Secrets and Hunts
Pansy was as good as her word, and was soon helping Daphne and Hermione to go through the hundreds of documents seized by the Ministry. A few days after she started, an elf appeared during class to announce a woman wishing to speak to her most urgently. Under Dumbledore's rule, the elves stayed out of business unless called upon. Harry had called a meeting of them all when he had taken over to give them new instructions. An elf now sat at the doors to the castle with a list of all those supposed to be meeting Harry or the staff. If a person was not on the list, then they would be refused entry until they had one. They had standing orders, however, to let the Aurors, Madam Bones and Fudge in without question. The woman in question had arrived and informed the elf that she understood of the rules, but something had occurred that had given her no time to make an appointment with either Charity or Bubbles. Both of the young Goblins had been appointed as secretaries to Harry and the staff. Any entries made in the appointments book were copied to the list and adjusted accordingly.
"Ah, Pansy…" said the woman. "You are to pack your clothes and all of your other possessions at once. You are to be married in the morning to Lord Carrow"
"But I don't want to marry him" Pansy protested.
"You have no choice" the woman said. "As your mother, I am ordering you to do so by means of family magic… and this" Pansy's mother cast a quick Imperio on her daughter so she complied.
#
"Miss Greengrass!" McGonagall protested as Daphne barged into her classroom one lesson. "I assume you have a good reason for coming in here without knocking"
"Sorry, Professor" Daphne said. "I just passed Pansy going to the entrance hall with her trunk floating behind her. I asked what she was doing, and she said her mother had commanded her to marry that Carrow bloke"
"Excuse me" Harry said to McGonagall. He got up from his place and then followed the Slytherin out of the room and ran along the corridor.
#
"Oh yes" Mrs Parkinson said. A strong golden light emanated from Pansy's womb. "You are both a virgin and at your most fertile for the month. You will be most perfect for your marriage to Lord Carrow"
"Yes, Mother" Pansy said woodenly.
"You will have no need for an education any more. Lord Carrow will use you as he wills in order to create his offspring. I shall take you home to be shaved around the vagina as Lord Carrow demands"
"Yes, Mother"
"Release Pansy at once" Harry said, wand out and advancing on the pair.
"This is a family matter, Potter" Mrs Parkinson said. "You would do well to stay out of this"
"Family business?" Harry put on a frown. "I heard you talking about selling your daughter for profit. I know exactly what will happen to her tonight, and I don't think that is going to happen. She is under the protection of the House of Potter and of Hogwarts. As both head of the family and the Headmaster of this school, I order you to release her from your agreement at once" he came to halt a few dozen feet from the pair.
"You do not know what you are messing with, boy" Mrs Parkinson spat at Harry. "You have no right to interfere with things that involve your betters"
"I have every right to interfere when it involves rape" he replied. "Pansy has expressed a desire not to marry Lord Carrow. She doesn't want to be used as a baby making machine, and neither does she want to be whored around the Death Eaters whom you and Lord Carrow are members of"
"You think that you could take me on?"
"Yes"
"You and whose army?"
"No army" Harry replied. "Just me"
"Fine then…" Mrs Parkinson said, and waved her wand several times. Pansy was released from the spell and thrown backwards into a stone wall. As Harry dealt with her injuries first of all, Pansy's mother cast another spell that took everything that was bought with her and her husband's money. This included the clothes that Pansy was wearing, and within seconds she was completely naked. "Keep the slut if want, Potter. I'm only too sure that she'll spread her legs for you" and with that the elf that was with her apperated them both away.
"Dobby!" Harry called.
"Yes, Master Harry Potter?" Dobby appeared out of thin air.
"I need you to get one of my cloaks. The long winter one should do please" Harry said. While the elf popped away, Harry awoke the knocked out girl and helped her to sit up. Pansy had gasped in horror and put one leg over the other and put her arms over her chest.
"Where's my mother?" asked the girl.
"We had a bit of a argument, and I don't think she'll be wanting you again" Harry said as Dobby returned with his long winter cloak. "Thank you Dobby. Would you mind taking us both to the hospital wing please?" and the elf took them there at once.
"Mr Potter, Miss…" Pomfrey frowned as she found that she could not say Pansy's surname.
"She's taken my name away" Pansy said with a horrified expression.
"By the power of Greyskull" Harry exclaimed – gaining confused looks from both the others. "Right, well Miss Parkinson here needs a quick look over, Poppy. She got slammed into a wall"
"Very well, Headmaster" Pomfrey said. "May I ask why Miss… your friend is wearing your winter cloak?"
"Basically, her mother has taken back everything that was got with her money. This seemingly included Pansy's clothing and other items" Harry replied.
"I'll have to leave Hogwarts…" Pansy went into a sudden panic at the thought. "I don't have any money for books, supplies… I don't even have any clothes"
"You look better in that cloak then I do" Harry said with a smile. "You just get seen to, Pansy, and we'll come up with something later"
"Why are you helping me?" asked the Slytherin through tears that now ran down her face.
"I told you Pansy, that you are now my friend. Friends help each other out when another is in trouble" Harry gave her a comforting hug before leaving her in the care of Pomfrey. He called for Dobby and asked him to have Hermione, Daphne, McGonagall and Griphook meet him in the Headmaster's office in a few minutes.
#
Harry had been able to calm his anger before the others gathered in the office. He couldn't believe how casually Pansy's mother had been in discarding her own daughter. Then again, he thought bitterly, the Dursleys would have done the same long ago to him.
"What would you like to discuss with us, Headmaster?" McGonagall asked, taking her seat as she spoke.
"I don't know how much you know of, but Pansy Parkinson has been disowned from her house, and everything that was owned by her taken back" Harry began. Daphne went wide eyed and gasped as he knew she would. Being a member of a Pureblood family, the disownment from one's family was the ultimate punishment, the girl knew.
"Is she alright?" asked the Slytherin.
"A little histerical, and a little bit afraid of what is going to happen to her" Harry replied. "She got slammed into a wall after being released from an Imperio, but Pomfrey will take care of anything. What we need to do is sort out stuff for Pansy to have"
"She will need clothing, make up, personal things, school robes, footwear, supplies… all sorts of items" Hermione said.
"That will cost money" Griphook said.
"Almost everything does" Harry replied dryly. "Daphne, what Pansy needs right now is a friend. Tomorrow, take her to Diagon Alley and get her everything she wants. Griphook, I'd like you to give them one of those pouches, please. Professor, get hold of Olivander and ask him to come here tonight if possible. Also, please send a message to the Ministry asking for Aurors to come here. Pansy has to be interviewed. Hermione, would you mind please looking up the laws pertaining placing somebody under the protection of a Head of House? I want to get everything formal before sinister things start to happen"
"I'll loan her some of my things for tonight and tomorrow" Daphne said.
"Thank you, Daph" Harry said. "Let me know what the mood is like in Slytherin once the news gets around" and the girl nodded.
"I'll make sure of it" she said.
#
"Mr Potter, you wished to see me?" Fudge said an hour or so later.
"I didn't actually ask for you, Minister" Harry frowned. "However… Pansy Parkinson has been cast out from her family"
"I see"
"And, not only that, she has lost her name" Harry said.
"Then how come you can say Miss… name?" Fudge asked. The old family magic stopped him from saying Pansy's former surname.
"Dunno" Harry shrugged, "Maybe magic is scared of me. Pansy was put under an Imperio after telling her mother she didn't want to marry some guy called Carrow. At the very-"
"Excuse me for interrupting you, but did you say Carrow?" Fudge asked.
"Yeah"
"Mr Potter…"
"Harry, please…"
"Harry" Fudge smiled slightly, "What you do not know is that the Carrow family have been moving a lot of money around, and are acting as agents for Lucius Malfoy whilst he is detained at Azkaban. Madam Bones and myself believe that they are putting their assets into touchable coinage for an upcoming event"
"Like a war" Harry said grimly. "You have to pay the followers, and you have to give tribute to your Master"
"We also know that Lord Carrow paid the Parkinson family the sum of six hundred thousand Galleons. I got an urgent note before coming here that the money was returned in full" Fudge said.
"How?"
"That Goblin who used to work under Griphook" Fudge chuckled. "Seems he has had enough of all the corruption going on, and has turned into a sort of spy"
"Huh" Harry grunted a reply. "How soon could you get an arrest warrant?" he asked.
"An hour" Fudge replied. "Maybe two. Who do you want them for?" he asked.
"Both of the Parkinsons" Harry said. "And you might as well get that Carrow bloke in as well" he said.
"That will be a problem" Fudge said.
"How so?" Harry wondered.
"Any attempt on arresting any of them will be blocked by the Chief Warlock" and Harry swore slowly and with feeling.
"Well you can certainly get the Parkinsons arrested and questioned" he said. "Pansy was being forced to do things against her will. Add to that fact Mrs Parkinson was using one of the Unforgivables, and you've got her. I am sure that she told her husband, and he agreed to that - making him guilty of conspiracy…" Harry shook his head and smiled. "Sorry" he apologised, "I think I'm overstepping my authority there" but Fudge waved him off.
"It should have been stopped years ago" Fudge said, "But the old families got together, for the most part, and blocked the changes. If you could get over half of the families to side with you, there would be problem in turning the law out. Going back to the matter at hand… your friend will need a place to live" he said.
"I rather think that Daphne and her family will take her in" Harry said.
"With her parent's under arrest, what do we do about her sister?" Fudge asked.
"What sister?" Harry's eyes narrowed.
#
Mr Parkinson was sat in his study drinking a fine Firewhiskey when the fireplace flared up. He assumed it was a fellow Death Eater or a business contact of some kind, and he was therefore surprised when Harry came out followed by Hermione, Madam Bones, three Aurors, Pansy and Daphne.
"YOU!" he pointed at his former daughter. "GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT!" he shouted. "YOU HAVE BROUGHT THIS FAMILY INTO DISGRACE, AND I CAST YOU OUT OF THE HOME FOR GOOD"
"Michael Parkinson, you are hereby charged with Conspiracy to Use Unforgivables" Madam Bones said. "You will hand over your wand" but Parkinson tried to cast a spell on Pansy – only to have Harry's wand jammed painfully into his jaw.
"Drop the wand" and the stick fell out of his fingers and to the floor. "That's a good boy" and he picked it up and broke the wand with a loud snapping noise over his knee. Everyone in the room knew that Harry had just committed an offence himself by snapping another's wand.
"Do you realise what you have just done?" asked Madam Bones.
"Yes" Harry replied. "And it felt damned good as well" he looked at Pansy. "Where would your sister be?"
"Either in the library or her bedroom" Pansy said.
"Let's go there" said Harry. The teens headed out and left the Aurors and Madam Bones to deal with Mr Parkinson.
#
The place was more of a manor then a house, and they climbed the long and winding staircase to the upper floors. They went along the third floor landing and stopped in front of a heavy wooden door.
"There's a lot of wards around the door" said Daphne. "I remember being told that once"
"I can't tell if they are active or not" Pansy said. Hermione cast a few detection charms and found them to be on an idling mode.
"After you…" Harry opened the door and moved to let Pansy in first.
"Fliss?" Pansy looked around the room carefully.
"Panny!" a little girl came rushing into Pansy's arms. "Mummy and Daddy said you couldn't come home again. Have you been a bad girl?"
"Yes, but I've been punished already for it" Pansy glanced at the others.
"Yes…" Harry said.
"Bad" Hermione added.
"A very bad, bad, bad, bad girl indeed" Daphne said and Fliss giggled.
"They are funny, Panny" she said. "You are funnierest Daffy Duck"
"I should hope so" Harry said. "Spent enough time at Clown Academy"
"Daffy Duck?" Hermione whispered.
"Not a word, Granger… Not a damned word"
"Listen, Fliss, Mummy and Daddy have been very bad and naughty people" Pansy said. "They might have to go to jail for a while"
"Do I have to go with them as well?" asked Fliss.
"No you don't, sweetie" Harry said with a smile. "Now you look very grown up, but we'd all get into trouble if you were left here on your own. So… would you like to come and stay with your sister?"
"I get to go to grown up school?" Fliss asked.
"Not to be in the lessons" Hermione said. "But you'd have to have all of your normal lessons" she added.
"And I get to stay with Panny?"
"What do you think, Harry?" Pansy asked.
"Hmm…" Harry sighed. "I don't know… I just don't know. Do you think she might be trouble?" he asked Daphne.
"She looks as if she might be" the girl agreed.
"I can be good!" Fliss burst out, and she sat up straighter as if to prove it.
"Okay then… But if you are naughty, we'll turn you into a frog or something" Harry laughed.
# # # # #
"Right then" Madam Bones said to all of her Aurors. "We have a 1ft 2in rabbit on the loose. According to information we have been given, it is holding a woman named Mrs Twinkle as a possible hostage. Records have no knowledge of such a witch, but they are checking known squibs as we speak"
"What else do we know?" asked a Senior Auror.
"We believe that the creature has the ability to remain hidden in plain sight" Bones said.
"Natural confusion abilities?" asked another.
"That is what we think" Bones said. "I have also been informed that this creature is incredibly stealth like, and likes to throw things or attack you with its paws. DMC has nothing like it on file, but you can assume that it is very hostile so don't do anything sudden – remember that it has a hostage" Bones looked at her Aurors. "Dismiss"
#
MINISTRY TELLS OF NEW TERROR
#
DANGEROUS CREATURE RUNS WILD
#
SQUIB TAKEN AS HOSTAGE
#
THONGS PULLED UP AS KNICKERS TAKEN DOWN
"They have looked all over the country for those two" Harry said, putting the paper on the table.
"How hard can it be for the Ministry to find a rabbit holding a squib hostage" Hermione shook her head. Pansy was walking past with her sister and Daphne, and the two Parkinsons seemed to be having a little bit of an argument.
"What seems to be the trouble?" asked McGonagall.
"Fliss is just upset that she can not find some of her stuffed toys" Pansy replied.
"What do they look like?" asked Harry. "We'll round up the ghosts and have them search the castle from top to bottom"
"People are already looking for them" said Fliss matter of factly.
"I think I will award them some house points" Harry said.
"Nobody at the school is looking for them" Fliss said, then filled her mouth full of toast and jam.
"Then who is finding them? What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, seeing Harry fall out of his chair with laughter. Most of the staff were cracking smiles or openly laughing too.
"Ha ha ha… Dob… ha ha ha" Harry had tears running down his face from laughing so hard. "Dobby…!" he managed to get out. The elf appeared and was confused why Harry was laughing so much.
"Master Harry called Dobby?"
"Would you… ha ha ha… oh Jesus Christ… ha ha ha… get ha ha ha… Madam Bones here?" Harry was completely uncontrollable.
"But get a Calming Draught from the Hospital Wing first and bring it here, thank you" Hermione said. "Now then" she said after Harry was more or less calm, "What exactly is going on here?"
#
"Mr Potter, as much as I know we have things to do, I have a massive search to carry out" Bones said as she met with Harry, Hermione, Pansy and Fliss in the Headmaster's office half an hour later.
"You can call off the search" Harry said. The Calming Draught had taken the laughing fit down to a mere belly laugh. "There has been a huge misunderstanding"
"What do you mean?" the Director of the DMLE asked.
"It seems that my sister sent the letter in that started this whole search" Pansy said.
"She did?"
"I was only doing what Pansy and Mummy and Daddy told me to do" Fliss said in a grown up voice. "They told me that if I knew of missing people, then I had to tell the Aurors about it at once. I tried to use a floo, but I didn't know where to go, so I wrote a letter instead and asked one of those nice Owls to take it to the Aurors" she went on.
"You know and started the search?" Bones was a little confused.
"Trust me" Hermione said, "When I say you'll be needing a drink after hearing Fliss's tale"
"When we got here, I couldn't find Mr Bunny and Mrs Twinkle. I looked in all the trunks, but I just couldn't find them at all" Fliss said. "So after I couldn't use the floo, I wrote a letter to the Aurors. I hoped they could find them"
"The rabbit is called Mr Bunny?" Bones was getting more confused by the second. "It has gone off with a Mrs Twinkle? Are they having an affair?"
"Madam Bones…" Pansy took a breath, "The search you have expanded time, effort and money on has been for two of Fliss's missing stuffed toys" and this was followed by a long silence in the office, and tumbleweed skittered through and past them all.
Thump
"Mr Potter, I'd like a double" Madam Bones said. She was banging her head on the desk and pointing towards the decanters of Firewhiskey. Harry poured out the requested measurement and the witch downed it in one. "If you will excuse me" she said as she opened the door, I must return to the Ministry at once". Just as the door closed, the remaining four in the room heard her mutter. "I'm getting too old for this shit"
#
To Fliss's great joy, the two were found after slipping under the bed. Nobody seemed to mind the great expense that had been incurred by the hunt for the missing toys. Fudge, however, had to go to the Prime Minister and the Queen to explain that the search was all a grave misunderstanding. Worse still was Fudge having to call another session of the ICW to explain it all as he had, with good intentions, told them of a dangerous creature on the run with a hostage. All of the papers dedicated the front of their next morning editions to printing Fliss's letter to the Aurors.
Dear Nice Auror People,
I want to tell you about two missing people. One is a rabbit about a foot tall, and it is holding a person called Mrs Twinkle. The rabbit can hide while in plain view, and it likes to throw things and attack people when frightened – so be very careful when you find them both
Yours Sincerely
Fliss
Age 8
The thing did not go and finish just then, as Madam Bones played along and told Fliss that several Aurors who found her missing toys were to be decorated. All of the DMLE had been told the true nature about the search, and they were more then happy to go with the flow. The three Aurors sat talking to Fliss for an hour in the suite of rooms she shared with her sister.
"Oh wait a minute" the girl said suddenly. "Dobby!" and the elf appeared.
"Little Miss wants something?" Dobby had been asked by Harry to respond to any calls that Fliss made to him.
"I want some wallpaper and some paste" the girl said.
"At once" Dobby said – dubious about the request. He had a bad feeling about this, but he had his instructions. As soon as he came back with the items plus a large brush, Fliss started flinging it at the Aurors.
"Cut that out!" cried one.
"Stop them, Dobby" and Fliss watched as Dobby stunned the three. "Thank you" and then resumed her work – humming a little tune as she went along.
#
"ARGGGGGGGH!" the screaming was heard all over the castle. Because of the high pitch, passing students thought it was Fliss and stormed the room – then stepped back and sent for Harry, Pansy, McGonagall and Madam Bones once more.
"What have you done?" shrieked Pansy – going red in the face with a mixture of fury and embarrassment. All three of the Aurors now wore wall paper over their uniform robes with the excess paste in great splotches or in puddles on the floor. They had also been subjected to very bad hair cuts and all three – male – Aurors wore heavy eye shadow, eyeliner, foundation and lipstick all over their faces. Harry's first reaction was to assume that somebody had started a Rocky Horror club at Hogwarts.
"I did what Madam Bones told me I could do" Fliss said, tears forming in her eyes and running down her tiny face.
"To turn them into drag queens?" McGonagall asked.
"She said I could decorate them, so that is just what I did" the girl said, then flung herself into the back of her sister and attempted to hide from the Aurors.
"Mr Potter? I would like to request that you keep Fred and George Weasley away from this girl. A buffer zone of at least nine thousand miles should just do the trick" Bones shook her head. She knew that the winds of change were blowing harder now, but a whirlwind in the form of an 8 year old girl seemed to be moving in.
"Would you agree that she has been naughty?" Harry asked.
"I would say so!" spat one of the Aurors. He took a step forwards and then slid to the floor in a puddle of paste. "I'm going to kill her!" he moaned.
"Oh oh" Fliss exclaimed and ran out of the room at high speed with her sister following. Everybody found it funny as the entire magical community was living in a state of fear regarding Voldemort. Harry had it on good authority that the Dementors had been heard to chuckle after reading about what Fliss had done.
#
The long awaited duel took place, and both Harry and Lupin had carried out checks for a hidden eight year old girl with wallpaper paste in the class room.
"Good Morning" Lupin said as his class filed in. "The Headmaster has kindly agreed to take part in a duel to show you what actual combat is like" he cast shields around his class while Harry took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He wondered what Lupin had in store for the demonstration.
"Ready" he called.
"To die?" Lupin muttered under his breath. "Begin!" he said loudly, and simulated Death Eaters appeared in a flash of light. Harry's first reaction was to bring up a shield followed by stunning one of them.
"Nice" Harry thought. A simulated Killing Curse flew through the shield and hit the wall behind Harry – causing him to drop and roll. He came to a kneel and fired off a couple of quick stunners which were to put them off and unskittle their attacks more then anything else. He had to admit that this was very realistic indeed. He created a stone wall that took a few impacts – long enough to catch his breath. Just as the wall broke, Harry's vision was clouded by completed darkness. This was not part of the planned fight, but perhaps Lupin merely wished to have Harry react to a sudden change in circumstances. He listened closely as he heard footsteps coming towards his position, and suddenly screamed as something hit him in the face. Whatever it was had splattered all over and was burning his eyes. Closing them made no difference to his pain, but he heard nothing from Lupin about stopping the fight.
"Hashvarda" he heard from his right and then he felt nothing as he was slammed into the wall and knocked out.