QLFC Round 9 – A Very Potter Disneyland
Keeper (reserve): The Rescuers
AN: The Rescuers AU (this is an AU, right? If I take the situation from the film and then fit HP characters to it)
Thanks to Poke and Queenie for betaing for me :)
"Okay, Teddy, here's how this is going to go. You're going to do exactly what I say and then I'll take you back to your family, okay?"
Teddy clutched his stuffed wolf tighter as he stared up at the woman speaking to him. He had no idea who this woman was; she'd just turned up at the playground one day and took him away before his Aunt Fleur had noticed. All Teddy knew was that she'd taken him to another country and that she was completely crazy.
He nodded his head, hoping the crazy woman would take him home soon.
"Good. Now, Wormtail here is going to be looking after you when I'm not here." She waved her hand and a small, snivelling man walked forwards and stopped at her side. He didn't look particularly scary, and Teddy was already thinking up ways to run away, his hair turning Weasley red as he did, before he realised she was still speaking. "And Greyback and Lutz will be here too, guarding the boat."
So we're on a boat? Teddy thought to himself, letting a smirk fall across his face. While he didn't know much magic, his Uncle Bill had taught him to swim.
"They," she continued, "aren't quite like you and me, so you probably don't want to get on the wrong side of them." A smile that Teddy could only describe as evil fell across her face.
"Why?" Teddy asked. He hadn't intended to speak, but something about the way the woman spoke made Teddy want to prove that he was better than her.
"Why?" she roared, obviously expecting him to be too scared to question her. "Because they're werewolves, that's why."
Teddy wanted to shout back at her but held his tongue. He was used to being treated like a grownup by his family—they would explain things before they told him what to do. She was really starting to get on his nerves, and it was starting to be more important to him than the fact that he'd been kidnapped and was on a boat in the middle of nowhere.
"So, what do you want me to do?" Even though he was trying to hold back, there was still an edge to his voice that showed his annoyance.
"I want you to find something for me. Something important. Can you do that?"
"Not unless you tell me what it is."
"Why, you ungrateful little brat!" the woman spat at him. "How dare you speak to me like that? Do you have any idea who I am?"
Her outburst made Teddy jump, his hair turning green in fright. He hadn't thought he'd been particularly rude, but she had.
Even though he was starting to feel a little scared, Teddy squared his shoulders at her. "No, I don't."
This was, quite obviously, the last straw for her. Only seconds later, the woman had drawn her wand and was pointing it at Teddy.
"Wormtail, fetch Greyback and Lutz. It's time they meet our new guest."
Her voice was so full of malice and hatred that Teddy was rooted to the spot, struck dumb with fear. He could feel his eyes fill with tears, but he was determined not to cry.
They stayed like that, staring at each other, for what felt like hours to Teddy. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the man called Wormtail scuttle out of the room. When he returned, he was joined by two other men, both tall and skinny with twisted faces.
"Did you want to see me, ma'am?" the slightly shorter of the two asked at the same time as the other said, "Bellatrix."
So that's her name. She must be that Bellatrix Lestrange, the one that Uncle Harry hates so much.
Bellatrix stepped backwards, away from Teddy.
"I did. Teddy." Her voice was full of hatred as she said his name. "This is Fenrir Greyback." The taller of the two men stepped forwards. "And Augustin Lutz. They're going to be showing you to your new room."
As the two men walked towards him, hungry looks of their faces, Teddy straightened up, regaining his confidence.
"I can find it myself, thanks. I don't need these two showing me."
However, Teddy's bravery did nothing to help his situation. Instead, Greyback and Lutz just looked angrier, their teeth bared as Greyback picked Teddy up by the back of his shirt. Teddy was so startled by this that he dropped his stuffed wolf.
"Wolfy!" he cried, trying to grab for the wolf that was his only connection to his parents.
Greyback just carried him from the room, not caring, but surprisingly Lutz picked his toy from the floor and took it with them to Teddy's new room.
As soon as Lutz had shut the door and Teddy was alone, he let out a long, loud scream into his pillow.
"Don't worry, Teddy, we'll… we'll be… alright," Teddy told himself, putting on a funny voice to pretend that Wolfy was speaking to him.
"I know, Wolfy. I just… I miss my family. I just wish there was a way to tell them where I am."
Teddy let out a sigh. As much as he wanted to cheer himself up, there were some situations that talking to a stuffed toy wouldn't fix. Turning over, Teddy let the tears roll down his face as he cried himself to sleep.
"Go on, get in there!" Bellatrix screamed at Teddy as he hesitated outside the mouth of the cave he was supposed to be searching.
"But you still haven't told me what I'm looking for."
"You'll know it when you see it," she snarled. "It won't be hard to miss—it'll radiate power."
Teddy sighed, clutched Wolfy tightly in his hand, picked up his lantern, and crawled through the tiny entrance to the cave.
It took a minute for Teddy's eyes to adjust to the low light, but when they did, Teddy wished for the disorienting darkness once more. He was faced with a long cavern with multiple chambers coming off it. Everywhere he looked, Teddy could see piles of treasures, and he guessed that the other chambers would contain even more.
"Well, Wolfy," Teddy said. "If she doesn't want to tell us what we're looking for, I'll just have to take everything back to her."
Scouting around, Teddy found an old bucket, picked it up, and wandered over to the nearest pile. There was everything from rocks to diamonds in the pile. It was obvious this cave hadn't been ventured into in a long time—probably because the entrance was too small for an adult to fit in—and Teddy couldn't help but wonder who the last person that was in there was.
It took him a while, but eventually, Teddy had filled the bucket with the sort of riches he thought Bellatrix would want and anything that didn't belong. When he was on his way out, Teddy heard the sound of water. As he turned to find the source of the sound, his eye was caught by one of the tunnels to the left. It was dark, darker than the rest of the cave, and a sense of dread settled over Teddy as he lay his eyes on it.
Shaking his head, Teddy pulled himself away and headed back the way he'd come in. He stopped, however, when he heard the conversation that was happening on the other side of the opening.
"Just imagine it, Wormtail! Imagine how much power I'll have, how famous I'll be when the world hears that I, Bellatrix Lestrange, was the one to bring the Dark Lord back from the dead!"
"Yes, yes. You'll be very famous indeed."
Bellatrix let out a cold, hard laugh that sent a shiver down Teddy's spine.
"I will! I just need that brat to find me the remaining piece of his soul."
"The Dark Lord, Wolfy?" Teddy whispered. "She can't mean Vol… Vol… that wizard Uncle Harry defeated, can she?"
Teddy scanned the area, looking for anything he could use to maybe get a message to his family. His eyes landed on an empty bottle.
"Perfect! I can put a message in here and throw it in the sea. I'll address it to Uncle Harry. Everyone knows him, don't they, Wolfy? It has to find him!"
Teddy picked up the bottle and stuffed it down his trousers hoping Bellatrix and Wormtail would be too busy looking through the jewels in the bucket to notice it.
"I found some stuff. I didn't know what you wanted so I just grabbed as much as I could."
There was a hungry look in Bellatrix's eye as she poured through the contents of the bucket.
"Nothing!" she screamed, her face turning a violent shade of red. Teddy's hair, on the other hand, turned a rather sickly shade of green as it often did when he was scared. "This is all useless! Go back in!"
Bellatrix started to push Teddy towards the entrance again, but to his relief, Lutz stopped her.
"It's getting late, ma'am. We should be heading back."
"You dare tell me what to do?" She rounded on Lutz, her wand out. "Who do you think you are talking to?"
"Apologies, ma'am. It's just that the tide is starting to come in and that cave will flood with water. We won't be able to fetch much more."
Bellatrix still looked furious, but she turned away from Lutz, blasted a hole in the nearest tree, and stalked off in the direction of the boat.
The next few days were exactly the same for Teddy—up with the sun, a quick breakfast, then back into the cave. The longer he was in the cave and the closer he got to the darkest chamber, the more scared he became of it.
Bellatrix, however, was getting angrier the longer Teddy took to find the missing artifact. She had never been quiet, but the screaming, threats, and curses had become louder and much more common. Even though he'd started standing up to her more, it was to Teddy's relief when she announced that she'd be returning to London for a few days. It meant it was time for his plan.
Teddy had learned that someone from London called at 8pm every night. One glance at his clock told Teddy that he only had fifteen minutes and he looked over the message he'd written one last time.
To: Harry Potter
Uncle Harry, it's Teddy. I don't know where I am, but I'm being held by Belly… Bellatricks and Worm Tail. They want me to find some missing treasure that will help bring Voldymort back.
The cave they're having me search is dark and scary. Something's wrong about it.
Please send help, Uncle Harry. I'm trying to be strong like you taught me, but she's nearly as scary as the cave.
Teddy knew he should have put more, but he wasn't sure what else Harry would need to know and he was running out of time.
Looking out the window, Teddy saw that both Lutz and Greyback were at the side entrance. He smiled, the first real smile that had crossed his face since he was taken—they had left one of the doors unguarded.
He rolled up the letter and stuffed it into the empty bottle, plugging the hole with a cork he'd found the day before. Not a second later, the phone started to ring.
"Okay, Wolfy. It's time to go," Teddy said. He picked up Wolfy and made his way out of his room as quietly as he could.
The hallway was quiet. As Teddy crept along, he could hear parts of the phone call drifting up the stairs.
"No, ma'am. He hasn't found anything yet… Yes, I-I-I know… It's all pure. No sign of his magic at all, ma'am."
Teddy shuddered at the thought of the artifact. He still wasn't any clearer on what he was looking for, but if the spells Bellatrix had used were anything like it, it wouldn't be nice.
He paused as he reached the stairs, peering down to make sure the coast was clear. When he was certain it was, he crept down the stairs and made a mad dash down the hall past the door to the lounge where he knew Wormtail was on the phone.
This is it, Teddy thought. It's now or never.
He took a deep breath, cracked open the front door, and when he was certain it was clear, ran out and across the deck. As he descended the ladder at the side of the boat, Teddy thought he heard the voices of Lutz and Greyback but he didn't stop to check.
Hitting the floor, Teddy took off at a run into the trees. Even at seven, Teddy knew that heading into the trees would hide him and give him the best chance of getting away.
He wasn't sure when the last time he'd run this fast was, but even though he was panting, Teddy kept going. His plan was to cross the peninsula they were moored against and throw the bottle into the ocean on the other side.
A twig snapped behind Teddy, and turning his head slightly, he heard male voices.
They followed me. I'm never going to make it.
Scanning the area, Teddy saw a tree with very low hanging branches.
This will do.
He stuffed the bottle into the waistband of his trousers, grabbed the lowest branch of the tree, swung himself up, and climbed as fast as he could, not stopping until he could no longer see the floor. He straddled the branch he was on and sat back, leaning against the trunk.
"What do we do now, Wolfy?" he whispered, hoping Lutz and Greyback weren't close enough to pick his voice up.
It was only then that Teddy noticed the owl staring at him from the branch above.
Owl mail! Teddy had to bite his lip to stop him from screaming it aloud.
"Can you understand me?" he asked softly.
The owl let out a soft hoot in response that Teddy took as a yes.
Uncorking the bottle, Teddy pulled out the letter he'd written to his uncle and held it out to the owl.
"Can you take this to Harry Potter, please?" Teddy asked before realising he had no way of attaching it to the owl's leg and frowning. "Oh, but I can't tie it to your leg like Uncle Harry does when he sends letters."
The owl gave him a soft nip on his hand before taking the letter in his beak and flying off. Teddy sat back once more, watching the owl as it went. He could only hope that Uncle Harry would get the letter before Bellatrix found out he was missing.
Word Count: 2,464.
This is for:
Chocolate Frog Card – Glenda Chittock;
(Silver) Write about someone who is desperate for fame.
Pokemon Trading Card – Magby;
(Bronze) Write about a small child with a fiery temper.
Greek Mythology Category Competition;
Coeus – Write about a member of the Black family
The Valentine-Making Station;
Teddy Bear Sticker – Write about Teddy Lupin
Purple Ribbon – Write about Bellatrix Lestrange
Lollipop – Write about a child
Pokemon Journey Challenge;
(word) belong
Gringotts Prompt Bank;
OC Name Prompts – Augustin Lutz
Various Prompts: The Rescuers – (colour) red, (location) cave, (item) bucket, (item) letter in a bottle, (item) lantern, (word) help, (word) guarding, (action/plot) being kidnapped, (action/plot) overhearing a phone call, (action/plot) running away, (action/plot) a phone ringing, (action/plot) sending a message in a bottle, (action/plot) crying, (dialogue) "Don't worry, teddy, we'll-we'll be... alright.", (dialogue) "Did you wanna see me, ma'am?"
Various Prompts: Alice in Wonderland – (colour) red, (word) time, (plot/action) sitting in a tree
Various Prompts: Sherlock - (word) okay, (action) crying, (action) introducing someone, (action) running, (noise) ringing phone