Chapter 48. Arrest. Part 1. An Adventure
Over the next two weeks, Severus mainly brewed potions and trained the house-elves. Nellie helped immensely: she learned the recipes for the beauty and strength potions, cutting the production time from a month to two weeks. He could finally breathe easier for the next year, because he no longer had to touch a cauldron at all, thanks to her. He did not even have to look at it. He could leave everything to her.
But Slughorn's private sessions were not canceled. Slughorn genuinely tried to teach him everything, and over the past two weeks they had finished the school curriculum and moved up a level, into more complex potions requiring not only precise knowledge of recipes, but also specific magical manipulation.
Hogwarts, from the beginning, did not aim to turn students into geniuses. It provided core knowledge in each subject so that a witch or wizard could survive in the magical world, and later choose their own path. That was why, by sixth year, students could enroll only in the subjects they liked most, and which would help them qualify for specific jobs.
Even Aurors, whom many top graduates aspired to become, underwent extra training lasting two or even three years. Only after that could they truly fight dark wizards. And the program did not accept everyone, only a few, which was a testament to the quality of most graduates.
Of course, no one forbade extra study. The library was always open to those who truly wanted to learn, and nothing stopped a person from devoting their life to a single craft, like the original Severus, who spent most of his time on potion-making and had already completed sixth-year material by fifth year. Not to mention the teachers, many of them masters of their craft, who were ready to help, recommend extra reading, and answer questions at any time.
That was also the main reason Slughorn allowed Severus to skip his regular classes: Slughorn understood that Severus wouldn't learn anything there, and would only be wasting his time.
Severus hadn't forgotten the door he'd found on the eighth floor, but he still couldn't figure out how to open it. He didn't resort to brute force; he didn't know whether Dumbledore or the other professors were aware of the place, and he had no desire to destroy the wards or the door itself. Besides, he had no idea what lay behind it, or whether the risk would be worth it.
Still, after studying the runes more closely, he understood one thing: to open it, you had to think about something. The rest was encrypted and required deeper analysis.
As for Gryffindor's Sword, no matter how he racked his brains, he still couldn't devise a way to slip into Dumbledore's office unnoticed. After two visits to the headmaster's domain, he had detected roughly twenty different alarm wards attached to various locations, but those were only the ones he could sense without drawing Dumbledore's attention. How many truly existed. Only Dumbledore knew. That left only a last resort: a method he didn't want to use.
Diagon Alley. The Potion Shop 'Half-Blood Prince.'
Severus sat in an armchair, reading a newspaper thoughtfully. The headline screamed: 'FIRST DEATH EATER DEFEAT! VICTORY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!'
They beat a couple of giants and already they're shouting like this. He snorted contemptuously, flipping the page.
"Giants are very strong," Nagini said.
"Big targets for wizards, nothing more. If it were werewolves, I would agree, but giants? Please." He waved it off lazily, folded the paper, and burned it. "Ugh. Nothing interesting. And I'm tired of waiting for them."
He sighed, left the room, went down to the first floor, and watched Karner bustle among customers. People came in every minute, though the massive crowd from two weeks ago was gone. Still, they came often and bought other potions; the main four sold out completely within the first half hour.
The sales of other potions were largely thanks to Shafiki, who had invented a membership card: if you bought ten potions of any kind, you got a twenty percent discount on one of the four main ones, redeemable anytime. That was why Severus had been working so hard these past two weeks.
Noticing him come downstairs, Karner nodded, but did not stop, continuing to attend to customers.
Not bad. Severus checked the clock and tilted his head. He'd said seven. It had been half an hour. Did they change their minds?
As if hearing his thoughts, ten men barged into the shop, wearing slightly worn three-piece suits with Ministry badges on their chests and dark cloaks. Shoving aside ordinary shoppers, they marched up to Shafiki.
"Where is your boss?" one of them demanded in a rough voice laced with menace, while the others began herding the shocked customers out.
"Don't frighten my employee," Severus said, forcing a smile as he stepped forward, instantly drawing every eye to himself. "So, what do my friends from the Ministry of Magic want with me?"
They exchanged quick looks. Two sealed the entrance; the rest surrounded him.
"You're accused of aiding the Death Eaters. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"Hmm. I could tell you I'm not doing anything of the sort," he said mildly, "but I doubt you'll just let me go."
"Take him. The rest of you, search the building."
"If you're hoping to find my potions here, you'll be disappointed. They're stored elsewhere, along with the rest of my things," Severus said. He didn't resist when they took his wand and snapped shackles on his wrists. His smile never wavered, and when his remark made two of the ten Aurors flinch, it widened.
When three of them went upstairs, his expression showed no trace of worry.
Shafiki, watching it all, felt genuine shock. That morning, the moment Severus returned, he had removed most of the stock, leaving only enough for two days, as if he had predicted this.
When the search ended, they came back down with sour expressions and shook their heads.
"I see. Take him," the commander muttered darkly.
"Yes." Two of them grabbed Severus by the arms and started dragging him out.
"Karner, you have the next two days off. Get some rest and send a letter to the school saying that I won't be able to attend my classes," he said, smiling. At the same time, the two Aurors hauling him stared in disbelief as they realized they couldn't budge him at all, no matter how they tried. "Actually, never mind. I've already written to Dumbledore. He will be at the Ministry soon. So just rest, but don't get too comfortable!" he added sternly.
Shafiki, half out of his mind, could only nod. Then they left the shop.
They did not touch Karner. He was clearly just hired help and probably knew nothing. Still, they left two Aurors in civilian clothes to watch him.
After a small adventure, they finally reached the Ministry. Severus was taken to a separate gloomy room. They covered his eyes with cloth, chained him to a chair, and left, shutting the door and leaving him alone.
"They're trying to scare me," he sighed. "Idiots. Fine, if you want to play, let's play."
He yawned loudly, lowered his head, and a few seconds later the room filled with steady, peaceful snoring.
Next door, in the observers' room, hands trembled and faces sagged with exhaustion. This simple task, bringing Severus Severus to the interrogation department, had dragged on for three hours.
They had expected anything, even Death Eaters storming the shop. But not twenty failed Apparitions.
The first time they Apparated, targeting the Ministry, they landed in a swimming pool. Eight of the ten Aurors fell straight in. The second time, they landed in a men's bathhouse, where naked Muggles gawked at them until the Aurors had to Obliviate everyone in a hurry. The third time, they landed in another bathhouse, this time for women, full of elderly ladies in steam, and somehow Severus ended up outside again.
At first, they suspected him, but he had no wand. And at his age, wandless magic on that level, during Apparition, was impossible. So they started suspecting each other: someone must be joking.
The next time, they appeared crammed into a single toilet stall, eight of them packed inside. Once again, Severus and two Aurors were left outside alone.
And that happened another sixteen times: right on the stage of a huge opera house; in a hipster café; in a chimp enclosure; then among skunks; on the bottom of the Thames; in a psychiatric ward where orderlies nearly strapped them down, thank Merlin; they still had their wands; on the edge of an active volcano.
At the end of the long path, they found enlightenment and understood the futility of existence on a seaside cliff.
A lovely trip.
Even after they finally reached the Ministry, they all ended up together in yet another toilet. Only Severus appeared outside, smiling as he waited for his escort.
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