When the Dark Mark on his left arm began to burn, Severus Snape was in his office marking final exam papers.
The burning sensation was not as violent as before. Instead, it carried a cold, urgent insistence, like an order that could not be disobeyed.
The red-ink quill in Snape's hand stopped over the parchment, leaving an ugly blot.
Expressionlessly, he put down the quill and waved his wand. The office's doors and windows instantly locked, and the glow of protective spells flashed across the walls.
He did not leave immediately. Instead, he took the ring off his left hand.
He tossed it into the glass jar on his desk, which was filled with an unidentified green liquid.
With a plop, the ring sank to the bottom and was swallowed by a swimming Flobberworm.
As the ring came off, the pain that had been blocked surged over him.
Snape endured the pain.
He stood up, his black cloak billowing behind him.
Dark clouds covered the night sky over Wiltshire, without a single glimmer of starlight.
When Snape's figure materialized outside the ornate iron gates of Malfoy Manor, the air smelled of damp earth.
The gates slid open silently.
This time, there was no group of masked Death Eaters at the entrance to greet him.
Only Lucius Malfoy stood beside the fountain sculpture.
He held a magical lamp, its dim yellow light illuminating his pale, haggard face.
The usually arrogant head of the Malfoy family now wore a look of undisguisable alarm.
"You're here, Severus."
Lucius's voice was very quiet, with a nervous tremor. He hurried forward, his gaze sweeping warily over the dark bushes around them.
"You're alone? No one followed you?"
"If anyone had followed me, you wouldn't be looking at me right now, but the Auror Office's Hit