asgardeventide | Second incantation ϟ [video]

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Second incantation ϟ [video]

A brief announcement, if I may have your attention for just a moment.

[Severus is sitting stern and straight-backed at his desk in his room. On his desk are several stacks of books, along with a small but neat pile of papers, the masquerade mask Miss Liddell made for him, and a few jars of preserved swearing toads and other small creatures he's procured mostly from Gefion Park. Behind him hanging from the ceiling and along the wall are a few bunches of drying and curing plants.

He knows the Dark Lord is probably watching this. Ever since learning of the Dark Lord's arrival in Asgard (Severus can only think of him as the Dark Lord; the name Lord Voldemort makes him feel ill to his stomach with disgust) and ever since happening upon him at the festival, Severus has been on a high state of alert. He manages only through years of practice to make himself seem solemnly composed and authoritative to those watching the video feed, but he's inwardly twisted into a dozen uneasy knots.]

For those who don't know who I am, my name is Professor Severus Snape. I was a teacher and Potions Master at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry for close to twenty years. [He was also briefly Headmaster, but under circumstances that make him feel ill to his stomach to think about; and mentioning it as though it's a title he's earned feels like a tasteless display of dishonour and disrespect to Dumbledore. And so, he leaves that part out.]

It's come to my attention that Asgard is sorely lacking with regards to any kind of structured education. I would have thought that the gods, having annexed young people for their, shall we say, agenda, would have at least seen fit to implement some manner of methodised tutelage for those still in their formative years. Having taken up the task of tutoring one young person in Asgard, it's occurred to me that there are others who would be in just as much need of educational guidance and academic discipline. And seeing the gods seem to care not a whit for organising such things, I have taken it upon myself to scope out who, exactly, would be interested in attending structured lessons in a class setting.

[As much as it's been constantly weighing on his mind what his next step ought to be with regards to the Dark Lord, he needs something else to help him stay focused. Occupied. With the appearance of being in complete control; being with direction; being with purpose. More than that, though, Severus needs to find a way to stop the Dark Lord's influence from infecting the minds of others, especially those most impressionable, and he's decided that the best way to do that is to involve himself in Asgard unassumingly. A teacher, after all, is necessary to every society and Asgard is no exception.]

Reading, writing and comprehension will be on the curriculum, to give an idea of what I would be offering, as well as mathematical and scientific application. As I have extensive knowledge in herbology - that is, the study of plants -, alchemy, astronomy and a few other choice specialties teachable on a practical level in Asgard, these will also be included.

I've yet to lay out the finer details but in the interim, I invite any person under the age of 18 to come forward and express their interest in attending my classes. Should you have any queries, direct them to me personally.

[With nothing more to say, he abruptly ends the feed.]

[[ooc: the tl;dr: snape is offering class tutoring open to all kids below 18 in asgard! that said, adult muses can also inquire if your muse is looking for a tutor. if you've any questions about this, don't hesitate to drop me a line at my ooc contact post or over at my plurk. ♥]]

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I intend to be treated with respect.

You know to whom you speak, Severus, and yet you demand something so foolish, as though I have not already given you as much as you deserve. And here I thought you knew your place; it saddens me to see the truth of things.

I deserve much more than what you are showing me right now.

That you insist upon it is not surprising, and yet wrong all the same.

And what is it about me specifically that makes you so certain of that fact?

[Severus braces himself. This will either be the moment of truth or yet another manipulative string of rhetoric.]

[For a brief moment, Voldemort pauses. He could divert this, could turn it around into another sort of manipulation, into another game of wills and wits between the two of them. He doesn't have to lay it all out there, now. Doesn't have to, and yet, he wants to. Oh, how he longs to reach his hands into Snape and twist at his insides. How he desires to have his hatred, pure and hot, transformed into pain for this man. If only the Cruciatus was available to him now. If only Snape was available to him to duel as proper wizards do.

They are not proper wizards here. They are barely more than Muggles, now, and all the more, his insides burn for this man's suffering.]

Aside from your attempts to divert my attention and alter my reasoning? Aside from your blatant tries at flattery in order to warm me up to your manipulations? Aside from your obvious connection to the Harry Potter who disregards me so thoroughly? Oh, nothing about you in particular. 

Rather, about a certain mudblood... Lily is her name, isn't it?

[Severus swallows, a sick, thick lump forming at the back of his throat. Anger immediately follows it. Anger and disgust. Hatred. It's the first true time he's ever allowed himself to feel immense, pure hatred for the Dark Lord. It twists inside him like snakes writhing together, poisonous and vicious and dangerous.

But he pushes it back down after a short while. He needs to keep calm. People do not think rationally when they act with emotion. They do foolish things when they think with their hearts and not their heads.

He can see what the Dark Lord is doing. He's not going to fall for it.]

You feel threatened by me. Interesting.

You certainly have an iron grip on your emotions. I would be impressed, if it didn't spurn me on to reach further until I get from you what is rightfully mine.

I want your fear, Severus Snape. I want you to fear for the woman you have foolishly given your existence to, and I want you to suffer as she suffers at my hand, as history repeats itself. I want you to bow to your better, to come undone at my feet.

And I will make it happen, as Lord Voldemort always does.

[Severus reads and rereads the message with an awful sense of nausea churning in his stomach. The sheer arrogance in the Dark Lord's words. The ruthless audacity. The utter unashamed self-importance. He wants to type back, Don't you dare touch Lily, but that is of course the very reaction the Dark Lord is looking for.

He is not going to give the Dark Lord the satisfaction. He's had enough of giving the Dark Lord any satisfaction.]

It's me you fear. I can tell in your desperate attempts to threaten me.

[And then he sends another message.]

Pitiful.

[The response chills him. Severus Snape is many things, he is finding, and the most important of those things is how much he knows of the Dark Lord, and what that means for Voldemort. Here is a man who knows exactly how to goad him into listening, a man who knows exactly what to say to incite the opposite reaction as well. Here is a man who knows how to see through him, to his very core, and that is frightening in a way that spurns him to hunger for this man's end, to become increasingly more desperate for him to be gone.

And yet, he can see just as easily what Snape is doing. He knows he has hit Snape where it hurts, and that is precisely why he is reacting to Voldemort in this way.]

If you wish to wound me, Severus, I suggest you do a better job at trying than that.

[Severus wastes no time in replying. While his stomach twists with the horrid anxiety that Lily is yet again in danger, it's also a relief to simply not have to hide anymore. It's almost... empowering, even without his magic.

And so, he decides to answer in an aloof and mocking way that he just knows will set the Dark Lord's teeth right on edge.]

You underestimate me and how much I know about you, my Lord.
Again: pitiful.

[And it does. He does not have the need to prove himself to Severus Snape. He knows Snape understands what he is capable of, and he acknowledges that the other man is only using these words because he knows it hurts Voldemort's pride, and yet all the same it successfully brings up a fresh feeling of betrayal and of righteous anger at such an act. It scares him, and it scares him all the more to know that it's working, that Snape knows exactly what he is doing. It scares him to think that in Snape's time, Voldemort had no idea of his betrayal. It scares him to know Snape is out there, working against him.

It brings a resolution for Snape's blood, for Snape's anguish, and for Snape's end. The last of which is impossible in a world without death, although perhaps that is something he can speak to Hel about when he ends up in better graces with her.]

You think I don't see what you're doing? You think I don't recognize your attempts to distance yourself from this very conversation? Call me pitiful all you like; it won't change the fact that I am not. It won't change the fact of the Dark Lord Voldemort and the overwhelming nature of his will. It will not save your precious little mudblood, in fact, only paints the target on her back a shade brighter, an increment larger.

You must know this, if you truly know as much about me as you claim to. 

Do you wish for her suffering, Severus? I would not blame you for it, as she married another man. Certainly, she deserves to be punished. That would explain your actions here, and your attempts at riling my anger. You would have me lash out at her in a way you can not, could not. I would take offense at your attempts at manipulation, but truly, seeing her suffer at my hand is too tempting an offer to let slip by. I'm almost impressed.

[When Severus receives the long message, he again reads it and rereads it, his blood turning icier than ever - with dread, and with fury. And again, his first instinct is to reply, Don't you dare touch Lily.

Which, of course, would be a foolish thing to respond with. The Dark Lord wants him to react, to fall into the Dark Lord's little trap. And so, he forcibly pushes his anger down, clamps right down on it, until until it feels like nothing but a cold stone in the pit of his stomach.]

That you have to resort to threatening the lives of others in order to feel any sense of worth or power at all only demonstrates weakness.

[He begins typing, You disgust me, but decides against it and deletes it. He's not going to engage with the Dark Lord any further. He is, however, going to contact Lily immediately to warn her.]

[When he receives this next message, he laughs victorious.]

You're losing your touch, Severus. You know me, after all, your insistence upon my weakness is nothing more than a desperate man's desperate reaching for something, anything to strike back at me. You know I am not truly weak, that I am the very opposite. Have I struck a nerve? Of course I have, and your pitiful attempts at striking in retaliation show it.

Don't you worry, Severus. I'll make sure she screams and begs for you in the end. I'll make sure she knows who it is she is suffering for.

[Upon reading this message, Severus clenches his jaw with a horrible sense of unease and abruptly dismisses the conversation to immediately contact Lily.]

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Second incantation ϟ [video]

text. private.

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text. private. SO RUDE.

not here. VICTORY FOR THE DARK LORD