Dyna had no idea what Snape and Black had argued about.
When he awoke, he was in the cabin of a Ministry of Magic sailboat, the turbulent waves rocking the vessel violently. The room was rundown, but after four years in prison cells, Dyna found even this moldy cabin oddly comforting.
"You're awake."
Turning toward the voice, Dyna saw Snape sitting nearby, scrutinizing him.
"Hello," Dyna said with a big smile. Perhaps he had repressed joy for too long, because at this moment it burst forth uncontrollably, making his smile appear especially sincere. Of course, more than half of his happiness came from the fact that he would soon go home—to see his mother!
"Dyna Avery?"
"Yes, I am Dyna Avery. Are you a professor at Hogwarts?"
"I am the Potions Master at Hogwarts. You may call me Professor Snape."
"Alright, Professor Snape."
Snape stared at him intensely and asked,
"I checked your Ministry records. You were declared dead four years ago. That cell you were in was originally meant for the Death Eater, Gai Avery. Explain."
Dyna gave a bitter smile.
"The head of the Avery family promised to treat my mother's illness in exchange for me taking Gai Avery's place."
Snape nodded, a strange look flickering in his eyes. He grabbed Dyna's arm and said,
"You'll feel a bit dizzy. Brace yourself."
Crack!
Snape Disapparated with Dyna.
They reappeared in front of an old house. The door bore the number: 5 Livingston Town.
This small wizarding town was known for housing low-income wizards and Squibs. And this house—Number 5—was Dyna's home.
Snape glanced at him. Dyna didn't seem nauseous from the Apparition, but his eyes had turned red.
His mother, Anna, had always been a clean person. She used to wash the welcome mat every week. But now, it was covered in moss. The sight filled Dyna with dread, and tears started falling uncontrollably.
"Alohomora!"
Without hesitation, Dyna cast the unlocking charm, flung the door open, and rushed inside.
A gust of wind stirred the thick dust on the floor. The sunlight filtered through the grimy windows, and in the dusty air, the beams of light looked almost solid.
Dyna wiped his tears to clear his vision.
The house was in ruins. The dining table—one leg chewed off by some animal—lay collapsed on its side. He remembered it well; his mother used to tell him stories at that table while knitting. Her voice was gentle, the stories old-fashioned and dull, but Dyna always drifted to sleep peacefully listening to her.
He looked toward the bay window. Some mischievous child had thrown a rock through it. The broken glass shards still clung to the rotting wood, now melded together by years of rain.
Dyna bolted up the stairs. Once sturdy, the wooden steps now groaned beneath him.
The walls and floors upstairs were decayed far beyond what he remembered. His mother's bedroom door hung crookedly, so rotten it could no longer close. The room itself was the most dilapidated in the house.
Dyna skidded to the doorway. What he saw inside made him cry out in anguish and fall to his knees.
—On the collapsed wooden bed, a skeleton lay still. The faded skirt it wore was unmistakably his mother's favorite.
Snape arrived moments later, looking down at the boy curled into a ball, crying loudly. After a pause, he said awkwardly:
"My condolences."
The voice brought Dyna back from his grief. He crawled to the bed, sobbing, and gently removed a blackened silver ring from his mother's bony finger. It was worthless—cheap enough that even thieves had no interest in it.
Yes, the house had clearly been robbed. The family tapestry, once the only valuable heirloom from Dyna's grandfather, was gone.
Dyna knelt beside the bed for a long time.
When his tears were finally dry, he stood up. He opened the bedside table drawer and found a crumpled, yellowed paper:Anna Avery borrows one hundred Galleons from Olybos Avery, with a monthly interest rate of 2%, to be repaid within ten years.
This is the loan certificate, in duplicate.Dyna took a deep breath. So, even after he replaced Gai Avery in Azkaban, those heartless relatives had never cured his mother.
She must have borrowed money from Olybos Avery in hopes of buying treatment—hoping to survive until he got out of prison. But why did she still die from the illness, when the treatment would have cost barely fifty Galleons?
Yes, Dyna was certain now. His mother had not been murdered.
Livingston Town had always been safe, largely thanks to the resident Auror—Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.
"Alright, Dyna Avery," Snape said flatly. "I'll arrange for someone to bury your mother. We've lingered here too long. This place is clearly uninhabitable, so you'll likely be staying at the Leaky Cauldron until school begins."
Dyna simply nodded, casting one last glance at his mother's remains before turning and leaving the room.
He descended the stairs unsteadily, pushed open the front door, and stepped out.
From this day on, he no longer had a home.
"Careful!"
Snape suddenly shouted. He rushed out, wand drawn and glowing orange-red at the tip.
A tall man stood across from Snape, wand raised as well. The lone, glaring magical eye told Snape immediately who it was.
"Alastor Moody!"
"Severus Snape? What are you doing here?"
Though not exactly friends, the two knew each other well enough, both being close to Dumbledore.
Lowering their wands simultaneously, Moody explained,
"I sensed someone enter this house and assumed it was another petty thief."
Then his one good eye landed on Dyna, barely holding his robes up around his shoulders.
"Little Dyna?"
He was stunned.
"Your mother hasn't been seen in years. I feared she was gone. I'd heard Anna spent her last Galleons trying to find you. So—where have you been all these years?"
The words hit Dyna like a bolt of lightning.
She hadn't gotten treated because she used all her money to find him!
"Mr. Moody… please, what happened to my mother?"
Moody sighed, shaking his head.
"In her last month, she made frequent visits to the Ministry of Magic. I think she was pleading with them to help locate you. But when they couldn't, and you'd been missing so long, they declared you legally dead."
In Moody's view, locating a young wizard shouldn't have been difficult. Clearly, someone had taken the money and done nothing, keeping mother and son apart for four years.
What he didn't know was that Anna wasn't asking the Ministry to find Dyna—she was trying to buy his release from Azkaban.
Gai Avery had long fled. Dyna had fulfilled his forced duty. Anna assumed that by paying a fine for "interfering with the legal process," she could secure his release.
But it never happened.
She used her last coin trying. And so she died—alone, sick, cold, and starving.
Snape now understood the full picture. He gave Moody a nod.
"I need to take the boy to the Leaky Cauldron. He'll be attending Hogwarts next month," he said, grasping Dyna's arm.
"His mother is dead. Her bones are upstairs. Since you're here, please handle the arrangements. Professor McGonagall will see to the costs."
Without waiting for a reply, Snape Disapparated with Dyna.
Crack!
Moody stood alone before the decaying house at 5 Livingston Town, stunned.
"What? Anna Avery is… dead?"
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