume his usual countenance of superciliousness, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing Harry with ironic bemusement as if he studied the preposterous ventures of a troublesome pupil. Small twitches around his lips and a recurrent need to rub his left shoulder betrayed his agitation, however.
An employee of the court stepped down to circle the Mirror of Faith while reading an incantation, and all of a sudden the ancient creation started to vibrate. Its crackled metal parts mended themselves as a silvery varnish spread along the flues. In the middle of the strange contraption, the blank surface of a mirror appeared while two smaller mirrors appeared on its sides. The whole thing glowed slightly.
Harry put himself in front of the enormous piece of furniture, and held up his hands close to the side mirrors while he stared at his own reflection in the main glass. Snape uncrossed his arms and gripped the armrests of his chair so hard that his knuckles whitened. Judge Forceps gave Harry a signal to begin.
“I vouch for Severus Snape being a good man,” said Harry in a determined, but not loud voice. He held his hands steadily against the mirrors and the glow from the magical engine intensified and included Harry in its mist of light. Suddenly, something emerged out of one of the flues. It was a splendid phoenix with green, black and silvery feathers. An awed murmur went through the room.
The bird flew around the dungeon before it landed on Snape’s right arm. He stared at it transfixed and started to stroke the bird’s neck with his left index finger beatifically. The mirror glowed for a short while after the bird had emerged, then it emitted a noise and a parchment scroll flew out in the air and was caught by the employee and handed over to Judge Forceps.
The Mirror of Faith emitted a last sigh before its lights went out and it assumed its original ugly appearance. Harry backed off a few staggering steps and lowered his hands. He stared intensely at the judge. Snape still stroked the phoenix with automatic gestures, eyes equally riveted on the judge who finally read the number aloud.
“Twenty one.” It was a low number, but Harry knew that the magical chart was not arranged in an ascending hierarchical scale. He had recently revised this. It seemed to him that... He scrutinised the pyramid. Part of the audience who knew their chart by heart had drawn their breaths. Snape stared bewildered out in the air. The phoenix took off from his arm, circled the pyramid before it touched the number twenty one with its beak and disappeared in flames. One of the four stones immediately below the top stone which bore the number seven, started to glow and the audience gasped.
Snape bent forward in a convulsive movement and hid his face behind hands that clenched into fists. The tissue of his robe stretched over his back and revealed his heaving breath. Mrs Steadfast and Kingsley looked shocked at Harry. If not their official positions had prevented it, they would both gladly have vouched for Snape, but they were at the same time conscious that Snape’s cautious, withdrawn, and sometimes downright hostile disposition did nothing to invite his surroundings to confidence and trust. They were both only a couple of years older than Snape. They remembered him vaguely from the younger classes when they went to Hogwarts as an odd young Slytherin destined to join the Dark side sooner or later. Both Mrs Steadfast and Kingsley Shacklebolt had been reminded of the extreme enmity that had prevailed between Severus Snape and James Potter, and therefore it was all the more shocking to witness the son of the former Death Eater’s rival mobilise such a solid case of vouching, scoring infinitely higher on the pyramid of faith than they knew they would ever manage. They were rightly awed and so was Judge Forceps who swallowed and spoke.
“That was convincing indeed, Mr Potter. We will...”
At this moment, the piercing voice of Rita Skeeter travelled from the back stand. Propped up in a floating chair, that disabled wizards and witches used to move about, she had been let through the crowd to the banister. She looked very strange, only her upper body visible and, probably because she could not keep her balance even seated, without her lower limbs, she had her trunk tied with a sticking charm to the back of the chair in order not to fall forward and therefore made a strangely erect, almost arched, impression. There was nothing wrong with her voice, though.
“The question of parentage must be cleared! I’ve claimed this again and again in my articles, but no one takes me seriously. A person who is connected by blood to the accused is not allowed to vouch for him. And such a high score, too! They’re bound to be related in some way...”
Judge Forceps rose an angry face and before either Harry or Snape had time to react to what Rita Skeeter said, Judge Forceps replied crushingly.
“I know what you have written about, Mrs Skeeter. And that nonsense about a blood tie to Voldemort proved ridiculously wrong. As if there would be a son no one knew about - preposterous! The press will do best to stay out of the court’s work. Checking the lawfulness of vouching procedures is not your business. But for the record, I want it to be noted – and this is my own testimony – that Harry Potter is the son of James Potter and Lily Evans. I was a childhood friend of James Potter’s mother, Hydrea Lombard, and visited the family frequently when he was a child. I also paid my respect to Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts some years ago and watched Harry Potter with my own eyes. He was a copy of his father at the same age. I commented on the amazing similarity, and Dumbledore agreed with me. There’s no doubt about Harry Potter’s descent, every other speculation is preposterous. Note that down to the protocol!” She snapped the last direction to the Court scribe. “Mr Potter, I’ll ask you to leave us. The Wizengamot will withdraw to reach a verdict.”
Harry put his glasses back on, that he had pulled out from his pocket before he walked back through the cross-fire of flashlights.
***
Harry waited for Mrs Steadfast at the Auror’s Headquarters as convened between them. The common room was quite deserted. The odd Auror passed by and looked inquiringly at Harry who mumbled a greeting. Finally Mrs Steadfast entered, scanning the room for Harry who rose with an interrogating gaze.
“Acquitted!” she said in a stifled voice.
Harry smiled broadly and fidgeted awkwardly. He did not really know what to do with himself, but Mrs Steadfast stepped up to him and hugged him vigorously.
“By all moonstones in the universe!” she said and cleared her voice as she was still hoarse from emotion. “You did it!”
“How did he take it? Do you think he’s furious with me?”
Mrs Steadfast shook her head.
“You’ve prevented his going to Azkaban. You’ve cleared him for good. How can he resent it? He looked shattered... deeply shaken... at first... but then he put on his mask of Occlumency and he managed to look quite unperturbed. So he is dealing with all the attention, the congratulations, the photographing right now. I thought he’d break down at first, but dissembling is his thing, I guess. That wizard possesses a great mental strength. A bit scary, though, with the Occlumency, if you ask me. He sort of looks wax-like, if you know what I mean.”
Harry pulled a face. He knew all too well.
“I’ll return to Hogwarts,” he said. ”Will you arrange for someone to come and fetch me at the gates? Hagrid or Hermione and Ron, if I’m to choose myself...” Mrs Steadfast smiled and pulled out her necklace watch to whisper orders to it.
“Come this way, Harry. The Aurors have a secret passage to an Apparition zone in the Ministry. Top secret. I’ll show you.”
***
One hour later, Mrs Steadfast walked fast along the corridor leading to the courtroom. She had waited for Snape to turn up at her office, but when he did not show up, she left to go looking for him. The dungeon was deserted, save a clerk who told her Snape had left with Kingsley some time ago. Mrs Steadfast frowned. Instead of mounting to Kingsley Shacklebolt’s office, she pulled out her security watch and spoke to it. She hurried to the elevator and stepped out when they reached the Atrium of the Ministry which held the official Apparition zone.
A grey-haired security wizard stood by the gigantic fountain in the middle of the hall, red in the face as he tried to retain his calm in front of a haughty black figure who rebuffed him with snide remarks and a threatening countenance.
“I have urgent business to attend to at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; I believe you are exceeding your authority by detaining me - Sir!” thundered Snape.
“The head of the Aurors Office wants a word with you, Professor Snape. If you’ll please just wait a moment, she will... Oh, Mrs Steadfast, there you are. It was in the nick of time you called me, because he was just about to take off.” Mrs Steadfast had positioned herself at a little distance and looked at Snape with arms crossed and lips pressed tightly as he turned around.
“My office,” she cut short and revolved instantly and started to walk towards the elevator again without turning around to see if Snape complied with her command. After a slight hesitation, he followed her.
A short while later, Snape stood erect and still in the middle of Mrs Steadfast’s office. His face was completely impassive. Mrs Steadfast circled him with brown eyes riveted on him.
“What’s the matter with you, Severus? Just because you’re acquitted you think that we have nothing to discuss, you and me, is that it?”
Snape was silent.
“Why are you trying to avoid me?”
A supercilious smile just played at the corner of Snape’s lips and it made Mrs Steadfast furious.
“Don’t leer at me, Severus. I’ve been so worried for your sake! I’ve gone through agonies when contemplating the unsafe plan we had made up in case you had been convicted. It did not hold water, you know that! I’m so relieved we don’t have to play that game.”
Snape scrutinised her without batting an eyelid.
“Talk to me, Severus. Don’t stare at me with those eyes. You don’t need to use Occlumency on me, surely? By Merlin’s beard, why are you still...? You look awful! Stop it! Speak to me!” she shouted, losing control of her temper, her brown eyes blazing.
“I had better get back to Hogwarts,” said Snape in a drawling, indifferent voice. Mrs Steadfast stared at him, outraged. Snape started to move towards the door.
“Wait! Do you think I had planned things with Potter?” Mrs Steadfast put a hand on his arm and pulled on it rather roughly for him to stop. “Is that why you behave like this? Do you think I’ve gone behind your back? I have not! Potter did what he did of his own accord. He knew the Auror at the gate at Hogwarts would alert me as soon as he left the grounds this morning. He asked her to send me a message to meet him in the Atrium. That’s why I left the trial. Potter and Granger had prepared all the paperwork necessary to convince the court without delay to accept his demand to vouch for you. When he appeared at the Atrium he merely asked me to take him to the most efficient employee at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that I knew of. He needed to work quickly to make them accept his request before the trial had advanced too far. I helped him and left him to arrange things with the clerk. That’s the only part I played, a small one, you must admit. He knew he must do it in the very last moment to surprise you, even if you had not expressively forbidden him to vouch for you. You had not, had you? He was asked to vouch for you by Kingsley at the beginning of the school year, if you remember? Everyone thought he had reached a decision not to carry through with it, including yourself, I gather. We thought it was too much asked. He never once mentioned it to me, I assure you. And Kingsley didn’t know of it either.”
Snape who had stopped in his movement for a short while to listen, continued towards the door. Mrs Steadfast ran after him.
“Severus, please listen to me,” she pleaded with him. “I appreciate that you were deeply shaken by the turn the trial took. We all thought his faith in you was astounding. But you’re declared an innocent man. Rejoice in your freedom! Accept what Harry did for you as a rare gift. He told you there was no obligation due. Please, Severus, please, stay and talk to me,” she begged, clinging to his arm, but he disengaged from her stiffly and opened the door to the common room where a couple of Mrs Steadfast’s Aurors lifted their heads to look at them in surprise.
“I must return to Hogwarts,” repeated Snape automatically, and set off for the elevator. Mrs Steadfast ran after him. “Leave me alone, Audrey!” growled Snape in a low voice that finally betrayed some emotion.
“Promise to let me know at once if they contact you. Promise me that, Severus! The Shifting Successors… Healer Frankiss... We don’t know yet what will happen. Be careful... please!”
Snape only grunted an indistinct answer and fled from her with his cloak flapping after him.
Mrs Steadfast stopped following him, panting defeatedly as if she had run up a high mountain when she had in fact only taken a few steps in the corridor.