OLD MAGIC

Chapter 29: Interrogation

"There now, is that better?" Madam Pomfrey asked, tugging the blankets up again to keep her patient warm as he lay propped up against some pillows.

Draco nodded, sipping the hot cup of cocoa she'd given him and sighing in relief now that all his pain and injuries had been drawn away instantly by some nasty potions. He was the only patient and had a corner of the ward to himself, however, he wouldn't be alone long once the medi-witch told those waiting he was fit again.

During his treatment, he focused on the story he and Snape fabricated for this moment. It was carefully crafted to contain just enough truth with the lies to, hopefully, keep him from being too closely questioned. Thankfully, using Veriteserum on minors was illegal or he'd be in real trouble. Though privately, Draco thought they might over rule the law in this case if Crouch felt it necessary. However, Snape had shook his head when his Godson voiced his concern.

"Professor Dumbledore wouldn't allow it and, fortunately, Crouch isn't inclined to over rule the headmaster." Draco only hoped he was right because now wouldn't be a good time to be wrong.

His Godfather had spent a couple of hours, the day before, grilling him like an interrogator so that Draco's answers were automatic and believable. It had been grueling but he thought he was ready. However, it's one thing to have a close family member do this but quite another when its your father, aurors, and Headmaster Dumbledore.

His only other defense were his newly trained mental defenses. Over the two weeks, he had been a diligent pupil for his Godfather and had worked for hours on his Legilimency and Occlumency skills.

Unlike Harry, Draco had been taught these things by his father to a rudimentary level, strong enough to protect against low level skilled wizards and fellow students, but not adepts. They had been unpleasant but effective lessons. Snape took that training to a higher level, improving them to the degree that the potion's master felt satisfied the boy could stand against skilled adults and even Dumbledore.

All that still didn't make Draco feel confident enough not to be nervous as he waited for his interrogation to begin. And here they come now. He warily watched the grim group approach his bed. A chill of fear ran down his spine at the cold look on his father's face. That alone almost made him want to hurl, if only to keep from being questioned. But that would only delay the inevitable and possibly make things worse.

Doing his best to swallow down his fear, he composed his face, letting the tiredness show (which wasn't feigned) and allowing a touch of fear, as any child in his position should be feeling, to appear in his eyes.

"Feeling better, son," his father asked, solicitously. He pitched his voice with jus the right amount of concern but his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

Draco's eyes dropped from those cold blue ones and murmured, "Yes, sir...a bit tired though..."

"Understandable!" Crouch interrupted in that brisk and rather rude way he had about him. "Now that you've had your injuries treated, we need some answers, young man."

"Yes, sir," he muttered sullenly. A behavior they all expected from him.

"Where have you been these past two weeks?"

The minister toady obviously had pulled rank which was why Dumbledore and his father didn't object though their faces clearly showed they weren't happy about it, Draco surmised. He wished Hagrid was here giving him strength by his presence but the half-giant had been dismissed almost immediately, something he had warned the boy would likely happen.

Anger flashed in him for a second about how shabbily Hagrid was treated, but that was immediately followed by guilt. Not so long ago, he too had treated the man as if he were a non-entity.

'Never judge a book by its cover' should be my standard from now on because it's proving true too often lately, he thought ruefully.

Steadying himself, he prepared to handle this all alone. "Only that I was taken deep into the Forbidden Forest for miles then shoved into some dank cave for two weeks," he grumbled, hoping he was putting on a convincing act of resentment.

Frowning, Crouch, demaned, "...and who took you?"

Draco grimaced in distaste. "Centaurs...smelly creatures."

"Why?"

"I have no idea!" He huffed. "They didn't deign to talk to me! Didn't say much but grunt and mutter things to each other. Their leader, I guess that's who it was, did check on me every other day or so but never spoke to me nor answered my questions." His voice dripped with disgust and annoyance. "Mostly, I was left alone with about four of those creatures and guarded round the clock."

"They had to sleep sometime..." Lucius interjected flatly, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He smelled a lie but couldn't be certain. "You should have found a way to escape."

His interruption earned him a cold stare and a warning from Crouch and an order that didn't allow Draco to answer his father, for which he was grateful. "This is my interrogation, Mr. Malfoy," he warned Lucius coldly then turned to Draco again. "Young man, I want you to give us a complete and as thorough a report you can from the moment you were taken to when you were released," he ordered.

Sighing, Draco pretended to think hard then told a tale of complete fabrication to his listeners. The story they'd concocted told of his harrowing trip through the dark forest, the arrival at a large, deep cave in a mountainous area, his incarceration in a smaller cave within, the number of guards and how often they were switched out, Magorian's visits, the taking of his wand, etc.

Then he added things he knew his father expected him to complain about which would make the whole thing even more believable. "They fed me only once a day. I was never allowed out of the cave so I had to use a small section of the space as my toilet...it was so humiliating. I had only hay to sleep on and a rude sort of blanket that smelled of horses to try and keep warm. I suppose I would have frozen if the leader hadn't cast a warming spell on me..." he was immediately interrupted, as he knew he would be.

"Warming spell?" Lucius shouted, shocked. "Centaurs shouldn't be capable of spell casting." His eyes flashed with outrage.

Dumbledore was shocked as were the other aurors. The forest dwellers were magical but none were known to actually use magic the same way as wizards did. This was unprecedented and could cause a panic if the general public learned of it.

Crouch was just as stunned but also annoyed with the senior Malfoy. "If you cannot be silent, I will cast a silencio on you, sir."

Lucius glared at the man. "How can the ministry be unaware of what these creatures are capable of?" He demanded, ignoring the threat.

Crouch's eyes flashed with anger but his voice was flat and even. "We at the ministry have no more idea how these creatures can do such things than you, Mr. Malfoy. That is why this event must be thoroughly investigated but right now I need what the boy knows so stop interrupting! This is your last warning!"

Lucius almost spoke again but snapped his mouth shut at the look of determination and the appearance of Crouch's wand to know the man meant business. He settled into sullen silence.

Draco shivered. His father would be especially hard on him later he was certain.

"Please continue, boy," Crouch barked, drawing Draco's attention back to his fake explanation.

He shrugged. "Not much more to say except that I did try to escape, once! But once was enough to know I wasn't going to leave my prison unless they let me. It was the third day being in the cave when all four centaurs went outside. I thought this was my chance and made my way to the front as quiet as I could. Peering out, I didn't see my guards and looking about I spied a way for me to scramble up the rocks where the centaurs couldn't follow me. I made it halfway up the embankment when I was jumped by spiders. I admit to screaming as I turned and fled back the way I came. I slipped and fell to the cave mouth and my captors arrived in time to keep me from being eater...or so I thought. Once I was tossed back in my tiny cave, only then did I realize the spiders hadn't made an attempt to bite me at all so I had to believe they were being controlled or working with the centaurs. After that, I never tried again." Draco paused to sip some of his cocoa as his throat was getting dry and sore.

No one moved or said a thing while he did this so he went on. "Days went on like that until one morning, very early, I was unceremoniously picked up, hog tied like a lamb to market, then thrown onto the back of a centaur. It was a long, cold, painful trip. The rest you know," Draco finished. He fervently hoped they bought his story.

"And the centaurs never spoke to you...not once the whole time?" Crouch asked again.

"No...not at any time. I had nothing to do but sleep and stare outside my hole. I listened but none of them said anything I could understand so I gave up. I hated how I was missing Christmas and New Years and was very miserable."

"They didn't give you a message...nothing?" Crouch pressed, unable to believe they would just take the boy for no reason then return him. It didn't make sense.

"Oh...yes they did... the leader stuffed a message in my shirt..." Draco made as if to get it then remembered he'd been stripped the moment he got into the hospital wing.

"I believe I saw that when I took his clothes off...just a moment," Madam Pomfrey said and hurried off. Moments later, she returned with a roll of parchment in her hand.

Crouch took possession immediately before anyone else could and unrolled it. He frowned in confusion after reading the brief message.

"May I?" Dumbledore asked, pointedly holding his hand out. Crouch was reluctant to let go of the parchment but did so after a long moment's hesitation. Unrolling it, Dumbledore read it aloud:

"We, the forest dwellers have stood by and watched wizard kind mismanage our world over the centuries. The stars say we will not have to tolerate this state of affairs much longer. Among wizard kind is one who holds the seeds of change for our world.

Here now is the prophecy of the stars that speaks of this new world and how it will come about! Pay heed to its words if you wish to survive what comes!

Those who follow darkness shall die,

Those who follow ignorance shall fall,

But those who follow the one who will bring a message of peace, progress, and a mission...

Will see our world be transformed!"

With the same looks of confusion and puzzlement that the Death Eaters greeted the missive, those listening had the same expressions.

"What the devil does all that mean and why would they send such drivel to us?" Malfoy asked, scowling.

"Centaurs are known for their cryptic messages, especially those divined from the stars. Though I've never heard of them being able or willing to give such a precise message before. Theirs are mostly vague warnings of coming wars, large scale conflicts, and such," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully.

He had some inkling of who and what this meant be pertaining too but he needed some time alone to study it first before he could assume anything. He waved his wand over the parchment and made a copy before Crouch could object, knowing the ministry official would insist on taking the original missive to do tests on it. Scowling, Crouch took the original back. As Dumbledore thought, the man wasn't happy about having someone else with the document.

He then asked a question of Draco that he wasn't certain Crouch would bother considering how he felt about the potion's master. "Draco, did you see Professor Snape?" Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Draco made his eyes wide as if hearing this news for the first time and asked, innocently and with concern, "Professor Snape? Was he taken too?" Dumbledore nodded. "No sir, I never saw or heard anything about him. Is he still gone?"

He must have done a good job of acting because the headmaster seemed to believe him, looking only dismayed and unhappy. "Yes he is. I'm afraid you were the only one returned."

Insuring his face showed only his distress about his head of house, Draco said, "Perhaps, he'll be returned soon then since I was?"

"We can only hope my boy." Dumbledore turned to Crouch. "Are there anymore questions you need to ask of Draco, Minister Crouch?"

Crouch frowned and studied the boy keenly. "Not at the moment but I reserve the right to question him later if something new comes up."

"Of course."

"Then, we'll leave and let the boy get some rest. I want to take this document back to the ministry so we can examine it properly," Crouch said, more to himself than the rest in the room.

Taking that as meaning the interrogation of Draco was at an end, the other aurors began filing out and disappearing through the floo network, leaving Crouch, Dumbledore, and Malfoy near the bed with Pomfrey hovering not far away.

Malfoy eyed his son narrowly. "I still think I should take my son home..."

"Unless he wants to go, I see no need to disrupt his schooling, Lucius," Dumbledore said quietly.

"I'd rather rest a bit and go to school tomorrow, father," Draco, said carefully.

Malfoy's eyes flashed annoyance and anger but kept a veneer of concern on his face. "If you are certain, Draco?"

"Yes, father."

"Very well. I'll let your mother know you're safe and well," Malfoy said reluctantly then turned to Dumbledore. "I expect to be kept informed of his health and what progress is made on finding out why he was kidnapped in the first place."

"I'm sure Minister Crouch would be the person to ask about that, Lucius. But on your son, if anything changes we'll notify you immediately," Dumbledore assured him.

Scowling, the senior Malfoy eyed Crouch sourly but nodded and stalked from the room for the floo. Crouch rolled the parchment up with a snap, tucked it into his coat, gave Dumbledore a curt nod then left as well.

Draco went limp but eyed the headmaster warily. The old wizard seemed to be thinking deeply but he roused enough to give Draco a warm smile. "Get some rest Draco. I am sorry you missed the holidays and, if you wish it, I could have the house elves send you up some of the treats you missed, eh?"

Draco wanted to smile but that wasn't in character. Sighing inwardly, he put on a sulky face and said, "I would have rather been home enjoying the riches of my home but, I guess what you offer is better than nothing. Thank you."

Dumbledore hid a small smile and gave Draco a grave nod before leaving the boy alone. He felt the boy was only being prickly because it was expected of him but he knew it was mostly an act. He sighed sadly as he prepared to floo back to his office. Poor boy, his is a hard life.

Throwing a handful a powder into the fireplace, he said firmly, "Headmaster's office!" Then stepped in and disappeared.

Madam Pomfrey stepped forward and checked Draco a moment, took his empty cup and insured he had fresh water nearby. "I have no objection you to having a treat, but no leaving the bed and I expect you to rest. I'll be sure to wake you in time to go to your house to prepare for school."

"Thank you." He said a surely. She nodded, taking no offense, and disappeared into her offices.

With her departure, Draco could finally relax completely. It seemed he their ruse had succeeded much to his relief. He closed his eyes for a bit while he waited for the house elves to arrive with his treat.

Though his vacation had ended on a nasty note, he did at least have a truly wonderful, exiting, and information-filled, Christmas Holiday...the best he'd had since he was very little. He refused to think about what his father had planned for him and that it was still a possibility if Harry's plans to end the Dark Lord didn't happen before the next time he went home.

I hope Harry and Severus put an end to that creature soon so my mother and I can live in peace finally. Maybe next Christmas, Harry could come spend it with me, he smiled to himself. Mother would be shocked.

Just then, a house elf appeared holding a silver tray filled with all manner of treats and laid it on the small table next to his bed. He didn't feigned his pleasure and thanked the elf who smiled in surprise then popped out of sight leaving the boy alone.

Once replete with goodies, he sighed, drank some water, then sank down into his bedding and went to sleep, a smile on his lips.