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The Great Snape-Deveroux Grudge Match - Part II: Watcher and Hunter by Pigwidgeon [Reviews - 2]

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"No! Absolutely not! Out of the question, Snape! How dare you ask me that!" Aurellia leapt from her chair and retreated toward the stairs.

"Aurellia, wait! You don't understand! This is extremely important!"

"Why is this so important?" Aurellia snapped as she whirled around at the foot of the stairs. "Do you have any idea what you are asking of me? No, of course you don't ... even you would not ask me this if you truly...!" the Defense teacher was unable to continue, she was so choked with anger.

"Aurellia, I believe...I believe Lord Voldemort knows Borjitok," Snape said slowly. "He has been using it for years, now more than ever. And he has been encouraging his Death Eaters to use it as well."

"What?" Aurellia asked, white-faced. The anger had been replaced by fear. She started to walk slowly back to Snape's desk.

"I am not sure that it is Borjitok, but I know of no other modern language that sounds anything similar to the phrases of which I speak. The incantations sound...vaguely elfish. I did not begin to realize this, however, until our conversation in the library, when you first began teaching me elfish phrases." Snape continued, "When I first attended the Death Eater meetings, they were conducted almost totally in English. But in time, Voldemort began introducing new phrases in some language none of us knew. We did not know what the new phrases meant, and thought them part of some ancient magic which the Dark Lord had discovered. I repeated these phrases along with the others, although I had a deep sense of unease about it. I was...afraid...though I did not understand why..."

"But what you are proposing, that Voldemort would know Borjitok, that is impossible!"

"Why is it impossible, Aurellia?" Snape asked quietly. "Isn't it possible that Voldemort, maybe as early as his student days, stumbled across a book with Dark Elvin magic? Borjitok phrases? Or isn't it just as likely that he studied under another Dark wizard, Grindelwald, perhaps?"

"But all books, all records of the language were supposed to have been searched out and destroyed after Ragnarok was killed by Salazar Slytherin more than a thousand years ago! Even Druidish was spoken only by elves and Druids, and by a few wizards during the time of the White Council of Elves and Wizards created by the signing of the Treaty. But the White Council only lasted a little over 200 years, and there was great suspicion and mistrust on both sides. Not a lot of time to absorb a lot of the different cultures."

"Yes, I know all about the Treaty at Alesund, signed in 1035 by Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff who were both over a hundred years old by then. They were highly respected by both the wizard and Elvin population, and so they were naturally chosen to represent the wizards. Veyhenn, the head of the Fedhemenes, represented the elves. And the treaty was later dissolved peacefully at a summit attended by both sides in 1287. I know my own history."

"Well, I don't know how peaceful it was," Aurellia said. "The elves were on the decline then and were feeling more and more shut out of decisions. Also, even though nearly 300 years had passed, a lot of elves still believed that Dark wizards had a hand in the assassination of Curiahl, the disappearance of her daughter, and the deaths of three of the other Fedhemenes. And this was in spite of the fact that Slytherin and Lady Mortgona had admitted to being behind all of it..."

"Curiahl? Is that the one our history refers to as the Elvin Child-Queen?"

"Yes, her critics called her that -- Brehel'fed. Definitely not a complimentary term. But my point earlier," Aurellia continued, "is that even more than 800 years ago, only a handful of wizards -- outside of the Druids themselves -- knew Druidish, or modern elvish. I don't recall any instances at all of a wizard learning Borjitok, unless they were the ones who went over to Mortgona and were later captured and executed when Mortgona was defeated."

"Are you so sure that none of them escaped? Or that their poison was not cleverly hidden or disguised in order that it might be preserved for future generations? We may not be able to discern exactly how Voldemort learned it," Snape mused, "but Dark wizards have... ways of passing knowledge to their apprentices that...certain authorities have overlooked. Need I remind you of the thousand-year-old sixty-foot basilisk recently discovered in the Chamber of Secrets in this very school?"

Aurellia said nothing, and Snape continued.

"I think it most likely that Voldemort began learning Borjitok sometime during his travels when he was searching for immortality. And I know that part of his motivation for attacking the Elvin villages was to steal their books and their knowledge. Perhaps he intended to learn more about Black Elfish from the books he pillaged. How he learned it does not matter to me as much as knowing for sure whether or not he has learned it. That is what I wish to establish. Aurellia, if I repeated some Borjitok phrases I have heard him use, could you translate?"

Aurellia's face twisted in revulsion. "I ... I don't know. And it's not only the matter of my extreme reluctance, mind you. I'm not exactly fluent in...in Black Elfish. In my village, Borjitok was only taught to advanced students, like my cousin, and only in a historical context. And I remember many in the village thought it advisable to stop teaching it altogether, my uncle and mother among them. They were afraid that Luk and the other children might be tempted to seek out Dark knowledge merely because of the Borjitok used in the history lessons. I always wondered whether my mother and uncle were merely being overly superstitious. Luk seemed to think so. He always said that the Dark Arts would never appeal to him, that they'd never find a foothold. But when I think of how he died...I wonder if perhaps he was too overconfident." The elf closed her eyes and seemed to brace herself. "Very well. Go ahead and give me a few phrases. I'll tell you whether or not I think it's Borjitok, and then we'll get back to studying Druidish, okay?"

Snape closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought. He finally opened them, and carefully keeping his tone neutral, repeated the spell he had used on the Night Stalkers that night at the Riddle mansion.

"Khel bagat e'nhuruk sangu khe fieten. Khel bagat thresek a'nutketen. Khel tresehnt e'nhuruk de'khe laxepet."

Despite Snape's neutral tone, his voice, his manner suddenly became sinister and threatening. A darkness that was almost palpable sprang up around him and seemed to envelop the whole room. Venator flapped his wings furiously and snapped his beak viciously. Virtues raised her three heads simultaneously, and the heads hissed and snapped and bared their poisonous fangs.

"Dhakeh Neepakatek. Suzkehk'ha, vukulaktah'eh khe'zorannon. Morgetzen. Lehrent toxakat. Morget...."

"Stop, Snape, stop it! That's enough!" Aurellia shrieked as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered in fear.

Snape blinked and seemed to come back to himself as the darkness around him dissipated. Aurellia noted with a small shiver of anxiety, that his eyes had flashed with irritation at having been interrupted. And Fedhamosi's words came unbidden to her mind, "Beware Muret'neh...you do not know the dark places he has traveled ..."

"And what ... what exactly was the purpose of that spell?" Aurellia asked nervously when the room had quieted down and she had stopped trembling. "What did it do?"

"It is a slight variation on a spell which Lord Voldemort uses to command his dragons, Night Stalkers, griffins and manticores. I used it to charm Night Stalkers in order to create a diversion to help Sirius. I do not know precisely how it works, or what the words mean, but I knew that it would send the Stalkers into a sort of blood frenzy. I...I used that spell a few times in the old days...before...before I came to my senses and went back over to Dumbledore."

The Defense teacher shook her head in disgust. "You used a Black Elvish incantation, and you had no idea what the words meant? And you have the nerve to call me a fool?" she snapped angrily. "You are more than courting danger, Snape! You are selling pieces of your soul to the Darkness, using spells like that! Do you realize that?"

Snape snorted and laughed bitterly. "Well then, I need not fear. I think I am all sold out."

"This is not a joking matter!" Aurellia exclaimed hotly. "Do you want to end up like the Dementors? Existing in eternal darkness and feeding off the light and life of others because you've none of your own left?"

"Welcome to my life," Snape said sarcastically, deliberately showing off his fangs.

Aurellia swore and leapt to her feet. "What must I say to make you understand? You think you're such an expert on the Dark Arts! You accuse me of being stubborn and 'blathering nonsense' about things I don't understand! Well I say, take a look in the mirror, because I know what the use of Borjitok did to my people! We lost many to the Dark Side, to Borjigon and Ragnarok and others because they thought they would only wade in enough to get their ankles wet. And they neglected to beware of the undertow."

Ignoring Aurellia's tirade Snape queried calmly, "That spell is Borjitok, then, as I have suspected?"

"Yes, it is Borjitok," Deveroux replied curtly, nodding reluctantly. "And I would appreciate it if you never speak those words in my presence again."

"Why? It isn't dangerous merely to speak the words, as long as you are not concentrating on casting a spell..."

"Well, did you see the effect it had on Virtues?"

"Hmmm...point taken," Snape conceded.

"And..." Aurellia shivered and fell silent.

"And what?"

Aurellia shook her head.

"What is it, Aurellia?" Snape asked with a hint of genuine concern.

Aurellia looked up, meeting Snape's eyes with great reluctance. She sighed. "You did not see your own eyes..."

Snape looked away quickly. A heavy silence seemed to descend upon the lab. Even Caritas stopped her incessant hissing, and Venator settled down and yawned sleepily. It was as though the darkness had passed, leaving a strange calm in its wake. And yet the memory of it lingered in the silence, like a coiled snake waiting to rear its head again. The thing Snape did not want to admit, the thing he feared Aurellia would sense if he looked up right now, was that he liked the way the Borjitok phrases had rolled off his tongue.

"How Voldemort could have learned it and obviously so thoroughly, I don't know, but this is truly frightening. My uncle used to say that Borjitok ought not to have been taught in school, even in a historical context because out of all the Black spell languages in existence, Borjitok is the most seductive, the most evil," Aurellia reminisced with a shudder.

"No doubt Karkaroff and his successor have been teaching it at Durmstrang for the last fifteen years," Snape said in a bitter tone. "So, can you tell me what the words mean? I only want to know," he added quickly at Aurellia's fierce, defiant glare, "what it is I have been saying. As you said, it was foolish for me to cast such spells, when I did not understand their meaning."

Aurellia glared for a moment, then capitulated. "Very well, yes, I know what some of that means. Neepakatek is easy, for it means the same thing in Druidish as Borjitok. It's the elvish word for Night Stalker. Morgetzen is, literally, 'kill them.' Morget is the root word in Borjitok for death, and 'zen' implies plural. It's similar to 'mortgone,' the elven word for dark and murtgen, which, remember, is Elvish for death."

Snape stared incredulously at the elf. "There are some words that are the same in Druidish as Borjitok? I thought they were two separate languages!"

"They are ... and they aren't," Deveroux said. "Remember Borjitok is Dark elvish, corrupted elvish. It is what will happen to you if you keep using it!"

Snape held up a hand as if to ward off a blow and said, "Yes, you have made your point abundantly clear. But I know well the dangers of the Dark Side, better than you can imagine. I will be judicious."

Aurellia continued, "The words that are usually shared tend to be, well, darker words, such as Neepakatek. Zuhke, which is greed, is the same or similar -- I'm not sure. As I said, I'm not fluent and unlike your former master I have no desire to become fluent."

"Do you know what the rest of it means?" Snape pressed.

Deveroux thought for several moments before responding. "Those first two sentences, I think mean something along the lines of 'I call on the dark blood of my ancestors.' 'Bagat' is 'call,' Nhuruk is 'dark,' sangu is blood and fieten is 'family' or 'ancestors.' The second line is something about calling the night. I'm not sure what 'thresek' is, there's no similar word I can think of in Druidish that would fit. 'Laxepet,' I think, is command or bidding."

"’Laxapet’ is similar to the word 'lajskeot,'" Snape said. "Does this word mean anything to you?"

"Yes, and you are right. There is a connection," Deveroux said. "'Lajskeot' is the word for 'servant' or more appropriately, 'slave.' So 'laxapet' is almost like a master commanding a slave." The elf's expression darkened. "Just how many times have you cast that spell, Snape?"

"Is there an equivalent word for lajskeot in Elfish?" Snape asked quickly, deliberately dodging the question.

Deveroux shook her head. "No, there's no equivalent for servant. The closest would be the Druidish word for house elf, which is Leskeepes, or 'skeeps.'"

"Suzkehk'ha, vukulaktah'eh khe'zoran...."

"That's enough!" Aurellia interrupted with an angry shout. "Stop it!" Snape stopped mid-sentence and stared at her in surprise. "Once was dangerous enough! Do not repeat it!" Aurellia said sharply. "You must not speak Black Elfish in such a cavalier fashion! Or do you like wallowing in the darkness of your former master? Are you missing your part in his Dark Rituals? Do you want to go back to him?"

Snape shrugged and absent-mindedly scratched at his left arm. "I begin to think that I have heard a great deal of this Borjitok, more than I first suspected. And I begin to think that you are right in warning me that I have waded in further than I intended. Aurellia, I know the road I took was dark, dangerous...Now I want to know why. I want to understand. Now tell me, what does it mean?"

Aurellia gritted her teeth, sighed. "Suzkeh may mean watch or look," she said at last. "Vukulak is listen, in the manner of a master commanding a slave to listen or else suffer punishment. I have had more than enough of this, Snape. If I had known that you were only hoping to entice me down here in order to teach you Borjitok, I think I would have dumped your cauldron of lime Jello over your head and stormed out."

"I will not ask you about this again after tonight," Snape conceded. "But until then, continue, please. I need to know..."

"Fine. But after this, never again. I mean it. No more Borjitok."

"Agreed. Zorranan?"

"Zorranan is noise, or in this case, it could mean voice. That would be my guess, voice. Leherent is hunt, and taxakat is all. Hunt them all. Pleasant. Really, Snape, you are beginning to make me wonder if you haven't already lost your soul!"

Snape looked away. "Perhaps...almost. I knew the steps I was taking, had already taken when I followed the Dark Lord into his place of power. I knew the signs. I knew the dangers. I had a feeling of being at a crossroads when I crossed the threshold and entered the Riddle mansion at his invitation. He presented me with an opportunity to take revenge on an old enemy. I had already slain Wormtail as I have killed so many others in the past; what did one more matter? But I knew that if I killed on the Dark Lord's command, in his presence, then I would have to continue on at his side... spiraling back into darkness, perhaps greater darkness than that which I left fifteen years ago. Or I could turn back, find some other way to silence Betrug without his Vile Lordship knowing I had done it, and perhaps help Dumbledore's cause at the same time. But I would be risking discovery, and I knew that I would have to quit the Com'nhuru Axatl, and I would make a mortal enemy of my former master. I think I had already begun to make up my mind without truly intending to. I think I would have gone back over to Voldemort if it had not been for the voice."

"Voice? What voice?"

"Three times it spoke to me," Snape replied. "In Druidish. It was Druidish, I am sure of that now."

"Are you implying...are you saying that it was me? But I have never been anywhere near the Riddle mansion! I don't even know where it is!"

"I did not recognize the voice at the time...but then, I am not a Memdescif. I do not know what your mental voice sounds like. It was both like and unlike your speaking voice. It did not occur to me until after I learned that you were Watching me, that the voice may have been yours." Snape explained. "Three times, I heard the voice, and each time... I believe it saved me from falling into greater darkness."

"Oh? And what exactly did I... I mean, this voice, say to you?" Aurellia asked with a slight smile. She folded her arms across her chest. He's been hovering over his cauldrons too long, she thought.

But his next words took her by surprise.

"Mureht'neh! Mureht'neh! Suhkei ixgrahtii nin mhuret'chiel, eh nihene luuro neh fen. And do not laugh at my pronunciation. I remember what I heard!"

Aurellia's jaw dropped. "My god," she whispered, her smoky blue eyes wide in shock. "It was me. I did not know that you would overhear..."

"Overhear what? What does it mean?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"It... wow, this is amazing! It is part of the Watcher's Vow I took that night," Aurellia replied in a shaken voice. "Mureht'neh means...."

"One in shadow, right?" Snape finished. "Mureht is shadow, and neh is the reflective third person."

"Masculine third person," Deveroux said. "It's you. Mureht'neh is your elvish name, given to you by Fedhamohsi."

"Oh? I thought it was Tok'ull Kejeeri Khandu Luhna ...."

"No, Troll-headed Fool is my name for you. Muret'neh is Man in Shadow, or Shadowed Man."

"So, Fedhamohsi meets me one time and already he thinks he knows me well enough to label me. He sounds very much like you. Do you two get together to compare notes on butterflies?"

"Now Snape, don't even compare Fedhamohsi to me. He has been around a lot longer than I have, and he's very wise. He... seems to be able to sense things about people in a way that even I cannot. And he thinks that you... Well, he feels that there is hope for you in spite of your past."

"How magnanimous of him."

"Don't you take that tone when speaking of Fedhamohsi! If you could see him as I have seen him, then you would be more reverent!"

"And if you had seen him as I have seen him, you would not hope for another encounter."

"I can see why you don't get along very well with people and unicorns."

"Tell me something, Aurellia, are all Watchers' vows taken in Druidish? Because if that is so, then it is news to me. I know little about the profession, never having had the desire to pursue it, but I think I would remember having heard something about invoking elvish phrases."

"Oh, no," Aurellia responded. "A hundred years ago, before elves began severing all ties with Wizards, most Watchers were elves or Druids. Vows were taken in Druidish then, that much is true. But in a matter of only a few decades, Watching fell entirely to wizards, and they made their vows in their respective languages. Thus Druidish quickly fell out of use.”

"So other than the line about 'Muret'neh', the Watcher's Vow is standard for the most part, correct?"

"Oh, no! Not at all! A Watcher's Vow is a highly personalized spell, depending on the wishes of the Watcher who is protecting his or her assignment. And it depends on the person being Watched, what sort of danger they are in, what their relationship is to the Watcher, things like that. The Watcher's Vow is...well, it is almost like a prayer. As for the rest of that sentence, it means 'see the battle for what it is, and do not lose your way!'"

"Would you ... would you mind repeating what you said in your Watcher's Vow?" Snape asked with uncharacteristic politeness.

"Goodness, no, I don't mind at all! I'll tell you anything to keep you from asking about any more Borjitok!" Then Aurellia grinned mischievously and added, "But I will only tell you the phrases in Druidish. I'd like for you to translate it yourself, and I'll tell you how close your translation is. You are, after all, supposed to be learning Druidish."

Snape gave a self-satisfied grin. "Agreed." He got up and went to the cauldron to fetch another helping of Ediscere. "Quick and simple solutions," he grumbled, frowning at the nearly-empty cauldron. "Continue, then."

"Neh thravoh siluh mortgon'e belleh ghret nin'nuh luhetteh," Aurellia began.

The dhampire took a sip from his goblet. "You walk alone in ...places of death ... where no one may follow."

"Very close," Aurellia said. "But remember, mortgon usually means dark or darkness. Generally it means death only with the reflective 'neh' or 'miena,' the feminine, and then it's usually murtgen'neh. So it's 'you walk alone in dark places.'"

Snape thought of his near soul death at the hands of the Dark Lord. "I think in this instance, either translation would be quite accurate," he muttered, sipping at the Ediscere. "Continue."

"Neh puhalat ne'reh muraktan e mortgohsah e neh nin nahted."

"You surround yourself with fire and shadow and you no longer know why."

"Excellent. Neh nin hedemne. Neh luuron afelent. Neh aluurot ete mortgohne."

Snape set the goblet on the desk with a shaky hand. He had almost dropped it. "You no longer care. You are losing faith. You are falling into darkness," he translated. "You are not a Memdescif, Aurellia...how could you...how could you have known this?"

"I … I really don’t know,” Aurellia replied softly. “It just seemed to be the right thing to say. Eh neh Suhken'nehlot. Neh nin siluh."

Snape paused, brow furrowed. "Suhken'nehlot. That's Watcher, correct? Suhkhen is look or watch. I am your Watcher. Correct?"

"Very good. And remember, 'neh' is the third person masculine -- although this doesn't change, even if the Watcher is female. So the literal translation is 'He who looks at' or 'after someone.'"

"Neh neen silu. You are not alone. I was not alone that night...I had a Watcher, and no one bothered to tell me."

"Ummm ... given your reaction when I finally did tell you about Watching, don't you agree that it would have been unwise for me to tell you any sooner? And by the way, you have the translation correct, but you need to work on pronunciation. Remember, 'i' is a long e, such as eagle, but it's not held so long. 'Neen' where the 'e' is held out, means 'infant.' And the stress is on the second part of 'siluh.' The 'h' is usually silent unless it appears at the beginning of a word, but generally indicates what part of the word to emphasize. So it's siLUH."

"SiLUH. SiLUH," Snape said, a bit impatiently, reaching for the goblet. "All right, very well, I've got it," he said. "Continue."

"Eh neh'ri yoshu'lat rhel neh luuross mortgone."

"I will be your ... is it lighthouse? Light and house? ... when you are lost in darkness." Snape asked, uncertainly.

"Right. Yoshu, if you remember, is a beacon light, and 'lat' or 'lattah' is house or home, depending on the context," Aurellia replied, then she continued. "Ehre sohrah eahne sohleetah'neh yoshu."

"Mine will be the voice you hear calling you back to the beacon light."

"Light will do just fine, Snape. And if Muggles ever get a hold of the recipe, I mean formula for Ediscere, it'll put Hooked on Phonics out of business overnight."

"Hooked on Phonics?"

"Muggle joke. Never mind. And yes I know Muggles can't make Ediscere because potions will only work if a wizard makes them. Eh caurechiel'ahm rehl neh puhalat zatalax."

"I will be your defender when you are surrounded by peril."

"Eh briheshe'neh. Eg furah neh alahor betleve'eh."

"I will face it with you. I will put your life before mine. And you talk about me casting spells without knowing what they could cost or what effect they will have!"

"But that is where you are wrong. This is the most standard part of the Watcher's Vow, albeit in a language unfamiliar to modern Watchers. The Watcher's Vow will be rendered in vain, and the spell of bonding will fail if the Watcher is not prepared to face danger in order to protect his or her assignment, and to make the ultimate sacrifice if necessary."

Pettigrew's words came back to Snape from their last confrontation, the night Wormtail had pleaded in vain for his life. "I tried ... but I couldn't do it. The spell failed... I wanted to be their Watcher ... but I wasn't brave enough."

Meanwhile Aurellia was saying, "Eh fahnvet neh sohreht, seh'eh obsalu Qoruhn eteniiaht."

"I will come when you call, even if I must travel to the outermost ends of the world. That's a nice sentiment, Aurellia, but you cannot even ride a broom, can you? Wizard joke. Paybacks for the Muggle joke."

"Har har, but you're doing very well, Snape. I'm impressed, even if you do cheat. Obsuliah."

"Obsulia, that's 'I take a sacred vow,' or something similar, correct?"

Aurellia shrugged and nodded. "There is no precise translation for that, but I think you have grasped the basic intent. Or 'this I vow.' To make a vow using Obsuliah is as binding as a Wizard's Oath or a written contract. Eeah yoshu betleve'neh."

"May the light-- plain, ordinary, garden variety light -- go before you."

"Sarcastic troll! Eeah ahktahena betehelii e zatalax."

“May the -- wait a minute, that's another kind of light, aktaHENa -- be between you and harm."

"AHKtaHENa, Snape. Stress on the first and third. But yes, this is the bright light, like the sun. Eeah luk'lei haluru neh goneeri."

"May the -- good heavens, yet another word for light! -- guide you back to us."

"Yes. Luk'lei, remember, is magical light. It is frequently used in the most powerful elven spells," Aurellia said. "Many of the words for light also can be used as part of elvish incantations to control the strength of certain spells. Luk'lei, for example, would be the strongest force possible. Perkhan would be the weakest. Remember perkhan is just a brief flash of light. For example, Shemelahke, or Shimmering Veil is one spell which may be cast at different levels depending on which word for light is attached as a suffix. I ... I used that in the duel."

"Yes, I remember that one quite clearly," Snape said caustically. "The intense light temporarily blinded me, and to be continually and forcefully Disapparated and Apparated in and out of existence is not an experience I would ever care to repeat. I felt the effects of your Shimmering Veil for hours afterwards."

"Well, I cast that at the weakest level, Shemelahke Perkatahl."

"Fortunately for me you did not decide to use Luk'lei level."

"At the Luk'lei level, the Shemelahke would be lethal, even to a dragon or a chimaera...if it were successful, which is dubious. I would rather not try my strength against such creatures. But let that be a lesson to you. Never make me angry enough to cast that one on you. You would not survive it."

Snape stared at the elf. It was his turn to be unnerved. "How did you learn to cast some of those spells, anyway? By your own admission, you have never had much formal training."

"My cousin. I often watched him practice, and I picked some things up. He taught me, among others, the Shemelahke spell, and taught me a useful application -- getting rid of thistles that had grown too large to pull up," Aurellia laughed softly, but tears sprang to her eyes as well. "The spell, it took care of weeds, although the first few times I tried it, I also made a patch of dead grass. Luk repaired it best as he could, and dad, he always blamed the patches of dead flowers and lawn on the neighbor's dog." Tears streamed silently down Aurellia's cheeks through her muted chuckles, and she dropped her gaze to the floor.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Snape was the first to break it.

"Was ... was there any more to that Watcher's vow?"

Aurellia wiped away the tears, nodded and continued. "Eeah'neh nulur luurot fed'lehne Nhukumohsi."

"May you never fall to the hmm... power? No...lure would be more accurate. The lure of the ... Ancient Dark? Is that right?"

"Exactly right. This is Fedhamohsi's name for Lord Voldemort."

"Yes, Nhukmore is dark or evil, and the root word 'ohsi' is ancient, usually referring to ancestry or origin."

"Right on both counts. What's in that Ediscere, anyway? I might have to try a cup of it sometime."

Snape chuckled. "Aurellia, you are a first class hypocrite! But while I agree with the 'evil' and 'dark' part, Voldemort isn't that old. Why Nhukumohsi? Why not Nuhruk'neh?"

Aurellia shrugged. "Actually, Nuhruk'neh is the name Fedhamohsi has given to Malfoy. Perhaps he merely wishes to differentiate between the master and the servant. And Voldemort is older than Lucius Malfoy isn't he? If you want to know precisely why, then you'll have to ask Fedhamohsi himself."

"The unicorn king and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, Aurellia. Continue, if there's more."

"Only a little. Eeah'neh ehre feb lattah. Eh neh Suhken'nehlot! Neh nin siluh! Obsuliah!"

"May you find your way home ... and the rest we have covered already. Now, back to the Borjitok. There have been a couple of other phrases ...." Snape brought his goblet to his lips, but realized the glass was empty. Cursing under his breath, he went over to his cauldron only to find that it was empty as well. Snape glared at the empty cauldron. "Impossible! It cannot be gone already!"

"Well, did you realize that it's almost two in the morning? We have been talking for about four hours now."

Snape scowled at his hourglass. "So I see."

"Well, you're out of potion, and I'm getting sleepy," Aurellia said. "So unless you want to sleep through most of your first class again tomorrow, I suggest we both call it a night. Besides," she added, a bit mischievously, "this is the second night in a row we've done this. If we keep it up, people will start to talk."

"They are already starting to talk," Snape grumbled under his breath as Aurellia turned toward the stairway leading up to the office.

“Then let them talk,” Aurellia called over her shoulder at the base of the steps. “Goodnight Snape.”

End of Chapter 33

The Great Snape-Deveroux Grudge Match - Part II: Watcher and Hunter by Pigwidgeon [Reviews - 2]

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