CHAPTER 21-Cassy and Dobby Race To The Finish
When Severus arrived at the barn he still had a bit of sleep in his eyes.
"What's going on Sirius? Why the late-night call?" asked Severus.
"It would seem that two or more owls were sent to you. Both are dead and only one made it through with a message. I didn't touch the message in case it was personal, but I figured you would want to see this immediately."
Severus just stared at the two owls then drew his wand and checked the message for curses. Finding none he opened the message. After reading it twice he handed it to Sirius and then sat down on a bale of hay.
Sirius took the message and read............."Ministry attacked, Death Eaters tried to gain access to Unspeakable globe storage but we stopped them. One of the captured appeared to be Harry but after an hour we found a Death Eater under the influence of polyjuice potion. They must have some of Harry's hair so be careful. One of our people overheard them talking about looking for friends of Harry's to hold hostage and a plan to enter Hogwarts over the Christmas vacation."
"I think we are safe here" said Severus, "But we will need to work out a code system with everyone so we can catch the fakes. Plus if they intercepted the other message they know that we know what they are up to."
"That reminds me," said Sirius, "We need to change the destination for the portkeys the kids are wearing. It they get into trouble they will end up at Hogwarts and no one is there right now."
Severus had a funny look on his face then said to Sirius, "I don't know what's wrong with me, I should have thought of that! Thanks for remembering!"
"You can't do it all Severus" said Sirius. "That's why Albus hired me as security and others to handle other areas of concern. Hopefully between all of us we can stay on top of things."
"I just want to give everyone a problem free Christmas vacation" said Severus. "A time to just relax and enjoy life is very important to Alice and I want to see that she gets her Christmas wish. Goodness knows how much trouble the rest of the year will bring."
Sirius looked at the owls again then said, "They both made it through but both were killed because someone tried to intercept them. Whoever caught one of them and badly hurt the other, managed to intercept a message. I am sure the culprits who did this tried to follow the one that got away. I have a hunch we might find some tracks outside the perimeter if we looked, but it would be best to wait until daylight."
"They can't see the house, all they would see is a vacant hill top and a village down the hill. We will need to ward the Aurors who are watching the village in case the Death Eaters decide to start roughing people up" said Severus. "The good thing is that when they leave the village they leave their memories about why they were there. It only works that way with those who have the mark."
"Get back to bed Severus, before Alice wonders where you are. She doesn't need to know about this, not in the mood she has been recently. I'll take care of the owls" said Sirius.
"She said her mood swings should end by next month, at least that is what happened when she had Neville" said Severus. "I am looking forward to January very much he said smiling".
"I'll bet you are" laughed Sirius. "I'm not sure what she will think up after hotdogs and burned marshmallows in the snow, but it ought to be a doozy. Well, I need to get to bed as I'm in charge of the kids fitness and duel training in the morning."
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At breakfast the next morning Alice got everyone's attention and made an announcement. "We are going to adopt and carry on a tradition that has been in my family for years. In this hat, which she picked up, are pieces of paper with the name of each one of us. We will be drawing names and will give that person a Christmas Present during Christmas Dinner. The special circumstance is that you cannot buy this present it has to be created by you especially for the person you drew from the hat. If you use magic to create it then it has to be your magic and no one else. We have a week to get it done which should be plenty of time. This will require some thought and creativity and should be a lot of fun."
Everyone just sat there and looked at her like she was crazy but after seeing the look on Severus' face they all began to smile and act excited about the adventure. Alice then passed the hat around and everyone drew a name.
Everyone had a name to work on but two of the more interesting were Cassy who picked Harry and Harry who picked Severus.
Alice also announced that they would leave around nine the next morning for their Christmas shopping trip. Many of the adults and most of the kids had not had the opportunity to complete their shopping and they needed to provide for security.
Albus and Severus told all the kids to meet in the Great Room after breakfast. Once they were all there the two of them collected up the amulets and charmed them to bring the person to Snape Manor instead of Hogwarts. They gave the amulets back and explained again the instructions that they were to hold them and say the word "companion" then the amulet would bring them to Snape Manor. Severus also explained to them that this was the code word to use for identification and explained to them about the Death Eater impersonating Harry.
Severus picked up Cassy and asked her, "Do you remember how to use your amulet Cassy?"
"Yes, Daddy. I hold on to it and say 'Mama' and it will take me to Poppy."
"Well we have changed it a little bit Cassy. Now it will bring you to this house. But you need to remember never to use it unless you are in danger, OK?"
"Yes Daddy, I'll remember."
"We will change them back after Christmas and we all return to Hogwarts. But we don't want you ending up at Hogwarts with no one there to be with you" said Albus.
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The kids set about organizing sled races and even convinced the adults to participate. The first set of races were scheduled to take place that afternoon and promised to provide some interesting entertainment.
The family was sitting in comfortable chairs on the back patio in front of a roaring fire, getting ready for the first race. Albus and Minerva were the first two contestants and nobody wanted to miss out.
All of a sudden they heard a screech and Cassy yelling, "Daddy, save me!"
Cassy had been playing trapeze artist and walking around the cinder block railing around the patio which also served as secondary seating when it was crowded. She had slipped on an icy patch and fallen head first into a snow drift that had piled up against the patio wall.
"Where is she?" asked Severus, looking around frantically.
"She was just here" said Neville, "I saw her walking on the rail and bowing to the fantasy crowds she was supposed to be performing in front of."
They all started looking over the wall for a place where Cassy might have fallen and soon Hermione yelled, "Over here, there's a hole in the snow over here!"
Severus arrived first and reached down into the hole in the snow. He felt the fabric of Cassy's snow suit and just grabbed onto it and pulled. When he pulled his arm out of the hole he had hold of Cassy's bottom and she was hanging upside down. When she saw the light of day and her Fathers face she smiled and said, "I knew you would save me Daddy".
Severus continued to hold onto her bum and brought her closer so that they were eye ball to eye ball. "Look at what I found buried in the snow, do you think we should keep her or should we throw her back, she is pretty small?" said Severus.
"DADDY, you wouldn't throw me back would you?" asked Cassy with big saucer eyes and a grin that had turned into a very worried look.
"Severus!" said Alice. "Put her right side up before all the blood rushes to her head and quit threatening her!"
Severus just smiled, righted his daughter and placed her on her feet. "Little One," said Severus, "You need to watch where you're walking or we might not find you next time."
"Yes, Daddy" said Cassy. But her calm demeanor did not last very long and soon she was jumping up and down not knowing who to root for, her Grandma or Grandpa.
About that time the kids started laughing at the sight of their Grandparents, Headmaster and Professor, laying on sleds and racing down the hill. Minerva seemed to have more experience on a sled and beat Albus by at least two sled lengths. Severus was sure that Albus would never live it down but it did provide for laughs and smiles. It was going to be a wonderful Christmas.
Sirius and Lupin were the next contestants and Lupin won the race but Sirius accused him of cheating. Alice and Molly were declared the judges since Severus and Arthur would not let them race down the hill on a sled. Neither would dare use the word "Pregnancy" as an excuse so they said it was not fair since there were two of them, mother and baby, against one other contestant. Everyone knew what they meant and just laughed. Both the would-be mothers did not care as they were already showing and both suffering from the morning reunion with the commode. It was safer and easier to just sit on the porch and be the bosses.
They declared that there was no cheating and Lupin was in fact the winner of the race and that there would be no re-race. Sirius pouted for a short time but was soon back with the crowd cheering for the racers.
Tonks and Arthur were the next race of the day. They both started off in good shape but both crashed and burned way before hitting the finish line so they had to return to the top of the slope and start over again. It took three tries before one of them reached the finish line and it was Tonks over the line first and it was not because of her talent. Arthur crashed a fourth time and Tonks just held on and hoped for the best. She made it across the finish line but then crashed into a show bank because she didn't know how to stop the sled. It took a lot of nurture and talk to get her to agree to another race.
The last race of the day was to be between Bill and Charley. They were a bit daring and very mischievous. They tried to use their sleds as bumper cars, causing the other racer to veer off the course and hopefully crashing. Bill even used the jump to gain an advantage over Charley but the judges declared all the races with jumps and contact to be fouls. It took six attempts before Bill finally won a race and of course lorded it over Charley until the chunky muscled man threw Bill in a snow drift and walked off letting Bill dig himself out.
Everyone was packing up to go inside when they noticed two sleds coming down the race track.
"Was someone else scheduled to race" asked Harry?
"No" said the Twins, "Bill and Charley were supposed to be the last two for today."
As the sleds got closer they could finally make out who was on them and when they did they were in utter shock. On one sled was Cassy. She was flapping in the breeze because of the speed she was traveling but she was holding on with a quiet determination. Her facial expression was one of a little person determined to win her race even though the adults and students had not extended to her the courtesy of an invitation.
On the second sled was none other than Dobby. Dobby's face did not reflect the quiet determination that Cassy's did. Dobby's expression was one of sheer terror.
Dobby had hold of the handles although steering seemed to be a foreign language and he was there only because Cassy was there! Dobby was to watch out for Cassy and that is exactly what Dobby would do no matter how dangerous it might be.
On they came with seemingly little control, narrowly missing each other frequently and from the expressions on their faces, each was having an opposite emotion from the other.
Severus was frozen to the spot in shock, as were most of the others. Finally he was able to cast a spell to slow down their speed but allow Cassy to finish the race. Cassy won the race and was jumping up and down because she knew she had moved to the second round. Dobby crawled off the sled and fainted.
Severus was furious at first then calmed down and tried to see it from Cassy's point of view. She was one of the group, but they had not even considered trying to keep her involved in the activities. She was at such a difficult age. Too old to be content with staying with Mama and too young to handle some of the activities that her siblings were attempting. They should have thought of a way to include her and they didn't and now they would have to try and find a way to keep her in the race without putting her in danger.
Within feelings of controlled anger they celebrated Cassy's victory and picked up Dobby to carry him into the house until he could recover from his frightening experience. He might have been the first house elf ever to race on a sled and from the looks of him, he might be the last.
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Harry decided he wanted to go flying before dinner. He felt he needed the solitude and the wind in his hair. He had started getting headaches again, like he experienced when he was around Professor Quirrell the previous year. They were not as bad if he remembered to practice his Occlumency but he still felt a vague presence and it was not comfortable.
He also felt like his body was turning into one big anger machine at times. Madame Pomfrey had explained to him one time that it was all about something called hormones. It might be easy to say but it was hell to live with. Out of the blue a comment or a look would stir up the angry bug in him and he just wanted to lash out and yell at the person. Then it would pass and he would think that it had been a really stupid thought considering what had been said.
Perhaps he ought to talk to his Dad about it but he was hesitant and didn't want to worry him. Really he didn't want to stand out as different. He was already different in so many ways and to add another difference to the mix just gave him hives.
He took off from the porch and immediately felt better. Flying always made him feel free and his mind seemed to calm down and give him peace. He made it a point to stay within the boundary. He wanted to stay out of trouble this holiday season. He didn't have many good holidays to remember, none really, and he wanted this one to be special.
As he flew over the bob-sled hill he noticed a trail coming out of the forest and then stop about a hundred yards into the sled run. He flew lower to get a better look and saw that the trail was actually the tracks of one or more people coming out of the woods and stopping at, what looked to be a large pile of snow.
He decided to land at the snow pile since it was inside the boundary and it was allowed. He walked over to the pile and found out that it was much more than just a pile of snow. What he was looking at was a snow cave. He remembered seeing one on TV one time when Dudly was watching a survivor show. Inside the cave were maps and a sleeping bag along with food stuffs.
His brain kicked in, telling him that this was, what Severus would classify as putting oneself in danger, and as he clearly remembered, the consequence for doing that was very, very uncomfortable.
He jumped on his broom and using his wand he erased all evidence of his being there then raced back to the house to find his Dad.
He called the house elfs to ask where his Dad was and they told him he was busy in the study. Usually one did not bother his Dad when the door was closed but Harry decided that this was important enough to interrupt him.
He knocked on the door and heard his Dad answer, "Enter". Harry walked in and found his Dad sitting at his desk. He walked to the front of the desk and waited for Severus to acknowledge him. It was a weird feeling because anytime that Severus was on one side of a desk and Harry on the other it usually meant that Harry was in trouble.
Severus finally looked up and said, "Hello Harry! So what is so important that it couldn't wait?"
"Dad", said Harry, "I was flying out back and found a set of tracks that led to a snow cave on bob-sled hill. I thought you would want to know about it right away.
Severus was out of his chair and through the door even before Harry finished his sentence. The same time he was moving he was also calling for Bibi, his house elf and directing him to locate and bring to the patio Albus, Arthur, Sirius and Lupin.
They all met on the patio where Severus asked Harry where he saw the prints. Harry had his broom with him and offered to show them where it was.
"No", said Severus, "Just give us directions then I want everyone else to stay in the house until we return."
"But I can show you then fly back" said Harry.
"I said NO! You will stay here until I come back. We don't know what we might be getting into and we might have to go into the forest. I don't want to have to worry about where you are in case we get into a fight. You will stay here with the rest of the kids and guard the house and that is my final word on the subject!"
Harry was about to argue but the look on his Dad's face told him he was treading on thin ice and had best stop while he was ahead. He pointed to a couple landmarks and what to look for then in anger grabbed his broom and stomped into the house.
Severus was tempted to follow him and administer a bit of 'attitude adjustment' but there was not time. They all mounted brooms and flew off to where Harry had directed them to look for the tracks and found them in about two minutes.
"Arthur, Albus and Sirius, you stay up here and the rest of us will land and check out the snow pile where the tracks end. Warn us if you see anyone coming.
With that Severus and Lupin landed and immediately realized that the pile of snow was a cave with personal items inside. They erased evidence of their presence and joined up with Sirius and Arthur and Albus.