The Huge Magical Snake Problem

The Truth

Previously...

They waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened for the next twenty minutes, and Severus was starting to get antsy. Not that he'd ever admit it, but it was true. Where were the Dark Lord and his followers?

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The raid never happened.

Everyone waited for about three hours for the attack to begin, but nothing out of the ordinary appeared. All through the stakeout, Severus was questioning what he experienced in the Forbidden Forest. The Dark Lord never forgot about something unintentionally. A sudden knife of dread stabbed through him. What if-

Was it possible that the Dark Lord truly suspected him of treason?

Severus mentally shook himself. If that were true, he would have been struck down without a moment's notice. The wizard didn't care who he disposed of, once they showed even a hint of reluctance to do something - no matter the rank. Severus had seen this time and time again. Every time the Dark Lord called a meeting, Severus worried that he'd be the next one to have a beam of green directed at him, so this was nothing new.

But isn't this a new situation? a small voice whispered.

Silence, he answered. Then, his brows furrowed. Why was he responding to a voice in his head? Was he going mad?

He didn't have time to ponder this further until something creeeaked in the back of the shop they were in, Hogsmeade. Immediately, they spun around to start casting spells at the intruder.

A trap door on the floor opened slowly, and it seemed that nothing was getting out of it. Not once lowering his wand, Severus tiptoed over to the hidden door.

It was empty.

Severus ran ideas through his head about what on earth could have caused the door to open seemingly on its own. Someone with a disillusionment charm? An invisibility cloak? A strong draft?

He cleared his throat, that was clogged with disuse. "Accio invisibility cloak," he whispered. An invisibility cloak was the best guess, even though they were rare and very expensive.

A silvery substance rushed toward him, and he batted it from the air. He quickly shot an "Immobilus!" at whoever was revealed.

The person ducked, and then Severus realized that the mop of hair he uncovered was awfully familiar. The red beam of light soared over his head, and Severus held his hand out to stop Vance, Diggle, and Tonks from cursing the person. The person's head whipped up, showing telltale pale marks on his face.

Harry. Without Nagini.

What was the young man even doing in Hogsmeade? Severus thought he had been secretive enough while planning this 'event.' Not to mention the fact that Harry even knew there was a passage there. Of course, Severus had his suspicions, but he never had concrete evidence.

He glanced down at the invisibility cloak on the ground and drew a mental line between it and Harry. So, another theory he had about the young wizard was proven right.

Severus crossed his arms. "What do you think you're doing here, young man?" he asked testily.

Harry grimaced, white scars twisting. "Sorry."

"You didn't answer the question. And, I doubt you are truly sorry."

He looked chastened. "I just heard you... speaking about it," he said quietly.