ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Mr Snape and Mr Dumbledore

[alt_harry]

I've been thinking about our meeting over hols.

Mrs Longbottom was talking about how one of the things we could be doing is learning more about the resurrection rite. About how to mess it up, so it wouldn't work if he tried to come back again.

Which makes sense.

Because he'd be weak. And vulnerable. And it'd probably be easier to blow up a potion than face him in a duel or something mad like that. And like she said, we can always wait to find the horcrux.

Anyways. I think I want to see the rite again. Because it's been a while. See if there's anything new I can learn from it. If that's okay.

Comments

[alt_severus]

Yes. Of course.

Albus, if you are occupied elsewhere, I will be willing to assist Mr Potter through the process of viewing the memories.

[alt_harry]

If you've got ideas about the potion and what we could do to really mess with it, that'd be good to talk about too.

I mean, I know we don't know a lot about it. But I figure it's pretty easy to mess up a potion even if you're trying really hard. So if we're trying to mess it up I bet we could do some damage.

[alt_severus]

Likely, yes. The difficulty lies in doing so in such a way that it will have irrevocable consequences, rather than being a temporary setback, and in creating the opportunity for such tampering when the task of preparing for the rite is placed in the hands of only those the Dark Lord deems most worthy.

I suspect the answer will lie, like many other elements of the strategies we have discussed, in the prospect of more people sympathetic to our goals rising to the status of trusted among his ranks. We may wish to contemplate ways in which you can win his favour without forcing you to behave in such a fashion so radically opposed to your inherent self as to be impossible to sustain.

[alt_harry]

I've been talking to Raz a lot about the future, and how some of the things people had to be good at back when the Protectorate was getting started aren't really as useful any more.

And having people who aren't as extreme can put a good face on things.

Maybe I could make Voldemort see that I could be that person for him. The only problem is he could see it as competition if I'm not careful. And that doesn't mean he'd trust me to be a part of his ceremonies. Unless he thought it was necessary. Or important. Symbolically or something.

[alt_severus]

As you note, his first thought might very well be that you were seeking to usurp him.

He has, however, a long tradition of allowing others to do the work he finds unappealing; for someone so clever and charismatic — and though it may now be hard to imagine, at one point he was exceptionally clever and charismatic — he was often easy to manipulate, albeit with a high chance of the attempt not only failing, but failing and rebounding upon me the one who attempted such manipulation, in accordance with his capricious whims. One method that often succeeded was to behave, always, as though one were wholeheartedly supporting his goals and following his orders without question, and as though one's actions were undoubtedly what he would have ordered had he deigned to notice such insignificant little details. If he had not already formed an opinion regarding what should be done, an assertion made firmly enough, as though of course the world could be no other way, would often suffice to convince him that things were well in hand and he need not bother. (That having been said, should one be unfortunate enough to utilise such technique in a situation where he had already made up his mind, the end result was often infelicitous.)

I would, of course, caution you against letting slip even the slightest suggestion that you find his methods extremist.

Perhaps this summer would be an opportunity for you to integrate yourself further into the power structure surrounding the Protectorate's governance. Others are arranging internships to prepare them for the careers they intend to enter after leaving Hogwarts; it would not be suspicious for you to seek to do the same, and were you to present the idea — unfailingly, unquestioningly, and without room for misinterpretation — as wanting to be a dutiful son and heir and to assist him by easing his burdens, you might succeed.

Such an approach does, however, risk calling you to his notice, and you have been fortunate so far in that he only occasionally remembers that you exist. Giving him cause to think of you more often might prove unappealing.

[alt_albus]

If you are agreeable, Severus, I think this is a task that might benefit from our review as well as Mr Potter's.

Mr Potter, you would be welcome to visit me Friday or Saturday evening this week, when we are less likely to be disturbed. If you would like to meet with us together, I am happy to have Severus join us, or if you prefer to meet with us individually, I defer to your preference.

[alt_harry]

Together would be fine. And yeah. Friday night works.

[alt_severus]

You are undoubtedly correct; I will ensure I am present.