Chapter 19: The Ransom of Uric the Oddball
Louis stayed very still as he leant against one of the shelves in the Trophy Room. Mena was pacing back and forth across the room, muttering angrily to herself. She was worried about Uric, but Louis was sure Uric was fine. No one went to so much trouble to kidnap someone, than killed them. Uric was a useful bargaining chip and was safe so long as Mr. Beaufolle wanted him back.
What Louis was worried about was his upcoming interview with Uric's father. He had sent them an urgent letter telling them he wanted to meet and find out the real story. Mr. Beaufolle was a strict and intelligent man, and if Louis' research was correct, a former Slytherin to boot. He would figure out their little plan as easily as Professor Thacher had. The question was – what would he do about it?
The oaken door opened and Louis moved to the centre of the room, pulling Mena with him, if only to stop her from pacing.
"Mr. Beaufolle," he said after the door closed. The older wizard nodded. His dark brown beard was neatly trimmed, but Louis suspected he had forgotten to fix his hair after his broom flight since it stood up in every direction giving him a wild look that complimented the look in his eyes. Louis did not want to be one of Uric's kidnappers once Mr. Beaufolle got a hold of them.
"Tell me what happened," Mr. Beaufolle demanded. "Havenward said you saw it."
"We were in the Oriental Room, Sir," said Louis. "Well, Uric and Varys were. I was in the secret passage that runs along the left side of the room. Mena was outside, further down the corridor."
"Standing watch," said Beaufolle flatly. Louis hesitated before answering. As opposed to his son, Uric's father didn't seem to miss much. Louis wanted to keep the rest of the plan secret, but he reluctantly decided that Mr. Beaufolle needed to know.
"Yes, Sir. But she didn't see anything until Thacher came, so they must have come down the left-hand corridor."
"Thacher," mused Mr. Beaufolle. Louis wondered if they knew each other but doubted that Mr. Beaufolle would answer if he asked.
"Yes, Sir," was all he said, and he didn't have to wait long for Mr. Beaufolle's next question.
"And why was Thacher coming?"
"We had a plan to get Varys caught out of bounds as revenge for his stealing Simon and getting us stuck in the forest during the Wild Hunt," explained Mena impatiently. Louis glared at her. He was shocked that she could be so blunt. He looked to Mr. Beaufolle and saw that he was nodding to himself.
"And it had only taken you a month," the older wizard said. Louis couldn't tell if Mr. Beaufolle approved or disapproved, but since he wasn't condemning them, he decided to continue.
"Uric was supposed to enter the secret passage once he entered the room, and we would have locked it behind him," he said.
"Trapping Varys until Thacher came since I put a locking spell on the main door once they were through," said Mena. Mr. Beaufolle didn't say anything.
"Uric didn't seem to remember the plan," said Louis. "He started talking to Varys about magically enhanced structures. Mena had to wait until Thacher passed before she came to see, so I was the only one in the passage. There was no way for me to get Uric out of there, and just when I was going to go get Mena and delay Professor Thacher, two wizards came in."
"Were they wearing masks?" asked Mr. Beaufolle. He sounded like he was holding his temper in check so he didn't scare them. Louis nodded.
"Yes, a red dragon and a golden griffin. One of them was a lot taller than the other too."
"What did Uric do?" Mr. Beaufolle asked. Louis shrugged.
"I think he was going to talk to them, but the golden griffin petrified Varys while the red dragon cast some sort of spell around Uric that caused him to be surrounded by a dark cloud." Louis actually knew the name of the spell, but since it was Dark Arts and not exactly common knowledge, he would feel better letting Uric's father think he hadn't heard the spell or understood it. Beaufolle definitely recognized which spell it was.
"Why do you think they used that particular spell on him instead of petrification?" he asked.
"Uric's unpredictable," said Louis, already having considered the question. "They learnt that the first time they tried for him." A thought occurred to him. "Varys' father is in support of the Council abolition isn't he?" Mr. Beaufolle ignored the question.
"Continue," he said impatiently.
"The man in the golden griffin mask floated Varys and Uric out of the room. The red dragon wizard stayed. He cast a complicated spell that conjured replicas of their masks. They hung spinning in the air and than he wrote the words 'Power comes in many guises' underneath them," explained Louis.
"Mr Beaufolle looked thoughtful. Louis was sure the phrase meant something to him. "Did anyone see them?" the older wizard asked.
"Headmistress Kurze checked for anyone after she found out, but of course they were gone by then." Professor Thacher had done his own search as well, but Louis had no idea what he had found. Mr. Beaufolle seemed to read his mind.
"Where is Thacher?" he asked.
"He was with Mrs. Kurze last time we saw him," said Mena, looking relieved that he had asked a question she could answer.
"But he could be in his office by now," added Louis.
"The Charms office?" Mr. Beaufolle seemed both distracted and excited. Louis nodded. Beaufolle turned to leave the room, but then the politician within him asserted itself and he turned back.
"Thank you both for your help. If there's anything else I need to know, tell Thacher." His eyes were boring into theirs and all Mena and Louis could manage were frantic nods of agreement. Beaufolle left the room, and they saw him pause, then turn right before he disappeared out of sight. Mena turned to Louis.
"Is he going to Thacher or Kurze?" she asked. Louis shook his head.
"You can get to both of them by going right from here." And there were no secret passages into any teacher's office. Well, except for Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he didn't think Stewart would be happy to see them right now.
"What do we do now, Louis?" asked Mena in a quiet voice. His first inclination was to say 'nothing'. After all, they were only just first-years and even the fully grown wizards were having trouble dealing with this. But Uric was involved and much as Louis hated to admit it in public, he was friend. Not to mention Mena would go off and do something foolish if he didn't think of something.
"Come on," he said, and led the way out of the room, turning left down the corridor.
*****
When Uric woke up it was dark. This was a usual occurrence so he wasn't too worried until he tried to move. His neck flopped up and he was able to blink a few times. Nothing but his head could move. He considered the possibility that perhaps his head was the only part of him here, but decided that couldn't be since his toes would never abandon him.
He listened for the snores of his roommates, and the gentle twittering of Simon sleeping, but all he heard was the quiet sound of one person other than himself drawing in breath. He had to see who it was. It never occurred to him to just call out. He struggled to break free of the petrification.
"Who is it?" a scared voice called, but Uric didn't have time to answer. He held himself very still, than carefully relaxed each part of his body. Then he did it again, and again. He lost track of the time in the darkness as he began to chant.
"Free me. Free me," he said over and over inside his head. Many seconds, minutes, hours, days later the spell dissolved. He lay there for a moment, suddenly aware of the sweat that was pouring off him. Relaxing was hard work. He slowly got up and crawled over to where he had heard the voice.
"Help," it yelped when he bumped into someone's body. Hadn't he heard that voice before?
"Hello. How are you?" he asked politely, settling himself comfortably next to the voice's body.
"Petrified. What do you think, Uric?" snarled the voice. Uric was delighted.
"You know my name!" he exclaimed. He heard the voice sigh.
"It's Varys, you idiot. We've been kidnapped. No wonder I have so much trouble explaining why you get better grades."
"Explaining to who?" asked Uric. Varys ignored him.
"Why aren't you petrified?" asked Varys.
"I got out."
"How?" demanded Varys. He sounded panicked. Uric tried to think of a way to explain.
"The petrificus spell freezes the outer layer of one's body in place until the counter spell is performed, so it is simply a matter of removing the outer layer of your body from the environs of the spell," he explained. Varys was silent for a moment.
"But how?" he finally asked. Uric shrugged in the darkness.
"I relaxed." There was a dull knocking sound as Varys hit the back of his head against the stone floor.
*****
Mena felt very exposed. There was something wrong with being able to walk right in front of someone and have them not see you. If this was what using an invisibility cloak was always like, then she never wanted one. She didn't care what type of advantage it would give her.
Louis didn't seem to mind though. She was annoyed that he hadn't told her about grabbing Varys invisibility cloak before now. With their own marker spell removed, they were now free to listen in on any adults they chose.
"Why Kurze?" she whispered, hoping Louis would answer her this time. He had been even quieter than normal since Uric was kidnapped. Louis stopped walking.
"It's impossible to eavesdrop on Thacher's office. A sixth-year Slytherin tried it before Christmas. She still sings Ring around the Posies at inopportune moments," he said. Mena gave him a sceptical look but he didn't seem to notice. "The Headmistress on the other hand, is still waiting in the Oriental Room for Mr. Beaufolle to arrive. Rather nervously waiting, I imagine."
"But she doesn't know anything," hissed Mena. Louis gestured for her to be silent as a Gryffindor prefect rushed through the corridor they occupied. Everyone knew about the disappearances by now and Louis and Mena should really be in the Great Hall with all the other students. But Mena refused to go back until she knew they had done everything possible to help Uric.
"Beaufolle and Thacher have to tell her something," said Louis once the corridor was empty again. "Which is more than they'll tell us."
They approached the Oriental Room from the left corridor, just like the kidnappers had done. The door was ajar thankfully, and they slipped in easily, despite nearly bumping into the black robes of Professor Stewart. They found a place in the corner and watched as Headmistress Kurze sent an angry spell at the two masks and words floating in the middle of the room.
"Beaufolle might want to see those," suggested Stewart nervously. Mrs. Kurze was pacing like a caged lioness. She turned a glare on Stewart that made him step back.
"I promised Mr. Beaufolle that his child would be safe. You assured me that he would be, and now he is missing and so is Varys Nachleen. We are only lucky that Mr. Nachleen is too embroiled in the Abolition crisis to pay attention to the whereabouts of his son." Stewart seemed to find strength from somewhere to stand up straighter and speak.
"Nevertheless, we will have to inform Mr. Nachleen of his son's disappearance soon." Mrs. Kurze gave him a shrewd look.
"And perhaps you'd like to explain why your student was wandering about at such a late hour. It's not his first time either, if I recall correctly," she said. Mena rejoiced at seeing Stewart in such a bad position, but before Stewart could defend himself, Mr. Beaufolle and Professor Thacher walked into the room. Uric's father looked calm on the outside, but Mena thought he was like her when she was really angry. Any moment now and he would hit someone.
"Mr. Beaufolle," began the Headmistress. "I'm sorry you had to come so far for…" she trailed off. Mr. Beaufolle was ignoring her and examining the masks in the centre of the room. He reached out and touched the mask of the red dragon. It stopped spinning and turned to face him.
"What do you want?" demanded Mr. Beaufolle. The room was very quiet. The dragon mask's mouth pulled itself into a toothy grimace. It took a moment for Mena to recognize it as a smile.
"A reversal of your position in the upcoming vote on the Council's abolition, and one thousand galleons for the extra trouble you and your son have caused us. We will contact you about further arrangements," said the mask.
"And Nachleen? What about him?" asked Beaufolle. The mask remained silent. Mr. Beaufolle stared hard at it, and Mena was sure he was fuming.
"How is Uric?" he finally asked. The dragon mask gave a throaty laugh.
"As well as anyone can be when they're locked in a dungeon labyrinth. Have I mentioned the guardian beasts?" The mask continued to laugh, louder and louder until Mena wanted to clamp her hands over her ears. The dragon mask slowly faded away, leaving the laughter to echo throughout the room.
"How did you know which one to touch?" asked Professor Thacher in a casual tone, as if he hadn't just witnessed a disturbing ransom demand. Mr. Beaufolle was still looking at the spot where the mask had been.
"Nachleen's a Gryffindor. It seemed appropriate," he responded distractedly.
"Mr. Beaufolle, we really should go to my office and discuss this," said Mrs. Kurze into the growing silence. Mr. Beaufolle appeared to notice her for the first time.
"No time, Headmistress," he said firmly. Mrs. Kurze looked taken aback. She had probably expected Mr. Beaufolle to yell at her.
"If there is anything we can do to help, Mr. Beaufolle," she said. "Please don't hesitate to-"
"There is something," he said. "You wouldn't happen to have been tracking him, would you? I was told your husband was doing so earlier this year." Something about the question seemed to annoy Mrs. Kurze.
"I saw no need to bespell your son," she said frostily. Mr. Beaufolle smiled disconcertingly.
"I wasn't accusing you of anything, Headmistress. Would your husband know anything?" he asked.
"I, yes - Olman would know." Mena smothered a giggle. Mr. Beaufolle had Mrs. Kurze as confused as Uric usually made the Headmistress.
"Could you summon him?" he asked. Mrs. Kurze nodded. She tapped a red stone that she was wearing on her wrist. Mr. Kurze came in only a few seconds later. So fast that Mena wondered if he had been listening at the door. He looked around the room, than addressed Mrs. Kurze.
"You called, Headmistress?"
"Yes, Olman. Mr. Beaufolle wants to know if you've been tracking Uric," Mrs. Kurze explained. Mr. Kurze shook his head. Mena thought he looked sad.
"I had a transport stone on him earlier this year, but he used it after their first attempt to kidnap him," he said. Mr. Beaufolle looked disappointed.
"Well, thank-"
"Wait," interrupted Mr. Kurze excitedly. He tapped his finger against the side of his head. "I've remembered something. There may be a way to track him. We have to go to your office, dear," he said to a surprised Mrs. Kurze.
"Let's go then," said Mr. Beaufolle, taking charge. He swept out, followed closely by Mr. Kurze and Thacher. Mrs. Kurze and Stewart had to hurry after them.
As soon as they left, Mena threw off the cloak in disgust, ignoring Louis' frantic attempts to make her leave it on. She went over to stare out the door. What had Mr. Kurze remembered?
*****
A/N: In the last chapter I said a group of wizards came to the room and in this chapter since I didn't have access to even my own writings, I brought it down to only two. The wording in the chapter 18 will be changed to reflect this change since it works better. This chapter, as you've probably noticed is a lot longer than usual, as will be the next one since my pen keeps running away with me. Somehow I suspect none of you will mind…This story has now been revised all the way up to chapter twelve.
Thanks to Tidmag, AniMourner, Ozma, Giesbrecht, Mistri, Chad-Pendragon, Lady Knight of Kennan, Gemin16, Duke, Erin, Koashura, ahq, Indigo Ziona, Lavander Ice, NM (Narcissa Malfoy, and Springrain.
Tidmag: Professor Darshan had a different poster on the wall, but Uric got into the spirit of things, changed the words and put it up in his own special place on the ceiling.
Chad-Pendragon: Well, the masked wizards are terrorists in the sense that they'll do anything to get what they want, but their aims are mostly political. The Death Eaters aims are more power and they have a powerful dark wizard as a leader which the masked wizards don't.
Gemin16: There will definitely be a focus on Louis' family since they wormed their way into the plot…I'm a bit scared by the number of Louis/Mena shippers I suddenly have:) You'll have to wait and see if you're right though…
Duke: The abductors want him for political reasons, but they have some idea of Uric's unpredictability after their first attempt to capture him.
Erin: Mena and Uric are just friends. She's just taken it into her head that keeping him in line is her responsibility.
Koashura: You're scaring me dear. I hope you know that:P
Ahq: Are you an archaeology student too, or was it just for fun?
Indigo Ziona: Simon for president!
Lavander Ice: Yeah, I only remembered the colours after I typed the chapter. Don't worry, it's been fixed, but thanks:) They do play Quidditch, but the only one of our little trio who would be interested is Mena, and since they can't play in first-year they don't pay much attention to what's happening with it. There'll be more quidditch in seventh-year.
NM: In general, muggles are considered sort of non-entities in the wizarding world. There's not as much intermarrying and a lot fewer muggle-born students in general. Not to mention Hogwarts isn't the only school in Britain at this time. Pure-blood is still considered the premium, but since there are so many wizards who can claim it, it's a bit harder to be snobbish about it. Later on, when the pure-blooded families feel they are being threatened is when it becomes such a huge issue, while in Uric's time, it's just one of many issues. I love the Thacher-Louis scene too:)
Thanks for reading. Please review:)