Chapter 10: The First Failure

A few days later, the Hogsmeade trip was upon Hogwarts. That morning, Draco and Goyle each drank some Polyjuice Potion containing the each other's hairs. After ensuring that Goyle had a good supply of potion to last through the detention with McGonagall, Draco set off with Crabbe into Hogsmeade.

Draco headed straight for the Three Broomsticks, making Crabbe stand guard by the door. He headed straight for the bar, where Madame Rosmerta was attending to a group of snow-covered seventh years.

Draco waited until she was done talking to them, then pulled his fake Galleon out of his pocket and placed it on the table. Rosmerta saw it, and came over to stand in front of him.

"We need to talk," Draco whispered, placing the coin back in his pocket. Rosmerta nodded, then gestured to the small hallway along the side of the bar. Draco followed her down the hall and into a tiny room behind the bar.

"Okay," Draco said. "First things first...Imperio." Draco knew that the spell had to be replaced on Rosmerta occasionally, so that she would remain under his control.

Rosmerta shuddered, then looked back at Draco expectantly.

"Do you have the necklace?" He asked her quietly. She nodded. "Bring it here." The barmaid rushed off and returned a few moments later with a brown paper package in her arms.

"Good," said Draco. "Now, I need you to...uh..." How was he supposed to get the necklace to Dumbledore? He stood in thought for a moment, then saw a fifth-year girl walk into the ladies' restroom down the hall.

"Yes," Draco said, turning his attention back to Madame Rosmerta. "Wait in the bathroom and give that package to the first Hogwarts student who walks in there alone. Imperius them, and tell them to take the package to Dumbledore without opening it." Draco knew it was dangerous to have Rosmerta Imperius someone else...but what other choice did he have? He'd much rather have Dumbledore killed this way then having to repair the Vanishing Cabinet and letting the Death Eaters run wild in the school.

Madame Rosmerta nodded, then headed straight for the ladies' room.

"Wait!" He called after her before she reached the restroom. "Did Borgin send me any letters?"

Rosmerta thought for a moment, then said, "Yes."

"Give them to me," Draco demanded, half excited, half scared. She ran off to get them.

When she returned, Rosmerta handed him a rolled up piece of parchment, and then hurried off to the restroom.

Unrolling the parchment, Draco headed toward the exit of the pub, where Crabbe was waiting.

"Can we go now?" Crabbe whined. "I'm starving."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course you are."

Back in the castle, Draco and Crabbe headed for their dormitory, where Goyle was waiting. Draco had just closed the door when the effects of his second dose of Polyjuice Potion began to wear off.

"How was detention?" Draco asked a sour-looking Goyle.

"Awful," he said. "Do you have and food?" He asked Crabbe. Crabbe nodded, and pulled the box of Chocolate Cauldrons he had bought from Honeydukes.

Groaning at Crabbe and Goyle's inability to stop eating, Draco headed for the common room. There, he found Pansy, Blaise, and Theo sitting by the fire.

"Hi," he said, sinking onto a couch across from Blaise.

"Hey," Blaise responded. "Where were you?"

"When?" Draco asked.

"Today! In Hogsmeade!" Pansy exclaimed.

"Oh," said Draco. "I had a detention."

"For not doing his Transfiguration homework," snorted Theo. Draco shot him a look.

"So you didn't hear what happened to that Gryffindor girl, did you?" Blaise asked.

"No," said Draco, taking an Every Flavor Bean from the box Theo was holding. "What happened?"

"She was cursed," Pansy answered. "By a necklace."

"What?!" Draco exclaimed, his stomach sinking. His plan had failed. He tried to contain himself, as Blaise, Theo and Pansy were giving him strange looks. "How?" He finished calmly.

"Dunno, really," Theo said, popping a jelly bean into his mouth. "Snape said it was in a package she was trying to deliver to someone. It-bleah!" Theo spit out the jelly bean he was eating into his hand.

Blaise smirked. "What flavor?"

"Rotten egg," Theo coughed.

Pansy and Blaise laughed, but Draco did not join in.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, standing up abruptly. He walked swiftly out of the common room. He did not care about the snow; he needed fresh air. He stepped through the front doors of the castle, avoiding Filch's Secrecy Sensors somehow, and leaned against a wall, the cold stone freezing his back, the pieces of ice stinging his face.

He heard from the string of passing students that Katie Bell had been cursed. She was in St. Mungo's. She might be dead.

Draco didn't understand why the news that the necklace had hurt somebody was causing his so much distress. Wasn't the point of the necklace to actually kill someone?

Draco raised his hands to his face and kept them there. Until he heard the sound of feet in the snow coming toward him. He raised his head to see the figure of a girl walking toward him. Granger. Before he could turn away from her, she spoke.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Draco didn't answer. There was no point playing dumb. She was quite smart. She would see through the lies.

"McGonagall says you were in detention with her. But I happen to know all of Professor Slughorn's Polyjuice Potion was stolen."

"So I suppose you told them that," Draco spat at her. "You filthy goody two shoes."

Hermione didn't respond to the insult. She just stared at him. "Harry thinks you did it."

"Yes, Granger, because I really care what Saint Potter thinks."

"I told him it wasn't you."

Draco froze. "Why? Oh wait, is it because Weaselbee doesn't think it's me either? After the whole Chamber of Secrets thing?"

"You...you know about that?"

"Um, yeah," Draco replied. "I found the real Crabbe and Goyle in a broom closet after Potter and Weasley left. That's why you were turned into a cat, right?"

Hermione's face reddened. Draco noticed that happened a lot.

"Why aren't you with them, anyway?" Draco asked her. "I thought you'd be drooling all over Weasley since he made the Quidditch team."

Granger stormed off. As she walked away, Draco returned to his thoughts about the Bell situation. He still had to kill Dumbledore. And since Snape knew about the necklace...

Draco would have to deal with him too.

Suddenly, Draco remembered the letter from Borgin. He pulled it from his pocket and opened it.

Master Malfoy,

I've done some research and found what I think is the problem. You said that your friend Montague was trapped in the cabinet, meaning that the passage is somehow blocked from both sides.

I've done my best to fix it from my end, but you have a lot of work to do.

There's something wrong with the structure of the Cabinet. You have to fix the cabinet as though it were a regular wardrobe, and then we'll try to figure out the transportation part.

However, sir, the cabinet cannot be repair magically just yet. It requires some manual labor.

Please contact me though Rosmerta when you have fixed the cabinet as much as you can.

Borgin

The sneak! Draco was sure Borgin knew how to fix the cabinet without "manual labor".

Sighing, Draco headed up to the Room of Requirement. He might as well get to work now.