In which the identity of Ginny's mysterious visitor is revealed, and several mouths drop open.
Disclaimer:Nothing belongs to me except for the Mysterious Visitor and the plot. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, except for assorted quotes from, and references to: the Lord Peter Wimsey books, Anything by Jane Austen, the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Avalon, and especially Sluggy Freelance. Anyone who spots a quote gets 50 points, and 20 points for a reference. at the end, I'll dd it all up and give a prize to the person with the most points.
Ginny stared. If he knows me, it must be Malfoy. "Malfoy, get out. You're not allowed in here. I guess you must have taken some aging potion or something, but I don't know how you got the password..." She trailed off, seeing that he was making no attempt to talk. That's not like Malfoy. his two favorite things to do are smirking and making fun of people, and right now, he's not doing either.
The man grinned at Ginny's perplexity and finally spoke. "I'm sorry, I guess I must have given you a scare. I'm not Draco Malfoy, my name is Andrew."
"No last name?"
"Not at the moment. Anyway, I'm here on Albus Dumbledore's order. I've been sent here to recruit you to a little project of his. Not everyone gets personal attention, but you're the only fifth year involved." He grinned again, and she had to smile back. For some reason, she felt very friendly towards him.
"The other students involved are sixth years. I think they were partly chosen for their OWL scores."
"Oh" Ginny was becoming very confused. "But why me? And who are you? You told me what your name is, but still..."
"Well...you promise you won't say anything to anyone?"
"Of course."
"Well," said Andrew, "I was born fourteen years before the fall of Voldemort-sorry," he amended, "You-Know-Who."
"That's all right," Ginny protested, "It's silly to be afraid of a name, and I'm trying to cure myself of it. Go on."
"Right. Well, as you've probably guessed, I'm a Malfoy. My parents were Lucius Malfoy and his first wife, Rachel Bennet. My mother was pretty great, actually, but my father...My life was pretty good when I was little. Father seemed pleased with just about every thing I did. The thing was, I was always afraid of what he might do if he wasn't pleased. Turned out, I was right. When I went to school, I was sorted into Gryffindor, and Father was furious. I didn't give up though. I tried to befriend the Slytherins and ignore my own dorm-mates, for my father's sake. I did become friends with some Gryffindors: the Head Boy during my first year, James Potter, took me under his wing and introduced me to the other Gryffindors in my year. Just to please my father, I studied extra hard and got to the top of almost every class. My favorite class was Potions. I think thats something you and I have in common."
"Yeah, everyone says I'm crazy for liking Potions, considering that Professor Snape hates Gryffindors so much, But it's relaxing to make potions, and I don't think Snape is that bad."
"Snape was nice to me when I was a kid. Of course, back then, he was pretty young himself. Right then. My mother died during my third year at Hogwarts, and immedeatly afterwards, Father married his mistress, Narcissa Floriel. Her baby, Draco, was born just before I went to start my fourth year. I guess that's why he married her so soon-because she was already pregnant."
"But how did your mother die?"
"No one really knows. Part of what made me finally stop obeying my father was the suspicion that he might have killed her. That, and the fact that all through the summer he had been urging me to become a Death Eater. But anyway, I liked Draco; He was too young to have any prejudices, and he seemed to like me.
When I went to school, I went straight to Proffesor Dumbledore and explained everything. He helped me write a letter to Father explaining thatI did not want to be a Death Eater. We though it would be a better idea if I didn't tell him in person because of what he might do, but as soon as he got the letter, he apparated to Hogsmeade and came here. He disowned me."
"I'm sorry," Ginny was getting cold. She found Seamus' sweater on the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"It wasn't that bad really. I felt rather relieved. The problem as that I had nowhere to live. I spent a lot of time in Dumbledore's office that year, talking to him about my options. I didn't have any close friends who would be willing to take me in, and it was getting harder and harder to fine trustworthy people. We didn't know what to do, until the Aurors Board offered to let me live at AIR. That was my best break. During summers and in spare time at school I worked on my Auror training. I became an Auror on the same day I graduated from Hogwarts."
"Wow. you must have been the youngest Auror in the world."
"Yes. And now Iam the youngest level four Auror in the world. For three years, I've been in the U.S., working on my level five."
"You've been in the U.S.? Maybe you can help me on this report for Care of Magical Creatures. It's supposed to be on the North American Jungle Torgo."
"Jungle Torgos are just muggles whohave been subjected to a lot of magical stress."
"Thanks. And thanks for telling me your story. It makes being teased by six older brothers seem like a walk in the park. When will I be seeing you again?"
"Probably tomorrow. Nice meeting you, Ginny."
Andrew turned back into a mouse and scurried away. I forgot to ask him why he's not on the Animagus Directory. thought Ginny. She went up to bed and fell asleep immedeatly.
Padma Patil was quietly working. It seemed to Padma that it was all she ever did, and she was bored. The only time she could remember acting differently was on a notble occasion two years ago, at the Yule Ball. She had tried acting like her ditzy sister Parvati. Parvati had a lot of success with boys, but that night, Padma vowed never to do that again. She hadn't even enjoyed herself.
But now she needed something to do. She had never managed to make any friends among her fellow Ravenclaws, so she had no one to turn to. I wish i had just one good friend, she wished for the hundredth time. Her self-pity was interrupted by Madam Pince. "Miss Patil, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office."
As Padma listened to Madam Pince's instructions with half an ear, she wordered why Dumbledore wanted to see her. She had never been in trouble before. She hoped it would be something exciting, something to disrupt the monotony of constant studies.
"Why do you suppose Dumbledore wants to see us?" asked Hermione as she, Harry, Ron, and Seamus walked down the hallway. They had been summoned in the middle of Herbology, and the hallways were empty.
"Probably the usual," replied Ron, "You know, the Dark Lord wants to kill Harry, or maybe it's about Peter Pettigrew. Or maybe he just likes our company."
During their fifth year, Peter Pettigrew had come to Hogwarts in order to kidnap Harry. He had been caught, and was currently in Azkaban. Sirius Black was in court at the ministry of magic, having his name cleared. The fact that Pettigrew was alive clearly ment that Sirius had not killed him, and this cast new light on other circumstances.
"Maybe Sirius has been pardoned and has come to visit us." suggested Harry.
"But then there would be no point in having me and Ron there, and none of these theories work for Seamus."
"Who knows," put in Seamus, "maybe he likes my company."
Ginny walked slowly into Professor Dumbledore's office. She knew that this was somehow related to what Andrew had told her the night before. Reflecting on this, she realized that he hadn't really told her anything relevant. Oh well.
She looked around the office with interest. It was circular, and filled with shelves full of books and magical objects. There were seven chairs arranged in a semi-circle around The desk. Parvati Patil was sitting in one chair. Ginny knew and disliked her. Standing by Dumbledore's desk was Andrew, but Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen.
"Hullo," Ginny said, "where's Professor Dumbledore?"
"Back in his study. That's Padma Patil. Do you know her?"
"Padma Patil?" asked Ginny, surprised, "I'm really sorry, I mistookyou for your twin."
"That's alright. It's not the first time that it's happened. Padma smiled, and wondered if Madam Pince had also mistaken her for Parvati. Impossible. Considering how often I'm in the library, she would be more likely to mistake Parvati for me. Ginny took a chair opposite Padma and sat down. A couple of minutes later, the door opened again and in walked Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Seamus. She looked at Seamus and pointed to the chair next to her, but he ignored her and sat down next to Hary instead.
"Do you think we could all be in trouble?" Seamus asked Harry, "I haven't done anything mischevious lately - Oh wait. If he knew about the Whomping Willow, the lasso, and the WD-40, wouldn't I get sent to Filch?
"You're a nutter" said Harry, laughing.
"Well, school does get boring once in a while."
"You can say that again," put in Padma.
"Well, school does get bor - Look, theere's Dumbledore."
As Dumbledore wlked to his desk, Andrew disappeared through a door in the back of the room. Dumbledore looked around, and his eyes fell on the empty chair between Ginny and Hermione. "I'm afraid we will be delayed for a few more minutes." he said, looking concerned. Draco Malfoy cose this moment to walk through the door.
Several mouths dropped open. Seamus raised an eyebrow and said, "Perfect timing, Malfoy."
Dumbledore's face cleared and he smiled. "Hello Mr. Malfoy. I thought we were going to hve to start without you. All of you young people have been chosen to help this school work against Voldemort. Don't ask why I chose you, because I am not quite sure myself.
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Hannah-thanks for getting me up to ten reviews, even if I had to pressure you into writin one. Kacie Michelle-I'm glad you liked it, but Pettigrew is not tall and blond, with a thin moustache, and does not look like Draco. ~wicked*witch~-Here's chapter 2, and I'm going to try and get one chapter up each week. Melanie-I think Seamus is my new favorite character. Jane-Congrats on guessing Andrew's identity. spy_angel-You say I have your attention, but can I hold it? Sophie-The name and the moustache are now firmly in place. Onedergirl-My first Reveiwer! Thanks also to Harry Potter and Hydrana Evila.
I'm thinking about having Dumbledore make all of them into teams of two or three. Any idea who should be teamed up? Also, go read "The Pale Boy's Secret" by my friend Sophia.