Chapter 46: The Secret of the Old Hut

The hut was dimly lit inside with only one window and four walls that hugged tightly together. It was not, as it had appeared outside, a wreck. Instead, It looked as if it had been lived in by some small family, perhaps a forest ranger or family, recently. But, not too recently. Calamity glanced at the kitchen area to see that there was dusted over pictures. She had the feeling it would be best for her to avoid looking at them.

"It's not as bad as your thinking," said her father glancing at her. His eyes were moving around the room as if searching for something she could not see. "No one died here."

"They certainly didn't pack their things," replied Calamity. Her father was staring at the floor. It was covered in dust, but even in the dim light from the window Calamity could see what looked like marks on the ground, as if something had dragged itself about from one corner to another, from the door to the window, then back to the corner. Her father was watching the marks as well his eyes tracing them as if seeing a scene she could not.

"Well, if you believe the rumors, then they died somewhere else."

"And should you believe the rumors?"

He shrugged, pointing around the cabin in a sweeping motion. "Do you mind doing a quick surveying charm?"

"What am I looking for," Calamity asked, determined that she would come back to the subject after this very creepy trip.

Her father shrugged, "anything odd."

Calamity decided not to point out that this whole experience was odd. Instead she muttered the spell, holding her wand out flat on her palm. A puff of light mist escaped the tip and drifted lazily across the room, like a slow cloud expanding. It hit the walls and disappeared out of sight, all except for the puffs that has made it to the far corner were so many drag marks seemed to led.. Those turned a violent red and fell to the ground as if they were suddenly liquid drops.

"Your new wand is inclined to dark magic, but it also has an easier time breaking through it. It's a shame for the other side that you don't want to join him because you'd be a big asset, but, of course, they are a bit nationalistic."

She glanced at her father, who moved slowly towards the corner, kicking up dust to dance in the light. She followed him, wand still out. She could hear him muttering in Latin- dark words that Calamity had never heard and didn't want to know.

In the corner of the room they found a trap door in the floor. Her father muttered again in Latin, this time with a firm tone and something that sounded almost like a hiss, though certainly it wouldn't fool a door shuddered as if hearing him and Calamity paused, glancing at her father. He seemed unperturbed as he knelt down to grab the latch and tug it open. He gave a final mutter before jumping out of sight. Calamity peered over the edge into darkness, until she heard his feet touch the ground and he muttered "Lumos."

Light burst from his wand illuminating his face in gaunt shadows. He glanced up at Calamity, then nodded down. She lowered herself into the small cellar.

It was colder in the cellar, but not just in temperature. The darkness and cold seemed to hang in the air, clinging onto her skin and soaking in to freeze her to the bone. Calamity could feel it weighing on her, making it harder to breathe and feel. Her father approached a far wall and held up his wand illuminating the dark stone with scratches all over it- tally marks like claws, most of them near the floor, but some higher. Her father motioned for her to approach. Closer she could see they were grouped in sevens,s ome in firm straight lines and others in waves.

IIIIII IIIIII IIIIII IIIIII IIIIII IIIIII IIIIII

"He had to be weak for those," her father said motioning to the wavy lines. He pointed to some firm lines with his wand."But, here he had found strength."

"Who," Calamity asked.

"The Dark Lord," her father said.

"Vold-" Calamity began, but her voice caught in her throat as her father clapped his hand over her mouth. His eyes were wide as if looking and listening for something.

Nothing happened.

"He was here," her father said, hand still over her mouth. "And he left with enough power to put up a protective charm. If I were him I wouldn't want this found. I might Taboo it. So don't say his name."

Calamity nodded and her father removed his hand.

"Why seven," Calamity asked. "The whole room is covered in seven."

"It's a mantra. Something to keep him strong."

"A spell?"

"Nothing I can think of. And I don't see any residue around to show a potion was made. That's for Dumbledore to figure out, not us. We're just here to take it all in and bring back the pieces. Like you did with that memory of the diadem."

Calamity shot him a side ways look and her father smirked, still inspecting the wall and ground as he moved slowly around the cellar.

"Yes, Dumbledore told me about it. He was wondering if I remembered anything else."

"And do you?"

Her father shrugged. "It was a long time ago, but I remember the feeling of powerful magic, like you feel here- dark, the most dark magic I'd ever felt and he did it to a historical artifact, one he'd been trying to find for ages. He'd been looking even before I knew him. He's obsessed, you know? All power hungry people are obsessed with something- something that physically symbolizes their power. Money? Maybe. Jewels? Perhaps. But not him. He was smart and knew his history. He wanted to own it and purify it and with it he'd have the power. Trophies, you know? Anyone who commits more than the usual amount of murders has trophies."

Calamity stopped and watched her father as he paused at the corner, leaning down to see a slight smudge on the floor. The light was playing tricks on her. It seemed to sketch before her an image she hadn't seen in ages: a younger Doctor, pulled into the American Congress for his crimes against muggles. She'd seen the file before she went to Hogwarts, had flipped through the readings wondering what had led her mother to forbid them from discussing him in their house. She had seen his trophies- mutilated experiments of creatures and humans. Then, in the last page she'd see the Dr. Mengele himself, looking at the camera with bored looking eyes and a slight twitch to his mouth as if he had just been playing a lovely game and lost a round, but was a good sport about the whole affair. She remembered she had slammed the folder closed in horror, but the expression had remained with her for a week in her mind's eye. Now, with the light on his face, her father looked just as he had in the picture.

"It doesn't surprise me though, he is a Gaunt," her father continued. He stopped and looked back at her, a look of concern moving across his face. "Clara are you-"

BANG!

There was the sound of a door being knocked in and loud shouting above them. Her father's light disappeared and they were thrown into complete darkness except for the small trap door's opening. She moved swiftly against the wall, pressing herself into the corner and turning her wand in her hand in thought.

She could hear steps as someone entered. She had maybe five seconds to disappear before they figured out the hut (and that was generous). She waved her wand above herself as if wrapping herself in a rope and felt the cool sensation of the disillusionment charm taking effect.

"All clear," snarled a deep voice. There were more foot steps entering slowly and cautiously. Calamity counted as they moved above her: one, two, three, four.

"He said they were here," drawled a second voice.

"Where?" hissed a third.

"Can't be too many places to hide," said a female tone. "There!"

The footsteps moved more quickly across the floor as they approached the door. One of the figures peered in, his face covered in a mask, hood pulled over his head. He swept their lit wand around the air.

"I can't see a damned thing," he drawled.

"The Dark Lord said that someone was here and he said to find them and bring them to him," hissed a voice from above the trap door.

"Why would they stick around," asked the female. "Why wouldn't they peak their head in and then leave. There's nothing here worth staying for."

"The Dark Lord wouldn't have sent us if there wasn't something important here," snarled the first voice again. A larger figure stuck his head in peering about with his wand which throwing light into a larger circle than the last.

"You won't be able to see anything more," drawled the other, sounding put out.

The figure pulled back out of the cellar and for a moment Calamity imagined they would leave.

"Light it up," snarled the voice from above.

"What," snapped the woman.

"Light. it. up. Smoke them out."

"The Dark Lord said-"

"He wanted us to destroy the hut anyway and casualties happen. Better to have the bodies than to have nothing," snarled the figure. "Do it!"

There was the sound of air being sucked through teeth, then someone hissed, "Incendio."

A jet of fire shot through the trap door and hit the floor. Flames bounced up from the floor and roared to life.

"We'll wait outside," snarled the voice loud enough for Calamity to hear. "We'll be back when the barbecue is over."

The foot steps disappeared as smoke and flames filled the small cellar. Her father suddenly appeared, pulling off his own disillusionment charm.

"Well, they gave us light, that might help us," he said quickly. He peered around as the flames grew wider, throwing dancing shadows across every wall and illuminating the the maniac like scratches on the wall. The air was getting heavy and harder to breathe. Calamity pulled her sleeve over her nose and mouth and dropped to the floor where the air was still a bit clearer. Her father did the same, staring around the room as if in a new light.

"This is what we were missing," he said. he coughed and hustled forward towards a wall. "This is how he would have been. Here! Yes!"

He took out a piece of charcoal and a paper of some kind, laying it over the wall. He began running it over the wall and paper making a print of whatever engraving was there. Calamity coughed again. The flames were getting closer and the smoke was getting lower. She muttered the bubble charm and it appeared above her head distorting her vision slightly but providing her with air, even just for a moment. She muttered the same for her Father, but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared again.

He shot her a sharp look across the room. "Don't distract me," he coughed.

Calamity looked around the wall, eyes moving from the flames to her father quickly scratching the paper (coughing as he went) to the far wall. Her father was right! From this angle and with the light she could see a door, angled as if the wall itself were tilted. She looked back at her father who was now army crawling her way, paper in hand. He was coughing more than breathing, still refusing to put a bubble charm around him- not that it mattered. Calamity's vision came back into focus with a pop as her bubble charm disappeared. The oxygen in the room was too low. She grabbed her father's arm and pulled him along with her to the door. He grabbed her hand with his, prying it off his arm and pushing the paper into it.

"Come on," she demanded. Not to be rebuked, he stuffed it into her pocket as she tugged his arm again. He was hacking as they leaped through the door and onto the forest floor.

They were in back of the hut, but down a small hill Calamity hadn't noticed from the other side. She jumped up, wand ready.

From the top of the hill someone hissed, "avada kedavra!"

Calamity leaped towards a tree, pulling her Father with her. She felt his arm go stiff for a quick moment, then it went limp in her grip, pulling her back onto the ground just a few inches from the tree. She released him, lunging behind a tree and sending a hex behind her. She peaked around to see her father, his eyes open with a slight look of surprise on his eyes.

She was still feeling fuzzy from the smoke and the sudden movement. The world spun for quick moment before she refocused. She had to get out of here.

"Come out and introduce yourself," snarled the man who had called for the fire. Another killing curse hit the tree, throwing bark passed her cheek, just an inch from her eye. They'd seen her, but not clearly.

"He said alive," drawled the familiar voice.

"You stun her then" snapped the woman.

Calamity couldn't think of any other way out- there wasn't a portkey near by, no fire place with floo, and certainly no broom stick or Buckbeak to help her. She took a deep breath, bringing all of her energy into focus. She had to visualize Grimmauld Place. She could hear the muggle's tv set loudly next door and could see the buildings separating from one another, see the dirty building that had once been the pride of the Black family.

She could hear large foot steps moving her ways.

"Come on then," snarled the voice. "We just want to have a chat."

Pop!

Everything was black as she was pressed very hard in all directions and it felt even harder to breath than usual. Iron bands were wrapping around her tightly, her eye balls were being forced into the back of her head. Every organ felt as if it were being pushed together. The air was being pushed out of her, she was gasping for breathe. If it took too much longer, she thought... Then she felt the hard street underneath her and air rushed into her lungs. She lay on the ground, underneath the sign that read Grimmauld Place, but she couldn't hear the muggle's tv set. All she could hear was a horrible screech of pain. It wouldn't stop. There was a searing pain on her upper thigh and she sat up. The scream was coming from her, but she couldn't stop. Water sprung to her eyes and she could see blood collecting underneath her leg, pooling through her clothes and onto the side walk.

She couldn't say how long she was there, but all she knew was that Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin appeared suddenly, Arthur muttering a silencing charm and Remus magicking bandage around her leg. The loss of air and blood was making ti hard to think. She could have magicked the bandage. Why hadn't she thought of that. They moved her quickly into the Order Headquarters just as Fred was leaving the kitchen with a bowl of some sort of dessert. Even in her state she couldn't help but recognize the humor as his jolly expression fell into one of shock and the dessert fell from his hand ontot he floor.

"Get your brother and sister upstairs," demanded Arthur. He pulled Calamity into the kitchen. She had bleed through the bandage Remus had wrapped.

"What happened," Remus demanded. He spun to Ginny, who had not been told or perhaps not listened when Fred said to leave. "Go get Sirius!"

She rushed away.

Calamity tried to speak. She needed to speak. These gits were going to let her bleed out. As if sensing her desperation, Remus undid the silencing charm.

"Dittany," she managed between heaves of breathe.

Sirius was already there, Hermione behind him carrying a bag Calamity had never been more happy to see in her life- her own.

"Arthur," Sirius said seriously, "Why don't you go make sure everyone else is alright."

"Yes," Arthur said, he looked pale and shaken. "Come on, then, Hermione."

"No," Calamity snapped, gritting her teeth and pulling on Hermione's arm. "Stay here. Bag."

Arthur looked unsure for a moment but Remus said something (Calamity couldn't tell what) and left the room. Hermione opened the bag obediently.

"Dittany," Calamity said. Remus cleaned the bandages quickly, but they began to grow red again.

"H-here," Hermione said holding out the essence of Dittany. Calamity grabbed it.

"Thank you, Hermione," Remus said. He motioned to the door. "Best you take a step out, I think."

Hermione looked nervous, but determined. "I think I'd like to- well, I've never seen Dittany applied. I imagine it would be useful."

"It's going to be ugly is what it will be," Sirius said as Calamity handed him the Dittany to hold.

She didn't have time to bother with whether or not Hermione wanted to stay or not. She pointed to the place she was bleeding and the seems ripped away enough to see what she had figured must be true, even in her haze of carbon monoxide exposure and blood loss- she had splinched herself leaving part of her thigh, a big part of it if you asked her, reenish smoke the billowed upward blocking their faces for a brief moment. The pain stopped and for the first time calamity breathed, letting her leg fall limp on the chair. The smoke cleared and Calamity tried to refocus. The bleeding had stopped and the wound looked several days old; new skin stretched over what had been open flesh. Her vision was going in and out a bit, but it looked horrible from whats he could tell, though nothing she couldn't work with later.

She let out a final string of cuss words before letting her body finally go limp in the kitchen with Sirius, Remus, and Hermione.

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