Even though the person who suddenly appeared had ordinary eyes and an intact nose, Snape immediately recognized him from his long, clunking walking stick.
It was Alastor Moody.
"I'm a Hogwarts student!" Snape quickly shouted at him.
He raised his hands and slowly got up, stepping out from behind the armchair.
Moody didn't lower his wand, instead, he commanded in a gruff voice, "Throw your wand over yourself, or I'll do it for you."
After hesitating for a few seconds, under Moody's sharp gaze, Snape slowly inverted his wand and threw it at Moody's feet.
"Incarcerous!"
A thick, snake-like rope flew through the air, tightly binding Snape's body, pinning his arms.
"Hey, I've already put down my wand!" Snape complained helplessly, standing his ground.
Of course, he didn't plan to take any further action. He didn't think he could contend with Moody without a wand and while bound.
Moody ignored Snape's protest.
Seeing that Snape made no further moves, he shifted his weight, turned around, and magically unbound the McKinnon family.
He raised his wand, pointed it at Mr. McKinnon's chest, and muttered, "Enervate!"
As the spell took effect, Mr. McKinnon stirred weakly.
Mrs. McKinnon and Marlene excitedly clapped their hands over their mouths.
Mr. McKinnon's slightly swollen eyelids opened.
He blinked hard, his expression blank, then his eyes widened in terror as he looked around.
When he saw Mrs. McKinnon and Marlene crouching safely in front of him, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Mrs. McKinnon carefully helped Mr. McKinnon sit on a crooked bed.
"McKinnon, what happened?" Moody asked. "I came as soon as I received your signal."
"Someone stopped the car, saying they needed my help with something," Mr. McKinnon said, still shaken. "Mrs. Corbett—no, Macnair, he disguised himself as an old woman using Polyjuice Potion.
"I saw Macnair's long grey hair shortening, and he grew taller. Then, he stunned me with a spell."
"What did they need your help with?" Moody continued to ask. "And who was the person who stopped the car?"
Mr. McKinnon mumbled in reply, "I don't know."
"The one who stopped the car was Avery, he's also a Death Eater," Snape added from the side. "He wanted me to kill Marlene."
"Severus!" Marlene seemed to have just noticed Snape's predicament; she shrieked, "He saved me!"
"Uh—I just didn't kill you..." Snape said slowly.
"Er—you mean him?" Moody asked, pointing at Snape after hearing Marlene.
Seeing Marlene nod, Moody limped forward a few steps, leaning on his walking stick, to Avery, and bent down to remove his mask.
Moody coldly scanned the wound on Avery's neck.
Then, he frowned as he looked at Snape, then turned to Marlene and asked, "He saved you?"
"Yes, that Death Eater forced him to kill me, but he didn't!" Marlene quickly explained.
Moody picked up Snape's wand, trudged over to Snape, and gazed into his eyes for a long moment.
After a pause, he lifted the binding spell from Snape.
"Here you go."
Moody's expression seemed to soften slightly as he extended his hand to return Snape's wand.
"Apologies, I must be on constant alert."
"Yes, I know, constant vigilance."
Snape took the wand and tucked it into his robes.
He rubbed his arms, which were sore from being bound, and grumbled, "What do we do now?"
"Let's get out of here first."
Moody looked at the utter darkness outside the window and replied.
As he spoke, he reached into his bulging travel cloak, pulled out a curved flask, opened the cap, and took a large swig.
Noticing Moody's actions, Snape squinted at him a few times and couldn't help but ask, "Can I have a sip?"
"Don't drink from the bottle!"
Moody glared at Snape, roughly shoving the flask into his hand.
"Boy, that's a rather disgusting request."
"Ah..."
Moody's action took Snape by surprise. He quickly pretended to accidentally grab the flask and晃悠 (swish it around).
A few drops of clear, colorless liquid splashed onto the back of his hand.
"Oh... thanks, no need. I was just kidding."
"Alright."
Moody took the flask back, tapped his walking stick twice on the carriage floor, and gruffly asked, "Is the driver still alive? We need to go to Hogsmeade."
"Ernie was attacked right at the start and fell out of the bus," Snape said.
"I'll go check."
Moody limped out of the bus.
Watching Moody walk into the wind and rain, a crazy thought suddenly flashed through Snape's mind.
Macnair had seen his face and knew his name.
He might be sent to Azkaban, but who knew, one day, Voldemort might release all his servants.
When that day came, what would they do? What would happen to him and Eileen...?
Snape quietly drew his wand from his robes again.
He looked down at Macnair, who lay motionless in the carriage.
Finally, he whispered, "Sectumsempra—"
"Pfft—"
Mr. McKinnon heard the soft sound.
"What are you doing?! Petrificus Totalus!"
Snape's wand clattered to the floor.
He fell heavily like a statue, unable to move.
"What's going on?"
Moody, supporting Ernie, returned to the Knight Bus, his voice filled with surprise.
"What happened now?"
"This child... he... he attacked Macnair."
Mr. McKinnon knelt beside Macnair, pointing his wand at his wound.
"Episkey! Episkey... Finite Incantatem... why isn't anything working..."
"Let me see."
Moody pushed Mr. McKinnon aside. However, his healing magic also had no effect.
He walked over to Snape, looked down into his eyes, and said, "This wound was caused by dark magic. Let him stay here for now."
Moody then turned to Ernie.
"Are you alright? Can you still drive?"
Ernie didn't answer.
He was soaked, his clothes clinging to his skin, and his breathing was uncontrollably trembling.
"Todd..."
Ernie whimpered, sobbing softly.
"Todd... boohoo... boohoo..."
He was now openly wailing.
"Todd... what do we do... it's Stan's birthday today... he's only one..."
The fierce wind howled into the carriage, and Ernie cried inconsolably.
---