Chapter 21 - Slaying a Poltergeist

After we all finished breakfast with our classmates, the castle was evacuated, according to the operational plan that Harry had developed with Professor McGonagall and Mr. Granger. Hagrid had been sent on a day-long trip to Edinburgh to procure fresh art supplies. Professor Firenze, Bane, Baal, and a Unicorn had agreed to conduct a seminar for all the students in the area beyond Hagrid's hut. Harry felt that the removal of that many magical minds from the castle should weaken the Voldemort ghost.

The attack was planned in two phases. The first phase was preparing the battlefield. Initially, Harry, Bill, and Barb were to go off to the Chamber of Secrets and prepared to seal off the drains from Slytherin. Mr. Granger had supplied me with a brilliant dark blue dye to flush down the toilets and pour down the sink drains. Under the watchful eyes and wands of the extra aurors, Mum, McGonagall and I dosed all the plumbing. I gave Harry a quick cell phone call when the job was done, and he told me that "apparently all of the crap from Slytherin comes down one big pipe." It was now the job of all of us but Harry to both prepare the Slytherin quarters for battle and to attract the ghost, so that Harry would know he was in the Slytherin section of piping, before he sealed the exit pipe. Under the continued protection of friendly wands at the ready, we all helped Hermione's Dad set up his equipment and move the collection boxes into the Slytherin common room. We also sealed all of the drains except one, to which Mr. Granger attached what he described as a 'pneumatically operated, full-flow ball valve, highly unlikely to be noticed or understood by a spirit rushing through the piping', which would close off that drain at exactly the same time that he triggered his liquid carbon dioxide curtain. We sprayed every wall, ceiling, and floor outside of the common room with Lee's failure spray, thinking that would soak-up any magical energy. We painted the common room floor with a thin coating of silver, which we melted with our wands and applied in a thin coat. The elegant wood flooring, beneath the rich wool carpet which we had removed from the centre of the room, would never be the same. This took us most of the morning. Mr. Granger had convinced us to wear aluminium foil hats so as not to leak too much magical energy. There was, yet, no sign of the ghost.

I knew that the ultimate ghost attractor was Hagrid, but he was also the optimum ghost strengthener, so we were saving him as a last resort. I felt we had the next best attractors in Draco and his mother. I gave Harry a quick call to be ready, that we were about to call the Malfoys into the common room.

Draco and Narcissa entered together, chatting loudly and merrily. "The nasty Voldemort ghost seems to be as dead as creepy old Voldemort himself. I guess the interruption of the magical force was too much for such a weak, inferior ghost. You might even consider moving back in and re-taking control of your old headquarters." This banter went on for some time, before a long, green wraith with the head of Voldemort came slithering down the stairs, hovering a foot above the stone steps. I quickly phoned Harry that it was time for him to act as the others used their wands to herd the ghost back up the stairs. It kept escaping and trying to make its way toward the Malfoys.

"I thought I had destroyed you," the Voldemort head spoke to Draco. "Your death was to be my final revenge against your father, whom I assume is dead." It was a little difficult to understand the ghost's speech, both because we were forcing him to stay at a distance, a task at which McGonagall was proving particularly adept, and because his voice was weak and quavering. The ghost did seem both smaller and less dense and bright than the last time I had seen it. Perhaps the brief outage of magical force and keeping Hagrid out of the castle had weakened it.

"As you can see, I'm very much alive and not afraid of you, and whatever gave you the idea that father is dead?" Draco replied, stepping forward and using an 'Arvada Kedavra' and additional silent spells to cut the ghost in half and send the two bouncing pieces of green sausage halfway up the stairs. It took the ghost several minutes to reassemble. When it was all together, it slithered back down the stairs to stare at Draco. "I know, because I control your mother and have caused her to precipitate his death. You should never have brought her into Slytherin. You, Narcissa, and Pansy all together were just too perfect for my revenge. As you can see, I am not dead. I thought it best to lie low in the plumbing and let you forget me until my plot unfolded. You cannot outthink the Dark Lord; you couldn't even outthink Lucius. Yes, I am weakened – you have cut me off from my food. But now I have before me the tastiest lunch I could imagine. I am not without my powers. Your deaths will fuel my rebirth. The Dark Lord LIVES!"

My phone vibrated in my pocket as the ghost floated nearer to Draco and Narcissa. "It's still dangerous. We have to flee!" I shouted. We all directed one last powerful curse at the ghost, sending five separate green balls bouncing back up the stairs and then backed out of the Slytherin common room. We reassembled on the lawn outside the front stairs to the castle. We were soon joined by Harry, Bill, and Barb.

Mr. Granger passed out our breathing masks and reminded us not to start breathing through them until he had triggered the carbon dioxide curtain. The plan was for Draco to enter the common room and attract the ghost toward him in a way that forced it to fly through the curtain. In the meantime, Harry, Barb, Bill and I would enter Slytherin by its rear door and drive the ghost into the curtain. Based upon the ghost's boast about controlling Narcissa we had decided she should be elsewhere for this operation and under close supervision. The critical job went to Mr. Granger, who had to trigger the shower at precisely the right moment – too soon and the ghost would be spooked and retreat to the side, too late and the ghost would attack Draco. If this latter failure were to occur, Draco and the rest of the students entering with him would use their wands to drive the ghost away from themselves and back through the shower. Harry and I would try to re-centre the ghost into the curtain, if it tried to escape to the side.

Our group made its way back into Gryffindor, through the tunnels, and into Slytherin. I made a mental note that Hermione and I needed to re-sync our rings, so that they would open both the 'Slytherin' and the 'Ravenclaw' doors. For this trip, we still needed both flavours of Keeper rings to traverse all the archways leading to the Slytherin back door. I phoned Hermione just as we were in position at the rear door. About a minute later my phone vibrated, indicating that Draco, Hermione, and company had entered the common room and spotted the ghost. I placed the 'Slytherin' ring against the snake eye and the door slid open. We quickly stepped between the door and the tapestry, wands at the ready as we waited for the door to slide closed. That took about half a minute as we heard a lot of shouts and commotion in the common room. We took the time to grab the bottom of the tapestry, so that we could step into the common room just as the door slid closed.

I lifted the tapestry and my first sight was of an angry green snake flashing back and forth in front of Draco, but not entering the curtain. Harry and I tried to signal that we would send the snake into the curtain as it passed in front. Harry raised his hand and seemed to count with his hand as he messaged me {[very excited] We must time this up right and make sure that our curses aren't aimed at any students. Just a big gust of air is safest, I think. Okay, one, two, three, now!}

As Harry messaged 'now!' he simultaneously dropped his signalling hand and we fired our 'wind' curse. Mr. Granger activated the curtain, as he was supposed to, and our wands forced the snake into the curtain. Voldemort seemed to decide that he couldn't avoid the curtain and at the last instant, accelerated right at Draco. Draco jumped back and fired a curse at the snake. I saw it coming and just had time to pull Harry back out of the way, messaging as I did {{put your mask on!}}

We both did and kept up the pressure on the snake to keep it from rebounding too rapidly out of the curtain as a result of Draco's curse. The snake was just about stopped and almost lying on the floor. "Muggle trickery. You think you would defeat me as one of the ants I would rule? I will haunt your dreams for eternity, Potter. You always were a Muggle at heart."

"I really don't think so. I haven't dreamed of you at all." Harry motioned the others to the sides, giving us a clear shot to try to cut up the snake {[even more excited] I think 'Sectumsempra'. One, two, three, now!}

The snake was cut into quite a bit more than three pieces, although I saw five largish portions and a lot of green snow. Hermione and Ron pulled in two boxes and Luna and George swept up ghost with brooms, filling the boxes with green ice and snow. Meanwhile Harry had levitated a third box into position, and I used my wand to put the largest piece into the box. Hermione and Ron already had their boxes sealed and I began sealing ours, as I saw Draco filling the final box. {{Time to go Harry! We must pass around the curtain.}}

{Just a little longer, I want to help Draco.}

{{Now!}}

Harry did dutifully follow me around Mr. Granger's curtain and back into the corridor. We were just at the door, when Mr. Granger blew his whistle. The others headed back toward the door, as Draco had finished filling his box and was beginning to lock it. Draco finally started to make his way around the curtain and toward the door. He was almost there, when it was clear that he had run out of air and was reaching to remove his mask. I saw Harry levitating him toward the door and I assisted him. Hermione shouted 'Petrificus Totalis' just before Draco got the mask off. Another minute and we had him through the door, a dozen feet down the corridor and the door closed. I ripped off his mask, but he wouldn't start breathing. Hermione and I worked our Witch healing magic on him, while Harry again tried his Muggle trick. A half minute later, Draco was once again breathing, but looking less than great. We levitated him all the way to the infirmary and plopped him on a cot. By this time, he was looking better and wanted to get up, but Madam Pomphrey insisted that he lie there for the rest of the afternoon.

The rest of us got a new breather mask from Mr. Granger and, after Professor McGonagall had reopened the main entrance to Slytherin, levitated our boxes out of the common room, through the corridors, and out onto the lawn. Harry assigned two of us to each box and told each group to select a spot at sea for disposal of their box, but not to tell the rest of us. We all took off on our brooms and flew to the main gate. Once outside the gate, Hermione and Ron Apparated with their box. A few seconds later, George and Luna did the same. Cissy and Neville flew off to the west with their box, so Harry and I set out on the longer flight to the east, across most of Scotland. It was a different experience, making a long flight in tandem. The box had handles on opposite sides, so Harry and I flew with the box between our brooms. We flew high enough to avoid detection by the Muggles and as fast as we could to unload our cargo, before it warmed enough to become too active. The box was still cold, but the gloves that Mr. Granger had given to us provided protection, although we couldn't allow our bodies to rest against the box. This made us fly in an awkward bent to the side position, with a fair amount of shoulder and arm strain. After first twenty miles or so, our flight was becoming considerably less enjoyable and I felt like I was in danger of cramping up. Another five miles and I was forced to surrender to the cramps and my aching shoulder.

{{[embarrassed] I'm sorry, Harry. I don't think I can do this much longer. I'm really starting to cramp up.}}

{[sympathetic] It might be easier for one of us to carry it and switch off, after I tire. Let go slowly and I'll carry it for a while.}

I felt very unlike a Quidditch star as I flew unburdened a few yards away from Harry. He was flying lying almost flat on his broom, hanging on with one hand and his legs, the other arm dangling down with the box. It only took a few miles for me to realise that I could support the box enough from the underside to take some weight off what Harry's very painful right arm must be.

{Thanks, that's quite a bit better.}

Still, it couldn't have been more than another fifteen miles until Harry was requesting a switch.

{{Just fly a little lower and to my right and I'll take over. Ahh, that is a little wrenching, but I've got it now. You can let go and fly under to give a little bottom support…. Yes, that helps.}}

It was fairly good fun flying for the first dozen miles and then it started to become painful work again. Fortunately, we were approaching the lights of the east coast cities. As we started to overfly, what I thought must be Kirkcaldy or St. Andrews, I decided to just suck it up and keep carrying the box until we were over the ocean. I sensed that the ghost was starting to stir.

{[alarmed] I think I just felt Voldy 4 moving. I'm going to try a stunning spell. I've got my wand aimed so that it shouldn't get you, but you should update your 'shield' spell. I will also. Here it comes, one, two, three, now!}

I felt a little backwash from whatever curse Harry used, but it didn't seem to impact my flying ability in any meaningful way. I just kept pushing on, but asked Harry {{a little more support on the bottom would not go amiss.}}

{[worried] Just try to hang in there. I'm pushing up harder. The box isn't as cold as it was, so we don't have to be as careful holding it. I hate to risk switching off, while we're still over a city. The good news is that I think the ghost has quieted down.}

A few miles later, I was pleased to see that we were flying over water, although I knew that we were still too close to shore, over too shallow water with too much boat traffic. Harry was giving me increased help, but I didn't know how much longer I could continue.

{{Sorry, I'm close to having to turn this over to you. We're at least over water now, in case we drop the box on the switch over.}}

{[confident] Okay, the box is warm enough that I think we can just sort of lower the box onto my head after I change my grip so that I can let the box roll off my right shoulder and hold it to my side. Then you can come around and grab the other handle.}

{{No! I don't want this box anywhere near your head. I'm not going to risk you being taken over by the ghost. We know Voldemort has an affinity for your head.}}

{Okay, I think I can fly near enough to grab the underneath handle. Got it! Try to let the box lower slowly, so my handle rotates to the top, without falling with a big jar to my shoulder.

{{I'm fine doing that, Harry. I can slip alongside of you. There, you've got it. I guess we should take the box out another five or six miles.}}

{I think this is good enough. Let's fly lower. I don't want to drop the box from such a height that it splits open.}

As we were nearing the surface of the Firth of Forth, Voldemort spoke to us for the final time. "You're weak Potter. You have a need to be liked. To be strong, a leader must be feared, not liked. I was feared. That never ended. You've had ample opportunity to observe that liking and even loving can vanish upon the slightest misunderstanding. It was so easy for me to drive your friends from you. I'll do it again."

"You'll do nothing, ever again. And you never drove away those who loved me. You've left nothing behind. You're a complete failure. Less than a normal lifespan for the immortal Wizard. Lucius was right on one thing. He leaves Draco behind and Draco still loves him."

"Draco is dead. I used his hatred of me to lure him to stay, until he could no longer breathe. It was my last great act."

"Draco is fine. We 'Leviosaed' him to safety. Even in that last nasty try at revenge, you remain a failure."

We flew lower and lower, until the box was just a few feet above the water, when we dropped it. I realised instantly why the box had to be as damn heavy as it was. The box hit the water and as I doubled back, I saw that it was just barely sinking. Mr. Granger must have weighted it enough to make certain it would sink. I now felt much prouder of myself for lugging the box as far as I had. As we flew away from the box, I thought I detected the faintest scream.

We soared up to altitude, before setting course for Hogwarts. The flight home was extremely pleasant. We landed outside the fence. Harry phoned McGonagall, before using his key and setting off the alarm. We walked back to Gryffindor, hand in hand. Despite Hermione saying this was strictly a Muggle thing, I had found that I rather enjoyed it from our time trading messages this way.

The rest of the gang had beaten us back to Gryffindor, apparently by quite a bit of time. "We were worried," Hermione told us. "We've been back for over an hour and were afraid something had happened to you along the way. Perhaps the last attack of the Grindelwald's."

"No, it was just a lot longer flight to open water on the east coast, than on the west."

"I can't believe you lugged that big, heavy box all that way. Your poor arms must be ready to fall off," Cissy exclaimed. "Neville and I barely made it to open water and that was with Neville doing most of the work."

"It's good to have Voldemort's pieces disposed of," Ron commented. "It's just a shame that you can't use Veritaserum on a ghost. It seemed like we were close to an answer to some of our mysteries when the ghost was talking to the Malfoys."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "If the ghost weren't so dangerous, I would have worked on a plan to keep it talking longer. It influenced Narcissa's actions and perhaps Pansy's as well. Having the Slytherins bunk in with Voldemort's ghost was a very bad idea.

"I'm off to report to Arthur; the rest of you can bring Draco up to date and make whatever report to Professor McGonagall is necessary. We owe a lot of thanks to Mr. Granger. His plan worked well. I don't think more than a tenth of the volume of the ghost failed to make it into the boxes, thanks in part to Draco's sticking with the job so long. I hope to be back for dinner."

I told the others what the ghost had said to us, just before we dropped it into the sea. Cissy and Luna quickly stated that the ghost hadn't spoken to them at all. Hermione said that Voldemort had left her with his final insults. "You're a filthy Mudblood to the end, unable to truly accept your noble Black heritage."

"I told him that he was as Mudblood as me and totally unable to accept that simple truth" commented Hermione. "I told him that he had warped himself beyond recognition, by never coming to peace with a half of himself. His final words were 'I will be remembered; you surely will not be'."

"A true bastard to the end," I told Hermione.

"He then asked me 'How much of me is left, back at Slytherin?'

"I told him certainly no more than a tenth of the weak poltergeist who had confronted us. He said 'That may yet be enough, when my Slytherins return to their common room. They will willingly feed me'.

"I told him that the great Nicholas Flamel stated that this certainly was not true.

"'It was still worth the gamble', was the last thing he said as the box sunk beneath the waves. That's it, he's finished. Now, do you want to tell Professor McGonagall, or should we?"

Although I was feeling better about McGonagall, I chose to be part of the group that went to visit Draco in the infirmary. Cissy, George, and Luna came with me. I was surprised, although I guess I shouldn't have been, to find Erin perched in a chair beside Draco's cot, feeding grapes to him. As she saw us approaching, she looked up and commented, "Madam Pomphrey says the sugar should help to restore his strength."

Draco looked a little upset to have been caught in his present condition and immediately sat up fully on the side of his cot. "Well," he asked, "is the ghost gone?"

We assured him that we had made all the deliveries into widely separated, deep saltwater locations. This news obviously pleased Draco, but he also appeared eager for a conversation, which he had been unable to have with Erin.

"I think you all heard what the ghost said. It exercised control over my mother. The good news is that she isn't at all responsible for any of the bad things that she may have done. The bad news is that she may still be partly under the ghost's control and I don't know what we can do to make sure that she is alright."

"It certainly won't involve seeing Dr. Sprout," I quipped. "Hermione and I will look into our mental reservoir of healer knowledge. I'm sure you've already asked Madam Pomphrey and that she couldn't help you. I think it safe to talk to Dr. White."

"Yes, Madam Pomphrey said, 'not my area, but your mother seems fine, if a little run down and nervous'. I'd prefer that you and Hermione do some research before we consult St. Mungo's. That place just strikes me as fishy. I know that you trust Dr. White, but I'm just not so sure. I'm also not sure what the ghost's comments mean about Pansy. It's possible that Voldemort also caused her to act as strangely as she has. We really shouldn't have slept in Slytherin with the ghost."

"No, I guess you shouldn't have." I could tell that the talk of Pansy was making Erin quite uncomfortable and worried.

"Of course, the ghost said it controlled my mother, but never said it controlled Pansy. Whether Pansy was acting on her own, or doing what the ghost guided her to do, I'm sure that I'm finished with her. Imagining her sleeping with my father is just too awful a vision to forget. I also don't think I could ever again be interested in someone who wants to do as little with her life as Pansy does. It just couldn't work." Erin was looking perkier with this change in the direction of the conversation.

"You've changed a lot in the past year and Pansy hasn't," I agreed with Draco. "There is still the problem of your marriage, though."

"Harry says I can get out of it. I've filed an appeal with the Ministry, since Pansy is in jail."

"She hasn't been convicted yet. I imagine she'll be able to reach a deal that doesn't put her in jail for more than a couple of years, less if her mother accepts most of the responsibility."

"I don't like her anymore, but I also don't like to think of her spending a lot of time in jail, even if she won't be going to Azkaban. I'm hoping for the minimum time which allows me to get a divorce. I really don't want to be married to that Witch."

As George and Luna were extending best wishes to Draco, I realised that I had been hogging the conversation. It wasn't long before Madam Pomphrey walked over to announce that Draco had too many visitors. Erin stayed and the rest of us headed back to Gryffindor. On the way back, Luna commented, "Erin has really moved right in to seize the moment."

"Yes," I replied. "I had expected that she would still be at the Gringotts circle, but she must have heard that Draco was injured and rushed right back here. I wonder how she so quickly learned about his accident. I doubt Professor McGonagall would have told her, and the students were barred from the castle when he collapsed and was transported to the infirmary."

"She must have a helper on the faculty," George decided.

"I guess it could have been Adrienne," Cissy told me.

We had barely found seats in the common room, when Hermione and company returned. "Professor McGonagall is very pleased that we successfully disposed of the pieces of Voldemort's ghost. The downside is that she is planning to get the word out that Slytherin will reopen after the Christmas break. I think the Slytherins are less of a threat with Barty captured and Thicknesse and Rowle dead, but I don't look forward to their return to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall didn't miss the possibility that Pansy's behaviour can be blamed on the ghost. She was also musing that Pansy might be released to her supervision, so she can complete some additional courses."

"I told her that this wasn't a good idea," Neville told me. "She looked like she would ignore my comment, but when I said that I didn't think Narcissa or Draco could stay if Pansy came back, the headmaster decided that perhaps Pansy could stay in jail for a while."

Harry kept his pledge to be back before dinner. "The Minister is very pleased," he reported, "both about the ghost being gone and about the prospect of Hermione and Professor Celine joining his cabinet, although he wasn't quite as keen on Adrienne as he was on Hermione. He grudgingly agreed that Narcissa, Adrienne, and Madam Bones wouldn't be prosecuted. I think he is mainly upset because that means he also can't bring charges against Doctor Sprout. At least Dr. White, rather than Dr. Sprout, is running St. Mungo's. He said it is obvious that Doctor Sprout engaged in further bad behaviour after his second chance.

"I think Shacklebolt and Madam Bones really have patched things up. Madam Bones agreed that Barty is to be re-interviewed with real Veritaserum. I and my trusty truth tellers are invited to the event. It's tonight, and we'll have time to get back to the Ministry after dinner. I phoned Professor McGonagall and told her we'd all be staying at the Ministry tonight. I also want to look in at the Gringotts' circle."

"Was there any discussion of what will happen to the Parkinson's?" I asked Harry. "Draco is very eager for his divorce, but recognises that with the ghost's comments, which may not even be admissible as evidence, that her prison sentence likely has shrunk again. He is not hoping for a long sentence, but he does want a quick divorce. When we visited Draco, Erin was with him. We were wondering how she got back from Gringotts so quickly."

"I phoned into the auror at the circle to let them know about Draco's accident," Harry admitted. "The Minister and Shacklebolt aren't seeking a long term for Pansy. They'd rather jail her mother longer and use both to help them convict Silas's parents. I believe Madam Bones and Shacklebolt are speaking to the Parkinson's right now. Kingsley doesn't yet trust Madam Bones quite enough to let her meet alone with the Parkinson's. Arthur thought the two of them together might be more persuasive."

Dinner was a quick affair. Since the Elves had also evacuated the castle during our battle with the ghost, dinner was limited to soup, fresh bread, and fresh fruit. At least the soup was a very hearty minestrone. I admit to eating a lot of bread to fill up.

Draco had escaped Madam Pomphrey's clutches and joined us for supper at the Gryffindor table. The younger Gryffindors still gave him a generous berth. He and Erin were leaning into each other the whole time. Narcissa stayed at the head table with McGonagall.

"I hear that the ghost was greatly disappointed to learn that I still live. That is yet another reason to do something truly important with my life. I will never be my father. His life pretty much disgusts me. I think I will succeed in fixing much of what he broke. He was more like Voldemort than he cared to admit. As soon as my mother is strong enough, I'm out of here with Erin. With father and the ghost gone, that shouldn't be long. It's really time for you to be out of here as well. I can't imagine what Hogwarts can still teach you. In the end, you bested them all, including McGonagall. She has more to learn from you than the other way around. If you stay, promise me that you won't let her lead you around by your nose anymore. She really isn't Dumbledore. She lacks the self-sacrifice and self-control. I think Professor Celine is the only one who may still have something to teach us. I intend to spend more time with her. She knows a different sort of magic."

"You shouldn't over-look what Firenze can teach us," Harry cautioned Draco. "Other than Cotto, he may well be the wisest being I know."