Hey everyone! I'm back again and finally here to finish Portkey of Castile. For those of you wondering why it took so long, I was working on 'The Aurseize', 'Seven Days' and a few more stories. So basically, I abandoned it. But I've picked it right back up and finished it this time, so I'm updating and I am determined to have the entire story uploaded by this week or the next! I'm really sorry for the inconvienience I've caused and hopefully I'll be able to make it up with this story =P On a different note, I hope everyone is well and happy! I also hope you guys had a wonderful holiday this year and will have an amazing New Year! Much Love!
Jade felt her entire body freeze as she stared at the creature. Was this actually happening? Was a creature speaking to her? Jade gaped at the panther that came closer to her, next to her leg. It nuzzled its soft silky head against her leg and stepped back to see Jade stare in horror.
"Did you just speak?" Jade asked in a high pitched voice.
"Yes I have." It said.
It was the strangest thing Jade ever had to witness in her life. She grew up to muggle parents and when she had attended Hogwarts, she thought she'd never see anything more bizarre, but talking animals were nothing like she had ever seen before.
"I am not here to eat you. I am here to warn you. Your life is in danger." The panther said. Jade furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the panther questioningly.
"What are you talking about?" Jade asked.
"We haven't got much time. They will start to wonder why you are taking long. Nicolas and his servant work under Queen Castile." The panther explained.
"Yes…so?" Jade asked.
"And Queen Castile wants you and your friend dead." The panther said. Jade felt her heart drop. She widened her eyes at the panther who explained further.
"She has gotten back what she has wanted most in 99 years, after Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald had escaped with the Portkey of Castile. She does not want the same mistake to happen twice. She is luring you in with Nicolas but your friend has already escaped from their grasp." The panther said, putting itself in a sitting pose.
"That explains why Nicolas and Jack reacted so badly when they heard that Draco left." Jade said seeing the panther bow its head lightly.
"They were specifically asked to bring both of you back to the castle. I shall have to tell you that the Queen was not too pleased about knowing that your friend had left right under their nose. If you care about your life at all, you will go back to the town to find your friend." The panther said.
"But the Portkey is in the castle!" Jade said. The panther bowed again.
"It is, but you should have to sneak in and steal it without having the Queen to know at all." The panther told her. Jade chewed her bottom lip, rethinking everything. So much information was thrown into her face, she needed to catch them and keep a cool head.
"But what about Dumbledore's face in the river?" Jade asked the panther. There was a hacking sound coming from the panther that Jade believed would be what a panther would sound like when it was laughing.
"That old Queen used the stream as a means of communicating with you and your partner. She needed you to bring yourselves into her hands by sending you directly to the path where she wanted and where she had sent her men for you. The trees, the rivers in uninhabited places such as the jungle and the forest have ears and report back to the Queen; most of them do. They serve as the Queens eyes and ears because muggles are useless to her." The Panther licked its paws as Jade looked behind her from the line of bushes to see Nicolas and Jack still eating.
"Are Nicolas and Jack muggles or wizards?" Jade asked cautiously.
"Probably one of the most hollow headed and unintelligent muggles I had ever seen, but then again I hardly see any muggles in my path." The cat said getting back on its four legs. "Just pretend to sleep and you will hear everything to confirm what I have just told you. They plan to do very horrible things to you and you should find your friend before any hard comes to him. The Queen cannot have any magical control over the towns filled with muggles otherwise there would be chaos. You must flee tonight and make your way towards the castle with your friend." he said starting to trot away.
"Flee by myself from them? I can't escape from two grown men! What if they try to kill me?" Jade asked.
"Trust me; I will take care of that. You must wait until they fall asleep to run. If anything goes wrong, I will be there." The panther promised. Jade gulped, feeling her throat tighten and the newfound feeling of terror shooting through her body. Her life was in danger in more ways than she could have ever imagined.
"Go, they are getting suspicious." The panther said disappearing off into the dark woods.
Jade heard Nicolas calling for her name. She shuddered, not wanting to go back to Nicolas who was a servant of the manipulative and cunning Queen of Castile. She had to gather up her will and be brave about facing death. She needed to challenge death, not run away from it. She needed to intimidate death. Jade took a deep breath and turned around. Her chest was swollen with courage and there was only one thing that was fixed in her mind. Make it to Hogwarts alive.
"Where were you? Why had it taken so long?" Nicolas asked taking her arm. Jade wanted to push him off her and send a good flying kick to his groin, just like she had to Malfoy when he had tried to make her late for her Transfiguration quiz.
"You shouldn't be asking a lady why it was taking so long in the loo." Jade said seeing him look embarrassed about it. "I'm tired. Goodnight." Jade said walking away and helping herself on to the hammock. She had her wand securely in place. If they went to do anything funny to her, she'd hex them to death. Jade closed her eyes and waited for an hour.
"The Queen will be furious. She will kill us for losing her friend." Jack said worriedly to Nicolas who nodded.
"We cannot do anything about it. We cannot bring the girl back to the town to look for her friend, which would just look too suspicious. You saw the way they act with each other. At each other's throats those two. She could care less about him and he could care less about her. If we were to go back to get her friend back, she would ask why we cared so much when she did not." Nicolas explained to Jack who seemed to get the idea.
"Oh…I never thought of it that way." Jack said, his eyes drooping. He yawned loudly and rubbed his face vigorously.
"Master…do you think the Queen would let me have her before she kills her off? I want her to scream under me." Jack said laughing gleefully. Nicolas smirked and looked towards Jade who was sleeping soundly.
"After I'm finished with her." Nicolas said seeing Jack grin widely.
"Oh but Master, you are so lucky she's kissed you! How did it feel? I know it felt mighty good." Jack said as Nicolas prepared for sleep.
"She is not shy as other women. Go to sleep. We have a long day ahead tomorrow." Nicolas said, closing his eyes.
They both fell asleep in a few minutes and didn't notice Jade scowling severely from listening to their conversation. If it were up to her, she'd cut them into tiny little pieces and feed it to the dogs. Jade waited a half an hour to be safe, knowing that they had fallen into a deep sleep. She carefully tried to get out of the hammock without making any noise at all. The hammock swung to one side dangerously, threatening to send her flying down. Her heart caught in her throat and she almost gasped from the sudden movement. She slowly took her time and set herself down on the ground.
"Finally." She breathed. Jade detached herself from the hammock and started to make her way out. As she walked, she found that she couldn't see at all through the forest without her wand. She patted her sides for the wand but stopped dead in her tracks when she realized that she didn't have it with her.
"Thought you'd try to escape." A voice said behind her. Jade whipped around and saw Nicolas standing there with her wand in his hand.
"What is this?" Nicolas asked observing the wand delicately.
"Give it back Nicolas." Jade demanded. Nicolas tipped the wand horizontally and held it on both sides. "Nicolas don't touch my-"
"Wand?" Nicolas asked. "You want this back?" Nicolas asked waving her wand around. Jade nodded eagerly and Nicolas grinned. "Take off your clothes and lie down then." Nicolas told her.
"What?!" Jade shrieked. She felt two hands grab her arms and hold her firmly from the back.
"Oh I can't wait to have you little lady. I've been waiting ever since I've lain my eyes on you." he said reaching down to firmly squeeze her breast. Jade screamed as loud as she could and turned around to punch Jack in the nose. He staggered back and held his nose which started to gush with blood.
"Hold her down." Nicolas said. Jack grabbed Jade before she had a chance to run and threw her on the ground. He held her down tightly as she screamed and kicked to no avail. Nicolas squatted down next to Jade and held the wand out in front of her.
"We have to make sure she does not try to kill us in our sleep. It would be a tad bit unfair." Nicolas said waving her wand around mockingly. He took the wand with both hands and in one swift pull, he cracked it in half. Jade screamed, feeling beyond the feeling of fury inside of her.
"You broke my wand you bastard!" Jade shrilled.
"Shut your mouth!" Nicolas barked.
He pinned her legs down with his, making her unable to move at all. Jade screamed hearing Jack laugh and Nicolas start to prepare himself. They all suddenly heard a large roar that nearly scared the life out of Jade. It was a sinister roar and Jade saw Nicolas flying off of her as the Black Panther charged into him. Jack let go of her arms that were sore and probably bright red. She rubbed it gently to see the Panther crush Nicolas's head with his powerful jaw. Jack started to run away and Jade saw her broken wand on the floor. She picked it up and turned away from the gory scene that the Panther had made with Nicolas's body.
"Take the horse and run! I'll get to the other fat one." The Panther said trotting away. Jade nodded and went to the horse and fed it some oats that Jack had in the cart.
"Come on." Jade coaxed. She untied the horse from the cart and knew that it felt relieved from being free from such a heavy cart. "Good boy. We have to get back to the town quickly. You know where it is don't you?" Jade asked stroking the horses' mane. The horse neighed softly and Jade pulled herself up on the horse, trying to have a firm control of it. She had very little experience to ride a horse but she always had seen movies. She was fine if she didn't fall off. Jade lightly kicked the horse's side to make it start moving back to the town again.
"Faster, my life depends on it." Jade said kicking it on the side again. The horse understood and started on a run, faster than it had ever been on the cart. Jade had to hold on tightly to the horse as she bounced up and down on the horse unwillingly. She needed to hang on to her life as the horse bolted through the forest. Jade saw the town approaching and the trees started thinning. Relief along with another shot of adrenaline spread throughout her body. The horse started slowing down as they approached the town which was roughly about a mile away. As soon as they were close to the bridge, Jade stopped the horse and got off of it. She patted the horse and gave it something to eat.
"Go back to the forest. Thank you for the help." Jade said kissing the side of its nose. She let the horse go and saw it trot away from her, neighing gently. Jade turned around to the bridge of the town and started making her way back to the town to look for Malfoy again.