Card the moon
Chapter 42 – Assemble the forces
…
"This must be it."
It was a nondescript door, in a nondescript hall. To an outside observer it was no different than any of a hundred others. The outside observer wouldn't have noticed the little crescent moon recently etched into the door, just above the handle.
The tiny mark filled her with uncertainty.
She wanted to know; demanded in fact, but now that she was there, and the adrenaline had been aloud to pass, she wasn't so confident. Wandering in the halls alone had gotten her in enough trouble; how much worse would it be walking into a strange room with people she didn't even know.
She knew she didn't know them because once they were out of sight, she couldn't put a name to a single face. It was practically impossible for her not to recognize at least one of them. She'd spent breakfast and lunch scouring faces, she'd rushed through dinner so she could be here, in front of a door with a crescent moon.
Answers, she was assured, lie just beyond. She hesitated, a lot.
"You going in or what?"
No, she was going up. She leapt like a startled mouse, squeaked like one too. She'd done everything she knew to make sure she wasn't followed, so someone standing right behind her was completely uncalled for.
She was glad when he didn't smile at her reaction. He didn't even smirk. She would have expected it from him. It was the kind of thing the king of Gryffindor would do when he made a Slytherin jump. So why wasn't he?
"Were you planning to stand out here all night, or are you coming in," he said, moving as if to open the door for her.
Disparate pieces were assembled into something resembled the full picture and she nearly choked, "You were… But that was… I can't believe… And the mask…"
"You wanna try finishing one of those?"
Ah, sarcasm, that was better. Sarcasm she understood.
She adopted the typical superior air of Slytherin, "So, when you're not defeating dark lords your fighting monsters? Well aren't you just perfect."
"No."
And she was off balance again. What the hell!
"So, you coming in?"
"Well—fine," she pouted.
It's not like she could just walk away now.
The room was poorly lit, several jars full of blue fire sat strewn about, the only illumination. They were below ground, in part of the castle that was not often used. A perfect place for a clandestine meeting.
The room was not terribly large but still felt spacious with so few people present. She recognized every single one.
Hermione Granger sat speaking in hushed tones to a familiar black cat. Katie Bell sat at the opposite end of the same table looking bored. Su Li from Ravenclaw was nearly invisible in a dim lit corner nowhere near to Luna Lovegood who sat alone looking at nothing Daphne could see.
A moment to take it all in and she had to correct herself; Lovegood wasn't alone. A small creature she'd mistaken for some sort of plush toy turned its head and looked at her.
"She's here!" it announced, drawing everyone's attention.
All eyes turned to her, and the hushed click of the door lock sliding into place sent an involuntary chill up her spine.
"Ah, good. I'm glad you've come," said the cat.
Judging by the looks she was getting, that made one.
"I said I wanted answers. You claimed to have them. Here I am."
"Pretty gutsy for a little snake," Katie sniped.
"Katie."
The Quidditch chaser wilted at the reprimand, and Daphne was once again shocked. Now he was defending her?
"As you say," the cat went on as if the little byplay hadn't happened, "you are here for answers. As are the others," she said, looking at Katie and Su. "Hermione and Harry are the only ones who've been given the full story, as they've been fighting this battle the longest. Since our forces have expanded of late, I thought it best everyone involved be present, so I won't have to repeat myself."
So it wasn't just her. That explained why Su Li was being so offish.
"Alright," she said, taking a nearby chair and staring imperiously, "let's hear it."
…
He stood by the door, a silent sentry, as Luna told her tale. He'd heard it before so he was only half listening, the other half was listening to any sound that may have indicated their newest 'friend' had been followed.
Without the map he couldn't be sure and again he kicked himself for losing it.
With little else to do, he took the time to examine the newbies. Su Li he knew, by name only. He was aware the girl existed if you told him her name, but he wouldn't have been able to put a face to that name without having her there as a reference.
He felt bad about that, she was in his year, but then he remembered how few of the people in his year who weren't in Gryffindor he could name. It was rather embarrassing, and potentially dangerous with a castle full of shapeshifters.
Daphne he knew a little bit better but only in the 'know thy enemy' sort of way. She was a Slytherin; before she'd put on the very short skirt, he classified her in the same way he classified all Slytherin, enemy.
It seemed a bit close minded now that he had time to consider it and he blamed it largely on Draco. Not that Draco was responsible for the feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin, he was just responsible for shaping Harry's first impression of Slytherin.
"Harry? Did you hear me?"
"Huh," oh, they were talking to him. "Sorry, just, lost in thought."
"It's a good thing we found you then," said Luna, the girl, in perfectly innocent and sincere fashion.
"We were just discussing the Clow cards," said Luna, not the girl, "and how you play into all of this."
"Somewhere along the sides," he said, "and occasionally shoved into the wall."
The snickers resounded again.
"So mighty Harry Potter is just a bit player in this game," the Slytherin said, giving him the sardonic brow.
"I wouldn't know," he replied, measuring his response like Luna had advised. "I'm just Harry Potter, nothing mighty about me. You might want to stop thinking all those rumors you hear mean you know anything about me."
She was taken aback at his bluntness, but she rallied quickly, "So no dark lord slaying?" she quipped.
"Daphne. Really? I know you're not that dumb," he said, spreading out the bait. "I was a year old, I couldn't defeat a stuffed teddy bear, never mind a dark lord."
"Well… when ya say it that way, does sound kind of stupid," she mumbled, showing far less confidence than she had a moment prior.
"I survived a dark lord. Someone beat him, but I'm the one that survived."
And there was the crux of it, the reason he hated his fame and how everyone treated him because of it.
"Why do it then?" she asked, "Why fight the monsters, these, youma? She said you don't have one of these."
It was ironic, the girl in the house of green had the red transformation rod; he wondered if she'd noticed, "Luna said Hermione needed my help."
"… that's it?"
"Basically," why complicate it, "I sort of fell into the Clow cards. They just kept finding me and eventually Luna found me, and I had a name for them."
"And that brings us back to the here and now," said the cat.
"Yeah, now," said Daphne in a way that made Harry tense.
"We'll need to find a way to coordinate with each other," said Hermione. "Katie, Harry, and I can talk easily enough but with Su and Daphne in different houses, we need to find a way to keep them in the loop."
"Actually, you can count me out of the loop," said Daphne, hopping to her feet. "I didn't ask to be part of this, and I'm not about to go running around Hogwarts fighting monsters. I'm no Gryffindor."
"Didn't look like that yesterday," said Katie.
Daphne flinched but refused to rise to the bait. Turning to the door, she offered Harry her transformation rod, "I won't be needing this."
"You're sure?"
"I won't fight them again, I'm no monster slayer."
"So you'll just hang there while they choke you to death."
She flinched again, harder. The memory of her near-death experience still close.
"Keep the rod," said Luna, "you're the only one who can use it. It won't work for anyone else so there's no sense in giving it back."
"I think I'll have to bow out as well," said Su once Daphne was gone. "I'm really not a fighter. I'll help if I'm there, but I can't promise any more than that."
The silence was heavy in the absence of Mercury and Mars. Katie was the first to break under its weight.
"Unbelievable—just, unbelievable!"
"I believe it," said Luna, big eyed and innocent.
"It's their choice," said Luna, calm and wise. "We can't force them to fight. I can't force any of you to fight."
"Well, I'll fight," said Katie. "This isn't going to go away just because I ignore it."
"You already know where I stand," said Luna.
"On your feet," said Harry, earning him a smile he quickly returned.
"It'll do," said the other Luna. "Perhaps in time they'll change their minds. The future is full of possibility."
"Yes!" declared Hermione, making everyone jump. "We have finals coming up soon. We need to start revising."
Harry sighed, chuckling a bit as Hermione went off on her educational tirade. It was always nice to see, no matter how much some things changed, others never would.
