Attack From Another Direction
"Hello, Albus," Mind Healer Cherien said softly as she came through the floo. "I'm here for our weekly visit." The former headmaster petulantly scowled at the woman, slumping down into the chair in which he sat. Before she could begin, a house elf popped in with a tray of pastries, cheering the old man up. He never noticed the connection between his eating unknown pastries and the unusual issues that befell him afterward. Eagerly, he grabbed one and ate it, happily chewing as he grinned smugly at the other woman. "We're here to discuss your childhood, the woman began as she sat. "I would like to talk about your father's imprisonment for a moment."
Before the headmaster could say anything, his eyes rolled back and he slumped deeper into the chair in a dead faint. The house elf that had brought him the treats smirked before popping away to tell the twins of the success of their Fainting Fancies. "Oh, dear," Cherien murmured as she tried everything to revive the headmaster. She even shot an aguamenti at him, to no effect. Sighing heavily, she left the school, returning back to her office to write up a report.
Phineas Nigellus Black laughed uproariously at the plight of the headmaster, knowing that someone had most likely pranked the old man. He left his frame to inform the headmistress of the old man's plight, and therefore didn't see Dumbledore's champion pop in and spell the antidote into the old man's stomach. Instantly he revived, spluttering at the fact that he was now soaking wet and chilled to the bone.
"What happened?" he barked loudly to no one in particular.
"Youse is being pranked," his elf replied softly as he quickly dried and warmed the old man.
"Blast and damn," he muttered angrily, glaring at the little being as if it was his fault. The elf quaked visibly as he waited for further instructions. "What is your name?" Albus finally said. "I can't keep referring to you as 'it' in my head."
"I is being Turtle," the little elf said, beaming with pride at the fact that the greatest wizard alive wanted to know his name.
"Well, Turtle, do you know who is pranking me?"
"N-no, master," the little elf stammered. "I is only being hearing that youse is being pranked. Not who is being doing the pranking."
"How did you wake me?" Albus' eyes narrowed as he stared cautiously at the elf.
"I is being having the antidote, master."
"How did you come by the antidote?" Dumbledore asked suspiciously. "Are you part of this conspiracy to do me in?"
"NO, master!" the elf squeaked, eyes wide and terrified. "I is being stealing the antidote from the elf who is being giving youse the pastry. I is hearing him telling the other elves about what is being happening to youse."
"Oh, well, that's good." The former headmaster heaved a sigh of relief as he stared at the elf. "I thank you for your devotion. You keep watch, and find out for me who is targeting me like this."
"Yes, master," the elf nodded vigorously, his ears slapping his head with loud thwapping sounds.
"Why do you call me master?" Dumbledore asked softly. "You belong to Hogwarts."
"I is being severing my bond to the school by being tricking the head house elf into giving me clothing from the school. I is being a free elf right now, and I is being wanting to bond myself to youse."
"Hey, Dad?" Hadrian said as he, Draco and Theo sailed into their father's private rooms. The Potions Master quirked a curious brow at the trio as they sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Everyone else was off doing their own thing on this quiet Saturday. "I keep hearing whispering in the walls," the raven continued.
"What kind of whispering?" the older man asked softly, concerned.
"I don't know how to explain it," Hadrian replied as he settled more comfortably on the couch, leaning against Draco. "James and Lily tell me that it sounds like an ancient one, whatever that means."
"It is the voice of an ancient serpent, master's mate," Serena told the raven, making him blush at the address.
"Please call me Hadrian," the emerald eyed boy mumbled, embarrassed at the snickering of the others.
"There is a basilisk in the walls," Sylvan continued. "We can smell her as well as hear her."
"B-basilisk?!" Draco shrieked.
"Yes, master," Sylvan replied. "She is trapped somewhere within the school."
"I had heard that Slytherin had a familiar," Severus murmured thoughtfully. "No one ever saw it, so we all thought it was just part of the Founder's legend. It appears that an exploration is needed. We have to find her, and remove her from the school before harm comes to the other students."
"Albus has an ally in the school," Phineas told Minerva. Her eyebrows shot into her hairline at the news, a fierce frown on her face.
"How do you know this?" she asked the portrait worriedly.
"I heard the little elf talking to him. His name is Turtle, and he tricked the school into freeing him so that he may bond with Dumbledore."
"Are you sure that this isn't some sort of trick?" she queried. "Why would he have such damning conversations in front of you?"
"Albus has always believed that the portraits cannot go against him, since he is headmaster of Hogwarts," Phineas told the woman with a smirk. "No matter what I say to him, he still believes that I cannot go against him. Besides, I think that he's completely forgotten about me even being there."
"This will not do," Minerva murmured quietly. "We must exile the elf."
"Unfortunately, that will not be possible," Black said with a grimace. "I'm sure that Albus has completed the bonding by now, and the elf is now out of our jurisdiction, so to speak."
"Damnit," she growled. "Well, no help for it now. We'll just have to warn the others and keep an eye on things around here."
"What's this?" Sirius asked as he took the note from Turtle. The animagus had never seen the elf before, but since there were at least a hundred at Hogwarts, that was understandable. He was visiting with Remus in the Defense quarters while the kids were with Severus. As soon as the missive was delivered, the elf popped away.
Turtle had talked with Dumbledore in the old man's bedroom because he didn't trust the portrait over the fireplace, and they had hatched a plan to compel Sirius and Remus to do Albus' bidding while he was imprisoned. So the elf imbued the missive with a strong house elf compulsion charm, knowing that the humans would not be able to resist or break it.
"Sirius and Remus," the werewolf read over Black's shoulder as he grasped the note, holding it along with the History of Magic professor, "I command you to do as I ask, no matter what it may be. You will not be able to communicate, in any way, what I tell you to do, nor will you ever be able to resist my commands." The spell took hold at the reading of the words, carefully chosen by both the former headmaster and the elf, and both men's eyes glazed over briefly before clearing.
"That's weird," Remus murmured, shaking his head in confusion. The words on the paper quickly disappeared once read, and both men were staring down at a blank piece of parchment. "What were we talking about?"
"I've no idea," Sirius replied, shuddering. "I've completely lost my train of thought."
The two men went to Severus' quarters on Sunday. They had just received a note from Dumbledore, telling them to take Draco out into the Forbidden Forest. Turtle directed the pair to meet up with Isabella; he had taken a note to her the previous day, from 'Lord Voldemort', instructing her to be in the Forest the following morning to exterminate the little blond. Because of the type of bond that the little being had insisted upon, he could now speak for Albus whenever necessary.
Albus was hoping to, not only cripple Hadrian enough to bring him to heel, but also undermine Lucius' hold on the Ministry by killing his only son. So, as soon as the pair arrived at Severus' door and saw the Malfoy heir, the compulsion kicked in, and they grabbed the little blond, dragging him out the door and through the dungeons. Severus chased after the men, thinking that they were pulling some sort of prank, but couldn't seem to get through to either of them as they continued to pull Draco along with them.
For his part, the little Malfoy was terrified; he'd sensed something not quite right with the pair as soon as he saw them. They had a glazed look to their eyes, and neither one even so much as glanced at their godson. Other portraits in the school were charged with keeping an eye on the children, and Sir Cadogan ran to the headmistress, interrupting the conversation she was having with Phineas.
"Headmistress," he gasped from the landscape painting he was lying in, "there's something wrong with professor Lupin and professor Black. They have the Malfoy heir, and are dragging him out of the dungeons. No one can seem to get through to them." A strange glow erupted from around Black's portrait, and Phineas Nigellus Black stepped from the frame and into the office, misting down through the floors and walls until he reached the entrance to the school. There, he held up his hand as the men approached.
"I command you to stop," he barked loudly. The magics that had been imbued to him by Hogwarts took hold of the men, freezing them in place. Phineas stepped closer to the pair, feeling the house elf magic surrounding them, and frowned fiercely. "Ad conteram incantatores," he murmured, smiling as he saw the compulsion charm fade from the men's eyes.
"What the bleeding, bollocking hell is going on here?" Sirius yelped, staring around himself in confusion.
"You were under a house elf compulsion spell, grandson," Phineas told the animagus with a grin, heaving a huge sigh of relief and silently thanking the Lady for her help. "I fear that Albus now has an ally in the school, and he will begin attacking all who are close to the little Snape heir in his thirst to regain control of everything."
"Thank you, Lord Black," Remus said with a bow of his head. He then looked at the other man in confusion. "How are you out of your portrait, if I may ask?"
"Well, Lady Hogwarts heard my vow to protect all of you, and she gave me the magics of the Founders. I can only leave the portrait in emergencies, however, so don't count on seeing me floating around everywhere." With that, he faded away, reappearing in his portrait in the headmistress' office.
"How did it go?" Minerva asked anxiously.
"They are safe," he told the woman. "I must inform the Minister. Mayhap he will have a solution to our newest problem."
Isabella paced just outside the border of the Forbidden Forest. In her first moves as headmistress, Minerva had strengthened the wards, and had erected one at the boundary of the school itself, to prevent anyone not keyed into them from going into or coming out of the Forest. So the ex-Mrs. Nott paced anxiously, losing her patience as more time passed without seeing the little Malfoy bastard. Finally, with an enraged shriek, she hammered at the wards, bellowing Theo's name and screaming invectives at the occupants of the school.
Minerva was startled by the noise and commotion going on outside, and she stared out the window at the madwoman at the school's perimeter. Turning and grumbling under her breath, she threw powder into the floo and contacted the Ministry. "What seems to be the trouble, Minerva?" Lucius asked worriedly.
"Isabella Carthwright is outside the wards, threatening the Snape children, as well as your son," she told the Minister. "I fear that she may be able to find some way in and harm them."
"I'll take care of it," the blond barked angrily before disappearing from the floo. Lucius then took some more powder and contacted Rodolphus and Rabastan, instructing them to arrest the woman. With twin nods, they left, appearing a few hours later with the screaming banshee in tow. They had relieved the woman of her wand and any portkeys and weapons she had secreted on her person, and smirked as they marched her through the Ministry, her raving earning her a great many incredulous looks.
"There," Rodolphus barked as he threw her into a holding cell. "That should keep you for a bit." He rubbed his hand where the woman had bitten him, glaring at the bitch for all he was worth.
"I think we should get a warrant, brother," Rabastan mused, staring at the raving lunatic with amusement. "I think we should check out her home, to see if, perhaps, she might have been responsible for the tragedies that befell the Lupin-Black child and the Grangers."