sam_storyteller (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-15 03:23 pm
sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-15 03:23 pm
Entry tags:
The Three Trials of Severus Snape (PG, Gen).
Title: The Three Trials of Severus Snape (Radio Play)
Rating: PG; gen.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Minerva McGonagall narrates three events in the life of Severus Snape, in an attempt to show his true character. Written as a Radio Play for a Spellcast Live event at Phoenix Rising.
Originally Posted 5.19.07
Also available at AO3.
CAST LIST:
MCGONAGALL
YOUNG SEVERUS
POMFREY
UMBRIDGE
DUMBLEDORE
AUDIENCE MEMBER
SECOND BOARD MEMBER
MINISTER FOR MAGIC (as Examiner)
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 3
SNAPE
TONKS
DRACO
LUPIN
POTTER
Author's Notes:
I've tried to make the play as "American" friendly as possible in terms of using mostly American voice actors, but it is of course difficult when the main characters are British. The Minister/Examiner can be portrayed as either a British Minister for Magic or, with the reference in parenthesis removed from his first speech, simply as an Examiner of either gender and with any accent.
Some characters, such as Umbridge, Pomfrey, and the Second Board Member can double up as the Salem Institute Witches; those Witches can also be Wizards if the gender balance requires it.
It would be ideal if someone could cue the audience to react; a few cue cards such as "gasp" "laugh" "applaud" "shout" and "murmur" would be good.
MCGONAGALL
My name is Minerva McGonagall. I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, professor of Transfigurations, and a veteran of the second war.
But this...is not my story. This is the story of Severus Snape, and I tell it to you today because of all the survivors of the war, there are only two left who can tell it in full. The other now sits in a holding cell at the Ministry for Magic, awaiting sentence, so it falls to me to speak.
I want you to think back now -- those of you who are old enough -- to the spring of a certain fifth-year term, 1976, and listen to a story that is now being told for the first time. Severus' first trial, where he made a promise.
YOUNG SEVERUS
I don't need any more medicine, I'm FINE, Madam Pomfrey.
POMFREY
I'll remember that if I hear you telling anyone you can't do your homework because of that arm, Severus. Now drink up.
YOUNG SEVERUS
That's disgusting.
POMFREY
Undoubtedly. Now, get some rest; I have other patients to attend to this morning. Oh! Deputy Headmistress, I didn't see you there.
MCGONAGALL
Would you mind if I had a moment alone with Severus, Madam Pomfrey?
POMFREY
Not at all. Behave yourself, Severus.
YOUNG SEVERUS
[sullen] Yes, Madam Pomfrey.
MCGONAGALL
Now. A very exciting evening for you, Severus Snape.
YOUNG SEVERUS
He attacked me! It wasn't my fault --
MCGONAGALL
Yes, I've spoken with James and Sirius, I think I know precisely where the fault lies.
YOUNG SEVERUS
He's a werewol --
MCGONAGALL
[sharply] bite your tongue.
[pause]
YOUNG SEVERUS
You knew that already, didn't you.
MCGONAGALL
I was aware of Mr. Lupin's medical condition, yes.
YOUNG SEVERUS
Medical cond -- he's a monster!
MCGONAGALL
Strong words, from a fifteen-year-old boy who hasn't lived in the world yet.
YOUNG SEVERUS
Well, that's what he is, isn't he? And you let him just -- he sleeps here! He eats with us!
MCGONAGALL
Not very well or very much, just now. Severus, I'd like you to listen very carefully to me. He is a person, and in case you were in doubt of that he is currently doing better in many classes than you are --
YOUNG SEVERUS
Not potions or Dark Arts, though.
MCGONAGALL
-- perhaps because you sometimes fail to grasp the point your professors are making.
YOUNG SEVERUS
[pause to let this sink in] [sulky] Potter and Black tried to get me killed last night.
MCGONAGALL
And also saved your life, a fact not lost on the Headmaster or myself. Leaving aside who attempted to kill whom, you now hold another person's life in your hands, and as you are clearly incapable of understanding the gravity of that, I will paint you a picture.
Imagine being removed from Hogwarts -- not sent away, forcibly removed, possibly by Aurors, at the request of parents and students. Imagine a life knowing what magic was available and being incapable of using it because of a snapped wand, a public disgrace, and Ministry restrictions, all at the age of fifteen. Imagine a man going through life unable to even hold a job because wherever he goes, he will be hounded by those who feel they know what is best for society. [a pause] And now imagine that person is you.
YOUNG SEVERUS
But I'm not --
MCGONAGALL
I can promise you this, Severus. If you breathe a word of last night's events to anyone -- to your closest friend, to your parents, to your professors -- you will be removed from Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore will watch you all your days, and he will ensure that everything that boy suffers you will suffer too. If your buried spark of human decency is not enough to prevent you from ruining another boy's life, then the threat of living that same ruined life ought to.
YOUNG SEVERUS
They try to kill me and I'm the one who gets punished. That's a pretty situation for a Gryffindor Head of House to give me.
MCGONAGALL
Let the punishment fit the crime, Severus. Potter and Black will be dealt with in their own way. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and when we break the rules to acquire it, we must pay the penalty. If you promise silence, you have nothing to fear, and neither will Remus. If you don't promise, then on your own head be your actions.
YOUNG SEVERUS
It isn't fair.
MCGONAGALL
No. [pause] It isn't.
[another pause; switching gears; narrating again]
And it wasn't, to any of those boys, but James was dead in five years' time, Sirius in prison, and Remus starving, so if their crime was so terrible then they were certainly punished for it. Albus and I were punished too; for not seeing far enough or knowing enough, perhaps. Even though we had hundreds of children in our care. Five years later...yes, that was a dark time.
[audience rumbling, shouting, talking, booing]
UMBRIDGE
[gavel banging]
ORDER! THIS TRIAL WILL COME TO ORDER! THERE WILL BE ORDER DURING THE TRIAL!
MCGONAGALL
OBJECTION, INQUISITOR UMBRIDGE --
UMBRIDGE
The board of inquiry has not recognised you, Ms. McGonagall --
MCGONAGALL
PROFESSOR McGonagall, Inquisitor Umbridge, and this is not a trial.
UMBRIDGE
Very well. The board of inquiry has not recognised you, PROFESSOR McGonagall.
MCGONAGALL
This is a HEARING, Inquisitor.
UMBRIDGE
And we have heard quite enough from you, Professor. The board will be seated.
This HEARING is called to order to discuss the charges against Severus Snape, alleged Death Eater and conspirator with He Who Must Not Be Named. Is the alleged Death Eater present?
DUMBLEDORE
He is not, Inquisitor.
UMBRIDGE
The board does not recognise you, Headmaster Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
Surely, considering you have all been my students, Inquisitor, the board must find me somewhat familiar.
[laughter from the audience]
UMBRIDGE
Very well. The floor to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
Mr. Snape is not present, Inquisitor. He is at Hogwarts School, under the care of Madam Pomfrey, for injuries suffered --
AUDIENCE MEMBER
Trying to kill honest hardworking wizards who never --
DUMBLEDORE
I believe I still have the floor, madam. Mr. Snape is receiving care for injuries suffered in the execution of his duty as a spy against Voldemort.
[audience gasps]
UMBRIDGE
That name will not be spoken here, Headmaster Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
Ah yes. I forget myself. A spy against You Know Who, then. He has been faithfully passing information to myself and other agents of the Ministry for many months, and regrets he cannot attend this hearing regarding his alleged crimes. I speak here on behalf of the accused.
SECOND BOARD MEMBER
This is highly irregular, Headmaster Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
In times of war, I fear, all propriety is indeed thrown to the wind. Still, an irregular hearing is better than no hearing at all, don't you agree?
UMBRIDGE
Without the accused present --
DUMBLEDORE
I have gathered several witnesses who will testify to Mr. Snape's character, and to his actions during the war. Professor McGonagall, naturally, as well as Mr. Remus Lupin, Mr. Abeforth Dumbledore, Ms. Arabella Figg, Mr. Rubeus Hagrid --
UMBRIDGE
Mr. Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, I believe, for --
DUMBLEDORE
I did not think I had ceded the floor, Inquisitor.
[pause]
These people are willing to testify publicly or in private, at the expense of their own time and potentially their reputations. I believe they deserve to be heard.
UMBRIDGE
Headmaster, there are dozens of witnesses to Mr. Snape's presence at Death Eater assemblages, as well as his known loyalty to You Know Who --
DUMBLEDORE
Men and women languishing in Azkaban Prison, some under fear of sentence without trial. Surely, Inquisitor, you are prepared to give equal weight to people who have come here of their own will, many of whom are not...[coughs] particular friends to this man.
UMBRIDGE
I -- that is -- we cannot --
DUMBLEDORE
If a public hearing is not in order, I suggest the board meet privately with myself and these witnesses. A decision may be rendered out of the common eye, thus saving both sides any...public exposure.
UMBRIDGE
Very well. The hearing is in adjournement; the public will please depart while the board considers matters.
MCGONAGALL
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, in the end, but it's difficult to swat aside the testimony of Albus Dumbledore in favour of the testimony of Rodolphus Lestrange and his ilk. It was enough to save Severus, though not enough to redeem him; still, it's easy to live with suspicion hanging over your head, when you have a good job and a place to sleep at night.
And whatever he may have told anyone, I don't believe Severus disliked teaching. It gave him time for his experiments, and the man who had once threatened him with expulsion was now his greatest benefactor.
And then came the return of the Dark Lord, the death of Cedric Diggory -- the death of Sirius Black -- and the world turned upside down again. Because the final death before open war was Albus himself, and I -- [voice breaks]
How does one know what to say anymore, after that. How does one know which faith to keep?
[Audience murmuring]
MINISTER FOR MAGIC/EXAMINER
Let there be silence, please.
[audience settles down]
Thank you. I thank all of you assembled here today as witnesses for your time and patience. I would like to remind the audience that this is not a trial; this is an examination by a duly appointed board of judges. We are here to examine whether or not Severus Snape is responsible, morally and legally, for the death of Albus Dumbledore; whether in fact it was murder. Given the peculiarities of the case, it has been agreed upon that the Salem Institute's representatives are the most objective possible examiners, and their ruling will be final. I will act as Examiner; (I think it has been made quite clear that there will be no more Inquisitors while I am Minister for Magic.) Members of the board, are you present and accounted for?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
We are.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Bring forth Mr. Snape.
[Audience boos, hisses, shouts]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
THERE WILL BE SILENCE.
[sudden silence.]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Thank you. Mr. Snape, you will stand before this board and hear testimony as to the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school. It has been established that this is not an alleged crime; do you confess to it?
SNAPE
I do not confess to the murder of Albus Dumbledore.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
But that you were the cause of his death, Mr. Snape?
SNAPE
One of many.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
First witness, please?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
The board requests the testimony of Auror Nymphadora Tonks.
[crashing noise]
TONKS
Sorry, sorry...
[clears throat]
Hi. Uh. Oh, sorry, I'm Nymphadora Tonks. Auror Nymphadora Tonks.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Thank you, Auror. You were present at Hogwarts School on the night Albus Dumbledore was -- excuse me. On the night Albus Dumbledore died?
TONKS
Yes. My official report should have been with the documents the board was uh, provided with...file number twelve-HBP-nine.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Which the board has reviewed. You are called today to speak to Mr. Snape's character, at his request.
TONKS
I...what?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
You are called by the defendant as a character witness. Presumably because the opinion of an Auror is unimpeachable.
TONKS
Professor...really?
SNAPE
Very few people would suspect you of lying. You're too obvious.
TONKS
Well, thanks for the backhanded compliment.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Auror, if you please.
TONKS
Sorry, I wasn't ready for this. Um, do you ask questions, or do I...?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Let's begin with your relationship to Mr. Snape.
TONKS
Professional, mostly. He was my teacher at Hogwarts. After school, I didn't see him much until...things started to go bad.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Bad?
TONKS
First Cedric Diggory dying, and You-Know-Who coming back, and the Ministry wouldn't believe us for about a year. I saw him once in a while, usually with Dumbledore, when we were trying to figure out what to do. We all knew he was spying for us. He never let us forget it.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Were you aware that You Know Who believed he was spying ON you?
TONKS
Well, yes. That's the essence of good undercover work. You have to make sure both sides think you're on their side.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And what side was Severus Snape on?
TONKS
Whatever side Dumbledore was on, I would imagine.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Based on what evidence?
TONKS
He owed Dumbledore. Snape pays his debts.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And yet when the war was over, you and Kingsley Shacklebolt were the ones who captured Snape and turned him in.
TONKS
Well, he might pay his debts but he still killed him. It's a little hard to have faith in the justice system around here, sometimes, but what else can you do? You have to believe that things put themselves right in the end. It's not my place to be his judge.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Wise words, Auror Tonks. Does the board have any further questions?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
Not at this time.
TONKS
I have one, if that's okay.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
I beg your pardon?
TONKS
A question.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
By all means.
TONKS
What happens if you have to believe him?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
I'm not sure the board comprehends the question.
TONKS
Well, he's the only one who'll ever know what really went on. All we can do is say we believe him or we don't. Really it comes down to him saying he was asked to kill a man. So what you should be wondering is, can we believe him?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
I think, Auror, that perhaps you overstep your bounds. You are free to go.
TONKS
Sorry, Professor. Unless you did it, then I'm not really.
SNAPE
As usual, your honesty overwhelms.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board requests the testimony of Mr. Draco Malfoy.
[Audience gasp]
DRACO
I am here, Examiner. Hello, Professor.
SNAPE
Draco.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board is given to understand you have prepared a statement, Mr. Malfoy, and presented an affidavit of ill-health from a St. Mungo's healer to excuse a more...rigorous examination.
DRACO
Yes.
[pause]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
[a little annoyed] You are welcome to present your statement.
DRACO
Oh, yes. I'm sorry, I don't go out much anymore, this is all a little....
[clears his throat]
It doesn't start very well.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Please proceed, Mr. Malfoy.
DRACO
What I was eyewitness to regarding Professor Snape's alliance with the Death Eaters and the death of Albus Dumbledore. My...my father and mother thought I should be a member of the Death Eaters, as they were, and when I joined...You Know Who said that I would be given the task of murdering Albus Dumbledore.
[audience gasp]
DRACO
I can't say I did a very good job, but I tried. Professor Snape was constantly supervising me in this task because...my mother made him promise. I thought he was interfering and wanted all the glory for himself, but I think I see now...
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Malfoy?
DRACO
Right, sorry...see now that he was guiding me towards harmless attempts that couldn't possibly work, and making sure that he knew about anything really dangerous in advance. Professor Snape is very good at splitting hairs, and that was still technically helping me, according to his promise, even though it wasn't hurting the Headmaster at all.
[deep breath]
But he didn't have to kill the Headmaster that night on the roof. He could have found another way. Except he couldn't have stopped me without breaking his promise and he didn't know that I didn't have the guts to kill Professor Dumbledore. So maybe he thought it was the only way. After the fight on the tower that night, Professor Snape took me to a safe place, and left me there for about a week. Then he came and brought me away again, and put me with the Order.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
A point of clarification, Mr. Malfoy. The Order of the Phoenix?
DRACO
[a moment of sardonic humour] No, the Order of the Cowardly Bastards who couldn't summon the spine to do the only thing they'd been ordered to do.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Malfoy.
DRACO
Yes, the Order of the Phoenix. Then he went away again, and I don't know what happened after that. During the war. We never saw each other. Maybe he was working for the Dark Lord and just had mercy on me because he was friends with my mum. Most of the people in the war didn't trust him after he killed the Headmaster, whether he was told to do it or not. I just know that he did it and I didn't have to and that's why I'm here today instead of in Azkaban. And that's my statement.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Thank you, Mr. Malfoy.
DRACO
I --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Yes?
DRACO
Why did you do it, Professor?
SNAPE
Draco --
DRACO
I wouldn't have done it, I swear I wouldn't --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Malfoy, I think you had better --
[thudding noise]
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
Call a Healer, please. Mr. Malfoy has collapsed.
[audience murmuring]
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
There will be order, and this examination will proceed. Healers? Yes, thank you.
SNAPE
See that the boy is well cared-for.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Silence please, Mr. Snape.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 3
Examiner, you will call your next witness.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board requests the testimony of Mr. Remus Lupin.
LUPIN
Present. Shall I take the hot-seat?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
If you please.
LUPIN
Thank you, Examiner.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin. I understand you are a werewolf.
LUPIN
If that has any bearing on Professor Snape's guilt or innocence it will come as news to me.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
But that is correct, is it not?
LUPIN
It is.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
What is your occupation?
LUPIN
Teacher, by training.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And your current place of work?
LUPIN
I am unemployed.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
You were briefly a teacher at Hogwarts, during Mr. Snape's tenure there?
LUPIN
I was. I left after a year.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Is it safe to say, Mr. Lupin, that it was involuntary?
LUPIN
More or less safe, yes.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
At the behest of Mr. Snape?
LUPIN
I wouldn't say that.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Let me put the question another way: Did Mr. Snape arrange for your...termination?
LUPIN
[with mounting anger] Not to my knowledge.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin, was Mr. Snape responsible for your unemployment?
LUPIN
How does this have any relevance to whether or not Severus Snape murdered Albus Dumbledore?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
That's not a bad question, Examiner.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
It goes to the heart of whether Mr. Snape has made a habit of disguising vicious, self-serving deeds under the guise of working for the greater good.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
Mr. Lupin will answer the question.
LUPIN
Well, what you have to understand is --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Yes or no is all that is required of you, Mr. Lupin.
LUPIN
Fine. No, he was not.
[audience shouts]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
May I remind you, Mr. Lupin, you are sworn to be truthful in this examination.
LUPIN
Mr. Snape was responsible for informing the students that I am a werewolf. I believe it was --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin, if you will not stick to the question --
LUPIN
[over top of the Examiner]
-- the parents and students who were responsible for my unemployment. I was a good teacher. I taught a thirteen-year-old boy to summon a Patronus. There was no reason I should not still have that job other than fear and prejudice of the sort that was directly responsible --
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
ORDER!
[audience muttering]
LUPIN
[still talking]
-- for the rise of a second wave of Death Eaters among children -- children! -- whose parents raised them to be afraid of anything that was different. YOU are the ones responsible. Not Severus Snape. All he did was tell frightened, stupid people what I was and frightened, stupid people would have had me hauled off in chains for being who I am.
[pause; Lupin breathing heavily]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin, one more outburst like that and you will be removed from the room.
LUPIN
I'm sorry. That was unforgivable. I'm sorry.
MCGONAGALL
[whispering] Keep that up and you'll start some riots, Remus. Good for you.
LUPIN
Professor Snape didn't like me and everyone knows that, but he could have poisoned me at any time while he was preparing Wolfbane Potion for me, and nobody would have known it was anything other than an accident. He is not a nice person, or a kind person, but he is a moral person. If he killed the Headmaster, he did it because it was asked of him in the service of the greater good. I believe that and so should you.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Damnation by faint praise, Mr. Lupin.
LUPIN
Ask your questions and I'll answer them, but don't play with me. I'm not here to send a good man to prison. Enough of that was done last time.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And why do you have so much faith in Mr. Snape, Mr. Lupin?
LUPIN
Albus Dumbledore did.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Do you believe, based on your own observation and knowledge, that Mr. Snape deliberately murdered Albus Dumbledore in contradiction of the Headmaster's wishes?
LUPIN
I do not.
[coughs]
I believe the Headmaster knew he was dying, and thought protecting Draco was more important than his own life.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The moral character of one young man against the life of an established pillar of the magical community?
LUPIN
He wouldn't have been the first child Dumbledore risked everything for.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Does the board have any questions for the witness?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
No. Call the next witness, please.
SNAPE
Lupin.
LUPIN
Yes?
SNAPE
Thank you.
LUPIN
Thank Dumbledore. I'm not here because of you. I'm here because of him.
SNAPE
As am I.
LUPIN
Gallows humour. Keep it up, Severus.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board requests the testimony of Mr. Harry Potter.
HARRY
Here I am.
[audience applause and catcalls]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Silence, please. [when there is silence] Mr. Potter. Can you tell us what your relationship to Mr. Snape is?
HARRY
I was his student for six years at Hogwarts.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And is that your only relationship?
HARRY
Well, I hated the bastard, but that's hardly news.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Language, Mr. Potter.
HARRY
We cordially wished each other would cease to exist. Is that nice enough for you?
SNAPE
It was hardly cordial on my part.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
You didn't like each other; I think we can move on. Please continue, Examiner.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Potter, we understand you were a witness to the murder of Albus Dumbledore.
HARRY
Yes.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Can you tell us what happened?
HARRY
I can tell you what I saw. I don't think it's quite what happened.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Explain what you mean by that.
HARRY
Well, it's sort of...I mean, did I see Snape pitch him off the tower? Yes. And he did it because Draco couldn't, I saw that. But you know...I think the Headmaster was already dying.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Why would you think that?
HARRY
One of his hands had been pretty well done for at the start of the year, and...see, you can't just explain what happened without explaining what had happened to Professor Dumbledore earlier the same night, and that takes some explaining to do with Voldemort --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Potter.
HARRY
What? You can have my testimony or you can have my silence, but you can't tell me what words I should and shouldn't say. He's dead. I ought to know. I watched him die.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Very well.
HARRY
We'd been looking for something, part of the source of Voldemort's power. We'd found it, too, we thought, but to get to it we had to -- terrible things had to happen. Dumbledore had to drink a potion, and it pretty nearly killed him. He was barely walking without my help by the time we got back to the Astronomy Tower.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And what was it you had hoped to find in your search, Mr. Potter?
HARRY
There are some things it's better not to give a name to. It gives people funny ideas.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
You refuse to answer?
HARRY
Categorically.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Very well.
HARRY
Nice of you to be so polite, Examiner. You must have been warned not to go too hard on me.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
Let's return to the subject at hand, please.
HARRY
Yes, let's. The Headmaster was weak and I couldn't move -- he'd frozen me so I wouldn't get involved, I guess to protect me.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And you were unseen?
HARRY
Yeah. I heard everything they said. Mostly it was Malfoy, telling him how brilliant he thought he'd been in sneaking Death Eaters into Hogwarts. The Headmaster told him he wasn't...well, a bad-enough person to kill him. He offered Malfoy the protection of the Order. I think if the Death Eaters hadn't arrived, Draco might have taken him up on it. But then they showed up...
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The Death Eaters.
HARRY
Four of them. They got through the scrum below -- Tonks told you about that in her report -- and then Snape came up after them. So you know, if he really was on our side, and I don't say he was, the odds weren't very good. Four to one. Five to one if you count Malfoy, though I wouldn't.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
These brief few minutes are very important, Mr. Potter. The interaction between Mr. Snape and the Headmaster, as seen by an impartial observer --
SNAPE
Examiner, please. The boy's hardly impartial.
HARRY
Shut your mouth, Snape, you're not helping yourself --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Potter will PLEASE redirect his attention to the question at hand, and Mr. Snape will remain silent or be removed from the room. Now, Mr. Potter. As you saw it, what occurred between the two men on that tower?
HARRY
Well, Malfoy couldn't bring himself to do it, so Snape did it for him, that's all.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
In your opinion, was it malicious and intentional?
HARRY
I don't know.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Surely you must have some thoughts on the matter.
HARRY
No, not really.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
This is rather irregular, Mr. Potter.
HARRY
That happens in war sometimes. [reluctantly] I saw Dumbledore say something to him first. He said his name, and he said please. I think he was begging.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
For his life?
HARRY
No. For about the opposite, I reckon.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Tacitly asking Mr. Snape to kill him.
HARRY
Listen, I hated him when I was his student and I'll hate him until I die for killing the Headmaster. It was like...cutting loose all the moorings I had. Everything we were fighting for just seemed -- without Dumbledore, it seemed like nothing. But we had a job to do so we got up and did it anyway.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
As the world is aware, Harry.
HARRY
I can't tell you for sure that Dumbledore wasn't asking for it, because the Headmaster believed that you can't make anything better by lying. So maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but if you want answers from me you'll wait a long time. I'm not some kind of wise man, I'm just a boy.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The Boy Who Lived.
HARRY
The boy who is getting bloody tired of everyone thinking he's got all the answers, thanks all the same. If you haven't got any more questions for me, I'd like to leave.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board --
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 3
I think Mr. Potter may step down. Mr. Snape has been examined privately and waives his right to a public examination; the board requests the testimony of its final witness.
MCGONAGALL
And now you have heard it. All of you. I don't know any more than Harry or Tonks do, or Lupin thinks he does, about whether or not Severus murdered the Headmaster. I know what he was like as a boy, and I know what he was like as a man. I know that Albus took him in when nobody else would; if he was murdered, it was a gross act of betrayal, but otherwise it was a gesture -- the greatest gesture of friendship there can be, to take responsibility for another's life and be willing to go to the end of one's own for it.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Very touching, Headmistress, but not exactly informative.
MCGOANGALL
Isn't it? I should think it would have told you everything you needed to know.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
The Headmistress may step down. The board will adjourn to deliberate; verdict will be given tomorrow.
[Audience murmurs and rustles]
MCGONAGALL
Severus.
SNAPE
Headmistress.
MCGONAGALL
Not exactly a legal triumph yet.
SNAPE
I imagine my odds are not good. If nothing else, there must be a scapegoat.
MCGONAGALL
You think they'll return guilty?
SNAPE
Guilt was never the question, as I think you well know. Neither choice will be of any use at all to Albus. [pause] Do you believe it was murder?
MCGONAGALL
Do you really think I would have testified as I did, if I thought you were a killer?
SNAPE
One never knows, with Gryffindors.
MCGONAGALL
Have faith, Severus.
SNAPE
I'm afraid that's out of the question.
MCGONAGALL
Then at least know that someone in the world is thinking well of you tonight.
SNAPE
And many are not.
MCGONAGALL
Don't mind them. They don't know any better.
SNAPE
[laughs, bitterly]
MCGONAGALL
We'll know soon, anyway.
SNAPE
Yes. I suppose we will.
END
Rating: PG; gen.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Minerva McGonagall narrates three events in the life of Severus Snape, in an attempt to show his true character. Written as a Radio Play for a Spellcast Live event at Phoenix Rising.
Originally Posted 5.19.07
Also available at AO3.
CAST LIST:
MCGONAGALL
YOUNG SEVERUS
POMFREY
UMBRIDGE
DUMBLEDORE
AUDIENCE MEMBER
SECOND BOARD MEMBER
MINISTER FOR MAGIC (as Examiner)
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 3
SNAPE
TONKS
DRACO
LUPIN
POTTER
Author's Notes:
I've tried to make the play as "American" friendly as possible in terms of using mostly American voice actors, but it is of course difficult when the main characters are British. The Minister/Examiner can be portrayed as either a British Minister for Magic or, with the reference in parenthesis removed from his first speech, simply as an Examiner of either gender and with any accent.
Some characters, such as Umbridge, Pomfrey, and the Second Board Member can double up as the Salem Institute Witches; those Witches can also be Wizards if the gender balance requires it.
It would be ideal if someone could cue the audience to react; a few cue cards such as "gasp" "laugh" "applaud" "shout" and "murmur" would be good.
MCGONAGALL
My name is Minerva McGonagall. I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, professor of Transfigurations, and a veteran of the second war.
But this...is not my story. This is the story of Severus Snape, and I tell it to you today because of all the survivors of the war, there are only two left who can tell it in full. The other now sits in a holding cell at the Ministry for Magic, awaiting sentence, so it falls to me to speak.
I want you to think back now -- those of you who are old enough -- to the spring of a certain fifth-year term, 1976, and listen to a story that is now being told for the first time. Severus' first trial, where he made a promise.
YOUNG SEVERUS
I don't need any more medicine, I'm FINE, Madam Pomfrey.
POMFREY
I'll remember that if I hear you telling anyone you can't do your homework because of that arm, Severus. Now drink up.
YOUNG SEVERUS
That's disgusting.
POMFREY
Undoubtedly. Now, get some rest; I have other patients to attend to this morning. Oh! Deputy Headmistress, I didn't see you there.
MCGONAGALL
Would you mind if I had a moment alone with Severus, Madam Pomfrey?
POMFREY
Not at all. Behave yourself, Severus.
YOUNG SEVERUS
[sullen] Yes, Madam Pomfrey.
MCGONAGALL
Now. A very exciting evening for you, Severus Snape.
YOUNG SEVERUS
He attacked me! It wasn't my fault --
MCGONAGALL
Yes, I've spoken with James and Sirius, I think I know precisely where the fault lies.
YOUNG SEVERUS
He's a werewol --
MCGONAGALL
[sharply] bite your tongue.
[pause]
YOUNG SEVERUS
You knew that already, didn't you.
MCGONAGALL
I was aware of Mr. Lupin's medical condition, yes.
YOUNG SEVERUS
Medical cond -- he's a monster!
MCGONAGALL
Strong words, from a fifteen-year-old boy who hasn't lived in the world yet.
YOUNG SEVERUS
Well, that's what he is, isn't he? And you let him just -- he sleeps here! He eats with us!
MCGONAGALL
Not very well or very much, just now. Severus, I'd like you to listen very carefully to me. He is a person, and in case you were in doubt of that he is currently doing better in many classes than you are --
YOUNG SEVERUS
Not potions or Dark Arts, though.
MCGONAGALL
-- perhaps because you sometimes fail to grasp the point your professors are making.
YOUNG SEVERUS
[pause to let this sink in] [sulky] Potter and Black tried to get me killed last night.
MCGONAGALL
And also saved your life, a fact not lost on the Headmaster or myself. Leaving aside who attempted to kill whom, you now hold another person's life in your hands, and as you are clearly incapable of understanding the gravity of that, I will paint you a picture.
Imagine being removed from Hogwarts -- not sent away, forcibly removed, possibly by Aurors, at the request of parents and students. Imagine a life knowing what magic was available and being incapable of using it because of a snapped wand, a public disgrace, and Ministry restrictions, all at the age of fifteen. Imagine a man going through life unable to even hold a job because wherever he goes, he will be hounded by those who feel they know what is best for society. [a pause] And now imagine that person is you.
YOUNG SEVERUS
But I'm not --
MCGONAGALL
I can promise you this, Severus. If you breathe a word of last night's events to anyone -- to your closest friend, to your parents, to your professors -- you will be removed from Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore will watch you all your days, and he will ensure that everything that boy suffers you will suffer too. If your buried spark of human decency is not enough to prevent you from ruining another boy's life, then the threat of living that same ruined life ought to.
YOUNG SEVERUS
They try to kill me and I'm the one who gets punished. That's a pretty situation for a Gryffindor Head of House to give me.
MCGONAGALL
Let the punishment fit the crime, Severus. Potter and Black will be dealt with in their own way. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and when we break the rules to acquire it, we must pay the penalty. If you promise silence, you have nothing to fear, and neither will Remus. If you don't promise, then on your own head be your actions.
YOUNG SEVERUS
It isn't fair.
MCGONAGALL
No. [pause] It isn't.
[another pause; switching gears; narrating again]
And it wasn't, to any of those boys, but James was dead in five years' time, Sirius in prison, and Remus starving, so if their crime was so terrible then they were certainly punished for it. Albus and I were punished too; for not seeing far enough or knowing enough, perhaps. Even though we had hundreds of children in our care. Five years later...yes, that was a dark time.
[audience rumbling, shouting, talking, booing]
UMBRIDGE
[gavel banging]
ORDER! THIS TRIAL WILL COME TO ORDER! THERE WILL BE ORDER DURING THE TRIAL!
MCGONAGALL
OBJECTION, INQUISITOR UMBRIDGE --
UMBRIDGE
The board of inquiry has not recognised you, Ms. McGonagall --
MCGONAGALL
PROFESSOR McGonagall, Inquisitor Umbridge, and this is not a trial.
UMBRIDGE
Very well. The board of inquiry has not recognised you, PROFESSOR McGonagall.
MCGONAGALL
This is a HEARING, Inquisitor.
UMBRIDGE
And we have heard quite enough from you, Professor. The board will be seated.
This HEARING is called to order to discuss the charges against Severus Snape, alleged Death Eater and conspirator with He Who Must Not Be Named. Is the alleged Death Eater present?
DUMBLEDORE
He is not, Inquisitor.
UMBRIDGE
The board does not recognise you, Headmaster Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
Surely, considering you have all been my students, Inquisitor, the board must find me somewhat familiar.
[laughter from the audience]
UMBRIDGE
Very well. The floor to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
Mr. Snape is not present, Inquisitor. He is at Hogwarts School, under the care of Madam Pomfrey, for injuries suffered --
AUDIENCE MEMBER
Trying to kill honest hardworking wizards who never --
DUMBLEDORE
I believe I still have the floor, madam. Mr. Snape is receiving care for injuries suffered in the execution of his duty as a spy against Voldemort.
[audience gasps]
UMBRIDGE
That name will not be spoken here, Headmaster Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
Ah yes. I forget myself. A spy against You Know Who, then. He has been faithfully passing information to myself and other agents of the Ministry for many months, and regrets he cannot attend this hearing regarding his alleged crimes. I speak here on behalf of the accused.
SECOND BOARD MEMBER
This is highly irregular, Headmaster Dumbledore.
DUMBLEDORE
In times of war, I fear, all propriety is indeed thrown to the wind. Still, an irregular hearing is better than no hearing at all, don't you agree?
UMBRIDGE
Without the accused present --
DUMBLEDORE
I have gathered several witnesses who will testify to Mr. Snape's character, and to his actions during the war. Professor McGonagall, naturally, as well as Mr. Remus Lupin, Mr. Abeforth Dumbledore, Ms. Arabella Figg, Mr. Rubeus Hagrid --
UMBRIDGE
Mr. Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, I believe, for --
DUMBLEDORE
I did not think I had ceded the floor, Inquisitor.
[pause]
These people are willing to testify publicly or in private, at the expense of their own time and potentially their reputations. I believe they deserve to be heard.
UMBRIDGE
Headmaster, there are dozens of witnesses to Mr. Snape's presence at Death Eater assemblages, as well as his known loyalty to You Know Who --
DUMBLEDORE
Men and women languishing in Azkaban Prison, some under fear of sentence without trial. Surely, Inquisitor, you are prepared to give equal weight to people who have come here of their own will, many of whom are not...[coughs] particular friends to this man.
UMBRIDGE
I -- that is -- we cannot --
DUMBLEDORE
If a public hearing is not in order, I suggest the board meet privately with myself and these witnesses. A decision may be rendered out of the common eye, thus saving both sides any...public exposure.
UMBRIDGE
Very well. The hearing is in adjournement; the public will please depart while the board considers matters.
MCGONAGALL
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, in the end, but it's difficult to swat aside the testimony of Albus Dumbledore in favour of the testimony of Rodolphus Lestrange and his ilk. It was enough to save Severus, though not enough to redeem him; still, it's easy to live with suspicion hanging over your head, when you have a good job and a place to sleep at night.
And whatever he may have told anyone, I don't believe Severus disliked teaching. It gave him time for his experiments, and the man who had once threatened him with expulsion was now his greatest benefactor.
And then came the return of the Dark Lord, the death of Cedric Diggory -- the death of Sirius Black -- and the world turned upside down again. Because the final death before open war was Albus himself, and I -- [voice breaks]
How does one know what to say anymore, after that. How does one know which faith to keep?
[Audience murmuring]
MINISTER FOR MAGIC/EXAMINER
Let there be silence, please.
[audience settles down]
Thank you. I thank all of you assembled here today as witnesses for your time and patience. I would like to remind the audience that this is not a trial; this is an examination by a duly appointed board of judges. We are here to examine whether or not Severus Snape is responsible, morally and legally, for the death of Albus Dumbledore; whether in fact it was murder. Given the peculiarities of the case, it has been agreed upon that the Salem Institute's representatives are the most objective possible examiners, and their ruling will be final. I will act as Examiner; (I think it has been made quite clear that there will be no more Inquisitors while I am Minister for Magic.) Members of the board, are you present and accounted for?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
We are.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Bring forth Mr. Snape.
[Audience boos, hisses, shouts]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
THERE WILL BE SILENCE.
[sudden silence.]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Thank you. Mr. Snape, you will stand before this board and hear testimony as to the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school. It has been established that this is not an alleged crime; do you confess to it?
SNAPE
I do not confess to the murder of Albus Dumbledore.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
But that you were the cause of his death, Mr. Snape?
SNAPE
One of many.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
First witness, please?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
The board requests the testimony of Auror Nymphadora Tonks.
[crashing noise]
TONKS
Sorry, sorry...
[clears throat]
Hi. Uh. Oh, sorry, I'm Nymphadora Tonks. Auror Nymphadora Tonks.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Thank you, Auror. You were present at Hogwarts School on the night Albus Dumbledore was -- excuse me. On the night Albus Dumbledore died?
TONKS
Yes. My official report should have been with the documents the board was uh, provided with...file number twelve-HBP-nine.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Which the board has reviewed. You are called today to speak to Mr. Snape's character, at his request.
TONKS
I...what?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
You are called by the defendant as a character witness. Presumably because the opinion of an Auror is unimpeachable.
TONKS
Professor...really?
SNAPE
Very few people would suspect you of lying. You're too obvious.
TONKS
Well, thanks for the backhanded compliment.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Auror, if you please.
TONKS
Sorry, I wasn't ready for this. Um, do you ask questions, or do I...?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Let's begin with your relationship to Mr. Snape.
TONKS
Professional, mostly. He was my teacher at Hogwarts. After school, I didn't see him much until...things started to go bad.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Bad?
TONKS
First Cedric Diggory dying, and You-Know-Who coming back, and the Ministry wouldn't believe us for about a year. I saw him once in a while, usually with Dumbledore, when we were trying to figure out what to do. We all knew he was spying for us. He never let us forget it.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Were you aware that You Know Who believed he was spying ON you?
TONKS
Well, yes. That's the essence of good undercover work. You have to make sure both sides think you're on their side.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And what side was Severus Snape on?
TONKS
Whatever side Dumbledore was on, I would imagine.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Based on what evidence?
TONKS
He owed Dumbledore. Snape pays his debts.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And yet when the war was over, you and Kingsley Shacklebolt were the ones who captured Snape and turned him in.
TONKS
Well, he might pay his debts but he still killed him. It's a little hard to have faith in the justice system around here, sometimes, but what else can you do? You have to believe that things put themselves right in the end. It's not my place to be his judge.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Wise words, Auror Tonks. Does the board have any further questions?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
Not at this time.
TONKS
I have one, if that's okay.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
I beg your pardon?
TONKS
A question.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
By all means.
TONKS
What happens if you have to believe him?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
I'm not sure the board comprehends the question.
TONKS
Well, he's the only one who'll ever know what really went on. All we can do is say we believe him or we don't. Really it comes down to him saying he was asked to kill a man. So what you should be wondering is, can we believe him?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
I think, Auror, that perhaps you overstep your bounds. You are free to go.
TONKS
Sorry, Professor. Unless you did it, then I'm not really.
SNAPE
As usual, your honesty overwhelms.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board requests the testimony of Mr. Draco Malfoy.
[Audience gasp]
DRACO
I am here, Examiner. Hello, Professor.
SNAPE
Draco.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board is given to understand you have prepared a statement, Mr. Malfoy, and presented an affidavit of ill-health from a St. Mungo's healer to excuse a more...rigorous examination.
DRACO
Yes.
[pause]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
[a little annoyed] You are welcome to present your statement.
DRACO
Oh, yes. I'm sorry, I don't go out much anymore, this is all a little....
[clears his throat]
It doesn't start very well.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Please proceed, Mr. Malfoy.
DRACO
What I was eyewitness to regarding Professor Snape's alliance with the Death Eaters and the death of Albus Dumbledore. My...my father and mother thought I should be a member of the Death Eaters, as they were, and when I joined...You Know Who said that I would be given the task of murdering Albus Dumbledore.
[audience gasp]
DRACO
I can't say I did a very good job, but I tried. Professor Snape was constantly supervising me in this task because...my mother made him promise. I thought he was interfering and wanted all the glory for himself, but I think I see now...
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Malfoy?
DRACO
Right, sorry...see now that he was guiding me towards harmless attempts that couldn't possibly work, and making sure that he knew about anything really dangerous in advance. Professor Snape is very good at splitting hairs, and that was still technically helping me, according to his promise, even though it wasn't hurting the Headmaster at all.
[deep breath]
But he didn't have to kill the Headmaster that night on the roof. He could have found another way. Except he couldn't have stopped me without breaking his promise and he didn't know that I didn't have the guts to kill Professor Dumbledore. So maybe he thought it was the only way. After the fight on the tower that night, Professor Snape took me to a safe place, and left me there for about a week. Then he came and brought me away again, and put me with the Order.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
A point of clarification, Mr. Malfoy. The Order of the Phoenix?
DRACO
[a moment of sardonic humour] No, the Order of the Cowardly Bastards who couldn't summon the spine to do the only thing they'd been ordered to do.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Malfoy.
DRACO
Yes, the Order of the Phoenix. Then he went away again, and I don't know what happened after that. During the war. We never saw each other. Maybe he was working for the Dark Lord and just had mercy on me because he was friends with my mum. Most of the people in the war didn't trust him after he killed the Headmaster, whether he was told to do it or not. I just know that he did it and I didn't have to and that's why I'm here today instead of in Azkaban. And that's my statement.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Thank you, Mr. Malfoy.
DRACO
I --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Yes?
DRACO
Why did you do it, Professor?
SNAPE
Draco --
DRACO
I wouldn't have done it, I swear I wouldn't --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Malfoy, I think you had better --
[thudding noise]
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
Call a Healer, please. Mr. Malfoy has collapsed.
[audience murmuring]
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
There will be order, and this examination will proceed. Healers? Yes, thank you.
SNAPE
See that the boy is well cared-for.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Silence please, Mr. Snape.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 3
Examiner, you will call your next witness.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board requests the testimony of Mr. Remus Lupin.
LUPIN
Present. Shall I take the hot-seat?
MINISTER/EXAMINER
If you please.
LUPIN
Thank you, Examiner.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin. I understand you are a werewolf.
LUPIN
If that has any bearing on Professor Snape's guilt or innocence it will come as news to me.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
But that is correct, is it not?
LUPIN
It is.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
What is your occupation?
LUPIN
Teacher, by training.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And your current place of work?
LUPIN
I am unemployed.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
You were briefly a teacher at Hogwarts, during Mr. Snape's tenure there?
LUPIN
I was. I left after a year.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Is it safe to say, Mr. Lupin, that it was involuntary?
LUPIN
More or less safe, yes.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
At the behest of Mr. Snape?
LUPIN
I wouldn't say that.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Let me put the question another way: Did Mr. Snape arrange for your...termination?
LUPIN
[with mounting anger] Not to my knowledge.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin, was Mr. Snape responsible for your unemployment?
LUPIN
How does this have any relevance to whether or not Severus Snape murdered Albus Dumbledore?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
That's not a bad question, Examiner.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
It goes to the heart of whether Mr. Snape has made a habit of disguising vicious, self-serving deeds under the guise of working for the greater good.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
Mr. Lupin will answer the question.
LUPIN
Well, what you have to understand is --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Yes or no is all that is required of you, Mr. Lupin.
LUPIN
Fine. No, he was not.
[audience shouts]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
May I remind you, Mr. Lupin, you are sworn to be truthful in this examination.
LUPIN
Mr. Snape was responsible for informing the students that I am a werewolf. I believe it was --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin, if you will not stick to the question --
LUPIN
[over top of the Examiner]
-- the parents and students who were responsible for my unemployment. I was a good teacher. I taught a thirteen-year-old boy to summon a Patronus. There was no reason I should not still have that job other than fear and prejudice of the sort that was directly responsible --
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
ORDER!
[audience muttering]
LUPIN
[still talking]
-- for the rise of a second wave of Death Eaters among children -- children! -- whose parents raised them to be afraid of anything that was different. YOU are the ones responsible. Not Severus Snape. All he did was tell frightened, stupid people what I was and frightened, stupid people would have had me hauled off in chains for being who I am.
[pause; Lupin breathing heavily]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Lupin, one more outburst like that and you will be removed from the room.
LUPIN
I'm sorry. That was unforgivable. I'm sorry.
MCGONAGALL
[whispering] Keep that up and you'll start some riots, Remus. Good for you.
LUPIN
Professor Snape didn't like me and everyone knows that, but he could have poisoned me at any time while he was preparing Wolfbane Potion for me, and nobody would have known it was anything other than an accident. He is not a nice person, or a kind person, but he is a moral person. If he killed the Headmaster, he did it because it was asked of him in the service of the greater good. I believe that and so should you.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Damnation by faint praise, Mr. Lupin.
LUPIN
Ask your questions and I'll answer them, but don't play with me. I'm not here to send a good man to prison. Enough of that was done last time.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And why do you have so much faith in Mr. Snape, Mr. Lupin?
LUPIN
Albus Dumbledore did.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Do you believe, based on your own observation and knowledge, that Mr. Snape deliberately murdered Albus Dumbledore in contradiction of the Headmaster's wishes?
LUPIN
I do not.
[coughs]
I believe the Headmaster knew he was dying, and thought protecting Draco was more important than his own life.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The moral character of one young man against the life of an established pillar of the magical community?
LUPIN
He wouldn't have been the first child Dumbledore risked everything for.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Does the board have any questions for the witness?
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
No. Call the next witness, please.
SNAPE
Lupin.
LUPIN
Yes?
SNAPE
Thank you.
LUPIN
Thank Dumbledore. I'm not here because of you. I'm here because of him.
SNAPE
As am I.
LUPIN
Gallows humour. Keep it up, Severus.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board requests the testimony of Mr. Harry Potter.
HARRY
Here I am.
[audience applause and catcalls]
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Silence, please. [when there is silence] Mr. Potter. Can you tell us what your relationship to Mr. Snape is?
HARRY
I was his student for six years at Hogwarts.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And is that your only relationship?
HARRY
Well, I hated the bastard, but that's hardly news.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Language, Mr. Potter.
HARRY
We cordially wished each other would cease to exist. Is that nice enough for you?
SNAPE
It was hardly cordial on my part.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
You didn't like each other; I think we can move on. Please continue, Examiner.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Potter, we understand you were a witness to the murder of Albus Dumbledore.
HARRY
Yes.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Can you tell us what happened?
HARRY
I can tell you what I saw. I don't think it's quite what happened.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Explain what you mean by that.
HARRY
Well, it's sort of...I mean, did I see Snape pitch him off the tower? Yes. And he did it because Draco couldn't, I saw that. But you know...I think the Headmaster was already dying.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Why would you think that?
HARRY
One of his hands had been pretty well done for at the start of the year, and...see, you can't just explain what happened without explaining what had happened to Professor Dumbledore earlier the same night, and that takes some explaining to do with Voldemort --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Potter.
HARRY
What? You can have my testimony or you can have my silence, but you can't tell me what words I should and shouldn't say. He's dead. I ought to know. I watched him die.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Very well.
HARRY
We'd been looking for something, part of the source of Voldemort's power. We'd found it, too, we thought, but to get to it we had to -- terrible things had to happen. Dumbledore had to drink a potion, and it pretty nearly killed him. He was barely walking without my help by the time we got back to the Astronomy Tower.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And what was it you had hoped to find in your search, Mr. Potter?
HARRY
There are some things it's better not to give a name to. It gives people funny ideas.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
You refuse to answer?
HARRY
Categorically.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Very well.
HARRY
Nice of you to be so polite, Examiner. You must have been warned not to go too hard on me.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 1
Let's return to the subject at hand, please.
HARRY
Yes, let's. The Headmaster was weak and I couldn't move -- he'd frozen me so I wouldn't get involved, I guess to protect me.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
And you were unseen?
HARRY
Yeah. I heard everything they said. Mostly it was Malfoy, telling him how brilliant he thought he'd been in sneaking Death Eaters into Hogwarts. The Headmaster told him he wasn't...well, a bad-enough person to kill him. He offered Malfoy the protection of the Order. I think if the Death Eaters hadn't arrived, Draco might have taken him up on it. But then they showed up...
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The Death Eaters.
HARRY
Four of them. They got through the scrum below -- Tonks told you about that in her report -- and then Snape came up after them. So you know, if he really was on our side, and I don't say he was, the odds weren't very good. Four to one. Five to one if you count Malfoy, though I wouldn't.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
These brief few minutes are very important, Mr. Potter. The interaction between Mr. Snape and the Headmaster, as seen by an impartial observer --
SNAPE
Examiner, please. The boy's hardly impartial.
HARRY
Shut your mouth, Snape, you're not helping yourself --
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Mr. Potter will PLEASE redirect his attention to the question at hand, and Mr. Snape will remain silent or be removed from the room. Now, Mr. Potter. As you saw it, what occurred between the two men on that tower?
HARRY
Well, Malfoy couldn't bring himself to do it, so Snape did it for him, that's all.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
In your opinion, was it malicious and intentional?
HARRY
I don't know.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Surely you must have some thoughts on the matter.
HARRY
No, not really.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
This is rather irregular, Mr. Potter.
HARRY
That happens in war sometimes. [reluctantly] I saw Dumbledore say something to him first. He said his name, and he said please. I think he was begging.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
For his life?
HARRY
No. For about the opposite, I reckon.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Tacitly asking Mr. Snape to kill him.
HARRY
Listen, I hated him when I was his student and I'll hate him until I die for killing the Headmaster. It was like...cutting loose all the moorings I had. Everything we were fighting for just seemed -- without Dumbledore, it seemed like nothing. But we had a job to do so we got up and did it anyway.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
As the world is aware, Harry.
HARRY
I can't tell you for sure that Dumbledore wasn't asking for it, because the Headmaster believed that you can't make anything better by lying. So maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but if you want answers from me you'll wait a long time. I'm not some kind of wise man, I'm just a boy.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The Boy Who Lived.
HARRY
The boy who is getting bloody tired of everyone thinking he's got all the answers, thanks all the same. If you haven't got any more questions for me, I'd like to leave.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
The board --
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 3
I think Mr. Potter may step down. Mr. Snape has been examined privately and waives his right to a public examination; the board requests the testimony of its final witness.
MCGONAGALL
And now you have heard it. All of you. I don't know any more than Harry or Tonks do, or Lupin thinks he does, about whether or not Severus murdered the Headmaster. I know what he was like as a boy, and I know what he was like as a man. I know that Albus took him in when nobody else would; if he was murdered, it was a gross act of betrayal, but otherwise it was a gesture -- the greatest gesture of friendship there can be, to take responsibility for another's life and be willing to go to the end of one's own for it.
MINISTER/EXAMINER
Very touching, Headmistress, but not exactly informative.
MCGOANGALL
Isn't it? I should think it would have told you everything you needed to know.
SALEM INSTITUTE WITCH 2
The Headmistress may step down. The board will adjourn to deliberate; verdict will be given tomorrow.
[Audience murmurs and rustles]
MCGONAGALL
Severus.
SNAPE
Headmistress.
MCGONAGALL
Not exactly a legal triumph yet.
SNAPE
I imagine my odds are not good. If nothing else, there must be a scapegoat.
MCGONAGALL
You think they'll return guilty?
SNAPE
Guilt was never the question, as I think you well know. Neither choice will be of any use at all to Albus. [pause] Do you believe it was murder?
MCGONAGALL
Do you really think I would have testified as I did, if I thought you were a killer?
SNAPE
One never knows, with Gryffindors.
MCGONAGALL
Have faith, Severus.
SNAPE
I'm afraid that's out of the question.
MCGONAGALL
Then at least know that someone in the world is thinking well of you tonight.
SNAPE
And many are not.
MCGONAGALL
Don't mind them. They don't know any better.
SNAPE
[laughs, bitterly]
MCGONAGALL
We'll know soon, anyway.
SNAPE
Yes. I suppose we will.
END
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