Trojan Horse – Part IX: Many Meetings
Sorry this took so long, it was tricky to write. It jumps around a lot, it's all more or less on the same day but I can't seem to write from only one person's point of view at the moment. Ah, and a bit of this will be clearer if you've read 'The Farther Shore.' If you haven't, don't worry, I do explain what's happening.
Enjoy, as always.
~
'Look, you misbegotten mare's son, where are you taking me? I've no wish to spend the rest of my days wandering around this forest.'
Sirius would have caught Arion's eye with his own excited glance, but it was too dark. There was no mistaking the voice.
'Vivian?' he called.
A muffled gasp answered him. He hurried through the dense undergrowth of the Forbidden Forest towards the sound of a horse whickering, crashing through branches in his haste. Arion followed more judiciously. In a few moments, all three were standing in a clearing.
'Where did you go?' asked Arion at once. 'Why didn't you come back?'
Vivian half-turned towards him. She patted Zephyr's neck. 'This is the reason. Zephyr utterly refused to come anywhere near here, and I don't blame him one bit, and he carted me off over half the country before I finally persuaded him to come back here. The Dark Lord is about three miles away, over in the town.'
'You mean Voldemort is actually in Hogsmeade?'
'He was. I'm not sure he still is, but he definitely was a week ago.'
'How did you get here, then?' Arion continued.
'Well,' said Vivian a little sharply, 'if I knew where I was, I'd have a better chance at answering that. Zephyr just dragged me along. I told him we were going to Hogwarts, and now we've wound up here, and I'm quite sure it's not a particularly safe place.'
'You're in the Forbidden Forest,' said Sirius. 'Hogwarts is about half an hour's walk away, maybe more.'
'Forty minutes from here,' said Arion. 'Well, then, we'd better get going.' He turned towards the faint shape in the darkness that was Vivian. 'It might be easier if you rode, and I'll lead Zephyr,' he said.
'I can manage just fine,' said Vivian, sounding more than a little irritated. 'I don't need you to look after me.'
Arion didn't answer, simply beginning to lead them off through the forest.
'Hey, I'll ride Zephyr,' said Sirius with a smile that went unseen in the darkness. 'I've walked my poor feet to death.'
Vivian ignored him as well, and began to walk alongside Zephyr, following Arion. Sirius went after them. Perhaps Arion had been mistaken, for Vivian was walking surely and with confidence although it was utterly dark. After a few moments of confusion he realised, feeling rather stupid, that it made no difference to her.
Sirius went to walk on Zephyr's other side.
'Did you really break the snow spell?' he asked after a few moments of silence. 'How did you manage it?'
'You mean, how did a poor little blind girl manage to fight a snow demon?' she demanded. 'Same as anyone else.'
Sirius hesitated, startled at the anger in her tone. 'Professor Dumbledore was going to send me and my friend to go and try to chase it away or something, but you got it the morning we were due to leave,' he said as levelly as he could. 'So I'm curious.'
It was her turn to be silent for a moment. 'Well,' she said more calmly, 'I knew there was a snow demon by the noise, and also it couldn't very well be anything else. I got into the enclosure on Zephyr during the night, and I used a Calor Charm on it. Actually, as it turned out, it was chained down, so I had to land and try and get the chains off. When I did that, it went away at once. They're not native to that part of Siberia, and it wasn't happy.'
'I see,' said Sirius, then wondered if that would offend her as well. It didn't seem to. 'You flew to Russia on Zephyr?' he asked.
'Yes.'
'We were going to go on a Muggle airplane,' he said. 'A Pegasus would have been much more fun.' He thought of the Shadow.
'Quiet, you two,' said Arion in a hushed tone. 'There are ogres around here sometimes, it would be better if we don't have to fight.'
Sirius and Vivian both obeyed him, and they walked in silence through the Forbidden Forest towards Hogwarts.
~
Minerva couldn't sleep. After lying in bed for about an hour turning over and over, she got up. If she wasn't going to sleep she might as well get something productive done. Pulling her cloak over her nightgown and putting on her glasses, she went to her desk and began to mark a stack of essays. She sighed as she waded her way through the third page of Lancelot Grubb's ill-spelt and almost illegible discussion of transmutation. She was going to have to send him to Madam Pince for extra lessons to sort out his writing. In her precise angular handwriting, she made a note on her To Do list.
A ghost wandered through the wall. 'Hello, Professor,' said the Grey Lady. 'You're up late.'
'I thought I'd get some work done.' Minerva did not look up from her essays, well used to the easy comings and goings of the ghosts.
'You have visitors. There are some people coming across the grounds,' said the ghost in her distant voice. 'You might want to go and greet them.'
'What?' demanded Minerva at once, dropping her quill and looking up. 'Who? How could they get in?'
'I don't know.' The ghost began to drift away. Minerva reached for her wand and put on a pair of shoes. Her cloak had begun to slide off her shoulders, and she pulled it up again. Hagrid was supposed to be on duty downstairs, keeping an eye on things tonight. All the staff were taking it in turn to stay awake and watch out for anything untoward that might occur. She'd better go and ask him if he'd seen anything. The Grey Lady was usually pretty reliable.
She went downstairs. Something told her to go towards the kitchens, Hagrid would probably be around there if he had any sense. She held her wand up, and the faint light from the tip showed her where to go. Her footfalls were almost silent, she was pleased to notice, in her slippers she could still walk like a cat.
The corridors were empty. There were no strange and mysterious visitors. She went to a window not far from the kitchen door and pulled aside the curtains. A cloud of dust rose up and a spider scuttled sideways into a crack in the frame. Minerva sneezed. It was a cloudy night, so she couldn't be sure, but there seemed to be nobody around on the lawn. Perhaps she should transform, then she would be sure. A smile crossed her face, for nothing was as good as a cat at seeing in the dark. But the transformations took a lot out of her these days. She peered out across the shadowy lawn.
'Minerva?'
'Professor McGonagall?'
Two voices spoke simultaneously behind her. She whirled around, her heart pounding. In the dim light, she did not recognise the three people standing before her, two filthy, haggard-looking men and a rather cleaner woman. She stared at them, startled and rather afraid.
'Who are you? How did you get in?' she asked sharply, one hand on her wand.
'Through the door, same as usual.' There was something very familiar about the voice of the slightly shorter man. She peered at him. Heavy footsteps from the corridor behind her made her jump again.
'What's goin' on?'
Minerva glanced back with some relief as Hagrid approached.
'Who're you, then?' he asked, stepping between Minerva and the new arrivals.
'Hagrid, it's all right,' said the familiar voice again. 'Do you really not know us?'
Minerva leaned forwards a bit, looking at the woman in confusion. She was certain she had never seen her before in her life. She looked at the man who had spoken.
'I'm not playing guessing games with you,' she said tartly.
'Don't tease her, you look a sight,' said the other man. 'I'm not surprised she can't recognise you. Minerva, it's Sirius and Arion.'
Minerva's jaw dropped. She took a shaky step backwards, her knees feeling not entirely reliable, and Hagrid put a out a huge hand to steady her.
'Yeh'd better sit down.' He steered her to a chair.
'I thought … we all thought you were dead,' she gasped.
'Sorry to spring it on you like that – are you all right?' Arion came a step nearer, his brow furrowed with concern. Minerva sat up ramrod straight, hating to be seen showing any kind of weakness. She looked at the strange young woman.
'Who are you?' she asked bluntly.
The woman hesitated for a moment, and then said, 'I'm Vivian Shaw.' Minerva looked at her with narrowed eyes as she stood resting one hand lightly on Sirius' arm. She was sure she had heard that name somewhere before…
'Good evening,' she said. 'I am Minerva McGonagall.' She stood up again and extended her hand to the younger woman, eyeing her closely. Vivian did not take it. Sirius opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.
'Good evening,' Minerva repeated.
'Pleased to meet you,' said Vivian with a crooked smile. Minerva lowered her hand and looked at Vivian piercingly. Where have I heard of her before? she asked herself. But she had no more time to consider it, because Arion said, 'We ought to see Dumbledore straight away.'
Behind her, Hagrid made a strangled noise. Minerva forgot about Vivian.
'Arion,' she said. 'I – you have to know – perhaps you'd better sit down...' Stop putting it off, she rebuked herself. 'Albus is dead.'
Sirius looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. 'That's – that can't be true,' he stammered. 'It can't be right. Not Professor Dumbledore….'
Arion did not look as though he were surprised. In a dull tone, he asked, 'How did it happen?'
Minerva took a deep breath. 'He put all his strength into driving You-Know-Who out of the school,' she said. 'He had nothing left.' She looked at them both. Arion closed his eyes for a moment, standing with bowed head. Sirius was still staring at her, looking as if he might protest again.
'I'm sorry, Sirius.' Minerva glanced at the girl again. Her face was terribly pale, and she was swaying where she stood. She half-turned towards Sirius, her hand still resting on his arm. Then she clutched him and he caught her as she collapsed. Minerva started forwards, as did Hagrid. He took her from Sirius.
'Poor little lass,' he said. 'I'll take 'er up to Poppy, shall I?' As if she were a child, he lifted her up.
Sirius hesitated. 'Tell Poppy she's blind,' he said after a moment.
Hagrid appeared unflapped by this revelation. 'Okay then.'
Minerva's jaw dropped as she recalled when she had heard the name before, and in what circumstances. I would never have guessed, she thought. Hagrid walked off, leaving Arion still looking at the ground and Sirius stunned.
'Is Remus all right?' he asked suddenly, urgently.
'Yes.' Minerva heard him let out his breath in release as she spoke. 'Everyone else is all right,' she added.
Sirius didn't answer.
'What happened?' asked Arion after a while. 'How did – how did Voldemort get in?'
Minerva's face clouded. 'It was Helen who betrayed us,' she said in a cold tone. 'She's here now, Remus says she means us no harm, and – and Albus said we were to treat her well.'
'Helen Irwin?' demanded Sirius, seeming to come to life. 'She did it? But she's – she's just – she's not the sort of person….'
Arion looked a little startled as well.
'She's really Helen de Laurent,' explained Minerva. 'And he was blackmailing her. With her children's lives.' She resigned herself to explaining the sorry tale yet again. At the end, Sirius said, 'Where's Remus?'
'Up in his old room. He's still not very well.'
'I'm going up to see him.'
~
Remus rolled over in his sleep, disturbed by a noise. Scarcely half-awake, he opened his eyes a fraction. The door was open, and someone was coming into the room, a tall man. His heart began to pound in fear and he lay very still.
'Remus?' called a voice softly. 'Wake up.'
That dispelled his fear a little, for there was something achingly familiar about the voice.
'What is it?' he asked sleepily, not lifting his head. 'Come back in the morning.'
'Remus?' said the voice again. He knew that voice, but – but …. He looked up. This couldn't be true, it was another dream. There was no way it could be…. His thought was interrupted by a crash, and some swearing.
'Why do you keep all these books by the door, Moony? Can't you put them somewhere sensible?'
He sat bolt upright in bed, reaching for his wand. Surely he couldn't be imagining that?
'Lumos,' he murmured. 'Sirius?' he asked, daring now to hope. In the glow from his wand, he saw a gaunt face wearing a scowl that changed to a smile when he saw Remus.
'Moony! Oh, it's good to see you again.' He strode across the room as Remus sat up on the edge of his bed.
'Where have you been?' they both asked at once, and Sirius laughed.
'You first,' said Remus with a grin. And so Sirius began to talk, describing his adventures in a very colourful way.
'Well,' said Remus when he was finished, 'my time has been positively dull compared with that.'
'Minerva told me most of it,' said Sirius. 'Did that woman really save your life?'
Remus had no need to ask who he meant. 'Yes. She did.' He sighed. 'Poor Helen. Life's been hard to her.'
Sirius scowled but said nothing.
'Did you say you escaped on a Pegasus?' asked Remus after a moment.
'Yes, that's right.' Sirius hesitated, seeing the mingled expressions on Remus' face. 'It was cool, riding it,' he said at last. 'Though not as good as the Shadow.'
'Yes,' answered Remus absently. 'She's nice, Vivian?'
'Oh yes, very nice.' Sirius chuckled. 'And she's quite a witch. She stopped the snow, she says.' He gave a huge yawn.
'You must be knackered. Were you walking all night?'
'Oh yes,' Sirius said vehemently. 'Arion thought it was better to travel at night when we got closer, and I haven't had any proper sleep for days, and I don't suppose this is the place to come if you want some rest.' He yawned again.
'You'd better get some sleep now, then,' said Remus. 'Is there a room ready for you?'
'I haven't got a clue, and I don't really care. I could go to sleep on the floor.'
'I'll go and see, shall I?'
Leaving Sirius sitting on his bed, Remus went off to the guest rooms on the third floor. There was one empty, and with a wave of his wand he put clean sheets on the bed and got the dust out of the corners. But when he returned to his own room, Sirius had fallen asleep on his own bed. Remus allowed himself a smile and didn't wake him. Instead he pulled the blanket over him and went out quietly. It would be light shortly anyhow. He went down to his old office, wondering whether he or Helen would continue to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Well, either way, he could get something done. He had spent a day in the Infirmary with Madam Pomfrey fussing over him, and then two more days being treated as if he were made of glass, and he was thoroughly bored of it. He felt more or less better now. Rummaging through the shelves in the office, he found the book he wanted and began to read through, making notes on a scrap of parchment.
~
It was fully light when Remus got up and looked out the window. Down beyond the lawn, comfortably munching his way through Hagrid's vegetable patch, was a Pegasus. He stared. Even at this distance, after all these years, he was utterly certain. He hurried from the room and downstairs, a whirl of thoughts circling in his head.
Out in the dawn chill, he felt a little less certain, but he walked quickly across the lawn. By the time he got there, the Pegasus was not alone. A woman he did not know was standing by it, working the mud from its glossy coat, running her hand across his flank and then brushing off the worst of it.
Remus hesitated, still standing at a distance. Politely enough, he said, 'Good morning.' As he spoke, he stared at the Pegasus. Along the base of his near wing was a jagged scar where the silvery hair did not grow, and Remus was certain.
'Good morning,' said the woman without looking up.
'How – how did you get this Pegasus?' he asked bluntly.
She still did not look up, though she stopped what she was doing. The winged horse looked up at his approach, and snuffled softly.
'I've had him for five years now,' she said. 'I found him. Why do you ask?'
Instead of answering, Remus went closer, wondering what would happen. The Pegasus took a step forwards. Unafraid, he went to Remus and sniffed at him curiously, then rubbed his head against him. The woman had also moved forwards, her hand still on the horse's side.
'He knows you,' she said. 'Who are you?'
'I'm Remus Lupin,' he replied automatically. 'I know you are Vivian Shaw.'
'That's right.'
Remus scratched the horse's ears and patted his neck, feeling a wash of sadness.
'Why do you have Altair?' he asked. 'I thought – well, I had no idea what had happened to him.'
'Altair?' Vivian sounded puzzled, but the Pegasus' ears pricked forwards at the name, and he nuzzled Remus' hand.
'This is Altair.'
'He's called Zephyr,' said Vivian, shaking her head a little. 'Are you sure you're not mistaking him for another horse?'
'Certain.' Remus reached out towards the scar, and Altair flinched away a little. 'You see this here? Has he always had it?'
'Always had what?' Vivian did look directly towards Remus now, and he blinked in surprise. Her eyes were dark brown and wandering around without focusing on anything.
'Oh – I'm sorry – this scar, by his wing, I mean,' he stammered, covered in confusion and embarrassment. Why hadn't Sirius mentioned this to him?
'Yes, he had it when I found him.' She put an arm protectively around the horse's neck. 'But he's mine.'
'I – I don't wish to dispute that,' said Remus. 'Where did you – find him?'
A smile flickered around Vivian's mouth. 'It's a long story,' she said. 'He was running wild … I'm sure you won't find it remotely interesting.' She bent to stroke the horse's glossy side. 'How do you know him? Do you know how he got the scar?'
'He used to belong to – a friend of mine,' said Remus painfully. 'The scar is from a time when he was attacked by a werewolf.'
Vivian nodded, only looking a little perturbed. 'Did your friend come from a place called Aldershot?' she asked.
'Yes.'
'Zephyr – or Altair if you prefer – kept taking me there at first, to the Halls of Healing and another place, a garden.'
Remus knew at once the place she meant, and he felt a lump swell in his throat. This Pegasus had been returning to Andrea's grave? He reached out to Altair and stroked his neck gently.
'Why did your friend let him go?' asked Vivian after a moment.
'She died.'
Vivian's face filled with sympathy. 'Oh … I'm sorry,' she said.
Remus only smiled at her, then felt stupid again. 'It's all right,' he said. 'I'm glad to know Altair's in good hands.'
She smiled then. 'I can really only think of him as Zephyr, I'm afraid,' she said.
Remus didn't answer. He ran his fingers through Altair's mane and remembered riding him, Andrea sitting in front of him. It was so clear in his mind, he could almost feel her hair in his face and the brush of her body against his. Vivian resumed her grooming.
She looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. Madam Pomfrey was bustling across the lawn.
'Miss Shaw?'
Remus smiled a little in recognition of the expression on Madam Pomfrey's face.
'You should be in the Infirmary,' she said sternly.
'I'm fine,' Vivian protested. Remus looked at her more carefully, and noticed that she was rather pale and had been crying.
'Miss Shaw, I think it would be better if you came back in and had a rest. You've had some – er, difficult experiences.'
'I don't need reminding!' she said crossly. 'And I can manage just fine.'
Remus hesitated, unsure whether his interference would be appreciated. He caught Madam Pomfrey's eye. As it turned out, that was a mistake.
'You shouldn't be out here either, Remus,' she said. 'I don't know, you're no better than when you were a student. You both ought to be resting.'
Vivian turned towards Remus. 'Oh, you're under her thumb as well, are you? My sympathies.'
'We're both fine, Poppy,' said Remus. 'And if there is a problem we can always send for you.'
She frowned, unconvinced. 'Well,' she said, 'if you keep an eye on Miss Shaw here for me.'
Vivian made a face but said nothing. Remus nodded, and Madam Pomfrey slowly walked off.
'How come she's chasing you around as well?' asked Vivian when she had gone.
'I've not been well,' he said in a distant tone. 'I had a bit of a – a fight with Voldemort.'
She stopped what she was doing. 'And you're still alive? Goodness, perhaps the nurse is right to be keeping an eye on you.'
'It wasn't much fun,' he said, and was silent. Vivian took up her brush again and as Remus stood watching, his mind elsewhere, she got the remaining mud off Altair's hair.
'There,' she said. 'I'm sure that's much better for you.' She seemed to be speaking to Altair, and the horse licked her hand in answer. Remus patted his neck.
'Shall we go in and have breakfast?' he asked.
'Yes, I'm starving,' she answered. She gave Altair a pat on the neck. 'Off you go, don't destroy the garden.'
'Yes, and don't go into Hagrid's vegetables, he'll be livid,' added Remus. He hesitated as Vivian took a step towards him, then offered her his arm. She did not take it, but walked alongside him, her steps sure as they crossed the lawn and went up to the school.
Sirius met them at the door. 'I saw you outside,' he said. 'Are you feeling better now, Vivian?'
'Yes.' She frowned a little, her tone defensive.
Sirius sighed. 'It's so awful,' he said. 'I always kind of thought Dumbledore was immortal.'
Vivian didn't speak for a moment. Then she said, 'I owed him a lot. He was extremely kind to me.' She did not offer further explanation, and neither Sirius nor Remus asked for any. She walked alongside Sirius in to the Great Hall and they joined the other staff eating breakfast.
~
Dear Emma,
I am glad to tell you that Paul and Laura are safe and with me here at the school. I hope all will be well now, but it is not very safe here. If anything should happen to me
Helen paused, her quill poised above the parchment. A drop of ink fell on it, and she made a face. Setting the quill down, she removed the blot with a wave of her wand. She took up the quill to write again, when the door to the common room opened and Remus came in. He looked at her curiously.
'Minerva tells me that letters aren't getting through,' he said after a moment. 'Voldemort is stopping them all.'
Helen set down her quill again and looked up at him. 'Oh. Well, I guess this will have to wait, then.' She wiped the pen and folded the parchment in half. Remus went and sat opposite her. Helen looked up at him. He had an expression of curiosity and hesitation on his face. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.
'I was wondering,' he said after a moment. 'How did you get into the Shrieking Shack? It's not exactly easy to break in to it.'
Helen looked at him for a long time, wondering what to say. How was she to describe what it had been like? She decided to stick to the bare facts.
'When Dumbledore worked that spell,' she began, 'You-Know-Who was flung out, with his followers and whoever they were touching at that time. So Arion and Sirius were dragged out – they were in some hand-to-hand fighting – and you must have been touching Sirius. We sort of landed in a heap outside the gates that lead towards Hogsmeade, and there was an awful lot of confusion. I had ended up more or less on top of you.' She did not mention her shock at finding herself sprawled across a werewolf. 'Alexander was trying to make up for – for it going wrong – by organising the prisoners. He didn't see you at once, and I – all I wanted was to get away from there. When everyone seemed to be busy, I began to get away, but Alexander saw me and told me to sort out the prisoners. Then I decided to take you with me, and I got you clear of the scene.' She paused, her breath coming quickly. 'I didn't know what I was going to do, or where to go, but I – I was carrying you and I knew we couldn't go very far. The Shrieking Shack was there, and it seemed like a good idea. Ghosts wouldn't be as bad as Alexander and his master. So I got a window open, which wasn't easy, and boarded it up after us.'
She sat forwards in her chair, closing her eyes and remembering the torment of those days. She wasn't skilled at healing, and she could only hope Remus wouldn't die. A shiver ran over her as she remembered how he had transformed back to his human shape in the morning, with screams and moaning, seeming to be terribly afraid of something she couldn't see. She had tried to comfort him, rather relieved to put aside her own torment to care for him, but nothing could calm his agonising fear and pain.
Then he had sunk into a stillness that was worse than the screaming. He had scarcely been breathing, his pulse all but undetectable, and she had been sure he would die. All she could do was keep him warm, which wasn't easy, and sit watching him, not sleeping. And think. She had had no end of time to think, think about Hogwarts, about the spell Dumbledore had worked, about her own weakness, about her children.
After a day she began to realise that she would need some food. It had taken her a long time to summon the courage to leave the Shrieking Shack, and Remus. But she had gone down to Hogsmeade, where everything was chaos. There were many of Voldemort's supporters there, filling the town, and also people from the Ministry, intimidated on all sides by Voldemort and his people, and in the confusion nobody noticed a nervous-looking woman wandering about.
Remus had not died when she wasn't there, as she had feared he might. Instead, he was moving restlessly, his eyes open but unseeing. When she put a hand on him gently, he had cried aloud and shrank away. Nothing she could do had reassured him.
'What is it?'
Helen started violently. She had all but forgotten where she was. Remus was looking at her with concern.
'Are you all right?'
'Oh … yes,' she said. She took a deep breath. 'It's all right.'
'Minerva said we were having a meeting this afternoon for all of the League who are around,' said Remus. 'I think it's now, we'd better go on up to the office.'
'Oh, yes, I forgot all about that.' She hesitated. 'Am I still – I mean, you don't want me in the League any more.'
'No, you're still in,' said Remus. 'Come on, let's go.' He got up and began to cross over to the door. Helen followed slowly, thinking.
Minerva was already in Dumbledore's office. Helen hesitated in the doorway, looking at the people who were already there. Snape was sitting in his usual spot, looking at Helen with disgust, and Arion did not seem much more welcoming. Remus smiled encouragingly at her and tentatively, she went to take a seat. He sat down beside her. They have every right to hate me, she thought, what could be worse than what I've done? There's nothing I can do to undo the harm.
'Good afternoon, Remus, Helen,' said Minerva. 'Just waiting for Sirius and Rubeus now.'
As she spoke, the door opened again and they both came in.
'Well, how was I supposed to know it didn't bite?' Sirius was asking loudly. 'It came rushing up to me like it wanted to eat me alive, can you blame me for putting a Freezing Charm on it?'
'Yeh shouldn't have done it, he'll never be the same again, poor thing,' Hagrid answered.
'Good afternoon, gentlemen,' said Minerva sharply, and they both fell silent. Remus looked at Sirius inquisitively as he sat on his other side.
'What was all that about?' he asked in an undertone.
'Hagrid's new pet. It's a nightmare.' Sirius scowled.
'Quiet, please,' said Minerva. 'Now, there are some very important things we need to discuss. Before he died, Albus told me that we had to get him out of Stonehenge.' Minerva's voice was tightly controlled, and there was no need to ask who she meant by 'him.' She took a deep breath before continuing. 'He said that you-' she turned to Arion '- could tell us more about why this was necessary and what we would have to do.'
'Yes.' Arion paused as every pair of eyes turned towards him. 'Stonehenge is the most important magical place in the country, some say in the world. Voldemort draws strength simply from being there. The strength from Stonehenge is at its peak at the times of the old sun festivals, the equinoxes and the solstices, in particular the Midwinter Solstice, as Stonehenge is focused around this festival. The attack at the Spring Equinox can be used to illustrate how Voldemort drew on the power of Stonehenge. If he remains there until Midsummer, there could be even graver danger for us all.'
Minerva nodded. 'So we have to find some way of getting him out of there.'
There was a silence as everyone took this in. Helen hesitated, knowing that there was one spell that would not fail, if she had the courage to do it. She was silent for a long time before at last she spoke. 'There is a spell,' she said, her face rather pale, 'that will purify any place of Dark Magic. I'm willing to go there and – and perform it.'
'What spell is this?' asked Minerva.
'It's called the Conscia Fati Enchantment,' Helen said carefully, knowing that this was an obscure bit of magical knowledge, and very rarely used. 'It's a bit – complicated – to explain, but I know how to work it. But it has to be done at Stonehenge itself, it doesn't work from a distance.'
'All right,' said Minerva. 'You can give us the details later. But how do you propose to get in to Stonehenge?'
'I've done some thinking about this,' she said. 'The only way I can see is if I give myself up to them.'
Remus gave her a worried glance.
'Surely they know that you don't want any more to do with them?' he asked.
'That's a risk I have to take,' she said. And it doesn't matter if something goes wrong, she added in her head.
'No,' said Arion. 'I have an alternative idea.'
Everyone turned to look at him.
'If Helen believes she alone can perform this Conscia Fati Enchantment' – Helen nodded – 'then that's all right. But I will go with her. Voldemort may not believe that Helen has had a change of heart, but he will believe it of me.'
Minerva's eyes narrowed. 'That's true,' she said in a hesitant tone.
Everyone else around the table was mystified, Helen as much as the others.
'Why will he believe it of you any more easily than any of the rest of us?' asked Sirius bluntly. 'Didn't you turn him down in Carlisle?' He looked at Arion suspiciously.
'I think you'd better explain,' said Minerva.
'Yes.' Arion was silent for a while. 'When I was at Hogwarts,' he began at length, 'I was in Slytherin.' He gave Snape a crooked smile. 'Minerva remembers this, she was in the year below. My very closest friend was a boy called Tom Riddle.'
As understanding and amazement began to dawn on their faces, he continued, 'We planned to be famous and important wizards. We swore that we would always be loyal to each other.' He fell silent again. 'I – I refused to follow Tom when he went to study the Dark Arts. We parted enemies.
'When I was in Carlisle, they promised me the chance to go back, to share the future as Tom had hoped it would be.' A bitter smile escaped him. 'I refused. But I think Tom – Voldemort, I should say – will believe me. He wants to believe me.' There was a long pause as everyone took this in. Helen was staring at Arion in disbelief. He had had the courage to break with his past, she thought, but she had not.
'Anyhow,' Arion continued, 'I can bring you with me, Helen, as a sort of proof that I am serious. With a prisoner that I am sure Voldemort will be glad to have back, I will not be doubted, Helen will be able to perform her spell and it'll all work out very well.'
'A Trojan Horse again,' muttered Helen under her breath.
'What's that? Ah, if you want to think of it that way you can.' Arion gave her a sort of smile.
'I don't ask either of you to do this,' said Minerva carefully. 'It must be your own decision. Take some time to consider it.'
'I'll do it,' said Arion at once.
Helen was slower, weighing it again in her mind. Finally, she said, 'Yes. It may prove to you that I wish to make amends.'
TO BE CONTINUED
Thank you to everyone who put up with me as I struggled through this part.
The next part will be equally slow, I fear. But the exams are over on Thursday!
Blaise.
15th May 2000