Fractal
Chapter Seven
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"You....you owe me unicorn blood..." The tired voice said, it's gnarly hand reaching out and grabbing the youth's hand, startling him. "Get it for me, or I will take yours as a substitute." It said threateningly, looking down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. The brown-haired youth nodded, feeling fear well up in his throat. Green eyes narrowed at the thought of Malfoy interfering with his plans. Oh well, he would get him back for it, in his own way...
"I will, my lord. You only need wait a while longer." The boy promised. The creature nodded and backed up into the shadows of the hallway, where it promptly disappeared. Feeling that threat in the back of his mind, a certain green-eyed Gryffindor stepped out into the lighted part of the hallway and marched along it, trying to look nonchalant. He made his way down the hallway, his wand firmly clutched in one hand. Most definitely the unicorn was still in it's pen by Hagrid's house; the tricky part was to complete his business without attracting attention to himself...
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Hagrid sat in his hut, reading a book that Dumbledore had loaned him, An Idiot's Guide To Gringott's. He was quite absorbed in the book when he heard a noise; immediately jumping up to the window to see what was the matter, he saw a form approaching his house. It was cloaked all over in black, and it's face was hooded, but he could tell that it was human. Probably male, from the way it swaggered like that and the incredibly broad shoulders. For some reason that walk seemed familiar...Feeling something tingle up the back of his spine, Hagrid grabbed his pink umbrella - which had been lying by the door - and stepped outside, hoping to intimidate the visitor with his sheer size.
"Who goes there!?" Hagrid bellowed out. The male stopped, looking right up at him. Through his eyes were shadowed, Hagrid knew that he was looking right at him, trying to intimidate him as well. He said nothing, only pulling back part of his cloak to reveal his wand stuck there in his belt. Hagrid felt something stirring in his gut; it was an uneasy feeling, one of impending doom. When the figure reached down towards his weapon, Hagrid knew that he was up to no good.
"Stop right there and identify yourself!!" The giant demanded, brandishing his pink umbrella. There was a few moments of silence, then laughter. The cloaked figure laughed and pulled his wand, holding it loosely in his hand.
"Hagrid..." Came the voice. It was eerily young sounding; the boy couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. "Don't you remember? You can't perform magic anymore...too bad for you." The voice said, suddenly turning rather dark and violent. The wand came up; Hagrid balanced himself. He was being challenged to a duel, and he wasn't about to back down. There was a silence, then the boy raised his wand and pointed it at the giant Gamekeeper.
"Aveda Kadarva!!" Came the violent voice. Hagrid's eyes widened and his mouth opened in a scream, but no noise came out; he was dead before the rest of his cindered body touched the ground. The green light from the attack faded and the young boy stood there beside the unicorn's pen, looking deeply saddened beneath his hood.
"I'm sorry, old friend. It was necessary to complete my mission." With that he turned to the pen, facing the unicorn. It was now spooked and was bouncing around and whining in a fury, unsure what to do. The boy advanced on it, entering the pen and holding up his wand...
Then, in a huge wave of mental energy, the cloaked boy went crashing to the ground. The unicorn whined furiously, so loud that he thought he would wake the dead. The boy cursed himself; he obviously remembered his first attack. The scar was still there on his neck from the time before, healed over and beginning to disappear. There came screams and shouts from behind him, and the boy turned around. Lights in the towers of Hogwarts were blinking on and several students were gawking out of the windows. He knew that professors would be here any moment; he took no time in rushing off and hiding among the Hogwarts greenery. The boy watched as several professors came running down the hill, some still dressed in night attire, all holding their wands at the ready.
"Oh dear lord!" Minerva screamed as she sighted Hagrid's body in the doorway of his home. The adults gathered around him, talking to each other in whispered tones.
"What happened to him...?" The boy took this moment of confusion to slip back towards the school, feeling the deep guilt in his mind for what he had done weigh on his shoulders. He shrugged it off and ran as far as he could, back to where it was safe and he couldn't be touched.
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Draco! Draco, wake up!! Saron's agitated voice reached Draco's ears, causing him to practically leap out of bed. The Malfoy boy ran to his window, looking down at Saron's pen. Around him were several teachers, each shouting, chattering or just making a lot of noise.
What's happened!? Draco asked, getting down on his knees in front of the window so no one would see him - even if it was dark.
The Gamekeeper...he's dead! The same person came here a few minutes ago and said some words, then the same light that attacked me hit him and killed him!! The guy was coming after me, but the teachers came running out and scared him away. Saron said, slightly breathless. Draco felt something well up inside of his chest, making it incredibly hard to breathe. Hagrid...dead!? Suddenly this mystery didn't seem so fun anymore...
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One of Kelsey's friends nudged her awake, looking distressed. She immediately sat up in bed and asked her what was wrong. Through sobs and cries of fear, she told her that something had happened to the Gamekeeper.
"There's a bunch of us going down to try and see what happened." She explained, tugging on Kelsey's sleeve. "You want to come?"
"Yes, hang on. Let me get changed first, ok?" Kelsey said, grabbing her robes from the corner of her bedpost and practically throwing them on. Then she ran down the stairs after her scared and hysterical friend, having a feeling of doom settle somewhere down in the bottom of her stomach.
The Great Hall was a tangle of frightened students and equally frightened teachers trying to calm them down. All had gathered down here to see what Professor Dumbledore had to say on the subject, but he looked as frazzled as the rest of the teachers. It was then that Kelsey was sure that something horrible had just taken place; nothing ordinary usually phased Dumbledore. Amid the crowd of screaming and crying students, Kelsey found herself searching for a certain face. She glanced over to the Slytherin table, looking for his face...there. Her eyes stopped and focused on the form of Draco Malfoy, who looked positively nervous and frightened. He must have been aware that she was looking at him because he turned his head and gave her a sympathetic look and smile, before turning back to focus his attention on Dumbledore.
"People....please, do not be frightened." Dumbledore said, running a hand through his old white hair, trying to collect himself. He knew that students and teachers alike were counting on him for mental support, but he didn't know if he could if he couldn't even contain himself.
"What has happened, Dumbledore!?" One of the seventh-years yelled from one of the tables. The headmaster felt his head spinning and wondered if he could gather the courage to tell the whole school what had happened. There was an odd silence as the headmaster stood up, gathering himself together.
"My colleagues....students..." Dumbledore began, taking deep breaths, "There has been a death at Hogwarts this very night." That statement sent the entire house tables up into a whirlwind of fear and confusion as they worried themselves. When he held up his hand, however, all talk stopped. They knew that this was important.
"No, it has not been one of the students." He continued, seeing relief dawning on many faces, "But one of the teachers. He was much loved by all. We shall miss Hagrid very much." At this last sentence the entire hall was utterly quiet. Jaws dropped and eyeballs popped out of their sockets. Some students opened their mouths to scream, but nothing came out except for a weak whine.
Kelsey felt her mind go numb with shock. She caught Draco's eye again and noticed that he wore the same face that she did. He looked at her, gestured to the door with his head; she nodded, getting up and slipping out of the Great Hall. Draco did the same moments later, the two of them now alone together in the hall. He sighed; he just needed someone to talk to!! It didn't matter now that they were of two different houses or that they had never spoken face-to-face before; Kelsey felt strangely welcome in his eyes. Why he was being nice to her, much less actually talking to her, she didn't know, but she really didn't care either.
"I knew that he was dead." Draco said softly, not understanding himself why he was talking to this Ravenclaw girl. She stared at him, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
"I have a pet, you see...a unicorn..." Draco went on, feeling his cheeks light up in a firestorm of red. "And he's telepathic. I'm able to communicate with him. He told me that he saw someone coming down from the school and attack Hagrid, then go after him. The teachers scared him away, however..." She looked at him, one hand on her hip, as if deciding whether or not to trust him. Draco didn't hold it against her; what he was saying about the whole telepathy thing was hard to grasp, being more of a fairy tale then anything.
"I see. And you haven't told the headmaster about this...why?" She said sceptically. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but he realised that he had no good answer for her. After moments of tense silence, Draco looked at the floor, embarrassed. Kelsey smiled, though Draco could not see it, and walked up to him.
"All you men are alike, keeping everything to yourselves and wanting all the glory. You wanted to deal with this yourself...?" She asked. Draco looked up at her, surprised. He found himself nodding slowly, a blush creeping up into his cheeks. Kelsey chuckled and slapped him on the back, smiling broadly.
"What's so funny...?" Draco said suddenly, getting defensive.
"Oh nothing..." Kelsey said softly, "It's exactly what I would have expected from you, Draco." She said gently. He raised his eyebrow at this and she laughed, grabbing her stomach.
"You are an odd girl." Draco commented, feeling laughter bubbling in his own throat, but he forced it down. He still had to keep up his image, even if he didn't want to. He stared at her coldly, crossing his arms.
"Oh come on now, don't give me that!" Kelsey said, laughing even more. "I know that you're not what you appear to be. You can drop the act in front of me. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone..." She said, winking confidentially. Draco uncrossed his arms, a look of shock on his face. It disappeared momentarily as he remembered the note he had written to her earlier. Draco looked at her deeply, taking in her entire body. She certainly seemed to be a friendly girl...He smiled on the inside, feeling a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth.
"That's it!!" Kelsey said, giggling. "See, you are capable of being nice." Draco felt himself blushing, but luckily Kelsey didn't see it.
"Um...I didn't catch your name..." Draco said suddenly, his eyes focused on the floor. He had never been nice to anyone before, so it was a new experience for him. Kelsey laughed again, holding out her hand.
"It's Kelsey." Draco took it and they shook. After a few moments Kelsey let go and Draco stood back, watching her. "Now then, shouldn't we get going?" She said suddenly, walking towards the entrance to the school. Draco's eyes went up in confusion.
"Say what now...?" He asked her, cocking an eyebrow.
"Well, you want to find out who's behind Hagrid's death, right?"
"Well, sure..."
"Then come on, let's get going!!" Kelsey said, grabbing Draco's pale - and ice cold - hand and leading him outside, away from the still raging crowd in the Great Hall. He followed her numbly, walking at a quick pace with her down to Saron's pen, where he stood waiting. When they arrived, Kelsey grabbed the gate and swung it open, keeping her eyes off of Hagrid's still smoking body, which hadn't been taken care of yet. Saron walked out and dipped his head, waiting expectantly.
"Uh...Kelsey? Could you fill me in here? Where exactly are we going?" Draco asked, confused. Kelsey rolled her eyes and grabbed Saron's mane, jumping on top of him and motioning for Draco to do the same. She rolled her eyes, steadying herself on Saron's back.
"We're going to find a way to uncover Hagrid's murderer and who was attacking your friend. Also, why he wanted his blood..." Kelsey said knowledgably, holding her hand out so Draco could mount Saron. He did just that, settling in behind her and wrapping his arms about her waist. She found herself blushing, but Draco quickly explained to her that he didn't want to fall off.
"Alright, let's go! Do you have your wand with you?" Kelsey asked, patting her side, indicating that she had hers. Draco nodded silently. She nodded back to him and gently gestured Saron to move by gently squeezing his sides with her legs. The unicorn took off at a trot towards the forbidden forest, away from the safe lights of Hogwarts. Though it was frightening for both of them, neither looked back.
