3What if it really was all about Lily?
"Just as not all mundane change is physical motion brought about by intention through the application of brawn, so not all magical change is intention brought into reality by the application of your own magic. The combining of potions and the composing of runes are also languages by which you can bind the universe to manifest your designs," explained Eileen Snape nee Prince, "Because they do not depend on your own magic, the results you can achieve with them can be much more powerful, but also much more dangerous. This is why I will not be teaching runes in a muggle district, if you wish you can learn them at school. Potions too, but … the languages of flowers and herbs are the foundation of potions and you're already well on your way to mastering it."
"Yes, ma'am," said her two pupils.
"But today we're going to discuss a completely different system of communicating your intentions to magic. Contracts and covenants. Or to put it more simply: promises, paroles, and oaths.
"They say that magic does not understand human language, but that is not quite true. Because we understand language, and everything we say, not the words that come out of our mouth which may be garbled for any number of reasons, but the words that we intend to speak whether anyone is around to hear or not, have the force of our magic behind them.
"Any statement you make has effects. Perhaps it only affects and changes the way you will or can think in the future, perhaps it affects how others will act with the information you've given them. If at all possible do not lie. Not only because it will cost your reputation if you are found out. But there is also the danger of diluting your magic and distracting your mind as you wrestle with ways and means of causing your lie to become true."
"So … is a lie, some kind of promise to change it into the truth?"
"Not quite that," said Eileen, "but if you imagine that it is, you can begin to see how every lie you make, dilutes your magic and your purposes."
"Next, let us consider simple promises, when the words only mean 'what I intend to do in the future': They don't force me or my magic to act, but they do block many actions that I might wish to take, if those other actions would interfere with the actions I believe I'll need to take to fulfil my promise. They are powered by my magic and the magic of the beings to whom I made the promise. And they cannot be made under compulsion or threat, though there are also surrenders and paroles, which are much more complex, a bit like contracts."
"Next let us consider covenants and oaths, they are also statements of what we intend to do in the future, but they are more restrictive, they often specify a sacrifice, either a part of your own body, magic, essence, or soul to push you to act as you have stated, or to gain the attention of a power or principality whom you invoke and give the authority to help you keep your word. Sometimes the sacrifice is conditional, only forfeited if the promise is not fulfilled, sometimes it is made ahead of time to invoke the Power whose help you hope to attain.
"There are also vows, which are again conditional, but in a reverse sort of way, You beg divine help, and make your promise in return."
"With both an oath and a vow it is not only your own magic that powers the promise, but that of the invoked Power as well. It is … considered ill-advised to make oaths by Powers that are not aligned with your purposes and the acts which you intend to perform to keep your oath. After all, perhaps the Power in question has a vested interest in the topic, and would much prefer to take your heart or your magic than to help you achieve some small victory or other."
"Which also explains why often an oath's invocation of divine aid might itself take the shape of a vow."
"Any questions so far?"
"My parents just tell me not to swear," said Lily.
"Your parents are very probably squibs and are at least vaguely aware of the danger posed by rash words. Even if they might not be quite as aware of what their magic does to them."
Her eyes met those of her son, and she knew that he was quite well aware of the mistake that her marriage vows had turned out to be.
"You mentioned … conditional promises?" said Severus.
"Right," said Eileen, "the most restricted class of conditional promise is the parole or conditional surrender. It given by soldiers and sometimes criminals, it states that the soldier will cease hostilities, for a period of time, or until rescued, or for the rest of the war, or for the rest of the soldier's life, conditional on the other faction showing them certain protections, for instance: confinement free of unnecessary privations, or right of free passage to a neutral border, or any number of other similar things. It is the only promise that when given under threat, is still considered valid, both by law and by magic.
"Finally is of course contracts, and they can be as messy and complex as you choose to make them, the generally accepted practice is either to retain lawyers to write the contract, and then rune specialists to translate it into a ward schema, or to retain lawyers to write the contract, and explain it to you in-depth until you believe that you can hold it in your mind well enough to promise to abide by it as a simple oath. Generally speaking, only large organisations use them, and the only time you'll need to deal with them will be to make a simple promise that as an agent of that organisation fulfilling a particular role within that organisation you will do your best to keep the business obligations of that organisation. If ANYONE expects more than that from you, they are … probably not the best people to do business with and you should avoid them."
"But," said Severus, "What about fealty oaths."
"Ah," said Eileen, "I knew I was forgetting something."
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"Good grief," said Lily, "after all that, I'm not sure how the magical world hasn't just wiped out all their aristocracy as the French did."
"Good point," said Severus.
"I can't imagine ever wanting … If I ever mention considering swearing one of those fealty things, smack some sense into me, would you?"
"Certainly," said Severus.
"Sev, What's wrong?"
"Mom's parents and their parents, are aristocracy."
"No, way."
"They disowned her when she said she wanted to marry my da."
"Oh."
"Which in retrospect might have been wise of them, but …"
"But still."
"Yeah."
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"Whatcha reading, Sev?"
"Book from the restricted section, Thralls, Fealty, and other oath-based enchantments."
"Ugh, why?"
"Because the placement of the dark lord's mark on the left wrist is … suggestive of a thrall mark, which might mean something real, or might only be intentionally suggestive of it. I notice how … illogical the courts are being about it, and I thought I'd try to find out why."
"Are you still considering joining that side?"
"Maybe," said Severus, "I certainly have no intention of becoming anyone's thrall. Unless they can do a lot more for me than … than …"
"Sev," said Lily as gently as she could, "I know that being here, and especially surviving in Slytherin has forced you to look past the Stockholm syndrome you had for me when we were younger. But just because I'm not all-powerful doesn't mean you need to find someone more powerful to worship, it might just mean you need to become your own man, not that you should look for someone stronger to worship."
"Is that why you're chasing that aristocrat?"
"First of all, I'm not chasing him, second of all, if you know a better way for me to communicate to him that I'm not interested, I'm all ears."
.
"Did you finish your book?"
"Yes, would you like to read it?"
Lily grimaced, "do you think I'd want to?"
"No, but I think you should."
"Can you just summarise?"
"It seems that paroles and fealty oaths are some of the most implicit promises out there."
"What do you mean 'implicit'?"
"Does dropping your wand, or throwing up your hands imply 'surrender' to you?"
"Well, yes, given the right context?"
"Exactly, but how much of the context is real, and how much is all in your head? As Mother says, 'Magic Herself is not a witch.'"
"What are you saying?"
"The other weird thing about paroles is that they are assumed to be conditional unless specified otherwise, but the conditions are not always … particularly well-negotiated by the winning side. Sometimes not negotiated at all. Leaving the terms defined entirely by the subconscious of the surrendering party."
"What would that even mean?"
Severus shrugged, "Let's just say … well, how many fights recently have I lost my wand at an oddly unlucky time."
"What?"
"Let's just say," said Severus, "I'm getting better."
They stared at each other, finally Lily said, "What did you do?"
"From the rumours I've heard, Pettigrew and maybe Black are sterile now, among a few other things."
"You…"
"I didn't do anything," said Severus, "It's not my fault they keep fighting after their opponent has surrendered. They really should study this law of chivalry or whatever they keep accusing me of violating."
"Hmph," said Lily, "anyway, I hate to say this but … you might want to avoid doing that to Potter, unlike Black he's the Last of his Line. The consequences if you were caught might be quite different."
"True," said Severus, "though in the end, it's their decision not my own. Also, there are other reasons I must be careful how I move against Potter."
"Oh, why?"
"I am unfortunately not at liberty to discuss them."
"Why does that not reassure me?"
"Black and Dumbledore are mainly responsible, be especially suspicious of them when you can afford it."
"As if I'm not already."
Severus shrugged.
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"This is quite a morsel you have offered me, what do you expect in return?"
"Spare Lily Potter for me—"
"Oh, ho," laughed The Dark Lord.
"and I will," continued Severus, "support your cause as I can from the potions lab."
They both knew Snape had said that in a way to misdirect several of the listeners from the real content of the agreement. What only Snape knew was exactly what the performance of performance was to distract from.
The Dark Lord smirked, "I've heard you have several marketable skills besides potions."
Severus shrugged.
The Dark Lord nodded, "Serve me well and she's yours."
.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead —"
"This is my last warning —"
"Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I'll do anything..."
And green lightning lanced out and broke the conditions of not one but two paroles, and so a once proud conqueror fell, not in one piece but in two.