Chapter 21: Amber Attacked
"I can go there by myself! I don't need you following me!" Andromeda snapped at Diana Goyle as they walked down the first floor hallway. It was a week later, a Saturday again. Because of an incident in Defense Against the Dark Arts class earlier that week on Tuesday, Andromeda was assigned to serve detention with Bridget that Saturday. Diana had taken it upon herself to accompany Andromeda to Bridget's classroom, as she was worried that otherwise, Andromeda would run away from her punishment and get in even bigger trouble.
"I just want to make sure you serve your detention with Professor O'Blarney. You tried to skip out on Professor Patil's detention back in early March and lost us even more points, and that is not going to happen again," Diana replied sternly.
"That's because I didn't deserve it! Everyone should've praised me for trying to get that mudblood Topper to leave class!" Andromeda argued, "Even you agree with me that purebloods like us are superior! And that means we should keep those who are unworthy of studying magic out of Hogwarts!" Before Diana could figure out a retort, she gasped as the infamous thestral ran past her and Andromeda, charging towards the classroom that was used for Muggle Studies.
"It's that thestral..." she realized.
"Let's go help it! Let's go beat up that mudblood Amber!" Andromeda cheered, and she hurried after the thestral.
"But it's against the rules!" Diana protested, determined to follow Andromeda and keep her out of trouble. The thestral attacks bothered her too, as she felt that it was rather extreme to actually attack muggleborns and attempt to drive them out of Hogwarts, like they were some kind of threat. She began to hesitate, wondering if Andromeda and her father were right, since somehow those muggleborns and their supporters HAD been able to take over the wizard world. But did that mean they were a threat? Diana had always tried to obey authority, but what happened when different authority figures said different things? She shook her head and entered the classroom, and then she gasped in horror.
"Go thestral! Kick her out of here!" Andromeda cheered as the thestral literally kicked Amber into the wall. Amber screamed with rage and pain as her wand flew out of her hand and bounced off the edge of a desk, out of her reach. Diana shuddered at seeing the blood on Amber's legs and the crunching sound the thestral's hoof made as it stomped on her shin. This was just so wrong, even if Professor McAngus HAD been rather cruel to her before.
"Please stop it, thestral!" Diana begged, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She was frightened, unsure whether to run away, run for help, or try to fight the thestral herself. Could she freeze it with a spell?
"No! Don't stop it! Don't you dare!" Andromeda blurted out. She noticed Diana draw her wand shakily and charged at her, determined to protect her sister without revealing their secret.
"Pe...Petrificus Totalis!" Diana shouted, struggling to aim at the thestral without hitting Andromeda or Amber. She missed, blasting a hole in the wall right above Amber's head. She then was knocked off balance as Andromeda crashed into her, and she dropped her wand too. Just then, Bridget entered the room as well, having heard the commotion. She pointed her wand at the thestral too.
"Incarcerous!" she called. At the same time, Andromeda leaped off of Diana and in front of Bridget, and the conjured ropes wrapped around her instead. The thestral, seeming to sense that it was in danger of being caught, made a dash out of the room. It leaped over Diana and Andromeda, landing on Bridget and trampling her on the way out, and then it jumped out of a window that was open in the hallway, flying away from the castle.
"You! YOU! YOU'RE HELPING THAT THESTRAL! YOU'RE THE ONE BEHIND THE ATTACKS!" Amber screamed, pointing at Diana.
"I...I'm sorry, Professor McAngus. I was trying to stop it. I didn't want it to hurt you," Diana whimpered.
"I believe you, Diana. What we need to do now is get Amber to the hospital wing," Bridget said as she sat up.
"Untie me first!" Andromeda demanded, as she was tied up in the ropes Bridget had conjured.
"That wouldn't have happened to you if you hadn't tried to block the thestral. That thing is dangerous, Professor O'Blarney was about to stop it," Diana scolded.
"But I wanted it to win," Andromeda whined, although Bridget untied her anyway.
"What are you DOING? Keep her tied up, Bridget, she's evil!" Amber shrieked, "Her and Diana, you don't know what people like them did to me! THEY PUT ME IN AZKABAN FOR BEING MUGGLEBORN!" Diana stared in shock and horror. She didn't know about that! Was there really a time when people were being put in that prison just for having muggle parents?
"We can question Andromeda and Diana about it later. Right now we need to get you taken care of," Bridget said firmly, but then she softened. "Of course I know what happened to you, Amber. I was one of the Aurors who freed you and the others, remember?"
"Why were people put in Azkaban just for being muggleborn? It's not like that's against the law," Diana said, confused. Or was that during the short time when Voldemort had taken over the Ministry, back in the late 1990's?
"I can tell you and Andromeda about it while we take Amber to be treated," Bridget said as she conjured a stretcher and helped Amber onto it.
"It's my past, so I'LL tell them! Your Death Eater grandfather and his friends put me in Azkaban! And they had DEMENTORS THERE!" Amber shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Diana, who was even more confused at the mention of dementors.
"Are those an old-fashioned torture weapon?" she asked.
"Not really. They're one of the Darkest beings around. They feed on happiness and suck it out of people, making them relive their worst memories and leaving them only with their worst thoughts and feelings. They were once used to guard Azkaban before they rebelled and joined Voldemort. After he was defeated, they were replaced with Auror guards. Even hardened criminals like the Death Eaters wouldn't have deserved to be mentally tortured by Dementors," Bridget explained as she, Andromeda and Diana walked along, Amber's stretcher being levitated in front of them.
"What do you mean they wouldn't deserve to be tortured? Of course they would! They're Death Eaters!" Amber blurted out, "They did it to me, so I should get to have them tortured in the same way!"
"You're not the only one who has said that, but it's really all for the better that the Dementors were replaced by Aurors. If you remember, the Dementors were easily persuaded to follow Voldemort and thus abandoned the Ministry's side, although they were obviously still used by the Ministry when it was under the control of Voldemort's Death Eaters. While Voldemort is gone, if we went back to using Dementors as guards, they could possibly be lured away by some other future Dark wizard who wanted to use them to spread despair. Also, Dementors are blind and thus were able to be fooled by Sirius Black's Animagus disguise, something that wouldn't have happened if humans were guarding Azkaban at the time. While it did later turn out that he was innocent, the point is, it is my belief, and the Ministry's belief, that human Aurors are much more trustworthy and reliable guards than the Dementors," Bridget explained.
"What about Fenrir Greyback? He escaped under the watch of human guards and bit that poor little mis-sorted muggleborn girl!" Amber protested, "If he was guarded by Dementors, he would've been too depressed to escape! Or if he had just been given the Kiss, like his Death Eater friends threatened to do to me..."
"I never said human guards are perfect. I understand you want revenge, but you really don't need to take it. Almost all of Voldemort's Death Eaters are either dead or imprisoned, and Greyback was, I must add, the ONLY escapee from Azkaban since the Death Eaters were rounded up, and he is currently back in his cell. The children of the Death Eaters are innocent, and they do not need to be punished for their parents' crimes," Bridget said firmly, and then she softened. "We're at the Hospital Wing, and Poppy will make sure you're all healed. You were very lucky that Diana and I helped you, all of the other Thestral victims were unconscious by the time anyone was able to save them."
"How can you trust Diana? Her father helped the Death Eaters! She may have been just pretending to help me!" Amber accused.
"Whatever her motivations were, she DID help you, unlike Andromeda, who still has to serve her detention with me today and needs to stay with us while we tell Poppy what happened," Bridget replied as she gently set Amber's stretcher on top of the nearest bed.
"She tried to petrify me!" Amber burst out.
"I was aiming at the Thestral! I really was!" Diana pleaded.
"I can't believe YOU'RE a blood traitor too," Andromeda muttered sullenly, wishing that Bridget, of all people, hadn't shown up during the Thestral attack. She had to tell her sister to be more careful, otherwise someone might actually hit her with a spell next time.
"Professor McAngus! I heard that horrible rampaging Thestral mentioned, were you attacked by it too?" Madame Pomfrey asked, having noticed her new patient.
"Yes! And SHE tried to help it!" Amber accused, pointing at Andromeda, who glared defiantly.
"You need to be healed first, Professor McAngus, that's the most important thing right now," Madame Pomfrey replied, "Thank you for helping her, Professor O'Blarney."
"I will be sure to tell my students about ways to deal with the thestral attacks if they come across one. Tying it up or petrifying it may be the way we can capture it and find out why it is attacking muggleborns specifically," Bridget said.