A/N: Still alive! I wrote this a while ago and just finished after getting inspired again by some really good HP fics out there. I'm still working on M&L but I had to post something after such a long wait. Please be a bit patient!
RAVENCLAW
By Wandererd D
"The bodies are here, my lord."
The man that walked into the room had a black mask covering his face, a dark green lightning-bolt decorated the mask, making his blue eyes seem to glow eerily. He was tall and well built, noticeable even under the black robes he wore. He looked down at two similarly attired bodies, both sprawled on the floor, masks missing. Their robes had soaked up a lot of their blood, but it had still pooled around them. He looked around the room carefully. The walls were splattered with some pieces of flesh and blood, there were burn marks on several places, the chairs were on the floor, one of them broken in two. The table still had their meal there, one of the masks belonging to them was lying on the table, the other on the floor.
The other rooms were littered with bodies too... all in various pieces.
"It seems our berserker friend made a stop here today." A soft voice whispered in his ear as soft hands slid under his arms and stroked his chest.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, barely turning his attention to the similarly masked woman.
"Our Lord wanted me to help you... it seems you are loosing control of your feud my dear brother."
The man snorted. "Don't be presumptuous, sister. I know that the assassin made a mess in your own lands before turning his attention here."
She laughed, a slight manic tone to it made the other two men in the room exchange worried glances. "So who do you think did it?"
"I have a better deal than telling you my dear sister," the man said turning around and motioning for all to follow. "I'll show you. There's only one man left that would so viciously attack followers of our Dark Lord."
o.0.o
Branches and dead leaves cracked under his feet as he ran. He had killed twelve more of the bastards... no-one truly important... middle management at best, but every bit counted, he supposed. He chuckled as he moved through the underbrush of the dark forest. It was doing this kind of thing that kept his life exciting. He couldn't -wouldn't simply lay down and die! Not him! He would never be on his knees again.
He finally made it to where his port-key waited. He had left it several miles away from the Crabb Manor. He was about to burst into the small clearing when his instincts kicked in. He stopped and lay low, looking around.
There was an uneasy feeling in the air... the apprehension of fate awaiting him. Not since beheading the damned snake years prior had he felt a sense of doom such as this. He looked around, his wand hand twitching. He did not dare cast a spell yet. He could not simply apparate away, they would follow him thanks to that thrice-damned apparition-web. It had to be done through the port-key.
Slowly and deliberately he made his way to the piece of paper buried under the dead leaves. His eyes shifted from side to side. Nothing came at him, and he made no noise as he finally reached it. Sighing in relief, he bent down to pick it up when it suddenly zoomed out of his reach to land at the feet of a man dressed in black robes, with a black mask covering his face.
"My, my... if it isn't Neville." the man in black said. "Trying to escape?"
Neville Longbottom didn't bother answering, instead he let his wand do the speaking. Firing an angry red blast straight at the man he started retreating. When his spell exploded before hitting its target, and without the man having moved a finger he turned to face another figure dressed in black.
"Neville, dear... you've grown!" the woman in the cloak said.
Neville gritted his teeth in frustration. Not one, but two, Death Chasers. "I have no time for talking to the enemy."
The woman moved her left hand to her breast, as if she were touching her heart. "Oh, Neville, we are friends, all of us, surely we can find a peaceful solution?" as she spoke, her wand had not wavered in the slightest, pointing straight at him.
"I don't know who you are..." Neville growled as he stepped slowly around so he had both of them in his eyesight. "but you are no friend of mine."
"Most Death Eaters wouldn't be, mate." the man confirmed, his wand slowly following Neville's movements. "But Death Chasers are different... as you well know."
"Having been at Hogwarts during the last battle doesn't mean you are my friend." Neville spat, thinking furiously. There had to be a way to escape. "It only makes you more deplorable!"
"Come on then," the male Death Chaser said. "Give it up and save us the trouble. You can't apparate out of here, you know that. The only way out is this piece of paper right here, and you are not getting close to it."
As he started moving his arm to cast a stunning spell, he heard the woman shout. "Expelliarmus!" his gut felt as if it were made of ice when his wand flew of his hand, the power of the magic almost jerking him around even if it had been concentrated on simply disarming him.
"Now what are you going to do, dear, handsome Neville?" the woman asked. He could almost feel the smile under the cloak.
Before Neville could answer he was hit by a stunner spell. As he faded into darkness he heard the male's voice speak. "Nothing. That's what." and for the briefest of seconds he thought he did indeed recognize that voice.
"Everyone, gather together." the man in black said to his followers and his sister. "Grab a hold of each other, we're using the port-key."
Once they all had their hands on each other's shoulders, he bent down, and picked up the piece of paper.
There was a flash and the man cursed as the paper burst into white-hot flames. He was barely able to let go of the paper before it disappeared completely. "Bloody hell!" He growled turning his head towards Neville, eyes shining with admiration. "Heh, he thought ahead and tuned the port-key to himself only and cursed it in case someone else found it. Risky business that."
"It's a good thing you let go my dear brother, or we would have all burnt to a crisp!"
"The master is not going to be happy about this." one of the men said, glancing nervously around.
He shouted in pain as the man in the mask waved his wand at him. He let the man writhe in pain for a few minutes before speaking. "Don't be daft. We have Neville Longbottom. A few days of torture and he'll be telling us where all his little friends are."
The man nodded fearfully from where he was know gasping on all fours. "Yes sir..."
"Come." the man said turning around. "We have business to attend to."
o.0.o
The School of Wizardry stood on a mountainside, a tall castle with green and silver flags proudly displayed on its turrets.
It was the beginning of the school year and the first years were already arranged in two neat lines of twelve, awaiting their introduction to the school.
Around them, already seated at the tables, the previous years students waited too. No one spoke, as it was frowned upon to do so by the staff. And they didn't want to bother the staff.
No-one did.
A door at the right back end of the great hall opened and a solemn line of staff members walked slowly to stand before their seats at the main table, overseeing the whole of the gathered students.
When they all stood in place the Headmaster began to speak.
"Welcome, first years to the School of Wizardry. It is your honor and your families that you have been selected to attend our prestigious school, created by our very own Grand Lord Voldemort!"
Having all their attention to himself he smirked. "If you are here, you are unquestionably of the purest blood in the Kingdom. You have come here to learn from the best of us at what we teach, and what we teach are the skills you need to serve our Lord, your country and your world from pests like muggles or the free-thinking idiots that still plague our society with their nonsense. We are wizards, we are superior and we do not put up with muggles, mudbloods or mud-lovers."
His eyes swept across the room, encompassing not only the first years, but also all the other students. "This year, our esteemed school is seeing the graduation of their first seventh-graders. We have taught you all how to achieve your best and how to serve our Lord to the extent of your abilities."
His eyes went back to settle on the first year students. "You, young ones would do well to look up to the graduating class. They are the first, and they are what you should aspire to."
He opened his arms in a wide gesture. "What is our school's vision?"
"SERVE OUR LORD!" the second year students shouted.
"PRESERVE THE BLOOD CLEAN!" the third year students followed.
"ENSURE OUR PLACE ABOVE MUGGLES!"
"DESTROY OUR LORD'S ENEMIES!"
The Headmaster closed his arms in front of his chest and the silence that ensued seemed deeper... stronger and enveloping so sudden after the chorus of shouts. "The first five years of your education here you learn those four precepts to the very essence of your souls."
His head turned to the sixth year table. "Your mission!"
"TO CREATE THE WORLD THAT OUR LORD ENVISIONED!"
His head turned to the seventh year table. "Your dream!"
"TO PLACE THE WORLD AT OUR LORD'S FEET!"
His hard eyes settled on the first years, who were staring in awe at the display of conviction. "These will be your mission and dreams! This is why you are here!"
He pointed towards a long table that slowly descended until it settled in between the line of first years. Chairs materialized next to all of them.
With another gesture the Headmaster spoke. "Now, sit! And enjoy the feast! We have great news today! Returned from her travels is Mistress Magnesia Lyewiny, our Third Year Charms instructor, who last month aided in the capture of the notorious criminal, blood-traitor and terrorist Neville Longbottom, also known as the Griffon's Blade!"
Magnesia, dressed in a black dress and wearing a pale porcelain mask that somehow contorted into a smile, bowed slightly at the thunderous applause from the students and staff.
"Did you hear that? It's amazing!" George Riddim whispered to the girl next to him. "To be able to take on the Griffon's Blade! She must be incredible!"
Another boy, Fredrick Garrow, sitting across from them, downed a cup of juice. "I heard that he single handedly took about a dozen Death Eaters once, and that they couldn't find their hands because he took them away to eat them!"
"That's disgusting!" the Annette Brandiard said, flicking away a loose strand of golden hair out of her face. "Why would he do that?"
"My dad said that it's because he gives them to Muggles. They eat them and that's how mudbloods are born."
"He's a bloody idiot though." George Riddim said after biting through a bit of chicken. "No one is strong enough to defeat Lord Voldemort! He's invincible!"
"I read once that there was this boy that was supposed to be able to defeat him." Annette ventured.
Fredrick snorted. "Yeah right. I heard about that one too. Voldemort killed him and destroyed his army."
"They say he's not dead and he's the one heading the four beasts..." another student butted in.
Fredrick didn't seem happy to have someone else step into their chat, and gave his neighbor his best condescending look. "That's three "beasts" now. With Longbottom arrested it won't take long for the other three to fall."
Annette concentrated on her food as the others talked. She wondered. What drove these blood-traitors to such extremes as to defy their Lord? Could they not see that Wizards were naturally superior to Muggles? That Muggles were nothing more than cattle, fit to the more menial tasks and nothing more?
Soon enough the meal was done.
"First years!" a tall, strong looking man growled. "You are to follow me. I am Gregory Goyle, and I will be in charge of you lot for now." he looked at all of them and snorted. "Pretty pathetic looking group, I must say. I am the Dark Arts teacher, but I am also the one unfortunate enough to have to keep your sorry asses out of trouble. I will do so quickly. So let me be clear. If you step out of line, I will punish you. And it will not be pretty. Are we clear?"
Many of the children gulped in dread, but all of them seemed to have gotten the message. Goyle nodded and motioned for them to follow.
"Now, pay attention to the way, I don't want you getting lost. At night we have patrols, so none of you even think of running out for a midnight snack."
He led them through labyrinthine corridors until they reached one of the many towers in the castle. Casting a quick spell the door opened.
"Now your rooms have been already assigned, so look for your name on the doors." Goyle said. "After you are all in I will lock the door with a spell. If you have a real emergency, you can contact me by ringing the large silver bell in the common room. However, if you do so without good cause..." he left it hanging, preferring to drive his point across with a glare.
"Now, get to bed."
Annette ended up sharing her room with another girl, Aria Greenhorn. She had been sitting away from her at the hall, so she hadn't had a chance to introduce herself yet. She didn't know much about her, but she knew that she came from a very old family. She was roughly her size, long black hair that fell just over her waist, fair complexion and brown-red eyes.
The other girl was busy making some sort of tea after unpacking her trunk. Annette approached her and beamed a smile at her.
"Well, it seems we are roommates!" she said smile unwavering. "I'm Annette Brandiard. I know it says our names on the door, but I like to make personal introductions."
The other girl smiled. "Aria Greenhorn." she nodded. "Nice to make your acquaintance Annette. I always drink tea at night, would you like some?"
Soon the girls were changed into their nightgowns and sat on their beds, talking about the school and their impressions of it.
"I was so moved by the speech today!" Annette confessed. "Everyone was putting their heart into answering! It makes me feel so good that we wizards stick together!"
Aria nodded and yawned. "I'm sorry, I am a bit tired, maybe we should sleep for now?"
Annette looked surprised at the time on the moon-clock. "Oh! Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited to be here!"
Aria smiled and nodded. "Yes, I can see that!"
Annette could see that her new friend really seemed tired. "Well, goodnight then, Aria."
"Goodnight Annette."
They drew the slim curtains around their beds and Annette slowly drifted to sleep.
The next morning was a flurry of activity as all the first year students rushed to their first class, which happened to be Dark Arts.
Professor Goyle was already expecting them there. He stood next to a large square object, covered with a black cloth.
"Take your seats. Now!"
There was a scrambling of feet as they ran to sit down behind their desks, all arranged in a semi-circle with him in the middle.
"This is the Dark Arts class." Goyle began, pacing. "That means that you will learn what it takes to curse and hex enemies of our Lord. You two!" he pointed straight at George and Fredrick. "Come over here and pull the cloth off."
Giving Annette a wide smile, George jumped from his seat and went straight for the cloth, alongside Fredrick. Together, they lifted the heavy black fabric, revealing a cage. What was inside drew a gasp from the gathered children.
"Today's class will focus on identifying our enemies." Goyle said, kicking the cage's side and making the creature inside squirm away from him. "And this is the second most dangerous of all. A Muggle." he spat the word.
Annette and most of the other girls drew back in horror. The stench of the creature within covered the whole room. It looked almost like them. Long hair covering almost skeletal shoulders. It was obviously not well fed. It wore nothing but a loincloth that barely covered anything at all. It looked at them, wild eyes not able to concentrate on one single person in the room.
"It looks almost like us!" someone shouted.
Goyle nodded. "That is what makes them so dangerous." he looked down at the Muggle boy, and it shied away, pressing against the back bars of the cage.
Annette shuddered. He couldn't be older than she was. "How can this pathetic little creature be a danger to anyone?" she whispered. Then, startled, looked around to see if anyone had heard her. Her eyes locked with Aria's for a moment, before the witch turned to look at Prof. Goyle again.
Annette's heart beat fast. What if Aria thought she was a blood-traitor?
Prof. Goyle's voice recalled her attention to the front again.
"Muggles look like us. The speak like us. But they are not us. They have no magic at all. They are nothing more than a sub-species of what we wizards are. They are consumed in their self-importance. They use any excuse, like religion, politics or land to wage war with each other. They are blind to the magic of the world and pray by the thousands for a single "miracle" that any competent fourth-grader in this school could perform for them. These miracles, are also generally at the expense of other Muggles' happiness, survival or worthiness."
He kicked the cage again. "They are nothing more than animals. Normal, non-magical, non-exceptional animals." His attention swept to the roomful of students. "Your task for the next class is to write down ways to immediately detect if someone is a Muggle. No less than 8 inches of parchment will do. But if you get too creative and write more than 10 I will fail you."
"Dismissed!" Goyle said with a wave of his hand. The students stood up and made their way out of the room, all of them avoiding the Muggle as much as possible.
Outside the classroom Annette waited for Aria to walk out. When she finally did, she stepped next to her as they walked towards their next class.
"Listen, Aria... about what I said in class..."
"It's okay." the other girl said. "I was thinking the same. Don't say out loud again though. It might get you into trouble with Prof. Goyle."
While they talked, they had lost sight of the other students and now both girls found themselves lost in the castle.
"Great." Aria whispered. "Now we're lost... I don't suppose you know the way to Potions?"
Annette shook her head.
"Well, come on, we still have time to catch up to them." Aria said, taking Annette's hand and walking briskly forward.
"Maybe we can find a member of Staff to help us?" Annette suggested.
Aria shook her head. "Remember what Prof. Goyle said last night? They don't like us hanging about."
Annette was about to respond when they heard voices.
"... will be interrogated here." the voice of the Headmaster was heard from an office.
"Will all of us be present?" a female voice, that of Prof. Magnesia asked.
"You will be, dear. As well as Prof. Goyle and a few others. We can use the familiar faces and torture to break him into confessing." the Headmaster replied.
"Has he tried to escape yet?" a third voice asked.
"No. He's been unconscious ever since we caught him." Magnesia answered. The two girls exchanged surprised looks.
"We should start the interrogation as soon as possible. When will our Lord arrive?" the Headmaster asked.
"In a few days." the third, unidentified voice said. "He is still busy with... his experiment."
"We will make sure to keep him safe, dear brother." Magnesia said.
"We should really go." Aria whispered.
Annette nodded.
The followed the hallway and managed to see the last children of their class shuffling into a room. With a panicked look, both ran into the room.
In the end, they still got detention with George and Fredrick who had laughed a bit too hard at their misfortune.
The quartet were to clean the greenhouse of weeds.
"This is all your fault." George said to the two girls as he struggled to pull out a particularly resilient weed.
Aria cast a wary look in his direction.
Annette, though, growled. "We got lost on the way to the classroom you dimwit! It's your own fault for not keeping your laughter to yourself!"
Fredrick snorted. "Who would have thought that laughing was prohibited?"
"It is when it disrupts the class! Use your brain!" Annette snapped.
George grunted. "Whatever. What is with this damned weed! Fred! Come over here and help me!"
"Coming, George!"
Annette rolled her eyes and tried to catch Aria's eyes. Her eyes widened when she noticed how pale Aria had gone. Aria caught her eyes and suddenly panicked, eyes widening in horror.
"Aria, what..."
"Stop!" Aria shouted, just as Fredrick was about to help George. "Don't pull that one out!"
"Why the hell not?" George asked, exasperated.
"It's a mandragora! We'll get killed if you pull it out!"
George snorted. "Yeah, right."
"Miss Greenhorn is right." a voice said, startling all the students. They turned around to see a tall man at the entrance of the greenhouse. "That is indeed a full-grown mandragora. If you two idiots had pulled it out, its screech would have killed all four of you immediately." he chuckled. "I was not too worried about that, since you four seemed pretty much brain dead anyway."
"Professor Dowelled..." Annette gulped. "I'm sorry sir, we didn't know..."
The professor waved his hand at her in a dismissive gesture. "That was well spotted, Mrs. Greenhorn." he said. "How do you know what a mandragora looks like?"
Aria gulped. "Sir, my father is a well known Potions Expert in the service of our Lord. While he worked on his potions I would sit down and read his books. They included common and rare ingredients, warnings and procedures on how to get them." she blushed under his scrutiny. "I still took too long to recognize it, if it had been smaller, George would have pulled it out completely by now."
"But recognize it you did." Dowelled said. "Well done. You four are dismissed. Your detention is over."
"Sir..." Annette said after a moment. "Prof. Goyle said to stay here until he came back for us."
A muffled scream made the students jump, and the Professor chuckled. "He is a bit busy right now. I will escort you to your tower. Follow me now."
As they walked back to their tower, the screams continued and faded. Dowelled, either not hearing them or ignoring them, looked down at Aria, putting down his hand on her shoulder. "You are Wolverton's daughter then?"
Annette thought that the girl stiffened, but Aria was quick to nod and smile. "Yes, I am."
"Yes, I remember your father quite well, little one. We were best friends in school, as you might know?"
"My father told me a bit about his school years before deciding to follow our Lord Voldemort..." Aria said. "but, after that he mentioned you mostly on the missions you did for our great Lord. Before and after the Battle of Hogwarts."
The two continued walking and then stopped, looking back at the trio behind them, who stood in shock.
"Then... it's true?" George asked. "The Battle of Hogwards really happened?"
Dowelled rolled his eyes. "Of course it's true, you cretin! It was one of our greatest victories against that brat Potter and his band of miscreants!"
"But... it's such an amazing tale, I don't understand..." Fredrick began.
"Of course you don't!" Dowelled snapped. "It is a battle that can only be understood if you were there. It was real. Potter was real. You will learn the truth in your Magical History class when you are ready."
The two boys just nodded their head sullenly and the small group started walking again. The screams had faded into nothingness, as if scared by Dowelled's shouts.
As they passed one of several long, dark halls, they heard a door creak open, dragging a metal corner on the stone floor, followed by several voices, then again by the door closing.
"It seems they're done." Dowelled said, frowning in that direction. "Tsch. Pathetic."
"Uh, done with what, sir?" George asked.
"Never you mind, brat!" Dowelled growled. "Ms. Greenhorn, I haven't talked to your father in several years..."
"Oh, my father would love to hear back from you, sir." Aria said with certainty. "He was delighted to know that you were an instructor here. If I remember his words correctly, the words "unsurpassed intellect" were certainly said in the exact same sentence as Fray Dowelled."
"He said that, did he?" Dowelled seemed to swell a bit with pride.
A few more minutes of walking and they were standing in front of their tower. "Now." Dowelled said, waving his wand. With a simple Alohomora the door was unlocked. "Get in there and go to sleep. Tomorrow you have class with me."
The group quickly made their way inside and the door closed behind them. A small quick glow indicated that a spell had been cast on the door to prevent it from being opened.
The children sat down on the common room for a bit.
"So, your dad told you about the Battle of Hogwarts?" Fredrick finally asked.
Ariel nodded.
"What did he say about it?" George asked.
"That it was mostly a bunch of children only a few years older than us fighting it out against Death Eaters."
There was silence in the room.
"That doesn't sound too bad..." George said. "What about the Death Chasers?"
"George, even I know those guys appeared after the Battle of Hogwards." Fredrick said shaking his head. "Where have you been living?"
"Under a rock in Canada, most likely." Annette sniffed with contempt.
"No, I haven't!" George retorted hotly. "Where the hell is Canada anyway?"
The other three stared at him before breaking up and laughing.
"Seriously, mate, you have got to look at a world map sometime." Fredrick said.
After the laughter died out a bit, Annette took a deep breath. "I wonder who they were torturing?"
George and Fredrick blinked in confusion. "What makes you think they were torturing someone?" George asked.
Annette covered her mouth with a squeak and looked in panic at Aria.
George's eyes narrowed. "Come on, what do you know?"
Fredrick nodded, leaning forward. "You two clearly know something of what's going on here."
Aria bit her lower lip, and looked down at the floor, but Annette sighed. "When we were late for class today we heard some of the staff talking about interrogating and torturing someone here. They said Lord Voldemort might even come here to oversee it done."
"There's only one person who would merit our Lord coming here." George said after a moment. "Neville Longbottom."
"What?" Annette almost shouted.
"Who else? Magnesia Lyewiny helped catch him, and it is well known that Lord Voldemort does not have much confidence in the Ministry's cells." George elaborated.
"Imagine if we could do it!" Fredrick suddenly said.
"What?" Aria asked warily.
"What if we could torture the prisoner and make him confess!" Fredrick insisted, eyes gleaming. "We would be heroes!"
"I doubt that if several instructors were unable to make whoever it is confess, us four could." Aria said venomously.
"But..." George suddenly spoke up. "We could... if you help us Aria."
The girl in question blinked. "What?"
"Well, you said your dad was great at potions, right? Working for Lord Voldemort himself, right?"
Aria nodded slowly.
"Well that means that you could prepare a potion that will weaken his will! Add that, and a few curses..."
"We haven't learned curses yet..." Annette complained.
"I have!" George said. "And Fred too. Our parents taught us the Cruciatus Curse before coming to school."
Fred nodded. "We could teach it to you two..."
"We will think about it." Annette said. "But you two better not tell anyone else about this, okay?"
"Sure!" George said.
"Absolutely." Fredrick added. "We wouldn't want to share the glory, right? Just make up your minds soon, we have to do this before Lord Voldemort visits the school!"
Once in their room, after they had changed, Annette took Aria's hand. "Will you make the potion?"
Aria looked at her roommate in shock. "Annette..."
The blond let go and sat on her bed, nursing the cup of tea Aria had given her. "I really don't want to torture him, but I do want to understand... why would a Pure-blood like Neville Longbottom fight against our Lord Voldemort?"
Aria remained quiet, not looking at Annette.
"It's not that I think it's right to fight Lord Voldemort." Annette said. "His love for the Wizard world cannot be denied! He's done so much for us..." She sighed and looked out of the window. "But, as kind and loving as he is, and as right as his cause has always been, there have been people that have fought him... not only stupid, uneducated muggles, but Pure Bloods too! I want to ask him why..."
She turned to look at Aria, who had already curled into bed, and was facing away from her.
She sighed and closed the curtains as she laid down to sleep.
"I'll do it." Aria suddenly said. "I'll have to see if I can get my hands on one of my dad's books but... I'll do it for you."
Annette's eyes suddenly had tears in them. "Thank you..." she whispered as she closed her eyes.
o-o
The week passed with all four children doing homework and planning how to achieve their mission. With something akin to a smirk, Aria had produced a potions book from his fathers' lab and had organized the others to slowly get the ingredients from their classroom. Everything was working fine, until the night before they would try their hand at Neville Longbottom.
It had started at the Dark Arts class.
"Gather 'round class!" Prof. Goyle called.
The young students all shuffled together to the front of the class, where Goyle nodded. "Today you are going to learn your first curse. You will be learning, "Stupefy". We will practice, one by one casting it, so, observe my movements now."
They all watched as Prof. Goyle slowly showed them the wand moves. "Now, practice for a bit, but do not cast it!"
The class did as ordered, and after a few minutes practice, Prof. Goyle nodded. "Now!" he grabbed the corner of the cloth that covered the cage, and with a swift move, he removed it, revealing the muggle in all its filthy glory. The predictable reaction from the children drew a chuckle from him.
"Form a line. You are going to cast Stupefy at the muggle for practice. Nothing better than actually doing the work, I always say!"
He pointed his wand and shouted. "Stupefy!" The spell flew straight and hit the muggle, who was trying unsuccessfully to escape. It flopped about for a moment before falling unconscious.
"That's how it's done." Goyle gloated.
"But, professor, how are we going to try the spell if he's unconscious?" a girl asked.
Goyle just snorted and pointed his wand at the prone form. "Rennervate!"
The muggle was roughly awakened and screeched in horror.
"Ah, shut up!" Goyle roard, casting a silencing charm. "Now, start casting! Don't worry if you knock him unconscious, I'll just wake him up." he chuckled.
Annette looked in horror from the cage to the other children to Prof. Goyle.
The line slowly advanced and she looked more sick by the minute.
"Annette." a voice startled her. "It's your turn."
Almost mechanically, she raised her wand. Her eyes locked with the half-crazed and completely fearful eyes of the muggle. "Stupefy."
It was with some trepidation that Aria approached her co-conspirators' room and hesitantly knocked on their door.
She held her breath and looked around before knocking again. This time she heard some shuffling and muttered curses. The door slowly opened and George yawned in her face. "This better be damned good..."
Aria interrupted him, opening the door fully and walking into their room. Fredrick looked at her confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Annette is gone!" Aria whispered harshly. She started pacing. "I woke up a few minutes ago and decided to get some milk, when I noticed that she wasn't in bed!"
"Could she just have gone to the toilet?" George rolled his eyes. "Come on..."
Fredrick started snickering.
Aria shook her head. "No... I waited, and then I went to check. She's not in our tower."
That shut them up.
"We have to find her!" Fredrick said, standing up.
"She'll ruin everything!" George said, nodding. "Do you know where she might be?" he asked Aria, who had turned around when Fredrick started to change.
"I don't..." she said after a moment.
"But I bet I do." Fredrick said. "Did you guys notice how she was staring at the Muggle in the Dark Arts class yesterday?"
"You think she went to see it again?" George asked, incredulous. "She's terrified of the thing!"
"It's better than nothing." Aria stated firmly. "We might as well check it out."
"If anything, we'll find out how to get around after lock down." Fredrick muttered.
They tried the door and opened it without problem.
"Well, it certainly seems someone went out." George muttered. "I distinctly remember Prof. Goyle casting a spell on the door tonight."
"Collopurtus!" Fredrick said, casting the spell on the door.
When the other two looked at him in wonder he shrugged. "You didn't expect me to do nothing other than getting potions materials, did you? Just in case we fail, we should be able to lock the door behind us. This way they won't know that we went out at all."
"Smart." Aria said, nodding.
Fredrick grinned in response.
The halls were completely quiet.
"Does anyone know what they do to students that break the rules and go out at night here?" George whispered.
"No." both remaining children whispered back.
George gulped.
As they walked quietly towards the Dark Arts classroom, they heard a scraping sound. "Quick! Hide!" Aria whispered, pushing both boys into another room and carefully closing the door behind her.
Soft footsteps paused outside the door for a moment. Then continued. The three children held their breaths until the steps faded in the distance and then they waited some more.
"This place is scary, I can't believe Annette of all people would go out of the tower at night!" George muttered.
The other two nodded fearfully before opening the door and slowly creeping out. The hall was clear.
They again made their way through the old castle, and finally made it into the Dark Arts classroom. Closing the door behind them, they looked around.
"Annette?" Fredrick whispered.
There was a shuffle from where the cage was. And slowly, Annette emerged from under the cover. The other three children ran up to her. She seemed to be okay.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" George whispered harshly. "Did you want to get caught!"
Annette gulped. Tears formed in her eyes and now that they were standing closer to her, the three could see that she had been crying for a while now.
"I-I'm sorry!" she choked. "I just... this morning, Prof. Goyle was so cruel!"
"Bloody hell, Annette." George swore again. "It's just a muggle!"
"He's not!" she said, only for her mouth to be covered by both George's and Fredrick's hands. Aria, pale, tip-toed to the door and stood silently waiting to see if anyone approached. After a few minutes, she released the breath she had been holding and nodded to the others.
"Okay." Fredrick whispered. "Don't speak too loud! It's bad enough that we're already all out of the tower, if they hear you say something like that about the muggle..."
"Brian." Annette whispered.
"What?" George blinked.
"Brian. His name. It's Brian."
"You... talked to it?" George seemed to be struggling between disgust and awe.
"Yes. I talked to him." Annette snapped back.
"Guys, is this really the place to talk about this?" Fredrick looked at the cage nervously. He licked his lips. "Perhaps a change of venue..."
"I agree." Aria said, crouching next to them. "This is silly Annette. We have something important to do tomorrow, remember?"
Annette looked away, ashamed for a moment. But then the fire returned to her eyes. "If you want my help tomorrow, promise me that we will free him."
"Who? Longbottom? Are you crazy?" George almost shouted.
They all hid behind the desk and waited for a few minutes. George couldn't meet the glares of the others. "Sorry." he whispered.
"Not Longbottom, you moron." Fredrick said after a moment. "She means the muggle."
"Oh." George looked at Annette steadily for about five seconds. "You really are crazy, aren't you? Or just daft. Did it bite you? Maybe it's a disease of some sort..."
Aria could see that Annette was gritting her teeth and was about to speak, so she interrupted her. "Look, Annette, the best we can do is promise to think about it for now."
Fredrick and George gave her a startled look.
"You're not serious." George said.
"I am." Aria replied. She turned towards Annette. "That's the best we can do for now," she repeated firmly. "but this is not the place or the time to think about this!"
Annette pressed her lips together and sighed. "Fine. Let's go back then."
By the time they reached the tower they were not only a bundle of nerves, but they all felt exhausted. Once Fredrick had enchanted the door shut they barely had the energy to wish each other goodnight.
In their room, Annette paced around the room, while Aria lied on her bed, her eyes closed, but still awake.
"I'm sorry." Annette finally said, sitting down on her bed. "I just..."
"Felt like you had to do something?" Aria asked without opening her eyes.
It still felt like she was glaring at her, and Annette shifted uncomfortably on her bed. "Yes. I didn't know what, I know it's just a muggle Aria!" she said, trying not to raise her voice too much. "But, no-one... nothing should be tortured the way Goyle tortures him! He's just a child! He's our age!"
Sighing Aria opened her eyes, her expression blank. "That is the way it is today, Annette. Muggle rights are non-existent, and they will remain that way for as long as Lord Voldemort is in power."
Annette's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Aria didn't seem to want to talk too much. "I'm making myself some tea. Do you want some?"
"Ah... sure." Annette said, watching her friend make another batch of her nightly tea. Their nightly tea, really.
"I won't talk badly of Lord Voldemort," Aria said once the tea was made. She had poured a bit of milk into it, and Annette could feel its soothing effects almost instantly. She always wondered if her friend used magic on her tea, other than to warm the water, it was that good. "However, his policy of looking down on everyone but purebloods is, well, taken to the extreme by some. You can see that Prof. Goyle could have used some other means of showing us his lesson, but he took delight in torturing a child."
"It's horrible." Annette said after a moment. "Do you think if we wrote a letter..."
"Don't." Aria said with such finality that it left her friend speechless. Aria sipped her tea, and gazed into her cup as she spoke. "This is the most prestigious school in the Kingdom. The reason it is so is because we are not the only school here. There is another, much darker place, where they send half-bloods and mudbloods to study. If you were seen as a muggle lov..." she paused and corrected herself. "sympathizer, you would be sent there. Your education would be pathetic, as they teach those not of pure blood lesser magics so that they remain subservient and easily controlled."
Annette stared at her friend, aghast. "That's... that's horrible!"
Aria shrugged. "That's the way it is. Which is why I urge you to forget about the muggle boy, Brian. Think of your future and his too... if he were to escape and get caught..."
Annette pressed her lips again, a reluctant look in her eyes.
"Fine." Aria sighed. "Sleep on it. If you still wish to proceed with this folly, I will help you, even if Fred and George don't."
Annette nodded and return the cup and plate to her roommate.
"Goodnight, Annette." Aria said after she had drawn the curtains and turned off the light with a flick of her wand.
"Goodnight, Aria."
The next night the children held a council. Sitting in the girls room, they stared at each other and at the small vial in the middle.
"I can't believe you made it." George whispered, amazed.
"Professor Dowelled helped." Aria confessed grudgingly. "I just left his office half an hour ago." she shivered. "I don't really trust that man, but he's not half bad with potions. I also learned that they intend to move Longbottom to London tomorrow night."
The others just looked at each other uneasily.
"So." Fred's throat was dry. "What's stopping us then? We have the potion and the curse."
The silence that ensued was answer enough.
"What about Brian?" Annette asked.
Fred and George shared a look.
"Annette, we know you care about him but..." George started.
"... you can't seriously expect us to risk our lives for it... him." Fred said, correcting himself when she glared.
"But he'll be tortured until he dies if he stays here!" the blond girl almost shouted amidst frantic motions from her roommate and friends to keep it down.
"We have very important things to do tonight!" Fredrick insisted. "After the Longbottom thing..."
"We won't have time!" Annette retorted. "If we succeed we will be in the spotlight!"
"Well, do you have a better idea?" George asked, exasperated. "Because we're bloody well not going anywhere with this!"
"We could just... let him loose." Aria suggested. When everyone turned to stare at her, she clarified. "Not inside the school, of course, but, we could just release him at the gates and tell him to run? I'm sure he'll meet with other Muggles soon enough. "
The boys shrugged.
"I don't like it." Annette said. "He could get killed!"
"Professor Goyle will get him killed eventually." Aria said in turn. "We cannot take him with us and we cannot take him to safety ourselves."
They sneaked into the classroom as quietly as they could. Aria stayed close to the door, keeping it ajar and listening intently.
When they moved the simple cloth that was on top of the cage, the muggle opened his mouth to scream.
"Quietus!" Fred hissed, cutting the scream before it even left the muggle's throat. Immediately Annette knelt next to him and made shushing noises, her hands stroking the horrified muggle's hair until, after a few minutes during which the other children couldn't bring themselves to watch the poor muggle's fear, he started to calm down.
"Brian, Brian..." she whispered. "We have come to let you go. We'll get you out of here so you can be with your own people."
Brian – the muggle, George reminded himself, looked at her with wild eyes. For a moment there was nothing but animal instinct there, and slowly the eyes calmed and to his surprise he saw a human there. His eyes watering a little, George turned away and, after quickly cleaning off any sign of tears, he looked questioningly at Aria.
She nodded.
"It's safe." he said. "Or as safe as it is ever going to be. We should get going."
The children nodded and carefully opening the cage, they helped the muggle boy out.
"Stay close to us," Annette said. "And whatever you do, don't run or scream or do anything to call attention to yourself, understood?"
The boy nodded and followed them outside.
The school was surprisingly quiet. Although the children were ready to jump at every shadow, no one seemed to notice them approach the gates. They crossed the silent courtyard with their hearts in their throats, fully expecting to be caught in the open space.
They were breathing heavily after the short dash that had brought them to stand, relatively covered from view under the huge stone arch, in front of the school gates.
That is when the main flaw in their plan hit them.
They had of course seen the gates before, but they had never really paid attention to them. Made of black metal, stretching high above their heads, surrounded by runes that seemed to glow when you were not focusing on them, the gates were particularly ominous at night, made even more so with the gargoyles armed with sharp talons and fangs staring silently at the entrance, silent guardians that blended with the walls to fool the casual observer as decorations.
"How in the name of Slytherin are we going to open this thing without getting killed?" Aria asked after a moment of silent contemplation.
There was more silence until...
"I hear footsteps!" Fred whispered in a full pitch higher than his normal voice.
Looking around, Annette was the first to react. "Over here!"
Not bothering to question her, the small group dove behind one of the many chariots in the courtyard and under the one behind it.
"Are you sure you saw something?" a man asked. The children didn't recognize his voice.
"I think I did." another unknown voice answered. "We can't be to cautious, with Longbottom here..."
"Point taken."
The footsteps crossed the courtyard from side to side, and the children hiding under the chariots held their breath tightly as a pair of boots stopped just in front of the chariot under which they hid. Even Brian, the muggle, seemed to sense that the mere act of shifting in place would be a very, very bad idea.
"I don't see anything." one man said.
"Fine." the man in front of their chariot answer, turning to face away from them. "Let's go back, if anything happens before the next shift, the gargoyles will take care of it."
The children waited until the footsteps had faded altogether, then waited longer.
Eventually Fred slowly slid from under the chariot and looked around. The others followed soon after.
"What are we going to do?" Aria finally asked.
"I don't know." Annette answered. She looked warily at the gates. "We have to figure out how to open them before we try this again."
"What do you mean 'try this again'" came George's harsh whisper. "We almost got caught! We could have been killed!"
"Calm down George." Fred whispered. Then turned towards the girls. "Annette, I am sorry but tonight we can only do one thing and that is interrogate Longbottom, once we have the Dark Lord's favor we can find out how to open the damned gate. If we try it now, Brian will definitely get caught. We should take him back and try another day."
"We can't take him back!" Annette snapped. "Did you not see where they were going? They walked towards Professor Goyle's study! They'll see us if we go there."
"What do you propose then?" Aria finally asked.
Annette glanced at all of them warily, her hand tightening around Brian's. "We take him with us." when she saw the other three open their mouths to complain she whispered as loudly as she dared. "Listen! If we manage to interrogate Longbottom they will grant us his freedom!"
Aria gritted her teeth. "You think to highly of the staff here." she sighed "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
Sticking to the shadows the small group snuck into another class room when they heard footsteps approach. Now that they knew that there were indeed patrols in the halls, they moved more slowly and paid more attention to their surroundings than earlier.
Finally, they stood in front of the dungeon where Longbottom was held.
"Are we ready?" George asked.
"As we'll ever be." Fred responded, looking around. "Let's go in. Quickly, before someone decides to come over."
As they walked into the room, where a man in rags, presumably Longbottom, slept fitfully on a corner protected by several runes and circles and wrapped in chains.
They didn't know who had made a noise, but Longbottom shifted and opened his eyes, staring at them blankly. He blinked several times and shook his head.
"Children?" he seemed very surprised. "What are you kids doing here? It's dangerous!"
The children exchanged glances. Dangerous? How could the dreaded Griffon's Blade be worried about children?
"This is not what I expected." George whispered to the others, turning his back on the now curious adult. "He seems more concerned for us than afraid."
"Are you sure they got the right man?" Aria asked, looking askance at Neville Longbottom. "He doesn't look very dangerous."
"Yeah but... who else would be here?" Annette asked.
"I can hear you, you know?" Neville Longbottom said, his voice sounding amused.
"Are you really Neville Longbottom?" Fred asked. "THE Neville Longbottom? Slayer of Death Eaters? A thorn on the side of Lord Voldemort?"
The man chuckled, black hair hiding his eyes for a moment. "The one and only. At your service."
Annette stepped forward. "How could you?"
Neville blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"How could you defy Lord Voldemort? Don't you understand that he protects us? How dare you fight him and call yourself a wizard? You're nothing but a blood-traitor!"
Neville's eyebrows had gone up as he looked at her. "I... don't think you really know Voldy if you think that he protects you." he said with some amusement. "What are they teaching kids these days?" he shook his head. "That thing you call a Lord is nothing but a murderer, risen to power through the blood of innocents and the corruption of the weak."
Fred was about to answer when the door to the room slammed open. The children whirled around, wands up. There was the sound of glass breaking and suddenly he was slammed against the wall and held in place by an invisible force.
At the same time a red projectile slammed into Longbottom's stomach, throwing him back against the wall before he collapsed on the floor, groaning.
The children watched in horror as Professor Magnesia strutted into the room followed by Professor Goyle and several Death Eaters.
Magnesia's mask did not betray her thoughts, from her posture the children couldn't help but believe that she was smiling at them, which was not necessarily a good thing.
Brian moaned and tried to fight the spell that held him bound to the wall.
"Let them go." Neville rasped from his cage. "They know nothing... they don't know who you are..."
"I'll be the judge of that, Longbottom!" she snapped. "Now, dear students..." her whisper was sweet and innocent, when she turned to face them, making them feel even more worried. "Tell me what you were doing here."
"Ah..." Fred cleared his throat and almost winced when the masked face concentrated on him. "We were trying to interrogate Neville Longbottom, Mistress."
"Y-yeah." George said. "We thought that we could impress you and L-lord Voldemort that way."
Magnesia started laughing. It was a cruel laugh. Cold. She didn't even pretend for their benefit to be anything else other amused by their stupidity. "You think a bunch of kids would be able to break Neville Longbottom?" she laughed louder.
"You four are really something." Goyle grunted. "So why did you bring my muggle here?" his eyes glinted. "Were you going to use him as leverage?"
"Yes!" Fredrick almost squealed. "Yes, it was to get him to confess or the muggle would have it."
"These students of yours, Goyle." Magnesia chuckled. "What are their names?"
"George Riddim, Fredrick Garrow, Annette Brandiard and Aria Greenhorn." Proffessor Goyle answered pointing at each.
"Fred and George." one of the Death Eaters chuckled. "Just like..."
The kids blinked when a red flash sent the man flying to crash against the wall. He did not get up. Magnesia calmly lowered her wand. "I will kindly ask the rest of you to shut up, before I have to explain to Chancellor Malfoy why I had to eviscerate more than one of his lackeys." she turned to look at Neville, then back to the students. She got uncomfortably close to Annette's face. "So tell me little one, what did you expect to get out of dear Neville's confession, hmm?"
Annette shifted uncomfortably. "Uh... we wanted him to confess the identities of the Raven's Claw, the Badger's Hammer, and the Serpent's Fang..."
With a swift movement Magnesia turned around and faced the gathered Professors and Death Eaters. "And thus, from the mouth of a child we see what is the most important thing to learn from Longbottom. Tell me, if even a first year student can tell that that is the most pressing matter... what is stopping you idiots from getting an answer?"
She didn't wait for their answer, instead, her boot ground the broken vial on the floor. "The Veritaserum was a good idea, but dear Neville is very resistant to potions." she couldn't hide the annoyance in her voice as she turned slightly to look at the bound Wizard. "An unhappy coincidence, due probably to his distrust of our long dead potions teacher, Severus Snape."
She turned back to look at them and paced slowly back and forth between them. "So, if the Veritaserum did not work, what was your back-up?"
Fred gulped. "Um... we were going to use the Cruciatus Curse..."
This time Magnesia couldn't stop herself and started laughing. Hard.
"Did you hear that, Longbottom?" she kept on laughing while Fred and George glanced at each other, feeling very, very silly for some reason outside their knowledge.
"They're children, Magnesia." Neville Longbottom smiled grimly at the witch. "They are not incompetent, just uninformed... what's your excuse?"
The witch stopped laughing and with a wordless twist of her wand Longbottom's leg broke with an audible crack.
The children watched as the man gasped and fell to one knee, but his glare kept on the witch herself. "We'll see about that, Neville." she looked at the children, then back to him. "I wonder... how is that Griffindor heart of yours doing? Still willing to do the 'noble' thing?"
"What..." Neville shook his pain and focused on the masked witch. "What do you mean?"
She giggled and turned to face the trapped children. "Maybe you are too resilient to be tortured, but you've always had a soft spot for others my dear. Let's see... we'll start with the Muggle."
The child in question just started shaking as the wand came up. "Cruciatus."
The children watched in horror as the boy's eyes opened wide. His eyes stared vacantly into space as his body started spasming. A thin wail of pain escaped his lips, but it sounded so much worse than a shout, it was as if he couldn't breathe enough to do that.
After a few seconds she let him go, and he slumped down into the spell that was holding him steady against the wall. His breath was ragged, his body covered in sweat as it twitched uncontrollably.
"Cruciatus."
Again, his body snapped rigid, this time he was able to cry out as his mouth started frothing, a thin trail of blood slid down his nose. Magnesia held him like that until he started shaking so much the blood splattered on the horrified faces of the other children.
"The names of the others... Neville."
Longbottom was pale, staring at the child being tortured. "I..."
"Cruciatus!"
The muggle boy tensed so quickly his head snapped back and hit the wall, his skin scrapped against the wall as the spell that held him struggled with the excessive convulsions of his body. Soon his ears started bleeding too.
"The names!" Magnesia shouted in anger, not releasing the boy.
"Enough!" Annette shouted suddenly. "Don't hurt Brian! He's innocent!"
Magnesia took a step back, dropping the spell and slowly turned to face Annette. "Did you say something, little one?"
"I said leave him alone! He hasn't done anything to anyone!" the girl shouted at the Death Chaser. "He's innocent!"
"Annette! Don't say that!" George shouted.
"Apologize!" Fred insisted.
"Shut up!" Magnesia snapped. "Are you two saying that you are friends with this... blood-traitor?"
Annette gasped as if slapped and both boys shrunk back.
"Please professor, she's just confused!" Aria begged.
"Enough!" Magnesia slashed the air with her wand and all five children flew in different directions, landing painfully on the floor. Annette's air flew out of her lungs, both boys landed with such force they skidded on the floor. Aria's body seemed to tumble out of control, stopping on the corner of the room, right in front of Neville Longbottom. Brian the Muggle had flown almost out of sight, but the girl could see his legs still twitching through the haze of pain.
The professor was visibly trembling with anger. "You!" she pointed at Fred. "Prove you are not a blood-traitor and cast the Cruciatus on her!" she pointed to Annette.
Fred slowly stood up, avoiding making eye contact with his teacher. "I..."
He felt an icy hand grasp his jaw painfully, and his neck twisted to make him stare at her. "I said cast it." Magnesia ordered coldly.
Fred looked down at Annette as the girl slowly got to her knees. "I..." he raised his wand slowly. "I..."
"I will not warn you again." the woman hissed. "If you are not a blood traitor, teach this mud-blood-lover a lesson!"
"I..." Fred's hand slowly lowered.
Crack!
Annette covered her mouth in horror as Magnesia broke Fredrick's neck. The boy's body slumped down, eyes dulling as he stared at her. "Fred!"
"Fred!" George shouted trying to rush to his friend's aid, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up to see professor Goyle frowning at him.
Annette slowly started crawling towards Fred. "Fred? Are you okay?" she whimpered.
"Punish her." Goyle whispered, taking George's hand and giving him his wand. George stared at it in a daze.
"Fools!" Magnesia snapped. "I don't have time to see if he grows a pair of balls!"
Shoving both George and Goyle out of the way she pointed her wand at Annette. "This is it Longbottom! This is what your stupid pride and Griffindor honor have achieved! See how you like what my very own curse does!" she twirled the wand. "Nirasta!"
Annette closed her eyes, but when she heard a cry of pain she opened them again to stare in horror at Brian. It seemed the muggle boy had jumped in between the curse and her and now she could see the skin slowly peeling away from his body starting at the tip of his fingers. His body was enveloped in a blue flame that burnt the muscle and blood under the skin. Brian was shouting in what had to be the most wrenchingly horrible scream a human throat could produce.
She could hear his throat going hoarse just from the continuous screaming. And above it all she could hear Magnesia's cruel laughter. "It seems we had more than one Griffindor here!"
It was then that the torches went off. In the darkness, Brian's form, being consumed in blue flames barely illuminated the area. His vocal cords must have been consumed because he now just sank to his knees, not screaming or moving.
Other voices were screaming, though.
"Someone turn on the torches!" Magnesia screeched.
"There's someone else here!" Prof. Goyle shouted.
A red blast of magic shot from somewhere, and a dark shape flew to crash against the wall. Annette reached Fred's body and lifted his neck sinking next to his face, hearing a wheeze of air she didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified.
"It'll be okay, Fred... it'll be fine..." she whispered fiercely.
The sound of metal sliding on metal right next to her made her almost drop Fred. An adult shape was crouching next to her, pressing on her shoulder.
"Stay down." said a strangely familiar voice.
The next moment the figure was gone and someone shouted in surprise and pain. A horrible gurgling sound followed, immediately inciting a rain of blasts from the death eaters in the room followed by curses as the magic dissipated as it struck a wall.
The fire around Brian's body was almost completely gone, leaving charred skin with lightly glowing blue cinders. As the light dimmed, more metallic sounds were heard. Two heavy thuds to her right, startled Annette and she could barely see the silhouettes of bodies. Then there was silence.
"Someone get Longbottom!" Magnesia shouted from somewhere.
"I've got 'im!" Goyle shouted from where she remembered Aria and Neville were. "Let's get out of- urk!"
"Lumos!" Magnesia shouted. "Lumos!" she repeated when nothing happened. "Damn it! Someone here light the torches!"
Slowly the light returned. Annette gasped at the scene. Around her, missing limbs, and throats slit, lay the dead bodies of all the Death Eaters but Magnesia and Goyle. A couple had been pinned to the walls with knives and had been obviously hit by several courses, probably cast by their allies.
But that wasn't as scary as seeing a huge blade going clear through Professor Goyle's body. Neville Longbottom twisted the sword first left, making the dying man gasp in pain then right, almost as if turning a key. Goyle's hands slowly slid to his side, his face was almost comical, with his eyes wide and his mouth in an "o" shape, staring stupidly at Longbottom.
Letting him fall back, the Griffon's Blade stared impassibly at the dead professor's body as it started oozing blood onto the dungeon's floor. "Ever since I met him on my first year at Hogwarts, I thought he was an asshole. Good riddance I say." he looked up dangerously at Magnesia.
"How... did you get free?" the masked woman asked, her hand steady as her wand pointed straight at him.
He took a step forward and she fired a curse. One of the red ones that Annette didn't recognize.
Neville blocked it with the sword and the spell dissipated into nothing. "You think a stunner is challenge enough for the Sword of Godrick Griffindor himself?" he asked almost contemptuous.
"I notice your knee is in good condition again." Magnesia stated coldly.
"That would be my fault." a voice said from behind the witch.
Lightning fast, Magnesia jumped to the side of the room, firing a curse from her wand at the stranger who simply twisted to the side, letting it pass by her harmlessly.
The newcomer was dressed in dark-blue, almost black battle-robes, designed to work more as a cape than completely covering the body, enabling quick movements. Under them, some sort of leather armor was visible, with several knives of all sorts strapped all over. Her lower face was covered by a scarf of the same material as the battle-robes, tied tightly and held in place by a bronze pin in the shape of an eagle. Her hair was tied back in a tight pony-tail, and she wore a bronze circlet in the shape of a raven, with the beak in the center coming all the way down to rest between her eyebrows.
She held a simple wand in her left hand, pointed slightly down in a duelist pose. The wand had seen better days, but it somehow seemed to fit her stance without diminishing how amazing she looked to Annette. On her right hand, dripping blood, the woman held a strange knife.
"The deaths of just about every asshole in the room would also be my fault, except for poor old Goyle who met his well deserved end at the hands of Mr. Longbottom. I only wish he could have suffered longer."
Neville in the meantime had walked around to corner Magnesia, not before picking up a whimpering George and shoving him towards Annette and Fred.
"Who are you?" the lone witch asked.
"You can guess, Magnesia..." the woman said, twisting her head to the side. "It's not so difficult. There's only four of us."
"Ravenclaw." Magnesia hissed. Her wand twitched. "Expeliarmus!"
"Protego!"
The disarming spell splashed against the invisible wall just as Neville Longbottom charged Magnesia, sword held up, ready to chop her head off. But with a laugh, the woman slipped her hand into her robes. In a second she was gone.
"Portkey." Neville Longbottom spat. He turned around. "What are you doing?"
"Feeding him a potion." the Ravenclaw answered as she carefully held Fred's head in her hand and poured it into his mouth, before the shocked looks of Annette and George.
"Step away from him!" Annette suddenly shouted, but George held her.
"Blood hell, Annette!" he shouted. "Don't attack the terrorists! We're lucky to be alive!"
When Fred started coughing and sat back, bewildered, they both just stared.
"You are lucky that Annette held your head in a way that you could breathe." the woman said softly. "Or you might have died."
Neville snorted. "For all your brains you Ravenclaws were always morons." he rolled over Goyle and picked up a wand. "Good thing this cretin kept my wand on him. I hope you have a plan to get out of here Ravenclaw, because we are going to die otherwise."
Ravenclaw chuckled. "I always do, Neville."
Neville suddenly lounged at the woman and she twisted out of the way, her knife hand stopping an inch from the man's neck. He, in turn had almost touched her scarf. "Who are you? Really?" he asked, startling the children.
"Someone from the past." she said. "But me rescuing you doesn't mean anything else other than what it is, Longbottom: a pain in Voldemort's butt. Try not to get caught next time." she tossed him a small amulet, while stepping back.
He caught it with one hand and glanced at it. "Where will this take me?"
"Somewhere safer than here. What you do from there is not my concern." the woman answered.
"Fine." Neville growled as he walked away. "Just..." he stopped and looked back at her, an almost pleading look. "Luna?"
The woman was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry Neville, I really am. But Luna Lovegood died in the battle of Hogwarts. I am not her."
Annette could swear that the man's eyes watered a bit. He then turned and lifted the amulet. In a second he was gone.
"Now you three." the woman said, turning around to face the group her eyes concentrated on the two boys. "You two have two choices, but little time to choose. Magnesia will be back with the whole staff in a few seconds. So choose. If you want I can make it look like you were all under the Imperius curse, so you will be forgiven for even being here. Or you can come with me."
"What about me?" Annette asked.
"You pretty much confessed to being a blood-traitor to Magnesia when you defended that poor boy." the Ravenclaw said softly. "And unlike Fred or George your family is not rich enough to keep you alive. Even then... you saw what Magnesia almost did to your friend."
"So... what can I do?" Annette asked, looking down at the burnt carcass of the muggle boy she had befriended.
"You honor his sacrifice or you die." the woman said after a second. "But the answer is simple enough." she added, extending her hand down to Annette. "Come with me if you want to live."
When the Death Chasers and the Death Eaters managed to finally burst into the dungeon all but one of the children were gone, as well as Neville Longbottom and the Raven's Claw.
It was said that night that all of the students at The School of Wizardry were jolted away by Mrs. Magnesia's cry of rage and the torture of those that had failed her that night.
o.0.o
In a tower overlooking London a figure chuckled as he moved a raven-shaped queen-piece on his chess board.
A huge snake lay next to him, snoozing away after a satisfying meal. It hissed slightly when his hand rested on its head, but remained asleep.
"Your turn, my dear enemy..." he whispered.
End Chapter 1
A/N
To continue or not to continue? That is the question. If I do continue, it will be in long installments, which will take a bit of time. After all, I do have a lot of stuff going on in my life at this time. So I won't make any promises as to the frequency of the chapters. The story is completely planned out though, so that is food for hope.
I do have other projects to work on, primarily "Mist and Leaves" but I'll be honest... the amount of reviews and such does influence me a bit. It shouldn't, but it does. Catch you all later!