Act Four

A/N: I anticipate that many readers will find fault with the language and grammar herein. Please bear in mind that this play seeks to remain authentic to the style and language of literature produced in the Tudor, Elizabethan and early Jacobean times (c.1485-1615). They had different modes of writing, grammar and spelling. While I have faithfully produced these as far as I could, please understand that I have opted not to replicate the erratic Tudor spelling as most words were spelt phonetically in the Tudor era (c.1485-1603).

In order to be true to the custom of the time, this play is written in a combination of late Mediaeval Latin, as well as Tudor and Elizabethan English. Some English words used then had different of meanings than they do now. While I am aware that this maybe very off-putting to many people, I sincerely hope you will come to see and understand the plot as I intend for it to be read. As far as possible, I have included a glossary when the definitions of words differ from the modern meaning and pronunciations. If you are in doubt, ask and I will answer. Stage directions are given in square brackets, like so [ ] and asides are listed. If asides are not indicated explicitly in the text, they are denoted by round brackets like so ( ).

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TANQUAM OVIS

ACT FOUR

Act IV Scene I

Hog's Head, a tavern. A crowd of people, among them patrons of all moulds, and the tavern keeper, Aberforth Dumbledore.

Enter Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Hermione Granger.

Minerva:

Dost not our disguises make us obvious?

Severus:

Not if we look like all else gather'd here.

I thank you again for looking on me

As a silvery Moon to Dumbledore's Sun.

Minerva:

My lord hath ne'er been wrong in the general sense 5

Hermione:

Be you quite certain, good Professor Snape

That the unmentionable we seeketh

Be hidden within these grimy confines?

Minerva:

Aye, that to me is also confused.

Severus:

Let me this student test with intellect: 10

Didst thou learn nothing in the horcrux search?

Hath the Order or the Chosen Potter

Solved the enigma of the R. A. B.

Which limply hangs on Miss Granger's locket?

Bite not your thinning lips, McGonagall; 15

And Miss Granger, shake not thy head in that

Manner insipid of Weasley-Potter.

The problem herein is that all involved

From the shrewd Dark Lord to the wet Order

Hath minds so puff'd with varied learned things 20

That the simple oft escape their notice:

Read you both, R. A. B. as B. A. R,

Doth the eager Miss Granger wish to speak?

Hermione:

Beshrew my mind that this I did neglect

To see the stated obvious – I blush! 25

Severus:

And so thou should'st, thou insupportable pedant!

Hermione:

'Tis simple quite Professor McGonagall,

Inverse R. A. B. to see B. A. R,

Yond space where cloths and glasses ne'er be clean'd

Is by happenstance one such place defin'd; 30

For Bar equates tavern and who should be

Of such great import that all Death Eaters

And e'en the Dark One himself should o'erlook?

The answer then is plain for all to see –

Something, nay, someone of great gilt import 35

Yet obscure enough not to raise quizzes;

For who should be bear the celestial Sun

Without suffering the burnings we have?

Who by his very nearness to the Sun

Is overlook'd by one and all for nought? 40

The shift of your joint eyes, Professors two

To yond keep of this loose establishment

Showeth me that I have impaled the thought

Of Aberforth Dumbledore as the One

With the key to the elusive horcrux. 45

Minerva:

Come to think, we hath quite forgot of him.

Severus:

For good reason – Dumbledore meant it thus.

Who would suspecteth the illiterate

Seemingly unsavoury and uncouth

Other Dumbledore brother? 50

Hermione:

My next words to thee would sound childish straight –

But as these be desperate times, I will speak:

Methought I heard the Headmaster's echo

Whispering in tones of doleful mourning that

Be saith plain, "My brother has the horcrux". 55

Minerva:

The gods be praised that I am not run mad!

Severus:

What new conceit is this, McGonagall?

Minerva:

The echo of Albus did expressedly

Instruct me to look on his own effects

To find what might proclaim thee innocent 60

Severus:

I am no innocent. These hands be stain'd

And shalt remain so forever and a day.

Minerva:

Pray, leave thy dramatic utterances

For Aberforth lopingly approaches.

[Aberforth advances to Minerva, Severus and Hermione]

How now, bar-keep, send forth to us three cups of butterbeer. 65

Aberforth:

Speak lower if thou art be my sister, the lovely rose of May espoused to mine lamentable

brother. Wherefore art thou and thy friends here? Dost thou think I keep thieves and

villains in this my House? 68

Minerva:

Gentle Aberforth, am I not fallen away vilely since the last action? Do I not bate? Do I

not dwindle? How then didst thou recognise us? 70

Aberforth:

Human eyes be the windows to the soul, did not my brother once say? Aye, thou may'st

change the colour and shape of thy eynes, but their expression may never lie to the good

observer. This gentleman here, swathed in grey from hoary beard to sagging brows be the

good Severus Snape. His eyes art always metallic unblinking and coldly calculating even

though they now be an emerald green. This fair maiden whom I think thou and he

desireth to pass for their daughter may dress to the hilt to my little Sybill's image, but I

know her eyes when she cam'st here with a tribe of her schoolfellows to form an army

for my brother. Her eyes be the same as they stare kindly though critically at all that pass

through her environs. Thine eyes, my sister dear, always bear that hint of squint e'en if

thou art now quite an aged Slavic gypsy in thy look. Fear not, sweet sister, all my

customers look as bedraggled as your company, thee and thy friends stand not out. Thou

would'st not come here less there be business thou wish my hand could reach. What be the matter? 82

Severus:

Thou art thy brother's keeper, art thou not?

We believe that in times past thou hast help'd

His friends who wish'd to shrug off their old cloaks 85

And thou hast by the wit thou shar'd with him

Kept in thy possession a fragmented

Piece of soul we like to call a horcrux.

Aberforth:

'Twas brought by Regulus Black when he fled to serve of the Dark Knights. It camest with a locket of Slytherin.

Hermione:

That sirrah, we have but devis'd of late. 90

Think'st thou to help in this endeavour

To bring Order to thy late brother's House

So that we and yea, the Chosen One too,

Would with our powers destroy this partial

Fragment of a soul beyond redemption. 95

Aberforth:

I know not how the secret betwixt two brothers could have been uncovered by you three,

but I shall help you rid the world of that immoral plague for the love of my brother and

my gentle sister's sake. 98

Minerva:

Thanks be to thee, good Aberforth.

Severus:

When may we hope to return for this thing 100

Accurs'd in its very existence?

Aberforth:

Return with thy party and I will have Slytherin's locket when 'tis nigh time to close and

together will we traverse this ill from hell to hell.

[Exeunt all]

Act IV Scene II

Uncharted island near Scotland. A clearing in a forested area. A crowd of Death Eaters, among them, Mcnair and Wormtail.

Enter Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape.

Bellatrix:

Good, my noble liege, this wilt you hear'st

Await to hear your fair hand in a quarrel,

Made by the poor petitioners of ours

Against the unsettl'd cabal of Snape's

Which until the last Moon wast newly form'd. 5

Wormtail hath neatly penned a parchment

Bearing the faction of Lucius and I

In our detail'd study of a traitor

Lying unseasonably proud in our midst.

Severus (aside):

Observe how the degenerate woman 10

Curl her sharp claws in the Dark Lord's mind,

Hinting at my divided loyalties

With cold coquettish reproachful wink.

Lucius, himself, could match the arch-devil

In his smirking of arrogance at me 15

And calculated indifference to our lord!

And where be his worthless precious son now?

At home with his head at his mother's lap?

Ha! I am too old a jade to think that

For the Malfoy clam and those with Black blood, 20

Shall with their nature's cold smiling manner

Make love to us all!

Lucius:

We wisheth not to be importunate

But ne'er can rest when a traitor's near.

Thou traceth thy lips, friend Snape, doth thou think 25

With our Lord's left hand's legitimate fears?

Severus:

Thy sister and thee be right politic schemers.

Bellatrix:

And speak, shall it please you, my lord

That their several actions you would see?

Voldemort:

Give me the parchment thou rest on thy cheek. 30

My word I present thee sweet Bellatrix

To read the words that thus importune me

In the face of my seizure of Hogwarts

An should thy report ring true, I shalt thee

Endow with power, lands and rightful positions; 35

However, should thy words prove wring, I shalt

Rend Draco from his mother's bosom.

For now, the letter shall rest near my heart

To remind me of thy true merits to us.

Wormtail and Mcnair do beckon to thee, 40

Go Lucius and soothe their warlike temper.

Gentle Bellatrix, use thy fair spirit,

Help Lucius bring peace amongst my men.

[Exeunt Lucius and Bellatrix]

It is my wish thou should'st stay with me

But not so near as to disturb my rest. 45

Stand guard o'er me as I would'st o'er you.

Severus:

I hasten to obey my lord. [Severus stands apart from Voldemort]

Voldemort:

[aside]

At last, I have my thoughts and I alone

Watch'd o'er by a sentinel loyal.

Why should my melancholy increase so? 50

Doth that scarr'd young pup wish to distract me?

'Tis requisite his office be resigned,

And given to rest in my power alone!

Then wherefore dreams of death attend their will

To oppose my desire with unnatural force? 55

Could those old childish tales of yore ring true

That mortal men may not appoint their time?

Yet, I am certain I am immortal.

This immortality must be preserved

Per scelus simper tutum est sceleribus iter. 60

A plague on Potter for thwarting my desires!

Strike, and strike home, where wrong is offer'd thee;

For evils unto good conductors be,

And death's the worst of resolutions.

For he that thinks with patience to contend 65

To quiet life, his life shall easily end.

The gods be thank'd that I am not this man!

Fata si miseros, juvant habes salutem;

Fata si vitam negant, habes sepulchrum.

If destiny my misery do ease, 70

Then hath I health and happy shalt I be;

If destiny deny me life, Tom, Lord Voldemort,

Yet shalt I be assured a tomb;

If neither, yet this my comfort be –

Dark Hell coverth him that hath no burial. 75

And to conclude, on Potter myself I shalt revenge!

But how? Not as the vulgar wits of men,

The open, but inevitable ills

Like the very schemes tripping in Bellatrix's mind,

But as by a secret, yet a certain mean, 80

Which under kinship will be cloaked best.

Wise men will take their opportunity,

Closely and safely fitting things to time.

But in extremes, advantage hath no time;

And therefore all times fit not for revenge. 85

Thus therefore will I rest me in unrest,

Dissembling quiet in unquietness,

Not seeming that I know their villainies;

That my simplicity may make them think

That ignorantly I will let all slip – 90

For ignorance, I wot, and well they know,

Remedium malorum iners est.

Nor aught avails it to me to menace them,

Who, as a wintry storm upon a plain,

Will bear me down with their nobility. 95

No, no, Lord Voldemort, thou must enjoin

Thine eyes to observation, and thy tongue

To milder speeches than thy spirit affords,

Thy heart to patience, and thy hands to rest,

Thy cap to courtesy and thy lips to smile, 100

Tell to revenge thou know, when where and how.

[aloud]

Stop! Peace! Wherefore this pain my heart. Help!

Sound the alarums, beat the might drums,

Severus, Lucius, Bella! Come to me!

[Severus approaches Voldemort]

I feel a part of my soul rent from me 105

Forcibly destroyed but who, how, where, when?

Ah, this pain, this mortal pain in my breast!

[Re-enter Lucius and Bellatrix]

Lucius:

My Lord, what coil is that you keep?

Severus:

Perchance my lord wouldst like a restorative?

Bellatrix:

Fools! Dost not thou seest how our Lord doth bleed 110

'Neath that gaping holes where his fingers be!

Severus:

You both should stay with our noble Lord,

Whilst I the area solemnly secure.

[Exeunt all but Severus]

For all the love I bear thee, Dumbledore,

I own myself now most pleasantly pleased. 115

The Slytherin locket hath been opened

And with it accompanied the end

Of the wretched thing in Aberforth's hands.

At last by my care, good shalt not be lost

Dumbledore's death shall be by me aveng'd! 120

Although I bear it out for fashion's sake:

For here I swear in sight of heaven and earth,

Should Potter neglect the memory thou art giveth

And give it over and devise no more,

Myself should send Death Eater souls to hell, 125

To wring thy downfall with extremest death!

[Exit]

Act IV Scene III

Grimmauld Place, Order of the Phoenix Headquarters.

Enter Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Nymphadora Tonks, and Moody.

Minerva:

My thanks be granted to you who have holp

In the night's murder of the horcrux soul.

These heavy burdens pressed us upon,

Tormenting us so by ourselves alone,

Much like the felon that pursued by night, 5

Starts at each bush as his foe were in sight.

Moody:

Now doubting state, now dreading loss of life,

In fear of wreck at every blast of wind,

Now start in dreams through dread of murders' knife,

As though even the revengement were assign'd 10

With restless thought so is the guilty mind

Turmoil'd and never feeleth ease or stay,

But lives in fear of which follows my eye.

Hermione:

Without Professor Snape, the puzzle of

R. A. B and the accompanying soul 15

Would not have found.

Ron:

This giveth me more reason to distrust him.

Lupin:

Yet this same horcrux soul, tonight we have

Extinguish'd the light to its candle flame.

Tonks:

So we deep wounded with the bloody thought, 20

And gnawing worm that grieved our conscience so,

Never took ease, but as our hearts first brought

The strained sighs in witness of our woe;

Such restless cares our fault did well beknow:

Wherewith of our deserved fall the fears 25

In every place rang death within our ears.

Harry:

I like it not, Snape might us yet betray.

[Enter Severus Snape]

Severus:

I heard my name bespoken.

Minerva:

Thou look'st ill at ease from thy dark meeting.

Severus:

Those things which I have seen I will only 30

Whisper in the ears of Goddess Fortune

And by my troth, McGonagall, you also.

Ron:

Wherefore art thou here?

Harry:

Dost thou know thou art not welcome?

Hermione:

Peace! Let not thy warlike tongues 'gender fire. 35

Moody:

Didst thou come to feed Minerva more lies?

Snape! Thou shalt stifle in thy own report,

And smell of sweet rose scented calumny.

Minerva:

Please, gentlemen and Tonks, replace your wands,

Severus Snape is here by my request. 40

Ron (aside):

If ever woman runneth mad, so run

The deluded squint ey'd fool, McGonagall.

Hermione:

Speak no ill of him for he is a friend

To our great cause, noble, valiant and true.

Harry:

Remus, Ron, Moody, Tonks, wilt you not support 45

Me in my righteous will? Snape thou art not noble

For all the accommodations that thou bear'st

Be nurs'd by baseness. Thou'rt by no means valiant;

For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork

Of a poor lazy worm's divided tongue. 50

Minerva:

Thou art unfair, Harry, stay thy eager tongue,

Be not superficial, ignorant and unweighing.

Ron:

I second Harry; I would liefer trust

A snake in the grass than Severus Snape.

Severus:

Thou art in good fortune; I am a snake. 55

Weasley, I find thy spirit of sense is

Still hard as the palm of the ploughman.

Harry:

Dost thou see this drawn wand? Tell me, wherefore

Should'st we believe in thy paltry tricks?

Thou art a hungry lean-fac'd villain; 60

A mere anatomy, half-form'd at best;

A threadbare juggler and a fortune-teller,

A needy hollow ey'd sharp looking wretch,

A living dead man.

Severus:

I do not deny my estate as a living dead man. 65

Harry:

Wherefore should I and the Order trust thee?

Thou may'st have corrupted Hermione's mind

And deprived McGonagall of her wit,

But know thee that I am the Chosen One,

I need'st not thy help, thy reports or thee! 70

I am myself alone and so I'll'd stay.

Severus:

Thy abilities be too infant-like for doing much alone.

Harry:

By the fires of Heaven, I'll lave the foe

And make my wars on thee!

Hermione:

Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus! 75

Hath thee lost thy sense, Harry James Potter?

Do any thing but this thou doest, empty

Old receptacles or common shores, of filth;

Serve by indenture to the common hangman:

Any of these ways be yet better than this; 80

For what you professest, a manticore,

Could he speak would own a name too dear!

Moody (aside):

O dark deceit with painted face for show;

O poisoned bait that makes us eager still;

O feigned friend deceiving people so; 85

O world of woe, we canst not speak to ill;

Yet fools we be that bend so to thy skill,

The plague and scourge that thousands daily feel,

Should warn the wise to shorn thy whirling wheel.

Ron:

Hermione, wilt thou let him speak thus 90

To us without whom our world is quite doom'd.

Hermione:

Tell me true, doth that voice from thy throat

Come from the grey matter hid in thy loins

Or from the mind and tongue of thy lady?

Unless thou wants a sprig of Lavender 95

To seal thy body and tongue for an hour?

I advise thee to keep thy tongue – Silencio!

[silences Ron with spell]

Severus:

Leave the arrant knave be, Miss Granger,

He and Potter were cut from the same cloth;

He is weaker than a woman's tear, 100

Tamer than sleep, fonder than ignorance,

Less valiant than the virgin of the night

And work skill as unpractis'd infancy.

Save your advice, O great Fortune, for me.

Lupin:

Tonks and I remain curious on a point – 105

What preventeth thee from betraying us

To the ravenous wolves of thy Dark Lord?

Minerva:

Severus' life balance doth delicate be

For within the ranks of the Death Eaters

Much more as I and Albus do proclaim 110

Is as yet suspected of him.

Severus:

The wolves at hand are ready to devour

The silly lambs in bed whereas they lay

Abiding death and looking for the hour,

For well they wist, they could not 'scape away. 115

Ah, woe is me, that did them thus betray,

In assigning this vile deed to be done,

By Lucius Malfoy and wick'd Belle Lestrange.

Moody:

The machinations of this night's happ'nings

Doth cloud my magic eye with thy hot words, 120

If all would care to leave anon with me,

We shall leave Minerva and the traitorous charge

To the effects of Immortal Fortune.

[Exeunt all but Minerva, Severus and Hermione]

Severus (aside):

How gentle Miss Fortune placeth her hand

Small, white and softly trembling on my sleeve. 125

Dost she know my immortal soul she sav'd?

Doth she know my spirit she hath cleansed?

Dost she know by her trust she hath redeem'd

The little good left in my corrupt mind?

Ought I tell her and engage her contempt? 130

'Twere better if I'll'd be a thing silent.

Minerva:

Since thy makest thy arms free tonight

And Miss Granger hath claim'd my favourite one

Give me thy other if we be friends now

And guide us through weeded garden paths 135

To speak to planned observances

Amongst the wool of comfortless things.

[Exeunt all]

Act IV Scene IV

Uncharted island near Scotland. A clearing in a forested area.

Enter Voldemort, solus, with a paper in his hand.

Voldemort:

In my weaken'd state, Bellatrix did bade

My perusal of a document

That she hath presenteth to me earlier

Ere that bloody attack on my personage.

It seemeth to me Wormtail, Lucius and her, 5

I didst in mine haste to promote Severus

O'erlook'd that he wast Dumbledore's drone bee.

His dual stratagem makes me glad and sad:

Glad, that I know the murderer of my soul,

Sad, that I should'st lose one with such good use. 10

Glad, I know the Order on which to revenged,

Sad, that Severus I must perforce kill.

Yet must I take war against the Order or die myself,

For the one destroy'd horcrux makes me impatient.

I think Severus be my destined plague; 15

And Dumbledore be an importune ague!

First, Dumbledore brandished an Order

And the wand he fiercely waged war,

And in that war, he gave me dangerous wounds,

And by those wounds, he forced me to yield, 20

And by my yielding, I becom'd his slave!

Then Severus present'd me with loyal display,

And with that display he, Dumbledore smote,

And with that smote, he made me think him true,

And by thus false truth, he forc'd me to be mild, 25

And by my mild indulgence, I becom'd his slave!

How in his mouth he carries pleasing words,

Which pleasing words do harbour sweet conceits,

Which sweet conceits be limed with sly deceits,

Which sly deceits smooth my immortal ears, 30

And through mine eats, dive down into my heart,

And in my heart set him where I should stand.

Thus hath he taken my body by his dissembling

And now by sleight would captivate and wound my soul:

But in his fall, I'll tempt the fated destines, 35

And bring idiot Potter closer to me

To either lose my life, or reclaim my life.

The loss of my horcrux crosses my heart

Therefore rest anon I must ere I call

The rest of my loyal limbs to strike Snape dead. 40

[Exit]

Act IV Scene V

Hogwarts. Dumbledore's former office, now Minerva McGonagall's.

Enter Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Hermione Granger.

Minerva:

How goest the stately horcrux hunt?

Hermione:

Since out wanton destruction previous night

Of the known horcrux, its brothers doth cry

Easing our uncovering endeavour.

At deep midnight when the candle burn'd blue 5

Remus and Tonks to themselves discover'd

A fragment lodged with Hufflepuff's cup

Hiding plain at unused Museum line.

The second as Shacklebolt and Moody

Saith wert hid in original Hogwarts' ground 10

Where the Lady Ravenclaw's inkstand lay;

And upon its destruction, it did scream,

As Harry made free to bespeak to me

'Tis natural after the death of these few

Parts in the consequence of the forc'd ends 15

Of the riddled diary and Gaunt's ring.

Thus did the locket late of Grimmauld Place

Serve its purpose as dark compass bearer.

Minerva:

What of the rest, canst thou not find them?

Else my mind be wrong, there be four still.

Severus:

Actually, there be three. 20

Hermione:

Lest my calculation should profaneth –

Methinks Nagini the treacherous viper hath one,

Whilst the fiendish arch-villain hath one,

The last I fear lieth within Harry.

Minerva:

Doth he know of this? 25

Hermione:

No, not yet. The Professor and I thought

It best thou breaketh the news to him.

Minerva:

Why stands Severus speechless all this while?

Severus:

The less I speak, the more I meditate.

Minerva:

I see an evil look about thee, 30

But whereon dost thou meditate?

Severus:

Doth you not know all's ill here in my heart?

My meditations causeth me to dwell

On dangers to come to pleasure to ensue.

Hermione (aside):

Or pleasures to come and dangers to ensue. 35

Minerva:

What dangers and what pleasures dost thou mean?

Severus:

Dangers of war and pleasure of my death.

Hermione (aside):

Dangers of death, but pleasures none at all,

I would that thy war should'st be with me,

For such a war would break no bond of peace. 40

Send thou dark looks, I'll cross them with sweet looks;

Write scathing lines, I'll answer loving lines;

Give me a scowl, I'll countercheck thee with a kiss:

Be thus our warring peace or peaceful war.

Minerva:

What canst thou mean? They troubl'd looks break this 45

My aged maternal heart.

Severus:

Remember thou how my voice wast mark'd

When I re-enter'd the Phoenix's fold

Last night palely loitering and belligerent?

I hath seen how a murder'd horcrux kills. 50

Bellatrix and Lucius did cast at me

Wicked smiling stares of contemptuous hate

Winking blindly at Wormtail, Pettigrew's

Trembling supplication to the Dark Lord.

O how his blood floweth like waterfalls 55

Pouring forth springs from his half heart

Staining the said supplication and me.

Bella's transparent mind by my skill I read

And instantly knew they plann'd for my end.

The flame on my candle flickereth fast, 60

I am afear'd I hath not done enough –

An eternal burning hell awaits me.

Hermione:

Ambitious villains, how their boldness grows!

Minerva:

This all could be nought but mere conjecture,

Could'st thou be mistook in their fears? 65

Severus:

I know Lucius and I know Bellatrix

For far better than I do the Dark Lord.

Lucius and Bella want to be plum trees

That growth crooked over the standing pool,

They wish they were rich and o'erladen with fruit, 70

So that none but crows and caterpillars

Feed on them. I choose not to rely on

These miserable dependencies for

I am already Tantalus to the Dark Lord.

Hermione:

Speak not so for thou art not neglected 75

By us who look on thee as a true friend.

I know'st thou art valiant and noble.

This foul melancholy will poison all

Thy goodness, for now thou must list mine words –

If this doth follow want of action 80

Breedeth all black malcontents and their close

Rearing like moths in cloth do hurt for want

Of wearing.

Severus (aside):

I would to abandon this dissembling mask

To see her eyes in earnest entreaty. 85

Die, heart, thou deservest not the sweet prize.

Canst thou not see thou art a favourite

In my unflinching traitor's lying eyes?

Would this hidden smoke be turned to open flame,

I would be drunk on thy looks and thy words! 90

These things shall I use to feed my thoughts,

A look from the tosses my mind at sea:

O would I claim safe refuge with thy mind!

Minerva:

Thou art under the Order's protection

Like it or no, it is my solemn wish 95

No black scowl will shake my iron resolve.

Hermione:

Indeed, I concur. Fear not, Professor,

You are now among friends who love you well.

Severus (aside):

My jealous despite is mixed danger

And 'twill send my irreverent man's soul 100

Into the bowels of the eternal night.

[aloud]

If we be friends then we must hie away

For the final stand we must planned be

These the Dark Lord deem it fit to strike.

[Exeunt]

FOOTNOTES & GLOSSARY

Tanquam Ovis is Latin for "like a lamb to the slaughter". I shall leave you to devise the identities of the sacrificial lambs that were slaughtered, why I have opted to slaughter them and why their deaths be significant.

Tanquam Ovis Explanation

I obtained the phrase Tanquam Ovis from my reading on Elizabeth I. Tanquam Ovis appears with the meaning "like a lamb to the slaughter"in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1583. All page references in this section refer to the 1583 edition of The Book of Martyrs. In using John Foxe's Book of Martyrs and adopting Sir Philip Sidney's definition of the function of poetry (i.e. fiction) with reference to the Horatian dictum of to teach and delight' (docere et delectare), I am paying homage to the 16th-17th century tradition of literature. In subscribing to Sidney's widely accepted maxim, Foxe positions Book of Martyrs, the title by which his ecclesiastical history was known from the beginning, at the didactic end of the scale. Nevertheless, its array of theological disputations, treatises, heresy examinations, instructive accounts of the painful deaths of martyrs who were burnt alive, and other texts afford frequent moments of aesthetic pleasure through the employment by Foxe or his sources of a diversity of rhetorical schemes, stylistic figures, and devices of characterization. Drawing upon elements of this kind, the Book of Martyrs functions as an encyclopedia of literary genres including many kinds of verse, martyrologies, fables, ballads, beast fables, fanciful tales, romanticized adventure narratives, and many other writings. Tanquam Ovis appears in Book 10 where he discusses the ongoing disputes between Catholics and Protestants. He enjoys using the Tanquam Ovis phrase as an allegory if you like, so much that Elizabeth (when she was just Princess Elizabeth and heir to Mary I) applied the messianic figure of Tanquam Ovis. In the narrative concerning her imprisonment, Princess Elizabeth applies the messianic figure of tanquam ovis ('like a sheep' [led to slaughter], Isa. 53:7; Acts 8:32 – this is more obvious if you read the Vulgate version of the bible where Tanquam Ovis = like a sheep led to the slaughter) to her own endangerment as a Christlike lamb. (p. 2094b). Tanquam Ovis was popular device and saying in Tudor times. Writing from prison, John Bradford declares: 'I am now as a sheep appointed to the slaughter' (p. 1654). In a letter sent from one prisoner to another, John Careless consoles an inmate that he is fortunate not only to testify to his faith in Christ, 'but also to suffer for his sake, as one of his silly [i.e., innocent] sheep appointed to the slaughter' (p. 1928). The narrator of a story about yet another martyr, Julian Palmer, writes that he 'was led away as a lamb to the slaughter' by a prison keeper who was like 'a ravening wolf greedy of his prey' (p. 1937).

Choice of Latin: An Explication

Please bear in mind that the Latin in this play is Mediaeval Latin, i.e. Latin of the High Middle Ages. Henry VIII's reign is considered to fall under the High Middle Ages. Mediaeval Latin is often religious in tone and subject; playwrights, authors, poets and lovers (writing love letters) frequently used such Latin with such overtones in their work. I have written everything in Mediaeval Latin so as to be true to the custom of the time [cf. Author's notes at the start of the play before the title]. It is for this reason that I do not use Roman Latin.

Gentle Warning

Readers and Purists who expect the authoress to remain true to the events of HBP may be offended and displeased with my interpretation of this work. This play is at times anachronistic (as was Shakespeare), idiosyncratic, and singular. Artistic license has been utilised to reinterpret some of the occurrences in HBP. The authoress has also used dramatic license to postulate certain theories in this play. For these reasons, Tanquam Ovis may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Problem Play: An Explication

This is intentionally written as a problem play. Those of you who look on the meaning of "problem plays" as Isben's understanding of 'A type of drama that focuses on a specific social problem', may be disappointed to learn that I follow the Shakespearean style of problem play. To understand what a Shakespearean problem play is, let me quote you W.W. Lawrence's definition; "the essential characteristic of a problem play ... is that a perplexing and distressing complication in human life is presented in a spirit of high seriousness ... the theme is handled so as to arouse not merely interest or excitement, or pity or amusement, but to probe the complicated interrelations of character and action, in a situation admitting of different ethical interpretations .... The 'problem' is not like one in mathematics, to which there is a single true solution, but is one of conduct, as to which there be no fixed and immutable laws. Often it cannot be reduced to any formula, any one question, since human life is too complex to be so neatly simplified" (Shakespeare's Problem Comedies, 1931, p.4).

Alternatively, you may prefer Schanzer's definition, cf. Ernest Schanzer, The Problem Plays of Shakespeare: A Study of "Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, and Antony and Cleopatra, London, 1963. He says, "The definition of the Shakespearian problems play which I therefore suggest is: 'A play in which we find a concern with a moral problem which is central to it, presented in such a manner that we be unsure of our moral bearings, so that uncertain and divided responses to it in the minds of the audience be possible or even probable' (p. 6)."It will also be noted that, in opposition to Boas, Lawrence, and Tillyard, I do not mark off the problem play from the comedies and tragedies as a separate type. What, to my mind, distinguishes the problem play is a particular mode of presenting moral problems and this can be found in Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies alike' (pp. 6 & 7).

This means that as a Shakespearean problem play, Tanquam Ovis sets out to do the following: (a) forward a refusal or failure to wholly credit the dignity of man, and the significance that that gives the individual in tragedy; (b) place An emphasis (comic, derisive, satiric) on human shortcoming, even when man is engaged in great affairs; (c) suggest that there is usually another side to all human affairs, and that the "other side" to the serious, dignified, noble, famous and so forth, is comic. This implies scepticism of man's worth, importance and value; and may range from the quizzical through the ironical to the cynical; (d) expressing unhappiness, disappointment, resentfulness or bitterness about human life, by inverting these feelings and presenting the causes of them as something ironic; (e) possess a corresponding attitude towards traditionally funny subjects which insinuates that in some way they be serious, or that the stock response to them bypasses pain at human shortcomings or wickedness; or that this stock response depends on a lack of sympathy or insight which an author can make us aware of without abolishing the comic situation (f) Interpolated into the critical analytical patterns we find "ideal" figures who check our prattle of "cynicism," "satire" or "misanthropy"; (g) involve us in discoveries always of a bad reality beneath the fair appearances of things: revelations, painful in the extreme and we be made to feel the pain – of the distressing, disintegrating possibilities of human meanness (ignobility and treachery, craft and selfishness).

All Shakespeare's Problem Plays be profoundly concerned with seeming and being; and this can cover both sex and human worth (as each claims nobility). Combine this with what I have just said about "disintegrating" discoveries, and, with a wider generalisation, you can say that they share a quality which can be called "maskedness" not only because "unmaskng" describes so many of the actions, but because the total effect is to present a world of appearances (very close to a realistically observed reality) capable of opening –like a masque set transformation scene – and disclosing something totally different. This "maskedness" brings doubt, mixed feelings, a "nervous" curiosity and/or a kind of fear.

Whether I have successfully produced a Shakespearean style problem play is for you to decide.

Brief Primer on Tudor and Jacobean English

In Tudor times right up to Jacobean times, "your" and "you" were used either in the plural or to denote a certain formality of speech. "Thee", "thine", "thou" were more intimate and informal. I have kept to this general ruling in this play. This trend of "thou" being singular and "you" as plural started in the 13th century to copy French (vous and tu). It was usual for "you" to be used by inferiors to superiors, such as children to parents, or servants to masters. The superiors will use "thou" or one of its variants to their inferiors. "Thou" was used to invoke the gods and it was usual when lower classes talk to each other, they use "thou". Upper classes used "you" when talking to each other, though this rule may be bent if the parties decide to be informal and use "thou". Thus, changing from "thou" to "you" (and vice versa) in a conversation always conveys special meaning. "Thou" can be used as either a sign of intimacy (among the Upper classes) or as an insult (when the Upper classes speak to the lower classes). It depends how the actor/director wants to play it. Example: Gertrude tells Hamlet, "You have thy father much offended". Hamlet replies, "You have my father much offended." It is clear Hamlet is insulting his mother. Mother, i.e. Gertrude insists that Hamlet has insulted Claudius (notice she uses 'thou' with him. But Hamlet, who alternates between 'thou' and 'you' with his mother, uses "You" in this context as an insult. There be many such examples in Hamlet and Shakespeare in general, look out for it in the play.

In Shakespearean English there is no such thing as "are". You either use "be", "beest", "be'st" or "been".

In Shakespearean English, there is no such thing as "was" or "were", you either use "wert" or "wast".

I'll'd is the Shakespearean way of writing "I will had" or "I would have". It is pronounced with 1 syllable.

They'll'd is the Shakespearean way of writing "they will have" or "I would have". It is pronounced with 1 syllable.

Do not allow your modern pronunciation of words colour your reading of this play. As a rule, anything in past tense that ends with 'ed' (e.g. underlined) is pronounced in Tudor/Elizabethan/Jacobean times with an extra syllable. You must pronounce the 'ed'. For instance, 'underlined' is pronounced as 'un-der-line-nead'. The opposite holds true when a word has a 'd at its end. Let X be a word. When a word with spelt as X'd (e.g. underlin'd), it is pronounced as we would in modern day English, as underlined, with a silent 'nead'.

Brief Primer on Stage Directions used in Tudor-Jacobean Masques and Plays

Stage direction glossary is as follows:

Aside – A speech direction. A speech not heard by other characters on stage. Also has alternative meaning as movement direction.

Above – A movement direction that occurs in the gallery or upper stage.

Aloft – A movement direction that occurs on the upper stage.

Apart – A movement direction that occurs to one side, a short distance away.

Aside – A movement direction that occurs to one side, away from the others.

Below – A movement direction that occurs on the lower stage.

Break in – A movement direction that is burst on to the stage.

Brought out – A movement direction that is brought out on to the stage.

Enter – A movement direction that occurs when one or more characters come on to the stage.

Exeunt – A movement direction that occurs when more than one character leaves the stage.

Exit – A movement direction that occurs when one character leaves the stage.

In – A movement direction that occurs when one or more characters go into the dressing room at the back of the stage.

Manent – A movement direction that occurs when the characters remain on stage.

Off – A movement direction that occurs off-stage.

Severally/several ways – A movement direction that occurs in different directions (said of people arriving or leaving).

Solus – A movement direction denoting that a character enters by himself/herself alone.

Top, on the – A movement direction that occurs on the upper stage.

Within – A movement direction that occurs behind the stage façade (i.e. outside).

Alarum/Alarums – An event direction denoting a call to arms.

Excursions/ excursions, in an – An event direction denoting a bout of fighting across the stage.

Cornet – A music direction denoting a fanfare (as played by cornets, a horn-like wind instrument).

Drum – A music direction denoting drummers are present and playing their drums, usually for wars, coronations and funerals.

Flourish – A music direction denoting a fanfare of trumpets or horns, usually accompanying an exit or entrance.

Hautboys – A music direction denoting the playing of a woodwind double-reed instrument resembling an oboe.

Sennet – A music direction denoting a trumpet call signalling a procession.

Trump / Trumpet – A music direction denoting a trumpeter playing.

Tucket – A music direction denoting a personal trumpet call.

From this point on, when I refer to Voldemort's many souls, I am referring to his horcruxes.

Explicatory Notes and Glossary Proper

Explanatory notations for lines in the specific act, scene and lines will be denoted thus: Act, scene, line. This means that Act 1, scene 4, line 48 will be noted as I.iv.48.

Act IV Scene I – I happen to like Aberforth Dumbledore and have thus given him a scene. I am curious as to the nature of his relationship with his brother. Since he was with the original Order of the Phoenix (cf. the photo that Moody shows Harry in OOTP), I thought it would not be out of place for him to share secrets with Albus alone. I have a theory to his 'experiments' on goats. But you have to wait till Act V Scene II to see it. I personally think there is more to Aberforth than we know.

Act IV Scene I Horcrux theory – The Horcrux theory posited here is my own even if it comes from the mouth of Hermione and Severus. You will notice that Severus already conceptualised in his soliloquy in the previous Act. I know that the locket has the R. A. B. scrap in it. I believe that it does stand for Regulus A. Black (as you will discover as you read the scene again). But since Regulus is dead and R. A. B. does not lead to anything, I have imbued this R. A. B. with another meaning so that it becomes a double entendre. The dramatic irony also ought not be lost on you.

Act IV Scene I miscellaneous notes – The formatting style on this website may have rendered my line references for the un-metered lines off. If so, pray forgive me. I have done what I can by manually typing the un-metered lines in separately one by one. I hope it works.

IV.i.4 – The line "As a silvery Moon to Dumbledore's Sun" refers to Minerva as the Moon and Dumbledore, the sun. The moon requires the sun to glow with light.

IV.i.65 – The metre in Minerva's speech in this line is deliberately broken. As with Shakespeare, only the nobility/well-educated speak in metres. Aberforth's lines will also have broken metres because it is stated explicitly that he is 'illiterate' &ca. Paginating the unmetred lines for this scene is problematic because the line alignment changes as you alter the font size. This means that my original line numberings will be incorrect, if I gave the computer and server free reign. In order to remedy this, I have truncated the lines at certain points so that my line numberings will be kept in the same manner as they would be on paper. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted. The plebeians and clowns use common speech. Since Minerva, Severus and Hermione are incognito in this Hog's Head scene; they are pretending to be common people and should speak as such to maintain the pretense.

IV.i.66 – "Speak lower" means "speak softer" or "lower your tone of voice". It implies that this is a conversation conducted in near whispers in strict confidence.

IV.i.66 – Minerva is Aberforth's sister-in-law. In the old days, this means that Minerva is Aberforth's sister by marriage. By extension, from 1100-Edwardian times, Minerva would be rightly referred to as Aberforth's sister in the right social circle.

IV.i.66 – The "rose of May" reference pays tribute to Shakespeare's Hamlet. I wanted to endow Aberforth with some of his brother's charms.

IV.i.67-68 – Aberforth says "Dost thou think I keep thieves and villains in this my House?" The term "house" is a double entendre. He means his (1) his good name as a Dumbledore, (2) and his tavern the Hog's Head.

IV.i.76 – The reference to Sybill is to Trelawney. It is deliberately ambiguous. Make what you will of it. You may have to cf. to Act I where Sybill makes her prediction to Dumbledore before Moody and Remus Lupin to figure out that she is somewhat related to the Dumbledores. The nature of that relationship is also left ambiguous. This is a Shakespearean styled problem play after all.

IV.i.83 – "Thou art thy brother's keeper" is a line that I adapted from the Bible's Old Testament, Book of Genesis. It is meant to be ironic. Albus is the secret keeper of the Order headquarters at Grimmauld Place and who should Albus' secret keeper be but Aberforth? Aberforth unlike the biblical Cain, does keep his brother and actively protects him. We have hints in Books 2 and 5 that Albus stayed with Aberforth when he was temporarily kicked out of Hogwarts.

IV.i.92 – The line "To bring Order to thy late brother's House" is a double entendre. Make what you will of it.

IV.ii.5 – The lines "Against the unsettl'd cabal of Snape's / Which until the last Moon was newly form'd" are a double entendre and a feeble attempt at dramatic irony. Snape is now with the Order again, unbeknownst to Harry and gang (only Minerva, Aberforth and Hermione know) and Snape is with the Death Eaters. Bellatrix says here that she is dissatisfied that Snape has his own faction and followers within the Death Eater camp. She also says that this faction of Snape followers is lately formed because Voldemort has only promoted him to right-hand man when he killed Albus Dumbledore. This faction is the cause of much trouble to the factions who follow her and Lucius. However, unknown to Bellatrix, Snape also has a faction within the Order; the faction comprises Aberforth, Minerva and Hermione. This faction within the Order was also newly formed not long after the death of Albus and the coming of Minerva into power as headmistress and the head of the Order. Remember the imagery I have used throughout this play. Minerva is the Moon, Severus is Saturn, Albus is the Sun.

IV.ii.20 – Black blood is a double entendre. It means those from the House of Black and those will evil in their blood and mind. Use your imagination and you'll realise that a lot of characters come under thus category, even Harry Potter.

IV.ii.22 – The phrase "make love to us all" means to "woo us all." I often use the archaic meaning of words in my writings. Please do not allow your modern sensibilities to cloud your reading and/or interpretation of this work

IV.ii.26 – It is explicitly stated that Severus is Voldemort's right hand and Lucius is Voldemort's left hand. This shows you how close they are to our villain. Bellatrix is like an auxiliary to guard Voldemort; it is stated explicitly here as well.

IV.ii.27 – Sister-in-law is considered sister because she is sister by marriage.

IV.ii.34 – "An" means "if".

IV.ii.60 – "Per scelus simper tutum est sceleribus iter" is Latin for "the way for crimes is through further crimes". This is from line 115 of Seneca's Agamemnon.

IV.ii.68-39 – "Fata si miseros, juvant habes salutem; / Fata si vitam negant, habes sepulchrum" is Latin for "when the miseries of my fate are washed away, I will have good health; / when fate refuses me life, I will have a tomb." This is from lines 511-512 of Seneca's Troades.

IV.ii.92 – "Remedium malorum iners est" is taken from line 515 of Seneca's Oedipus Rex. It is Latin for "this is a bad/poor/useless remedy to evils."

IV.ii.96 – "Enjoin" here is to be taken with its meaning in British English. I understand that in American English, "enjoin" means to prohibit, but in British English, it means to command and/or firmly instruct or to charge someone to do something.

IV.ii.109 – The line "Perchance my lord wouldst like a restorative" is meant to be ironic. Voldemort sees his Death Eater corps as a restorative (a remedy and panacea) of the wizarding world. But here, Severus indirectly questions Voldemort's offered cure but offering him a cure to relieve him of his delusions of grandeur and whatnot.

IV.ii.111 – The phrase "'neath" is an abbreviated form of "beneath". Voldemort is bleeding outwardly from his heart and Bellatrix points this out. She says that Voldemort's hands cover his wound, but you can see through the spread fingers that blood is oozing from whatever wound the hand seeks to hide.

IV.iii.1 – "Holp" is the past tense of "help" in Elizabethan/Tudor English.

IV.iii.35 – Notice that I spelt 'gender, by this (with the apostrophe), I mean engender.

IV.iii.48-59 – I am referring to a snake when I made Harry say, "...Of a poor lazy worm's divided tongue." The snake in question can be either Severus or Voldemort or even Dumbledore if you think about it.

IV.iii.73 – Lave is to wash off or bathe to remove impurities.

IV.iv.8 – "Happ'nings" is an abbreviation of "happenings".

IV.iv.21 – "Becom'd" (pronounced with 2 syllables) or "Becomed" (pronounced with 3 syllables) is the Tudor/Elizabethan version of "became".

IV.v.8 – The Museum line refers to a tube (underground/metro/subway line) that is now disused. It was first opened in the turn of the 20th century (Sherlock Holmes actually used it in one of his cases) and ceased running in 1933. For more information this line and other disused tube lines, please refer to this website http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/. I placed the artefact there because I believed Voldemort must have stolen it from the British Museum when the underground station was running there.

IV.v.32 – The line "Dost thou not know all's ill here in my heart" pays tribute to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

IV.v.69 – The "standing pool" refers to Voldemort. In Elizabethan imagery, a standing pool means a stagnant body of water in and on which nothing can live. Indirectly, this is also a counter reference to the Styx. While the Styx is stagnant, it has some uses; standing pools have no use at all.

IV.v.74 – Severus says he is "Tantalus to the Dark Lord" because Voldemort treats him like Tantalus. In mythology, Tantalus had to stand up to his neck in a stagnant pond, unable to grasp the fruit hanging above his head. We derive our word "tantalise" from his name. The Tantalus in Elizabethan times was also the name for a locked decanter. You decide what Severus means by this reference.

IV.v.79 – "List" means to "listen".