The Realm of the Unknown
Chapter 4 of 8
GinnyWAfter years of living on the run for the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape is captured by Aurors. Hermione must now try to convince Harry of Snape's innocence.
ReviewedThis is a response to the HP Chapter Challenge issued by Southern_witch_69 over at her Yahoo! Group: Potter Place and at The Petulant Poetess. Rules are at the end of the first chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you see here. All characters belong to the wonderful and talented Ms. J K Rowling.
Thanks go to Southern_Witch_69 for beta reading this story for me; she's been motivational and encouraging.
"Oh, and don't tell me," Harry mockingly says. "You went back the next year. I'm surprised that you're still among the living or have I been friends with nothing more than an apparition these last two years."
"Of course I went back! By that point, it was becoming a compulsion. I knew that there was something to be learned, and by God, I wanted to learn it," I say with fierce determination. I'm surprised that Harry doesn't jump up and begin another string of rants, but he shows an amazing amount of self-control. It's about bloody time, I think.
"Fine, Hermione. What did you learn?" He almost sounds resigned now. I'm happy about that. It means that he'll likely be able to accept the rest of my story.
"Well, I did what he said," I reply. "I went to the headmistress and requested to look at Dumbledore's memoirs..."
Hermione left the graveyard that afternoon more perplexed than she'd ever been before. She made her way to the victory celebration and left as soon as was socially acceptable, feigning a touch of a bellyache to aid her excuse.
Once home, she began writing down everything that she remembered about Severus Snape. She wrote everything from the spells that Harry learned in their sixth year book, Advanced Potion-Making, to the information that she'd dug up on his family. Hermione also wrote down, in as much detail as possible, every pertinent encounter that she could recall about the man...what he looked like, smelled like, and his surly attitude. No matter how hard she tried, things just weren't adding up in her mind.
It was a couple of months later before the school was opened again, and she had a few days off in a row to allow the time to stay there. She ventured back to Hogsmeade and up towards her alma mater. Hermione had owled Headmistress McGonagall and informed the headmistress of her desire to visit. So when Hermione arrived at the gates to the grounds, she found Neville Longbottom there to greet her.
Neville was now the Herbology professor at Hogwarts, though Hermione was surprised to see that it was him that came to greet her at the gates.
"Neville, it's so good too see you," Hermione said with a smile.
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Good morning, Hermione. Classes haven't started yet, and when Professor McGonagall told me you were due to visit this morning, I asked to be the one to welcome you."
Hermione preferred Neville coming to greet her as opposed to Charlie Weasley, the current Care of Magical Creatures professor and Keeper of the Keys. Charlie looked quite a bit like Ron, and he was just as flirtatious. At the Remembrance Celebration, Charlie had asked Hermione out. Their date had been extremely awkward, and Hermione later vowed to never date a former boyfriend's brother.
Neville carried on a one-sided conversation with her. He discussed his latest plants, experiments, and tales involving the joys of teaching. For a brief period, after school, Hermione had entertained the idea of teaching. However, listening to her friend go on, she was very glad that she'd not followed through with that. She was quite happy in her current position. The day-to-day drama of hormonal teenagers would be more than she could handle, at least at this point in her life. Perhaps a few years down the road she would change her mind.
They entered the main doors.
"I'm warning you, Peeves..." came the snappish voice of Professor McGonagall.
The poltergeist was floating above the doors to the Great Hall, and it appeared he had just doused a group of first years with ink. Hermione gave another silent prayer of thanks for her foresight at choosing another career, as she walked over to the cranky headmistress.
Peeves blew raspberries at the headmistress and took off to wreck havoc on another part of the castle. It was then that Professor McGonagall noticed her former student. "Oh, Miss Granger! Good morning," she said. "Come along, I have tea waiting for us up in my office."
Hermione turned, thanked Neville for walking her in, and followed the older witch up to her office.
Once they were settled in the headmistress' office, drinking tea, and the pleasant chatter was done with, Hermione broached the subject that she'd come there for.
"Professor," she began. "I actually had an ulterior motive for coming."
"I would be surprised if it were otherwise," came McGonagall's reply, though there was sly smile playing about her lips.
"Of course," Hermione replied with a grin. "I actually wanted to know if you had a copy of Professor Dumbledore's memoirs, journal, or whatever it was that he kept."
"I do, but why ever would you need them, Miss Granger?"
"I'm doing some research on Dark curses and hexes. I believe that there may be some information in the old headmaster's writings that may help me with a particular puzzle that I'm working on now," she supplied easily.
"You lied!" shouts Harry.
"I did not," I counter. "If you didn't know, Harry, I'm always doing research on Dark curses and hexes...seeing as that's my job! And I never said that it was Dumbledore's memoirs that would help me in that research."
I smile smugly as Harry sits back in his chair, defeated.
Professor McGonagall eyed the younger witch carefully before she slowly rose from her chair and walked over to the bookcase, pulling out a tattered leather bound book. "I will let you look it over, Miss Granger, but I ask that you not remove it from the school. It's rather particular, you see. When I first found it, I tried to take it with me to the cemetery. I thought it would be comforting to read it while sitting at Albus' grave. As soon as I tried to leave through the doors, the ruddy book began screaming as if it were a Mandrake. Since then, I've tried several things, and it refuses to leave the school via any conventional method: Floo and Portkey. I even tried having a house-elf attempt to Apparate with it."
Hermione gave her a curious look. "I understand, Professor. As I told you in my letter, I'm actually planning on staying for a day or two. I'd like to make use of the library as well."
"Of course, of course. I had Argus air out one of the guest rooms for you. I hope that you find what you're looking for."
"Me too," Hermione replied softly.
"I spent three days at Hogwarts. Most of the time I was copying Dumbledore's writings, but I also looked up a few hexes and curses in the Restricted Section. It may interest you to know that I went to the Room of Requirement, too," I say pointedly.
Harry's eyes narrow, and he shakes his head in disgust. It's obvious that he knows what I'm going to say. "It sounds to me, Hermione, that you were becoming quite obsessed with the greasy bastard. What good would his book be?"
"I was looking for breadcrumbs that would lead me to Severus' true allegiances. I felt that I needed both Dumbledore's memoirs and Severus' old schoolbook to help me." I sigh softly. "I knew it was doubtful, but a small part of me was hoping that I'd find the words, Snape is innocent, written down. I wasn't foolish enough to think that was exactly possible, especially since McGonagall had already read them. What I did find was details on the curse that affected him when he retrieved the first Horcrux. Dumbledore had outlined everything that happened from the Dark Magic and how Severus had saved his life." I pause and glare at my friend now. "Cripes! You'd think I was saying Voldemort. Severus, Severus, SEVERUS! Bloody hell, Harry, get over yourself!"
I don't remember getting to my feet, but I'm now standing directly in front of Harry's chair and leaning towards him. I fight back a growl as I step back. Losing my temper is something that I don't do often, but it truly can be volatile when I do. I force myself to mutter an apology and plop back into my chair.
His eyes narrow, as his glare intensifies. "Just how well do you know Severus?" he spits at me.
The words, You don't really want to know, flash through my head, but I think better of saying them. I rub my face with my hands. I finally decide that it's best to go back to telling my story.
When Snape had first told Hermione that he'd not meet with her until the following year, she'd wondered what she'd do with her questions and information in that timeframe. She was surprised then to find that she spent the first several months just trying to make sense of Dumbledore's writings and double entendre. When she'd been at the school, she'd used a sort of Dicta-Quill that copied his journal directly to her own parchments. Thankfully, the copies she'd made did not object to leaving the school grounds.
She now had reams of notes from the Dark Magic that had been coursing through the former headmaster's veins for their entire sixth year. The headmaster had indeed been quite ill during their sixth year. The dead arm that hung limply from his body was but a small fraction of the Dark Magic was eating away at the rest of his body. He had described pains in his chest, abdomen, legs, and had gone so far as to wear a glamour to keep the appearance that he still had a full head of hair at the time of his death. Apparently Dumbledore had worried that if the Order of the Phoenix thought that he was so deathly ill, then they would not have as much faith in him, and consequently, not have the faith in Harry.
Of course, Dumbledore never came out and directly said any of this. It was all written in small pieces here and there, scattered throughout the year. He would have a page that spoke about what he'd told specific Order members at a meeting, and then at the bottom of the page, he would write something like: My heart continues to ache for my foolishness of visiting the House of Gaunt.
It took Hermione a long time to figure out what Dumbledore was saying. She doubted it was something that Minerva would ever pick up on either. It was never indicated that Dumbledore mentioned anything about the Horcruxes to anyone other than Harry. And then, the Horcruxes were only mentioned as artifacts that belonged to Voldemort, nothing more. Harry never divulged their existence either. They were all afraid that others may be demented enough to try to create them themselves. She shuddered at the idea of Lucius Malfoy creating himself a Horcrux.
Hermione did, however, suspect that Snape had learned of them. Something in the writings suggested that Snape had helped Dumbledore destroy the soul trapped within the ring. But Hermione decided she'd need to speak with her old professor before she decided if that was a fact.
On the desk that she'd set aside for this research project sat the Half-blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Hermione had remembered Harry detailing where he'd stashed it when Snape had caught him after hexing Draco back in school. She wasn't sure what, but she was hoping that she'd find some clue to the man's personality hidden within its pages.
Between work and researching for Snape, Hermione had very little free time. Before she knew it, the war's anniversary was upon her. The bundle of nerves within her belly refused to calm as she prepared herself for her meeting. Making pat excuses to her friends and carrying an oversized handbag stuffed full with her notes, Hermione sat anxiously through the service. Once everyone began to make their way to the celebratory feast, she forced herself to calmly walk among the tombstones towards Albus Dumbledore's grave.
Ginny's Notes: Another evil ending. Sorry about that. Well... not really. ;-)
Southern's Notes: I wonder if anyone would pay me to give clues as to what happens next. Hmmm....
GOF quote: "I'm warning you, Peeves..."
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Latest 25 Reviews for Voice Of Truth
48 Reviews | 7.04/10 Average
Excellent story. I keep being amazed at the story's a random search produces. Your one on my favorite writers. Ty
I quite enjoyed this take on the challenge. Well done!
Glad that he was acquitted in the end. I like the way you set it up and brought the story to a head.
Oh, I love this! Short but not without its twists and turns and a happy ending!
I'm dying here! Because Ron handing her a stack of pamphlets to read was simply priceless and perfect, and now I see it was your attempt to use that sentence. It worked!
Okay, and Harry is even a bigger prat, and Hermione has a secret relationship with Severus and....
Ooooo, I love this first person present tense voice.Harry is a prat.::click::
its a good chap specially with the mesmeries in it even if a few errors!!1! i thought there was plagarizing but then i realized i read at ashwinder previously 4 of 5 !
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
:-) Yeah, not plagerized! Thanks for being concerned, though! Thank you for your comments. ~Ginny
Response from snapes_faerie (Reviewer)
oh good i though about it after and hoped youd not be upset. what happen to your pregnancy!hermione story, is it done already and i miss?
That is terrible, about your arm not the story. I hope that you are feeling better.Loved this chapter. I am so glad you did not leave us in suspense. I can't wait to see how they all move past this time. There is more, right?B
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Glad that you liked it. Yes, there is one more chapter... it should be up sometime early next week. :-) Thank you! ~Ginny
Wow... This was intense. I feel as though I've just read the missing puzzles to the entire story. Honestly, you kept the final outcome perfectly hidden- I was afraid to hope for the best because the Ministry can be so harsh and unforgiving at times. So, the ending came as a surprise, and it moved me to tears =( The reaction of Severus was also beautiful. Well written, I hope there is more to this!
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you,
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
! I'm so glad it was a surprise! *g* You are the second person to say that they were moved to tears. There is a final chapter that will also answer the question to the Wizengamot's leniency. :-) It should be up within a week. ~Ginny
I've just finished all 6 chapters posted so far and I'm really loving this story. It's another spin on his innocence, which I enjoy reading and researching immensely. There really are so many variations of his guilt or innocence, and you're weaving a very convincing story... In his trinkets, of course! What Rowling can do, like no other, is to make the most blatant acts of treason-- ambiguous! Your attention to character and detail is incredible...
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you,
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
! I'm so glad that you've enjoyed the story thus far! Sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter will be uploading within the next couple of days. ~Ginny
I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Thank you for another chapter. is there a memory hidden in one of the gadgets??
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Ahhh, Clever girl! ;-) You'll see in the next chapter.I had a great Christmas. How was yours?~Ginny
Response from pickles (Reviewer)
It was wonderful. Just had a birthday party for my daughter. she had a few friends over friday and the relatives today.
Happy New Year
I'm so silly. I cannot resist.Hermione: I started shagging him in my mind way back in fifth year, Harry. I was turned off for a little while after he offed old Dumby, but hell, that bad boy thing really turns me on. He's lucky he took off from the graveyard that first meeting. We'd have "christened" the headmaster's tomb!"
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
HA HA HA! You're so funny... you know I love you, right? Harry: Bloody Hell, Hermione! I thought you were supposed to be smart. Ewwwwwwwww! *covers his ears and runs crying to his wife*southern_witch_69's response: Teeeheee! Indeed I do, my dear. :)Hermione: (snickers) Well, that ought to get the idiot out of my hair for a while. Now, I simply have to go and break Severus out of Azkaban. :)
Yay for Ginny! (The one in the story, too. 
) Glad that Harry's wife is listening, and that even Ron is keeping quiet for now. Too bad Hermione wasn't better prepared for the shagging question. Very nice that Harry didn't destroy Dumbledore's toys, but once she finds the Pensieve memory, she better make sure Harry doesn't destroy it. I would've changed "The poison that he drank that night" to "The poison that you, Harry, forced him to drink that night" because Harry keeps ignoring the fact that he himself had part in Albus' death. Hermione says "I had hoped that I could get that final bit of evidence from you, Harry" - does she mean Harry's Pensieve memory of what happened on the Tower that night? Albus' offer to Draco, etc.? Thanks for the new chapter!!
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you, June! You are so wonderful... have I ever told you that? :-) Yes, at least that Ginny and Ron are keeping calm... certainly not what Hermione was expecting, though I think them hearing part of the story told from an obviously irate Harry helped to keep them calm.I like the line change, btw. Very clever, dangit!Cheers! ~Gin
You know that we are going to have to get out in the open the sadistic side that you have in leaving your poor audience hanging. Evil cliffy does not even begin to cover it. That not withstanding. It was a very good chapter. I am glad that Hermione finally told Harry off about something, even if it does appear to be something as insignificant as Severus' name. I wonder if Harry is capable of hearing and believing anything good about Severus or if this is just an excersize in futility for Hermione. B
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Well, Hermione reigned in her temper for as long as she could, and I think that she was rather careful to only release it on something insignificant. Though, her sensitivity to his name is a huge clue to Harry as to her relationship with Mr. Snape. Don't you think? I know, I'm sorry. The chapters just seem to end themselves right at the 2000 word mark and in such lovely places. The next one isn't quite as bad, though... honest. :-) Thanks for reading! ~Ginny
Making mah rounds like a good little beta/ friend/ stalker.Harry: So you two truly have been shagging! Just when I thought you could sink no lower than you longing for Lockhart!Hermione: What in the world...?Harry: You obvious have a thing for professor-type people. Tell me, have you planted any catnip about the castle in hopes of ensnaring the headmistress? Pretended to need flying lessons to get next to Hooch?
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Hermione: Ewwwww! I can't believe you just said that, Harry James Potter! That's just gross! *whilst descretly attempting to hide her new broom*
I don't know why but I thought this story was 4 chapters long... I was so disappointed LOL (although, I thought it was rather short.) Then, I'm glad to know that there is more to come :) Yeah. I think Harry is just a little kid that needs to grow up (and quickly)
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Yep, sorry, there are 8 chapters in all... so we're 1/2-way there. Never fear, though, this truly isn't a 'real' WIP. The chapters are written, they just need to be polished. The next one will be up asap.Thanks,
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
! ~Gin
very, very good story. I can't wait to have the end of Hermione's tale to know what will happen to Severus, what will Harry's decision be.
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you! The next chapter will be up within the week. Thanks for reading! ~Gin
I'm not paying bribes to SW for clues - GInny could always change the chapters without telling SW! My favorite line here: "Bloody hell, Harry, get over yourself!" Ooh, I'd love to see that in a movie! That, and see Harry grovel at Severus' feet. Hey Ginny, can you work that into the story too? Thanks for posting!
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Yeah, I'd love her hear her say that line, too. LOL! I don't think we'll get to see Harry grovel, though. Just doesn't seem to be his sort of thing. Thanks for reading, June! ~Gin
This is a very good story, but I wonder what she is hoping to get from Harry once she finishes telling her story. He is the one who ignored all of her information to have Severus arrested in the first place, he is unbelievable bias when it come to Snape. In some cases for a good reason, and in some cases because Severus was not able and would not treat him as anything special. -- B
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you! I'm glad that you like the story. Hermione needs something from Harry since he didn't believe her based on her original report. She anticipated Harry's reaction, but she did not anticipate all of this coming about on this night. And a part of her was still hopeful that she wouldn't have had to resort to telling him everything now, either. That is the answer, vague and veiled as it is. :-)Thanks for reading. The next chapter is with my beta now. As soon as she's done with it, I'll upload. Thank you! ~Ginny
Wow. I am not sure what he is expecting her to do now. Just sit around and watch as one of her best friends railroads a man she knows to be innocent into Azkaban. Boy is more foolish than ever if that is what he thinks he can persuade her to do. Very enjoyable, but not surprisingly so, since all of your stories are. -- B
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you very much! I'm so glad that you find my work to be enjoyable. I hope that you like the next chapters to this piece as well. Yeah, Harry's a prat, we'll see if Hermione can talk some sense into him. :-) Cheers! ~Ginny
Brilliant start to this challenge! Can't wait for the rest! I think I would have to seriously harm Harrry if I was in Hermione's shoes right now! lol
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thank you, Christy! And thanks so much for your support! Yeah... Harry's being quite the arse, I think. :-) ~Gin
Yikes! <I>The Unstoppable Trio will always be friends</I> - I think I'd quit being friends with Harry right about now.... Please tell me there's a happy ending for Severus at the end of this story!! Bonus points for dropping Harry into a pile of Thestral droppings?
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
June, you've read the 'rules' that I go by before, I know you have. 
I think I'd quit being friends with Harry right about now....
Well, it's going to be a long night, that's for sure. Thanks for reading!! ~Gin
Excellent start! May you have better luck with your betas than I've had with mine (timewise, that is.. they're all brilliant as far as betaing go). Anyway, where was I? Oh right, Brilliant start. Is Harry really going to condemn SNape, or has he just brought him out into the public eye for a great show trial to proove his innocence? His perplexed eyes are replaced by glittering triumph.makes me think the former... Looking forward to the rest of this!
Response from GinnyW (Author of Voice Of Truth)
Thanks, Avery! My beta is awesome, she's read through the entire story as I've been going along and now we're both just brushing up the grammar. Actually, the biggest thing that I'll be waiting on is to see how long it takes to get the story validated at Ashwinder. :-)
Hmmmm, I won't answer your question about Harry yet... you shall see. Thank you! ~Ginny