It had been a confusing reunion, but Draco managed to keep from overreacting. Regrettably, he could not say the same for his vassals.
The Longbottom heir had discovered them stunned, petrified, and trapped in shrunken chests. At the time, he had half a mind to leave the boxes closed, but a wave of his wand over the fungus he had planted in the area determined that there had been a duel, with some residual magic from stray spells, unactivated shield wards; it was enough to warrant an investigation. Enlarging and opening the boxes, he was more than a little surprised to find several Slytherins inside, and he targeted a finite at Bole, who had had the misfortune of being conscious the entire time, trapped in a box without the benefit of his memories. Asking around, it seemed that none of his vassals could remember the last few weeks, as according to their unlikely hero it was sometime in February.
"How the hell did we get in these boxes?!" Bole asked loudly, kicking the one that had confined him, if a touch weakly. I suspect being stunned slowed my metabolism, though the same would not be so for him.
"We may presume that the duel went the worse for us, though I confess I remember little of it," the leader explained. In truth I remember nothing of the duel, only our opponents, as we learned of them before it took place. Since more than enough time took place between the duel and today, I cannot say for certain the duel was the cause of our more recent predicament, but I can identify nothing else.
"What had you looking over here?" Goyle asked the Hufflepuff, having a rare moment of insight.
"Well, someone said there were boxes over here, as a rumor of sorts, but I don't entirely remember who. I've been looking for you for days."
"Good show, Neville," Bulstrode said, stepping closer to him and biting a lip. I'll curse you if you dare. Draco took his wand out, deciding his friend of sorts would never see a kiss coming. Fortunately Crabbe clapped him on the back before heading up to the castle. His hunger would have already caught up to him.
"Has Parkinson been looking for us as well?" he asked, taking the lead and bidding Longbottom catch up to him.
"Well, 'pparently there was a rumor about where you were. I don't remember what it was, but it must've given her reason to think you'd be coming back on your own." The amount of time we've been gone is enough to get us expelled, you oaf. If we are unable to remember the reason for our absence, even Snape will have a hard time defending us before the school governors step in.
He had given a mixed reaction when he learned that his former Head of House was chosen to be Headmaster. He was, after all, a wizard against whom Draco had sworn revenge, but there was a chance the war had just been won in a stroke. With two positions vacant, both could be restaffed by Death Eaters as planned, and the school would be theirs overnight.
The problem was the Triwizard Tournament.
Essentially, the school would be stuffed with foreign diplomats, Ministry officials, and more students than ever before, with a heavy bias to the higher levels of education. It was the wrong time to stage a coup, and the spots still needed filling. In hopes the curse on the Defense position would eliminate him, Snape had tried to give it to an old friend of Dumbledore's, but he insisted he was underqualified, having no background in education. He was willing to do any sort of menial task associated with being a Headmaster or a teacher, but Draco was not the only one to doubt it would be enough to eliminate him by the end of the year. Slughorn was another irrelevant fence-sitter, more likely than anything else to disappear at the last minute.
At the very best, the coup was put off by a year, which could well be long enough for the opportunity to be lost entirely.
Reaching the castle, the vassals and their leader were unanimous in their decision to stop at the Great Hall, as it was early in the morning and breakfast was likely starting. The enormous room fell into a hush as they entered, taking their usual seats and helping themselves, pretending to ignore their reception entirely. I have trained my men well. They will act as though this is the kind of response they expect.
"Good sign so far," Goyle muttered, forcing himself to swallow first. "Castle hasn't rejected us yet. Might be we haven't been expelled."
"Might be that, or it might be that we're guests," Crabbe responded. He seemed to be eating as quickly as possible, lest someone come and take his food from him. Well, he is no vassal, let him eat as he will.
The rest of them seemed to be having an unrelated discussion, possibly trying to assemble their memories, some wondering how the Second Task had gone. Merlin, we've been away. His fist briefly tightened around his fork. Death is too good for whoever did this to us.
"Neville, precisely what has happened since we disappeared?" he asked. The guest of honor sat across from him.
"They did the other Task. Evan was there, but it was weird since it looked like he Apparated. Can't remember how he got there, unless they didn't say." He checked his Remembrall. "They didn't say. He didn't end up winning, he actually got stunned and didn't finish, but that's how it is sometimes. Don't believe I could've done any better." I do not believe you could.
"Has the school made any announcement? I seem to remember quite the fuss when Weasley disappeared."
"Well, they did, but it wasn't any good. They seemed to think all of you decided to go somewhere together. I mean, this many can't just go missing."
"Then we're being expelled and there's nothing we can do about it," Crabbe decided, a glum expression forming. His face seemed to vary between that and an angry version of confusion. It may be worth it to find Professor Snape to see if anything can be done. Of course, there is always room at Durmstrang.
Draco had been interested in the school for years, it had even been his preference, but in the beginning there was no way of pulling it off. Though they could instruct him in dark magic, it was his lord father's opinion that Hogwarts was the better school on the whole, and he more recently revealed it was better he spend his formative years away from remnants of Grindelwald's faction. As what felt like a much younger boy, he had a childish notion of getting out of his family's shadow and proving himself alone in the foreign school, which he deeply regretted. Trying to distinguish himself as a great wizard of his own right was a peacetime fancy, and entirely unnecessary. Other wizards could say that they had great deeds and great talents, but only he could claim heirship to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy.
He decided to represent his vassals in going to the Headmaster's office, which was protected by a password he had out of a Prefect.
"Professor Snape," he opened, before being magically lifted and planted in the seat before the desk. The room was unchanged since the departure of the previous school master, though in the dark wizard's defense he already had an office, and one that was exclusively his own.
"Do make yourself comfortable, Draco," the former Potions master muttered. "I expect in the next few minutes, you will be quite... uncomfortable." A lazy wave of the wand was sufficient to spin him around in his chair. "Unless I am mistaken, last year I caught you out of bed on official business as you claim, which led to the mysterious disappearance of Miss Carrow. You have squandered not only your actual potential, but the assumed potential of your House, and the generous latitude you have been granted to compensate for past mistakes. In your absence, a band of Hufflepuffs and Beauxbatons students plucked up the courage to attack the remaining Carrow daughter, who now stands trial for expulsion, after which she will be tried at the Wizengamot for attempted murder if Weasley, Granger, and a smattering of others prove unsuccessful in her defense."
The young Slytherin's expression had gone at some point to a blank, open-mouthed stare. He contained himself quickly.
"Sir-"
"I do not care to know the exact nature of your previous punishment, but it appears it was insufficient. Still you are inclined overmuch to act on your own, childish impulses without consulting me. Perhaps the Dark Lord would applaud your initiative, but he would snap your neck if he saw the results." Draco did not attempt Legilimency around Snape, whom he understood to be a master, but it was perfectly unnecessary to hear the truth of his words. "Every chance you were awarded to redeem yourself has been a sour mistake, your accomplishments minimal and your failures many."
"Sir, I was kidnapped," he objected at last. "Use the mind arts if my word does not suffice. I came here, well, after recovering, to represent my vassals in our explanation of our absence." Snape wore a disinterested expression. "Expel us if you must, but I urge you not to force us from the grounds. For me to begin to pay my debt to the Carrow family, I must defend Flora, and to do so I must remain as a Durmstrang guest."
"How and why were you kidnapped?"
"My memory was erased, likely with a memory charm. In either event, you will discover with the mind-"
"Perhaps I should acquaint you with a Pensieve. Was Evan with you?" There was a note of concern in his eyes, if not in his voice.
"I have reason to suspect as much." I do not remember. "The last thing I remember is that he informed me that he had been challenged to a duel against a few blood traitors."
"Midnight of the thirty first, I presume?" Snape asked. "That would explain the disappearance of Ioseb Brdzola." He waved away Draco's confusion. "Headmaster Karkaroff mentioned it to me."
"Sir, with respect, I know that the Dark Lord-"
"Then you had better forget. Again, you speak out of station. As I am tasked with your protection, I am to protect you from suicidal notions if I would rip- them- from- your- skull."
A moment passed.
"I can be almost certain that the duel is the explanation of my absence-"
"Weasley has the wit of a stewed leek, Draco. He would not learn the memory charm without accidentally using it on himself."
"One of the others-" I would give him at least the wit of a live leek.
"You cannot remember the duel. Perhaps you imagine it was Miss Granger; it does not matter. To anyone outside this room, your sudden appearance in a box was merely a clever excuse, and you used the ever-reliable Longbottom to discover you and forget why. Before you ask, there is no way of recovering memories erased by the memory charm."
The young Slytherin squirmed slightly, having had to remember not to resist as his head was being examined.
"Sir, if you and I both know that my absence was not voluntary, the best solution for our interests would be to expel me, but not remove me from the grounds."
"Your intention, however, is to continue to work for the Dark Lord?" Snape asked.
"Of course," he responded without allowing his confusion to show.
"Then you need to be aware he punishes failure, not negligence. For whatever reason, you were not in school doing your duties for over a month. A Slytherin nearly died on your watch, and his favored apprentice along with him. Had he been your Headmaster, you would have been dead a dozen times over." I expected some punishment. I did not, however, expect it would venture beyond expulsion.
"What is my punishment, sir?" I would sooner leave it to you than the Dark Lord. Perhaps there is a lesson for me there.
"You will suffer indefinite detention with Mr. Filch. You are not to use magic during the time he is watching you, and if any attempt to skirt the conditions is discovered, you will be removed from the grounds."
The Malfoy heir might have objected, as he still needed to do something about the Carrow girl, but he remembered his vassals were active. I need to improve my Occlumency skills if he can enter so easily.
"Perhaps, sir, there will be time for-"
"No," Snape responded.
"Perhaps, though-"
"No."
Draco performed a curt inclination of the head and left without another word. His interest in Evan's case might have distracted him from his disappointment toward me. It matters not, I need to find the others; I expect my detention is already in effect.
Derrick and Bole were easy enough to find as they had been looking for him, and a quick sweep of Legilimency at a range could not detect their exact thoughts, but he could tell they meant to resign.
"I'm afraid the news is as ill as we expected," he started, going past them to have them follow him. "We have been expelled, and as the leader I have received indefinite detention, and within a year we shall find ourselves at Durmstrang, where we shall have no connections but each other. I must warn you, from what I know from the Heir, it is a dangerous place for a lone wizard, especially a foreign one." Their expressions might have shifted, though he was not looking.
"Where are you going?" Derrick asked.
"I have a temporary excuse that I do not know where the detention is, so I go to the dungeons first, in hopes I meet anyone that may help me with Flora's case."
"We heard about that," the same Beater said, catching up. "We were going to ask if we could be assigned to her protection." You tell a likely story. I have every expectation that she will be sufficiently protected, though the school will not be aware or pretend not to be aware that trials are not good enough for Hufflepuffs. If what Longbottom says is any indication, additional measures of protection they will not expect has a reasonable chance of proving perfectly necessary.
"Bole may watch her with his minions if he should like, I shall have you watching him. Wherever I am sent, I need Davis and Nott, should they fail to appear before me on the way there." Our resident experts in dark magic, as they style themselves, will find it quite the challenge to accomplish the task I have planned. "Crabbe, Goyle and Bulstrode should be sufficient for the next phase of the plan."
Thinking on it, it was better after all that his two most loyal henchmen were not actually vassals, as they could keep an eye on those who were well enough without the title, and the vassals, allowed a little friendly competition, would speak freely in their presence, thinking them incompetent. They have only themselves to blame for that. I have done my due diligence in inciting them to learn magic, but I am no teacher. For a time he had hoped that their 'simple wizard's wisdom' would be useful, but it appeared only to function at its own convenience. Essentially, Crabbe and Goyle enjoyed the occasional advantage of clear sight when the minds of greater complexity were clouded by abstraction. A normal wizard had ways of looking at things and for the most part it served him well. Perhaps he was an optimist, and he looked on a scene of a child crying and assumed the poor dear was crying over nothing, or nothing that could not be fixed right away. His henchmen spared no mental effort to assume, nor did they appear to have any particular way of thinking about things they observed.
The next phase of the plan involves capturing a Hufflepuff- no first-year will do, I need someone with magical power, and the three of them will be perfectly suited for the task. I suspect they will go after Macmillan without thinking about it.
It occurred to him that he had not seen the wizard since the previous year, though there were numerous explanations for that. It would be wise for the Hufflepuff to avoid him, especially with his expanded influence, though he had a momentary fear that Macmillan had gained influence of his own. Out of all those in his House, he seemed to be the most impassioned, and with their ideology, cooler heads rarely prevailed. From what Longbottom had told him, they were convinced all rulings in the Wizengamot could be explained by the blood of the defendant. A pure blood on trial for his life was being let off due to blood if he were proven innocent, and was being spared harsher punishment if proven guilty, no matter what punishment he received.
It was at long last that he found Padma on the stairs, having dismissed Derrick and Bole. She threw her arms around him, tears streaming down her face. I was wondering when I would see you again.
"I've been so worried... I've been asking around among the Slytherins and they said you were probably off muggle-baiting, and I knew that wasn't..." she trailed off.
"Everything's all right, dearest," he managed, putting his arms around her waist. Everything will be when the perpetrators of this travesty are cold in the grave. The list of suspects is mercifully short, though I have rivals as well as enemies. "There's something I have been wanting to tell you, actually. It has plagued me all the time we've been apart."
Her dark eyes asked the question.
"Perhaps it would be better, though, if we found a secluded place," he said, smirking only to himself. "I believe I know of one."