Chapter 8: Malfoy's Secret

It was Wormtail.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron pulled out their wands. Malfoy and Lauren, of course, had no idea who Wormtail was, but seeing the other four pull out their wands, they pulled out theirs, too.

"You kids are no match for me. I have two wands," Wormtail said. He held out Joey and Scott's wands, which he had taken from them so they couldn't escape.

"Only two?" said Harry. "Where is your wand?" He was stalling for time to think of how to get away.

"My master doesn't trust- I mean that's none of your business!" Wormtail said very timidly.

"What should we do, Harry?" whispered Hermione.

"We've gotta get out of here!" said Lauren. "We don't know what he's got up his sleeve!"

"Slumberia!" Harry shouted.

At the same time, Wormtail had yelled, "Bindio!" Ropes shot out of his wand and tied up Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lauren, Malfoy, Scott, and Joey at the same time he was fast asleep.

"Great job, Potter," Malfoy said sarcastically, looking at his bonds, but his tone instantly changed. "So what now?"

"I don't know. We have to try to get out, but I can't reach my wand." Harry's wand was lying a few feet away. Everyone else's wand had dropped to the ground and rolled away, too.

"We're helpless until Wormtail wakes up and decided what to do with us," Hermione pointed out.

"Wormtail?" asked Malfoy. Everyone knew about Wormtail except for the Marshalls and the Malfoys.

"That guy- he's Peter Pettigrew. Also known as Wormtail," explained Ron.

"I still don't get it," said Malfoy.

"You wouldn't," mumbled Ron. Hermione glared at him.

"I think we owe everyone an explanation," she said. And so the tale began. It was surprising that, as close as the Malfoys were said to be to Voldemort, Malfoy knew barely anything about what had happened in the last 15 years.

They started at the beginning. Started telling him about the night Harry's parents were killed. They told him what Sirius had told them about what had really happened to Peter Pettigrew. They told him about meeting Voldemort in the first year at Hogwarts via Professor Quirrel. They told him about Tom Riddle's diary in the second year, Sirius's return in the third year, and the portkey Triwizard Cup last year. At last, they told him all that had been going on this year, including the strange happenings over the summer and Lauren being a Halfblood, and Lauren being a Muggle.

At the end of telling Malfoy all this information, shortened of course, the seven students sat in silence. They did not know what to expect, only that Wormtail would be waking up shortly. Malfoy hadn't said anything since the beginning of the tale, not even a rude comment. Now he spoke.

"I have an idea."

Everyone looked at him questioningly.

"When he wakes up, what we have to do is stall for time while we think of how to get our wands back. He doesn't sound that bright from what you guys said. We could trick him pretty easily."

"Yeah, that'll be real easy. 'Hey, Wormtail! Give us our wands back!' 'Oh, yes, master!' That'll work great!" said Ron.

"Ron! If you would just stop arguing with him! He may have a point," reasoned Hermione.

"Okay, Hermione. In case you haven't noticed… Malfoy's the one who tries to get us in trouble every other day, calls you a Mudblood, makes fun of my family, tries to get Harry expelled, or worse, is a Slytherin, a Parselmouth, and has a father who's a Death Eater! He can't be trusted! And I'm not gonna stop arguing with him!"

"I can't say you're all wrong about me, but some of those things aren't true!" protested Malfoy.

"Yeah, like what?" Ron asked.

"I never did anything to Harry except trying to get him expelled. I don't know what this 'worse' thing is. And maybe my dad is a Death Eater, but what's that got to do with me?"

"Aren't you the one who tried to get Harry to chase after Sirius in the third year?" asked Ron.

"Well…that was trying to get him expelled. I thought that if he sneaked out of the castle he would be expelled. I didn't think he'd actually catch up with Black. Anyway, even if he had gotten to Black, nothing bad would have happened, would it?"

"Your dad being a Death Eater has a lot to do with you," said Lauren. "He's a big influence on you."

"Hey, look, just because my dad's a Death Eater doesn't mean I agree with everything he does."

This came as a big shock for the other four fifth years. "What?" said Harry incredulously.

"I said I don't agree with all the Dark stuff my dad does."

"Well you sure don't act it!" said Ron.

"My dad told me to keep it a secret, or else, but since you told me all of your secrets, I thought I should tell you that."

The others just stared at him.

"What?" he said. "Is it that strange?"

"Yeah!" said Harry.

"I do believe in some things, though, and I still hate Muggles and Muggle-borns. I just don't like killing other pureblood wizards."

"Like my parents?" Harry questioned.

"Your father," answered Malfoy. "But, the Dark Lord can't have all these powerful wizards running around. He's gotta get rid of them some how."

Harry sighed. Malfoy wasn't as bad as they thought, but he still wasn't that good.

"Quiet, guys, he's waking up," warned Lauren. "I say we use Malfoy's plan. Let's hope it works." Wormtail was stirring. He sat up.

"Clever little trick, Potter, but too bad I tied you up first," Wormtail said.

"What do you want with us?" asked Harry. It was a stupid question to ask why Lord Voldemort wanted Harry Potter, but they had to stall him.

"I think you know what my master wants with you, Harry Potter, but as for your friends…bait."

"Bait for what?" Lauren asked. "A giant fish?"

"Very funny, very funny. Potter bait, of course. If Potter's friends are in trouble, Potter always tries to be the hero and save them."

"But why take us?" asked Scott.

"The other boy is Potter's friend's sister. She would get Potter down here to find her brother. I just took you so you wouldn't tell anyone."

"Oh, I wouldn't tell anyone! I am loyal to my master," Scott said, winking at the others.

"Master? Well, you'll be hurt to know that I am master's most loyal servant."

"Oh, I would have tried to find him, but I am too young. I cannot do things like that. I am only eleven years old and have barely any magical learning at all. But I am willing to do anything for my master," Scott continued. "In fact, the only reason I became friends with this boy is because he is close to Harry Potter. We must take revenge on the ones who hurt our master!"

Wormtail stood quiet for a while, thinking. "Your story sounds genuine," he said. "I shall untie you, and let you free, and we can kill the rest later."

"Oh, I can see why you are master's favorite servant," said Scott. "You must save my cousin, too. He is the one who taught me everything I know about the Dark Side."

"Very well," said Wormtail. He untied both Malfoys.

Later in the day, Scott and Draco were both talking to Wormtail, trying to squeeze as much information about him as they could before they escaped that night.

"So what are the Dark Lord's plans for taking over?" asked Malfoy.

"Master keeps those plans a secret. The only person he will tell is me. Master will punish me if I tell you."

"Oh, please! We won't tell anybody! They'll be dead in the morning! We want to know!" pleaded Scott.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you one thing. Master is first planning to… No, I can't. Master will find out. He'll punish me very harshly."

They could see they weren't going to get anything else out of Wormtail. When night came, Scott and Malfoy pretended to walk back up the stairs to their dormitory. When Wormtail was asleep, they came back to untie the rest of the crew.

As they walked up and out of the Chamber, Harry said, "I think we should tell Dumbledore."

"I think Sirius picked a bad time to go back to Lupin's," said Ron.

"We can't do anything about that," said Lauren. "Let's go to Dumbledore."

Harry led the way to Professor Dumbledore's office. When they got to the gargoyle that guarded it, Harry said, "Cockroach Cluster," and it sprang aside to reveal a long flight of stone steps, which they climbed. They walked through a short hallway and knocked on the door. Professor Dumbledore opened the door.

"Sorry to bother you so late, Professor, but we only just got away," started Harry. Dumbledore invited them all inside. As usual, they all started talking at once.

"Why doesn't one of you explain?" asked Dumbledore.

"Okay," said Harry. "I will. On Halloween, Joey was kidnapped by Wormtail. Last night, Hermione, Ron, Lauren, and me tried to look for him. That's when we met Malfoy. He said his cousin was missing, too. So we all teamed up to look for them. We couldn't think of anywhere else, so we...uh.…" Harry paused.

"Go on," Dumbledore urged.

"Well, we thought we should look in the bathrooms, and when we passed the girls' bathroom on the first floor, that reminded me of the Chamber of Secrets. So we decided to go down there and have a look. Well, we found them. Wormtail had kidnapped them as bait for me. We tried to get him to tell us what his plans were but he wouldn't tell. We finally escaped by those two making up that they were really loyal to Lord Voldemort, and Wormtail let them go. Then they came back and saved us."

Dumbledore thought for a while, taking it all in. "I suggest that you stay in your dormitory at night, instead of wandering around the school. No matter what happens, Harry, you must not chase after Voldemort. He is looking to kill you. You must be careful."

They walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and the Slytherin common room, and went to sleep for the rest of the night.

The next week, everyone who had witnessed those late night events was being very cautious about traveling the school. Lord Voldemort would not be happy that he had been tricked. Wormtail would be back looking for them. They always traveled in groups for protection, and never left the common room at night.