Notes: I'm updating this fic along with a correction of last chapter, since there were a few mistakes that escaped screening (thanks again, Dark-heika). I am going on another trip out of town tomorrow, so I decided to update now while I still can.
As always thanks to everyone that has added this fic to their lists and feedback is always welcome.
Chapter 7: Nightmare on Number 12 Grimmauld Place
...
The next few days were long and tedious for Harry. Rather than cleaning up, it felt more like they were raging war against the house while the house put up quite a decent fight. And not only did they have to deal with pests and other nasty creatures, but also several hostile pieces of furniture, artifacts that were most likely dark in nature, traps set up by Sirius's lovely mother (like that biting silver box that contained wartpowder), and of course, Kreacher. Said house elf would constantly sneak where ever they were cleaning, and try to salvage anything he could. It was unfortunate Sirius couldn't get rid of him, since the old deranged house elf was really starting to get on everybody's nerves with his constant poorly concealed insults. Well, everyone except Hermione who pitied the creature.
Their only real consolation was that Marcus's spell was so effective that Mrs. Black had yet to make another sound.
Harry barely listened as Mrs. Weasley instructed them on using Doxycide to take care of the Doxy infested curtains and warned them against their poisonous bite. His mind was entirely somewhere else. He kept on thinking about what Voldemort could possibly be planning, what the Order was hiding, his hearing on the 12th of August, and what lied under the hood of a certain mysterious Order member. Even in his dreams he kept on thinking about it. Last night's dream was the most bizarre until now. Hagrid was teaching a lesson on weapons when Crescent interrupted the lesson, knife in hand, and pulled off his hood revealing the pale red eyed complexion of Voldemort who then demanded them to give him the weapon they had just fed.
Harry shook his head as Mrs. Weasley told them to get ready to squirt before covering her nose and mouth in a scarf, and urging them to do the same. At her signal, they squirted the curtains with the black liquid and hoards of the creatures came out. Doxies were small demonic looking fairies with black fur, insect-like wings, two pairs of arms and pointy venom filled teeth. In other words, they were not the most appealing of creatures.
"What are Skiving Snackboxes?" Harry asked in a low voice after hearing that the twins were going to take some doxies to test their poison.
"Range of sweets to make you ill. Not seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of a class when you feel like it. They're double-ended, color-coded chews. If you eat the orange half of the Puking Pastilles, you throw up. The moment you've been rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing, you swallow the purple half –" George whispered, before being interrupted by Fred.
"-which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to pursue the leisure activity of your own choice during an hour that would otherwise have been devoted to unprofitable boredom. That's what we're putting in the adverts, anyway."
"Testers?" Harry whispered as to not attract Mrs. Weasley's attention.
"Us," said Fred. "We take it in turns. George did the Fainting Fancies - we both tried the Nosebleed Nougat-"
"So the joke shop idea is still up?" Harry said, pretending to be adjusting the nozzle of his bottle of Doxycide.
"Well, we haven't had a chance to get premises yet." said Fred, dropping his voice even lower as Mrs. Weasley mopped her brow with her scarf before returning to the task at hand, "so we're running it as a mail-order service at the moment. We put advertisements in the Daily Prophet last week."
"All thanks to you, mate. But don't worry… Mum hasn't got a clue. She won't read the Daily Prophet anymore, 'cause of it telling lies about you and Dumbledore." George quipped.
After finishing off the doxies, listening to an argument between Mrs. Weasley and Mundungus (something to do with hiding illegal cauldrons), and also having another encounter with Kreacher. Harry finally took notice of an old tapestry titled 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black'. It was really a large family tree that dated back to the Middle Ages. He was surprised when Sirius told him the story of how his name was burnt out and how he was always welcome at the Potter's. He was even more surprised to see that Sirius was related to the Malfoys and that his cousin was Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eater that tortured Neville's parent to insanity. While Sirius stated that he did not consider any of them family, he also told him how most purebloods were related. Apparently he was also related to Tonks, and both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
The next days after that passed both quickly and too slowly. They managed to clear up the drawing room in three days time after clearing up all sorts of things. There was a music box that emitted a sickly sinister sound that made them all woozy and nearly pass out, an odd many-legged instrument that tried puncturing his skin before Sirius smashed it with a book, a silver box that contained wartpowder making the hand Sirius had stuck inside look like it was covered by a very rough-looking, ugly brown glove, an odd locket that none of them could open, a Order of Merlin, First Class that was awarded to Sirius's grandfather for 'Services to the Ministry' (in Sirius words, he just gave them lots of gold), a large gold ring with the Black family crest, and also large set of china all bearing the Black crest and motto.
As the days ticked by until his hearing, Harry found himself becoming more and more worried. The tension could be practically felt around the house. He would often find himself spending time with Buckbeak, the black hippogriff he saved from execution and who escaped with Sirius. The creature seemed just as happy to see him again, though admittedly bored of the dark house. In other words it was just like Sirius was feeling. The man had often expressed his hatred towards his family and the house where he grew up in.
He did stop thinking about the Order meetings though, at least for the moment. He could still sometimes see the members head towards the kitchen from up the stairs. More than once he had seen the mysterious Marcus appear, the darkness of his hood turning towards him eerily as if piercing through his very soul. It was extremely creepy how he always seemed to know his exact position, and how the shadows seemed to flicker strangely when he was around. It was so strange, but none of the adults seemed to think that way. They often spoke to him in warm friendly tones that were more than just polite and didn't make sense. He hadn't even heard him speak, though he assumed he did during meetings. He had to communicate somehow. The only time he'd seen him outside the meetings was when he found the man browsing through the Black library with Sirius. The other time he had ever seen the hooded man was when he saw him calmly leave the room where Buckbeak was. He either had some experience with dangerous creatures or was just incapable of feeling intimidated.
That same night he dreamt of Care of Magical Creatures, only this time it was Marcus teaching it, who then lowered his hood and revealed the featureless face of a Dementor, its hole for a mouth giving rattling breaths and his presence chilling him to the bone.
The day of his hearing seemed to have come a fews days too early for him. He tried forcing some food down his throat while Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks tried to sooth his nerves. At the same time, Mrs. Weasley fumbled over his unruly hair in order to create a first good impression on the Wizengamot. He left with an oddly dressed Mr. Weasley via 'Muggle' means, arriving deep in the heart of London. Needless to say, Mr. Weasley was having a field day.
They finally reached a shabby old red telephone booth, which turned out to be the visitor's entrance to the Ministry. After giving their names and visiting purpose, two silver badges containing their information appeared, and then the phone booth sank deeply into the ground. In the end, they were led to a magnificent hall with golden changing symbols, dark and shiny wooden wall panels, and a peacock blue ceiling marked with several golden symbols. The hall led to a large fountain with an equally large golden statue of a wizard and a witch, with also a goblin, a house elf, and a centaur looking up adoringly to the wizard and the witch. Jets of water flew out from the wizard and witches' wands, while those same jets flew out from the goblin's hat, the house elf's ears and the centaurs strung arrow. As he passed the fountain he saw it was called 'The Fountain of Magical Brethren' and he promised himself to throw ten galleons if he managed to make it out of the hearing with his wand intact.
They joined the throngs of people past some golden gates where they went inside some elevators towards the second level. There, Harry got a look at the Auror's Department where they found Kingsley, before stepping into Mr. Weasley's small office. It was all short lived however when they were told the time of the hearing was changed. In fact, they were about five minutes late. When they entered courtroom number ten, Harry felt like his heart would beat out of his chest. Inside he sat down at the heavily chained chair and looked up to see that all the wizards of the Wizengamot were already assembled. There were at least fifty of them all looking down at him wearing plum colored robes with an intricate silver 'W' of the left side of their chests. A square-jawed, monocle wearing witch with short gray hair sat on Fudge's left, while another witch sat on his right, but she was so much further back, that he was unable see her face. In the front row was none other than Percy who made no sign of recognizing him at all.
"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August." The portly minister began. "Into offenses committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatious Weasley."
"Witness for the defense, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Said a quiet voice from behind him.
Harry turned around so fast his neck cricked. Standing there in his midnight-blue robes was Dumbledore. Suddenly it was like he had forgotten all his anger at the man during the last few weeks, and instead he was filled with hope. With Dumbledore there he would surely win, even if the old man wasn't even making eye contact with him. Dumbledore explained then that by 'a happy mistake' he was able to make it in time, and well, Fudge looked astonished and somewhat furious. There were similar responds within the Wizengamot, while some looked surprised and even fearful, there were some that were clearly happy to see the man. Dumbledore summoned a squashy chintz armchair and sat while Fudge continued the proceedings.
"The charges against the accused are as follows: That he knowingly and in full awareness of the illegality of his action, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a muggle." Fudge said accusingly.
"You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" Fudge said while glaring at him from over the parchment he was reading.
"Yes." He answered.
"And you did receive an official warning from the Ministry three years ago, did you not?"
"Yes but-"
"And you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?"
"Yes, but -"
"Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?"
"Yes but-" Obviously they weren't going to even let him explain himself.
Then the witch with a monocle asked him about his corporeal Patronus being clearly impressed that he could do it at such a young age. Fudge snapped out saying that whether it was impressive or not, it was still breaking the rules. When Harry finally managed to explain that it was because of the Dementors many went quiet. Fudge gave a small laugh like it was a joke. He didn't believe him at all, saying it was all a giant lie. He said Dementors were under Ministry control and that without a witness there was no way of confirming such story. Harry could almost feel his blood boil with anger. Thankfully, and much to Fudge's chagrin, Dumbledore was already many steps ahead of him and brought Mrs. Figg to come and testify for him. Though she was obviously nervous at first, in the end she did say exactly what she needed to, after describing the effects of a Dementor attack, it seemed she had convinced a few witches and wizards. At least, Madam Bone seemed to believe them.
When Fudge continued to deny that such an attack could happen because of the absolute control the Ministry had, Dumbledore simply stated that somebody had ordered it. It was then that Harry finally got a look at the witch that sat to Fudge's right. She was a short and squat woman, with a short flabby neck, a broad pale face, and large round and slightly bulging eyes that reminded Harry of a nasty looking toad. Even the black bow she wore on her head looked like a giant juicy fly that was about to be devoured by the toad-like woman.
"I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore," she said with a simper that left her big, round eyes as cold as ever. "So silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this boy!" She gave a flimsy little laugh that seriously creeped him out.
"If it is true that the Dementors are taking orders only from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two Dementors attacked Harry and his cousin a week ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks." said Dumbledore politely. "Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control -"
"There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!" Fudge snapped, his reign over his anger lost.
"Then undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full inquiry into why two Dementors were so very far from Azkaban and why they attacked without authorization."
"It is not for you to decide what the Ministry of Magic does or does not do, Dumbledore!"
"Of course it isn't. I was merely expressing my confidence that this matter will not go uninvestigated." Dumbledore said calmly. If he was trying to purposely anger Fudge then he was doing a fantastic job at it.
The argument carried on, Fudge's argument turning quite…unprofessional. He started spewing out that he was a delusional liar, that there being a Dementor present didn't change things and that he had previous records of doing underage magic. That however, didn't matter. Dumbledore made it clear that it did matter if he was under attack since clause seven stated that magic was allowed in life-endangering situations. As for his previous record, he could easily say that he was cleared of all charges, therefore turning Fudge's argument invalid. Not that the incident that was mentioned was really his fault, it had all been Dobby. Dumbledore even said he could summon the house elf to testify. It didn't matter, it was clear that Fudge was losing. Had he not hated the Minister so much at the moment he would have thought it was pretty sad.
"I - not - I haven't got time to listen to house-elves! Anyway, that's not the only - he blew up his aunt, for God's sake!" Fudge shouted, banging his fist on the judge's bench and knocking down a bottle of ink.
"And you very kindly did not press charges on that occasion, accepting, I presume, that even the best wizards cannot always control their emotions." Dumbledore said calmly as Fudge attempted to scrub the ink off his notes.
"And I haven't even started on what he gets up to at school."
"But, as the Ministry has no authority to punish Hogwarts students for misdemeanors at school, Harry's behavior there is not relevant to this hearing." said Dumbledore, as politely as ever, but now with a suggestion of coolness behind his words.
"Oho!" said Fudge. "Not our business what he does at school, eh? You think so?"
"The Ministry does not have the power to expel Hogwarts students, Cornelius, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August, nor does it have the right to confiscate wands until charges have been successfully proven; again, as I reminded you that very night. In your admirable haste to ensure that the law is upheld, you appear, inadvertently I am sure, to have overlooked a few laws yourself."
Harry had to resist the urge to scoff, despite being the bloody Minister of Magic, Fudge seemed to know little about the law. Or at least he only cared in the bits that would help him.
"Laws can be changed!" Fudge said angrily, his whole face was as red as a ripe tomato.
"Of course they can." said Dumbledore, inclining his head. "And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!"
Harry saw many of the old wizards shift uneasily. They were likely ashamed and for good reason, since according to Dumbledore, a criminal trial for this kind of thing was more than overkill.
'Those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" This time it was madam Bones who spoke.
This was it, the moment of truth. Harry felt his stomach clench. He had barely spoken in the trial, maybe if he had told them more details about the attack…but it was too late now. Harry saw some people raise their hands, including Madam Bones. He felt a huge weight lifted when he saw they were more than half.
"And those in favour of conviction?" Madam Bones continued.
Fudge quickly raised his hand and so did about half a dozen others, including the ugly toad-like witch. Fudge scowled when he counted the hand, but he couldn't do anything since his hands were practically tied.
"Very well, very well… cleared of all charges."
Harry sighed in relief and almost felt as light as a feather. He was free, he was going to go back to Hogwarts! The only thing that made it better was encountering Lucius Malfoy on the way and finding out from Mr. Weasley that the man had suddenly gone mute. Even now he had to communicate through writing.
Now he would really make sure he paid the fountain those ten galleons.
….
Zidane was happy that Harry had gotten off the hook. He would have gone along, but going to the Ministry at the moment was much like heading straight to the dragon's mouth. In his mind he thought back of all the trials he had been in, which were quite the few actually. There were at least a dozen of them, he was lucky that he usually got off for being underage. It was either that or because of Tantalus's connections to the Regent Cid. But unlike Harry who had done nothing wrong, he really was guilty for the stuff he was convicted for. Usually it was theft, though on some odd occasions it was destruction of private property and/or vandalism.
'Now if only the twins could stop that.'
"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF!"
It really was a wonder how the house's whole atmosphere seemed to lighten. Despite the musty air and dust, he felt like he could finally breathe in here. Still, he noticed that not everybody was as happy. And if he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Sirius wanted Harry to get expelled, but his problem was quite understandable. Harry was going to Hogwarts, leaving him behind in the process. The man was just lonely. So Zidane made sure to spend some time with the man who usually spent his time locked up in the room where Buckbeak was. Surprisingly the creature didn't mind him, he was very wary of him at first, but then after getting to know him, he had opened up too. But then again, something similar happened with the rest of the Order. He was still subject to very particular gazes from the wizards and witches, and though they didn't treat him like much of an outsider anymore, they still didn't treat him much like a fellow Order member. Well, Mrs. Weasley didn't either, but mostly because she still saw him as a kid.
Sirius was actually one of the first that opened up to him. He was very happy with him for shutting up his mom's portrait. After that, they just seemed to get closer. They both found that they had things in common, they were both convicted felons, they both liked participating in the occasional mischief, and they both had a certain degree of hatred for their families, more specifically their parents, or in Zidane's case, creator.
He had also gotten quite close to Remus. After going over some books that mentioned wand bans, and also a book about dark creatures that mentioned werewolves, it didn't take long for Zidane to connect the dots. Though he didn't really mind, it wasn't like Remus liked it either. Though Remus was often busy, he did come over to visit Sirius and they would usually tell him of some stories from back in their school days when they were part of the Marauders. He explained how James (Harry's father), Sirius, Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, who later betrayed them, were part of the group, and how they used codenames based on the name of the animal they transformed in. They even mentioned some secret passages in Hogwarts which would prove quite…useful in the future. In turn, Zidane told the men a bit about Gaia. They, along with Bill, were the only people so far that knew he was engaged. He could still remember the look on their faces.
"So who is this Fleur I keep hearing about?" Zidane asked Bill. Him, Bill, Sirius, and Remus were all sitting down right before a meeting.
"Oh she is just a bit of a special friend of mine. She graduated last year and now she is working here to improve her English." Bill said actually turning a bit red, well redder.
"So are you giving her personal lessons?" Sirius asked with a suggestive wag of his eye brows before bursting into a bark-like laughter.
"I heard a bit about her from Harry, but what is she like? She is part Veela right?" Remus asked and Bill nodded, his hands going for his wallet for a picture. The other three males crowded around to take a look and when they did look at the moving photo, Zidane let out a whistle, the other two males nodded.
"I really do like her, and the feeling's mutual. It's not just because she is part Veela though, she seems to find it slightly annoying how men get when they see her. We've been going out ever since the holidays started, and were thinking about taking it further." Bill said.
"That's great to hear!" Remus said with a smile.
"Yeah, I doubt she was a champion just for nothing." Sirius said.
"So you are going to propose to her then?" Zidane asked with his tail swaying side to side with amusement.
"Well, we want to take it easy, and I still haven't even met her parents, but yeah, eventually we do want to get married." Bill said.
"Hmmm, yeah that would be best, especially with the war at hand. In my case, I had to wait until the war was over." Zidane said with a sheepish smile, while all the other males suddenly stopped to stare at him.
"Wait did you just say what I think you said?" Lupin asked, blinking as if he heard wrong.
"What? About the war?" The blonde asked.
"No. Well, yes, but-" The werewolf began but was interrupted.
"Bloody hell, you're married?!" Bill asked in shock.
"But, you're sixteen, aren't you a little too young for that?" Remus asked also taken aback.
"Actually, I am engaged. As for age I don't really think it matters, she is sixteen too. I am considered a war hero, and well, they've actually been pestering me to produce heirs. So yeah…"
"Wait heirs?! Who the bloody hell are you engaged to?!" Sirius sputtered as if he had just remembered how to work his mouth.
"Queen Garnet of Alexandria, but I called her Dagger." Zidane said with a grin.
"WHAT?!" The three men cried out in unison.
"How did you even manage to do that?! I know you are supposed to be a war hero, but still, isn't she royalty? Doesn't that make you royalty as well?" Bill asked.
"Well we sorta met when me and the group I was in came for her and…well we kidnapped her, but it was for her own good. We just kinda fell for each other afterwards while we were fighting in the war. But yeah, I guess that does sorta make me royalty." Zidane said and the other males were in shock. They just couldn't imagine that ever happening.
After a while it was Remus who broke the silence.
"I don't mean to be rude by asking this, but is she one too? Like, is she also a -how did you say it?- genome?"
"Nope, she is actually a summoner, one of the last two. They are like regular humans, except they are born with a small horn on their heads, but they had Dagger's removed when she was a kid." Zidane said while pointing his index finger around his forehead as if to demonstrate. There was more stunned silence. It was Sirius who broke the silence this time.
"So let me get this straight. You are engaged at sixteen years of age, to a sixteen year old queen, who is also not even your species, which you first met when you kidnapped her, and yet you both fell for each other while fighting in a war?"
"Yup, that sounds about right."
"Bloody hell."
Now that Zidane thought about it, his situation was very unlikely. But then again, many things in his life were unlikely. For starters, what were the chances of being created by an evil android from another world to be an angel of death? And what Remus asked had also been bothering him from long before. He knew he wasn't human, he wasn't even sure if he could actually have kids with Dagger. He obviously had the parts for it. But if they did have kids, what would they even look like? Would they have tails too? And what about from Dagger's side, would they have horns? If they did, how would they explain that? Only a handful of people knew that Dagger was adopted into the royal line. It could prove quite a scandal to find out that the queen of Alexandria wasn't the queen at all. Personally, he didn't really care if they had horny, tailed children, as long as they were happy, then it was fine by him.
Zidane was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a tap on the window. To his surprise it was an owl carrying several letters.
'Must be from Dumbles.'
Looking at each letter, he saw that they were for the teens while one was for him. He pocketed the letter that was for him since he was already told he would get the list of materials he'd need for school. He would leave later for Diagon Alley with Mrs. Weasley to get the things. That was because he had to go there personally to get a school uniform. The very idea of having to wear a uniform made his skin crawl and the hairs on his tail stand on end.
He decided he might as well deliver the rest of the letters. He went upstairs to the room that Hermione and Ginny shared. He was tempted to enter silently out of habit, but forced himself to knock politely. They were ladies, after all.
"Come in." Hermione seemed to call, and he took that as cue to enter.
The two girls looked shocked that he was the one that entered their rooms. They probably expected Ron , Harry, Mrs. Weasley, or really anyone else. He even detected a bit of fear from the two, but it was quick, and quickly replaced by nervousness. He found it so amusing how most of the teens seemed to stiffen at the sight of him. Even the twins couldn't prank him, mostly because he was a thief and a master of underhanded tricks, so he didn't fall for that stuff so easily.
Zidane didn't say anything, because he was still in-character and doing so would completely ruin his mission. Instead, he looked through the mail and handed each girl their respective envelope, noticing how Hermione's was slightly heavier. They awkwardly thanked him, and then he left to find the guys.
He found Ron first, and nearly chuckled when the redhead went pale for a moment. It was even funnier since Ron practically towered over him. He silently handed Ron the rest of the letters and decided to spare him of any more embarrassment. With a swish of his cloak he left the speechless Redhead behind.
…
Harry was handed his letter by a very pale Ron and notice him go even paler when he opened his.
"What's up with you Ron?" asked Fred.
Ron did not answer since was standing very still with his mouth slightly open, gaping at his letter from Hogwarts.
"What's the matter?" said Fred impatiently, moving around Ron to look over his shoulder at the parchment. Fred's mouth fell open, too. "Prefect? PREFECT?"
George leapt forwards, seized the envelope in Ron's other hand, and turned it upside-down. Harry saw something scarlet and gold fall into George's palm.
"No way." said George in a hushed voice.
"There's been a mistake." said Fred, snatching the letter out of Ron's grasp and holding it up to the light as though checking for a watermark. "No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect." The flabbergasted twins turned to Harry.
"We thought Dumbledore was bound to pick you!" said George indignantly.
"Winning the Triwizard Tournament and everything!" said Fred.
"I suppose all the mad stuff must've counted against him." said George to Fred.
"Yeah, you've caused too much trouble, mate. Well, at least one of you's got their priorities right." said Fred slowly and then clapped harry on the back.
"Prefect… ickle Ronnie the Prefect."
"Mom's going to be revolting."
They were right. Hermione was really just surprised, and thought Harry was made prefect like her. Mrs. Weasley practically shrieked when she realized it. Apparently she hadn't expected it either. She promised to get Ron a new broom to award him when she went to buy their things in Diagon Alley. Later that evening they would have a feast to celebrate the two new Gryffindor prefects.
….
CONGRATULATIONS
RON AND HERMIONE
NEW PREFECTS
Zidane smiled after finding out that Harry had gotten over his slight jealousy over Ron for the whole prefect thing. He didn't think Ron would be appointed one, but at the same time he didn't care. He had the feeling Dumbledore did it to boost Ron's morale, and so that Harry didn't have to worry over so much this year. Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, Mundungus, Remus, and Bill (besides the current residents of number twelve) all showed it to the small dinner that was held in celebration. Mrs. Weasley asked Moody something about a creature in a drawer upstairs, while the others sat down and started talking to each other. Ron was constantly talking about his new broom, which Zidane had already seen since he actually went with Mrs. Weasley when she got it. Tonks started talking about how she never got the badge herself, Lupin was the only one of the Marauders who got the badge, but it was really more because Dumbledore though he would have more control over his prankster friends. He noticed how Harry looked a bit more relieved when he heard his father didn't make prefect either.
The blonde then sat next to Bill, thinking how funny it was that Mrs. Weasely was urging the boy to cut his hair. She had tried doing the same with him, but thankfully she had to keep it to herself while the other teens were in the room. When it was just the Order, he was Zidane, when the teens were present, he instantly turned into 'Marcus'.
The party ended after a while, and though it was nice, it still didn't beat the rowdy tavern celebration he used to crash back in Lindblum. Of course, the Order members wouldn't allow him to drink while here. He briefly wondered if maybe he could smuggle in a few dozen or so drinks for the school year. There was just no way in hell he would last that long without it. He wasn't an alcoholic or anything, it was just that drinking helped him relieve stress and it was sort of nostalgic 's just how he dealt with it. And not only had he been steadily getting more homesick each day, but spending months in a school filled of children, was bound to drive him insane.
Yes, Zidane was still sixteen, almost seventeen years old, but he didn't consider himself a kid. He was a man. Sure he looked young, but he had stolen and killed to survive, only in self-defense mind you, but he'd still taken lives before. He had travelled the world and helped win wars. He had gone on adventures and found amazing treasures. He was already engaged and due to be a king. Hell, he had even been in many intimate relationships with several women, something not many men could boast about. In short, he had already made his mark on the world at an age where most people here were still at school. The only exception being Harry, but he was a pretty exceptional case in this world.
The blonde watched as Moody sniffed a chicken leg with what remained of his nose. Since he obviously didn't smell any poisons, he took a large savage bite out of it. Kingsley and Remus were talking about Harry not being made a prefect, without realizing that said boy was actually listening in to the conversation. Meanwhile Fred and George were buying something that was probably very illegal from Mundungus. He just shook his head at that. Mundungus was the reason thieves had such a bad reputation. Mrs. Weasley then said she would check in for the night after taking care of something called a 'boggart'. Zidane had really no idea what it meant, but the term seemed slightly familiar, he knew he must have heared it somewhere. Harry was then called by Moody who showed him what appeared to be an old photograph. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but while Moody looked like he was telling a touching anecdote, Harry looked a bit uncomfortable, and maybe even a bit queasy. As Sirius came around to see what that was about, Harry seemed to excuse himself and quickly head upstairs. This made Zidane remember something. He had totally forgotten to ask Mrs. Weasley for the trunk he bought today for his luggage, even though his pouch was safer and more convenient, trunks were less likely to grab everyone's attention since they were what students commonly used. He headed up stairs to the drawing room where Mrs. Weasley said she would be. What he found there was something he would never forget.
….
Harry was looking down at a sobbing Mrs. Weasley as she fruitlessly tried to vanquish the Boggart. First it turned into a dead Ron, after each failed attempt there would be a crack and it would turn into someone else.
"No!" Mrs. Weasley moaned. "No…riddiculus! Riddiculus! RIDDICULUS!"
Crack. Dead twins. Crack. Dead Percy. Crack. Dead Harry.
"Mrs. Weasley just get out of here-" Harry was going to finish but was interrupted as a shadow blurred past him. The first thing that came to his mind was a Dementor and he stiffened, but then he realized it was Marcus. He hadn't even heard the man come in, but the next thing he knew was that he had a hand on a sobbing Mrs. Weasley in what had to be a comforting way, completely ignoring the Boggart that was now behind him.
"THE BOGGART'S BEHIND YOU WATCH OUT!" Harry cried out. But it was too late, Harry watched with morbid fascination as darkness emanated from the Boggart which began to shift and change its surroundings. He was speechless as the floor of the drawing room was suddenly overcome with a thick darkness. A rickety long winding staircase appeared leading to a raised, cruel looking platform like it was some kind of observatory. An odd pile of something was at the bottom of the stairs, right below the raised platform. And though the room was bathed in darkness at first, a strange light appeared from above the created scene and bathed everything in a deep red color, making it all seem as if it was bathed in fresh blood. And finally at the top of the platform, giving its back to everyone like an actor in an eerie play, was a black clad figure holding something quite large.
Harry couldn't even seem to move or think. He had NEVER seen such a reaction to a Boggart, and though he had no idea what Marcus's fears were, this scene alone was enough to leave him paralyzed and powerless to look away, like a deer caught in the headlights. Mrs. Weasley was still sobbing, but he could tell she was just as paralyzed in fear as him. The same seemed to happen to Marcus as he turned around after hearing his call. But then things seemed to get much worse.
The moment Marcus turned around he seemed to stiffen like a board. At the same time, the figure at the top turned to look at Marcus, and even Harry felt a deep rooted fear overcome him. It was an old man with a beard as long as Dumbledore's, only this man had the coldest most lifeless eyes he had ever seen. Just looking at the dead twin pools of darkness made him feel like he was slowly drowning in despair. It made Voldemort's evil crimson gaze pale in comparison. The old man was completely clad in black armor and wore a black cape, but the most shocking part was the red glowing hole where a person's heart would normally be. The next thing he saw, made Harry almost want to throw up.
The man took the thing he was carrying and held it over so that Marcus could get a clear view. It was a pale girl, about his age, with long brown hair and dead looking brown eyes. She was clad in a bloodstained orange form fitting outfit with an equally stained white cotton shirt underneath. She hung from the old man's grip like a lifeless doll and when the man released her and she dropped into the pile below, that's when Harry realized just what the pile was. It was a pile of lifeless bodies.
They were all very different. Some of them didn't even look human. He saw a man clad in rusty bloodstained armor, at least two redheads, a small boy whose face was concealed by a large stitched wizard hat, a large man, a little girl with a torn yellow ribbon, a long haired figure with blood stained pale hair, a red clad figure that could hardly be considered human, and the list just went on. All dead, all covered in blood and all likely murdered by the old man.
Harry turned to look at Marcus and though he couldn't see his face, he could clearly see that he was on his knees and his hands were shaking. He seemed to reach for something within his cloak and he saw two long slightly crooked, though still deadly-looking knifes appear instead of a wand. He got up slowly and tightened his grip on each weapon, even though his hands were still clearly shaking. Besides him Mrs. Weasely was pale and in shock, and seeing this, Marcus reached a glowing hand towards her despite it still being unsteady, and then Mrs. Weasley slumped on the ground.
The dark old man then said something in a sinister unforgiving voice, but he couldn't understand what he said since it sounded completely alien to him. But whatever it was, it seemed to upset Marcus since the hooded man´s only response was to grab tightly unto his weapons and bend in a crouch that suggested he was ready to physically assault his worst fear.
"What's going on?" Lupin said freezing in shock as he came through the door. Trailing behind him were Sirius and Moody who stopped right in their tracks once they entered the changed drawing room.
The old man seemed to say something else in his strange language, and this time Marcus did leap at him with a speed he didn't know was possible. His knives slashed expertly at his target's chest, sending red flying everywhere and making the scene look even more grotesque. Loud shrieks suddenly rang in the room as the staircase and the entire scene began to distort slightly. As he caught sight of the hooded man in action, Harry only then noticed the strong buzzing in the air, and the cackling bolts of blue and purple lightning that started to dance around Marcus, creating a pinkish glow around the man.
Lupin's gaze seemed to shift between Marcus, the old man, and then he seemed to notice an unconscious Mrs. Weasley on the floor. Moody and Sirius seemed to see this too and then they quickly made the connection. Before he could even react, Lupin ran towards the foreboding old man, startling Marcus who was grabbed from behind by Sirius. Moody being the one with least mobility was quick to shove Harry out the door. But before he could shut the door in his face, Harry saw that with a pop the room returned to normal and the Boggart turned into a full moon.
To be continued….
…
A/N: I apologize about ending with a cliffhanger, but yeah, it just seemed like a good place to stop (bet most of you thought this would be a boring chapter, heh). I would also like to apologize for the Ministry part if it was too long and tedious to read, but again, it was necessary for the plot.
Anyways, see you guys next week!