Chapter 7: A standoff and the teleportation
For what felt like hours, Garfield, Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne all stared back at the Gryphon while standing still like a rigid pile of lumber.
"Stay still, guys." Garfield whispered to the others. "Don't make any sudden movements."
The others only nodded silently while keeping their eyes on the gryphon, during which Garfield glanced up without moving his head.
"No sign of any wires." He observed. "So we can definitely rule out the Gryphon being a puppet."
As the creature shifted its position, prompting a large tree branch that was attached to its wing to drop to the floor, the four slowly backed away.
"Like, I don't see any scratches that would otherwise expose the robot's metal parts." Shaggy said. "Must be one realistic-looking robot with all those feathers and fur."
"Even a robot wouldn't have essence of being brought up in the wild." Daphne pointed out while covering her nose.
"So what we're saying is that the Gryphon's real." Garfield surmised. "Either that or we're still dreaming."
Shaggy and Scooby both swallowed before the former closed his eyes and raised his hands forward and said, "Well, I am most certainly sleepwalking right now."
"Re too." Scooby concurred.
"Cool it, Shag, we don't wanna provoke the Gryphon with the way you raised your hands forward like a zombie." Garfield said as he reached over to put Shaggy's arms down.
"Like, you're saying that the Gryphon is afraid of zombies?" Shaggy opened his eyes and elbowed Garfield in response.
Before Garfield could respond, the Gryphon suddenly squawked loudly, prompting the four to cover their ears.
And then, what happened next certainly looked like it came right out of their dreams.
Two dark-hooded figures apparated right in front of their eyes, and almost instantly, something occurred to Garfield as he uncovered his ears.
"Death Eaters." Garfield recognized from their dream as the two figures turned their attention towards them with their wands produced.
As the Gryphon squawked loudly and flapped its wings menacingly, Garfield turned towards Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne and placed his hand on the former.
"The Gryphon wasn't haunting the castle grounds." Garfield declared. "It was hunting down Death Eaters."
"Who?" Shaggy asked as he, Scooby and Daphne turned towards Garfield.
"No time to explain." Garfield urged. "We've gotta get back before those two fellas use their wands on us!"
"Wands...?" Daphne asked, only for Shaggy to grab her hand as the trio quickly followed Garfield, in time for the two Death Eaters to cast their spells.
"Avada Kedavra!" The two Death Eaters shouted as they swung their hands in a rough "S"-shaped movement, prompting a jet of green light to flash out from their wands and towards the retreating four.
However, the Gryphon was swift in squawking loudly at the two Death Eaters, and the rush of air coming from its mouth propelled the jets of green light to be redirected towards the roof, striking the support of a chandelier above and sending it crashing down.
The first Death Eater managed to dodge the falling chandelier, but his confederate was not as fortunate and got knocked out cold.
Watching the whole situation unfold from the safety of behind a nearby wall, Daphne turned towards the boys.
"Are you guys seeing this?" The redhead prompted as the first Death Eater held his ground and casted more spells from his wand.
"Like, I am seeing that all right, Daph." Shaggy replied with a gulp as the Gryphon counterattacked. "Actual practice of dark magic right in front of us."
"It's not just that." Daphne said as they turned towards Garfield. "You said that the Gryphon was hunting down Death Eaters?"
"That is correct." Garfield nodded. "Not sure if you guys noticed, but both those figures have the same skull and snake symbol tattooed onto their arms, and in our dreams the past couple nights, we knew them to be Death Eaters."
"And that they're actually practicing dark magic." Daphne interjected. "Just like the inspector warned."
"That certainly explains a lot." Shaggy said. "But as you've asked, like, why did this group destroyed a castle that was inhabited by not one but two men who were said to have practiced dark magic?"
Before Garfield could interject, Fred and the Dinkleys all emerged from their respective rooms, having had been awaken from the commotion.
"What's going-?" Velma managed to ask, only to trail off when they all see the Gryphon and the lone Death Eater facing off against each other, and it was that exact moment that everything hit the fan.
In a split second, three more Death Eaters apparated into the scene, and they wasted no time producing their wands while turning towards Fred and the Dinkleys.
Sensing the lurking danger, Scooby abruptly lurched towards Fred and the Dinkleys as the four Death Eaters swung their hands in the familiar "S" shape and exclaimed, "Avada Kedavra!"
"Scooby, no!" Shaggy exclaimed as he, Daphne and Garfield watched the jets of green light flash out of the Death Eaters's wands and right towards Fred and the Dinkleys.
In slow motion, the trio watched Scooby leaping into the air, during which the "SD" dog tag on his collar shined briefly from the moonlight that was shining through the broken roof caused by the Gryphon crashing into the place, before one of the jets of green light struck the tag and reflected towards the opposite direction.
Through the impact of the green light striking his dog tag, Scooby was sent flying and collided with Fred and the Dinkleys, leading them to crash into the wall behind them while the remaining three jets of the green light narrowly missed them and struck the wall a couple feet above them.
The force of which the three jets of green light struck the wall, combined with the impact of Scooby, Fred and the Dinkleys crashing into the wall, created a large crack in the wall that branched out and extended its way up to the ceiling, resulting in patches of the material crashing down onto the five.
In that same moment, the lone jet of green light that reflected off from Scooby's dog tag experienced a shift in colour before settling on red and struck the Gryphon, knocking it out cold.
Garfield's eyes lighten in fascination of what he had just observed, though the moment didn't last long when one of the Death Eaters suddenly called his and Shaggy's attention.
"You know, you lot have been a bigger nuisance than we have ever anticipated." The first Death Eater spoke, prompting Shaggy and Garfield to turn towards him, in time to see the four Death Eaters surrounding Daphne with one of their wands trained on her while the other three were aimed towards them. "The Gryphon we could handle, but you lot and that meddling mutt? Something tells me that the Dark Lord himself would like to be enlightened on just what you lot are capable of."
"So why cast your killing spell on our friends over there while sparing us?" Garfield demanded as he nodded towards Scooby, Fred and the Dinkleys.
"Oh, those four Muggles, they're no threat to the Dark Lord's plans, not that it matters, since the Dark Lord's work is for Mugglekind's own good." The second Death Eater sneered dismissively. "But you three and the mutt...it would be a great shame if we let your potential and talents go to waste."
"Like, what on earth are you guys talking about?" Shaggy asked as he stepped forward, only for Garfield to hold him back. "What are you talking about when you say 'Muggle'? And who is this Dark Lord you're speaking of? Someone sitting in the British House of Lords?"
"You are smarter and braver than many of who you've dealt with give credit to." The first Death Eater snorted, ignoring Shaggy's question. "For your sakes, I only hope you're smart enough to do the right thing and resist the urge to play this game."
"A game?" Garfield folded his arms, and through his peripheral vision, he saw Scooby sneaking up towards the Death Eaters after getting the debris off Fred and the Dinkleys. "Your group has committed murder in this town, not to mention destroying the castle that was once inhabited by two practitioners of dark magic, and you call this a game?"
"Only because you lot have no idea what you're getting yourselves into and that there are powers far beyond the control of Muggles in play." The second Death Eater sneered.
As the four Death Eaters continued with their stare down against Shaggy and Garfield and the two sides continued to banter back and forth, Daphne looked towards Shaggy and their eyes met.
Noting the way Shaggy's eyes rolled briefly, the redhead immediately understood before she discreetly produced a hairpin from the inside of her sleeve.
With their keen eyes picking up on Daphne producing a hairpin and Scooby sneaking towards the four Death Eaters stealthly, Shaggy and Garfield continued to maintain their poker faces as they continued with their stare down against the four Death Eaters.
Without paying any attention to the silent communication between Shaggy, Daphne and Garfield or seeing Scooby sneaking up with the large tree branch in his mouth, the four Death Eaters finished up.
"Well gentlemen." The first Death Eater declared. "It was a blast while it lasted, though now, we shall take this dane with us. You wouldn't want to make any stupid moves if you value your friend's life."
Seeing the deadpan on Garfield's face and the worried look on Shaggy's face, the first Death Eater then added, "You got anything to say before we conclude our business here?"
Garfield turned towards Shaggy briefly with a glance, which was their signal for Daphne and Scooby to act.
Before any of the Death Eaters could comprehend what had happened and had a chance to apparate out, Daphne abruptly stabbed the sharp end of her hairpin into the right leg of her captor, prompting him to involuntarily exclaim in pain as he dropped his wand.
With Daphne's head down, Scooby wasted no time grabbing the tree branch in his mouth with his front paws and swung it towards the remaining three Death Eaters, who were knocked off their feet and simultaneously dropped their wands.
Then, moving as fast as a fox, Scooby rushed over to Daphne, who grabbed onto his collar, and sprinted towards Shaggy and Garfield.
In the process of regrouping with Shaggy, Daphne and Garfield, Scooby almost collided with the Gryphon and have to touch it with his paw to prevent himself from headbutting the Gryphon.
As that happened, a faint, lime green glow emerged from Scooby's paw when it came into contact with the Gryphon, which led to the majestic creature slowly stirring.
Noticing what Scooby has done, Garfield, Shaggy and Daphne were about to say something when their attention was drawn towards the four Death Eaters, who have managed to regroup.
Before either of them could act, each of the Death Eaters felt a burning sensation in their arms, and even in the darkness, Garfield could see that the tattoos, each comprising of a skull and a snake, were coming to life.
Without missing a beat, the lead Death Eater turned towards Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Garfield with a glare, a glare that practically told them, This is not over, before the Death Eaters all apparated out of the house.
As soon as the Death Eaters apparated out of the house, the Gryphon suddenly got up, and then without warning, it suddenly grabbed Scooby.
"Raggy, relp!" Scooby exclaimed as he tried to free himself from the Gryphon's grip, which he soon find to not be a good idea as the Gryphon took off into the sky and the house rapidly disappeared beneath them.
"Scooby-Doo!" Shaggy exclaimed as he, Garfield and Daphne tried to reach for Scooby in vain.
Watching the Gryphon disappearing into the sky with Scooby, the trio turned towards each other.
"We've gotta get Scooby back!" Daphne exclaimed.
Glancing towards Fred and the Dinkleys, Garfield tossed Shaggy a radio as he urged, "You guys go ahead and try to track down the Gryphon and Scooby, I'm going to tend to Fred and the Dinkleys until help arrives."
Shaggy and Daphne both nodded firmly as the former caught the radio before they raced out of the house, while Garfield wasted no time checking on Fred and the Dinkleys.
The sirens coming from outside indicated that the first of the emergency responders were already en route, likely called in by the locals who have witnessed the Gryphon crashing into the house, and by the time Shaggy and Daphne were on the streets, they could see a fire truck and a police cruiser rushing towards the house.
Looking around, the duo tried to figure out the direction the Gryphon had flown with Scooby.
"Like, where did the Gryphon go?" Shaggy raised his arms in confusion. "It couldn't have flown far and disappear this quick!"
Daphne shrugged as she took out her binoculars and looked around through them before she frowned when she looked towards the castle ruins.
"Jeepers, I don't believe it." The redhead muttered.
"What is it, Daph?" Shaggy asked as he extended his hand for the binoculars.
"Don't look, but someone's watching us from the castle ruins." Daphne explained as she handed him the binoculars.
When Shaggy looked towards the castle through the binoculars, he saw that Daphne was right indeed.
Through the binoculars, he could see another pair of binoculars looking back towards their position.
The man in question then put down the binoculars and swiftly turned back towards the ruins, but not before Shaggy identified him as Bleachtaire Cigire Liam O'Connor.
"Inspector O'Connor." Shaggy said as he put down the binoculars. "What's he doing at the ruins?"
"Better question is, why is he watching us?" Daphne asked before taking off towards the castle. "Come on!"
"Wait, like, you think it's a good idea...?" Shaggy asked, only to trail off when Daphne didn't stop, which prompted him to sigh and follow her.
Catching up to Daphne, Shaggy called into the radio and said, "Garfield, are you there?"
A few seconds went by before Garfield radioed back. "Yeah, help has arrived. I just finished briefing the medics and investigators what just happened, they have taken over and are having Fred and the Dinkleys transported to the hospital. What's up?"
"Shaggy and I are heading over to the castle's ruins." Daphne responded. "While surveying our surroundings through the binoculars, we saw Inspector O'Connor standing near the castle's ruins watching us through his binoculars."
"Well, colour me surprised." Garfield remarked. "He must've also seen everything going down with the Gryphon crashing onto the house and then taking off with Scooby."
"Which makes you wonder how deep into this he is." Shaggy surmised.
"Indeed." Garfield nodded. "Anyways, I'll catch up with you guys at the castle when I'm finished up here."
"Like, how are Fred and the Dinkleys, by the way?" Shaggy asked.
"They've taken quite the nasty hit when Scooby collided with them after that jet of green light hit his dog tag and sent them flying towards the wall." Garfield replied. "However, all of them still have pulses when the medics and I checked, so I don't think there are going to be any long-term complications."
"That's good to know." Daphne said in relief. "Question is, how come Scooby was able to stand up as if nothing had happened after the collision?"
"Good question." Garfield responded, though as Shaggy and Daphne got closer to the castle, the more his voice became garbled with static. "Though *skrkk* this a hunch, *skrkk* we will get our answers at the castle."
As the duo approached the castle, Shaggy said, "We're approaching the castle, Garfield. The radio's going dead, so we'll talk to you later."
Garfield's response through the radio came in the form of static, which prompted Shaggy to turn towards Daphne in concern.
"Well, the inspector's long gone." Daphne remarked. "Which way did he go?"
"If he had returned back to town, we would've spotted him on the way here." Shaggy offered. "Like, I also can't see any reason why he would deliberately walk around the castle if only to avoid running into us on his way back to town."
"Yeah, especially since the route we took is the only way to town from the castle." Daphne agreed as they surveyed the burnt-down ruins in front of them.
After splitting up, Shaggy and Daphne spent the next ten minutes examining the ruined walls and what remained of the main entrance, though it was difficult doing so when it was completely dark in the dead of the night.
It didn't help that their flashlights were not working, and as the minutes went on, it was becoming clear that there was no way O'Connor could have remained at the castle grounds, as there was no sign of any further activity in the ruins since the investigation was put on hold pending the outcome of discussions between the county executive and the archeological team on site.
"Anything, Shaggy?" Daphne called out.
"Nothing, Daph." Shaggy shook his head as he turned towards the redhead before calling out, "Scooby-Doo!"
His calls was met with silence, which prompted him to raised his arms up in frustration and prompting Daphne to place her hand on his arm.
"Don't worry, Shag, we will find Scooby." Daphne said. "We just need to dig deeper."
Shaggy only nodded, though with the darkness, it was hard to tell if he was sharing her optimism that by digging deeper, they would find Scooby.
Before he could ponder what to do next, Shaggy was in the process of turning back towards Daphne when he caught a glimpse of something and turned his head back before breaking from the redhead.
"Hey, there's something about this brick that seems to stand out." Shaggy said.
"Stand out, how?" Daphne asked as Shaggy reached over to the brick in question.
Shaggy blinked as he get closer to the brick. "Like, it seems to be glowing softly, even though I'm positive that there is no functioning electricity."
As Shaggy reached over to touch the brick, Daphne suddenly said, "Shag, I don't think-"
Before the redhead could finish her warning, they were suddenly blinded by a large flash of light, during which his hand went right through the brick.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as an unknown force from the other side of the wall dragged his arm through the wall at the brick.
"Shaggy!" Daphne exclaimed as she quickly grabbed Shaggy by the arm in an attempt to stop him from getting dragged through the wall.
However, the force that was grabbing Shaggy through the wall was too strong even as Shaggy planted his feet on the ground in an attempt to stop himself, and when he placed his left foot on the wall to try to leverage himself out, the foot was dragged through the wall.
"Jeepers!" Daphne shrieked as she and Shaggy were dragged right through the wall before seemingly falling down a pit on the other side of the wall.
It took several moments before the duo came to, and when they did, the first thing they saw was that they were in a room lit up by candles and decorated by some paintings, a coffee table and several armchairs and a fireplace.
"I was beginning to wonder how long it would take before you lot got my message." A familiar-voice said as the duo turned towards its source.
"Inspector O'Connor." Shaggy and Daphne stood up as the former continued, "What's going on? And where's Scooby?"
"Relax, he's in perfectly capable hands as we speak." O'Connor said with a calming gesture.
"Capable hands?" Daphne asked. "What is going on, Inspector?"
"Like I said, take it easy. You lot would soon have your explanations." O'Connor said. "About everything."
"Are you talking about the Death Eaters making their raid on our place earlier, Inspector? Because right now three of our friends and Dr. Dinkley are en route to the hospital following the attack, and-" Daphne was starting to become cross while Shaggy folded his arms, which prompted O'Connor to cut her off.
"I am well aware of that, though unfortunately, it was the only way for us to get your friends out of danger." O'Connor said.
"Danger?" Shaggy asked. "Like, who exactly are we dealing with? And where are we?"
"And more to the point, what on earth is going on?" Daphne added. "Is this also related to that murder yesterday with the victim who the county records have no record of?"
"I'm afraid you don't know how right you are, Miss Blake." A new voice agreed as its source stepped into the room. "You and your friends."
Shaggy and Daphne stood up as the man entered the room, prompting O'Connor to turn towards the man, during which the duo instantly recognized him.
"Mr. Ferin?" Shaggy asked, which prompted the man to sigh and nodded.
"No doubt you lot got intrigued by the details of my...untimely demise." Ferin nodded.
"Not just them, also their friend Mr. Wu." O'Connor interjected.
"Right, right." Ferin nodded before he concentrated his mind.
Shaggy and Daphne turned towards each other before facing Ferin and were about to inquire about what Ferin, who is very much alive and breathing, was doing when out of nowhere, their friend Garfield was teleported, or rather, apparated, into the room.
Garfield took only a brief moment to settle in before he turned towards O'Connor and Ferin.
Seeing that the murder victim was alive and well, it didn't take much before Garfield pieced together what was going on.
"This mystery has something to do with magic, and by magic, I don't mean the type practiced by magicians but actual magic practiced by the likes of Merlin and other legendary sorcerers, isn't it?" Garfield said.
"I'm afraid you're right, Mr. Wu." Ferin conceded. "And for the record, my name is not actually Tim Ferin, which you've likely already established by now."
As Garfield, Shaggy and Daphne looked on expectantly, Ferin continued, "My real name is Mortifer Quinch."
Not indicating any slight change of emotion on his face, Garfield prompted, "Perhaps you'd like to start from the very beginning, Mr. Quinch. How it all started."
Quinch nodded as he and O'Connor turned towards each other, which Shaggy, Daphne and Garfield looked on.
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