Chapter 17: The Aftershock
None of the boys slept that night. Madame Pomfey had released them, but they felt terrible. They walked into the common room in the morning and the room emptied as if Voldermort had just appeared there with them. News of the previous night's activity had spread quickly, and by now the whole school knew the story. Hermionie and Cho stood up for the guys, but their influence was severely limited.
"Should we go down to breakfast?" Marcus asked.
"I feel sick..." Ron declared.
"I could get Dobby to bring us up something later..." Harry suggested.
"Maybe we just have to face the music..." Marcus sighed. He knew it was his fault, but he also knew that they couldn't live like this.
"Or face the Howlers you mean..." Ron interjected.
"Okay, I'm going..." Marcus said. "You can stay here and hide, or face it like a man..."
"Well, it can't get much worse than this..." Harry decided, as the three walked out of the common room.
"I doubt that strongly!" Ron laughed as they walked to the great hall. They entered to a mix of ironic cheers from the other three houses, and simple boos from the Gryffindor table. They sat at the very end of the table, and ate in silence. It was then that it happened. Three owls flew in from the far end of the hall, heading for Harry, Ron and Marcus. They immediately fell into panic.
"Incoming!" Marcus yelled, obviously aware of the message that was being sent.
"Run!" Shouted Ron, who had experienced this before with Neville. Harry, however, got out his wand, pointed at the air in front of the owls, and yelled "Quicken!".
"What?" Ron screamed back at him and turning, "Slow them down you idiot!"
"I did, fool!" Harry shouted at him, as the owls went into what looked like slow motion. He had altered the viscosity of air, and it was no behaving more like tar. "It won't hold them for long, run!" Just then, Draco worked a counter-spell on the air, and accompanied by laughs from the whole school Harry, Ron and Marcus ran out of the hall, reaching the common room just as the packages were dropped.
"Lessunum sonnus!" Marcus said enclosing the room in one of his sound barrier spells... The three howlers went off at the same time... Two were from Mrs Weasley, who had taken it upon herself to punish Harry in the Wizard world, since it was obvious that the Dursleys wouldn't... The other was from Marcus's mother, who seemed to have an even louder voice than Mrs Weasley's double-tracked screams.
The howlers lasted three minutes, but finally they stopped, and Marcus lifted the sound barrier spell.
"This is really bad." Harry stated.
"It could be worse..." Marcus replied half-heartedly.
"I wish you hadn't said that." Ron finished, knowing that it probably would get a lot worse before it got better.
Over the only next week, there were people who seemed to think that the punishment handed out by Dumbledore was a bit harsh (and also the twice daily Howlers). Neville and Hagrid seemed to have decided to forgive the three, but Draco and Snape were busy countering any positive influence that they had created. The only really place they could go was the library. At least there people had to keep silent, and they could deal with the death-stares by burying themselves in the books they were either studying or researching from. The research itself was going quite well. Hermionie and Ron had found out a great deal about the Knights of Soctaria, a group of wizards and witches who were very old-fashioned in their views, often using medieval methods rather than magic. This allowed them an easy cover for their magical abilities, and also a sense of tradition that they felt was lacking from the modern world. Marcus, Harry and Cho were working on locating the missing girls, but as yet hadn't found anything very useful.
Cho spoke up as they needed a break. It was a Hogsmeade Saturday, and the guys had agreed that they shouldn't feel they had to stay at Hogwarts on their account.
"I need a rest. Hermionie, wanna go to the three sticks?"
"Okay!" Hermionie replied enthusiastically, but then lowering her mood, remembering the guys.
"See you later!" They both said to the guys as they left the library and the boys headed to the common room which was now empty enough to be a safe place to walk for them... Marcus was now playing the guitar more and more, but was limited to sad songs, due to their downbeat mood...
After roughly three hours of chess playing, guitar playing and general moaning, Hermionie ran into the common room, out of breath, Neville behind her. They were both noticeably agitated.
"Hermionie, what's wrong?" Marcus asked as he got up to greet her.
"The Knights... Cho... Couldn't stop them... Only just made it back..." She gasped.
"They wanted to take Hermionie too, but I used a spell slow down the Knights as they tried to run after us..." Neville added, a lot more clearly than Hermionie. Harry was livid.
"They took Cho? That's it, forget our punishment, we've got to find her, we've got to get her back..."
"No, Harry, we don't know enough about the Knights yet, we should wait..." Ron said.
"He's right Harry, we don't even know where to look..." Marcus added.
"Well we have to do something!" Harry said with a desperation in his voice.
"Not yet." Hermionie stated. "When we know enough, we'll go to Dumbledore and he'll help..."
"That's your answer to everything isn't it... Go to Dumbledore? Yeah, why not... He'll be happy we've been investigating something which the teachers are supposed to be handling!" Harry had descended into major sarcasm, which was usually not a good sign.
"We all need to take this one step at a time..." Ron started. "We can't do anything for a while, so we'll just have to wait a bit..."
"Fine." Harry said, resigned. "Thank you for helping Neville..." He added, remembering the on-looker of the group...
"No problem... Any time..." He replied, a glow on his face. Obviously helping the great Harry Potter made him feel special.
Later that night, Harry began to hatch a scheme. He had noticed that he hadn't used his cloak in a while, and he also knew that nobody would miss him if he was gone... "No." He thought. You're in enough trouble already, no point in making more... But in the back of his head he kept the idea alive. Little did he know that Ron, Marcus and even Hermionie were thinking the same thoughts...
None of the boys slept that night. Madame Pomfey had released them, but they felt terrible. They walked into the common room in the morning and the room emptied as if Voldermort had just appeared there with them. News of the previous night's activity had spread quickly, and by now the whole school knew the story. Hermionie and Cho stood up for the guys, but their influence was severely limited.
"Should we go down to breakfast?" Marcus asked.
"I feel sick..." Ron declared.
"I could get Dobby to bring us up something later..." Harry suggested.
"Maybe we just have to face the music..." Marcus sighed. He knew it was his fault, but he also knew that they couldn't live like this.
"Or face the Howlers you mean..." Ron interjected.
"Okay, I'm going..." Marcus said. "You can stay here and hide, or face it like a man..."
"Well, it can't get much worse than this..." Harry decided, as the three walked out of the common room.
"I doubt that strongly!" Ron laughed as they walked to the great hall. They entered to a mix of ironic cheers from the other three houses, and simple boos from the Gryffindor table. They sat at the very end of the table, and ate in silence. It was then that it happened. Three owls flew in from the far end of the hall, heading for Harry, Ron and Marcus. They immediately fell into panic.
"Incoming!" Marcus yelled, obviously aware of the message that was being sent.
"Run!" Shouted Ron, who had experienced this before with Neville. Harry, however, got out his wand, pointed at the air in front of the owls, and yelled "Quicken!".
"What?" Ron screamed back at him and turning, "Slow them down you idiot!"
"I did, fool!" Harry shouted at him, as the owls went into what looked like slow motion. He had altered the viscosity of air, and it was no behaving more like tar. "It won't hold them for long, run!" Just then, Draco worked a counter-spell on the air, and accompanied by laughs from the whole school Harry, Ron and Marcus ran out of the hall, reaching the common room just as the packages were dropped.
"Lessunum sonnus!" Marcus said enclosing the room in one of his sound barrier spells... The three howlers went off at the same time... Two were from Mrs Weasley, who had taken it upon herself to punish Harry in the Wizard world, since it was obvious that the Dursleys wouldn't... The other was from Marcus's mother, who seemed to have an even louder voice than Mrs Weasley's double-tracked screams.
The howlers lasted three minutes, but finally they stopped, and Marcus lifted the sound barrier spell.
"This is really bad." Harry stated.
"It could be worse..." Marcus replied half-heartedly.
"I wish you hadn't said that." Ron finished, knowing that it probably would get a lot worse before it got better.
Over the only next week, there were people who seemed to think that the punishment handed out by Dumbledore was a bit harsh (and also the twice daily Howlers). Neville and Hagrid seemed to have decided to forgive the three, but Draco and Snape were busy countering any positive influence that they had created. The only really place they could go was the library. At least there people had to keep silent, and they could deal with the death-stares by burying themselves in the books they were either studying or researching from. The research itself was going quite well. Hermionie and Ron had found out a great deal about the Knights of Soctaria, a group of wizards and witches who were very old-fashioned in their views, often using medieval methods rather than magic. This allowed them an easy cover for their magical abilities, and also a sense of tradition that they felt was lacking from the modern world. Marcus, Harry and Cho were working on locating the missing girls, but as yet hadn't found anything very useful.
Cho spoke up as they needed a break. It was a Hogsmeade Saturday, and the guys had agreed that they shouldn't feel they had to stay at Hogwarts on their account.
"I need a rest. Hermionie, wanna go to the three sticks?"
"Okay!" Hermionie replied enthusiastically, but then lowering her mood, remembering the guys.
"See you later!" They both said to the guys as they left the library and the boys headed to the common room which was now empty enough to be a safe place to walk for them... Marcus was now playing the guitar more and more, but was limited to sad songs, due to their downbeat mood...
After roughly three hours of chess playing, guitar playing and general moaning, Hermionie ran into the common room, out of breath, Neville behind her. They were both noticeably agitated.
"Hermionie, what's wrong?" Marcus asked as he got up to greet her.
"The Knights... Cho... Couldn't stop them... Only just made it back..." She gasped.
"They wanted to take Hermionie too, but I used a spell slow down the Knights as they tried to run after us..." Neville added, a lot more clearly than Hermionie. Harry was livid.
"They took Cho? That's it, forget our punishment, we've got to find her, we've got to get her back..."
"No, Harry, we don't know enough about the Knights yet, we should wait..." Ron said.
"He's right Harry, we don't even know where to look..." Marcus added.
"Well we have to do something!" Harry said with a desperation in his voice.
"Not yet." Hermionie stated. "When we know enough, we'll go to Dumbledore and he'll help..."
"That's your answer to everything isn't it... Go to Dumbledore? Yeah, why not... He'll be happy we've been investigating something which the teachers are supposed to be handling!" Harry had descended into major sarcasm, which was usually not a good sign.
"We all need to take this one step at a time..." Ron started. "We can't do anything for a while, so we'll just have to wait a bit..."
"Fine." Harry said, resigned. "Thank you for helping Neville..." He added, remembering the on-looker of the group...
"No problem... Any time..." He replied, a glow on his face. Obviously helping the great Harry Potter made him feel special.
Later that night, Harry began to hatch a scheme. He had noticed that he hadn't used his cloak in a while, and he also knew that nobody would miss him if he was gone... "No." He thought. You're in enough trouble already, no point in making more... But in the back of his head he kept the idea alive. Little did he know that Ron, Marcus and even Hermionie were thinking the same thoughts...
