Part II
Cerina had become harder to keep imperiused, Selwyn realized. After he placed the curse on her again, Selwyn noticed a slight narrowing of the eyes, and rapid blinking. This proved to him that she was getting resistant to the curse. However, after a long session, he finally was able to place her again under his control. This time, though, Selwyn had a mission for Cerina.
Cerina had already warned the Group about Krystal's imminent flight to the next safe house. Her duty was to appear at the safe house right after Krystal had left. After careful prodding, Selwyn knew the location in Cleveland, and had set forth several American Dark Wizards led by Dusty Jarvis, a high level American Death Eater who Selwyn and Travers agreed was fit for leading, as well as somewhat trained in using both the Cruciatis and Imperius curse (neither of the three Original Death Eaters trusted the American ones about the Killing curse). The plan was simplicity itself: When Krystal Mageri-Stardancer appeared out of the fireplace (where she would use the flue network to get there) the five wizards would stun her and the twins, then quietly take them to Bellatrix. The plan was foolproof; no one knew they would be ambushing the witch, and hitting her before her husband came back from England would place Stardancer, and no one would know. Then, Selwyn thought, they would get rid of Cerina. The plan, the ambush team thought, could not fail.
Cerina watched the heavily cloaked Krystal gather the children and prepare them for departure. Looking unconcerned, even bored, Cerina was fitting in nicely as her role of informant while being imperiused. She watched in grim satisfaction as Krystal prepared to enter the flue network, already reaching for the powder. She looked a little confused when Krystal cursed silently.
"What is wrong?" Cerina asked as Krystal looked into the cup by the fireplace.
"I placed the wrong powder in the flue, could you hand me that little shovel? I have to get this out and place the right flue in here…"
"Sure." Cerina said unconcerned. If she wasn't imperiused, Cerina should have known that flue powder was universal … and that Krystal asked her to do something totally redundant. Flue powder worked when you sprinkle it into the fireplace and call out where you wanted to go. This confirmed to Krystal that Cerina was working for the Dark Wizards also.
Cerina picked up the shovel, not even thinking about it, and was prepared to hand it to Krystal… when suddenly, with a startled yelp, she was grabbed and hurled as if a giant hook grabbed her and pulled her ahead. Spinning dizzily into emptiness, Cerina could do nothing but scream in surprise. Briefly she realized the spinning slowed, but she was falling heavily back onto earth. Landing hard, with a grunt of pain, Cerina found herself face down in a grassy field. Raising slowly, with her wand in defensive mode, Cerina wondered what had happened. Suddenly a voice spoke behind her.
"Hello Cerina." said a familiar voice behind her.
Cerina whirled around, wand at the ready, and nearly dropped it in surprise. "Troy?" she said in shock. "What are you doing here? You should still be in London."
"Really." Troy said grimly. "And how would you know that?"
She frowned. Then she tried a different approach. "Why where you in London?"
"You should know that. You were fully briefed in my mission."
Cerina glared at him. "How would I know that?" She then realized, too late, that she was tricked. There was nothing left to do. She was discovered. However, she did have an advantage. Her wand was out, and Troy was just standing in front of her, arms folded, not even tempted to raise his wand. She thought she had the advantage…. Until-,
"I wouldn't." said an unfamiliar voice behind her. Cerina whirled around, casting a stun at the person behind her, only to watch it deflected almost back to her. Dodging, she prepared another spell at the bushy-haired female, only to be hit by a red bolt from a spectacled male beside her. Cerina's consciousness spiraled into darkness, and she seen no more.
The fire from the flue network startled Harry, even though he knew someone was coming. A stooped female, holding the hands of two very little girls, stepped out. The two girls squealed, let go of the woman's hands, and ran straight into the arms of Troy. Harry watched the reunion with a smile. Curiously, Harry noted both girls only vaguely looked like Troy, more in the face. Their skin was lighter, much more tan. Their hair was longer also. Both had long black hair tinged with red, reaching to their lower back. Harry turned to the stooped lady, who took off what appeared to be an old lady's heavy hooded cloak and stood upright. Harry's mouth dropped.
Standing straight now, the woman in front of Harry was nothing short of breathtaking. She was tall, at least as tall as Neville. Long reddish hair, almost glowing red, cascaded down her back. Her green eyes were a shade darker than Harry's, almost emerald color. Her skin was pale, though not as a typical red haired lady, more like not being out in the sun. her face was perfectly formed, with thin red eyebrows and eyelashes so long they almost touched her cheek. She wore a blue corset, tied in the front, and a short black skirt that was about 2 inches up her knees. Her boots, however, were tall, and ended somewhere under that skirt. To Harry, she looked close to his mother in the face, so close he wondered if she was in any way related to him. Harry watched with a smile when this woman walked over to Troy and hugged and kissed him. She then turned to Harry and the others after releasing Troy.
"My wife, Krystal." Troy said, smiling. "This is Harry Potter."
Now Harry knew why Troy called her Gem. Her hair was flaming red, almost ruby colored. Her eyes were almost like two emerald orbs. Harry saw Krystal look at him with interest, and almost unconsciously her eyes strayed to his scar before looking back into his face. It struck Harry as odd that when he met Troy, he never looked at his scar. Harry saw Krystal tilt her hair curiously before speaking to him.
"This is Harry Potter?" Her voice sounded sweet, almost child like, yet Harry could tell she was at least as old as Troy. "He really doesn't look like a hero. That is what makes a great hero." Harry looked at her curiously. She then frowned slightly. "You know, you remind me of some of my cousins; could we be related in any way?"
"I was thinking the same thing." Harry responded. "You resemble my mother a bit. You're just as beautiful also."
Krystal smiled at that as Troy introduced the rest of the English group. Harry noted Krystal's reaction to names and some of their achievements. It seemed Krystal looked a differently at Hermione, and noted that it may be her pure blood stature, and she may think like the Malfoys. In actuality, Harry learned that Krystal was impressed with Hermione's cleverness and intellect. Harry also noted that Krystal was very intrigued with Neville, and his adeptness in Herbology; they often talked shop. Harry learned that Krystal was very much interested in Herbology, though Troy told him that she great at Charms.
Harry watched as Troy and Mark stood in front of Cerina. She was strapped in the chair, kept stupefied, and watched closely by Ginny and Luna.
"You think this will work?" Harry asked.
"It should." Mark said, "The water is enchanted with the Thief's Downfall. It erases all enchantments…but she won't be happy when you dump it on her." He added to Troy, who simply shrugged. Harry remembered the time he, Hermione and Ron encountered the Thief's Downfall when they infiltrated Gringotts. He suddenly felt like laughing, then shook his head, wondering if he was going crazy.
Troy picked up the bucket, stood over Cerina, and dumped the bucket of water over her head.
Cerina jerked, screamed, and kicked about, shaking the water all around. She panted, spitting out water, then turned and looked at Troy, who stood over her with the bucket in his hand.
Her eyebrows lowered ominously, and she said in a deadly calm voice. "You better have one damn good reason for soaking me."
"I will, but first, you must tell me something."
Cerina looked around, she saw that she was strapped in a chair. "What the Hell…?"
"Cerina…" Troy interjected. "Do you remember anything?"
Cerina glared at him, about to unleash a string of explicative, but suddenly stopped, looking around in confusion. "Where am I?"
"Cerina, this is important, what was the last thing you remember doing?"
Cerina looked at him again, frowning. Then she looked away, her eyes going unfocused. " I remember following Murray Green. He seemed to be heading off 1st street. He rounded the corner, and then….I find myself tied up and wet." she gave Troy a hard stare then.
Troy nodded, then asked her "what creature sat in the far corner when Cerina first entered my office?"
She looked at him incredulously "Are you crazy?"
Troy repeated the question, more forcefully.
She blinked, shocked at his coldness. "A stuffed wolfentinger."
Troy nodded, satisfied. He pointed his wand at the ropes holding Cerina and said "relasho"
The ropes binding Cerina suddenly dissolved. Cerina rose, shaking the excess water from her hair, then stared hard at Troy "Now that your interrogation is over, mind telling me what is going on?"
"Mark?" Troy said, who nodded. "Mark will fill you in, right now I need to talk to Regina.
A long day was finally over. The Safe House was secured, and the plans were done. Everyone in the safe house were pretty much tired, and were bidding each other goodnight. Tomorrow would be a long day also. Harry was impressed with Cerina, she took the story of her imperius curse with a bit of anger, but controlled. She also was very good at Transfiguration, able to turn three sheets of paper airplanes with notes into jets, which took off in three separate directions. Those notes were to others in hiding, and their small size made it more difficult to intercept them. As the others were preparing to sleep, Harry decided to wander a little bit more around the safe house. He noticed a door opened, and decided to enter.
He saw Troy sitting beside a fireplace. The light was low, but he could see Troy well enough. Troy was wearing a long robe, one for covering nightclothes. He was sitting there, staring hard into the green flames that was in the fireplace. Although he did not turn when Harry entered the room, he seem to know Harry was there. Harry sat down in a comfortable chair not far from him, but remained quiet, not knowing if Troy was studying, thinking, or what. One minute later, Troy finally spoke.
"I know you are wondering about how I know your father. You may also wonder why I know him so well, being about six years younger than him. Why would your father and I be friends? We were in different houses; he was in his last year as I was in my first; I was American, he was British."
Harry was actually wondering that himself. It seemed to Harry that Troy and his father had almost nothing in common. And yet, He could see that Troy knew his father; though he really haven't spoken about it except when Harry first met him.
It was then that Troy turned his head and looked at Harry. "I will tell you how James and I became friends, along with Sirius. But in order for you to understand how we became friends, I must explain my story about my first year in Hogwarts, and what was going on." Troy took a deep breath, and Harry watched him collect his memories.
Troy's story about meeting James Potter.
My parents decided to send me to Hogwarts once I became 11. The reasoning behind it was the history of my family. My two brothers and sisters ahead of me were American trained, and yet, because of the history of a Stardancer going insane dogged our family. Though one of my descendants solved the Kobold problems, several of those descendants had sanity issues. Since I was the youngest, and according to my father, the most gifted in magic, he wanted me to be better trained, and possibly not deal with the Stardancer legacy. He was wrong about the legacy though.
I was accepted, and sorted, into Ravenclaw. My first week was actually pretty good there; people in my house were friendly, the classes were demanding but ok, and I was learning a lot. I was happy. Then the bottom fell out of my world. It was caused by someone who looked for trouble, and was happy to notify everyone about it….Rita Skeeter.
Skeeter learned I was in Hogwarts and printed the whole bad side history of the Stardancer family. No mention of our accomplishments, just the insane parts, the ones about a descendent being a cannibal and ate his stillborn child, one who had sexual relations with his aunt, producing two inbred children; three who were killed when they tried, and failed, to transfigure a speeding train heading right at them when their car was stalled. And other things. She never mentioned the kobold solving; the bringing of peace between the wizards and Dwarves, The Stardancer who made the first euphoria potion, a descendent whom I was named after who saved several magical creatures who were hunted to near extinction, and other achievements. When people read this, several families wanted me out of Hogwarts; the strongest was a young Governor by the name of Lucius Malfoy. My classmates and housemates were avoiding me, and I was basically treated like I was insane. Then came the incident with the Slytherins.
I was studying in the library, no one there. Three Slytherins walked in. I remember them as if it was yesterday. The three third years began to pick on me, calling out my family's insanity, and bullying me. So instead of listening to it, I decided to leave the library. They taunted me more, but I didn't say anything. When I left the library and headed for the bathroom, I did not realize that they followed me there. It was there that their taunting and bullying became violent, laughing and pushing me. Finally tired of it, and preparing to defend myself, I decided to fight back. I actually held my own very well while dueling them until one of them cast the cruciatis curse on me. They left me there, screaming in pain, and the person who found me thought I was having a fit. Of course, no one believed me when I told them what had happened, and people began to really think I was insane. But I decided, against my better judgment, to get back at Rowle, who did the curse on me. I found him alone in the History of Magic room. It was there that I jinxed him, burning off his eyebrows. Unfortunately, Professor Binns saw me do that, and sent me in detention. Apparently doing that caused an uproar, and I was tormented because I cost Ravenclaw 100pts, due to Rowle embellishing my jinx. So I was stuck in Binn's detention, hated by my house, and very close to being sent home. It was too much. I was crying about my fate. While I was in there, I suddenly realized that I was sharing detention with two seven year Gryffindor. Both sit beside me, and I was between them. They saw me crying, and one of them talked to me. That person was James Potter.
James was in detention with me, along with Sirius Black. Both were there for something they did to a Slytherin, whom I found out was Snape. James managed to get me to tell him what happened, and I was so upset that I told him everything. Sirius had kept his arm around me, and both tried to cheer me up. I was grateful, but I thought my fate was sealed. I had to meet with Dumbledore, who was weighing on me being expelled. James and Sirius followed me, and encouraged me to tell my story, word for word. That I did, and Dumbledore not only decided not to expel me, but also wrote a rebuttal to Rita's column, which told of all my descendant's accomplishment. Meanwhile, though I did not know it at the time, James and Sirius was telling everyone how I held my own against the three Slytherins. When I went back to my house common room, I was cheered. From then on, I was welcomed back into Ravenclaw.
That might have been the end of it, but apparently something was being planned around Christmas break. It seemed that Rowle and two of his comrades realized that I was staying in Hogwarts for the holidays. Apparently someone heard them planning a nasty little trap for me, and warned some people. I never knew about this at the time, because I was suddenly and pleasantly shocked when James and Sirius insisted that I accept an invitation to stay with them during the holiday break. So I left Hogwarts with James and Sirius, and enjoyed a wonderful holiday with them. It was there I first met your mother, and also met Remus and Wormtail there also. Although you have every right to hate Wormtail for betraying your parents, he was actually a delight to be with during the holidays. I learned that The four, Lupin, Pettigrew, Black and Potter were secretly nicknamed the Marauders, and they were Animangi. I decided to keep that secret, because Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were very powerful wizards then, and I was glad to be their friend. It was there that James helped me learn to fly Brooms; Sirius taught me some tricks about motorcycles; Lupin helped me learned some things about dark creatures (though I never knew he was a werewolf until about 5 years ago, when he wrote me about it); and Pettigrew taught me some really serious counter jinxes and evasion tactics. I found out later that it was Wormtail who tipped James and Sirius off about the ambush plan, as he was the one who overheard it.
You know Harry, it wasn't just my first that James and Sirius watched out for me. They also invited me to stay with them during the holidays on my second and third years at Hogwarts. It was my third year that I finally realized the total scope of the problem with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. You were just born, and apparently the prophecy had been foretold. Though I spent the Holidays one last time with James, Sirius and Lily, I learned several things. Both James and Lily's parents were dead. Sirius, Remus and Peter were deeply involved with helping your parents hiding, and dark times were vast then. I was not able to contact and correspond with James as much as I could with Sirius, and Remus was basically entrapped with his disorder, though I did not know that at the time. I still have James's last letter, and I will give it to you soon. I heard about the deaths of James and Lily, and your survival around mid term of my 4th year. Though I found it hard to believe, I had to accept the fact that Sirius may have had something to do with their deaths…..no, Harry, I know he didn't. I learned from both him and Remus later on. I was basically devastated about what happened, but I also was happy about your survival. I only saw you during the third year holidays; you were about 5 months old then.
Harry, your father was an amazing man. He had a penchant for trouble, but he was very resourceful and kind to his friends. He was compassionate to me, and he was a good friend. Sirius was more a daredevil, but he also shared James's compassion to me, though I felt him to be a little more pompous than James; he was still a good friend. Remus, what can I say about him? He was perhaps the most even tempered of them all, rarely getting mad, and sometimes was the voice of reason when James or Sirius had some random scheme that would land them in trouble. Peter was someone whom I hadn't had as much to deal with. He seemed to have two conflicting personalities then. He seemed to be a person who ignored me if it was me and him around, and seemed to me to only talk nice to me if he was around the others. But when he was around the others when I am there, he seemed to be more enjoyable. I should have saw his two face personality then, but I was naïve, and thought it was because he had other problems, Mainly because by the time I was in my third year I was taller than him.
But I must confess to you Harry, your mother was perhaps the sweetest, most compassionate witch I had ever met. She saw good in everyone, and made everyone happy by her personality. Not only that, she was gifted in all kinds of magic. She made me feel so much at home when I was visiting that I almost stayed there for the summer before my 4th year. However, they had to go into hiding, and there hasn't been many days gone by that I haven' thought about them.
When Troy finished his story, he looked over to Harry. He saw that Harry had a tear running unchecked down his cheek. Troy got up and pat Harry's hand. He noticed that Harry was not sobbing because of loss, he was crying happily about the boon that Troy gave him, talking to him about his parents. Harry had a deeper understanding of the compassion of his parents and the marauders. Harry and Troy bid each other goodnight, and Harry went back into the sleeping room he shared with Ron and Neville. When Harry closed his eyes to sleep, he was more at peace with the loss of everybody dear to him, and now he felt more calm than he ever felt, despite the fact that he knew that the Battle for America started tomorrow.
End of part II.
