Fate and Irony

The first minotaur, according to Greek myth, was born from a curse Poseidon wrought on King Minos. Poseidon had gifted Minos with a beautiful white bull--an animal destined to be offered as a sacrifice. Minos, enchanted by the perfect creature, valued it too much to offer it up to Poseidon as intended. The sea god, in his fury, caused Minos' wife to fall in love with the beast. The result of this inexplicable union was a monster. Minotaur had the body of a strong man with the head and hooves of his bull father. Violent and dangerous, he was hidden away in a labyrinth, where--every year--seven maids and seven young men were forced into the maze to appease the minotaur's appetites. Eventually, Theseus was one of the young men brought to the minotaur, and with the help of the princess Ariadne, the minotaur was slain.

In modern wizard times, minotaurs are rarely seen and avidly avoided. Wizard historians argue about from what these beasts sprang. It seems unlikely that Minos' bull-headed stepson produced any progeny. Some say the current minotaurs were created by Grindelwald, to be used as war fodder. However, there are recorded sightings of an occasional minotaur predating Grindelwald, so this is unlikely. The most common theory is that the beasts were accidentally created by Uric the Oddball in the fourteenth century.

Severus cared nothing of the beast's mythology or history; he was more concerned with its temperament. Minotaurs possessed the body of a man, true enough, but their intelligence and attitude was all bull. Stupid, aggressive, and territorial in the extreme, a wise wizard avoided them at all costs. The beasts were resistant to most hexes and inhumanly strong. This strength, combined with the wickedly sharp, long horns on their heads, made them almost impossible to overpower. After his whispered instruction to Hermione, Severus stood absolutely still, barely breathing, as he kept a wary eye on the creature. Hermione was an equally still statue at his side. Severus knew their best chance was hoping the stupid creature decided they were no threat and moved itself off.

In moments he could see it wasn't working. The minotaur was beginning to sway its head from side to side, stomping the ground with its over-sized hooves. Damn...the blasted beast was going to charge them!

"Hermione," he whispered, "can you slowly...very slowly...draw your wand."

Her hand moved sluggishly toward her wand pocket. Feeling its emptiness, she controlled her reaction, only letting out a barely voiced gasp. "Severus," she whispered in a voice as low as his own, "have you my wand?"

Severus let out a slight gasp of his own. By the many levels of Hell, how could he have been so foolish? He knew with a sinking certainty exactly where Hermione's wand was. It was in his right robe pocket; impossible to get stealthily while his right hand was tightly clenching Hermione's. That's it then. He would do his best to protect Hermione at all costs. He wasn't about to let her be ripped from his side as Bob had been...better to die himself than live with that eternal torment.

"Listen to me very carefully, love. In a moment, he will lower his head to charge. When he does, you must release my hand. Run back the way we came."

"I will not leave you!"

"You will!" he hissed. "Hermione, you have no wand. I will use your wand, and I will do my best, but I cannot fight while worrying about you. You must get out of the way."

"I will do as you say," Hermione said, though she hated the very thought of leaving his side. He was right of course; he was always so infuriatingly right. Damn, it was one of the things she most adored about him...this irritating brilliance. She found that there was one more thing that must be whispered. "I love you, Severus," she said simply.

"And I, you...my goddess." The minotaur began to lower its head with slow deliberation. "Here he comes, little one...run!"

With a gasp, Hermione released his hand and fled down the path. As the creature charged, Severus moved with the same amazing speed and grace that Hermione had witnessed at the final battle against Voldemort. He was the most accomplished duelist of his generation, a feat that would have guaranteed his success this day--had he possessed his own wand. Knowing that the lesser curses would have no effect on the rampaging beast, he went automatically to the strongest curse in his arsenal.

"Avada Kedavra," the strong baritone rang out with practiced conviction. Hermione's innocent wand (never having touched an unforgivable in all the time since it was created), bucked in his hand, balking completely at the dark enchantment. Suddenly the minotaur was upon him. Trying to play for time, Severus dove sideways to avoid the rampaging brute. With surprising agility in a creature so large, the minotaur grabbed Severus up in its powerful arms, raised him over its head, and threw him ferociously against the nearest tree. A sickening snap echoed through the forest.

Hermione had paused when she heard the unforgivable. She now stood in shock, terrified that Severus lay dead at the foot of the tree. Still gaping, her eyes lifted to meet the furious eyes of the minotaur. It charged again, Hermione fleeing before it.

Severus was dazed by pain for but a moment. Then, with all the determination of his formidable will, he locked the agony of his badly broken leg deep in his mind, to be examined later...if there was a later. Using the tree that he had impacted against so roughly, he levered himself up to stand unsteadily on his remaining limb. Raising his eyes to search out the minotaur, he was just in time to see the fell beast gore Hermione in the back, catching her up on its horns to toss her over its back; she landed on her head with a terrible crack. She lay still, like a broken doll. With a hurried prayer, he could only hope she still lived. Then he forced her from his thoughts as he turned his attention to the minotaur.

"To me, you foul fiend!" he shouted. "She lays helpless...I am the threat now! Indeed, by all the powers of hell, I shall be your death!"

Severus' face showed a look of such ferocity and determination that had the minotaur any brain at all it would have fled in panic. With the incredible stubbornness of its kind, it turned from the lifeless form at its feet and, lowering its head again, the minotaur charged.

Dropping Hermione's useless wand at his feet, Severus, showing a steady ruthlessness born of decades of war, lifted both palms to the galloping beast before him. Again he intoned the unforgivable, fed with all the blind hatred he had for the creature.

"Avada Kedavra." Green light flashed from both his palms. Streaming to the minotaur, it struck him squarely in the chest. The creature's face broke in spasms of agony as it fell back, screaming. At last, it lay still in the middle of the path--face twisted in torment--lifeless eyes staring at the sky.

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Albus could not drag his eyes from the clock's face. Holding his breath for a tiny eternity, he watched the hands as they began their unstoppable journey away from "Deadly Peril." Severus' hand ended in "Gravely Injured," but the young witch's hand swung into "Mortally Wounded."

"Ah...no," Albus whispered. "Not that sweet girl. Poor Severus...my dear boy, fortune has never given you a chance of happiness has she...the vicious Jezebel." Albus collapsed back into the chair before the clock and, placing his head in his hands, he wept for his two young friends from whom the Fates had turned away.

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Unbeknownst to Albus, the Fates had not quite given up on his friends, though they were still feeling a bit capricious.

Severus took no pleasure in the death of his adversary. Thinking only of Hermione, he tried to run to her aid. His leg, broken clean through, would not support him. As he crashed to the ground the broken ends of the bone shifted; one end breaking through the skin, causing a bloody wound.

Cursing himself for his stupidity, Severus retrieved Hermione's fallen wand, then used every stubborn atom in his aching body to drag himself to her side. He thought her dead at first, she lay so still. Finding a pulse, he realized she wasn't dead...yet. Having expected her back to have the most serious wounds, he was surprised that it was hardly gored. The minotaur's horns had landed firmly in Hermione's knapsack and barely penetrated into her flesh. Severus was relieved by this...until he found that Hermione's potion box had taken the brunt of the attack. The few healing potions she had left were smashed and useless.

"Gods!" he keened. "Is there no mercy in this hell of a world? Will the Fates never cease their inhuman joy of tormenting me?"

Struggling to quiet his mind, Severus examined Hermione's head. Here he found the sickening reason for her apparent lifelessness. Having fallen hard, she had cracked her skull. Severus, distracted by her back and the ruined potions box, had not noticed the pool of blood spreading beneath the beloved cinnamon curls. As he watched, Hermione's life flowed out--a red tide. Grabbing her wand firmly in his trembling hand, Severus did his best to close the wound. Fortune gave a small smile--Hermione's wand was quite used to the healing magic, and it was comforted by the love and worry it felt flooding from the man who'd previously used it so grievously. With untold effort on Severus' part, the wound closed. Hermione remained seriously injured, but she would not bleed to death.

Severus knew if she stood any chance at all of recovering, he must get her to Hogwarts. It couldn't be far. How would he accomplish it? He had almost completely exhausted his reserve of magic. He would never manage another healing charm with an unfamiliar wand. With his insufferable leg he could only effect a dragging crawl. By the time he crawled to help she would surely die. He knew immediately what he must do. Three legs would travel much faster than one.

Severus was an unregistered Animagus. It wasn't a secret because of his days as a spy; he'd simply never bothered to register. He found the form he turned into patently useless. It was particularly useless for spying. The beast he became was conspicuous in the extreme, not only because of its form but because of its impossible color. The only time he ever used it was on occasion when traveling in the forbidden forest looking for potion ingredients. The only person he had ever let see the ridiculous creature was Albus. Albus had chuckled at him for weeks after, and Severus had never let him glimpse the animal again, no matter how often Albus begged--his blue eyes alight with barely concealed humor.

There was one problem with the course of action Severus now took. An Animagus used a wand to transform. It becomes a part of the animal form, just as clothing does. It was possible for an Animagus to transform without a wand, but to do so, one risked being stuck in the animal form forever. St. Mungo's had an entire wing dedicated to taking care of wizards who'd been foolish enough to transform wandless. It was a veritable zoo.

Severus knew what must be done, and he was well aware of the danger he faced in doing it. He considered trying to use Hermione's wand; in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do so. It would take time for him to hobble on three legs to Hogwarts. If she awakened while he was gone, she would be completely defenseless without her wand. Better that he be damned to a life as a beast than for his sweet goddess to die. The mere thought was unbearable.

With a fierce determination, Severus placed Hermione's wand in her right hand. Eyes wet with unshed tears, he kissed her unresponsive lips one last time with unspeakable reverence. Dragging the invisibility cloak from the knapsack and covering her; he prayed that the simple protection of invisibility would keep her safe.

"I will return, beloved," he whispered.

Severus dragged himself to a tree and used it to lurch unsteadily to his good leg. It required all his concentration, and what was left of his magical energy, to transform. Beside the hidden form of his love stood a midnight black unicorn. Standing on three legs, he raised the quicksilver-seeping, broken fourth high off the ground. With one last glance in the direction of his hidden goddess, he began a ragged trot south--towards home and help.

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Hagrid was working in the vegetable garden near his hut. Feeding his small plot of Barbary Lambs, he chuckled at their antics. Barbary Lambs, are not animals, but animated plants. A lamb grows from what resembles a small tree, remaining attached to the tree through a cord at its belly button. This cord acts as a natural tether, and when the lamb has eaten all the foliage around it, it dies. One does not usually feed Barbary Lambs, but Hagrid was so fond of the amusing plant-animals he could not bear to see them starve, thus his humble (if a bit silly) task this afternoon.

His chuckle abruptly fled when he heard a crashing in the underbrush of the forest near him. Putting down the large basket of hay he'd been dividing among the lambs, he left the garden to gather up his crossbow before standing to face the suddenly noisy forest. He was completely gobsmacked when an injured unicorn came blundering out on three legs.

"Look at the poor beggar, hurt by sommat weren't yer? Odd little thing 'e is, black as soot. Don't be worryin' none now. We'll get yer fixed up."

With that said, Hagrid began patiently trying to corner the hurt beast. Severus was horrified--were he a simple beast in need of assistance, he'd welcome the kind man's attentions. At the moment, however, there was no time to lose. Hermione needed help and the sole man who would recognize Severus was Albus. He simply must get away from Hagrid and to Albus' office. Hagrid made a sudden feint, almost grabbing him.

Severus screamed in anger and frustration. How could he possibly get to the castle? "Oh my Hermione," he thought, "don't you dare leave me, I will find a way...I swear it."

Little did Severus know that the answer to his predicament was about to walk itself around the corner of Hagrid's hut.