Smoke-Novel

Eater! We all suspected that wasn't Moody well before the Third Task. We could
have stopped Crouch before he booby-trapped the Cup and then Voldemort
would either still be disembodied or weaker than he is."
"The Headmaster believes that having used Potter's blood, the Dark Lord has
tied himself to Potter in ways no one understands, and that this will be a
weakness."
"Yes, if Voldemort kills Potter, it may also destroy his current body, and
perhaps the part of his soul still inside it instead of enabling him to make
another Horcrux. However, if all the Horcruxes have not been destroyed,
however many there are, that won't matter, will it?"
"No, it won't," Snape admitted. "Still, that's why I was so glad to hear that the
Master still wants to destroy Potter himself. That means he is planning at least
one more, and that is almost good news."
"True. Now, you had best tell Malfoy to behave around me. If he can't behave in
front of me and his classmates, your other Master will have him gutted for fun
when he acts that way with the Death Eaters. Draco Malfoy is irrelevant to his
plans. Voldemort is a Half-blood, just like you. He claims to adore the old Pure-
Blood families, but he treats them worse than his Half-blood followers, and you
know that's true."
"Maybe. . . ." Snape mumbled.
"Now, why are you really in such a worse mood than is usual at the beginning
of term?"
"If the Headmaster does not wish you to know. . . ."
"I have a good idea of most of his plans, although of course not all of them, let
alone the details," Russell interrupted. He suddenly frowned. "What was it he
was mumbling to you about the other night? Something about a book that you
and Lily Potter. . . ."
"Lily Evans, if you please," Snape snapped.
"Ah. . . ."
"It was never like that," Snape said defensively. "I never admired her as a
woman or as a witch for that matter. She was merely the only person I have
ever met who understood the underlying principles of Potions as much as I."
"Not even the Slug?" Russell asked.
"Slughorn is a magnificent brewer," Snape admitted. "Give him a formula, and
he can mix a potion perfectly almost every time, perhaps as well as I can.
However, he can't usually see how to improve the potions, because he doesn't