027.asc

// 5281
//== Empathy

// 5282
//J. K. Rowling is 87// confident you will burst into flames.

// 5283
//Roger Bacon lived in the 13th century and is credited as one of the earliest
//advocates of the scientific method. Giving a scientist his experimental diary
//is sort of like giving a writer the pen, not of Shakespeare, but of someone who
//helped invent writing.

// 5284
//It wasn’t every day you got to see Harry Potter beg.

// 5285
//“__Pleeaaase,__” whined Harry Potter.

// 5286
//Fred and George shook their heads again, smiling.

// 5287
//There was an agonized look on Harry Potter’s face. “But I __told__ you how
//I did the one with Kevin Entwhistle’s cat, and Hermione and the vanishing soda,
//and I __can’t__ tell you about the Sorting Hat or the Remembrall or
//Professor Snape…”

// 5288
//Fred and George shrugged and turned to leave.

// 5289
//“If you ever do figure it out,” said the Weasley twins, “be sure to let us
//know.”

// 5290
//“__You’re evil! You’re both evil!__”

// 5291
//Fred and George firmly closed the door to the empty classroom behind them, and
//made sure to keep the grin on their faces for a while, just in case Harry
//Potter could see through doors.

// 5292
//Then they turned a corner and their faces sagged.

// 5293
//“I don’t suppose Harry’s guesses -”

// 5294
//“- gave you any ideas?” they said to each other at the same time, and then
//their shoulders slumped further.

// 5295
//Their last relevant memory was of Flume refusing to help them, though they
//couldn’t remember __what__ they’d asked him to do…

// 5296
//…but they must have looked elsewhere and found __someone__ to help them do
//__something__ illegal, or they wouldn’t have agreed to be Obliviated
//afterward.

// 5297
//How had they __possibly__ been able to get all that done on just forty
//Galleons?

// 5298
//At first they’d worried that they’d forged evidence so good that Harry actually
//__would__ end up married to Ginny… but they’d thought of that too, it
//seemed. The Wizengamot proceedings had been tampered with __again__ to put
//them back the way they’d been originally, the fake betrothal contract had
//vanished from its dragon-guarded vault in Gringotts, and so on. It was pretty
//scary, actually. Most people now thought the __Daily Prophet__ had just
//made the whole thing up for unguessable reasons, and the __Quibbler__ had
//helpfully twisted the knife deeper with the next day’s headline, HARRY POTTER
//SECRETLY BETROTHED TO LUNA LOVEGOOD.

// 5299
//Whoever they’d hired would tell them after the statute of limitations expired,
//they desperately hoped. But meanwhile it was awful, they’d pulled their
//greatest prank ever, maybe the greatest prank in the history of pranking, and
//they __couldn’t remember how.__ It was crazy, they’d been able to think of
//a way the __first__ time, so why couldn’t they see it now after
//__knowing__ everything they’d done?

// 5300
//Their only consolation was that Harry didn’t know they didn’t know.

// 5301
//Not even Mum had questioned them about it, despite the obvious Weasley
//connection. Whatever had been done, it was far out of the reach of any Hogwarts
//student… except possibly __one__, who, if certain rumors were true, might
//have done it by snapping his fingers. __Harry__ had been questioned under
//Veritaserum, he’d told them… with Dumbledore present and giving the Aurors
//scary looks. The Aurors had asked just enough to determine that Harry hadn’t
//pulled the prank himself or disappeared anyone, and then gotten the heck out of
//Hogwarts.

// 5302
//Fred and George had wondered whether to feel insulted about Harry Potter being
//questioned by the Aurors for __their__ prank, but the look on
//__Harry’s__ face, probably for exactly the same reason, made everything
//worth it.

// 5303
//Unsurprisingly, Rita Skeeter and the editor of the __Daily Prophet__ had
//both vanished and were probably in another country by now. They
//__would’ve__ liked to be able to tell their family about that part. Dad
//would have congratulated them, they thought, after Mum had finished killing
//them and Ginny had burned the remains.

// 5304
//But everything was still all right, they’d tell Dad someday, and meanwhile…

// 5305
//…meanwhile Dumbledore had happened to sneeze while passing them in the hallway,
//and a small package had accidentally dropped out of his pockets, and inside had
//been two matched wardbreaker’s monocles of __incredible__ quality. The
//Weasley twins had tested their new monocles on the “forbidden” third-floor
//corridor, making a quick trip to the magic mirror and back, and they hadn’t
//been able to see __all__ the detection webs clearly, but the monocles had
//shown a __lot__ more than they’d seen the first time.

// 5306
//Of course they would have to be very careful never to get caught with the
//monocles in their possession, or they would end up in the Headmaster’s office
//getting a stern lecture and maybe even threats of expulsion.

// 5307
//It was good to know that not everyone who got Sorted into Gryffindor grew up to
//be Professor McGonagall.

// 5308
//Harry was in a white room, windowless, featureless, sitting before a desk,
//facing an expressionless man in formal robes of solid black.

// 5309
//The room was screened against detection, and the man had performed exactly
//twenty-seven spells before saying so much as “Hello, Mr. Potter.”

// 5310
//It was oddly appropriate that the man in black was about to try reading Harry’s
//mind.

// 5311
//“Prepare yourself,” the man said tonelessly.

// 5312
//A human mind, Harry’s Occlumency book had said, was only exposed to a
//Legilimens along certain __surfaces__. If you failed to defend your
//surfaces, the Legilimens would go __through__ and be able to access any
//part of you which their own mind was able to comprehend…

// 5313
//…which tended not to be much. Human minds, it seemed, were hard for humans to
//understand on any level but the shallowest. Harry had wondered if knowing lots
//of cognitive science could make him an incredibly powerful Legilimens, but
//repeated experience had __finally__ driven into him the lesson that he
//needed to get a little less excited in his anticipations about this sort of
//thing. It wasn’t as if any cognitive scientist understood humans well enough to
//make one.

// 5314
//To learn the counter, Occlumency, the first step was to imagine yourself to be
//a different person, pretending it as thoroughly as you could, immersing
//yourself entirely in that alternate persona. You wouldn’t always have to do
//that, but in the beginning, it was how you learned where your surfaces were.
//The Legilimens would try to read you, and you would feel it happening if you
//paid close enough attention, you would sense them trying to enter. And your job
//was to make sure that they always touched your imaginary persona and not the
//real one.

// 5315
//When you were good enough at that, you could imagine being a very
//__simple__ sort of person, pretend to be a rock, and make a habit of
//leaving the pretense in place where all your surfaces were. That was a standard
//Occlumency barrier. Pretending to be a rock was hard to learn, but easy to do
//afterward, and the exposed surface of a mind was much shallower than its
//interior, so with enough practice you could keep it up as a background habit.

// 5316
//Or if you were a __perfect Occlumens__, you could race __ahead__ of
//any probes, answering queries as fast as they were asked, so that the
//Legilimens would enter through your surfaces and see a mind indistinguishable
//from whoever you were pretending to be.

// 5317
//Even the best Legilimens could be fooled that way. If a perfect Occlumens
//claimed they were dropping their Occlumency barriers, there was no way to know
//if they were lying. Worse, you might not know you were dealing with a perfect
//Occlumens. They were rare, but the fact that they existed meant you couldn’t
//trust Legilimency on __anyone.__

// 5318
//It was a sad commentary on how little human beings understood each other, how
//little any wizard comprehended the depths lying beneath the mind’s surface,
//that you could fool the best human telepaths by pretending to be someone else.

// 5319
//But then human beings only understood each other in the first place by
//pretending. You didn’t make predictions about people by modeling the hundred
//trillion synapses in their brain as separate objects. Ask the best social
//manipulator on Earth to build you an Artificial Intelligence from scratch, and
//they’d just give you a dumb look. You predicted people by telling __your__
//brain to act like theirs. You __put yourself in their place__. If you
//wanted to know what an angry person would do, you activated your own brain’s
//anger circuitry, and whatever that circuitry output, that was your prediction.
//What did the neural circuitry for anger actually look like inside? Who knew?
//The best social manipulator on Earth might not know what neurons __were__,
//and neither might the best Legilimens.

// 5320
//Anything a Legilimens could __understand__, an Occlumens could
//__pretend__ to be. It was the same trick either way - probably implemented
//by the same neural circuitry in both cases, a single set of control circuits
//for reconfiguring your own brain to act as a model of someone else’s.

// 5321
//And so the race between telepathic offense and telepathic defense had been a
//decisive win for defense. Otherwise the entire magical world, maybe even the
//whole Earth, would have been a very different place…

// 5322
//Harry took a deep breath, and concentrated. There was a slight smile on his
//face.

// 5323
//For __once,__ just __once,__ Harry hadn’t gotten shortchanged in the
//mysterious powers department.

// 5324
//After almost a month of work, and more on a whim than any real hunch, Harry had
//decided to make himself coldly angry and then try the book’s Occlumency
//exercises again. At that point he’d mostly given up hope on that sort of thing,
//but it had still seemed worth a quick try -

// 5325
//He’d run through all the book’s hardest exercises in two hours, and the next
//day he’d gone and told Professor Quirrell he was ready.

// 5326
//His dark side, it had turned out, was very, __very__ good at pretending to
//be other people.

// 5327
//Harry thought of his standard trigger, from the first time he’d gone over
//entirely to his dark side…

// 5328
//__Severus paused, looking quite pleased with himself. “And that will be…
//five points? No, let us make it an even ten points from Ravenclaw for
//backchat.”__

// 5329
//Harry’s smile grew chillier, and he regarded the black-robed man who thought he
//was going to read Harry’s mind.

// 5330
//And then Harry turned into someone else entirely, someone who had seemed
//appropriate to the occasion.

// 5331
//…in a white room, windowless, featureless, sitting before a desk, facing an
//expressionless man in formal robes of solid black.

// 5332
//Kimball Kinnison regarded the black-robed man who thought he was going to read
//the mind of a Second-Stage Lensman of the Galactic Patrol.

// 5333
//To say that Kimball Kinnison was confident of the outcome would be an
//understatement. He had been trained by Mentor of Arisia, the most powerful mind
//known to this or any other universe, and the mere wizard sitting across from
//him would see precisely what the Gray Lensman wanted him to see…

// 5334
//…the mind of the boy he was currently disguised as, an innocent child named
//Harry Potter.

// 5335
//“I’m ready,” said Kimball Kinnison in nervous tones that were exactly
//appropriate for an eleven-year-old boy.

// 5336
//“__Legilimens,__” said the black-robed wizard.

// 5337
//There was a pause.

// 5338
//The black-robed wizard blinked, as if he’d seen something so shocking that it
//had been enough to make even __his__ eyelids move. His voice wasn’t quite
//toneless as he said, “The Boy-Who-Lived has a __mysterious dark side?__”

// 5339
//The heat slowly crept up into Harry’s cheeks.

// 5340
//“Well,” the man said. His face had now settled back into perfect calm. “Excuse
//me. Mr. Potter, it is good to know your advantages, but that is not the same as
//being wildly overconfident in them. You may indeed be able to learn Occlumency
//at eleven years of age. This astounds me. I had thought Mr. Dumbledore was
//pretending to be insane again. Your dissociative talent is so strong that I am
//surprised to find no other signs of childhood abuse, and you may become a
//perfect Occlumens in time. But there is a considerable difference between that
//and expecting to put up a successful Occlumency barrier on your first attempt.
//That is merely ridiculous. Did you feel anything as I read your mind?”

// 5341
//Harry shook his head, now blushing furiously.

// 5342
//“Then pay closer attention next time. The goal is not to create a perfect image
//on your first day of lessons. The goal is to learn where your surfaces are.
//Prepare yourself.”

// 5343
//Harry tried to pretend to be Kimball Kinnison again, tried to pay more
//attention, but his thoughts were a little scattered and he was suddenly aware
//of all the things he shouldn’t be thinking about…

// 5344
//Oh, this was going to suck.

// 5345
//Harry gritted his teeth. At least the instructor would be Obliviated afterward.

// 5346
//“__Legilimens.__”

// 5347
//There was a pause -

// 5348
//…in a white room, windowless, featureless, sitting before a desk, facing an
//expressionless man in formal robes of solid black.

// 5349
//It was their fourth day, on a Sunday evening. When you paid this much, you got
//your sessions any darned time you wanted, never mind the concept of weekends.

// 5350
//“Hello, Mr. Potter,” the telepath said tonelessly, having cast the full suite
//of privacy spells.

// 5351
//“Hello, Mr. Bester,” Harry said wearily. “Let’s just get the initial shock out
//of the way, shall we?”

// 5352
//“You managed to surprise me?” the man said, now sounding slightly interested.
//“Well then.” He pointed his wand and stared into Harry’s eyes.
//“__Legilimens.__”

// 5353
//There was a pause, and then the black-robed wizard jerked as if someone had
//touched him with a cattle prod.

// 5354
//“The Dark Lord is __alive?__” he choked. His eyes were suddenly wild.
//”__Dumbledore turns himself invisible and sneaks into girls’ dorm
//rooms?__”

// 5355
//Harry sighed and looked down at his watch. In about another three seconds…

// 5356
//“So,” the man said. He hadn’t quite recovered his tonelessness. “You genuinely
//believe you’re going to discover the secret rules of magic and become
//all-powerful.”

// 5357
//“That’s right,” Harry said evenly, still looking at his watch. “I’m
//__that__ overconfident.”

// 5358
//“I wonder. It seems the Sorting Hat thinks you’ll be the next Dark Lord.”

// 5359
//“And __you__ know I’m trying pretty hard __not__ to be, and you saw
//that we already had a long discussion about whether you were willing to teach
//me Occlumency, and in the end you decided to do it, so can we just get this
//over with?”

// 5360
//“All right,” said the man exactly six seconds later, same as last time.
//“Prepare yourself.” He paused, and then said, his voice rather wistful, “Though
//I __do__ wish I could remember that trick with the gold and silver.”

// 5361
//Harry was finding himself very disturbed by how reproducible human thoughts
//were when you reset people back to the same initial conditions and exposed them
//to the same stimuli. It was dispelling illusions that a good reductionist
//wasn’t supposed to have in the first place.

// 5362
//Harry was in a rather bad mood as he stomped out of his Herbology class the
//next Monday morning.

// 5363
//Hermione was seething alongside him.

// 5364
//The other children were still inside, a bit slow to assemble their things
//because they were gibbering excitedly to each other about Ravenclaw winning the
//year’s second Quidditch match.

// 5365
//It seemed that last night after dinner, a girl had flown around on a broomstick
//for thirty minutes and then caught some sort of giant mosquito. There were
//other facts about what had happened during this match, but they were
//irrelevant.

// 5366
//Harry had missed this exciting sports event due to his Occlumency lesson, and
//also having a life.

// 5367
//He had then avoided all conversations in the Ravenclaw dorm, weren’t Quieting
//Charms and magical trunks wonderful. He had eaten breakfast at the Gryffindor
//table.

// 5368
//But Harry couldn’t avoid Herbology, and the Ravenclaws had talked about it
//before class, and after class, and __during class,__ until Harry had
//looked up from the baby furcot whose diaper he was changing, and announced
//loudly that some of them were trying to learn about __plants__ and
//Snitches didn’t grow on anything so could they all __please__ shut up
//about Quidditch. Everyone else present had given him shocked looks, except
//Hermione, who’d looked like she wanted to applaud, and Professor Sprout, who
//had awarded him a point for Ravenclaw.

// 5369
//__A__ point for Ravenclaw.

// 5370
//__One__ point.

// 5371
//The seven idiots on their idiot brooms playing their idiot game had earned
//__one hundred and ninety points__ for Ravenclaw.

// 5372
//It seemed that Quidditch scores__ added directly onto the House points
//total.__

// 5373
//In other words, catching a golden mosquito was worth 150 House points.

// 5374
//Harry couldn’t even __imagine__ what he would have to do to earn one
//hundred and fifty House points.

// 5375
//Besides, y’know, rescuing __a hundred and fifty Hufflepuffs,__ or coming
//up with__ fifteen ideas as good as putting protective shells on time
//machines,__ or inventing__ one thousand five hundred creative ways to kill
//people,__ or being Hermione Granger for the __entire year__.

// 5376
//“We should kill them,” Harry said to Hermione, who was walking beside him with
//an equally offended air.

// 5377
//“Who?” said Hermione. “The Quidditch team?”

// 5378
//“I was thinking of everyone involved in any way with Quidditch anywhere, but
//the Ravenclaw team would be a start, yes.”

// 5379
//Hermione’s lips were pursed disapprovingly. “You __do__ know that killing
//people is wrong, Harry?”

// 5380
//“Yes,” Harry said.

// 5381
//“Okay, just checking,” Hermione said. “Let’s get the Seeker first. I’ve read
//some Agatha Christie mysteries, do you know how we can get her onto a train?”

// 5382
//“Two students plotting murder,” said a dry voice. “How shocking.”

// 5383
//From around a nearby corner strolled a man in lightly spotted robes, his greasy
//hair falling long and unkempt about his shoulders. Deadly danger seemed to
//radiate out from him, filling the hallway with improperly mixed potions and
//accidental falls and people dying in bed of what the Aurors would rule to be
//natural causes.

// 5384
//Without thinking about it at all, Harry stepped in front of Hermione.

// 5385
//There was an intake of breath from behind him, and then a moment later Hermione
//brushed past and stepped in front of __him.__ “Run, Harry!” she said.
//“Boys shouldn’t have to be in danger.”

// 5386
//Severus Snape smiled mirthlessly. “Amusing. I request a moment of your time,
//Potter, if you can tear yourself away from your flirtations with Miss Granger.”

// 5387
//Suddenly there was a very worried look on Hermione’s face. She turned to Harry
//and opened her mouth, then paused, looking distressed.

// 5388
//“Oh, don’t worry, Miss Granger,” said Severus’s silky voice. “I promise to
//return your beau unmaimed.” His smile vanished. “Now Potter and I are about to
//go off and have a private conversation, just by ourselves. I hope it is clear
//that you are not invited, but just in case, consider that an order from a
//Hogwarts professor. I’m sure a good little girl like you won’t disobey.”

// 5389
//And Severus turned and walked back around the corner. “Coming, Potter?” his
//voice said.

// 5390
//“Um,” Harry said to Hermione. “Can I just sort of go off and follow him and let
//__you__ work out what I should say to make sure you’re not all worried and
//offended?”

// 5391
//“No,” Hermione said, her voice trembling.

// 5392
//Severus’s laughter echoed from around the corner.

// 5393
//Harry bowed his head. “Sorry,” he said lowly, “really,” and he went off after
//the Potions Master.

// 5394
//“So,” Harry said. There were no other sounds now but two pairs of legs, the
//long and the short, padding across a random stone corridor. The Potions Master
//was striding quickly but not too fast for Harry to keep up, and insofar as
//Harry could apply the concept of directionality to Hogwarts, they were moving
//away from the frequented areas. “What’s this about?”

// 5395
//“I don’t suppose you could explain,” Severus said dryly, “why the two of you
//were plotting to murder Cho Chang?”

// 5396
//“I don’t suppose __you__ could explain,” Harry said dryly, “in your
//capacity as an official of the Hogwarts school system, why catching a golden
//mosquito is deemed an academic accomplishment worthy of a hundred and fifty
//House points?”

// 5397
//A smile crossed Severus’s lips. “Dear me, and I thought you were supposed to be
//perceptive. Are you truly so incapable of understanding your classmates,
//Potter, or do you dislike them too much to try? If Quidditch scores did not
//count toward the House Cup then none of them would care about House points at
//all. It would merely be an obscure contest for students like you and Miss
//Granger.”

// 5398
//It was a shockingly good answer.

// 5399
//And that shock brought Harry’s mind fully awake.

// 5400
//In retrospect it shouldn’t have been surprising that Severus understood his
//students, understood them very well indeed.

// 5401
//He had been reading their minds.

// 5402
//And…

// 5403
//…the book said that a successful Legilimens was extremely rare, rarer than a
//perfect Occlumens, because almost no one had enough mental discipline.

// 5404
//__Mental discipline?__

// 5405
//Harry had collected stories about a man who routinely lost his temper in class
//and blew up at young children.

// 5406
//…but this same man, when Harry had spoken of the Dark Lord still being alive,
//had responded instantly and perfectly - reacting in precisely the way that
//someone completely ignorant would react.

// 5407
//The man stalked about Hogwarts with the air of an assassin, radiating danger…

// 5408
//…which was exactly __not__ what a real assassin should do. Real assassins
//should look like meek little accountants until they killed you.

// 5409
//He was the Head of House for proud and aristocratic Slytherin, and he wore a
//robe with spotted stains from bits of potions and ingredients, which two
//minutes of magic could have removed.

// 5410
//Harry noticed that he was confused.

// 5411
//And his threat estimate of the __Head of House Slytherin__ shot up
//astronomically.

// 5412
//Dumbledore had seemed to think Severus was his, and there’d been nothing to
//contradict that; the Potions Master had been “scary but not abusive”, as
//promised. So, Harry had reasoned earlier, this was Fellowship business. If
//Severus had been planning harm, surely he wouldn’t have come to get Harry in
//front of Hermione, a witness, when he could have simply waited for some time
//when Harry was alone…

// 5413
//Harry quietly bit his lip.

// 5414
//“I once knew a boy who truly adored Quidditch,” said Severus Snape. “He was an
//utter pillock. Just as you and I would expect, we two.”

// 5415
//“What __is__ this?” Harry said slowly.

// 5416
//“Patience, Potter.”

// 5417
//Severus turned his head, and then glided with his assassin’s bearing into a
//nearby opening in the corridor walls, a smaller and narrower hallway leading
//off.

// 5418
//Harry followed him, wondering if it would be smarter to simply run away.

// 5419
//They turned and made another turn, and came to a dead end, a simple blank wall.
//If Hogwarts had actually been built, rather than conjured or summoned or
//birthed or whatever, Harry would have had some sharp words for the architect
//about paying people to build hallways that didn’t go anywhere.

// 5420
//“__Quietus,__” said Severus, and a few other things as well.

// 5421
//Harry leaned back, folded his arms across his chest, and watched Severus’s
//face.

// 5422
//“Looking me in the eyes, Potter?” said Severus Snape. “Your Occlumency lessons
//cannot have progressed far enough for you to block Legilimency. But then
//perhaps they have progressed far enough for you to detect it. Since I cannot
//know otherwise, I will not risk trying.” The man smiled thinly. “And the same
//will hold for Dumbledore, I think. Which is why we are __now__ having this
//little talk.”

// 5423
//Harry’s eyes widened involuntarily.

// 5424
//“To begin with,” Severus said, eyes glittering, “I should like you to promise
//not to speak of our conversations to __anyone__. So far as the school is
//concerned, we are discussing your Potions homework. Whether or not they believe
//that is unimportant. So far as Dumbledore and McGonagall are concerned, I am
//violating Draco Malfoy’s confidences in me, and neither of us think it proper
//to speak further of the particulars.”

// 5425
//Harry’s brain tried to calculate the ramifications and implications of this and
//ran out of swap space.

// 5426
//“Well?” said the Potions Master.

// 5427
//“All right,” Harry said slowly. It was hard to see how having a conversation
//and being unable to tell anyone could be more constraining than __not__
//having it, in which case you __also__ couldn’t tell anyone the contents.
//“I promise.”

// 5428
//Severus was watching Harry intently. “You said once in the Headmaster’s office
//that you would not tolerate bullying or abuse. And so I wonder, Harry Potter.
//Just how much do you resemble your father?”

// 5429
//“Unless we’re talking about Michael Verres-Evans,” Harry said, “the answer is
//that I know very little about James Potter.”

// 5430
//Severus nodded, as though to himself. “There is a fifth-year Slytherin. A boy
//named Lesath Lestrange. He is being bullied by Gryffindors. I am… constrained,
//in my ability to deal with such situations. __You__ could help him,
//perhaps. If you wished. I am not asking you for a favor, and will not owe you
//one. It is simply an opportunity to do as you will.”

// 5431
//Harry stared at Severus, thinking.

// 5432
//“Wondering if it’s a trap?” said Severus, a faint smile crossing his lips. “It
//is not. It __is__ a test. Call it curiosity on my part. But Lesath’s
//troubles are real, as are my own difficulties in intervening.”

// 5433
//That was the trouble with other people knowing you were a good guy. Even if you
//knew they knew, you still couldn’t ignore the bait.

// 5434
//And if his father had protected students from bullies too… it didn’t matter if
//Harry knew why Severus had told him. It still made him feel warm inside, and
//proud, and made it impossible to walk away.

// 5435
//“Fine,” Harry said. “Tell me about Lesath. Why is he being bullied?”

// 5436
//Severus’s face lost the faint smile. “You think there are __reasons__,
//Potter?”

// 5437
//“Perhaps not,” Harry said quietly. “But the thought had occurred to me that he
//might have pushed some unimportant mudblood girl down the stairs.”

// 5438
//“Lesath Lestrange,” Severus said, his voice now cold, “is the son of Bellatrix
//Black, the most fanatic and evil servant of the Dark Lord. Lesath is the
//acknowledged bastard of Rabastan Lestrange. Shortly after the Dark Lord’s
//death, Bellatrix and Rabastan and Rabastan’s brother Rodolphus were captured
//while torturing Alice and Frank Longbottom. All three are in Azkaban for life.
//The Longbottoms were driven insane by repeated Cruciatus and remain in St.
//Mungo’s incurable ward. Is any of that a good reason to bully him, Potter?”

// 5439
//“It is no reason at all,” Harry said, still quietly. “And Lesath himself has
//done no wrong that you know?”

// 5440
//The faint smile crossed Severus’s lips again. “He is no more a saint than
//anyone else. But he has pushed no mudblood girls down the stairs, not that I
//ever heard.”

// 5441
//“Or saw in his mind,” said Harry.

// 5442
//Severus’s expression was chill. “I did not invade his privacy, Potter. I looked
//within the Gryffindors, rather. He is simply a convenient target for their
//little satisfactions.”

// 5443
//A cold wash of anger ran down Harry’s spine, and he had to remind himself that
//Severus might not be a trustworthy source of information.

// 5444
//“And you think,” Harry said, “that an intervention by Harry Potter, the
//Boy-Who-Lived, might prove effective.”

// 5445
//“Indeed,” said Severus Snape, and told Harry when and where the Gryffindors
//were planning their next little game.

// 5446
//There is a main hallway running through the middle of Hogwarts’s second floor
//on the north-south axis, and near the center of this hallway there is an
//opening into a short corridor which goes a dozen paces back before turning at a
//right angle, making an L-shape, and then goes a dozen paces more before it ends
//at a bright, wide window, looking out from three stories above upon the light
//drizzle falling over the east grounds of Hogwarts. Standing by the window you
//can hear nothing of the main hallway, and no one in the hallway would hear what
//went on by the window. If you think there is anything odd about this, you
//haven’t been in Hogwarts very long.

// 5447
//Four boys in red-trimmed robes are laughing, and a boy in green-trimmed robes
//is screaming and grabbing frantically onto the edges of the opened window with
//his hands, as the four boys make as though to push him out. It’s just a joke,
//of course, and besides, a fall from that height wouldn’t kill a wizard. All
//good fun. If you think there is anything odd about this -

// 5448
//“__What are you doing?__” says a sixth boy’s voice.

// 5449
//The four boys in red-trimmed robes spin around with sudden starts, and the boy
//in green-trimmed robes frantically pushes himself away from the window and
//falls to the floor, face streaked with tears.

// 5450
//“Oh,” says the most handsome of the boys in red-trimmed robes, sounding
//relieved, “it’s __you.__ Hey, Lessy, you know who this is?”

// 5451
//There isn’t any answer from the boy on the floor, who’s trying to get his
//sniffling under control, and the boy in the red-trimmed robes draws back his
//leg for a kick -

// 5452
//“__Stop it!__” shouts the sixth boy.

// 5453
//The boy in the red-trimmed robes wobbles as he aborts the kick. “Um,” he says,
//“do __you__ know who this is?”

// 5454
//The sixth boy’s breathing sounds strange. “Lesath Lestrange,” he says, his
//breath coming in short pants, “and __he__ didn’t do anything to my
//parents, he was five years old.”

// 5455
//Neville Longbottom stared at the four huge fifth-year bullies in front of him,
//trying very hard to control his trembling.

// 5456
//He should have just told Harry Potter no.

// 5457
//“Why are __you__ defending him?” said the handsome one, slowly, sounding
//puzzled with the first hints of offense. “He’s a __Slytherin.__ And a
//__Lestrange.__”

// 5458
//“He’s a boy who lost his parents,” said Neville Longbottom. “I know how that
//is.” He didn’t know where the words had come from. It sounded too cool, like
//something Harry Potter would say.

// 5459
//The trembling went on, though.

// 5460
//“__Who__ do you think you __are?__” said the handsome one, starting
//to sound angry.

// 5461
//__I am Neville, the last scion of the Noble and Most Ancient House of
//Longbottom -__

// 5462
//Neville couldn’t say it.

// 5463
//“I think he’s a __traitor__,” said one of the other Gryffindors, and there
//was a sudden sinking sensation in Neville’s stomach.

// 5464
//He’d known it, he’d just known it. Harry Potter had been wrong after all.
//Bullies wouldn’t stop only because Neville Longbottom told them to stop.

// 5465
//The handsome one took a step forward, and the three others followed.

// 5466
//“So that’s how it is for you,” Neville said, amazed at how steady his voice
//was. “It doesn’t matter to you if it’s Lesath Lestrange or Neville Longbottom.”

// 5467
//Lesath Lestrange let out a sudden gasp, from where he was lying on the floor.

// 5468
//“Evil is evil,” snarled the same boy who’d spoken before, “and if you’re
//friends with evil, you’re evil too.”

// 5469
//The four took another step forward.

// 5470
//Lesath rose, wobbling, to his feet. His face was gray, and he took a few steps
//forward, and leaned against the wall, and didn’t say anything. His eyes were
//fixed on the turn in the hallway, the way out.

// 5471
//“Friends,” Neville said. Now his voice was going up a bit in pitch. “Yes, I
//have friends. One of them is the Boy-Who-Lived.”

// 5472
//A couple of the Gryffindors looked suddenly worried. The handsome one didn’t
//flinch. “Harry Potter isn’t here,” he said, his voice hard, “and if he was, I
//don’t think he’d like to see a Longbottom defending a Lestrange.”

// 5473
//And the Gryffindors took another long step forward, and behind them, Lesath
//crept along the wall, waiting for his chance.

// 5474
//Neville swallowed, and raised his right hand with his thumb and forefinger
//pressed together.

// 5475
//He shut his eyes, because Harry Potter had made him promise not to peek.

// 5476
//If this didn’t work, he was never trusting anyone again.

// 5477
//His voice came out surprisingly clear, considering.

// 5478
//“Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres. Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres. Harry James
//Potter-Evans-Verres. By the debt that you owe me and the power of your true
//name I summon you, I open the way for you, I call upon you to manifest yourself
//before me.”

// 5479
//Neville snapped his fingers.

// 5480
//And then Neville opened his eyes.

// 5481
//Lesath Lestrange was staring at him.

// 5482
//The four Gryffindors were staring at him.

// 5483
//The handsome one started to chuckle, and that set off the other three.

// 5484
//“Was Harry Potter supposed to step around the corner or something?” said the
//handsome one. “Aw. Looks like you’ve been stood up.”

// 5485
//The handsome one took a menacing step forward toward Neville.

// 5486
//The other three followed in lockstep.

// 5487
//“Ahem,” said Harry Potter from behind them, leaning against the wall by the
//window, in the dead end of the hallway, where nobody could possibly have gotten
//to without being seen.

// 5488
//If watching people scream always felt this good, Neville could sort of
//understand why people became bullies.

// 5489
//Harry Potter stalked forward, placing himself between Lesath Lestrange and the
//others. He swept his icy gaze across the boys in red-trimmed robes, and then
//his eyes came to rest on the handsome one, the ringleader. “Mr. Carl Sloper,”
//said Harry Potter. “I believe I have comprehended this situation fully. If
//Lesath Lestrange has ever committed a single evil himself, rather than being
//born to the wrong parents, the fact is not known to __you.__ If I am
//mistaken in this, Mr. Sloper, I suggest you inform me at once.”

// 5490
//Neville saw the fear and awe on the other boys’ faces. He was feeling it
//himself. Harry had __claimed__ it would all be a trick, but how could it
//be?

// 5491
//“But he’s a __Lestrange__,” said the ringleader.

// 5492
//“He’s a boy who __lost his parents__,” Harry Potter said, his voice
//growing even colder.

// 5493
//This time all three of the other Gryffindors flinched.

// 5494
//“So,” said Harry Potter. “You saw that Neville didn’t want you tormenting an
//innocent boy on behalf of the Longbottoms. This failed to move you. If I tell
//you that the Boy-Who-Lived __also__ thinks you are in the wrong, that what
//you did today was a terrible mistake, does that make a difference?”

// 5495
//The ringleader took a step toward Harry.

// 5496
//The others did __not__ follow him.

// 5497
//“Carl,” one of them said, swallowing. “Maybe we should go.”

// 5498
//“They say you’re going to be the next Dark Lord,” the ringleader said, staring
//at Harry.

// 5499
//A grin crossed Harry Potter’s face. “They also say I’m secretly betrothed to
//Ginevra Weasley and there’s a prophecy about us conquering France.” The smile
//faded. “Since you’re determined to force the issue, Mr. Carl Sloper, let me
//make things clear. __Leave Lesath alone.__ I will know if you don’t.”

// 5500
//“So Lessy snarked to you,” said the ringleader coldly.

// 5501
//“Sure,” said Harry Potter dryly, “and he also told me what you did today after
//you left Charms class, in a private secluded place where no one could see you,
//with a certain Hufflepuff girl wearing a white ribbon in her hair -”

// 5502
//The ringleader’s jaw dropped in shock.

// 5503
//“Eep,” said one of the other Gryffindors in a high-pitched voice, and spun on
//his heels and ran around the corner. His footsteps rapidly pattered away and
//faded.

// 5504
//And then there were six.

// 5505
//“Ah,” said Harry Potter, “there goes a slightly intelligent young man. The rest
//of you could stand to learn from Bertram Kirke’s example, before you get into,
//shall we say, trouble.”

// 5506
//“Are you threatening to snark on us?” said the handsome Gryffindor, his voice
//trying to be angry, and rather wavering. “Bad things happen to snarkers.”

// 5507
//The other two Gryffindors started slowly moving back.

// 5508
//Harry Potter started laughing. “Oh, you did not just say that. Are you
//__really__ trying to intimidate me? __Me?__ Now honestly, do you
//think you’re scarier than Peregrine Derrick, Severus Snape or for that matter
//You-Know-Who?”

// 5509
//Even the ringleader flinched at that.

// 5510
//Harry Potter raised his hand, fingers poised, and all three of the Gryffindors
//leaped backward, and one of them blurted “Don’t - !”

// 5511
//“See,” said Harry Potter, “this is where I snap my fingers and you become part
//of a hilariously amusing story that will be told with much nervous laughter at
//dinner tonight. But the thing is, people I trust keep telling me not to do
//that. Professor McGonagall told me I was taking the easy way out of everything
//and Professor Quirrell says I need to learn how to lose. So you remember that
//story where I let myself get beaten up by some older Slytherins? We could do
//that. You could bully me for a while and I could let you. Only you remember
//that part at the end where I tell my many, many friends inside this school not
//to do anything about it? This time we’ll skip that part. So go ahead. Bully
//me.”

// 5512
//Harry Potter stepped forward, his arms opened wide in invitation.

// 5513
//The three Gryffindors broke and ran, and Neville had to sidestep quickly to
//avoid getting run over.

// 5514
//There was silence, as their footsteps faded, and then more silence after that.

// 5515
//And then there were three.

// 5516
//Harry Potter drew a deep breath, then exhaled. “Whew,” he said. “How are you
//doing, Neville?”

// 5517
//Neville’s voice came out in a high-pitched squeak. “Okay, __that__ was
//really cool.”

// 5518
//A grin flashed across Harry Potter’s face. “__You__ were pretty cool too,
//you know.”

// 5519
//Neville knew that Harry Potter was just saying that, trying to make him feel
//good, and it still started a warm glow inside his chest.

// 5520
//Harry turned toward Lesath Lestrange -

// 5521
//“Are you okay, Lestrange?” said Neville before Harry could open his mouth.

// 5522
//Now there was something you didn’t expect to find yourself saying, ever.

// 5523
//Lesath Lestrange turned slowly, and stared at Neville, his face tight, no
//longer crying, tears glistening as they dried.

// 5524
//“You think you know how it is?” said Lesath, his voice high and shaking.
//“__You think you know?__ My parents are in __Azkaban,__ I try not to
//think about it and they always remind me, they think it’s __great__ that
//Mother is there in the cold and the dark with the Dementors sucking away her
//life, I wish I was like Harry Potter, at least his parents aren’t hurting, my
//parents are always hurting, every second of every day, I wish I was like you,
//at least you can see your parents sometimes, at least you know they loved you,
//if Mother ever loved me the Dementors will have eaten that thought by now -”

// 5525
//Neville’s eyes were wide with shock. He hadn’t expected this.

// 5526
//Lesath turned to Harry Potter, whose eyes were full of horror.

// 5527
//Lesath flung himself on the floor in front of Harry Potter, touched his
//forehead to the ground, and whispered, “Help me, Lord.”

// 5528
//There was an awful silence. Neville couldn’t think of a single thing to say,
//and from the naked shock on Harry’s face, he couldn’t think of anything either.

// 5529
//“They say you can do anything, please, please my Lord, get my parents out of
//Azkaban, I’ll be your loyal servant forever, my life will be yours and my death
//as well, only please -”

// 5530
//“Lesath,” Harry said, his voice breaking, “Lesath, I can’t, I can’t really do
//things like that, it’s all just stupid tricks.”

// 5531
//“It’s __not!__” said Lesath, his voice high and desperate. “I __saw__
//it, the stories are true, you __can!__”

// 5532
//Harry swallowed. “Lesath, I set the whole thing up with Neville, we planned it
//all out in advance, ask him!”

// 5533
//They had, though Harry hadn’t said __how__ he was going to do any of it…

// 5534
//When Lesath looked up from the floor his face was ghastly, and his voice came
//out in a shriek that hurt Neville’s ears. “__You son of a mudblood! You
//could get her out, you just won’t! I got down on my knees and begged you and
//you still won’t help! I should have known, you’re the Boy-Who-Lived, you think
//she belongs there!__”

// 5535
//“I __can’t!__” Harry said, his voice as desperate as Lesath’s. “It’s not a
//question of what I want, I don’t have the __power!__”

// 5536
//Lesath rose to his feet, and spat on the floor in front of Harry, and then
//turned and walked away. When he was around the corner the sound of his feet
//sped up, and as they faded Neville thought he heard a single sob.

// 5537
//And then there were two.

// 5538
//Neville looked at Harry.

// 5539
//Harry looked at Neville.

// 5540
//“Wow,” Neville said quietly. “He didn’t seem very grateful for being rescued.”

// 5541
//“He thought I could help him,” Harry said, his voice hoarse. “He had hope for
//the first time in years.”

// 5542
//Neville swallowed, and said it. “I’m sorry.”

// 5543
//“Wha?” said Harry, sounding totally confused.

// 5544
//“I wasn’t grateful when you helped me -”

// 5545
//“Every single thing you said before was completely right,” said the
//Boy-Who-Lived.

// 5546
//“No,” Neville said, “it wasn’t.”

// 5547
//They simultaneously gave brief sad smiles, each condescending to the other.

// 5548
//“I know this wasn’t real,” said Neville, “I know I couldn’t have done anything
//if you hadn’t been here, but thanks for letting me pretend.”

// 5549
//“Give me a break,” said Harry.

// 5550
//Harry had turned from Neville, and was staring out the window at the gloomy
//clouds.

// 5551
//A completely ridiculous thought came to Neville. “Are you feeling guilty
//because you can’t get Lesath’s parents out of Azkaban?”

// 5552
//“No,” said Harry.

// 5553
//A few seconds went by.

// 5554
//“Yes,” said Harry.

// 5555
//“You’re silly,” said Neville.

// 5556
//“I am aware of this,” said Harry.

// 5557
//“Do you have to do literally __anything__ anyone asks you?”

// 5558
//The Boy-Who-Lived turned back and looked at Neville again. “__Do?__ No.
//Feel guilty about not doing? Yes.”

// 5559
//Neville was having trouble finding words. “Once the Dark Lord died, Bellatrix
//Black was literally the most evil person in the entire world and that was
//__before__ she went to Azkaban. She tortured my mother and father into
//insanity because she wanted to find out what happened to the Dark Lord -”

// 5560
//“I know,” Harry said quietly. “I get that, but -”

// 5561
//“No! You __don’t!__ She had a __reason__ for doing that, and my
//parents were both Aurors! It’s not even __close__ to the worst thing she’s
//ever done!” Neville’s voice was shaking.

// 5562
//“Even so,” said the Boy-Who-Lived, his eyes distant as they stared off into
//somewhere else, some other place that Neville couldn’t imagine. “There might be
//some incredibly clever solution that makes it possible to save everyone and let
//them all live happily ever after, and if only I was smart enough I would have
//thought of it by now -”

// 5563
//“You have problems,” said Neville. “You think you ought to be what Lesath
//Lestrange thinks you are.”

// 5564
//“Yeah,” said the Boy-Who-Lived, “that pretty much nails it. Every time someone
//cries out in prayer and I can’t answer, I feel guilty about not being God.”

// 5565
//Neville didn’t quite understand that, but… “That doesn’t sound good.”

// 5566
//Harry sighed. “I understand that I have a problem, and I know what I need to do
//to solve it, all right? I’m working on it.”

// 5567
//Harry watched Neville leave.

// 5568
//Of course Harry hadn’t said what the solution was.

// 5569
//The solution, obviously, was to hurry up and become God.

// 5570
//Neville’s footsteps moved off, and soon could no longer be heard.

// 5571
//And then there was one.

// 5572
//“Ahem,” said Severus Snape’s voice from directly behind him.

// 5573
//Harry let out a small scream and instantly hated himself.

// 5574
//Slowly, Harry turned around.

// 5575
//The tall greasy man in the spotted robes was leaning against the wall in the
//same position Harry had occupied.

// 5576
//“A fine invisibility cloak, Potter,” drawled the Potions Master. “Much is
//explained.”

// 5577
//Oh, bloody crap.

// 5578
//“And perhaps I have been in Dumbledore’s company too long,” said Severus, “but
//I cannot help but wonder if that is __the__ Cloak of Invisibility.”

// 5579
//Harry immediately turned into someone who’d never heard of the Cloak of
//Invisibility and who was __exactly__ as smart as Harry thought Severus
//thought Harry was.

// 5580
//“Oh, possibly,” said Harry. “I trust you realize the implications, if it is?”

// 5581
//Severus’s voice was condescending. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do
//you, Potter? A rather clumsy try at fishing.”

// 5582
//(Professor Quirrell had remarked over their lunch that Harry really needed to
//conceal his state of mind better than putting on a blank face when someone
//discussed a dangerous topic, and had explained about one-level deceptions,
//two-level deceptions, and so on. So either Severus __was__ in fact
//modeling Harry as a one-level player, which made Severus himself two-level, and
//Harry’s three-level move had been successful; or Severus was a four-level
//player and wanted Harry to __think__ the deception had been successful.
//Harry, smiling, had asked Professor Quirrell what level __he__ played at,
//and Professor Quirrell, also smiling, had responded, __One level higher
//than you__.)

// 5583
//“So you were watching this whole time,” said Harry. “Disillusionment, I think
//it’s called.”

// 5584
//A thin smile. “It would have been foolish of me to take the slightest risk that
//you came to harm.”

// 5585
//“And you wanted to see the results of your test firsthand,” said Harry. “So. Am
//I like my father?”

// 5586
//A strange sad expression came over the man, one that looked foreign to his
//face. “I should sooner say, Harry Potter, that you resemble -”

// 5587
//Severus stopped short.

// 5588
//He stared at Harry.

// 5589
//“Lestrange called you a son of a mudblood,” Severus said slowly. “It didn’t
//seem to bother you much.”

// 5590
//Harry furrowed his eyebrows. “Not under those circumstances, no.”

// 5591
//“You’d just helped him,” Severus said. His eyes were intent on Harry. “And he
//threw it back in your face. Surely that isn’t something you’d just forgive?”

// 5592
//“He’d just been through a pretty harrowing experience,” Harry said. “And I
//don’t think being rescued by first-years helped his pride much, either.”

// 5593
//“I suppose it was easy enough to forgive,” Severus said, and his voice was odd,
//“since Lestrange means nothing to you. Just some strange Slytherin. If it was a
//friend, perhaps, you would have felt far more injured by what he said.”

// 5594
//“If he were a friend,” Harry said, “all the more reason to forgive him.”

// 5595
//There was a long silence. Harry felt, and he couldn’t have said why or from
//where, that the air was filling up with a dreadful tension, like water rising,
//and rising, and rising.

// 5596
//Then Severus smiled, looking suddenly relaxed once more, and all the tension
//vanished.

// 5597
//“You are a very forgiving person,” Severus said, still smiling. “I suppose your
//stepfather, Michael Verres-Evans, was the one who taught it to you.”

// 5598
//“More like Dad’s science fiction and fantasy collection,” said Harry. “Sort of
//my fifth parent, really. I’ve lived the lives of all the characters in all my
//books, and all their mighty wisdom thunders in my head. Somewhere in there was
//someone like Lesath, I expect, though I couldn’t say who. It wasn’t hard to put
//myself in his shoes. And it was my books that told me what to do about it, too.
//The good guys forgive.”

// 5599
//Severus gave a light, amused laugh. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t know much about what
//good people do.”

// 5600
//Harry looked at him. That was kind of sad, actually. “I’ll lend you some novels
//with good people in them, if you like.”

// 5601
//“I should like to ask your advice about something,” Severus said, his voice
//casual. “I know of another fifth-year Slytherin who was being bullied by
//Gryffindors. He was wooing a beautiful Muggleborn girl, who came across him
//being bullied, and tried to rescue him. And he called her a mudblood, and that
//was the end for them. He apologized, many times, but she never forgave him.
//Have you any thoughts for what he could have said or done, to win from her the
//forgiveness you gave Lestrange?”

// 5602
//“Erm,” Harry said, “based on only that information, I’m not sure __he
//__was the main one who had a problem. I’d have told him not to date someone that
//incapable of forgiveness. Suppose they’d gotten married, can you imagine life
//in that household?”

// 5603
//There was a pause.

// 5604
//“Oh, but she __could__ forgive,” Severus said with amusement in his voice.
//“Why, afterward, she went off and became the girlfriend of the bully. Tell me,
//why would she forgive the bully, and not the bullied?”

// 5605
//Harry shrugged. “At a wild guess, because the bully had hurt someone
//__else__ very badly, and the bullied had hurt __her__ just a little,
//and to her that just felt far more unforgivable somehow. Or, not to put too
//fine a point on it, was the bully handsome? Or for that matter, rich?”

// 5606
//There was another pause.

// 5607
//“Yes to both,” said Severus.

// 5608
//“And there you have it,” said Harry. “Not that I’ve ever been through high
//school myself, but my books give me to understand that there’s a certain kind
//of teenage girl who’ll be outraged by a single insult if the boy is plain or
//poor, yet who can somehow find room in her heart to forgive a rich and handsome
//boy his bullying. She was shallow, in other words. Tell whoever it was that she
//wasn’t worthy of him and he needs to get over it and move on and next time date
//girls who are deep instead of pretty.”

// 5609
//Severus stared at Harry in silence, his eyes glittering. The smile had faded,
//and though Severus’s face twitched, it did not return.

// 5610
//Harry was starting to feel a bit nervous. “Um, not that I’ve got any experience
//in the area myself, obviously, but I think that’s what a wise adviser from my
//books would say.”

// 5611
//There was more silence and more glittering.

// 5612
//It was probably a good time to change the subject.

// 5613
//“So,” Harry said. “Did I pass your test, whatever it was?”

// 5614
//“I think,” Severus said, “that there should be no more conversations between
//us, Potter, and you would be exceedingly wise never to speak of this one.”

// 5615
//Harry blinked. “Would you mind telling me what I did wrong?”

// 5616
//“You offended me,” said Severus. “And I no longer trust your cunning.”

// 5617
//Harry stared at Severus, taken rather aback.

// 5618
//“But you have given me well-meant advice,” said Severus Snape, “and so I will
//give you true advice in return.” His voice was almost perfectly steady. Like a
//string stretched almost perfectly horizontal, despite the massive weight
//hanging from its middle, by a million tons of tension pulling at either end.
//“You almost died today, Potter. In the future, never share your wisdom with
//anyone unless you know exactly what you are both talking about.”

// 5619
//Harry’s mind finally made the connection.

// 5620
//“__You__ were that -”

// 5621
//Harry’s mouth snapped shut as the __almost died__ part sank in, two
//seconds too late.

// 5622
//“Yes,” said Severus, “I was.”

// 5623
//And the terrible tension flooded back into the room like water pressurized at
//the bottom of the ocean.

// 5624
//Harry couldn’t breathe.

// 5625
//__Lose. Now.__

// 5626
//“I didn’t know,” Harry whispered. “I’m s-”

// 5627
//“No,” said Severus. Just that one word.

// 5628
//Harry stood there in silence, his mind frantically searching for options.
//Severus stood between him and the window, which was a real pity, because a fall
//from that height wouldn’t kill a wizard.

// 5629
//“Your books betrayed you, Potter,” said Severus, still in that voice stretched
//tight by a million tons of pull. “They did not tell you the one thing you
//needed to know. You cannot learn from stories what it is like to lose the one
//you love. That is something you could never understand without feeling it
//yourself.”

// 5630
//“My father,” Harry whispered. It was his best guess, the one thing that might
//save him. “My father tried to protect you from the bullies.”

// 5631
//A ghastly smile stretched across Severus’s face, and the man moved toward
//Harry.

// 5632
//And past him.

// 5633
//“Goodbye, Potter,” said Severus, not looking back on his way out. “We shall
//have little to say to each other from today on.”

// 5634
//And at the corner, the man stopped, and without turning, spoke one final time.

// 5635
//“Your father was the bully,” said Severus Snape, “and what your mother saw in
//him was something I never did understand until this day.”

// 5636
//He left.

// 5637
//Harry turned and walked toward the window. His shaking hands went onto the
//ledge.

// 5638
//__Never give anyone wise advice unless you know exactly what you’re both
//talking about. Got it.__

// 5639
//Harry stared out at the clouds and the light drizzle for a while. The window
//looked out on the east grounds, and it was afternoon, so if the sun was visible
//through the clouds at all, Harry couldn’t see it.

// 5640
//His hands had stopped shaking, but there was a tight feeling in Harry’s chest,
//like it was being compressed by metal bands.

// 5641
//So his father had been a bully.

// 5642
//And his mother had been shallow.

// 5643
//Maybe they’d grown up later. Good people like Professor McGonagall did seem to
//think the world of them, and it might not be __only__ because they were
//heroic martyrs.

// 5644
//Of course, that was scant consolation when you were eleven and about to turn
//into a teenager, and wondering what sort of teenager you might become.

// 5645
//So very terrible.

// 5646
//So very sad.

// 5647
//Such an awful life Harry led.

// 5648
//Learning that his genetic parents hadn’t been perfect, why, he ought to spend
//awhile moping about that, feeling sorry for himself.

// 5649
//Maybe he could complain to Lesath Lestrange.

// 5650
//Harry had read about Dementors. Cold and darkness surrounded them, and fear,
//they sucked away all your happy thoughts and in that absence all your worst
//memories rose to the surface.

// 5651
//He could imagine himself in Lesath’s shoes, knowing that his parents were in
//Azkaban for life, that place from which no one had ever escaped.

// 5652
//And Lesath would be imagining himself in his mother’s place, in the cold and
//the darkness and the fear, alone with all of her worst memories, even in her
//dreams, every second of every day.

// 5653
//For an instant Harry imagined his own Mum and Dad in Azkaban with the Dementors
//sucking out their life, draining away the happy memories of their love for him.
//Just for an instant, before his imagination blew a fuse and called an emergency
//shutdown and told him never to imagine that again.

// 5654
//Was it right to do that to anyone, even the second most evil person in the
//world?

// 5655
//__No,__ said the wisdom of Harry’s books, __not if there’s any other
//way, any other way at all.__

// 5656
//And unless the wizarding justice system was as perfect as their prisons - and
//that sounded rather improbable, all things considered - somewhere in Azkaban
//was a person who was entirely innocent, and probably more than one.

// 5657
//There was a burning sensation in Harry’s throat, and moisture gathering in his
//eyes, and he wanted to teleport all of Azkaban’s prisoners to safety and call
//down fire from the sky and blast that terrible place down to bedrock. But he
//couldn’t, because he wasn’t God.

// 5658
//And Harry remembered what Professor Quirrell had said beneath the starlight:
//__Sometimes, when this flawed world seems unusually hateful, I wonder
//whether there might be some other place, far away, where I should have been…
//But the stars are so very, very far away… And I wonder what I would dream
//about, if I slept for a long, long time.______

// 5659
//____

// 5660
//Right now this flawed world seemed unusually hateful.

// 5661
//And Harry couldn’t understand Professor Quirrell’s words, it might have been an
//alien that had spoken, or an Artificial Intelligence, something built along
//such different lines from Harry that his brain couldn’t be forced to operate in
//that mode.

// 5662
//You couldn’t leave your home planet while it still contained a place like
//Azkaban.

// 5663
//You had to stay and fight.