The Prince's Tale (DH)
From UnknowableWiki
The Prince's Tale is the thirty-third chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Deaths
Harry is still kneeling beside the corpse of Severus Snape (DH32) when Voldemort's cold voice resounds in the Shrieking Shack, inside the Hogwarts castle and in the surrounding areas. "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery," he says. "Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour."
Voldemort instructs his opponents to tend to their injured and dispose of their dead. He then speaks directly to Harry, announcing that during that one hour Voldemort will be waiting in the Forbidden Forest. If after that one hour Harry does not join him in the Forest, the Dark Lord will enter the battle personally and murder all those who have helped Harry.
Harry, still shocked at Snape's murder, numbly follows Ron and Hermione back to the castle. The castle is quiet; the Entrance Hall is destroyed and bloodstained. Ron leads the way to the Great Hall, where all those who partook in the battle are congregating. Madam Pomfrey and some helpers treat the injured—among which Firenze—, and the dead bodies are in the middle of the room, Fred among them. His corpse is surrounded by several members of his family.
Harry then sees two bodies beside Fred's: Remus and Tonks, peaceful-looking. Harry is horrified, and can no longer bear to see how many people have died for him. He blindly makes his way to the Headmaster's office; when asked for the password, he says "Dumbledore" without thinking, and the gargoyle opens.
Entering the office, Harry immediately notices that the headmasters' portraits are as empty as the rest of the castle. Harry finds the Pensieve in its traditional place—inside the cupboard—, and poured Snape's memories inside it. Without hesitation, Harry enters the basin.
The first memory: Lily Evans
Harry finds himself in a deserted playground. A large chimney dominates the skyline (HBP2). Severus, a small, skinny nine- or ten-year-old boy with overlong hair wearing shabby, mismatched clothes watches from behind a bush two girls playing on the swings.
The younger of the two girls swings higher and higher. Disregarding her sister's warning ("Lily, don't do it!"), she lets go of the swing at its highest with a laugh, and lands lightly after briefly hovering.
"Mummy told you not to," Petunia complains. "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"
"But I'm fine!" Lily insists. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do."
Believing herself alone in the playground with the exception of Petunia, Lily picks up a fallen flower and makes its petals open and close successively. Petunia urges her to stop, and Lily complies.
"It's not right," says Petunia. After a moment, she asks, "How do you do it?"
Snape jumps from behind the bush to intervene. Petunia, startled, runs to the swings; Lily did not budge. "It's obvious, isn't it?" he asks, blushing self-consciously as she takes in his appearance. "I know what you are," he whispers. "You're a witch."
Lily is offended, believing his statement to be an insult. She storms off to join Petunia, and Snape follows her. Both sisters clearly disapprove of him now. "You are a witch," he repeats. "I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard!"
Petunia recognises Snape as the boy who lives in Spinner's End—the address is clearly a poor recommendation—and accuses him of spying on the sisters. He spitefully replies that he wouldn't spy on Petunia, for she is a Muggle; she beckons her sister and both girls leave. Lily glares at Severus on her way out of the playground.
Harry realises that the boy is extremely disappointed, and has been planning this moment for a long time.
The second memory: the thicket
The scene dissolves; Harry now finds himself in a small thicket of trees.
Two children, Lily and Severus, sit facing each other in the shade of the trees. He tells her things about the wizarding world, mentioning that the Ministry punishes those who do underage magic outside school. Lily is safe for now; she has not yet obtained a wand ("They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it."). Once a child turns eleven, however, he or she must be careful.
"It is real, isn't it?" Lily asks. "Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"
"It's real for us," he replies. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."
He explains that, since Lily is a Muggle-born, someone from the school will come to her house and explain everything to Mr. and Mrs. Evans.
"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?" she asks worriedly.
He looks at her pale face and dark red hair; after a brief hesitation, Severus replies, "No. It doesn't make any difference."
Snape mentions that his observations have attested that she's got plenty of magic. She is distracted, however, and changes the subject, inquiring after the situation in his house. Severus says that his parents are still arguing, but that he'll be gone before long. When Lily wonders whether Tobias likes magic, Snape replies, "He doesn't like anything, much."
Lily then asks him to tell her about Dementors again, worried that they might come for her if she does magic outside of school.
"They wouldn't give you to the Dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too—" he blushes once more and stops talking. A small noise interrupts them; Petunia has been watching the scene from behind a tree.
Snape jumps to his feet and accuses her of spying. Petunia teases him about his clothes. A branch falls with a crack and hits her on the shoulder; she runs away crying. Lily notices that Severus made it happen, and he is unable to convince her otherwise. She runs after her sister, leaving behind a miserable Severus.
The third memory: platform nine and three-quarters
The scene changes once more. They are now in Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Snape is there beside a thin, sour-looking sallow-faced woman who greatly resembles him—Eileen Snape. He watches the Evans family.
Lily pleads with Petunia, promising that she will speak with the headmaster once she arrives at Hogwarts. Perhaps then Lily may succeed and change Dumbledore's mind into allowing Petunia to attend the school as well.
"I — don't — want — to — go!" Petunia shrieks. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a — a — you think I want to be a — a freak?"
Lily's eyes fill with tears. "I'm not a freak. That's a horrible thing t say."
"That's where you're going," Petunia continues with spite. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy ... weirds, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."
Mr. and Mrs. Evans are observing the platform with delight, and not listening to their daughters' argument.
Lily says, "You didn't think it was such a freak's schol when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."
Petunia blushes, and states that she did not beg. Lily mentions having seen Dumbledore's kind reply, and Petunia asks how she had gained access to the letter. Lily gives herself away by glancing at Snape, and Petunia realises that the pair must have been sneaking in her room.
"No — not sneaking — Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of —"
"Apparently wizards pke their noses into everything!" spits Petunia. "Freak!"
The fourth memory: the train
The scene changes once more; Harry is in the Hogwarts Express. Snape has already changed into his school robes; he enters a compartment where loud boys are talking, at the corner of which is Lily, staring out the window. Her face shows that she has been crying.
She says that she has no wish to talk to Severus; Petunia now hates her. Snape barely prevents himself from acting detrimental regarding Petunia's blood status, but Lily doesn't notice. Her mood brightens when she realises that they are on their way to Hogwarts. Severus advises her to go to Slytherin.
One of the boys, who had this far shown no interested in the pair, interrupts the conversation. Harry is stunned to recognise James—like Snape, he has black hair, but James gives off the impression of having been well-cared-for, even adored. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James asks Sirius, who is right in front of him.
"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he replies (HBP4).
"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!"
Sirius grins. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"
"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" James announces proudly. "Like my dad."
Severus makes a small disdainful noise. James rounds up on him, asking, "Got a problem with that?"
"No. If you'd rather be brawny than brainy —"
"Where're you going to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius intervenes.
James laughs. Lily beckons Severus to leave the compartment with her. James and Sirius mock her haughtiness as the pair leaves; "See ya, Snivellus!" one of them calls out as the compartment door closes.
The fifth memory: the Sorting
The scene changes to the Sorting Ceremony. The Sorting Hat sends Lily to Gryffindor a second after it is placed over her head. Severus lets out a tiny groan. Gryffindors cheer as she walks to their table. Sirius makes room for her to sit next to him but, recognising him as one of the boys in the train, she does not approach him.
Remus, Peter and James are Sorted to Gryffindor as well. When only a dozen first-years were left to be Sorted, Snape was called by McGonagall, and sent to Slytherin. Lucius Malfoy, wearing a prefect badge, patted him on the back.
The sixth memory: friends
A few years pass between the Sorting and the next memory. Snape and Lily are arguing; he points out that they are supposed to be the best of friends, and she complains, "We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging out with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?"
"It was nothing. It was a laugh, that's all —"
"It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny —"
Severus hurries to point out that Potter and his friends are up to something, too. Remus, he says, is strange, and the four boys keep sneaking out at night. Lily replies that Lupin is ill. Snape reminds her that he is that every month at the full moon.
"I know your theory," Lily says coldly. "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"
"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."
"They don't use Dark Magic, though. And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there—"
Severus' face contorts. "Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to — I won't let you —"
She narrows her eyes. "Let me? Let me?"
"I didn't mean — I just don't want to see you made a fool of — He fancies you, James Potter fancies you! And he's not ... everyone thinks ... big Quidditch hero —" he rambles bitterly. Lily's eyebrows shoot up. She reassures Severus that she knows Potter is an arrogant toerag. Mulciber and Avery's idea of humour, however, is evil, and she cannot understand how Snape can befriend them.
As soon as she insulted James, Severus relaxed.
The seventh memory: Mudblood
The next memory is familiar: it is the one Harry saw in the Pensieve two years previously (OP28). He watches it again from a distance, noting that Snape calls Lily "Mudblood".
The eighth memory: apology
Mary Macdonald told Lily Snape was threatening to sleep by the Fat Lady; Lily went down to meet him, therefore, but she is not interested in his repeated apologies. He says he hadn't meant to call her Mudblood.
"It's too late," she replies. "I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends — you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?" He says nothing. "I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way. I've chosen mine."
He attempts to apologise once more. She points out that he calls everyone of her blood status "Mudblood"; why should she be any different?
The ninth memory: the prophecy
They are now on a windy hilltop. Snape, terrified and clutching his wand, was waiting for someone; a blinding jet of white light flies through the air, and he falls to his knees. His wand has flown out of his hands, and he begs for the newcomer not to kill him.
"That was not my intention," replies Albus Dumbledore. "Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"
"No — no message — I'm here on my own account! I — I come with a warning — no, a request — please —"
Dumbledore flicks his wand, and the spot where they are is protected from the noise of the wind. "What request could a Death Eater make of me?" he asks.
Severus confesses that he told Voldemort everything he'd heard of Trelawney's prophecy, and that the Dark Lord believes it refers to Lily Evans' son. Snape has attempted to ask for mercy for the mother in exchange for the son.
"You disgust me," Dumbledore says contemptously. "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"
"Hide them all, then. Keep her — them — safe. Please."
"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"
He thinks for a while. "Anything."
The tenth memory: grief
Harry is now in Dumbledore's office. Severus is slumped forward in a chair. After a moment, he looks up; his face is miserable and anguished as he says, "I thought ... you were going ... to keep her ... safe ..."
"She and James put their faith in the wrong person. Rather like you, Severus. Weren't you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?" says Dumbledore. "Her boy survives. Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans' eyes, I am sure?"
"DON'T!" Snape bellows. "Gone ... dead ..."
"Is this remorse, Severus?"
"I wish ... I wish I were dead..."
Albus says that, if Severus truly loved Lily, his path is clear: her death must not be in vain. Snape must help protect Harry Potter from the dangers he will suffer when the Dark Lord returns. Snape agrees to help, on the condition that Albus promise never to tell anyone, especially the boy—James Potter's son, of all people.
"My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you? If you insist..."
The eleventh memory: first-year
Ten years later, Severus is pacing in Dumbledore's office, complaining about Harry ("— mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertient —"). The headmaster, reading Transfiguration Today, says that Snape sees only that which he wishes to; other teachers have reported that Harry is likable and reasonably talented. Albus finds him engaging.
"Keep an eye on Quirrell, won't you?" Dumbledore asks, still not looking up.
The twelfth memory: the Yule Ball
The last students are leaving the Yule Ball to go to bed; Fleur Delacour runs by with Roger Davies. Albus and Severus stand in the entrance hall. Snape reports that both his and Karkaroff's Dark Marks are growing darker. Igor plans to flee when it burns, but not Severus. "I am not such a coward," he says.
"No. You are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon..."
The thirteenth memory: the ring
It is nighttime. Dumbledore sits on a chair in his office, semiconscious. His right hand, blackened and burnt, dangles on the side. Snape pours a gobletful of golden potion into the headmaster's mouth while pointing his wand at Dumbledore's wrist, muttering incantations.
After a moment, Albus opens his eyes. Severus immediately asks him why he'd put the ring on: it was cursed, and Dumbledore shouldn't even have touched it.
"I ... was a fool. Sorely tempted..." replies Dumbledore. He offers no more explanation.
Snape adds that the ring's curse is extremely powerful; he has contained it in one hand for now. Albus asks him how long his current life expectation is. Severus says, "I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread eventually; it is the sort f curse that strengthens over time."
Albus smiles. "I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus."
"If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!" Snape says angrily, glancing at the broken ring and the sword. "Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?"
"Something like that ... I was delirious, no doubt ..." He sits up with some effort. "Well, really, this makes matters much more straighforward. I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me."
Dumbledore prevents Severus from saying more about the cursed hand, and Snape complies; he says that Voldemort does not expect Draco to succeed. The mission is simply punishment for Lucius' failures—"Slow torture for Draco's parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price."
Albus understands that Draco is as doomed as he. Severus is the natural successor in the task, should Malfoy fail; and in the near future Hogwarts will be within Voldemort's grasp, and the Dark Lord will no longer need a spy there.
At Dumbledore's request, Snape promises to do anything in his power to protect the students of Hogwarts in case Hogwarts is overrun by the Dark Lord's supporters. Albus, worried about accidents, also orders Severus to discover Draco's exact plans and to offer the boy guidance and help. Snape replies that Draco likes him less since Lucius lost favour ("Draco blames me, he thinks I have usurped Lucius' position.").
One last step is required to save Draco from Voldemort's wrath: Snape himself must kill the headmaster.
"Would you like me to do it now?" Severus asks sardonically. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?"
"Oh, not quite yet. I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight, we can be sure that it will happen within a year."
Snape asks why Albus won't let Draco kill him, and Dumbledore explains that the boy's soul is not yet ripped apart.
"You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation. I ask this one great favour of you, Severus, because death is coming for me as surely as the Chudley Cannons will finish bottom of this year's league. I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted and messy afair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved — I hear Voldemort has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it."
Albus' blue eyes pierce Snape, who nods.
"Thank you, Severus..."
The fourteenth memory: the argument
Snape and Dumbledore are in the castle grounds now. Severus asks the headmaster what he's been talking about with Harry.
"Why? You aren't trying to give him more detentions, Severus? The boy will soon have spent more time in detention than out —"
"He is his father over again —"
"In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother's. I spend time with Harry because I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is to late."
"Information. You trust him ... you do not trust me."
"It is not a question of trust. I have, as we both know, limited time. It is essential that I give the boy enough infrmation for him to do what he needs to do."
"And why may I not have the same information?"
"I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, particularly not a basket that spends so much time dangling on the area of Lord Voldemort."
Snape points out that Dumbledore ordered him to do so; Albus acquiesces, acknowledging that withholding essential information while giving out tidbits that appear valuable is a task that is entirely up to Snape.
"Yet you confide much more in a boy who is incapable of Occlumency, whose magic is mediocre, and who has a direct connection into the Dark Lord's mind!"
"Voldemort fears that connection. Not so long ago he had one small taste of what truly sharing Harry's mind means to him. It was pain such as he has never experienced. He will not try to possess Harry again, I am sure of it. Not in that way," Dumbledore states. "Lord Voldemort's soul, maimed as it is, cannot bear close contact with a soul like Harry's. Like a tongue on frozen steel, like flesh in flame —"
"Souls? We were talking of minds!"
"In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of one is to speak of the other."
Albus glances to the surroundings, to ensure that there is no one overhearing them (HBP19).
"After you have killed me, Severus —"
"You refuse to tell me everything, yet you expect that small service of me! You take a great deal for granted, Dumbledore! Perhaps I have changed my mind!"
"You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are talking about services you owe me, I thought you agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin friend?"
Severus looks mutinous. Dumbledore sighs, and arranges a meeting with him later that evening.
The fifteenth memory: Patronus
The scenery changes once more; in the headmaster's office, Snape and Dumbledore discuss.
"Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?"
Still Albus refuses to share what it is that Harry must do. "There will come a time ... after my death — do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake," he says. "If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry."
Dumbledore takes a deep breath. "Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die."
Meanwhile, the connection between the two will continue growing stronger. Harry must, therefore, die—most importantly, Voldemort must kill him. By then, Harry will have surely set matters so that his death will mean that of Voldemort. Snape quietly says that he believed that they had been protecting Harry for Lily's sake, not raising her son like a pig for slaughter. Albus wonders if he has grown to care for the boy.
"For him?" he shouts, casting the Patronus Charm. A silver doe bursts from the top of his wand, and canters away.
Dumbledore turns to Snape with tears in his eyes. "After all this time?"
"Always."
The sixteenth memory: portrait
The portrait of Dumbledore gives Snape instructions: he is to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry's departure from number four, Privet Drive, and to Confund Mundungus Fletcher in order to inspire the idea of a decoy, in order for Harry to be safe.
If Voldemort commands Severus to take part in the pursuit of Harry, Dumbledore expects him to play his part convincingly. It is essential that he remain on the Dark Lord's good graces, lest Hogwarts remains to the mercy of Amycus and Alecto.
The seventeenth memory: Dung
Snape and Dung are in a tavern. Fletcher looks blank as Snape gives him instructions, saying, "You will suggest to the Order of the Phoenix that they use decoys. Polyjuice Potion. Identical Potters. It's the only thing that might work. You will forget that I have suggested this. You will present it as your own idea."
The eighteenth memory: Sectumsempra
In the Battle of the Seven Potters, Snape flies near another Death Eater. They are chasing George and Remus. The Death Eater points his wand at Remus; Severus quickly aims a Sectumsempra at his companion's wand hand but misses, hitting George instead.
The nineteenth memory: number twelve
Snape kneels in Sirius' old bedroom, crying as he reads Lily's letter to Sirius. He takes the second part of the page—which reads little more than "Love, Lily"—and rips the photograph that accompanies it, taking with him the part of the picture that showed her laughing (DH9).
The twentieth memory: Phineas
Snape is in the headmaster's office. Phineas Nigellus Black comes to him, stating that the Trio is hiding in the Forest of Dean. Severus reprimands the former headmaster for calling Hermione a Mudblood.
Dumbledore's portrait reminds Snape that it is time to give Harry the sword ("Do not forget that it must be taken under conditions of need and valour — and he must not know that you give it! If Voldemort should read Harry's mind and see you acting for him —"). Severus has the portrait of Albus swing forward and takes the sword from a hidden cavity behind it.
He dons a travelling cloak, and before leaving asks Albus once more if he won't reveal why Harry needs the sword. "No, I don't think so. He will know what to do with it. And Severus, be very careful, they may not take kindly to your appearance after the George Weasley mishap —"
"Don't worry, Dumbledore. I have a plan..." (DH19)
Snape closes the door behind him, and Harry finds himself out of the Pensieve.
| Previous chapter | This chapter | Next chapter |
|---|---|---|
| The Elder Wand | The Prince's Tale | The Forest Again |
