Where Others Fear to Tread

Chapter 30

“Ow, enough.” Harry collapsed in the hay bails clutching his tingling arm. Since Severus had left earlier in the week Jasper had been spending all day training him. Jasper was a very talented wizard and Harry was sure most of the things he was being taunt were not sanctioned by the ministry. Harry was also pretty sure Jasper wasn’t an average wizard; the man had more dark objects in amongst his leather coat pockets than Harry could count. He’d used some of them on Harry with devastating affects, yet always the wizard would teach him something about protecting against them and the pain inflicted was always brief. Today however Harry wasn’t feeling the best and his concentration was lacking.

“That was bloody awful Potter, if I was Tom, I’d have killed you by now.” Harry looked up curiously from where he was massaging the feeling back into his arm.

“Tom?” Harry inquired as he tucked his wand away. Jasper wandered over to him, stripping his leather coat off and draping it over the hail bails before he sat down.

“Tom Riddle.” Jasper casually smiled at Harry as he rolled up the sleeves of his light blue shirt to his elbows. It was warm in the barn with the sun streaming in through the panels in the roof.

“You mean Voldemort.” Harry pushed having never heard anyone aside from Dumbledore ever call the dark lord by his given name. Jasper shrugged casually and flicked his wand at the hay bail between them, where a plate of sandwiches and some pumpkin juice appeared.

“Whatever you want to call him, he’s still Tom Riddle and he’s still an narcissistic, evil dictator.” Jasper poured himself and Harry a glass of pumpkin juice before grabbing one of the sandwiches on the plate.

“So you’re not afraid of saying his name?” Harry picked up one of the sandwiches of his own and began eating it. In the two months he’d been at the cottage now, Harry had learnt very little about Jasper. Admittedly he knew Jasper was no ordinary wizard but the boy knew nothing about the wizard himself. Now seemed a perfect time to start doing his research, and there was something else that had been bugging him that he thought the man might be able to answer.

“Me afraid of him? I don’t think so. I’m more afraid of the pickled creatures in Severus’ lab than I am of Riddle.” Jasper shrugged his shoulders idly and grabbed for another sandwich having washed the other down with a swig of pumpkin juice.

“You must be the only one who isn’t afraid.” Harry whispered already knowing his own fear of facing Voldemort. Jasper snorted indignantly in the same way Severus did when his students were lying to him.

“Nah, Severus isn’t afraid of him. Cautious and wary maybe but not afraid.” Jasper stretched out on the hay bails having eaten his fill of the sandwiches. Harry was still munching his first one, his appetite lately non-existent. Harry thought perhaps it was the bond making him feel ill, after all Severus had been gone a week without word. “Tom is only a man Harry, and a mud blood at that. He’s as prone to weakness as any of us. It’s just a case of finding that weakness and exploiting it to your benefit. Severus did it, I did it and most likely you will do it too, eventually.” Harry put his half eaten sandwich back on the plate and instead sipped from his juice tentatively.

“But he’s really powerful, how can you not be afraid of his magic.” Harry sat back on the bails and crossed his legs intent on hearing what Jasper had to say. Unlike Severus, Jasper didn’t talk in riddles and he was far less sarcastic in his replies.

“Because it’s a false illusion he’s created Harry. Riddle learnt his magic in the same way you and I did, as a mud blood he never received the inherited magic that purebloods get. Everything Riddle knows about magic is what he’s learnt, and he’s only as powerful as his knowledge, which surprisingly isn’t as extensive as people think.” Jasper casually brushed a stray straw from his shirt as he settled back and propped his hands behind his head like a pillow.

“How do you know all this.” Harry whispered intrigued completely by Severus’ mysterious elder brother.

“Mostly it’s information I’ve come across in my line of work, some of it’s first hand experience but a lot of it is common sense and not allowing myself to believe everything I’m told.” Jasper rocked his head to the side and smiled at Harry who was pleasantly surprised at how much easier it was to see Voldemort how Jasper had just described him, rather than the powerful dictator everyone thought he was.

“Jasper, your pub, isn’t really a pub is it?” Harry watched as Jasper laughed out loud, his laugh deeper than Severus and mellower.

“To muggles it is for all purposes a pub with a varied and eccentric clientele. To wizards it’s a veritable goldmine of less widely distributed wizarding artifacts.” Jasper looked sideways at Harry a small smug smile twitching at the corners of his lips.

“What you mean is that you’re a black marketer.” Harry put bluntly watching as Jasper laughed again and nodded.

“Essentially yes. I trade in wizarding artifacts, some legal, most illegal. I don’t support anyone side of this war and what my clients do with their merchandise is purely not my concern, so long as the items aren’t ever traced back to me.” Jasper watched carefully Harry’s expression. Harry frowned suspiciously at Severus brother, as what the wizard had just said settled in his mind.

“So if you don’t support any one side of this war how do I know you’re not selling me out to Voldemort as we speak?” Harry’s eyes narrowed dangerously his hand slipping easily towards his wand. Jasper laughed at Harry’s suspicion, not even bothering to reach for his own wand, even though he’d seen Harry reach for his.

“Just because I’m not loyal to either side doesn’t mean I’m not bias Harry. Tom Riddle is an evil son of a bitch who deserves everything he gets. To pronounce yourself a higher being than those who you consider unequal is just asking for trouble. Honestly it will make life far easier for everyone when he’s gone but that doesn’t mean I’m all for the self righteous cause for good.” Jasper paused as he glanced across at Harry who was still looking at him suspiciously. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear from the Ministry you know Potter. While Riddle is a mass murdering lunatic, not everything associated with him is inherently evil as well. Take for instants the ‘unforgivable curses’.” Harry nodded at Jasper, having loosened his hold on his wand and returned to sipping his juice. “The only reason they are illegal is because the Ministry of Magic say they are, but you know yourself that in some instances their uses are invaluable. In fact if you ask Severus he can list several curses, which are direct variants of ‘Cruciatus’ that can be used to treat medical conditions.” Jasper trailed off and turned back over onto his side, so that his head was propped up on his hand facing Harry. “You see Harry not everything is clear cut, you shouldn’t restrict yourself to one way of thinking, or you become like our current Minster of Magic, so blind you can’t even seen what’s in front of your very eyes.”

“So if you’re not one sided why are you helping me?” Harry could hardly believe how insightful Jasper’s words were and while Harry had always known what the man was saying was true, hearing it from someone else other than his inner voice, was reassuring. Sure Harry believed that Voldemort should die, but he wasn’t doing it for the Ministry whom he had completely no faith in.

“Ah, apart from the fact Severus is my brother and I believe in what he’s striving for, I am also bound by a wizards debt.” Harry’s head snapped up instantly to stare at Jasper in shock.

“A wizards debt?” Harry whispered remembering his own repayed debt, which thankfully had worked out better than he’d ever have imagined.

“Yeah, didn’t Severus tell you?” Harry shook his head.

“No, I can remember Dumbledore telling me when I first found out about my debt that Severus had recalled, that there were two others also. One was my fathers and I’m guessing the other was yours.” Jasper nodded slowly at Harry almost hesitant to tell the boy about the debts.

“I’m not really sure I should be telling you this if Severus hasn’t.” Jasper hesitated watching as Harry rolled his eyes casually.

“It’s only because I haven’t asked. Seriously I doubt he’d mind you tell me about them.” Harry looked hopefully at Jasper who sighed heavily and nodded.

“Alright I’ll tell you but if Severus hexes me you’re for it.” Harry chuckled and nodded in acceptance of the terms, as Jasper continued. “Severus only had three debts, One with me, one with James Potter, and the most recent one with you. Before I explain to you about the debts you have to understand that my brother had no intention of recalling any of his debts, he’s too honourable to do that. Also Severus only ever does things to protect himself and his loved ones, so even if you might have thought at first he was being malicious in asking for you to marry him, he did it out of love.” Harry nodded, having understood for sometime now what had motivated Snape to ask for what he had.

“So you know about my dad’s debt too?” Jasper nodded easily.

“Yes, I am Severus’s brother after all and at present his only living relative.” Jasper paused before continuing again. “My debt was the first, I was in my last year at Hogwarts and Severus was in his third. The Snape family have long been associated with the dark arts and dark magic; we were one of the families Riddle had taken a specific interest in. I was destined to take the dark mark when I finished school, however I had other intentions that didn’t include being one of Riddle’s minions. I didn’t want the mark but I knew if I refused my father would essentially kill me. Severus knew that, we talked about it often. I don’t really think he knew what he was getting himself in to but when he offered to take my place at the ceremony, pretending to be me so that I could ‘disappear’ I accepted. I think he thought having the dark mark would give him some authority over Potter and Black at school, they’d been teasing him for three years, I suppose he thought it would end once he had the ‘dark lord’ on his side. I was foolish enough to let it happen. Essentially Severus saved my life by taking my place to accept the dark mark thus the debt.”

“But he didn’t actually save your life, not like he did me?” Harry was confused and watched as Jasper pulled a ‘sort of’ face as he went to explain.

“Yeah not in the literal sense of the word, but in the eyes of the ministry to accept the dark mark is essentially signing your own death warrant, so by Snape taking the mark for me saved me from my fate.” Harry nodded still a little confused but more or less understanding. Jasper continued quickly. “The second debt was your fathers. It was in their seventh year if I remember right. I’d already ‘disappeared’ but Sev kept in touch how he could. It was a potions accident. Your father and his mates had been fucking around with some potions in the lab after curfew. Severus caught them just as your Dad went to pour some explosive ingredient into the potion they’d cooked up. Severus took the brunt of the explosion having pushed your father out of the way. Put him in the infirmary for two weeks with burns. No offence but your father was a jackass, and let my brother take the entire blame for the accident without a single word about him saving his life.” Harry sighed heavily, again finding out another awful truth about his none too angelic father.

“And I know about my debt, so what did Severus ask from you?” Harry moved the conversation on quickly not really wanting to hear anymore about his father’s awful behaviour in school.

“Severus does everything for a reason. He knew by marrying you he was risking his life and I was the insurance to make sure if he died you were looked after. He asked me to take care of you and any children you may have had. He asked me to train you and help you defeat Riddle how I saw fit. I was to become your surrogate husband should he not make it.” Harry stared at Jasper in shock hardly believing that Severus had put so much thought into protecting him. Harry suddenly felt so guilty for having said such foul things to the wizard when he’d first heard about the bond. Severus really had married him out of love.

“And my father?” Harry asked almost dreading hearing the response. Jasper hesitated really reluctant to answer the question.

“Um, do you remember when we first met and I offered you my wand?” Harry nodded quickly, remembering all to well how close he’d come to loosing his hand. “Well do you remember how you commented that ‘you touched Severus wand all the time?” Again Harry nodded. “Well there’s a reason you can actually touch Severus’ wand, it’s because it’s not his.” Harry instinctively knew what was coming and his heart leapt into his chest. “It’s your fathers. That was what Severus asked for in exchange for his debt.” Harry swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“Why?” Harry inquired having assumed his father’s wand had been destroyed along with his parents.

“I’m not sure why, all I know is that Severus is currently using two wands.” Jasper shrugged his shoulders unable to answer Harry’s question further. Harry nodded with a sigh before drinking what was left of his juice, the contents now having turned warm. “You haven’t eaten a lot Harry, aren’t you hungry?” Harry put his empty glass aside as Jasper stood up and stretched, lunch obviously having come to an end.

“No, my stomachs a little upset.” Harry smiled mildly up at Jasper who frowned a little at the boy but said nothing. “So what are we practising now?” Harry inquired as Jasper banished the tray and held his hand out to help Harry up from the hay.

“Oh I thought we’d try some blocking.” Harry nodded in acceptance and took his position at the end of the barn, as Jasper got into position as well. “You will tell me if you’re not feeling well won’t you Harry?” Jasper inquired making a mental note to mention the boy’s ill health to Severus when his brother got back.

“Yeah Jasper, but I’m fine honestly.” With that the two began to spar again, Harry far more focused on his task now he’d settled a few questions in his mind.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>