Professor McGonagall did not seem the least surprised that an enraged, snarling man had barged into her classroom and demanded to torture her students into confession. On the contrary, she merely looked at Amycus Carrow as if he were a mildly interesting television documentary and said placidly, with a hint of bitterness, "Why yes, I can't refuse, can I?"
"Oh, whatever, let's just get on with it," Amycus snarled, he glanced at the students who were trying to contain several severely startled snarling black rats, and perhaps seeing Sarah move nervously next to Nick said, "I'll start with these two."
He gestured at Sarah and Nick. Sarah gasped and prodded her Stunned rat a little too hard and it fell to the floor with a thump. Amycus grinned horribly.
"Come with me," he rasped, beckoning them forward with a wave of his hand. Nick caught Professor McGonagall's gaze as they exited the class, and he thought he could sense an inkling of fear flash across her eyes. Nick shuddered and exited the stunned classroom. The rats, entirely forgotten by the panicking students were squeaking and squirming and darting across the floor. As they bounded the corridor, Nick heard Professor McGonagall say in a faint, weak voice, "Miss Musgrave, perhaps you could help me collect the rats and Miss Pomeroy, the door if you don't mind…"
"This way," Amycus snapped, pulling Sarah, who looked quite queasy in his tight grasp. She looked terrified, her eyes wide with horror. Nick mouthed silently, 'Stay calm, just do what I do'. She nodded, and freed herself from Amycus' grasp. Nick knew the way to the head of discipline office all to well. It helps you know find your way around when you're forced to hide in every suit of armor or empty broom closet along the way. Only just this morning, he and Demelza had hauled Jordan up this same hallway. Odd, it seemed like ages ago. Nick's thoughts suddenly turned rapid and fearful. What would Amycus do to him? How could he help Sarah without jeopardizing himself or the hidden Muggle-borns? Did Amycus already suspect them?
When they reached the 'ALECTO & AMYCUS CARROW-HEADS OF DISCIPLINE', to their surprise, Daniel and Mary were standing nervously outside of it. A shrill, harping voice sounded from within the office and a satisfied looking brown haired boy scampered out. Alecto Carrow stepped onto the scene.
"Alright," she said, exasperated, "I think we can do these—" she motioned towards Daniel, Mary, Nick, and Sarah, "—in pairs. It's taking too long, at this rate the guilty ones will have escaped. I'll take the DeLorenzos I s'pose…"
"No, Alecto, I desire to question them personally," a cold voice said from behind them. Alecto jumped.
"Oh, Severus, it's you," she said shakily, "of course, you can take them…I'll go round up some…some more…" She turned on the spot and proceeded down the corridor. Mary and Daniel looked at each other nervously and followed Snape, who was already trailing down the hall.
"Well," Amycus said impatiently, "in, you two…"
Nick and Sarah walked into the room together. A small little desk and a chair sat innocently in the corner and Sarah sat down. Glancing around, Amycus seemed to remember that he was interviewing two students, and flicked his wand, instantly Conjuring up another small wooden chair. Nick sat down, wondering feverishly if Snape suspected Mary and Daniel, and why he deemed them important enough to be interrogated by the headmaster himself.
"We will begin," Amycus said in a rather bored voice, "by giving names. You are Nicholas Southwick and Sarah Wardell, am I correct?—" and then, without waiting for a response, he checked their names off on a list with a black quill.
"And you are a Ravenclaw?" he looked at Nick.
"Yes."
"And a oh—" his voice grew some disgust "—and you are a Gryffindor?"
Sarah replied nervously with a small, faint, "Yes."
"Ah well, not Slytherins," he said, "I guess we'll have to go on with the interrogation then. Do you know anything about the whereabouts of the Mudbloods who so mysteriously escaped our grasp last night? And where were you during the night of question, from about midnight to one o'clock in the morning?"
"No, I was in Charms Club all night, we had our Charm-off, see?" Sarah said. She was terrified, but convincing.
Amycus turned to Nick.
"I don't know where they are, I was sleeping."
"In this report," he said, glaring suspiciously at Nick, "I have noted that you are close friends with confirmed and escaped Mudbloods Laura Donovan and Ian Szwidlo."
Nick's heart gave a wild leap. How did he know that? Had someone already confessed something about him? He would have to lie, yes we would…and quickly, before Amycus would resort to alternative, and much more dangerous means of questioning.
"Of course I'm friends with them," Nick said, trying to stop his voice from shaking, "I won't deny it. But I don't know where they are. They didn't tell me anything…"
"Very well," Amycus did not lift his gaze, "and I also know that you share a dormitory with said Mudblood. You claim to be sleeping during his escape, so naturally you didn't see him escape?"
"Of course not," Nick said, and then he added, "and I would've already told you if I knew anything."
"Right," Amycus said disbelievingly. He then rounded on Sarah, "So you were in Charms club, girly? I doubt that they have meetings in the early morning hours…"
"Well not normally, sir," Sarah squirmed in anxious discomfort, "I already told you, we were doing our Charm-off competition, and—"
"Can you confirm that?" Amycus interrupted rudely, "I don't trust Gryffindors, cowardly bunch of Mudbloods and blood-traitors if you ask me…"
Nick looked and saw that Sarah's face was tightening, contorted by anger. It was white and blotchy. She then continued, "You can talk to Sarah Doucette, she's the secretary of Charms club. She'll have my name on the roll-call and everything."
Nick thought this, on the whole, was a pretty convincing lie. Sarah Doucette, as well was in the D.A. and was helping them that night. Perhaps if they had fake meeting reports…
"Fine," Amycus snapped, "I suppose you're right. I interviewed Miss Doucette personally hours ago and she did confirm to be in Charms club last night. And now—would you care for some tea?"
He flicked his wand and two teacups appeared in front of them. Nick knew immediately, that there was definitely some Veritaserum floating around in the tea. He hoped Sarah knew that as well… He looked over and their gaze met. Choosing not to refuse Amycus, as he was looking more Cruciatus-prone every minute, they politely accepted the tea and, smiling, pressed the cups to their lips, careful to keep their lips sealed tightly shut.
Amycus' manner changed instantly. He snarled suddenly, "Where are the Muggle-borns?"
Nick knew immediately what to do. He had seen the effects of Veritaserum in his fourth year and tried to imitate the blank, glassy eyes of the truth-teller and the monotone voice.
"I do not know," he said calmly and firmly, setting the undrunk tea back down at the table. Sarah decided to imitate Nick and said the same. Amycus looked quite disappointed.
"Alright then," he said, "you may go…"
Without waiting for Amycus to change his mind, Sarah and Nick sprang to their feet and quickly exited Amycus' office. Once they were far out of Amycus' earshot, Sarah sighed deeply.
"That was a relief," she said warmly, "I thought for sure…"
"Your lie was best," Nick said admiringly, "Charms club, huh?"
"Sarah and I talked about it during Arithmacy. She's actually the secretary, so all she had to do was write fake minutes, and then we were safe."
"It was good thinking," Nick said, "I wonder why Snape wanted to see Mary and Daniel personally."
"Yeah," Sarah agreed, "it was…I hope they're okay…"
"We're fine," said a voice behind them. Mary and Daniel came walking up behind them. Mary smiled radiantly, "Hi Sarah, hi Nick! How did it go with Amycus?"
"Never mind him," Sarah said, waving her hand through the air, "How was Snape? He's so scary, how did you ever—"
"It was fine, actually," Daniel said, "Mary just said she was sleeping, and I said I was working on my Muggle Studies essay, and he bought it fine. Then he said we could go."
"Wow," Nick said, astonished. Snape was a bitter, horrible man… surely he would torture Mary and Daniel, they had parents in the Order, and he knew they did…and with Luna earlier…
"I'm going to the Room of Requirement," Mary said, "I said I'd meet Zoe there so we can work on our Charms homework. And I think Daniel's going too…"
"Can't," Daniel said quickly, "Mom and Joe sent me a new catalogue of Muggle cars that I wanted to look through, and it's got the NASCAR highlights… Joe said he found a new way to enchant the van too…"
He ran off, thoroughly excited, to his dormitory and Mary rolled her eyes.
As they set off to the sixth floor, Sarah asked Mary, interested, "What's 'NASCAR'?"
Mary laughed, "I keep forgetting you're pureblood. You don't know anything about Muggle sports, do you?"
"No, but hey," Sarah said, "You're pureblood too…how do you…?"
Mary laughed, "My parents act more like Muggles than most wizards and witches. See, they love cars. They're mechanics. And they're the best. They can fix anything. It's funny see, because they use magic to fix the cars mostly, so they make a pretty good living. But anyway, my dad's really into enchanting cars to make them do certain…um…things… But anyway, they were really mad when Daniel didn't do well on his O.W.L.s, you see, because his ambition is to be a mechanic, and he thinks Muggle Studies is the only important class for that."
"Not the way Alecto teaches it," Nick said darkly.
"Well, yeah," Mary agreed, "but he says the witch who taught it last, I thought her name was Burbage, I think, was really good. I think Daniel had a crush on her, actually." She giggled.
"Hold on," Sarah said, confused, "but there was something about a Professor Burbage retiring at the beginning of this year…"
"Yeah," Mary said, "it's weird, isn't it. Daniel's not interested in seventy year old witches…so she was really young I thought?"
"It is strange," Nick agreed, "So… 'NASCAR', Sarah, is a rather brutal Muggle sport that involves cars racing around tracks…"
Sarah's excitement, interest, and fear ("You mean, their cars can actually blow up during a race?!") about NASCAR lasted the whole way to the sixth floor. When they reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement, it was nearly dark.
"Let's make it quick," Nick said, "we've got to get down to dinner soon, or there won't be any food left…"
"Oh that doesn't matter, haven't you seen…" Mary stopped, "Oh right, well hold on a moment, you'll see. They've figured out how to get food to them now."
The splendid oak door to the Room of Requirement suddenly materialized in front of them and they pushed it open to find quite a pleasant sight. The Room had obviously evolved greatly since Nick had seen it last. Three nicely-finished wooden tables with several chairs in neat lines were sitting in the center of the room. The multi-colored banners of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and a small Slytherin flag for Demelza of course, hung above the tables. Several squashy armchairs and coffee tables were spread about, circling a cheery, grand fireplace. There were still doors that led to girls' and boys' dormitories in the back.
Suddenly we has engulfed in a warm hug by Laura. She was beaming at him. Ian was standing behind her, in conversation with Jordan, who was laying a particularly squishy arm chair, and was sporting several cuts, bruises, and casts. She looked quite cheerful, despite her ailments.
"How are you?" Laura asked nervously, "Christina was passing by earlier and said that you were all going to be interviewed by the Carrows and Snape… She was really distressed…"
"It's fine," Nick said, "Amycus interrogated Sarah and I—"
"Really?!," Laura gasped.
"Yes," Sarah said, sinking down into a vacant armchair next to Laura, "but we got out okay. Mary and Daniel got Snape though…"
"Excuse me," said a voice from behind them, "it's Professor Snape."
Demelza had arrived. "Can you stop disrespecting my Head of House, please?"
"How can you say that!?" Jordan screeched. It was surprising. Jordan, who had normally gotten along quite well with Demelza had started to yell. "He's the reason we're hiding in the castle! He's the reason poor Luna's alone and scared in Azkaban! He's the reason Dumbledore's dead! If you think he's go great, do and join him, Slytherin!"
Demelza looked shocked. Surprisingly she didn't retort, possible because Ian was looking quite murderous as well, waiting to step in and defend Jordan at Demelza's first comment.
"It's okay," she said stiffly, "I'll just go down to dinner in the Hall…it's fine, Nick…"
And without another word she swept away and left the Room of Requirement. Nick cast a reproving glance at Jordan.
"She's on our side," he said quietly, "her mother works for the order…"
"Fine, defend her, I knew you would," Jordan snapped, "you have an annoying quality of seeing everything good in people and nothing bad. It gets annoying, you know… not every one's good. We've got a traitor here!"
Several of the Muggle-borns looked around in alarm. Jordan looked happy at the amount of attention she was getting. Laura looked scandalized.
"Jordan!" she breathed, "I don't think anyone here would…"
"I know it for sure," Jordan said, ignoring her completely, "why else would Amycus seek me out and torture me? Someone must have told him. I know it… and if we don't do anything about the traitor soon, we'll be discovered! And I don't want to wait around for that to happ—"
"Please stop," Laura pleaded, "We have to depend on each other…"
"I think it's Ramirez," Ian said, "I've never liked her… a friendly Slytherin, ha! Like that would ever happen!"
"No," Nick said, "she couldn't…she wouldn't… she found Jordan with me, and helped bring her here!"
Jordan's face suddenly glowed, "Exactly! She knew where I was because she reported me to her dear old Snape herself!"
"And she just decided to save your life?" Nick asked coldly.
"Well, she had you with her, didn't she? She couldn't dare blow her cover," Jordan said slowly.
"Stop it now," Laura said, "We have to trust each other, it's what Dumbledore would've wanted… he always trusted people… even if they were in Slytherin…"
"And look how good that turned out for him," Ian said sarcastically.
"Yeah," Zoe said, "Dead at the hands of Demelza's beloved headmaster…"
"Yeah, I say we hold Demelza prisoner so she can't spy on us any more," Ian said mutinously.
"Ian," Nick said sharply, "You're my friend, but you go too far—"
"Does he?" Jordan asked. There was a general murmur of agreement at this.
Laura looked extremely anxious. Sarah had sunk even lower into her armchair was determinedly not looking at Jordan or Nick. Mary, however stepped between Jordan and Nick.
"Ummm," she said awkwardly, "why don't we get something to eat? Nick hasn't seen been through the passageway yet…"
The awkward silence was broke up immediately by Jade Morse, who had apparently been teaching several first years how to do a proper Flying Charm, and instead managed somehow to turn a frightened looking Katrina's hair into spaghetti. As Jordan rushed over to sort her out, with Ian's aide, Laura pulled Nick aside and Mary led them to the corner of the Room.
"This is the passageway… hold on…" Mary said, "Oh please…Neville…" Several large green carnivorous plants were blocking the way. She muttered something and flicked her wand and the plants were pushed neatly aside. "It's Neville," she explained, "he's always growing these things…and helps them along with Engorgement Charms, I s'pose… Ah, here we are!"
She pointed her wand at a small, broken painting. A smiling girl with black hair and brilliant blue eyes appeared suddenly, apparently walking up from behind the painting… Funny, it seemed to go on forever…
"Okay, we've got to climb through," Mary said. She eagerly jumped through the painting. Rather than hitting the wall, however, she kept walking, and her voice could be heard from afar saying, "Alright, come on!"
Laura went next and motioned for Nick to come last. He felt like and idiot, thinking he could climb through solid wall, but that's how he had felt the first time he had crossed over into Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Sighing, he heaved himself up and barely fit through the portrait. It was a rather long way down. He landed with a thud on a cold earthen floor. From throughout the portrait's glass, he could see Jordan yelling angrily at Jade, who managed to turn Katrina's friend's hair into yarn.
"Come on," Mary said, "Follow me!"
The passageway was narrow and long, and Nick shivered as he grasped his robes. The air was damp and freezing. Mary was walking in front, following the portrait-girl, who turned and looked at Nick. For a moment, Nick saw those brilliant blue eyes and somehow they looked familiar…
"Laura," he began slowly, "those eyes… who is that in the painting?"
"Hmmm," she said, "I'm not sure. Does she look familiar to you?"
"Her eyes," Nick said, "They're so blue… they remind me of…well… Dumbledore's, to tell you the truth."
"Weird," Laura said, "They do kinda, don't they…"
Suddenly she gasped. "Nick!" she exclaimed, "I know who that is!" She pulled out a worn Daily Prophet from her robes. "It's here! The Dumbledore family photo! In Rita Skeeter's new book!"
Nick looked over the photograph. A man, tall, solemn, and handsome was standing, smiling carelessly up at him, his arm around a large but beautiful woman with sparkling blue eyes and dark hair that fell limply over her cheeks. She had her arms around two boys who looked to be about in their late teens. Grinning broadly, with fair blond hair like his father, and brilliant blue eyes like his mother, stood the teenage Albus Dumbledore. Nick had to laugh out loud at the thought of a teenage Dumbledore. He was considerably more lean and was missing the half-moon spectacles, twinkling smile, wrinkles, crooked wizard hat, and three foot long beard, yet still… it was Dumbledore. Next to him stood another boy, a few years younger than Dumbledore, by the looks of him. He had sandy hair and blue eyes, and was considerably plumper than Dumbledore. But what interested Nick most was the small little baby girl that Dumbledore's brother held in his arms. She was looked barely older than two in the photograph, but there was no mistaking the brilliant blue eyes and curly black hair. Nick read the caption below her, it said: THE DUMBLEDORE FAMILY (left to right) PERCIVAL, KENDRA, ALBUS, ABERFORTH, and ARIANA.
Ariana Dumbledore. Nick never knew Dumbledore had a sister, let alone an entire family… but of course, he had to, but still…
"We're here!" Mary said loudly, and Laura snatched the Prophet away from Nick and stuffed it back into the pocket of her robes. A small square of light shone from up above and Mary climbed up on the earthen wall and through the square. This must be the other portrait. Laura climbed up and disappeared after Jordan. Soon, Nick was left alone with the portrait of Ariana Dumbledore. Before Nick could say anything. She smiled softly and motioned for him to go up. Nick obeyed and stepped out through the other end of the portrait into a very dingy and dusty bar.
It was the Hog's Head. He had been there before in his fifth year, when they had first established the D.A. The squat old bartender grunted and came up to them. He was hunched over and was wearing a greasy, threadbare old apron. He waved grumpily to Mary.
"Hullo," he grunted, "Mary is it, eh? And Laura? And I don't think I know this 'un…"
"I'm Nick," Nick said shortly. He was never fond of the Hog's Head bartender, and always taken Professor Flitwick's advice of bringing his own glasses on the rare occasions that he set foot in the bar.
"Nice ta meet ya," the bartender said, wiping white crust out of his—Nick gasped—blazing blue eyes. Before he could say anything, Mary said, "Well, hi, Aberforth! Sorry we didn't come during the official mealtimes, but…"
"It's fine, I guess," Aberforth wheezed, "Just as long as you don't get any more here. The Death Eaters' have set up hundreds of enchantments all over Hogsmeade. Think they'll catch the Potter boy, but he's not stupid. He fled when You-Know-Who put the price on 'is head—"
"You're Dumbledore's brother!" Nick blurted out suddenly.
Aberforth looked seriously annoyed. "What's it to you—er—Nick, was it?"
"Yes, and that girl in the photo's Ariana, isn't it?"
"Been reading Rita Skeeter, have you?" he growled
"I—er—no, I mean yes…I mean—er—I just looked at the family photograph in the paper," Nick said nervously.
Apparently not wanting to discuss the subject further, Aberforth quickly said, "Okay, so, you came for food, what'll you have?"
"Three butterbeers, please," Laura said politely, "and how about some chicken…we haven't eaten any dinner yet."
"Sure," Aberforth growled and sulked away into his kitchen.
"He's creepy," Nick whispered, "I'm not sure if I like him very much…"
"Ah well," Mary sighed, "he was in the Order, so it's safe to eat here. The Room of Requirement certainly seemed to think so, anyway."
"What do you mean was in the Order?" Nick asked, "did he quit?"
"No," Laura said sadly, "a lot of people have given up. They think the war's lost. Most of the Muggle-borns went into hiding… It makes me think… what if the Death Eaters go to my p-parents and k-k-kill them or t-t-torture them into telling where I am…?"
She burst into tears and buried her face into her hands. Mary placed a comforting arm over her. "My parents'll be in trouble too," she said sadly, "they may be pureblood but they act like Muggles and blood-traitors are next to Muggle-borns for the Death Eaters…"
"We have to get the Muggle-born students in the Room of Requirement into hiding!" Nick said desperately, "They have to get to their families! They have to be safe! This pub's in Hogsmead, why don't we just do Apparation, you know, and do Side-Along for the younger ones so we can escape from here!"
"Couldn't if you tried, kid." Aberforth had returned, clutching several platters of fried chicken and pulled three dusty bottles of butterbeer from beneath his counter. As he banged the butterbeer on the counter and Laura, Mary, and Nick pulled out some silver coins and handed them to Aberforth, Mary explained.
"See, that's what we thought we could do when we found out about Hogsmeade," she explained, "but You-Know-Who's put like twenty Death Eaters to guard Hogsmeade. They have charms and they even have an anti-Apparation Charm all around the whole town. And none of us have Invisibility Cloaks, and even if you take one step outside the doors after a certain time, the entire force of Death Eaters shows up at your doorstep. It's scary."
"It looks like we're stuck," Laura said, still crying slightly, and choking on some butterbeer, "but the Room of Requirement's been good to us so far…and Neville's really good at controlling it so we know the Carrows can't find it. Oh, but what if Jordan and Ian are right? What if there's a t-t-traitor?! Then we're doomed!"
"We have to trust each other, Laura," Nick said, "Demelza can't be, she couldn't, she wouldn't!"
"We can't give up," Mary said, "The Order isn't finished—"
"Excuse me," Aberforth said from behind his counter, "young lady, the Order is finished. It's done. You-Know-Who's won."
"It's not finished!" Nick yelled, "if the adults have given up than we will fight! I refuse to give in to Voldemort—" The response was typical at the use of Voldemort's name. Aberforth smashed the glass he was rubbing with his dirty rag. Mary yelped, chocking on fried chicken, and Laura spilled her butterbeer down her robes.
"Oh come on," Nick said fiercely, "It's only a name, and Dumbledore used it, Harry uses it, and Demelza does!"
"Hmmm," Mary said sarcastically, "let's take a look at those people you named… well for one, Dumbledore's dead at the hands of a Death Eater that he was foolish enough to trust…"
"Demelza could be a," Laura looked around nervously, as if to find Demelza standing behind her, brandishing her wand, firing curses at her, "traitor."
"And the famous Harry Potter's abandoned us," Aberforth said, "when we needed him most."
Nick was enraged. His voice shook with rage "First of all, Demelza is NOT A TRAITOR!" Laura started crying once more. "And Harry's the bravest, most selfless person I've ever known, and he would NEVER ABANDON US! He says Dumbledore's left him a mission, and even though we don't know what it was, I'm sure it will get rid of VOLDEMORT! There—happy?! V-O-L-D-E-M-O-R-T!"
Mary looked sullen and sulky, Laura's face was buried in her hands and Aberforth looked vaguely at Nick. "Come on," Nick said angrily, "we're leaving. He pushed his butterbeer aside and grabbed Mary's and Laura's arms and strode off through Ariana's portrait. They walked silently to the end of the passageway, Laura looked nervously at Nick as though he would blow up and yell at them once more.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I'm just tired of everyone giving up because it's getting tough. Voldemort's gaining power, but he's not immortal, we can still defeat him. Harry's obviously trying to now!"
"I know, Nick," Mary said, "We'll hang on. We'll wait for when Harry returns to Hogwarts from his mission and then we'll fight and take back Hogwarts from the Carrows. It'll happen, don't worry."
"Laura," Nick said kindly, "I'm sure your parents will be alright. Why don't you write a letter to them. I'll take it to the Owlery for you and send it with a school owl, okay?"
"Alright," Laura said, "I sure do hope they're okay…"
They climbed quickly through the portrait on the other end of the passageway and fell out into the Room of Requirement. Many of the students had gone to bed already and the embers in the fireplace were smoldering and cracking away into nothingness.
"Well good night," Laura said quickly, "I've got to shower and change…" She strode off towards another door on the right that Nick had not noticed before, but realized it must be where the showers were located. Jordan and Ian were sitting in the corner in arm chairs that were pulled next to each other. They were conversing mutinously with Nikki Bouchard and Dan Honeycutt. When they saw Nick approach they stopped their fervent whispering and looked up as if Nick were about to curse them.
"Honestly," Nick whispered to Mary as they approached the door, "I thought we were all friends…"
"It's just this war," Mary said firmly, "and they're tired of being cooped up in the Room of Requirement just waiting for the Carrows to discover them."
"Well I wish they would stop," Nick growled, "they're going to tear each other apart. We have to stay together, or we can't even hope to overtake Voldemort."
Mary and Nick said good-bye and went to their separate Common Rooms and by the time Nick reached the Ravenclaw Tower, everyone was already in their beds. He quickly lay down on his bed and pulled out his textbooks.
But it was no use. He couldn't quite grasp Arithmacy. Perhaps it was because of the lateness of the hour, or perhaps his thoughts had been ripping away at him, tearing, braking into his calm, collected pool of concentration. He had known Demelza since he had first set foot into Hogwarts… it just did not seem possible that Demelza Nason Ramirez would betray her friends and classmates whom she had befriended and worked with for six long years. But then again, a thought ripped into Nick's brain, She was a Slytherin, and Snape was a Slytherin. Dumbledore had trusted Snape, and had worked happily along side of him for years, and he had been ultimately been killed by he who he placed his trust in. Could it be the same for Demelza? Was Jordan right in saying that Nick's "annoying" ability of seeing good in everyone was blinding him? Could it be that one of the classmates whom he had worked with for six years would betray them to Voldemort?