EVENT - Battle of Hogwarts (May 2, 1998)

[Hollywood Heidi]

Battle of Hogwarts

May 2, 1998

Lurking the outer perimeter of one of the largest battles in wizard world history, Odin Markell, current leader of The Unknown is beckoned by fellow members to the Boathouse to discover Severus Snape, blinded and left for dead by Lord Voldemort.

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[Ariel]

***

The greatest battle of their time was upon the wizarding world at last. Through the thin mist of dawn, Odin Markell noted the echoes and cries that could be heard all the way into the forbidden forest from the developing brutal warfront of Hogwarts appeared to have died down for a defeated moment. The wizard in dark robes stood alone in the spot in the forest that was occupied not long ago by none other than Lord Voldemort, his followers and the boy who lived himself. It was Odin and his followers that witnessed Harry Potter's final surrender to the Dark Lord, an event of a lifetime that they could only bare witness from afar. For they were the members of The Unknown, unregistered from society and assumed to be dead. To become involved in the great wizard war would cause exposure to their secret society, and so they would observe in the shadows and collect those who would be worthy to serve within their cause.

Closing his eyes, Odin bent over to where Voldemort had stood to cast the killing curse upon the boy that was tied to him in prophecy in hopes of fulfillment. Drawing in a breath, his hands hovered over the place on the forest floor as Odin reminisced in the great power he felt surging off of the Dark Lord.

The great and powerful Dark One has almost reached his fullest potential...

Odin's eyes flickered open as he remembered the bearded giant in bonds pick up the limp body of Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort gleefully leading his parade of Death Eaters to their victory back to the castle where the world would begin to sign over it's allegiance. Though, Odin saw something that only Narcissa Malfoy had discovered and neglected to tell the Dark Lord about.

...Yet, the boy has power that the Dark Lord knows not. Lord Voldemort will meet his demise this day.

Drawing his hands back to his side, Odin brought himself to his feet to continue along amongst the darkness. That was when he spotted something rather peculiar. Amongst the leaves on the ground in the distance, a glimmer caught Odin's eye. Cocking his head curiously to the side, he floated over to the patch of leaves to uncover a dropped stone. The new day was still dimly lit, though Odin could still make out the deep ruby red that encased the stone. 

The Philosophers Stone...abandoned and alone in the forest...now calls to me...how curious indeed...

The sound of footsteps drew near, and Odin took this as a cue to make the stone disappear into his robes. Slowly pivoting in the place which he stood, he turned his cloaked head to face two other members of The Unknown. 

"Master Markell," the two members bowed in Odin's presence.

A looming smile crept underneath his hood as Odin addressed their reason for returning, "You have found something."

"Not something, Master Markell...someone. You will not believe your eyes when you see this."

Odin's gaze furrowed into question as he wondered what could possibly awe him more than the events they had witnessed tonight. "Show me."

The hooded figures made their way through the deserted outskirts of Hogwarts and moving effortlessly through the misted grounds they arrived at the entrance to the Boathouse. Odin made his way in front of the other two members as they made their way inside, only to discover the revelation which his members were so shocked to discover. Odin froze like a stone pillar for a brief few moments, his expression had never expressed as much surprise as it had in this very moment.

"As I live and breath..." Removing the hood from his head, Odin revealed his entire identity to the man who lay on the ground before him. Odin scanned the man from head to toe as he appeared to be gaining consciousness, his neck caked in his own blood by gashes that could have only been caused by the fangs of a snake. Anybody would be a fool to not know this particular Hogwarts professor, and being an admirer of Voldemort's work Odin knew of this man all too well. Severus Snape.

[DarkSideCookie]

"You have your mother's eyes..."

These had been the last words of Severus Snape - a man, much more of a hero than anyone thought him to be. And in the end, he had been able to unfold his true being to the only person who was able to save the magical world. The boy called Harry Potter. Lilly's son.

But what if this was not the end yet? What if there was something Severus' soul was holding onto so much that he wasn't ready yet? One last picture he would never forget, especially as it would be the last thing he was going to see for a long time...

******

Darkness. Darkness all around him.

He was tired. He was ready to leave to his last journey. With this last and truest view of himself that he gave to the boy, Severus saw nothing left. There was nothing else for him to do.

"Severus.", the familiar voice of an old friend made him look up. Dumbledore's voice. If he really was here, then Severus must be dead.

"Albus."

"This is not the end, Severus.", his old friend said, an imaginary chuckle on his face. There was still nothing but darkness around Severus, but just the sound of Dumbledore's words brought back that one's calming features. Deep inside though, Severus knew he wasn't really here.

"You seem to have been right.", Severus admitted without reacting to his imaginary friend's comment. "About the boy."

"We never really had a bearing on it. But I was never doubtful of him. Harry Potter will save us all."

"But at what price.", he made Dumbledore wonder and at the same time remember they had had this conversation a lot of times before. The last time had been shortly before Hogwarts' greatest headmaster got killed by Bellatrix Lestrange - one of the Dark Lord's most loyal followers. Sure, a follower Severus once had been himself but had he left that path long before it would have made a blind man out of him. Yet in the end, it had made a dead man out of him.

"He will do the right thing, whatever that means. Have trust, Severus. Have trust."

The voice was fading bit by bit until no more than an imaginary echo got left behind. And then silence. Again.

"I am sorry...", Severus whispered to the emptiness around as he gave way. "I am sorry, Lilly. I wasn't able to protect your son."

For a while he was just kneeling there in the middle of nowhere, waiting for something to happen that would finally free his soul. But there was no light to make toward, no voice to be guided by. Just nothing. And so he was waiting some more time until eventually there WAS a voice calling out to him. A real voice, no imagination this time. And not only a voice but also the picture of someone. Someone who he had thought he would never be able to see again. But could that really be? Or was this one last phantasm before the poison that was going to kill him would have reached his heart?

"Sev... don't b... ha... your..."

"Lilly?" Severus' head was up again immediately. This couldn't be. Or could it? "Lilly, is that really you?"

"I... Seve..."

But why couldn't he hear what she said? It was even like with each passing moment her voice was breaking off just a little more just like the visual appearance did.

Severus was desperate. He wanted to hold onto her so badly but couldn't. Eventually, her presence felt once again as far away as it had for so many years already.
And then the darkness came back...

******

"Lil...ly...", a name was formed on his parched lips. Things around him happened to feel different again. Yet the darkness remained.

A darkness that from now on would remain forever.

[Ariel]

"Lil...ly...",

"And he speaks..."

Odin's men attempted to rush to Severus Snape's aide, yet Odin raised a single hand to command them to halt. Odin's intuition told him Severus was going to survive this, that something bigger was pulling the strings. 

"A gateway to the other side has shown itself to Severus, yet Death has closed it's door on him. For this World is not done with him yet...," Odin spoke in awe as he knelt down in front of Snape, leaving his men standing behind him.

"Severus...Can you hear my voice? Do you know where you are right now?" Odin spoke in question, loud enough for Severus to receive his voice as he came to from his unconscious state.

[DarkSideCookie]

Severus heard faint voices around him. Not actually faint but like they were overlaid with a lot of other sounds. The treading of boots, the howling of the wind outside - each one of these as intensive and loud as he never had heard them before. He wanted to open his eyes before he was completely aware of the fact that he already did. For a moment inner panic was getting a hold of him while at the same time his physical wounds started to cause a cramp all around his body. And then the memory of what had happened to him suddenly came back. The snake's poison. His certain death. And yet he was not dead.

"... Severus ... Can you hear my voice? Do you know where you are right now?", eventually a voice, very close to him, emerged from all the other sounds around.

Severus tried to pull himself together and to gain enough control of his body to speak some quiet words.

"I... do..." Even though he wasn't able to see anything, by now aware of the reason why, he raised his head in the voice owner's direction. A dull film was covering his blind eyes. "Who... are... you?"

[Ariel]

"I... do..."  "Who... are... you?"

"Who am...I?" Odin's voice trailed off in a surprised tone as Severus was coming to rather quickly for his critical condition, "Why, Severus...I am your deliverer in this mount of chaotic events. It appears that things may not have gone...according to your plan...and now here you are. Wounded at death's door in this very moment," A hand stretched out by Odin's side as his gaze circled the room they were for a few elongated seconds before returning to the injured wizard, "Yet the door remains shut and you are still among us. That is a precious gift. And it is my duty to protect you, the gift, at all costs." Odin rose to his feet as he looked down upon Snape who lay helplessly caked in his own blood, "We've only just met, yet there is still so much in this world for you. Your task is not yet complete. Do you trust me on this, Severus? Will you accept my help and allow me to lead you to safety?" Odin asked cautiously as he was still gaining this man's trust. And although in feeble condition, it was up to Severus to accept and trust the stranger before him.

[DarkSideCookie]

"Who am...I?"

Despite his critical condition, Severus couldn't help rolling his blind eyes at this somewhat conceited reaction. He had gotten to know a lot of witches and wizards who fainted a false picture of themselves. The following words were not what he had expected though.

"Why, Severus...I am your deliverer in this mount of chaotic events. It appears that things may not have gone...according to your plan...and now here you are. Wounded at death's door in this very moment,"

According to his plan? What was this stranger thinking would have been his plan? Although Severus couldn't see him, he was very sure to never have heard his voice before. Could it be that this man was a Death Eater? As he had no idea yet if this whole scene would take another dramatic turn soon, Severus remained quiet, waiting for the man to go on. He was sure he would anyway as it seemed that he enjoyed hearing himself speaking a little too much.

"Yet the door remains shut and you are still among us. That is a precious gift. And it is my duty to protect you, the gift, at all costs."

The questions that got formed in his head weren't breaking the surface yet, though he couldn't suppress at least a wrinkling of his brow. By now, Severus really had no idea what this would amount to as he never had listened to anything like that.

"We've only just met, yet there is still so much in this world for you. Your task is not yet complete. Do you trust me on this, Severus? Will you accept my help and allow me to lead you to safety?"

He knew that there was no room for a lot of words from him until he would pass out again as he already felt everything around gave him a subtle warning of breaking apart a second time. And so curiosity just as the natural survival instinct that every being had, led him to a decision.

"... I... accept...", was the last Severus said before his apprehension proved to be true and sent him back to a land that lay somewhere between life and death. His fate was now resting with a stranger that promised him safety when there was no more to lose anyway.


***

[Ariel]

"... I... accept..."

"Good. Time is precious, let's not make waste of her." Rolling both of his wrists outwards from underneath his cloak's sleeves, Odin snapped his fingers as his shaded gaze shifted right and left at the two hooded figures that accompanied him. Odin peered down motionless as the two men moved in on Snape and grabbing him firmly they brought him to his feet. A sly smile crept from underneath Odin's hood, as he knew that this man would grow to serve their society well. To serve Odin's reign well. "Do not be shaken, Severus, the others are anticipating our arrival," His pointed fingers folded over the shoulders of the hooded men that held onto Snape before they all disapparated into thin air.


***