Chapter 2: Spinner’s End

On a misty, derelict riverside, Narcissa Malfoy flees her sister Bellatrix Lestrange’s attempts to stop her and heads into a rundown mill town. After killing a startled fox, Bellatrix pursues Narcissa to Spinner’s End, where they knock at Severus Snape’s house.

Inside, Snape receives them coolly; Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) skulks nearby with a silver hand. As Snape serves wine, Bellatrix confronts him with accusations: his absence when Voldemort fell and returned, blocking the Sorcerer’s Stone theft, delays in rejoining, failures at the Ministry, and Harry Potter’s survival. Snape answers each charge, asserting he acted on Voldemort’s orders, remained at Hogwarts to spy under Dumbledore’s protection, misled Dumbledore, and supplied intelligence that aided Emmeline Vance’s murder and Sirius Black’s death.

Narcissa, desperate, reveals that Voldemort has assigned Draco a secret, deadly mission—likely vengeance for Lucius’s failure. Snape admits he already knows the plan, says Voldemort intends Draco to try first and possibly die, and that Snape may ultimately be required to complete the task while maintaining his position at Hogwarts.

Narcissa begs Snape to protect Draco or do the task himself. After refusing to petition Voldemort, Snape agrees to help Draco. At Narcissa’s insistence, and with Bellatrix as bonder, Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow: to watch over Draco, to protect him from harm, and, if Draco seems likely to fail, to carry out the deed Voldemort ordered. Fiery bindings seal the vow, raising the stakes and binding Snape to Draco’s fate.