What Have You Done?
-===Azkaban Warden's Office===-
Lucius lived for moments like this. Rules and Laws were meant for lesser mortals. For such as himself, they were mere bumps along the road to success; to be avoided if possible and made insignificant if not.
The Warden of Azkaban was re-reading the scroll, as if hoping to find something he overlooked previously, disbelief clearly etched in his features.
Looking up from the scroll, the warden stammered, "You want me to move Bellatrix Lestrange to the minimum-security wing?"
Lucius smiled blandly, "Oh, is that what that says. I asked to speak with a relative and MINISTER Fudge requested I deliver this to you since I was heading this way anyway."
"This says," the warden began again, his fear turning to anger, "I must move Bellatrix to minimum security, prepare a cell 'as much like her home bedroom as possible', and arrange comprehensive medical care to include; nutritionists, healers, and mind healers. What is Fudge thinking?"
Lucius smiled an evil little smile, tilted his head to the right and replied, "I suppose he is thinking he is your superior, the man who authorizes your pay, and the man in possession of facts which you are not. Facts which might make his request not only reasonable, but blatantly obvious. But, I could be wrong. Shall I inquire of him at tomorrow's tea?"
Lucius' smile was all innocence as the warden's countenance became fearful, realizing he was placing his livelihood in jeopardy.
"As you say," came the warden's expected reply. "I shall see to the changes immediately. Which relative did you wish to speak to? Bellatrix?"
"I should say a few words to her before I leave or her sister, my lovely wife, will be perturbed. So, yes, please. I would like a few minutes with Bellatrix before I leave. But, I am here to see Sirius Black. Please have him transferred to a suitable room for a private conversation."
"Sir, we can't do that!" the warden squeaked, placed in a position with no right choices; he chose to stick to protocol. "There is a specific decree stating Black is not to have visitors, ever."
Lucius' Auror escorts glanced at each other and nodded. This was common knowledge among the Aurors.
Malfoy's 'ah ha' moment was obviously fake, "Oh, I suppose you need this," as he pulled another scroll with the Ministry's Seal from his robe.
With dread, the warden took the scroll; breaking the Seal with his thumbnail in a well-practiced swipe. After reading the scroll, with a heavy sigh, the warden said, "It will take us an hour to meet your requirements for Black. This," indicating the scroll, "gives you access to the Minister's private suite. The elf's name is Duty." Looking at the Aurors, "Aurors, please remain with the Minister's guest as we make the arrangements. I am certain he would be most displeased if anything were to happen to Lord Malfoy during his stay." Looking again at Lucius, "I will have Black prepared first, then bring Bellatrix after you are done with him."
Lucius looked at the warden with a predatory smile. "I notice you refer to Sirius Black as 'Black', but Bellatrix Lestrange is referred to in a familiar manner. Is there something going on between you and my sister-in-law? Something of which I should perhaps be made aware?"
The warden's face became paler as sweat started accumulating on his brow. Just the suggestion he might be taking advantage of his female inmates would ruin his career, IF the Ministry didn't give him a 'lateral promotion' into a corner office to make the issue go away. In that case, his name would never be cleared and the suspicion would turn to belief, preventing any future promotions. All this with just a few words from this man.
"No, Lord Malfoy. Nothing inappropriate has occurred! We refer to Black as 'Black' because he is the only Black we have. We have three Lestranges, thus refer to them by their first names to avoid confusion," stated the warden.
"Ah, I understand of course. Might I suggest in the future you refer to my sister-in-law as Mrs. Lestrange? I believe you only have one in residence." Lucius suggested.
"Of course, Lord Malfoy. Mrs. Lestrange shall be prepared for your visit after you have completed your visit with Mr. Black."
"Thank you, Warden."
Lucius turned to leave the room but stopped before doing so. Half turning and looking over his left shoulder he addressed the warden once more, "Many of the residents here come from old, ancient even, Houses with pedigrees similarly respected. While they have fallen far to be at your gentle mercies, they are still the children of those bloodlines. You should treat them as though you expected to see them for dinner tomorrow evening. You have a job to do. They and I expect you to do it…," looking the warden fully in the eyes, "and no more. Do we have an accord?"
The warden nodded quickly. Looking in Lord Malfoy's eyes was to peer into the gates of Hell, the promised damnation more than sufficient motivation for a change of heart.
"We do. I shall personally inspect each cell and every prisoner and assure they are treated no worse than the Law requires."
"Excellent," Malfoy opined as he turned and walked away.
-===Unknown Location===-
Severus had lost track of time. He was hungry, very hungry. Based on previous experience from his childhood, he knew it had been at least a full day since his capture.
Blindly feeling about the room, shuffling his feet through the MANY wands on the floor, he managed to find a chamber pot and a pitcher of water, but no glasses. So, he drank from the pitcher.
From the first war, he had firsthand experience in starving prisoners. With water, they could survive weeks without food; but only days without water. So again, Severus was thankful it was not worse. It could always be worse.
He had also caught up on his sleep, something he rarely had the chance to do. Being blind, stuck in a room without companions, with no furniture save a nightstand and a bed, sleep was easy; for the first 24 hours.
He kept his eyes closed, more from habit than anything else. If his blindness could be healed, he would not want dust and debris in his eyes at that time. It would complicate the healing.
Instead of sleeping, Snape now meditated. Retreating behind his occlumency barriers, he reviewed texts from his master's program. He had been meaning to do this for years but never had the time. Now, he had nothing but time.
"Excuse me"
The voice was completely unexpected. Snape snapped his eyes open and then shut them again at the bright light.
"Who are you," Severus muttered.
"Oh, come now, Severus. It has not been that long."
Grinding his teeth, Severus identified the voice easily. Only his initial confusion had prevented an immediate identification… Dumbledore.
"Headmaster. Have you come to rescue me?" Severus hoped but knew better.
"Rescue you? From whom? You have been in Hogwarts the entire time."
Snape could hear the humorous tone in Albus' voice and hated him just a bit more for it.
"Why am I here," the potions master queried.
Oh, Severus. You should know why you are here. I did warn you if you didn't moderate your behavior I would be forced to administer corrective actions. You didn't. I have followed through on my promise. It is all quite straightforward. I am rather disappointed you did not conclude this yourself." Albus sighed.
"I failed to guess you would allow the students time off their potions classes to teach me a lesson. It is well outside your usual behavior," Snape snarked.
"It is, isn't it," Dumbledore countered with a grin. "You may open your eyes now. I have dimmed the lights."
Severus slowly opened his eyes, still squinting a bit at the awe-inspiring brightness of the single hooded candle. Looking quickly about the room, all seemed to be as he had imagined while blinded: bed, nightstand, chamber pot, water pitcher, and hundreds (if not thousands) of wands on the floor; wands which resembled his to the smallest detail.
Picking up one and looking at Dumbledore, he noticed Albus' wand pointed unwaveringly toward him.
Snape sneered. "Lumos".
Nothing happened. Even though the wand felt like his, it was not.
Snape sighed, "I assume one of these," waving at the floor, "is my real wand and you expect me to sort through them to find it. That could take days."
"Yes, I suspect checking every wand could easily take quite some time."
"I would prefer to meditate. At least I am no longer surrounded by those urchins. I am a Potions Master. I can create magic so subtle you are ensnared before you recognize the danger, potions so strong as to bring those with a foot in the grave back to health. In a potions lab, I AM A GOD!" Snape stood as he spoke, then dropped ungracefully back to the bed, "Yet I am teaching children to slice worms. I am supposed to teach them things so basic I no longer realize I am doing them! Yes, I am the worst teacher in Hogwarts, even below Binns. But I do not feel humbled at that admission. I NEVER WANTED TO TEACH! The miserable excuse for a teacher I have become… that is all on you, Albus."
Snape's shoulders slumped in defeat. "That is ALL on you."
"Perhaps," came the expected reply. "Perhaps I could have made better use of your skills. But I needed a potions professor and you needed the protections living in Hogwarts has provided you and required a cover to explain why you are here."
"But," Albus continued, "You have decided to take out your frustrations on the students in your care. And that, as you say, is ALL on you."
"I shall return in a few hours and we shall discuss the changes I expect to see in your behavior when you are released. IF I release you. Good day, Professor Snape."
Albus faded from sight.
"Save your magic, headmaster. I have seen your tricks before. They no longer impress." Snape sneered into the apparently empty room.
Severus jumped as a voice whispered in his left ear, "Oh Severus, you have only seen the tiniest portion of my magic. There is a reason Tom fears me…"
Hogwarts' Potion Master considered these words as his sight faded again into blindness.
-===Azkaban Visitation Room===-
Sirius Black was very confused. After ten years without human contact, except the guards who taunted him daily, he had a visitor. Of course, the guards refused to say who was visiting as they attached his wrist shackles to the table. At least they provided a chair. It could be worse. And time spent away from the dementors was practically an all-inclusive holiday!
Looking about the room, Sirius noted how much brighter it was than his cell. There, only a tiny barred opening, high in one wall, allowed in fresh air and light. Most of the year direct sunlight never made it to the cell floor. But here, there was a bank of three large windows with glass. True they were barred too, but the sunlight through the windows was a truly glorious thing. He had long ago given up seeing such beauty again. Then again, he had long ago given up on almost everything. His only goal to survive, until he had given up so much he had forgotten why he needed to survive. Survival became the goal, the only measure of success.
The room was clean and didn't stink of human waste, although Sirius was sure he reeked of it, just from being in the same room with it for a decade.
The door opened and two Aurors walked in, surveyed the room and behind the door. One even checked under the table and made Sirius stand up to prove he was not sitting on anything which could be used as a weapon. Only then did they wave to someone in the hall to enter.
Among a long list of people Sirius never expected to see as a visitor, Lucius Malfoy was near the top. As a fellow inmate, yes. That was expected although, sadly, never had occurred.
Smiling at Lucius, Sirius opened his arms in welcome, "Cousin!" The effect somewhat diminished by the clink of the chains as his arms opened halfway.
"Indeed," Lucius greeted. Turning to the Aurors, "We require privacy. Please cast the appropriate charms and wait outside."
"We are required to be in the room at all times."
"No. You are not. It is "suggested", but not required. You can review the exact wording at your leisure, but you will leave this room after casting privacy charms. This is a matter of an Ancient House. And you will not impede it without cause. Are we clear?"
"Sir!" the Aurors snapped to attention. "You have been informed protocol 'suggests' we remain in the room. With this knowledge, after invoking Ancient House privilege, you have ordered us to cast privacy charms and leave you alone with prisoner Black. As you say, so it shall be."
Knowing the protocol was required to absolve them of any liability should anything 'unfortunate' occur, Lucius watched dispassionately as they completed the charms, stepped out and closed the door with a resounding thud.
Looking at Sirius, Lucius began, "Good day, Cousin. It pains me to see the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black in such distress."
Sirius considered the words. Lucius was always subtle when he could be and disliked those who forced him to be blunt. It often ended poorly for them.
Nodding in agreement, Sirius countered, "Indeed it is, Cousin. Many Houses have fallen, only to rise again with time, patience, and a bit of subterfuge. How is my cousin, your Lady Malfoy?"
Lucius smiled. It had been so long. Subtle conversation had become a lost art. "She is well. Thank you for inquiring. I shall be sure to let her know her health was your first thought. Andromeda is also doing well, so I hear."
Sirius nodded and smiled slightly, "Thank you and please convey my respects to your Lady wife's other sister when you see her next." Sirius smirked.
Lord Malfoy nodded in appreciation of a point well scored. Obviously, someone had said something too close to Sirius and caused him to know Lucius would be meeting with Bellatrix today.
"If you don't mind," Lucius began before rising to walk the room, placing a small stone in each corner followed by a larger one on the table.
Sirius watched Lucius pull his wand and begin a complex ward causing all the stones to glow with a golden light for several seconds before returning to their normal coloring.
"So, that's where those went. Congratulations," Sirius smiled broadly.
"I see this place has ruined your diction," Malfoy sneered.
Sirius shrugged, "I can still pull the Lord persona when I choose. Does Lord Malfoy choose to speak to Lord Black? Or does Lucius wish to speak with Sirius?"
"Fair point, Lord Black," Lord Malfoy replied.
And as quickly as that, Sirius Black, the prankster of Hogwarts and founding member of the Marauders… vanished. Gone too was Prisoner Black who resided in Azkaban at Her Majesty's pleasure. Instead, Lord Black sat across from Lord Malfoy. Lord Black of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black studied Lord Malfoy closely, noticing everything: body language, clothing, the face he chose to wear now. Tilting his head slightly to the right, he waited.
'Well,' Lucius thought, 'I received what I requested. That is certainly Lord Black.'
"Lord Black," Lord Malfoy began, "I have come to offer aid to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."
Lord black raised an eyebrow and waited.
'Perhaps Sirius would have been easier to deal with,' thought Lucius.
"And to aid the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter," Lord Malfoy continued.
Sirius' eyes became somehow sharper, predatory. "You will explain those remarks, in detail, now."
Yes, this was Lord Black. Sitting in prison with Aurors in the hallway and chained to the large oak table, he still managed to imply he would utterly destroy you if you did not comply, immediately.
'And I thought Bellatrix would be the more difficult conversation,' Lucius thought.
"Lord Black, Harry James Potter has taken his Lordship but has been left unschooled in the duties expected of him. The Ancient House of Malfoy has, for the last several months, attempted to prevent Lord Potter from alienating anyone associated with the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter previous to his elevation. My Heir, Draco, has been aiding Lord Potter by providing advice on which books contain the most needed information and instructing him in the customs of our world."
"Because of the Hogwarts houses and other subtler issues, my Heir cannot be seen openly aiding Lord Potter. Indeed, we think Headmaster Dumbledore is less than pleased Lord Potter is receiving aid at all," Malfoy concluded and waited for a response.
Nodding once slowly, Sirius commented, "As our time is limited, we shall avoid the tedious ritual of protocol and, as much as it displeases us both, 'cut to the heart of the matter' as 'others' would say."
This was what Lucius was attempting to gain, a conversation with Lord Black which did not include the hours of social protocol; hours they did not have.
Nodding in agreement, Lucius asked, "What would you know?"
Sirius smiled. "You should come by more often. I haven't had an intelligent conversation in years."
"I am impressed the dementors have had such little effect on you."
"Dementors feed on happy memories. I have none left. Lord Black does not require happy memories. Lord Black requires Duty, Honor, and sometimes… Wrath."
Lucius nodded again. It made sense, in a bleak sort of manner.
Lucius began, "Lord Potter, Harry needs more help than Draco can give him. He needs his Godfather." Holding up his hand to forestall the obvious, "Yes, I am aware you are his Godfather. I am also aware you are innocent of the charges laid against you, without trial I might add. Fudge is in my pocket to his elbow. I own him."
"Fudge? Cornelius Fudge? The man is an idiot." Sirius interrupted.
"Yes," Lucius smiled, "but he is my idiot. When I need something, I pull his strings."
Sirius laughed, "I can see you as the puppet master. Congratulations. How does this help Harry?"
"Harry needs you. Thus, I need you out of here. I could get you out of here today, tomorrow at the latest, but there would always be a cloud over your head. Dumbledore would use it as a reason to keep you and Harry separated."
"He could have an unfortunate accident," Sirius countered, smiling.
"And you would end up right back here" Lucius stated the obvious. Killing Dumbledore was a pleasant dream of his, but not to the point he would let it interfere with a good plan.
Acknowledging the obvious with a wave of his hand, Sirius asked, "Well, you would never come here without a plan, several in fact. And you would never tell me all your plans. So, tell me what you can and we shall plot from there."
Now Lucius grinned broadly, "I just happen to know who truly betrayed the Potters and where to find him…"
Sirius leaned forward, looping the chains around his hands and pulled the table to him.
"Tell me."
-===The Great Hall===-
The great hall was nearly full, with every detention other than Snape's being canceled to allow all the students to attend. The drone of the student's chatter threatening to deafen all present.
Suddenly the noise level dropped and continued dropping until the hall was silent, save the breathing of hundreds of students. Professor Snape stood behind a podium before the head table. The other teachers were all sitting at the head table, waiting to judge Professor Snape on this unprecedented detention.
Professor Snape felt all eyes on him and surveyed the hall, noting those with disgusted faces, angry faces, or just frightened. This would have to do.
Taking a deep breath, he began.
"I am disappointed in nearly all of you."
He waited for that to sink in. 'Let them think about it for a moment,' he thought.
"You complain about my classes. You complain about your poor grades. You complain about ME. And what has your complaining gotten you? Nothing. So why do you continue to complain? Because you are idiots, dunderheads, Neanderthals with pointy sticks."
Snape took a moment to sneer about the hall.
"You expect the world to give you solutions to your problems. This is the root of your problem."
Grasping the podium in both hands, he leaned forward and raised his voice.
"Let me make this perfectly clear, the world does not give a DAMN about YOU!"
Standing straight once more, Severus shook his head in mock dismay.
"I have tried, through repetition if nothing else, to teach you the most important life lesson. When you find a problem, find a solution. Always!"
"I have allowed you to explode potions, melt caldrons, ruin untold galleons in ingredients… hoping against all evidence you would LEARN this most basic of lessons."
"If something doesn't work, find out why!" thumping the podium with his fist on each of the last three words.
"This is what will be expected of you in life, once you are beyond these walls. If you are extremely fortunate, you may have a friend point out why what you are doing is not working. More likely, you will continue to pound against the wall of your own ignorance without looking for other solutions… and give up… or become a laughing stock."
"And when that happens, who will you blame? Yourself? Never! It will always be someone else's fault."
His sweeping gaze covered the hall once more.
"I have been blamed for the low number of candidates for healer slots these last ten years. The low number of apprentices to Potions Masters is also blamed on me. As well as Auror candidates."
Pausing for effect…
"You know what you don't hear? That the numbers successfully completing Healer training and becoming Potions Masters is almost constant over the last fifty years! Why? Because the students WORTHY of becoming Healers and Potions Masters is relatively constant. THOSE are the students who will never admit defeat when faced with a problem. They will research and try and research and try again… until they succeed."
Pausing to glare once more…
"Use those tiny minds for a moment and think for yourself. Would you really want someone treating your health problems who 'barely passed' potions? Would you want a healer who knew the protocols for every disease and injury, but was incapable of thinking outside the box? Sure, that type of healer will be sufficient 90% of the time, but what about that other 10%? Do we just sacrifice those lives to make you feel better about your 'barely passing' potions grades?"
Pausing for a few seconds, he glared about the room before throwing his hands in the air in a very un-Snape-like gesture.
"Well, you have finally worn me down."
"I give up."
Grasping the podium, he leaned forward once more, sneering at them all.
"I will treat you like the idiots you so clearly are. I will no longer challenge you to rise to the problem. I will do like every other teacher does. I will spoon feed you my subject matter and not worry about your critical thinking skills. I will no longer worry about how you will react if you are in danger and no obvious answer exists."
Standing upright again, Snape immediately struck the podium with such force it bounced a bit.
"I am angry. I am ANGRY! But not at you. I am angry with myself; for caring about you miserable lot. I am angry with myself for giving a damn. I AM ANGRY I expected you to rise to your potential instead of living the mediocre lives you so richly deserve."
Stopping for several deep calming breaths, he continued in his normal tone of voice.
"All potions classes are cancelled until your detentions are complete."
Cheers burst from clusters around the room, mostly at the table of lions.
Snape stared them down until silence returned.
"Starting tomorrow night, at this same time, for the next two weeks (or more if you are even dumber than I think), you ALL will receive potions remediation. We will cover all the foundations of potions; cutting techniques, stirring methods, ingredient interactions, everything.
"We will not discuss a single potion."
Staring pointedly at the Ravenclaws, he continued.
"Instead I will use my time to instruct you all in things you could have easily researched in the library. There is an entire section of the library dedicated to potions. There is an entire SHELF dedicated to what I shall now spoon feed you. You had every damn answer you could possible require within easy reach for the entirety of your Hogwarts education. And you couldn't be bothered to take the time."
Sneering at Ravenclaw one more time, Snape turned to the rest of the hall.
"So, starting tomorrow night, I will give you the answers. I will give you the techniques. I will FORCE you to become competent in potions."
"And you will all be poorer for it."
Shaking his head sadly…
"I am disappointed in you all."
"Dismissed."
-===Aftermath, Great Hall===-
Professor Snape left the hall with his traditional cloak billowing, but somehow, he made even his footsteps sound disappointed.
Around the hall, student reactions varied greatly.
At Ravenclaw table, almost all were red with shame. Many faces were wet with tears and some were openly sobbing. The few not fitting into the previous groups were sitting quietly, staring into the distance. Whether they were stunned or deep in thought could not be easily determined.
Gryffindor's reaction was as expected, anger and open hostility. "How dare he" and variants were tossed thickly about. No one paid attention to the twin terrors and their reaction.
Hufflepuff all looked to their Head of House, Professor Sprout, for guidance. But she was also staring into the distance. Her mouth working quickly, but nothing said loud enough to hear. Her eyebrows danced above her eyes and she went from frown to surprise and back again.
Slytherin was perhaps the most surprised. No tears. No embarrassment. Just a dazed expression, as though they could not begin to comprehend what had just occurred.
Dumbledore approached the podium and tapped it with his wand, the resulting noise easily cutting through the rising din.
"Students, detention is over for tonight. Return to your common rooms and prepare for tomorrow. As you do not have potions classes as normal, I strongly advise you to use that period to revise the basics Professor Snape will be covering for the near future. I expect to see each of you here tomorrow night and will be most interested in finding anyone who is unavoidably detained."
"Good night."
-===#4 Privet Drive===-
It had taken several large bribes and a few vaguely recalled conversations with Severus, viewed repeatedly with a pensive, but Lucius Malfoy was finally standing on the sidewalk in front of the house Lord Potter had survived.
The most important thing he had learned; the wards prevented any wizard, seeking to harm those within, from finding it.
Lucius had absolutely no intention of harming anyone. 'Well, no one who lives here,' he smiled at the thought.
Examining the neighboring houses, Lucius found himself pitying these muggles. The only dignity a muggle can have is in who they are as individuals. Yet, here the muggles seemed to desire to look like each other, except for minor variations. They were all so desperately average, it made one wonder what depravities they were attempting to hide behind such an average façade?
Perhaps someday he would return and question a few of them, for data analysis of course.
He grinned broadly at the thought.
But for now, tonight, he would be acting as an implement of Justice. Tonight, he would bring Judgement to the Dursleys. All of them.
Years from now, when Harry's treatment at the hands of these… muggles… became public, as most things do, the Dursleys will become an instant example of appropriate Justice for harming the wizard-born.
Smiling merrily, Lucius wondered at the two large fairy circles to each side of the sidewalk. If he had not been otherwise informed he might think a practitioner of the old ways lived here and passed this house by during a raid. But no, the scorch marks and shovel scars indicated someone tried diligently to remove the circle… and failed.
Lucius snickered. 'A prank. How… quaint. Just wait until they see my prank. I am betting it's a killer!' Lucius chortled to himself silently at his witticism.
Removing his wand, he quietly opened the front door and entered.
All the lights were off and snoring clearly heard from upstairs.
Silencing his boots, clothes, and the stairs, Lucius began his ascent.
-===Dudley's Bedroom===-
Upon entering Dudley's room, any reservations he had regarding doing this to a child … vanished. What a wretched urchin! The floor was littered with broken toys. The boy was ball-shaped, round in all directions.
Viewing the room with disdain, he cast a silencing charm on the floor and the pig-boy before proceeding.
Extracting a severed hand from his bag, Lucius set it upon the dresser and lit the fingertips, content he would now not be disturbed during his work.
Using his wand, he levitated Dudley, removed his shirt and laid him on his back.
Drawing forth ink and brush, Lucius began painting symbols on Dudley's chest, humming a rather bawdy tune he once heard during a dock reconnaissance trip.
One good thing about little piggies, there is plenty of canvas to work with. He laughed at his own joke, no longer concerned about waking anyone.
Reaching within his cloak once more, Lucius brought out a jar of phosphorescent goo.
With a fresh brush, he retraced the previous patterns with the glowing gel, humming as he did so. It is important to enjoy your work, after all.
Placing the jar carefully on the nightstand, Lucius turned and began to chant. Slowly the sound swelled and ebbed, like waves upon the shore. Each ebbing cycle seemed to bring a ringing sound which lingered, like a bell. After an hour, the ringing was persistent, clear and impossible to ignore.
Bringing the chant to a crescendo, Malfoy lightly touched Dudley with his wand; once on each eye, his 'inner eye', his lips, and then his heart, before throwing his hands skyward and completing the chant.
Smiling broadly, Lucius looked upon Dudley's chest… then frowned… then scowled.
The ritual was perfect. No interruptions. Perfect weather. Stars AND moon properly placed. The blood should have sunk into Dudley's chest, taking the symbols with it.
Everything was perfect. It should have worked!
'The only reason it would not work would be… no… no… surely not…' Lucius thought as he grasped his wand again and began a complex series of movements over Dudley's chest.
Suddenly a bright white light flashed, accompanied by a loud noise, which sounded remarkably like a champagne bottle losing its cork.
Another set of complex wand movements and Lucius was on the floor, rocking back and forth, unable to breathe.
He was laughing.
"Oh Albus, you have been a very naughty boy," Lucius managed, before being overcome with another attack of the giggles.
-===Author's Notes===-
You have probably noticed I am using different scene dividers. I am tired of FFN stripping the lines dividing my scenes (I use Word) and having to manually insert them afterward. So, I am trying this to see if it works.
Special thanks to all who reviewed. It really does help keep me motivated! This chapter coming so soon is a direct result of those reviews! THANKS!
For the oblivious, apparently, I must say… I am not JKR, nor am I associated with her in any manner. I write for my pleasure and hopefully for the pleasure of my readers. I make no money from this, nor do I expect to. Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, everything else is probably mine. *smile*
Tomorrow is my wife's birthday, so my next update should be the 6th, although enough encouragement might get it done by the 4th… just saying… *grin*