On the morning of May 27, 1668, as Sir Isaac Newton prepared to prove universal gravitation in Cambridge, a gentleman rode through a remote corner of Essex County in southeastern England and witnessed a Dragon basking in the Sun.
This "Dragon" had a hissing tongue and a pair of wings as tough as leather. The gentleman spurred his horse and fled at wind-like speed.
The story of this "Dragon" was not over, nor was Isaac Newton's proof. Anyone who had studied high school physics knew that Newton's process of proving universal gravitation differed from Galileo's proof of gravitational acceleration. Newton relied on chalkboards, while Galileo conducted experiments. He went up the Leaning Tower of Pisa and released two lead balls of different sizes and masses at the same time, allowing people to witness with their own eyes how the two balls struck the ground.
That night at the Astronomy Tower, also before countless witnesses, Severus killed Albus Dumbledore with Avada Kedavra. The spell kept him some distance from Dumbledore, sparing him from having to watch, like Quasimodo, as the deputy bishop fell from the edge of the bell tower.
And when Albus hit the ground, he looked peaceful, as if he had merely fallen asleep. Perhaps it was precisely because he looked so "whole," as though he might wake at any moment, that people found it hard to accept the fact that he was dead.
When someone you loved was killed by a person who had always been prejudiced and acted suspiciously, love and rage could make one lose all reason. Even Harry could not forgive what Severus had done.
Human tolerance was limited. The Unforgivable Curses were unforgivable.
The Death Eaters did not take this seriously, nor did the children who longed to join them care whether their mistakes