The Serpent's Tale
By: CNJ
PG-13
Luna:
Battles intensify over Devenly area; several manors raided, including the Crabbe, Trentworth, and Malfoy manors. Close to a dozen death eaters and aurors wounded or killed. I scanned the rest of the Quibbler article quickly, then made my way from the Ravenclaw dorms down to the kitchen for a snack that night in the third week of November of my fifth year.
The war is really getting going, I thought, entering the kitchens. One of my friends, Hermione Granger, who is a sixth year and the girl prefect for the Gryffindor house, was there. "Take a look at this…" I told her.
As she read it, she mumbled, "Thank Merlin the Phoenix aurors have control of the prisons."
"If they get control of the rest of the courts, it'll be better," I added as I got down pumpkin juice and poured Hermione and myself a cup. We pondered silently a minute as we snacked on biscuits and sipped the juice.
"The kicker is that Malfoy…Draco will probably become even more vindictive than he already is since it's his family's manor," Hermione put in. We both remembered how at the end of last year, Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius was arrested and Draco, who is the loudest, most obnoxious student in this school and who hates our other friend Harry Potter with a passion, threatened Harry. I'd heard that Draco and his mum lost that manor over the summer and had to move in with his grandparents.
Last summer, Lucius had escaped for a brief period and threatened Grimmauld Place, the place where the Main Order of Phoenix meets, but the Phoenix aurors, who'd broken away from the Senior Ministry, had recaptured the Azkaban prison and some of the courts and recaptured Lucius. Now he's back in Azkaban.
"I do hope Malfoy doesn't carry out his threats to Harry," Hermione leaned on a counter.
"I hope so too, especially with what Harry's going through," I nodded. Harry has been through more pain in sixteen years than most people go through in their lifetime and it has him depressed lately. His beloved godfather died last May when we…the Young Order and the adults in the Main Order battled death eaters who tried to take over the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry.
Almost two years ago, Harry also went through the trauma of being tricked into a graveyard by the evil wizard Voldemort along with Cedric Diggory. Voldemort had killed Cedric right in front of Harry and cast the crucio curse on Harry. Harry escaped by using a spell that conjured his late beloved parents' images and also carried back Cedric's body. This same wizard killed Harry's parents when Harry was only a year and three months old.
Last year, the Senior Ministry grew more corrupt and tried to take over Hogwarts and planted a "teacher" in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She was mainly a spy for the Senior Ministry and made life hell for most of the students. That's when my friends…Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom, along with a group of other students formed the Young Order. Only back then, it was called Dumbledore's Army or the DA for short.
The Senior Ministry was attempting to drive our headmaster, Professor Dumbledore and deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall out of their positions. They very nearly succeeded, but thank Merlin they didn't and this "teacher," Umbridge, was the one driven out of Hogwarts. Urkbridge, I thought and smiled softly as I remembered Ron and Ginny's nickname for her. They're brother and sister. Ron is a sixth year like Harry, Hermione and Neville while Ginny is a fifth year like me.
"Well, it's a very good thing that this year, Dumbledore and McGonagall have Harry and Malfoy in different classes," Hermione finished her pumpkin juice. I nodded, finished my juice. We put the remaining biscuits away, bid each other good night and headed back to our dorms.
Hermione:
"Riii' this way, class…" Hagrid led us to the lake in the Great Forest where we'd be studying the sentinel crows. They're up in the trees around the lake.
As we walked through the piles of brown and red leaves, Harry whispered, "I told Dumbledore about the nightmares I've been having about serpents and snakes. He says he's investigating the possibility of Voldemort's death eaters using serpents to attack and possess people."
"That's good." I nodded. I added, keeping my voice low, "I think back to the serpent that attacked you last year…in the Mysteries Department…Harry, it could have been trying to bite you as well as possess you. Voldemort could try again."
"Oh, Hermione, that's what I'm afraid of," Harry said fearfully, his brows slanting. He was quiet a minute, his forehead wrinkled in worry. Then he pushed his round glasses up on his nose and whispered, "I was in the library last night…after I'd finished my homework, I read more on that book I've been reading about possession and mediums…I'm wondering if Voldemort could be using a medium."
I'd read about mediums; they're a tool or third person a wizard or witch can use to possess another. Last year, Harry had discovered that he could reach into Voldemort's mind due to legilimency ability.
It was a two-edged wand, however, since Voldemort began to sense whenever Harry was there and used it to send "messages" to Harry. The cruelest one Voldemort sent was a false one indicating that Sirius was being held at the Department of Mysteries. It turned out to be a trap and we wound up battling a legion of death eaters, including Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, who had killed Sirius.
Voldemort tried to possess Harry's mind, but failed. We're considering the possibility that Voldemort may have used a medium, although we haven't been able to confirm it yet, or find out what kind of medium, if at all. We arrived at the trees with our brooms. Hagrid instructed us to fly over to the tops of the trees. He had a huge broom for himself since he is half-giant and about eight feet tall.
The day was cold, cloudy, and rather foggy, so from up above the trees, the ground looked misty and surreal. The crows peered up at us curiously while Hagrid explained that many wizards and witches use sentinel crows to send signals and even to predict the weather. "They're used mostly by farmers and country witches and wizards, especially to take care of their plants and farms," Hagrid summoned a crow over and it sat on his shoulder.
More crows tiptoed over to the edge of the bare branches, and then some of them flew over. Harry held out his hand and one flew over to him and sat on his broom. He stroked it softly. I myself stroked one sitting on a high branch and talked to it softly. It peered at me with small, intelligent black eyes.
Some of the kids flew around with the flying crows, laughing. I'm not sure when I saw the person with a hood over the head, but I guess he or she must have just blended in at first since some of our class also had their hoods on. I guess I realized that the person wasn't part of our class or a teacher when he flew in beside Harry and seemed to be peering at the crow on Harry's broom. Harry sensed the presence because he looked up suddenly and started. A small gust of wind blew the hood partially off this person's head and I caught a glimpse of red curls and sharp green eyes. Percy? I thought.
"P-Percy?" Harry whispered. It apparently was. What the bloody hell was he doing here? I thought, my heart thunking. Percy muttered a spell, pointing his wand at the crow on Harry's broom, then flew off before I could fly over there.
The crow suddenly was gone, replaced by a snake. "Harry…look out!" I called, flying over. Harry looked down, gave a scared cry, and went tumbling off his broom and into the lake. "Hagrid!" I bellowed, flying down to the edge of the lake. Several of our classmates had heard the splash and had come flying down. Hagrid joined us. Harry was struggling to get his head clear of the water. Hagrid levitated him out of the water and laid him on the ground.
"Snake…" Harry mumbled, his eyes dazed, his body shivering. Then he coughed violently a few times and spit up some of the cold water.
"Ewwww…" some kids muttered and I could hear Draco Malfoy snickering.
"Is he all right?" Lavender Brown whispered.
"Did it bite?" Hagrid asked. Harry shrugged. I reached over and looked at his hand. There were red weltlike marks on the back of his hand.
"He needs to get to the hospital wing," I told Hagrid, who nodded. "Did you see who was up there?" I asked.
"Percy…" Both of us said simultaneously. Percy had long since vanished from the sky.
"Come on…" I hoisted Harry up and took him toward the castle. Harry could walk, but was shaky. He seemed weak and leaned on me. He's been so tired lately, I thought, my heart going out to him. This depression hasn't been getting better.
"I'm always just so tired…" Harry muttered. "Everything feels slowed down and gray." The November wind picked up and I wrapped my cloak around Harry's wet one and used a spell to dry him off. Still he shivered all the way inside and to the hospital wing.
"Ohhhh, dear…" Madame Pomfrey crooned once she got a look at Harry. She saw the snake bite on his hand. "It is a snake bite…thank Merlin it's not a venomous one." She put Harry into one of the beds and took his pulse. Harry's dark green large eyes drooped, but he struggled to keep them open. Pomfrey then thanked me for bringing Harry and told me I could go back to class.
"Will he be all right?" I asked. Pomfrey nodded and using a medicine pointer, put medication on the welt on his hand. Harry drooped dejectedly and then gave up trying to keep his eyes open and let them close.
"Harry…I'm going now…will you be all right?" I whispered. Harry nodded. He's losing weight and has dark circles under his eyes, I realized. Even with his eyes closed and drifting off to sleep, the terrible sadness was still etched into his face.
Harry:
"So if Percy's the one…?" I muttered fearfully later on that night in the hospital wing when my five friends came to visit. "How should we break it to Molly and Arthur?" It was hard keeping my eyes open, but I struggled with it. My entire body felt heavy and drained, even more so than it has been for the past week and a half.
"It'll be hard for Mum especially to hear it, but we have to tell them to be careful," Ron told me. I nodded. Definitely we had to let the Main Order know about this.
"Telling the Main Order will be the easy part," Ginny put in. "It's bringing it up to the Ministry." Percy works for the Ministry. "They could cover it up and try to give us more trouble in retaliation."
"I'm sure the Main Order knows it and they can just bring it to the attention of the Phoenix aurors," Neville put in. I nodded. I was now afraid of Percy. It seemed as if my life had become dominated by fear. The fear was draining me as well as fueling my depression. I wonder what kind of nightmares I'll have tonight? I wondered fearfully.
"You'll get through this, Harry," Hermione held my hand. I looked at her gratefully. I'm lucky to have my friends. I really don't know what I'd do without them. They're the fire lighting up the darkness inside of me.
The serpent coiled and slithered toward me. No, no…I mouthed fearfully, backing into the wall. I tried looking for an escape, but couldn't find one. It came at me, ugly and fanged, its mouth dripping venom. I tried calming it down in parseltongue, but that seemed to infuriate it more. I vaguely noticed that the eyes were green. It leaped again and coiled itself around me. No! I mouthed, unable to speak or scream. I felt its teeth sink into my hand, then its head shot up and displayed Percy's face cold and sneering. I told my brother to be careful last year in that letter, he hissed. But he didn't listen and now not only you must die but he as well …Percy let out a high, cold laugh…
"No!" I wailed. My breath caught as I sat up in the dark hospital wing, shaking violently, sweating, and my heart hammering. Once my heart slowed, the usual depression washed over me and left me drained. The terrible fear still lingered and I curled into a fetal position, attempting to let it pass.
As the wind whooshed about outside, my thoughts gathered and swirled like the remaining leaves that must be blowing outside. The letter, I thought. Last year…I remembered that letter Percy had wrote to Ron under the guise of "brotherly" concern.
In it, he'd tried to tell Ron to break off his friendship with me and went on about the things happening and how I was going to get hurt, that Ron could also be hurt…how did Percy know that something would happen to me? I wondered, turning over on my back. Thank Merlin Ron had tossed out that letter and realized Percy's scheme.
Naturally. It was an indirect threat. I realized this especially in light of what had happened today at the lake. The serpent…was it trying to kill me or possess me again? Was Percy in with Voldemort? I felt fresh fear overcome me again and I began to shiver uncontrollably. I had to bite my tongue to keep my teeth from rattling.
"Cold, dearie?" one of Madame Pomfrey's assistants, a night medic, came over. I wasn't, but I let her wrap the blanket around me. Still I shivered, full of fear at what Percy was capable of. I knew I should tell Dumbledore about this dream.
I was fortunate enough to get Dumbledore and McGonagall at the same time two days later after school. The welt had healed, but the images from the dream still remained frighteningly vivid. I'd told my friends about the dream last night after I was released from the hospital wing and they agreed that I should pass it on to the Main Order.
"How are you feeling?" McGonagall asked as she poured me a cup of tea. She, Dumbledore and I sat in her office.
"Better…" I hedged. I guess physically, I was over the initial shock of falling into the cold lake. But emotionally…I was still a wreck inside. I could tell by the way they peered at me in concern that they noticed something was wrong with me. Bit by bit, I told them about the Percy/serpent dream. They nodded solemnly.
"Hagrid and Hermione have told us about Percy being sighted at that time," Dumbledore sipped his tea. "Thank you for letting us know about this."
"Perhaps you might want to go to the hospital wing and rest or see if Madame Pomfrey can do something about those circles under your eyes," McGonagall peered at me. "You also appear to be losing weight…"
"I'm…fine…" I hedged again. "It's just…I'm still about shaken and the nightmare kept me awake most of the night."
"You appear to want to tell us more about something connected with this latest dream," Professor McGonagall added. I realized that maybe now was the time to tell them about the letter, so I did. They nodded, then seemed to pull their breath simultaneously when I got to the part about Percy "knowing" that something would happen to me.
"Unfortunately, I don't have it anymore and neither does Ron," I finished. But I do remember very vividly what it said.
"We appreciate your telling us," McGonagall put a maternal arm around me as we started to leave. "We'll bring it up in our next Main Order meeting…perhaps the Young Order and Main Order can have a joint meeting on Monday evening?" I nodded.
"…so the serpent is most likely the medium," Professor Snape put in at Monday night's Order meeting. The Main and Young Order were gathering in the meeting room, which is concealed from non-Order members.
Molly and Arthur Weasley had met earlier in private with Dumbledore and McGonagall and had been informed of the letter and the incident at the lake. They looked rather stunned and I felt sorry for them. It must be awful to hear that your own child is possibly involved in something like death eaters and might be helping an evil wizard hurt others. I remembered with a pang how heartbroken they'd been last year when Percy had turned on them.
"We could issue warnings in places like Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley," Luna suggested.
"The Daily Prophet and Quibbler could put that Percy was seen around Hogwarts and the serpent turned up," Ron added. "We don't need to put details in, but just a sketch." Ron glanced over at me, silently reassuring me that my fall into the lake wouldn't become public knowledge and embarrass me more than it already has.
"The trouble with that is it would alert the death eaters and Voldemort that we're on to Percy's part in this," Neville told us. "We'll need to do this subtly and undercover, especially with some of the Ministry on our backs."
"If we get the Phoenix aurors in on this, we'll have to make sure they won't leak this to Voldemort, his followers or Fudge and his minions," I added softly. The meeting finally ended with us agreeing to continue keeping tabs on the death eater activity and to alert a few trustworthy Phoenix aurors to be on the lookout for serpents or for Percy.
"This war gets more and more complicated," Ginny told us as my friends and I headed back to our dorms with the rest of the Young Order either following behind or dispersing to their own dorms.
"Yes, especially with Minister Fuck in there playing power games," Ron grumbled.
"I get the feeling it's more than just a lust for power," Hermione told us. I nodded fearfully.
"Me too," I added sadly. "I think also he has stooges facilitating it also and pulling some strings somewhere." As we got ready for bed, the heavy sadness settled over me again. I had the feeling the war was going to get worse before it got better. A lot more innocent people will suffer, I thought miserably. Hogwarts appeared to be battling more than just Voldemort and his death eaters, but the corrupt members of the Ministry as well.
Storyline Copyright 2004 by CNJ