Hi Thyge, many thanks for delurking over on Chronicles! My commiserations for your loss too, and thanks - as well as for saying nice things - for your insights, which I hadn't considered but which make sense. People respond as best they may to the situation they find themselves in and adapt. I write as I see people... looks like it works!

Chapter 11

Pearl thanked Lionel for his quick thinking.

"Oh it's what I'm there for" said Lionel cheerfully. "We were thinking, actually, of asking if you and Ming and Gorbrin and Erica would like to hang with our gang and see if you fit in with us; you were most splendidly brave you know. I heard you sussed out that Draco and Harry were there and kept the creep off balance by revealing he'd made a big mistake!"

"Yes, I didn't think it was a good idea to mention until I was fairly sure there were rescuers there" said Pearl. "I wasn't sure if I was any value alive if I wasn't Erica. Why did they think I was her? She doesn't look a bit like me."

Dell laughed.

"Well you look like most Malfoys, more than she does I reckon. Colouring wise. They were lucky they didn't get Erica though; I'm not sure Lucius would stop and wait for aurors to get there. And HE'd use a house elf to find their blood-bound little mistress and rescue her; you can tell the creep who hired them hasn't got any house elves. 'Cos it works for freed ones that stay with their family too."

"I didn't know that; we don't have any house elves either" said Pearl. "I don't know about joining your gang; but I haven't got any real friends in my house because I didn't want to join Mei's gang. They're a bit too excitable, though I don't mind joining in with fun things like the concert. Ming's in his sister's gang though so you might not get any joy there. Can I think about it?"

"Sure; no pressure" said Lionel.

Gorbrin and Erica when approached were both flattered.

"But no offence, I don't think we're joining sort of people" said Gorbrin with a quick glance at Erica. "Leo asked if we were going to form a core of marauders in our year but we're not really maraudery type people; I'm afraid we're a bit Ravenclawish 'cos we're sort of too interested in our academic pursuits to really want to do japes and things, you know? Without being priggish –I don't THINK we're priggish – we'd rather not. Though thanks most awfully for asking; and we'd not mind doing things like keeping cave and things."

"That's chill" said Dell. "And thanks for the offer of helping peripherally. If we get involved in doing the sort of stuff the main group and your dad were doing, having people to watch our backs and pass flasks of cocoa would be well handy too."

"Oh yes; willingly" said Erica "You know what dad was doing?"

"Yes, we were backup to marauders and co" said Lionel. "Heavy magic rituals! You must be well proud of him taking all that risk."

"He was taking risk? He never told us" said Gorbrin. Lionel smote his head.

"Ah. Sorry. I think I just earned a bad mark from Lucius" he said "Well, nothing bad happened and now House Elves don't have to worry about compulsions."

Lucius had explained what the ritual had been in aid of; and his children were proud of him!

Lionel's blood group discussed matters; and decided to invite Mischa in as Hagrid was his adopted father, which meant Vasilica too, in addition to Pearl and leave Ming to his sister. They could blood them in later as seemed appropriate; but just get them used to working with the gang for now.

oOoOo

Lucius was receiving disconcerting repercussions from the blood sacrifice he made.

The first intimation was a faint 'pop' as he sat at breakfast, and a raggedy fey elf with blue skin appeared, and bowed profoundly and deeply.

"Quinn at your service, mighty wizard, begging fer t' serve the one whose blood makes us free!" squeaked the elf.

"Uh… well if you'd like to work for me I'm delighted I'm sure" said Lucius.

"Feckless bunch these unseelie free elveses is" said Reedy, one of his elves banging down a plate.

"Well if he needs protection from the highfey will you really withhold that Reedy?" said Lucius

Reedy sniffed.

"No I suppose not" she said. "If they is tracking down the blood sacrifice we is going to be knee deep in the little buggers though."

"Surely not!" said Lucius.

Since there was another 'pop' and Sheeli declared HER desire to stay with the one whose blood made them free Lucius began to wonder.

"Free elves should, uh, have their own community" said Lucius "And decide their own manner of self regulation within it as well as abiding by the law of the land… I have a property adjoining the garden which has just become vacant… the tenant has died….so I shall make that over to the use of free elves providing they abide by the law of the realm and do not act in an unseelie manner."

"MUCH better" said Reedy. "Keep the scum under control."

Elves apparently had blood snobbery too.

Lucius was glad he had taken that decision.

Elves and part elves of all hues and sizes were to appear off and on for weeks begging that their hero and rescuer should take care of them. Some were Irish, some were Scots and Draco on visiting recognised some as those who had been part of the hoard against Hogwarts. He recommended a bit of legilimensy in case of spies, though they should be bound by the laws of hospitality.

"Does this mean I'm likely to have to fend off a full blown invasion of the wild hunt from the Gaelic lands wanting them back?" demanded Lucius.

"These can track you; it's a very personal thing that your blood made them free" said Draco "And it is a point of fey law, I believe, that any man is free to leave his chief but if he returns he then faces possible reprisals, especially if he has broken a contract. I'll get the group down at the weekend to put up major wards around you and them. The babes are vulnerable. We may have to make a quidditch or hurley challenge at some point. Ruddy fey! I thought we were shut of them when we played the kingdom near Hogwarts. If I were you, I'd ask Dobby to look them over too and when I've made a ceremonial visit and legilimensed them to pieces we'll compare notes and invite the more trainable ones and the females with infants into your household. Trained into less wild ways they can go back to lead the others. Then you'll have the start of a disciplined group to stand by us against the wild hunt if need be. Sorry this has happened dad; none of us would have guessed it."

Lucius shrugged.

"It's happened; and I can't turn them away. We have some good wards anyway because of the fey blood; I looked up some family records, we've always been considered vulnerable until our seventh birthday. I'll strengthen them. Mind you, bloodgroup magic I'd not turn down. We have pixies down there too and leprechauns and a selection of Scots kinds of the same fairy like beings that I can't pronounce and every kind of half breed imaginable. Best to let them get on with it, I thought and just make sure they don't upset my muggle villagers."

"They'll say the house is haunted and avoid it" shrugged Draco "And those village children who are sensitives with Malfoy blood will go to see them and then you'll know who to send to Rowan House. Eventually the whole village will know and accept what we are and that will be its own protection. Anyway, see you soon; I have some potentially wicked little minds to probe."

Draco discovered that whilst some of the free elves might not be entirely scrupulous, most of them were just glad to escape unscrupulous effective masters. The fey made much of their freedoms, perhaps because their freedom was as much an illusion as the grand vistas glamour created, so the fey elves wore clothes and could theoretically leave when they wanted. But they had still had the compulsions that tied them to those they felt were in authority and the urge to punish themselves for rebellious thoughts and actions.

Several runaways turned up too, house elves who felt themselves to be sufficiently hard done by and betrayed by their master or mistress that they must needs escape; and these truly scandalised Reedy, Seffy and the others who also faintly despised Dobby.

Lucius was more tolerant and suggested that if they did not like the fey elves that they should go to Hogwarts and find employment there.

These elves had been badly treated and Dobby at Hogwarts – when he was not with Harry – would find out what had happened. And moreover those who were merely disloyal and used the removal of the compulsions as an excuse; for Lucius suspected one at least of them in that capacity.

Just because they were oppressed did not necessarily make all elves nice or even in the right.

One of the elves who turned up had been freed as a punishment.

Reldy sobbed that all he had done was to persuade a customer not to buy an item since it was cursed. Quiet questioning uncovered the fact that his former master was Aloysius Burke of Obscura Alley, Dympna's father, already under warning for having hired the cottage in the grounds of his shop to the kidnappers who had snatched Pearl Brocklehurst.

Lucius alerted Draco and offered Reldy employment either as a free elf or to return to slavery and transfer his blood pact to Lucius' family.

Reldy considered deeply and elected to have free employment.

Reedy scolded of course.

Reedy had been scolding for as long as Lucius recalled, though she had retreated into herself in the dreadful Voldemort years.

oOoOo

Back in school. Priscilla Parkinson wanted to play a trick on Willow Prince.

She had reported the rubber spiders to Willow as a prefect and Willow had asked if she had a spider phobia; and on finding she did not, told her to grow up and get a life.

Priscilla used a bit of research to try to summon water from a tap at the water fountain outside; she wanted to shower Willow and give her a shock.

The amount of water she managed to produce was beyond what she had anticipated; and the high powered jet slammed Willow back against a wall with bone-jarring force and knocked all the wind from her.

When Willow had got her breath back she asked fairly equably,

"All right, whose clever idea was that?"

"It was the Chang boy" said Parkinson hurriedly, knowing that Willow was said to dislike Ravenclaws.

"It was not!" said Ming indignantly "I wouldn't know how! Though I AM going to find out" he added "It was awfully funny, Prince."

Willow cuffed him.

He was not a marauder but he was the brother of one and as straight as a die.

Gorbrin came over to Parkinson.

"You LIAR" he said softly "I saw you do it. And if you were straight you'd own up to Willow and take a minor impot; if she catches you out after having lied she won't half give it to you!"

Parkinson sneered.

"Setting yourself up to understand 'straight' when goblins can't even comprehend the concept? Don't make me laugh. I suppose you're going to run sneaking to Prince."

"No; I'm not. But I can guarantee that if someone accuses another she's going to be looking at you pretty askance. And she's coming over so take my advice and apologise now."

Parkinson sneered again so Gorbrin shrugged.

It was up to her.

"Parkinson" said Willow crisply "Why did you accuse Ming Chang?"

"Because it's the sort of thing he does" said Parkinson. "If he says it wasn't him he's lying."

"Never known him to lie" said Willow, conversationally. "Known you to, often, in your years here. And why you're hanging around with the little ones here too is a mystery. I'll have your wand, please."

"Why?"

"Parkinson, you do NOT ask 'why' like that of a prefect" said Willow scornfully. She might be wet and bedraggled but she had dignity.

Parkinson sulkily passed her wand over.

"Priori incantatem" said Willow.

The wand displayed a jet of summoned water.

"Deleterius" Willow cancelled the effect. "Well, Parkinson, that pretty much sums up YOUR integrity. Chang's last spell by the way was actually a legal on from his last class – doubtless a rare occurrence but in this case he positively glows with virtue. You on the other hand smirch with slime. You're stupid you know; I'd have let you off with half a dozen short lines for the water jet, and a warning that it was a little below a third year; now I'm going to set you the maximum I can for lying to me and, worse, trying to get another into trouble. That is detestable at any age. You will go to Madam Ermin and request the book of poems by Hillaire Belloc and find the one entitled 'How Matilda told lies and was burned to death'. It's a longish poem; and you will spend your spare time in the detention classroom until you have copied it out for me….four times, I think. Once for the jape, once for lying to me and twice for trying to implicate another child. Very well; you may go."

Willow's voice was icy.

Priscilla Parkinson on the other hand burned as hot as fire.

This was all Gorbrin Malfoy's fault! He had drawn attention to her by talking to her, little filthy goblin creep!

oOoOO

When Gorbrin was doing his homework – nine inches for Professor Malfoy on the necessary ingredients to make an external potion become a lotion or cream – he realised that he was writing garbage.

He got out a piece of scrap and tried to write a nursery rhyme.

It was incomprehensible.

"Lend me a pen" he murmured to Erica.

"Mine are playing up" said Erica.

Gorbrin sighed and got out the biros Charlotte had bought.

Erica grinned.

They both wrote brief apologies for the use of muggle pens with excuse that their own pens appeared to have caught the backlash of some spell.

The biros worked just fine.

They were not recognisable as pens to someone of the wizarding world; and it was obvious that their pens had been jinxed.

They conferred later.

"Dobby?" Erica half called, hoping the elf might hear and feel like coming.

"Dobby is here Erica Malfoy, can Dobby help?" the elf appeared with a click.

"Oh please, Dobby if you can it would be nice!" said Erica "Someone cursed our pens to write rubbish and we wondered if you'd keep an eye out for us?"

"Dobby will protect the belongings of Erica Malfoy and Gorbrin Malfoy" said Dobby. "Can you uncurse your pens?"

"We know a few people who can" said Gorbrin; and took Erica in search of Lionel Dell.

Lionel took a dim view of the trouble having tried their pens.

"Jinxing people and setting up traps is one thing" he said "Stopping them from working is something else, it's like pouring ink on someone's work. Shan't take a moment…."

Lionel was studying Arithmancy among other things and was working hard on curse-breaking as part of his responsibility to the train journey. He had the quills fixed in a trice.

He then went to see Professor Snape.

"Off the record Severus?" he asked.

Severus nodded. Lionel went on,

"Two of Krait's first years are going to hand in essays written with muggle pens because someone put a very nasty curse on their quills" he said "I expect they'll square it with her, I don't think she cares what they write with providing it's legible, but to my mind interfering with someone's schoolwork goes beyond normal tricks."

Severus' eyes glittered.

"I agree" he said softly "Those of us labelled as swots, however, tend to be considered fair game to have ink on our work or jinxed pens. The more beef-brained think it's funny to take away the only thing a swot has."

"I don't think it's a Gryff" said Lionel, interpreting the reference to beef brained. "Dobby's watching out, apparently; but I wanted advice."

"I'd try to let the perpetrator know that playing tricks that attack the work of a student is like playing deliberate tricks on the staff and is playing with fire – unless you think that the one you catch is likely to have a fit of conscience if the cruelty of spoiling someone's main reason to be here is pointed out. As you would have. That you have to play by ear; and you're one of the prefects I can trust to be wise about such matters and use your intuition" said Severus. Lionel flushed.

"Thank you sir" he said "And thank you for the advice. Interfering with the staff as one might say, and I must think of a better turn of phrase for it's open to interpretation…. Mr Baddock have you been interfering with Madam McGonagall…." He grinned.

"Appalling brat that you are, I think you're worse than David!" said Severus equably.

Lionel chuckled and took THAT as a compliment as he took himself off!

oOoOo

When Priscilla Parkinson came to check if Gorbrin – and Erica as a secondary target – had any new pens, she was in for a shock.

Dobby used elf magic to throw her backwards and pointed the wand he now proudly carried at her.

"Priscilla Parkinson is a bad girl to interfere with the possessions of Gorbrin Malfoy and Erica Malfoy!" he squeaked angrily "Dobby will NOT let her! Dobby had put protective charms on all their kit that is magics you couldn't ever understand! Dobby is NOT pleased and Dobby will protect his family!"

Dobby was actually rather happy to be protecting people of his family. The ties to the Malfoy family went beyond compulsion and ownership and though he revelled in being free he also revelled in being able to choose to protect where he was needed. That he might also help his adored Harry Potter in his work as an auror AND work with Draco Malfoy in the same capacity was a bonus.

Parkinson retired hurt.

She would have to bide her time to pay Gorbrin back.

What she was paying him back for was still rather garbled but probably if unravelled of casuistry boiled down to 'being a goblin who's richer and better connected than me'.

oOoOo

The New Marauders were in Myrtle's loo desultorily doing homework and moaning about the length and number of essays they had to write, conveniently forgetting that they had only themselves to blame for choosing to do six or in the case of Hawke, seven, NEWTs.

The Junior Marauders were in there too, playing exploding snap and occasionally taunting their elders, leading to Hawke using Lynx to demonstrate the theories behind human transfiguration with reference to incomplete transfigurations and what can go wrong.

Lynx cried pax when she had the head of a ferret, the tail of a rat, several extra chitinous legs and was partially covered in feathers.

Hawke returned her to normal with a grin.

There was a sharp TIC and a house elf turned up.

He was dark skinned and malnourished looking with a dirty cloth of some kind wrapped around his middle, shivering violently. He carried a box.

"I say" said Abraxus "Let's get you warmed up" he cast a warming charm on the elf whose ears went up.

"Little master very very kind" he said "Kumi is very very grateful. Kumi is drawn to place of power at heart of noble Hogwarts school."

"Well for an Indian elf to fetch up in Scotland in January I guess that would be a bit of a shock to the old system" said Hawke. "What can we in our centre of power do for you Kumi?"

"Yes please, Thank you very much" said Kumi "Kumi was sent by Kumi's master…."

A peculiar look came over the elf's face.

"Are you all right?" asked Kinat.

"Yes indeed, very very all right. Kumi was sent by Kumi's master and told to say that he begs you to keep this box safe and secret as Hogwarts is known for its honour. But Kumi knows that Master is hoping bad things will happen to Master's brother and he feels free to say so!"

"That's our elf-freeing charm" said Hawke grinning. "Nice, isn't it? Moment you hit Britain you get free of compulsions."

The elf knelt before the little group and kissed the floor.

"Hey, no need for that lark" said Romulus, who was more used to elves like Sirri and Beloc.

"Who is your master and who is his brother?" asked Lynx.

"Kumi's master is Nathoo Khan; Master's brother is Assim Khan" said the elf.

"Stripes? I say is your Master a Rakshasa too then?" said Kinat, who was fond of Professor Khan even though he was – regretfully – eschewing his class at NEWT level.

"Of course! It is in the family!" said Kumi.

"Jade, you're the youngest; go borrow Stripes for us" said Abraxus.

Jade sighed and rolled her eyes, more to make a point than because she objected; and apparated directly to outside Professor Khan's study.

"What a lazy creature!" laughed Lynx "Can't even use her poor little legs!"

"And I see you walking when you can apparate" said Senagra equably.

Jade rapidly returned hand in hand with Professor Khan.

"Hello Kumi" he said.

Kumi prostrated himself.

"Master sent Kumi!" he squeaked.

"Well then what's in this box?" asked Assim Khan.

"Kumi doesn't know exactly, but Master thought it would be bad for you!" he said. "He wanted it left in the dark though and I might be sent to get it!"

"Hrrrrr. This is as clear as mud" said Assim "Can you open the chest, Kumi?"

The elf nodded.

"There is two things in there Kumi had described to him to put in and Kumi might need to get one of them" he said.

"Then I ask you to open it" said Assim in a soft purr.

Kumi opened the box.

One item was an ornate silver dagger; the other was a crystal flask with a golden liquid in it that brightened as light reached it.

"The life-force tapping spell" said Assim softly. "Whose life force I wonder? Who is sickening who is around my brother?"

The elf's ears had gone up in wonder.

"Would that be the princess?" he asked.

"Hrrrrrrr, well if there is a sick princess in the case" said Assim. "Tell me all you know, Kumi."

"Master wanted to marry Princess Naima" he said "And she refused his courtship; but he told her father, Prince Ajit that he would marry her or Ajit would regret it. And Prince Ajit put him in his dungeon. And he called me and told me to put the two objects that he described in a box and come to Hogwarts and ask any powerful students to hide the box in the dark and keep it safe."

"The life force tapping spell places the force of life into a liquid" Assim explained "And then it must be exposed daily to the light to make sure the person from whom it is taken remains healthy. It is a means that has been used so that life force may be taken by court wizards to great healers to diagnose unexplained illness or poisoning where carrying the patient would be too difficult or risky; it is a safer alternative. By keeping it in the dark, the princess Naima will sicken and would eventually die; she would certainly fall rapidly into a coma after becoming gradually weaker. I suspect that my dear sweet brother would then send word that he could cure her – in return for her hand in marriage."

"Crumbs!" said Fabian "It sounds like something out of Arabian Nights!"

Assim fixed him with a steely glance.

"The traditions of magic of India and the Arabian sub continent have many parallels and similarities or have you managed to forget EVERY essay you wrote me, Mr Ramage?"

Fabian was suitably abashed.

"What's the dagger for?" asked Abraxus "Because I don't know about anyone else but there's an aura about it that feels rather nastily familiar."

Assim pointed his wand at it, muttering Scarpin's Revellaspell.

He stiffened and shuddered.

"Excuse, are you actually certain you felt something familiar?" he said "Would you tell me what you think it is?"

There were exchanged glances and nods.

"We think it's a horcrux sir" said Abraxus.

"And how do you know of such things?" Khan was tense and stripes appeared lightly on his face.

"Because we helped out in the finding and destroying of the six horcruces of Voldemort" said Kinat calmly. "It's what marauders are for."

Assim Khan sat heavily on the stone surround to the chamber of secrets.

"Six? He split his soul seven ways?"

"Actually he split it eight; he made an accidental seventh horcrux" said Romulus "Which was Harry Potter. Who is not just the boy who lived, but the man who died. It's a long story and as you're an honorary marauder we'll actually tell it in full at some point. We have a bit of experience over how to destroy these things; shall we?"

"Hrrrrr….Yes" said Professor Khan regarding the thing with loathing.

ssss"Open"ssss said Hawke to the chamber of secrets.

One of the things stored down there was a basilisk tooth, nicely mounted in silver, just for the purposes of destroying horcruces and other nastiness; as Kinat explained to Assim Khan.

"It'll fight back" said Abraxus "We never destroyed any personally but we've supported…. It'll probably try to attack someone physically, being in a knife, stand by with protective spells people."

Hawke picked up the horcrux knife, pulling a face as he did so, and walked to the door.

"Twin?" said Abraxus.

Hawke grinned viciously and slammed the knife into the doorpost.

"Now it has to escape before it can attack" he said.

The horcux wriggled feebly; and Abraxus handed the tooth to the Rakshasa.

"Do you want to do it yourself, Stripes?" he said.

Stripes nodded.

"It's a family thing" he said.

The horcux was screaming thinly as he hammered at it with the basilisk tooth; and the blade broke, the hilt falling with a clang to the floor.

Hawke performed the revellaspell on it.

"It was the blade; it's dead now" he said with grim satisfaction.

"I have to go to India to this poor girl" said Stripes "She's going to be unwell from the amount of life force he has taken. In the case of a diagnosis dose, no more than a few drops are extracted.."

"If your brother is there you might need some backup sir" said Kinat "As fellow marauders…."

"And us!" said Lynx.

Professor Khan surveyed them doubtfully.

"Professor Dumbledore might permit the borrowing of boys who are over age, but these small ones…."

"We shan't tell him" said Lynx "Then he can't worry."

"It's the weekend" said Abraxus "Stripes, what you possibly haven't grasped is that Harry Potter was fighting manifestations of Voldemort from his first day at school. We consider kids as old as the New Marauders to be seasoned warriors. We'd already fought Voldemort at their age. They're more powerful than adult wizards and what's more in India the ministry can't get at them for underage magic. Unless your ministry there is as strict?"

Khan shook his head.

"In India all is very much less well organised. Once it was under the control of English wizards, but with the withdrawal from India we went back to traditional ways. I left because when my father died I had to fight my brother to stop him taking control of our father's lands. I managed to set up a banishment zone but I was sick of the fighting and I wanted to get away. I left things in the hands of my very able steward; and my mother threw Nathoo's mother out of the palace for aiding and abetting him. One day I will return to rule my area and seeing how things are done in England will help me make things better for the lot of wizards and muggles alike in my province. There is no ban on magic at any age."

"COOL!" said Lynx.

"We'll go pack overnight bags" said Romulus "Are we going on your carpet sir? It'll take ages, won't it?"

"Abrax'll work out a clever geomantic route" said Hawke. "I vote we take brooms, us big ones, as outriders."

Professor Khan found himself being organised by some very professional and seasoned campaigners; and Kumi was told to draw a map of the palace too, and was too surprised to wonder if he should refuse.

After all they had been kind to him here in England.