Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Hermione was with Severus in his cell. They had about half an hour before his trial would begin. Hermione sat on the bed with her back against the wall. She watched as Severus paced back and forth in the small space between his bed and the cell wall. The man fervently paced the three steps to the cell bars, then quickly wheeled around and retraced his steps to the toilet. Over and over again, he repeated this, his hands held tightly behind his back. His gray prison jumper lacked the billow of his robes, but in the state he was in, even they seemed to enlarge and make him look intimidating.

"Severus! Please sit down!" Hermione demanded.

"I can't," he said in a clipped tone.

"Wearing a hole in the floor will not make the trial start any faster," Hermione mused.

Severus stopped his pacing. "I'm not hoping that it will come sooner, Hermione. I'm hoping it will never begin. With the beginning of that trial comes the end of my freedom."

"Severus, it will work out. They will find you innocent because you are."

Severus sat heavily on the bed next to Hermione. "No, they will not. They will sentence me to a deserved fate. I just didn't realize when I made myself vulnerable to capture that I would now be regretting my decision."

Hermione's hand rested on his shoulder. She squeezed it encouragingly. "You don't deserve such a fate, Severus, and deep down, you know it."

Severus frowned. "It matters not what I know or do not know. I have doomed myself to this fate. There is no chance, Hermione. Surely, you recognize that."

Hermione shook her head violently. "No, I don't, Severus. There's a mountain of evidence to prove that you were working for us. You'd have to be blind not to take it all into account. You will be acquitted."

Severus looked at the ground, but smiled ruefully. "I will miss your positive attitude when I'm put away, Hermione."

Hermione caught her breath. "Please! Don't speak like that. This will all work out."

"Nothing ever works out for me. There's no reason for it to start now."

Dolores Umbridge sat in the courtroom and made sure that everyone in the Wizengamot was assembled. When she was certain, she rose.

"Excuse me, Minister," she said to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "I forgot my wand at my desk. May I be excused?"

"Yes, Dolores, but make it quick. The hearing is to start in ten minutes."

"Of course, Minister," she tittered.

She left as Minister Shacklebolt gave the Wizengamot some last minute instructions before the courtroom was opened to the public.

Dolores paused outside the closed door and extracted her wand from her robes. She silently cast a spell that opened the small vial she'd left on the floor by her seat. Looking at her watch, she followed the time and waited for two minutes. Her partner had warned her not to enter the room before then, as the gas would not dissipate for that length of time. Pocketing her wand once again, she reentered the courtroom.

"Hem, hem... Just some guidelines for the trial today," she instructed in her high-pitched voice. "Severus Snape will be found guilty, no matter what evidence is presented. No memories are to be seen today. They will be considered to be inadmissible evidence. His punishment will be to have the Hollowing Spell cast upon him. This will remove his personality and magic. He will be no more than a shell. It is the BEST alternative. Does anyone have any questions?" She asked the last bit quite cheerfully. Her eyebrows rose as she looked at all of them with a happy smirk on her face.

The entire Wizengamot shook their heads at her.

"Wonderful!" She turned to the guard standing at the back door of the court. "You may let in the observers," she commanded.

The man opened the doors, and a flurry of reporters and spectators filed into the courtroom. Dolores returned to her seat. She wondered which person was her contact. He had told her he'd be in the courtroom and would meet her and the Minister in the courtroom's antechamber to administer the hex. She perused the audience, seeing many people she didn't recognize. She wasn't sure which one was her partner.

Harry Potter and his wife Ginevra had come in and sat on the far left. Umbridge frowned. She tolerated Potter, but would never like him. He'd been an insufferable boy, always meddling where he wasn't needed. He was now a colleague...an Auror here at the Ministry...so she needed to be somewhat respectful, but secretly she loathed him. She hoped he would be sacked soon, but he seemed to be climbing the ladder of advancement at a quick rate, being loved by everyone in his department. Oh, well. It was impossible to drive everything in the world.

Soon, everyone was settled. Minister Shacklebolt pounded his gavel on the block to quiet the courtroom.

"Bring in the prisoner," he commanded.

Severus was brought in, his wrists shackled. Hermione followed closely behind him. Severus was led to the seat in the center of the room. Hermione made her way to a table next to the seat and settled into the chair behind it. The guard roughly thrust Severus down. His shackles attached themselves to the arms of the chair. Chains surrounded his legs also. Hermione winced at the sight of a bound Severus Snape.

The Minister brought the court to order, and the trial began. Hermione stood.

"Your honor, our first piece of evidence will be the memories that Severus Snape gave to Harry Potter on the night of the final battle."

"That evidence is inadmissible," Umbridge tittered. "Those memories could have been altered as they left the defendants body."

"Yes, they are inadmissible," the Minister mimicked.

Hermione frowned and looked down to her notes. "Then I would ask that a Pensieve be brought in and Mister Snape's own memories be examined."

"My dear," Dolores drawled. "No memories can be used in this hearing. For all we know, with the defendant's abilities in Legilimency and Occlumency, his memories could be showing pure lies, and we wouldn't be able to tell."

Hermione bristled. "Madam Umbridge, surely you know that when memories are tampered with, there is obvious evidence to the fact. Even Mister Snape could not change his memories in such a way to avoid detection."

Kingsley spoke up then. "The memories are inadmissible. The defendant's ability to direct his thoughts makes them unreliable."

Hermione scowled. She hadn't foreseen this argument, and she berated herself for not anticipating it being used. She perused her notes and pulled herself together. It would do no good for her to begin to have a tirade only five minutes into the trial.

"Very well," she acquiesced. "I call Harry Potter to the witness stand."

Harry rose and came to the center of the room, taking the empty chair to the left of Severus which faced the Wizengamot.

"Mister Potter, what where your feelings towards Mister Snape before the final battle?" Hermione questioned.

"I didn't trust him. I thought he'd murdered Dumbledore. I knew he was a Death Eater."

"And after the battle, did your opinion of him change?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. He'd given me some of his memories so I saw that he had been told by Dumbledore himself to kill him. He continued to spy against Voldemort and worked to defeat him."

Kingsley interrupted then. "Memory evidence is not permitted Mister Potter."

"Your honor," Hermione retorted. "This is Mister Potter's view of the events that happened. Surely, he shouldn't be kept from speaking."

Kingsley narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "I'll allow it."

"Mister Potter, since the final battle, have you come across anything that would support Mister Snape's claim that he was on our side?"

"I found out that it was he who planted the Sword of Gryffindor in the woods so I could destroy the Horcruxes I came across."

"How can you prove that, Mister Potter?" Hermione questioned.

"He sent his Patronus to guide me to the sword."

"What is the form of his Patronus?" Hermione asked.

"It's a silver doe," Harry answered.

Hermione turned to the Minister. "Permission to allow Mister Snape to conjure a Patronus."

Umbridge chimed in. "We can't give him a wand! He might escape!"

Hermione sighed and looked to Umbridge. "He is chained with magical irons. There is no way he can break those bonds, whether he has a wand in his hand or not. Letting him have a court wand for a minute to conjure a Patronus will in no way help him to escape."

The Minister motioned to the guard. "Please bring in the courtroom wand." The man left the room to get the wand.

"With this wand, Mister Snape, you will only be able to cast a Patronus," Shacklebolt explained. "It is tied to the courtroom and can only perform the spell that I allow. Do not try anything else with it, as you will be knocked unconscious. Is that understood?"

"Fully," Severus said.

The wand was brought to him, and Severus cast his Patronus. A silver doe gracefully emerged from his wand and looked at the Wizengamot. It turned quickly from them and nuzzled Severus' cheek before dissolving. The wand was taken from Severus, and the trial went on.

Harry finished his testimony and other witnesses were brought up. Many were for the prosecution, telling of Severus' doings as a Death Eater. Hermione tried to direct their testimony to always reflect that Severus was a spy when he did the things that were reported.

Finally, it was time for Severus himself to testify.

"Your honor, I wish to administer Veritaserum to the defendant," Hermione requested.

"Request granted," Kingsley stated.

Three drops of Veritaserum were dropped into a spoon and given to Severus. The court waited a few minutes for the serum to take effect. Hermione walked over to Severus.

"State your name," she ordered.

"Severus Tobias Snape."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Have you ever been a Death Eater."

"Yes."

"When?"

"I joined the Death Eaters as a youth. I left them when the Potters were killed."

"Why did you continue to associate with them?"

"I became a spy for Albus Dumbledore."

"How long did you serve as a spy?"

"Until the end of the war."

There was chatter in the courtroom. The Minister banged his gavel to quiet everyone.

"Why did you attack Albus Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. Severus and she had determined that the fewer who knew about Albus not having been killed, the easier it would be to find out what had happened to him. Hermione chose her words carefully so that Severus could answer without giving the full truth away.

"He told me to kill him."

More whispers and mutterings came from the court.

"Why?"

"He was dying. He knew that Draco Malfoy had been ordered to kill him. He wanted to save Draco and end his life without having to suffer extensively. He asked me to do it in fear that the Death Eaters would torture him if given the chance."

"What did you think when he first asked you to kill him?"

"I was mortified."

"Why did agree to do it?"

Severus looked directly at the Minister. "It was what Albus wanted. He wanted me to ensure my place in the Death Eater circle. He wanted me to be trusted by the Dark Lord. He also wanted to make his end a bit easier."

The questioning continued. Soon it was the prosecution's turn to question Severus.

"Mister Snape, when did you become a Death Eater?"

"At age seventeen."

"Why did you join them?"

"I wanted to be looked up to. I wanted to be powerful. I had spent my entire life prior to that being taunted and teased and beaten. I looked upon being a Death Eater as an end to such treatment."

"How many people have you killed, Mister Snape?"

"I don't know."

Is a human life so unimportant to you that you don't remember when you take one?"

"No."

"Then how many have you killed?"

"I'm not sure."

"You don't know how many people you've killed, yet we are to believe that you killed Dumbledore at his request. How can you even remember that?"

Severus' lips thinned. "Albus was my friend. I would remember such a request. Most of the people I killed were killed among raids. It was easy to lose track of who killed whom."

"Would you say you are an experienced killer?"

"No."

"After the hundreds you've struck down, you don't consider yourself to be an experienced killer?"

Severus struggled against his shackles. "I did not kill hundreds!" he snarled.

"My, my, Mister Snape. That's quite the temper you have. Could it be that your murder of Albus Dumbledore was simply a crime of passion. After all, he was the strongest wizard who fought against your beloved master."

Severus' hands clamped into fists as a snarl emerged from his throat. A hand closed around Severus' arm. He looked to see Hermione leaning over and calming him with her hand. He settled down immediately.

"No further questions," the prosecutor said as he sat down.

The Minister looked to Hermione. "Do you have anything more, counselor?"

Hermione rose again. "Mr. Snape, what are your feelings towards Voldemort?"

"He was a murdering despot who yearned for power. His ego and desires made him the most dangerous wizard of our times."

"Yet, you still followed him as a Death Eater?"

"I was young when I joined him. I didn't fully understand his madness. His message is very enticing to those who are searching for acceptance. I was duped."

"Once you realized his true character, what did you do, Mister Snape?"

"I turned from him and began my spy work."

Hermione turned to Shacklebolt. "No further questions."

"Do you have any more witnesses to call, Miss Granger?"

"No, sir."

"Anything more, Mister Duncan?" he asked the prosecutor.

"The prosecution rests."

"Wizengamot, are you ready to rule."

"Yes, Minister," Dolores Umbridge said.

"All those who find Severus Snape guilty, raise your hand."

Every member raised their hand, including Shacklebolt. Hermione's mouth dropped open. Severus frowned intensely.

"The judgment is unanimous. We the Wizengamot find the defendant, Severus Snape, guilty of murder and conspiring with Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort. The penalty for this offense is for the defendant to undergo a spell to remove his personality and magic from his person. He will be left as little more than a hollow man, able to follow simple commands."

Severus turned white. Hermione stood immediately. "Minister, I was under the assumption that the penalty would be life in Azkaban. I was not informed of this change in penalty."

"The penalty stands as explained." Kingsley pounded his gavel, and the reporters fled from the room.

Two guards came to Severus and released the shackles from the chair. They lifted him up and began to lead him away. Hermione rushed to his side.

"Severus!" she exclaimed. "We'll fight this!"

"It will be useless if my being is to be destroyed," he muttered grimly. His face was a mask. "Thank you for your effort," he whispered as he was led away.

Another guard kept Hermione from following him. "You may see him when you are summoned," he told Hermione. She stopped fighting him and stood helplessly, watching Severus being led away.

Harry bounded up to her. "What happened?"

Hermione shook her head forlornly. "I don't know. I've never seen a unanimous vote in the Wizengamot. I don't even think there's one on record. Something's wrong here, Harry."

"We need to find Dumbledore, and fast," he whispered to her.

"Do you have any leads?"

"No, but I'll get back to work. Will you be all right?"

Hermione nodded absently. Harry turned and left the courtroom. Hermione fidgeted, awaiting her admittance to the room where they had dragged Severus.