The Next Dark Lord

Wait, Voldemort did what?

"Water", croaked Dumbledore. Alerted by one of the wards that her patient is awake, Madam Pomfrey rushed to his bedside. Propping up some pillows, she helped the old man to sit leaning on them. She left his side for a few seconds to bring him water. Albus drank the offered drink and felt the coolness soothing his throat muscles. After savoring the bliss, he turned to the school matron and said, "Thank you for your care Poppy". She waved it off and said, "Rest for a couple of hours. I would like to monitor your vitals during that time. After that you are welcome to leave. But you should still take it lightly for the rest of the year".

When she turned to leave, Albus stopped her by catching her hand. "Can you ask Severus to come?", he asked. Nodding she called an elf to fetch the potions master. Severus entered the hospital wing five minutes later with a flourish of his cloak. He looked at the bed occupying Albus and made a beeline for him.

"Good Morning Albus. Has Poppy checked you over?", he asked. Albus nodded. "Are you free to leave?", he continued. Albus shook his head and said, "Two hours observation". His voiced cracked and rasped from the inuse for the past day. Severus nodded and satisfied on the bedside chair. Waving his wand over the aged headmaster he said, "You are absolutely fine. Here drink this water, it'll clear up your parched throat", he said while using the aguamenti charm to refill the glass on the side table with water and added a couple of drops of the potion he took from inside his robes.

Albus took a sip and felt grateful for the coolness spreading through his throat. After two more sips, "What happened after I was potioned?", he asked.

Severus started the explanation from when he was arguing with Adromeda and how they saw Albus fall down to the floor. "We saw you foaming on the floor and I shoved a bezoar down your throat. Andromeda was a second late in identifying the poison".

"Based on what I experienced later, I guess it was Timeo Venenum and it reacted with bezoar to create Liquid Fear in my system?", he asked. Severus nodded. "You couldn't have known what poison it was, Severus. You shouldn't be hard on yourself. It wasn't your fault", he continued not seeing the look on Snape that said, 'Ofcourse I'm not at fault, you dimwit. I tried saving your life and succeeded in saving, even though there was side effect'.

"What happened then?", Albus asked.

"I checked your goblet and found the remnants of a switching spell", he proceeded to explain the turn of events ending with his conversation with Ms. Greengrass. Albus nodded after listening silently.

"Your actions over the summer might have prompted Voldemort to take this action. Since Harry is incarcerated, I'm the only one standing in between him and his goals and he is eager to get rid of me", said Albus and looked up at Snape to see if the sour man has any replies. Seeing none he continued, "It is unfortunate that you had to help Lucius to change the one taking the dark mark. Lucius may be a death eater, but Draco doesn't have to pay for his father's mistake. Draco Malfoy may yet be persuaded to see the Light. The Malfoy family line need not end. Greeengrass family on the other hand has two daughters and something can be arranged to give them an heir".

Snape starred at the aged headmaster and wondered how delusional a man could be, but kept his mouth shut wisely. 'Delusional or not, this man is keeping me out of prison. I will take care of him once the Dark Lord rules all of Britain', he thought. He stood up with a nod and said, "Remember Albus, no magic for the rest of the day", and left.

Albus sat and pondered silently about what this latest development meant for his plans. 'I have to be extra careful, but this doesn't change anything else', he thought. 'I will show a couple of memories and explain about horcruxes. The Weasley boy should keep Ms. Granger occupied and keep her from getting too involved into my plans for Neville', he continued thinking.