you raise me up || harry potter (revamped)

Chapter 10: The Missing Nimbus

"I really don't want to believe it's Snape," Draco said after listening to the entire story with an open mouth through most parts. He appeared uncharacteristically disturbed.

"Well, yes, of course you'd say that. You're his favorite, after all," Hermione sniffed.

"I didn't finish my sentence, you imbecile. I don't want to believe it's Snape, but — I hate to admit it, Harry, but Granger might be... ahem... right." Draco wrinkled his nose, mumbling the last word. Hermione's jaw dropped, looking positively astonished.

Harry frowned at him.

"I mean, think about it," Draco continued. "Think about everything Snape stands to gain if he gets that stone!"

"Yeah, but... I dunno, it just doesn't seem like him," Harry shrugged helplessly. "He doesn't seem like the kind of bloke to desperately want to live forever. Unless he's in it for the money, and that doesn't seem like him either." The man seemed at times to positively despise the world and everything in it. Living forever wouldn't exactly align with such a worldview, and Harry doubted money would make the man any less miserable and cranky than he already was.

Draco took a moment to consider this. "I see your point, although I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to live forever. But didn't you say you saw Snape with his bloody leg talking about trying to get past the three-headed dog? Frankly, there's no debate here."

"Yeah, and he was with Filch," Harry argued. "Wouldn't that mean he's in on Snape's plan? Filch is the last person anyone would pick for their sidekick."

Draco snorted at this. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Snape is a smart guy. There's no way he'd recruit Filch of all people to help steal the stone. Which means there could be a bunch of other reasons why Snape was in that room. Maybe all of the faculty are in on it, and Snape was checking on the dog. And he wouldn't go blabbering about being bitten by the stone's literal security to anyone if there was any chance word would get back to Dumbledore, don't you think?"

This line of thinking had been cultivated over the course of several weeks. If Harry were a Gryffindor he might have simply gone with his gut, which was quite loud in its opinion that it was Snape. But he wasn't, and being in Slytherin for mere months forced Harry to think: to be quick on his feet and scrutinizing of the details. This may or may not have been because he was The Harry Potter, always watched, always intriguing, snake eyes peering out of every shadow. Every interaction made Harry question intent, every friendly greeting under suspicion of ulterior motives.

Hermione was wringing her hands at Harry's analysis of Snape's actions. She clearly hadn't thought it through as much as he had.

But Draco had other ideas. "Remember, Snape only started limping after the troll incident. How do we know that Snape wasn't the one who let the troll in?"

Hermione nodded vigorously, as if to say Exactly!

Harry frowned. "When could he have possibly done that? We had Potions that day. And he was at the feast before Quirrell..." he trailed off.

"... came in to tell everyone about the troll," Hermione finished with a dawning realization.

The three stared at each other.

"Can't be Quirrel," Draco finally said. "That's insane."

"Insane," Hermione echoed, but her face was pale.

"It's a good disguise," Harry said grimly. "Trick everyone into thinking he's weak and timid... biding his time..."

"Using Snape as the red herring," Draco said.