Chapter 10: Clues and Observations
Author's Note: I'd like to dedicate this story and all following stories to my cat Dextor. He was shot sometime around 9:00pm CST on June 27th. He was a very large yellow tom cat with a uniquely happy temperament not found in most cats. He reminded me a lot of Crookshanks in the HP books. Dextor wasn't even a year old. He's partly what inspired me to write this story and others. He would lay on my lap while I wrote, and wake me up in the morning and meow loudly until I sat at my computer to write this and other stories. It will be difficult for me to write without his presence. In fact, he was doing just that as I finished this particular chapter up, not an hour and a half before he died. My family and I will miss him dearly. I will continue this story though, and I have another in mind as a continuation. While I am not normally a huge animal rights advocate, I would like to encourage everyone to donate to your local SPCA. I know I will be in the near future.
The next few days passed slowly but surely as the Christmas break neared. Students excitedly went about their business, waiting with anticipation for the coming holiday. James and the Weasley twins hit it off well, screams and laughter echoed through the halls after classes were over. Ron and Hermione seemed to be getting along famously; they hadn't argued or fought in what seemed like an eternity. One morning Harry sat at breakfast looking very much alone when Samuel sat across from him.
"Good morning, professor." Harry said under his breath as he stared into the bowl of soggy cereal before him.
"I'd make an attempt at humor this morning, but I can see you're obviously not up to it." Samuel said. "What seems to be the problem?"
Harry shrugged and stirred his cereal a bit, then sighed heavily. "Look at them." He said, pointing down the table a few people. Samuel glanced down the table to see Hermione and Ron sitting next to each other enjoying their breakfast and making eyes at each other. They would occasionally laugh at something in a book Hermione had in front of her and smile at each other.
"Disgusting isn't it. I didn't know they allowed that in public." Samuel said jokingly. Harry groaned and started to stand up. "Sit down Harry, I'm sorry."
Harry sat back down and stared hard into his cereal. "You don't understand."
Samuel leaned forward a bit and looked Harry in the eye. "I understand all to well. You aren't the first person to be lonely, or jealous."
"I'm not jealous. I'm happy for them." Harry said defiantly.
"I know, I know." Samuel said. "Lemme see if I can help you out a bit." Samuel looked around and found he was sitting right next to George. After whispering something quietly to George, a wicked grin crossed the Weasley boy's face as he conferred with his brother. The twins nodded to Samuel and then whispered quietly to James.
"What are you doing?" asked Harry.
"Something to cheer you up." Said Samuel.
"You aren't going to have James beat Malfoy up again are you?" asked Harry hopefully.
"I hadn't thought of that." Samuel said thoughtfully. "No you'll like this better."
The Weasley twins casually stood up and walked slowly towards one of the other tables. James slipped behind Harry and looked around casually while talking to a few of the students at the Ravenclaw table. Samuel glanced at his brother, who produced a small dried bean from his pocket. Suddenly the Weasley twins tripped over an unsuspecting Hufflepuff as he stood up. In the resulting commotion as the twins tried to help the young man to his feet James threw the bean in his hand at a black haired Hufflepuff girl and hit her on the back of the head. Samuel caused Harry's glasses to fly from his face and land behind the girl.
"My glasses!"
The girl felt the bean hit the back of her head and turned around to see who threw it. She saw the glasses and picked them up and looked around at the other tables. Harry sat there feeling the table for his glasses. The girl walked across the space separating the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables and handed the glasses to Harry.
"Are these yours?" she asked.
Harry took the glasses and put them on. "Yes thank you." He said as he looked up at her. Standing before him was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. Her dark hair fell in waves to her shoulders , contrasting heavily with her light complexion. "C-Cho?" he stammered.
"Yes." She said smiling. "How'd you lose them?"
"I don't know." Harry said. "One minute the twins were 'helping' a hufflepuff and the next my glasses flew off my head."
Cho sat down across from Harry and smiled. "You know those Weasley's." She said. "I haven't seen you all year."
Harry looked towards the door in response to a buzzing noise he suddenly heard in his ear. Samuel stood at the door with James, and the Weasley twins all grinning wide. The professor lifted his hand and stuck his thump up. Harry thought he distinctly heard the words "Good Luck" in his ear before the four exited the room.
"That was nice of you." Commented James as the four walked down the hall and rounded a corner.
"I know, I should get my Good Samaritan award early." Samuel said. "Seriously though I couldn't stand seeing him alone all the time."
"I still thing dung bombs would have been more effective." Fred said simply.
"That reminds me. Where's my shipment of dung bombs?" asked Samuel.
"Uh, in the mail…" George replied.
Samuel snickered. "I've got a more pressing need actually. I think you guys can help out a lot. Alveron gave me this." Samuel said as he handed the twins a piece of parchement that was folded on itself. George unfolded the parchment and his eyes widened.
"You know what this is?" asked Fred.
"I sure do. Think you can make about a hundred of them for me. If you can increase their potency…" Samuel said.
"We can make 'em but why us? I don't know about increasing potency that's something only Professor Snape would know how to do." Fred said simply.
"That's exactly what Alveron said. Surely a couple of fine seventh years like yourself would have picked something up from Snape?" asked Samuel.
"He did mention potion that might work back when we were in our third year." Fred commented. "I don't think we can make it though."
"Possibly Hermione can." Samuel said. "I or Elanus could give it a try as well."
"Possibly Hermione can do what?" asked a feminine voice behind them.
"Make us the Augmentez Le Pouvoir Potion." George said, grinning at Hermione.
"What would you want with that?" she asked.
Samuel nodded to Fred who handed Hermione the parchment. The girl's eyes widened and she shoved the parchment back into Fred's hand. "You know what that would do?"
Samuel, Fred and George nodded enthusiastically.
"You are impossible!" Hermione said. "If you add that potion to this it'll make it extremely unstable. You'd have no way to store this thing."
James pulled out a notepad from the pack on his back and made a rough drawing on it and handed it to Hermione. "My dad made a similar device once. It'll work."
Hermione looked at the drawing. It was of a sphere with two chambers inside. The chambers were connected to a third larger chamber with a tube of some sort. A valve was placed on each tube.
"This could work." Hermione said. "How will you get the valves to work?"
"One of the most talented machinists in America is right here in these halls as is one of the most capable magical engineers in England." Samuel said simply. "Can you make the potion or not?"
Hermione nodded. "It's difficult. I'll need supplies."
"Talk to Alveron about it." Said Samuel. "We'll try to pull some strings and get someone here who can make the other things we'll need. Keep it quiet."
The group broke up and went their separate ways. Samuel had already dismissed his class for the rest of the semester since they hand already taken their exams. He and McGonagall worked every day for an hour or two after classes practicing his abilities. Samuel was becoming strong and could emulate most magical effects, and had developed a form of telepathy. James found he was able to use magic with some degree and had an affinity for charms. The two brothers would work every morning before classes began. James would enchant something and Samuel would strengthen the magic. McGonagall would supervise them in the evenings. During classes Samuel would walk around the grounds looking in places for clues. He had been unable to turn anything up and those helping were just as unsuccessful. On one particular evening just two days before the holidays he and Filch were walking down a corridor talking to themselves.
"You know in a day or two almost all the students will be home for the holidays." Filch commented. "Hagrid and I usually go down to the pub in Hogsmeade the first day of the holiday. You and your father ought to come with us."
"What about James?" Samuel asked.
"He can come to, but he and that Jennifer girl have other plans." Filch said. Samuel grinned then nodded at two students as they rounded a corner. The girls smiled at Samuel and Filch and nodded as they passed. The two girls kept walking down the corridor.
"We've only got one more day." Samuel heard one of the girls say.
"I know, we'll have to get the message sent early." Filch started to turn around, but Samuel caught him by the arm and they continued walking down the hall.
"Hush they'll hear you, we better get to the meeting place."
"It's just Professor Green and Filch. No one knows anything, especially not a muggle and a squib. Lila will have to send it tonight. " One of the girls said. Samuel and Filch rounded a corner and entered an empty class room.
"Think they're involved?" asked Filch.
"Possibly." Samuel said. "They're going to some sort of meeting place. Take this." Samuel said as he handed Filch a marble. Filch took the marble, and it suddenly turned into a glass mouse. "Find James, I'm going to follow those girls to see if I can find anything. They may just part of one of many groups or student organizations around here."
Filch nodded and made his way towards McGonagall's transfiguration class. Samuel wrapped the shadows around himself and walked silently behind the girls. Occasionally one of the girls would look back only to see a long shadowy hall. Finally they stopped at a dead end in one of the halls. One girl looked down the corridor to see nothing and nodded at the other. The other girl removed a stone of some sort from her pack and placed it in a crack in the wall. Slowly the wall swung open to reveal a darkened chamber of some sort.
"Perfect" Samuel thought as he silently slipped in behind the students as the wall swung shut. The girls removed their wands from their robes and raised them.
"Lumos!" they said in unison. The wands flared up and the room became dimly lit. Samuel crouched in a corner and watched silently.
"You know you aren't supposed to come here during the day. Someone could have followed." A raspy voice from the darkness said. The girls trembled.
"We're sorry." One girl said. "We don't know what to do, the holidays mess up our schedule. No one was behind us."
"All has been taken care of. Do not worry." The raspy voice said. "The messages will be sent tomorrow. Did you kill the old bat?"
"Yes, Lila, we did." The girl said. "We have prepared a new one."
"Good. I will watch it this time. The old one seemed to be taking longer then normal over the last couple of weeks. Are you sure no one has found us out?"
"Those stupid muggle loving wizards have no idea." The other girl said.
"Good. They'll never know what hit them." The voice said. There was a disturbance in the air and Samuel caught a distortion of some sort moving along the walls.
"We better get out of here." One of the girls said. "We need to talk to the new recruit. He'll lead us to Harry. The stupid bastard will never know what happened, and it will be all his fault." The two girls slipped out of the room, and Samuel followed them closely. They quickly walked down the hall. Samuel went the opposite direction, totally unseen by the students or anyone else.
"Did you get a good look at them?" Samuel asked as he seemingly appeared by James who was crouching around a corner with Filch.
"Yeah." James replied.
"Think you can draw 'em?" asked Samuel.
"Probably." James said. "What was that other thing that walked by."
"The girl who sends the messages." Filch said. "Or someone with a similar cloak."
"You noticed too?" Samuel said. "Her footsteps weren't exactly the same. They were close though."
"Two different people?" asked James.
"Or one very smart girl. I'd tend to lean towards the two people theory. They called her Lila." Samuel said.
"Better talk to Dumbledore, he'll have all the records." Filch said.
"Probably isn't her real name I would imagine. They said something about a new recruit that's close to Potter. Male." Samuel said.
"That should be easy enough to figure out." Filch said. "It's probably Ron Weasley."
"No, too obvious. Ron has been suspicious of this sort of thing since the beginning of the term. I think it's someone that's not even noticeable."
"How will we find 'em?" asked James.
"Simple my dear Watson." Samuel said. "We, as in those of us involved in this conspiracy watch Harry like a hawk after we identify those girls. More specifically Mary watch Harry like a hawk." Samuel said as he removed an envelope from his robes.
"What's that?" Filch asked.
"Mary Jenkins gave this to me. It's a letter from the Observers. It lists every Observer in Hogwarts, both students and professors. We simply have them watch Harry, take note of everyone he talks to as well as everyone these girls talk to." Samuel said.
"Christmas break is in two days you better do it before Monday." Filch said.
"We've got time." Samuel said. "According the intercepted messages nothing will happen until April at the earliest."
"I assume our weekly camping trip has been moved to tomorrow?" asked James.
"You got it." Samuel said. "This time we're going to catch the owl to. We need to get out of here I hear someone coming. James I assume you're about to find those girls."
James nodded and the three parted company and Samuel himself headed straight to the headmaster's office. He stood in front of the gargoyle for a few moments as if trying to recall the password.
"Key Lime" he said and the gargoyle came to life and moved out of the way. Samuel climbed the stairs and knocked on Dumbledore's office door. The old wizard opened the door and showed Samuel inside. Gene was sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk, he stood up and shook Samuel's hand.
"Oh, hi dad. I didn't expect to see you here." Samuel said.
"Albus and I were talking about old times. Of course my old times are much newer then his." Gene said with a chuckle.
"Your father is a fountain of information." Dumbledore said. "Please sit down, what can I do for you?"
Samuel glanced at the door quickly and then smiled at Dumbledore. "We found the spy, we've intercepted several messages as you know. There's apparently a small group of followers in the school ready to turn on Hogwarts as soon as their master attacks." Samuel said as he pulled the pictures of the girls out of his pocket. "We caught two girls we believe are part of this group. Their 'leader' wore the same type of 'dissipating' cloak as the spy or at least whoever has been sending those messages every Friday. They call her 'Lila'."
Dumbledore studied the picture for a few moments and shook his head. "I only barely recognize these two." He said as he handed Samuel the picture back.
"I think it's time to turn up the heat a little, at least after Christmas vacation. They mentioned a new recruit, a boy that's somehow connected to Harry. We decided it's probably not Ron, the Observers are going to watch for us. Right now these girls are going after the new recruit. James is probably following them."
Dumbledore nodded. "I think the answer to that problem will be clear in the next hour or so."
"Let's hope so." Said James.
"If I might be of some assistance. I was talking to Harry this morning just after breakfast and this obsessive little boy with a camera wanted to take my picture. He dressed exactly like Harry." Gene said. "Might wanna watch him closely, he seems like the gullible sort that'd fall for a cult. If not he probably knows everyone Harry has made contact with in the last several years."
"Colin Creevey." Dumbledore muttered.
"I've met him. He doesn't seem like anything more then a hero worshipper." Samuel said with a shrug. "Which probably means he's insecure or something…"
"Exactly." Said Gene.
"I do hope for his sake he's not caught up in this." Dumbledore said. "The sooner you can find this recruit the better."
Samuel nodded, and bowed slightly before he left. He sent his glass mouse to James. The mouse found James outside the Gryffindor tower. The mouse scampered up James pant leg to his shoulder.
"It's some dork with a camera." James whispered to the mouse. "He's got a gift for Harry."
"I was afraid of that." The mouse whispered to James. "Prepare to ambush the kid, I'll take care of the sound and light show. Elanus is on his way."
James nodded and absently petted the glass mouse on the head. The mouse scampered down James and turned into a marble and rolled off. Samuel appeared around the corner and picked up the marble quickly and waved to James. Elanus walked around the corner and James followed him into an abandoned room. The Unspeakable produced a folded cloak from a small bag he was carrying, and then another.
"Are these what I think they are?" asked James.
"Yep. Invisibility cloaks, provided by the friendly people at the Department of Ministries." Elanus said.
"Very Cool." James said as he draped the cloak around himself. "How are we supposed to see each other?"
Elanus tossed James a pair of spectacles. James donned the glasses as Elanus covered himself completely in the cloak. A red outline of Elanus formed in James' vision. James pulled the cloak over himself and the two left the room.
"I feel like James Bond." James said.
"Bond hasn't got anything on me." Elanus said as they slowly made their way down the halls. A glass mouse, and a real one were spotted at the end of the hall right before the stairwell. Several Gryffindor students made their way up the stairs so they could retire for the night. Colin Creevey, a short fourth year with a camera hung around his neck made his way slowly up the stairs tagging behind the group. Elanus signalled to James, who rushed down the stairs and knocked Colin over. Colin shook his head and started picking up his books and other things. This took long enough for the other Gryffindor students to enter the tower. A young started to help Colin, but immediately spun around on her heal and went into the tower. James saw the outline of Elanus putting a wand away. As soon as Colin picked the books up Elanus rushed down, clamped his invisible hand over Colin's mouth, and told him to be quiet. Colin felt a stab of pain in his side as Elanus draped the cloak around him and carried him off. The young fourth year fell into a drugged sleep and James picked up everything Colin had dropped and loped off after Elanus. After an indeterminate amount of time Colin woke up in a dark room.
"Hello Colin." An unfamiliar voice said from the shadows. Colin was absolutely terrified.
"Oh don't be afraid. We aren't going to hurt you. We just want to know why you have committed treason before we send you off to trial." The harsh voice said.
"I don't know what you mean." Colin said, his voice trembling in fear.
"You have joined with the enemy." Said the voice, a fist pounded hard onto a table and a brilliant flash of light came from the point of impact. "Do you deny having sworn fealty to Voldemort?"
Colin shuddered at the very mention of Voldemort's name and shook his head violently. Tears started forming in his eyes and he stammered a "No, sir". In the corner of the room McGonagall, Elanus and James sat, observing. While Colin and Samuel were in complete darkness, the other three were able to see what was going on as plain as day. James snickered and tried to keep from laughing.
"He's going to scare the poor child to death." McGonagall whispered.
"Ten Galleons the kid pees his pants before Samuel is done with him." James whispered. Elanus shook James hand and McGonagall glared at them.
"I'd have bet twenty." She said. "He's good."
Colin started to sweat, whimpering and crying. Someone walked around him, breathing hard though Colin couldn't tell who it was. The man laid something on the table which was illuminated by some unseen light source.
"Do you deny knowing these two?" asked the voice.
"Those are my friends." Said Colin.
"They gave you this?" asked the voice as a small box on the table was illuminated.
"Yes. That's a present for Harry, they said he'd enjoy it and be my friend." Said Colin.
"Do you have any idea what this is?" asked the voice, pounding on the table again. This time a bright light shone on Colins face and he squinted but could not see anything beyond it.
"No, sir." Colin whimpered.
"This is a Peruvian Death Cube." The voice said. "As soon as Harry opens it his skin will start to rot and slowly slough off. His muscles and internal organs will turn to puss while his brain is slowly eaten by spiders. In the end his screams of pain will be equalled only by the screams of horror of the nurses and doctors attending to him. You are charged with the attempted murder of Harry Potter, do you know how serious that is?"
"I didn't know!" said Colin. "Please don't hurt me! I don't even know what I did!" he cried.
"You joined a cult, these two girls are followers of Voldemort. Surely you must have known, what did they promise you with power?" the voice asked.
"No, I just wanted a friend. They promised they'd get Harry to let me come on one of his adventures." Colin said. "That's all I swear!"
"That doesn't excuse the fact that you are following Voldemort. I'll tell you what, you give me names and anything else you know, and we'll think about letting you off." The voice said.
Colin gave as many names as he could think of and told what he knew. Elanus made careful notes as did James.
"The poor dear really didn't know what he was getting into did he?" asked McGonagall.
"Nope." Elanus said. "Sorry we had to put him through that. Besides this'll come to a close soon."
After Colin told everything he knew the room illuminated and Colin gasped.
"Professor Green? Professor McGonagall? Elanus Green? James?" Colin asked.
"Sorry you had to go through with that. Do you realize the seriousness of what's going on?" asked Samuel.
Colin nodded and buried his head in his hands. "What do I do?"
"Play along, like this never happened. Give the cube to Harry, we've already told him what's going on." Samuel said.
"Why can't I just not have anything to do with them?" asked Colin. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Because they'll kill you." Samuel said flatly. "Besides you're of more use to us then them."
Colin nodded and looked at the parchment on the table. "I didn't know."
"It's alright." Samuel said. "We all make mistakes, you just get the chance to make it right." Elanus approached the table and set a black stone in front of Colin.
"We can't protect you, but we can help. If you get in trouble rub this stone, and you'll be taken to safety where no follower of the Dark Lord can touch you." Elanus said. Colin took the stone and turned it over in his hands and then stuck it in his pocket.
"So I just go along with them?" asked Colin.
"Unfortunately yes." Samuel said. "We'll arrange it so it looks like you went through with your task of giving Harry the cube. Tell your friends tomorrow that you didn't get a chance, and then give it to him before you get on the train. Make a bit of a show about telling him not to open it until Christmas. Your friends likely go home for the holidays so they won't be in the least bit worried. You'll come back and Harry will be all buddy-buddy with you and we'll stage him going to the hospital wing."
Colin nodded. "No one is going to get hurt right?"
"I'll not lie to you Colin. There is going to be bloodshed before this is all over. At least now the battle is on our terms." Samuel said, patting Colin on the back. "Good Luck. Minerva if you would please scold this Gryffindor for being out past his bed time I would be much appreciative. Let him change clothes first, he seems to have had an accident."
Colin frowned and McGonagall led him out the door and called for Filch. The two made a big show of catching Colin, and five points were deducted from Gryffindor. Elanus handed James ten gold pieces and they all went to Samuel's office.
"Stage One complete. Tomorrow we intercept the messages. Then we'll gather what we need over the holidays." Samuel said.
"Peruvian Death Cube?" Elanus asked. "What the heck is that?"
"I panicked, just needed to scare the boy." Samuel said. "We'll wait 'til closer to time before we capture the girls' followers. The battle is on our terms now."
"I wonder what this cube does?" asked Elanus.
"No idea, I think I'll keep it nearby just in case." Samuel said as he placed the cube in his robes. "Think ya can have a duplicate tomorrow?"
Elanus nodded. "Sure can, I've already got people working on it. I wonder if whoever gave it to him will wait that long to act."
They all made their way to their quarters. The night was calm, unusually calm.
A shadowy figure lurked in the halls of Hogwarts, several more followed behind it. They scratched lines in the dust of an old classroom and chanted arcane phrases that the human ear was never meant to hear. The form of a large snake writhed around the markings, then slowly slithered out the door, it's scales blending in with it's surroundings.
Peeves, the school poltergeist flew up the winding staircases, a look of firm determination crossed his ethereal face.