Chapter 41

Early the next morning, shortly before the sun rose, Hagrid went out to the maze to clear out the creatures he placed inside the day before. Hagrid’s heart was as big as he was. The thought of losing a student troubled him but to make it reality hurt him deeply. He is there with every student during their time at Hogwarts, from the moment they get off the train their first year, till they get on the train at the end of their seventh year. He always thought Cedric was a decent young man and would have made a fine wizard once he left Hogwarts. Then for Harry to witness Cedric’s death and battle with Voldemort made the pain in his heart deepen.

The creatures had been easy to gather, which made him happy. But there was one particular spider that kept running from him. Once he was able to restrain the arachnid, he gently put it in his cage and prepared to exit the maze. Something, however, caught his eye.

In the center of the maze, there appeared to be something on the ground. For a moment, he thought it looked like a human hand, but that wouldn’t have been possible. Anyone who entered the maze was accounted for; all of the school champions and the professors who were standing guard in case something went wrong. Knowing he needed to clear out the maze, he decided to see what it was.

As he got closer he realized that the object was in fact a hand. In a few quick strides, which would be the equivalent of a run to an average sized person, he stopped dead when he noticed to whom the hand was attached.

“Raven!” He rushed over to the young girl and dropped at her side. Raven, wake up!” Hagrid tried desperately to wake her up, but she wasn’t responding. Raven’s cheeks were ice cold and for a moment he thought she was dead. He noticed Harry’s invisibility cloak clutched in one of her hands and her wand lying next to the other one.

When he picked up her body, he noticed that she was breathing, although it was quite faint. Hagrid had to decide quickly what to do. He knew the students would be waking soon and to see another student would worry them more. The only thing he could do would be to take her to his hut and get help from there. He grabbed her wand and Harry’s cloak and ran as fast as he could to his hut. He gently laid her on his bed and immediately lit a fire in the fireplace. He got down his thick wool blanket and covered Raven tightly. He paced around his home for a moment wondering if he was forgetting anything.

“Help! I need to get help!” Hagrid started to leave. He opened the door then suddenly turned around to his dog, Fang. “Keep an eye on her, boy. I’ll be back.”

Hagrid slammed the door to his hut, then looked back to see if the loud noise woke the young girl up. With no such luck, he then ran to the castle. He decided to go to Professor Dumbledore’s office first.

Once he was at the Headmaster’s door, he burst through not caring at the moment if there was anything going on. Fortunately, Dumbledore was sitting quietly at his desk. He face was somber and pensive.

“Professor Dumbledore, sir! I need help, now!” Fear was apparent in Hagrid’s voice.

“Hagrid! What’s wrong?”

“I was in the maze, gathering the creatures an’ I saw somethin’! I went to see what it was and it was a person! It was Raven Snape, sir. Unconscious.”

Dumbledore immediately jumped out of his chair. “Where is she now, Hagrid?”

“My home, sir. Being out all night, she was as cold as ice. I had to get her warm.”

“I shall go to your home and check on her. You go and get Poppy and bring her down there immediately.”

“Shouldn’t we get Professor Snape, sir?”

“Severus is not here. He had something very important to do.”

“Shouldn’t we send him an owl?”

“No, my friend. This mission cannot be interrupted. Hopefully she’ll be fine when he gets back.”

Hagrid nodded his head in agreement. He always trusted Professor Dumbledore’s judgment.

As the two walked out of Dumbledore’s office, Hagrid left to get the nurse, while Dumbledore turned toward the exit of the castle to Hagrid’s hut.

As Dumbledore marched as fast as he could toward Hagrid’s, he thought about how he could have missed Raven slipping into the maze. He knew that something wasn’t quite right about the task last night, but he assumed he already had an answer. His biggest fear had become a nightmare; Voldemort returned and he began his wrath by killing Cedric. Dumbledore was already facing many tough decisions over the next few months. Now to have another student in danger worried him more.

His thoughts then turned to Raven. Snape had come to him earlier in the week to tell him of his concerns with Raven attending the third task. After Snape had told him about the dreams that Raven had been having all year, he felt that Snape made the proper decision to make her stay behind during the task. It was apparent that Raven felt she had to get into the maze to stop whatever she was seeing in her dreams.

He quietly opened the door and walked towards Raven. He tried to revive her but was unsuccessful. Dumbledore sat by her bedside for a moment to try a figure out what was wrong with her.

Dumbledore placed his hands on the side of Raven’s still cold face and concentrated on her thoughts. In a quick flash he saw her touching the pillar the cup stood on and then her thoughts quickly going to the graveyard scene from the night before. He had only heard Harry’s account but wasn’t able to see it. He knew it was all true but now, in quick flashes from Raven’s mind, he was able to see exactly what happened. He saw her get hit with the Killing Curse, her brief recollections of her past, and then Voldemort realizing her mental presence was there.

He removed his hands just as Hagrid and Madame Pomfrey opened the door. The nurse rushed to the young girls’ side.

“What’s wrong with her Albus?” said Pomfrey, pulling out some potions in hopes of reviving Raven.

“I’m afraid those won’t help, Poppy. Unfortunately, there is nothing here that can help her.” Dumbledore’s face was more somber now than before.

“What do you mean? What’s wrong?”

“She was in the maze last night. There was a strong magical connection to the plinth the cup stood on and by simply touching the pillar, she was mentally connected to the events that occurred last night in the graveyard.”

“Albus? If what you are saying is true, I haven’t heard of this in years. I don’t have the means to treat this here. She will have to be sent to St. Mungo’s.”

“Yes, Poppy. It’s true and she will have to be sent away. We will have to do it quickly. The longer she’s in this state, the more her mind will deteriorate. Especially after what I saw in her thoughts.”

“Would someone please tell me what’s wrong with her?” asked Hagrid, who was apparently confused.

“Hagrid, what Raven is suffering from is complicated. It’s rare and hard to treat. It’s called Mens Oculus, or Mind’s Eye. It‘s a common affliction for Seer‘s but it‘s rare even among them.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“Have you ever had a dream, Hagrid, where it seems so real when you wake up, you have a hard time for a moment differentiating your dream world from reality? Mens Oculus is similar to that idea. Only in this, your mind is fused with whatever it is seeing. If you get hurt while in your mind’s eye, you’ll get hurt in reality. The pain won’t be as severe as it would be in reality because the body is not where the mind is.

However in Miss Snape’s case here, her mind was hit with the Killing Curse. It’s like they say if you die in a dream, you die in real life. Since she wasn’t hit with the curse in real life, she was hit with her mind. She began to take on the effects of dying. She began to see her life flash before her eyes, so to speak. Right now, she is locked not only in what she saw in the graveyard, but her mind is slowly dying. She needs immediate care.”

Hagrid was shaken by what he just heard. There was a long, sad silence in the room.

“I need to meet with the Diggory’s and the Minister in a few moments. Poppy, prepare Raven for immediate departure, but keep it quiet. We do not want to alarm any of the students. They are already grieving enough. I will ask Minerva to gather her things while the student’s are at breakfast. Hagrid, stay here and watch over her while we get her ready to go. I will also alert St. Mungo’s of her arrival. They will need their best healers on this.”

Dumbledore picked up Raven’s hand and took one last gaze at her thoughts. Fortunately, at the moment, she was in a pleasant dream and now sleeping soundly. But he knew that her condition would quickly worsen. He hoped her happy dream would last as long as it could.


Raven found herself walking around a grassy field on a dark starry night. There was no wind or sound, just silence. She took a few steps around to try to find a familiar site, but everywhere she walked, it was just field.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

Raven wasn’t scared but she had the feeling she was being watched.

“I know someone is here. Where am I?”

“In a dream.”

Raven heard the most comforting voice. A voice she wanted to hear for a long time; the voice of her father. Raven slowly turned around, to see her father standing behind her. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, my angel. I’m here now, just as I promised.”

Raven ran to him. She wasn’t sure if he was real until she touched his chest. When she realized he was tangible, she jumped forward and hugged him. To be in his arms again, was more than anything she could have wished for. “Where am I? Am I dead?”

“No, you’re alive. Like I said, this is a dream.”

“What’s going on?”

“Look for yourself.” With a wave of Tobias’ hand, a small cloud formed to the right of them. Inside the cloud, Raven could see herself lying in Hagrid’s bed, with Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey and Hagrid standing nearby. Soon there was a shuffle and then it was just Hagrid, Fang and Raven in the room.

“What happened to me? Did it have anything to do with what happened in the graveyard?”

“You suffered the Mens Oculus.”

“The what?” Raven stared at him confused. She had never heard of that before.

Tobias went into an explanation about what happened. Raven became scared and feared for her life. “You don’t have much time with me, so we need to make this short.”

“Why don’t I have much time?”

“You’re mind is weakened. It won’t be long before it will take you back into you’re nightmare. Dumbledore is making preparations for you to go to St. Mungo’s for care.”

“Where’s Uncle Snape?”

“He’s doing important business on Dumbledore’s orders and can’t be disturbed.”

“I don’t want to go back to the graveyard. Please don’t let me go.”

“That I cannot do. But I need you to listen to me. Voldemort is going to try to find you. You mustn’t let him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the whole story with my grandmother?”

“I never thought it would be an issue. That boy, Potter, I thought he took care of Voldemort. I never thought he would come back so I never saw the Dark Lord as a threat. Now that he’s back and knows you’re here, he’s going to do everything in his power to find you.”

“How do I avoid him? If he wants to find me, he will.”

“You’re Occlumency will become very useful here. Stay on guard. You’ll be safe in St. Mungo’s. He will never try to get you there.”

“The only place I will truly be safe is Hogwarts. He would never attempt anything with Dumbledore there.”

“This is true. Since you can’t be there all year, you must also do something that has been very hard for you for the last two years. Listen to Severus.”

“What? You mean, mind him?”

“Raven, I never taught you to disrespect him.”

“No, he disrespected us!”

“Raven!”

“He did! He told Lucius where we were after you told him not to! Now I’m stuck in this marriage contract that you agreed to! How am I supposed to get out of this one?”

“Raven, we don’t have much time. Do you want to end it this way?”

Raven was about to speak again but realized that she had gone too far. Her frustrations should never have interfered with this moment with her father.

“Now listen to me. As far as the contract goes, Severus has figured out how to get you out of it. He is just waiting for the perfect opportunity. But as far as listening to him where Voldemort is concerned, you have to trust him. He was once Voldemort’s most trusted follower. He knows him. Whatever he tells you to do, you have to do it!”

“But dad-“

“Raven, listen to me!”

The severity in Tobias’ voice, made Raven understand that he was right. If anyone knew how Voldemort operated, it would be Snape.

“One more thing.” Tobias turned sideways and grabbed Raven’s hand. “There are some people I would like for you to meet.”

Walking slowly from a small distance away, two women approached wearing white holding hands. Raven began to walk slowly toward the figures. They were both young and very beautiful. They both had dark hair and blue eyes. She knew who they were the moment they came into better view. Although they were both young, she knew that one was her grandmother and the other was her mother.

Raven gasped. She had never seen her grandmother before and only saw her mother in a photograph. Raven’s slow walk turned into a run and she leaped into her mother’s arms. After a moment she looked up at her grandmother and then hugged her as well.

“Listen to your father, my child,” said her grandmother, her angelic voice was soothing to Raven’s ears. “Tom is relentless. You’re uncle knows what‘s best.”

All Raven could do was smile and nod. She took in the words of her grandmother but she couldn’t help but stare in amazement of this extraordinary woman standing in front of her. She turned to her mother and wanted to break down and cry. But her mother stretched out her hand and cradled her daughter’s face.

“My daughter, I have been watching you since the day you were born. Your father has done well by you. I am so proud of the young woman standing here. You are strong and beautiful. Your uncle is doing his very best by you. You must let him. Don’t be too hard on him. In his own way, he does love you very much.

Raven shook her head. Deep down Raven knew Snape was doing his best. She could do better to make his life a little less painful.

Suddenly, Raven’s chest began to throb and the world surrounding her slowly began to fade away. She clutched her chest and found it harder to breathe.

Her father put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s time to go, Raven. We need to say goodbye.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye, dad!” She was starting to double over in pain. “I want to stay here, with all of you.”

The look in her father, mother and grandmother’s eyes said that staying was impossible. The pain in her chest worsened. Raven’s grandmother turned her around and kissed her forehead.

“Live your life, child. Show Tom that you are strong. Don’t let him use you. You are too valuable for him.”

Raven gave her grandmother a strong hug. When she let go, her mother was ready for her goodbye next.

“Times will be difficult in the days and months ahead. We are here for you. Just don’t lose hope.” She gave her daughter a hug. “I love you so much.”

Once she let go of her mother, she looked at the two women. “I love you both very much.”

“Raven, it’s time.” The one person she didn’t want to say goodbye to, again, was her father. His voice was comforting and his loving embrace always made her feel better in any situation.

“Dad, I don’t want to do this again.”

Tobias scooped his daughter up in his arms. “It has never been goodbye, my angel. I have been there for you more than you know.”

“How?”

“What urged Snape to barge into that abandoned classroom when you were about to cut your finger off? Me. What brought you and George back together, thus breaking the potion? That feeling you got that someone was pushing your heads together? That was me.” His air of cockiness made Raven chuckle. Her father could always make her laugh.

“That was you?”

“I am there for you more than you know. Sadly, I can’t prevent everything and I can’t help out everywhere. But know that I’m here and I haven’t forgotten my promise. I know you need me and I’m doing the best I can do, considering the circumstances.”

Raven hugged her father as tight and for as long as she could. As they embraced, her chest began to throb harder. “Daddy, no! I can’t say goodbye. I love you too much.”

“I love you, Raven. But it’s time to go.”

Raven took one last look at her mother and grandmother who were standing there smiling. She then looked at Tobias. Raven always thought he had such a strong presence, but he was just enough of a teddy bear that he wasn’t intimidating. He was smiling down at her in a sad yet almost comforting way.

Tobias walked towards his wife and mother-in-law. He took his wife’s hand and the three of them walked away from Raven. The pain in her chest caused her to crumple to the ground. She closed her eyes hoping to focus the pain somewhere else. When she opened them, she was back in the graveyard, reliving the horrid events of the night before.