Chapter Thirteen: Percy's Fate

The boggart lay in a tin bathtub on the floor, small, thin and unnaturally clean. A bandage made of a torn sheet with a spreading red stain wrapped around him. His eyes fluttered as Ginny, Ron and Slave tiptoed into the kitchen.

"Will he be all right?" asked Ginny.

"Hard to say," said Ron.

"I'm going to search for that mysterious boat," said Ginny. "Who wants to come?"

"Alright," said Ron, "But you don't know what you saw. Something in the marsh could be playing tricks. And we better watch out for that snake."

The chickens now slept in the hold of their boat, leaving the deck free. Ginny crouched behind a dilapidated wheelhouse, then beckoned Ron and Slave to join. They climbed into the chicken run and entered the wheelhouse.

A pile of sacks was stacked there, so they wrapped themselves in them and settled down to spy.

The network of drainage ditches was still, until Slave grabbed Ron's sleeve and pointed. But clouds covered the moon again so it was too dark to see what he'd seen.

Ginny peered through the wheelhouse like a fisherman searching the sea, when a shape came into view again in one of the drainage ditches.

"It's a canoe… I think?" whispered Ron.

"Is it Dad?"

"Can't be sure."

Slave shook his head and put his finger to his lips.

"Huh?" asked Ron.

"I think he thinks you might make a noise and give us away," whispered Ginny. "Sound travels a long way over the marsh at night."

"Well, I wish he'd say so," said Ron, stretching his eyes at Slave.

Then the shape came close enough to discern. It was the marsh python.

"It's the snake!" hissed Ron, pushing Ginny. "Run!"

Ginny seemed unable to leave the chicken boat, so Slave pulled her to her feet and, gripping her arm, dragged her off the boat into the reeds where he pushed her down a hole.

"Eahhaagh! Why did you- Where are we?"

"In my secret spot," said Slave.

"I wish we had a light," said Ginny. "Where's Ron?

"Yeaaghhh!"

Thud!

"What is this place?" came Ron's voice.

Slave reached inside his pocket and slipped something onto an index finger. He lifted it. It gave off a glow they could use for a lantern. Curled around was a gold dragon with emerald eyes, tail clasped in its mouth.

"Where did you find that?" asked Ginny.

"Down here," said Slave.

"Just now?"

"No. I found it before. But…" he glared at Ginny. "It's MY secret space. Not yours."

"Who cares about some dumb tunnel anyway?" asked Ginny.

"I think it's magic," said Slave. "It smells like paradoxes and old parchment. There's an exit this way." He led them through tunnels until at last they arrived at the top of some steps.

"Where are you from, anyway?" Ron asked Slave. "Do you have a family?"

"None of your business," said Slave. He stuck out an arm. "I fell down these stairs last time. Nearly lost my ring."

"This part does feel kind of magic," said Ginny, when they reached the bottom. "I wonder if it is bigger, since there's an echo." she raised her voice as she spoke so 'Echo, echo, echo…' reverberated.

"Shhh," whispered Slave. "The snake might hear us."

"There're pictures all over the walls," whispered Ron. "They look really old, and as if they're telling a story."

The pictures showed what seemed to be dragons, a boat being built, then a lighthouse and a shipwreck.

Ginny pointed to more shapes farther along the wall. "And these look like plans for a tower or something."

"It's Hogwarts," said Slave. "That's Gryffindor Tower."

"I didn't know Hogwarts was so old," said Ginny, running her finger over the paint.

"Hogwarts is very old," said Slave. The ring illuminated his glasses so he resembled an insect. "No one knows when it was built."

After climbing a ladder propped against a stone wall, Slave lifted a trapdoor and peered out. Then he hoisted himself above ground once again.

Ginny followed, rolling onto wet grass. She stood and brushed herself, then jumped at blood on the footpath, leading to an overturned canoe. Percy crawled out from under it.

"Percy?" called Ron, who had just stepped out from the tunnels. "Percy! Hey!"

Percy pointed a wand at Ginny. In his other hand was a knife.

"Huh? Why are-"

A curse fired in Ginny's direction, shattering the cottage's windchimes behind her, right as the marsh python reared from behind the canoe.

Ron hurled a rock at Percy's hand, knocking the wand from his shaky grip. Percy stumbled to the ground. "Serves you right," Ron grabbed the knife and kicked it out of his reach, then threw himself on top of Percy, holding him to the bank. "Get out of that one!"

Percy twisted out of Ron's grasp and aimed a hefty kick at his shins. "You can't try to kill your sister and get away with it! Pig!" Ron pulled him down again. The marsh python joined the tangle. They gasped for air, getting strangled as they thrashed. Percy pried his fingers underneath the snake and threw it off of them.

The snake struck its head at the boys over and over, as its body whipped around. They rolled to avoid it while trying to kill each other. Percy's hand reached the knife and plunged it. It went through the marsh python, lashing off a segment so its head fell to the ground, still writhing. Percy raised the knife over Ron's neck, but hesitated. He stood up in the puddle of blood.

There was a temporary silence. Ron broke it. "Boggart. You hurt the boggart! Pig."

"No," said Percy. "The snake did that."

"Whatever he's done, he's a bighead," said Ginny.

"I'm not just a bighead," said Percy haughtily. "I am Apprentice to Voldemort."

"What did you say?" asked Ron.

"I said I am Apprentice to Voldemort, the Dark-"

"I don't believe you," interrupted Ginny. "I've never seen anyone less like an Apprentice in my life."

"Well, I am," Percy insisted. "I am Percy Weasley, Apprentice to the Dark Lord."

"He's lying," said Ron.

"He's just saying it to upset us," said Ginny. "That little pig isn't Percy Weasley."

"He's certainly not our brother," said Ron.

"Is he or isn't he?" asked Slave.

"He is," whispered Ginny. "I have six brothers: Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron. There was also Harry, but he died. Just after he was born. I always thought he was my twin, but turns out he wasn't..."

"It seems complicated to have a family." said Slave.

"This one's definitely not our brother," Ron was saying, with his foot on Percy's back, having shoved him down again. "And even if he was, I wouldn't want him. He's no brother of mine."

Percy sat in an armchair by the fire, in a blanket they used as a straight jacket.

The boggart was still at the bottom of the tin bath, a mound of damp fur. He half opened his eyes and regarded his visitors with a bleary, unfocused gaze.

"Are you feeling better, Boggart?" asked Ginny.

The boggart did not respond. Ginny wiped him with a warm, wet cloth. "Just keeping Boggart damp," she said. "See what you did to Boggart?" she said harshly to Percy.

Percy's eyes followed Ginny across the room, though the rest of him could not move.

"Stop making your eyes follow me," she glared at him.

Percy's eyebrows twitched, and eyes flashed. Slave waved the handkerchief in front of them. He growled.

"What will Mum and Dad say?" asked Ron. "He's turned so horrible."

"Well, I suppose talking to You Know Who hasn't done him any good," said Ginny.

A knock sounded on the door.

Ginny sat up and nudged Ron and Slave. She crept to the window to draw back a shutter as Ron and Slave stood by the door, armed with a broom and a lamp. Percy sat up in his dark corner and smiled a smug smile. "Voldemort has sent a rescue party for me," he said.

But when the door opened, only a duck stood on the steps.

Later that night, Percy escaped through the cat tunnel as the Water Nixies began their singing: "Weerrghh-derr'waaaaah-doooooooooWeerrghh-derr-waaaah-doooooooooWeerrghh-derr-waaaah-doooooooooWeerrghh-derr-waaaah-doooooooooWeerghh-derr-waaaah-doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..."

"Stop it!" yelled Percy, stuffing pond scum into his ears before paddling off in the canoe.

Next morning, Ron, Ginny and Slave's eyes went from the empty chair to the open cat tunnel.

"I'd have thought his head was too big to fit through it," said Ginny.

Ron went out to search the island, but was soon back. "The canoe's gone," he said. "He'll be far away by now."

"We've got to leave," said Slave, as a drizzle set in. "He'll tell You Know Who he found us."

Ginny, Ron and Slave stood on the dock, scanning the horizon.

"We probably don't have much time till You Know Who arrives," said Ginny. "He'll probably- What is that?"

"It's the Salazar," whispered Ron. "You Know Who's ship." Ron took the telescope from his eye. "It's already too late," he said. "He's here. Oh, yuck, what's that? Oh, disgusting. Percy's just slipped inside a porthole from the canoe. He's so slimy, but can certainly get up a rope ladder, like some gruesome monkey." Ron shuddered.

"Can you see You Know Who?" whispered Ginny.

Ron swept the eyeglass up the rope ladder, then nodded.

"There's someone on the beach," whispered Ginny, pointing to a glowing figure gliding across the sand.

"Professor Dumbledore! You look so creepy out on the bog at night," exclaimed Ginny.

Albus outstretched a hand, beckoning them into the reeds.

"How's Mum and Dad?" asked Ron, when they were crouched out of sight.

Albus shook his head. "Your father is missing. Professor McGonagall was tricked by the Dark Lord. That message was not from him."

"I didn't think it was," said Ron.

"When Minerva turned up at Hogwarts, Death Eaters were waiting. It may not have ended the way it did if she'd shown up after midnight on the night of the dark moon, when dark magic has less power; I believe she did not have the correct time." He withdrew a floating stick from his transparent robes: Minerva's wand.

"Excuse me," asked Ginny, "Minerva is still ... alive, isn't she? I should have asked if I could have gone-"

"You couldn't have done anything, lass. They would have got you too." He handed Ginny the wand, who closed her fingers around it.

Ginny and Ron looked to the ground, as Slave rocked back and forth.

"Ah, yes, Percy," said Albus. "He deliberately slipped away in the Forbidden Forest, to marry Penelope Clearwater."

"What?" Ron slipped on the ice. "Percy got married?"

"He gave it his best shot, but was taken by the Dark Lord before the marriage ever unfolded," Dumbledore explained. Then he sighed and looked toward the ship. "I do wonder if… My ring might be..."

"What?" asked Ginny.

"If it might be on the Salazar. Unfortunately, I can't get on the ship to find out. I can only visit places I have been when I was alive."

"What's so important about your old ring?" asked Ron.

"It is the thing Voldemort broke into Hogwarts to find. A horcrux: it contains a part of his soul. Unless it is destroyed, he cannot be killed.

"Oh great," said Ron.

"We could get on the ship," said Ginny.