Relena had her first and only class of the day, sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins, after lunch. For this she was grateful because she had so much to talk about and not really enough time to do it in. She also needed some time to think about Harry's detention. She had said she needed his help, but that wasn't really true, well, not unless he wanted to help her talk Charlie into sending a dragon down, a task that could probably take hours, so over protective was the red-haired dragon keeper.
Now she walked into her office to find a scroll rolled upon her desk. Lifting it up carefully, she found that it was addressed to Severus. Sighing the young witch called for a house elf.
"How can Dobby help, Ms…um…. Ms?"
"Darkhunter," Relena said smiling down at the creature that stood before her. It was small, with large pointy ears and green skin. It almost made her laugh it was covered in so many different types of clothing. At a glance, Relena noticed a feather boa, at least four pairs of socks, a cumberbun, and one earring. Not exactly the type of elf Severus would expect to get, but the look on his face might be quite amusing.
"Oh, sorry Ms. Darkhunter, but Dobby thinks you look like someone, Dobby knows very well!" the little elf cried excitedly.
"Who would that be?" Relena asked with a low chuckle, humoring the elf.
"Well," Dobby said blushing, "you look like Dobby's hero, Master Harry!"
"Master Harry?" Relena asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.
"Uh huh," the elf said shaking his head up and down excitedly, "Master Harry Potter! Who saved Dobby form imprisonment by giving Dobby one of Master Harry's socks!" At this Relena's eyes widened in disbelief, Dobby was the second person to say she looked like Harry. Hermione had been the first during the ball. Quickly, she handed the elf the note.
"Here. Take this to Professor Snape," she ordered. Dobby made a face that was akin to disgust before bolting out of the room scroll in hand. Sighing, Relena gathered up her books and walked to the Great Hall.
Ginny looked around nervously as she entered the Great Hall. She was surrounded by sixth years, and wished Professor Darkhunter was there so that she wouldn't have to explain herself. Quietly, in the hope that no one would notice her, Ginny swerved through the crowd to reach an unoccupied table in the back corner of the room. Quickly, Ginny pulled a book out of her bag and pretended to read, although in truth this was just another attempt to hide from the growing mass of Gryffindor and Slytherin sixth years that were gathering in the room. Absently, Ginny began to wonder what exactly Professor Darkhunter had in mind when she spoke of encouraging the Bolt that Ginny had already acquired. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even realize when she had let her book slip down just low enough so that the top of her head was showing.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the smallest weasel," Draco Malfoy sneered as he approached the small redheaded form. Inside her head Ginny quietly cursed her flaming red hair for calling some much attention to her.
"Go away, Draco," Ginny replied. She had ceased calling him by his last name in her third year when she realized that it only increased his smugness. At the use of his first name Draco flinched momentarily, a movement that was noticed by only himself and Ginny Weasley.
"What's wrong, weasel? Don't share your brother's love of getting your ass kicked?" Draco asked. This hit Ginny hard. She had always idolized her brother to a certain extent, and she wasn't about to let Draco get away with any scathing remarks towards Ron.
"Back off, Draco!" Ginny hissed through gritted teeth as she stood up and slammed her book on to the table. Draco simply stood there looking smug as ever, and his grin only widened when Ron finally became aware of his sister's predicament and appeared at her side. He was followed quickly by Hermione and Harry, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Neville, Dean, and Semus getting ready to jump in at a moments notice.
"Leave her alone, Malfoy," Ron said, shooting the shorter boy a scathing look.
"Who's going to make me? You? You poor excuse for a weasel?"
"Better a weasel than a ferret," Ginny remarked. She was so angry that she didn't even notice Ron's nod of approval at her words.
"Yes…well…. at least…. I'm a pure bred ferret with a little more money then usually afforded to my species. You two on the other hand, you live as poor as church mice," Draco sneered. Ron opened his mouth to deliver a comment that surely would have made him look like a fool, but Ginny was quicker with her comeback.
"Don't you mean an inbred ferret? I mean your mother and father do look a lot like they could be cousins." Draco's eyes seemed to crystallize with anger, and his usually pale features were turning redder and redder by the second.
"For that Weasley…"
"All right class, I'm sorry I'm late, but come along. Let's get started!" called Professor Darkhunter as she entered the room.
"We'll finish this later," Draco hissed, his voice filled with rage.
"Is there a problem over there, Mr. Malfoy? Ms. Weasley?" the professor called as she pulled her hair up into a bun.
"No, professor. No problem at all," Draco called back quietly, not even attempting to look at the woman standing at the front of the Great Hall. Instead he kept his eyes entirely trained on Ginny.
"Well, then do the seven of you mind coming to sit with the rest of your class mates?" The group split up. Malfoy, Crabb, and Goyle walked toward the opposite side of the room, away from Hermione, Ron, and Harry who went to sit next to Spridal, who wasn't really sitting on the benches, but was instead floating next to them. Ginny looked a bit confused, not sure were she should sit.
"Ms. Weasley, please sit next to Miguel if you would be so kind," Relena Darkhunter ordered in a voice that only gave the impression of a request. Ginny followed her orders quickly, sitting next to the other professor at the staff table where he sat holding a small box shut. As she sat, Ginny felt a cold chill run up her spine and knew that there was a dark creature near by. Was it inside that box that Miguel Darkhunter held in his hands?
"Now," Relena began, "last class we began our discussion about the DCU. I would suggest that today you all be prepared to take notes, and then, if there is time, we will practice our patronuses." There was a rustling of bags and papers as the students pulled out their notebooks. Belatedly, Ginny realized that she hadn't brought a notebook. She began to panic a little bit, but suddenly found a large leather bound notebook and a quill shoved in her face.
"Relena said you should have this," Miguel whispered, "Use it to take notes for now. She'll explain what you're supposed to do with it later." His words were serious, but his eyes seemed to twinkle mischievously, and Ginny couldn't help but smile back. She studied the books cover for a moment. It was covered with strange symbols that Ginny decided she would ask Relena about later. Flipping open the front cover, Ginny found a note written to her by Relena.
Dear Ginny,
It is a tradition among the Researchers to keep private journals with their research, notes, and personal observations inside. This is my present to you. Although I consider your willingness to let me instruct you a great honor, understand that I do not intend that you follow in my footsteps and become a researcher. In time you may find that the career fits you, or you may change your mind. Either way, this journal is yours now and forever. I will never ask you to read it, nor will I ever look at it without your permission, unless we are in the direst of circumstances. I suggest that you make note of any time you feel that something maybe Bolt, and any other feelings you might have. From what I have seen of your notebooks whilst you confronted me with Ms. Palm at your side, I believe that you should also try your hand at illustrating your entries. Who knows? One day your journal might help save the world, but until that day I shall seek to instruct you in the use of Bolt.
Relena May PotterGinny looked up to watch Relena who was beginning her lesson, while the students scribbled down notes. "Now, yesterday we learned that DCU stands for Dark Creature Underground, and that the Dark Creature Underground is an organization that searches for understanding among the wizard community about dark creatures while looking for cures to many of their ailments."
"Now the DCU is broken up into two different groups. The Researchers and the Hunters. Every member of the Underground enters as a field worker and is assigned to be either a Researcher or a Hunter. Usually field workers are composed of a 1 to 1 ratio, which is one Researcher for every Hunter. In this way Hunters serve a duel purpose. Their original duty was to dispose of dark creatures that could not be tamed or at least worked with safely. These included things like rabid yetis, gripping tangle mucks, and living teapots. Just kidding about the last one. Their second purpose has now become to protect Researchers. It is the Hunter's job to make sure that a Researcher returns safely with his or her notes and mind still intact."
"Now Researchers job, in theory, is relatively simple. They are to study and when possible interview dark creatures. Of course this is rarely the case. Researchers have to be fast learners, brilliant negotiators, and logical thinkers. They are in essence the Hunters other half. Oh, um, yes Mr. Longbottom?" Relena asked pointing at Neville whose hand was raised.
"If Hunters and Researchers are both so numerable then why haven't we ever heard of them?"
"Well, the answer to that is quite simple really. Researchers are a group specifically designed and controlled by the DCU, and up until about three weeks ago the DCU was an unacknowledged branch of the International Wizardry Confederation. The Ministry of Magic holds no power over us and in truth we operate completely on our own. As for Hunters, you would know more about them if you lived in almost any other part of the world. Unfortunately for you in Western Europe, the Untied States, and Canada Slayers are much more prevalent, because they must be sanctioned by the government and that is how most ministries prefer to keep it. Slayers do not exist out of those areas, and in their place Hunters have been established. So if you were to travel to South America, Mexico, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, or Australia you would be far more likely to run into a Hunter then a Slayer."
"So what's the difference then?" called out a sixth year Slytherine.
"The difference?"
"Between Hunters and Slayers."
"Oh, well, the main difference is job description. Slayers are only trained in the ways of defeating one specific Dark Creature, but Hunters are brought up from birth knowing everything there is to know about all Dark Creatures. In a way, being a Slayer is a career where as being a Hunter is a life style. Slayers can always quite, but Hunters usually exist in families or clans where they have strong genetic tendencies towards defenses, like Bolt, and offenses against Dark Creatures."
"Now, speaking of defenses, let us work on our Patronus. Everyone stand up and form a line on this side of the Great Hall," the professor instructed as she pointed toward the side of the Great Hall nearest the door. "Miguel if you wouldn't mind, and you too Ms.Weasley, come here." Obediently, Ginny stood up and walked to stand next to Professor Darkhunter. Miguel walked to the other side of the room with his crate tucked under his arm.
"All right," Relena said, leaving Ginny standing next to one of the Gryffindors, she walked to stand at the side of the line. "Everyone turn to face me. Very good, now to cast a Patronus, find your happiest memory in your head. I mean the absolute happiest memory you have. Nothing too perverted, Mr. Crabb, if you don't mind. Now point your wand at me and yell Expecto Pantourum."
"But Professor," Hermione called out, "if we hit you with a Patronus it might hurt you."
"Let me worry about that Ms. Granger. Now on three. One…two…. three…"
"Expecto Pantourum!" the class yelled in unison, but where there should have been an explosion of silvery light nothing happened. A few people's wands fizzled and others made strange whooshing noise, but other than that not a cloud of silvery smoke appeared. Professor Darkhunter smiled at her class.
"Don't worry. Nobody gets it on their first try. Let's do it again, but change only two things. First, choose a different happy thought. Second, I want you to put all of your power into it. Try to knock me down. If it helps picture me as Professor Snape." Some of the students giggled. "I thought that would make you smile. Now remember don't hold any of your power back. Never be ashamed of what you can do," at this point she looked pointedly at Ginny and Harry. "On three again. One…two…. three…"
"Expecto Pantourum!" the class yelled for a second time. Some of the students managed to conjure small silver clouds while others still could only get their wands to make popping noises, but Harry, having actually tried this time, sent a great charging stag headed straight at Relena. There was a gasp as it charged at her, and the professor seemed to be frozen in her place. Ginny, who had only been able to form a cloud of silver light this time, noticed her professor's hesitation.
"Expecto Pantourum!" Ginny called out again, and a cloud of silvery light took the form of a phoenix as it left her wand and charged at the silver stag that had erupted from Harry's.
"Magic Shield!" Relena cried, having finally recovered from the initial shock of seeing Prongs for the first time in fifteen years. A huge ball of white light enveloped the teacher, protecting her from Harry's Patronus's first blow. Just as the stag was preparing to attack again Ginny Patronus rammed it in the side caused both of them to evaporate into the air. The entire hall was deadly silent. After a few moments, Professor Darkhunter looked at Ginny and Harry with a strange smile on her lips. "Now that," she said, "was a Patronus. Ten points to Gryffindor for Ginny and Harry's excellent display." Many of the Slytherins groaned at this comment. "Now, don't you worry. You have Professor Snape next and I'm sure he'll be obliged to take those points away. Now everyone please return to your seats, and we shall talk bout the last point of the DCU, and I'll give you your homework." This time the groan came from all of the students with the exception of Hermione.
"The last goal of the DCU is to help those Dark Creatures that they can find the proper utilization of their powers in the fight against Voldemort." At this, many of the students in the room gasped. "Now, come on. None of you really believe that saying his name will call down some kind of unearthly wrath upon you." No one spoke. "You do, don't you? You all really do believe that he will come flying through that window just because you say his name! Well this will not do at all!" Relena declared as she climbed up on a table.
"That's it everybody stand up! Come on now, everybody up onto a table!" Many of the students in the room gave their teacher a puzzled look, but they all stood up on the tables anyway, hoping that she hadn't lost her mind. Even Miguel looked at her strangely. "Now I promise this won't hurt," Relena teased, "I want each of you to yell Voldemort at the top of your lungs as long and as many times as you can." Again her words were met with strange glances. "All right," she sighed, "I'll go first." She took a deep breath. "VOLDERMORT!" Her words echoed around the Great Hall like a bomb had gone off. "VOLDERMORT YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER, AND YOUR FATHER SMELT OF ELDERBERRIES!"
"Harry," Ron whispered, "isn't that a line from the Full Monty?"
"Monty Python, Ron," Hermione corrected sternly.
"Geezze Sorry," Ron huffed causing Spridal to giggle.
"VOLDERMORT!" the young sprite cried out. "YOU ARE A WART FACED BAFFON!" Once again the whole room went silent. It was one thing for a teacher to defy the will of Lord Voldemort, but a student was outrageous. To everyone's surprise, including his own, it was Neville Longbottom who spoke up next.
"VOLDERMORT," he cried, "YOU ARE A… A… A MORON…AND YOU LOOK WORSE THAN TREVOR!" With that a light seemed to switch on above the head of every child in the room. Cries rung out from around the room.
"WE'RE NOT SCARED OF YOU VOLDERMORT!"
"VOLDERMORT YOU'D NEVER BEAT ME IN A FAIR FIGHT!"
"VOLDERMORT YOU'RE A GIT!" That particular comment came from the ever-eloquent Ron Weasley, which caused Ginny to smile, and the cries didn't end there.
"VOLDERMORT, GET WAXED!" yelled Partive, and as the cries continued even the least likely of candidates was wrapped up in the students' outbursts, and just as Draco Malfoy himself was preparing to let out a shout of his own, through the hall bellowed the one person that scared Draco more than one hundred Voldemorts, Lucius Malfoy.
"ARE YOU ALL MAD? DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME SORT OF A GAME?" the white-haired man screamed as he entered the Great Hall. "AND YOU MS. DARKHUNTER ARE A PROFESSOR. I WOULD EXPECT MORE FROM YOU THEN CHILDISH INSULTS!" Now most people when faced with an angry Lucius Malfoy bearing down on them would do one of two things, either wet themselves and run crying from the room or get down on their hands and knees and start licking Malfoy's boots, but Relena, as you may have already surmised, is not like most people. She did neither of the aforementioned activities, but instead chose to calmly climb off of the table and returned Lucius' stare with her own even icier version of it.
"Class, for tonight's assignment I want you to write one parchment about whether you would prefer to be a Hunter or a Researcher. Our next class is on Friday, so I shall see you then. Class dismissed," Relena said with an almost monotonous tone, but her eyes never left Lucius' face. As the class shuffled out Relena called out to Miguel.
"Miguel, I would like to ask that you and Ms. Weasley kindly go to my office for a moment. I'll join you shortly, but I suspect that Mr. Malfoy needs to speak with me alone." Miguel and Ginny both gave Lucius wary looks before departing.
For a moment the room was silent as a tomb. Both of its occupants trying to stare each other down, but as usual Lucius was the first one to speak.
"I'd heard you'd come out of hiding, Potter, but I had no idea that you would have came here."
"I'm just full of surprises aren't I, Malfoy," Relena said as she turned her back to him to gather her books.
"Yes. Yes, you are. That was something I always liked about you," he replied. His blue eyes sparkled maliciously as he reached out a hand to take a lock of her hair.
"Don't touch me, Lucius," Relena stated through clenched teeth.
"Now come on, Relena. I was famous when we came here, and I had heard circulation in those years that you were attracted to me." He reached out his hand to touch her shoulder.
"One, that's not true, and two," Relena grabbed the larger man's hand and flipped him onto the table, "I don't date married men," she finished looking down at him with eyes full of contempt. Quickly, Relena picked up her books and began to walk from the room.
"Now wait just a minute, Relena. Who said I was married?" Lucius said as he threw himself off of the table and straight into her exit path. When she tried to step around him he grabbed her by the shoulders.
"I've seen your son, Draco, you grubby little piece of filth," Relena sighed. The look on Lucius' face made her instantly regret saying it. It was almost as if she had tore out his heart and done a jig on it.
"Oh yes, Draco," he sighed wistfully, "He's the very image of his long passed mother. I wish he had known her. She was so very much like you Relena." He smiled at her then and to anyone who didn't know what he was really like, it would have seemed genuine, friendly, and almost pure, but Relena didn't buy it for a second.
WHACK! The Great Hall rang with the sound of Relena's hand hitting Lucius Malfoy's previously unmarred face.
"The last time I saw her, Narcissa was doing just fine. Don't think I'm that far out of the loop, Lucius." As Relena moved to pass him again, Lucius grabbed her wrist.
"Don't think you're invincible Potter because you're not. Just because the Dark Lord can't get to your nephew or yourself as long as Dumbledore is watching, don't think that he can't slip into your life somewhere unnoticed." Relena snatched her wrist away and glared at him spitefully.
"Oh, yeah, Lucius, then what is he going to do? Send another werewolf after me? I think by now you would have realized that won't work," she snapped and turned her back to him and walked toward the door.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE UP AGAINST, POTTER! IT WOULD GO BETTER FOR YOU IF YOU TURN TO THE DARKLOARD'S SIDE WHILE YOU CAN! HE HAS WAYS OF GETTING WHAT HE WANTS!"
"BITE ME, MALFOY!" Relena called back leaving a very angry and vengeful man behind her.
Unbeknownst to Relena, indeed unbeknownst to everyone but Voldemort himself, the Dark Lord already knew how he was going to win the illusive aunt of the Boy Who Lived to his side.
Robert had felt an awful chill in the air later that night as he had flown back towards London. His supernatural senses had already told him what logic could not. The Dark Lord was up to something, and although Robert wondered vaguely what that something might be, the thought that it might involve him never even crossed his mind.
Well, at least not until he felt a slight soreness in the long dead skin of his left arm and then a sudden burning which caused him to stop moving dead in the air. With a frantic pace he pulled up the sleeve on his black theater-cut shirt to reveal the black symbol of the Death Eaters once again burned into his pale white skin. It seared through his limbs, causing him to feel as if he had been hit with the sun. The pain, Increasing in intensity spread through all of him until he felt he might explode. And just as suddenly as the pain had begun to burn his preternatural flesh, Robert lost consciousness and hit the ground with a resounding thud.
"All right," Harry stated as he plopped down at a table in the middle of the common room, "I guess we'd better start this assignment. Anybody got any ideas?"
"Well," Hermione cut in with her usual serious, almost bossy tone, "I think it would be obvious. A Researcher seems to me like it would be a much more interesting job then a Hunter. I mean, running about killing things doesn't sound like it would be much fun to me."
"There's more to it than that," Ron interrupted. "Hunters do more than just kill things Hermione, and it takes a lot of dedication to be one."
"Oh, and how would you know that?" Hermione asked as she shot Ron an annoyed glare. It would have made Harry laugh had he not been so tired from the Quidditch practice that he, Ron, Ginny, and the rest of the Gryffindor team had just returned from. In fact, Harry would have much rather been in bed than up doing an essay for CDA class, which was now the official abbreviation for Combating the Dark Arts, but as usual he and Ron and surprisingly even Hermione had procrastinated on this assignment.
"He knows because he's the other one of us," Spridal answered. She had been strangely quite all night, and her eyes had been continually drifting around the common room as if she were looking for someone.
"The other one of who?" Hermione asked.
"Ron's the other student that has had contact with the DCU before," Spridal said, finally casting her full attention back on her friends.
"Ron?" Harry asked, trying hard to conceal the perplexed look on his face.
"Yeah," answered the young Weasley, "It's true. It's because of my dad. You all know how devoted he is to protecting Muggles right?" The group's other three members nodded their heads. "Well, a few years back, the DCU came to our house, I didn't know it was them at the time. They asked to speak to dad, and I let them in. They took him into another room and didn't come out for a long time. When they did, the they shook my dad's hand, thanked him, and apparated away."
"And then the woman with red hair showed up," Spridal interjected.
"Yeah, dad told us younger children that she was an aunt of ours who had been traveling for a long time. He told the older kids the truth. She was to be a type of guardian for our family. You see, by agreeing to help the DCU, my dad had put our family in danger, but he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he hadn't helped them, so in return, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all gained a type of guardian angel, and Fred, George, Ginny, and I all gained aunt Lena."
"Aunt Lena?"
"Yep, Aunt Lena, and it only occurred to me a few days ago that for an aunt we barely ever saw her. It was always more of a situation of Dad would go to some meeting, and when he came home, he would tell us all that aunt Lena said hi."
"But, Ron," Spridal interjected, "You understand now don't you?"
"Yeah, Spri, I understand. You see, Harry, when I first saw Relena, she seemed to look very familiar to me, but I just couldn't place her, until I she yelled at you that first day of class. She called you by your full name, and from the few times that I remember being around my "aunt" I remember that when she was angry she would call us by our full names. You know, Ronald Arthur Weasley or Virginia Anne Weasley, something like that."
"Spridal, did you know? Did you know that Relena was Lena?" Hermione asked.
Spridal shrugged. "I had my suspicions. I knew she was Ron's father's contact at the DCU, and sometimes when our minds were open to each other, I would get little glimpses of red-haired children running around."
"Well, why did she stop? Why didn't you recognize her anymore?"
"I'm not sure, Harry," Ron sighed, "I mean, the last time I saw her I was only six or seven years old, and Ginny was only five maybe almost six. I mean, it's like I said. I really never saw her that often."
Harry turned his attention to Spridal as if to ask her another question, but the sprite was once again looking distractedly around the room. "Spridal. Spridal, what's wrong?" Harry asked, and for a moment, he thought he felt a tingling in his scare.
"I'm not sure, Harry. Something's not right. I don't know what, but," Spridal raised her head to sniff the air, "Yes, something is very, very wrong."