The Iron Sole Alchemist Goes to Hogwarts (Chapter 50) Rescuing Percy
by Howlin
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)
The seven of us took turns letting Harry practice legilimency on us. Our occlumency training left us all aware enough of his intrusions to offer useful criticisms. We were initially just projecting a single clear thought so Harry could learn to correctly interpret what he saw in our minds, but eventually, he'd move on to learning to probe past our defenses in preparation for Voldemort.
Harry was carrying a recording device like the one we'd used to record Lupin's animagus instructions. That way, once Snape finished the lessons, the others would be able to learn too. I felt a little left out, but consoled myself with the knowledge that I'd at least get a good understanding of the theory and the learning process.
Sirius' defense lessons continued in the same vein as his first class, going over Death Eater tacics and countermeasures by the Aurors from the last wizarding war. Since they didn't know about the replacement, Hagrid and Trelawney both remained nervous about their poor performance reviews by Umbridge. Both were trying to make it up by giving us the best preparation they could for the OWLs.
The Death Eater breakouts galvanized the DA members, who worked harder than ever to master the skills Harry was teaching them. No one was working harder than Neville. Though he didn't say it, it was obvious that with the ones who tortured his parents walking free, he was intent on avenging them. He even took back up his animagus training that he'd quit on last year, reasoning that if Petigrew could do it in his fifth year, there was nothing stopping him.
At the beginning of February, Harry got the eight of us together. Whatever this was about, Ron looked upset and Hermione looked conflicted. We found an empty classroom and used parseltongue for security as usual.
"We have a big problem," hissed Harry urgently. "Sirius nicked some veritasyrum from Snape's stores to interrogate Umbridge with. It turns out, she sent the dementors after me this summer."
"Fudge didn't order it?" I asked, surprised.
"She did it on her own," Harry confirmed. "The problem is, getting me to perform underage magic and using that as a pretext to destroy my wand wasn't her idea. Percy'd been floating that idea around Fudge's inner circle since his promotion. Umbridge was just the first one to act on it."
"Percy?" I asked. "I knew he was supporting Fudge's version of events, but we were pretty sure destroying your wand was a Death Eater goal after what happened in the graveyard."
"So Percy is a Death Eater?" asked Luna conversationally.
"No!" snapped Ron. "Percy's a complete prat, but he's not evil. He'd never join the Death Eaters."
"We think someone got to him and put him under the Imperius curse," said Ginny. "That's why he's been so thorough about cutting off ties with the family. Why he never even checked on dad when he was in the hospital. We're his family. We know him better than anyone else. We'd realize he was acting strange."
"It makes sense," said Hermione. "The Order's been checking and rechecking Fudge for signs of the Imperius curse. Percy's in a junior position and wouldn't be checked as thoroughly by the Order or the Aurors, but he's still with Fudge all the time, where he can make suggestions and feed his paranoia about Dumbledore."
"We have to rescue him," said Sloth at once.
"Of course we're rescuing him," said Harry. "That's why we're talking about it. The question is how? We know Dumbledore and the Order are short staffed to the point they need Mundungus Fletcher to pull guard duty shifts. On top of that, if we bring them in on this, we'll have to explain about Sirius and how we found out."
"Is this something we can do ourselves?" asked Neville.
"He lives alone in a London flat," said Ginny. "Breaking in and capturing him'd be easy."
"Obviously, the hard part is breaking him free of the Imperius curse," I said. "We don't know who put it on him, so killing the caster or forcing them to lift the curse is out."
"What about the thieve's downfall?" asked Harry. "Bill said it washed away active spell effects, and he mentioned someone trying to steal something by Imperiusing the vault's owner and getting foiled by it."
"That's goblin magic," said Hermione, "and they guard their secrets jealously."
"We don't need to learn how to make one," said Harry. "We just need to get Percy into the one under Gringotts."
"Sloth and I have a vault protected by it," I said. "Unlimited money so we paid extra for their best security."
"I don't think knocking him over the head and hauling him into Gringotts would work very well," mused Ron. "If we had some of Fudge's hair we could use polyjuice. Percy wouldn't question anywhere Fudge wanted to take him."
"One of us could do it," said Sloth. "It wouldn't have to hold up very long. Just one trip from Percy's flat to Diagon Alley."
"You're a better actor than I am," I admitted.
"Should I pop into the Lestrange vault while I'm down there?" asked Sloth.
"No," said Harry. "We don't want to provoke the goblins. Especially not until we're sure that's the last horcrux."
"Ideally, you should go on a Hogsmeade weekend," I suggested. "No one'll miss you that way and you can take the floo network from one of the places in town."
"The next one coming is valentine's day," pouted Sloth. "You had better have chocolates and flowers waiting when I get back."
"Percy'll want to catch up with his family anyway," I said. "Flowers and chocolate'll be just the start."
"I really don't need to hear about this," said Ginny.
"Are you sure you can manage this on your own?" asked Harry.
"No problem," said Sloth. "I'll make an early morning of it so you'll have all day to catch up and compare notes with him.
"Speaking of Valentine's day, Harry," said Hermione, "I've been talking to Luna and do you think you could meet us at the Three Broomsticks around midday?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, and Hermione quickly said, "Nothing like that!"
"I'm just saying," said Ginny. "I'm stuck with an all day Quidditch practice and Lust here decides to lure away my boyfriend with help from another girl." It was good natured teasing and everyone knew it, but that didn't stop Hermione from being flustered.
"Oh, for goodness sake," she huffed. "It's about arranging an interview. I'm still blackmailing Rita Skeeter, so I'm going to have her write an article with Harry's account of Tom's resurrection."
"My dad's happy to punish Harry's interview," said Luna.
"Well, it's nice to know none of you'll be bored while Ginny and I are stuck in Quidditch practice," said Ron dryly.
"I'm still not allowed on Hogsmeade trips," said Neville. "Maybe I'll get some more work in on my animagus transformation."
With two weeks until those plans were set into motion, I dedicated a bit of my free time to solving a mystery. Hagrid was showing up to Care of Magical Creatures classes covered in fresh bruises, scrapes, and strains. He adamantly refused to discuss where he was getting them, and given Hagrid's track record on keeping secrets, saying absolutely nothing and successfully avoiding our questions was out of character.
To solve the mystery, I dispatched one of my metal bugs to follow Hagrid and report back to me. I made sure to double check my privacy before letting it replay what it had seen. Apparently, Hagrid's mission hadn't been quite as unsuccessful as he claimed. There was a giant int he forbidden forest.
Based on the surveillance footage, Hagrid was trying to teach manners and English to the giant, who's name was Grawp. Grawp was reasonably friendly and good natured, but seemed to not know his own strength. Hagrid's injuries were a result of Grawp lashing out when confused or frustrated. The centaurs weren't shy about telling Hagrid they weren't happy with Grawp's presence, but Hagrid stood his ground, insisting Grawp had just as much right to live in the forest as they did.
Deciing I'd nosed around enough in Hagrid's affairs, I left the matter there. Hagrid didn't seem to be in any real danger from the giant, and if his efforts succeeded, we'd have a new ally. Not spreading it around was a no brainer. I could tell the others that Hagrid was safe if their concern threatened to cause them to do something foolish, but otherwise, this was Hagrid's secret to keep or tell.
Classes were going well. I remained nervous about whether the examiners would give me credit on the practical portion of my OWLs when I emulated the effects of spell using alchemy if I was using the right wand movements and pronunciation. I wasn't even sure they believed me when I said I was a muggle. Most of my classmates still didn't.
It was a sort of quiet bigotry. Most wizards found it impossible to believe muggles could ever accomplish feats comparable to wizards. It might well work in my favor. But I didn't know who was conducting the tests, and they might not yet know themselves how they were going to treat me. All I could do was study the theory, drill on wand movements and incantations, and remind myself that even if I failed every practical that involved using magic, I still had a shot at nine OWLs.
Hermione's practice OWLs combined with my grades in class had me feeling pretty confident I wouldn't be kicked out of Hogwarts on the grounds of not being qualified to move on to NEWTs in any subject, but I wanted to keep studying everything. Almost as important to me, I wanted to prove you didn't need to be born special to grow up to be a certified wizard.
Fred and George planned to watch the all day Gryffindor Quidditch practice on Valentine's day, but I convinced them to come along to Hogsmeade with Sloth and I. Once we were in Hogsmeade, I brought them to the Shrieking Shack while Sloth headed off on her mission. In the privacy of the Shrieking Shack, I explained to the Weasley twins what we believed had happened to Percy, and our plan to rescue him.
"Let me get this straight," said Fred. "Percy's been acting like more of a prat than usual because someone on You-Know-Who's side has him under the Imperius curse?"
I nodded.
"And he staged the row with dad and leaving the family so we wouldn't figure it out?" asked George.
I nodded again.
"And the Death Eaters've been using him to make Fudge paranoid about Dumbledore, try to get Harry's wand destroyed, and saddle us with a useless defense teacher?" Fred confirmed.
I nodded a third time.
"Well, now it all makes sense," said George. "You've been hanging around with Looney Lovegood too long. She's rubbed off on you."
"You know Tom's back," I said. "Do you really think he'd do nothing for a full year?"
"What's Tom care about Percy?" asked Fred.
"He cares about hurting Harry," I said. "And you're all the closest thing he's had to family until his parents came back. And let's face facts, he still barely knows them."
"Breaking up our family to hurt Harry?" asked George. "You'd think a so-called Dark Lord would be too busy conquering the world to bother with something so petty."
"He made up a scary sounding name so he wouldn't be called Tom anymore. He put a taboo on his new name so everyone would be too afraid to say it. And, oh yes, he tried to kill a baby because his parents defied him. He is exactly that petty."
"He's got a point," said Fred.
"Okay, we give Percy a chance to explain himself, then we jinx him within an inch of his life," said George cheerfully.
"If he really was breaking mum's heart under the Imperius curse, he'll feel bad enough to want a bit of punishment," said Fred.
"And if he was doing it on his own, he'll deserve it," agreed George.
"Do you mind doing the jinxing someplace else?" I asked. "I've got a date here a little later today."
Sloth walked in through a wall holding Percy's hand about an hour later. She came over to me and nodded with a smile while Percy approached his brothers.
"Lucius Malfoy," said Percy, "put me under the Imperius curse. He's going to Azkaban for this."
"Is it true?" asked Fred. "You said all those things to dad because he made you?"
"Yes," said Percy. "I feel awful about it, but I'm going to make it up to you."
"Mum's been crying about you," said George. "You'd best tell her what happened right away."
"First thing I'll do once I talk to Fudge," said Percy earnestly.
"No," said Fred. "First thing you'll do period."
The twins proceeded to make good on their plan to jinx Percy in ways I hadn't previously known were possible. I made a mental note to include a bit on what happens when certain jinxes interact with one another on the same target in the written portion of my defense OWL. Meanwhile, the twins trussed Percy up and carried him off to see Mrs. Weasley.
Author's comments:
I decided to have Percy acting under the Imperius curse for a few reasons. First, the falling out with his family seemed forced. Him getting promoted right after being made a scapegoat for the Barty Crouch Sr. incident was an obvious ploy, and Percy isn't too stupid to notice that it's suspicious timing. Additionally, the whole point of the Imperius curse narratively is to make it clear even people who are genuinely trustworthy aren't above suspicion of acting on Voldemort's agenda. Turning families against one another is exactly the sort of thing it ought to be doing narratively. Given how little Percy says after arriving for the Battle of Hogwarts, I don't consider this to be contradicting canon, even if this is stretching things just a little.