Fifty-Three
Vengeance
By the time that all of the necessary reports were filed, affidavits finished, and paperwork signed, it was late in the afternoon and near the end of the last class of the day. Aurelius took a leisurely pace towards the dungeon, managing to stall enough that the students were filing out of the lab just as he arrived. Aurelius stepped in to see his father quickly straightening the desk; the lab's pristine, organized condition a tell-tale sign that he had been teaching Potions for the majority of the week.
"Good afternoon, Aurelius. How did it go?" Severus asked. Aurelius immediately held up a scroll with Draco's official seal without saying a word. "Let's go into Jennifer's office. I need to start Remus' potion," Severus suggested. Aurelius walked in, taking the chair next to the Excelsior lab table with a sigh. A minute later, Severus came in, shutting the door.
"Who is her court warden going to be?" Severus asked as he walked over and turned on a few burners, pouring components in each of the miniature cauldrons set on top.
"Ginger is for now," Aurelius said. Severus looked at him questioningly. "Myself as well, once it's safely through the protection conference and my statement isn't in the way."
"I suppose I should have expected that. Your mother mentioned the other day that it seemed as if you were getting attached," Severus said, going over to the shelf for a few more bottles. "But taking responsibility for an older child also has its own share of problems, which are typically quite different than those that come up for one that you're raising from the start. There is bound to be a lot of baggage to be sorted out, especially in a case like hers."
"Yes, Mother already warned me," Aurelius admitted. "She happened to be working on the flag board in Draco's office when we came in this morning, so we talked about it at lunch."
"Then I'm sure you know already that you can come to us if you need advice on it down the line," Severus said, sifting one of the dried ingredients onto the scale.
"Thanks," Aurelius said. "Is it alright if I speak to Danyelle about this?"
"Make sure Boulderdash is part of that conference as well. Since she's an Owl, he is her primary advisor. Rogue, has Danyelle left for the day?" Severus asked, and the portrait responded, then asked a question. "I'd say having them meet in Danyelle's office would be best. I don't want to run the risk of any of the Owls popping in at a bad time and they're going to need to discuss how to handle this delicately." The portrait wandered off.
"Need any help while I wait?" Aurelius asked.
"No, I'm adding the last ingredient now, it just needs to simmer. Hand me that metal tankard behind you," Severus said, and Aurelius leaned over and plucked it off the shelf, handing it to him. A moment later, there was a knock on the door, and Severus waved it open. "Come in, Remus."
"Good afternoon... oh, hello Aurelius, I wasn't expecting you here. I thought everyone in the Ministry was busy scrambling to find Coventry right now," Remus said, closing the door again.
"I had to take care of an important student matter, so Harry gave me the day off," Aurelius explained. "Although I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last day I get off for a while."
"So do I, especially if that story in the Oracle today was true," Remus said, sitting on the couch with a sigh. Both Aurelius and Severus turned to look at him.
"What story?" Aurelius asked flatly.
"The one about Delia Agate. I take it you haven't seen it yet?" Remus asked, Aurelius leaping to his feet.
"That bastard! I swear I will kill him this time!" Aurelius exclaimed.
"Aurelius! Don't forget why you're here!" Severus snapped sternly. Aurelius glanced at the portrait to see he had returned and had the same stern expression on his face.
"Ugh! I hate it when I feel like I'm being pulled in so many directions at once!" Aurelius shouted with frustration.
"A feeling I understand all too well, but family and students come first, and in this case it may end up the same thing. I suggest you go to Danyelle's office and let Alex, Harry and Thomas handle the fallout. I am certain they aren't likely to let this go."
"Apparently right now I don't have much of a choice," Aurelius brooded as he left to go to Danny's office.
"Dare I ask what that was all about?" Remus inquired.
"First, tell me what the Oracle said about Delia," Severus said, checking on the potion before looking up at him.
"Well, according to the article, Don Coventry decided to masquerade as his twin so that he could take advantage of Delia, who was in a relationship with his Auror brother," Remus explained, pulling out the paper. "Is any of it true?"
"Mike and Delia are just good friends. The rest is true, but Alex classified that information," Severus explained. "Which means that the only possible way the Oracle could have heard about it is if Don Coventry told them himself. He did it to taunt his brother... he's trying to get him to react somehow..." Severus murmured. "I only hope that Michael has enough sense to not rise to the bait."
Thomas got home five minutes late, as irritable as he always became when circumstances caused him not to be home for dinner on time. A shot of Dark Inis Whiskey was waiting at his plate, and Beth and Fleur were putting the finishing touches on the dinner trays.
"Sorry I'm late, I'll go change in just a moment," Thomas grunted, waving off Fleur's concern as he downed his drink. "Where's Michael? I need to speak with him about something before we sit down."
"He went upstairs to change," Beth said.
"Odd, he should have been down here already... he knows we usually eat on time," Thomas murmured.
Wondering if he was jumping to conclusions but not wanting to take any chances, Thomas ran up the stairs, taking them by twos on his way to Mike's room, He knocked only once before trying to handle only to find that it was locked. Not hearing an answer, Thomas took out his wand and blew the door off its hinges, unsurprised to find the window left wide open and a pile of post on the side table with the Oracle on top.
"Damn him!" Thomas shouted, and then turned and ignited the fireplace. "Get me Harry Potter!" he snapped, the Flame quickly forming.
"Thomas?" Harry said curiously, knowing he had just left.
"Harry, Mike went and bolted on me... it looks like he saw the paper. Do you have his flag up in there?" Thomas asked.
"No, Jennifer and I just started working on this one," Harry said.
"Then get to my office and use mine! I want every available Auror and agent after him!" Thomas snapped. "Jen-girl, you go too... take whoever you can grab for now just to get there quickly, my officers will catch up. I'll authorize it later!" Thomas turned and dove down the stairs, wand still in hand as he ran into the dining room. "Both of you, down into the lab! Stay there until someone fetches you. You'll be safe there."
"Thomas what..."
"Just go, Fleur! You too, Beth!" Thomas barked, pausing just long enough to make sure his security hadn't been breached before escorting them down the stairs and locking them in. Then Thomas took his key back to the Ministry.
At the castle, Remus had just downed his potion and was about to head to the Muggle Farm when a Flame went up in the fireplace.
"Severus, are you in there?" Jennifer asked even before her image began to form.
"Yes, still here, what's wrong?" Severus asked.
"Dad says Mike's taken off on his own and he thinks he's in real trouble," Jennifer explained quickly. "We don't have the flag board working in the Auror office yet so Harry just ran to Alex's office, but Dad's looking for any backup he can get to search for him." Severus glanced at Remus.
"Don't look at me, I've got my own problems tonight," Remus reminded him with his hands up.
"I'll see what I can do, Jennifer. At the very least, expect Aurelius. Be careful," Severus said.
"I know, I will be. I'll let you know when I get back to our house," Jennifer said, the fire snuffing out.
"Remus, you can show yourself out, I trust..." Severus said.
"I should wait for Ivano to tell him what's going on. He was going to come in tonight to help John and Anna monitor," Remus explained.
"If he isn't here within fifteen minutes, leave a note on his door and get to the farmhouse on your own. I'm going to prepare the castle for lockdown," Severus warned. "Rogue, go tell Hermione she's in charge of security this evening and ask her to start warning staff about the lockdown. Also, tell Andrew to take Quintin to the Pyther's house and to watch things just in case there's trouble in Hogsmeade."
Severus stepped out of the back door and across the Perch to the back stairs, immediately skipping down to Danyelle's office. He knocked only once before walking in, and Danny, Aurelius and Boulderdash looked up at him in surprise.
"Aurelius, you're needed back at the Ministry. Mike's missing," Severus said. "You may key out of this room." Without hesitation, Aurelius put his hand in his pocket and disappeared.
"Do you think he went after Don?" Danny asked.
"More than likely. Thomas is asking for volunteers to go look for them," Severus said.
"That sounds like my cue if I ever heard it," Danny said, dashing to the mantle and taking the flare gun off the wall before throwing on her cloak and flying out the window on her broom.
"What do you need me to do?" Boulderdash asked.
"Start prepping the library for lockdown. Ask everyone to get back to their house rooms with their books as soon as possible. When you're done, send Laura to do hallway patrols in the lower levels and ask her to secure Slytherin house rooms and make sure everyone's accounted for. Most of the students are at dinner so it'll take some time to get all of the students back to their rooms, but I'd rather they go back to their houses tonight anyway so they'll stay calm and we can get an accurate count. I'll start securing the Quidditch and football pitches and lockdown this wing. Contact me by painting if you need me," Severus said.
"Yes, Headmaster," Boulderdash said and left.
Keir and Viorica had been planning to study together in Conspiracies for their Healing Potion class. Because of that, they were eating at the Slytherin table and had noticed a flurry of activity as several professors rushed by the open doors.
"I wonder what's going on?" Keir asked as Professor Willowby ran in and said something to Professor Scribe. The two of them left together in a hurry.
"Did Maurice say anything?" Max asked Cain.
"No. Everything seemed fine when he left to go to the library," Cain said thoughtfully. "He did mention that it was a full moon tonight."
"Oh. Maybe it has something to do with that, then, or maybe that other werewolf's back... you know, Disparte's son," Max conjectured. "Everyone said Disparte and his son were shouting at each other the other day. Maybe he's planning to come back in wolf form and take him out."
"They'll make a coat out of him if so," Cain said unconcernedly.
"I doubt he'd really ever hurt anyone. He's just angry about how his father treated him," Viorica protested. "Besides, Maurice said he's been taking the same potion Professor Lupin has been taking."
"That doesn't prevent him from shape-changing, Viorica. It only keeps him from losing control," Max pointed out. "He could still take advantage of his strength to get rid of his father if he had a mind."
"I'm pretty sure someone like Disparte, who specializes in werewolves, knows how to take one out, Starling," Cain decided. "I mean, look at it this way; a man capable of running all sorts of tests on their own flesh and blood like that is probably just as capable of taking him down if he tried to attack him. None of us have anything to worry about."
"Looks like they may lockdown the school, though, to be safe," Keir ventured.
"Oh, well, I needed to study for my Charms test anyway," Max said in resignation. Viorica got up.
"Done already? You didn't eat much," Keir said.
"I need to take care of something before they make us go back to our rooms," Viorica said.
"You'd better hurry then, because here comes Professor Weasley now," Keir pointed out. Seeing that the professor was walking over to the podium, Viorica hurriedly walked out the side door.
Mike didn't need to go to the Ministry to figure out where his brother was going to head next. He already knew where his twin would be.
Covered with Chameleon Powder, Mike still took the precaution of seeking shelter behind one of the topiaries that lined the long road in front of the Wisecraft estate where his grandfather and mother lived. Worriedly, he glanced up at the low level of clouds, wondering if he could safely dissipate them without detection. The sun was beginning to descend, lighting some of the clouds up and leaving others too dark for him to scan for movement. Maybe he'd wait for night time to make his move, Mike thought. At least then, he'd be able to get his Nightshroud out for better protection.
"You think I don't know you're there, do you?" The voice of Donald seemed to come from all round him; a simple spell that fractured sound waves, making it hard to tell where they were coming from. "I have a few enemy detectors on me, and more than one of them are charmed specifically to know where you are. You're number one on my enemy list. I guess that's the first time you've been first at anything your entire life, isn't it?" Don laughed. "You weren't even first to shag your own girlfriend, although I admit even I was surprised to find out I was her first ever. It shocked me so much, I even left her alive so she has to live with that."
"You bastard!" Mike cursed furiously.
"No, not quite, but I may as well have been, being born to that bitch squib of a mother of ours. But that's all right, it's not like she's going to be alive for much longer anyway. I arranged for her to have a little coach accident on the way home from one of her stupid charity events. I wouldn't try to stop it, if I were you. If you do, you're going to find out just how bad it is to be going second," Don warned cheerfully.
Mike looked around in a panic, immediately hearing the horses. It didn't matter to him that he knew that Don was goading him; he only knew that he was going to have to do something and quickly. It didn't matter that he knew he was being set up, only that his mother was in danger and he had no choice but to intervene.
Mike took out his broom and zoomed at breakneck speed, catching up to the coach as it hurried home... that was when he noticed that one of the wheels was about to come off and it was likely that the entire coach as about to crash into the gate at full speed. Taking at out his wand, Mike cast at the wheel in hopes of repairing it to stave off the disaster.
All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light as his spell met something completely unexpected; a potent accelerant mixture had been painted over the coach, and as Mike watched in horror, the coach exploded, giant flames enveloping it almost instantaneously.
"Told ya," Don shouted gleefully as Mike desperately tried to put out the fire. But every time he tried to cast at it, the flames grew higher and higher.
"Mike! Get back!" someone shouted at him.
Mike looked up in surprise to see someone riding double on a broom and was circling the coach; It was Harry Potter, and Jennifer Craw was sitting behind him. Jennifer pulled potion bottles out of her cloak and began throwing them at the fire to get it under control. Aurelius zoomed past, using a spell to clear the clouds away in an attempt to find out which Don was hiding under. Four broom riders flying in perfect unison flew above them all, searching the area at a greater height.
"I don't see him," Corey told the others, using the announcer spell to make his voice louder.
"Maybe he left?" Doug suggested. But Aurelius noticed charms flashing on his mother's bracelet; Corey's and his.
"No, he's still here! Be careful!" Aurelius warned them.
"We need to secure the house, but for Crater's sake, don't cast any spells at it, whatever you do," Harry snapped. "If it blows, we're not going to have enough potions to stop it."
"Form a perimeter and keep your eyes out," Danny ordered, the four of them zooming over.
"Jennifer, you'd better hop off and help Mike," Harry told her when he saw Mike still standing partially visible near the destroyed coach with a stunned expression on his face.
"Right... here, take my bracelet. Don't let anyone go in there while that accelerant is on the building, it'd only get them killed. I'll get Mike to Mungo's and contact Dad," Jennifer replied. She jumped off when Harry slowed down, letting her barrette carry her close to Mike.
Just as Jennifer pulled out her keys, a series of wand strikes shot out from the topiaries close to the front of the manor.
Immediately, a bright wave of magic blasted the broom riders back in different directions as the entire manor exploded into a large ball of fire and debris. Despite the fact they were far away from the main house, the shock wave knocked Jennifer and Mike to the ground. Extremely worried about the conflagration but having very little choice, Jennifer fished out the St. Mungo's key.
"Come on, Mike. I'm so sorry, I know it's hard, but we can't stay," Jennifer said with tears in her eyes, forcing the key into his hand.
As they landed in St. Mungo's, Mike suddenly came out of his stunned state, lashing out angrily pushing her away from him and got to his feet. Just in the nick of time, Jennifer was able to disarm him, following it up with the Living Stone spell. Even as the staff moved in, Jennifer quickly explained his mental state and then Shelled her father, shakily working her way out of the room.
"Professor Craw, are you all right?" asked Morfinn Bliant, stopping in the hall when he saw her condition. "You're burnt, and you look off color..."
"Just hand me an aeration potion and stick me in the corner. I really don't care at the moment," Jennifer said, reaching for her watch.
"Well, I'll get you an aeration potion, but you really ought to be in a room," Morfinn said.
"First aid is fine. How is Mike? I don't suppose Conner is here somewhere," Jennifer asked, checking her watch.
She was more than a little relieved to see that Corey and Aurelius were both on 'Elsewhere' instead of 'Mortal Peril.' Morfinn sighed at Jennifer's obvious lack of concern about her own condition and looked around.
"Angelica, could you please help Professor Craw with some first aid? At the very least an aeration potion and a burn salve," Morfinn said. "I'd better go check on Mike."
"Yes, Doctor Bliant," Angelica said.
Having no luck getting her to move from her chair in the hall, Angelica simply handed her the potion where she was. Jennifer looked intently at the door until Morfinn came back out, walking over to her when he saw she was looking in his direction.
"He's not injured other than burns, but he's traumatized and we had to give him a Sleeping Potion. We should contact his next of kin as soon as we can. Do you know who his next of kin is?" Morfinn asked.
Jennifer opened her mouth and then closed it again, the magnitude of what they had just witnessed hitting her full force until she just couldn't keep the tears back. She was positive that his grandfather had no more chance of surviving the manor's explosion than his mother had survived the coach fire.
"Professor Craw?" Morfinn asked worriedly, wondering if he was going to have to sedate her as well.
"A sister," Jennifer said shakily, still sobbing. "He just has his sister. Beth Coventry. Father will be bringing her when he can."
"All right. Are you sure you couldn't use a mild sedative?" he asked quietly. Jennifer fervently shook her head.
"No. Not until I'm sure the rest of my family is safe," Jennifer said, wiping away her tears and looking at her watch again.
Suddenly she jumped up in terror. At some point since she last looked at it, Severus' hand had swung to "Mortal Peril."
"Severus! What is happening to Severus?" Jennifer cried out in dismay.