This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
CHAPTER 11
The Drunken Monkey
The two weeks after Josef left passed with a slow, plodding pace that Harry found almost intolerable. He hadn't expected to see Josef the day after the horrible events in Hermione's old flat, or even the day after that. If he was honest with himself, even Harry was still dealing with the shock of it.
The pain he'd seen in Lucy's eyes, the hope and excitement she'd displayed at the thought of her death, it made him realize what was at stake. The next night he had woken up after a nightmare where instead of Lucy and Josef, it had been Ginny staring up at him with tearful eyes as she wished for an end to the pain. He hadn't been able to get back to sleep after that. It was too real, too possible. If they failed, he had little doubt that this vision would come true.
He never voiced this fear to Ginny, yet something about her behavior made it clear that she understood. Ron and Hermione didn't seem to be taking it any better. While Harry's fears were little more than bad nightmares, Hermione's were based on something much more concrete. The marks on her arm had not stopped and the Healers in the Department of Mysteries hadn't even managed to slow them down. For Hermione and Ron, Lucy wasn't so much a warning of possible consequences, as she was a glimpse at an almost inevitable future.
After four days, Harry started wondering just when Josef might return. He had expected to hear some news from him by then, but there was still nothing. When he mentioned this, Ginny was quick to warn Harry not go looking for him.
"Give him time, Harry," she said as they sat in the parlor. "I know what it feels like to lose someone you love. These things don't get better after just a few days."
"What if it's not that," Harry replied carefully. He didn't want to think about it any more than anyone else, but he felt someone needed to say it. "What if he went looking for the cloaked wizard? What if the cloaked wizard came looking for him?"
"If either of those are true, then we'd be too late to do anything anyway," she answered. Her voice was firm but Harry could hear a hint of sadness as well. Obviously, she was just as worried as he was.
The morale around Number Twelve Grimmauld Place dropped as low as it had ever been since the fight against Voldemort. Hermione had taken Harry up on the offer of having the third floor to herself and was now rarely seen outside of it. Except for the occasional evening meal and sporadic journeys into the outside world, usually during the night.
Ginny and Ron continued reporting to the Ministry. Knowing nothing of the danger lurking in the shadows, the rest of the world seemed to be getting even more caught up in the Quidditch World Cup tournament, and both of them were needed for the next match. It was causing some difficulty and Britain had been selected as the country to supply officials in order to avoid any more concerns.
The problem was caused by the French team. After a miraculous win over the Russians, the they were preparing for their next match against the Italians. Neither had been expected to make it as far as they had. The Italians were short on players, having lost both a Keeper and one of their best Chasers in the attacks at Cornwall. The French were simply short on talent and seemed to be winning on nothing less than uncannily good luck. This caused some amount of suspicion from the other teams and a tense situation when it was revealed that the match was scheduled to be held in Belgium. This was seen by the Italians as unfairly close to France.
Together with the Ministries of Austria and Denmark, the British Ministry helped work out a compromise. The match was to be held in Vienna and organized by officials from Denmark and Britain. This meant that Ginny would be spending long nights at the Ministry trying to set up a World Cup Quidditch match in just two weeks.
Ron found the whole situation almost humorous, since neither the French nor the Italians were seen as serious contenders for the Championship. Any laughing he might have done about it was silenced early the next week when he found out that he had been removed from the Germany match and assigned to this new contest.
"What's the point?" he had mumbled during dinner that night. "It's like a pair of goats fighting to see who gets to hunt the dragon, except in this case, the French goat is missing a leg —and blind. It's a bloody waste of time."
Harry agreed, though his reasons were different. He was beginning to wish that the World Cup would be canceled, since it seemed to be clouding everyone's minds and keeping them from seeing all the signs that a truly dangerous situation was brewing. The attack in Bulgaria had been reported, much like the deaths in Carthage, yet no one seemed to get all that worried about them. The Bulgarian Ministry claimed they knew who had done it and that there wasn't much to worry about, neglecting to say anything about their fears of what might have happened on the island. The next day, the one of the Chasers on the Norwegian team had accidentally poisoned himself while trying to fix a minor bruise and no one even spent an extra moment thinking about the events in Bulgaria.
If that had been the end of it, Harry might not have minded. Lacking the desire to find anything else to print, the Daily Prophet and every other printed journal seemed to fill the majority of its pages with empty news about the World Cup: how unexpected the outcomes were that year, how much trouble the security wizards were causing, the goblin's protest over matches they felt had been tampered with, and interviews with any player who wasn't seen as mediocre. The resulting deluge left Harry sifting through stacks of copies searching for the short filler stories that might give him clues about what the cloaked wizard might be up to.
After another week of seeing nothing, he finally started spotting a number of troubling events. The first was in Belgrade. An old castle near the center of the city collapsed one night, killing a small number of wizards. There was no explanation for its destruction and no reason to be suspicious except for the fact that it had been sealed by the Ministry for decades.
A few days later, there was news of a bizarre vampire attack in Greece. While investigating reports of strange noises under an old palace in Rhodes, a group of wizards were brutally killed by a pair of vampires who fled into the night. Later that week, rumors began circulating that the Polish Minister of Magic had fallen ill with a disease that none of the Healers could identify. The Ministry building in Warsaw was put under quarantine until it could be identified. His death was announced just two days later.
It was still happening. The attacks were still occurring and there was nothing that he or anyone else could do to stop them. Harry stopped looking for the attacks. There was nothing he could do to stop them and it did him no good to learn about the locations of the Veils after they were destroyed. He remembered how angry the cloaked wizard had gotten when he'd nearly been pushed through the Veil. They had to pose some threat to him, but it wasn't enough to know that. Everyone knows you can kill a dragon by cutting off its head; the hard part is actually doing it.
He needed help. He needed Josef. He began to wish that the Brotherhood was still around. Perhaps that was why the cloaked wizard had started with them. With all they knew about the Veils and their connections around Europe, they would have made an almost insurmountable force against any dark wizard. Only Josef had survived, and now even he had disappeared.
The day of the match match arrived, leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the quiet mansion. As usual, Hermione kept to the third floor while Harry spent the day in the parlor paging through the small library of books he'd collected on the subject of the Veils. There was little information in them that he hadn't memorized long ago, but it helped to pass the time.
Late that afternoon, he heard a light tapping on the window. Walking over to it, he found an small, dark brown owl perched patiently on the windowsill. The moment the window was opened, it dove into the room, circled Harry once, let out a sharp hoot as it dropped a sealed envelope and then left with a soft rustle of feathers. Opening the envelope, Harry found a single piece of parchment folded three times. In its center was written a single sentence:
Ferdinand Harrington requests your presence.
Harry scowled at the note. He was waiting for Ginny and Ron to return. The last thing he wanted to do was run off on some worthless errand for Harrington, especially when it was probably nothing more than reporting the final score of the match to some self-absorbed politician. He considered throwing the note into the fire, but stopped himself. It was probably a pointless task, yet there was always a chance that it was something more. Even if it was a waste of his time, Harrington had been more than accommodating and Harry had no desire to lose the inside information he could provide.
Harry arrived at the Ministry in the midst of a sizable crowd of wizards, considering it was a Saturday. Many of them were simply milling about idly, but most were either walking toward the security gates or queuing for the fireplaces. All of the traffic suggested that his first guess was right. Confirming this, a small group of wizards tumbled out of a nearby fireplace, chattering quickly and holding small French flags. Gritting his teeth, Harry forced himself to continue on his way to Harrington's office.
After the mandatory hassle by the guard at the gate and an uncomfortable ride in a lift crowded with people who were excited to share it with someone famous, Harry arrived at the Department of International Magical Cooperation and found the area crowded with people talking about things Harry simply didn't care about. He pushed his way through to Carmilla's desk as quickly as he could. She gave him no greeting and simply motioned toward Harrington's office with a serious expression.
Harry was beginning to feel worried. This was something more serious than a simple message delivery. His thoughts turned to Ginny immediately and he imagined the worst. He ran to the office door, threw it open and froze. Ginny was standing only a few feet away, safe and unharmed, yet this didn't make Harry worry any less. Like Carmilla and Harrington sitting at his desk, her expression was filled with fear and concern.
"What is it?" he asked. "What happened?"
"We don't know yet," answered Harrington. "It may be nothing at all." The tone of his voice did little to convince Harry of this.
"This was delivered to the Ministry," Ginny announced as she handed a small piece of parchment to Harry. He quickly opened it and read the short message:
Harry: Come to Paris immediately. Bring any friends whom you can trust and can arrive within the hour. I am waiting at Le Singe Ivre.
Josef
"How much time do we have left?" Harry asked as he folded the message and stuffed it into his pocket. Ginny and Harrington exchanged troubled looks and said nothing. Sensing trouble, Harry tried a different question. "When did the message arrive?"
"The office was almost completely empty," Ginny answered apologetically. "It's Saturday and there was the match and— Carmilla got the message but it was made to look like every other report we get each day, so..."
Fear gripped Harry. "When did it arrive?" he asked more insistently
"We can't be certain," began Harrington, "but it was sorted with the morning mail, which suggests it arrived sometime before noon."
"It got here at least four hours ago!"
Harrington frowned at him and replied in a firm voice: "Yes, Harry, we can count, too. There is nothing we can do to fix it now."
"No, but we can do what we were supposed to do hours ago. The match is over, isn't it?" he asked and got a pair of quick nods. "We need to find Ron and—"
"Ron should be getting to Grimmauld Place any moment now," Ginny interrupted "He'll meet us at the Leaky Cauldron."
Harry couldn't help but smile at Ginny. She knew what Harry was going to do and had thought up a plan which was sure to help them leave as quickly as possible. As the two of them strode out of Harrington's office, Harry paused a moment to thank him and ask him one last favor.
"Send a message to Remus Lupin at Hogwarts as quickly as you can. Tell him we have gone to Le Singe Ivre in Paris. We will wait there as long as we can."
Harry rolled out of the fireplace at Le Singe Ivre to find the large pub filled with a crowd of triumphant Quidditch fans. Though he hadn't wasted any attention on it earlier, it was now almost painfully obvious that the French team had managed yet another surprising victory. The balcony which encircled the main hall was almost overflowing with witches and wizards who seemed to be shouting, singing and drinking all at once.
Ginny tumbled out of the fireplace only a little while behind him. Harry helped her up and she took a moment to tidy up her robes with her wand. After a few more seconds to fully take in the spectacle, Harry fixed his robes, trying to make himself look a little more respectable. He had all but discarded the idea of actually searching for Josef when a low voice cut through the din. It had come from very close behind Harry.
"You're late."
Harry spun around, pulling his wand as he did and found Josef standing before him, a pair of dull eyes staring at him from under one of the grey cloaks the Brotherhood had used.
"We just got your message. It was delayed because of the match," Harry explained.
"I suspected as much," Josef replied flatly. "It was a risk I had to take. Had I used an owl, you might not have gotten the message until after sunset. Is it just the two of you, then? I suppose it may not matter, but still..."
There was something different about Josef. He seemed colder than usual, more distant and withdrawn. At the same time, he seemed noticeably distracted, almost to the point of looking uncomfortable with Harry's presence.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked.
Josef's eyes locked onto Harry's and he spoke in a very direct, pointed tone: "I'm fine." Continuing in a slower voice, he made certain that Harry which topic was being discussed: "Have you brought only yourselves or are others coming?"
"Ron and Hermione will be along in a minute or two," Harry replied, still studying Josef for any clues he might be able to find about his mood. "We sent word to Lupin and the others at Hogwarts. It's a Saturday, so it shouldn't be hard for them to slip away, but I don't know if they'll even get the message."
Just as he finished speaking, Ron appeared out of the fireplace with a puff of soot. Hermione arrived seconds later. Josef quickly nodded to both of them, taking quite some time to scrutinize Hermione. She stared back at him and Harry thought they were almost conducting some sort of silent conversation.
"It's here, isn't it," she whispered, breaking the awkward silence. "That's why you sent for us."
"Can you sense him?" Josef asked her "Is he nearby?"
"I— I don't know," she answered. "It's hard to tell with all these people. I can barely hear myself think."
"Wait," Harry interrupted. "You don't know if he's here?"
"My instincts say he is," Josef explained in a soft voice. "If given a moment, I'm sure Ron would tell you a very interesting tale about the Quidditch match today. Despite perfect conditions for Seekers, the Snitch proved to be nearly impossible to find today. The Italian Seeker came close to catching it a few times, but it always managed to disappear. When the French Seeker managed to catch it, I think he was as surprised as everyone else. By all accounts, he didn't even seem to spot it until it was in his hand."
The implications were clear. "You think the cloaked wizard was manipulating the match? Why would he care about who—"
"I don't think he cared about the match at all," Josef replied. "There is a Death Gate in Paris. It is hidden very well. Only a small number of wizards know where it is. Henri D'Anneau bought his entry into the Brotherhood with its location. If Grigore knew it, it's safe to assume our adversary knows it as well. I was never trusted with it, but I would have to guess that it won't be far from the Ministry building. After the rather exciting events this afternoon, every street from here to the Ministry is filled with celebrating fans. Not even Miss Granger could find him."
Something still didn't add up. "But you sent the message this morning."
Josef nodded. "Yes. I cannot explain it. I felt... uneasy. There were too many coincidences. If I were him, this would be the time I would pick to attack."
"What about Lupin and the others? Can we risk waiting for them?"
"Yes, we'll wait for the others," Josef announced stiffly. "There's no reason not to. So far, nothing has happened. We would know if it had. If he's going to attack Paris in the middle of a celebration, he's not terribly worried about remaining hidden. That had been our advantage, without it we'll need all the help we can get."
With a forced smile, he turned toward Ginny. "If you would, please keep an eye on the fireplace. Mr. Weasley," he said, addressing Ron as if he were some foreign dignitary, "if you and Miss Granger don't mind, please keep an eye on Ginny. If anything happens, don't hesitate to draw as much attention as you can. Harry and I will find a table in this mess and attempt to figure out just what our next step will be. Come find us if the others arrive."
Harry followed Josef as he walked through the crowd toward one of the many barmaids floating through the field of tables. He slipped her a small stack of gold coins and leaned close to her to say something. Still staring at the coins with wide eyes, she nodded enthusiastically and led the two of them to a small table nearby where three young boys were laughing and drinking butterbeer. With a few stern words, she chased them off and offered it to Harry and Josef. Harry felt a little bad for the boys, but Josef didn't seem bothered at all. He sat down and waited for Harry to join him with the same empty expression he had when Harry first saw him.
Something still felt wrong. Josef wasn't acting as he usually did. It wasn't as though it was a disguise or the result of the Imperius Curse, though Harry found it just as disturbing. It was still the same Josef, but he had changed. He was even more formal than he usually was. It felt almost as if he were wearing a mask, unwilling to let anyone see him anymore.
"Are you certain you're alright?" Harry asked again, feeling as though this was something he ought to ask even if it made him uncomfortable.
"I'm fine," Josef replied again, sounding just as dismissive as he had before.
"It's alright if you're not, you know," Harry said, trying to sound comforting. "I know what you're going through."
"No, you really don't, Harry," Josef interrupted.
"I've lost people I cared for —too many of them. I watched my godfather die, you know—"
"—And Albus Dumbledore and a Cedric Diggory and a dozen others," droned Josef. "I know your history, Harry. I studied it for a month. I wouldn't be surprised if I know it better than you do."
"There was nothing I could do" continued Harry, ignoring the outburst. "One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. I was angry and sad and I felt like it was my fault. It wasn't an easy time, but it's not supposed to be easy. My friends helped me through it. No one will think less of you for feeling bad."
Josef glared at him. "I said I'm fine."
"Well you're not acting like it," Harry replied sharply. "You sent a message without making certain it would reach me and when I finally get here over four hours later, you still don't have any idea what we're doing here."
"Who said I don't have a plan?" Josef asked flatly.
"You did, not more than a minute ago—"
"I was lying, Harry."
"Oh, like the time you said you were fine?"
Josef leaned back in his chair and let out a bored sigh. "No, Harry, a lie is when you say something that isn't true. Stop acting like this is such a foreign concept to you."
His last comment was abnormally biting for Josef, especially in his current mood. There was some purpose behind it. As Josef himself had taught him, Harry took a moment to look at the situation and saw what Josef had done. He had lied to the others, making an excuse to leave them.
"Why are we over here?" Harry asked. "Why did you want to get away from them? What don't you want them to know?"
Josef shook his head. "I'm not trying to keep secrets, Harry. Quite the contrary."
"Then why are we here?"
"Harry," Josef said in a low voice. "We need to talk and you need to be honest."
Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a flash of bright red fabric. With a twirl and a faint giggle, a witch appeared suddenly at the table, her dark hair swaying playfully as she smiled at the two of them. She bent over to lean on the table between Harry and Josef, and Harry immediately stared down at the candle in the center of the table. There wasn't quite enough fabric in the barmaid's robes as he would have liked and what was there was rather distracting.
"Bonjour, messieurs," she said in fluid, obviously flirtatious French. "Mais c'est quoi ça? Quelqu'un est mort? On est là pour fêter et voilà que je trouve deux gars charmants comme vous, assis tous seuls. Il faut changer ça, je pourrais peut-être—"
Her expression soured as she looked at Harry and crossed her arms. "Ah. C'est l'imbécile. Revenu pour trucider notre langue un peu plus? Ou alors pour prendre un petit apéro pour se rafraîchir après une longue matinée courrant après des jupons? J'imagine que les troupeaux locaux n'ont pas apprécié les avancés inappropriés?"
She had spoken too quickly for Harry to catch everything, or even most of it. He thought he'd caught a question of some sort and perhaps a mention of livestock, though he couldn't quite figure out how that made sense. He gave her a friendly smile, but Josef stopped him before he could speak.
"Please don't answer that," he said, shaking his head slowly. "Just... don't." With Harry silenced, Josef sighed and looked up at the barmaid with a bright smile. "Vous pouvez nous donner un moment, s'il vous plait? En privé?"
The barmaid turned toward Josef and a sly smile spread across her face. "Juste un moment? Je pourrais vous donner plusieurs moments… Peut-être même toute une soirée..."
She ran her finger along his shoulder, and leaned closer to him. "Vous êtes tellement plus attirant que votre ami… Et beacoup plus intelligent, aussi… Pourquoi l'avoir emmené? On pourrait s'amuser beaucoup plus, tous les deux, tous seuls, dans un endroit calme et privé..."
Josef gave Harry a lopsided smile. "Je suppose que je trouve les anglais amusants… Une bonne source de divertissement, vous comprenez?" he said in flawless French.
Whatever he had said, the barmaid accepted it with a smile. She shrugged disappointedly and ran her finger along the table as she walked off to one of the many other tables of customers waiting for drinks.
Harry hadn't forgotten what they'd been talking about and returned to it immediately after she'd left. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked.
Josef sat in silence for a moment, obviously collecting his thoughts. "Harry," he began heavily, "I know I called you here without warning. You didn't have much time to think or prepare, so I need you to take a moment to understand the situation you're in. Things are going to happen quickly and there won't be much time to react. You do know that if I'm right about this, we may face the cloaked wizard tonight."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that, but I have no idea where this conversation is headed."
"You need to prepare for the eventualities of that confrontation."
"I have been preparing," Harry replied. "I've been practicing whenever I can. I've been teaching Ron and Ginny and Hermione whenever I get a chance."
"That's not the sort of preparation I'm talking about."
"What else is there to do?" he asked. "We brought Shield Cloaks and healing potions and all sorts of other concoctions for any number of injuries. I brought spare wands and even parchment for sending messages. What more do you want?"
"That's not our greatest need anymore," Josef said, shaking his head. "Harry, this... wizard —this thing— it knows about all of us. It knows more than you can imagine. It knows our fears and our secrets. It will use them to hurt us in ways that cannot be fixed by potions and salves."
Harry began to feel uncomfortable. "Like what?"
"For a long time, I wasn't certain, but I am now." Josef continued, pausing to stare into Harry's eyes. "It might not be today, but sooner or later it will happen, and when it does, I'm afraid it will be Ginny, not you, who pays the price."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked quietly. Josef frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was just about to reply, but the barmaid chose that moment to return.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she said, introducing herself in accented English this time. "Could I bring you something to drink? We have just received a new barrel of Polish Ale. I hear it is quite excellent."
Josef was obviously frustrated with her interruption, but he smiled quite politely. "I'm sure it is," he replied, "however, we're going to need something a little stronger. I'll take a bottle of the best vodka you can find," he said, dropping a small pouch which hit the table with a metallic thunk.
With a curious expression, the girl picked up the pouch and emptied it into her hand. Seeing two dozen or more thick gold coins, her jaw dropped. "And— and your friend?" she asked.
Without even looking at her, Josef tossed another pair of heavy pouches to the girl. "My friend will have your oldest and strongest cognac —the entire bottle."
The barmaid was almost beyond words. "Une bouteille de Cognac? Mais vous pouvez acheter tout le tonneau avec ça!" she muttered, switching back to French as she gaped at the gold Josef had given her. "Oui... Bien sûr, Monsieur," she said with a look of awe. "I— I mean, yes of course, sir. The— The cognac will take a while. It has, er... to be brought up from the cellar and we have been very—"
"Yes, that will be fine," interrupted Josef. "We will start on the vodka, then, yes?"
"Oui, oui," she said almost bowing to him. "I will be back immediately, sir."
"I really have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said quietly as he watched the witch dash off to the bar.
"I doubt that, Harry. I wish it were true, but I think we both know it's not."
"I don't know why you'd think that," Harry replied, "considering that you've barely told me anything at all." At the bar, Josef's order seemed to be causing a bit of a scene. The barmaid was obviously talking quite fast and the older wizard behind the bar was giving her a skeptical look. Tossing the pouches of gold on the bar, he promptly disappeared.
Josef didn't seem at all interested in what he'd started. "You've never been good at lying, Harry," he said, "but that obviously hasn't stopped you from doing it. Frankly, I'm surprised you've lasted this long."
"Ah, well perhaps the secret to being a good liar is to keep the truth from yourself as well as others," Harry said flatly. "Of course, that makes the whole thing sort of useless, but I'm sure you have some clever explanation for that, too." Meanwhile, the barkeep had reappeared with an even older wizard wearing expensive robes of black and silver. After talking briefly to the barmaid, he began walking toward a large wooden cabinet nearby and opened it with a key from his pocket.
"Perhaps that's how you've done it," Josef suggested. "You convinced yourself that it was all a lie."
"How terribly devious of me," Harry muttered, his voice laden with frustration. The barkeep handed something heavy to the barmaid and she took out a wand and began waving it around over the object. "If it's as serious as you say it is, this is hardly the time or place to discuss it."
Josef remained stoic. "I agree, yet as I said, I fear you are out of time. If you don't do it here and now, the danger will only increase."
"What are you talking about?" Harry said as the barmaid raced back through the crowd carrying a large clear bottle as if it were some sort of fragile trophy.
"Voilà, Monsieur," she said proudly as she gently placed the bottle of vodka on the table. "It is the very best bottle we have," she added excitedly, "taken from the owner's special collection."
Josef took the bottle, and twisted off the top and nodded politely to the barmaid while pushing another gold coin toward her. Apparently understanding it as a request for privacy, the barmaid took the coin, slipped it into the top of her robes and disappeared without another word. Putting the bottle to his lips, Josef leaned back to take a long drink of the clear liquid. When he was finished, he slid the bottle across the table to Harry and stared at him with a stern expression.
"Harry, you need to tell Ginny about what happened between you and Hermione."
Harry considered reaching for the vodka, but stopped himself. "I don't know what you mean."
Josef stared back at him with weary eyes. "I wish I had that problem," he whispered as he reached for the bottle of vodka again. "Perhaps you think it's better that Ginny never knows, but you must know that is impossible. Sooner or later, you'll have to tell her."
Harry's mouth went dry, and he looked down at the table to keep himself from having to meet Josef's gaze. "There's nothing to tell her," he insisted. It had been so long since he'd even thought of it, he had almost convinced himself that it was the truth. "Nothing happened," he said firmly.
Josef's head dropped and he rubbed his forehead as if it hurt. "The ninth of October, Harry," he announced in a flat, lifeless tone. "You were tense, uncomfortable... agitated. Hermione was there, too. It was a dark room, cluttered with all sorts of things. It was familiar to me, but not as familiar as it was to you." Looking up, he met Harry's gaze. "You could feel it, couldn't you? You felt it getting stronger. You were fighting it, but then... something changed. You relaxed. You stopped fighting."
Harry tried to control his breathing as the memories flooded back to him. After that day, he'd refused all manner of potions meant to calm or comfort. He'd only used sleeping potions when he absolutely had to, and when he did, he preferred those which would prevent him from dreaming.
"Hermione felt it, too," Josef continued. "She didn't know what it was. She didn't know to fight it until it was too late. It wouldn't have mattered in the end. She has a brilliant mind, but not a forceful one. She's never had to. She's never been made to fight using nothing but her own will. Not like you have."
"No, you don't know what you're talking about," Harry said, hoping that he was right. "You're jumping to conclusions."
Josef's eyes narrowed. "Harry... Harry, I saw it. I still see it. I can feel the heat of the room. I can hear the sound of ripping fabric as you tore the robes off her body. I can feel her fingernails digging into your skin and her mournful cries at the reality of what she'd done still echo in my mind. I assure you, Harry: I know what I am talking about. It has haunted my dreams for months."
"Why?" Harry asked, almost speechless. "How? No one knows about that. No one could know about. How is it that you know things I barely remember?"
"I'm not your enemy, Harry," Josef assured him. "This is just one of many visions which haunted my thoughts while I waited for you in Romania. The first time I was subjected to it, I was convinced it was another dream meant to torment me, to make me believe the world was broken and falling into chaos, but it didn't fade like the others. It stayed as vivid and tactile as the memories of all the things I had done under his power, yet I told myself it was still a lie. Then I was free of him, and for a while I pretended that I didn't see the evidence of its truth. But I couldn't deny it for long. I could see it in your eyes and the way you reacted to the smallest hint of it."
Harry focused on breathing. He didn't know just what he felt. The anger was easy enough to recognize, but it wasn't anger toward Josef, it was just anger. Swirling about with it was fear and embarrassment and disgust at what he'd done. "If you know so much," Harry said slowly, "then can you at least tell me why it happened?"
"I think I'm beginning to understand. After what... Lucy told you," Josef said, stumbling over her name for only a moment, "I started putting it together. If Lucy was right, then you've got a small piece of the cloaked wizard inside you, an unintentional gift from your first encounter with Voldemort. Well, Hermione did, too, from when Marcus's son attacked her. As it was, the two parts were too weak to influence either of you, but when put in close proximity while your defenses were down, they were enough to push events in the right direction," he explained. "Just like the Inferi on the island, I think the two pieces were trying to unite and find their way back to him."
"You're saying... it was me? It was because I stopped fighting it that Hermione has this—" He didn't need to say the rest. He already knew it was true. So did Hermione. "Why her?" he asked. "I'm the one he hates. Why not me?"
"It's nothing she's done. I believe hers was simply the weaker will," he answered plainly.
"No. There's something more," Harry said. "Marius Lipton didn't try to kiss her. Why did it choose that way to bring us together. Since my scar still hurts, it must mean some of it is still left in me. Surely it could have found a better way. Something faster or less disruptive."
"That, I'm afraid, is why you need to tell Ginny. The cloaked wizard knows what happened between you, but he has no interest in using it to hurt either of you —at least, no more than it already has. It's Ginny that he wants to hurt, and he'll do it. He'll use Hermione to do it.
"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Harry asked. "Just pull her aside and tell her I snogged her friend, her brother's girlfriend, and one of my best friends?"
"That's precisely what I'm suggesting. There is no time to waste. You need to do it before he does."
"And what if that's what he wants?" suggested Harry. "What if that is the plan he's been waiting to use. Have you already forgotten what happened in Bulgaria? He made you attack the guards to get the lantern and then he made us lead him through the fog with it. He's turning us against each other. I don't like keeping secrets from Ginny, but I'm tired of being tricked into putting my friends in danger."
Josef gave him a disapproving frown. "I understand that, but you really must trust—"
"Pardon me," the barmaid interrupted, startling both Harry and Josef. "It seems it's taking longer than expected to fetch your cognac, sir. I'm terribly sorry. I promise you I will bring it as soon as possible."
"Er, right, thanks," Harry mumbled. After giving them an apologetic smile, she walked back toward the bar, no doubt worried that the two of them might decide to complain to the owner at any minute. With her gone, Harry waited for Josef to continue his argument, but he seemed absorbed in the small drama unfolding at the bar as the witch went to speak with the barkeep. He seemed quite agitated, slamming his fist on the bar and shouting at no one in particular.
"Mais, où est passé ce petit plaisantin? C'est le troisième qui a disparu dans la dernière heure! Je les envois à la cave et ils ne reviennent pas! Comme si j'étais suffisamment abruti pour ne pas remarquer qu'ils ne sont as revenus! Oh, les petits crétins, quand je les aurai retrouvés je les attacherai au pied de la table pour le reste de la soirée!"
"Harry," Josef whispered as he stared at the barkeep, "I think we might be closer to finding the Gate than we thought."
"What? Why?"
"The wizard behind the bar just said that three of his employees have disappeared after going into the cellars —three in the last hour."
Harry's head spun around fast enough to send pain shooting down his neck. The wizard behind the bar was still grumbling to a pair of barmaids. Frightening thoughts were running through his mind. Looking all around the enormous hall, he felt a sickening heaviness in his stomach. The entire structure was roughly circular. How could he have missed it? The building was old, one of the very oldest in Paris. It obviously had not been a pub the entire time. The bar hugged the wall awkwardly along one of the longer sides. All of the doors behind it leading to storage rooms and offices were low and square with lots of extra bracing. Like the bar, they had been added well after the structure had been built. The main entrance, however, was wide and arched, looking as old as anything else in the hall. Harry followed the path from the main door through the center of the hall. Carved into the wall directly opposite the ancient arch, was a second arched doorway. It was the very same one he'd seen witches and wizards using as they fetched dusty bottles of wine and casks of beer.
"Go find Ron, Hermione and Ginny," he commanded. "We need to take a look in those cellars."
Josef walked off giving Harry some time to analyze the situation. They had been there for some time, but not an hour. If the first wizard lost in the cellars had been noticed an hour ago, it might mean that he had been attacked some time ago. He considered the possibility that the cloaked wizard might have come and gone already, taking advantage of the celebration over the match to slip out unnoticed. It might have even made sense if the attacks didn't seem to keep happening.
Perhaps there was some other entrance to the tunnels. At Romania and Golakhov's Castle, there had been a second, long tunnel dug to provide access to the chamber. Perhaps the same thing existed here. Looking around the crowded hall, Harry hoped it was the case. Visions of the bodies strewn across the courtyard on the island flashed in his mind, and he hoped that the scene would not be recreated here.
Josef returned with the others. Lupin and Tonks still hadn't arrived and Harry was beginning to think that it was probably for the best. He and Josef explained their fears to the others. None of them argued. They simply accepted what Harry said with solemn nods. Harry questioned Hermione again and got the same answer she'd given before. She only knew that the cloaked wizard was in Paris. She couldn't say exactly where.
Harry's mind remained set. He didn't have a plan, but he knew what needed to be done. It was pointless doing anything else before they managed to find the Veil —or whatever might be left of it. Looking over the bar quickly, Harry found the barkeep who seemed to be giving out the most orders. He was probably the one in charge. Telling Josef and the others to wait at the table, he stood up and marched off to the bar.
"We need to get into the cellar," Harry declared.
The wizard glared at him over a dozen foaming mugs of beer. "You need to buy a drink or get out of my face," he snarled in surprisingly good English.
"You don't understand," Harry said, somehow pleading and commanding at the same time. "If I'm right, you are all in danger. We need to get down to the cellars right now."
"You need to leave in a hurry," the man replied sharply. "If I were any less busy I'd toss you out just for your lack of respect, but I've got a job to do and it doesn't involve indulging the whims of some tactless British whelp who fancies himself a peek at what we've got in our vaults. Now, do us both a favor and toss yourself out onto the street so I don't have to call the guards to do it for you." With a quick signal, he alerted a pair of guards who frowned at Harry, but remained where they stood. The message was well received. Harry wouldn't be getting any help from the barkeep or the guards.
When Harry returned to the table, Josef rolled his eyes. "That went really well, Harry," he said. "You really are a master of subtlety."
"Well, I didn't attack anyone," he replied sourly. "I wanted to, but I didn't."
"Yes, and I thank you for that," Josef said in a patronizing tone. "Now, perhaps we can try something a little more civil."
Harry and the others waited impatiently as Josef walked over to the guard standing next to the door and pulled two small sacks of coins from his pocket. Harry shook his head, wondering just how much gold Josef was carrying. He must have broken into one of the old Brotherhood vaults in Paris to get it. It was something that Harry simply had not thought to bring and now that they were there, it would take too long to return to Gringotts.
A moment later, he wasn't feeling quite so disappointed. With a scowl on his face, Josef returned, the gold still in his hands. "The ignorant bastard thought it was some sort of practical joke," he said angrily. "He wouldn't even open the bags to see what was inside." Harry tried to suppress a grin, but failed. With a sigh, Josef stared at the cellar door. "Perhaps your idea wasn't so foolish. Of course, I have been drinking. The guard might be caught in the blast, as well." He pulled his wand from his pocket. "It's a risk we'll just have to take, I suppose."
Ginny stepped in front of him. "Just relax," she said calmingly. "Let me give it a try."
"We don't have time for this, Ginny," Josef replied. "You might be good at what you do, but we can't wait for you to negotiate some agreement with the owner."
She stood her ground. "Just give me a moment. If it doesn't work, I'll help you blast a hole in the wall."
"And what exactly do you have in mind?" asked Harry.
"Well, picking a better target, to start," Ginny announced as she turned around and began scanning the bar. "Like him," she said, pointing at a young wizard with dark hair standing behind the bar in a dim corner and trying to chat up a pair of witches. Ginny smiled brightly. "He'll do quite well, I think."
"Quite well for what?" Harry snorted. "He's lucky he's got a job. He'll never be able to—"
He stopped talking because Ginny had already walked off. She made her way to the bar just as the pair of witches walked off with a matching pair of drinks, leaving the wizard visibly disappointed. Ginny quickly hopped up on one of the chairs not far from him.
Once he'd spotted her, she cocked her head slightly to the side and gave him a lopsided smile. He returned it and said something to her. Harry couldn't tell just what it was, and it looked as though Ginny didn't either. She shook her head and laughed, then leaned forward while running her hand through her hair. The wizard laughed in response and reached under the bar to pull out a large bottle and a small, narrow glass. Ginny placed a silver coin on the bar, but the man quickly picked it up and placed it back in her palm, taking the opportunity to lightly caress her arm.
Harry felt his scar throb and his stomach tighten. He watched as the man poured a vibrant red liquid into the glass and offer it to Ginny. After she refused it twice, he pulled out a second glass and filled it as well, obviously meaning it for himself. Ginny laughed yet again and nodded happily as she reached for one of the glasses. The wizard quickly drained his, winced in pain for a moment, then opened his eyes and smiled at Ginny waiting for her to do the same. She picked up her glass, but as she brought it to her lips, she lurched unexpectedly spilling the contents down her chin and neck.
The two of them laughed as the wizard reached for a clean towel. Reaching across the bar, he began gently wiping down her chin and jaw, eventually moving to her neck. Ginny leaned forward a little more pulling the collar of her robes down a little. The wizard obliged, dabbing the towel across her collarbone and smiling hungrily as he did it. Feeling rather ill, Harry turned away.
Josef had not missed Harry's reaction. "You look uncomfortable, Harry,"
"If he does anything to her—"
"Now do you understand why you have to tell her?" Josef asked.
Ron picked that moment to appear at Harry's side. "Tell her what?" he asked. "Is she in danger?"
"More than she needs to be," Josef replied flatly.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked.
"Forget about it, Ron," Harry said, brushing him aside and forcing himself to turn back. Across the hall, Ginny and the young wizard were hanging on each other and laughing. He watched as she reached up to the wizard's neck and pulled his face down until it was only inches from her neck. Harry's heart pounded in his chest. Her lips were so close to his ear that he couldn't tell if she was whispering to him, or kissing him.
Like Harry and the young wizard at the bar, Ron had been distracted by Ginny's behavior. He simply stood and stared at her as she and the young wizard broke apart, leaving the poor young man with an odd smile and a surprised, dazed look on his face. Ron just shook his head. "What does she think she's doing? With the mood in this place, a wizard might get the wrong idea—"
"On the contrary, Ron—" commented Josef as the wizard stepped around the bar and Ginny offered him her hand, "—I think he's got just the idea she wants him to have." He signaled the others to follow. "Come on. We may not have much time."
With his jaw aching from being clenched for so long, Harry followed Josef. Across the hall, Ginny gave them a quick, discreet wave as she was led through the crowd. Though he had seen it coming, Harry couldn't help but feel his chest tighten as the wizard unlocked the door to the cellar and led Ginny into the darkness with a giddy expression on his face.
In just a matter of seconds, Harry and Josef had slipped through the crowd and reached the cellar door. Though he was ready to break it down or blow it to pieces with a hex, the door opened easily and no one around them seemed to really care about or even notice them as they slipped through the doorway.
The floor beneath them dropped away into a steep stairwell. Harry began climbing down as quickly as he could but paused when he heard the faint echoes of a struggle, accented by a strained, higher pitched gasp. Leaving Hermione behind, Harry, Josef and Ron leaped down the last of the stairs and found themselves in a dim corridor. With wands drawn, they followed the noise around the corner and prepared to hex the witless wizard into the next year.
"Oh, good," Ginny sighed, "it's just you." She was holding her wand in one hand and attempting to drag a wizard into a dark room with the other. He was completely unconscious and lying limp on the dusty stone floor with the top buttons of his robes already undone.
Ginny dropped the man's arm and leaned against a wall. "He's heavier than I expected. I would have used my wand, but I was worried that I might have to use it if anyone found me."
With a flick of his wand, Josef levitated the body and threw it unceremoniously into the dark room. "That was a risky plan."
"Not as much as it seemed," she said with a smile. "Even more importantly, it worked. We needed to get into the cellars, and here we are. No threats or obscene amounts of gold required. At worst, Luc gets to take a bit of a nap after a long day of work, and it looks like no one even noticed we did it. Impressed?"
"Slightly nauseated, actually," grumbled Ron. "Why are his robes unbuttoned?"
Josef tried to be more diplomatic. "Your were very... efficient," he said in a strained voice, "almost disturbingly so."
Ginny let out short chuckle as she put her wand away. "It wasn't hard," she said with a frown. "He was practically tripping over himself to get down here, and once he did, he went right for his own robes." She flashed a disgusted look into the nearby room. "He didn't try to talk to me or even kiss me, he just went right for the buttons." She turned away and shrugged. "Not very much of a gentleman, I guess."
Not wanting to think about it any more than he had to, Harry urged them onward. The corridor was wide, but with a low ceiling that seemed to close in on them as they walked. Harry didn't quite know what he was looking for. He was hoping that whatever it was, it would be obvious when they saw it. Luckily for all of them, the cellars didn't seem to be all that complex. There was only one path, with the occasional alcove used for storing large barrels of wine or beer. Ahead of him, Harry spotted an encouraging sign: the tunnel ceiling was getting higher and the dim shape of an arch could be seen outlining the entrance to the next chamber.
Just as Harry reached the arch, a tall wizard in dark robes stepped out in front of them. Pulling his wand, Harry threw himself against the wall as everyone else scattered. The tall wizard jumped back as well, nearly dropping some heavy object he'd been carrying under his arm. He stumbled a bit, and caught the small barrel just before it struck the ground. Stumbling forward, he struck Hermione, knocking her backward against the wall before she hit the ground hard. Letting loose with a string of French profanity, the man glared at all of them as he tucked the barrel under his arm again and continued on his way down the corridor leading back to the staircase.
Everyone was shaken by the encounter, but none more than Hermione. She was still looking dizzy and out of breath when Ron helped her to her feet and urged Harry to continue on. Just a little ways further, they came to the top level of the cellar. The moment he saw it, Harry knew that they were in the right place.
The cellar was little more than a spiral staircase wound around a wide circular shaft bore into the stone beneath the pub. Shelves and small alcoves were cut into the walls and filled with barrels and bottles of all shapes and sizes. The shaft was not deep and it took them only a minute or two to reach the bottom. Like the walls along the stairs, the entire bottom was cluttered with barrels, but it was easy enough to see where they would want to go.
Along a smooth section of wall, they found a pair of simple stone doors on which was hung a large sign with rather an unfriendly-looking message. Josef quickly translated for them: Entry Forbidden by Law. Seeing the doors intact gave Harry some relief, though it disappeared a second later as Ron tugged at his robes and pointed toward the floor. A thick red liquid was seeping out from under the doors. As he watched, the pool was still growing.
He pushed against the door with all his strength and to his surprise, it swung open smoothly. Sprawled across the floor just inside the door was a young wizard in bright blue robes. His eyes were glazed over, trying to stare up at an attacker who was no longer their. The blood from a deep wound on his chest was flowing out onto the stone floor and soaking into his light blonde hair.
The horrible truth struck Harry. The wizard had been dead for only a short while. Whoever killed him was still nearby. Looking around quickly, he realized that they were in another small, circular room. It was the antechamber to another Veil chamber. He dashed across the room, threw open the heavy metal doors on the other side, and bounded down the steps on the other side.
The light of a hundred torches filled the chamber with dazzling golden light. A pair of bodies lay nearby, but other than them, the room was totally empty. Looking down at the platform below, Harry could see a number of jagged fractures crossing it and a collection of small bits of masonry.
The Veil had already been destroyed.
"Harry," Josef called out with an unsteady voice. "You need to see this."
He turned around and found Josef crouched on the steps beneath one of the dead bodies. An odd amber liquid was dripping down from above. Running up to take a closer look, Harry found the source. Not far from the body was a large, fancy bottle of liquor. It was cracked down its center and the liquid was still dribbling out of the bottle and down the stairs.
Josef looked up at him with a sickened expression. "Harry, it's cognac," he said. "It still hasn't reached the bottom of the stairs. This was recent."
Harry followed the trail of liquor down the steps where it stopped nearly halfway down. Just as Josef said, it was still slowly making its way down, spreading and slowing a little as it got closer to the bottom. The bottle couldn't have been broken much more than a few minutes ago.
"It doesn't make sense," he muttered. "He's got to be nearby. How could we have missed him?"
"We didn't," Ginny announced with a hollow voice, "—the man with the barrel..."
Harry turned around and found Ginny and Josef staring at Hermione. She was pale, with a sorrowful look in her eyes. Her mouth was moving as if she wanted to say something, but no sound was coming out. With a flick of Harry's wand, Hermione's voice returned.
"He's... killing them," she panted.
Without any discussion or even a moment's pause to consider a course of action, Harry bolted for the door. They had let the cloaked wizard get passed them. The hall above them was filled with drunk witches and wizards and Lupin, Tonks and Simon might arrive at any moment. They had fallen into yet another trap.
Ginny ran after Harry. Josef quickly passed her while Ron and Hermione trailed behind her. By the time she reached the top of the large spiral staircase, her legs felt like they were on fire, but she continued pushing herself onward. Harry and Josef didn't pause until they reached the foot of the stairs which led back to the main hall.
"Wands out," Harry whispered.
"Why's that?" Ron asked as he and Hermione came to a stop not far behind Ginny. "There are a thousand witches and wizards above us. He wouldn't risk that."
"I'm not so certain anymore," Harry replied. Ginny noticed something odd about the way he'd answered. She suddenly noticed that Harry was standing in front of the same dark room they had thrown the wizard she had tricked into unlocking the cellar door. She walked up to Harry and peered around him into the dim room. The wizard was still there and he was just as still as he had been when they had left him, only now he was missing both his hands.
"Bloody hell," Ron whispered as he stepped up to see what she was looking at. "What does that mean?"
"It means the situation has changed," Josef announced. "It would be a mistake to assume that we won't need to use our wands. Shield cloaks would be a good idea as well." As he said this, his eyes found Ginny. She nodded and took a moment to tighten the cloak around her.
After checking with the others, they all pulled their wands and slowly started climbing the stairs to the main hall. Before they even reached the top, it became clear that they were not returning to the same jubilant atmosphere. Muffled screams and the smell of burning wood were coming from the other side of the door. Harry hesitated for a moment at the door, then pushed it open and disappeared into the main hall.
Josef followed close behind him, leaving Ginny some distance back. She jumped up the last few steps and ran through the doorway. Immediately, the terrible reality struck her. Only minutes ago, the hall had been filled with jubilant wizards celebrating and drinking and singing. Now the hall was filled with smoke from a dozen fires which burned despite the bands of wizards trying to extinguish them. Scattered between the tables were small groups of wizards clustered around motionless bodies. Other bodies lay alone, most of them blackened or bloody.
Harry and Josef strode forward and stopped at the same table where they had been sitting. A woman's body lay spread across the top, her arms and legs splayed out. Harry turned away after just a few seconds, allowing Ginny to catch a brief glimpse of the unfortunate woman. Though her eyes were covered in thick blood, Ginny recognized her as the witch who had been serving Harry and Josef earlier.
"It's Potter!" cried a voice through the smoke. "They're here!"
Harry and Josef sprung around quickly, drawing their wands to point toward the direction the voice had come from. Ginny did the same, breathing deep and preparing herself for whatever might step through the haze.
"We feared the worst," Simon said as strode toward them. Tonks and Lupin ran up from behind him, looking visibly relieved upon seeing Harry and the rest of them.
"How long have you been here?" Harry asked,
"Only a few minutes," Lupin replied. "I think we arrived at the worst part of the attack. No one even noticed us. They were all just trying to escape."
The smoke parted nearby as Valencia strode toward them, her dark hair flowing behind her. "Have you found the Gate?" she asked. "Do you know where it is?"
"Yes, it's here," Harry answered. "It was here. The chamber is directly beneath us, but it was destroyed when we found it."
"There was no one else?" she asked. "You saw no other wizards trying to help him or stop him?"
Harry just shook his head. "No. I— I don't think anyone else knows about him." Valencia looked dissatisfied with this answer, but said nothing else. She raised her wand and sent a stream of water through the air at a nearby table which was still smoldering.
"Where is he?" Josef asked. "Where is the cloaked wizard?"
"He's left the hall," Justinian announced, appearing rather suddenly from behind them. "He's attacking wizards on the street. He's not going to stop. We need to do something."
Harry didn't wait for anyone else. Pushing aside fallen chairs and stepping over fallen wizards, Harry quickly walked across the pub to the far doorway where the ancient doors were bent and wrenched from their hinges. Pushing one of them aside, he disappeared through the gap.
Ginny ran after him and jumped through the broken doorway. Outside, the sun had already set and the sky was darkening quickly. Screams of fear and pain echoed down the street as the last few wizards on the street tried to flee in every direction.
One scream rang out clearer and louder than the rest. Ginny looked for its source and found a pair of shapes which weren't running like the others. They were standing together at the far side of a gruesome path of dead bodies. Harry and Josef had noticed this, too, and they already had their wands drawn.
"Let her go!" shouted Harry, as he stepped over a corpse.
"No," a familiar voice replied smoothly, "I think not." Ginny froze as she saw the cloaked wizard standing in the middle of the street. In one hand he was holding a long pointed dagger against the chest of a beautiful, young witch who was trembling in terror. "I have grown tired of your interference. You know what I want. I would allow you to buy her life. I am not unreasonable." Tears fell from the girl's large eyes as they stared at Ginny and the others from behind waves of pale blonde hair. She was beyond panic. Ginny didn't want to imagine the things she must have seen.
Harry stepped a little closer. "You asked me what crime you had committed to earn your punishment. What crime has she committed? What has she done to earn death?"
"Nothing at all," the cloaked wizard replied. "This is not about her, though, it is about her," he said, pointing the dagger at Ginny. "This is punishment for her crime."
Harry cast a silencing glance toward Ginny and began to slowly move into a position between her and the cloaked wizard. "Let her go. You've destroyed the Veil. There is nothing more for you to gain here," he argued. "You will only draw attention to yourself."
The wizard let out a sharp laugh dripping with malice. "I might draw attention to myself?" he repeated. "Open your eyes, Harry. Do you believe that if I were to walk away now, this would be reported as nothing more than a simple pub brawl? Do you think they will not discover what I have done? Do you expect me to believe that you will not tell them?"
"Then why are you still here?" he asked, trying to gain a bit more time to think. "Haven't you done enough? How many more deaths will it take? Will her death bring you any satisfaction?"
"The death of his girl means nothing to me, but it does to you," he said, then continued in a slow, deliberate tone: "Give me what I want, and this will end. Continue to oppose me, and she will die." To prove that he was serious, the wizard pressed the point of the blade into the girl's stomach, causing her to gasp in pain as a small, bright red stain appeared on the white fabric of her dress. Pale green light poured from the wizard's eyes as he spoke slowly: "Where is it?"
Harry continued to stall. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I have no times for games, Harry," the cloaked wizard said in a clear voice. The girl cried out as the knife pressed a little harder, causing a line of blood to soak through her dress as it flowed toward the ground. "You know what I want!" he shouted. The hand holding the blade twisted a little, and the girl let out a string of horrible screams.
"You want the Jewel of Darkness!" Harry shouted over the girl's shrieks. The cloaked wizard paused and waited for Harry to continue. "It's not here," he said. "Every moment you spend here is a waste of your time."
"You have the Jewel then?" he asked, giving Harry an appraising stare as he slowly lowered his dagger.
"I know where to find it," Harry bluffed. "I've known for some time now. Stay here and kill whoever you like. It will only give me more time to find it and see that it's hidden somewhere safe." The wizard paused for a moment to watch Harry.
"You are lying," he snarled. With a single swift motion, he drove the dagger into the girl's stomach just under her ribs. Lifting her up with the knife, he threw down the convulsing body further along the street and began walking toward her. She let out a single mournful wail as she tried in vain to drag herself away from him, but he ignored her, simply stepped over her as he continued on his path. After a few ragged breaths, the girl collapsed onto the street and didn't move again.
While Harry and Hermione rushed to the dying girl, the others were running forward quickly organizing some sort of plan with frantic gestures and silent words. A few huddled silhouettes could still be seen cowering in the dark corners, a few of them running off when they saw the cloaked wizard approaching.
Ginny ran after them, her legs still weak and aching. She felt horribly out of place. She was in a foreign country, fighting an enemy she couldn't fully comprehend. She was tired and dazed, unable to deal with the situation she had been forced into. She knew she wasn't weak, yet she simply didn't know what to do in a battle like this. This was nothing like sneaking about Hogwarts or taking on a crowd of Death Eaters. This was a single enemy, far beyond her skill. How could she even help stop something so horrible as this enemy? How could anyone?
She heard footsteps behind her and whirled about to find Harry and Hermione running toward her with their wands drawn and determined expressions on their faces. Just feet away from her, Harry came to an abrupt stop and raised his wand. Sparks shot past Ginny, followed by the sound of an explosion a second later.
Harry grabbed her shoulder and tugged her over toward the side of the street where they took shelter behind a set of stone posts. Josef and the others had done the same. Finding himself surrounded, the cloaked wizard turned slowly as if searching for something specific or waiting for something to happen.
Tonks and Simon were the first to attack. Standing up from behind a stone fountain, they fired off a pair of hexes, which were easily deflected by the cloaked wizard. Instead of their intended target, both struck a nearby storefront lighting the area with a flash of crimson. The sudden violence spurred a few of the wizards hiding in the area to leap out of their hiding spots in an attempt to escape to safer surroundings. Ginny spotted three of them dashing away from the street. Two of them managed to dive into alleys. The third was not so lucky.
With a wave of his arm, the cloaked wizard yanked the poor man off his feet and sent him flying backward. He landed on the stone street only inches from the wizard's feet. Next to her, Harry had his wand ready, obviously trying to decide if it was too risky to attempt a curse.
The cloaked wizard reached down and grabbed the man by his neck and pulled him up onto his feet. At first, Ginny couldn't quite make sense of what was going on. She had expected him to use the man as a hostage, much like he had with the girl, but that was not what he appeared to be doing. The man seemed to be suffocating. It didn't make sense. Why would he drag the man back, just to kill him?
"No!" Josef shouted from behind another column. "Stop him! Don't let him finish!"
Reacting to the command, Harry and Ginny both stepped out from behind their shelter. Tonks and Simon had done the same thing and were already running into the street to find a better position to attack from.
"How do we stop him?" Harry shouted. "What is he doing?"
Josef never answered, but there was no need. It was all too clear what was happening. The man had begun convulsing and was gripping the cloaked wizard's arm for support. In the dim light, Ginny could see that he was not suffocating at all. In fact, he was breathing quite quickly. As they all watch, his head tilted back and he stared into the sky as a horrible scream tore itself from his throat. He took in another deep, gasping breath, then screamed again, a little deeper in tone this time and far more harsh. A sickening feeling filled her stomach as he screamed a third time, this time opening his jaw as wide as he could, displaying a set of long, black fangs which gleamed in the faint light. Horrible memories flooded back to Ginny. She had seen this before. He was turning into one of the vampires that had attacked her in Romania.
Josef stepped out into the street. Aiming his wand at the cloaked wizard, he fired off a hex. With amazingly quick reflexes, the wizard dropped the man, dodged the hex, and quickly knocked Josef off his feet with a ball of golden light.
Tonks and Simon tried to counterattack, but before either could cast a spell, their wands had jumped from their hands to land in the street between them and the cloaked wizard. Without hesitation, they made a dash for their wands, knowing they stood little chance without them.
With a snarl, the vampire leaped to his feet and charged at them. Cold fear gripped Ginny. She knew they would never make it to their wands before the vampire would. Realizing the same thing, Lupin and Justinian fired curses at it, but it dodged the first and simply shrugged off the second. Simon and Tonks suddenly realized they would not reach their wands and tried to escape, but it was already upon them. Hissing at them, it slashed at Tonks, cutting deeply into her arm, and then leaped onto Simon. He fought with all his strength, but it was clear that he was no match for the vampire. Slowly, its jaws were inching closer to his neck.
Curses rained in from all sides, but none of them had any effect. No one seemed willing to try anything dangerous for fear of hitting Simon instead. Ginny could think of only one thing. "Lumos!" she cried. A blinding light burst out of the end of her wand and she aimed it directly at the vampire. Though it did little to injure it, it became disoriented enough that Simon was able to push it away for a moment. With a little more distance between them, the others were better able to help.
A thin rope sprung out of the air and wrapped itself firmly around the vampire's head. On the other end, Justinian braced himself against the doorway of a shop and pulled back with all his strength. The vampire's head jerked up sharply as Valencia strode forward and slashed her wand through the air. Bright silver sparks flew from her wand and struck the vampire's neck slicing it off in an instant.
Before the decapitated body could even fall to the ground, a jet of blue light shot across the street and slammed into Valencia's chest. She flew backward into a stack of wooden crates, shattering them. Within seconds, she began trying to pull herself from the wreckage, but the moment she tried to stand up, her leg bent unnaturally and she fell backward with a pained scream.
Ignoring urgent protests from Ron, Hermione ran forward to try and help her. She didn't even make it halfway across the street before a sharp bolt of light shot from the wizard's hand and struck her in the back. She stumbled and fell to the ground with a faint whimper. Ginny rushed forward, knelt down next to her and prepared to try and pull her friend to shelter. Running up behind them, Ron leveled his wand.
"Sectumsempra!" he shouted viciously.
The curse tore Ginny's attention away from Hermione. She looked up and saw a wide gash opened across the cloaked wizard's face. However, if it had an effect, it wasn't what Ron intended. Within seconds, the wound was already closing itself as the wizard's pale skin knitted back together over it.
With his teeth bared and his face bathed in the eerie green light from his eyes, the cloaked wizard strode across the street toward Ron. "Do you think you are special?" he growled, releasing puffs of black vapor as he spoke. "Do you believe yourself to have some extraordinary skill which has kept you relatively unharmed? The only reason your blood is still running in your veins and not pooling on the street with all the others is because you pose no threat to me. Did you wish that to change?"
With a wave of his hand, Ron was tossed backward off his feet and struck the stone wall of a darkened shop behind him. He coughed weakly and tried clumsily to get back onto his feet. Though Ron had been disarmed, the cloaked wizard didn't stop. Advancing on Ron, his right hand began to glow with a pale green light.
A pair of hexes flashed through the night, one each from Harry and Josef, but both were deflected easily with a quick wave of his left hand. With another wave, they were thrown backward onto the street. Noise from the far side of the street, caught everyone's attention. Somehow Valencia had managed to push herself up onto her knees. Her wand was out and she started to shout a spell, but it quickly turned into an agonized shriek as a long splinter of wood from the crates leaped off the ground and stabbed itself into her shoulder deep enough to pierce through the back of her robes.
Harry and Josef were still on the ground. Hermione seemed to be unconscious. Ginny was the only one left. She raised her wand, but the instant she did, the cloaked wizard's eyes found her. He said nothing, but slowly extended his glowing hand toward Ron, stating his threat more clearly than any words could have managed.
"I have no grudge against you," he announced as turned toward Ron, "but I have no use for you either. Your life or death is of little value to me, but perhaps your torture may teach your friends the consequences of defying me."
Before she even realized what she was doing, Ginny felt herself running forward with every last bit of strength she had. The cloaked wizard's hand brightened threateningly and his fingers extended toward Ron.
"No!" Ginny screamed as her feet skidded against the stone paving the street, coming to an abrupt halt only inches in front of the cloaked wizard. With a feral growl, his hand closed into a tight fist extinguishing the light while his eyes blazed with fury.
"Get out of my way!" he snarled. With terrifying strength, he grabbed her shoulder and shoved her away. She stumbled backward, but quickly regained her balance and stepped in front of him again.
Breathing heavily, he glared at her with baleful eyes. "Do not make me regret my decision to spare your life. Now, move aside or I will make you wish that I had granted your brother the gift of death."
"No," Ginny said as firmly as she could. It was hard to swallow, but she kept telling herself that he wouldn't hurt her. She was Ron's shield and so long as she refused to move, he would be safe.
"This is your last chance," he said in a low voice. "I have not forgotten what mercy is, but if you do not—"
A burst of bright light exploded only inches away from Ginny, scalding her and knocking the cloaked wizard off balance. He recovered quickly and raised his arm to point down the street where Harry and Josef had been. His attention was turned away from her for little more than a second or two, but Ginny saw her chance. She raised her wand and jabbed it into the open space between his jaw and the bottom of his hood.
"Fractus!" she shouted.
A sickening series of cracking noises split the evening air as the cloaked wizard's head bent backward unnaturally. A second later, his body went limp and felt limply to the ground. Her heart pounding in her chest, Ginny looked down and watched as the green flames in his eyes began to slowly fade.
Even as Ginny stood over him, watching the last light flickering in his eyes, a thick oily smoke began to collect along on the ground surrounding the body. It dispersed quickly, as though driven by a brisk wind. A hand fell on her shoulder and she spun around, shrieking in fear.
"We need to go," Harry said as he grabbed her other shoulder and began pushing her along the street. Ron was starting to push himself back up and Harry stepped aside quickly to help him up before returning to Ginny. "There's no time. We've got to get to the pub. The street is covered by Anti-Disapparation charms and he won't stay dead for long."
As Ginny was forced along the street, he saw Josef helping Hermione limp along beside them. Understanding Harry's plan without even being told, Lupin and Justinian lifted Valencia from the wreckage of the crates while Simon and Tonks, though bruised and bloodied, seemed to be unhurt. They had recovered their wands and remained at the back of the group, keeping an eye out for any attacks.
At the head of the group, Harry and Ginny were watching just as intently. They had been walking for no more than a minute or more before they came to a sudden halt.
"Josef!" Harry called out. "The girl!"
Ahead of them, Ginny spotted the body of a young witch lying in the street. It was the same witch who had been murdered in front of them only minutes ago, but something was wrong. It took only a moment to see what had caught Harry's eye. Her hair was no longer blonde, but a vibrant red. Before Harry could turn aside, the witch began to stir. With slow, mechanical movements, she rose up onto her hands and knees, and glared at them with glowing emerald eyes.
As she stood up, her hand closed around the long dagger still embedded in her stomach. With a grimace of pain, she wrenched it free and deftly turned the knife around in her hand, so that the bloody tip was pointing directly at Ginny.
"How dare you..." she hissed, black smoke spilling out of her mouth. "How many more times must you try to end my life? You must know that you cannot succeed. Not anymore. You should have been so merciful the first time. You see now?" she croaked. "Do you see how your betrayal has returned to haunt you? You stole both life and death from me. Now, not even you can give them to me."
"You must learn that your actions have consequences," she continued. "If that requires your blood to be spilled, then it is a price I am willing to pay." Without warning, the girl sprang at Ginny, the dagger held in front of her like a spear. Ginny tried to aim her wand and back away at the same time, but she simply wasn't fast enough. The other witch dodged a pair of hexes from the others and lunged toward Ginny. The bloody dagger slashed at Ginny's face, but missed by inches.
A fierce cry rang out in the night. Ginny looked back at the witch and found Josef grappling with her. She fought wildly against him, slicing the air with the knife as he pulled her back away from Ginny. Harry jumped forward to grab the witch's arm. With slow determination, he bent her elbow so that the knife was pointing back at her chest. She laughed at them as the tip of the blade hovered just inches from her collarbone. Suddenly, the green flames in her eyes disappeared. Harry's strength quickly overcame her waning resistance, and Ginny winced as she watched Harry drive the dagger into the center of the young woman's neck. Her eyes rolled back in her head and Josef immediately let go of her as she dropped back onto the street.
Everyone stared down at the limp body, uncertain about what had just happened. In her attempt to put more distance between herself and the dead witch, Ginny backed into something large and immovable. As she twisted to see what it might be, a long arm curled around her neck and pressed against her throat making it nearly impossible to breathe.
"It is obvious that I do not have your full attention," a familiar voice growled in her ear. "Perhaps we need to find a place with less distractions."
Ginny tried to scream, but the only sound that escaped her mouth was a strangled gasp. Bending down over the witch's body, Harry pulled the dagger from her neck and leaped toward her captor. From her vantage point, all Ginny could see was a large arm draped with a tattered black cloak deflect Harry's attempt and clamp down on his neck.
The arm around Ginny's neck tightened as sound exploded in her ears. His grip tightened more, until it felt as though her whole body was being squeezed. She struggled to breathe and slowly, the world around her faded into blackness. She wondered if she was being suffocated. The even more terrifying truth hit her a moment later as the pressure disappeared and she fell to the ground. It was covered in harsh, gritty sand.
She had Disapparated.
Author's Notes:
This chapter is for all of you people who have been curious about Josef's subtle hints about Harry and Hermione. We also finally get to see just how these vampires are being created (in case it wasn't clear before).
This should be the last chapter to freely include French. For those of you who understand the French, I hope you enjoyed the extra humor. For those who don't, you miss a couple jokes, but gain the more authentic feel as Harry missed them, too.
I'd like to say I'm sorry for the slight cliffhanger at the end, but I'm not. If you're curious what happened, your best course of action will be to stick around for Chapter 12. I'll be away for a week or so for spring break, but I promise you'll have Chapter 12 when I return. Chapter 13 won't be far behind it.
